The Danger of Mechanical Faith: Why Public Confession Cannot Save

• Heart of Stone vs. Heart of Flesh [00:49:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the 'Heart of Stone Series' and defines the core theological shift from a rebellious, unresponsive heart to a renewed, pliable heart of flesh.
• The Necessity of Heart Change [00:52:58 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that external behavioral changes (like dieting or habit-breaking) fail without an internal change of heart, citing Ezekiel 11 and Psalm 51.
• Restoration and Blessing [01:00:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts God's desire for judgment with His desire for restoration, defining the 'new heart' as a source of spiritual transformation, sensitivity, and abundant life.
• Spiritual Transformation and the New Heart [01:01:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts a 'heart of stone' with a 'heart of flesh,' explaining that God replaces the former with a spirit of life, bringing sensitivity over stubbornness and enabling believers to feel compassion and grieve over sin.
• Divine Intervention and Compassion [01:07:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor argues that tears are not weakness but a sign of the Holy Spirit's work, illustrating this with a story of a pastor who lost his ability to weep and thus lost his deep compassion.
• The Kingdom of God as a Present Reality [01:09:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor clarifies that the Kingdom of God is not just a future heavenly destination but a present reality ('in the now') where believers live in the fullness of God's blessings and Christ dwells within them.
• Blessedness and Humility [01:10:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > Defining 'blessed' as possessing God's favor rather than just happiness, the pastor explains that being 'poor in spirit' means acknowledging spiritual bankruptcy and total dependence on God's grace.
• Spiritual Humility vs. Self-Sufficiency [01:18:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the cultural desire for children to 'stand on their own two feet' with the spiritual necessity of humility, defining it as the opposite of self-righteousness and the mindset of the fool who says 'I can do it myself.'
• Daily Surrender and Dependence [01:21:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor instructs the congregation to make a daily declaration of dependence on God, praying 'God, I need you today' in every aspect of life, rather than relying on self-sufficiency.
• The Kingdom of Heaven as Present Reality [01:22:46 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor redefines 'kingdom of heaven' not as a future destination but as a present spiritual principle of 'basilia' (reign/royal power), arguing that believers experience God's rule and power now through humility.
• Discipleship vs. Church Attendance [01:30:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > The second speaker distinguishes between being a 'churchgoer' and a 'disciple,' asserting that humility is the necessary condition for the 'wind of God' to move believers forward in their spiritual walk.
• Humility and Selflessness [01:33:05 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor emphasizes that the Christian life is not about self but about others, requiring believers to humble themselves.
• Evangelism and Discipleship [01:33:16 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor connects personal faith to the mission of helping others know Jesus, framing discipleship as a primary goal.
• Public Confession and Prayer [01:33:29 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor leads the congregation in a public prayer of confession and humility, asking for empowerment to share their faith.

• Sermon Illustration [00:50:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of dieting and buying unnecessary items to illustrate the human struggle with changing habits and the tendency to rationalize failure ('I just couldn't help myself').
• Sermon Illustration [00:52:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his wife buying something he didn't need, highlighting the difficulty of changing habits and the excuses people make.
• Sermon Illustration [00:57:23 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references King David and Psalm 51 to illustrate the longing for a broken and contrite heart.
• Sermon Illustration [01:05:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his wife, Marian, and how he cries when watching stories about hurting people, illustrating his deep compassion.
• Sermon Illustration [01:06:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the story of a pastor in a small town in North Carolina who was always weeping and crying, but after seven years, God shut off his tears, causing him to lose his ability to feel deep compassion.
• Sermon Illustration [01:16:58 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the biblical story of Peter and John healing the lame beggar at the gate, using it to illustrate the necessity of absolute dependence on God for true life and healing.
• Sermon Illustration [01:19:14 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about his oldest child, Stephen, who from age two refused to wear clothes picked out by his parents, insisting on picking them out himself, using this as an analogy for spiritual self-sufficiency.
• Sermon Illustration [01:17:19 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the biblical story of the lame beggar at the temple gate (implied by 'silver and gold' and 'lame man standing by the gate') to illustrate total dependence on God's generosity.
• Sermon Illustration [01:28:42 ▶️ 📄]
  > The second speaker recounts a personal moment during worship where he felt the Spirit of God speaking to him, specifically quoting a message about humility and the 'wind of God' moving him forward.

• Pastoral Charge [00:19:12 ▶️ 📄]
  > Welcome first-time guests
• Pastoral Charge [00:19:21 ▶️ 📄]
  > Fill out the 'You Card' and bring it to the back of the auditorium to meet leaders for a free gift.
• Pastoral Charge [01:02:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > Say 'Amen' in response to the question of thankfulness for God.
• Pastoral Charge [01:02:11 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor invites the congregation to verbally affirm their thankfulness for God being their God by saying 'amen'.
• Pastoral Charge [01:08:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor instructs the congregation to share their testimony of being a 'miracle of God' with the person sitting next to them.
• Pastoral Charge [01:32:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor commands the congregation to stand up and publicly confess their need to humble themselves.
• Pastoral Charge [01:32:48 ▶️ 📄]
  > Stand up and verbally confess 'I need to humble myself'.

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:05:18] For Sunday morning church, it's a celebration, it's a celebration, I'm gonna cry in my prayer. Well, hey, what you just saw on the screen was our promotion for Youth Camp 2026. If you're a grandparent in the room, a parent in the room, you got grandkids or kids that are rising, going into sixth grade, exiting their senior year in high school, this is the age range, grade range for anybody that wants to participate in camp. I mean, unless they have summer jobs,
[00:15:33] You can get them to stop eating all your food for a week if you send them to camp.
