What’s it like in the New Kingdom? | Matthew 5:1-12 | Pastor Blake Hardcastle

What does it truly look like to belong to the kingdom of God? Discover how Jesus’s Beatitudes overturn cultural expectations and reveal the heart of a kingdom citizen.

In this sermon on Matthew 5:1–12, Equipping Pastor Blake Hardcastle kicks off the Sermon on the Mount by exploring the Beatitudes. Examine how Jesus gathers His disciples to outline the distinct character, privileges, and responsibilities of those living under God's reign. Discover why kingdom living begins with acknowledging deep spiritual poverty, how adopting God’s priorities transforms everyday choices, and why believers should expect and even rejoice through cultural opposition.

In this episode, we cover:

• Understanding the Beatitudes: Viewing Jesus’s opening words not as a selective menu, but as the unified character of a kingdom believer.
• Awareness of Spiritual Need: How being poor in spirit, mourning over sin, demonstrating meekness, and hungering for righteousness position us to receive God’s comfort and fullness.
• Choosing to Live for God: Exploring what it means to be merciful, pure in heart, and active peacemakers in a divided world.
• Expecting Kingdom Persecution: Why facing cultural friction or pushback on account of Christ aligns believers with the prophets and leads to a great heavenly reward.
• Moving from Head Knowledge to Heart Transformation: Embracing the invitation to sit with Jesus and allow His words to reshape daily living.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

What's true of the disciples is true of us. Sometimes you'll be painted in the worst light. Sometimes this is called getting canceled nowadays. You'll be accused of imposing your religious views, of doing uh religious uh harm and violence against someone. Um you'll be called unfair, a bigot, uh, especially if you hold claims like Jesus, his name is the only name by which we're saved. You can't know that, you can't say that. You'll you'll be accused of believing in a book that this is corrupted, or accused of uh putting your hope in some imaginary sky fairy. If it's on account of Jesus, he says, rejoice, be glad. Blow out the candles on the cake and take a big piece.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parquet Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. For more information about Grand Parkway, visit our website at grandparkway.org.

SPEAKER_01 1:10

We have been praying. As we've been singing, we've we've been saying things to you that you say about yourself, that you are holy. And and here's the crazy thing. Uh, you who are holy, who are all separate, uh we couldn't bear on our own to come near you, much less look at you, apart from you uh gracing us with some kind of protection. You invite us to say, you don't have to only call me holy, I'm definitely that, but you can call me father. And so we'll feel both of these at the same time. You are holy, and you are our dad. And so we come to you saying, Thank you, and we need you. And we do need you this morning. Uh speak to us, unfold to us a meal that that speaks to our soul, that it satisfies and strengthens, encourages, and pushes us uh to enjoy your holiness and to spread your holiness to others. It's to what we ask. Because of the blood of Christ. Amen. Have a seat, please. Uh, my name is Blake Hardcastle, and uh my role here at Grand Parkway is I'm the equipping pastor. And part of what that means is I have oversight over things like baptism. So when when that's time, if that's the season of life you're in, contact me. We'll walk you through the steps uh for you to kind of out yourself that everyone I'm ready to say what God has done on the inside. Uh, it also means things like membership. If you're like, I I want to figure out is this the local body God's wanting me to commit to and to use my gifts in. And it's also things like community groups, which start next week. And uh if you're in a community group or on a roster, you got a little email from me saying, hey, don't be lazy, show up, be a part of this thing. Uh if you're not in one yet and you think you might want to be in one, uh, let me help you connect you. We have we have four brand new groups of nobody in them. We got groups that need that have plenty of room. This is the primary way God's designed uh for you to be known and cared for, is in the community group. So those are three ways I can help you. Uh this morning uh we are continuing in the book of Matthew. If you're a guest, what we like to do is we like to take a book of scripture and kind of walk our way slowly through it. And let us, we want to squeeze it for all the nourishment it has and change us. Until today, we're in one that's very familiar, which is the Beatitudes. Uh, and it's part, it's the beginning of what's called the Sermon on the Mount. And so let me let me read this first, and then let me unpack some stuff. Let's read it together. This is Matthew 5, verses 1 through 12. 