1 Year Lectionary – All Saint’s Day – Sunday, November 6, 2022 | Pr. Chris Rosebrough
| Welcome to the Teaching Ministry of Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Kongsvinger is a beacon for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of Northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone, and now, here’s a message from Pastor Chris Rosebrough: |
| Time Stamp | Transcript |
| 0:28 | The holy Gospel According to Saint Matthew the fifth chapter foreign |
| 0:40 | Jesus went up on the mountain and when he sat down his disciples came to him he opened his mouth and he taught them |
| 0:46 | saying blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven blessed are those who mourn for they |
| 0:53 | shall be comforted blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth blessed are those who hunger and thirst for |
| 0:59 | righteousness for they shall be satisfied and blessed are the merciful for they shall receive Mercy blessed are |
| 1:06 | the pure in heart for they shall see God blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God and |
| 1:12 | blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven and blessed are you |
| 1:18 | when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account rejoice and be |
| 1:26 | glad for your reward is great in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you this is the gospel of |
| 1:32 | the Lord in the name of Jesus all right here’s some of the lyrics from |
| 1:37 | the hymn we just sang oh May thy soldiers faithful true and bold fight as |
| 1:43 | the Saints who nobly fought of old and when with them the Victor’s Crown of gold alleluia alleluia and when the |
| 1:52 | fight is fierce and the warfare’s long Steals on the ear the distant Triumph |
| 1:57 | song and hearts are brave and again arms are strong Alleluia |
| 2:04 | Alleluia and then you’ll note these themes of |
| 2:10 | military action that you can find it in our hymnity but most importantly you can |
| 2:15 | find it in our words in the words of scripture scripture is clear that each and every one of us we are to put on the |
| 2:21 | full armor of God and yes that’s women and men alike but you’ll note there’s kind of a thing we do and that is is |
| 2:27 | that the Traditions here in the states or Traditions around the world are a |
| 2:32 | little different when it comes to burying people uh recently had the privilege of doing the internment service for Walter Kemet and Walter is |
| 2:41 | in a military cemetery and he was buried with full military honors and it’s |
| 2:47 | always awesome to watch a military funeral it’s it’s actually quite impressive especially when you have the |
| 2:54 | honor guard come out and these guys they spit polish everything you can see your face in the reflection of the brass on |
| 3:00 | their uniforms you can see your reflection in their shoes perfectly and they’ve got all their medals and their Awards and that ever everyone’s decked |
| 3:06 | out perfectly and after the the service of the word then the military guys come |
| 3:13 | out and they fold the flag and then there’s the 21 gun salute and |
| 3:18 | have any been able to stand or sit through one of those without flinching with every single volley it just is |
| 3:25 | designed to hit you right in the chest and of course the last bit of it is the playing of taps but I bring this all to |
| 3:33 | your attention to remind you of something and that is is that here on All Saints Day we recognize All Saints |
| 3:41 | I’m going to put the emphasis on all but those who have gone before us each and every one who has died in the faith |
| 3:48 | their grave is a military grave a military grave of the army of the king |
| 3:54 | of kings and Lord of lords and everybody who was a penitent believer in Jesus Christ and is received from Jesus the |
| 4:01 | King full pardon and Reconciliation for their sins by virtue of him bleeding and |
| 4:07 | dying for their sins it is important for us to recognize that each and every one |
| 4:12 | of us we were born dead in trespasses and sins we were born on the wrong side |
| 4:19 | if you were to put it in military terms in history that we might understand nobody I know likes the Nazis and and |
| 4:27 | with good reason but we were all born if you would spiritual Nazis we were born |
| 4:33 | fighting for the wrong guy Hitler’s kind of a stand-in for the devil and each and |
| 4:39 | every one of us we were under his Sway and each and every one of us by the grace of God has been brought into his |
| 4:45 | kingdom and now we are belligerents in a fight that has been lasting for millennia |
