What Only God Can Give

Praise the Lord, everybody. I could start singing — we'd have a different kind of altar call; there'd be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. I get requests all the time: "Would you please stop? Please don't." Amen. I want to go quickly to the word of the Lord: Matthew chapter 5. It's a delight to be here in the Western District. Everybody's been so kind, so gracious. Let me say a few things on that: you should give honor to whom honor is due. I have so many friends in this district. I have had the privilege of preaching in multiple pulpits, and there are dear people in this room that are building great churches, and we love this district. And I want to say to every one of you, thank you so much for tolerating a Hoosier. I have some family here in the room — I don't know why in the world; they came all the way from Indiana and Louisiana. I'm pretty sure it's to hear the other Indiana preacher, but I love my family very much. I love my sweet wife; thank you for letting me bring her. I am always better when she's with me. And if you have not had her desserts, you are missing something.

I just have to tell you that Matthew chapter 5 — I'll read a couple of verses and let you be seated. "And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: and he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

I feel really set up today. Yesterday I was set up by Bishop, and now with a great alumnus, Brother Prit — we love you very much, sir, you and your sweet wife — I just feel set up again. I was telling the pastor next to me, thank you for the prayers; I feel like the Lord is setting me up for a moment. So would you do me a favor? I'm going to let you be seated in just a moment, but would you pray with me that the Lord would help you to hear what He wants to give you? Would you do that?

Lord, we thank You for the opportunity to gather with Your people. We are delighted and so thankful that we never come to a moment like this alone — that You, by Your Spirit, Lord, can quicken things to us through the preached and the taught word, to help us understand how to live this great life in the Spirit. We ask You for these things, Lord. We'll be careful to give You the honor, the glory, and the praise, to Your great name. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. God bless you; you may be seated.

I'm always challenged a little bit when I feel like the Lord wants me to reuse something, so you'll forgive me today. But I do feel like the Lord directed me particularly to this particular passage, and I want to try to do my job. And if I had to title this today, I would title it "What Only God Can Give."

I think there is a potential of reading this great Sermon on the Mount — Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7. You think some of us preachers are long-winded: Jesus went very thickly and unapologetically into three chapters. I hope to cover a handful, because I'm not Jesus.

One of the things I would point out is, when people begin to study and read about this great Sermon on the Mount, they ask questions when they read this text: Is this life that Jesus our Lord is disclosing really possible? And if you read commentaries, and you study just a little bit, and you listen to podcasts and maybe even preaching from — you'll forgive me — other denominational churches, what I mostly hear is people making excuses for Jesus's unfulfilled promises in their life. And I just want to be one more preacher to come alongside you and remind you that the attacks against the potential of our life in the Spirit do not diminish the opportunity that God makes available.

I want to give you two little apologetic pieces. Thank you for the permission last night, Pastor. I think there are some people that would say this is a human book, and what the apostles are doing is putting Jesus's greatest hits together through their selection of text, and they're building rhetorical strategies to combine these greatest hits of Christ. And I just want to remind you that that liberal idea is not true. This is not a human construction. Jesus said every word, and He meant every word, and the potential of every word is a true example of what you can have in terms of God's victory for your life.

I'm going to try to teach. Now, what does that mean? We do know that even when people say things like that — Matthew the tax collector: tax collectors had a type of shorthand, and that's arguably why Matthew's gospel is longer than the others. It was the first gospel; it assumes things like you know who the Sadducees and the Pharisees are. And then when you look at Luke, he adds all of the qualifications of those things, because that revival had moved beyond the Jewish context to the Gentiles, and they needed the background of all of those things.

But I just want to point out that the Sermon on the Mount is different than the Sermon on the Plain. Luke chapter 6 and Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 are different. One is thirty verses, the other a hundred and seven verses. The Sermon on the Plain is about external actions, and the Sermon on the Mount — thank you, Brother Prit — is more about internal actions. And by the way, one happened on a plain and one happened on a mountain; kind of different.

Now, what are you saying, Brother Killmon? There are the people that try to say those things. I hit it yesterday; I'll just allude to it today. John 14:26: Jesus promised His disciples, when you begin to write the New Testament Scripture, you're going to have an unction; you're going to have a supernatural recall of everything that I've ever said to you. 2 Peter chapter 1:21 says that holy men of God wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. So all due respect to our liberal friends, this is not man's ideas. Thank God we're not limited to the best that man can imagine. God loves you enough to inspire somebody to give you the pathway to victory. So all due respect to the liberal argument, we're going to cast that aside.

