Evolve Church
Evolve Church
"Sermon on the Mount" Pt. 1
- Sunday, July 27th, 2025
- Pastor Brian Glubish
- Matthew 5:3-12 (NIV)
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Hi, this is John O'Zanting, lead pastor of Evolve Church, and this is the Evolve Church podcast. Thanks so much for tuning in. We hope that you find today's message encouraging and full of hope for wherever you're at.
SPEAKER_00:Well, we're all very familiar with how Jesus was popular, how he drew crowds. There were people after him because they were desperate for help. They were desperate for miracles, desperate to be healed. The ostracized, the people who were left out, sensed a warmth in Jesus, and they came to him. There were some who came to him out of curiosity. There were some who came to him because they were really jealous. They were threatened by Jesus. But they came to him. And so the crowds came. And seeing the multitudes of people who followed him, he went up into the mount. And when he was set, his disciples came to him, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. And 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 you who are persecuted for righteousness sake for of you is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad because great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt has lost its savor, wherewithal shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid, neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel but on a candlestick, and it gives light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven. I could go on, but I don't have enough time. And so begins the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7. I was given the formidable task by Pastor Jono to introduce this series on the Sermon on the Mount, and then he also asked me to cover the Beatitudes, which you just heard. Amen. Amen. Amen. Now, a little aside here, there's going to be opportunity for you to dig a little deeper into the Sermon on the Mount this fall. Evolve is planning an initiative. I think they're going to call it Grow. I don't know if that's still going to happen. It's going to include different options of study, and I asked if I could offer one of the Bible study options on the Sermon on the Mount, and I want to facilitate a devotional habit that I'm all about, and some of you know what this is. It's writing out Scripture. Copying scripture by hand and enjoying the presence of God as you do so. And so the way it's going to be set up is I'm going to provide modest notebooks. In the Greek, modest means cheap. You're going to bring your own pens. And the way it's going to be set up is I'm going to begin with a few minutes of, short minutes of some teaching, and then we're going to get into a section of the Sermon on the Mount. So the first week we'll do the Beatitudes together. You'll get off by yourself, depending on how many there are. Just you, your Bible, your pen, and your notebook, and God. Spending about 15 minutes writing the scriptures, then we'll reconvene and we'll, I'll just facilitate discussion. I may teach a little bit more, but I want to hear, get feedback from you all, because you all have the ability to hear the voice of God speaking to you where you are as you are. And it's going to be an awesome opportunity. And not only will you get free cheap notebooks, but I want to further bribe is everyone who attends will get this particular bracelet. It's a get your face in the book. That's what I want to call my sessions. Get your face in the book. I still have from a fellow teacher in Phoenix. And then on the other side is the Hebrew, which means wisdom is supreme. From Proverbs 4, 7. So there's your bribe, and a trust will come. So for many of you, Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7 is a very familiar passage. Many of Jesus' most famous teachings are captured right there. The Beatitudes, salt and light. An eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, turning the other cheek. It's all there. So is the Lord's Prayer. You can't serve two masters. Seek first the kingdom of God. Don't judge. Ask, seek, knock. Those are all in the Sermon on the Mount. The golden rule. By their fruit you will know them. It's all in the Sermon on the Mount. So those three chapters of Matthew, it's like an album of Jesus' greatest hits. You can't go wrong no matter where you read. It's one of my favorite passages of Scripture. And so as a youth pastor, so again, it's interesting. at Spruce Grove Community Church. I brought this relic from my files. As the youth pastor, I encouraged the youth group to raise money for missions. We were gonna do a memory-a-thon, right? So I gave them different verses, Matthew 7, and then Romans as well, out of Romans, to memorize these verses, get sponsors, and we raised over$1,000 for missions. Back in those days, that was a lot of money. You could almost buy a house for that. I still believe in the value of memorizing verses. I do. Last Sunday, Chris, I loved what you said. You shared about wanting to set the bar a little bit higher in your life to spend more time with Jesus. But I loved your honesty because you talked about the danger of it. When you're too ambitious, what happens? You feel guilty when you fall short, and it's not helpful. But then you told about the encouragement of just immersing yourself in Psalm 23 over and over again. I think God was pleased with that. He wasn't upset that you, you know, come on, Chris, I have more books in the Bible. And I'm going to paraphrase you. I think I got it pretty close to right. Eventually it, Psalm 