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00:00 (whooshing)
00:02 Folks that understand the magnitude
00:05 of the chasm between them and God,
00:09 and recognize that Jesus was the bridge over troubled waters.
00:15 He laid his body down to connect both sides,
00:19 God in heaven and man on earth.
00:22 And those of us that think,
00:25 well, you know, I'm better than the next person,
00:27 and you know, I'm a pretty good, you don't get it.
00:32 But when you really step on that first rung of the ladder,
00:36 and you realize your poverty, you realize your need,
00:41 you recognize the level of forgiveness God has extended you,
00:47 when you realize that you could be more patient,
00:50 more loving to others.
00:54 And the reason I do what I do,
00:57 I don't have to do what I do anymore in my life,
01:00 but because he loved me, he forgave me,
01:03 I owe him, I am indebted.
01:05 I live my life trying to fulfill a debt and obligation.
01:10 (audience applauding)
01:11 (upbeat music)
01:13 Psalm 34 and 18 says,
01:20 "The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,
01:26 "and saves such with a contrite spirit."
01:29 But guess who's comforted?
01:32 Those first who mourn.
01:34 Those that admit it, that can feel it.
01:37 They don't medicate it, they don't run from it,
01:40 but they take a moment, yeah, this is what I did.
01:44 And this was the outcome of what I did.
01:46 God, I own it, but I give it to Jesus on the cross.
01:49 Repentance is simply saying, Lord, I did it,
01:53 I'm changing my mind about it,
01:55 and I give it to Jesus on the cross.
01:58 Are you with me with that?
01:59 - Yes. - Amen.
02:00 - Now, if you're really walking with the Lord,
02:02 I mean, truly walk, I'm not talking about,
02:03 you know, these folks, they call themselves,
02:05 I'm talking about real followers of Jesus,
02:09 we'll all go through seasons of brokenness.
02:13 You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.
02:17 And our breaking is part of the making.
02:23 Then he goes on, he said, the next step, he said,
02:26 blessed are the meek.
02:30 And we talked about the fact that meekness is not weakness.
02:35 In the Greek, it's praus, praus.
02:39 And what that term means is strength under control.
02:43 It's the powerful picture of a mighty stallion,
02:48 a mighty ox that does what it's trained to do
02:53 instead of using its strength to run wild.
02:57 A horse with its, some are 2,000 pounds,
03:01 but 800 to 1,000 typical pounds of muscle
03:06 could very easily throw off its rider.
03:09 There's no human being that could stop, literally,
03:12 a horse that doesn't want to be stopped.
03:16 So in those moments, when you recognize
03:21 that you're, meekness is, when Jesus was before Pilate,
03:26 and he said, you know, Pilate,
03:30 I could call 12 legions of angels,
03:34 but instead, not my will, thine be done.
03:40 So meekness is, even though you have the ability
03:50 to do something about your situation,
03:52 but if God says no, if God says wait, you wait.
03:58 So a meek person is one who could deal with the fact
04:05 that life doesn't always go their way,
04:09 but it keeps moving forward anyway.
04:11 But Jesus said, come unto me, all you who labor,
04:16 and I'll give you rest, for I am meek and lowly.
04:20 When Jesus describes himself, he calls himself what?
04:25 Meek.
04:26 Jesus could have become the greatest world leader
04:30 we had ever seen.
04:32 He could have created the airplane.
04:34 He could have created rockets.
04:35 I mean, Jesus could have done anything he wanted to,
04:38 but he walked by foot.
04:40 He submitted to a cross.
04:43 Meekness is not weakness.
04:45 Jesus was a carpenter by trade.
04:47 He had strong hands.
04:48 He was a strong man.
04:50 That's why they were surprised that he died so early.
04:53 If he was that weakly thing we see,
04:55 you know, the pictures drawn on the various cathedrals,
05:00 he couldn't have lasted, you know, till,
05:01 ah, they hurt me.
05:02 No, Jesus was strong enough
05:04 to endure the beating, all the blood that was lost,
05:10 then they beat him up physically, the Bible said,
05:12 then they beat him with a stick.
