Beacon Sunday Service November 19th 2023

In truth that the true knowledge of God comes from fearing him first, putting him at the forefront of everything that we do, he is who he worship, and he is over all things, and so may we come before the Lord appropriately this morning, uh, just with a fear, reverence, and awe of who he is. Let's sing together this morning.

So that he's worthy, worthy of every song we could ever sing, worthy of all the praise we could ever be, worthy of every breath we could ever be, live for you, live for you, Jesus Jesus the name above every other name, Jesus the only one who could ever say worthy of every breath we could ever free live for you if you holy holy there is no one like you there is none beside you open my eyes in one show me who you are and feel me with your heart and your love to grow me Jesus the name above every other name Jesus the only one who could ever say worthy of every breath we could ever be live for you live for you holy there is no one like you there is none beside you my eyes in one you are in feeling with your heart and need me in your love to those around me holy there is no one like you there is none beside you open up my eyes in one show me who you are and fill me with your heart and your love to those our fill I will build my life upon your word I trust in I will not be saved, I will lie upon your bounty I will put my will not be taken holy there is no one like you there is none beside you open of my eyes in one show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me I will fill my word it is mountain I will trust in I will not be shaken darkness when darkness deepen the path unsure the sun is hidden by the storm I look to heaven and cry to thee oh God be here with me again when darkness deepen when darkness deepen the path unsure the sun is hidden by the store I look to heaven and cry to thee oh every breath every joy and tear every passing out let me know your near in life in death for eternity oh God be here with me when faith is shaken when faith is taken when peace around my feet will stand on solid ground in every season my song will be oh God be every breath in every breath every joy and tear every passing let me know your near in life in death for eternity oh God be with me and in that moment, and in that moment we're face to face.

I will not meet these eyes of faith forever after God, I will see that you always take me. Oh you always be in with me in every breath, every joy and tear, every passing. Let me know your need in life, in death for eternity. Oh God, you are with me in every breath in every breath, every joy and tear, every passing, let me know your me, in death for eternity, O God, you are here with me.

Oh God be with me. This morning we will confess our faith using the Baptist Catechism. In this question and answer, we will confess what biblical repentance is. And here's the question. What is repentance unto life? And together, repentance unto life is a saving grace by which a sinner out of a true sense of his sin and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ does with grief and hatred of his sin. Turn from it to God with full purpose of an endeavor after new obedience. Amen. And that's what Christ has saved us into. He is us paid for the price of our sin. And he calls us into obedience of Him. It's what we heard last week that not only do we hear the word, but we act upon it. Not that our act is gonna save us in any way, shape, or form, but because it's out of love for what Christ has already done for us.

So let's continue this time of worship and just acknowledge him as a Lord over all sinking for the throne for the throne of God above I have a strong and perfect a great high priest name never lives and pleasure me.

No tongue can bid me then no tongue can bid me then deep Satan temp to despair and felt the kills within a word I look and see him there and to all sin. Because the sinless Savior die my sinful soul.

For God the just is on him to love God and part me.

One with himself I cannot die. My soul inflict my life is hidden with Christ on Christ my Savior.

One with himself, one with himself, I not die.

My life is fitted with Christ my Savior.

As we are here to worship our Lord and to be remembered of his saving grace, it's also important for us to take the time to acknowledge our struggles, the things that we continually, even in our salvation, in our process of sanctification, we need to acknowledge just that we struggle with sin. There's things that we are always gonna have that uh will weigh us down. So let's take this time to corporately confess our sin together, and um afterwards we'll have an individual time of confession. So together, living in eternal God, we acknowledge that we have tried to hide from you. Instead of living for you, we have lived for ourselves. Instead of loving you and our neighbors, we have been self-consumed.

In your great mercy, forgive our many sins and free us from selfishness. Please unite our hearts to Jesus, who is a Prince of Pea. We trust in the shed blood to empower us for wholly living. Amen. Please be seated. Let's have a time of private confession of sin to our Lord.

Here's your assurance of pardon. As the Father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For we for we know our frame, he remembers that we are dust. Today's prayer topic is one of just from our daily November prayer topics that we have been doing. Apologies for not having one ready yesterday, but we sent two this morning. Please read the one that's or please pray over number eighteen today, and we will pray over number 19 together. So I'm going to read over this prayer topic, and together let's pray over the things that are written in these words and any inspiration from just praying for our church as it comes to mind. So it says, Lord, please provide us with a minister to be the next lead pastor over the beacon.

Thank you for providing speakers in the meantime while we are patiently waiting on someone new to join our ministry. So let's pray over this.

Lord, we know that you have someone in mind, someone that we do not know, someone that we cannot foresee. But Lord, in your great understanding of your plan and path for our ministry, you know, Father. So Lord, as each day that goes by and each as time and your planning comes to fruition, Father, we pray that our our paths would cross. That we have would have a minister that is ready to take on just our our church and grow together and being a gospel-centered church that loves you, that wants to glorify your kingdom.

As we will see later today.

