Alrighty, everything we have
tonight will be in our handouts. We've already read our verses
all the way through there in Matthew chapter 5, if you want
to open your Bibles to that and just have it readily available
to yourself. to look at if you want to go
through those things. But basically, we'll be in the
handout and stick with that tonight. There's a lot to get through.
So I want to begin by reading on page one, top of the paragraph,
top of the page there. In our last study, we considered
the first two of eight characteristics of people blessed of God. Those two are poor in spirit
and people who mourn. Now, I remind you, the results
of our Savior's message is given to us in Matthew 7, 28, and 29,
where we read, and it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these
sayings, the people were astonished. They were amazed at his doctrine. And then it tells us why. For
he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Last week we brought out the
way works religionists put the cart before the horse. They teach
you must be this or be that and then you'll be blessed. That's
the words of the scribes of this world. Yet he who has all authority
declares those who are blessed of him are poor in spirit. They are blessed first, and the
results are spiritual depravity. And I could have worded that
a little better, I think. The results are God enlightens
them to their spiritual depravity. They are blessed first by God
enlightening them to that. God reveals to us our depravity,
our destitute condition, before a thrice holy God. We mourn for
the sins, for the sin that continues to dwell in our flesh. For our
God is holy. And because he first loved us
and gave himself a sacrifice for our sin, we hate our sin
as well. Our only comfort is that the
Lord Jesus Christ shed his own righteous blood in our stead,
and our blessings are in the Son of the living God, Christ
Jesus the Lord. Am I poor in spirit? In Christ I am. Do I mourn? In Christ I do. Ephesians 1 verse
3, we read this, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ, the Lord Jesus, who declares those who are blessed
of him are the meek of the earth. Page 2. Someone once said meekness
is the mark of a man who has been mastered by God. I thought
that was well said. Mastered by God. That doesn't
mean that God is now our master. It means he's shown us that he's
always been our master. That he's the master of everything. The one who is meek is the one
who has been mastered by God. Now, Brother Don Fortner wrote
this. He said, the meekness of our
Lord here pronounces, the meekness our Lord here pronounces is a
blessed thing. It is not that which men call
meekness. It is not an outward show of
pretended humility. It is that which is wrought in
the heart by grace. Meekness is a realization of
who I am before God. Meekness is a submission to the
will of God. Meekness is obedience to God. Meekness causes us to esteem
others better than ourselves. And then Don refers to Philippians
2, 1 through 5. If there be therefore any consolation
in Christ, If any comfort of love, if any
fellowship of the Spirit, if any boughs and mercies, fulfill
ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of
one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife
or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind. Let each esteem the
other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Matthew Henry
wrote, they are meek, who are rarely and hardly provoked, but
quickly and easily pacified, and who would rather forgive
20 injuries than avenge one, having the rule of their own
spirits. John Gill describes the meek
as those who have the meanest thoughts of themselves and the
best of others. They do not envy the gifts and
the graces of other men. They are willing to be instructed
and admonished by the meanest of the saints. And they quietly
submit to the will of God in adverse dispensations of providence
and ascribe all that they have and are of the grace of God.
Moses was the meekest man on earth in his day, but no man
looking at his behavior would have thought so. He was meek
before God. He knew he was God's servant,
responsible to do God's will, therefore he was bold, bold as
a lion. I thought about our dear brother
Don Fortner. Nobody would call him meek. I
thought about myself. I don't think anybody could call
me meek. But yet I am meek in the eyes of my Lord, before my
Lord, as one who deserves nothing of Him, lowly before Him. The Lord Jesus lived on this
earth in meekness. It was this meekness that caused
Him to speak with authority and drive the money changers out
of the table, out of the temple. Roper Hopper explains it this
way, the meekness, the Son of God pronounced blessed is the
meekness in wrought in the soul by the gracious influence of
God the Holy Ghost. And that's truth right there.
Those who are influenced by the gracious influence of the Holy
Spirit. It is learnt of Jesus, and then Robert Hawker refers
to Matthew 11, 29, take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for
I am meek and lowly in heart. It is holy from Jesus, and then
he refers to John 15, 4 through 5, abide in me and I in you,
as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in
the vine. No more can ye, except ye abide
in me. I am the vine. Now listen folks,
do you get this? Are you catching this? No more
can ye, except you abide in him, in me. He says, I am the vine,
ye are the branches, he that abideth in me, and I in him,
the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can
do nothing. Brother Robert writes this, he
says, and it is his regenerated members of whom he saith the
Lord will beautify the meek with salvation. That's in Psalms 149.4.