[00:15:39] I know, but hey, I'm the youth pastor here at this church, and I tell parents this.
[00:15:44] Don't send your kid to anything else, but send them to youth camp.
[00:15:49] The reason for that is this.
[00:15:52] They go to church on Wednesdays whenever their youth programming is.
[00:15:55] For us, it's Wednesday nights at 6.30 p.m.
[00:15:58] They can hear me talk to them, lecture them all Wednesday, all night long, throughout the whole year.
[00:16:04] but when they get around another group of students like themselves and they see maybe for the very first time hey they're probably struggling with some of the same things I'm struggling with they're going through some of the same things that I'm going through yet I see them unashamedly
[00:16:23] worshiping the king of kings and the lord of lords that's Jesus Christ there's something that happens to the individual, to the student, where they say, hey, I can actually walk this thing out.
[00:16:35] And so this is an investment into the lives of teenagers and students.
[00:16:40] And so, hey, if you want to get your student, your kid, your grandchild signed up, you can go ahead and scan that QR code up on the screen.
[00:16:47] Or after service, you can go to the back of our auditorium and grab one of these cards.
[00:16:52] And on the back, there's a QR code.
[00:16:53] You go ahead and scan that.
[00:16:55] Next week, everyone say next week.
[00:16:57] Actually, not next week, June 10th.
[00:16:59] June 10th. I'm a week ahead. June 10th at 6.30 p.m. We're going to have a camp interest meeting. We already have a couple of sign-ups, so if you have signed up, come to that meeting. If you want to
[00:17:10] know more about what camp is going to be this year, you want to come to that meeting June 10th, 6.30 right here at the church. It's from July 5th through the 9th, so right after July 4th weekend.
[00:17:22] And it's Sunday night through Thursday morning.
[00:17:26] Parents ask me, hey, is this an overnight camp?
[00:17:29] And I would say, usually no.
[00:17:31] However, this year we're doing one small tweak.
[00:17:34] Sunday night, go home.
[00:17:36] Monday night, go home.
[00:17:37] Tuesday night, go home.
[00:17:39] But Wednesday night, we're doing a lock-in, and we're staying overnight at the church.
[00:17:43] It's not here.
[00:17:44] It's at Multiply Concord, right in Concord off of Concord Parkway.
[00:17:48] If you've seen the big giant building, the big strip mall there, you'll be able to know the building I'm talking about, but that is where it's going to be held.
[00:17:54] We're going to Carowinds. We're going to Kerrigan Farms, and that's going to be fun, but every night there's going to be powerful, powerful services where students aren't just going to hear the gospel. They're going to be empowered and filled with the Holy Spirit, and if you know this, you
[00:18:11] know that the Holy Spirit came to empower us to walk this life out as Christians, and so what would it look like for a bunch of students to enter their school campus empowered by the Holy Spirit
[00:18:22] what would it look like parents for your child to be empowered by the Holy Spirit that says hey I'm actually going to do my chores not because my parents instructed me to because I know what the Word of God says to honor my mother and my father what would it look like
[00:18:36] and so that is the investment you're making sign up for youth camp if you have a 6th to 12th greater. It's going to be an amazing, amazing time. Well, good morning, church. How is everybody
[00:18:46] feeling today? Everybody good? Okay, we can ask that again. Everybody good? Awesome, awesome.
[00:18:53] Hey, my name is Trevor. I'm one of the pastors here, and I have the special honor and privilege of welcoming a very special group of people. That's all of our first-time guests. If you're here for the first time today or maybe your first time in a while, we just want to say
[00:19:04] welcome home. Church family, can we welcome all of our first-time guests in the room?
[00:19:12] This is your first time. Just a little bit of information for you. We have a card in the seat back pocket in front of you we call it a you card the reason why we call it a you card is because we
[00:19:21] want to get to know you you guys know you guys know by now how we say this so yeah we want to get to know you if you would be so kind take that card fill it out a little bit of information on
[00:19:30] the back of that card and then at the end of the service you go right to the back of our auditorium we'll have some some leaders there you'll see a sign that says new here we got some people there
[00:19:38] just want to shake your hand get to know you a little bit maybe pray with you even and as a small token of appreciation for you worshiping with us, for you being here with us today. You can
[00:19:46] give that card to them for a free gift. Come on church, give me one more time for all of our first time guests in the room. So we just talked about youth camp and now we're going to go into
[00:19:58] our tithes and offerings. And why is this fitting? It's because we understand that this is an investment into the next generation. And we know that we don't get to do some of this stuff without
[00:20:09] the generosity of the people. So we understand it is a biblical mandate. It is a biblical instruction to give the tithe, the 10th of everything we have to the Lord. And then thereafter, there is the offering. So we're going to go ahead and receive our tithes and offerings this morning,
[00:20:26] but I wanted to be able to put some language to maybe some of the giving that you guys have been giving. We get to sponsor students that aren't able to go to youth camp. We get to provide a way
[00:20:35] where there may be a family that really wants to send their students, but hey, I really just can't do it this season.
[00:20:41] The church gets to step up and fill that need.
[00:20:44] And that is because of your generosity.
[00:20:46] So can we just clap it up for you and your generosity?
[00:20:49] I just wanna say thank you as a youth pastor because we get to be, I don't have to turn students away.
[00:20:56] I don't have to turn students away.