But there's also a theological issue within Christianity, in the broader sense, as people would define it. Some would say that this life that Jesus gives in the Sermon on the Mount is not for the church. As a matter of fact, they would say it's impossible, because they believe in things like total depravity. They believe that man can only respond negatively to God. They're our Reformed friends, our Calvinist friends, our Lutheran friends, some of our Southern Baptist friends. And I just want to remind you that we are Pentecostal. And what we believe is — I understand that you think it's impossible, but you cannot serve God in your flesh. That's the problem: you're still trying to live the discipline of truth without being born of the water and the Spirit. And Jesus was not kidding when He said, "You must be born again."

Well, Brother Killmon, if that's true, we can't do it perfectly. Well, when they look at Matthew 5, 6, and 7, the problem is Matthew 5:48: "Be ye therefore perfect." In the sermon that they say, Brother Royer, you can't follow that sermon perfectly — the problem is, Jesus commands us to be perfect in the same sermon. I'm going to tell you, there are some things only God can give. You're not going to get this in your flesh. You've got to be made alive in the Spirit to get the victory in your life that God wants.

Mark 10:27. The rich young ruler comes to Jesus, and he's at the top of the pecking order in the Jewish understanding. Now, there's the issue: it's human understanding; it's even the followers of Jesus that sometimes have a hierarchy of understanding that removes them from what God really wants to do in their life. And so they look at this rich young ruler — he's got the pedigree, and he's got all the money — and "Good Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" And, Brother Lopez, He says, "You know the commandments" — follow them. He said, "All these have I done since my youth." Now, there's some complexities here I don't want to get into today — how do you have all that property if you're practicing jubilee? We'll just lay that aside. Turn to your neighbor and say, "That's complicated." God's not against you having stuff, but He's against stuff having you. And He is against exploitation.

Listen, we've got to be born again. We've got to have new life. We can't be marked by the same type of sins and corruptions in the culture, Brother Print, if we're going to show the glory of God. We know "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." But there is a way to manifest the glory of God in the world: "In him was life; and the life was the light of men" — that light shining in the face of Jesus Christ.

He walks away, because Jesus looks at him and loves him and says, "Go, sell what you have; give to the poor." And, Brother Flowers, the problem is, he doesn't want to do that. That is discipleship language. There could have been a New Testament book named after him; he could have written a gospel about the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. But something was more important to him than following Jesus. He walked away sorrowful, because he had much wealth. And then the disciples look around and say, "Listen — if bro can't be saved — they said, everybody respects him; how in the world can we be saved, if he can't enter in?" And Jesus says in Mark 10:27: "With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible."

I just want to remind you one more time this morning that there's something that only God can give. There is a victory called life in the Spirit that's not dominated by the limitations of our carnality and flesh. There is a victory in God, in the Spirit, that can set you free.

You'll forgive the personal illustration. My wife and I were sitting in a little restaurant on 31, close to the college — a place called Flat Jack's. Hallelujah. Yes — before I knew I was allergic to gluten; I think the Lord was watching out for my well-rounded ministry. We're sitting there with a young lady; she's in her early twenties. And she said, "There's a young guy that went to Calvary Christian School; I've been associated with him through work, and Spencer told me that I need to reach out to you." She said, "I have all sorts of things going good in my life. I'm the assistant manager at the place where I'm working, and as soon as they open a new branch, I am set up to be the next manager. I make a lot of money. I have a lot of projection into my future. But there's something on the inside of me that I can't deal with. I cannot date a young man; I can't enter into a relationship, because from the time that I was five until I was seventeen, certain things happened to me in my home. And Mom denied it." And I know we've got kids in the room; I'm going to be very careful with my language. But she began to talk about the pain and the hurt. And listen, there are really broken people in the world, but you've got to remember that you're the answer. And I just began to tell her what you need is — I understand all of these complexities — but if you'll come, and you'll repent, and you'll give your life to God, and you'll get baptized in Jesus' name, what God can do when He fills you with His Spirit is, He can bring healing. He can establish peace in your heart that you can't get another way.

