Good morning, everyone. I told
everyone the first hour that I was a little bit sick, so. Tread carefully if you try to
shake my hand. I don't want to get anyone sick. I don't want
to be seen as a bad guy for not letting anyone know. So just
be wary. We sang that chorus, Craig, was
it number 62? Lord, if thou shouldest mark
iniquity, O Lord, who shall stand? There's one who shall stand.
There's one. And we're about to read about
him. Isaiah chapter 53, for our scripture reading. Isaiah 53.
And we'll read the whole chapter. It's not too long. Isaiah 53, very familiar passage. Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath
no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no
beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we
hid as it were our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was buried for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened
not his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. And who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the
land of the living. For the transgression of my people
was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked and with the rich in his death. Because he had done no
violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief, who
now shall make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. And by his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the spoiled with the strong, because he hath poured out his
soul unto death. And he was numbered with the
transgressors, and he bared the sin of many, and made intercession
for the transgressors." Let's pray together. Our great God and Heavenly Father,
We are once again very thankful that you've given us this time
and place to meet together. Lord, and I pray that you've
given us a desire to hear the gospel once again, Lord. We pray
that you would enable us to see Christ, the one who we just read
about, the one who was stricken for our transgressions. The chastisement
of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. Lord, let us look to him. Let
us look to him. Make Thy dear Son so glorious
in our sight, Lord. Let us rest in Him, rest the
eternal weight of our souls on Him, looking to Him for all righteousness,
not bringing anything in our hands, Lord, knowing that the
best of our righteousness is nothing but filthy rags. Lord,
I pray that you would make the message plain and simple and
clear and that you would honor the Lord Jesus Christ in spite
of me. That you would give each and every one of us ears to hear.
Lord, you know how slow of heart we are to believe, Father. You
know how prone we are to just take these things for granted.
Oh Lord, you know how stony and cold and hard our hearts are
by nature. Lord, take out this heart of
stone and give us a new warm beating heart of flesh. We fix
our eyes upon Jesus, our Savior, our God, our all. For it's in
His name we do ask these things. Amen. I'd like to start this message off
by saying that there are really only two classes of people in
the eyes of God. Now, in the eyes of men, there
are many distinctions. There are many classes of people.
Lower class, middle class, upper class, rich, poor, educated,
uneducated, wealthy. No such distinctions exist in
the eyes of God. There are only two distinctions
in God's eyes. Those who are blessed of God
and those who are cursed of God. Those who are blessed and those
who are cursed. Those who are loved of God and
those who are hated of God. You are either a wheat or a tare,
a sheep or a goat, a wise virgin or a foolish virgin. There is
no middle ground with God. Christ said, He that gathereth
not with me, Scattereth if you're not with
me you are against me Christ said that was his teaching. There's
no middle ground with God now We know that God's judgments
are final and eternal and we know that he cannot change therefore
He must deal with us in absolutes There's no one who's partially
blessed or partially cursed. There's no, not in God's eyes,
there's no person who's mostly loved by God. No, you're either
loved of God entirely, completely, fully, eternally, or you are
hated of God. You are either Jacob or Esau. You read the scriptures with
any shred of honesty, God always draws that line in the sand.
He divides. Think not that I'm come to send
peace on the earth. I'm not come to send peace, but
a sword. A sword. The title and subject
of my message this morning is just one simple question. Are
you blessed? Are you blessed? People abuse that word so often. Oh, have a blessed day, they
say so often. Somebody sneezes, bless you. God's blessedness is a very serious
matter and it's a very glorious matter. That's not something
we should take lightly. And my desire, my heart's prayer
and desire for us this morning is that each and every one of
us would know, would know whether we are blessed of God. Don't
you want to know that? Am I blessed of God? Am I really
loved of Him? How can I know? And the time
to know is now. Don't presume. Don't go out in
eternity on a whim. Well, maybe He'll accept me.