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. And blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kind 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. It may be the greatest human speech in the history of mankind. And it's one of these things that if you've been around a church for a little while, you probably have familiarity with it, but it hasn't really gotten into you. Like if I were to bring you up here and press you, hey, what does it mean to be poor in spirit? Like, well, I don't I don't know if I exactly for sure know. Sometimes it's because the English language kind of gets in our way. Um, essentially, what Jesus is doing is he's unfolding to the disciples of this the kingdom of God that's now I'm announcing you is here and is advancing against the kingdom of darkness. This is what it's like to be part of the kingdom. And so this morning, what I want to talk to you about is what's it like in the new kingdom. This is what Jesus is telling them. Those who are part of the new kingdom, this is what they're like. This is how you can identify them. And so part of this morning is you can assess, am I part of this new kingdom? For many of you, this will be comforting, assuring. Oh I thought I was a little off. Actually, this text is saying, yeah, this is what it's like to be part of the kingdom. For others of you, it might be uh it might be a little provocative where you go, how do I don't know if this this names me, speaks to me. I want to say the the Sermon on a Mount, we're gonna approach it as if it's like a perfectly cooked steak. And not some little like six-ounce, what you make your kids order, you know, this little six-ounce sirloin. Uh this is the big 22-ouncer, like the you know, the one at the bottom of the menu with the big number on the side. It's this perfectly cooked steak. And so what we're gonna do today in the Beatitudes, we're just gonna we're just gonna carve off a piece, the first bite. We're gonna take it, and we're gonna put it in our mouth, or we're gonna chew it, and we're gonna be surprised by it, we're gonna be nourished by it, we're gonna be uh convicted and encouraged by it, and it's gonna leave us wanting more. And there's plenty more in the Sermon on the Mount. That's what we're doing this morning. Now let's let's pump back in here and see what's our context. What is Jesus doing? Uh the text says that he is kind of getting away. Why is he doing that? If you had your Bible in front of you, um you'll see if you go back to chapter 4, verse 25, it says great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea and beyond the Jordan. And so he is getting mobbed. There's a crowd, and and they want what he's been giving. He's been giving healing, provision, and so he's getting mobbed, and he's like, I I need a break from this, I need to break from these people, and my little huddle of people, I need you around me. And so he gets gets off and marches off and somewhere where it's called a mountain, some high area, and the disciples, where are you going? Come on, get over here. And so they follow him. And the the crowds make their way over. We actually see this at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. The crowds have all gotten there. But it's kind of like uh it's kind of like calling a timeout. Uh you know, coach calls timeout in a big NCAA basketball game, March Madness. You know, there's the whole place that's packed with people and they're yelling, and you're like, hey, timeout, you guys come on over here. Come here. Uh we've got to talk about something. And so this is kind of a it feels like a timeout where he's gathering his disciples. And in fact, this morning, here's what I want you to picture. I want you to picture verse 1 and 2. He went up on this mountain and he sat down, the disciples came to him. I want you to picture this morning that you're one of these disciples. And you've been following, and you're coming near him. Okay, you're part of the timeout huddle. You're coming near to hear what he wants to say, what he wants to instruct you. He's he's sat down and he's about to unload the responsibilities and privileges of the kingdom, and you're within earshot. And so this morning I want you to picture yourself as part of this crowd of disciples who he's teaching. Now, before right before we get into beatitude, I want to explain what is a beatitude. What is this thing? Um essentially it's a structure, it has two parts. It has a the first part, which is a um like a congratulations. Uh, your church, what you're reading might say blessed, uh, other ones say happy, uh, it may it might be God blesses, but basically it's an affirmation. It's almost like a a little cake with some candles. Hey, we got something to celebrate here. And it feels weird because I don't know that all these things are things we celebrate. These sound like wimpy people, this sounds like uh people getting walked over. I don't know, this is a life I'm interested in. This sounds like a harder, not good life. And so you have this uh congratulation statement and then the reason why statement. And so you'll see blessed are and then four. That's what we're gonna see eight times in this rhythm. And and the last thing I'll say is uh this is not an a la carte menu. This is not like, okay, I got eight things. Look, I like number three, uh, four, oh, seven. I