[00:20:57] I understand the impact that it's gonna have on their lives.
[00:20:58] And because of your generosity, I can say to a student, hey, look, we have sponsorship dollars.
[00:21:02] We can go ahead and make sure that you get to camp this year because it's going to impact your life.
[00:21:06] So if you are giving this morning, there's three ways to give.
[00:21:08] You can go ahead and scan that QR code up on the screen.
[00:21:10] You can text the word Multiply Lake Norman to the number 77977.
[00:21:14] Or as when we go back into this next worship song, and the ushers pass you by with the buckets, you can drop your offering in there as well.
[00:21:20] Let's pray together this morning.
[00:21:23] Father, Lord Jesus, you're the King of kings and Lords of lords, Lord.
[00:21:28] But you don't even need us to tell you that.
[00:21:30] You know who you are.
[00:21:31] but today we say that out of our mouths because it is a humbling of ourselves and our flesh in this moment. Lord, we pray, Holy Spirit, that you would have your way. Lord, your word says that the
[00:21:42] Holy Spirit came to point us and to bring us into all truth. Lord, and so today, Lord, I pray against every lie of the enemy and every deceitful tactic of the enemy, Lord, that would cause hearts and
[00:21:54] minds to be distracted from your word and your presence today. Lord, I pray, Holy Spirit, Lord, that you would impact hearts and lives like never before.
[00:22:03] Through the community of this house, Lord God, and what we do, Lord God, would it impact souls.
[00:22:07] Lord God, I pray for the tithes and the offerings this morning.
[00:22:10] Lord, let it go further than we could ever go.
[00:22:12] Lord, let it touch the greater Lake Norman and Mooresville area, greater than we can do in and of ourselves.
[00:22:17] Lord God, but we trust you with our tithes.
[00:22:19] Lord God, we trust you with our wealth.
[00:22:21] We trust you with our increase, Lord God.
[00:22:23] And today we pray for you to increase the community of this house and to impact our greater community in jesus name and the church said amen as those buckets pass you

[00:22:39] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:22:39] by if you would please stand as we enter back into a time of worship

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_13]
[00:22:42] can we declare this this morning

[00:23:33] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:23:33] whether it's in sick or in health in trial or in times of rejoicing god no matter what it is

[00:45:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:45:21] where i'm at what you're walking me through and what you're ordering my steps to face i will bless you i will bless you lord at all times in everything give thanks your word says hallelujah so today god we give thanks in healing god today we give thanks in provision oh lord
[00:45:49] today we give thanks in enlightening understanding oh god when lord jesus revelation becomes life to us god and our eyes are open and we see god we give thanks oh lord in times of waiting god we
[00:46:05] give thanks lord in times of seeking we give thanks lord in times of calling upon your name we give thanks oh lord at all times at all times at all times hallelujah god oh lord jesus
[00:46:22] hallelujah when we're waiting for the door to open we give thanks hallelujah oh god when you close some doors to open new ones god we give thanks hallelujah god we give thanks oh god hallelujah because we trust in you because you are holy and you are perfect and you are
[00:46:42] righteous hallelujah and we love you lord and we trust you in jesus name we trust you god so at all times we bless you at all times we bless you we bless you at all times in jesus name

[00:46:58] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:46:58] and i will bless you lord your praise will always be forever dear believers god is your church we bless you this morning we give you all the praise

[00:48:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_08]
[00:48:09] and all the glory in jesus name could you give the lord a clap offering of praise and bless him Hallelujah. We bless you, Lord. We bless you, Lord. We bless you, Lord. Praise the Lord. You may be
[00:48:28] seated. It's good to see some of you that I haven't seen for a while. Summer has hit, spring came, trips take, you know, whatever. So if I walk up to you and ask you what your name is, don't be
[00:48:44] offended, you know. I'm just letting you know I missed you, all right? But it is good to see all of you. I'm glad you're here and glad you have come. We start a new series today, the series
[00:48:57] called Heart of Stone Series. Now, some of you think, heart of stone, that doesn't sound too good. Well, you know, the truth of the matter is, is that Jesus was all about restoration. Amen?
[00:49:11] Jesus was all about turning the heart of stone into a heart of flesh. And so we want to take a look at that, the Heart of Stones series. And today we're going to begin with the foundation
[00:49:22] and the humility of blessing. We're going to be centering most of our teaching for this out of the book of Matthew, the fifth, sixth, and seventh chapters of the book of Matthew, because Jesus, as he began his ministry, his first sermon, his first major sermon that we
[00:49:39] see recorded in the Bible is out in the book of Matthew, the fifth chapter. And what a powerful sermon it was. What a powerful truth it was, because it was a truth that really shook the
[00:49:53] people of Israel. It really shook the people for an understanding that, well, you know, they basically had a hard time because things they had been taught now were being flipped upside down on them. They were having to learn something new that Jesus was teaching them. Have you ever been about
[00:50:17] changing a habit. Maybe you had a certain habit that you needed to get rid of. Or maybe have you ever been on a diet? Anybody here ever been on a diet? I live on a diet. Her name is Mary Ann.
[00:50:38] I'm just kidding. She is my helpmate. She helps me stay healthy or trying to get me to stay healthy.
[00:50:47] maybe you've been on a diet and maybe you walk past that favorite dessert that you really didn't need and maybe you shouldn't eat it at that particular time according to your diet but you told yourself something like well maybe just this one time but this will be the last time
[00:51:16] Two days later, you find yourself saying the same thing.