05:14 Then they crucified him.
05:18 So, meekness is an important characteristic
05:23 in a believer's life.
05:27 And all meekness really is is your ability
05:30 to control your passions.
05:34 Now, watch the promise connected with meekness.
05:38 For they shall inherit the earth.
05:43 So the mindset of the meek is I'm not gonna give up
05:47 what God has for me to get even with you.
05:49 Am I the only one that has had to learn
05:57 sometimes it's better to bite your tongue
06:01 than eat your words?
06:03 We gotta stop letting our emotions
06:05 overpower our good judgment.
06:08 It's something I've learned through my pilgrimage
06:11 and my journey.
06:12 When you're hungry, when you're angry,
06:13 when you're lonely, when you're tired,
06:16 all those initiatives mean something.
06:17 Halt, slow down, take a minute, breathe, collect yourself.
06:22 Otherwise, you're about to give the greatest speech
06:26 you'll ever regret.
06:28 It's gonna get worse before it gets better.
06:32 We gotta climb, we gotta climb this ladder.
06:36 But I gotta do my job and get you there.
06:38 Verse six.
06:41 Then he moves us to the next one.
06:44 He said, "Blessed are those who hunger
06:48 "and thirst for righteousness."
06:54 You know, hunger and thirst are natural.
06:57 It's intense, it's motivating.
07:01 But hunger and thirst is also a sign of health.
07:04 And when you lose your hunger and thirst
07:10 for God and the things of God,
07:13 it lets you know something is wrong.
07:17 You know, if I went two or three days without eating,
07:19 it would let me know something is wrong.
07:24 And what happens is our lives begin to gradually fade away
07:30 the moment we stop caring about things
07:32 God created us to care about.
07:35 Blessed are those who keep their hunger,
07:41 who have a hunger and thirst for righteousness.
07:46 Is that what it says?
07:47 Not just a hunger and thirst for a new car,
07:49 a new house, new girlfriend, boyfriend.
07:52 Now those things are good in their place.
07:54 But the chief hunger is to be right with God
08:00 in areas that we're not.
08:03 And you know, a lot of us,
08:07 we kinda just kinda go with the flow
08:09 and we've lost our appetite.
08:12 And we don't realize the loss of appetite
08:16 is a sign of illness.
08:19 But God wants to bring us back to our senses
08:22 and give us our appetite back.
08:24 Watch the promise.
08:27 For they shall be filled.
08:30 Now here's the deal.
08:32 The self-righteous are already so filled
08:35 with their righteousness,
08:37 they have no room in their belly for God's.
08:41 But never lose your hunger.
08:45 And then he pushes us to the next rung on the ladder.
08:50 He says, "Blessed are the merciful."
08:56 Now we've reached halfway.
08:58 We're halfway up Jacob's ladder.
09:01 This is the fourth blessing.
09:04 And up to this point,
09:09 most of the Beatitudes are about
09:12 getting our hearts right before God.
09:14 But once we reach this step on the ladder,
09:19 it's mostly dealing with our interactions with other people.
09:23 So just like the cross is horizontal and vertical,
09:26 you gotta get your relationship with God right.
09:28 How many of y'all know some super spiritual people?
09:30 They're the meanest people.
09:31 I mean, they talk about Jesus all the time
09:33 and all this stuff and got them titles and all the rest.
09:37 Now, they say they got it right.
09:39 But the problem is the cross not only has a vertical beam,
09:43 it has a horizontal beam.
09:45 You know, if you really got it right with God,
09:47 you're gonna get along with the people in your life.
09:49 You understand?
09:50 So you gotta get along with people who are your peers
09:53 and God who is in heaven.
09:57 He said, "Blessed are the merciful."
10:02 People who are perceptive to the pain and the suffering
10:07 and the hurts of others.
10:10 Those who have been humbled on the first rung of the ladder
10:13 by realizing their poverty of spirit.
10:16 But then they had the courage to step
10:18 to the second rung of the ladder
10:20 and they mourned as they saw the impact of their sin,
10:23 their choices and their mistakes in life.
