Luke 6 : 17-26 Message of the Kingdom

2. Andrew Murray wrote : The Son Himself had to come as the WORD of God to us the bearer of the Life & love of the Father.

1. In the first part of this message He pronounces blessings upon those who’s heart is right toward God - & A WOE to those who are far!

B) Insights into the Kingdom of God. - How to make sure you are a part of it - how not to avoid not missing it .

1. Came to be healed by Him & to Hear Him
2. Now the sermon that He preached has been commonly called the sermon on the Mount. Similar to the one recorded in Matt. 5-7

1. Now although it is a similar sermon - many Bible commentators believe that this is not the same sermon - I agree for several. Reasons

3. 1^st the time of this sermon is different in the narrative than the time in Matt.

4. Matthew’s account of the sermon on the Mt. Took place earlier in the ministry of Jesus

1. after the first time He called Peter Andrew , James, & John -

5. Long before there were those following Jesus as " disciples " & long before having these encounters w/ the Pharisees over the Sabbath.

2^nd this sermon didn’t take place on a Mt. Like the one recorded in Matt. - but this one here in Luke - on level ground . Sermon on the Plains

1. Jesus came down off the Mountain & onto the plains

everywhere to HEAR Him and to be touched by Him....

B) All of the way from the south of Israel up into the coasts of Lebanon

C) But The Sermon on the Mount was delivered ON A MOUNTAIN and TO THE DISCIPLES... not to the multitudes

1. this sermon has many of the same thoughts - yet they are abbreviated

2. So I believe like many others teachers & I think careful study shows that this was an entirely sermon given at a different time

1. But that encourages me - because Jesus repeats Himself here a lot.

3. Reminder that - We need to be reminded - Peter said 15 Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my decease.

2. But the model we see in Jesus - and in the epistles is really one of reminding us of what we already should know .

3. Jesus repeated Himself a lot -for 2 reasons #1 because He wanted the people to get what he was saying .

1. Because He knew that true wisdom is not in what you know but it is in what you do w/ what you know !!!!

4. I suggest to you that is the danger that we can face today - especially we who are a part of Calvary Chapel.

1. Because the Calvary movement - has been founded on the Principle that Pastor Chuck has so faithfully modeled all these yrs.

TEACH THE BIBLE - VERSE BY VERSE CHAPT. BY CHAPT.

5. And when other Church groups were getting into this thing & to that thing - Chuck said we are not going to go there .

1. this is what we are about - teaching the word. -

6. So if you have been a part of any Calvary Chapel for a while - chances are you have studied through the whole Bible .

1. You have been very well taught .

7. Now we have a Bible college - 30 minutes a way. Great teachers - Radio station - where great studies - almost 24 hrs a day.

1. Tape Libraries that you can get tapes to listen to - there is a wealth of info at our disposal - bookstore - study more

1. Because wisdom is knowledge applied - Wisdom is not just knowing what the word says / not just knowing what a particular passage means

2. But knowing how to apply that passage in my life .

1. James said that we need to be more than hearers of the word we also need to be doers of the word.

3. And this is the problem that I see w/ too many believers today. They know what God’s word says - but they don’t apply it

1. I see so many believers who are not walking in the Spirit - but are trying to achieve their Christianity in the Power of their own strength

3. I see believers who make excuses for their sin or are trying to rationalize their sin - just the way that I am - Can’t help it

1. So I see people who struggle w/ the same things for yrs - guys that

4. If you are wrestling w/ the same problems in your Christian walk or in your marriage - or in friendships that you were 2 ,3 5, 10 yrs ago

1. SOMETHING IS WRONG!!!!!

5. See if you are not going forward in your walk w/ the Lord then you are going backwards - THERE IS NO STANDING STILL

1. The writer of Hebrews declared in Ch. 5 that those who are growing in maturity in the Lord are those who have learned to use the word.

1. Try in your mind to PICTURE this scene - It must have been almost pandemonium

1. The whole multitude was pressing in to touch Him & Of those needing healing, many were possessed by demons

2. NOTE: They wanted to get close to Jesus

1. Because as they touched Jesus, POWER went forth from Him and they were CHANGED... HEALED

3. As I read this it brought a question to my mind - How intensely do we seek to press in to Jesus

1. To touch Him and experience His power in our lives

4. Casual pursuit or a strong passion - do we come to Him - like there is no where else to go - or when we have nothing else to do ?

1) Good question to ponder

A) We are told that Jesus Healed them all

B) LESSON: The Lord is INTERESTED in meeting OUR physical needs

3. But Is the realm of the PHYSICAL the Lord's greatest concern for our lives? ANSWER IS NO

1. And Time and again Jesus points to the PRE-EMINENCE of

4. IF we seek the Lord first... Seek the things of the Spirit first... THEN you

will find the Lord meeting your PHYSICAL needs

1) And that is what Jesus is going to do here

5. He has ministered to their PHYSICAL needs but He addresses them in terms of spiritual things..... the kingdom of God

Blessed = Happy OH HOW HAPPY IS THE MAN

REASON: Nowhere in the Bible do we read that POVERTY is a sign of spirituality and that poverty is a guarantee into the Kingdom of God

1. Lets answer that question by first seeing what it doesn’t mean

2. being poor in spirit is NOT a matter of going around saying: "I'm nothing, I'm nothing- I’m a nobody - I’m so worthless

1) Because Within that very act is the desire for people say: "Isn't he so humble" - So spiritual

3. And a person who makes such a claim only does so because he is desiring to be less than a nothing in the eyes of other people.