Got from the Lighthouse Children's Seminar. But we're gonna it was not handed out. I announced it last week, but it's gonna be handed handed out today. So parents, if you get one, if you receive one, please go over it this week with your children. I'm gonna go over the announcements for today. So in lieu of meeting here at church, we're going to be meeting at the Lee's household, so my house. We're meeting next week. So if you can see on the bottom of the first announcement, there's an address. Please write that address down. It's 236 South Plymouth Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, 9004. We're gonna be meeting there for service. So in lieu of meeting, we're gonna have our Thanksgiving Friends Giving Fellowship at our house.

So we're gonna have a normal Sunday service at the house with included with children's ministry, and then we're gonna have our pot luck afterwards. So please arrive anywhere from 9:30 to 10 a.m. to set up your food. Uh the oven will not be available. Sorry, but please take the time and plan accordingly so that you can get to the house on in time to set up everything. I'm not gonna tell you what time we're starting service, but please come in between 9:30 and 10. Ummediately after service today, we're going to take the time to uh do our Christmas decorations since we won't be at church next week. We're gonna take some time to do it today. Um, but with that, the church will be providing lunch.

So immediately after church, I'm gonna be taking your lunch requests. We'll kind of figure out where we're gonna eat, put in an order really quickly, and as we are you know decorating our church, um, we'll just wait for the food to arrive or someone will go pick it up. So please come to me and let me know what you want for your order. I have yet to decide what we're gonna eat. I'll take suggestions gladly. Um, as we covered today, um, we have our daily emails for daily prayer topics. Um I will ask uh Tiff to send them out in the morning. I think in terms of just when they've been sent out, they've kind of been sent out throughout the day, so you kind of have to be on your toes and constantly checking your email.

But I have her send her in the in the morning so that you have it for the day. But please remember to pray over the topics as they are really crucial. I don't know if you've noticed in terms of just how we've been praying over things, but in the beginning, we prayed for a healthy church. We want, even in the midst of not having uh a lead shepherd, we want to make sure that we're praying over the things that are necessary for our church to be uh successful uh for God's kingdom. And so we want to be a healthy church, and now we're leading into praying over just this pastoral search, and as you see, we're gonna be praying over specific things that uh as your life kind of goes on, and the older you get, there's specific things that you can pray for as our prayer topics kind of go on.

So please know that there is intent with every day, every prayer topic that we're praying over. Um as you see in the back, there's a children's ministry signup sheet. Please double check to see if you can actually make that uh date. If you are unable to, please swap or add a backup date that you can serve. Uh, if you're not able to, please write so on the in the chart and Tiff will get back to you. Um we have our offering options, Zell Venmo Cash and Check. Uh as per usual, uh as a member of the beacon, we ask that you give as the Lord has been blessing you in your life. If you're visiting, please don't feel obligated to give. Uh, with that, I'm gonna welcome our today's guest speaker. His name is Seishi Kamimura.

Uh, he came back in September on the 24th, and he preached on how we find delight in the written word for its wisdom that changes us bringing by bringing us to the living word. Um, just as a refresher for his who he is, he grew up in the South Bay and came out of UCLA for undergrad, went to the Massive Semera seminary in 2021. He's been married to his wife who's joined us today, Ruth Ann from uh in October 2020, and they have a seven-month-old named Luca. Very cute. Um, he is currently serving at Lighthouse, mainly in their college ministry, uh, as well as their counseling ministry. And um as many of the pastors have come from Lighthouse, his heart is to serve in long-term missions in Japan.

So their goal uh and target departure date is to go by the end of August 2024. So let's give him a warm welcome. Thank you, Phil.

I'm glad to be here again uh this morning, and glad that my wife and our son Luca can be here with you guys. I am really encouraged to see your guys' faith as you continue to meet together, and uh we're continuing to pray for you guys that the Lord will provide a pastor uh at the right time uh speedily. Um this morning's message comes from the Sermon on the Mount, uh, Matthew chapters five to seven. Um we will be looking at the Beatitudes, which is the very beginning of this sermon. So uh if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn to Matthew five. Matthew five. I'll be reading from verses one to twelve. So if you are able, uh, I invite you to stand for the reading of God's word. Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

This is the word of the Lord. The Sermon on the Mount is arguably Jesus' most famous sermon in the Bible. It's where we find many of his familiar sayings, uh, including his the commands to turn the other cheek, uh, to not judge, that you won't be judged, and the golden rule uh do unto others what you would have them do unto you. The Sermon on the Mount essentially answers this question. Uh, what does it mean to truly follow Christ? Uh a Welsh pastor in the 20th century, uh named Martin Lloyd Jones, he preached through the Sermon on the Mount, and he explained the need for this sermon as to combat the superficiality of the Christian church. In the history of the church, there have been times of great revival, but there have also been times of spiritual famine, where worldliness has crept in to the church, where it has become more about going through the motions of religious activity, but there is missing, there's lacking an earnest desire for true righteousness in all areas of our lives.