10:26 But God comforted them and kept them on that second rung.
10:29 And then they moved to the third rung of the ladder.
10:32 And in that rung, they suffered temptation,
10:34 but they still showed meekness and obeyed God.
10:37 They were pulled in all these directions,
10:39 but they still went God's way and said,
10:41 "Not my will, God, thy will be done."
10:45 And now we're at the fourth.
10:49 Blessed are the merciful.
10:52 You see, spiritual growth is not an event.
10:56 You know, as anointed as God has made others
11:00 into the body of Christ,
11:02 as whatever God's done in my life as your bishop,
11:06 let me tell you something that's very, very important.
11:09 Maturity or growth in the Lord is not an event.
11:14 It is a process.
11:17 No one will ever be able to lay hands on you
11:21 and you just automatically go up.
11:24 It's a process.
11:26 And you gotta go through seasons.
11:28 You gotta take step.
11:29 Every step is dependent on the previous step
11:33 as we climb this ladder.
11:38 Blessed are the merciful.
11:46 Jesus said this, he said,
11:50 "Whoever is forgiven little loves little."
11:58 And what he was saying is,
12:00 folks that understand the magnitude
12:04 of the chasm between them and God,
12:08 and recognize that Jesus was the bridge over troubled waters.
12:14 He laid his body down to connect both sides,
12:18 God in heaven and man on earth.
12:22 And those of us that think,
12:24 well, you know, I'm better than the next person,
12:26 and you know, I'm a pretty good, you don't get it.
12:31 But when you really step on that first rung of the ladder,
12:36 and you realize your poverty, you realize your need,
12:41 you recognize the level of forgiveness
12:45 God has extended you,
12:47 when you realize that you could be more patient,
12:50 more loving to others.
12:53 And the reason I do what I do,
12:56 I don't have to do what I do anymore in my life,
12:59 but because he loved me, he forgave me,
13:02 I owe him, I am indebted.
13:04 I live my life trying to fulfill a debt, an obligation
13:09 to fulfill my calling,
13:13 because while I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me.
13:18 And I know, and in fact, if he showed me everything,
13:22 I'd probably just die.
13:24 But he gave me glimpses of how bad it was,
13:28 and how deep a ditch I was in.
13:31 But he reached down and he saved me,
13:34 and it makes me grateful.
13:36 So I worship out of gratitude,
13:38 I preach out of an indebtedness,
13:41 I give because I'm thankful,
13:43 not because I could ever earn what God has done for me,
13:47 but because of his goodness.
13:48 Is anybody in the room listening this morning?
13:53 (congregation applauding)
13:55 Blessed are the merciful.
14:00 Now we need to, or we ought to call things what they are.
14:05 I mean, baby, that's not for you.
14:09 Daughter, no, that's not God's plan for you, no, no.
14:12 Son, you need to stay in your lane.
14:14 You need to call things what they are.
14:19 But don't you ever look down your nose and start to gloat.
14:23 (congregation applauding)
14:26 Keep your words sweet, because you may have to eat them.
14:29 (congregation applauding)
14:33 Blessed are the merciful.
14:40 The merciful are folks that don't expect too much.
14:44 Those are folks that get over small things quickly.
14:52 But here's the promise.
14:53 For they shall obtain mercy.
14:59 And once again, when you remember your first step,
15:04 that time you realize your sin in need of a savior,
15:09 and you experience the mercy of God for yourself,
15:13 and you reflect the process that you've been on,
15:19 you can't look down your nose at anybody,
15:22 'cause you know how easily
15:24 you could have been blown off that ladder.
15:26 You know that it wasn't in your own strength
15:29 you got to wherever you are today.
15:32 And what you need to keep in mind is
15:36 whether you drown in 10 feet of water,
15:39 or water a mile deep, you're equally dead.
15:43 I don't care how much better you are
15:47 than the person next to you.
15:49 You are dead, and you are dead in your trespasses and sins.
15:53 And just because you might have been
15:54 a little bit better than me,
15:56 doesn't mean that Jesus didn't have to come down for you.
