WEBVTT NOTE Podcast: Acts 29 Vancouver Episode: Glory : Kingdom Life in a Fallen World – Part II Publishing Date: 2012-02-26T05:00:44-08:00 Podcast URL: https://acts29.ca Episode URL: https://acts29.ca/glory-kingdom-life-in-a-fallen-world-part-ii/ 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.800 Guys, we've been talking about the whole aspect of glory. 00:00:06.800 --> 00:00:13.200 One of the things we are saying is that the glory of God is best recognized in his attributes. 00:00:13.200 --> 00:00:21.300 I'll keep opening every Sunday with these statements, partly for the sake of the tape, partly so we remember. 00:00:21.300 --> 00:00:24.700 Moses says to God, God show me your glory. 00:00:24.700 --> 00:00:29.600 And then God goes on to describe his attributes and lays them before Moses saying, 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:32.500 my goodness, my compassion, my mercy, my this, my that. 00:00:32.500 --> 00:00:35.600 And he begins to lay it out before Moses. 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:41.500 And so one of the ways to understand kabod or glory or the nature and the splendor of Christ 00:00:41.500 --> 00:00:44.500 is to begin to see the attributes of God. 00:00:44.500 --> 00:00:54.600 And strangely enough, some of these attributes are encased in these things that we have called Beatitudes. 00:00:54.600 --> 00:01:03.100 And so what we launched last week was a study of each of the Beatitudes or each of those verses in Matthew 5, 3 to 10. 00:01:03.100 --> 00:01:13.900 Because in it, you'll find hidden spiritual torpedoes that will arm you both for a life that carries in it the attributes of God 00:01:13.900 --> 00:01:18.700 and weapons that can undo any corruption from touching us. 00:01:18.800 --> 00:01:26.400 So yes, last time we did blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall be called. 00:01:26.400 --> 00:01:33.200 They shall. Come on guys. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God. 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:39.700 This week we'll be studying blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted. 00:01:39.700 --> 00:01:47.800 So last week we said that when you spot a man who is living out Matthew 5, 3 to 10, or a woman, 00:01:47.800 --> 00:01:54.500 when you spot a man or a woman who is living out Matthew 5, 3 to 10, 00:01:54.500 --> 00:02:00.400 you will see in him a reflection of the nature and splendor and character of God. 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:06.900 So in a crowd, if you spot somebody who is living out Matthew 5, 3 to 10, 00:02:06.900 --> 00:02:12.400 you'll immediately see in him the splendor, the nature, the character and the attributes of God. 00:02:12.500 --> 00:02:18.300 Because held in these Beatitudes is the very nature of God. 00:02:18.300 --> 00:02:23.200 And by the way, in a sense, the Sermon on the Mount should be called the Sermon after the Mount. 00:02:23.200 --> 00:02:29.700 Because if you go to Luke chapter 6, you'll see that in Luke chapter 6, here's what's happening. 00:02:29.700 --> 00:02:37.000 Jesus has spent an entire day on the mountain and he prayed through the night on top of the mountain. 00:02:37.100 --> 00:02:47.000 And he finishes praying at night, then he comes down the mountain and he picks 12 out of all his disciples and calls them apostles. 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:55.200 And after he goes through this, he now stands before his disciples and he's beginning this sermon. 00:02:55.200 --> 00:02:57.500 And that's when the rest of the crowd joins him. 00:02:57.500 --> 00:03:01.700 So it's really not a sermon that happened on the Mount, it's a sermon that happened after the Mount. 00:03:01.700 --> 00:03:04.500 Luke chapter 6 shows it. 00:03:04.500 --> 00:03:11.000 So Jesus had gone up to the mountain, prayed through the night, come down, selected 12 of his disciples, designated them apostles. 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:16.400 And then once he was on the plains, he starts addressing his disciples and a large crowd joins him. 00:03:16.400 --> 00:03:19.000 And that's when we hear his voice. 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:21.200 I mean, just think of this, eh? 00:03:21.200 --> 00:03:24.200 These are some of the times I really would have liked to be there, 00:03:24.200 --> 00:03:30.800 where suddenly the crowd hears him beginning to speak and he cries out saying, 00:03:30.900 --> 00:03:34.300 Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 00:03:34.300 --> 00:03:36.400 That's when he says these sentences. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:46.700 And in the context of the people hearing, guys, these are people who've now lived for years under the tyranny of Rome. 00:03:46.700 --> 00:03:50.000 They've been under Roman rulership for years. 00:03:50.000 --> 00:03:56.200 They've been under ruthless leaders like Herod, who haven't taught much of them. 00:03:57.100 --> 00:03:59.600 This is a nation called the people of God. 00:03:59.600 --> 00:04:05.900 And this is a nation that's gone through the humiliation of being under the tyranny of Rome. 00:04:05.900 --> 00:04:08.700 And in the midst of this, Jesus comes and says, 00:04:08.700 --> 00:04:16.100 Blessed are they who mourn, or they that are in grief, for they shall be comforted. 00:04:16.100 --> 00:04:20.400 And so to the hearers, this was like joy and comfort. 00:04:20.400 --> 00:04:25.300 But the thing is, they didn't understand it the way they needed to understand it. 00:04:25.300 --> 00:04:30.400 They saw it as Jesus saying, okay, I'm going to bring in a new kingdom. 00:04:30.400 --> 00:04:35.100 I'll overthrow Rome. But that wasn't what Jesus was saying. 00:04:35.100 --> 00:04:39.200 And so Jesus's announcement of the kingdom was a source of joy and comfort to them. 00:04:39.200 --> 00:04:41.400 But they didn't perceive it as an earthly kingdom. 00:04:41.400 --> 00:04:47.400 I mean, they perceived it as an earthly kingdom, not as something that God was going to bring later. 00:04:47.400 --> 00:04:51.700 And I'd suggest to you that that's what happened with the Beatitudes anyways, even today. 00:04:51.700 --> 00:04:55.200 We see the Beatitudes and we come to our own conclusions about them. 00:04:55.200 --> 00:04:58.900 When really, man, this is kingdom life being played out. 00:04:58.900 --> 00:05:04.700 So one of the things I want to do right now is talk about what kind of mourning are we being asked to engage in? 00:05:04.700 --> 00:05:11.900 When Jesus says, Blessed are they who mourn, what kind of mourning are we asked to engage in? 00:05:11.900 --> 00:05:16.800 And what is the... 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:20.200 To what end are we supposed to mourn? Why mourn? 00:05:20.200 --> 00:05:23.300 First, what kind of mourning are we to engage in? 00:05:23.400 --> 00:05:27.200 And then, what is the end of it? Why are we mourning? 00:05:31.500 --> 00:05:34.900 To what end? And so we'll discuss three different aspects. 00:05:36.400 --> 00:05:40.700 And I'm sure there are more, but we'll discuss three different aspects. 00:05:43.400 --> 00:05:44.600 Any questions before we go on? 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:45.600 Okay. 00:05:45.600 --> 00:05:48.100 Guys, the first one... 00:05:48.100 --> 00:05:57.900 The first thing we need to know that this mourning cannot be equated with having a heavy depressed spirit or the loss of a loved one. 00:05:57.900 --> 00:06:00.300 There's mourning that happens at funerals. 00:06:00.300 --> 00:06:05.000 There's mourning that happens when you are depressed, when you have a heavy heart. 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:06.900 This mourning is not that mourning. 00:06:06.900 --> 00:06:10.100 We are not talking about mourning that happens at funerals. 00:06:10.200 --> 00:06:13.000 You see that in Psalm 56, verse 8, where God says, 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:16.200 I bottle up your tears and they are forever before me. 00:06:16.200 --> 00:06:19.700 So it's not that God does not comfort in every sorrow. 