There's nothing more foolish you could say. That's people's
hope. I've talked to people who said,
well, you can't know if you've done enough. You just better
hope that when you die, God will accept you. What kind of assurance
is that? You're going out to meet your
Creator in eternity? You're going to stand before
a thrice holy God on a maybe? The time to know is now, brethren. Don't presume you're blessed
of God. Know you're blessed of God. And in order to know whether
we are truly blessed of God, we must be honest. Honest with
ourselves. Honest. Come with me to Matthew
chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. This is a very well-known passage
of scripture. It's often referred to as the
Beatitudes. The Beatitudes. The attitudes
that ought to be. The Beatitudes. These are the
attitudes that all God's people should have. That's how the religious
world sees this passage. Now, let us first understand
that all of these verses are not Remember this as we go through
this passage. Every single one of these verses are not conditional
statements which tell us how to be blessed. This isn't a how-to
message. In fact, for the most part, 99
times out of 100, when you see a sermon or a book that says
how-to, how to be blessed, how to be justified, how to get right
with God, how to make your peace with God, avoid it at all costs.
Avoid it. Avoid it. These are not conditional
statements which tell us how to be blessed. They are statements
of fact that reveal the spiritual character of those who are already
blessed. I'll say that again. These are
not conditional statements which tell us what we must do in order
to be blessed of God. Christ is simply stating facts
which describe the spiritual character of every single person
who is blessed of God. Now, we know that the carnal
mind will always take grace and turn it into works. He'll always
take grace and turn it into works. The hardest thing to do is to
try to convince an unbeliever the difference between free will
and free grace. In the Quran, that's just what
it does. And people will see this passage, they'll read it.
It's a how-to sermon. They'll say, well, blessed are
the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. That means you've
got to be merciful and then God will give you mercy. No, being
merciful is the blessing. It's a statement of fact. Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall continue to receive mercy. And
that's true with every single one of these statements. Christ
here does not tell us what we must do in order to be saved,
but rather gives us the description, like I said, of the spiritual
character of those who have already been blessed of God. False religion
gets everything backwards, don't they? Good works. They think
that's the cause of salvation. But Paul said it comes after
salvation. We are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus on two good works. Faith. They get cause and effect
backward. Believe on Christ, and then God
will save you. As if faith is the cause of somebody's
salvation. As if your faith in Christ is
the cause of your justification. Faith is not the cause of our
salvation, it's the evidence of our salvation. That's the gospel. That distinction
must be known. People say, well, how can you
make faith a work? If it's faith, the Bible says
faith is not a work. But you see, the carnal mind
is so corrupt that he makes a work out of faith by making faith
the cause of his salvation. It doesn't matter what it is
that you're looking to as the cause of your salvation. If there's
anything, any merit, Anything in you that you're bringing before
God, saying, see God, you must save me, because I've done this,
because I have this. That's salvation by works. That's
not the Gospel. That's not the way God saves
people. His people. Now, if you fit into the description
that Christ gives of the new man here in Matthew chapter 5,
then you can rest assured that you are blessed of God. And I
also want you to see this. If you fit into one of these
descriptions, you must by necessity fit into all of them. What do
I mean by that? God doesn't partially bless.
Can you believe that? God does not partially bless.
When He blesses a person, He blesses. What did He say? Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with what? All spiritual blessings. If you've
got one of God's blessings, you have them all. who have blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Another thing that I find very
remarkable in this passage is the fact that God's definition
of a blessed person is completely different from the world's definition.
If you ask the average person to name a person who is blessed,
what would they say? Donald Trump. He's rich. He's a billionaire. He'll tell
you, I'm worth many billions of dollars. Bill Gates. He's
rich. He's successful. Those people who have wealth
have influence, have power. Those aren't blessed people.
