Only the gentle and only the merciful will go to Heaven. It’s true!
We’ve begun to take a look at what are commonly referred to as “the Beatitudes”, the initial statements that Jesus made at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, and we’ve looked at two of those Beatitudes so far. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, and blessed are those who mourn.”
Are you characterized by being mournful? I hope you are. In our previous few Little Lessons we’ve been looking at the beginning of what are commonly referred to as “the Beatitudes,” right at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. They are the characteristics of the blessed.
Who are the blessed? The blessed are the people who are on the road to heaven, and that becomes very clear as you read through all of them. The first one of course was, “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit …” we defined that over the last two Little Lessons. “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Are you a spiritual beggar? And I hope you are. Today’s Little Lesson is a continuation of our previous Little Lesson, as we were looking at the very first thing that Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
And just by way of very quick review, I pointed out that we don’t want to make the mistake of looking at the Beatitudes like some people look at their horoscope, picking their zodiac symbol and finding out what their unique destiny is.
What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Today’s question revolves around something that Jesus said at the very beginning of His Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew 5-7. At the beginning of that sermon, we find what have been called the Beatitudes, where Jesus says, “Blessed are the …” And He relates some characteristic and He gives the reason that those people who display that characteristic are blessed. “…because they shall,” and He tells the blessing.
Those Beatitudes have been variously interpreted. I think it’s always best to interpret everything that Jesus said in the light of the rest of the Bible. People have Jesus saying sometimes some very bizarre things by their interpretation; things that can’t be supported by the rest of the Bible.
How can you know for certain that you are born again? We’re continuing from our previous Little Lesson asking essentially the same question. How can you be certain that you really know the Lord, that you really have belief in Jesus, that you really are born again?
Because according to the Bible, born again people have the Holy Spirit living on the inside of them. Now, think about that just for a moment. How is it possible for the Holy Spirit to come inside of us and there not be any change on the outside? The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead, the third person of the Trinity. He is God, and He comes to live on the inside of those who believe in Jesus. Well, God is God. How could you ever get God on the inside of you and it not manifest or show up on the outside in some form or fashion? You’d expect some changes, wouldn’t you?
How can you be absolutely certain that you’ve been born again? Today’s question is one that we often hear that expresses some degree of concern over the authenticity of one’s salvation.
We know that salvation is not something that you gradually earn by building up merit over years of doing good things and obeying the commandments of God, but rather, salvation happens because of God’s grace and his mercy, and so therefore, it’s an instantaneous, one-moment event where you cry out to God for forgiveness of sins, and you turn to Him in faith and repentance, and Je forgives you. Scripture teaches that He sends His Holy Spirit, and places His Holy Spirit in you, and you’re born again. You’re changed. You’re a new creation in Christ.
There is a biblical story set in Samaria, the capital city of Israel, during a time when it was surrounded by a foreign army. The siege dragged on for months, and food prices behind the city walls had skyrocketed. People were dying of starvation. Some of the Israelites resorted to cannibalism in order to survive the famine. The crisis had reached its tipping point, and death was certain, either from hunger inside the city or from the sword and spear outside.
Is God a racist? In today’s Little Lesson, we’re going to continue talking about the right biblical perspective of the modern day nation of Israel.
In the previous Little Lesson we asked the question, “is Israel the apple of God’s eye?” That’s a verse from Zachariah that you sometimes hear from Evangelical preachers who will quote it and say, “We ought to make sure we’re on the side of Israel because they’re God’s chosen people.”
We’re going to keep on talking today as we did on a previous Little Lesson about modern-day Israel. By listening to some modern-day Christians, you’d think that God loves the people in Israel more than He loves those who have repented of their sins and believed in Jesus!
Today, we’re going to talk about modern-day Israel. Of course, every Christian knows that we’ve got a Bible that’s full of references to Israel, and if you know anything at all about the history of Judaism, you know that God called Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and his twelve sons, and they comprise the twelve tribes of Israel.
Jesus was a descendant of Judah, and the Jewish heritage of Christianity is rich and long and deep. And so consequently, Christians feel an affinity with Jews because Christianity is really the fulfillment of Judaism. Jesus was Jewish, Jesus was the Messiah of the Jews and the early church was comprised of all Jewish believers in Jesus as their Messiah.