Mike Bickle emphasizes the significance of Jesus' selection of the twelve apostles and the importance of prayer in making pivotal decisions. He highlights the Sermon on the Mount as a comprehensive guide for discipleship, outlining key attitudes and behaviors that reflect a kingdom lifestyle. Bickle encourages believers to embrace the Beatitudes and resist negative behaviors while actively engaging in spiritual disciplines. He stresses that true greatness in the kingdom comes from living out these principles and teaching them to others, despite potential criticism and challenges. Ultimately, he calls for a commitment to embodying and sharing the values of the kingdom as modeled by Jesus.

Of studies in the life of christ we're going to be focused on luke chapter 6 And the parallel passage is mark 3 And then the famous sermon on the mount passage in matthew 5 6 and 7 but luke 6 is where we're going to Do spend most of the time in terms of the chronological progression And again, it's mirrored in matthew in mark chapter 3 as well. You can compare the two chapters together Well, we start off jesus He selects the 12 apostles the first leadership group in the church very significant decision Because if this decision is wrong It all goes wrong Then secondly, he modeled kingdom ministry As we'll see in a moment. He healed the sick cast out demons And then he gave them the most concise and precise summary of kingdom lifestyle The sermon on the mount is the most compact comprehensive discipleship manual in the bible where jesus lays out the 10 or 20 key points that if you want to disciple somebody Or you want to be a disciple? These are the points of focus And we'll look at that and I give a summary at the very end to bring it all together All the points that the major points that he emphasized Well, let's begin in luke chapter 6 He went out to the mountain to pray and he can he continued all night in prayer Then verse 13 he called his disciples to himself And from them he chose 12 And he named them apostles Now there's a a number of things. I want to point out here The most I mean a most remarkable statement Is the reality that jesus spent a night in prayer? Before he made these very significant decisions before he gave his most important sermon And probably had his largest healing meeting all of those all those happened the next day And understanding the gravity and the weight Of these very essential decisions of picking the right people giving the right message precisely And again, the largest healing gathering probably in the bible is right here in this passage in luke 6 And it's developed more in mark chapter 3 He spends a night in prayer Now you think the most anointed man Whoever walked the earth who had perfect communion with god Who had the fullness of the spirit on him would be the one man who wouldn't need to spend a night in prayer but he does And what luke is is emphasizing? Is two things the humanity of jesus Because everything that jesus did in his humanity He did in reliance upon the anointing of the spirit and communion with god I mean all that There is of god he possessed but he never drew on his own deity so to speak he always lived in dependence As a man on the anointing that was resting on him. So he had to pray like we pray but again the most anointed the deepest communion with god the greatest wisdom no sin whatsoever But he felt it was mandatory and necessary To spend this kind of time in prayer I look at that and I say lord What do you know about what prayer does in our life that we don't grasp? Of course There's a lot but he spends all night. I mean the intensity of this Verse 12 he went to the mountain In modern language, he turned off his cell phone But really, I mean that's cute. But really He went to the mountain. He got away from everything to where he Would not be drawn into Any kind of distractions even important issues? He continued all night And from them he chose the 12th I want you to notice the phrase from them. He has a larger group of disciples matter of fact a Quite large group. He picks the 70 from that group later on Then the 120 that were in the upper room. They were in that group. And so there's a Luke chapter 8. There's a group of women that are traveling with him that are being his resourcing him financially So there's quite a few disciples that are not uh listed but it's from them He chose the 12 and he named them Whenever jesus names a person a city Or a ministry office, you know, it's very significant He named them apostles sent by god with authority that was the name he put on them set by god with his authority because that's What an apostle was in that context there? Now this happens about the summer of ad 28 and again, we're operating off of the the uh Theory and it's a well-known one. I mean it's a well-established one that jesus began his ministry At the passover. I mean his his first passover was was uh, april and ad 27 and he died In april ad 30 and so I mean there's a couple other ways that people figure it but that's a very popular one I think that's the most accurate view And so he's got about two years just less than two years That he's going to be with the apostles after he names them And he anoints them and he authorizes them to represent him paragraph c Again, I want to mention this model of prayer He's going to make the most significant decisions in the kingdom. He's going to give the most significant message And he's going to probably have the largest healing ministry all in the same day the next day And so he declares his dependence upon the father Now this is something luke who wrote obviously wrote the gospel of luke and luke wrote the book of acts You'll notice in the gospel of luke And in the book of acts The prayer ministry of jesus and luke is highlighted beyond any of the other gospels It's like luke was just really fascinated by the prayer dynamic The prayer parables are in luke in a way. They're not in the other ones And in the gospel, I mean in the book of acts the prayer life of the apostles in the early church Luke really emphasizes it because this really captured him by the holy spirit Let's look at paragraph d Paragraph, uh mark chapter three now We're going to take mark three because we're staying with luke six But mark three supplements it and I want to give you a little bit more insight on what's going on that luke doesn't capture mark 3 verse 13 He went up to the mountain now mark doesn't mention he spent the night in prayer. That's a pretty significant omission But uh mark was being led by the spirit But listen what it says he called to him those That he himself wanted What an amazing statement This is where sovereignty and desire come together Somebody might say why did you choose them? And he would say god the father sovereignly chose them and I really really wanted them. I really