They're not blessed of God. The world sees them as blessed,
but again, the carnal mind is enmity against God. The way things
are in God's kingdom are always the exact opposite of the way
things are in this world. How do I know that? The unbelievers
say, blessed are the rich. You know what Christ says? Blessed
are the poor in spirit. You remember when Samuel, the Lord sent him to go find
a replacement for Saul to be the king of Israel. And he said,
go into Bethlehem and find Jesse, and cause all his sons to pass
before you. And when I say, this is my king,
you'll anoint him, and he'll be the new king of Israel. So
he went to Bethlehem, met Jesse. He said, send all your sons before
me, and I'll anoint the new king that the Lord has chosen. And Jesse makes all his sons pass
before Samuel. And the Lord says, it's none of them. And Samuel
says to Jesse, are you sure these are all your sons? Are these
all your sons? And Jesse says, well, there's
one son back there, David. He's just a shepherd. He's not
worth much. Samuel said, fetch him. God says, that's the king. God's ways are not our ways,
brethren. What did the Lord tell Samuel? Man looketh on the outward
appearance, but God does not see as man sees, for God looks
on the heart. On the heart. God looks on the
heart. The fact is, here's a remarkable
statement. Blessed people, Blessed people
cannot be identified by carnal things. They can't be identified
by carnal things. You see, physical sickness and
affliction is no more a sign of God's curse than physical
health, wealth, and prosperity is a sign of God's blessing.
And the fact is that those who are blessed with God don't often
feel blessed. I'm sure Job didn't feel blessed
either when he lost all his possessions, lost his children, lost his health.
Do you think he felt blessed? But he was blessed, wasn't he? And who was the most blessed
man to ever live? Can there be any doubt? It was
the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Did you know that He was homeless?
That goes to show you just how different... What an understatement
that is. He didn't need those things. What about Peter and John? Were
they blessed? You know, most Christians would agree. Most
professing Christians would agree. Yeah, Peter and John. Two apostles
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were blessed. Well, Acts
chapter 3 tells us that when Peter and John were walking,
there was a man who was lame from his birth. And he saw Peter
and John, and he asked them for money. He begged them for alms.
You know what Peter said? Silver and gold have I none. None. I don't even have a penny,
but such as I have, give I unto thee. In the name of Jesus of
Nazareth, stand up and walk." You see, God's definition of
blessedness is completely opposite from man's definition. We need
to understand that before we read this passage. Now, Matthew
chapter 5, verse 1. 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." Again, this is a statement of fact.
Christ is not saying, if you act poor in spirit, walk with
your head down and try to No, that's pretending. That's hypocrisy
and self-righteousness. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now, this
word poor, used in our text, quite literally translates to
the word beggar. Beggar. What is it to be poor
in spirit? If Christ says these are the
people who are blessed, the poor in spirit, what is it to be poor
in spirit? It's to be spiritually bankrupt before God. It's to
be a spiritual beggar. Most people hear that. That's
offensive. I'm not a beggar. I'm not a beggar.
I'm not a dog. I'm not going to beg God for
anything. Well, then you're not poor in spirit. To be poor in
spirit is not to have very little. It's to be, like I said, spiritually
bankrupt. You don't even have a good decision, a good thought
to offer God. You look at yourself and you
say, oh, wretched man that I am. Oh, wretched man that I am. In
me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. You're like Job. Behold, I am vile. That's what
it is to be poor in spirit. It's to have no righteousness
of your own. Tommy and I were just talking
about whenever he would arrest people who were very immoral. Drug dealers, rapists, things
like that. You would think those people
would know that they're sinners. Oh, they say, I'm not a bad person,
I just have bad habits. It's not your sins that keep
you from Christ. It's your righteousness. You're
too good to be saved. That's why you won't believe
on Him. Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who have nothing
of their own, those who come to God naked. Just like that.
that leper. Oh, he was poor in spirit, wasn't
he? In Matthew chapter 8, he came to the Lord and he said,
Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. He didn't come saying,
Lord, now I'm going to choose to make you my Savior. I'm going
to accept you into my heart and let you rule my life. None of
that nonsense. Lord, if You will. Salvation
is based entirely upon the will of God. If You will. And thank
God He's willing. He's willing to save sinners.
