Glory : Kingdom Life in a Fallen World – Part II

Guys, we've been talking about the whole aspect of glory.

One of the things we are saying is that the glory of God is best recognized in his attributes.

I'll keep opening every Sunday with these statements, partly for the sake of the tape, partly so we remember.

Moses says to God, God show me your glory.

And then God goes on to describe his attributes and lays them before Moses saying,

my goodness, my compassion, my mercy, my this, my that.

And he begins to lay it out before Moses.

And so one of the ways to understand kabod or glory or the nature and the splendor of Christ

is to begin to see the attributes of God.

And strangely enough, some of these attributes are encased in these things that we have called Beatitudes.

And so what we launched last week was a study of each of the Beatitudes or each of those verses in Matthew 5, 3 to 10.

Because in it, you'll find hidden spiritual torpedoes that will arm you both for a life that carries in it the attributes of God

and weapons that can undo any corruption from touching us.

So yes, last time we did blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall be called.

They shall. Come on guys. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God.

This week we'll be studying blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted.

So last week we said that when you spot a man who is living out Matthew 5, 3 to 10, or a woman,

when you spot a man or a woman who is living out Matthew 5, 3 to 10,

you will see in him a reflection of the nature and splendor and character of God.

So in a crowd, if you spot somebody who is living out Matthew 5, 3 to 10,

you'll immediately see in him the splendor, the nature, the character and the attributes of God.

Because held in these Beatitudes is the very nature of God.

And by the way, in a sense, the Sermon on the Mount should be called the Sermon after the Mount.

Because if you go to Luke chapter 6, you'll see that in Luke chapter 6, here's what's happening.

Luke 6 · chapter mention Luke 6 · chapter mention

Jesus has spent an entire day on the mountain and he prayed through the night on top of the mountain.

And he finishes praying at night, then he comes down the mountain and he picks 12 out of all his disciples and calls them apostles.

And after he goes through this, he now stands before his disciples and he's beginning this sermon.

And that's when the rest of the crowd joins him.

So it's really not a sermon that happened on the Mount, it's a sermon that happened after the Mount.

Luke chapter 6 shows it.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

So Jesus had gone up to the mountain, prayed through the night, come down, selected 12 of his disciples, designated them apostles.

And then once he was on the plains, he starts addressing his disciples and a large crowd joins him.

And that's when we hear his voice.

I mean, just think of this, eh?

These are some of the times I really would have liked to be there,

where suddenly the crowd hears him beginning to speak and he cries out saying,

Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

That's when he says these sentences.

And in the context of the people hearing, guys, these are people who've now lived for years under the tyranny of Rome.

They've been under Roman rulership for years.

They've been under ruthless leaders like Herod, who haven't taught much of them.

This is a nation called the people of God.

And this is a nation that's gone through the humiliation of being under the tyranny of Rome.

And in the midst of this, Jesus comes and says,

Blessed are they who mourn, or they that are in grief, for they shall be comforted.

And so to the hearers, this was like joy and comfort.

But the thing is, they didn't understand it the way they needed to understand it.

They saw it as Jesus saying, okay, I'm going to bring in a new kingdom.

I'll overthrow Rome. But that wasn't what Jesus was saying.

And so Jesus's announcement of the kingdom was a source of joy and comfort to them.

But they didn't perceive it as an earthly kingdom.

I mean, they perceived it as an earthly kingdom, not as something that God was going to bring later.

And I'd suggest to you that that's what happened with the Beatitudes anyways, even today.

We see the Beatitudes and we come to our own conclusions about them.

When really, man, this is kingdom life being played out.

So one of the things I want to do right now is talk about what kind of mourning are we being asked to engage in?

When Jesus says, Blessed are they who mourn, what kind of mourning are we asked to engage in?

And what is the...

To what end are we supposed to mourn? Why mourn?

First, what kind of mourning are we to engage in?

And then, what is the end of it? Why are we mourning?

To what end? And so we'll discuss three different aspects.

And I'm sure there are more, but we'll discuss three different aspects.

Any questions before we go on?

Okay.

Guys, the first one...

The first thing we need to know that this mourning cannot be equated with having a heavy depressed spirit or the loss of a loved one.

There's mourning that happens at funerals.

There's mourning that happens when you are depressed, when you have a heavy heart.

This mourning is not that mourning.

We are not talking about mourning that happens at funerals.

You see that in Psalm 56, verse 8, where God says,

Psalms 56:8

I bottle up your tears and they are forever before me.

So it's not that God does not comfort in every sorrow.

It's not that every sorrow can be rectified,

it's not that we don't have good spirits.

Why should we mourn?