like them and so god's sovereignty combines with intense desire in his relationship with his people because sometimes we think of sovereignty as this remote kind of far away Decision that is kind of sitting down through the system somewhere and there it is the sovereign decree But there's desire jesus actually was engaged in the heart level With what his father declared declared to him. It says he called them to himself And they came to him You know many people are called but they don't actually respond These 12 left everything and came to him I mean the lord's call has come to us in this room in various ways And the way we respond in different season of our lives is different But what's important we must respond And this is a phrase that we can pass by and not really capture They came to him My question whatever season of life you're in Whatever the ministry challenge and assignment Are you saying yes, are you rising up and taking hold of it? Because as glorious as it is to partner with the lord, there's always challenges there's setbacks there's opposition There's resistance. There's difficulty But it says they came to him and there's a dozen reasons why It wasn't that good in the natural for them to leave everything to go do this I'm, not saying you need to leave your your father and mother in your home and that's uh, like they did But whatever the call is It's key that we don't just say well, you know the grace of god no matter what it's going to happen Anyway, no, we must come to him There must be a response He won't do it Separated from our response to him verse 14 He appointed the 12th Now notice this That they might be with him That he might send them out to preach And they would heal the sick and cast out demons now notice the three things here Our first calling is to be with him Some of us kind of think Of our first calling is mostly to make the message known. It's really important Some think no the the real the real stuff Is the realm of the of the miracles and the casting out devils. That's true That's true Well, which is it is it to be with them Is it to go deep in the word and be faithful witnesses? Or is it to really give our energy to pray for the sick and grow in faith and cast out devils? Well, that's the order that jesus laid it out right here. He wants all three of them Now in different seasons, we will emphasize one more than the other typically I mean we want to carry all three of them throughout our life You know you've heard the old saying Seek his face not his hand But that's not a biblical reality We don't seek his face and not his hand. We seek his face and his hand We do both We want to be with him, but we want to Be his ambassadors. We want to speak the word, but we want to pray for the sick. We want to see the miraculous And so some camps focus on one of those three intimacy and prayer be with him Preach the word no get out in the streets or be a a messenger You know, uh eat the scroll and go deep in the word be a faithful witness Others. No, I don't do that. I mean really extend your strength Cast out devils heal the sick. I mean really develop that part of your faith And I say we we want to do all three of them And we say holy spirit we have limited time we have limited strength But with our strength we want to grow in all three of these issues But jesus is on purpose Setting forth the model of how ministry works And so you don't want to pick between the three. We want to embrace all three of them paragraph one the apostles They were the first ones To function as the officially recognized I mean jesus was the official representation of the father He spoke the father's message Live the lifestyle the father told him he did the father's Apostles now you're going to do what I do with the father It says in john chapter 20 Jesus said as the father sent me i'm it's going to be reflected now in you You're going to be with the father You're going to say what the father once said and you want to do the works of the father. You are my official representation now paragraph two Lest you think Well the apostles that was amazing. They did it Jesus after he died and rose from the dead. He says let me remind you of one thing mark chapter 16 These signs will follow everyone who believes Don't look at the old test. I mean the new testament story and say well that was then and this is now Jesus said these signs will follow Now they follow those that believe meaning the believers are moving forward in the kingdom They're engaging in relationship They're helping people. They're being practical in their service and as they're doing that and they're speaking the word signs follow You know, we'd like to do it the other way around Sit quietly and just say lord do miracles and then i'll jump into the i'll get into the fray I'll i'll really jump in if you show me amazing supernatural things, then i'll jump in Jesus said no jump in Go deep in prayer grow in the word speak the word serve people reach out signs will follow you Lord, why don't I just sit in isolation and wait for the signs and then i'll start doing the work These signs will follow In my name they cast out demons They speak with new tongues They lay hands on the sick and the sick recover Beloved, this is our mandate from the father We can cast out demons now. Don't imagine that casting out a demon always means a dramatic You lay hands on them and they roll over the floor. They froth in the mouth like they did in that one movie that type of thing That really might happen sometime. I've seen a couple really strange ones But you cast out demons without a major manifestation By using the name of jesus in it. It's in his name. It's not your power. It's not your energy It's not the strength of your voice Like if you really mean it the demon will come out But if you only sort of mean it the demon won't come out No, it's the the authority of jesus not the intensity of your personality that makes the demon come out They respond to jesus so you can be tired, but the holy spirit's not tired You can have a real soft, uh spoken personality, but the holy spirit's just as powerful You can be seven years old and there's not a baby. Holy spirit. There's only one holy spirit So you can be young untrained soft spoken and tired, but the holy spirit says i'm none of those Speak in my name Press into god's heart be with him grow in the word Serve people relate to people and signs will follow as you speak the word over people Well paul said the same thing in essence But he used different language. I love this language second corinthians chapter 5 God reconciled us to himself Through jesus. Oh, that's beautiful But it doesn't begin. It doesn't end with you being reconciled to god you being saved He gave you He gave you He's gonna use you To bring the word to others And it's not only the word of how an unbeliever