Upside Down and Inside Out | Lucas DeVries

My name is Stephen. I'm with Southeast Christian Church and we're a church primarily located in Louisville, Kentucky. And we're spread throughout three different states. We've got a campus in Indiana, one in Tennessee and several across the Louisville area in Kentucky. And we are thrilled to get to worship with you right where you are this week. And as always, you can check out the description and write into us. We've got a team of volunteers that reads every letter, prays over them, and does their best to write you back as available and as we're able to write you back. But certainly for us, it's a way of reaching out where we can know how to pray for you, specifically hear your story and it encourages us just to know how God's at work in your life to cite the circumstances that you're in. We're in the middle of a series. It's called Flipping. It's all about looking at things kind of from a different point of view and perspective because Jesus has a very famous sermon in the Bible called the Sermon on the Mount. And he kicks it off with this weird word that we have called the Beatitudes. And it's a way of thinking about how we're blessed in some kind of backwards ways of thinking. And so today, you're going to be hearing from our campus pastor at the Blankenbaker campus, our broadcast campus, Lucas DeVries, and he is going to be talking all about Blessed are the Merciful. The message is called Upside Down, Inside Out, and we love that. This weekend, though, I'm located actually at our Shelbyville campus, our Shelby County campus, and that's the worship center behind us. So if you find yourself looking for a church home, make sure you head over to our website se.church, look at all the locations, and you can join some fine folks. At each and every one of our campuses. But as we head into worship, we're head over to our Blankenbaker campus in just a second. For us all to worship together, will you prepare your heart and mind? I know right now it's tempting on a video screen to just kind of gloss all over that. But what if you slowed down for just a moment and expected something from God? Through the worship, the prayer, through the word, through the message. What if God showed up and spoke to you in a way where you could think about mercy in a brand new way? And so I'm going to pray for you as we head to worship, and I want to invite you in to worship with us. Heavenly Father, I know that this broadcast is meeting thousands of folks in difficult situations and situations they never wanted to be in, but they're in. And yet they're encountering you right now. I'm going to pray that right now in the quiet of this moment, that this word, this prayer is hitting the right person that needs that. It needs to know that you are a merciful God. And today that we can prepare our hearts to hear just how radically merciful you are, that you give us something we don't deserve, and that your grace meets us in a way that's powerful. And that despite our past, we can have a new future if we choose to walk and accept you as our Lord and Savior. And so Lord, I just pray that the hearers of this word today and this message today go beyond just hearing it, thinking that's a good word, but doing something about it and really responding. So open our hearts in that way, be with us in all the ways. Join us, Lord, today as we worship, right where we are. It's in Jesus' name that I pray.

Amen. [music] For the way to change our lives, we praise you. For the breath inside our lungs, we praise you. For your never-ending love, we praise you. It's what you're worthy of. For the ways you change our lives, we praise you. For the ways we can't describe, we praise you. For the millions more to find, we praise you. It's what you're worthy of. Oh, come on, let's pray to these words. Oh, this is what you're worthy of. Sing praise, River, all the good you've gained in us cannot be measured. You alone deserve it all. Our lives are rendered. Jesus, take every part. It's what you're worthy of. [music] For the great is sacrifice, we praise you. For the great you left behind, we praise you. For the resurrection lie, for we praise you. It's what you're worthy of. In the justice you will serve, we praise you In the living and all love, we praise you It's what you're worthy of This is what you're worthy of We praise you forever All the good you get in heart Keep an eye on me, that's it You are my desire

Our lives will return Jesus take every heart It's what you're worthy of You're so worthy Glory to glory Beginning to ending You're holy, you're worthy So we'll keep on singing Glory to glory Beginning to ending You're holy, you're worthy So we'll keep on singing So we'll keep on singing Come on church we sing, it's what you're worthy of This is what you're worthy of We praise you forever All the good you get in heart Keep an eye on me, that's it You're the only serving home Our lives will return Jesus take every heart It's what you're worthy of This is what you're worthy of All the good you get in heart Keep an eye on me, that's it You're the only serving home Our lives will return Jesus take every heart It's what you're worthy of All the good you get in heart

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Only To the Kingdom Only You will always be Only You'll hold me forever Oh, will it your name higher Oh, the old name Is the highs Your name Is the greatest Your name Is stands above the mark Above all You seem to get declared Only your name Oh, stands above the mark People hold their arms And dominion All powers And decisions your name Oh, stands above And all is the angels By Only Oh, creation Yes, we lift you high Still only Only forever Your people's sake