Because we love to mourn.

And we don't want to have bad spirits.

So it's not that God does not comfort in every sorrow. It's not that every sorrow does carry the

promise of God's comfort, but in the context of what we are saying, it is secondary guys.

So this mourning is not that to be equated with a depressive spirit or the loss of a loved one.

This mourning, one of the aspects, this mourning is an outcome of catching a panoramic view or a

glimpse, a panoramic view of God and his attributes. This mourning is triggered off by or this mourning

is triggered by or is an outcome of. This mourning is triggered by or an outcome of catching a panoramic

view or even just a sudden glimpse of God and his attributes. Guys, remember this scene, okay? Here's

what it says. It was in the year that Uzziah died that I saw God seated on his throne and the train

of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim with six wings. With two they covered

their face, with two they covered their feet and with two they flew. And as they flew they cried out,

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. And the doorposts and the threshold of the temple shook

and the temple was filled with smoke. And I said, Whoa, I'm undone for I'm a man of unclean lips

and I live amongst the people of unclean lips. For I have seen the glory of the King. Look at

the reaction man of Isaiah. You catch this panoramic view of God as he is and it just,

it just tears you in sight. Whoa, I'm undone. That's what Isaiah's response is. We gotta,

we gotta get this man blessed that they mourn. They mourn. They then look at God and then they

look at themselves and they say, My God. It's something else man. You know, the greater the

grasp that we have of the Father's kabod or the Father's glory, the greater the grasp that we

have of the Father's glory, the more distressed you will be at anything in your life or in the

world around you that dishonors him or distresses him. I remember this was I think in 1993 or 94,

maybe 94. I was at Richmond Pentecostal Church and there was this kid pastor man called Mike. I mean

now I can call him kid because I'm as old as I am. But and he came up and he just asked people

who wanted to come up, who knew their life was something that belonged to God to come up and I

went up and then at some point he came near to pray for me and he didn't even touch me man. He

just came and started praying at a distance and I just found myself on the floor and so I'm on the

floor now and usually after a while you get up but I'm finding that I can't get up. So I'm trying

to get up and I just can't get up off my back and people are beginning to say things like,

oh maybe he's gone off to sleep and they don't know that I'm completely conscious and I can hear

them. Some other guys are saying, the guys who brought me, I didn't have a car then so someone

drove me to the church and he finally he started playing the keyboard. His name was Kevin Fricker.

He started playing the keyboard and I just started singing and but I couldn't get up. I was trying

really hard. I was saying father come on people are looking at me and thinking there's something

seriously wrong with me. Let me go and I couldn't get up and finally Kevin said I got to take my

wife home. Everybody's gone so I'll come back later and he locks the church and I'm in the church

alone man and you know how big that church is so I'm staying there and then God began to do

something really odd man. He would begin to show me who his son was. He would pick an area so let's

say he picks up humility and then he would in a flash show me how humble Jesus was and I would

just burst into tears because I would see where I was at and it would be just awe and tears. All God

was doing me was showing who his son was and it would suddenly show me where I was. Then he would

take mercy and he would show me how merciful he was and he would show me where I was at mercy.

This continued for about two hours man two hours and then finally when it was done I said father

can I go now and he asked me will you ever not trust me and the promises that I've given you

because I've told you things and you've not been trusting me. I said I will. He said okay you can

get up and go and in a flash like a magnet was turned on turned off I got up of my back and left

it's never happened again not looking forward to it but why am I relating this incident to you

because all that happened during those two hours that I was on my back was a simple thing. God

showing me who he was and then in one flash me recognizing where I was at and there was a huge

distance man huge distance and the distance didn't make make me feel rotten the distance made me want

to worship. Oh I'm undone for I have seen the king

and then what does God do he comes with a call from the fire and he touches Isaiah slip and he

says but I have made you clean. We got to get back to this man.

Blessed are they that mourn. They that see who he is and are undone by it. You know in Ezekiel 9

Ezekiel 9:3

verses 3 and 4 you'll find Ezekiel describing another vision in which he says and then the

glory of the Lord rose from amongst the cherubs and it moved to the threshold of the temple

and when it moved to the threshold of the temple there were some men standing there with measuring

rods and with in linen and God says to those men go through the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark

set my mark upon the foreheads of those that sigh and groan at the abominations they see around them.

The point being

have you noticed how callous we have become to sin around us?

It's odd eh? I mean I'm surprised at the things I laugh at and that I'm not appalled by.

And yet here he says mark those guys on their foreheads the guys that sigh and groan at the

abominations that they see around them. Guys this is not a matter of tears shed. It's a condition of

the heart. Let me tell you something. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to lie to you.