And so there will always be for all of us that fight against worldliness, the temptation to want to pursue both God and the things of the world. So we need to take in this sermon, uh, what a pastor John Stock calls Christian counterculture. We want to let this uh sermon um and really these beatitudes really search us out and to show us again how we are to truly live as disciples of Christ, counter to the culture that we live in. So we're gonna focus on the beatitudes. Uh if you've studied or heard messages on the beatitudes before, you may know that you can spend a whole sermon on just one beatitude. Um but that's uh not what I'm gonna do. I'm I'm gonna actually cover it all. Uh but first I'm gonna give an introduction to the Sermon on the Mount as a whole, uh, so that you can consider reading it later on in the week, uh meditating on it on your own in the coming weeks.

Um then I'm gonna give an introduction to the Beatitudes as a whole, and then I'm gonna go one by one explaining it and then give an application so that it might go deeper into our hearts and lives. So it's a lot to cover, so we'll get into it. Uh here are three foundational ideas about the Sermon on the Mount as a whole. These are chapters five through seven. This sermon is about discipleship, it's about discipleship. In verse 1, chapter five, verse 1, seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. So we see here that Jesus is speaking to a crowd. Those who have been healed by him earlier, those who probably want to be healed, those who heard of his miracles, and are curious enough to want to go see and hear him teach.

But Jesus is specifically saying here that among the crowds, he is addressing the disciples directly. In fact, taking a step back, this gospel writer, Matthew, the writer of this book, he's he's writing to a primarily Jewish audience. And so Matthew gives not only many quotes from the Old Testament, but he makes many allusions and connections to the Old Testament. And in this very verse, we see that the writer is doing that. He's drawing an imagery from Exodus, when Moses went up on the mountain of Sinai and received the law, received the Ten Commandments for God's people, the Israelites. And in that law, in Deuteronomy, Moses himself says to the Israelites, Deuteronomy 18. It says that the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers.

It is to him you shall listen. This is what Moses is saying. And again, in verse 19, he says, um, this is what the Lord says whoever will not listen to my words, the Lord's words, that he, this prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. And so here's what's happening. Here he is, Jesus now, centuries and centuries later, the prophesied prophet who speaks with the authority of God. This Jesus is giving the new covenant law. And we know this association with Moses and the coming prophet is true because of the way the gospel writer Matthew ends this sermon in chapter 7. Here's how he ends it, verse 28 of chapter 7. When Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

This teacher is different.

So here is one implication from this.

That it is not an impossible standard. I think sometimes some people might read chapters 5 to 7, the Sermon on the Mount, and think this is just to just meant to show how far we fall short. Just to point out that we can't live this out at all. I mean, who can turn the other cheek all the time? Who can love perfectly in this way? Well, it does, it does show us how far we fall short. But the whole point of this message is that Jesus actually expects every true disciple to follow and obey what he says. But not perfectly, but truly. So this is about discipleship, all of us as disciples of Christ. The second foundational idea of the Sermon on the Mount is that this message is about the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God.

When Jesus began his ministry, he came preaching, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And right before the Sermon on the Mount, actually, in chapter 4, verse 23, Jesus, he's going over all over Galilee, and he is proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, the kingdom. And now he he enters into this long discourse in chapters five to seven. And you see the kingdom mentioned throughout this whole Sermon on the Mount, eight times to be exact. And in fact, the Beatitudes, the Beatitudes, are bookended by this statement, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. It's repeated twice. And you note also the present tense, for there's is the kingdom of heaven. And this stands out because all the other blessings, all the other rewards, the second half of the Beatitudes, they're spoken of in the future tense.

For example, they will be comforted, they will inherit the earth. Now the sermon most definitely talks about the kingdom in the future, in the future tense. It's something that you enter after judgment. It's something that you pray will come. You know, Father, your kingdom come. But this future reality is so sure. It's so sure that it's talked about here in the Beatitudes as something presently belonging to you. It belongs to you now. It's your possession. What does this mean? Well, the Sermon on the Mount is about the future kingdom of God that presently belongs to us. And today, by our lives, we demonstrate that we are citizens of this kingdom. A third and final foundational idea about the Sermon on the Mount.

It is this it's that your whole life declares who you are. Your whole life, how you live your life, your actions, your behavior, it they declare who you really are. The structure of the sermon speaks to this. It's kind of like Paul's letters. If you're familiar with, for example, Ephesians, you know that the first half is talking about truth statements, uh indicatives, and the second half are about the imperatives, commands. First, this is who you are, and then second, this is how you are to live. So it is with the Sermon on the Mount. First, you have the Beatitudes, which are more about character, about who you are. Um, and then it leads to action. This is how you are to live your life, behavior.

The kind of person you are, it will bear fruit in the kind of life you live. And so for this morning, we're just going to focus more on the character. On the character. So this is an introduction to the Sermon on the Mount as a whole, and again, I encourage you to continue reading it on your own. Uh now we're going to talk about the beatitudes as a whole. Just introductory remarks. I'm going to give you four quick remarks. First is on the meaning of beatitude. Beatitude. Uh, we want to clarify some misconceptions. Uh, some have uh equated the word beatitude with beattitude, like you're supposed to have this attitude to think and feel this way. Uh, but but it's it's more, it's more than this.