enters the kingdom For sure, it means that But it's how an a believer who's lost their way in discouragement Or in compromise or in guilt or in confusion you're helping them to get reconciled to the call of god on their life So don't only think of evangelism We are ministers of reconciliation in the church outside the church, but only don't only think of the church either to think of the lost But don't limit it to anything wherever god's will is not being done in someone's life The lord says you are My ambassador you are my spokesperson To speak the word because the spirit typically moves in response to the declaration of the word And when I mean the declaration again, I don't mean it has to be real extravagant you can whisper it The spirit moves when the word is spoken You might be speaking to a discouraged depressed believer and you tell them the truth And you pray and lay hands on them real simple. And uh paul says Look at look look at verse 19 That god was in christ Reconciling the word to world to himself beloved He's not imputed sin to us. Our sin has been removed. This is amazing But here's what it says. He committed to you the word of reconciliation Whether it's a depressed christian Whether it's a confused despairing christian one in compromise filled with shame an unbeliever in any kind of condition the word of Reconciliation has been entrusted to you It's simple. We say the promises of jesus If we say them the spirit moves on hearts If we don't say them a whole lot doesn't happen And a lot of people are waiting on god sovereignly Just to do big things while they sit idly And jesus says here's the model i've called you be with me Preach the word And speak my word over people and believe for the spirit to touch them That's the model here. Let's turn to top of page two Well jesus he now chooses the 12th Now I put a little bit of information on this page you're not going to cover but there's four different lists in the new testament of the 12 apostles There's matthew 10 mark 3. We're here in luke 6 and then acts chapter 1. They're they're they're all listed together I mean the apostles are laid out here now paragraph b number one Just I find this interesting That all 11 of the apostles are from Galilee, they're up north They're outside of the circle of power, which is the jerusalem institution All of them are uneducated Untrained untrained spiritually. I mean, uh in the bible They were the uh, the pharisees the the power base in jerusalem Complained you're all outsiders And none of you are trained you're unlearned men meaning they they they didn't know all the Theology and the deep training, you know, 10 20 years of of deep training many of the pharisees have been more than that But they're all galileans And the point being there are outsiders and the lord says i'm choosing you you're not outside of my reach Because you're not in the inner circle of the religious institutions of your day You're not outside of my reach Now the only one interesting that was from the south, which is around jerusalem. Judea was Uh judas iscariot. He was the only one that was down from the south now. We're not against the south That's not what that's about because a lot of miracles happen down there as well that's interesting that the names of these Apostles are hebrew or aramaic names but two of them philip and andrew they were They they they were greek names And again, this is a statement that god's saying i'm choosing people outside the inner circles i'm choosing people outside of even the the norms of the day which would have been You know the the greek. I i mean the hebrew and aramaic names that would have been common in the culture And then jesus names three of them gives him a new name He tells peter or simon hey your new name's peter your new name's the rock He took james and john he goes i'm gonna give you guys a new name Your son's thunder. That's what your name is from now on son's of thunder. So It's interesting how he he chooses and even renames now paragraph two It's pretty obvious, but it's just worth pointing out That there was an inner circle Particularly three of them among the twelve That had a closer relationship to the lord So there's the 12 And then there's three among the 12. Well, you could make it bigger circles There's the 500 First corinthians 15 he appeared in the resurrection to 500 at one time. I mean, that's a pretty cool group How'd you like to be in that meeting where jesus appeared in a physical body to 500 people? And they all saw it as eyewitnesses at the same time I mean, what if he appeared in this room and everybody saw there's no mistake. There's the 500 Well, there's the 120 who made it to the upper room I wonder why the rest of the 500 didn't show up to the prayer room that time But anyway, that's another question for another time Then there's the 70 Among the 120 the 120 went to the upper room, but 70 but then there were 12 among them or Or even more distinct than there's three among the 12 And it's peter james and john And those were the three that jesus gave a new name to as well now the reason we We I even point that out just because I pay more attention to them Meaning when i'm reading the gospels in the book of acts I pay more attention to their responses Because the scripture is highlighting That jesus delighted in essence. I think there's an underlying message. He delighted in how they responded to him Now they their failures are in the scripture James and john their arrogance They wanted to call fire down on a city and burn it Because they the city wouldn't responded to their ministry They went to jesus and luke 9 says can we just send fire and burn the city jesus goes no Let's not burn the city. Let's not do that. James and john james and john were the two arguing Hey, could we be above all the other 12 apostles in the age to come? Could we be your right and left? John would say I mean jesus could say james and john you guys are sons of thunder But I need to redeem that quality in you and I need to have you thunderous in the right direction, which he made them Well, he named peter the rock the unstable peter who four or five times his instability and his Unreliable character it surfaces, but jesus said I call you the rock. I call you the rock and eventually he responded as a rock So it's interesting these three He renamed them and over time we see them living up and responding According to the way that god named them, but I care about this because I want to be a rock and a son of thunder I want to respond this way to the lord And so do you? Well paragraph c We just looked at simon. He's peter We just talked about that and d There's the passage about the sons of thunder Again, they were the thunderous passionate personality They were expressing it in a wrong way on occasion, but it got redeemed I'm sure there were some