In this sermon, the speaker shares a powerful story of a mother's love and how it transformed her drug-addicted son's life. The mother entered a beautiful mansion where her son was living rough and asked him why he didn't change his life. He gave her a look and left. However, after experiencing God's great love, the mother's heart was filled with love for her son. She embraced him, whispered that she loved him, and he broke down. The sermon emphasizes that this story illustrates the power of God's love to bring about transformation and revival in our lives.

I wonder this morning if you would like to turn with me to the 5th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. We're going to read from Matthew chapter 5, and we will begin to read at verse number 1. The 5th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5, reading from verse number 1. And seeing the multitudes, Jesus went up into a mountain. And when He was set, His disciples came unto 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 they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be full. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted are the prophets which were before you. Ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt hath lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is meant good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under the foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. The city that is set on a hill cannot be hit. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick. And ye give of light unto all that are in a house. Let your light so shine before men, so that they might see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Let us just bow for a moment of prayer, shall we? Our Father, as we bow this morning in the presence of God, is there a deep sense of humility in our hearts when we submit ourselves afresh into Thy hands? We thank Thee for the sense of Thy presence with us. We thank Thee that we are precious in the sight of God. And we thank Thee most of all this morning for the precious blood that the Lord Jesus has shed for us in the cross. And we submit ourselves this day to Thy plan, to Thy purpose for our hearts and our lives. We ask that Thou would minister to us as a congregation, not only collectively, but most of all we pray that Thou would speak to us personally. And Father, we pray in this very first session of today, that Thy Spirit will stir us in such a way that we will be able to respond to the Spirit of God. We ask that Thou would break into our midst, into our lives, and that Thou would reveal Thyself to us in a way that Thou has never revealed Thyself to us before. Because we ask it in Jesus' precious name. Amen. It's quite significant when you will study the Gospel of Matthew that you sometimes come across wonderful little things about the writers of these New Testament books. And some time ago I was asked to do a series of lectures at a theological college in Edinburgh, and I was asked to go through the Gospel of Matthew. And two things about Matthew became a tremendous blessing to my heart. The first was the fact that here was a man who was honest. I say that because when you read about Matthew in the other Gospels, you will discover that they all call him Levi. But when you read about Matthew in the Gospel that he wrote himself, he called himself Matthew the Publican or Matthew the Text Collector. That is saying to me that here was a man who was honest enough to say that that's what he was, but the Lord Jesus came into his heart, and the Lord Jesus changed him, and he became a disciple of the Lord Jesus. I also came to the conclusion that he must have been a humble man. Because when you read about Matthew in the other Gospels, you remember where the Lord Jesus sent out His disciples. The Bible says that Jesus sent out Matthew and Thomas. But when we come to the Gospel that he wrote himself, he made a difference in that phrase, and he says the Lord Jesus did not only send out Matthew and Thomas, but He changed the order, and He said Jesus sent out Thomas, and then He puts the same Matthew in. That speaks to me about the willingness in his heart, and wants things to be the least. Now my brethren and sisters, if you would study Matthew's Gospel, then you will immediately realize that the Lord Jesus, in His ministry in Matthew's Gospel, focused His time and His attention on what we would call the regions of Galilee. Because from chapter 4 verse number 12, right through to the end of chapter 18, where you see that the Lord Jesus ministered within Galilee. Chapter 4 verse number 12 is saying to us, after these things, Jesus departed into Galilee. And at the end of chapter 18, you will discover that the Bible says, and after these things, Jesus departed out of Galilee. So if we study Matthew's Gospel, if there are things to which we need to realize, that's where Jesus focused His time and His attention. Now I think it's necessary for us to ask ourselves this Sunday morning, to what capacity did the Saviour minister in the regions of Galilee? And I would like to suggest three aspects of His ministry. First of all, there was that which the Lord Jesus taught. And secondly, there was that which the Lord Jesus wrought. And thirdly, there was that which