We're back exploring the--
gospel recorded in Matthew.
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We're in Chapter 5
looking at the beatitudes.
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Take us on from
where we've been Ranko.
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So we understood so far
that actually the word Makarios
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which means a
blessed refers to the people
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who have
difficulties in this life,
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but telling them
they're not blessed
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because they've their
difficulties they're blessed,
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because they know
God, they follow God,
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God is with them
during those difficulties.
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So despite of the difficulties,
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Glenn, what is that, that
make a person happy in his life?
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Our relationships mainly.
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Actually are the
external circumstances.
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External circumstance,
they make us happy.
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Well, temporarily.
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But they make us happy.
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I meet a student
there on the campus say Prof
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oh, I'm happy
person what happened?
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I found that lady.
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He is happy,
external circumstances.
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After few days, he bows the--
head he was on there on campus,
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she kick you out of her life.
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He said yes, he becomes sad.
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You see the person is healthy,
he is happy, he gets sick.
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So usually the
external circumstances
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defined our happiness.
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But according to Jesus, the--
Christians are always happy.
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The Christians
always feel closed to God,
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not be closed of the
external circumstances,
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but because what
God does within them,
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they get that gift which I
called the gift of Makarios,
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that blessedness, they
defined their happiness
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which is not based on
external circumstances.
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So when we say happy, we
really having to redefined it.
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I am talking
about human happiness.
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Yes, yes. I'm not talking
about the joy that inner joy.
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You see human
happiness is defined
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by circumstances of life.
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Life takes it. He gives
and it takes. Gives and takes.
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But when we have Jesus
Christ as our personal Savior,
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Jesus said, "I'm
giving you these joy
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Gospel John Chapter
13 and nobody and nothing
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will be able to
take the joy from you.
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Now Ranko, I hear some
folks today suggesting,
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what they've been
suggesting for a longtime,
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but if you just
give your life to Jesus.
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If you just follow
Him or some other formula,
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you're not gonna
have any problems.
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There's Sermon on
the Mount speak to this,
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this issue of
believing that you know,
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if I just follow God, then
everything is gonna go good,
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I'll have all the
money in the bank,
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I'll have no problems in my
life, is that what is it about?
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Do you remember when we
go to the Old Testament,
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God said through Moses
to the people of Israel.
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You'll always have
poor people among yourself.
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Not because those
people deserve it,
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it's simply because of
the circumstances of life.
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And we saw Paul, he
started preaching gospel
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and he was helping poor people.
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Poverty is not the token
of unfaithfulness to God,
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poverty can be as--
result of many circumstances
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in this life, but you see
life can take money from you,
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life can take health from me,
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life can take
many things from me.
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There is one thing that life
cannot take from me what God
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gives that inner
joy, that the blessedness
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that actually woes my heart
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and makes to me
mourn for his life.
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You're implying that
there can be a condition
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and this kind of reward,
there is a kind of two parts
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to these
beatitudes, aren't there.
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There is your
condition, your situation life,
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but then there is a
promise, beautiful promises.
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We've to understand
that we live in these a life
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when there is a sin.
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Tragedies, they-very
often can strike human life
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and there is one mystery
that I really do not understand
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why sometimes God
answers some of these prayers?
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And people are healed.
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People can tell those
great experience with God,
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but sometimes God doesn't react.
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One of the-- classical examples
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are when we go to the
Book of Acts, Chapter 12.
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You know, when
we're reading Chapter 12.
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Herod decided to
persecute the church
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and he arrested James.
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Glenn, who was James?
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Leader of the church,
they're one of three disciples.
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One of the three disciples,
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very closed
group, group to Jesus.
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And Herod kills him and
then in order to please Jews,
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he arrested Peter.
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What happened with Peter?
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The angel of the Lord
comes near to the prison
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and then rescues
Peter from the prison.
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Why Peter was
rescued and James was killed?
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Did God loved
Peter more than James.
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Oh no, both of them were
one of the three disciples.
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I know from my personal life,
how God did miracle in the life
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of our own son and the
pastor who prayed for us.
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Actually after healing
my son just the fifth day
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after the tragic
accident of my son,
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actually he died a tragic death.