And then he closes with this, this meekness of the Lord's own
This meekness of the Lord's own creating in the soul is a great
price. And he quotes from 1 Peter 4
verse 1, for as much then as Christ has suffered for us in
the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind. And the last
part of verse 5 in our text today says, they shall inherit the
earth. Folks, I don't want this earth
that we walk on right now. I want the promise of God of
a new earth and a new heaven, and that's what we're talking
about here. It says, they shall inherit the earth, or they shall
inherit all blessings of the earth, all things working together
for their good, and they shall inherit all the new earth when
our God shall make all things new, and I'm referring to Psalms
3711, the meek shall inherit the earth and shall delight themselves
in the abundance of peace. Now that's not until, The Lord
creates a new earth. That's not until the end of all
things that we see now. So next, let's consider at the
bottom of page 3 there, verse 6 of Matthew chapter 5. Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. The
religious scribes of this world would like you to think that
our Lord Jesus is telling us here that those who greatly desire
to make themselves righteous are blessed and shall have their
hunger satisfied and their thirst quenched. That is a teaching
totally foreign to scriptures. Mere morality is not righteousness. Let me repeat that. Your morality
is not righteousness. The scribes and the Pharisees
of our Lord's day prided themselves in the performance of such, and
that's where they were wrong. The Son of God did not come into
the world, page four, did not come into the world to preach
righteousness that men can perform. He did not teach men to trust
in themselves, but just the opposite. He preached grace. His gospel
demands that sinners count all personal righteousness but dung. The Apostle Paul is clear on
this in Philippians 3, 7-9, but what things were gained to me,
those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I counted
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but done, that I may win Christ. and be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. The people of God look to our
Lord and to him alone for righteousness. Those who are blessed of God
hunger and thirst for his righteousness, the only righteousness by which
a sinner can be justified in the sight of God. The souls that
hunger and thirst for him who is the Lord our righteousness,
as we read in Jeremiah 23 6. They are souls desiring to be
found in Him, not having their own righteousness, but the righteousness
of God, as Paul wrote there, established and brought in by
Christ, by His obedience to God, as our substitute. The righteousness
that can be obtained only by faith in Him, by believing in
Him. They and they alone are blessed
of God with grace. blessed of God with salvation,
and blessed of God with eternal life. Hungering and thirsting
after Christ's righteousness, we acknowledge and we confess
that we have no righteousness of our own. Therefore, we long
to be clothed in Christ's robe of righteousness and His garment
of salvation. Christ is that righteousness
and holiness that we must have, without which no man shall see
the Lord. Follow peace with all men and
holiness without which no man shall see the Lord, as we read
in Hebrews 12, 14. Not only does our Savior pronounce
those blessed who hunger and thirst after Him, He promises
this, He says they shall be filled, as it says in our text. In Isaiah
55-1 we read these words, Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come
ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye buy and
eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. In John, chapter 7, verses 37
and 38, we read these words. In the last day, the great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, if any man thirst,
let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the
scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. Page 5. We shall not hunger in
vain. All who abandon their own righteousness,
seeking righteousness before God and Christ alone, who is
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth, shall
be filled. In Psalms 132, verses 8 through
16, we read these words. Arise, O Lord, into thy rest,
thou and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests be clothed with
righteousness, and let thy saints shout for joy. For thy servant
David's sake, turn not away thy face of thine anointed. The Lord
hath sworn in truth unto David, he will not turn from it. of
the fruit of thy body will I sit upon thy throne. If thy children
will keep my covenant and my testimony, that I shall teach
them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne forevermore. For the Lord hath chosen Zion,
he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever, here
will I dwell, for I have desired it I will abundantly bless her
provision, I will satisfy her poor with bread, I will also
clothe her priests with salvation, her saints shall shout aloud
for joy. In Isaiah 61 verses 1-3, the
Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed
me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He has set me to bind
up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives in the
opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the
acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all that mourn. to appoint them that mourn in
Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,
that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting
of the Lord, that he might be glorified. And then in Isaiah
61, again in 61 verses 10 through 11, I will greatly rejoice in
the Lord my soul, shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed
me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness as a bridegroom seeketh himself, decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth
her bud, and as the garden causeth things that are sown in it to
spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness. and
praise to spring forth from all the nations. Page six. God's
elect shall be filled, they shall be filled with, completely satisfied
with Christ's righteousness and never seek any other righteousness. And being filled with Christ's
righteousness, they shall be filled with all other good things
in consequence to it. That was written by John Gill.
