Hey, if you got a Bible, we're going to be in Luke chapter 6, and we're going to look at the, I'm backing up just a little bit from last time.
We're going to go ahead and look at the blessings, the aka Beatitudes.
So there's four blessings in this passage and four woes.
And we're going to look at that this morning.
So if you have a Bible, Luke 6, we'll read verses 20 through 26.
So it says, then he, Jesus, lifted up his eyes towards his disciples and said,
Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and cast out your name as evil for the son of man's sake.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for indeed your reward is great in heaven.
Let's pray.
Lord, thank you.
Thank you for your word that's alive and it's real and it applies to our life, Lord, on a daily basis.
And so, Father, I just pray that you would teach us just some applicable truths, Lord, that we can apply to our life as we look at these blessings and these woes.
And knowing that they come from you, Lord Jesus, and that your word to us is life and it is spirit.
And we pray that we pray that we would be those who build our lives up on the rock and not upon the shifting sand of this world.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
So, here we have the four blessings and the four woes.
And we're just going to look at them at face value and we'll continue on our Sunday.
Some of you are going to go play a little ball this afternoon, maybe, and baseball.
And I got to go see some Major League Baseball last week.
And the Dodgers throttled the Yankees.
18-2.
But then the Yankees came back the next day and beat them.
I don't get this thing.
It's, you know, the whole Major League Baseball thing is kind of psychotic.
But the game we were at, both teams pulled in outfielders to pitch the last two innings.
I've never seen that before.
I mean, these guys are like junior hires just Chuck getting it across a plate, barely.
You know, it was probably going 45 miles an hour or something like that.
I guess they're saving their pitchers.
I didn't know they did that.
But you learn something.
Every day.
So hopefully we'll learn something today.
So he starts off here.
Jesus does.
It says he lifted up his eyes towards his disciples.
Right?
So he's specifically teaching his followers these truths here in these six verses.
And he starts off with,
Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Most believe that he's talking spiritually here.
He's not talking necessarily those who are poor materially.
And so those who are poor in spirit, says David Guzik, recognize that they have no spiritual assets.
They know they are spiritually bankrupt.
Poverty of spirit cannot be artificially induced by self-hatred.
It comes as the Holy Spirit works in our heart and we respond to him.
And so it's acknowledging the fact that I have nothing to offer God.
He has to breathe life into me.
Because in my flesh, right?
Paul said, you were dead in sins and trespasses.
Absolutely dead.
Not even seemingly conscious of God.
Any consciousness of God that I had in my life before I surrendered my life to Jesus
was probably the prayer of my grandmother.
And the hounds of heaven wouldn't leave me alone.
And I was never totally satisfied in my sin.
Though it was fun.
Woohoo!
Right?
The Bible says there's pleasure in sin for a season.
But Jesus said whoever sins is a slave to sin.
And so I had become this slave.
And I didn't even realize it.
And then the Holy Spirit came along and began to convict me.
And I was overwhelmed with my spiritual poverty.
And that's what Jesus is talking about here.
These beatitudes, they kind of remind me of a chain linked together.
Right?
When once I realized how poor I was in spirit,
I started to become hungry.
Right?
Which leads you to the next blessed.
It says, blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled.
And so all of a sudden I became hungry.
Spiritually hungry.
And I pray that that hunger never fades.
And that I stay in that place of being hungry.
I had a hunger to know how does a person become righteous.
I want to know.
It becomes like a passion.
God, I want to be right with you.
And so that came with starters that I was spiritually bankrupt.
And then how do I make this right?
And how do I stay in this relationship with this God of heaven?
It is interesting when Paul's talking to the Corinthians and he says that nobody can even say that Jesus is Lord,
but by the spirit of God.
And so it's like God comes along and he whispers to us,
hey, I got this life for you.
Do you want it?
And if you want it, I'll stir up that hunger in you where you'll want to seek me.
And so this hunger, it is.
It's a real passion because physical hunger is real.
Have you ever been physically hungry?
If you haven't, then maybe fast today.
Feel what it's like.
Remember when we were in Africa, there were some little kids there.
Their meals, they would have like three to five meals a week.
And it was shocking.
How these little guys would be hungry and what it would do to them.