00:06:19.700 --> 00:06:24.000 It's not that every sorrow can be rectified, 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:27.000 it's not that we don't have good spirits. 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:28.300 Why should we mourn? 00:06:28.300 --> 00:06:30.100 Because we love to mourn. 00:06:30.100 --> 00:06:33.300 And we don't want to have bad spirits. 00:06:33.300 --> 00:06:40.980 So it's not that God does not comfort in every sorrow. It's not that every sorrow does carry the 00:06:40.980 --> 00:06:45.580 promise of God's comfort, but in the context of what we are saying, it is secondary guys. 00:06:45.580 --> 00:06:51.700 So this mourning is not that to be equated with a depressive spirit or the loss of a loved one. 00:06:51.700 --> 00:07:15.580 This mourning, one of the aspects, this mourning is an outcome of catching a panoramic view or a 00:07:15.580 --> 00:07:30.020 glimpse, a panoramic view of God and his attributes. This mourning is triggered off by or this mourning 00:07:30.020 --> 00:07:40.540 is triggered by or is an outcome of. This mourning is triggered by or an outcome of catching a panoramic 00:07:40.540 --> 00:07:50.620 view or even just a sudden glimpse of God and his attributes. Guys, remember this scene, okay? Here's 00:07:50.620 --> 00:08:05.180 what it says. It was in the year that Uzziah died that I saw God seated on his throne and the train 00:08:05.180 --> 00:08:15.020 of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim with six wings. With two they covered 00:08:15.020 --> 00:08:21.580 their face, with two they covered their feet and with two they flew. And as they flew they cried out, 00:08:21.580 --> 00:08:28.900 Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. And the doorposts and the threshold of the temple shook 00:08:28.900 --> 00:08:37.300 and the temple was filled with smoke. And I said, Whoa, I'm undone for I'm a man of unclean lips 00:08:37.300 --> 00:08:51.020 and I live amongst the people of unclean lips. For I have seen the glory of the King. Look at 00:08:51.020 --> 00:09:03.540 the reaction man of Isaiah. You catch this panoramic view of God as he is and it just, 00:09:03.540 --> 00:09:19.940 it just tears you in sight. Whoa, I'm undone. That's what Isaiah's response is. We gotta, 00:09:19.940 --> 00:09:25.060 we gotta get this man blessed that they mourn. They mourn. They then look at God and then they 00:09:25.060 --> 00:09:41.420 look at themselves and they say, My God. It's something else man. You know, the greater the 00:09:41.420 --> 00:09:49.080 grasp that we have of the Father's kabod or the Father's glory, the greater the grasp that we 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:55.000 have of the Father's glory, the more distressed you will be at anything in your life or in the 00:09:55.000 --> 00:10:07.240 world around you that dishonors him or distresses him. I remember this was I think in 1993 or 94, 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:16.080 maybe 94. I was at Richmond Pentecostal Church and there was this kid pastor man called Mike. I mean 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:23.900 now I can call him kid because I'm as old as I am. But and he came up and he just asked people 00:10:23.900 --> 00:10:29.600 who wanted to come up, who knew their life was something that belonged to God to come up and I 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:35.240 went up and then at some point he came near to pray for me and he didn't even touch me man. He 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:40.560 just came and started praying at a distance and I just found myself on the floor and so I'm on the 00:10:40.560 --> 00:10:47.920 floor now and usually after a while you get up but I'm finding that I can't get up. So I'm trying 00:10:47.920 --> 00:10:58.480 to get up and I just can't get up off my back and people are beginning to say things like, 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:03.400 oh maybe he's gone off to sleep and they don't know that I'm completely conscious and I can hear 00:11:03.400 --> 00:11:09.280 them. Some other guys are saying, the guys who brought me, I didn't have a car then so someone 00:11:09.280 --> 00:11:13.840 drove me to the church and he finally he started playing the keyboard. His name was Kevin Fricker. 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:19.280 He started playing the keyboard and I just started singing and but I couldn't get up. I was trying 00:11:19.280 --> 00:11:22.120 really hard. I was saying father come on people are looking at me and thinking there's something 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:28.360 seriously wrong with me. Let me go and I couldn't get up and finally Kevin said I got to take my 00:11:28.360 --> 00:11:34.080 wife home. Everybody's gone so I'll come back later and he locks the church and I'm in the church 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:40.320 alone man and you know how big that church is so I'm staying there and then God began to do 00:11:40.320 --> 00:11:47.200 something really odd man. He would begin to show me who his son was. He would pick an area so let's 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:54.240 say he picks up humility and then he would in a flash show me how humble Jesus was and I would 00:11:54.240 --> 00:12:02.240 just burst into tears because I would see where I was at and it would be just awe and tears. All God 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:06.400 was doing me was showing who his son was and it would suddenly show me where I was. Then he would 00:12:06.400 --> 00:12:10.640 take mercy and he would show me how merciful he was and he would show me where I was at mercy. 00:12:10.640 --> 00:12:17.200 This continued for about two hours man two hours and then finally when it was done I said father 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:23.440 can I go now and he asked me will you ever not trust me and the promises that I've given you 00:12:23.440 --> 00:12:27.040 because I've told you things and you've not been trusting me. I said I will. He said okay you can 00:12:27.040 --> 00:12:32.800 get up and go and in a flash like a magnet was turned on turned off I got up of my back and left 00:12:32.800 --> 00:12:38.800 it's never happened again not looking forward to it but why am I relating this incident to you 00:12:38.800 --> 00:12:43.440 because all that happened during those two hours that I was on my back was a simple thing. God 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:49.520 showing me who he was and then in one flash me recognizing where I was at and there was a huge 00:12:49.520 --> 00:12:55.600 distance man huge distance and the distance didn't make make me feel rotten the distance made me want 00:12:55.600 --> 00:13:01.040 to worship. Oh I'm undone for I have seen the king 00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:10.320 and then what does God do he comes with a call from the fire and he touches Isaiah slip and he 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:17.440 says but I have made you clean. We got to get back to this man. 00:13:17.440 --> 00:13:25.920 Blessed are they that mourn. They that see who he is and are undone by it. You know in Ezekiel 9 00:13:25.920 --> 00:13:32.320 verses 3 and 4 you'll find Ezekiel describing another vision in which he says and then the 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:39.440 glory of the Lord rose from amongst the cherubs and it moved to the threshold of the temple 00:13:39.440 --> 00:13:45.040 and when it moved to the threshold of the temple there were some men standing there with measuring 00:13:45.040 --> 00:13:52.320 rods and with in linen and God says to those men go through the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark 00:13:52.320 --> 00:14:00.960 set my mark upon the foreheads of those that sigh and groan at the abominations they see around them. 