I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to

cry. It's not a matter of tears being shed. It's a matter of the condition of the heart.

Let me tell you this. There have been times in my life, not too many, but there have been enough

times in my life where I have shed tears on a Sunday morning in worship and gone and done

things that are wrong. So it's not a matter of tears being shed. It's a matter of the condition of the heart.

Let me say that again. Beware when you and I can disobey with indifference

because it's just it's it's the first step towards the callousness of the heart.

And the callousness of the heart will always result in the construction of a stronghold.

Let me say that again. Beware indifference. Beware disobedience, disobeying with indifference.

Beware disobeying with indifference.

That last word that you can't read is indifference. Beware disobeying with indifference.

So am I saying there are different kinds of disobediences? They're all bad, but I just want

to say to you that there is a disobedience that comes with indifference where now it's become

what's that word? Lassé fair or something?

Yeah, whatever. How are you? That word. Where it's become a matter of ah this is so common for me

that really I've gotten away with it so long that it doesn't matter. I can continue in indifference

in this area. Beware the disobedience that comes with indifference. Why? Because it is one step away

one step away from callousness of heart or hardness of heart, callousness of heart

or hardness of heart and two steps away

from the construction of strongholds.

One has to have a hardness of heart before you've got solid foundations to build a stronghold. So are they.

I got to develop a hardness of heart in an area before I can lay. Once I do that now I have a good

strong foundation for the building of a stronghold. I'm not encouraging you, I'm discouraging you.

Yeah, because now in that area I've got hard heart. I've got a strong heart. I've got a strong heart.

Now in that area I've got hard heart. Hard heart is good ground for building a stronghold.

And which means you're three steps away now

from creating a demonic hideout.

You need strongholds for demons to hide in.

Why is it that in certain situations demons can't be cast out? Because there is a stronghold that has

to be demolished before demons can be cast out because they find in my life a certain

stronghold that I have built that they can always hide in because I have willingly constructed that

stronghold that I have built that they can always hide in because I have willingly constructed that

stronghold. Righteousness is the seed for deliverance guys. Change my thinking and think right and

suddenly I'm delivered without being touched or spoken or prayed over.

Any questions on that before we go on? Go ahead Ruth.

Yeah, I'm three steps away from creating a demonic hideout because it's strongholds that enable

the devil to have a foothold in my life or find a place to hide because a stronghold is a certain

way of thinking, a certain way of practicing things that I believe, a certain way of reasoning,

a certain lofty thing that I have raised above the principles of God. Now that I've established

this in my life there is a hideout for the demonic to find refuge in and therefore it's difficult to

chase them out. Why? Because I have built a fortress for them to live in. So if I undo the fortress they

have no place to hide and they have to leave. This is why sometimes it's insufficient to cast out a demon.

What is required is a change of thinking.

Any questions on that?

You identify if there is a stronghold in my life the rest of the world will see it because

my thinking affects the way I behave. If there's a stronghold in my marriage you will see it because

it will be shown in the way I treat my wife. If there's a stronghold in my parenting you will

see it because they will see it, you will see it in the way I deal with my children.

In the words of my mouth, true, very true.

But the person with a stronghold usually has other people, especially in a body like this,

who can tell them that they have a problem.

But sometimes you can be blind to it. It's like a blind spot.

Yeah or a blind spot. Let's just make allowance so perhaps it's possible. I agree with you.

Usually I know my faults. It's only some things that I don't see till someone points it out.

So, guys, check what you laugh at. After I started writing this I was singing to myself,

man Jacob, some of the things you watch on TV and you laugh at are so odd for a guy who's

been a believer for so long and is a pastor and stuff like that.

I was surprised at something that I was laughing at last week, which was pretty ugly in the sight

of God, but I thought it was so funny. It had to do with some jokes between two homosexuals

because most of the TV series have stuff about two guys and the way they were acting. I was laughing

at it and when I started writing them I was thinking to myself, boy, you can laugh at stuff.

The gobbler would laugh at.

When I laugh at, check what I laugh at, what I take lightly, what I tolerate.

Go ahead.

As I was about to use the vacuum to clean the car, there was a guy over there searching

the dirt bin of the vacuum and I thought he was looking for money. So I'm like, did you

find any change? He says, no, I'm not looking for change, I'm looking for drugs. I go, what?

He says, yeah, man, you cabbies get a lot of passengers and you can't get a lot of

money. So I'm like, what? He says, I'm not looking for change, I'm looking for drugs.

I'm like, what? He says, yeah, man, you cabbies get a lot of passengers and a lot of them drop

their drugs and you vacuum it and you don't know. I'm like, that's a long shot to find drugs.