Some uh challenges along the way while the lord's transforming them Some of you in this room your personality you're born that way your son's a thunder Whether you're male or female, I mean you got that thunder And your personality you were one of those ones where when you were two and three years old your parents went. Oh my here We go. This is going to be intense You can tell who they are they're the people laughing just now, okay And the lord says, you know what? I want that fun. I want to make you a son of thunder fully in the other direction from just your natural bent And of course many of you you're already on that journey and the lord's already doing it, but the lord wants us To be transformed from our natural way and he's using these apostles In their humanity and their story to give us a storyline to encourage us in our own transformation paragraph paragraph e Bartholomew was probably nathaniel from john chapter one Most commentaries agree the bartholomew nathaniel is the same. I got a little bit on that Let's go down to paragraph g simon the zealot now a zealot They were involved in the political movement To use violence against rome Because rome was really oppressing them And they were looking for the messiah to come as a king that would come in force And he is going to come in force at the second coming But he came in meekness at the first coming Like we looked at last week in matthew 12. He didn't raise his voice in the street. He didn't raise a political military revolution against rome He came to die Well this zealot i mean he was going really intense one way And jesus says simon I'm gonna turn your passions around. I mean kind of like james and john the sons of thunder and i'm gonna Take that zeal, but I don't want you manifesting it with violence in your own zeal in your own way in your own time I want you to use that zeal but through the lens of the kingdom and so I think that For a zealot a kind of guy or gal that would have joined that kind of movement this is a real challenge to Reinterpret the way they are to express their commitment and their passion Like in our culture today. I mean in our own nation or in the world. There's lots of zealots out there And they believe in their cause and they believe in their methods But james chapter 1 says verse 19 the anger of man never Accomplishes the purpose of god never James chapter 1 verse 19 and 20 the anger of man the frustration of man The lashing out of man. It might move men, but it never accomplishes god's righteous purpose ever It always sets it back And I know a number of believers. They they think that as long as they're pushing hard. It doesn't matter I mean they're in all the way and jesus says simon the zealot. You got to do it my way Sons of thunder you got to do it my way Because the anger of man is never ever going to accomplish the purposes of god. Okay, let's turn to page three Well, he's picked the 12 in luke 6 verse 12 and 13 14 15 Now he's going to Verse 17 he comes down the mountain and here it's interesting phrase. He stood on a level place The great multitude is there From all of judea and jerusalem and tyre and sidon tyre and sidon are up north in syria in the region of syria Lebanon and syria would be in that region And uh, they came down To to hear him and be healed of their diseases And again, the people want the teaching and they want the power And again as as his disciples, we want to go we want to do the teaching I don't mean everyone's going to teach publicly, but everybody's a teacher even if it's one-on-one through encouraging people of course in the You know in the social media, uh generation Everybody can be a teacher now It doesn't matter what kind of personality there's there's a a platform for anybody to speak the word of god So we're all called to be teachers in that regard Well, what is it? Is it teaching or is it power? Is it power or teaching or is it being with him? And again, jesus set it clear earlier in the passage. It's all three of them together Verse 20 then he lifted up his eyes Towards his his disciples and he said blessed are the poor for yours is the kingdom of god And so he goes on through the rest of matthew I mean in luke 6 from verse 20 all the way to verse 49 And he gives an abbreviated version of the sermon on the mount but instead of doing the luke 6 Abbreviated version we're going to slide over now to matthew 5 6 7 and 8 We're going to do the the more complete version of the sermon Now remember the gospel of matthew is not in chronological order The gospel of matthew is laid out. It's organized by by uh in a thematic way according to themes That's why if you want to get the chronology read mark and luke or even john Although john builds the whole story around jesus's visits to jerusalem at passover. I mean the whole gospel of john Is about jesus in jerusalem at passover year by year by year But so mark and luke is the chronology Matthew Again, you're going to read matthew and the sermon on the map at the very beginning of it. You're thinking what's the deal here? Matthew says no i'm laying out the themes systematically And so we're going to go to the to matthew chapter 5 But before we do that, I just want to make this little simple point Here in paragraph a and the notes That in luke 6 It's often called the sermon on the plane Whereas matthew 5 6 and 7 is called the sermon on the mount or the mountain is the idea And of course, it's the mountain In galilee by capernaum or by the sea of galilee It's the mountain right by that sea there or right by capernaum, which is on the sea. I mean right next to the sea and so theologians debate Did he do it on a plane because remember we just read in verse 17 He came down from the mountain. He stood on a level place on a plain area Or did he speak on the mountain? And I think I don't know. I think the simplest answer is he gave the same message many many many times He didn't give the sermon on the mount One time and says well check I got that one done. Let's move on I believe he gave the same messages over and over and over again And he put a parable one time and another time the pair another parable and just like any preacher today would do He doesn't say it exactly the same way every time but he emphasizes different points at different times Well the sermon on the mount Matthew 5 6 and 7 or the sermon on the plane. Matthew. Luke 6 the abbreviated version Is the most important message It's the summary message Of the most important things jesus wanted Us to receive in his teaching So if you want to get what he wanted you to get in terms of lifestyle Sermon on the mount is where you got to go If you want to disciple people you want to teach them in kingdom values sermon on the mount If you only have one portion of scripture To learn kingdom lifestyle To be a faithful disciple or to teach it Go to