| 4:51 | you know if you think about the wars of human history sometimes they stretch out a little bit |
| 4:57 | you know 5 10 50 years not much longer than that maybe a couple of them 100 |
| 5:03 | years long or whatever the Hundred Years War you hear things like this but have you ever stopped to think that the uh |
| 5:08 | the fight against God started by Satan which we’ve all participated in that has been going on for millennia |
| 5:16 | and at the end of the day when we all rise we are described in the in our |
| 5:21 | hignity and scripture as being a great host a great Army that Christ has raised |
| 5:28 | up but the army that Christ raises up on the last day that great host they beat |
| 5:33 | their swords into plowshares and they become an army of Eternal peace |
| 5:38 | something to look forward to so as we work our way through our text today and boy do these all work to what |
| 5:44 | together wonderfully I would like to remind you all that each and every person who is a baptized |
| 5:51 | penitent believer in Jesus Christ you are a saint I know that there’s this |
| 5:58 | talk of saints as if somehow Saints are people who Aspire really hard to climb |
| 6:04 | the ladder of righteousness and at some point they go from being a mere sinful human being to being a saint right this |
| 6:13 | is just not true that is that is Works righteousness on steroids and you’ll |
| 6:18 | note that this is the way Rome talks how do they know who the Saints are well first of all you have to be somebody |
| 6:24 | notable in their religion then you have to die a blessed death and then people |
| 6:30 | need to start praying to you and if you can verify three Miracles that you’ve performed post-mortem then they assume |
| 6:38 | that you have attained a state of sinless perfection in this lifetime and therefore you were able to circumvent |
| 6:44 | purgatory and go straight into the presence of Christ and you’ll note when you believe |
| 6:49 | something like this and we all kind of tacitly do when you believe something like this you take away the Glorious |
| 6:56 | gospel and the good news that we have in Jesus Christ listen Christ died for the |
| 7:02 | ungodly I say this regularly you qualify and I qualify that being the case the |
| 7:09 | Greek word for Saint is hagias my Greek students pay attention here nominative |
| 7:15 | plural Hagi oi that right Hagia what’s a hagioi well we translate it as Saints |
| 7:21 | and it doesn’t really do us any favors when we translate because the haggy or hagioi are the holy ones |
| 7:29 | they have been made holy I recognize myself I ain’t holy we confess today |
| 7:37 | humbling ourselves that we are sinful and unclean that we have sinned against God and thought were Deed by what we’ve |
| 7:43 | done and by what we’ve left undone and rightfully so and you heard from Christ I got to be his representative but you |
| 7:50 | heard from Christ that your sins are forgiven today and you’ll note that Jesus takes his bride and he washes her |
| 7:57 | clean he is the one who makes her holy and he does it and out of his great love and |
| 8:05 | mercy for his bride and you are that bride and so you’ll note we talk about |
| 8:10 | All Saints we begin with the idea that we all are Saints and I know that you |
| 8:18 | are sinners that’s the thing about this lifetime the world of paradoxes of light and darkness of Good and Evil and even |
| 8:26 | within yourself well there’s the new person that you are in Christ the saint that Christ has made |
| 8:32 | you and you still have your sinful Adam the Center that your father and my father |
| 8:39 | have made us but let’s take a look behind the veil shall we let’s take a look at our first |
| 8:44 | reading in the Book of Revelation and you’ll note this is what awaits all of |
| 8:50 | us if Christ tarries this is where you and |
| 8:55 | I are headed this is where Isla Linda is today this is where Arlen stangram is at |
| 9:01 | this moment Peggy Sandberg and other notable members of this congregation you’ll note I’ve done more funerals than |
| 9:07 | I’ve done marriages we need to fix this okay if if the my marriage rate isn’t on par |
| 9:15 | with my funeral rate then the congregation’s kind of on Shaky Ground so you young kids well I don’t know what you’re waiting for but you need to work |
| 9:21 | on this okay foreign that’s the second time I’ve done that |
| 9:28 | recently all right why because this is reality Sarah this |
| 9:34 | is reality I’m a realist all right |
| 9:39 | but let’s take a look at our first reading from Revelation chapter seven and note what it says after this the |