He goes, yeah, last week I found this, this and this. Then he comes and tells me, don't you agree,

anything better than drugs is free drugs. For some reason I just sense something and out of

nowhere I just told him, no, I don't agree with you and I don't think that's funny either.

And I went into the office and I came back and he was still there. He says, man, I'm so sorry,

I apologize. I didn't mean to offend you. I said, you did not offend me, but what you said was not

funny and I just told you the way it was. Good man. I've seen that in you, that there are

certain things that you don't tolerate, which is good. And then there are, yeah, we leave the

other side alone. There are things that I laugh at. There are things that I take lightly. There

are things that I tolerate. There are things that I excuse. And there are things that I enjoy

that don't necessarily match up with the character or the attributes of God.

I want to change that.

The reason we laugh at and take things lightly and tolerate and excuse and enjoy

certain things that are either sinful or not kosher before God is because we get accustomed

to the sight and sound of sin. We have gotten accustomed to the sight and sound of sin

and we are unfamiliar with the face of God. We have gotten accustomed to the sight and sound of sin

and we are unfamiliar with the face of God.

The more time I spend in front of the TV, the more desensitized I am to the face of God

and the more accustomed I am to the things of the world.

Even if it's a shopping channel.

Because I just could hear some of you thinking, but I just watch the shopping channel.

So stop doing it, Jason. The shopping channel isn't the place that you need to park yourself

in. Did anyone ask your opinion?

So

when I laugh at, take lightly, tolerate, excuse or enjoy sin, it's because I'm accustomed to the

sight and sound of sin and unfamiliar with the face of God. I've got to get back to mourning.

James 4 verses 8 and 9 puts it this way. It says, thanks. It says, draw an eye into God and he will

James 4:8

draw an eye unto you. Then it goes on to say, afflict yourself. You who laugh mourn. You who are

cheerful weep. Another place, Jesus puts it this way, those that are eating now will go hungry later.

Those that are laughing now will weep later. The point being that Jacob, when you feed yourself,

here's the thing guys. Yeah, we'll come to that a little later. Guys, remove the things that hinder

you from mourning. Remove the things that hinder you from mourning. And here are some of the things

that hinder you from mourning. Remove the things that hinder you from mourning. And here are some

other things that hinder you from mourning. One, being content with your present condition. Being

content with your present Christian condition. May I say it very clearly? There are people in

this room right now who are quite content with the progress they have made over the last few years.

That's a very important way to desist from mourning. Two, it's a bad thing where I'm content with my

present Christian condition. Well then I don't need to look at God anymore.

Yeah, but at the same time, any change in my life should come out of my love for the Father. So you

can't go to Sarah or Shana and say, hey, by the way, you guys better watch out because you're

going to lose your daughter's ship if you mess up. Can't. They're your daughters forever. Everything

they do in obedience to you will have to come out of love. Yeah, but I have to teach the child that

I'm going to love the child all my life regardless of what the child does. There's nothing that will

take away a child's... Yeah, and that's why the church hasn't understood love. The love of God.

And what the church has done then, James, is they've gone and created theologies

that frighten people into following God. God wants people to have the freedom to love him or not love

him. He's never going to take that freedom away. What we have done in churches is just to keep

people on the straight and narrow, we tell them now that if you don't, this will happen. If we

put false rules that God hasn't. Yeah, we can't take away the freedom. Yeah, so that the child now

loves the Father, knowing that I'll never lose my sonship. I've got a choice now.

Yeah, and the child can abuse it. Yeah, the child can abuse it.

Yeah, yeah. So,

yeah, so you help the child develop a sense of governing inside. This is the best way to parent.

It is possible. I know Eric is practicing it. I can't show you evidence because my kids are not

around. But one of the things that Eric is now beginning to demonstrate among his three children,

two, the other one is just two months old, is he's training them to have,

to govern themselves from inside. So he can take them and show them roadkill.

But so that they know from inside, so that he doesn't have to tell.

They'll begin to learn from inside that these are the ways of the God of my Father,

and these are the ways of my Father, as in physical Father. And I'm going to learn them

inside so that you will be governed from inside. Yeah, see, let me put it this way. I went to a

church where they have been taught that you whack your child after two warnings. So in every house

of the people that go to the church, they have a wooden spoon. And on the convex side of the

wooden spoon, they got an unhappy face. And on the concave side is a happy face. And when a child

misbehaves, the parent goes and shows the child the happy face once. If the child misbehaves again,

it's a happy face again once more. And then if the child misbehaves a third time, it's an angry face

and the child gets whacked. That church has been practicing it. Someone came and taught them that.

