Praise the Lord, who
has blessed beyond belief. We are blessed because the Lord has created us in
His own image. We are blessed because, when we sinned and rebelled against Him
fell into bondage, sorrow, and death, He redeemed us. It is written in Ephesians
1:3 ff, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in
Christ." Indeed, we are truly blessed.
Our daughter
Laureen spent a few days over the last week in Boston with Janice and Jeremy,
and with Micah, Simeon, and Ada. She is in the Philadelphia area with Jessica
and Tom this weekend. Sunita and Andy are going to Albania in the early part of
May for six weeks with Sunita's work. They are excited to go to that part of the
world to share in the mysteries and the wonders of Jesus' Kingdom.
We are
getting ready for a very special worship tomorrow evening at the First United
Methodist Church, Endicott and for the worship services Sunday
morning.
at Union
Center and at Wesley. Plan to be in the House of the Lord this weekend wherever
you might be.
I have
been looking at the Beatitudes, which we find in Mathew and Luke. Dallas
Willard wrote, “Jesus did not say, ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit because they
are poor in spirit.’ He did not say, ‘What a fine thing it is to be
destitute... It makes people worthy of the kingdom.’ ... Those poor in spirit
are called ‘blessed’ by Jesus, not because they are in a meritorious condition,
but because, precisely in spite of and in the midst of their ever so deplorable
condition, the rule of the heavens has moved redemptively upon and through them
by the grace of Christ.” (The Divine Conspiracy, p.102).
In other words, being poor in spirit is not a virtue in and of itself, and it is not because a person is poor in spirit that he/she is rewarded with the kingdom as though they especially deserve it; rather, it is because through Christ, the kingdom has been opened to all of us.
Almost all of these promises of the beatitudes are actually in the future tense:
Those who mourn will be comforted.
Those who are meek will inherit the earth.
Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled.
Those who are pure in heart will see God.
All of the rewards are in the future tense, except two: to the poor and the persecuted. The promise they are given is in the present tense and the promise is the same for both of them: “...for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The Kingdom is already here, and the advantages and the privileges of that kingdom are here and now – forgiveness, peace and the presence of the Father. We live between the now and the not yet – between the kingdom inaugurated by Jesus and the kingdom realized in God’s new world where all the promises of God will come true.
Warren Wiersbe once said, “Nothing is harder to heal than a broken heart shattered by experiences that seem so meaningless. But God’s people don’t live on explanations; God’s people live on His promises.”
C. S. Lewis wrote: “At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door... But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so.”
We have a future. e are not just living for this present world and its pleasures and comforts. Even if we are in need of much, we realize that we have much coming.
Some say that we have a “pie in the sky” religion, and they laugh as we sing about “the sweet by and by”. However, there is nothing wrong with having this kind of faith if there actually IS a future, eternal reward that outlasts and outshines anything this world has to offer.
Observe the lives of individuals who supposedly have it all. People in show business, the music industry, or politics who have all the fame, money, privilege, looks and all the rest are trying to fill the terrible emptiness of their meaningless lives. There is a new world coming, and it is Christ's world, where the Risen Lord lives and reigns. He said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” Luke 9:23-25
As Christians, we do not look to gain the world, but we look to gain the kingdom. C. S. Lewis said, “Live for this world and its pleasures and you get neither, live for God’s kingdom and you get both.” He wrote in another place: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Jesus has given us an instrument panel to guide us and help us to distinguish between heaven and earth. That is what the Beatitudes are for. This is what Jesus intended, to get us headed in the opposite direction of what we think (and everyone is saying) is the right direction. The beatitudes help us to remember that we are headed for another world and that the rules are different. We cannot rely on our gut feeling about what is right or wrong, up or down. We need to believe in the instrument panel we have been given to guide us as we live in another kingdom.
Then only will the Scripture be fulfilled that says, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Matthew 25:34
In other words, being poor in spirit is not a virtue in and of itself, and it is not because a person is poor in spirit that he/she is rewarded with the kingdom as though they especially deserve it; rather, it is because through Christ, the kingdom has been opened to all of us.
Almost all of these promises of the beatitudes are actually in the future tense:
Those who mourn will be comforted.
Those who are meek will inherit the earth.
Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled.
Those who are pure in heart will see God.
All of the rewards are in the future tense, except two: to the poor and the persecuted. The promise they are given is in the present tense and the promise is the same for both of them: “...for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The Kingdom is already here, and the advantages and the privileges of that kingdom are here and now – forgiveness, peace and the presence of the Father. We live between the now and the not yet – between the kingdom inaugurated by Jesus and the kingdom realized in God’s new world where all the promises of God will come true.
Warren Wiersbe once said, “Nothing is harder to heal than a broken heart shattered by experiences that seem so meaningless. But God’s people don’t live on explanations; God’s people live on His promises.”
C. S. Lewis wrote: “At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door... But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so.”
We have a future. e are not just living for this present world and its pleasures and comforts. Even if we are in need of much, we realize that we have much coming.
Some say that we have a “pie in the sky” religion, and they laugh as we sing about “the sweet by and by”. However, there is nothing wrong with having this kind of faith if there actually IS a future, eternal reward that outlasts and outshines anything this world has to offer.
Observe the lives of individuals who supposedly have it all. People in show business, the music industry, or politics who have all the fame, money, privilege, looks and all the rest are trying to fill the terrible emptiness of their meaningless lives. There is a new world coming, and it is Christ's world, where the Risen Lord lives and reigns. He said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” Luke 9:23-25
As Christians, we do not look to gain the world, but we look to gain the kingdom. C. S. Lewis said, “Live for this world and its pleasures and you get neither, live for God’s kingdom and you get both.” He wrote in another place: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Jesus has given us an instrument panel to guide us and help us to distinguish between heaven and earth. That is what the Beatitudes are for. This is what Jesus intended, to get us headed in the opposite direction of what we think (and everyone is saying) is the right direction. The beatitudes help us to remember that we are headed for another world and that the rules are different. We cannot rely on our gut feeling about what is right or wrong, up or down. We need to believe in the instrument panel we have been given to guide us as we live in another kingdom.
Then only will the Scripture be fulfilled that says, “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Matthew 25:34
In
Christ,
Brown
Friday April 27,
2012
Television
Outreach
Time Warner
Cable Channel 4
Time 7:00 PM
Saturday Evening
Worship Service:
Location: First United Methodist
Church
53 McKinley
Avenue
Endicott,
NY
Sponsored
by: Union Center United Methodist Church
Time: 6:00
PM gathering for Coffee Fellowship
6:30 PM Worship Service
Date:
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Speaker: Jason Garen from Davis
College
Special Music by the Praise Band of the Cross Point
Church, Binghamton.
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