Now next in verse seven, we have blessed are the merciful. The
merciful are those who show mercy to others, having obtained mercy
themselves from God. Those who are merciful have been
made merciful by the experience of God's mercy bestowed upon
them in Christ. Those who have experienced the
love of God for them have spiritual desire to be loving and charitable
to others. Charity never faileth, as we
read in 1 Corinthians 13.8. And as the Lord is kind and gracious
to us, Lord, help us to be kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven
you. Be ye, therefore, followers of God as dear children and walk
in love, as Christ also has loved us and has given himself for
us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling Savior.
That's in Ephesians 4.32 through 5.2. And lead your people to be forgiving,
O Lord. As we read in Matthew 6, 14-15,
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. But if ye forgive not men their
trespasses, then neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. These graces within are the fruits
and the effects of God's saving grace. and the believer's vital
union with Christ in regeneration. It says, for they shall obtain
mercy. This is not a suggestion that our obtaining mercy is some
way dependent upon or determined by our mercifulness to others.
Rather, it is the declaration and the assurance that all who
have obtained mercy in the gift of God's grace shall continue
to obtain the mercy all the days of our lives in this world and
in the world to come. Listen to 2 Timothy 1 verse 18. The Lord grant you unto him that
he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. Then we have this
blessing, are the pure in heart. Verse 8 of our text, page 7. The hypocrite scribes of this
world, of this world's religions, use this verse of Holy Scripture
to teach that if we will make our hearts pure, we shall see
God in heaven. Most leave out God's work altogether. Most try to make their doctrine
of works appear to be a doctrine of grace. They tell us, of course,
that God must first make our hearts new in regeneration, but
we make our hearts pure by the discipline of grace and self-denial
and mortification of our sins and sanctification. We call that
legalists, those who hold the law of your head and say, well,
you're saved of God, but if you don't start acting like it, you're
not saved at all. That's not grace, folks. Paul
addressed, I think it was the Galatians, who have bewitched
you with such things. I may be confusing that a little
bit. My memory gives way sometimes. They tell us, of course, that
God must make our hearts new into regeneration, but we must
make our hearts purer by disciplining, by the discipline of grace and
self-denial and mortification of our sins and sanctification.
These words are as distant from us of what we see of ourselves
are, in fact, among actually the most hopeful. comforting
and radiant that ever came from our Master's lips. They proclaim
the certain, sure realization of something that seems impossible. To a sinner, the pure of heart
is an impossibility. But here we see our Lord making
a declaration that the impossible is possible. He proclaims that
He promises the possession of an apparently impossible vision.
And these words, they soothe our corrupt, sinful hearts. You
know, that's what brought the lady with the issue of blood
to the Lord Jesus. She had done everything she could.
I'm sorry, I'm getting away from your handout for a moment. She
had done everything she could. She gave everything she had.