The word beatitude itself, it means blessedness, blessedness. And so the beatitudes are pronouncements of blessing on you. God pronouncing his blessing on you. And the Greek word for blessed, uh, makarios, it actually can mean happy, happy, but I think for us the word happy, how happy are those who blank, I think it can be subjective. And so the focus here is not on the subjective feeling of happiness, it's the objective blessing of God. Now, some have used the word congratulations to draw out this point. So God is saying this is the kind of person that is to be congratulated, is to be praised, is to be commended. And so it's not ultimately about our attitude or our own happiness, although it includes these things.

It's about God declaring that this kind of person is blessed. Alright, second remark here. Uh, these beatitudes are taken together, they're they're not isolated from one another. For example, you can't have someone who is poor in spirit, uh, but who is not merciful. It's kind of like uh the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5, love, joy, peace, so forth. Uh, they all go together. They're all aspects of the same singular fruit. And so it is here. Uh, you can't say, like, oh, I excel in this uh in meekness and so forth, but it's okay if I don't hunger and thirst after righteousness. The disciple of Christ has all of these qualities, they stand together. A third remark is that the Beatitudes, uh, they're not about natural temperaments or personality.

It's a supernatural quality. You might think some people are just given to being a peacemaker. You know, so and so is is just calm disposition and and just uh is friendly to all. Uh but me, I'm naturally assertive. You know, I can even be aggressive. Well, if it were true that the beatitudes are about natural temperament, then some people would have an advantage. Um, because then it would be based on your personality. But that's not the case. Our understanding of being a peacemaker would have to be corrected. It's not talking about this personality, it's a supernatural quality, which we'll explain more as we take each one. Um, last remark on the Beatitudes of the whole.

They're experienced now, but in its fullness later. It's our present experience. It is. It's true that in Christ we are now comforted. We are now shown mercy, that we are now children of God. But it is not until the coming kingdom that we get to enjoy the fullness of these blessings. Alright, so those are just helpful remarks to get us into these beatitudes individually. So let's start with the first one. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Let's first say what this does not mean. This is not someone who is timid or shy or fearful. To be poor in spirit is talking about this consciousness of our great need for God. In the Old Testament, the materially poor, they're often those who truly understood this, how dependent they are on God, his provision for food and clothing and protection.

And so in the Old Testament, the materially poor came to have spiritual overtones. And so even King David, David, who is a king, says in Psalm 34, 6, this poor man cried. He's referring to himself. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. So to be poor in spirit is it's not fundamentally about material need, it's it's about our great need spiritually. That apart from God, we we are spiritually bankrupt. We have nothing in us, in ourselves that makes us worthy of God's favor. We have nothing to offer God to say, uh, look, look at me, God, look, look at me. This is why I'm worthy of your favor, favor. There's there's nothing in us. To take uh an example from scripture, um, we look at the example of Paul, the Apostle Paul, very accomplished man, a Pharisee of the Pharisees.

He is gifted, he's well educated under this man named Gamaliel. Uh, and and yet to the Corinthian believers, this is what Paul says: I didn't come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. Instead, I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. Paul is not, he's not relying on his abilities or his gifting or his education or his religious pedigree. Uh he's he's he's very conscious of his great need for God. He's depending on the Lord. Now, is this the kind of person we are? Uh now, what does it look like a little bit more practically to be poor in spirit? I think we can think of our prayer life as one example of our prayer life. Uh, prayerlessness is not ultimately about uh failing to perform a Christian duty.

Uh it's it's ultimately a declaration of self-sufficiency, that we don't need God in order to live this life. But the poor in spirit are those who constantly go to God, who seek refuge in Him. Now, how often do we go to God throughout the day? Because we're conscious of our need for Him, even to pause to slow down and express our need again for Him. Not to treat God again as a genie, but to get just something that we want, a particular outcome that we want. We certainly should ask for things, ask for His favor, uh, because we want ultimately Him to be glorified, not just for our own benefit, but for Him to be glorified in what we ask for. But we should also be asking for the faith to see Him as our greatest treasure, even if don't if things don't work out the way we hope for.

Now I want to ask something more specific, even about our prayer lives. Uh, are there areas in our lives that we are not bringing before the Lord? Uh maybe it's a strained relationship with a friend. Uh, maybe it's it's our fear of man at work. Maybe it's the use of our money, how we give, how we spend. Maybe it's our time, maybe it's our evenings and how we choose to relax. Maybe it's it's my anger towards my spouse and my kid, or even just about our marriage. Are there things that we don't bring before the Lord deliberately because we're afraid of what might happen, of how God might be calling us to do something if we do bring it to him? Or maybe it's it's it's not deliberate, it's just unintentional.

It is an important area of our life, but we're we're just overlooking. But functionally, when we do this, we're doing it in our own strength instead of seeking the Lord and receiving his grace in it. So this sense of need and desperation before God, it only comes when we are face to face with a great God, when we remember him. But not only are we struck by our smallness before a great and mighty and holy God, at the same time, we're struck by our sinfulness. And that's where we get the second beatitude. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. And as I shared in the introduction, it's not about natural temperament here. Those who mourn are not those who tend toward pessimism, uh, those who are sullen or or given to self-pity.