You know what's happening to the children? They are beginning to take that and superimpose it on

God. And it enrages me, enrages me that that God is being seen that way. These kids now grow up

thinking that God is someone who will give them two chances with a smile and then begin to frown

and beat them up. The father wants to teach me, his son Jacob, how to respond to him in obedience

sheerly by understanding who he is and loving him. Doesn't matter whether I was a Christian when I was

one year old as a Christian or whether I'm 20 years old as a Christian. This has been his way

of doing it from the beginning. And if there is a parent who knows how to do it, it is him. And if

he can deal with a rebellious son like me, then we can deal with our rebellious children differently too.

Remove the things that hinder you from mourning. Don't be content with your present Christian

condition because if you do, then you never need to look at the face of God because you're content.

And if I don't see him seated in the temple with his robe filling the temple, then I won't need to

say, oh I'm undone because I'm quite satisfied with where I'm at. Secondly,

if there's a, we will, we hinder mourning when we resist change. We hinder mourning

when we resist change. How does that work? The more I resist change, the more callous my heart

or the more hardened my heart. We already talked about that.

When God comes and says to you, this is the way Jacob you need to behave with your wife or this

is the way you need to behave with your husband, get on with it Jacob. Stop resisting the change

that I'm asking you to make because the more you resist, the harder your heart is. You can justify

it, come up with excuses, but the harder your heart gets.

Third, failure to let go of pet habits, pet thought patterns,

pet sins. Failure to let go of pet habits, pet thought patterns, pet sins. It's almost like what

do we afford ourselves? The more I afford myself pet habits, pet thought patterns, pet sins that

are out of sync with God, the more I'll move away from pet sins. Here's another one, procrastination

where it's a sense of saying I'll take care of it tomorrow. Yeah, I realize I have a problem,

but I'll take care of it tomorrow. I realize I have a problem, but I'll take care of it starting

my birthday, meaning Anne, you've got to start tomorrow. I'll take care of it when I come back

from a trip. I'll take care of it when I get some money. Procrastination. And the last one that I

want to throw it right now is feeding on a 1 John 2.16 diet.

Feeding on a 1 John 2.16 diet. 1 John 2.16 diet is basically the lust of the flesh, the lust of the

eyes, and the pride of life. Feed on that diet, and I assure you, mourning will be the last thing on

your mind. 1 John 2.16. It's on, it's in your sheet, I think. 1 John 2.16.

Pardon? If you understand the sense of mourning here.

Okay, any questions on that before we move on to mourning a man acquainted with grief?

That's the second aspect of mourning we want to deal with. Any questions on that? Any disagreements?

Okay, blessed are they who mourn. Let's take on a second aspect of mourning.

Guys, the second aspect of mourning, it's under the title of a man acquainted with grief. One of

the names that Jesus is called, which we prefer not referring to him as, is man of sorrows acquainted

with grief. Man of sorrows acquainted with grief. You will never hear a worship leader saying,

we worship you man of sorrows, because somehow that's not something you want to equate

with Jesus Christ, yet instead of him in Isaiah 53. I want to say this to you, if you're looking for

Jesus, you will often find him where Jairus is weeping over his daughter. You'll often find him

following the widow who is walking out of the city carrying the coffin of her only son. You'll

often find him in the porches of Bethesda where they crippled and the lame used to gather and

collect, hoping that an angel would come and stir up the water so that they could touch and be healed.

These are the places you'll find him in. You'll find him at Gethsemane, where people are going

through this horrible time of grief not knowing how to decide stuff. These are the places you find

this man of sorrow is acquainted with grief. Romans 12.5 puts it this way, Paul says Jacob

rejoiced with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. It's in these places guys,

places like Jairus's house, places like the widow outside the city taking a son outside the city of

Nain to be buried in the porches of Bethesda. It's in these places that you suddenly come to

understand, oh shucks, here is this man called the man of sorrows who's acquainted with grief and

grief and the thing about Jesus is that he's not like one of Job's comforters.

Job's comforters were trying their best to offer well-meant words to divert Job's heart.

This is not what we're talking about. This is not someone who gives you well-meant words to divert

your heart because they just don't know what else to say. This is the kind of man who has the ability

to one, understand your grief and then begin to raise the dead, heal the sick, set the demon

possessed boy free and give him back to his father, restore Peter when he's feeling really rotten,

feed the five thousand because he has compassion on them.