He came, not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. If
You will, Lord, You can. You can make me clean. To be poor in spirit means that
if God required one penny, so to speak, one penny of personal
merit from you in order to be saved, then you still would not
enter Heaven. You see, the poor in spirit have
no good works to boast of. The poor in spirit are sinners
who come naked before God, confessing their sins, pouring out their
hearts before Him. How can I tell if I'm poor in
spirit? Ask yourself this question. Does God owe me? Or do I owe
God? See, false religion is all about
finding ways to obligate God. That's what it is. They'll never
admit that, but that's exactly what it is. Do this and you'll
somehow obligate God. You'll somehow obligate the Almighty.
How do you know if you're poor in spirit? Do you owe God? Do
you owe God? Or does God owe you? Robert Machine once wrote these
words, When I stand before the throne, Dressed in beauty not
my own, When I see thee as thou art, Love thee with unsinning
heart, Then, Lord, shall I fully know, Not till then how much
I owe. Oh, we don't know how much we
owe Him. Oh, just, Lord, thank You. We
can't thank Him enough for what He's done for us. Here we are,
poor in spirit. We're like that child in Ezekiel
16, cast out in the field, polluted by our own blood, helpless, dead
in trespasses and sins, and He passes by us and says, live.
Oh, how much we owe, Lord, thank You. Thank You. That's who the
poor in spirit are. And look at what His promise
is to those who are poor in spirit. For theirs is the Kingdom of
Heaven. Again, Christ is not teaching,
I'll give you the Kingdom of Heaven if you act poor in spirit.
He's teaching that those who are poor in spirit already have
the Kingdom of Heaven as their own. See, both of these are the
gift of God. Nothing that we have is of our
own merit. The only thing we can call our
own is our sin. The only thing I can call my
own is my sin. Faith, repentance, life in Christ. If you believe
the Gospel, who gave you that faith? See, the poor in spirit recognize
that fact. Everything is from Him. My next breath is from Him. Are you blessed? Number two.
Matthew 5, verse 4. Blessed are they that mourn. I thought blessed are they who
are happy all the time. Blessed are they that mourn, for they
shall be comforted. Now the first thing I think of
when I read this word mourn is people weeping during a funeral. Who in their right mind would
pass by people mourning at a funeral and say, that's a blessed people.
That's a blessed people. You see, God's ways aren't our
ways. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Someone may ask, well, What are they mourning about? Is it just
a general melancholy spirit? No. He's specifically speaking
about one thing. Blessed are they who mourn over
their sin. Every one of God's people know
what it is to mourn over sin. Oh, we know what it is to...
Lord, why am I thus? Why can't I stop? Why am I so
sinful? I can't even contribute a good thought. As soon as I'm
tempted, Lord, as soon as I'm tempted, I fall away. If you've been born again and
given the new man, then you know what it is to mourn and grieve
over what you are. The fact is, if your sin doesn't
cause you to grieve and come before God like the publican
beating upon his chest, Lord, God, be merciful to me, the sinner.
If you don't come to God that way, then it's evident that you
haven't been blessed. All those who are blessed of
God come to Him just that way. sinners, mourners. Now, we know we can't repent
enough. I'm not saying that. You can't repent enough. Do you
believe that? Do you believe that you can't grieve over your
sin enough? You see, the truth of the matter is that God in
His good providence, though He allows us to enter in, in some
measure, to the depravity of our own sinful state, He doesn't
allow us to see the depths of that depravity. Why? We wouldn't
be able to live with ourselves. If God saw you what you really
are, showed you what you really are, and you saw... Oh my! You know, I heard someone once
say, I think I've mentioned this before, The thief on the cross,
he was at rock bottom. He was at rock bottom to his
depravity. There is no bottom to our depravity. But what causes this mournful
state? What causes God's people to mourn this way? Who gives
this blessing? Listen to what the Lord says
in Zechariah chapter 12. He said, I will pour out upon the house
of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace
and supplication. Now what's the effect? And they
shall look upon me whom they have pierced. And they shall
mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be
in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his
firstborn." You see, we may weep over the effects of sin, but
that's not what Christ is talking about here. When we're chastised
for our sins, we get exactly what we deserve. But that's not
what Christ is talking about here. He's talking about grieving
over what you are before God. When you see that you can't stop
sinning against the God that you love. When you see and sub-measure
by faith the Lord Jesus Christ hanging on that tree for your
sins, just as we read in Isaiah 53, Him being spit on and slapped
and mocked and scourged and hung there naked before the world
in shame and humility, forsaken of His Father, made sin for you.