Only To the Kingdom Only You will always be Only Only forever You will always be Only Only forever God, you're holy And you're so worthy to be praised And will forever sing of your glory Your Majesty God, we invite you into our hearts today, Lord Lord, we ask that you inhabit our praise We're thankful to be with our church family today And to worship you to praise your name With whatever we've brought in here today, Lord Whatever heaviness Lord, whatever anxiety we may be feeling, God We ask that your Holy Spirit would fall upon us And that we be transformed by you, God As we sing a new song this morning, Lord God, we want to be transformed by you And we ask that you would move as only you can We love you, Lord We worship you, amen I hear the song of heavy rain flooding the earth And there in place is let it calm down Let it calm down

I see a cloud, I feel a change A sudden wind, upon the praises, let it calm down Let it calm down, would you say For the young of your name, Holy Spirit Over again Let it rain Let it fall Have your way We want it all Let it rain ♪ Let it fall ♪ ♪ Just hide your way ♪ ♪ We want it all ♪ ♪ We know you ain't ♪ ♪ So lookin' off ♪ ♪ So here we are ♪ ♪ We won't stop ♪ ♪ Let it come down ♪ ♪ Just let it come down ♪ ♪ Oh, let it come down ♪ ♪ Let it come down ♪ ♪ Let it rain ♪ ♪ Let it fall ♪ ♪ Just hide your way ♪ ♪ We want it all ♪ ♪ So let it rain ♪ ♪ Let it fall ♪ ♪ Just hide your way ♪ ♪ We want it all ♪ ♪ The soul itself is glory ♪

♪ My just can't hide ♪ ♪ The Son of God is living in this place ♪ ♪ The mountains shake and tremble in ♪ ♪ The ocean's rolling gray ♪ ♪ The Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ The name above all may ♪ ♪ Oh, Father ♪ ♪ Just have your way in my heart ♪ ♪ God in my life, God ♪ ♪ For the honor of your name ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Over again and for the honor ♪ ♪ Of your name ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Oh, I want you to sing today ♪ ♪ Of your name ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Over again and for the honor ♪ ♪ Of your name ♪ ♪ Over again and for the honor ♪ ♪ Of your name ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Over again and for the honor ♪ ♪ Of your name ♪ ♪ Over again and for the honor ♪ ♪ Just have your way in my heart ♪ ♪ We won't need hope ♪ ♪ 'Til they reign ♪ ♪ And let it flow ♪ ♪ Just have your way ♪

♪ We won't need hope ♪ ♪ But for this ♪ ♪ The throne is such a glory ♪ ♪ The Son of God is ready ♪ ♪ It's a lie ♪ ♪ The throne is shaking ♪ ♪ Trembling ♪ ♪ He hosts His throne with grace ♪ ♪ To Jesus Christ the name above only ♪ ♪ So let it reign ♪ ♪ And let it flow ♪ ♪ Just have your way ♪ ♪ We won't need hope ♪ ♪ So let it reign ♪ ♪ And let it fall ♪ ♪ Just have your way ♪ ♪ We won't need hope ♪ (audience applauds) - Jesus, we just agree with that song and we just say that your name is above every name. We thank you that your mercy is new every morning. I am amazed, Lord. God, why you continue to strive with us despite all of our imperfections and God. We just, we thank you. We thank you for your Son. We thank you that we can come boldly before your throne. And so, Lord, we ask for help. Yeah, God, we need help following you and so Holy Spirit, thank you for your power.

Would you illuminate your word today so that we can see Jesus? By gazing upon him, or would you help us to live differently? God, we love you and we praise you. We pray all of this in the mighty name of Jesus, amen. If we haven't had the chance to meet yet, my name's Lucas de Vries. I get to serve as the campus pastor, to share God's word with us this morning. I did want to give you a Devries family update. On September 7th, ironically on Labor Day, my wife gave birth to our third child. I think we've got a picture. Sparrow, James, Devries, don't let her fool you. At 3 a.m. she does not look like that. So mama's good, baby is good, the Devries home all as well. You know, when we brought Sparrow home, something that we didn't anticipate, maybe you've experienced this, parents, is that our twin boys that are four got a little jealous. Like the first week, everything was great, but then we just started to notice. I mean, our boys are already rambunctious, but they're just, they started to uncharacteristically act out. You know, a few more meltdowns and whatnot. Now, I'll just be honest, I am not great at disciplining our children. Like I will threaten your birthday until you're 45, right? My wife, on the other hand, she is incredible

