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Episode 851: In this episode of The Bible Guys, Chris and Jeff unpack the second Beatitude—“Blessed are those who mourn”—and explore how mourning over sin and broken relationships opens the door to God’s comfort and grace. With humor, personal stories, and practical insight, they examine Jesus’ teachings on anger, reconciliation, and the importance of having a tender heart toward what matters to God. Listeners are challenged to reflect on their own relationships and discover how being right with others is deeply connected to walking closely with God.
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Join Jeff and Chris for honest conversations about Scripture, faith, and the everyday stuff we all navigate. With humor, personal stories, and plenty of back-and-forth, The Bible Guys explore what the Bible says and how it connects to your life.
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You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in practical ways. Hey, everybody, we want to welcome you, especially if this is your very first time tuning in to the Bible guys. We hope this is both fun and practical. It is in fun and practical ways. Yes, yes, we are Christ and Jeff and we are just a couple of friends who happen to be pastors with Bible degrees. But we actually you know, barely barely, but anyway, we just believe in opening the Bible and then you know, just asking questions, and we believe that God's words can jump out, you know, from the page and apply to our lives. Yeah, we think you can understand the Bible, that's right, and that from the surface, just just reading it, you can understand most of what's being said there. And so that's what we're doing. This, especially if you have a good study Bible. That's one hundred percent. So we're using life application study bibles. I'm using what are you using? I did start bringing mind so that our Bibles match up, but I just switched over to the Warren Wearsby Transformation study. That's a good one. Yeah, it's a good one. But I need to switch you over just so that we're looking at the same thing. But anyway, you're in the middle of a series on the beatitudes. That's right, the beatitudes, which comes from the part of the Sermon on the Mount or the beatitude. That's the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. And the premise was a while back, we were talking through the Sermon on the Mount and I mentioned how I felt like, you know, the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus' longest message that he preaches, and it lasts three whole chapters. This is where he teaches us turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, treat people the way you want to be treated. So he taught us to pray our father heart in heaven. It's where he said, judge, not that you be not judged. You go on. Most of the things we know that Jesus says, he says in these passages, but the first was it ten verses, eleven verses. He unpacks these things. He said, God blesses you with or blessed is the person who you know is poor in spirit or whatever. And I suggested that these are introductions to all the other ideas he talks about through the rest of this chapter. And then that kind of spurred our thinking a little bit, and we said, hey, let's come back and just do that. Let's look at each of the beatitudes and then figure out what versus does that have some connection to. So that's all we're doing now. Yep, Yeah, it's gonna be fun. Yeah. And so before we get into that, we have a segment that Desirae put together, and it is the very classic Who's most likely? Yes, so we're gonna we're I didn't look at these, by the way. I did not. I have not looked at these at all. Okay, in fact, I'm going to just read the first one blindly. Who's most likely to accidentally start a conga line with strangers? There's no question I have done this. Yeah, I have done this, of course. Yeah. My buddy Jeff and I used. To because you're that guy. I'm that guy we crashed weddings. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you've told me this. I love this and so little fun. Yeah growing up and you yeah, that's what I. Remember calling Sharon and Julie our dates and saying, hey, dress up, are going out tonight and we dressed up and then we just and we went to the Marinit Center on Murdian Road and there's three weddings happening with three wedding receptions. And we went from one we ate and danced, went to the other one ate and danced, and went to the other one ate and danced. And Jeff, Jeff even danced with the bride. Oh yeah. And then and then and he goes and he goes, she goes, who are you here with? Again? And he goes, Tony And that took care of it, okay, because everydy young so so so anyway, so you started a congolome yes, and and actually I started a congre line and then Jeff jumped in into it. And it was at this wedding that was like it was actually a huge wedding. And then Jeff took the wedding conger line through the kitchen and actually we went back to the kitchen. It was hilarious. So and when you say Jeff, you're talking about about our friend Jeff Miller, not me. Yeah, all of your cool friends their named Jeff. Though, that's right, that's correct. Okay, Well, who's most likely to press a button? Label do not press. That's