the sermon on the mount. Matthew 5 6 and 7 again. Luke 6 is the abbreviated version But let's go to the larger version. I mean the more extended one. Matthew 5 6 and 7 Now I call this The constitution of the kingdom. I mean it's the it's the kingdom lifestyle laid out One two three four the values are put there one one after the other again, this is the This is the most comprehensive statement Of how you and I can cooperate with the grace of god Meaning this is what god wants me to do in my values and lifestyle When I talk to the holy spirit and draw on the grace of god This is what it's supposed to look like As it unfolds in my life and your life over the years As a bible teacher and as a pastor, this is what I want to teach more than anything else Now you don't have to go to matthew 5 6 and 7 to teach it Buddies, I look at matthew 5 6 and 7 as like a table of contents of all the key subjects You don't have to use those verses you can teach them from paul or the old testament prophets But this is the table of contents of the most important lifestyle character value issues For uh in the kingdom of god, you want to teach them in your family. You want to teach them to new believers? You want to you want to put a mirror up in front of you the mirror of the word of god? These are the things you want to make sure you're doing Now at the end of this And page four at the very end and we'll get there in a minute I put a whole summary of what I think I put uh, all the key ideas in a most succinct Kind of general, uh way so it's a table of contents so to speak a summary of what the key points that are That jesus wants you to embrace and he wants you to teach but let's start at the first of the sermon on the mount Paragraph b we're back now. We've moved over to matthew 5 the more extended version Of this of this message Well, he starts off with the eight beatitudes Now I call these this uh, these beatitudes I I say these are the eight beautiful flowers That god wants to bloom in the garden of our heart The the sermon on the mount the key point is these eight values and attitudes Maturing in your life if these eight mature You are a mature faithful believer If these eight if you neglect them Doesn't mean you're insincere, but it means you're not mature You measure your maturity not that you really can. I don't know someone says are you are you further along than you used to be? I hope I you know, I don't have a you know Like a little boy goes against the wall and mommy marks him and next year he goes. Hey, i'm an inch taller You don't really have anything where you can quite measure, you know I've been asked many times. Are you further than you were a few years ago? I don't have a little measure. I go a little mikey grew this year, you know It doesn't work that way But if I was going to measure myself Which I don't But I stare at these eight attitudes and I stare at them all the time or stare at them It's probably not the right way to say that talk to god about these eight Am I growing in these eight attitudes? And sometimes you grow three steps forward two steps back, but over time you're still making progress It's not unbroken progress that there's never setbacks, but you're continually over the years These eight issues must be growing if we're going to mature spiritually Now i'm not i'm trying to embarrass you but I I want you to have just a little like Moment inside your heart. Nobody else will know you're having it If I asked you close your bible look up tell me the eight beatitudes from your heart because you've talked to god about them that many times Some of you would go Blessed are the poor You know that one and my point is it to make you feel but I want you to register Man, I don't know if I talk to god about these eight very much Because if you do they'll be right there on your mind These are the eight subjects you want to talk to god about most related to your character And related to your shepherding or teaching of other people these eight issues You don't have to use these terms But these are the values Number one verse three blessing of the poor in spirit What he's saying here blessed is the man or woman that's aware of their need how much they lack Compared to how much god is made available to them poor in spirit I see how much the lord has made available how much i'm not walking in compared to what's available. I go. Ah I want more the lord says that's good. I want you to know There's more for you to enter into I want you to be poor in spirit to see your condition in that regard Even as a believer, we never graduate from these attitudes The further I get in the lord the more aware I am of how much is available that i'm not fully walking in at my mind and heart level That's called being poor in spirit. If you're aware of that Paragraph, I mean b blessed are those who mourn This is the This is the sad feeling we feel over the gap between what's available and what we're walking in Now, I don't mean you walk around sad all the time, but you go i'm not content where I am. It's not okay I'm, not this isn't just business as usual get along and be happy. Yes. There's joy in our life But I am not content where i'm at i'm disturbed i'm troubled where i'm at That's what it means blessed are they that mourn you're it's not okay where you're at right now You're going to do something about it, which is you're going to respond in a more consistent way Then it goes on verse 5 blessed are the meek Now the meek are the people that see their resources They see all that they have as belonging to jesus So therefore they're going to use their resources under his leadership Now here's the real attitude of the meek The meek Instead of being entitled instead of complaining about what's happening and not happening. They're grateful They're indebted because everything they have is his it's not theirs. Anyway, so they're not living in complaint And an entitlement and how you know god, how come i'm not getting what I deserve they're meek They're seeing all that they have is belonging to another and they're grateful for whatever it is In g and they trust in his leadership, that's a spirit of meekness so they're carrying their heart in that way verse 6 blessed are those that hunger and thirst And again, they're seeking They're saying i'm gonna i'm gonna press into god. I'm gonna let go of what's getting in the way i'm gonna pursue With with a great tenacity and it's not like every day is a hot pursuit, but you want hunger and thirst Throughout the course of our weeks and months year by year of our life Number seven verse seven blessed are the merciful This is the attitude we have towards people who fail people who fail god We don't look at him and go. Oh, you know poor brother. So and so we whisper about him our people who fell us They're not treating us the way we want Jesus says