like those three. One, six, I'm not interested in those. When the kingdom of God comes, uh you don't get to pick and choose where the kingdom of God overtakes you, it just it overtakes all of you. And he's saying, in all determining amount, this is what it looks like when the kingdom of God comes upon a person and they're made alive, and then and then they begin to exhibit the character of the kingdom. And so all of this uh he's wanting to make more and more indicative of the believers. And so you should be thinking at the beginning here. Uh, do I really want God's approval, God's congratulations, God's blessed are above everyone else? Do I really want his above anyone else? If I do want his, then whatever comes after his blessing, his congratulations, I'm all for. So let's get to the text. There'll be three three main things we see here. Uh the first one I'll organize this way that the kingdom people, they are aware that they're needy. So the first four beatitudes are ones that talk about need. And people part of the kingdom, people who uh he's speaking to said, Look, if you're part of the kingdom, you're gonna be aware that you're needy. If we have four pictures, here's the first one. He says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom in heaven. Now, poor in spirit, this is not shyness, this is not personality. Uh, because shy people can be really proud, also. So it's not, they're loud, it's not a lack of wealth, no matter what the libertarian theologians say. It's not just people who are poor, it's people who uh their soul on their own, they go, I got nothing to give God, nothing to bring to God. I got nothing that would make him go, oh yes, yes, I'm picking you. I'm I'm poor in spirit. They're they're aware of their need. Uh they uh they know that they don't bring anything to the table. They're aware of what are the idols that most often tempt me? Things like control, things like comfort, approval. So are you aware? Do you have a sense that apart from God, I'm pretty needy? And not the whiny, like uh bothersome needy, just the I know me, and I'm not enough for my life or my responsibilities. I can't go, I got it from here, you go do God's stuff, I'll go do Blake's stuff. I know I can't do any of my stuff apart from your empowerment, apart from your protection, apart from your provision. And so do you, are you aware of your common idols? One of the things that uh helps me stay aware of this is most mornings I'm a slow waker upper. I I'm I'm not a firefighter, I'm not, I'm not a first responder. Um, don't call me in calamity because I'll I'll stumble. So I'm a slow waker-upper. So usually I have a cup of coffee and and um I've got something to write on, and I just think about okay, what what am I likely to be facing today? What what am I likely to want to give into today or want to serve today other than Christ? And and a lot of days um I write on there, I it's fear of man. I'm gonna I want to want to please people more than Jesus. Or sometimes it's it's control. There's things I want and I want them to go the way I want them, how I want them. And I just I just already feel this morning, I don't think I'm open to you interrupting my plans. And I want to renounce that. And so you being aware that I'm so needy that apart from you getting in here and ruling and subduing me, left to myself, I'll go over in the corner and I'll bow down to other gods. This is this is what the poor in spirit are like. Now, what's what's the good part of this? It says, for theirs is the kingdom. They're the ones that are given the authority and the privilege in this new kingdom. Authority to extend the kingdom to others. They're the ones who say, Look, you get to enjoy this kingdom. He says, There's the kingdom, it's not that this is a punishment, that hey, you you get in this. You you get to live what sometimes we talk about the Zoe life. You get to live full and free. You finally get the life that all your idol bowing was trying to attempt. Let's go to the next one. We got a bunch of these. Number verse 4, the mourners. He says, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. And so this feels unexpected because we typically don't think that someone who mourns is in a good situation. Uh we pity them, we want to help them, we don't ever want to be them. And so, someone who has loss, uh, someone who's grieving, Jesus says, Oh, congratulations. This is good. Now, we shouldn't think he thinks, yeah, yeah, every every time that you uh uh have something taken away, this is good for you. Although sometimes it is good for us. What he's really getting at is not that you mourn over your circumstances, not that you're a grumpy, frowning person. Okay, this does not give you license uh to just be just be uh spiteful and pokey and prickly. Um it's not that hey, when calamities come, count yourself blessed. Don't write this in in sympathy cards. This is a blessing. Don't do that. He's saying that those who mourn over their sin, those who go, I'm so aware of my need, I mourn over it. These are the ones. Congratulations. Congratulations. You're so aware of your need, so aware of your sin, you grieve it, you mourn over