23, began to flow at all times. And you said, God can speak through one verse or an entire chapter. And who knows? Maybe someone in the room, someone watching online right now, may immerse themselves in part of the Sermon on the Mount and accidentally, accidentally wind up memorizing it. So, to begin our little study on the Sermon on the Mount, let's begin by going to the end. Matthew chapter 7. Where Jesus says, and it concludes this way, build your house upon the rock. So, easy question, softball for you. What rock? Well, a good answer might be Jesus. So, you'll see a slide of the rock, Jesus. How about that one? We read in scripture, after all, that the Lord is my rock and my salvation, right? We read in the New Testament that Jesus was the living stone, but he was rejected by men. Some of you may remember, this is back in the Spruce Grove planting days. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is. All right. I'm liking that. And so the Sermon on the Mount is a blueprint for a solid foundation. It's a blueprint for discipleship. And while there's so much lofty, noble teaching in it, we must be perfectly clear. The Sermon on the Mount is hinged upon the last few verses of chapter seven. And why is that? Because any sermon is absolutely meaningless if we don't grow, if we're not challenged. And so a little bit more background to set up the Sermon on the Mount. We know that Israel had long been expecting and praying, hoping for a Messiah. But we tend to focus on how mistaken they were because they were hoping for an empirical Messiah who would come and deliver them from any evil regime that had taken them over. But you know, there are some very cool rabbinic hints in the Sermon on the Mount. You see, the Jewish people, the rabbis, they were longing for the Messiah, yes, to deliver them. But they also had these following ideas. Number one, let's get that one up. As Moses delivered God's law on the mountain, the popular belief was, is that the Messiah would come on the Mount of Zion. Moses delivered the law. What does Jesus do in the Sermon on the Mount? He delivers a new law, if you will. Based on Psalm 133.3, the future blessings of Israel will proceed from Zion, it says there. And what does Jesus do in the Sermon on the Mount? He gives them blessings from Mount Zion, from Jerusalem, if you will. Number three, God himself would teach his people. So a little hint here, who's teaching the people in the Sermon on the Mount? Jesus, but this is God. Number four, the Messianic age would bring with it an explanation of the inexplicable demands that the Torah made. So just so you know, the Jewish people struggle with some of those demands that God made in the Torah. They didn't understand them all, but by faith they wanted to keep them. But the day they look forward to is the day when God explained, why can't we have this, or why can't we do this? And then there's a Jewish commentary, Midrash, on Psalm 146, 7, where it mentions, sets the prisoners free. And we think, jailbirds, well, of course. Another translation puts it this way, he loosens the bonds. And what I love here is that some of the rabbis would ask the question, what bonds is the Messiah going to loosen? And they would come up with the idea that the Messiah is going to loosen the bonds of the restrictions of the Torah. For example, they're not going to apply anymore in the Messianic age. And it's interesting because what is Jesus doing in his teachings? He's loosening, if you will, the legalism that had so entrapped the people. So, for example, over and over again, Jesus gets in trouble for doing what? Breaking so-called the Sabbath by healing somebody on a Sabbath day. And so what does this all mean? It means that Matthew is cleverly setting the stage for his Jewish audience that he's writing this gospel to, so that they will be introduced to the Messiah who's come to say that he is the one, he's the very one you people have been longing for. Now today, we don't have enough time to do the deep dive into each beatitude. I'm going to make a few comments. But first, the term blessed are. Blessed are. Some translations use the word happy, and I don't really like that translation. I don't think the word happy is big enough for what Jesus is saying. Happy comes and goes, but blessed is true no matter what your feelings are, what's your experience. And ladies and gentlemen, that's why counting your blessings is so important as a Christian. Gratitude. Count your blessings because you are blessed today. Counting doesn't remove the circumstances that rob you of happiness, that's for sure, but it does help us to realize the truth that tears can sing and joy can shed a tear. It's true. In early Greek poetry, the Greek term for blessed or happiness was translated the transcendent happiness of a life beyond care, labor, and death. And maybe that's a good way of looking at it, that true blessedness or true God happiness, it goes way beyond the latest thrill of a luxury or an exciting date or whatever it is, because everything fades. All experience, every new thing you buy, it fades into the ecclesiastes like boredom and vanity. Jesus didn't say, blessed are the rich in wallet, for theirs is the kingdom of having it all. He didn't say this, blessed are those who never have a worry in life, for theirs is a life of trouble-free motoring. Ultimately, what Jesus is doing is he's providing hope. You are blessed. Your hope lies in your blessed state before Jesus Christ. And so blessed are you when you have a hope that will never be dismayed, even though you may be pummeled by life's