me, is it you? Oh yeah? Yeah? Why you tell me. What to do and tell me what not to do. My brain says, don't do it. And so I sit and look at it and look at it, and if I don't leave the area, I'm going to have to go put it. That's hilarious. You know you do that. Well, I'll tell you what I was going to say. Maybe me, but with such confidence. Without a doubt, you have overridden me. Don't touch that confidence. Don't fool with that. It's sharp. Don't point that in some of your shoots. Your brother's eye out right, that's me, all right. Number three who's most likely to confidently give wrong directions? Well that that have to be me, because your directions are better than mine. It's going to say, I've got like a compass built into my head. Yeah, yeah, GPS. Yeah, and so I have. I have definitely been in an argument. I remember one time I was in Missouri and I said, I was in the mall and I said, I guarantee you the story that we're looking for is this way. And my buddy said it was my buddy norm He said, no, it's this way. And I says I will guarantee you. I am so confident it is this way, and so he goes, fine, let's go. Let's let's prove you wrong, and I said, we're not going to prove me wrong. We turned the corner and I said, oh, whoops, whoops, I've done it. Who's most likely to create a catch phrase by accident? That's gonna be you? Do you think so? Do you think so? Catch phrase by accident? This is so fetch? You know what movie that's from? Uh? Huh? Yes? Do you? Yeah? The movie Fetch. It's a Will Smith. No, you're thinking of hitch Hitch or fletch with with Chevy Chase. No, no, No, Fetch is Mean Girls where Rachel McAdams looks at Lacy whatever you saw. And she said, stop trying to make Fetch happen. It's not gonna happen because she was trying to do a catch phrase. Start a catch first movie. By the way, movie. I'm trying to talk about it. Wait wait, wait, Mean Girls is actually it surpasses women. Girls is a classic. Okay, okay, men can like ingras. Okay, all right, that's my that's my opinion. I thought we were talking about a Will Smith movie. But you're right, it was Hits not Yeah. By the way, Hitch is pretty good. Okay, who's most likely to cause friendly? Oh? I think you're supposed to read that one? But anyways, who's most friendly? Who's most likely to cause friendly chaos? And then say what, I didn't do anything? What I didn't do anything. I don't know. I think both of us are well. I usually I would say I do that a lot. Then I'm gonna I'm gonna lean on you. I'm sometimes if I come in like this just happened. It's been a really hard couple of months. And then here over Christmas break, we had a day and I told Bonnie, I'm not gonna do anything. I've just exhausted mentally, emotionally thin. I didn't feel like I had any bandwidth, and there was nothing happening. It was two days after Christmas, and so I said, I'm not going to do anything today. The only two things I did I got up in the morning, I made biscuits and gravy so good. I'm killing it on my biscuits right now, killing I am so made biscuits and gravy for breakfast. And then at night I grilled some steak, and we had steak, steak nachos. Yeah, but that's not really doing anything for you. That's that's that's living the best thing. Yeah yeah, yeah yeah. Steak nachos and biscuits and gravy. Those are the two things. Other than that. I didn't do anything meaningful all day, just turned my brain off. I binge watched the show. Well here here's what happened. It was like I hit reset. So the next day I come in the office and I'm full of it, and you know, Chad is, Chad's listening. Chad's our executive pastor. And I don't know why, but when I get full of it, all of a sudden, it's just poke poke poke poke poke. Pope, you feel like poking people. I just couldn't help it, yeah yeah yeah. And then he go, why are you being such a drunk like me? I'm not being a drunk, So I promise you. I did this like three days ago, is what I'm saying. Hilarious, right, So I came in super refreshed, and now all of a sudden, I'm just messing with people all day. Everybody, everybody who walks through my office, everybody. I just messed with them. So when you said the next day, I was full of it, full of what vinegar? That's great, that's great, that's awesome. So you just so when you get that way, you like to poke. Yes, I can't help it, and I just just mess with people, yea, all the buttons and. Well, you know what, I I would definitely lean on you and say you because I didn't interpret friendly chaos that way. It does say friendly, right, But I I like to sometimes pit people against each other and then sit back and then watch watch them. Get them going and get them going, wind them up, to sit back and watch enjoy the show. Like, hey, Donnie, what do you think of his hat? You know what I mean. I've done that. I've done that intentionally. I've done that, which is really fun. So and and by the way, that happened, Uh, that actually happen. And at my I did the Zarba party the day after Christmas. We went home to Ohio and there was the Zarba party. So there's maybe thirty people around the table or so, and someone made a comment and I know she's she's a different political view than me, okay, like radically different. And so she said something about a celebrity. And I said, oh, I like this celebrity a