it. You worship worth so. Uh you you see, you see increasingly God is more holy than I thought he was. And I I see layers of nuanced sin that I didn't even realize was there before. So congratulations. Why does he say congratulations to them? Because they'll be comforted. Comforted with what? Comforted with forgiveness. For someone who grieves over their sin, forgiveness is very, feels very good, very freeing. Let you sing things like, chains are broken and now I'm free. Comforted, cleansed. This is why Paul writes, uh, this is what some of you were, but you've been washed. Those who are comforted, they're unburdened. Really, it's everything that you're sad about you, God says, I can make you glad in me because of that. So those who are have really aware that they're needy, that I I've I've got this sin tendency. So, yep. Now that you know it, now that you're aware of it, now that you grieve it, congratulations. Everything you're sad about, I can make you glad in me for. The third one, the meek. This is where it makes me like, well, why did Jesus want to just a bunch of wimpy people, just a bunch of pushovers? Uh part of it's because we misunderstand this word. He said, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. So it sounds like wimps, but really this word is used when uh somebody tames an animal, when something wild, something feral, something dangerous has been tamed, or when a wound, a burning, seething wound has gotten medicine and it's calmed and comforted. This is what this word means. When a raging, sinning, uh, I'm against God and I'm only for me heart gets changed from dead to alive. This is what meekness is. It's not that someone's wimpy, it's that that now that strength is bridled for the kingdom. And so these people are humble. They've more and more stopped insisting on their way. And they see, my way leads to the way of destruction, Jesus' way leads to the way of life. I know I'm needy, because my own, my personal compass leads to death, his compass leads to life. So they're aware of that in them. That the meek, they are they're like the suspension in a car. You only really know you who love and enjoy suspension when it's not working. That that's the stuff that makes the car go smooth and not bumpy. It absorbs all the differences in the in the road you're on. And so, meek people, uh, you know you're meek. If when there's calamity, people come and seek you out. If there's trouble, if there's emergency, if you make things better and smoother, like, oh, this the character of meekness God's doing in me. He's bridled me for the kingdom. If people avoid you when there's calamity, there's some meek growing to do here. Meekness is strength, but it's strength under the control of the kingdom. And so it's strength used appropriately, used how it's always been designed to be used and had. What's the good side of this? So they're gonna inherit the earth. They'll the new earth, they will reign as co-heirs with Christ. We don't know all the details of that, we just know that's what the scripture says. That they will enjoy more than they ever hoped for. In their previous heart of scheming, they'll they'll enjoy more than they, they'll get more than they ever could have gotten on their own. The fourth beatitude, under that people being aware of their need. He says this phrase, and and it uh again, it's just kind of lost on us on our English ears. He says, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they'll be satisfied. And and I don't think that we have a lot of regular experience with hunger and thirst. Uh every night when I brush my teeth, I get thirsty. I don't know what's happening. Maybe it's a toothpaste I'm using, I don't know. But what I don't do is I don't go outside, walk down the hill to a stream, bend down, and cup my hands for a little slurp of water. I turn a tap on immediately. Uh, if you don't want to, you don't have to go hungry or thirsty for very long. And so when he uses these words, and these sound so similar uh to Psalm 42 that, like the deer is pant, when a deer pants for water, so my soul thirsts for you, oh God. And so if we if we were to look at a deer and it's panting, we would begin to get concerned. Like this this is not a Disney scene, this is this is one of those mutual Omaha, things are gonna die, shows. Uh this this thing better get water and better get it soon. Because now it can't run as fast, it can't see, it's in trouble. And so the one who is aware of their need, they know, uh God, unless you move, I'm in trouble. Unless you help, I'm in trouble. Unless you empower me, I'm in trouble. Unless you change something in me, I'm in trouble. And so, hungry and thirsty for righteousness, what is this talking about? They are eager to themselves live and for life to be the way God's designed it. And so they they have a they have an increased sense of justice for others. When others are sinned against, that bothers them. They don't have like, oh, oh well, good thing it wasn't me. I don't know that person. When they see other people sinned against, it stirs something in them. When when when when uh when they see in themselves, oh they're right, uh the same familiar