Let me put it this way guys, it's not enough to know a God who heals,

I must know his groaning and compassion for those who suffer. One of the things that's happened to

the Charismatic Church is that we know a God who heals but we do not know his groaning and his

compassion over those that he is healing. You'll see this word repeated again and again in the

Bible, he was moved with compassion. It says that Jesus was outside the city of Nain and as he was

walking he saw a woman carrying her son in a coffin and he was moved with compassion so he went and

touched the coffin and they stopped and then he says let your son be raised. Another place, he's

with people they've been listening to him throughout the day and he looks at them and he was moved with

compassion because they had followed him and not eaten for days so he said let us feed them.

He was with a crowd one day and he's mourned for them because he saw them as sheep without a

shepherd and he was moved with compassion and when he was moved with compassion he began to

heal the sick and drive out demons.

It is insufficient to know a God who heals. I must know his groaning and his compassion.

What do you think was happening at Lazarus's tomb? You think he wept because Lazarus had died?

He wept half angry and half sad at this thing called death that robs.

When this becomes a heart, then we become Isaiah 61, three people, then this church will become

the Christ who is sent to heal the broken hearted, who is sent to bring comfort to the mourner,

who is sent to open the eyes of the blind and who is sent to set the prisoner free.

Now it's no longer a power thing, it comes out of this compassion

because that's where you would find Jesus. Man of sorrows acquainted with grief.

I have come to bind up the broken hearted, comfort mourners, give sight to the blind and

freedom to the prisoners. The thing is sometimes guys you can offer people the balm of Gilead

but that's not what they want. They want a little bit of vengeance, a little bit of self-pity

and a little bit of staying where they are in their thinking and when that is the case

there's nothing you can do.

Any questions?

No questions? No additions? No subtractions? Any niggling questions?

I disagree when you say there's nothing we can do.

Okay.

Yeah, no matter how long it takes. True.

The first thing, when we dealt with the first aspect, I so want to engage in this

war on undone thing. At times the worship are meant for that. Guys, if after,

this might discourage you but I'll encourage you after I discourage you.

If after being in this house for four years you are not able to catch glimpses of God in worship

then come and be prayed for because something has to be broken in your life. That's the encouraging

part. The worship that this church engages in has the potential just because of God's grace to us,

nothing else. It's got nothing to do with the worship leader. We have the ability to catch,

if not glimpses, then panoramic views of God and if you are not able to do that then I'm saying to

you come and be prayed for because it's a dullness that needs to be broken. I think we should be

aware of those glimpses in everyday life. True. But one of the ways we catch these panoramic views

is when we intentionally engage God. It does not have to be on a Sunday, it can be at home. I mean,

I asked Eric for his guitar when I was staying on the mountain because how can you not?

Every sunset, every... I'm feeling Eli's bones and I'm thinking to myself, oh shucks oh God.

If it's a broken hearted joke or a broken hearted joke, they don't acknowledge it or recognize it?

That's what... what's your name? Anne was saying that you got to keep pressing in,

man. You don't give up on it. Someone didn't give up on me, man. Not someone, a few people didn't

give up on me. Many did, many did but some didn't. Yeah. A heck of a lot of doctors gave up on Eli.

I'm sorry, I'm laughing at this.

So yeah.

It's okay to laugh on that because it's a glory to a king.

This is a Davidic kind of thing. Now they have naps their teeth and

slink into their little offices. Sorry, now I'm getting really nasty.

Yeah, sorry. Let's move on. Any other additions or questions?

My brother-in-law is a doctor. He's a nice guy.

Okay.

Okay. Guys, there's a third kind of mourning. I've called it mourning seeds of faith.

This is a really cool kind of mourning. Psalm 126, I mean what an odd way to say it. Hey,

I want to tell you about a mourning that's really cool. Psalm 126 verse 6.

Psalms 126:6

Psalm 126 verse 6.

Psalms 126:6

Let me say that again.

How cool is that? It's not that they're not weeping. They're weeping but in their weeping,

they're still carrying seeds with them. Why? Not to eat, not to preserve, not to look and

reminisce but to sow and they will return with songs of joy carrying seeds of joy.

So, they're not weeping. They're weeping but in their weeping, they're still carrying seeds with

them. Guys, what's being said here, it's not the absence of weeping but in the midst of weeping,

there's a presence of life. Think, think. You're silly. We're not talking about the absence of

weeping but the presence of life in the midst of weeping.

Yeah, that's what faith is about. The presence. No, it's not the absence of weeping. Weeping will

happen. There'll be times of grief but in the middle of the grief, you still are carrying seeds

to sow. That's not how people normally respond. What did Job do when everything was taken away

from him? Job says in Job 13-15, even though he slay me, yet I will trust him. What did Habakkuk

say? Though the fig tree shall not blossom, though there be no grapes upon the vine, though the olive

tree may fail its crop, though the fields may be fruitless, though the flock may be cut off and

though there be no cattle in the stall, yet I will rejoice in the Lord my God. I'll do cartwheels of joy.