be merciful If if they're not giving you what you deserve or maybe it's not about you Don't look at them in a judgmental way that will set you back Walk in mercy each step of the way whether it touches you personally or not Then he goes on blessed are the pure in heart That's pure in terms of motives and that's pure in terms of morals in our life Purity and jesus said you'll see god more clearly purity really matters It's not enough just to get forgiven and and die and go to heaven. I want to I want to see god more I want to feel his presence Jesus says you got to walk in purity. You got to make it a life ambition that your Morals and your motives would be more lined up with god's purity You're constantly lining up your heart in those areas and not being content with where you're at verse verse nine Blessed are the peacemakers These are the people they use their resource. They use their influence to bring unity and reconciliation They want to unify now everybody likes that verse blessed are the peacemakers But when you know a couple friends come and tell you about one of your other friends and they whisper to you They go. Yeah, I know he is that way. He's really a pain in the neck. I get it Right now it's a chance right there's a chance to be a peacemaker a peacemaker Does it take the idea that's negative and reinforce it? But the peacemaker takes the negative information and they want to shed any redemptive light on it to Two other members of the body of christ stronger A peacemaker doesn't hear the story and pass it on a peacemaker is doing anything They can to use their influence their information Their their position to shed light on the situation redemptively to have the complaint one person has with another go away That's an amazing ministry in the church and in society as well And then verse 10 blessed are the persecuted I mean when people treat you wrong because you're standing for god Jesus said that's good. You really that's good for you. The pay is really good if they do that And so don't get into a I can't believe they're saying this about me on the internet. Jesus No, forget all that stuff rejoice be happy. They do that to me. They did it to me Your your your reward in heaven is great So those are the eight attitudes of the kingdom Those are the eight you want to look at more than anything else those eight Okay now paragraph c And i'm just gonna give the briefest kind of snapshot in the next 10 minutes of the rest of this And for those of you that are stirred up by this, which I hope uh, uh, you know a number of you are That I have a series on the internet 12 sessions on the sermon on the mount where we take them verse by verse and look Through every single one of these I mean not real in-depth, but we you know, eight one hour I mean 12 one hour sessions where we tease them apart a little bit Even that's a pretty brief look at the sermon on the mount But the sermon about you really want to know these things. I mean you really really want to know the sermon on the mount Okay. So after the eight beatitudes paragraph c Jesus gives two metaphors salt and light he goes No matter how dark it gets in society I mean in the generation the lord returns. It's going to darkness is going to cover the earth But isaiah 60 verse 1 and 2 but the light of the glory of god will shine beloved We are going to be agents of change and bringers of light When the darkness increases and we're going to be salt where decay has set in So no matter how bad it gets God is going to be using the body of christ as salt and light and I got a little bit on that But it's only if they walk in the eight beatitudes Meaning you don't start in verse 13. I want to be salt and light You start with the eight beatitudes because that's how the salt and light works Is by communities of believers living out those eight beatitudes together paragraph d Then jesus makes one of the greatest one of my favorite verses in the bible Jesus makes this most remarkable statement He says verse 19 whoever whoever Breaks the least of these commandments He's talking about the ab attitudes and some other things that he's laying out there But the ab attitudes are the center of his argument the center of his point of his message They'll be least in the kingdom He's not talking about Unbelievers that in at the end of the sermon, you know, matthew 7 at the very end. He says some will say Lord lord, he'll say you are not even in the kingdom. I don't even know who you are So he's not talking here To people that are not even in the kingdom that are deceived. He's talking of people that will be in heaven They'll be in the new jerusalem Even when heaven comes down to the earth, they'll have a resurrected body in the new jerusalem raining on the earth Jesus said they'll be least Because in that day there will be greatest and least in that day. Everybody won't be the same Everybody will be loved the same but everybody will not have the same reward and response from god in terms of their Their assignment the glory of god that he releases in them. There'll be different measures on every single believer Now look at here's the verse. I really like look whoever whoever Does and teaches these beatitudes in essence i'm going to really sum it up here will be called great Beloved you can have the least amount of gifting the least amount of education no friends No influence No money, no opportunity Put 10 more things on that. No, no, no of all those things But if you do these things these a beatitudes and you just tell them to the kid in the neighborhood The only person that will listen to you Jesus said I tell you I will call you great in the age to come Doesn't matter how big your your sphere is you do these in the secret place in your heart and you talk people into them Even if it's ones and twos Doesn't matter how big your crowd is You will be called great by my lips in the age to come. I will call your life choices great And I will release the because everyone again will have a different capacity in the glory of god in the resurrected bodies There's much in the bible about that subject A lot of folks don't like that. I've talked to people that go when I hear that that pressures me. I go good That's called holy pressure There's more you can enter into And I don't care who rejects you or what opportunity you miss in this age You can be great If you will do these eight beatitudes and talk others Into doing these eight beatitudes, even if it's one or two people you're doing them and you're teaching them now paragraph e Now you'll find that as you read this these eight beatitudes these eight flowers of the heart they are We the analogy I use we pull the weeds out of our garden And we water our garden we remove the negatives and we add the positives So what happens? Is in paragraph f the six negatives The six natural temptations