when it comes to that area. And so it's been pretty cool over the past couple of weeks. She will kind of get down on their level. It's like she turns into a coach. Like I'm a little scared of her, but she gets down on their level. She looks them in the eyes and she just starts to cast vision about what it means to be a part of the Devries clan. Like as a boy in the Devries home, like this is your DNA, like this is your culture. And so she'll bend down and she'll look them in the eyes and she'll say, hey, buddy, like to be a boy in the Devries home, like we use our muscles to help people, not hurt people. Or in the Devries home, like we use our hands not to take things, but to share things. Or in the Devries home, we use our words, not to tear people down, but to build people up. And my favorite, in the Devries home, we cheer, go cards, not go cats. (audience cheering) What can I say? She's got great parenting skills. You know what she was doing was she was creating a culture. She was casting a vision of what it meant to be a boy in the Devries home. You know, over the past couple of weeks, we've been journeying through Matthew, specifically in the Beatitudes, where Jesus is sitting on the hillside.

He's got all of his followers in front of him. And it's almost like his inaugural address. And he has been communicating what it means to be a part of the kingdom. He's been telling them like this is the DNA of those who are part of the kingdom, like this is the blessed life. And I think my prayer has been, you know, we've been noticing how Jesus has just been flipping things upside down, because the kingdom runs counter-cultural to the world, and so my prayer has been that God has turned some things in your life upside down. And that we are better because of it. And so we're gonna continue today, and what I wanna do is I just wanna start where we've left off. I wanna read through the Beatitudes until we get to the passage that we're gonna be reading today. So I'll read for us. Matthew chapter five, starting in verse one. It says, "Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, "and when he sat down as disciples came to him, "and he opened his mouth and taught them saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs "is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, "for they shall be filled."

And then our text today, "Blessed are the merciful, "for they shall receive mercy." "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." You know, mercy is a tough word to describe. And I think most of us oversimplify it. I had a friend who was asking me, you know, what I did in my job Monday through Friday. Like they had seen me in my job on Thursdays and on Sundays, you know, up here on stage. But they wanted to know, like, what do you actually do during the week? And she just kind of threw it out there. She's like, do you just, do you like read your Bible and pray all day? It's like, I don't think I do anything less than that, but, you know, I don't know. Like, if you were to discover what my job was behind the scenes, like you'd realize that my job has much more to it, and I'm not trying to defend anything, maybe I am. But I think sometimes, like that's how we see mercy. Like mercy, I think sometimes we see a sliver of mercy. Like we know that mercy has something to do with salvation. We know that it has something to do with forgiveness, but I think as we look at the scriptures, one of the things that we're gonna realize is that mercy, mercy has such a big role. I mean, as we look at the scriptures from cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation, we're gonna see mercy woven into the every fabric

of the scripture, we're gonna see it in every book, in every chapter, on every single page. In fact, some would say that mercy is the story of the scriptures. So my prayer today is that we would discover that together. You know, there is a passage that I think helps us give kind of a working definition of mercy. If you have your Bible, I'd love for you to turn this on. 23 verse six, I'll read it for us. David is writing here, and it says this. It says surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. If you like to circle words in your Bible, I would encourage you to circle the words mercy, but then also circle the word follow. This word follow here, it doesn't mean to casually linger behind, right? Like it doesn't mean to lolly gag. I was a linebacker in high school. I can assure you, my defensive coordinator did not want me to casually follow. This word here is radoff. It means to pursue, to chase. Like my coach wanted us to tenaciously pursue the ball, and I think that this is the picture that we have for mercy. Like mercy is not a casual following behind. Like mercy is coming after us. The second word here is has said, and it's the word that we have for mercy, but specifically it brings in this idea of steadfast love.