16:01 Jesus still had to pay a debt he didn't owe,
16:03 because you owed a debt you couldn't pay.
16:06 I'm talking about Jesus right now.
16:08 (congregation applauding)
16:12 And as we get to verse eight,
16:13 I want you to again reflect on the fact
16:16 that he didn't start with blessed are the pure,
16:18 'cause like I said, not everybody be able to make it.
16:21 That's a step too high, but I could deal with my poverty.
16:25 I could see that right from where I am.
16:27 That's the first step.
16:29 God will meet you right where you are.
16:31 But the Greek here for pure,
16:36 speaking of an undivided heart,
16:42 a heart that is clear in its affections,
16:47 straightforward in its focus.
16:50 He's talking about a heart without mixture.
16:55 Scripture likens our faith to gold.
17:01 And gold is one of the few things in nature
17:06 that when we put it in fire, it becomes more valuable.
17:10 And in this, or on this step of the ladder,
17:16 this is when everything in your life seems to go wrong.
17:19 And you say, Lord, I made so much progress.
17:23 I thought you loved me, and I thought you were for me.
17:26 And Lord, if you love me, wouldn't everything be perfect?
17:29 Wouldn't that, no, no, no, no.
17:31 God loves you so much that he begins to purify.
17:36 And I've used this illustration once before.
17:41 It's a goldsmith that was teaching an apprentice.
17:45 And the goldsmith would heat the gold up.
17:48 And as the gold was heated,
17:50 the impurities in the gold would come to the surface,
17:53 and he'd swipe the impurities off the top of the gold.
17:56 And he'd do this over and over and over again.
17:59 And sometimes he might have done it seven or eight times.
18:01 Other times he did 10, 11 times.
18:04 It kind of depended on the level of impurity
18:06 that was in the gold.
18:07 And the apprentice was trying to figure out,
18:12 well, I gotta do this after you.
18:14 Well, how do I know when the gold is done?
18:19 And the goldsmith said,
18:23 well, when I can see my reflection in the gold.
18:28 So there's no more black on the top.
18:32 When you boil it up, it's gold.
18:35 And by the way, there are gold mirrors
18:37 that you can see reflection in gold.
18:39 And what God is saying to us
18:43 is he's not through with the fire
18:44 until he could see his reflection.
18:48 He could see his face in you.
18:53 Instead of testing trials, destroying the believer,
18:57 all it does is increase the quality of our faith.
19:01 Blessed are the what?
19:06 Pure in heart.
19:07 As with the poor in spirit,
19:10 I want you to notice the location of the purity.
19:13 You see, your heart is the most valuable thing
19:17 you have in your life.
19:18 And because of that,
19:21 God will put your heart through the fire
19:23 to make it pure, to make it single,
19:27 to refocus it, to make it more spiritually productive.
19:31 The fire is not God's rebuke.
19:34 It's really his love.
19:36 I want you to be more valuable to your children,
19:39 more valuable to your church,
19:40 more valuable to the people in your life.
19:43 You say, "Bishop, that's your opinion."
19:45 Proverbs 4 and 23.
19:46 Solomon says, "Above all else,
19:51 "above everything else in your life,
19:55 "you need to learn to do one thing, guard your heart."
19:58 We only guard what's valuable.
20:01 And if it wasn't valuable, he wouldn't tell us to guard it.
20:04 The most valuable thing you possess in your life
20:07 is your heart.
20:09 He said, "Above all else, guard your heart
20:11 "for everything you do
20:13 "flows from your attitude."
20:18 So you could do the right thing with the wrong attitude
20:23 and poison what you do.
20:24 And you can do the right thing
20:30 but don't even get it all right,
20:31 but you have such a right attitude.
20:33 God gives you a pass.
20:38 You lose when you let your enemy
20:44 make you as bitter as they are.
20:46 The goal of what the devil is doing
20:53 is to make you as nasty and as mean,
20:58 as critical as he is.
21:01 Don't give him the joy.
21:07 (congregation applauding)
21:09 Of seeing you that way.