And how they would treat each other and treat you if you had food.
Right?
They'd take you out if you had food.
And for a bite.
And so that's the kind of hunger that this is talking about.
And that you and I, when we're hungry for the Lord, it's a good thing.
Luke implies here a kind of longing.
Right?
And I think in men's lives, when we want to be righteous and we long for that.
Right?
We want to have this righteous nature that we're very well aware of our sinful nature.
And when we're born again, all of a sudden there's this sense of rightness.
But it still fights with the wickedness.
Right?
I feel like sometimes we're Jekyll and Hyde.
In fact, my boy was just sharing with me about his little boy, Hiddy's mommy, and made her cry.
And now, all of a sudden, first he's mean.
And now he wants to be nice.
And then he doesn't just want to be nice to her.
He wants to be nice to others.
But with exception.
So he has cousins.
And he's got one that is his rival.
He's not quite two.
He's a little bit younger than Towns.
And Towns is like, I like Tizer and I like Noah, but I don't like Fisher.
And so he has this struggle in his heart.
And so his dad's correcting him with his treatment of his mother.
And he's saying, well, Daddy, I'll be nice now.
And I'll go to Auntie Shai's and be nice to Fisho.
And I'll be mean to Tizer and Noah.
There it is.
Displayed in a two-year-old, a struggle that we all have.
But we long.
We have this longing to be, I long to be right with God.
I want to be holy.
The problem is my flesh.
And so to be hungry simply is just a good way to say, you know what?
You're in for a fight.
So until you take your last breath, just put your dukes up every day that you're awake.
And pray that the Lord would be in your dreams when you're asleep.
Because even they could be desperately wicked.
And so we have this desire.
And Jesus is saying, here, you stay hungry.
And guess what?
You shall be filled.
You can be filled.
But it's a continual filling.
It's not a one-time filling.
So many people say, I got saved 20 years ago.
Yeah, but what's been happening since then?
Has it been continual?
Continual?
Or are you just kind of stuck?
No, I need continual feeling.
Filling.
Feeling comes and goes.
But filling of the Holy Spirit.
So he says there in Matthew 6, verse 33.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
And all these things will be added to you.
You'll be filled up.
But what do you got to do?
You got to seek.
You got to seek first.
It's interesting that he uses the word now there on a couple of these blessings.
It says, blessed are you who hunger now.
Blessed are you who weep now.
It's almost like he's suggesting that there's a future.
There's a future when you're going to be totally filled.
There's a future when you're going to not weep anymore.
It's like every tear is going to be wiped away.
And we know that.
Those who study God's word.
You're well aware that says every tear will be wiped away.
But I don't know about you.
The older I get, the more tears that I shed.
The hungrier I get for the Lord, the more I long to be in his presence.
Thirdly, the third blessed, and I just kind of mentioned it here.
Blessed are you who weep now.
For one day you will laugh.
This life is full of tears, is it not?
Full of tears.
Whether it's getting whacked in the head by a two-year-old.
Right?
Or going broke, or losing your job, or losing your marriage, and your family.
Tears are just seems to be always there.
Just the thought sometimes of the trouble that my children and my grandchildren have gone through
has brought me to tears.
The thought of my own sin and my own failure brings tears.
And Moses and Jesus both promised,
you're going to have a gut full of this.
You're going to have a life full.
In Psalm 90, when Moses mentions, you know, that man lives three score and ten,
or if by reason of strength he lives to be 80 years,
their only boast, all of them, is labor and sorrow.
That's their only boast.
Some of you might be saying,
well, Pastor Scott, this is pretty depressing.
But I think that heaven is going to be such a contrast to this life, you guys.
Right?
This is as bad as it gets for us.
But sadly to say, this is the best that it is for some.
This is the best that they ever going to have.
This is their heaven.
Right?
That's why the elite want to live forever.
Because this is their heaven.
They can't see anything beyond.
They have no faith.
They're trusting in themselves.
And Jesus said,
in the world you're going to have trouble.
You're going to have tribulation.
You're going to have tears.
But be of good courage.
Right?
The psalmist wrote,
weeping may endure for a night,
but joy comes in the morning.
Amen?
Do you have joy in the Lord,
even in the midst of your crying?