Um, it's true that um anyone and everyone, right, Christian or not, mourns in the face of anything tragic. Um, for example, the death of the loved one. It is right to mourn in this way. There's no one who is unaffected by sadness, who remains unscathed by the fallness and brokenness of this world. But but here, mourning, it's primarily speaking about mourning over sin and the havoc that sin has brought on this world. That's why Romans 8 talks about how we as believers we groan inwardly because this world is not what it should be. It is full of suffering. And not only do we mourn because of the sin out there, because of the sin in the world, the sins of others, but we mourn over our own sin.

That's why we um repented corporately even this morning. The Old Testament talks about mourning to describe repentance. Psalm 51, one of David's Psalms of repentance, it says in verse 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. Oh God, you will not despise.

Uh in Scripture, that when they behold God in his holiness, they are suddenly struck by their sinfulness. We see this in Isaiah, Isaiah 6, when he sees the vision of the Lord, he says, Woe is me. Woe is me, for I am lost. I'm a man of unclean lips. We see this in Peter, when he is um with Jesus, he's listening to Jesus teach. Uh Jesus tells Peter to cast his net on the other side of the boat. Peter's been trying to do that the whole night, but hasn't caught anything. And then all of a sudden, because Jesus says so, he catches all this fish miraculously. Then what happens next? Jesus or Peter recognizes who this man is, and he says, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man. We see other examples of this, but this is what happens to us as well when we are confronted by Christ and His holiness.

We we cannot help but be confronted by our own unworthiness of our sin. But Jesus says, It is to you, it is to these people who truly mourn, who shall be comforted. Christ does not cast us out for our sin, but he calls out to us, he invites us, he cleanses us, he restores us and makes us whole. Now, what can it look like in our lives to mourn truly? I want to think about two areas in our lives, suffering and our own sin. So, first, suffering. Think of those times when you are upset or or frustrated or just disappointed, sad. Um, maybe it's when uh a child is is not listening to you about something you've already talked to them so many times about. Maybe it's this relationship with your spouse that you get into the same conflict over and over again.

It just seems like you're at an in pass. Uh, maybe it's a relative or a coworker, uh, something that they have done that you think is absolutely unfair, inconsiderate, just wrong. To mourn over what is not right is to bring to God, to bring to him what is wrong in the things that are hard. How are you taking to God your anger, your worries, the disappointments, unmet expectations, things that aren't going your way? Is lamenting to Him a regular part of our lives? Without lamenting to God, we will react sinfully to the wrong done to us and make it more about us and our kingdom instead of about God and his kingdom. Without bringing our sorrows to God, we're gonna forsake the experience of reassurance that we get from him.

We're gonna forsake receiving wisdom and perspective and even gratitude that God will fill our hearts with. Now, second area, uh, that was suffering and now sin. What does it mean to truly mourn over our sin? Well, what does confession sound like for you? Uh does confession tend to be general? You know, can we be more specific with our anger, about our selfishness, about our worry? What are these things saying about what we are loving more than God? Is the sorrow that we are feeling, a godly sorrow that is leading to repentance, to true change, a greater love for God. Now, our next beatitude, the third one is verse 5: Blessed are the meek, the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Being meek or humble is not about being a pushover or about being apologetic or wishy-washy or being flabby.

Um, it's what is described in Isaiah 66, one to two. There says the high and lofty one, the Lord says, This is the one to whom I will look. The very God of the universe says, I'm gonna look at this person. He who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. The mark of meekness is the one who trembles at God's word. In other words, fears God and obeys him. Even Jesus Himself has said, I do as the Father has commanded me. The mark of humility, meekness is obedience. But here's something else about meekness and humility. I think this is when it becomes more apparent when we are not humble. Uh, it's one thing to be honest with ourselves before God, but it's another thing for someone else to say the same thing about me.

So, for example, I can I can say, Yes, I I know I'm selfish in how I spend my free time, but for you to point that out to me, that'll rile me up. Um as Martin Lloyd Jones has said, uh meekness is essentially a true view of oneself expressing itself in attitude and conduct with respect to others. The man who is truly meek is the one who's truly amazed that God and man can think of him as well as they do and treat him as well as they do. Uh so what can it look like to be meek? Uh, think with me of of the conversations and interactions that we have with others, those, even those who we feel we are close with. Uh, in the things that we share with people, uh, do we tend to be self-protective? You know, holding others at arm's length, not letting others in, or we're quick to turn the conversation to the other person or to something else because we're just uncomfortable talking more openly and deeply about ourselves.

Are we not really open with anyone about what's going on in our heart, about what we're struggling with? Is there a sense of being really guarded about our image, about how we want to portray ourselves to others? Do we tremble more at what other people might think of us than we tremble at his word? This is not the person who is meek, but who is proud, too concerned about the opinions of man more than fearing and pleasing God. I'm gonna take it a little step even further. This is something that I've recently been convicted of. If I am really aware of indwelling sin and my need for help from God and from others, do I ask others to pray for me? Do I ask others to pray for me? Or am I more concerned about not exposing my weakness or things that are hard for me?