lot, except for when it comes to political views. He should just keep his mouth shut. And I knew. I knew that that was starting something boom and and she goes, whoa, whoa, whoa. She goes, if you have a platform, you should be able to say what you want to say. And I said, oh, of course, everybody has the right to speak. I said, freedom of speech. I said, but here's an idea, like, just shut up and sing, you do your job, stay in your lane. I was like, I was like, I tune into you because I like you that you're a singer, right, I watch you because you're an actor, right. I don't I don't want to hear your political views. I'm interested in your acting talent. I'm not watching that quarterback drop back to throw a forty hour past, thinking I wonder what he thinks about x y. Z Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah so so uh and so then she just went on and on and on, and then I was like uh huh uh huh. And then I got and walked away, and so then it started this big conversation without me, you know, and then people just kept on talking about it. Well, I think it's funny that we get you and I will both get people who kind of pushed that idea of hey, if they have a platform, they should use it forgetting the fact that we have a very significant platform. Correct, correct, right, But we're not out there beating the drum politically, That's right, right, because there's more important things than just that. Anyways, it's a whole other issue, dude. It's a whole other just wound it up podcast, a whole another podcast. I can go off on that. Okay, So back to we already gave a long introduction to Yeah, we really went over there. Well, we gave a long introduction to what this that's true, what this series is about. And so the the beatitude that we're talking about today is Matthew Chater five. Verse four says God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. And last week one of the things that we talked about mourning was sin, right, and Jesus taught us to pray in the. Lord's prayer sorrow, specifically sorrow. Sorrow over our sin. And so that's why Jesus told us to confess our sin in the Lord's Prayer well, today we're reading in Matthew chapter five, verses twenty one through twenty six, and Jesus says, you have heard that our ancestors were told you must not murder. If you commit murder, you're a subject to judgment. But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you're a subject to judgment. If you call someone an idiot, you're in danger being brought before the court, And if you curse someone, you're in danger of the fires of hell. So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar, go and be reconciled to that person, and then come and offer your sacrifice to God. Otherwise, or when you are on your way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you'll be thrown into prison. That happens, you surely won't be free again until you have paid the last penny. So I think that we were talking just before this episode we started recording this episode, and I said, I think that the main idea here is, you know, before we were talking about mourning over our own sin. Now what this is talking about really is about being about grieving or mourning over the fact that somebody else has offended us or hurt us, or that a relationship is broken. And he's saying, go fix this as soon as possible, right, right, that's really what he's talking about. So this one is what do you do when you're grieving over the fact that a friendship or a relationship is broken. Yeah, And I think there's levels of the mourning over sin part. So for instance, it's sort of like a continued thought because remember right before he teaches about anger where you started in verse over twenty one. In verse twenty, just the verse before he says, unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of the religious law and pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. Right, And what he's doing is he's saying, like, hey, don't feel good just because you don't commit murder, you know, and then and then all of a sudden, like you're gonna feel great about yourself instead mourn over the sin that you're angry, right, so what Jesus is doing here. And I think there's obviously multiple levels of the reasons why Jesus gave these words, obviously, but one of the things that I've always appreciated is that, like when he talks about the righteousness of the Pharisees, the Pharisees, you know, we all know that they tried really hard to you know, obey God's law, but they felt it was obvious. Jesus said, they felt proud about their religiosity. They felt, you know, they weren't humble about it. And what Jesus saying is like, hey, do you feel like you're righteous enough just because you don't commit an adult or well he does, he says adultery later, but he says, you don't. I'm going to raise the bar and say you're just as guilty if you're if you call somebody an idiot, or if. You're angry at them. So in other words, like you think you're righteous because you don't murder, And that's and that's exactly by the way, we're not going to cover I looked ahead, we're not going to cover the adultry one. But it's the same thing. He's like, so he goes you feel righteous about your the fact that you don't commit adultry. Here's what I say. If you lust after a