sin. They're stirred to this, can't be the Way. There's something in the I I can't stay how I am. You have got to do something in me. Left to my own, this is never gonna change. So those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, that they don't make excuses for their sin, but they become desperate for God, you're the only one who can, and I need you to change me. You're familiar with uh the words, this guy, Isaac Watts, he wrote the song Amazing Grace. But he also was a theologian, also was a writer, and he writes many times, he said, I observed that sometimes God lets a Christian be beset, be vexed by by a particular sin for a length of time in order to produce in him or her dependence and humility. He lets the situation a condition of sin linger to make them, in our words, so I'm so aware I need you that I cannot do this on my own. And he brings it to the point of humility and discipline. To whatever he says, however he says it, that's how it should go. And he said, only then does he quite often bring freedom that the sin works is his subtle tutor teaching us, my only hope is you. My only hope is never in me. And so you may be thinking, uh, oh, I'll just ask this. Um, what is there anything you're experiencing right now? You'd say, that's making me thirsty for righteousness, that's making me hungry for God to move. Is there any situation or or regular occurrence or behavior or sin you find in yourself? So, yes, this this names something for me. I I am getting more and more desperate for righteousness. And maybe you're thinking, yes, I've been this way. Why has God not moved? Why has he not brought freedom? We sang this song about the names of Jesus, chains break. Maybe you're not quite humbled enough. But if you are longing, if you say, I have a deep need to be changed, I've not arrived. Jesus said, These are the kind of people that are kingdom people, they have a deep awareness of their need. What happens to them? What's the good part? They'll be filled. The word filled here, he's already used the word hunger and thirst. The word filled is is kind of the very opposite of that. So think uh think like you knew Thanksgiving was coming and you fasted for two days. And when Thanksgiving's there, you're like, it's on. I'm going to eat until I have to change my clothes. In fact, I started with my good sweatpants, and then I'm gonna eat until I feel bad about myself, and then I'm just gonna keep eating. Uh, this is this is those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, says you will be filled and not just get a little, get a little just enough, more than enough. He is gonna reproduce the life of Christ in you. And so you will find the the righteous thinking and doing that, oh, this is him doing it. This is net could never be me. It's what Isaiah 61 says, that God can take little acorns of faith and in them, from them make big oaks of righteousness. Now, when I was 20 years old, I really was kind of growing, I'll say at a good rate for the first time. And I went to this little Lightning Avenue Baptist Church in Wisconsin, and it's you know, maybe three people under 30 and a lot of people over 60. And this is the time when um a super awesome praise chorus was Shine Jesus Shine. That you know, that was like, oh my gosh, what an amazing song. And so we sing a lot of hymns, and and I remember in particular, uh we would sing this hymn regularly, this hymn, I need thee every hour. And I I can I can still picture where I used to sit, and and we'd be standing, and um, and people like Miss Beren's over here, and I would think this feels kind of like wimpy and whiny. And here's the words, in case you're not familiar. I need thee every hour, stay thou nearby. Because temptations lose their power when thou art nigh. I need thee, oh I need thee. Every hour I need thee. So bless me now, my Savior. I come to thee. And I remember thinking, I don't want to, I don't want to feel this way. I'm not gonna feel this way. I'm gonna be one of those shine, Jesus, shine singers. We're breaking through and powering through the next level. And what I didn't know then, that I know now, is they knew something I didn't, which is you don't get less needy of God the more mature you become as a believer. You don't get more, okay, I got it. No problem. You are aware that you're more needy. Kingdom people are aware that they're needy. This is what Jesus is saying. Let's go to the second thing we can observe. These are the next three beatitudes. The kingdom people, they choose to live for God. Uh that they're not consumed with looking out for themselves because they become convinced that looking out for them, that's God's job, not theirs. Their job is to respond and move with him. It's what 2 Corinthians 5 says, that he died for all, that those who might no longer live for themselves, but live for him who for their sake died and was raised. And so Jesus says this similar thing in three beatitudes. He says, verse 7, let's look at it together. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. And so the merciful, we think of these folks as they're the ones that come to someone's aid when they're needy. Um, they they're people who they have received mercy from God. It's it's the it's what the intended teaching of the unmerciful servant in Matthew 18. You know, we'll get there maybe in the summertime, we'll finally be at Matthew 18. Unmerciful servant, if you don't remember, is you have a servant who owes a more than they could ever repay in several lifetimes. And somehow the person they owe it to, the king, says, you know what? Okay, you're begging and groveling. I'm gonna show you mercy. Scratched out. And then the same servant leaves and and hasn't really received this. They go and they find another servant, they shake them down for a little measly in comparison, piddly thing. Now they've sinned against the king, this person sinned against them, but it's so small compared to how they've sinned against the king. Those who are merciful, those Jesus says, these are the ones who bless, these are the ones who choose to live not for themselves but for God. They're the ones that have since I have been, what I the biggest sins I've ever experienced have been the sinning I've done against God. And any sinning someone's done against me, that pales the comparison. Because I've received mercy and know how awesome that is, he's doing a work in me where I now I want to give mercy. I entrust justice to God. I don't I don't have to get justice, I entrust it to Him. It doesn't mean you get walked over, it just means you extend mercy to others. They are the ones that forgive their debtors, they're the ones that they don't gloat when they get the upper hand. They might want to. They go, okay, I'm aware, part of me wants to gloat and go, see, I told you so. Uh I'm right and you're wrong. I'm aware of that in me. So I'm poor in spirit, but something else in me doesn't want to embarrass them or shame them. Uh that they they they they've enjoyed mercy so much that they now begin to give it to others. And so here's the thing: how do you know you're part of this new kingdom people that Jesus is saying? Here's how it is, guys. The kingdom I'm bringing, this is what it looks like to be a kingdom people. Here's how you know if you give mercy. If you're ruthless, if someone better never cross you, you might want to check and see. Maybe I'm maybe I'm not part of these kingdom people. Because the kingdom of God is being reproduced in you. If you're like, I'm no one knows how how ruthless I'm capable of being. And I got more changing to do, but what I want to do and what the Spirit's making me do, those are two very different things. These are the merciful. And so what happens to them? They receive mercy, they've already gotten mercy, and they get more. The father delights in experiencing them, giving mercy because of the Son, and ultimately they get great mercy. Let's keep going. Uh, kingdom people, they choose to live for God. What's this also look like? Verse 8. Blessed the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Now, pure in heart, I don't know what comes to your mind immediately. This is you know, maybe someone who they're just polite, they're kind, they got their hands in their lap, they keep their hands to themselves at all times, they don't interrupt anybody, they just they're just easy to do life with. I owed that again, that's where sometimes the English gets in the way. The pure in heart, don't think about it that way. Think about this way. If you ever talk to somebody, and when you're talking to them, uh you're making like great eye contact. You're like terrific communication skills. And they are looking at you and then they kind of look around, look at you, scan this way. Uh it doesn't take long to go. Oh, they they're they're divided in their attention. They're looking for someone or something else. I'm not enough for them. They need more. Pure in heart are the ones who I don't need anything else, God. You've got my undivided devotion, undivided attention, undivided affection. I'm not looking to you and looking to something else to make me complete. It's not Jesus plus something else that makes Blake's great life great. It's just Jesus alone. The pure in heart, they're what James talks about, they're not double-minded. They've not kind of putting their feet in two different places. There's a reference to Psalm 24 that those who have clean hands and a pure heart, they're the ones that can ascend the holy hill to God. It's not a fake outer ritual. Uh they're the ones that God is making them want what he wants. He's making them want to give their attention and affection and devotion to him. And they more and more forsaking. This is where real pleasure is found, this is where real peace is found, this is where real provision is found. Nope, I've tried all that, it's found only in Christ. These are the pure in heart. And what happens to them? It says they'll see God. In the end of the day, and in the end of all days, all believers will see God face to face. But the kingdom people see God also now. They're the ones that see Him in creation. They're the ones that that uh that see any part of the wild natural world and see it proclaiming God's glory, God's majesty, God's creativity, his power. They're the ones that experience God in