Am I more concerned about I don't want to be a burden on someone else? I recently heard this quote on the grace of confessing sin to others, to others. The quote goes like this. If you want to stay stuck in your sin, confess it only to God. If you want to stay stuck in your sin, confess it only to God. If you want to stay stuck in your impatience toward a particular person, your your anxiety and fears about the things that are happening in your life, your even maybe apathy to the things of God, just confess it to God, but keep it hidden from others. But if I'm convicted of sin and my eyes are open to see it, how readily do I confess my sin to my wife or to others that are walking with me? Um in our close friendships, trusted friendships.

Are we are we pretty selective or pretty vague about the things that we struggle with? Um but it is when we confess sin to others, walk in the light together, ask others to pray for us, invite others to walk with us. That is when we experience the power of God to truly change our hearts, to satisfy us, to satisfy us. And that's our next beatitude here, verse six. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Now let's connect uh all the beatitudes that have come up to this point. Uh, when we come before this great and awesome God, we are brought low. We're brought low. We feel that there's truly nothing in us before him. That and in fact, we're so struck with how very um very much unlike we are to a holy God.

Uh we are brought low in our sin. And we become meek toward others. Well, we're not better than others, people other people. Uh we're not ultimately concerned about our own image, how others might see us, but we are concerned more about righteousness, about righteousness. This is what you do, you hunger or thirst after righteousness. Now notice the verbs here. They're very vivid, picturesque, and and to hunger and thirst. This must be part of why God designed us this way, our bodies this way, that we would need food and water to survive. We all know what it feels like to hunger and thirst. Um, maybe you know, in other parts of the world more intensely than we do here, but still, we know what it's like.

And what Jesus is describing here, this is not a passing feeling. It's not a flicker, so to speak. It is a sense of desperation. It is something uh intense, consistent, uh, a strong urge to draw this out further. One commentator has said, um, it's not enough to be hungry uh in the way that we might perceive hunger. He says, you must be starving. The commentator described it this way when the prodigal son was hungry, he went to feed upon husks, pig food. Uh, but when he was starving, he turned to his father. He turned to his father. And what is it that we can hunger and thirst for other than righteousness? I think we can hunger and thirst for success and not being a failure in the eyes of my family or my friends.

I'm more concerned about not being seen as a failure than I am about pleasing God. Um, do we hunger and thirst for achievement and accomplishment in our work? That we will continue to climb the corporate ladder, even though it comes at the cost of caring for those in our life, our family. Do we hunger and thirst for recognition from others, from even those in the church? Even though this means we we neglect our spiritual health, our closeness with God, our time with him. Do we hunger and thirst for comfort? When we've had a long day, we just don't want to engage our spouse or kids at home. We just want me time at home. These are the things that we can inadvertently hunger and thirst for instead of righteousness.

Now here in this Beatitude, we see this great paradox, a great paradox. If we hunger and thirst after our own happiness, our own comfort, our own pleasure, we will not be satisfied in the truest sense. We will want more and more. We'll want the next thing. We'll want something else. But Jesus says that those who pursue righteousness shall be satisfied. Now, how can this be? This doesn't mean that when you choose righteousness or obey or love that it's going to necessarily feel good. In fact, it'll likely feel very unpleasant. But the satisfaction comes in knowing that our Father in heaven is pleased. The satisfaction comes knowing more of the rest that Christ gives, even the gratitude that begins to fill our heart, the hope and comfort of a sure future, the peace of God that we can rest in his sovereignty.

That is the satisfaction that Christ works in our heart when we choose righteousness over whatever else. Next, uh Beatitude, verse 7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

I've been said that grace has especially to do with sin and guilt. Whereas mercy uh is associated especially with the consequences of sin. It's more about the suffering, the misery that results from sin. It is uh in mercy is a sense of pity plus a desire to relieve the suffering. So, uh examples, it's the good Samaritan tending to the physical needs of the beaten man. It is God himself out of his great compassion, sending his son to relieve the suffering of his people. It is Jesus touching the untouchable, the unclean. It is Jesus walking with his betrayer for three long years. It is Jesus while on the cross, dying, still praying for his enemies, Father, forgive them. That is the picture of mercy.

Um we we live in a time where we have just instant access, right, to news uh everywhere in the world, uh and certainly news across the city, um, and we hear of so much suffering, endless suffering. And of course, we're not made or meant to alleviate uh all the suffering that we hear about, not meant to feel overwhelmed by by all that is around us and feel like we're failures because we can't meet all of them. Even Jesus did not meet every single need to heal every single sick person that he could have. But but what should characterize us, what this beatitude is getting at, is that we would go out of our way, though it inconveniences us to help someone because we see this person's real need in our ability to meet that need.

And certainly not just the physical help, but when someone has morally wronged us, right? It's also the readiness and the willingness to forgive because of the great forgiveness we've been shown. I think it would be helpful here to compare meekness, this beat um our third beatitude, with mercy, this one, this fifth one. John Stott has said uh to be meek is to acknowledge to others that we are sinners. To be merciful is to have compassion on others, for they are sinners too. And so, what can me uh what can mercy, being merciful look like? And I like to um consider mercy in the area of our disagreements and conflicts that we can have with others. You know, if you're like me, I you know what this is like.

