BLESSINGS AND WOES

We live in a world today that wants to believe that there are many paths to heaven. The prevailing thoughts regarding various religions is that they are all acceptable paths to heaven. Many of you hear and wrestle with statements such as it doesn’t really matter what religion you are as long as you are devoted to it. People to me with questions regarding whether their friend who is a Muslim, a Jehovah’s Witness, a Buddhist, a New Ager, a Mormon, a Jew or someone who acknowledges a god of some sort,... whether or not they will go to heaven. They like their friends and see the good in them. These questions are tough realities that we have to deal and wrestle with. That person may be a great friend, but the reality is that not everybody can be right! I hear many say that they believe in a "loving" God who would not want anyone to go to hell. Where do we go to for answers to these questions? There is only one place to go and that is to the Holy Scriptures. The Holy Scriptures and they are the TRUTH. Jesus said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." Jesus is telling us that He is the only way. Any religion that does not accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and believe in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), and also that you are saved by Faith Alone, fall outside the boundaries of Christianity and is seeking Heaven by a different route other than Jesus Christ. Our loving God destroyed the Earth in Noah’s time with a Flood, He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their unbelief, He wiped out many Israelites in the Exodus for their unbelief, and He will judge all non-believers in Jesus Christ as "guilty" at the final coming. Do we have a loving God? The answer is yes, but He shows us His Love in a different way. Our "Loving God" sent His Son to preach a message of Salvation. Love is what Jesus has done for us, is doing for us, and will continue to do for us. Yes, we worship a "loving" God, but He will bring destruction to those who do not believe.

Today’s Sermon comes from the Gospel of Luke where Jesus is preaching the Sermon on the Plain. This is not an airplane, but a plain, level area where people were gathering. Scripture tells us:

17 He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coast of Tyre and Sidon, 18 who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases.

The passage states that a large crowd is gathering and following him. It is not just a crowd from the last city he visited, but people have heard and seen Him and they are coming from all over to hear Him and to be healed. The Words of Jesus draws people who are spiritually hungry. They wanted to be Blessed by Jesus. They have also heard about his miracles and many want to be healed. When they hear Jesus’ words, they hear the Word of God. Not only are they hearing the Word of God, but they are seeing it through His miracles. Scripture states:

Those troubled by evil spirits were cured, 19 and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all.

This verse always gets my attention when it said that "power was coming from him and healing them all." These people receiving faith through hearing ears and seeing eyes. The eyes confirmed what their ears were hearing. The crowds were coming from all over so see Jesus. To those who were healed would still die a physical death. The healing was phenomenal, but it is the Words of Christ that brings faith and eternal life. The ability to believe comes from the Word of God. Paul’s writings in Romans states "faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is hear through the word of Christ."[Romans 10:17] Well,... Christ has been teaching the people who have come to see Him. And now, Jesus turns to His disciples and delivers the Sermon on the Plain. He turns from the crowd and now speaks to his disciples, that is His followers. This includes his 12 Apostles. Scripture states:

20 Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23 "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.

Jesus lists out four Blessings to His disciples. Let’s dig a little deeper into each blessing.

The first blessing "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." Jesus is speaking both financially and spiritually. If you are poor financially, then it is easy to see God’s work in providing for your needs, but if you are rich, you don’t see God’s provision as clearly. You have no problems with food on the table or a roof over your head, but the poor depend on God’s provisions. Jesus is not saying that only the poor inherit the kingdom, but it is a blessing that you will inherit the kingdom. In fact, whether you are of weak faith or strong faith, you are blessed. You are living in the kingdom today. The kingdom is ruled by God’s peace and love, not a world filled with sin. This blessing is yours now and even more so in the future when Christ returns at the Second Coming where we will then live in Full Communion with God!

The second blessing is "Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied."

Not only does Jesus provide food for the physically hungry, but He provides spiritual food to those who are spiritually hungry. Today’s text says that crowds from all over were coming to hear him. They are spiritually hungry. They are being feed the Word of God and they are being satisfied. The same spiritual food they sought, you are receiving today because we are covering these very same Words of Christ. Remember, faith comes from hearing and you are satisfied through faith. Your hunger is being satisfied today, but it will be even more satisfied when you are in heaven in the presence of God and all knowledge will be made known to you. Jesus cares about both your physical and spiritual needs.

The third Blessing is "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh." We too weep from the sins we commit. Your sins are an embarrassment to you, your faith, and to God. Your sins cause weeping from the heart. The weeping of your heart brings you to confession before God when we have confession an absolution. You fall short on living a Godly life, yet Jesus Christ forgives you of your sins. The power of the forgiveness that He brings you causes the burden of hell to be lifted off your shoulders and allows you to laugh. In the future, when you are in the presence of God, His presence alone will cause no weeping, but an overabundance of joy that leads to laughter.

The fourth blessing is "Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23 "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets." The world does not understand God’s way of life. They choose to handle matters themselves instead of God’s way. You will be hated, excluded, insulted and rejected because of your faith in Jesus Christ. I’m very sure of this because Jesus, the Son of God, was hated, excluded, insulted, and rejected. They nailed Him to the Cross! His death is your gain. Great is your reward in heaven! You are Blessed! When people won’t listen to you, Jesus says "Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.

These blessing are the way of LIFE! The blessings are spiritual blessings. You should not think of these as principals to live by to gain success in the world. These blessings do not promise even the smallest amount of worldly blessings such as health, wealth and prosperity. But they do promise Eternal Life.

Jesus is showing you the Way of Life. But there are two ways. The Sermon on the Plain shows the Way of Life and also the Way of Death. Well, ... what about this other way? What is the other route, the way of Death? let’s hear the way of DEATH!

Believing in Jesus is more than just hearing His Words. Many hear and reject His teachings. Others may hear and understand, but not accept it as part of their life. It is not enough to "hear" the word, but one also must "do" it. To hear means more than just hearing, but also believing. Believing is something you do. This is evidenced by Jesus’ teachings that you put His Word to action. Hear the Words of Christ found in Luke 6:47, 49:

47 I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

When you know God’s way, but choose to go your own way,... where is the your faith?

Jesus now turns from teaching of blessing to the teaching of Woes and states:

24 "But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. 25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.

If you place your faith in your wealth, possessions, and or your investments, then your faith is not in God, but yourself. Jesus is saying you have had your taste of heaven now. But woe is what is to come, when you cannot buy yourself out of hell. If you depend on yourself to feed you physically or the teachings of the world to influence your life and to feed you spiritually,... woe is to you. If your laughter comes at the expense of others, will you be laughing in the fiery pits? You will mourn and weep. If everybody speaks wells of you and everybody basis their way of life according to the world and not God, woe is you!

Jesus is teaching that there are only two ways. The way of Life is through Jesus Christ. The way of Death is found through rejecting Jesus Christ. It’s not through Mohammed, Budda, Zen, a cow, a tree, or some other false religion. Death comes from believing in NO GOD or believing in a WRONG god. Your loving God sent His Son, to carry out the plan of Salvation for YOU. To those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, you will inherit the Kingdom of God. The Blessings He speaks of, you enjoy today! His Words to the disciples show the Way of Life and apply to you today. You are blessed today! There is also more to come! When you die in the faith, You will move from a sinful world to a sinless world and into the full benefits of these Blessings. You are blessed!

You are spiritually poor, but God gives you his kingdom.

You are spiritually hungry, but God satisfies you.

You weep spiritually, but God will make you laugh.

You are persecuted, but God gives you a great reward in heaven.

Paul writes in Eph. 1:3 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ." Your sins are forgiven! Eternal Life is yours. Let us rejoice in these blessings!

Amen!