Like loving kindness or mercy. And so when we bring the two together, essentially the word picture that we're getting here is, God's faithful love is moving toward us. Like God's not just sitting off in the distance, tapping his foot, like seeing what's going on with humanity. Like the Bible says that God's faithful love is tenaciously moving toward us. I need to be clear, this isn't compassion. Like I think some of us, we misplace the word compassion. Sometimes we think mercy means pity. Compassion is a state of the heart. Like it's an emotional state of the heart. It's good, but I think when we look at this word mercy, it really is compassion in action. It's compassion that doesn't stay in your heart, but it goes to your hands. So the question I wanna ask you this morning, is when was the last time that you let God's love go from your heart to your hands? I'm not talking about the time where you said, oh bless, bless his heart. I'm talking about when was the last time something so grieved you that you said, I can't sit back, like a half to step in. I think what we're gonna find is that mercy, mercy puts on muck boots. Like mercy puts on muck boots, it jumps into the mess and it loves people like Jesus. And so what I wanna do is I just wanna share with us

two ways that mercy moves toward people. Two ways that we see Jesus moving toward people in the Bible in the first way, if you're taking notes, the first way is that mercy moves toward the invisible. I don't know if you've done this. Every now and then, I will be driving to work, I'll get to work, and I'll put it in park, and I'll realize I have no idea how I got here. I mean, I remember leaving my house, and I remember showing up to work, I don't remember a stoplight, a turn signal. I'm driving a multi-thousand pound vehicle at 75 miles per hour, usually. And I don't remember a thing. I mean, it's like my mind was just wiped. I mean, you just go on autopilot, and surely I saw things, but I don't know that I really noticed anything. I wonder if sometimes we do that with people. Like, there's probably a homeless guy near the intersection where you go home. You've seen him, you see him day after day, but I don't know that you see him. Like, there is a girl who's at your work, and over the past couple of weeks, like, you've just noticed that there's just been something not right before your last meeting, her eyes were welling up with tears, and you wanted to say something, but the meeting had to start,

and things just needed to get rolling. You saw her, I just, I don't know that you saw her. Maybe it's the widow who sits in your section. And you can see the seat where her husband used to sit, and you know that she's gonna go home today, and she's gonna sit in her living room all by herself. There were hundreds of people at this campus who saw her, but nobody saw her. And I just, I wanna be encouraging. I don't think it's because none of us love these people. I think we love them. I think what happens is that we get so used to seeing people that we don't see them. If you have your Bible, I love for you to turn. To Mark chapter 10, Jesus is leaving a city called Jericho. There's a group of people that are following him. I mean, they are enthralled with his teachings, but the story tells us that there's another character involved, his name's Bartimaeus. And he is a blind beggar sitting on the side of the road, and so I just want you to imagine this in your mind's eye. Jesus is leaving Jericho. There's a ton of people following him, and then Bartimaeus hears that Jesus, the man that people have been talking about, the healer, like he's coming close. I saw what his Bartimaeus do, he cries out, and he says, "Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me." You would imagine that the followers of Jesus,

I mean, the people who admire Jesus would surely hear his cries and help him. But sadly, that's not what happens. The Bible says that these people caused Bartimaeus to be quiet, they told him to be quiet, and so rather than helping this blind beggar, they just kind of shoot him off to the side. I am so thankful for Jesus. I love what Jesus says. It says in the scriptures, "And Jesus stopped and said, 'Call him.'" In other words, Jesus saw him. Like Jesus wasn't just gonna walk past, he probably had an agenda, but he was gonna slow down, and he was gonna see him. The Bible says that he calls him over, he asks him what he wants him to do for him, and eventually he restores his sight. I had a youth group, I have told this story before, but I had a youth group in Naples, Florida, just a terrible place to pick up your cross and follow Jesus. But I had a youth group in Naples, Florida, and it was a small youth group, but it was mighty, okay? We had a group of seniors who just had such a heart for the homeless community, and so they decided, apart from any coordination of myself, they decided that they were going to start to gather some supplies and some food. They borrowed a mini van from one of the moms

in the youth group, and they said, you know what, like every week we're just gonna go over to Miami, we're just gonna hand out these supplies, we're gonna hand out this food, and so they did it. But they didn't just do it once, like they just started to do it week after week, after week. And they weren't just sharing food and clothing, like they were sharing Jesus, like these seniors in high school are boldly sharing their faith. In fact, one of our students, Josh, he's actually now a senior pastor in Naples. I think we've got a picture of it right here. Josh decides he's going to share Jesus with Joseph. He discovers that Joseph is strung out on drugs. He is a pretty broken family. He hasn't seen his girlfriend or his children in some time. And Josh just says, you know what? Like, I'm not just going to pray for you and leave you. And God would have it that Josh's dad was the CEO of a faith-based recovery program in Naples. And so Josh made a phone call. Van comes, picks up Joseph, takes him to the faith-based recovery program. Joseph gets clean and sober. He eventually gives his life to Jesus and is baptized. He's not just baptized. And we find out later that he even got married, I think we've got a picture of it right here. And y'all, today, today he serves in a local church in Fort Myers. And I just, I can't, I am so thankful that those high school students didn't learn what it was like to play it safe. And they just said, you know what, God, I just, I want your love to go through my hands. And now, today, we get to celebrate and we get to see another brother who's a part of