Um are we quick to be offended when we are in a conflict? Are we quick to be defensive? Are we quick to blame the other person, to focus on the other person's sin and slow to acknowledge the wrong that we have done that we have contributed to? To be merciful is to be quick to seek understanding of how I might have wronged you, to grow in compassion, to understand more of this person's perspective and world. When we are tempted to move away from the other person, stay away from the other person, to be merciful is to move toward the person, not to ignore the wrong done, but to absorb it or to constructively address it, not to look down on the other person, but to do away with what is holding me back, my my pride, and to humbly come alongside to show the mercy that has been extended to me.

Now, verse uh eight, uh going on to our next beatitude. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. What does it mean to be pure in heart? I think there are two aspects here. One is referring to to moral character, moral purity. It's the inward and true as opposed to just the outward, the merely outward display of righteousness. But there's another sense of being pure in heart, and it refers to this loyalty to God, sincere loyalty to him, singular devotion to him. Psalm 86, 11 says, Unite my heart, unite it to fear your name. Verse 12 says, I will give thanks to you with my whole heart. Whole heart. That is what pure in heart is talking about. Now, while this is first and foremost true vertically, it must also be true horizontally in our relationships.

That is why Paul says in 1 Timothy 1 5, he's talking about ministry, the purpose of ministry. He says, the aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart. From a pure heart. Um, what can this look like? Think of those times when uh it's harder for you to love. When is it harder for you to love someone? And maybe it is a difficult person in your life uh to love. Maybe it's a difficult situation at work or the coming holidays with family, relatives. Um here's one small, it's a very small example from my own life. Uh I remember when I was at UCLA, um, we would have meals together. Uh I was a part of this on-campus fellowship, which was large, to almost 200 people or so. Um, and so our class was maybe 35, 40 consistent.

Uh, and we would have meals together in these large groups to encourage fellowship and unity. Um, and for me, um I've grown in this, but I I personally uh don't favor small talk. It's it's easier for me to get into just deeper conversations, and I prefer that. I prefer the one-on-ones, uh, just just easier, right? Um, and and over time I've I've learned, yeah, uh, the value of all kinds of conversations. Um, but uh at the time, um, it's hard. It's hard to have be in a large group. Um, and um, so I I would sometimes think it's it's just not worth it, right? I'd rather be meeting up with someone one-on-one, or I might just be spending my time elsewhere. Um, but if I am to be singularly devoted to God and pure in my love for others, it means that this is uh a part of what love looks like, to engage.

There's purpose to us meeting together as a class. Um, this is what it means like to be devoted. Doesn't mean I have to be there every week, but it means I I don't just brush this aside. Like it's just not for me. It is an expression of love. So, so what is it? What is that for you? You know, what when is it harder to love from a pure heart? I mean, is there a person that comes to mind? Or maybe there are social settings that you find uncomfortable, that it's it's harder to be present in. Or maybe it's your circumstance. You have so many things on your plate right now that it is easy to get impatient and annoyed instead of slowing down, being patient, entrusting to him what you don't get done, and seeking to wisely love the person in front of you.

Now, the Lord is working in us of this great greater devotion to love one another from a pure heart. Verse 9, uh, the next Beatitude says, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Now, peacemaking uh is not about uh just being easygoing or carefree, easy to get along personality. Um this is not peace at all costs. It's not um, I don't want to cause any trouble or I don't want to be a burden on others. In fact, being conflict averse, like I tend toward, uh, it may very well go against being a true peacemaker. This is because being a peacemaker means first acknowledging that that sin is the essential problem, bringing division between God and man, between people. And what can this look like with a with a friend who's a Christian, being a peacemaker?

Well, it can be very easy for the love of my own comfort to ignore or sidestep a significant sin issue or pattern that I see. But peacemaking involves however messy it is, uh, and and I might even be in like sinfully approaching it, but peacemaking involves bringing it up and not not just leaving the person there, uh, but it shows commitment to walk with this person because I'm more concerned about this person's relationship with God and worship of him. What is peacemaking look like with someone who is not a Christian? I think one of the sweetest graces is seeing someone, a non-Christian uh family member or friend that that you have a relationship with, you've you've um been with for years, um, and other people are reaching out to this person, um, and and to see this person come to know the Lord, to see your prayers, the prayers of others, your love bear fruit in this person's life.