21:11 He said, "Blessed are the pure in heart."
21:16 But watch the promise.
21:18 "For they," they, not everybody,
21:20 "but they shall see God."
21:23 God's reward to the pure in heart is the ultimate reward.
21:28 They can see God.
21:30 They can see God in a baby's smile.
21:35 They can see God in a child
21:38 taking care of an aging parent.
21:41 They can see God in someone who doesn't have a lot
21:45 but still gives much.
21:47 The pure in heart can see God in creation.
21:51 The pure in heart can see God in others
21:54 though it's difficult at times to see.
21:56 The pure in heart can see God in scriptures
21:59 and the pure in heart can even begin
22:01 to see God in themselves.
22:04 But it takes a refining process
22:07 for God to get us here.
22:12 And then he moves on to the final rung on the ladder.
22:17 Now I said there are eight steps,
22:20 but there's really seven and the eighth is the benediction.
22:24 But we'll see that in just a second.
22:25 "Blessed are the peacemakers."
22:29 Billy Graham said, "To be a peacemaker,
22:33 "you must know the peace giver."
22:35 These are those who use their time, treasure, and talents
22:41 to be channels and instruments of God's peace on earth.
22:46 Now there are people that will compromise anything
22:49 and just about everything not to be criticized
22:52 and to keep peace.
22:54 But a true peacemaker is a person
22:59 that by this level has earned enough respect
23:04 from a life well lived to make peace.
23:10 These are folks that, you know, you still face conflict
23:13 even though you're a peacemaker,
23:15 but you have learned to overcome evil with good.
23:19 So evil comes your way, but you overcome evil with good.
23:23 At the cross, we threw all our evil on Jesus,
23:26 but on the third day, he rose from the grave
23:29 and overcome evil with, yep, good.
23:33 They remember that Jesus was willing
23:40 to take blows from both sides.
23:44 They're willing to put themselves
23:47 in the middle of the conflict.
23:49 And just as Jesus took blows from humanity,
23:53 the Romans at the instigation of the Jews
23:55 put him on the cross,
23:57 but then God laid on him the sin of the world.
24:00 They said, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
24:04 God turned his back and he was on the cross alone
24:09 and he took blows from both sides.
24:15 And if you're gonna be a peacemaker,
24:18 sometimes when you get in the middle of a conflict,
24:21 you gotta take blows from both sides.
24:26 But the peacemaker, when you reach that level,
24:31 you have really reached the highest level
24:34 of all the beatitudes.
24:37 When it doesn't matter what they think of you
24:39 or they think of you, it's about God, your will be done.
24:42 Lord, help me reconcile this issue
24:45 to your glory and your care.
24:47 And watch what this final group is called.
24:50 For they shall be called, watch this, sons of God,
24:54 not they call themselves.
24:55 Now, everybody, you might have the bumper sticker on,
24:57 but I don't know what they calling you in traffic
24:59 because some of y'all need to take that bumper sticker off
25:04 'cause of what you do.
25:07 For they shall be called the sons of God.
25:11 When you reach this level,
25:15 you no longer have to convince people you follow Jesus.
25:19 They can see it.
25:21 They may not be able to explain it,
25:24 but down in their bones, they know you are different.
25:28 At this level, you stop fighting petty battles
25:31 with petty people.
25:33 Your only motivation is to know God and to make God known.
25:38 It's a high place.
25:40 And it would be good if he stopped here, but he didn't.
25:45 He said, "Blessed, happy, enviable, fortunate."
25:52 And you're gonna see blessed twice
25:55 when it speaks of this subject of persecution.
25:57 How many of y'all wanna hear about persecution?
25:59 Be honest.
26:00 No, you don't, no, you don't, no, you don't.
26:01 (congregation laughing)
26:04 But it's good medicine, watch this.
26:06 Blessed are those who are persecuted.
26:10 This verse used to get me mad.
26:14 Like, Lord, I'm not built like that.
26:20 Listen, Lord, I'll train like Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly,
26:25 Leroy Green, remember the last dragon?
26:28 Yep, y'all know, yeah.