And still, there was no help for her. But she had heard. She
had heard that there was this man going around healing people. And she thought to herself, if
I could just but touch the hem of his garment, maybe I can be
healed. And that's what this is talking
about. This is the hope. These words give us hope that
there is pure of heart. There are some of this world
who are pure of heart. Our hearts, yours and mine, are
by nature evil, back in our handout again. Listen to Genesis 6 verse
5. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil. And now listen to
that last word, continually. Folks want to think that that
was only in that time when he looked down upon the world. Oh,
it's not that bad anymore. We've become way more civilized
today than they were then. That's not true at all. I tell
you, our Lord sees all things throughout all time. The last
word of that verse is continually. Throughout whatever you and I
want to call time, God looked down upon the earth, and every
imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil. Listen
to Psalms 12, 2. They speak vanity, every one,
with his neighbor. With flattering lips and with
a double heart do they speak. Jeremiah 17, verse 9. The heart
is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can
know it? Folks, the promise of grace is
this. I will take away the stony heart of your flesh, and I will
give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36, verse 26. Do you
see this? Has God taught you the evil,
the horrid corruption of your heart, cold, dead, heart of stone? If this is the state of my heart,
if this is the condition of every man, woman, and child by nature,
how can we ever hope to know the blessedness of which the
Son of God speaks here in these words when He declares, blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Such hearts cannot
see God. Such hearts can never see God
as those that walk this earth, men and women. Indeed, such hearts
as these, the heart of man, cannot see the things of God, much less
God himself. Did not the Lord Jesus say to
Nicodemus, except a man be born again, he cannot see? The Kingdom
of God? Who is the Kingdom of God? You
know, the Kingdom of God is a man. It's a man who sits on his throne
right now with holes in his hands and his feet and a hole in his
side. That's the kingdom of God. Bill Silva and I, we talked many
times about what heaven must be like. You know, it always
comes down to this. It doesn't matter whatever your
or my imagination can be, wherever Christ is, whatever Christ is,
that's heaven. The natural man simply cannot
see God, cannot see Christ, and cannot see the things of God. Folks, we're talking about grace.
We're talking about mercy and grace in the Lord Jesus in revealing
those things to us. But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. That's 1 Corinthians 2.14. That
is the state and condition of every man's heart by nature.
It is anything but pure, yet our Lord speaks of the pure in
heart. This purity of heart is not the
external hypocrisy of the Pharisees, or the boasted perfection of
the self-righteous scribes, or the empty dream of the carnally
secure. They are pure in their own eyes,
but they are not pure. That's what we read in Proverbs
30, verse 12. There is a generation that are
pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. That which our Lord speaks of
as a pure heart is not a changed heart. Have you ever heard someone
ask you to give your heart to the Lord? If you would just give
your heart to the Lord, things would be so much better. Have
you ever heard anybody say that? Salvation is God giving us a
new heart, folks. Those who are blessed of God
are those whose hearts the Lord has made new, those who are holy
and pure in the cleansing and justifying purity and holiness
of the Lord, their righteousness. Page 9. They are a people who
know their own personal corruption and groan under its weight, as
we've already seen. They see God in Christ in all
the blessedness of salvation, here in the life that now is,
and they shall see Him in the complete enjoyment of Him in
the life of glory that is yet to come. This purity of heart
stands in having the heart sprinkled from an evil conscience by the
sprinkling of Christ's precious blood. Listen to Hebrews 9, 11
through 14. But Christ being come and high
priest of good things to come by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood
he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and
goats and ashes and a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies
to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood
of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God." What is the meaning of this word pure? The word means
purified by fire. You know, when gold You want
to come up with that little bar, and you want it to be 100% pure. It's got to be burned. It's got
to be melted down. It's got to be fired down. And
all the other stuff that comes along with it when you find it
in the ground, all the impurifications, it all has to be burned out.
It means purified by fire or purified as a vine that is pruned
and made fit to bear fruit. You know, grapevines, you gotta
go around and prune those. If you don't prune a grapevine,
it just grows wild and eventually it stops growing any grapes at
all. or very little, anyway. It means purified as a vine that
is pruned or made fit to bear fruit. It's free from corruption
is what it is. It's free from sin. That's what
it means. It means free from sin and guilt,
blameless, innocent. unsustained with guilt of anything
and I've given you some words listen to Hebrews 1 3 who being
the brightness of his glory speaking of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ and the express image of his person the person of God
and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had
by himself purged purged, purged all of the imperfections out
of us, washed all of the sin from us. When he had by himself
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty
on high. Hebrews 10 verses 14, for by one offering he hath perfected,
he hath purged, he hath given pure, he hath perfected forever
them that are sanctified, being made holy or set apart. In Romans
8, 1, we read this, there is therefore now no condemnation. Why? Because they've been perfected. Why is there no condemnation?
Because Christ Jesus has been condemned in our stead. That
was the whole point of Him going to the cross, to die in our stead. He who knew no sin was made sin
that we would be made the righteousness of God in Him. There's no condemnation because
He has been condemned for us. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8 verses 33-34, Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? If we weren't pure, there would
be all kinds of things to lay to our charge. Is that not true?