the family. You know, I think what's so ironic is that Jesus heals a man who's blind and yet, I wonder if the people who are truly blind are the people who are walking right past. Class 15, James says, "It's my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God." James was talking about the Gentiles coming to faith, specifically putting heavy burdens on them. And while this isn't directly applied to the Scripture, I think the spirit of it is helpful. Like, are we helping people come toward Jesus or are we making it harder? I'm not saying that we throw out holiness or repentance, but we can't forget that mercy moves toward the invisible. So here's a prayer I'd invite you to pray with me this week, "Lord, would you give us eyes of mercy to see people like you see them?" Number two, mercy moves toward the unforgivable. This one might be the hardest of the two, because it's one thing to show mercy to somebody who's hurting. It's another thing to show mercy to somebody who's hurt you. It's one thing to move toward somebody who's been overlooked. It's another thing to move toward somebody who's overlooked you. What about the person who's betrayed you, the person who's lied to you? Because if we're honest, there are just some people who are hard to show mercy to. I think that's why Jesus tells the story in Matthew 18. Peter comes to Jesus and he asks him the question, and he says, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him, as many as seven times?" Is he Peter's tradition would say that three times, that's how many times you should forgive somebody before you move on? And he thinks, "Hey, I'll just add a few more on there and show Jesus that I'm pretty zealous," but Jesus responds and he says, "I do not say to you seven times, but 77 times." So Jesus, like the teacher that he is, goes on to tell a story about an unmerciful servant. This is a story about a servant who owes his master an enormous amount of money.

We're talking about a debt so large that it would have been physically impossible for him to pay it off, and one day the master calls him in and demands payment, but the servant doesn't have the money. So he falls on his knees and he begs for mercy and so listen to what happens. Matthew 18 verse 27, "And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debts." I mean, think about that. Like, he doesn't have a payment plan, he doesn't tell him to work a little bit harder. Like, he cancels the entire debt, but then this servant walks out and he finds another servant who owes him money and he demands that he pay him back. When the man begs for patience, he refuses. He hasn't thrown into prison, and when the master of the original servant finds out, he is furious. He calls the servant back in and he says, "You wicked servant." on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you." And Jesus tells us that the master in his anger hands the servant over to the jailers until he can repay everything that he owes. And then Jesus ends the story with a pretty sobering warning. And he says, "So also, my heavenly father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." I get it, this is a pretty strong ending to a story about forgiveness, but I think Jesus is trying to help us understand something incredibly important here. You cannot separate the mercy you received from God from the mercy you're called to extend to others. And I think that this brings us right back to what Jesus said earlier in the sermon on the Mount, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." Now, I want to be really clear here because I think it would be tempting to think that if I work mercy, if I do merciful deeds, that then I will then receive mercy. And I just think that what we need to be very clear here is that mercy doesn't buy salvation. We interpret Scripture with Scripture, and the Bible says that we've been saved by grace through faith has nothing to do with our own works, but it's purely because of the sacrifice of Jesus. And so surely it doesn't mean that if we're merciful, then God will give us salvation. Like, that's not how salvation works. Merciful living doesn't pay for your salvation. Merciful living is the proof of our salvation. And that's what makes this servant's response so