stuff. And so Jesus begins his sermon with this great exercise in doing what? In getting his listeners to count their blessing. So remember the initial CYB, count your blessings. Get that tattoo. And in a way we can see Jesus himself, his character, his person in each of the Beatitudes that we see before us. So one of the big questions for you to explore on your own is to ask, how did each description, each beatitude play out in Jesus' life himself? And that's an important question, because it shows that Jesus was not speaking this trite, cliche stuff, especially the bit about being persecuted. And another side note, it wasn't Jesus who invented beatitudes, okay? Throughout the Old Testament, for example, some of you know Psalm 1, blessed are those who... Walk not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners. Okay? So we see them throughout the book of Psalms. They're elsewhere. And it says this in Psalm 32. Blessed is the man whose transgressions are forgiven. It doesn't matter who you are, what you've come from, what your junk is right now. You are blessed because he wants to forgive your transgressions. So number one, blessed are the poor in spirit. Well, what is the blessing in being poor in spirit? And what does it even mean to be poor in spirit? Now, to be clear, this is not about moping around in your Christianity like a bunch of whiny Eeyores, mewling for Jesus to hurry up and return and rescue us from the end times. What is the opposite of poor in spirit? Well, let's do this. Opposite of poor is rich. To be rich in spirit. Another definition of being rich in spirit is arrogant. The opposite of poor in spirit is arrogance. One of the things that God hates so much is arrogance and pride in a person's self. Who does Jesus get upset with throughout the Gospels? Does he get upset with tax collectors, those cheaters, those collaborators with Rome? Does he get upset with women or men who have checkered pasts? Absolutely not. He welcomes them. In fact, he gets a reputation for hanging out with the wrong sort of people. The poor in spirit people. One of the most shocking things Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount comes later in Matthew chapter 5. When he tells, I'm sure, a shocked group of people on that mount, That unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you don't have a chance to get into the kingdom of heaven. Now, Jono's not here, but if Jono and Nicole were there, I would tell you people, and they're not watching. Unless your righteousness exceeds that of Jono and Nicole... You don't have a chance. Now, that's the wrong context because they're not Pharisees and I totally respect their faith in Jesus. So that was the wrong illustration. But I didn't want to pick on Bennett. Because then I'd have to give him five bucks. Imagine the shock, the horror in the people's lives. But also imagine, because there were scribes and Pharisees who attended that sermon. And imagine the glances, the disdainful look on their faces when Jesus said that. Because they felt it. They knew it. They knew what Jesus was saying. It's like, how dare you say that, you upstart from Nazareth? The book of Proverbs has a fair bit to share about arrogance. It frequently addresses those who are poor in spirit, but it also addresses those who are anything but poor in spirit. It talks about those who are pure in their own eyes, who have not been cleansed of their past or of their filth, it says. Their eyes are ever so haughty and their glances are so disdainful. And I wonder how often the Pharisees' glances were so disdainful as they followed Jesus around. Psalm chapter 5, 5 says, The arrogant cannot stand in your presence, God. Now let me, three quick gospel stories at least here. Luke 5, Jesus is telling Simon Peter to drop his nets into the water despite the fact that Peter was getting skunked all night. They hadn't caught a thing. What happens? Miraculous catch. Two boats are filled to overflowing with fish because Peter obeyed. What was his response? What was his poor in spirit response? Peter says this. The Bible says this. He fell at Jesus' knees and said, get away from me, Lord. I am a sinful man. And I wonder if Jesus would have responded something like this. Sinful man, Peter? Maybe so. But don't be afraid because I still want you to follow me. Luke chapter 7, we have a Roman centurion, a Gentile agent of the much despised Rome. But this centurion is different. He loves Israel. He's built a synagogue for them. But he has a servant who's deadly ill. And so he petitions Jesus, but he sends people, his own people, to Jesus because he didn't feel worthy to ask Jesus himself. Jesus didn't chew him out for not having enough faith to show up face to face. He didn't chew him out. He healed from a distance that servant. It says in the text that the centurion says, I don't even deserve to have Jesus come under my roof. Do you feel that way? You don't have to. Was he really undeserving? Absolutely not. Then there's John the Baptist. He had a rich grasp of what it means to be poor in spirit, not just because of his diet and his wardrobe. He didn't know what preacher sneakers were. He was filled in by his faithful followers, John the Baptist followers. He says, John, don't you see Jesus is getting bigger crowds than you are? People are leaving you to go to Jesus. And what was John's response in the Gospel of John chapter 3? He says this, he must increase. I must decrease. That's poor in spirit. Growth begins with recognizing our poverty without Jesus. He must become a greater part of our lives. That's why we emphasize