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There are many
mysteries of this life
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and the question is when we
face difficulties of this life
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according to the Sermon on Mount
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is not to ask what
did I sinned to God,
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Did God forsake me etcetera.
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Now, only the question we're
asking God come be close to me.
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And God promised even if
you walk through the valley
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the valley of
the shadow of death.
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He will be with us and
He will not forsake us.
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What else would you
wanted us to hold on to from.
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We could
explore each beatitudes,
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we don't have time for that,
they're very rich and powerful,
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but what should we keep
in mind for these sequence?
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Actually I want two
things is the beatitudes
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are eight in numbers.
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The first four
beatitudes, the ones I just--
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Blessed are the poor in spirit.
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Blessed are those who mourn.
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Blessed are the meek.
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Blessed are those who hunger.
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They deal on the
vertical level with regard
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to our relationships with God.
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The last four, those who
are the merciful, pure in heart,
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peacemaker and persecuted.
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They deal on our relationships
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on the horizontal
level with human beings.
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Is that what the Ten
Commandments are all about?
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Sure, it seems like it.
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Is that what Jesus
said, love the Lord your God
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with all your heart and
love your neighbour as yourself.
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Actually everything all
the Law and the Prophets
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are about our
relationships with God
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and our
relationships with human beings.
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That's actually Makarios
is all about, that blessedness
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that we receive from God.
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But there is-- something else.
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Jesus concludes
these beatitudes section
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with verses 13 to 16 and
Glenn I would like to ask you
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if you can read these verses.
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And just before I read
I would want to say that--
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when we entered
into the beatitudes,
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we hear Jesus preaching
His values and His attitudes
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are radically
different than this world.
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We don't say
anybody poor is blessed.
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He has taken a radical approach
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this is a completely
different understanding of life.
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And He's here dealing with
the citizens of the kingdom,
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so those who are in the church,
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the citizens of this
Kingdom because the church
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as we mentioned is the visible
manifestation of the kingdom.
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This is how the Christians live.
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While the entire
world is complaining
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about economy about everything,
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you know the
Christians the happiness
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is not defined by
what is going in the world,
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it's by their
relationship with God.
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So let's read
about how you describes
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those for the kingdom people.
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Yes. Matthew Chapter 5 Verse 13.
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You are the salt of the earth,
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but if the salt
losses its flavor,
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how shall it be seasoned?
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It is good then for nothing
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but to be thrown out
and trampled underfoot.
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You are the light of the world.
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A city that is set on
an hill cannot be hidden.
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Up to 16. Nor do
they light a lamp,
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and put it under a
bushel, but on a lampstand
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and it gives light to
all who are in the house.
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Let your light
so shine before men,
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that they may
see your good works,
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and glorify your
Father in heaven.
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We have here two
metaphors and I heard
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people are taking about these
metaphors in different context,
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but we've to put in the context
of these beatitudes here.
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Salt and light. What is
that Jesus tried to say salt.
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What is the-- purpose of salt?
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Glenn, we know that
salt all the way it changes
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the taste of food, food
never changes the taste of salt.
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See Jesus does not say
here you're salt of the world,
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He says you're the salt.
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In Greek, it's a
definite article.
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We are not any salt.
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The Christians are the salt.
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Christians they
can make difference
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in environment where they live.
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So, Jesus here talks
about people who are blessed,
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those who are
Makarios. What is that?
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Telling them the
external circumstances
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will not change your
relationship with God.
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Your relationship with
God will impact and influence
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the circumstances
within which you are.
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This is the purpose of
this first metaphor. All right.
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Now we have the second metaphor
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and this is very significant.
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People think that Jesus simply
repeats the first metaphor.
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No, He is not doing that.
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He says you are
the light of the world.
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Glenn, what is
the purpose of light?
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Obviously
contrasting with darkness.
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But let me ask you one question,
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I'm putting you
here on the spot.
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Does dark impact darkness?
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Does darkness impact light?
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You can't destroy it.
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But can it impact light.
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Let me tell you
when I was young pastor,
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you know, I had those
old cars when you leave
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the car you have to be
sure that the lights are off,
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otherwise it
emptied the batteries.