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:05.200 The point being 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:11.200 have you noticed how callous we have become to sin around us? 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:21.200 It's odd eh? I mean I'm surprised at the things I laugh at and that I'm not appalled by. 00:14:21.760 --> 00:14:28.480 And yet here he says mark those guys on their foreheads the guys that sigh and groan at the 00:14:28.480 --> 00:14:34.080 abominations that they see around them. Guys this is not a matter of tears shed. It's a condition of 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:41.440 the heart. Let me tell you something. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to lie to you. 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:47.840 I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to lie to you. I'm not going to 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:53.280 cry. It's not a matter of tears being shed. It's a matter of the condition of the heart. 00:14:54.080 --> 00:14:59.120 Let me tell you this. There have been times in my life, not too many, but there have been enough 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:04.720 times in my life where I have shed tears on a Sunday morning in worship and gone and done 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:11.680 things that are wrong. So it's not a matter of tears being shed. It's a matter of the condition of the heart. 00:15:17.920 --> 00:15:24.240 Let me say that again. Beware when you and I can disobey with indifference 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:32.800 because it's just it's it's the first step towards the callousness of the heart. 00:15:35.440 --> 00:15:40.960 And the callousness of the heart will always result in the construction of a stronghold. 00:15:41.680 --> 00:15:50.720 Let me say that again. Beware indifference. Beware disobedience, disobeying with indifference. 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:54.160 Beware disobeying with indifference. 00:15:56.480 --> 00:16:01.760 That last word that you can't read is indifference. Beware disobeying with indifference. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:07.840 So am I saying there are different kinds of disobediences? They're all bad, but I just want 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:12.880 to say to you that there is a disobedience that comes with indifference where now it's become 00:16:14.880 --> 00:16:16.960 what's that word? Lassé fair or something? 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:26.000 Yeah, whatever. How are you? That word. Where it's become a matter of ah this is so common for me 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:32.080 that really I've gotten away with it so long that it doesn't matter. I can continue in indifference 00:16:32.080 --> 00:16:39.120 in this area. Beware the disobedience that comes with indifference. Why? Because it is one step away 00:16:40.240 --> 00:16:49.120 one step away from callousness of heart or hardness of heart, callousness of heart 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:52.720 or hardness of heart and two steps away 00:16:55.760 --> 00:16:58.560 from the construction of strongholds. 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:10.080 One has to have a hardness of heart before you've got solid foundations to build a stronghold. So are they. 00:17:10.560 --> 00:17:17.680 I got to develop a hardness of heart in an area before I can lay. Once I do that now I have a good 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:22.560 strong foundation for the building of a stronghold. I'm not encouraging you, I'm discouraging you. 00:17:22.560 --> 00:17:30.080 Yeah, because now in that area I've got hard heart. I've got a strong heart. I've got a strong heart. 00:17:30.320 --> 00:17:35.440 Now in that area I've got hard heart. Hard heart is good ground for building a stronghold. 00:17:36.080 --> 00:17:40.160 And which means you're three steps away now 00:17:44.720 --> 00:17:49.520 from creating a demonic hideout. 00:17:49.520 --> 00:17:52.960 You need strongholds for demons to hide in. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:18:00.080 Why is it that in certain situations demons can't be cast out? Because there is a stronghold that has 00:18:00.080 --> 00:18:06.880 to be demolished before demons can be cast out because they find in my life a certain 00:18:07.600 --> 00:18:12.560 stronghold that I have built that they can always hide in because I have willingly constructed that 00:18:12.640 --> 00:18:18.320 stronghold that I have built that they can always hide in because I have willingly constructed that 00:18:18.320 --> 00:18:31.040 stronghold. Righteousness is the seed for deliverance guys. Change my thinking and think right and 00:18:31.040 --> 00:18:34.560 suddenly I'm delivered without being touched or spoken or prayed over. 00:18:42.800 --> 00:18:45.680 Any questions on that before we go on? Go ahead Ruth. 00:18:47.120 --> 00:18:55.120 Yeah, I'm three steps away from creating a demonic hideout because it's strongholds that enable 00:18:55.120 --> 00:19:01.200 the devil to have a foothold in my life or find a place to hide because a stronghold is a certain 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:10.320 way of thinking, a certain way of practicing things that I believe, a certain way of reasoning, 00:19:10.320 --> 00:19:16.080 a certain lofty thing that I have raised above the principles of God. Now that I've established 00:19:16.080 --> 00:19:23.520 this in my life there is a hideout for the demonic to find refuge in and therefore it's difficult to 00:19:23.520 --> 00:19:29.760 chase them out. Why? Because I have built a fortress for them to live in. So if I undo the fortress they 00:19:29.760 --> 00:19:38.880 have no place to hide and they have to leave. This is why sometimes it's insufficient to cast out a demon. 00:19:39.600 --> 00:19:41.280 What is required is a change of thinking. 00:19:53.120 --> 00:19:54.000 Any questions on that? 00:20:04.560 --> 00:20:08.800 You identify if there is a stronghold in my life the rest of the world will see it because 00:20:09.120 --> 00:20:16.080 my thinking affects the way I behave. If there's a stronghold in my marriage you will see it because 00:20:16.080 --> 00:20:20.720 it will be shown in the way I treat my wife. If there's a stronghold in my parenting you will 00:20:20.720 --> 00:20:24.160 see it because they will see it, you will see it in the way I deal with my children. 00:20:29.120 --> 00:20:31.520 In the words of my mouth, true, very true. 00:20:31.520 --> 00:20:40.800 But the person with a stronghold usually has other people, especially in a body like this, 00:20:40.800 --> 00:20:42.720 who can tell them that they have a problem. 00:20:47.600 --> 00:20:50.800 But sometimes you can be blind to it. It's like a blind spot. 00:20:51.760 --> 00:20:56.560 Yeah or a blind spot. Let's just make allowance so perhaps it's possible. I agree with you. 00:20:56.560 --> 00:21:00.880 Usually I know my faults. It's only some things that I don't see till someone points it out. 00:21:01.520 --> 00:21:13.120 So, guys, check what you laugh at. After I started writing this I was singing to myself, 00:21:13.120 --> 00:21:20.320 man Jacob, some of the things you watch on TV and you laugh at are so odd for a guy who's 00:21:20.320 --> 00:21:23.360 been a believer for so long and is a pastor and stuff like that. 00:21:23.360 --> 00:21:29.280 I was surprised at something that I was laughing at last week, which was pretty ugly in the sight 00:21:29.280 --> 00:21:38.400 of God, but I thought it was so funny. It had to do with some jokes between two homosexuals 00:21:38.400 --> 00:21:44.720 because most of the TV series have stuff about two guys and the way they were acting. I was laughing 00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:48.240 at it and when I started writing them I was thinking to myself, boy, you can laugh at stuff. 