This is when you go weeping but you're carrying seeds of seeds that you're sowing and you'll

return with songs of joy. What do you think Paul did with Silas in Acts 16-25 where he was manacled

and chained and he begins to sow seeds of exactly the opposite? What do you think Jesus does in Isaiah

53-10-11? For it was God's pleasure to bruise him and to cause him grief and he was willing to take

it on knowing that God's pleasure would prosper in his hands and that he would be satisfied.

What do you think Josh and Becca did when the world was telling them that this boy wouldn't be born?

Go read what Josh writes on the Facebook. You won't find an absence of weeping. His heart weeps

but in the midst of that weeping you will find the presence of life.

It always bears fruit man. What do you think you and I have been doing in different situations

when in the middle of weeping you know I'm carrying seed man and I'm going to sow

and then you find that shortly after you come back with sheaves and you come back joyful.

Blessed are they that mourn this way.

Sheaves are female sheep. No sheaves are sheaves are grain that's bundled.

Yeah you're sowing seed but you're bringing whole a huge harvest back. Guys this is something we

need to engage in. What happens sometimes to Christians is that they weep without taking

seed in their hand. There was a moment Becca was sharing this last there was a moment when

she realized that if she did not speak out life that things would begin to deteriorate. So

her little daughter is there and no one else is around and she's not been doing this for too long.

She's a newbie in a sense of speaking and she begins to speak out life.

You sow with your mouth.

This is what transforms the valley of Baca which is a valley of weeping into the valley of Baraka

which is a valley of blessing. Suddenly in Psalm 84 6 you see that these valleys that were dry

have suddenly pools of refreshing water and fresh rain. You change these valleys.

These are not theories man. We know it's true.

You know what this sowing of seed really is at the heart of it. Here's what it is really.

When I go through difficult situations I refuse I will refuse to taint the character of God.

I may feel angry. I may feel bitter. I may feel let down. I may not understand but one thing that

you and I will do is we will refuse to taint the attributes of the nature and the character of God

because of what you may be going through and that is when your hands are open and seeds suddenly you

find in your hand. It is impossible to have seeds stay in your hand when the attitude is how could

you do it? How can you be so nasty? What a monster you are oh God. You don't say it but between every

hallelujah those are the things you're thinking. Again it's not a matter of words it's a matter of

the heart. It's a heart attitude that refuses to taint the character of God in the midst of tears

and trouble. Father I'm so bitter that my dad died when I was praying but guess what I know who you

are and so I set aside my bitterness that may be my feeling and natural reaction but I know better

and therefore I know how I think and my feelings will match up with what I know of you.

Not what I see in my experience because I refuse to cast any suspicion on your character for I know

you are oh God. That's how.

Suddenly you can't understand why you return with songs of joy carrying sheaves with you

when you went out in morning.

Blessed are they that mourn. And the sense of comfort that God speaks about this comfort

is immediate and continuous. I need us to understand that we have a feeling that there's

some kind of a threshold level maybe 16 tears or 14 groans before God says hmm you've reached

the threshold let me bring you some comfort now. No no no no no. Blessed are they that mourn for

they shall be comforted carries in it the sense of immediate and continuous comfort.

Immediate and continuous comfort. It's just that we don't think so

and therefore we don't know so and therefore we don't experience it.

Immediate and continuous comfort. The word sounds like paracleo. That's the word used.

I don't know how to spell it. You can ask a resident Greek scholar about that one.

But the whole idea of this word paracleo is that you have an outside source calling to you

and coming by your side to help you. It's an outside source.

Blessed are they who mourn for they shall find an outside source calling to them and coming to them

to stand alongside and help them. Let me say that again. Blessed are they that mourn for they will

find an outside source calling to them and then coming to them so that he can stand alongside you

and help you. This is what Jesus was offering in Matthew. Sorry go ahead. Is it an outside source

or an inside source? We'll get there. You see because I'm so engaged in Greek I have to break

it down properly sister. Now you may not know Greek but...