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And I'll, in the
morning, I'll come to the church
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it was sunshine in some area.
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I'll leave my car and
hurrying to the church
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because I've to preach.
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And the people tell me, pastor
the lights are on, on the car.
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No I said, it's
not they said, it is.
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I will come there
to the car and look oh,
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yes the lights are on.
00:10:05.87\00:10:07.73
I'll turn the lights
off, but then I will come
00:10:07.74\00:10:11.33
in the evening
it was dark outside.
00:10:11.34\00:10:14.71
I did not have need of anybody
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to tell me that
the lights are on.
00:10:17.52\00:10:20.20
Even if I would be
far away from my car,
00:10:20.21\00:10:22.45
I'll see that the lights
are on what is the point?
00:10:22.46\00:10:24.80
Does darkness impact light
yes, the more dense darkness is,
00:10:24.81\00:10:30.67
the more visible
light is, does make sense.
00:10:30.68\00:10:36.34
It's not only that Christians,
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they change their circumstances.
00:10:37.78\00:10:39.83
The more severe
circumstances are more visible.
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The presence of
God is in their life.
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I just want to go quickly.
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She was like my mother to me.
00:10:49.77\00:10:54.42
She would always give me
advice, I was a young pastor
00:10:54.43\00:10:56.82
and one day her son
came to me to tell me
00:10:56.83\00:11:03.64
that his mother was sick.
00:11:03.65\00:11:06.36
The doctor told her
just she had a few weeks
00:11:06.37\00:11:09.31
to live and he asked,
can you go and visit her.
00:11:09.32\00:11:11.32
I went there and
she is really sad.
00:11:11.33\00:11:13.70
And--to make long story short,
00:11:13.71\00:11:15.96
I would come
every week to visit her.
00:11:15.97\00:11:18.25
She was so dear me to.
00:11:18.26\00:11:19.94
And finally I
came and I saw skeleton
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there on the bed
and the number of people
00:11:22.42\00:11:25.73
there sitting in the room.
00:11:25.74\00:11:28.04
And there was one lady who said,
00:11:28.05\00:11:29.30
you know, you served
your God for about 40 years.
00:11:29.31\00:11:33.74
Why did God allow
you all these things
00:11:33.75\00:11:35.89
now to happened to you.
00:11:35.90\00:11:37.18
And I saw that
skeleton shrink to straight
00:11:37.19\00:11:40.11
to say few words to her neighbor
00:11:40.12\00:11:42.35
and I help her,
you know, quickly.
00:11:42.36\00:11:44.51
And she said, you know, I
serve my God for 40 years.
00:11:44.52\00:11:49.08
He has always been good to me.
00:11:49.09\00:11:51.33
I don't know
why all these things
00:11:51.34\00:11:53.13
are taking place with me.
00:11:53.14\00:11:55.19
But I know that my
God has not forsaken me.
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I'll very soon fall asleep.
00:11:58.26\00:12:00.55
One day my God
will stand on the tomb,
00:12:00.56\00:12:02.67
my tomb, and call me by name.
00:12:02.68\00:12:06.94
Then you'll die after me.
00:12:06.95\00:12:09.53
Are you sure
that one day your God
00:12:09.54\00:12:12.39
will stand on your
tomb and call you by name.
00:12:12.40\00:12:15.93
After that I had--
evangelistic series.
00:12:15.94\00:12:18.28
Two of those ladies they
decided to be baptized. Amen.
00:12:18.29\00:12:21.87
You see more dense darkness is,
00:12:21.88\00:12:25.57
more visible
that light as a result
00:12:25.58\00:12:29.09
of that gift
that God give to us.
00:12:29.10\00:12:31.38
Make us to go through this
life is more visible to people.
00:12:31.39\00:12:34.22
Now Ranko the
world's getting pretty dark,
00:12:34.23\00:12:35.76
what should be hold on? Yes.
00:12:35.77\00:12:38.22
Dear viewers if in this life
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you face different difficulties,
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the problems of this life,
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I've like to invite
you to put your life
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into the hands of Jesus
Christ and He will defined
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your happiness and
journey through this life.
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