And one of the most shocking statements I've ever heard in a Bible study — she said to me, "Brother Killmon, you're the first preacher that's ever told me this. You're the first preacher that's ever talked to me like this." I'm just going to tell you where all the complexities come to: it comes to an altar, where you can receive what only God can give.

Now I need to hurry — that's me, not you. I'm like ADD; it's like herding cats in my brain. Pastor, pray for me. Thank you.

The theme of the Sermon on the Mount is the kingdom, and true citizens of the kingdom. And what Jesus is trying to say is, most people in His day reduced obedience to external conformity only. And here was Jesus's problem with the legalists of His day: He said, "You have not gone far enough." What do you mean, Brother Killmon — the Pharisees didn't go far enough? They only addressed the externals. That's why Jesus says, "Your righteousness must exceed" — not be less — "your righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, or you can't enter the kingdom." Why? Because you can conform your conduct and not your heart; but you cannot conform your heart and not your conduct. Brother Print, the glory of God will enter into the world when we conform our heart, and not just our conduct.

The content of these commands of the kingdom are requirements of the citizens of the kingdom. I will remind you, first of all, we cannot earn salvation. I'm going to quote that great bishop, wherever you are, Brother Mullins — I've quoted you for years and you don't even know it, sir, if you happen to be in the room: "You cannot obey your way to heaven, but you can disobey your way to hell." What does that mean? Justification is not earned, but you can disobey and reject sanctification. There is a life in the Spirit. "If you continue in my word," Jesus said, "then are ye my disciples indeed." I'm telling you, somebody's got to be hungry enough to say, "I want to follow. No matter what it costs me, Jesus, I want to be conformed in my heart, so that the victory can spill into my world."

Brother Killmon, nobody's perfect. Reject that language. Jesus calls all sorts of people perfect. What does perfection mean? My bishop helped me — Brother Mooney, help me — he said, "Perfection means, Brother Lopez, having nothing left to repent of." My dean of theology at the time, Brother Talmadge French, said, "It's in the striving and the struggling that we're accounted perfect." Now, what does that mean? It means past sin and present sin, when we come to Jesus, is forgiven when we truly repent. So when the preacher was preaching this morning, I hope you said, "God, if there's any duplicitous thinking, or action, or alloyed motives, God, I want You to expose my heart." Why? Because I want to live the life of faith. I want to be in the kingdom. I want to see Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth, even as it is in heaven. You've got to live a life of faith. But you can reject citizenship. We do not believe in once-saved-always-saved. There's warning: Jesus says people are even cast out of the kingdom. First of all, not all enter, but some are cast out. And He has to be both Lord and Christ. Acts 2:36 — the apostle Peter says, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." Can I just be an old preacher in the room today and remind you: He's got to be both Lord and Christ. You can't have Him as Christ and Savior without Him being your Lord. I'm going to tell you, there's a Lord in the kingdom, and He's got a victory for you. He's got deep things for you. He's got things He can put in you, past the limitation of the way that you've been raised. He can get you out of the carnality of your own heart and onto a path of supernatural change. But it's what only God can give. He's Lord and Christ, or He's neither. Old-timers were strong; I love it. I can hear old preachers in my mind, reminding me to stay on the pathway of victory.

Philippians 2:12 and 13 — the apostle Paul, writing by the Spirit of God, says: "Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed" — turn to your neighbor and say, "Always obey" — "not as in my presence only" — you don't need the preacher there — "but now much more in my absence" — and then look at what the apostle Paul says — "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." You've got to work it out. But the beautiful thing is, the apostle Paul didn't stop there. He says in verse 13, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." I just want to remind you that if you're willing, God is willing. If your will is towards God, there is a Savior who can get you into the victory in every part of your life.

Don't tell me what I must do; tell me what I get to do. Don't tell me what I have to do to be disciplined; remind me of the protection of holiness, and the victory that comes through my life in relationships when I surrender to the will of the Lord.

This is all introduction, I apologize. See, here's my fear, Brother Flowers: we can undermine the opportunity. People theologically — people that reject God — limit the opportunity of what God wants to do in us. And God works in us to the degree that we walk in faith and obey. And in my view, redefinitions of the Sermon on the Mount seem, when I read these people, like evasions to try to get around the plain language of Scripture. And I'll quote my pastor again: I believe that's the doctrine of devils.

What are you talking about, Brother Killmon? Jesus lays out how the law is fulfilled, or filled full. Number two, He talks about traditions being exposed for the shallow, vain glory that they are — Brother Prit, wherever you are, thank you, sir. Number three, that the mission statement and requirements of the kingdom are from our Lord. And number four, they offer the opportunity to live life under the new reign.

So let's turn to the text. Matthew chapter 5, verse 1 and 2: "Seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: and he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying..." We know there are three periods in Jesus's life — you can arguably almost divide them by years: His years of obscurity, His years of popularity, and His years of opposition. Pastor, if you're in that third stage, just understand that it happened to Jesus. If you're a young person in this room and you feel like, man, every time I turn, I've got all these voices that are against me that should be for me — can I just remind you, Jesus faced it, too. But He's in this time when His fame is spreading.

And the context is interesting, because in Matthew chapter 4, the last verse, verse 25: "And there followed him great multitudes of people." They're following Him. By the time you get to the close of His sermon, in Matthew 7:28 and 29, it says that when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine. Now, Brother Killmon, why bring up the context? Because there are people that try to make this a private session, about separate requirements for leadership. No, no, no, no, no. This is for every disciple who wants to come to the Lord Jesus. Holiness of conduct and holiness of heart is for all disciples. What does that mean, Brother Killmon? You don't have to be limited. You don't let anybody limit you with a lie, saying that's only for the people up there, that have a different type of flesh. I'm going to tell you, Bobby Killmon can get his life in trouble very quickly. But if I crucify the flesh and I walk in the Spirit, I don't have to fulfill the limits of my own carnality. And neither do you. Don't let the devil stop you short of any victory the Lord wants to put in your life.

"When he was set" — like in the synagogue, like the prophets of old. Appreciated, Bishop down here; I thought, man, if I did that, I'd preach long. "And he opened his mouth." It's not merely logos, the Greek word for "he said." Barclay says this: William Barclay says the phrase has a double significance. It's used of solemn, grave, dignified utterance, like someone making an official pronouncement or proclamation. He says it is used — so it's official — but it's also used when people really open up their hearts, pour out their minds. He says it is used of the most intimate teaching, where there are no barriers. What Jesus is saying is, "Come close to Me, and let Me share My heart."

You'll forgive me, Pastor — I love you; you've been so gracious to my family. But I remember there were times with my former pastor, Bishop Mooney, where he would pull me aside, and he would begin to pour things into me and give me understanding. And every time I was alone with — much like you, Pastor, you don't know the times you've cut me; it's been good heart surgery, you've helped me. And how many of you are glad you have a pastor in your life? But there are moments when teaching can occur, that are very, very deep, personal moments, where somebody who loves you shares something heart-to-heart. That is what Jesus is doing.

He says in verse 3, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." It's emphatic in the Greek. I wish we had time to drop into the language quite a bit; I'll try to be careful today. "For theirs" — Brother Lopez — "and theirs alone." And I — forgive me today — but the Greek word there, makarios, is a reflection of the Hebrew word ashre, and it means blessed. It is the theological language of the Old Testament covenant; it is the language of the New Testament covenant. There are blessings and cursings. There is a God who has made existence, and made you, and revealed His word, so that you can find blessing. There is cursing named in this book, because the God who loves you wants to keep you out of bad places. There is a God who loves you and doesn't want your life marked by the same type of stains, and shame, and brokenness that's in the world. There is a victory available in the house of God.

That word "blessed" — it's not merely "happy." You'll forgive me for this; this is a bad-Bobby jab: if you have a translation that says "happy," get a better one, because it's a blessing. What do you mean, Brother Killmon? God is promising something. This is covenantal language. This is an assurance from God. It's not just happy. That "happy" comes from an Anglo-Saxon word which means hap, or chance; it means happenstance, or a chance thing. The word means insecure, temporary, circumstantial. Even Boyce is right on this; he says, covenant obedience brings covenant blessing. Can I just tell you that if you will submit to the directions of your Lord in the kingdom, there is a blessing that can come that only God can give? There is a promise of life that no circumstance can touch.

I'll prove it to you. This blessing has a two-sided focus. First of all, you are blessed by a change in you. That's the blessing of being a new creature. How many of you know what old-timers used to say? And you know what it means when you get the baptism of the Holy Ghost: the things I used to love, I now hate; the things I used to hate, I now love. And now I have this new life. And it's like my mama, when she first got saved: she got down on her knees — I know God delivers. And He delivered my dad of alcoholism that night in 1968, when he was dying of cancer. God healed him in the water and delivered him from sin. But that little East Tennessee girl had a little problem with smoking. And finally she got down and she said, "God, You're gonna have to help me love You more than I love this." And you know what God will do? There is a blessing attached to the person that wants to commit their life to their Lord. He's saying, if you will, I will. If you want it, I want it. Your will will match My will, and the manifestation will happen in your life.

So there is the blessing of change in you, but there's a dual-sided blessing: there is a blessing that you will receive from the change in you. That's when, all of a sudden, you begin to change your attitude, and then, somehow, you think miraculously people start treating you better. Who actually is blessed?

See, here's what the Bible's saying. Jesus is saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." That means that word for poor is beggarly; it's destitute. It would be used of the beggars that would be at the gate of a city, or the entrance of the temple. Now, we've got people in Indianapolis that panhandle a little bit. And I like the honest guy. I don't give money out on the street, by the [way]; I don't figure I should help somebody in their addiction. I give to my church, and we give to people in need as they're making life changes; that's my conviction. But if I'm going to give money to anybody, I want to give money to the guy that's honest — [the sign that] says, "Why lie? I need a drink." I just want to throw the money out. God help me.

But that's not what this is about. The picture is these beggars that would be at the gate, or the entrance of the temple. And they were not trying to manipulate anybody. Brother Daniel, they had their hand over their eyes, and they had their hand out, and they would kneel down, and they would say, "If there's just anything that you can do..." "Blessed are the poor in spirit." What does that mean, Brother Killmon? It means Jesus is saying that lack of pride or arrogance — that humility that's already been named; I already told Pastor they set me up today — Jesus is saying, "I have come to help. I have come to bless this type of person, with this type of spirit: the poor in spirit." It's not about wealth, or talent, or physical poverty. It's not rich-but-lowly. The contrast is the scorner. The Bible says in Proverbs 3:34, "Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly." How many of you know you need grace? This is what it looks like: "God, I don't deserve anything. I don't deserve anything. But if there's anything You can do — Lord, I don't care what my last name is. God, I know who I am; I'm just one beggar telling other beggars where to find the bread." There's no big [name] — we're all equal at the foot of the cross. "And God, if there's anything You can do..." Jesus says, "I promise you, I am going to bless. I promise you that My covenant will not allow Me to do less than My word. I will bless that person. That type of spirit is powerful. It liberates you."

Can I help you? Because the change in you frees you from all sorts of nonsense. You don't care if they don't remember your name. You don't care who gets the position. You're just happy to be there. Why? Because I was on my way to hell, but He saved me. I didn't deserve this, and He changed me. I don't deserve a single thing from the Lord, and He's given me victory after victory after victory.

2 Samuel 22:36 — one of those tucked-away verses in the Old Testament, in those historical books we call them (the Jews call them Former Prophets, because they preach to us things). 2 Samuel 22:36 says that David says, "Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation" — God saved him — but then he goes on to say something else about the Lord: "and thy gentleness hath made me great." Not only has God treated David gently, but God has put gentleness inside of David, and made him great. That's why men would flock to him, even when he was hiding in caves. Why? Because his leadership is marked by being poor in spirit, not arrogant. Saul's got a bluster about him; he's got to protect his own back. But those that love, those that serve, those that have humility — people flock to that type of attitude. You will receive from the change in you. When you get humility, what God is going to say is, people will be drawn to your church. Why? Because they don't care who I am, what I look like; they want everybody to come to the house of God; they want everybody to be saved.

Poor in spirit admits I have more to grow in. It keeps the right attitude. It's where we see our nothingness before God. It keeps us right. You know, it's like — I love teenagers at some level, Brother Flowers. They have a great hypocrite detector. Now, it's not right, but it's right; they've got some growing to do. But you know, if you happen to bluster into a place and say, "Do you know who I am?" — maybe to that wonderful lady that we love, we're praying for; she was a teenager; she's going to grow out of it and mature — but she just looked right back at the preacher and said, "Do you know who I am?" Now, it wasn't right. But what you have to say is, instead of demanding rights, you can do like Jesus, who made of Himself no reputation. And what you can do is, you can be set free from manipulation. You can be set free to be you. God can trust you in any circumstance, because you're not worried about your own ego. You're saying, "I don't [need the credit]." He can trust you in the most complex moments to do His will, and manifest His glory in the world. Why? Because the life of Jesus has already been accompanied by the dying of the Lord Jesus. Jesus was meek and lowly.