| 9:47 | Apostle John says I looked and behold it was a great multitude that no one could number from every nation from all tribes |
| 9:52 | and people’s languages standing Before the Throne before the lamb they were clothed in white robes and palm branches |
| 9:59 | in their hands crying out with a loud voice salvation Belongs To Our God who |
| 10:05 | sits on the throne and to the lamb what a great beginning here in our epistle |
| 10:11 | text all right at least our second reading boy is this just really good and |
| 10:16 | the reason why is because we can see the theme Here salvation Belongs To Our God and indeed it does and Christ freely |
| 10:24 | gives salvation to everyone who believes you do not have to earn the Salvation it |
| 10:30 | is given to you and you’ll note that over and again in scripture our sin is described in terms of defilement our sin |
| 10:37 | is described in terms of environment that mucks up and just causes our our |
| 10:44 | clothes to be stained with filth and muck right guys remember The Princess Bride the queen of Filth the queen of |
| 10:50 | garbage right that’s a great line right and the thing is is that each and every |
| 10:56 | one of us because of our sin we have defiled ourselves we have stained our |
| 11:02 | clothes we have mucked them up with sinful smelly icky yuck there’s a |
| 11:09 | picture in the book of Zechariah in Zechariah Chapter 3. the high priest at the time that Zechariah wrote was a |
| 11:15 | fellow by the name of Joshua and Joshua well we don’t know what he did but in |
| 11:21 | Joshua chapter 3 we are privy to a conversation a happening that took place |
| 11:27 | in the heavens and Satan and Joshua and Jesus himself there as the angel of the |
| 11:33 | Lord were all present and here’s how this is described then he the angel showed me Joshua the high priest he was |
| 11:40 | standing before the angel of Yahweh that’s Jesus and Satan standing at his |
| 11:46 | right hand accusing him and isn’t that how the devil operates I don’t know what it is |
| 11:52 | that you see in this guy Jesus he’s a complete sinner complete loser did you not hear what he just said did you not |
| 11:59 | see what he just did he’s guilty guilty guilty guilty right |
| 12:04 | hey and is Satan wrong when he accuses us not even close he’s absolutely right |
| 12:11 | he knows the law very well he’s the worst attorney in all attorney and all of eternity and this is the other reason |
| 12:17 | why attorneys are evil but that being said the Lord said to Satan Yahweh rebuke you |
| 12:25 | o Satan is this God sitting there going yeah I know he’s guilty big whoop right |
| 12:30 | the Lord then the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem May he rebuke you and then he |
| 12:36 | says of Joshua is this not a brand plucked from the fire |
| 12:42 | that’s each and every one of us because because of our sin and our rebellion and participation in the Dominion of |
| 12:48 | Darkness we are all heading to hell but God has had mercy on us and he describes |
| 12:55 | Those whom he saves as Brands plucked from the fire now Joshua it says was |
| 13:01 | standing before the angel clothed with filthy garments I’ve done this myself |
| 13:06 | and the angel said to those who were standing before him remove the filthy |
| 13:11 | garments from him and to him he said behold I have taken your iniquity away from you and I will clothe you with pure |
| 13:18 | vestments and I said let them put a clean turban on his head they put a clean permit on his head and clothed him |
| 13:25 | with garments and the angel of the Lord was there standing by it’s a beautiful picture of our salvation and in our |
| 13:31 | first reading today here we see this multitude of people from every tribe |
| 13:36 | nation and language that you cannot count that you cannot number all clothes |
| 13:42 | clothed in white robes how many brands have has Christ himself plucked from the |
| 13:49 | fires of hell you can’t even number them it’s that big of a number of people |
| 13:54 | and you can see then all the Angels then were standing around the throne having heard this exaltation that salvation |
| 14:01 | Belongs To Our God and the angels then were standing around the throne the elders and the four living creatures on |
| 14:07 | hearing this they fell on their faces before the throne and they worshiped God |
| 14:13 | and they worshiped god with their lips and in their Proclamation affirming what that salvation belongs to our god they |
| 14:20 | said amen blessing Glory wisdom Thanksgiving honor power and might be to |