[00:51:20] Maybe just one more time, and maybe this will be the last time.
[00:51:25] Or have you ever bought something that you really didn't need, that maybe you wanted, and then you told yourself, I just couldn't help myself.
[00:51:38] I saw it, and I just couldn't say no.
[00:51:46] Then maybe you concoct a story.
[00:51:50] Because, ladies, maybe you took it home, and you hid it in the closet, and you didn't show your husband or husbands maybe you took and you put it in the trunk of your car because maybe it was a new golf club or maybe it was some new something that you bought that
[00:52:05] you hide in the car and wait for the right time to bring it out. I've had those experiences where all of a sudden I saw something on my wife and I said, oh, that's nice. When did you get that?
[00:52:23] Oh, I've had that a long time.
[00:52:26] Oh, really? What's a long time?
[00:52:27] Oh, last week. That's a long time ago.
[00:52:30] The truth of the matter is, sometimes we find ourselves doing things like that, things in our lives that we're needing to change or we're wanting to change, but they don't change without a change of heart.
[00:52:58] A change of heart, this truth, is no respecter of person.
[00:53:04] change of heart is for everybody tell the person next to you it's for me you see you thought i was going to have you tell them it's for you but the truth of the matter is you can't change them you
[00:53:24] can only change you the word of the lord when i began to look at this whole heart of stone and we began to talk about it because i began to talk about this series with pastor trevor and myself
[00:53:40] and Cade Withrop, who is one of our interns this summer and is here with us.
[00:53:46] And I began to talk about this and I began to think I have to set a foundation of understanding for what God is wanting to do through this series.
[00:54:03] Except you be converted and become as little children, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.
[00:54:13] true relationship with God begins with the heart the heart is the ruling part of humanity it's the ruling part of who you are you may enlighten a man's understanding and you have done much but as long as his heart is not changed
[00:54:43] and his heart is wrong the enlightenment of the understanding the knowledge that you have brought to him only enables him to sin with a greater weight of responsibility resting upon him because he is rejecting truth. He knows all too well
[00:55:04] to be good, but he prefers his sin. He prefers to be a lover of darkness more than a lover of God.
[00:55:15] He sees the light, but he chooses and loves the darkness. He turns from truth because his heart is alienated from allowing God to change his heart. If the heart is renewed, then one's judgment of
[00:55:39] how to live life and what to do will follow. But as long as the heart is given to sin, if a man or woman hates the principles of God to the point that he rejects God,
[00:56:00] he becomes the enemy of God whatever his outward professions whatever his knowledge whatever his apparent good qualities seem to be at the core of him the heart is still wrong and needs to be restored
[00:56:23] and renewed as a man thinketh in his heart so is he the heart is more nearly the man than any of his other abilities and powers which God has bestowed upon the man's nature. It's important for us to understand our heart and to know our heart. For the heart,
[00:56:52] when renewed by grace, is the best part of mankind. Unrenewed, it's the worst part of mankind. Charles Spurgeon, the great evangelist, said this, there is nothing better in the world than hearts renewed, and there is nothing worse than hearts unregenerated. I took a look at King
[00:57:23] David. King David knew what it was to long for a renewed heart. He knew what it was to long for a renewed spirit and surrender to God is what was needed before God as he declares in Psalm 51
[00:57:45] verse 17 the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart oh God you will not despise the question this morning is this what is the state of your heart what is the state of us
[00:58:02] individually as our heart stands before God. In the book of Ezekiel, the 11th chapter, God is dealing with the people of Judah. He is dealing with them who at one point had a rebellious heart, and he is now posturing them to return them to the land in which he has called them to,
[00:58:25] to the promised land. And he says, then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh.
[00:58:44] God, yes, is bringing out of captivity the once rebellious nation, and he is bringing them back into the fullness of promise where he has called them. In Ezekiel, God promises to remove a hard heart, a heart of stone and replace it with the responsive, soft, pliable heart, the heart of
[00:59:04] flesh. God is bringing this remnant to the fullness of promise by doing so. In other words, what does that say to you and I this morning? The word for you and I this morning is that God is bringing
[00:59:20] those out of sin who are in sin and taking us out of the sin that we even find ourselves in and calling us to a place of living with a fleshly heart that is pliable instead of a heart that is of the flesh and of lust.
[00:59:41] Instead of having a heart of rebellion and a heart of slavery to the things of the world, God is offering us to come back to himself and he is calling us to the fullness of every promise
[00:59:53] that he has designed for us this morning.
[00:59:57] why because God is about restoration instead of judgment and condemnation he offers restoration to all God has no desire to hold you in judgment God has no desire to hold you in condemnation but God desires to bring to you a fullness of restoration God calls you to an ever-present
[01:00:26] sanctuary, and he is that ever-present sanctuary where I am able to dwell in him, where I'm able to dwell in a place of safety, for he is my safety. He is my refuge. He is my high tower. He is my
[01:00:43] keeper. Calls you to a place of dwelling in his presence and receiving of his provision. How many of you know this morning that his provision is higher than your provision. He's calling you from the freedom of the captivity of every sin that would try to beset you. He calls you out of every
[01:01:11] fear, every fear of slavery. He calls you to a place of a new heart, a heart of flesh and not a heart of betrayal. You see, every single time that you know to do right but you choose to do
[01:01:33] wrong. At that point, we join the heart of betrayal because we betrayed the truth that we know, the truth that has set us free, a new spirit that replaces the heart of stone, not a spirit that is dead, rather a spirit of life, abundant life, life everlasting.