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:50.080 The gobbler would laugh at. 00:21:53.200 --> 00:22:00.080 When I laugh at, check what I laugh at, what I take lightly, what I tolerate. 00:22:00.080 --> 00:22:04.080 Go ahead. 00:22:04.320 --> 00:22:12.320 As I was about to use the vacuum to clean the car, there was a guy over there searching 00:22:12.320 --> 00:22:18.320 the dirt bin of the vacuum and I thought he was looking for money. So I'm like, did you 00:22:18.320 --> 00:22:22.320 find any change? He says, no, I'm not looking for change, I'm looking for drugs. I go, what? 00:22:22.320 --> 00:22:26.000 He says, yeah, man, you cabbies get a lot of passengers and you can't get a lot of 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:32.000 money. So I'm like, what? He says, I'm not looking for change, I'm looking for drugs. 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:35.440 I'm like, what? He says, yeah, man, you cabbies get a lot of passengers and a lot of them drop 00:22:35.440 --> 00:22:40.160 their drugs and you vacuum it and you don't know. I'm like, that's a long shot to find drugs. 00:22:41.520 --> 00:22:47.040 He goes, yeah, last week I found this, this and this. Then he comes and tells me, don't you agree, 00:22:49.040 --> 00:22:56.240 anything better than drugs is free drugs. For some reason I just sense something and out of 00:22:56.240 --> 00:23:00.400 nowhere I just told him, no, I don't agree with you and I don't think that's funny either. 00:23:01.120 --> 00:23:06.240 And I went into the office and I came back and he was still there. He says, man, I'm so sorry, 00:23:06.240 --> 00:23:11.040 I apologize. I didn't mean to offend you. I said, you did not offend me, but what you said was not 00:23:11.040 --> 00:23:17.520 funny and I just told you the way it was. Good man. I've seen that in you, that there are 00:23:17.520 --> 00:23:21.520 certain things that you don't tolerate, which is good. And then there are, yeah, we leave the 00:23:21.520 --> 00:23:30.160 other side alone. There are things that I laugh at. There are things that I take lightly. There 00:23:30.160 --> 00:23:36.560 are things that I tolerate. There are things that I excuse. And there are things that I enjoy 00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:40.320 that don't necessarily match up with the character or the attributes of God. 00:23:42.080 --> 00:23:43.120 I want to change that. 00:23:48.880 --> 00:23:54.560 The reason we laugh at and take things lightly and tolerate and excuse and enjoy 00:23:55.520 --> 00:24:01.840 certain things that are either sinful or not kosher before God is because we get accustomed 00:24:01.840 --> 00:24:09.120 to the sight and sound of sin. We have gotten accustomed to the sight and sound of sin 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:19.120 and we are unfamiliar with the face of God. We have gotten accustomed to the sight and sound of sin 00:24:19.120 --> 00:24:24.000 and we are unfamiliar with the face of God. 00:24:27.280 --> 00:24:33.440 The more time I spend in front of the TV, the more desensitized I am to the face of God 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:36.960 and the more accustomed I am to the things of the world. 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:45.200 Even if it's a shopping channel. 00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:51.600 Because I just could hear some of you thinking, but I just watch the shopping channel. 00:24:57.840 --> 00:25:04.000 So stop doing it, Jason. The shopping channel isn't the place that you need to park yourself 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:09.360 in. Did anyone ask your opinion? 00:25:09.520 --> 00:25:14.720 So 00:25:27.840 --> 00:25:35.360 when I laugh at, take lightly, tolerate, excuse or enjoy sin, it's because I'm accustomed to the 00:25:35.360 --> 00:25:40.400 sight and sound of sin and unfamiliar with the face of God. I've got to get back to mourning. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:46.560 James 4 verses 8 and 9 puts it this way. It says, thanks. It says, draw an eye into God and he will 00:25:46.560 --> 00:25:54.240 draw an eye unto you. Then it goes on to say, afflict yourself. You who laugh mourn. You who are 00:25:54.240 --> 00:26:02.640 cheerful weep. Another place, Jesus puts it this way, those that are eating now will go hungry later. 00:26:02.640 --> 00:26:08.160 Those that are laughing now will weep later. The point being that Jacob, when you feed yourself, 00:26:09.520 --> 00:26:14.480 here's the thing guys. Yeah, we'll come to that a little later. Guys, remove the things that hinder 00:26:14.480 --> 00:26:20.160 you from mourning. Remove the things that hinder you from mourning. And here are some of the things 00:26:20.160 --> 00:26:26.800 that hinder you from mourning. Remove the things that hinder you from mourning. And here are some 00:26:26.800 --> 00:26:31.760 other things that hinder you from mourning. One, being content with your present condition. Being 00:26:31.760 --> 00:26:47.280 content with your present Christian condition. May I say it very clearly? There are people in 00:26:47.280 --> 00:26:52.160 this room right now who are quite content with the progress they have made over the last few years. 00:26:52.160 --> 00:27:10.880 That's a very important way to desist from mourning. Two, it's a bad thing where I'm content with my 00:27:10.880 --> 00:27:14.320 present Christian condition. Well then I don't need to look at God anymore. 00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:33.040 Yeah, but at the same time, any change in my life should come out of my love for the Father. So you 00:27:33.040 --> 00:27:37.360 can't go to Sarah or Shana and say, hey, by the way, you guys better watch out because you're 00:27:37.360 --> 00:27:42.240 going to lose your daughter's ship if you mess up. Can't. They're your daughters forever. Everything 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:50.080 they do in obedience to you will have to come out of love. Yeah, but I have to teach the child that 00:27:50.080 --> 00:27:53.920 I'm going to love the child all my life regardless of what the child does. There's nothing that will 00:27:53.920 --> 00:28:07.600 take away a child's... Yeah, and that's why the church hasn't understood love. The love of God. 00:28:09.040 --> 00:28:12.720 And what the church has done then, James, is they've gone and created theologies 00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:19.440 that frighten people into following God. God wants people to have the freedom to love him or not love 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:24.240 him. He's never going to take that freedom away. What we have done in churches is just to keep 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:29.520 people on the straight and narrow, we tell them now that if you don't, this will happen. If we 00:28:29.520 --> 00:28:42.560 put false rules that God hasn't. Yeah, we can't take away the freedom. Yeah, so that the child now 00:28:42.560 --> 00:28:47.120 loves the Father, knowing that I'll never lose my sonship. I've got a choice now. 00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:53.600 Yeah, and the child can abuse it. Yeah, the child can abuse it. 00:28:56.560 --> 00:28:59.120 Yeah, yeah. So, 00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:16.400 yeah, so you help the child develop a sense of governing inside. This is the best way to parent. 00:29:16.400 --> 00:29:20.880 It is possible. I know Eric is practicing it. I can't show you evidence because my kids are not 00:29:20.880 --> 00:29:25.280 around. But one of the things that Eric is now beginning to demonstrate among his three children, 00:29:26.240 --> 00:29:30.800 two, the other one is just two months old, is he's training them to have, 00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:36.160 to govern themselves from inside. So he can take them and show them roadkill. 00:29:37.120 --> 00:29:40.000 But so that they know from inside, so that he doesn't have to tell. 