the Lord Jesus taught. In other words, the miracles of the Saviour, from chapter 8 right through to the end of chapter 10. And we discover 10 of those miracles. Then the reactions that came from the lips of the Lord Jesus, from chapter 11 right through to the end of chapter 18. And in fact, we come across 10 of those reactions that came from the lips of His Saviour. We are concerned this morning in this session about what I would call the teachings of the Lord Jesus. And my friends, isn't it significant for us to discover that the Lord Jesus, when He began His ministry, did not, first of all, minister in one sense to the multitudes of people. The Bible is saying to us, when He saw the multitudes, He went up into a mountain and when He was set, He called His disciples unto Him and He began to teach His disciples. I think it's quite significant for us because first of all, the setting was very important. The place where the Lord Jesus ministered in this specific instance was on a mountain. And the Pharisees of those days, whenever they had some important statement or teaching to give unto their followers, or their students could go and sit on a mountain or a place where they could minister. And that's exactly what the Lord Jesus did. The speaker was tremendously important because my brother and sister, the speaker was the Lord Jesus Himself. It was this historic voice of a Pharisee. It was this prophetic voice of a Pharisee. It was the voice of the Son of God Himself. And then there was this sermon. The sermon was a word that came from the very lips of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, Dietrich Buhneifer, that German theologian, made a wonderful statement in his exposition on what we would call the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount has not only been written for Jesus. We were dealing with, say to me, you know, we are not living under the differentiation of the law. And I remember turning to them and saying, it's so true for us to realize this morning, my friend, on the code and the conduct of the law. We have since the Spirit of God comes into our lives, Romans chapter 8 is saying to us, a new law came into operation. It's the law of the Spirit of life. That the Sermon on the Mount is not for us. A state of rules and regulations. We are dealing with what I would call God's unfolding plan for my life. It will be possible for him to reach those multitude of people, will be through the life. ...disciples unto him, and he began to teach them. And he began with a wonderful word. It was the letter word blessed. The word blessed is a very significant word because this word is a tremendous word in the Anglo-Saxon language. In fact, my brother and sister, there are no less than 30 words that have been translated from this one word blessed. In fact, one of those words is our English word for blood. And the Greek word makarios is an amazing word. Because you know what it speaks of? It speaks to us this morning about the restoration work of God, the Holy Spirit when it comes to the fact that I can know that my sins have been forgiven. I was in that beautiful little land of Austria a few years ago, and I remember the first morning after the conference, a lady came to me, and she said to me, Sir, my husband is here, and my husband is not a believer. To share a little bit of the gospel with my husband, I'm glad to do so. And from the first morning on, God began to speak. You recognize that. Well, I'll tell you what happened. From the first morning on, that man was not sitting in the audience. He was there. One of the pillars of the Lord Jesus. When I did that, as I've done the previous morning, and I made this statement, I said, maybe you see it as your personal failure. And I said, an amazing thing happened. One moment this man, waiting for a flight in Switzerland, this man came to me and he said to me, Sir, forgiveness of my sins. I have never received the assurance that our sins have been forgiven. My friends, I've counseled people who for 20 years have attended conferences like this. And they never got through to God, because they've never been born of the Spirit of God. And the word this morning, that I wonder if it does not only speak to us about the forgiveness of sins, but my brother and sister, my brother and my sister, spirit as a person, and you cannot divide a personality. Spirit of God as a person, and he came to a little service, and yet I cannot say that the Holy Spirit of God is present. He was one of the board members of that church, and the Spirit of God spoke to me about coming to that weekend, and we were having a time of prayer late that Saturday night, and the phone began to ring, and he said, Pastor, he said, God spoke to me about certain things, that I said about certain people, and he said, Pastor, he was a German fellow, say to him, listen, I want you to pick up the phone, and I want you to phone the people that you spoke to, and make rest that you speak before God. It must have been about close to 12 o'clock that Saturday night, when the phone rang again. It was just saying, those things do not belong to me. You know, that German minister turned to him, and he says, brother, I want you to take those things, to put them in your car, and take them back wherever