1. And What he is desiring to hear them say proves that he is NOT what he

A) True Poverty of Spirit is the OPPOSITE of haughtiness and pride

2. I means think about this IF you have been in the presence of God, THEN what effect will it have upon you? ( True encounter w/ the living God)

1) The answer is It will give to you the true estimation of self

3. You will see for the first time in a real way that you are SPIRITUALLY BANKRUPT.... Spiritually you are poor - you are wiped out !!!!

1) That is the effect that such an encounter had upon Isaiah

4. Isa. 6:5 5 So I said: "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts."

4. Now Isa. Lips may not have seen unclean to him in comparison to a nation of unclean lips - I mean he was better than most of the others

1. But that wasn’t his measuring stick - Saw God - saw himself for what he

E) THAT is the effect it will have upon EVERY man that truly encounters Christ

1) Peter: Luke 5:8 Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

A) Because when you SEE GOD, you see yourself & PRIDE MUST GO in the face of God !

B) Ps. 8:3-4 3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, 4 What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

3. When you begin to understand who God is - you think why should He even think about me ! That is what David felt .
4. But it is interesting how when we take our eyes off of God - Pride creeps in - I think I am pretty together - why wouldn’t God choose me

Now to be Poor in Spirit is TOTALLY contrary to the worlds wisdom - A) The philosopher said: "Know thine own self to yourself be true "

The world thinks that you find life when you find yourself

B) But that is of NO value for we can NOT know what we are made of Jer. 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

C) On the contrary the Bible declares -It is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom

1. That is the ONLY place that you can ever really see what you

4. You want to be truly wise ? You want to know how to find true wisdom - it begins w/ knowing the Lord - SEEING HIM

1) See the Lord you see how spiritually bankrupted you are

E) And when you see what you are made of, It is THEN that you know that you need to RESCUED... need to be SAVED

1. It also results in an utter dependency upon God - once you have been saved !

2. It is realizing that APART FROM HIM - YOU CAN DO NOTHING !!!!

3. All the joy and blessings that we experience is only because of Him

1. Saved by grace & we walk in grace !!!!

A) The Kingdom of God can NOT be entered without being born again

You WON'T be born again until you NEED a Savior

B) You won't NEED a Savior until you know that you are spiritually BANKRUPT

C) But The person that is poor in spirit is really RICH because YOU belong to the kingdom of God

1) You are in the FAMILY OF GOD

4. You are JOINT HEIRS with Christ and the universe belongs to Him

1. 1^st A hunger for more of God - V.21 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled.

2. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said Matt. 5:6 Blessed are they

3. Again, I this would be the meaning intended because there is nothing in the scripture that equates those who are physically hungry with being spiritual or with being guaranteed a place in heaven

1. 2^nd it is a hunger & thirst for the things of God - the way & the will of god

to be accomplished in this place & in your life !

B) But Here again is a TRUE mark of the person who has encountered the Lord

1) The KNOWLEDGE of God and his nearness to the ungodliness of the world DRIVES him to desire MORE of God and His righteousness

3. It results in a TREMENDOUS hunger for God Himself - more of Him !!

D) Max Lucado puts it this way in one of His books Christianity in its purest form, is nothing more than seeing Jesus. Christian service, in its purest form is nothing more than imitating him who we see. To see His majesty & to imitate him, that is the sum of Christianity. ( God came Near)

5. Understand that the more you encounter of the Lord - the closer you get to Him - the more of Him you are going to desire of Him

1. You long for more of Him - He becomes your passion & your pursuit

But it also results in a TREMENDOUS hunger for the things of God -

1. I know many of you have experienced this - after spending some quality time w/ God - you pick a newspaper or turn on the news -

2. See what a mess this world is in & there is a longing for the Lord to come & set up His righteous rule - come quickly Lord Jesus

3. There is a longing to see His will & His way established on the earth!

4. And for those who have that Longing - there is the promise you shall be filled !

Hebrews 11:6 He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

A) Rewards us w/ Himself

A) Talk about being filled - New heaven & a new earth - in which there is nothing but His righteousness

But Poverty of Spirit also leads to mourning - againv.21 Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh.

1. Our mourning is the result of four things - 1^st Our own sinful condition

B)This is in keeping with the intent of the Sermon on the Mount,

1. this weeping is the result of being HUMBLED and made aware of your

3. But that mourning is followed by a rejoicing - because of the forgiveness

we have received in coming to Christ !!!