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:45.360 They'll begin to learn from inside that these are the ways of the God of my Father, 00:29:45.360 --> 00:29:50.160 and these are the ways of my Father, as in physical Father. And I'm going to learn them 00:29:50.160 --> 00:30:05.040 inside so that you will be governed from inside. Yeah, see, let me put it this way. I went to a 00:30:05.040 --> 00:30:12.000 church where they have been taught that you whack your child after two warnings. So in every house 00:30:12.400 --> 00:30:18.800 of the people that go to the church, they have a wooden spoon. And on the convex side of the 00:30:18.800 --> 00:30:26.400 wooden spoon, they got an unhappy face. And on the concave side is a happy face. And when a child 00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:31.600 misbehaves, the parent goes and shows the child the happy face once. If the child misbehaves again, 00:30:31.600 --> 00:30:38.400 it's a happy face again once more. And then if the child misbehaves a third time, it's an angry face 00:30:38.400 --> 00:30:44.720 and the child gets whacked. That church has been practicing it. Someone came and taught them that. 00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:48.960 You know what's happening to the children? They are beginning to take that and superimpose it on 00:30:48.960 --> 00:31:01.680 God. And it enrages me, enrages me that that God is being seen that way. These kids now grow up 00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:07.120 thinking that God is someone who will give them two chances with a smile and then begin to frown 00:31:07.120 --> 00:31:24.880 and beat them up. The father wants to teach me, his son Jacob, how to respond to him in obedience 00:31:25.520 --> 00:31:31.520 sheerly by understanding who he is and loving him. Doesn't matter whether I was a Christian when I was 00:31:31.520 --> 00:31:36.160 one year old as a Christian or whether I'm 20 years old as a Christian. This has been his way 00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:42.400 of doing it from the beginning. And if there is a parent who knows how to do it, it is him. And if 00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:47.920 he can deal with a rebellious son like me, then we can deal with our rebellious children differently too. 00:31:57.120 --> 00:32:01.520 Remove the things that hinder you from mourning. Don't be content with your present Christian 00:32:01.520 --> 00:32:05.600 condition because if you do, then you never need to look at the face of God because you're content. 00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:15.440 And if I don't see him seated in the temple with his robe filling the temple, then I won't need to 00:32:15.440 --> 00:32:20.880 say, oh I'm undone because I'm quite satisfied with where I'm at. Secondly, 00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:33.760 if there's a, we will, we hinder mourning when we resist change. We hinder mourning 00:32:34.320 --> 00:32:38.720 when we resist change. How does that work? The more I resist change, the more callous my heart 00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:40.880 or the more hardened my heart. We already talked about that. 00:32:44.640 --> 00:32:49.360 When God comes and says to you, this is the way Jacob you need to behave with your wife or this 00:32:49.360 --> 00:32:56.480 is the way you need to behave with your husband, get on with it Jacob. Stop resisting the change 00:32:56.480 --> 00:33:02.240 that I'm asking you to make because the more you resist, the harder your heart is. You can justify 00:33:02.240 --> 00:33:06.480 it, come up with excuses, but the harder your heart gets. 00:33:12.160 --> 00:33:18.240 Third, failure to let go of pet habits, pet thought patterns, 00:33:20.720 --> 00:33:31.040 pet sins. Failure to let go of pet habits, pet thought patterns, pet sins. It's almost like what 00:33:31.040 --> 00:33:36.960 do we afford ourselves? The more I afford myself pet habits, pet thought patterns, pet sins that 00:33:36.960 --> 00:33:56.480 are out of sync with God, the more I'll move away from pet sins. Here's another one, procrastination 00:33:57.280 --> 00:34:01.760 where it's a sense of saying I'll take care of it tomorrow. Yeah, I realize I have a problem, 00:34:01.760 --> 00:34:05.760 but I'll take care of it tomorrow. I realize I have a problem, but I'll take care of it starting 00:34:05.760 --> 00:34:10.960 my birthday, meaning Anne, you've got to start tomorrow. I'll take care of it when I come back 00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:25.680 from a trip. I'll take care of it when I get some money. Procrastination. And the last one that I 00:34:26.080 --> 00:34:30.640 want to throw it right now is feeding on a 1 John 2.16 diet. 00:34:31.760 --> 00:34:38.720 Feeding on a 1 John 2.16 diet. 1 John 2.16 diet is basically the lust of the flesh, the lust of the 00:34:38.720 --> 00:34:44.640 eyes, and the pride of life. Feed on that diet, and I assure you, mourning will be the last thing on 00:34:44.640 --> 00:34:56.000 your mind. 1 John 2.16. It's on, it's in your sheet, I think. 1 John 2.16. 00:34:58.080 --> 00:35:04.480 Pardon? If you understand the sense of mourning here. 00:35:08.400 --> 00:35:13.440 Okay, any questions on that before we move on to mourning a man acquainted with grief? 00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:18.480 That's the second aspect of mourning we want to deal with. Any questions on that? Any disagreements? 00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:29.440 Okay, blessed are they who mourn. Let's take on a second aspect of mourning. 00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:34.800 Guys, the second aspect of mourning, it's under the title of a man acquainted with grief. One of 00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:42.240 the names that Jesus is called, which we prefer not referring to him as, is man of sorrows acquainted 00:35:42.240 --> 00:35:48.560 with grief. Man of sorrows acquainted with grief. You will never hear a worship leader saying, 00:35:48.560 --> 00:35:53.600 we worship you man of sorrows, because somehow that's not something you want to equate 00:35:53.600 --> 00:35:58.640 with Jesus Christ, yet instead of him in Isaiah 53. I want to say this to you, if you're looking for 00:35:58.640 --> 00:36:05.680 Jesus, you will often find him where Jairus is weeping over his daughter. You'll often find him 00:36:05.680 --> 00:36:11.440 following the widow who is walking out of the city carrying the coffin of her only son. You'll 00:36:11.440 --> 00:36:18.160 often find him in the porches of Bethesda where they crippled and the lame used to gather and 00:36:18.160 --> 00:36:22.560 collect, hoping that an angel would come and stir up the water so that they could touch and be healed. 00:36:23.360 --> 00:36:30.000 These are the places you'll find him in. You'll find him at Gethsemane, where people are going 00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:35.360 through this horrible time of grief not knowing how to decide stuff. These are the places you find 00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:42.720 this man of sorrow is acquainted with grief. Romans 12.5 puts it this way, Paul says Jacob 00:36:42.720 --> 00:36:52.160 rejoiced with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. It's in these places guys, 00:36:52.160 --> 00:36:57.760 places like Jairus's house, places like the widow outside the city taking a son outside the city of 00:36:57.760 --> 00:37:05.520 Nain to be buried in the porches of Bethesda. It's in these places that you suddenly come to 00:37:05.520 --> 00:37:10.720 understand, oh shucks, here is this man called the man of sorrows who's acquainted with grief and 00:37:10.720 --> 00:37:14.560 grief and the thing about Jesus is that he's not like one of Job's comforters. 00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:21.200 Job's comforters were trying their best to offer well-meant words to divert Job's heart. 