that human beings have they're like weeds in the garden Jesus said you resist these six areas Now everybody has is different So one guy is tempted with two or three of these more than the other and the other guy it's opposite But jesus says I know the human frame Here are six temptations that are common to the human race. They're like weeds you You let these temptations overrule Overtake you they'll choke out the eight beatitudes. Those eight flowers will be choked out in your life And so I list those out there and again We need more time than this, but i'm just giving you a snapshot Those of you that are discipling people these eight these six negatives you want to teach them to resist these six negatives in their life then paragraph g There's five positives There's five ways nutrients that you water the garden Now that's what he takes on next These are five activities you embrace Now by embracing them you don't earn anything but you position Your cold heart in front of the bonfire of god's presence It's through serving giving praying fasting Blessing he lays them out there five Activities one after the others because some people look at those five activities They go. I don't want to do that prayer and fasting and forgiving thing. I'm in the grace of god when jesus says Sermon on the mount is how the grace of god operates in your life Don't let anybody Talk you out of prayer fasting blessing serving and giving as though it's some Well, you're just trying to earn your way now. You could do it in a wrong spirit You can do those five things to get attention. So people will praise your name and bless you That's wrong, or you could do those five things trying to earn god's love. That's wrong But if you know god loves you and you invest your life in these five ways Those eight beatitude flowers will grow in the garden of your life Okay, page 10 Oops, I mean, uh top of page four Got all excited there, didn't I? I got 10 written down here one of my notes here, but i'm gonna forget that I don't have time paragraph eight spiritual disciplines those Saying no to the six negatives saying yes to the five positives. They don't earn anything They position your heart to receive the like a cold heart in front of the bonfire of god that tenderizes our heart paragraph I Now jesus addresses the issue of worry and fear He goes, you know, you're not going to be successful in resisting the six negatives You're not going to really stay steady at pursuing the five positives the prayer the fasting the giving blessing If you're filled with fear and worry If you're preoccupied i'm not gonna have enough i'm not gonna have enough i'm gonna be left out if if jesus said Being the ultimate human psychologist. He goes if fear or worry saying the same thing two different ways Dominates in your heart. It's going to be so distracting You're not going to stay steady on saying Resisting the negatives or pursuing the positives so he addresses it He says have confidence I see what's going on. Don't yield to worry. If you yield to worry, you'll be taken out of the game You'll lose your energy to do the five positive. You won't you won't want to pray fast give bless serve You won't want to do those you'll be huddled back and oh no, what about me? What's my position? Where's my money? Where's my friends? Oh, no, everybody forgot me. Jesus. No, no, no, no, no, no, no Lay that down lay that down that will completely dominate your inner conversation with me I know all those things. I love you. I'm on your team You're on my team lay those things down at my hand put them in my hands and get back in the game Say no to the negatives. Yes to the positives and get a vibrant heart. That's what he's saying right there in that passage then roman numeral, uh four Four he goes now to matthew chapter seven And he talks about this is the passage about judgment Judge, not one of the most misquoted passages in the bible Because what jesus is saying now? Hey, you're going to embrace this new kingdom lifestyle And if you embrace this new kingdom lifestyle, well, you're saying no to immorality. You're saying no to anger You're saying no to these six negatives consistently I mean you might have some failures But you're going to repent and receive the grace of god and jump right back in and start saying no to them in a new way You're going to embrace the five positives. You're going to pray you're going to fast you're going to give you're going to serve You're going to bless he says if you do that You're going to have people mad at you They're not going to like what you're doing And watch out if you do these things, right? Beware that you don't become judgmental of people who don't do them as intense as you do He goes don't get into that that will defile you just like the worrying will of the last section Chapter six don't worry or defile you chapter seven. Don't get critical Don't get critical of the people that aren't pursuing it like you are And don't get critical of the people that are mad at you because you aren't pursuing it. Let it all go Let it all go don't go there. That's what he's saying in in context to here in matthew chapter seven Then paragraph 10 We'll bring it right to the end here worship team. Go ahead and come on up He ends the whole sermon And I I don't I didn't I ran out of space here. So I didn't put the whole thing here He describes the big storm that happens in our life and it doesn't happen once throughout life. There's storms. There's pressures Jesus is saying no, no, no, no this If you're committed to those eight beatitudes You're going to resist the six negatives. You're going to pursue the five positives You're not going to be captured by fear and anxiety. You're not going to get caught up in judgment Criticizing the people who aren't pressing in or people who are against you for pressing in He goes you're going to do all this. This is amazing but know this Build your life upon what my by the word of god says because there's going to be storms pressures are going to hit your life intermittently And he says the man or woman That commits to these eight beatitudes in the midst of pressure Their obedience will be tested Every one of us our obedience is tested and it's not like god is at a distance testing us worship team Come on up. Oh, they are up here. I didn't see it But worship team where art thou there he is Okay That when we're doing these things We are are we're pressing into these eight beatitudes Jesus says now notice you're going to be tested not tested where god is standing back, you know Like with a hammer in his hand trying to catch you failing so he can smash you No, he goes. No, i'm gonna i'm gonna let you be proven The pressure is going to come and you're going to have chances to back away or chances to work the muscle deeper and go deeper and deeper He goes and if you do it, right