I do.
I remember being at the bedside of one of our loved ones,
our family members that died.
It was funny.
It wasn't funny, but it was funny.
Because we were weeping.
And then seconds later,
we were laughing and joking.
And it's like this juggling act
in this life that we live.
Some have said that this life is,
it's a tragic life.
Life is tragic.
Tragedy comes all the time.
You just kind of have to get your gear on
and have your catcher's mitt
and get ready to catch it
because it's coming.
But in the midst of it,
praise God,
he can give us joy.
He can be with us.
He can see us through.
And then the fourth blessed here is,
it's like it's,
it's so counter to the world
that it seems insane
when he says,
blessed are you when men hate you
and when they exclude you
and revile you
and cast out your name as evil
for the son of man's sake.
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.
Really rejoice that people hate me?
Yeah.
Blessed are you.
Listen,
they hated Jesus.
Okay.
Why,
why would we ever expect
anything different?
He experienced this,
this persecution
that it talks about here
in verse 22.
And so would his disciples,
right?
But how can we rejoice
when men attack us?
By remembering
that it is a privilege
to suffer for his sake.
This week we were reading
in the book of Acts,
correct?
And in chapter five,
the religious leaders
were wanting to keep
the apostles quiet about Jesus.
You remember,
because of the incredible miracle
of the guy,
the poor man
at the gate beautiful.
And they were wanting
to,
to keep him in check.
And so it says,
and when they had called
the apostles
and beaten them,
they commanded
that they should not
speak in the name
of Jesus
and let them go.
And so they departed
from the presence
of the council,
rejoicing that they
were counted worthy
to suffer shame
for his name.
And daily in the temple
and in every house,
they did not cease
teaching and preaching
Jesus as the Christ.
These guys,
they were kind of
excited.
See that bruise
right there?
Right?
I don't know if you've seen
pictures of our youth group.
They got caught
in a hailstorm
in Colorado.
And I mean,
they got,
these were almost
golf ball size
hail
stones.
And,
and these kids
have welts
and stuff all over them.
that's maybe
the closest
we've got
to being wounded
for Jesus.
They were at a
Christian concert.
However,
it did,
it did wake them up.
They,
they,
they were rattled.
It's,
it was,
you know,
it,
any act of nature
like that,
doesn't it just kind of
take your breath away?
just like makes you feel
so little.
But they thought,
hey,
cool.
The world hates us.
I,
I had somebody tell me
the other day about,
about a guy that,
that doesn't like me
because of something
I've said.
And I'm just like,
well,
praise the Lord.
I was telling
some guys this morning
out in the foyer,
I about got in a fight
on Friday.
It's been a while
since I've had a fisticuff.
And I would have got
my clock cleaned.
I was jogging
and this guy
pulls by me
when I'm jogging.
He honks,
he's turning
and pedestrians
have the right of way.
Is that right?
Is that correct?
Anyway,
so I think I cut him off.
He's in a big pickup
and he,
he pulled by me
and I just,
he honked at me
and I ignored him.
And then I look back
and I recognize
the truck
and I thought
it was a friend of mine
and so he was
waving his arms
and so I waved at him.
And,
and I went a few more steps
and I'm jogging along
and I look back
and he pulls over
and I thought,
that's my friend,
he wants to talk to me.
So I go jogging up there,
running,
I'm running to the truck.
I don't,
have no idea
what's going on
in this guy's mind
but he gets out
and it's not my friend.
But I think
it's another guy,
another friend of mine.
And,
you know,
I'm smiling
and he's getting out
and he's said something
about flipping him off.
I go,
yeah,
I flipped you off,
joking.
Right?
And,
this guy puffed up,
got quite a bit bigger
and I,
and then I'm jogging up there
and I think,
oh no,
this ain't that guy.
And so I get up there
and he goes,
did you flip me off?
And I said,
no,
I waved at you.
He said,
no,
you flipped me off.
I said,
no,
I waved at you.
And I didn't explain
why I would have waved.
But I would not have
flipped the guy off
and then ran up
to his truck.
I mean,
I would have got
my butt kicked.
and,
you know,
God's word always works.
And the thought hit me,
Proverbs,
right?
That says,
a soft answer
turns away wrath.