[01:02:01] No longer a heart against God and His ways, rather a people that becomes God's people.
[01:02:07] and he will be their God.
[01:02:11] Are you thankful that he's your God this morning?
[01:02:16] You can say amen anytime.
[01:02:22] This new heart and spirit brings blessing.
[01:02:26] It brings spiritual transformation.
[01:02:30] What does spiritual transformation look like?
[01:02:34] It brings sensitivity over stubbornness.
[01:02:37] Anybody know somebody stubborn?
[01:02:40] Anybody know somebody that you can't just seem to get through?
[01:02:44] Well, the truth of the matter is when God renews the heart, when God changes the heart from stony to fleshy, it brings a person from sensitivity to sensitivity over stubbornness.
[01:02:58] A stony heart is stubborn, unyielding, resistant to God's will.
[01:03:06] I know plenty of people who say they're okay with God and they choose to adapt God to their ways over adapting themselves to God's way.
[01:03:16] And the truth of the matter is that they're living with a stony heart instead of fleshy heart that is pliable by the Spirit of God and by the hand of God. Fleshy heart is sensitive,
[01:03:30] it's pliable, and it's tender to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I want to give a word of warning this morning when the Holy Spirit begins to convict you, when the Holy Spirit begins to
[01:03:43] give you guidance. When the Holy Spirit begins to direct you to walk away from some things and embrace other things, don't turn your back on what the Holy Spirit is telling you. You do not want to
[01:03:54] offend the Holy Spirit. You do not want to grieve the Holy Spirit, but you want that sensitivity in your life. You want to know that conviction comes quickly. You want to know that conviction will
[01:04:07] awaken you to that which is sin and bring you into that which is righteous. What else does transformation look like? It looks like a new nature. It brings behavioral change, not modification, but an inward renewal. You see, it's not just about outward behavioral change. It's about an
[01:04:42] inward renewal that God wants to take place in your life. A fleshy heart is able to feel compassion. It grieves over sin when I have done wrong. It grieves over sin, experiences the love of God very deeply, very deeply. This week I was talking with Marian and I can't remember what we
[01:05:14] were listening to. We were listening to some music or we were hearing some music on TV or we were hearing stories. I tell you, if I watch a story and it's about somebody that's hurting and
[01:05:26] it's somebody that's been mistreated, it goes very deep in my spirit. It goes very deep in my heart.
[01:05:34] And I think she said to me as I was watching something and something was about to take place, she asked me, are you going to cry? Well, the truth of the matter is, it's my kids know that
[01:05:46] if I'm watching a movie like that, they can just sit and watch because there's going to come a time that tears are going to fall down the side of my face because I take on with great compassion the
[01:05:56] pain of those that are in pain, the hurting of those that are in hurting, but I thank the Holy Spirit for that. There was a pastor in a small town in North Carolina out on the coast. I grew
[01:06:13] up with his kids. In fact, the truth being told, my grandmother and their grandmother was first cousins but he always was weeping he always was crying and he was always moved and he would cry
[01:06:31] and he over just simple things he would pastor carol daniels said to god god i'm so tired i'm always crying i'm always crying i'm always crying i wish i wasn't always crying and god shut off his
[01:06:49] tears. For seven years, he didn't cry. For seven years, he lost the ability to move in that deep compassion. For seven years, he found himself at a place of crying out to God, God, what's happened
[01:07:08] to my tears? God, why can't I feel that deep compassion anymore? Why can't I seem to feel that?
[01:07:16] And God reminded him of his request.
[01:07:19] Can I tell you this morning, do not despise your tears, ladies.
[01:07:25] Do not despise your tears, men.
[01:07:28] It is not a sign of weakness, but it is a sign of compassion.
[01:07:32] It is a sign of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life that takes you to that place of sensitivity deep within that place where you feel deeply with compassion and you grieve over sin and you grieve over the pain of others and the things they're going through. Spiritual
[01:07:50] transformation also brings divine intervention. This passage teaches that humanity cannot soften his own heart. Transformation is a miracle performed by God. If you're sitting here this morning and you know that your heart has been transformed by God, can I tell you then you are
[01:08:15] a miracle of God and God alone transformed your heart. Tell the person next to you, you're looking at a miracle. The heart of flesh is a timely blessing of the sovereign grace of God and it
[01:08:41] is always the result of his divine grace from obstinate and cold and hard to tenderness and pliable, and sensitive to God. Jesus here on Matthew chapter 5, He's announcing a new covenant with man. He's announcing the covenant of the blessings of God that God desires
[01:09:15] to bestow upon man. It is the blessings of the kingdom of God that it's not just when you get to heaven. Rather, it's for the now. It is for you as the kingdom of God is alive in you.
[01:09:34] And when Christ is alive in you and dwells in you by his spirit, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth is in the now. It's not when you die and go to heaven. It's in the now that God desires to
[01:09:52] to give you the fullness of every blessing that He wants to bestow upon you that He has created for you, for you to walk in.
[01:10:01] We begin this series by embracing Jesus' first sermon.
[01:10:06] It was a mark of His beginning public ministry.
[01:10:12] Chapter 5 of the book of Matthew, verse 1 through 3 says this, Seeing the crowds, He, Jesus, went up on the mountain, and when He sat down, His disciples came to Him.
[01:10:23] And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[01:10:36] So what does that mean, Pastor?
[01:10:40] Let me break it down for you.
[01:10:42] Let's start with the first word, blessed.
