Sermons About Hypocrisy
Blessed are the Pure in Heart (Matthew 5:8)
We are continuing our study of what it means to be in the kingdom of God; God’s description of the inner realities of genuine repentance and faith. We continue this morning with verse 8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, because they shall see God.” “blessed” - the running theme throughout the beatitudes that describes the state of contentment, favor, joy, and peace of those who are in a right relationship with God. “the pure in heart” - as has been said all along the sphere of genuine Christianity is the inner man, the heart. This cuts through every thing superficial. God is Intensely Concerned about the Heart 1 Sam. 16:7 “God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” 1 Chr. 29:17- 19 “I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness, I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all theses things … O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, our fathers, preserve this forever in the intentions of the heart of Our people, and direct their heart to You; and give to my son Solomon a perfect heart to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies and Your statutes, and to do them all” Rev. 2:23 “I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds” God is and always has been concerned about the heart of His people.
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Paul: The Spiritual Abolitionist, Part II (19) & The Lord's Supper
An exposition of Galatians 2:11-21 and the Lord's Supper
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Authenticity
Core Values, part 3: Authenticity begins when you realize that you are far more sinful and wicked than you ever dared believe, and far more loved and accepted by Jesus than you ever dared hope. This frees you to stop acting and be real.
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We Are the Message
We all long to be better witnesses for Jesus. In order to be better, we must not just speak of our faith. We must live our faith out.
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The Kingdom of Righteousness (Matthew 5:1-2)
God has always called His people out to be separate from the world - you could say that God’s design for His people has always been counter cultural. Religiously: (a ) OT - (be holy) “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, “I am the LORD our God. You shall not do what is done nit eh land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes. you are to perform My judgements and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God.’” (Lev. 18:1-4) “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” (19:2) (b) NT “Be Holy” “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Pet. 1:14-16). Christians are to be different than the world, not like it. That is because the current culture and world is fallen. In Adam all sinned and all died; by nature all are born in hating true righteousness, hostile to God’s holy standard, selfish, self-willed, and earth bound in thinking. In other words, the world sits in darkness and “in the shadow of death,” God came as light and calls His people out to be light; that necessarily means that His people live, think, feel, act, love, and relate to one another in a way different than the world them. It is to be a part of another kingdom - and there are only two [!] - the kingdom of the world/”Domain of darkness”; and the “Kingdom of God” “kingdom of His beloved Son,” the kingdom wherein righteousness reigns. It is the kingdom of this righteousness that the Lord now brings before the eyes of those who would follow Him.
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