And the guy was pretty hot.
He's a pretty good sized fella.
You guys would have
probably come visit me
in ICU.
Hope you would have.
And I finally just looked at him
and said,
man,
you know what?
I am really sorry.
And I put my hand out
and he shook my hand.
And then all of a sudden
he said,
well,
you got to watch out,
man.
You might get killed.
All of a sudden
he has pity for me,
right?
I don't know why
I told you that story,
but
it was quite the life experience.
Listen,
I haven't flipped
anybody off
for at least
10 or 12 days.
I'm just kidding.
It's been over 30 years.
so
mistaken identity.
Wow.
But people are going to,
the world
hates Jesus.
He encouraged us.
He let us know
it was going to
hate him.
And it is a great,
it is a great
barometer
of what,
where we are in life.
If somebody hates us,
because of his sake,
it says,
listen,
for in like manner
their fathers
did to the prophets.
The fathers of who?
The fathers of those
who hate the lovers
of God.
That's who it is.
And
we see it
in the book
of Hebrews
chapter 11.
In fact,
if you got your Bible,
turn there real quickly,
would you?
Hebrews chapter 11.
And I so forget
this sometimes,
but what they
experienced,
the Old Testament
saints.
And now they were
looking forward
to Jesus coming,
the Messiah to come.
They didn't see it.
They didn't see that
he went to the cross
for them
and propitiated
their sins.
Right?
they didn't see
that he had risen
from the dead,
though many of them
knew it,
but they never saw it.
And they were still
willing to die
for it.
Looking forward
to it.
And so,
in verse 32,
I'm just going to
read it for you,
but it talks about
all the exploits
of the Old Testament
saints that were,
you know,
made strong,
were valiant in battle,
turned to flight
armies and aliens,
women received their
dead to life again.
But it says,
others,
verse 32,
were tortured,
not accepting
deliverance,
that they might
obtain a better
resurrection.
Still others
had trial
of mockings
and scourgings,
yes,
and of chains
and imprisonment.
They were stoned,
they were sawn in two,
were tempted,
were slain
with a sword.
They wandered about
in sheep's clothing
and goat skins,
being destitute,
afflicted,
tormented,
of whom the world
was not worthy.
They wandered
in deserts
and mountains
and dens
and caves of the earth.
And all these
having obtained
a good testimony
through faith
did not receive
the promise.
They were looking
forward to it.
You and I
have received it.
God having provided
something perfect
should not
be made perfect
apart from us.
And so,
how much more,
if these guys
were willing
to do this,
how much more
should we
heed
need the encouragement
and the exhortation
of the Lord
to be those people?
For in like manner
their fathers did
to the prophets.
It's just part
of this life.
Not popular.
Jesus isn't popular.
He's popular
to persecute.
And so,
we have to,
as believers,
be okay with that.
And I believe
that's what we're
called to.
We're called to this
life that is tragic
and it does
involve torment.
It does involve
suffering.
And then he
transitions from
blessed are those
to
woe.
Woe.
Now,
this woe
in the cowboy
world
means that
everything needs
to come to
a screeching halt
like right now.
In fact,
I know some
horse trainers,
they won't even
say the word
unless they're
asking a horse
to stop.
They spell it.
But they spell
it different.
It's a
W-H-O-A.
Woe.
But it means
to stop.
Right?
And Jesus
gives four
woes here.
Four woes.
Let's
look at the
first one.
The first
woe.
Well, let me
back up a
second.
In the reading
this week,
we were in
Deuteronomy
and something
struck me
that sandwiched
in between
the woe
and the
blessing
and the
woe,
we see
Deuteronomy
chapter 11
where Moses
is talking to
the people.
And so
this isn't
something new,
the blessings
and the woe.
Moses called it
the blessing
and the curse.
Right?
There in
Deuteronomy
chapter 11
verses 26
to 28
where it
says,
Behold,
I set
before you
today
blessing
and a
curse.
Blessing
if you
obey the
commandment
of the
Lord your
God,
which I
command you
today,
and the
curse if
you do
not obey
the
commandment
of the
Lord your
God,
and turn
aside from
the way
which I
command you
today,
to go
after other
gods which
you have
not known.