[01:10:45] Do we have an understanding of what the word blessed means?
[01:10:48] do you have a really deep understanding of what God is saying to you? When I looked up this word and I went to Strong's Concordance and I looked it up, one of the first things I saw was the word
[01:11:00] happy. However, it's more than just giggling or feeling light or something like that. It's much deeper than that. It's much broader than that. It's much wider than that. The understanding of happy is not even a great understanding for us today. For the word blessed is possessing the
[01:11:20] favor of God. You possess the favor of God. You possess the favor of God, he is saying. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Possessing the favor of God are the poor in spirit. Marked by the fullness
[01:11:39] of God, marked by the fullness from God, that everything that God is, he is not withholding from you, but everything that he is, it is yours. It is life abundant, is what he is saying by the
[01:11:55] word blessed. It is the state of the behavior of being in Christ. Because I am in Christ, I know the fullness of the favor of God and the fullness of the blessing of God. It's a state of satisfaction
[01:12:09] from God, no matter what the circumstance, because you see, it doesn't matter the circumstances that you are facing this morning. You still live in the blessed. You still live in the state of the behavior of Christ Jesus himself in your situation. Blessed is having God's kingdom
[01:12:30] within one's heart, it is being in this world, but not of this world. The world doesn't have authority over me. The world doesn't have authority in my life. No matter what, no matter what comes, no matter what goes, the world doesn't have authority over me. When Jesus said to the
[01:12:52] disciples, I mean to the Pharisees, render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, but render unto that which is God. He has said, in this world, honor what you have to honor that belongs to man.
[01:13:04] But remember, what we truly honor is give God what is God's. Amen? Give God your heart. Give God your life. Give God your everything. Let God order your steps. When I am poor in spirit, I stand declaring
[01:13:22] myself as blessed. I don't stand declaring myself as poor old me. Oh, life is so hard.
[01:13:32] Oh, life is just so terrible. Oh, will I ever get it? Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. I don't stand declaring that. What I stand declaring when I understand poor in spirit, what I understand when I understand
[01:13:48] stand being blessed. I stand declaring that I am blessed. I am living in the favor of God and in the fullness of God. Blessed is the state of humility. Humility means that I'm empty of myself
[01:14:06] and I am totally dependent on God. I am totally dependent on God. I recognize that I am spiritually bankrupt before God. I absolutely have nothing within myself.
[01:14:28] It is a humble acknowledgement that I have absolutely no spiritual wealth or righteousness of myself to offer. For my righteousness is as filthy rags the Bible says. I am in total childlike dependence on god's grace for my salvation and for my daily life and for all
[01:15:03] that i could ever be that is good this series this morning as we look at this sermon on the mount we'll be looking at eight different blessings that come to those who are blessed by god
[01:15:19] and as we look at this first blessing this morning concerning being poor in the spirit we understand that the reward of that is the kingdom of heaven we understand that Jesus himself decided to start with blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God for one
[01:15:41] reason because it's foundational it is the foundational blessed that leads to every other blessing. It is foundational in our lives. It's absolutely impossible to mourn over your sin.
[01:16:03] It's absolutely impossible to show mercy. It's absolutely impossible to truly hunger and thirst for righteousness without first acknowledging your complete dependence and need of God and his grace this morning understanding the truth here what does it mean absolute dependence
[01:16:30] absolute dependence the greek word for poor describes absolute destitute i have nothing i am nothing without you god the picture is a first century beggar and we see many pictures in the scripture, even with Jesus ministering to people. And then with Peter
[01:16:58] and John ministering to the beggar at the gate. And they said, silver and gold we don't have, but what we have we're going to give you. And in the name of Jesus, rise up and walk. And he got
[01:17:09] up and he walked. And the truth of the matter, if they'd given him silver and gold, what would he have had? He would still been a lame man standing by the gate. But because what they gave
[01:17:19] him he was able to go up and and walk and guess what he was able to work and get a job and have money and everything else that he need of he was able to have life and live life to a full the
[01:17:33] truth of the matter here is this there was an absolute dependence on God for you and I to have this absolute dependence we have to see ourself as the destitute beggar that says God I am nothing
[01:17:51] without you. I have nothing without you. I rely entirely on your generosity, God, to survive.
[01:18:01] It calls for spiritual humility. It is the exact opposite of self-sufficient and self-righteousness.
[01:18:17] Sometimes we confuse the fact that, you know, when we raise our kids, we raise them to stand on their own two feet. We want them to be strong and we want them to be successful and we want them
[01:18:28] and sometimes what we forget to teach them is that the foundation of their success begins in the humility. It begins in humility. We think that we have to come back later when it's a spiritual experience to teach humility. The truth of the matter is humility is what God calls us to
[01:18:55] from the very beginning of our life, but there's a spiritual humility He's calling us to also.
[01:19:04] Do you have one of those kids that said, I can do it myself?
[01:19:09] No, leave it alone.
[01:19:11] I can do it myself.
[01:19:12] I'll do it myself.
[01:19:14] Our oldest kid never wanted Marianne or I from the time he was two years of age to pick out his clothes.
[01:19:23] If we picked out clothes and laid them on the bed and said, Stephen, this is what you're going to wear.
[01:19:28] Put it on.
[01:19:29] He would come out in something else.
[01:19:33] No, I pick it out.
[01:19:35] I do it.
[01:19:38] Some of us are like that spiritually.
[01:19:41] When God tries to order who we are and what we are to be, where we're to go, what he has for us to do, we say, God, I'll do it myself.