00:37:21.200 --> 00:37:28.720 This is not what we're talking about. This is not someone who gives you well-meant words to divert 00:37:28.720 --> 00:37:34.720 your heart because they just don't know what else to say. This is the kind of man who has the ability 00:37:34.720 --> 00:37:41.360 to one, understand your grief and then begin to raise the dead, heal the sick, set the demon 00:37:41.360 --> 00:37:46.320 possessed boy free and give him back to his father, restore Peter when he's feeling really rotten, 00:37:46.320 --> 00:37:49.840 feed the five thousand because he has compassion on them. 00:37:52.320 --> 00:37:55.360 Let me put it this way guys, it's not enough to know a God who heals, 00:37:56.240 --> 00:38:01.280 I must know his groaning and compassion for those who suffer. One of the things that's happened to 00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:07.360 the Charismatic Church is that we know a God who heals but we do not know his groaning and his 00:38:07.360 --> 00:38:13.120 compassion over those that he is healing. You'll see this word repeated again and again in the 00:38:13.120 --> 00:38:19.280 Bible, he was moved with compassion. It says that Jesus was outside the city of Nain and as he was 00:38:19.280 --> 00:38:26.560 walking he saw a woman carrying her son in a coffin and he was moved with compassion so he went and 00:38:26.560 --> 00:38:35.840 touched the coffin and they stopped and then he says let your son be raised. Another place, he's 00:38:36.800 --> 00:38:41.600 with people they've been listening to him throughout the day and he looks at them and he was moved with 00:38:41.600 --> 00:38:47.040 compassion because they had followed him and not eaten for days so he said let us feed them. 00:38:50.720 --> 00:38:56.880 He was with a crowd one day and he's mourned for them because he saw them as sheep without a 00:38:56.880 --> 00:39:02.320 shepherd and he was moved with compassion and when he was moved with compassion he began to 00:39:02.400 --> 00:39:04.960 heal the sick and drive out demons. 00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:16.480 It is insufficient to know a God who heals. I must know his groaning and his compassion. 00:39:18.160 --> 00:39:24.960 What do you think was happening at Lazarus's tomb? You think he wept because Lazarus had died? 00:39:24.960 --> 00:39:30.400 He wept half angry and half sad at this thing called death that robs. 00:39:32.320 --> 00:39:49.200 When this becomes a heart, then we become Isaiah 61, three people, then this church will become 00:39:50.960 --> 00:39:56.320 the Christ who is sent to heal the broken hearted, who is sent to bring comfort to the mourner, 00:39:56.880 --> 00:40:00.400 who is sent to open the eyes of the blind and who is sent to set the prisoner free. 00:40:01.280 --> 00:40:04.400 Now it's no longer a power thing, it comes out of this compassion 00:40:08.640 --> 00:40:12.480 because that's where you would find Jesus. Man of sorrows acquainted with grief. 00:40:15.600 --> 00:40:19.040 I have come to bind up the broken hearted, comfort mourners, give sight to the blind and 00:40:19.040 --> 00:40:24.880 freedom to the prisoners. The thing is sometimes guys you can offer people the balm of Gilead 00:40:24.880 --> 00:40:29.200 but that's not what they want. They want a little bit of vengeance, a little bit of self-pity 00:40:29.840 --> 00:40:33.760 and a little bit of staying where they are in their thinking and when that is the case 00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:35.280 there's nothing you can do. 00:40:45.360 --> 00:40:46.000 Any questions? 00:40:46.000 --> 00:41:02.400 No questions? No additions? No subtractions? Any niggling questions? 00:41:05.600 --> 00:41:07.920 I disagree when you say there's nothing we can do. 00:41:08.720 --> 00:41:09.720 Okay. 00:41:16.720 --> 00:41:18.720 Yeah, no matter how long it takes. True. 00:41:28.080 --> 00:41:32.720 The first thing, when we dealt with the first aspect, I so want to engage in this 00:41:32.720 --> 00:41:40.960 war on undone thing. At times the worship are meant for that. Guys, if after, 00:41:42.560 --> 00:41:46.000 this might discourage you but I'll encourage you after I discourage you. 00:41:47.680 --> 00:41:54.480 If after being in this house for four years you are not able to catch glimpses of God in worship 00:41:55.440 --> 00:42:00.640 then come and be prayed for because something has to be broken in your life. That's the encouraging 00:42:00.640 --> 00:42:19.680 part. The worship that this church engages in has the potential just because of God's grace to us, 00:42:19.680 --> 00:42:26.320 nothing else. It's got nothing to do with the worship leader. We have the ability to catch, 00:42:27.120 --> 00:42:34.320 if not glimpses, then panoramic views of God and if you are not able to do that then I'm saying to 00:42:34.320 --> 00:42:39.520 you come and be prayed for because it's a dullness that needs to be broken. I think we should be 00:42:40.080 --> 00:42:49.200 aware of those glimpses in everyday life. True. But one of the ways we catch these panoramic views 00:42:49.200 --> 00:42:55.280 is when we intentionally engage God. It does not have to be on a Sunday, it can be at home. I mean, 00:42:55.680 --> 00:43:01.360 I asked Eric for his guitar when I was staying on the mountain because how can you not? 00:43:04.000 --> 00:43:13.360 Every sunset, every... I'm feeling Eli's bones and I'm thinking to myself, oh shucks oh God. 00:43:13.360 --> 00:43:20.960 If it's a broken hearted joke or a broken hearted joke, they don't acknowledge it or recognize it? 00:43:24.720 --> 00:43:32.000 That's what... what's your name? Anne was saying that you got to keep pressing in, 00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:38.960 man. You don't give up on it. Someone didn't give up on me, man. Not someone, a few people didn't 00:43:38.960 --> 00:43:50.640 give up on me. Many did, many did but some didn't. Yeah. A heck of a lot of doctors gave up on Eli. 00:43:52.000 --> 00:43:53.280 I'm sorry, I'm laughing at this. 00:43:58.560 --> 00:44:00.320 So yeah. 00:44:02.640 --> 00:44:05.360 It's okay to laugh on that because it's a glory to a king. 00:44:06.080 --> 00:44:09.120 This is a Davidic kind of thing. Now they have naps their teeth and 00:44:09.120 --> 00:44:12.160 slink into their little offices. Sorry, now I'm getting really nasty. 00:44:17.760 --> 00:44:21.600 Yeah, sorry. Let's move on. Any other additions or questions? 00:44:22.560 --> 00:44:24.640 My brother-in-law is a doctor. He's a nice guy. 00:44:24.640 --> 00:44:25.200 Okay. 00:44:28.720 --> 00:44:35.440 Okay. Guys, there's a third kind of mourning. I've called it mourning seeds of faith. 00:44:38.240 --> 00:44:44.160 This is a really cool kind of mourning. Psalm 126, I mean what an odd way to say it. Hey, 00:44:44.160 --> 00:44:50.480 I want to tell you about a mourning that's really cool. Psalm 126 verse 6. 00:44:51.440 --> 00:44:53.040 Psalm 126 verse 6. 00:45:06.000 --> 00:45:06.800 Let me say that again. 00:45:07.120 --> 00:45:12.560 How cool is that? It's not that they're not weeping. They're weeping but in their weeping, 00:45:12.560 --> 00:45:18.400 they're still carrying seeds with them. Why? Not to eat, not to preserve, not to look and 00:45:18.400 --> 00:45:25.200 reminisce but to sow and they will return with songs of joy carrying seeds of joy. 00:45:25.200 --> 00:45:31.600 So, they're not weeping. They're weeping but in their weeping, they're still carrying seeds with 00:45:31.600 --> 00:45:45.280 them. Guys, what's being said here, it's not the absence of weeping but in the midst of weeping, 00:45:45.280 --> 00:45:53.600 there's a presence of life. Think, think. You're silly. We're not talking about the absence of 00:45:53.600 --> 00:45:58.400 weeping but the presence of life in the midst of weeping. 