And you think, Lord, how can I take my sin so lightly? You
just mourn over what you are. Blessed are they that mourn.
Why? For they shall be comforted. Comfort ye, do you need comfort?
Do you need comfort? Comfort ye, comfort ye my people,
sayeth your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
he said to Isaiah in Isaiah 40. Tell them that their warfare
is accomplished, that she hath received of the Lord's hand double
for all her sins. Are you blessed? Number three. Who are the blessed? They are
the meek. Look at verse 5 of our text.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Now,
meekness doesn't mean weakness. Most people think that if someone's
meek, he's a weak person. No, no, no, no. That's just not
true. The Bible says, listen, apart
from the Lord Jesus Christ, Moses was the meekest man to walk upon
the face of the earth. And yet, Moses went into the
throne room of the most powerful king, the Pharaoh, the king of
Egypt, in the world at that time, and said, let the children of
Israel go. And he didn't back down. He wasn't afraid. To be
meek is not to be weak. What does he mean? What is this
meekness? It's an attitude toward God.
An attitude toward God that comes from really believing that He
is sovereign. That He is sovereign. Being meek is just the opposite
of being a control freak. Are you a control freak? I am. Just trying to control every
little circumstance in your life. Something goes wrong, something
doesn't go your way, and you're in a frenzy. What do the meek
do? Have thine own way, Lord." We
sing that song. That's what the meek say. Lord,
have your own way with me. See, the meek know that whatever
God does is right. And it's right because He does
it. You see, God doesn't look at a situation and say, well,
here's the right thing to do and here's the wrong thing to
do. I'm going to choose that which is right. No, God simply acts out
of His own good pleasure and will. And whatever He does is
right because He does it. And the meek, you know what they
say? Amen. Lord, have Your own way. Have
Your own way. You can do with me whatsoever You will. That's
what it is to be meek. It's an attitude towards God. God-given meekness says, not
my will, but thine will. Perhaps a better way to define
what the Lord means by this word meek is to give some examples.
Listen, some of the meekest statements in all the Word of God. Now there's
many more, but I'll just give you a few. Shall not the judge
of all the earth do right? Lord, I don't understand why
you're doing this. Lord, I can't explain this. But I know this,
the judge of all the earth shall do right. The judge of all the
earth shall do right. Here's another statement by Job.
Though he slay me, yet will I trust him. Oh God, teach me to say
that in my heart. Though he slay me, though he
kills me and takes everything from me, yet will I trust him.
Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return
hither. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be
the name of the Lord." Now there's a meek man. There's a meek man. Here's another meek man. He said, Christ must increase,
but I must decrease. Christ, it is He whose coming
is after me, and He is preferred before me, whose shoe-latches
I am not worthy to unloose." That's a meek man. That's a meek
man. And Christ says in verse 5, let's
read it together, "...Blessed are the meek, for they shall
inherit the earth." Now, this phrase is common in the Bible,
and it simply means the same thing that Paul meant when he
wrote, "...the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit,
that we are the children of God." And if children..." Listen to
his logic. "...if children, then heirs,
heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we
suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. All
things are yours, whether of the world, or life, or death,
or things present, or things to come, all are yours, and you
are Christ, and Christ is God's." You see, in Christ, How much
of this universe belongs to Him? Every part of it. The entire
universe belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ. Are we not in Him? Are we not joint heirs with Christ?
All that He inherits, we shall inherit. See how God blesses
His people? Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. But they are going to inherit much more
than that. Oh, in Christ we inherit everything. We inherit everything. Again, I ask, are you blessed?