[01:19:51] But spiritual humility brings us to the understanding that I don't have it all together without God.
[01:20:01] I can't manage life without God.
[01:20:06] The Bible says the fool has said in his heart, there is no God, or basically, I don't need God.
[01:20:15] So for me not to walk in spiritual humility is to walk in the mindset of the fool.
[01:20:24] Understanding this truth brings me to the place of knowing I need a contrite heart.
[01:20:32] It's not about feeling worthless.
[01:20:36] Instead, it is bringing an open and humble and contrite heart before God, knowing that alone he is the only one that can fill it.
[01:20:51] What is my source this morning?
[01:20:53] What is the source of your heart?
[01:20:57] Is God the source of your heart?
[01:21:00] Your heart will always be filled with something.
[01:21:05] What is filling your heart this morning?
[01:21:13] So, Pastor, what are you asking?
[01:21:16] Here's the response that I believe God is asking us for.
[01:21:21] God is asking us for daily surrender.
[01:21:24] Start your day by making a daily declaration of dependence on God by praying simply, God, I need you today.
[01:21:37] In everything I do, in every place I go, in every opportunity you give me, I need you.
[01:21:46] I do not get up here any Sunday without all week long having said to God, I need you.
[01:21:52] I can't do it if you don't do it.
[01:21:54] I don't have the understanding without the revelation of the Spirit of God coming into my life and into my understanding and bringing me that.
[01:22:06] And every single day is a daily surrender.
[01:22:08] Lord, I need you today.
[01:22:15] Be willing to embrace your limits.
[01:22:19] Rely on God's strength and His grace and allow Him to order your steps.
[01:22:27] Who's ordering your steps?
[01:22:28] You are God this morning.
[01:22:29] who's making the decision you were God this morning in closing let me tell you that there is a reward that belongs to you and I as we are blessed as the poor in spirit the reward
[01:22:46] is theirs is the kingdom of heaven but this kingdom of heaven is not something that you're just going to get when you pass from this earth to the next earth the kingdom of heaven is now
[01:22:59] theirs is the kingdom of heaven refers to the spiritual principle that acknowledging your spiritual bankruptcy and surrendering to God unlocks his rule and his power in your life the word kingdom is basilia and it means kingdom reign royal power and rule
[01:23:31] In other words, God is saying to us is when you find yourself literally in that place of being poor in spirit, when you come to that place of saying, God, I need you, I humble
[01:23:44] myself under the mighty hand of God, creating me a clean heart, O God, renewing me a right spirit, O God, the only thing I have to bring to you, God, is a broken spirit, a broken
[01:23:57] and contrite heart that realizes without you I have nothing oh God I need you so much when I come to that place in God when I find myself living in that place then there is a reward and
[01:24:10] it is the kingdom of heaven which says I get to live in the royal power and I get to live in the kingship I get to live in the dominion and the rule of God almighty because I am one with him
[01:24:23] and he is one with me and it is his power working and living in me and through me. I find myself to the fullness not being confused by an actual kingdom. I'm not talking about full walls but
[01:24:38] rather I'm talking about the right and the authority to rule as the kingdom of heaven rules on earth. You see I'm not of the kingdom of this earth. I am of the kingdom of heaven.
[01:24:49] hallelujah but when i'm on this earth i am ruling through the kingdom of heaven and you need to understand that this morning the royal power of jesus christ the triumphant messiah is alive in you as the poor in spirit royal power and dignity that is concerned that is conferred upon christ
[01:25:19] followers. It's the royal power of the Messiah in His kingdom today who sits at the right hand of God the Father. Heaven by implication here has everything to do with happiness and power and eternity.
[01:25:38] It's the order of things eternal. The fact of the matter is I don't have to wait till I get to heaven to enjoy those things.
[01:25:50] I don't have to wait till I get to heaven to move it in the power of an almighty God in the rule of an almighty God in the authority of an almighty God God himself said
[01:26:06] be holy as I am holy that's impossible without God doing it in me God says be perfect as I am perfect that's impossible without God doing it in me and through me but I have that in me
[01:26:20] I have that holiness I have that perfection why? because God is in me and when I yield to him as a poor in spirit it comes to life in fullness it is yours it is mine this is the reward God has for you today
[01:26:41] not waiting in heaven for you you when you get to heaven but for you today it is yours today as you come before him poor in spirit recognizing your need of him this morning It is not a sign of weakness to recognize your need, but rather it is a sign of strength,
[01:27:03] a sign of brokenness, a sign of being contrite before God. It's a decision to be made.
[01:27:13] God, create in me because I come before you broken. I come before you poor in spirit this morning. Father, I pray over your people. I pray that you would show us our hearts.
[01:27:41] David prayed that very prayer. Show me my heart, O God. Show me my heart, O God. So show us our hearts, O God, today that we may come in line with what it is to be poor in spirit and possess

[01:28:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[01:28:04] the fullness of the rewards of heaven man come on if you love that word today can you give the lord a handcap of praise i don't want to be too long but i just want to share this
[01:28:23] so as worship was going on earlier the spirit of god was was moving in this room whether you noticed it or not those that noticed it noticed it and everything inside of me was looking at
[01:28:42] pastor bill and he doesn't even know this i'm staring a hole through the side of his head because i wanted him to look at me because i felt like the lord was saying something to me
[01:28:50] personally that i wanted to share with you and then i heard the lord say this to my spirit wait if you humble yourself you'll have an opportunity and now's that opportunity pastor said something and it was up on the screen he said i get my notes he said
[01:29:20] When I am poor in spirit, I am declaring myself blessed by God.