1. It is in the FORGIVENESS that follows the recognition of sin that

4. Listen to what David wrote after experiencing the forgiveness of His sin of adultery w/ Bathsheba & murder of Her Husband

1. A sin He tried to hide for some 8 months - tried to cover it up - insides ached

1. But when he acknowledged & confessed his sin there was a brokeness -which resulted in forgiveness & great Joy ! Weight was lifted !!!!

1. read paper - listen to the news - you see all of the injustice & the innocent people who are being hurt as a result of sin - IT IS GRIEVING

B) Grieving because marriages that are falling apart - lives that our being wrecked & ripped off by the deceitfulness of sin - riches - ACHE

1. Sometimes - easy to get callused

2. Story is told of a young boy about 12 yrs old He became a Scottish preacher - but when he was a young boy - walking down the streets of Edinburrow w/ his mom - busy day - lots of people - mom lost him - back tracked looking for him - found him in an alley - facing a wall - face in his hands - weeping -

Mother asked him - son why are you crying ? This was His response Mother I cannot bear the sound of so many feet shuffling their way to hell !!!

2. The Fathers goal is to conform us into the image of Christ - in order to do that - He at times needs to prune us like a gardener - does a tree

1. He reveals areas of our lives that our not right - things that need to change - pride & attitudes that need to be removed - Painful

3. But once it is completed - there is laughter & cause for rejoicing because see God is so faithful & He knows exactly what He is doing

1. Phil.1:6 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

1. and it is that which we are not quick to think of as a Blessing - that being Persecution

2. Jesus says You can rejoice in persecution for 2 reasons - 1^st because you are in good company - Prophets & even the lord Himself

1. 2^nd there is great reward

3. For the sake of time - briefly touch on this -Jesus mentions 4 types of persecution .

1^st Blessed are you when men hate you,

A) That person who is POOR IN SPIRIT.... who HUNGERS AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS and who WEEPS OVER SIN is a complete odds with

the rest of the world... even much of the religious world

B) Jesus declared in John 15:18-20 18 "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 "If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

3. Jesus says that there is a blessing in store for you a reward - when you are

hated for His sake

And 2.) when they shall separate you from their company

A) When They EXCLUDE you

2. You don't get the invites to the parties anymore - because They feel restricted when you're around

1. They can't swear when you're there- They can't feel comfortable getting

C) So they begin to EXCLUDE you - Jesus says that is OK - You are blessed

3.) and shall reproach you

reproach = to defame; rail at; taunt

A) They will begin to say MEAN and CUTTING things about you... LIE about you

B) It is interesting How You can be ADMIRED by these people UNTIL you begin to FOLLOW Jesus and LIVE for Jesus and BECOME like Jesus

3. Then you go against the grain and all that they ever thought of you is

FORGOTTEN

1) And The ONLY way that they can feel good about themselves is to attack you and what you have become

4.) and cast out your name as evil

1. When your name is brought up in their conversations you are going to

be spoken evil of

B) Jesus says When this happens, you are BLESSED because you are in great company

V23 Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.

C) And You have a great reward - Great is your reward in heaven !!!!

Finally in closing - look at 3 woes v.24 -26 24 "But woe to you who are rich, For you have received your consolation.

1. The word Woe is a word that speaks of great grief - there is great grief - for the person who is tying to live apart from Christ!

2. it is used in direct contrast to the great joy & blessing that Jesus described for the person who comes to Him - puts trust in Him !

1. here Jesus describes the person who tries to find happiness apart from Him - who tries to stand on His own -

3. The Person who thinks He has it altogether because He has Possessions & popularity - Jesus says - there is great grief - because all they have.

1. This is directed to the person who is living for material things - Woe to you Your riches will not do you any good in eternity

2. The size of your bank account not do you any good in getting into Heaven

1. Riches man in the world - but apart from Christ - you are bankrupt

3. And your riches don’t satisfy you - Courson 5 kids - Happier than the man w/ 5 Million dollars - always wants 6

1. Never satisfied - Rockefeller - How much makes a man happy - JUST A LITTLE MORE

4. Hughes - lived a life in hiding & obscurity - I am the most miserable man alive !

1. woe to you who are living for riches - Because w/ out Christ - come up short - in eternity - never truly satisfied here

1. Woe to you who seek after Popularity - to be liked by men - today's hero is tomorrow's fool

2. Fickle - Who did Green Bay play last yrs super Bowl

C) What really matters is what God thinks !!!!

Starts w/ Poverty of Spirit Lets say Kevin Crawford is a Multi Billionaire and being the good guy that he is - incredibly generous

1. He decides that for a time for a season he is going to give everyone who comes to him 1 million dollars

2. Now I am this poor guy - I only have 10 bucks to my name - but because the guys I hang w/ only have 3 bucks - I think - I’m OK

1. doing better than these guys

3. I go around like I have it all together - Now I hear about Kevin's generous offer - and yet - because of my pride & self sufficiency - I say I don’t need his Charity

4. I can make it on my own !!!!! Such a man is a fool

So too is the person who thinks he doesn’t need the Lord

1. Because he is rich or he is popular -

2. God wants to give us the Kingdom & yet we act like - I don’t need Him

1. Our failure to see our poverty spiritually is keeping us from receiving His wealth !!!!