A blessing
and a
curse.
And
these woes
are the
Lord
calling
people to
you know
what,
you better
stop right
now.
Stop.
And it
says the
first woe,
woe to
you who
are rich
for you
have received
your
consolation.
Woe to
you who
are rich.
Now,
I believe
that this
is talking
about the
material things
of this
world.
it's
something
that
woos
all of
us
in this,
especially
in this
country.
So,
I think
the average,
I got
online and
got the
average
income
for an
American
household
is I
think it's
between
75 and
85,000.
Right?
that's
the
average
income
of a
household.
Okay?
That's
in America.
The
average
income
for a
household
around
the
world,
okay,
around
the
world
is
12 to
15,000
annually
per year.
woe
to you
who
are
rich.
We
Americans.
Now,
you say
people,
well,
income
is,
you know,
it's
relative
to your
economy.
Maybe.
But the
Lord is
really,
I think,
encouraging
us.
Every
person,
every
human
has to
ask
themselves
the
question
is,
how
much
is
enough?
How
much
is
enough?
And do
you know
that right
now?
Because if
you don't,
this might
just be
you.
Because
riches
just have
this way
to make
us forget
God.
You know,
when you're
poor,
and your
car's on
its last
leg,
it's got
1.5
million
miles.
right?
And you
go out
and you
get in
it,
what do
you do?
You pray
that it
will start.
But when
you have
enough
resources,
you go
buy yourself
a new
car.
When you
get in
that new
car,
guess
what?
You don't
pray that
it starts.
You take
it for
granted
that it's
going to
start.
I've
had
people
ask me,
why do
you drive
cars that
look so
terrible?
Well,
because I
know it's
going to
get beat
up,
so I'm
not going
to buy
anything
nice.
But
I got
to tell
you,
as a
pastor,
I get
watched,
right?
I get
watched.
Grocery
store,
see people
from the
church.
Hey,
Pastor
Scotty,
what you
buying
there?
It's
apple
cider,
you know,
the sparkly
cider.
We had
our
secretary
buy that
one time
and she
saw some
people,
she was
horrified.
But I
do,
there's a
flip side
to that.
It is
fun to
walk into
a store
and run
into people
and go
hey,
what do
you guys
buy?
Oh,
a couple
cases,
huh?
You get
under the
microscope.
But woe
to you
who are
rich.
The
Lord is
so concerned
about our
attitude towards
money.
It's so
important.
The rich
young ruler,
you guys
remember this
story when
he comes
to Jesus.
Hey,
what must
I do?
He was a
good guy,
probably a
tithe
payer,
right?
Probably
paid 10%,
maybe 20.
Jesus
goes,
you know
the
commandments.
It's
interesting,
the commandments
that Jesus
mentioned.
He didn't
mention any
of the
first four,
which is our
relationship with
God,
right?
Have no
gods before
me,
right?
Don't make
under the
self any
grave
enemies,
don't take
the Lord's
name in
vain,
run the
Sabbath day
and keep
it holy.
That's your
relationship
with God.
He didn't
mention those
four.
And then he
didn't mention
the last
one.
The ones
that he
mentioned to
the kid,
he got
pretty
puffed up.
All these
I've done
since I
was a
child.
And Jesus
said,
you lack
one thing.
If you
want to be
great in
God's
kingdom,
go and
sell everything
that you
have and
give it
away to
the poor
and then
you'll be
rich in
heaven.
and it
says he
went away
sorrowful
because he
has so
much.
I have
so much.
I have
more than
I need.
And I
don't know
that it's
necessarily a
sin to
have things,
but it is a
sin for
things to
have you
and for
your bank
account and
your investment
portfolio to
have you.
You can
learn a lot
about people
when the
stock market
goes down
a couple
thousand
points.
Right?
People are
scrambling.
Talk to a
stockbroker,
would you,
after that
happens?
Right?
Their poor
lives is
absolute
misery.
They're
going,
oh,
Jesus,
please come
and get
me out
of this.
You know,
Jesus talked
about money
more than
any one
single
subject.
Why?
Because it
rivals us.
for our
attention,
away from
God.
And so,
James says
something
similar when
he says,
come now,
you rich,
weep and
howl for
your miseries
that are
coming upon
you.