Do you fit the character? Do you fit these facts of spiritual
character that Christ gives? Alright, here's the next one,
verse 6. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled. Doesn't that sound strange? You mean the hungry and the thirsty
are the blessed people? How about those who are filled
with the finest delicacies that this earth has to offer, are
the blessed people? No. Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst. Not just any general hunger and thirst, but they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness. Righteousness. You see, you can't
hunger and thirst after something that you already have. If you
have it, you don't hunger and thirst after it. What do we desire, brethren?
Christ. Is He not the righteousness of
God? That's what the Lord's meaning is here. Blessed are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed are they which hunger
and thirst after Christ. For He is the righteousness of
God. See, blessed people hunger and
thirst after righteousness because they know they have none of their
own. They know they have none of their own. In Philippians
chapter 3, we don't have to turn there, but you remember what
Paul's testimony was. I count all things but lost for
the excellency of Christ Jesus my Lord. I count them all but
dumb. All my previous knowledge, all those things I gloried in
before, that I might win Christ. Oh, there's a man who hungered
and thirsted after righteousness. And we have this promise, that
they which hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be
filled. It's the same thing that the Lord said when He said, And
ye shall seek Me and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with
all your heart. Oh Lord, make Me to search after you with all
My heart. You seek Him, you seek Christ
and His righteousness, you seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven
with all your heart, and God will give it to you, knowing
that the reason you seek it with all your heart is because you're
already blessed of God. You see, that is the blessing.
Oh, that's a blessed man. Someone who seeks after Christ,
that's a blessed man. That's a blessed man. Are you blessed? Verse 7, Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. What's he saying? He's saying that those who have
received mercy will be merciful. Again, it's not a conditional
statement, it's a simple statement of fact. I don't know what Brother
Henry Mann once said about this. He said, the grace of God makes
a man gracious, and the mercy of God makes a man merciful.
And that's exactly what the Lord is saying here. Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. He's not saying, you act
merciful and God will forgive you. No, you act merciful because
God has already forgiven you. Like we saw, don't get the cause
and effect mixed up. Though it appears this way from
the carnal mind, though so much false religion exists saying,
do this, this is a how-to, how to be blessed. No, it's a statement
of fact. If you've been forgiven by God,
for Christ's sake, for all your sin, you're going to be merciful. That's just fact. That's just
a fact. How can anyone who hasn't been
forgiven be unmerciful to others when they offend them? You know,
I want to say this with reverence, you know the most Christ-like
thing you can do? The most Christ-like thing you
and I can do, you know what it is? Forgive. Forgive people when
they offend us. Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall..." It can be also read like this, verse 7, "...Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall continue to obtain mercy." Are you blessed? Verse 8, Christ
said, "...Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
God." Now, if we are to believe, and I've read a lot of different
commentaries on this, if we are to believe what most people say
about this verse of Scripture, then we are in deep trouble.
People who go about to establish their own righteousness before
God honestly believe that this pureness of heart that Christ
is talking about is a human effort to progress in His sanctification. But they seem to forget what
Christ said about man's heart in Mark chapter 7. "...that which
cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out
of the heart of men..." Have you ever noticed that? The heart,
singular, of men, plural. Why? Because all men have the
same heart. "...out of the heart of men proceedeth threat." evil
thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness,
foolishness, blasphemy. All these things come, all these
evil things come from within, out of the man's heart and defile
the man. So if Christ is saying, blessed are the pure in heart,
as in, you have to reform your life. You have to reform your
life and you have to try to abstain from sin. You ought to try to
abstain from sinful things, but that's not what Christ is talking
about. That's not what He's talking about. Blessed are the pure in
heart. Who are the pure in heart? Remember God's promise in the
Old Testament. I will give them one heart and
I will put a new spirit within you and I will take the stony
heart of their flesh and will give them a heart of flesh that
they may walk in my statues and keep my ordinances and do them
and they shall be my people and I will be their God. You see,
God doesn't go into the old man and reform his heart. He doesn't
remodel the old man. He gives His people a new man.
What did Paul say? If any man be in Christ Jesus,
he is a new creature. New. That's what Christ is talking
about. Blessed are the pure in heart.