But our purity comes in our Savior, the Lord Jesus, who is pure and
righteous in everything that He did, including being made
sin. Can you wrap your minds around
that? Our Lord was perfect in being made sin for our cause. Everything He did, that's where
our purity is. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea,
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also maketh intercession for us. If God Almighty in the
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is sitting on his throne making
intercession for us, Can anything separate us? Paul says no. I say no. God's people say nothing
can turn the hand of God. And if he's for us, who can be
against us? Page 10. The pure in heart are those who,
looking to Christ, are convinced of God, the Holy Spirit, concerning
sin and righteousness and judgment. That's in John chapter 7, 16,
7 through 11. I meant to put that in there.
You know what? I'm going to turn over and look at that. I meant to put that
in there, and I didn't. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient
for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the Comforter
will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send
him unto you. And when he is come, He will
reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe
not on me. Of righteousness, because I go to my father and
ye see me no more. Of judgment, because the prince
of this world is judged. They are those who openly and
honestly confess their sin to God, trusting Christ alone for
the forgiveness of sin. These and only these are truly
blessed of God. It says, for they shall see God.
They shall see the God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
who has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. We shall see
God as we do in person. We see Him face to face when
we pass from this world unto the next, but we see Him right
now through His Word. That's what John 1 is all about.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was made flesh.
That's what that means. We see Him now throughout all
the Scripture. I've actually heard men say that
there's no need to teach. Pastor Gene used to say that.
But I've actually heard other ministers say there's really
no reason to teach in the Old Testament. Everything's given
to us in the New Testament. Folks, Jesus Christ is painted
throughout the entire Bible. All the way from Genesis 1, all
the way to the end of Revelation. It's all about Him. And then
we come to, blessed are the peacemakers. Now again, we must ask ourselves
this question, of whom does Christ speak of? It's hard for me to
see myself in that. Clearly, he is not talking about
men who make peace with God. That's impossible. Christ alone
makes peace between God and men. Our peace with God is found in
the blood of his cross. The peacemakers are those men
and women whose hearts are ruled by the Prince of Peace, in whose
hearts the peace of God rules. They are peaceful themselves.
They strive to live peaceably among all men, especially of
those who are of the household of faith, and they strive to
make all men love one another by preaching the gospel of peace. They shall be called the children
of God, it says. Their adoption as the children
of God by grace is made manifest, and they are known to be God's
children by the grace of God that is wrought in them, making
them peaceful before God. And those who are at peace with
God by faith in Christ are at peace with all things and with
all men. And lastly, in verses 10 through 12, we read, blessed
are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Now
many suffer greatly because of their haughty and self-righteous
attitude. But God's people are now and
have been throughout history and shall be so long as time
shall stand persecuted and reviled by the self-righteous religious
world for righteousness sake. because we trust Christ alone
as the Lord our righteousness, and assert that there is no righteousness
to be found in the world except the righteousness of God in Christ.
And I ask you, have you ever heard or seen anyone being persecuted
or reviled for living a good life? I think of Mother Teresa. Not many people persecuted her.
She was pretty meek. Have you ever heard of anybody
Persecuting someone for doing works of righteousness? No, no
you haven't. No one's going to persecute you
for being honest, for being faithful. A faithful husband or a good
wife or an exemplary citizen, page 11. The saints of God are
persecuted for this, for declaring that no man can produce righteousness
and for declaring that salvation is by the obedience and righteousness
of Christ alone. When we declare that salvation
is by righteousness given to sinners freely in Christ, not
by a righteousness performed by sinners, we are persecuted
as hardliners, unforgiving, and unfair. We are persecuted for
believing and preaching free justification by the righteousness
of Christ, which all men naturally despise because it excludes all
boastings. It tells the man there is nothing
you can do. It's in the hands of God. God
says, I will be merciful to whom I will be merciful. Brother Don
Fortner wrote this, and I'll give you this in closing. Though
persecuted and reviled as the offscoring of the earth, these
are truly blessed people, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad,
for great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you. That's Matthew verse 11 through
12. Don closes with this. How different
Christianity is from that which the world looks upon as Christianity.
The very characters the world despises and ridicules, Christ
honors and calls blessed. The blessedness pronounced upon
believing sinners in this world and in the world to come is the
blessedness of pure, free grace, gospel blessedness, which is
altogether the gift of God. Amen.