Notice,
he says,
you have
your
consolation.
What does
that mean?
Does that
mean when
you serve
money,
that's
all you
get?
That's
all you
get.
You don't
get heaven.
I remember
hearing of a
pastor's kid
who,
in his
teens,
he says,
by the
time I'm
30,
I'm going
to be a
millionaire.
And he
did what it
took.
By the
time he
was 30,
he had a
million dollars.
Totally
destroyed his
family.
Destroyed his
witness.
Destroyed his
walk.
And just
now,
I believe,
in his
late 40s,
is he coming
back to the
things of the
Lord.
Now,
if riches is
all you want,
it appears that
riches in this
life is all
you get.
So,
be generous with
what God's
giving you.
Because who
gave it to
you?
God did.
No,
I worked
hard.
who
puts the
breath in
your lungs?
Who
allows the
blood to
pump through
your veins?
God does.
So,
he should
get all
the credit.
It's all
his anyway.
Now,
there were
rich people
in the
Bible that
God used
mightily.
Job was
a man of
wealth.
Abraham had
multiple
riches.
Joseph of
Arimathea
was a rich
man.
It's one
thing to have
riches.
It's quite
another when
riches have
you.
And
isn't it
interesting?
Only you
know the
truth about
that.
Secondly,
he says,
bless it,
or excuse
me,
woe,
woe to
you who
are full.
Full of
what?
Themselves.
They want,
they want,
they want it,
they want it
now,
right?
This,
this attitude
really starts
within gratitude.
When you're not
thankful for what
you have.
What are you
thankful for?
Don Isham,
before he took
his last breath,
I got to talk
to him.
And it was
after his son,
Jeff,
had gotten
killed in a
motorcycle accident.
And Don told me
that he had a
night where,
that he spent
with the Lord.
He couldn't
sleep.
And Don said,
I thank God
for things that
I have never
thanked him
for in my
entire life.
Bingo.
That's where
all of our
hearts needs
to be.
This,
this heart
of gratefulness
and thankfulness.
when we forget
him and,
and all we
can pursue
is our own
life.
And Jesus
says,
he who would
save his
life will
lose it.
But he
would,
who would
lose his
life for my
sake will
find it.
Whoa.
Forgetting
what God
has done.
The Israelites
had forgotten
the work of
God.
Psalm 106
verse 13.
They soon
forgot his
works.
They did not
wait for his
counsel,
but lusted
exceedingly in
the wilderness
and tested God
in the desert.
And he gave
them their
request,
but sent
leanness of
soul.
It's not an,
it's not as
important to
have your
barns or
your mouth full
as it is to
have your soul
filled with the
Holy Spirit.
woe to you
who are
full.
And that
can simply
be by
humbling
yourself and
asking,
Lord, I
need to be
filled with
your Holy
Spirit.
He says
that if we
ask, he'll
give it to
us.
But the
thing about it
is, is God
will give you
what you
request.
Here, he
gave them
what they
wanted.
You
remember, they
wanted meat.
So he
goes, here,
get your
full, get
your fill,
right?
And it was
coming out
their nostrils
they had so
much.
And then he
killed them.
What do you
want?
What do you
want from
God?
Whatever you
really want
from God,
he's willing
to give you.
be filled
with the
Holy Spirit.
Thirdly,
woe to you
who laugh.
Laugh what?
Probably laugh
in the face
of God.
People give
God the
finger all
the time.
Right?
Just by the
way they
live their
life.
Like Titus
tells us,
you say you
love God,
but by your
works you
deny him.
And he
will wipe
that smirk
off of their
faces.
Revelation 3.17,
many of you
know this
scripture,
talking to
the church
at Laodicea.
He says,
because you
say I am
rich,
I have
become
wealthy,
I have
need of
nothing,
and do
not know
that you
are wretched,
miserable,
poor,
blind,
and naked.
That's the
reality of it.
And so many
people in the
world,
they can't
see it.
Many
laugh at
the things
of God.
They
laugh at
people of
faith.
Jesus said
this would
happen.
It would
happen to
us.
And I
say to
you,
that many
will come
from the
east and
the west
and sit
down with
Abraham,
Isaac,
and Jacob
in the
kingdom of
heaven.