| 14:27 | our god forever and ever ah men |
| 14:32 | um now that’s worship then one of the elders addressed me the |
| 14:39 | Apostle John saying who are these who are clothed in white robes where have they come I love this answer because |
| 14:46 | John doesn’t know and this is kind of a standard operating procedure when you read the prophet Zechariah or some of |
| 14:51 | the other Minor Prophets God will show them a vision what do you see here Zechariah I have no idea Lord what is it |
| 14:57 | you know that’s kind of the answer so he sees this great multitude he’s asked who are they he says sir uh you know right |
| 15:06 | you know so he said to me these are the ones coming out of the Great Tribulation that’s you and I |
| 15:12 | they’ve washed their robes made them white in the blood of the Lamb ah yes a |
| 15:18 | baptismal reference if you would I always like to think that when we baptize right the Unseen element is the |
| 15:24 | blood of Christ it’s the active ingredient the detergent if you would you bring a sinful person to the Waters |
| 15:30 | of baptism and it’s the blood of Christ that cleanses them that makes them holy |
| 15:35 | that makes them pure and spotless and Jesus doesn’t leave you naked in your |
| 15:40 | sin he clothed you with his own righteousness beautiful picture |
| 15:45 | therefore these are the ones Before the Throne of God they serve him day and night in his Temple and he who sits on |
| 15:52 | the throne will shelter them with his presence they shall hunger no more neither shall they thirst anymore the |
| 15:58 | sun shall not strike them nor any scorching heat I always think this is good news because my wife would affirm |
| 16:03 | this I don’t like putting on sunscreen it is always like a chore for me and I don’t like other people applying it to |
| 16:10 | me either it’s it’s embarrassing right so when we used to live in Southern California we would go to the beach |
| 16:15 | often I would self-apply sunscreen with varying results is the best way I could |
| 16:23 | put it because there’s like a section in my back that I can’t could never really quite get to and there were times when |
| 16:28 | that section burned but it was always some piece of abstract art you know written in Lobster red you know and my |
| 16:36 | wife would say why didn’t you just let me put sunscreen on you because |
| 16:41 | just because it’s one of my things okay it’s that’s how this works so in the new Earth no the sun shall not strike them |
| 16:49 | anymore amen no sunscreen the lamb in the midst of the throne will be there of |
| 16:54 | Shepherd and he will guide them to Springs of Living Water and God himself will wipe away every tear from their |
| 17:01 | eyes ah this is where those who’ve gone before |
| 17:07 | us who’ve died in the faith this is where they are now and the joys that they experience are |
| 17:13 | unspeakable and these Joys are yours they are yours because Christ has given |
| 17:19 | them to you as a gift you do not need to earn this don’t even try his salvation |
| 17:24 | Belongs To Our God and he is the one who has given it to you now we cannot talk about All Saints without also |
| 17:31 | recognizing that all means all it doesn’t mean some I know the Calvinists they do this weird thing right you know |
| 17:37 | you it says that and how does it go all have sin and fall short of the glory of |
| 17:42 | God and all are saved this is how they talk but then you take them to a text like for God so loved the world that |
| 17:48 | whosoever believes in him shall have eternal life he says whosoever that’s like everybody no no no no no that’s to |
| 17:54 | some people it’s not whosoever it’s just some well it says all who believe they’re saved no no no no only some |
| 18:02 | okay now it’s true that people end up in hell but the thing is is that when scripture talks about Christ bleeding |
| 18:09 | and dying for the sins of the entire world that means he died for everybody and God is the one who gives us this |
| 18:16 | gift so if you are here today because you want to hear the word of God because you’ve humbled yourself and by being |
| 18:23 | here you recognize you need God note this then that Christ is here for you to |
| 18:28 | forgive you of all of your sins and we who have been United with Christ and his death and his resurrection we are |
| 18:34 | presently Saints now hence our second reading see what kind of love the father that he’s given to us that we should be |
| 18:42 | called the children of God and I cannot read these words without thinking that John wrote them under the |
| 18:49 | inspiration of the Holy Spirit as if there’s some kind of really neat gospel |
| 18:54 | irony in it you know see what kind of love the father that he’s given to us that we we |
| 19:00 | look at look around that we should be called the children of God I look at the folks here at Kong’s finger today and |
| 19:06 | well it’s a Motley Crew it’s a Motley Crew I you know I I’ve hung out with you |
| 19:12 | guys I know I can assure you I can swear on the Bible you’re all Sinners you know |
| 19:18 | can you believe this that God has so loved us |
| 19:23 | us that we should be called the children of God but that’s kind of the point and |
| 19:28 | so John says and so we are you see the reason why the world doesn’t know us and |
| 19:35 | they really don’t is that they don’t know God see beloved we are God’s children now you do not have to Aspire |
| 19:44 | to become a child of God if you trust in Christ you are his child now and what we |
| 19:50 | will be which hasn’t really shown up yet you get a foretaste of it in the resurrection of Christ but what we will |
| 19:56 | be um has not yet appeared but we know that when Jesus appears we’ll be just like |
| 20:02 | him we will see him as he is for everyone who thus hopes in him purifies |
| 20:08 | himself as he is pure so a good way to think of it then is is |
| 20:13 | that all saints Saints before us who’ve gone into heaven Saints who are here present now we all commune together we |
| 20:22 | believe in the communion of the Saints I remember back when I was being confirmed as a Lutheran you know I was raised in |
| 20:29 | Nazarene and that the church that we were confirmed in was one of these Urban Cathedrals with a high A-frame ceiling |
| 20:35 | right and gloriously huge sanctuary and our pastor took us out into the |
| 20:41 | sanctuary when we were talking about the communion of the Saints and he says I think of the communion of the Saints |
| 20:46 | this way and he pointed up to like some huge rafter way way up you know in the A-frame he says that when we gather for |
| 20:53 | the Divine service that’s where the angels are sitting right those who’ve gone before us this is where they are |
| 21:00 | because we all worship together with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of Heaven We law to magnify your |
| 21:06 | glorious name our liturgy says so that being the case you’ll note we |
| 21:12 | all are united in one body and everyone who is in Christ has not perished they |
| 21:18 | are alive as alive gets even though physically they’re not with us |
| 21:24 | and Our Fate is the same as their fate the Glorious victory of when we will all |
| 21:30 | be raised from the dead and so you Saints today hearing these texts note |
| 21:38 | that you who are in Christ you are blessed you have a great Eternal hope |
| 21:44 | and the reason for this is simple is because Jesus himself has humbled |
| 21:49 | himself perfectly for you and he himself bore your sin your iniquity your filth |
| 21:56 | and he bled and died in your place in order to give to you eternal life and he |
| 22:04 | makes you his Saints you do not have to strive for this he has reconciled you to God he has paid your debt in full and |
| 22:11 | redeemed you and set you free and it is his good pleasure to give you the |
| 22:16 | kingdom of God all as a gift because of what he has done he is the great Victor |
| 22:22 | who’s conquered for us and so is it any Wonder then that Jesus’s inaugural sermon which is Our |
| 22:29 | Gospel text his inaugural sermon The Sermon on the Mount does not does not begin with condemnations it doesn’t |
| 22:37 | begin with I cannot believe that I had to come all the way down here from heaven in order to teach you guys a |
| 22:43 | lesson so that you can finally get your act together and so that you can finally do what you need to do in order so that |
| 22:48 | you can finally become children of God all right let me show you how it’s done this is not what Jesus did and |
| 22:55 | thankfully that’s the case because you know that sounds more like my mother scolding me because I haven’t cleaned my |
| 23:00 | room yet again which I was never really good at in the first place okay this is why I got a wife okay |
| 23:08 | joke it’s a joke long live the patriarchy all right |
| 23:17 | I knew that one but all of that being said what Jesus |
| 23:24 | does say to all who believe in him he says these words blessed are the poor in |
| 23:29 | spirit theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven blessed are those who mourn for they |
| 23:34 | shall be comforted blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth blessed are those who hunger and thirst for |
| 23:40 | righteousness for they shall be satisfied back in the day when when I was attending a very legalistic Church |
| 23:47 | these these words of Christ blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are those who |
| 23:53 | mourn they were always preached as if they were to do a to-do list do these |
| 23:58 | things then you will be blessed if you follow the program if you do the thing |
| 24:05 | if you don’t dance drink smoke or chew if you give 10 of the gross income that you earn yeah every single this is by |
| 24:12 | the way you’re not required to do that you you give then you will be blessed right but that’s not what Christ is |
| 24:18 | saying he is saying that you are blessed now and he says what the blessing will |
| 24:25 | be for you in the future let me explain blessed are the poor in spirit have you |
| 24:31 | ever sat down and tried to cogitate What on earth does that even mean what is somebody who is poor in spirit and how |
| 24:39 | is it that they are so blessed ah well this is the person who recognizes that |
| 24:45 | they don’t have anything to offer God for their salvation they’ve given up |
| 24:51 | they basically said listen if I have to be this good in order to get to heaven |
| 24:56 | I’m so far down in the basement I can’t even reach up to here I got nothing |
| 25:02 | that’s the person who speaks honestly about themselves the person who speaks dishonestly about themselves they see |
| 25:09 | the standard which by the way is perfect Christ says be perfect as I am perfect as your heavenly father is perfect and |
| 25:16 | that person says all right cool hold my beer I think I can do this it ain’t gonna work |
| 25:22 | instead the person who sees the standard looks at their own lives and says I’m in deep trouble here I’ve got nothing |
| 25:31 | that’s the one who recognizes that he is spiritually bankrupt poor beyond all |
| 25:38 | reason that’s the person who is blessed because he comes to Christ empty-handed |
| 25:43 | and he says I have really really messed this whole thing up |
| 25:48 | the life that you have given me is one that I have squandered on myself |
| 25:54 | in my own sinful indulgences in my own sinful passions in my own selfishness I |
| 26:00 | haven’t loved God nor have I given him thought I haven’t even come close to loving my neighbor as myself and as a |
| 26:07 | result of it Lord I’ve got nothing please have mercy on me |
| 26:13 | that’s the one who’s spiritually poor and you’ll note Christ declares that one to be blessed |
| 26:21 | blessed are those who mourn now we all mourn we recently mourned the passing of Isla |
| 26:27 | Lind and the morning that Christ is talking about here is not that kind of mourning although it’s it’s closely akin |
| 26:36 | to it it’s the morning very similar to what I just described for those who are poor in spirit it is a person who |
| 26:42 | laments their own sinfulness they lament the fact that they have been a complete screw-up despite the fact putting on |
| 26:49 | pretenses that they’ve got their act together right this is the person who says Lord |
| 26:54 | please I have really really fallen so short I lament my sin and I’m sorry this |
| 27:02 | is the one the the tax collector in the temple who couldn’t even look up to heaven who beat his breasts and said |
| 27:08 | Lord have mercy on me I’m a sinner this is the one who that’s the morning here that Christ is referring to that shall |
| 27:14 | be comforted and you’ll note this is a list of all the things that the Saints |
| 27:20 | are and do everybody who’s a True Believer in Christ we know all of this very well |
| 27:27 | blessed are the meek ah Christ was perfectly meek for us by humbling himself and being found in the form of |
| 27:33 | of a man of a child of men right Christ himself became a servant and a slave for |
| 27:39 | us all and he’s the one who calls us to meekly humbly confess our sins and when |
| 27:46 | we do we hear these blessed Words of Christ that we will inherit the king the Earth itself blessed are those who |
| 27:53 | hunger and thirst for righteousness they shall be satisfied blessed are the merciful those who have been forgiven |
| 28:00 | and because they are forgiven they forgive they shall receive mercy and blessed are the pure in heart for they |
| 28:06 | shall see God I remember coming out of legalism reading this |
| 28:11 | again and saying well blessed are the pure in heart that can’t possibly be applying to me that’s the one that stood |
| 28:18 | out because I know what comes out of my heart have you in fact you don’t really want to go in there it’s dark and |
| 28:24 | there’s spiders it’s really gross and it smells bad too but all of that being said you’re going to note this the |
| 28:31 | scriptures describe those who are dead in trespasses and sins of as those who |
| 28:37 | have well they have a Heart of Stone but everyone who is truly in Christ Christ has removed their Heart of Stone the |
| 28:44 | scripture says and has given them a heart of Flesh and all of this out of his great mercy |
| 28:51 | and you’ll note then that who you are in Christ the new person that Christ has |
| 28:56 | made you you are truly pure in heart hungering and thirsting for righteousness too do I hunger and thirst |
| 29:03 | for it enough I would note I think that hunger may be filled today when we have the Lord’s supper right |
| 29:09 | because there again we are assured of the Forgiveness of our sins and the righteousness of Christ that has given |
| 29:15 | us by grace through faith and then blessed are the peacemakers these are the ones who having been |
| 29:22 | forgiven by Christ go and tell their friends and neighbors Jesus has bled and died for you as well come be reconciled |
| 29:30 | to God be forgiven for Christ’s sake you see this is the ministry of reconciliation that Paul writes about in |
| 29:36 | second Corinthians 5 those peacemakers and we’re all those by by the way we are |
| 29:42 | called now the sons of God and when you talk about Jesus when you |
| 29:48 | tell the truth you can’t earn your salvation it’s all a gift it’s by grace through faith and that salvation isn’t |
| 29:54 | found in no one else other than in Jesus Christ the world will accuse you of all |
| 29:59 | kinds of evil they will call you arrogant they will slander you they will say all kinds of wickedness against you don’t believe me just start teaching |
| 30:07 | some of the exclusive claims of Jesus on certain social media platforms and see what happens right it’s always |
| 30:14 | interesting when I when I have a friend of mine who’s in the ministry who has contacted me and says well I’m in |
| 30:21 | Facebook jail again what’d you do this time I posted a link to my sermon oh |
| 30:29 | all right talk to Matt Richard out in Minot okay he’s been in Facebook jail a few times but thankfully Facebook that |
| 30:36 | you know when you get put in Facebook jail it’s not for life you know it used to be on Twitter if you didn’t go in |
| 30:41 | Twitter jails for life to ban you for life you know but Facebook jail they meet it out you know sent one sentence |
| 30:47 | at a time one sentence at a time so he was he was only in Facebook jail for 30 days but that was his fourth or fifth |
| 30:54 | time and all he did was post a link to his sermon keep that in mind it’s kind of a |
| 31:00 | fascinating thing so what does Jesus say about those blessed are you those who |
| 31:06 | are persecuted for righteousness sake theirs is the kingdom of heaven and blessed are you when others revile you |
| 31:12 | and persecution persecution utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account Rejoice be glad for your reward |
| 31:19 | is great in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you so brothers and sisters |
| 31:25 | All Saints all means all you are in Christ you are forgiven your future is |
| 31:33 | wonderful the Outlook is perfect the Outlook is face to face with God |
| 31:39 | rejoicing and worshiping God in his presence with those who have gone before us and the new Earth the raising of our |
| 31:46 | bodies all of this given us as a gift because of the great love and mercy of |
| 31:52 | Christ all means all so what do we do today well I remind you that those of us |
| 31:58 | who are still breathing we’re still at War we’re still in the fight |
| 32:04 | and at the moment we must continue to wage the good fight of faith |
| 32:10 | to preach the word tell people of the good forgiveness of Christ that there is in Jesus and to be persecuted if |
| 32:18 | necessary and die if needed and that will eventually all give way you will |
| 32:24 | either die and join the Saints who’ve gone before us or Christ will return someday but the white the Warfare |
| 32:31 | continues and let us pray then that Christ gives us the strength to carry on |
| 32:37 | to keep this Faith this wonderful gift that he has given us so that when we do |
| 32:42 | expire and pass away that we can be buried with the full military honors that go for those who die in faith in |
| 32:49 | Christ in the name of Jesus Amen |
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