disturbing. He had been forgiven a debt he could never repay, but that mercy never seemed to change the way he treated anybody else. And I think that that ought to cause some of us, not all of us, I think that that ought to cause some of us to examine our own lives and ask ourselves the question, "Okay, if I'm not seeing mercy, leave my life. Have I received mercy?" Like, we should examine ourselves and say, "Okay, Lord, I haven't really thought about this, but I mean, have I truly experienced salvation?" Because if we truly experience the mercy of Jesus, there ought to be evidence of that mercy in the way that we treat others. Now, I want to slow down and I want to be very tender here, because I think for some of us, forgiveness doesn't mean what happened to you was okay. I don't want to minimize that pain for a second. And so hear me clearly. Forgiveness does not mean that you have to trust someone who hasn't proven themselves trustworthy. It doesn't mean that there shouldn't be boundaries or consequences, but what it does mean is that the mercy we've received from Jesus ought to change the way that we respond to those who have hurt us. And I pray, I pray, I pray that it gives you the strength to forgive. And so here's our prayer for the second move of mercy. Lord, help us extend to others the mercy you've so freely shown to us. Now, there's one more beatitude I want us to look at before we close. I find it interesting that Jesus places it right after this one about mercy, because I think what we're going to discover is that God isn't just concerned with what we do. Like He's concerned with why we do it. See, it's possible to do all the right things on the outside while something entirely different is happening on the inside. And Jesus actually confronts the Pharisees with this. He says this in Matthew 23. He says, "For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate with the inside, like they're filled with greed and self-indulgence." In other words, like you can look like you got it all together. You can serve. You can give. You can help people and do all sorts of merciful things and still have a heart that is far from God. And so I love that Jesus, when He says this in the Beatitudes, He says, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." And then in the very next breath, He says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Now, when you hear the word pure, I think most of us immediately think about being morally clean. a part of it. Like, God has holiness in mind when He talks about this, but purity of heart goes even deeper than our behavior. Like, it goes deeper than our behavior and our actions, because the idea of purity also carries the sense of being unmixed, being undivided, fully devoted to God,

singularly focused on God in His will. So Jesus isn't just concerned about the top level of morality. He certainly is. He's concerned with whether we are following God wholeheartedly, because here's what I know about me. And I think that I know this about you. Like, we can do the right things for the wrong reason. Like, I can help people, I can help people because it's right to help them, or I can help someone because I want them to feel like I'm being helpful, or I can be generous because I love what God's doing in this church, or I can be generous because I want other people to see that I'm generous. I can preach the gospel for the glory of God and the good of people, or like many times, I have preached the gospel because I want people to see that I'm a good preacher, a good minister. I think that that's why David prays in Psalm 86. He says, "Give me an undivided heart, Lord, that I might fear your name." And I wonder how many of us need to pray that same prayer today, because maybe the problem isn't that you don't love God, but it's that you have hundreds of other loves that are pushing and crowding Him out. Like, we love God, but we also love the approval of others. Like, we love God, but we love being in control. We love God, but there are things that He's asked us to surrender, and we just won't. I just wonder how many of us have gotten use to living that way. If we love Jesus, we come to church, we know the songs, we know all the right things to say, but if we're being honest, there are parts of our lives that we have never fully surrendered. So I pray that you hear this. Jesus did not wholeheartedly die for you so that you would halfheartedly live for Him. Jesus did not wholeheartedly die for you so that you would half heartedlylive for Him. Jesus wants our whole heart. He wants our relationships. He wants our finances. He wants our future. He wants our sexuality. He wants our private lives. He wants the things that everyone sees, and he wants the things that nobody knows about. He wants the things that we're proud of and the things that we're ashamed of. And so maybe the prayer that we need to pray is the same one that David prayed, Lord, give me an undivided heart, whatever needs to change, come and change it. You know, I love how Jesus attaches an incredible promise to this last beatitude. I'll read it again for us. He says, "Blessed are the pure and heart for they shall see God." As Jesus' followers were sitting on the mountainside, as they heard Him teaching, they likely would have started to realize that some of Jesus's phrasing in word choice this year remind them of another passage of Scripture. Many theologians actually make this connection because in Psalm 24, David, again, the writer, he asks a question. It has everything to do about seeing and experiencing God. He says this.