Truly come to know their savior. And honestly, for me, being since being in ministry, uh, it's been harder to develop ongoing deeper relationships with unbelievers outside the church. Um, it's it's harder to to facilitate that, but that doesn't give me a pass, right? Um I really have to go out of my way to develop these relationships. And it'll look different according to the season of life that you're in, but this is what we are all called to peacemaking. Is there someone in your life right now where you can be instrumental in bringing peace between this person and God? Now, here's the final beatitude. Um, I think verses 11 and 12 uh elaborate on verse 10. And so I'll read again verses 10 to 12.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you, and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Now here we see another paradox. Uh those who are truly peacemakers are the ones who will be persecuted. And notice the key words persecuted for righteousness' sake, or verse 11, persecuted on Jesus' account. We're not persecuted because we are overzealous or annoying or obnoxious or inconsiderate, but because of our allegiance to Jesus and His ways. Now, if we were to put ourselves in the shoes of the first disciples of Jesus, those who are listening to him, many of them are Jewish, right?

And this beatitude would have been much needed. A great comfort for Jewish believers. Because here they are following Jesus as the Messiah, while the religious leaders are denying Jesus. And so for these Jewish believers, being persecuted by your own countrymen, by other fellow Jews, it's it's comforting to know that they are not in the wrong, that they're not, that they are indeed, that they are indeed following the God of Israel, the God of Abraham. Just as the prophets of the Old Testament suffered at the hands of fellow Jews. Now to wrap this up here, this is the picture of a disciple of Jesus. This is who he or she is in their character. You know, I have this consciousness of my great need for God.

I'm prayerful because I'm absolutely dependent on the Lord to live a life pleasing to him. I to love as Christ calls me to love, and yet I know I fail. I fail every day. And so I mourn and confess my sin and repent. I ask for help. I invite others to walk with me. I come alongside come alongside others, um, seeking after what is most pleasing to God together. I even doing things that stretch me that make me uncomfortable as I extend mercy to others, and not to get something from them, but from a pure heart, loving, because I want to seek their highest good, which is for them to know more of what it means to be satisfied by Christ, and to love in this way, even if it brings misunderstanding from this person or suffering from others, even persecution.

Uh Bekin L. It is when we live like this that God says, Jesus says we are blessed. But this is not merely a picture of you and me as followers of Christ. It is also the glorious picture of our Lord and Savior Himself. Let's consider him. He though he was rich, though Jesus was rich, he became poor. He left his heavenly glory to be with us, to walk among sinners in a broken world, that he would take on flesh, he would make himself nothing, to become even a servant for us. This is Jesus, not who is not indifferent to our sin and our plight, but he wept. He wept over Jerusalem, he wept at the sight of those mourning over his friend Lazarus' death. He wept over unbelief, wept over the death and destruction that sin has brought.

Our Lord was meek, though he is very God himself. He did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped. He didn't assert his divine power when he could have, but he chose to learn obedience throughout his whole life as a son. He hungered and thirsted after righteousness. He did not hunger and thirst after what he could get out of this world that he created for himself. But his ambition was to be pleasing to his father.

So many did not acknowledge that he is from God, one with the Father. He didn't retaliate or avenge himself, but entrusted everything to the Father. He was willing to extend mercy to all. Jesus was pure in heart, wholeheartedly devoted to the Father, to do his will. He loved others with perfect wisdom, not out of selfish gain, but he loved others out of sheer grace. And our Lord was the perfect peacemaker. He did bring a sword of truth that divides good and evil, but in so doing, he would proclaim this truth to bring peace between sinful man and God. And he was persecuted for righteousness' sake. He was persecuted for fearing God more than fearing man. It was through his death that life and resurrection are promised to us to those who believe.

Yeah, this is our great Savior. This is our great God. This is who Jesus is for us, and this is who we become in Jesus. So may we by his grace become more and more the kind of person that Jesus calls blessed. Let me pray for us. Father, thank you for your word and for your son who has given us these words, words of life. Words that not only show us that we fall short, but does more than that shows us the light, shows us how we are to live, and shows us that we can live, and that we are living in this way more and more. And so I pray that you would let us taste and see truly the blessings that come by living not for ourselves, but for you, the comfort of God, the satisfaction of being in a relationship with Christ, the joy of our salvation.

Amen. Thank you, Pastor St. Jean, for that. Um we're just so in just in this song of response. Um may we just come to the Lord, just pour in spirit, knowing that we don't have anything really to offer to God except for our need for him.

And uh what can we do but respond in worship of him and to give him all the glory? And so may we uh do so today as we're just so encouraged uh just to be blessed in all of these things that we would reflect all these things in what we had heard today. And so let's all rise and sing together.

In spirit and true, pouring out the love as my worship to you, and surrender I must be my part, Lord receive this sacrifice of broken heart, and again I lost me. I will offer my life in spirit and true, pouring out the all of love as my worship to you, and surrender I must my every parts, Lord receive this sacrifice of a broken heart, Jesus.

What can I give? What can I bring to so faithful a friend to so loving a key Savior? What can be said? What can be sung as a praise of your name for the things you have done? Oh, my words cannot tell, not even in part of the death of love that is owned by this thankful heart.

For you paid the great cause, giving up your life, even death on a cross. You took all my shame away. Their defeat in my sin. Open up the gates of heaven, and have beckoned me. Jesus, what can I give? What can I bring? You so faithful a friend, you so loving a key Savior. What can we send? What can be sung as a praise of your name for the things you have done? Oh my words could not tell, not even in part of the dead of that is thankful heart.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. To the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen.