Day 11

Chase: Hello and welcome to the Point Church Podcast. We're really glad you're here. Before we jump in, if you'd like to stay connected, you can download the Point Church app. It's a simple way to find messages, resource, and what's happening. And if this podcast is helpful, take a moment to like, subscribe, and share. You can find us on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music. Let's get into today's episode. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Point Church Podcast. I'm here with Pastor Sam as we're Working through the gospel of Matthew, ⁓ verse by verse for forty days, forty podcasts through our Lent series. And ⁓ today we're stepping into the Sermon on the Mount. Yep. And I I like to call it the just the greatest speech in human history. Yeah. Yeah. Amen to that. Yep, yeah, it is. And that is found in your Bibles in Matthew chapter five. Uh-huh. It reads, When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain And after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to teach them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Yeah. So Jesus has gathered a crowd around him. The disciples are front and center. And the way he's really laid out this speech, I mean, there's infinite amount of sermons that can be done from this sermon, this speech, Sermon on the Mount. But what he's doing up front is basically giving you his Like a thesis statement. Yes. And what you're gonna see is everything about the kingdom of God is upside down compared to what we know in the kingdom of this world. So he's starting right off with blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. Really saying it's blessed are those who recognize their need for God. That they they know they need God. Yeah, they're gonna inherit the kingdom. Those who are rich in spirit. I don't really need God. I'm doing pretty well. Will not inherit the kingdom because they won't be desperate to turn to Jesus. They won't they don't think they need him. Yeah. So he he's starting right away. This is gonna be an upside down kingdom and this is gonna be an ongoing theme. Yep. Verse four says, Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth. Yep. So again, upside down. Blessed are the humble. That's not how we inherit the earth. in this day and age. No. Those who have the earth who have the power are the rich, are the powerful, are the strong. Yeah. That's how power is kept on this earth. Jesus is saying the opposite. In our kingdom, in the kingdom of God, it's the opposite. It's the outsiders become insiders, and those who are insiders become outsiders. He flips everything. Everything. In verse six it says Blessed are those who Hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Yeah. So few things on this. Really, those first three of ⁓ hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the merciful and pure in heart. What Jesus seems to be driving at is Blessed are those who want nothing other than God. They do not come to God with an agenda. They aren't trying to use God to get another agenda past or get across there. Like, all I want is you. I just want to be righteous like you're righteous. I want be holy like you're holy. And I want to be merciful how you're merciful. I don't have any agenda. I just want you. He's like, you will be so blessed by that. And then It makes kind of a turn where it says, Blessed are the peacemakers, like for they will be called sons of God. Now it notice it doesn't say peace keepers. Mm-hmm. It's not those who just like sweep things under the rug and say, Everyone's okay, it's okay. Like it's fine, it's fine No, those who go and intentionally create peace in difficult situations by putting themselves almost in between warring parties and say, Let's find a resolution, let's find peace, let's make peace Yeah, we'll be called sons of God. Not ignore the problem. Exactly. Not sweep it under the rug. And one of the things that Jesus is doing on the cross, ⁓ there there's a hymn, I'm blanking on it now, where it says, Now there is peace between God and man because of what Christ did on the cross, because of the Son of God. Yeah. Now we are at peace with God. Mm-hmm. So how we show that we're at peace with God is by making peace with others. Mm-hmm. Therefore, we are living out the spirit of Jesus, the work of Jesus, when we make peace between others, when we don't necessarily pick sides on wars or political fights or whatever, but we're like, No, let's find the resolution by bringing God into the center, healing what's broken, healing the hearts of those involved, and blessed are you because you are acting like the Son of God. And verse ten. It reads, Blessed are those who are are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you, and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice because your reward and is great in heaven, for that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Yes. So again Jesus is saying, Blessed are those who are persecuted for. For righteousness. Now that's very important. He says, Blessed are you when they persecute you because of me. Yes. Sometimes church people, Christians, are pretty quick to claim persecution, but they're being persecuted because they're being jerks. Yeah. Not because they're actually trying to bring the kingdom of God. It's like it's one thing I I tend to just think about those people who come out with streets and horrible slurs and slogans and God hates this, God hates that. Kind of, but again, it's kind of what we talked about yesterday, where it's like you're taking scripture, you're twisting it, or a few days ago, you're taking scripture, you're twisting it, you're twisting the heart of it, and you're showing only the penalty, the wrath of sin, rather than the kindness and the forgiveness that's offered through Christ. And then when someone attacks them, they're like, Whoa, I'm being persecuted. And you're like Are you? Are you? Right. Like, are you? Not really. Like 'cause you're not presenting the full Gospel. You're not, you have to show yes, we are sinners, broken, irredeemably, like sent to hell is what we deserve for what we've done for our sin and for our shame. Like just everything. That's what we deserve. That's what I deserve. That's what you deserve. That's what every human being deserves. We fell short of the glory of God. Why it's that's the news. But what makes the news good is but there is a savior, and there is one who has come to rescue you from your sin. make peace between you and God. And now you can not only be healed, but you can be part of the healing of the world. And so Jesus is very clear. Mm-hmm. That's what you may experience persecution, but persecution when you preach that message is different than persecution of preaching a message of hate. Yeah. Very different. And the other thing that Jesus points out is saying, like, you basically you will be persecuted. Yeah. Like. Even by the religious leaders we see later on in Jesus' ministry with his disciples in Acts, with followers of Jesus throughout the world today. Yeah. Preaching the good news will still lead to persecution in some arenas. But you will be blessed. For you're walking in the spirit of the prophets who proclaimed the good news before Jesus even showed up on the scene. And now that Jesus has shown up, we may still experience persecution, but we will be blessed on the other side of it. Yeah. Because Jesus is what? Jesus is love. Exactly. And that's Exactly. So with that we're gonna wrap up today. We thanks thank you for tuning in wherever you are and we'll see you tomorrow.