Beacon Light Community Church Unknown

In his well-known -Sermon on the Mount,- our Lord Jesus Christ begins with a series of -beatitudes,- patterned after beatitudes in the Old Testament Psalter. The Sermon on the Mount describes -Kingdom Life in a Fallen World- -Sinclair Ferguson- and begins with a many-sided portrait of the qualities of heart and life that characterize those who are citizens of Christ's Kingdom. The first beatitude, -Blessed are the Poor in Spirit,- is basis. Kingdom citizens are people who are deeply conscious that all the riches of Christ's kingdom are given to them by grace alone. As the apostle Paul reminds us, -what do we have that we have not received- -1 Cor. 4-7-.

This message focuses on the theme that since God desires the spread of his Kingdom around the world, we must depend on the work of the Holy Spirit to further that Kingdom. --The main supporting points are--1- Dependence on the Spirit is the antithesis of human striving-self-determination -as seen in the story of the Tower of Babel, where human pride and attempts at autonomy from God led to judgment and confusion of languages-.--2- Dependence on the Spirit is only possible because the Holy Spirit is given to us -as seen in the account of Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit was poured out, reversing the curse of Babel by enabling the disciples to preach the gospel in diverse languages-.--The message contrasts the human pride and self-sufficiency exhibited at Babel with the disciples' humble reliance on God's Spirit at Pentecost. It emphasizes that just as Babel's sinful striving led to chaos, our witness today can only succeed through dependence on the Spirit God graciously gives us. Pentecost reversed Babel's curse by empowering gospel proclamation to all nations through the Spirit's enabling.

In Psalm 7, we notice this theme- Because God's people will experience injustice, you must trust your just God. You must trust the Lord by fleeing to his refuge and, secondly, by letting him judge your heart. Thirdly, you must trust God because of his justice, and lastly, you must trust him because of his deliverance.