woman in your own heart, you commit adultery. So, in other words, don't feel righteous just because you don't do one part of the law, because guess what, we're all guilty of the law. So Jesus basically raises the bar of sin, meaning that he wants us to mourn over all sin, not feel proud just because we obey certain laws, the bigger ones like adultery and lust, or excuse me, adultery and murder. And by the way, I was actually a part of a conversation. I remember going to a girl's house and I it's something like, uh, hey, don't be a fool or something, and she goes. She goes, I heard you weren't supposed to call people fools. Isn't that one of the deadliest things you could do? I said, well, I'm want to stand what you're talking about, like fools not a bad word, and she goes, well, doesn't that say in Matthew Chapter five that you're that you're you're just as likely to receive judgment of murdering somebody if you call somebody a fool because the King James version says rock on, which is. Fool, right, that's an Aramaic word. Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, And so she goes, goes, she goes. It isn't that the same as murdering somebody if you call somebody a fool? And I was like no, I was like, that's not what Jesus was saying. Jesus was saying that everybody's guilty of sin, and you shouldn't feel righteous just because you obey some things. Jesus is saying, we're all guilty, we're all in need of his grace. We're all in need. But but but to your to my point earlier, he's also raising the level of mourning over all sin, right, and and not to ful feel proud. I was reading this just before we recorded where it said it said something about Jesus clearly stated that he had come to honor the law and help God's people love it, learn it, and live it. He would not accept the artificial righteousness of the religious leaders. Their righteousness was only an external masquerade. The religion was a dead ritual, not living in relationship. It was artificial, did not reproduce itself in others in a living way. It made them proud, not humble, and led to bondage not liberty. Pretty neat huh yeah, So this this idea, then by the time you pick up twenty three. So at the beginning, he's saying, hey, listen, your attitude is as important as your actions. That's what he's talking about. With regard to hating somebody versus murdering somebody. He said, Hey, it all murder comes from the same place as that anger, that hatred, that resentment. Right then, I would point out one of the things, if you call somebody an idiot, you're in danger being brought before the court. So if I call you an idiot, you're probably not going to take me to court, right But if I slander you publicly and ruin your reputation, you have the right for slander right to take me to court. So it's not just a word to another person. You're going to go to hell because you called somebody an idiot. But it is this hatred of that gets me to the point, this anger, this hatred gives me a point where I'm going to try to ruin your career, ruin your reputation. That's why you would go to court. All right, So Jesus gives a caveat of you're in danger getting taken to court. If you curse someone, you're in danger of the same curse, the fires of hell. Right, So maybe the biggest curse would be somebody saying GD right, Yeah, what does that mean? The fires of hell? Right? Right? So when you curse somebody, you're in danger of the same kind of curse. That's what he's saying. There. When you slander somebody, you're in danger of going to court. Jesus the same Listen, you're atitude is as big of a deal as your actual behavior. Don't murder somebody, but also don't get into these other attitudes that write the attitude takes either. So then from that attitude, now he's talking about offenses on a relational level, curses, slander, these kinds of things. And it's in that context he says, So, if you're at the temple and you're offering your sacrifice, you're right with God. You're trying to get right with God, and you remember that somebody has an offense against you. So if I go and I'm making my sacrifice and I remember Chris is still mad at me about something, God says, Jesus said, leave your sacrifice there and go make things right with the person who is offended or mad at you. It's not the other way around, Like if I go to make my offering and I'm remembering, I'm still mad at zar Ball, right, it's the other way around that. What he's saying is, listen, if you're truly mourning over the things that God mourns over, then you're going to be broken hearted over broken relationship. And so why you're trying to make everything right with God? He says, go make things right with the people around you too, which is consistent with what Jesus says later on in Matthew twenty two when he says the greatest commanmaser, I love God, love people. Right here, it's you're making a sacrifice to be right with God. Go get right with your brother. And so if I'm genuinely mourning over a broken relationship, Jesus says, going and doing the best I can to make that relationship right is as important as me making a sacrifice to God. Yeah, that's a big deal. Yeah, and it really I don't think that a lot of people when they hear the word mourn, like I'm in mourning, right, not mourning like sunrise, but mourning. M