Revelation 3:17 shows us what poor in spirit is not: "Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Now, what is our Lord showing us? I wish — man, I love those first few chapters of the book of Revelation. It gives us a picture of what God desires — what our Lord desires — in a church, and what He doesn't. It helps me check my heart and my motives. But this is the point of that passage: this attitude of being poor in spirit is not just for entrance. We have to stay poor in spirit. And when we stay poor in spirit, He's going to add; He's going to grow; He's going to establish. And that victory comes with temptations, because God says to Saul — through the prophet Samuel — "When thou wast little in thine own eyes, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed thee king over Israel." But when you forget to be little in your own eyes — when you forget that everything we have is because of the touch of the Lord Jesus — our singing doesn't matter without Him; our preaching doesn't matter without Him. The touch of God in our service is dependent on the Lord. So, those temptations of success: how big do you see yourself? That's the issue, individually or corporately.

And I have to confess this; I have to say this. And I love where I work. Brother Carson, I'm glad you're here. But IBC is small, because without Him we really can do nothing. Baby Doll's [coffee shop?] is weak — but you know, the confession of weakness is a beautiful thing, because His strength is made perfect in your [weakness], when you see yourself the way you actually are. All of a sudden, that confession of weakness can become a confession of strength in the source of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our church is small, Brother Carson, when you stack it up against the great needs of North America. But we have Him. God will bless you with the substance of change, and others will bless you, and you will gain an influence because of change.

I'm going to hit it one more time. It's as simple as this: when they walk into your church, from all the complexities of life, do they feel other people saying, "You're just like one of us, except for Jesus. Let me take you to Him"? I promise you, that will bring revival in your church. Brother PR, wherever you are — that attitude will manifest the glory of God. Thank you, sir. That humility, that sacrifice — that living sacrifice — that is what will bring the promise of the blessing of covenant.

Dear Lord — three verses; can I do one more? Got to find that place to land, Pastor. Matthew 5:4: "Blessed are they that mourn: for they" — remember, it's emphatic: for they, and no one else — "shall be comforted." Mourn. What does that word mean? That Greek word, pentheō, means like in 1 Corinthians chapter 5: it means to mourn for the dead. 1 Corinthians chapter 5 — Paul is saying, "You've got this guy in the church; he's doing such grossly immoral things that even Corinth is embarrassed." And your toleration isn't good, individually or corporately. And "mourn" means to be broken and contrite. It means not the loss of the wrong — don't mourn when people lose bad things — but mourn the loss of the right and the good.

By the time you get to 2 Corinthians — I know I'll leave it to Brother Lopez to clean up; I know that there are different interpretations on this — but I see in 2 Corinthians chapter 2:6-8, Paul saying, the guy that's repented now, let him come back. Don't heap condemnation. You can be restored to the body. But you've got to mourn for what God mourns for. Their toleration was not good. Paul said, "You need to mourn as if he is already dead, because in his sin state — you can tolerate it — but he's going to hell." You've got to say, "No, no, no, no. We're going to look at their life, and we're going to mourn for what God mourns for." Why? Because with loving confrontation, with an unshackled pulpit, with people who actually love, when you mourn for what God mourns for, there is a promise, because true repentance can happen. After the confrontation, repentance can happen, and then healing can begin. And God is always for that.

I'll hurry today. It's like the young man I was teaching a Bible study to. He texted me; he said, "Brother Killmon, can you teach me a Bible study?" And we're still working on it. I said, "Yeah — if you can be patient with my schedule, it's a little complex; I want to do it." And then he texted me: "I want to know Jesus. I am so lost, and I don't want to sin anymore. I want to walk the right path." I don't worry too much about that heart. Why? Because it's not even in my ability to teach the Bible study. He has a promise from the Lord Jesus that if he will mourn for the right things, there are some things [God will do].

God, do You hear me today? If you're wrestling with condemnation from the enemy, that's not from God. Conviction is about saying, "God, is there any way You can get this out of me?" I'm telling you, there is a Savior that will follow with covenant blessing. He obligates Himself to that type of heart, and "you shall be comforted."