they belong to, and he put the phone down, and I turned to this, nothing to do with you whatsoever, and boy, that straightened me out, but you know what happened the next morning? That man sat in my heart, the Holy Spirit said to me, do you see this man? If it is a man who is going to be blessed of God, a man who is open before God, then there was nothing wrong, and then this came upon him. He sinned upon this man. You know, when last can we say that God has met with us? I trust that we have not come to some great or good sermon. My brother and my, that God has met with me. You see my friends, there is a possibility of the abundance of blessings. The Lord Jesus turned to his disciples, he said, when my blessings of my spirit. You see my friends, are we living a life in the fullness of the spirit of God? My brother and my, for the spirit of God, spirit of God. The Lord Jesus said, it is blessed. Are we living that blessed life? It is the water that I bring, or a fountain of water. When he was speaking of that, it is any man first, let him come unto me. He that believeth on me, as the scripture says, rivers of living water shall flow from the innermost of his feet. And that the Lord Jesus spoke of, our blessedness, we surrender to God. I wonder this, my heart is absolutely crushed and broken. When last has God met with us? When last has he met a place, where we have seen these deep moments. That man that I admire, One of the greatest Christian philosophers that ever lived. Do you know what happened to Edward? He asked about when to listen to George Whitfield and the staff of Ireland. You know what he said? He said he was like a wild Frenchman swinging his arms like a windmill But when he said I sing the praises of God and Whitfield, but you know first of all he refused to and the people came to him and said sir, we think that you should go and scream down his cheek. My brother and my sister He went into his study. He locked himself up for three days Speaking in the face of God. God gave him a sermon. He stopped and stooped into his pulpit. He began to speak that morning He was no great dynamic preacher but he was a great expositor and he took that sermon in his hand and as he took it he began to read it and God the Holy Spirit came. You know what happened in 50? Listen my friends 437 people were stepped into the kingdom of God when the Spirit of God came to one man And I wonder this Sunday morning if I can ask you my brother and my sister that must go to the altar of God My friends, it's our reputation. We are so close it must be surrendered to God But we need to be stripped of the prescription You see my friends the spirit for life My brother and sister and you say I remember how God met with me and the services of Ralph and Lou Listen, my friends. I crossed a wonderful place in my life. Listen, my friends. It was but the experience It's not a goal. It is about this. I give you a description of this life Now we see this life in the fullness of the Spirit of God This is the bliss of the pouring very interesting theological circle and a few times every year about three or four times I Submit myself to preach and these places and they such an emphasis upon the Holy Spirit out of me And yet I know what I discover my brother and sister. We are so utterly trusting in God You know, what's the result of the spirit of life? Listen a life of being utterly cast upon God The Lord Jesus is blessed of the pouring spirit on the morning in the service My brother and my sister can take you to some of these first world countries I wish we can go to South Korea this morning and take you to what is called the mountain of prayer I see they call it group those those those those places that they dig into this mountain Christians go into those we use for drainage and they go into those five blocks himself up You know why because they're fasting and praying they do that because they are utterly trust beautiful continent Which we find ourselves Those that are poor in Then the Apostle Paul wrote about Australia, you know what he said my friend if it for our sake Jesus became poor so that we could become rich. You know what that means? It means it was the transaction thing It means that Jesus said no, I've come to do my work my friends from the moment to the crook He knew he was going to go to the cross Now I wonder this Sunday morning my brother and my sister. I trust this is not too deep for us But let me ask you do we know the sins of dependence upon God? Do we know so often we sing that great in nothing in my hands. I bring Simply to thy cross. I think I think of what W Christopher said just before he died It's that you know when most live in a clock right over this world and the different times here and the church for the Lord Why are you saying this stop and we sing that's my life and they'd be consecrated Lord to thee Take my world take this take that and he said we forgive every aspect the Lord Jesus saying Utterly right. I heard of the lady some time ago and it really touched my heart You know what happened to her? Wonderful children and they prayed for those God began to set a boy and the Lord saved him the boy. I tell you he there was something set out to be sorted out That young boy. She said before I knew what I did. I began