But the
sons of
the kingdom
will be
cast into
outer
darkness.
There will
be weeping
and gnashing
of teeth.
He's talking
about his
brothers here.
He's talking
about the
Jewish people
that rejected
him.
They
shook their
fist in the
face of
God.
They
laughed
as they
nailed Jesus
to the
cross.
Save
yourself.
Fourth,
woe.
Woe to
you when
all men
speak well
of you.
Woe to
you when
all men
speak well
of you.
That's
scary.
For so
did what?
So did
their fathers
to the
false
prophets.
Flattery.
Oh,
you got to
listen to
this guy.
You got to
listen to
that guy.
Please just
listen to
the word
of God.
So,
as believers,
we don't
look for a
pat on the
back from
the world.
In due
time,
you will
receive one
from the
Lord.
And I
think that
all of us
are looking
forward to
that day
when we
hear that
Lord say,
right?
Well done.
I was at a
little funeral
service over
at the
Shelton
Ryrie
Cemetery
yesterday.
And I
know that
woman
heard those
words.
She heard
those words,
well done,
thou good
and faithful
servant.
Enter into
the joy
of your
Lord.
It's so
exciting to
do funerals
for people
like that
because you
can just
share the
gospel.
You said,
man,
this woman
is dancing
a jig
in the
presence
of her
king.
It's
awesome.
So,
where's
your life
at?
Do you
need a
woe?
Okay,
when I was
studying for
this,
I had to
look up
Yosemite
Sam.
That
great
theologian.
Some of
you remember
the Looney
Tunes
episode where
he's chasing
Bugs Bunny
has got
the camel.
And he's
sitting on
the hump
of the
camel.
Whoa!
Whoa,
mule!
Whoa!
And the
camel just
keeps going.
And Yosemite
gets his
gun and
takes the
butt end
of it and
whacks the
head on
the mule
and stops
him dead
in his
tracks.
When I
say whoa,
I mean
whoa!
And then
he gets
on the
mule,
camel.
He calls
it a
mule.
He gets
on,
go mule,
go!
And the
camel don't
go.
So he
gets off
and he
whacks it
in the
hind end
and the
camel leaves
him in
the dust.
And I'm
just thinking,
man,
that's just
like so
many of
us.
Right?
We won't
listen to
the woe
or the
go.
Right?
We always
get them
backwards.
We're
going to
woe or
are we
going to
go?
And I
think the
Lord has
called us,
he's called
us to go,
right?
Go ye
therefore into
all the
world,
preaching the
gospel to
every creature,
baptizing them
in the name of
the Father and
the Son and
the Holy
Spirit.
So simple,
but so hard
sometimes.
may we be
encouraged.
May we
be those who
as we
looked at
the
Beatitudes.
May we
heed and
learn from
the woes.
Because I
don't want to
get before the
Lord and
have him
tell me,
you know
what?
Just get
away from
me.
I don't
even know
you.
That,
I don't
know about
you,
but that
scares me.
And that
is a good
fear.
Right?
the fear
of the
Lord is
the beginning
of wisdom.
May we
be wise
in these
days,
folks.
It's
short.
Time is
short.
The Lord
is coming.
We need
to be
right in
tune and
in step
with his
every call
and his
every move.
And we
do that
by heeding
his word.
Shall we
pray?
Father,
thank you.
Lord,
we ask
that you
would,
by your
spirit,
you
would
be
with
us.
That you
would fill
us to
overflowing.
Lord,
I know I
need to ask
you to
forgive me.
Lord,
I've been
preoccupied at
times with
my account
in the
bank
instead of
being
preoccupied
with my
account in
heaven.
So,
Lord,
I just
pray that
you would
redirect us
and fill
us with
your Holy
Spirit,
that we
would be
able to
complete
all that
you've
called us
to do
as
your
people.
Lord,
we know
that our
sphere is
so small
in the
big picture,
and yet
there's
souls that
you long
to save,
that know
that we
know you.
And so,
Lord,
use us
and pray
that we
would have
those encounters
with those
who need
to know
who you
are.
And we
pray it
in Jesus'
mighty name.
Amen.
Saul,
stand.
Thank you.