ou are n I and g When people hear that word mourning, I don't think that we always associated with blessed of those who mourn? Right, But Jesus is talking about a tender heart, a tender heart towards sin, a tender heart towards, like you just said, a broken relationship, caring about the things that God cares about, being broken hearted over injustice. You know, when we mourn, that means we have a tender heart over things that God cares about. Yeah, that's right. And so he didn't say blessed are those who grieve? Right, It's a different word, right, right, But it is morning and it's more of a tender heart. Yeah, for they will be comforted. And I think that, you know, when Jesus is teaching this, I again, I think it's connected. It has so many layers of brilliance to it and obviously meaning. But when Jesus talks about you know, saying like murder and then he says, no, let's talk about anger, all of those things are included in this passage where where you know, now listen, Here's why I don't think it's meaning. I don't think it's meaning. I don't think it translates into like like if I come to church in twenty twenty five and I'm ready to write my tithe check right or give it electronically or whatever, it doesn't mean, Oh, I better not give this check until I go make an appointment with my mom because she's mad at me. Do you think it means that? No, I don't think tithing is sacrifice. It's obedient. There's the difference between those two things. But yeah, I don't think that that's what he's talking about so much as it is, Hey, make sure you're right on the outside, just like you're trying to get right on the inside. Make sure you're right on the inside, just like you're trying to be right on the outside. That's what he's saying there. I don't know that there's a sequential timing here. What he's trying to do is in the typical Jewish way of teaching, rabbis teaching, he's over emphasizing how important it is to be right with others by saying, your sacrifice to God doesn't mean anything if you can't be right to other people. Yeah. Right, So there's a little bit of an exaggeration in this of obviously God wants you to make your sacrifices. Right. There's nowhere else the Bible where God goes. There is times when God says, I'm sick to death of you sacrifices. He says that I'd rather what I want is a broken contry heart. Isn't that what he says? Yes, So, so what Jesus is trying to do, it's the same thing. It's not that God didn't want sacrifices, it's that God wanted a broken contry heart. And so there's this this extreme statement in order to get your attention on how important it is. Otherwise, we tend to want to always strategy, We always want to make levels. So it's the same thing. Is murder worse than me calling you an idiot? Yes it is, Yes it is. But what he's saying is quit making levels of sin, making levels of right and wrong? Right, The attitude is the same. And then he's doing the same thing with this one that obviously God wants you to make your sacrifice to him. Just understand, equally important to him is that you're right with others. Right, That's what he's doing is he's not. He's he's he's elevating the secondary to the same level as what we would consider a primary issue. That's what he's doing. Yeah, And so earlier I said something like a tithe and maybe bad example. So maybe a better example would be like taking communion, sure right right, taking communion, which has everything to do with our relationship with our heavenly Father. Taking communion is a reflection of his sacrifice for us. Right. So I guess what I'm saying is I just wanted to make sure that there's not people out there that think, oh no, I can't move forward with my service of God until I you know, have to get all everything right because there's thirty people that are angry with me. Right now, Here's the thing I would say, if when you're stepping up to receive communion, if the Holy Spirit says you need go gear. It was our ball. I need to stop my communion, go. Gear it was our bro. Yeah. If God brings that to your. Heart, right right, Because and that's why I think it's important to pray regularly, especially before a communion moment or any spiritual thing you're about ready to do. God, you know, help me see that David says, you know, search me, o God, and know my head heart, see if there's any wicked way in me. I think that that's why we should always be praying tho prayers. It's God showed me, show me the thing you notice, because I want that to be right too. And I've been part of church services before where people began confessing to each other before communion. Little revivals break out of people literally tears in their eyes going getting right with somebody else. I've preached this passage before and seen it happen with groups of people just right then, so convicted that they want to go get things right with each other. And I think that honors God. Right. But yeah, it's not that you stop serving God in order to go because you're also not going to go get right with your friend. It's like, if you're going to serve God get right with your friend too. That it's the other way of seeing that. Yeah, well that's great, all right, Well, hey, that is our time, so hopefully you'll tune in tomorrow as we continue on with the beatitudes on the Bible. Guys,