He says, "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord and who shall stand in His holy place?" In other words, like, "Who gets to dwell with God? Who gets to see God?" I think that that's a fair question because in this time, you couldn't just walk in God's presence. Like in the Old Testament, if you walked into the holy of holies and you were without atonement, I mean, you would have dropped dead in a moment. And so, who can see God? I mean, everyone listening would have leaned in. David answers his own question. He says, "He who has clean hands and a pure heart." Isn't that interesting? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. towards other people, and how he wants to purify our hearts to where we're wholly devoted to God. And so, the criteria here to experience God is that we have clean hands and a pure heart. Well, here's the problem, I don't know about you. I know this about me. I don't have clean hands. Like, there are people that I have overlooked. There's people that I've pushed out and treated as outsiders. There are people that I've held bitterness against and haven't extended forgiveness. Like, my hands are not clean, but my heart isn't pure either. Like, my heart is an idle factory, and my heart is prone to wander. My heart is not pure. I don't only want what God wants. And so, to answer this question, who can ascend the hill of the Lord? Who can see God? I can promise you. I cannot. I have a feeling that you can't either, because it doesn't matter. Like, there's no way that we can get our hands clean enough, and there's no way that we can get our hearts pure enough. There is no one in this room who can go before God. And so, the question remains, who can? And what I want to submit to you and what I hope every person leans in in years, that is the good news of the gospel. Because there is one man. There is one man whose hands were clean. There was no one that he overlooked. He ate with tax collectors and sinners. He forgave everyone. The Bible says that as he was hanging on the cross, he said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." His hands were clean. But his heart was pure, too. All he wanted was to serve his father. All he wanted was to do the will of his father. And so, in the Garden of Gethsemane, as he was approaching the cross, everything inside of him didn't want to, but he said, "Father, take this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours." He had clean hands, and he had a pure heart. And yet, what he decided to do, rather than just taking the privilege of sitting and being in God's presence because he was God, he set aside his privileges, and he came to earth, and he stretched

out his clean hands, and he was crucified, and blood poured from his pure heart so that you and I could find redemption. The only man who had clean hands and a pure heart humbled himself so that we, any one of us who decided to place our faith and trust in Jesus, he did that so that our hands could be clean and so that our hearts could be pure. Who can ascend the hill of the Lord? Who can see God? Those with clean hands and a pure heart. What I want to say to you is we close. The only person who can dwell with God is the person who decides to put all of their faith in the finished work of Jesus. I pray that if there be any person in the room today who is yet to make that decision, would you not delay? Would you not push this off? Would you receive the mercy that God is extending toward you? Would you trust in him? Let's pray. Father, we love you. God, we are so thankful for your word. We are thankful that it speaks to us and that it changes us. This is the ability to shine light in the dark places. Lord, I pray, Lord, that your word would not return void. I pray, God, that we would be a changed people. I pray that you would give us clean hands and a pure heart. Lord, we love you. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen. We are going to continue to worship together. Every week we take communion and we take the cracker that represents Christ's body that was broken for us. that was poured out for us. And for those of us who are followers of Jesus, I wanna encourage you to participate in communion this morning. And I want your prayer to be God. Would you give me clean hands and a pure heart? And I'm not asking you to doubt your salvation. Like we believe that those who have trusted in Christ, like his blood makes us holy. But what I am saying is that we have the ability to turn. We have the ability to drift. And so as you're praying that prayer, you're saying, holy spirit, is there anything in me that grieves you?

Anything externally and anything internally. And then I just want you to take that confess it to the Lord and walk in freedom. And so we're gonna continue worshiping by taking communion after communion. I wanna invite our prayer team down. And if you're carrying a burden, and if you feel invisible, if you feel overlooked, if you're wrestling with any kind of bitterness, I just wanna encourage you, would you come down? Would you let us pray for you? If you wanna find out what it means to place your faith in Christ, to be baptized, I encourage you to head back to our next steproom. But we're all gonna worship together as we worship the one who had clean hands and a pure heart, a sick communion together. (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music)

(gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) That's what you're worthy of Even if your heart only set up heart within A song that's what you're worthy of Even if your heart only set up heart within a song That's what you're worthy of Even if your heart only set up heart within A song that's what you're worthy of Even if your heart only set up heart within a song That's what you're worthy of Even if your heart only set up heart within A song that's what you're worthy of 'Cause that's what you're worthy of Please, for your rest Please, for you to sleep For you to have your way Maybe it's where we play

This world for you to love This world for you to breathe Holy Spirit, say That it's me that's what you're worthy of Even if your heart only set up heart within A song that's what you're worthy of Even if your heart only set up heart within A song that's what you're worthy of That's what you're worthy of That's what you're worthy of 'Cause that's what you're worthy of That's what you're worthy of That's what you're worthy of It's what you're worthy of Please, for you to rest Please, for you to sleep For you to have your way Maybe it's where they play This world for you to love This world for you to breathe Holy Spirit, say that it Maybe it's where they play Maybe it's where they play I've seen what you can do All the time When did I start to forget All of the greetings You looked at When did I throw away Faith for the impossible