relationships. The things they can't explain happen to them. They get him used, they they see him using him, them in situations and see him moving situations for them. They see him in scripture. They're the ones that read the Bible and go, oh, wow. They see him. Those who are not pure heart, those who whose hearts divided, they don't see a lot of God. And so you want to ask yourself, hey, when's the last time I really saw God somewhere? If it's been a while. This might be the Spirit saying, It's time to repent so you can see. Or if you go, nah, look at those places, I never see Him. Maybe today Jesus saying, You want to come be my disciple? Maybe it's time for you to come and repent and to see. Third way that they choose to live for God, verse 9. He said, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they'll be called sons of God. So peacemakers, this is not peacekeeping, peacemaking. And those are two different things. Peacekeeping, let's just not rock the boat, not make waves, not let's not get things stirred up. However it is right now, let's just let that be good enough. Doesn't have to get any better, let's just not make it any worse. And this is like the folks who uh I'll just say men are the men are, everyone does this, men do it par excellence. They're really good at this kind of thing. And here's how it looks like in um in the world. It's almost like if you have a garage and you got the trim around the garage, and some part's got some water that comes around, and the part of the garage trim is rotted. And so peacekeeping is of okay, it's dried out now. Let me get some caulk, shh, let me caulk that thing, let me let me smear it over, let it dry, let me paint it over. See, good is new. And it's not. And water gets in there and bubbles of paint up, and oh man, that's unfortunate. All right, well, we'll just do it again and it'll it'll hold us over for six more months. Peacekeeping is that. That's not peacemaking. Peacemaking is, oh, okay, this has to change. This rot has to go, and it's a whole bunch more work. And so you get in, you cut out that part, and you put a new one in. So blessed are the peacemakers. They're the ones that go two people and two problems. They don't move away from them. And not because they like stirring up trouble. I'll say peacekeepers, they're not always enjoyable to be around. Because they they make you deal with your stuff. Or they invite you to. You can still run away. They make you deal with a rotten trim. Oh, yeah, it's gonna be a lot more sweat and work, but when we're done, it's gonna be right. It's gonna be good. We're not gonna have to dress this again. And they become people who are trusted to make peace, they become people who are trusted third party. Why are they like this? Because they they have experienced being at peace with God, they've experienced Jesus making peace between God and them, and they enjoy the experience of peace so much they want others to have it. There may be some something that you love, some product, like, oh, this is the greatest thing ever. Everyone needs this. You tell everybody about it. The peacemakers, like, I so love being at peace with God and and peace with mankind. It's what Paul describes in Romans. They have peace with God and strive to live at peace with all men. And so you Holy Spirit might be poking you right now. Is there a conversation you've been putting off? Or someone inviting you a conversation that you've been steering around and avoiding them. Is there peace-making the Holy Spirit's inviting you to, or peacemaking someone's inviting you to, and you're avoiding? Jesus says the peacemakers are blessed. How? They'll be called sons of God. Those who are in the kingdom, they share in sonship of Christ. Jesus' identity, this is my child, who I love, with whom I'm well pleased, becomes their identity. They're the ones we're gonna see in chapter six. They're the ones that Jesus says, this is how we pray. We say our father. They're the one, and this this wasn't a reality for them. There's nothing in the in the Psalms we're ever told to say our father. And so the peacemaker said, you can call me father now. Let's go to the third point. We're almost done. Stay with me. The kingdom people, they expect persecution. Oh boy, where do you see this? So it was right here in the text. Blessed are those who are persecuted for their righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And blessed are you when others revile and persecute you and utter all kind of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad. What? Yeah, rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, so that they persecute the prophets that persecute you. They're persecuted. These are people who are harassed. Uh, these are believers not because of their personality, not because of their hygiene, not because of their preferences, they're persecuted because of Christ. That uh the world feels rejected when what you value does not affirm or align with their value. And so they feel rejected, and their response is to punish. And so, if you experience, yeah, I think I'm I've experienced getting punished by the culture, by the world, by persons, because