26:30 Jackie Chan, Chuck Norris, all of them put together.
26:36 Just let me knock a brother out every now and then.
26:42 God, don't you know everybody don't understand nice?
26:46 (congregation laughing)
26:50 But if you really traveled up this ladder
26:53 and you discovered your own personal poverty,
26:57 you've really spent some time weeping over your sins.
27:02 You know what it's like to obey when you've been tempted.
27:05 You know what it's like to hunger and thirst
27:07 for righteousness.
27:09 You were merciful and forgave even when it was hard.
27:12 You faced your own heart, dealt with your impurities,
27:15 and you followed after peace.
27:17 And after you've traveled that journey,
27:20 you remember, you know what, you've been wrong too.
27:24 And if God would have knocked you out, you wouldn't be here.
27:29 If God would have struck you dead, you wouldn't be here.
27:32 So they just on a different level of the ladder.
27:37 And you start to learn to be patient.
27:45 He said, "Blessed are the persecuted."
27:49 For righteousness sake, I said it wrong,
27:53 but you know what I mean.
27:54 Jesus adds a qualifier.
27:57 Don't be mean to people and call it persecution.
28:02 (congregation laughing)
28:05 It's not persecution when you don't pay your bills
28:07 and a repo man shows up.
28:08 (congregation laughing)
28:10 It's not persecution when you gossip
28:12 and you get fired or you come out and someone keys your car.
28:16 What Jesus is saying is as you climb this ladder,
28:24 everyone is not gonna get you.
28:27 Everyone's not gonna like you as you climb,
28:32 but you have climbed too high to come down.
28:35 You've come too far to only come this far.
28:40 Jesus is saying in order for you to fight the good fight
28:44 and win, you gotta learn how to roll with the punches,
28:48 roll with the punches, roll with the punches.
28:51 And he kind of completes the circle here
28:54 because the poor, it said, "For theirs is the kingdom."
28:56 Poor in heart, but then he says here,
28:59 "For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
29:00 He completes the cycle and he takes us back
29:03 to where we started.
29:04 And I find in life, you know, God will,
29:07 certain things or certain steps I kind of forgetting
29:09 that got away from me and he'll take me right back there
29:12 and to take me through it.
29:15 But let me tell you something,
29:16 if all you have is the kingdom, you are rich.
29:20 It's the sweetest type of poverty
29:23 if all you have is God's kingdom.
29:27 But going through these steps,
29:29 it's just proof that you're not a counterfeit.
29:33 Now I said in the earlier message
29:35 that this was spoken to Jesus' disciples.
29:38 The context, he was speaking to learners,
29:41 people that were trying to do this thing,
29:43 not just someone wanting to hear,
29:44 you know, "Ah, that's exciting.
29:46 Ah, that's exciting."
29:47 No, someone that wanted to learn something.
29:51 And he was saying, "These steps,
29:55 these are the marks of discipleship.
29:59 And if they're seen in your life,
30:01 you are not a counterfeit.
30:03 You have truly entered the kingdom."
30:07 And then he continues, and then I'm gonna be done.
30:11 "Blessed are you when they revile you."
30:16 Jesus came down from heaven, but Jesus is also streetwise.
30:27 Jesus knows haters come with the territory.
30:34 And he knew that all persecution
30:36 wasn't gonna be you put in prison and you beat up.
30:40 He knew a lot of it was gonna be verbal.
30:42 So he said, "Blessed are you when men revile you
30:46 and persecute you."
30:48 You see, jealousy is the best compliment you can receive.
30:51 I was struggling in a period 'cause I had these folks,
30:55 I didn't even understand, I didn't even think I had nothing.
30:57 And I was dealing with issues.
30:59 And God spoke to my heart.
31:02 He said, "Boy, no one will be jealous of you
31:05 if you ain't have anything."
31:06 So jealousy is a compliment.
31:09 And when folks begin to bite at you and criticize,
31:14 it means you got something and it makes them feel insecure
31:18 because of what you got.
31:20 You know, I think you need to write
31:26 all your haters a letter.