grow and become. My ego must decrease. And if you know any Spanish, you'll know what this means. Your ego is not your amigo. Remember that. And even the Apostle Paul needed to be reminded of the benefit of being poor in spirit because The mighty apostle, he prayed this prayer of faith three times that the thorn in the flesh would be removed from him. He must not have had enough faith. But the Lord says to him, my grace is what? Sufficient for you. It's enough, Paul. I'm not taking this away. You're going to have to suffer through this. For my power is made perfect in weakness. My power is made perfect when you are poor in spirit. Once you humble yourself and you embark on the daily journey of repenting your own arrogance, that's when God's grace will flow. And so do you want sufficient grace to handle the adversity that comes? Or would you rather that God be the helicopter father, hovering over you, coddling you so that nothing ever happens? Proverbs says, give me neither poverty nor riches, but just give me my daily bread. Otherwise, I may become rich and say, who is the Lord? Arrogance, pride, haughty spirit. I know better. I believe in God in my own way. In my own way, I believe in God. That's enough. I want you to know it's not enough. It's not enough. Because it's God's way. You have to put yourself on the throne of determining what God wants. You can't do that. That's pride.
UNKNOWN:Pride.
SPEAKER_00:Pride is an idol. It's the worship of ego. And the worst thing is that we're often not even aware that we're putting our egos, we're worshiping our ego. There's this great verse in Jonah 2, verse 8. I love this verse, and it really hits home to me. That those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could have been theirs. Let that verse haunt you for a week or two. And I wonder myself often, how much grace did I forfeit because of what I've been clinging to instead of trusting and clinging on to him? And so may God help us to recognize and embrace our poverty of spirit, to shun our egotism and embrace the grace. One of my favorite authors, Marva Dawn, says this, God has more need of our weakness than of our strength. Think about it. All right, next one. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. And relax, I'm not going to spend as much time on the remaining four. Those who mourn. And in a way, this is the hardest of the Beatitudes for me to discuss. Because I know enough people who have mourned so deeply that to quote this verse flippantly to them is cruel and it's anything but Christ-like. And so in prep this week, a couple days ago, I talked to three different people who've gone through deep mourning. One of our family friends, Shannon in Phoenix, she's a Bible teacher. Her son, Zach, graduated from Stanford University. He was a two-sport star at Stanford, football and baseball. He was property of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Zach was found dead in his bedroom. A life cut so short, so much potential. I remember getting the phone call that day. We were at Sylvan Lake and just absolutely shocked. I had just had lunch with Zach a few weeks before we returned from Phoenix to come to Edmonton. So I talked to Shannon because it's been about five years now. And the waves of grief, the waves of mourning still... sweep over her sometimes so desperately. I said, Shannon, what can I tell the people? She said this, there's a death that a person goes through that no one else can know. And yet, with that death, with that grief, comes a comfort that no one else can know. It's like you have a foot that leaves this earth when your loved one is in heaven. You have a foot in two realms. And I asked her the question, When one is sobbing, how can comfort be helped or felt? Where do you feel the comfort? And then I talked to my sister and brother-in-law, and just over a year ago, they lost their son, Tim, to suicide. I asked them about the beatitude amidst all the pain that they've gone through, and it's been horrible, the mourning, the questions, the whys. I asked, was there comfort that came to you In the midst of all that, beyond the trite cliches of God's in control and you'll see him in heaven and all that stuff. Fred told me that when they received that phone call, he was in such shock for that entire day that he wasn't sure that his heart even beat once. They shared, though, how comfort did come. And it's still coming a year later. They said that they felt carried by the prayers of through friends of Tim who texted, who sent cards, who wrote letters, who would drop by the house in St. Albert, and they still do. A year later, my sister says this, that God shows up in people who respond to the nudges of the Holy Spirit. And they may not even know that they're being nudged by the Holy Spirit, but there's something in them that makes them want to reach out. One more thing from Shannon, she says this, there's no deeper ditch than what Jesus experienced. So I'm pretty sure he's the only one who can go into the depths of my agony and that has to create a bond. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted by Jesus. And remember the Jesus who said on the night he was betrayed, he said, let not your hearts be troubled, but what was going to happen a few hours later, his heart would be exceedingly troubled in the Garden of Gethsemane as he cried out to God with loud cries and tears and sweat drops of blood. So let's be real. Being a Christian doesn't exempt us from entering the dark trenches of mourning, but we have hope. One day, Paul says, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans chapter eight. The apostle Paul isn't downplaying your suffering in the least. He's saying that as difficult as it is, and it is difficult, as gut-wrenching as your suffering is, there's a day coming when all will be made more right than you can imagine. There will be no more triggering of memories anymore. It's all gonna be wiped away. One glimpse of his dear face and all trials will erase. One glimpse. And so Evolve Church, we are called to be agents of God's comfort. The Bible says rejoice with those who rejoice. Well, that's the easy part, isn't it? All we do is we come and we see the rejoicing during the song service. That's not hard to do. But listen to me very carefully. A church that only rejoices with those who rejoice and doesn't weep with those who weep, doesn't mourn with those who mourn, is not a healthy church. We need to weep with those who weep. Because in doing so, it brings comfort to them, even if we don't have the right words to say. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. I, for one, I don't like the word meek. It reminds me of Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show. A better term might be mild or self-controlled. Meekness is actually strength under control. Remember that. It's your strength under control. Now, Spencer's not here this morning, and Spencer, if you're watching in Kelowna or wherever you are, Two weeks ago at rec night, now all of you who know Spencer, he's 6'12 or 6'13, whatever he is, right? Yeah. But he helped set up, and then he played some pickleball at the very beginning, but I loved what he does because when he plays pickleball with rookies, this 7' giant, he plays with reserve, he plays gently, patiently, it's going to drive him nuts, right? When he could have exercised his full potential, his wingspan can reach across two courts. He could destroy the competition, but what does he do? He knows what's appropriate for the situation and he tolerates the little bunting and he's very kind to the senior citizens who play on the other side. Another way to look at meekness is a sword in its sheath. Think about that one. A sharp sword. There's no need to always take it out and wave it around to assert your strength and your ability to the nth degree. Think of how Jesus could have destroyed his opponents, but he did not. He went silent like a lamb to the slaughter. The apostle Paul captured it well when he said, who being in the very nature God, think about it, Jesus was God. He didn't consider equality with God something to be... Grass, but he made himself nothing. He himself decreased so that we could increase. And being found in fashion or appearance of a man, he humbled himself. Have you ever dissected the word gentleman? Is that still a word? Ladies and gentlemen? What's the first part of gentleman? Gentle. Man.
UNKNOWN:Man.
SPEAKER_00:A gentle man. A meek man. A man who's got his strength, his abilities under control. I don't know if toxic masculinity is still an issue these days. But the answer by some of the experts is not no masculinity. The answer is meekness. Strength under control. Being stronger than a woman doesn't give the male the right to dominate. Rather, he is strong, given his strength by God to protect, to support, to provide comfort, and strong enough to love. And it's not only the males who are supposed to control their strength, ladies. A gentle answer turns away wrath. A harsh word stirs up anger, or reckless words pierce like a sword. That's strength, reckless words. But the tongue of the wise brings healing. Notice there's two kinds of strength in those proverbs. There's the power to wound, to hurt, or there's the power to heal. Which are you going to choose? And so what is the blessing of being meek? Very quickly, inherit the earth. Well, that's a rather big incentive. All I'm offering is bracelets. It's so big it almost appears meaningless. Like, what am I going to do with the globe? What Jesus is saying is that when you are meek, you are going to enjoy living on this earth the way God intended you to live. And it's going to be a God-directed life because a clean conscience is a blessing. Helping others is a blessing. Proverbs says an evil man is snared by his own sin, but I love this part, but a righteous one can do what? He can sing and be glad, and I'd like to add in there, dance and be glad. Next one, blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled. Proverbs says, the Lord does not let the righteous go hungry. I've often thought about that. But he thwarts the craving of the wicked. It also says, the sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied. And I wonder, what are the desires? What are the cravings that the righteous person has? And it's to know God. It's to walk in his ways. And so let me ask you, what are you hungry for this morning? For what do you thirst? Psalm 42, 1, as the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. By contrast, we see this in Proverbs, that the discerning heart seeks knowledge, but what does the mouth of a fool do? It feeds on folly. What is your diet? What are you hungry for? I learned an expression, I don't know, do you guys know this, doom scrolling? I don't, anyways. It's like, who does that? Blessed are those who dooms grow, for they wind up being zombies. And so I want to address any young people in this room. Young people, would you aim higher? Whether you're 10, whether you're 15, whether you're 20, would you aim higher? There's so much more. Please, hunger and thirst after the right stuff. We all have appetites. And you will rise above your peers. You