But I've got to say some strong things in closing. What mourning is not: let's do a cover-up. What mourning is not: let's pretend it's not happening. What mourning is not: expecting God to do what we can do ourselves. Because Proverbs 28:13 says, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper" — but there's a promise there — "but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." If they'll come to the music, I'm just going to land. Godly sorrow worketh repentance. Brother P, it works: when there is sorrow for sin, there's hope for forgiveness, and the hope of real restoration.

You go study it on your own. Go look at Nehemiah chapter 9 and the right type of mourning: "God, the walls are down," Nehemiah says. Go hear the cry of Ezekiel, where God says, "I'm going to give you watchmen on the wall that will never cease." Why? Because they're trying to call you into blessing, as you begin to say, "Ooh, I hear You, Lord. Help me to mourn. Help my heart to match Your heart." And all of a sudden you begin, Pastor, not to silence the conscience of God's people through shackling the pulpit.

There's so much in this text about life in the Spirit. What are you saying, Brother Killmon? There's a cumulative blessing. Old-timers used to sing that song, "There's a highway to heaven" — see, that's why I don't say, none can walk up there but the pure in [heart]. See, there is a highway, and that desire to live in the kingdom under the new King. Number one, verse 3: if you'll become poor in spirit, and have that lowly view of yourself. Number two: if you will mourn, and repent of sin, and call others to repentance. Number three: it will create meekness, which is strength under godly control. I wish we had time to talk about that Greek word; I'll give you a snippet. I can't land — it's awful. Meekness is not weakness. It's used to talk about wind, and medicine, and animals. Wind too strong destroys. Medicine too strong kills. And an animal that's not learned to be meek — to have their strength under control — is a danger to themselves and everyone around them. God doesn't want to do away with your strength; He wants to channel it. He wants to make dads and husbands godly men of constrained strength, where you listen; you don't have to take things personally; your strength is under control, and you don't have to shoot your mouth off, because your strength is under control of the Spirit.

This cumulative blessing of life in the Spirit — pursue it, because with God all things are possible.

Stand with me today. Here's what I want you to do: I want you to pray in your own way. You need to say, "Lord, if there is a victory that only You can give, that's beyond the limitation — " Thank you, Brother Prit; I can't get past it: that vain glory, that empty glory that ends in nonsense. But if there is a victory in my life, here's what you should say: "Jesus, I'm going to have it." Would you ask Him, "Show me the next layer of victory in my family. Show me the next layer of victory in my life"? I promise you, if you get it in your life, and in your marriage, and in your family, it'll spill into your church — because all of a sudden, the change in you will begin to affect others, and you'll receive from the change in you. And that will spill out onto your job. And, Brother Print, the glory of God will be manifested in our obedient, Spirit-filled life, and people will be drawn to it. "Nobody talks like you. Wow — that attitude of your boss, and you just answered so quietly and kindly." Well, I believe that a soft answer can turn away wrath. You hear me? There is a victory for you. Don't limit your life. Throw up your hand right now. I ask you — I dare you — to ask God for it: "Lord, if there is a victory, if there's some meekness I've got to get on the inside of me, Lord, get the ego out of me, Jesus. Help me to have a true assessment of myself. We want the glory of God in our midst. When we become that, Lord, we know it's a victory only You can give."

Come on. That's it. Say, "I receive it, God. Work in my heart. Work in my heart. Help me to adjust things. Help me to [lay aside] all things. Help me to embrace things, so that we can have the victory in our lives, in Jesus' name."

Come on — why don't you come to the altar this morning, in humility, with the grace of God — the divine influence of God on the heart? Why don't you let the Lord influence you right now? Come in humility, with nothing. Grace, the divine influence of God on the heart, withholding nothing. Come on. Why don't you be that lump of clay that says, "Lord, I'll respond to Your [hand]"? Withholding nothing. Jesus, come in humility. Withholding nothing, I surrender all to You. In humility — everything I [give to You]. He made of Himself no reputation. Withholding nothing. It's not about me, God; it's about You. I surrender all. It's about Your glory.

Come on. Somebody needs the Holy Ghost. Somebody needs deliverance right now. That heaviness is going to lift off of you right now, because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Come on. It's going to lift right now, in the name of Jesus.