to speak to him about this That's in the other and she didn't instead of bringing me closer to the Lord Jesus She said I saw that boy drifting away from God She said I was helpless because I was defeated and my brother and sister. She sat in a service like this God if you're married, you've never come to the place of surrender Never come to the place where you play to children and the altar for God When you've taken those hands up my things the more we try the more we bring damage to it's a great laugh You know that boy became a drug addict. He was living rough now and again He came into that beautiful mansion of the house Plunge himself down on one of those chairs and the mother said I step into that room and as I step into that room before I knew what I did. I speak to him and I say why don't you change your life? Why do you do this gave me one look and he said mr. God gave a great love spiritual love or open and that boy said to my friends. He was in a desperate state Forgive me for saying this but he was literally thinking of this world Laugh step into that room and as I look at him and set up any condemnation It's that dirty air away and she put those two hands around his ear and she turned and she said my boy Whispering. I just want to say mommy loves you with all our heart. You know, what happened? He broke down son says the words begin to speak a lot. You want to see me coming back to God mother Will you pray for me mother? Will you love me? All my brother and sister. Can I ask you this morning? Where do we stand our children? deep Listen, I don't know if I should say this to you this morning, but you know They say the greatest sin and arise for people who have no in the reality I always thought it was the sinner here this morning. You guilty of you're not prepared to say for him into him He's in his place. I wanted to give you this morning of flattering. You know, what's flattering not prepared to say it behind his back Boy, just God could have checked me again and asked me some opinion When I would make a comment about I want started my thing if you see someone else With the grace of God and you see yourself without the grace of God You will never get if we want to reach high If we must give you give you my finally the blessedness that's a prescription of a life being utterly trust It's a bliss and I think I need to clarify myself because you know Especially in this beautiful continent in which we find ourselves My brother and sister is so easy for us to say Well, you know, I know what it means to weep in the places of God King of necessarily when lost and deep It may be necessary on this Sunday more time for you to trust me to begin a work of brokenness in your life That I've never been there I'm speaking to you who confess a life and the fullness of the stamp meetings last year and a doctor a physician came to me After one of these meetings and he was absolute. He said to me listen, sir This is where do you get the right to come and did you not realize? I've taken a week out of my listing of illustrations, but you know Joe said to me yesterday You know when you preach you said give more windows to your sermon and I was thinking of a spurt in his city He said we students. He said well, that's wonderful to do that. He said but whatever you do don't give to people glass houses Let me give you this illustration of a friend of mine and allow me that you know You're off for Japanese people. You would realize my brother and sister that they don't easily show emotion There was this man. He went to the hospital every first day every first day this man Said I don't anything to do with your cheese One first day went to share the gospel of the Lord Jesus for this nothing to do with your cheese That Christian Japanese worker walked out, you know, you know, you know He said I'm beginning to think about the Jesus of the Christians that Wednesday night came He said he said I'm thinking more and more about this chief But I do know what he wrote he said when the man come this afternoon He said I want to win this man come to see me Guess what happened that he came back from the hospital and when he went to the hospital He stood at the bedside of this where this man was the sheets clean the bed is clean The body was taken away. He said shortly. He's going to be a maybe he's still going to like to see Can you understand me when I say that you know what happened? Locked himself up in the train said we couldn't get near him Every door was locked between the window The wall of the window and the curtain and we could see through that passage And if we have to say did he come out broken in mind? Well, it's just a little bit I swear He said this man wherever he goes my friends brings him together and he lays his hands upon them and he begins to pray and the Presence of God comes and those people find themselves solving in the presence of God Can I ask you this question again? When last stuff we've been broken before God when last of God take the scales from of our eyes and We are seeing ourselves the way that God is looking at broken Are you willing to sit here this morning and say Lord Jesus I need to trust you for a broken spirit Are you willing to step out where you are and said Lord Jesus? I'm coming to seek the face of God