He goes you will be wise but no the pressures will come you're not gonna develop these eight beatitudes in a vacuum You're going to develop them in a lifestyle where pressure is hitting you all the time various times throughout your season of your life Okay paragraph eight. So here I put the summary Again, you don't have to look at the sermon on the mount and know every verse in it But you want to get the key principles Imagine the sermon on the mount is like a table of contents Jesus says make sure teach the eight beatitudes Make sure you these six areas you teach the necessity to resist them Don't let people just do what they want teach them about the danger and the need to resist those six things Teach them about the need for these five things to do Don't let them get captured in some crazy teaching where they don't need to engage with me in those five things Don't let them get caught by worry Don't let them get caught into criticism And let them understand that if they choose these they will be great in my sight. They'll have eternal rewards I will give them their needs in due season and I will be with them and so You want to take this summary that I think is probably the most important part of the handout And again, you don't have to go to matthew 5 to teach this you could go to paul's teachings or or the you know John's teachings the epistles of john's the old testament. These are the principles as a bible teacher I'm always looking not always but regularly looking at saying okay Is the body growing in these things and if they're not I want to address them and if we do that god calls us wise But part of my motive just to be really straightforward. Jesus said if you teach these things god will call you great I go lord. I'm gonna teach these things man. I'm signing up man. I'm gonna teach my grandkids I'm gonna teach the kids in the neighborhood. I'm gonna teach everybody these things anytime I get a chance Amen, let's stand Lord here we are Lord, we're in your presence lord. We want to know this stuff We want to go where you go and do what you do lord Lord I want to go where you go in life. I want to do what you do I don't want to join the the voice of the culture. I want to say what you say and do what you're doing My king Now we could have a ministry time on who needs to be more focused on this the whole room needs a response i'd be the first one But I want to call out teachers People that are called to teach the word everybody is in one regard But you know in your heart Part of your assignment is teaching Again, maybe it's teaching the children in your neighborhood. Maybe it's your grandchildren, maybe it's On the internet. I don't know You're called to be a teacher And you're saying lord. I want to teach these things. I want to do them, but I want to teach them The reason i'm calling for teachers because When jesus says if you do them and say them teach others that sounds easy I have found as a teacher I get more criticism By teaching these things At first I thought well i'll teach them and the lord says you don't know there's a surprise coming resistance if you teach these things But you're saying lord, I don't care I want to teach these things I want to make them known in my generation Oh It's going to take courage it's going to take perseverance People are going to write you off. They're going to be mad at you if you teach these things Who are you to tell us that's the way to live? Culture is against us even in the church many are against these kind of principles Lord here we are I say yes Giving up lord. I want to do these teach for the promise of new. I want to do these and I want to teach No matter what the stigma is in the culture even in the church today If you talk about prayer and fasting they'll call legalism If you talk about sexual purity, they'll say yeah, but you're just stuck in the archaic old ways You talk about anger. They'll come up with some reason why it's okay to be angry Oh lord, I say yes to your leadership I say yes to your leadership We have to bless the people that are resisting us We have to love our enemies. We have to do good to those that are using us I don't like that in the flesh But it frees our heart if we do it Your glory Are you merciful when somebody disagrees with you are you tender with them? Thinking of your marriage thinking of your roommates The teacher they get to the people on your worship team God I want to be poor in spirit I want to hunger first. I want to walk in mercy. I want to be pure in my response Your heart I'm gonna display your glory I'll be your testimony I want mercy. I want purity. I want to bear persecution with grace Like they do in the culture Lord I say thank you for your leadership Lord I ask you for inspiration tonight as we stand before you all over this room Revive my heart once again Once again The lord said you will be like a wise man you built your house on these eight beatitudes Built your life on these eight beatitudes you're wise if you do that Is So much Let your word be written on my heart I ask you for the release of your spirit in this room right now inspiration Oh, we love your presence lord Oh Write your law upon my heart Is My heart Lord I ask for your manifest presence In this room lord like a wind Lord like a wind of renewal Me I'll be your testimony I'll be your testimony I We want to display your testimony Your glory i'll be your testimony You're just inspiring minds right now minds are becoming more clear it's making more sense to some of you right now as you're before the lord The lord I feel his presence right now in an unusual way right now. So I don't want to move on The lord's inspiring you right now many of you are thinking lord i'm gonna move in this in a new way This is the glory of god working in you right now Is Lord says i'm lifting the fog of your understanding you're getting a clear vision how to live Me The anointing of your spirit in this room lord ask you to heal bodies while you're healing hearts right now Is Oh come and heal our hearts Me According to your Me Come and blow on our heart lord, we ask for the renewal refreshing of the holy spirit Oh, we love your presence lord, oh, we love to love you. We love you jesus My heart once again come and revive my heart once again The lord says even you can be great in my sight Even you can be great in my sight doesn't matter what station of life you're in does it matter? Who is supporting you or who's behind you the lord says my eyes are on you You can be great in my sight Lord I want to live great in your sight Me Oh, we love your leadership Me According to your word According to your word The quality of Me Winds of testing coming to refresh Go south Face the flame And I won't be afraid I will face the wind I won't be afraid I'll embrace the flame Awake awake awake Awake awake Oh Oh Refreshing My My