This is what Jesus is offering in Matthew 28 verse 11 when he says come unto me all you that are

Matthew 28:11

weary and heavy laden for I will give you comfort carries in it a sense of rest guys

perhaps a sense of reposing back carries in it rest comfort that is frantic in comfort

comfort that is frantic is in comfort

comfort that is frantic is not comfort

oh yes I have the peace of the lord but you there's always rest in comfort

I'm sorry I'm picking on the Decau family but one of the things that Marty said last night was

when the day that Eli was being born someone he knew died and he was more concerned about the

person who died and not about all the things the doctors had said about Eli being born you know why

because he was absolutely restful in the fact that there was a body of blood and he was

a body of people that were praying for Eli and that he was taken care of ain't that nice

when a grandfather doesn't have to care too much about the birth of a 32-year-old baby because

there's a whole lot of people taking care of it so he was at rest worrying about something else

now if a grandfather can do it with the mere humans how much more us with the father

where you come into this place of rest which is part of comfort where you know that it's

taken care of so you can bother about some other things

today this outside source is as Anne was saying an inside source called the paraclete

who is also called the comforter he comes alongside to deliver what is promised to those in Zion

guys what is it that is promised to those in Zion

I will give you instead of ashes what will I give you

it actually says I will give you a diadem or a tiara of beauty instead of ashes I will give you

ashes I will give you the oil of gladness or joy instead of mourning and I will give you a

garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness this is what the paraclete wants to

bring in comfort to you a diadem or a tiara because in those days as you take ashes and

sprinkle it on your head to show mourning those days they would wear sackcloth to show mourning

those days they would not put any oil or perfume on them to show mourning and yet the paraclete the

holy spirit the comforter saying that this is what I'll give you so the diadem or the crown of

beauty that I'm going to give you understand that what this holy spirit is saying is I will crown you

with a new way of thinking

oil of joy I will anoint you

with a new life within garment of praise I will clothe you

with a new way of speaking

guys once comfort is delivered to you you can be responsible for it you know and walk in it

and walk in it

once comfort is delivered to you you can choose to be responsible for it and walk in it

so that you don't have to go running every two minutes for comfort you can actually

begin to walk in it walk under it be responsible for it

once comfort is delivered to you you can actually begin to walk in it walk under it be responsible for it

be responsible for it a diadem or a tiara or a crown

when the holy spirit gives me comfort I what he also introduces to me is Jacob you've been

distressed about this so let me show you something let me place in you a new way of thinking about

the situation so that you can begin to rest in the comfort I've given you Jacob you're distressed

right now but let me remind you that I have anointed you with new life within you you begin

to live out of him it is possible for you to respond like Jesus responded in the boat

it is possible for you to respond as Jesus responded at Lazarus's tomb

Jacob let me show you how to wear a new way of speaking

but no longer are you counter speaking out from under the mantle of a spirit of heaviness but you now begin to speak out of the garment of praise that I'm putting on you

you can walk in this if you want Jacob you can be responsible for the comfort that I've given you

or you can come back to me again and again and again but I would rather that you begin to walk in maturity like your leader the Christ and begin to operate out of this

for I've appointed this unto you in Zion Zion is the people that begin to come into maturity

which is better a child that comes crying to you every time it's frightened or a mature teenager who now begins to function in ways that you that is responsible

in both cases the parent can comfort but which thrills the parent more

that's the first time I've heard a parent say a teenager thrills me more

good for you Janet may it be so for you yeah yeah yeah it is but usually parents usually parents don't say teenagers thrill them but

good may may bless you

and guys then there's this whole aspect that not too far away is a day when Revelation 21 verse 4 will happen perhaps in my generation perhaps in Tavitha's generation perhaps in Eli's generation

Revelation 21:4

where suddenly we'll realize and savor this whole idea of God will wipe away every tear from your eyes

just imagine not crying ever again

where death will be no more

where I won't know what sorrow is

where I won't have grief or pain

because the old condition that is already on its way out will be completely gone

and the order of things that's already on its way out will have passed away completely

that's already on its way out will have passed away completely that'll be cool

I love what David says in Psalm 42 verses 3 to 5

Psalms 42:3–5

these things I remember as I pour out my soul how I used to

praise the Lord among the happy crowd but why are you so sad my soul why so distressed within me put your hope in God for I will yet praise in my

my God and my Redeemer Psalm 42 verses 3 to 5

Psalms 42:3–5

questions guys

blessed are the meek is what we'll be dealing with next blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth

you'll have to bring 1500 dollars for this real estate course and

I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do that

Any questions

Please practice it please go home and practice it

Father we bless you Abba what can we say never knew that to be as it used to like this

I thought there was stuff that you kind of put together like it was your first go at things Jesus

but they're so rich should have known better

should have known better

so

I'm not saying this for your benefit but for our benefit oh God

blessed are they that mourn

allow us to catch these views and glimpses of you as Isaiah did so that

our hearts will grieve

at where we are at with a desire to become better that our hearts will grieve at the things that distress and dishonor you