And how did I start to believe That you weren't sufficient for Why do I talk myself up So give me a call You are more than me Oh You are more than me Oh You are more than me Oh You are more than me Oh Oh, I've seen what it was getting too old And I see all that I have Well, I've got my company's done I'm a much trusted, the one who still does me Here it comes, you do, here it comes Here I'm what they need Oh, it's time to know, it's time to know Here I'm what they need for Here I am, here I am Here I'm what they need Oh, you know, you know, it's time to know Here I'm what they need for Who am I who tonight with the lockin' too Here it comes, we don't have the faith in the room What the lockin' do, what the lockin' do It's gonna happen, just let the way you make it through He's gonna move, that's what's gonna move We can even imagine, we've found the faith in the room

What the lockin' do, what the lockin' do It's gonna happen, just let the way you make it through He's gonna move, that's what's gonna move We can even imagine, we've found the faith in the room What the lockin' do, what the lockin' do It's gonna happen, just let the way you make it through He's gonna move, that's what's gonna move Anything is possible, anything is possible Anything is possible, who am I who tonight with the lock What the lockin' do, what the lockin' do, what the lockin' do Anything is possible, anything is possible, anything is possible Who am I who tonight with the lockin' too Anything is possible, anything is possible Anything is possible, who am I who tonight with the lockin' do Who am I who tonight with the lockin' do, who am I who tonight with the lockin' do Who am I who tonight with the lockin' do Because we've seen you believe, you are my name, I'm my name. So you are my name, oh, nice I know you are my name, oh, who am I to deny, what the love can do. Well, thank you so much for being a part of service, I just want to say something, you're pretty special people because this is coming at the end of service and you're still watching and that means something to me, that means that you came with an expectant heart and I just want to encourage you and say well done, well done that you're engaging with God to stick around for the whole hour, I hope Lucas's message really challenged you, I hope the words of Jesus actually more than Lucas challenged you, which is, blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy and I know all of us find ourselves in situations and you may find yourself in a situation where you know you need God's mercy in your life and Jesus challenges us to be the type of person that gives mercy so that we can be the type of people that can receive. think because that's how I think I think I like to judge people and withhold mercy but when it comes to my own life I know my good intentions and so therefore I need more mercy

and so let's flip that on in let's challenge ourselves to think about that differently to be a people of mercy. I want to give you two ways that if you click subscribe on our southeast Christian church channel these are two ways this week we're going to support you beyond this weekend service getting a worship and hear a word together number one on Wednesdays we've got a six week Bible study called Chasing the Vapor it's all about the book of Ecclesiastes you're going to see some parallels to the writer of Ecclesiastes and these Beatitudes they're going to kind of mesh together where they're both going to reframe your heart and help you see the world from God's perspective from the kingdom perspective like the way that God wants us to think about the world around us so make sure you join us it drops every Wednesday we got all sorts of materials so check that out it's another reason to hit subscribe so that we can support you and then on Thursdays every Thursday we have a panel exclusive podcast where we sit down with a few folks and we talk about the message and we think about what does that mean for my life and so if you're looking for some next step some ways to go beyond just hearing the word but maybe think about some practical stories practical ways that you can live this out we want to do that but before you head off today can I pray for you I'll tell you I'm proud of you and let me send you out with a prayer of blessing on your life right where you are because God believe it or not he can meet you right there and right now so let me pray for that heavenly father we are grateful through the death and resurrection of Jesus through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus that our sin that we deserve the mistakes we've made are not on my shoulders anymore for those that believe they are on his shoulders and on that cross and that gives me hope and new life and it's that's the foundation by where we all can find equal footing at the base of the cross looking up to our Savior so so God I just pray for the mercy of you the gospel mercy to show up in the lives of the folks that are listening to this video God I just pray that right where they are there's that profound realization that they've never been more loved despite the poor choices God I pray that that is my heart that I can remember each and every day that despite the selfish ways I live despite the ways I like to judge others and withhold mercy yours is freely available to me God I pray that we can live that that attitude that be attitude out today that we can just begin to be a people of mercy because we know we need that that we can be so dialed into knowing how much you've brought

mercy to our lives that we can just allow that to temper every conversation with every person we encounter or go before us I pray that this week you show up in a mighty way pray for that blessing that we can see you each and every day it's in Jesus name that I pray amen. [BLANK_AUDIO]