31:28 Dear haters,
31:31 (congregation laughing)
31:35 just be patient.
31:37 God has so much more for you to be mad at.
31:41 God is just getting started.
31:44 And if it impacts you that way, I'm sorry,
31:49 but I'm gonna keep growing, I'm gonna keep going,
31:50 I'm gonna keep doing what the Lord has called me to do.
31:54 Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you.
32:01 And say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake.
32:06 Again, I know this is hard,
32:09 but you gotta put your big boy pants on.
32:12 You gotta know vengeance is the Lord.
32:15 He says, "I will repay, God will work it out."
32:19 I have been young, but now I've grown a little bit older.
32:24 And I ain't never seen the righteous forsaken.
32:29 God will see to you, He will turn it around,
32:31 He will work it out if you let Him, if you let Him.
32:35 And He said, "Rejoice,
32:37 because you have a different perspective."
32:39 You know that God's got it.
32:41 Listen, the Romans persecuted Paul, put him in prison,
32:44 same thing with Peter, they killed a disciple,
32:47 all the rest of the stuff.
32:48 But guess what?
32:49 In just a matter of a couple centuries,
32:52 all of Rome was Christian.
32:53 God knows how to turn a thing around.
32:58 And listen, just because it's painful
33:00 doesn't mean it's not God.
33:01 See, I don't know you, you didn't say,
33:03 "I don't wanna say amen to that."
33:05 (congregation applauding)
33:08 Listen, Jesus told us
33:13 to take up our cross and follow Him.
33:17 But the reason that scripture messes with us
33:19 is because we don't realize Jesus won on the cross.
33:24 He endured the cross for the glory that was set before Him.
33:29 Billions of people now call that man nobody knew,
33:34 born in that unknown part of the world, call him Lord.
33:39 Jesus didn't lose at the cross.
33:42 On the third day, He got up and He won.
33:45 So if God tells you to take up your cross,
33:49 He expects you to win too.
33:51 (congregation applauding)
33:54 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad.
34:02 Put in common vernacular,
34:05 let your hater become your motivator.
34:07 For great is your reward in heaven.
34:13 The more difficult the journey, the sweeter the reward.
34:18 But watch this.
34:19 When you climb the ladder this high,
34:22 you step into a different class of people.
34:25 For so they persecuted the prophets of old.
34:29 So as I end here, instead of the ladder,
34:32 I wanna switch the analogy here to links in a chain.
34:37 If you let God build in you each of these areas,
34:46 you become a link from the present to the prophets of old.
34:51 What was on Elijah, what was on Daniel,
34:55 what was on David begins to come on you.
35:00 Now, we talked about this maturing process.
35:07 And Jesus ends with talking about persecution
35:15 and it seems a little hard and harsh.
35:18 But some say Nelson Mandela said this,
35:22 some say Gandhi said, I don't know who said this.
35:25 But someone that was seasoned in conflict
35:30 and change made this statement.
35:33 First, they ignore you.
35:36 Then they laugh at you.
35:39 And it's difficult when people laugh at you.
35:43 But then they fight you.
35:45 So by the time you get to the seventh rung,
35:49 you got some real enemies.
35:52 People don't fight somebody
35:54 that's not worthy of their opposition.
35:57 They fight you because you're a threat.
35:59 The devil sees you as a threat if he's fighting you.
36:03 And what God's trying to say, expect there to be challenges,
36:06 expect there to be a fight.
36:08 But then he ends, then you win.
36:12 Let me say it again.
36:14 First, they ignore you.
36:15 Then they laugh at you.
36:17 Then they fight you.
36:19 But then you win.
36:23 Anybody in this room wanna win?
36:26 Anybody on a journey to be successful in the Lord?
36:31 (upbeat music)
36:35 (upbeat music)
36:37 (upbeat music)
36:40 (upbeat music)
36:42 (upbeat music)
36:45 (upbeat music)
36:48 (upbeat music)
36:50 (upbeat music)
36:53 (upbeat music)
36:55 (upbeat music)
36:58 (whooshing)