will make a mark. You will change lives, not only your own, but others. And you will change your world. You will find more purpose than you could ever imagine because God is in control of your life and you're happy with that. God wants to pour his grace into your lives to fill you to overflowing. There's a Jesus revolution happening among your young people. Will you be part of it? Will you keep it aflame? David Hume, don't worry about who he was. He said reason leads us to water. We know where the water is. Christians, we know where the water is. We know the importance of God's word. But passion makes us drink. Let that sink in. Let me add another line to this. Passion makes no excuses either. Passion makes no excuses. I want this so bad. Blessed are the merciful, the next one, for they shall obtain mercy. Here is actually an aspect of the golden rule, did you know that? Do unto others. Proverbs says a generous man will himself be blessed for he shares his food with the poor. In other words, you show mercy, guess what? You're gonna receive mercy. Mercy is kindness, it's being gracious to others, perhaps even when they don't seem to deserve it. You know a few people like that? It's cutting people some slack because every person in this room is likely fighting some kind of battle. Would you try to understand them and cut them some slack and stop being judgmental? Blessed are the judgmental, for they're gonna be miserable people. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. You're familiar with Psalm 24, who can ascend the hill of the Lord? In other words, who can go worship him in spirit and truth? who can enjoy God's presence, who is allowed to go to the temple worship, that is to see God, that's what that meant. Verse four says, he who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. Now note what comes next in verse five of that psalm. He will receive what? Blessing from the Lord. Blessed are, you will receive blessing from the Lord. So what does it mean to be pure in heart? It's not about perfection or all of us are who. Do you know that? But is your aim pure? Are you single-minded? Is that really within your heart of hearts you want to be faithful to Jesus? Of course, on this side of eternity, we're likely to fall short at times, but if we confess our sins, what? He's absolutely faithful. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. And how this world needs peacemakers. How our church needs them. How our family needs them. How do we make peace very quickly? It takes wisdom to know. A gentle answer, for example, turns away wrath. A gentle answer in the midst of a wrathful experience brings peace. It says in Proverbs, without wood, a fire goes out. Without gossip, a coral dies down. People, stop it. Stop putting wood on the fire. It says also, a fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult. Well, which one are you? He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. Paul says, if it be possible, as much as lies within you, live peaceably with all men. And ultimately, a peacemaker is one who leads others to the prince of peace. Are you leading others to Jesus? The last passage Beatitude are the last two I'm putting together. I'm not going to read them. But I want to say this. I would not call any mockery, ridicule, or anger that I've experienced for being a Christian as serious persecution. I humbly bow to those who lost their lives standing up for Jesus and to those who are presently around the world living in danger because of their faith. We are so sheltered here. Did you know that in 2024, nearly 4,500 Christians lost their lives or killed because they were Christians? 4,500 last year. Do the math, every day that's 12 Christians being killed for Jesus. While we're sitting comfortably in this church, at least one person in this time will have lost their lives. Over 200,000 Christians were forced from their homes or into hiding for their faith. And I want to wind up with this. Hebrews 11 is the famous Hall of Faith chapter. We've gone through that here at Evolve. And it leads a category of Christians to the very last, I think the last are left for best. It says this, others were tortured, refused to be released so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging while others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned. And I almost feel unworthy to talk about them. They wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground, yet they received a rich welcome into the presence of Jesus. They heard those words, well done, good and faithful servant. Are you going to hear those words? And I wonder, would I remain faithful if I was threatened with death? Is it harder to live for Jesus or to die for Jesus? So let me, one last way to look at all this. Not only are you blessed if you're this, but I want you to add this idea to the Beatitudes. You are a blessing if you are merciful. You are a blessing if you're poor in spirit. To other people, you're a blessing. And that's what it's all about, to be a blessing to other people. Maybe there's a bit of Jesus in you attracting others because you care for them. And your passion for Jesus is contagious. And so I end with this. Stay tuned for upcoming sermons, not by me, on the Sermon on the Mount. But would you be blessed and be a blessing to others? And learn to more often count your blessings. Would you bow in prayer?
SPEAKER_01:Thank you so much for listening to today's message. If you're ever in the Edmonton area, pop by for a visit. And if you need any more information, visit evolvedchurch.com. We hope to see you soon.