of Christ. Because I'm wanting to live, I'm trying to live, I'm choosing to live in the ethics of the kingdom. And the most common experience of this is exclusion, just not invited to the fun. Um why people don't feel comfortable sinning around the Holy Spirit, they shouldn't. And that's the most regular form. And maybe um you don't or haven't experienced much persecution. If you've never experienced any persecution, you want to ask yourself, um, is this is Jesus describing me? Maybe it's been a while since I'm experienced some. And maybe that's partly because uh we can have school and hobbies and all the rest where we're around like-valued, like-minded people. And maybe some of the places you're at where, nope, this is this is definitely not a place of believers. Um, sometimes we kind of keep secret our commitment to Christ. And so we don't experience persecution. Jesus says, it's gonna happen. Expect it. It's not constant, not always. What kind? Insulted and slandered. And here's the important thing. In verse 11, Jesus so far, there's all you grammar nerds out there. He's been talking in the third person, and now he talks in the second person, like right to the disciples, right to you and me. So if you're gonna be insulted and slandered, what's true of the disciples is true of us. Sometimes you'll be painted in the worst light. Sometimes uh, this is called getting canceled nowadays, you'll be accused of uh imposing your religious views, uh, of doing uh religious uh harm and violence against someone. Um, you'll be called unfair, a bigot, uh, especially if you hold claims like Jesus, his name is the only name by which we're saved. You can't know that, you can't say that. You'll you'll be accused of believing in a book that this is corrupted, or accused of uh putting your hope in some imaginary sky fairy. If it's on account of Jesus, he says, rejoice, be glad. Blow out the candles on the cake and take a big piece. Expect this. Johnny Cash, he said it this way. He said, It's good to know who hates you, and it's good to be hated by the right people. So he's saying, sometimes it's good to be persecuted for the right reason by the right people. Now, if your brother or sister comes to you and out of scripture, they're admonishing you. That's not persecution. That's love. Too often he says, look at this. He said, Your reward is great. So they're not gonna miss out on anything. Uh let me just pause and think about this. They they get the Zoe life now, and they get life in the presence of God forevermore. And I've not spent much time thinking about this, but what what do you think the first minute of heaven is like for you? Or hour, or year, or a thousand years. Whatever you might think that's an unfortunate trade I gotta make now, Jesus is saying, your reward is great. It's what Paul writes to 2 Corinthians, your light momentary affliction is preparing an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. And you're in good company. When the Holy Spirit has come and been dispersed, that means what happens to the prophets can happen to you. How do you know that you're saying, you're teaching, you're holding to the same things the prophets did? You know if you get treated the way they got treated. I want to close with this. Clyde's gonna come up and play it out. And I want you to think about this. Um, in the beginning, I asked you to imagine yourself. Um, Jesus comes to this hill, and his disciples are gathering with him, and the crowds are making their way. He's like, look, time out. I want I want to talk to you guys. And and I've asked you, you you come along, you be there. And so now what I want you to do is I want you to picture Jesus, uh, making eye contact with you, and giving a little, like, hey, come here, a little nod. And getting you off into a conversation, it's just the two of you. And I want you to think about because of what he's just said, what is he saying to you now? Or what are you saying to him? And so what we like to do, we like to preach the Bible and then give our soul some time to digest, to feel, to think, to decide how to act. And so that's what this is. And you can just close your eyes and get into a conversation with Jesus. Uh if you need some prompts or some questions on the on the screen that can help that. But we're gonna pause and just get alone, the two of you. Jesus, we need you, we need you all the time, and maybe we just feel it a little more intensely right now, and you're not surprised by that. You know that we're needy, we finally know, and we just say, we just open, open our heart up to you and say, help, strengthen, encourage, protect, provide. So you're right, your way is right, and we trust you. Holy Spirit, I pray that you would continue this conversation. This would be what lands on us in the lulls of this afternoon and tomorrow in the week, that we would drift off to the side with you in a one-on-one conversation, and you'd be speaking more, and we'd be saying back, and and it we would know, oh, this is what it feels like to be part of the kingdom people. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 45:30

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