[01:29:26] And then he said, it's foundational.
[01:29:30] When I was standing right there, I was worshiping God, and I felt like the Spirit of the Lord was saying to my heart, the wind of God will make you move forward once you humble yourself.
[01:29:49] And he specifically said, this is not a matter of salvation.
[01:29:55] This is not a matter of you being righteous before God Because you didn't do anything to be righteous before God.
[01:30:03] Jesus did everything to make you righteous.
[01:30:07] However, there are consequences that we face in this life as believers based off of how we live as believers.
[01:30:19] And so can I be a Christian and not be humble?
[01:30:21] Yes.
[01:30:22] Can I be saved and not be humble?
[01:30:24] Yes.
[01:30:25] However, I will face the necessary consequences that come with pride.
[01:30:31] because there might be a fall, the scripture says.
[01:30:38] And so my message to you, and I think that it aligns with this word that Pastor Bill is saying, and it's not just Pastor Bill saying it, I'm truly telling you, from the moment that Pastor Bill and Mary Ann got here,
[01:30:52] the heartbeat and the vision has been, I want people to be discipled.
[01:30:56] Because why?
[01:30:57] Because we can come into church Sunday to Sunday to Sunday to Sunday and not know God and not be Christians.
[01:31:06] And so what separates a believer from just a churchgoer is a disciple of Jesus Christ.
[01:31:14] And so we need to humble ourselves so that the wind of God can get on our backs so that we can move forward.
[01:31:24] How many of you are in a situation, don't raise your hand, it's rhetorical, you're in a situation that you need to move forward.
[01:31:31] You're saved by God, you're a Christian, you love Jesus, but you're stuck and you want to move forward, humble yourself. Humble yourself so that you can be blessed by God. And I want to do something right now. That's what I want to do.
[01:31:48] I'm going to tell you right now, Trevor Foreman needs to humble himself so that the things that I want and I need from the Lord in this life, he can bless those things. Not that I'm going to get
[01:31:58] everything I ever wanted, but that I can call myself blessed by God. And so this is what I what I want to do. Like I said, it's not a matter of salvation. This is a matter of a disciple of
[01:32:10] Jesus. If you can recognize that you need to humble yourself before God, and you'd be so bold to say, this is the moment where I do it. At the count of three, I just want you to stand up.
[01:32:24] And the reason I want you to stand up is because we serve a God that walked the road to Golgotha's Hill, and he didn't hide anything. So the least we can do is show ourselves and have
[01:32:35] a public confession that hey god i need to humble myself so that you can bless my life and so that i could be used as a disciple of jesus to go out and win souls for the kingdom of god so if that's you
[01:32:48] i want you to stand because i want to pray over you so at the count of three i just want you to stand say i need to humble myself one two three thank you lord thank you jesus the reason for this
[01:33:05] is because the reality is is we all need to humble ourselves because it's not about you and i it's about people that don't know the lord you and i we're gonna go to heaven because we put our faith
[01:33:16] in jesus but we need to know how to walk this thing out so that others can go to heaven because they come to know jesus and so a public confession is powerful and that's what you're doing right now
[01:33:29] i want to pray over you let's pray together let's bow our heads father thank you lord god that you are stirring our hearts, Lord God, to be disciple makers, Lord God, and Lord, to humble ourselves,
[01:33:42] Lord God, so that you can breathe on our lives, that our lives would not just be, Lord, a show or a superficial example, Lord God, but our lives would be a deep-rooted example and testimony of
[01:33:57] what it means to walk this Christian life out, Lord God. Everybody that stood this morning, Lord God, I pray, Lord God, that you empower them with your boldness.
[01:34:08] Lord God, I pray that the Holy Spirit, Lord God, would go in them and be like a roaring lion, as your word says.
[01:34:15] That they would be bold and go out and share what they have experienced to the people that need to hear it.
[01:34:22] Lord God, to those that are lost and far from you.
[01:34:26] Lord, I pray, Lord, that if they're stuck in situations, Lord God, that even them humbling themselves in this moment, Lord God would be a a moment where the wind of God would blow on them on their back Lord God and
[01:34:38] they would be able to move forward Holy Spirit thank you Lord Jesus thank you Lord that you came thousands of years ago Lord God to accomplish something and Lord God you are still accomplishing that very thing and for that we are humble and we are contrite before you or God bless your people
[01:35:01] and bless this house and the church said amen come on give the lord some praise in this place thank you lord really quickly before you go this has been a staple in the history of this church
[01:35:16] of multiply lake norman and i am happy to announce that retreats are happening come on somebody have you ever been to a retreat you get y'all aren't excited about retreats come on so we got a men's
[01:35:32] retreat we got a women's retreat there's some info up there men's yours is august 20th through the 22nd women yours is july 30th through august 1st we go to the ymca blue ridge assembly in
[01:35:46] black mountain north carolina and man if you've never been to one of these retreats this is what i can tell you you will be changed when you get around people that are just like you and that
[01:35:58] need Jesus. The Bible says it this way, iron sharpens iron. And that's why we do these retreats.
[01:36:03] So if you want more information about how to sign up, you can see Angie or Anwar Perez. They are kind of heading up this for us. But hey, retreats are coming. Go ahead and take a picture of that.
[01:36:13] You guys get all the information and we'll see you same time, same place next week as we continue to love Jesus and change the world.