00:45:58.400 --> 00:46:06.480 Yeah, that's what faith is about. The presence. No, it's not the absence of weeping. Weeping will 00:46:06.480 --> 00:46:11.360 happen. There'll be times of grief but in the middle of the grief, you still are carrying seeds 00:46:12.320 --> 00:46:19.520 to sow. That's not how people normally respond. What did Job do when everything was taken away 00:46:19.520 --> 00:46:27.280 from him? Job says in Job 13-15, even though he slay me, yet I will trust him. What did Habakkuk 00:46:27.280 --> 00:46:36.160 say? Though the fig tree shall not blossom, though there be no grapes upon the vine, though the olive 00:46:36.160 --> 00:46:42.720 tree may fail its crop, though the fields may be fruitless, though the flock may be cut off and 00:46:42.720 --> 00:46:49.120 though there be no cattle in the stall, yet I will rejoice in the Lord my God. I'll do cartwheels of joy. 00:46:50.720 --> 00:46:56.320 This is when you go weeping but you're carrying seeds of seeds that you're sowing and you'll 00:46:56.320 --> 00:47:03.840 return with songs of joy. What do you think Paul did with Silas in Acts 16-25 where he was manacled 00:47:03.840 --> 00:47:12.320 and chained and he begins to sow seeds of exactly the opposite? What do you think Jesus does in Isaiah 00:47:12.320 --> 00:47:20.560 53-10-11? For it was God's pleasure to bruise him and to cause him grief and he was willing to take 00:47:20.560 --> 00:47:27.600 it on knowing that God's pleasure would prosper in his hands and that he would be satisfied. 00:47:27.600 --> 00:47:33.040 What do you think Josh and Becca did when the world was telling them that this boy wouldn't be born? 00:47:36.000 --> 00:47:46.000 Go read what Josh writes on the Facebook. You won't find an absence of weeping. His heart weeps 00:47:46.000 --> 00:47:49.920 but in the midst of that weeping you will find the presence of life. 00:47:57.680 --> 00:48:02.960 It always bears fruit man. What do you think you and I have been doing in different situations 00:48:02.960 --> 00:48:07.360 when in the middle of weeping you know I'm carrying seed man and I'm going to sow 00:48:09.600 --> 00:48:15.040 and then you find that shortly after you come back with sheaves and you come back joyful. 00:48:16.480 --> 00:48:18.480 Blessed are they that mourn this way. 00:48:21.840 --> 00:48:29.040 Sheaves are female sheep. No sheaves are sheaves are grain that's bundled. 00:48:31.040 --> 00:48:37.760 Yeah you're sowing seed but you're bringing whole a huge harvest back. Guys this is something we 00:48:37.760 --> 00:48:44.240 need to engage in. What happens sometimes to Christians is that they weep without taking 00:48:44.240 --> 00:48:54.080 seed in their hand. There was a moment Becca was sharing this last there was a moment when 00:48:54.960 --> 00:49:02.640 she realized that if she did not speak out life that things would begin to deteriorate. So 00:49:02.640 --> 00:49:08.400 her little daughter is there and no one else is around and she's not been doing this for too long. 00:49:08.400 --> 00:49:11.920 She's a newbie in a sense of speaking and she begins to speak out life. 00:49:14.640 --> 00:49:16.880 You sow with your mouth. 00:49:22.960 --> 00:49:29.680 This is what transforms the valley of Baca which is a valley of weeping into the valley of Baraka 00:49:29.680 --> 00:49:35.920 which is a valley of blessing. Suddenly in Psalm 84 6 you see that these valleys that were dry 00:49:35.920 --> 00:49:42.640 have suddenly pools of refreshing water and fresh rain. You change these valleys. 00:49:44.560 --> 00:49:46.800 These are not theories man. We know it's true. 00:49:49.200 --> 00:49:53.520 You know what this sowing of seed really is at the heart of it. Here's what it is really. 00:49:54.640 --> 00:50:00.800 When I go through difficult situations I refuse I will refuse to taint the character of God. 00:50:06.640 --> 00:50:12.960 I may feel angry. I may feel bitter. I may feel let down. I may not understand but one thing that 00:50:12.960 --> 00:50:19.120 you and I will do is we will refuse to taint the attributes of the nature and the character of God 00:50:19.120 --> 00:50:23.200 because of what you may be going through and that is when your hands are open and seeds suddenly you 00:50:23.200 --> 00:50:32.000 find in your hand. It is impossible to have seeds stay in your hand when the attitude is how could 00:50:32.000 --> 00:50:37.760 you do it? How can you be so nasty? What a monster you are oh God. You don't say it but between every 00:50:37.760 --> 00:50:42.560 hallelujah those are the things you're thinking. Again it's not a matter of words it's a matter of 00:50:42.560 --> 00:50:50.240 the heart. It's a heart attitude that refuses to taint the character of God in the midst of tears 00:50:50.240 --> 00:51:01.600 and trouble. Father I'm so bitter that my dad died when I was praying but guess what I know who you 00:51:01.600 --> 00:51:07.760 are and so I set aside my bitterness that may be my feeling and natural reaction but I know better 00:51:07.840 --> 00:51:12.080 and therefore I know how I think and my feelings will match up with what I know of you. 00:51:12.080 --> 00:51:17.680 Not what I see in my experience because I refuse to cast any suspicion on your character for I know 00:51:17.680 --> 00:51:22.080 you are oh God. That's how. 00:51:26.640 --> 00:51:31.520 Suddenly you can't understand why you return with songs of joy carrying sheaves with you 00:51:33.920 --> 00:51:35.120 when you went out in morning. 00:51:37.760 --> 00:51:45.760 Blessed are they that mourn. And the sense of comfort that God speaks about this comfort 00:51:46.880 --> 00:51:54.880 is immediate and continuous. I need us to understand that we have a feeling that there's 00:51:54.880 --> 00:52:00.240 some kind of a threshold level maybe 16 tears or 14 groans before God says hmm you've reached 00:52:00.240 --> 00:52:04.560 the threshold let me bring you some comfort now. No no no no no. Blessed are they that mourn for 00:52:04.880 --> 00:52:13.440 they shall be comforted carries in it the sense of immediate and continuous comfort. 00:52:16.720 --> 00:52:20.320 Immediate and continuous comfort. It's just that we don't think so 00:52:20.320 --> 00:52:23.040 and therefore we don't know so and therefore we don't experience it. 00:52:27.200 --> 00:52:33.520 Immediate and continuous comfort. The word sounds like paracleo. That's the word used. 00:52:34.960 --> 00:52:38.480 I don't know how to spell it. You can ask a resident Greek scholar about that one. 00:52:38.480 --> 00:52:45.600 But the whole idea of this word paracleo is that you have an outside source calling to you 00:52:45.600 --> 00:52:50.480 and coming by your side to help you. It's an outside source. 00:52:51.840 --> 00:52:59.280 Blessed are they who mourn for they shall find an outside source calling to them and coming to them 00:52:59.360 --> 00:53:04.960 to stand alongside and help them. Let me say that again. Blessed are they that mourn for they will 00:53:04.960 --> 00:53:11.840 find an outside source calling to them and then coming to them so that he can stand alongside you 00:53:11.840 --> 00:53:18.400 and help you. This is what Jesus was offering in Matthew. Sorry go ahead. Is it an outside source 00:53:18.400 --> 00:53:25.200 or an inside source? We'll get there. You see because I'm so engaged in Greek I have to break 00:53:25.200 --> 00:53:27.760 it down properly sister. Now you may not know Greek but... 00:53:35.840 --> 00:53:40.720 This is what Jesus is offering in Matthew 28 verse 11 when he says come unto me all you that are 00:53:41.520 --> 00:53:46.160 weary and heavy laden for I will give you comfort carries in it a sense of rest guys 00:53:47.120 --> 00:53:53.680 perhaps a sense of reposing back carries in it rest comfort that is frantic in comfort 00:53:56.080 --> 00:53:59.760 comfort that is frantic is in comfort 00:54:02.720 --> 00:54:05.760 comfort that is frantic is not comfort 00:54:11.520 --> 00:54:17.280 oh yes I have the peace of the lord but you there's always rest in comfort 00:54:18.080 --> 00:54:26.560 I'm sorry I'm picking on the Decau family but one of the things that Marty said last night was 00:54:27.440 --> 00:54:34.240 when the day that Eli was being born someone he knew died and he was more concerned about the 00:54:34.240 --> 00:54:40.400 person who died and not about all the things the doctors had said about Eli being born you know why 00:54:40.800 --> 00:54:46.480 because he was absolutely restful in the fact that there was a body of blood and he was 00:54:46.480 --> 00:54:52.560 a body of people that were praying for Eli and that he was taken care of ain't that nice 00:54:53.280 --> 00:54:59.600 when a grandfather doesn't have to care too much about the birth of a 32-year-old baby because 00:54:59.600 --> 00:55:03.040 there's a whole lot of people taking care of it so he was at rest worrying about something else 00:55:03.040 --> 00:55:07.200 now if a grandfather can do it with the mere humans how much more us with the father 00:55:08.320 --> 00:55:12.320 where you come into this place of rest which is part of comfort where you know that it's 00:55:12.320 --> 00:55:14.400 taken care of so you can bother about some other things 00:55:22.800 --> 00:55:30.880 today this outside source is as Anne was saying an inside source called the paraclete 00:55:30.880 --> 00:55:38.720 who is also called the comforter he comes alongside to deliver what is promised to those in Zion 00:55:38.720 --> 00:55:43.120 guys what is it that is promised to those in Zion 00:55:49.120 --> 00:55:52.080 I will give you instead of ashes what will I give you 00:55:54.160 --> 00:56:05.120 it actually says I will give you a diadem or a tiara of beauty instead of ashes I will give you 00:56:05.600 --> 00:56:16.640 ashes I will give you the oil of gladness or joy instead of mourning and I will give you a 00:56:18.080 --> 00:56:29.280 garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness this is what the paraclete wants to 00:56:29.280 --> 00:56:36.960 bring in comfort to you a diadem or a tiara because in those days as you take ashes and 00:56:36.960 --> 00:56:46.400 sprinkle it on your head to show mourning those days they would wear sackcloth to show mourning 00:56:46.400 --> 00:56:56.000 those days they would not put any oil or perfume on them to show mourning and yet the paraclete the 00:56:56.000 --> 00:57:05.920 holy spirit the comforter saying that this is what I'll give you so the diadem or the crown of 00:57:05.920 --> 00:57:11.520 beauty that I'm going to give you understand that what this holy spirit is saying is I will crown you 00:57:12.400 --> 00:57:18.160 with a new way of thinking 00:57:20.720 --> 00:57:23.120 oil of joy I will anoint you 00:57:25.520 --> 00:57:35.840 with a new life within garment of praise I will clothe you 00:57:35.840 --> 00:57:44.160 with a new way of speaking 00:57:54.960 --> 00:58:03.120 guys once comfort is delivered to you you can be responsible for it you know and walk in it 00:58:03.200 --> 00:58:03.920 and walk in it 00:58:08.480 --> 00:58:13.920 once comfort is delivered to you you can choose to be responsible for it and walk in it 00:58:15.440 --> 00:58:22.480 so that you don't have to go running every two minutes for comfort you can actually 00:58:22.480 --> 00:58:26.080 begin to walk in it walk under it be responsible for it 00:58:26.080 --> 00:58:29.040 once comfort is delivered to you you can actually begin to walk in it walk under it be responsible for it 00:58:29.040 --> 00:58:33.360 be responsible for it a diadem or a tiara or a crown 00:58:36.320 --> 00:58:41.520 when the holy spirit gives me comfort I what he also introduces to me is Jacob you've been 00:58:41.520 --> 00:58:46.960 distressed about this so let me show you something let me place in you a new way of thinking about 00:58:46.960 --> 00:58:55.840 the situation so that you can begin to rest in the comfort I've given you Jacob you're distressed 00:58:55.840 --> 00:59:01.440 right now but let me remind you that I have anointed you with new life within you you begin 00:59:01.440 --> 00:59:07.280 to live out of him it is possible for you to respond like Jesus responded in the boat 00:59:07.920 --> 00:59:11.280 it is possible for you to respond as Jesus responded at Lazarus's tomb 00:59:15.120 --> 00:59:19.280 Jacob let me show you how to wear a new way of speaking 00:59:19.280 --> 00:59:32.320 but no longer are you counter speaking out from under the mantle of a spirit of heaviness but you now begin to speak out of the garment of praise that I'm putting on you 00:59:32.320 --> 00:59:36.800 you can walk in this if you want Jacob you can be responsible for the comfort that I've given you 00:59:36.800 --> 00:59:46.800 or you can come back to me again and again and again but I would rather that you begin to walk in maturity like your leader the Christ and begin to operate out of this 00:59:46.800 --> 00:59:52.320 for I've appointed this unto you in Zion Zion is the people that begin to come into maturity 00:59:54.800 --> 01:00:06.320 which is better a child that comes crying to you every time it's frightened or a mature teenager who now begins to function in ways that you that is responsible 01:00:06.320 --> 01:00:11.360 in both cases the parent can comfort but which thrills the parent more 01:00:17.600 --> 01:00:22.400 that's the first time I've heard a parent say a teenager thrills me more 01:00:22.400 --> 01:00:34.720 good for you Janet may it be so for you yeah yeah yeah it is but usually parents usually parents don't say teenagers thrill them but 01:00:37.760 --> 01:00:39.760 good may may bless you 01:00:46.800 --> 01:01:00.800 and guys then there's this whole aspect that not too far away is a day when Revelation 21 verse 4 will happen perhaps in my generation perhaps in Tavitha's generation perhaps in Eli's generation 01:01:02.560 --> 01:01:10.400 where suddenly we'll realize and savor this whole idea of God will wipe away every tear from your eyes 01:01:10.960 --> 01:01:12.960 just imagine not crying ever again 01:01:15.360 --> 01:01:17.360 where death will be no more 01:01:19.040 --> 01:01:21.040 where I won't know what sorrow is 01:01:22.720 --> 01:01:24.720 where I won't have grief or pain 01:01:26.720 --> 01:01:31.520 because the old condition that is already on its way out will be completely gone 01:01:32.240 --> 01:01:37.040 and the order of things that's already on its way out will have passed away completely 01:01:37.040 --> 01:01:41.200 that's already on its way out will have passed away completely that'll be cool 01:01:45.680 --> 01:01:48.400 I love what David says in Psalm 42 verses 3 to 5 01:01:49.360 --> 01:01:53.040 these things I remember as I pour out my soul how I used to 01:01:53.840 --> 01:02:02.320 praise the Lord among the happy crowd but why are you so sad my soul why so distressed within me put your hope in God for I will yet praise in my 01:02:02.320 --> 01:02:08.320 my God and my Redeemer Psalm 42 verses 3 to 5 01:02:13.200 --> 01:02:15.200 questions guys 01:02:18.400 --> 01:02:24.800 blessed are the meek is what we'll be dealing with next blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth 01:02:26.160 --> 01:02:29.840 you'll have to bring 1500 dollars for this real estate course and 01:02:32.320 --> 01:02:34.320 I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do that 01:02:35.840 --> 01:02:37.840 Any questions 01:02:41.120 --> 01:02:45.680 Please practice it please go home and practice it 01:02:52.160 --> 01:02:57.920 Father we bless you Abba what can we say never knew that to be as it used to like this 01:02:57.920 --> 01:03:03.200 I thought there was stuff that you kind of put together like it was your first go at things Jesus 01:03:03.680 --> 01:03:06.640 but they're so rich should have known better 01:03:08.320 --> 01:03:10.320 should have known better 01:03:10.960 --> 01:03:11.920 so 01:03:11.920 --> 01:03:15.520 I'm not saying this for your benefit but for our benefit oh God 01:03:16.080 --> 01:03:17.760 blessed are they that mourn 01:03:17.760 --> 01:03:24.160 allow us to catch these views and glimpses of you as Isaiah did so that 01:03:24.720 --> 01:03:26.720 our hearts will grieve 01:03:26.720 --> 01:03:35.040 at where we are at with a desire to become better that our hearts will grieve at the things that distress and dishonor you