Blessed are those who have been given a pure heart. That's what
it means. And you know, what did John say
in 1 John 1, I believe? Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him,
and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. Now someone may
think, well, I thought the blessed of God mourned over their sin.
How could they also be pure in heart? Are God's people sinners
or are God's people saints? Yes. Yes. You see, all sinners are saints
and all saints are sinners. Such is the mystery of the gospel. You can only understand it by
faith. It's kind of like God's sovereignty and man's accountability
for his sin. Was Christ crucified because
it was God's sovereign will and determinate counsel? Or was Christ
crucified because man, out of his own hatred for God, crucified
Him? Yes. Both are true. We can only understand
this by faith. So when Christ says, blessed
are the pure in heart, He's not saying, reform your life. That's
what the foolish virgins do. You can't reform your life. You
can't stop sinning. I had a conversation recently
with someone. He said, you know, it seemed that he was genuine.
I couldn't really tell it was online, but he said, you know,
I can say, Dennis, that I've sincerely been able to stop sinning. And I said, well, that would
be a good trick if you could pull it off, because you know
what God's Word says? If any man say he hath no sin, he is
a liar and the truth is not in him. God's people have two natures. We know this, brethren. God's
people have... What did Paul say? The flesh lusteth against
the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. So that you cannot
do the things that you would. You want to worship God perfectly.
I want to preach the Gospel in a way that Christ deserves, but
I can't. Those of you who are believers
here this morning, you want to worship God the way He deserves
to be worshipped, don't you? You want to sing His praises
the way He deserves to be honored, but you can't. You can't. Oh, blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God. Oh, what a glorious day that
will be to see Him. And I was thinking about that
the other day. What's it going to be like to
meet Him? When He comes again, what's it going to be like to
meet Him? Am I just going to be speechless? See Him as He
is. Be made like Him. Blessed are
the pure in heart, for they shall see God. They shall see Him. those wicked men and women who
crucified the Lord Jesus Christ, and they said, If Thou be the
Son of God, come down from the cross, and we will believe Thee.
And I think, you know, when Christ was resurrected from the grave
after being dead for three days, why didn't He go to those people
who mocked Him and say, See? He wouldn't give them that blessing.
Only the pure in heart see God. You see, seeing Him is a blessing. Seeing Him in love and truth. Are you blessed? Verse 9. Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children
of God. Now, again, many people think
that this means we ought to never tell someone that they don't
know the Gospel or that they worship a false god. They say
to be a peacemaker, We need to be open-minded. Like what Greg
said. Some people are so open-minded
that their brains are falling out. Being a peacemaker doesn't
mean to be open-minded and tolerant, accepting of all religions, denominations,
points of view, interpretations. That's not what being a peacemaker
is. Nothing can be further from the truth. Paul said, if a man
or an angel from heaven come and preach any other gospel,
any other Jesus, let him be anathema. Let him be accursed. To be a
peacemaker is to preach the gospel of peace. That's what it is to
be a peacemaker. You see, the kindest thing that
you and I can do for our fellow man is to tell them the truth.
To be a peacemaker is not to give them a how-to sermon of
how to make their peace with God, but to tell them about the
Lord Jesus Christ and that by His stripes we are healed. Tell
me about Him who made peace with God for me, on my behalf. Now Paul did say, if it be possible,
as much as life, then you live peaceably with all men. God's
people are not people who are out looking for a fight. No.
God's people, you ought to live peaceably with all men when it's
possible. Pay attention to that word. He said, if it be possible,
as much as life, then you live peaceably with all men. When
is it not possible to live peaceably? When it comes to compromising
the Gospel. Oh, Lord, don't ever let me... We often think, we
look at Peter and his denial and we think, I wouldn't do that. I'm telling you, the fear of
man, apart from the grace of God, it will grip each and every
one of us and cause us to deny the Lord, just like Peter did.
I've done it. The fear of man, oh, people are going to hate
me, people are going to mock me, people are going to laugh at
me. It's one verses a hundred. Don't deny the gospel. Don't
be ashamed of Christ, for He is the power of God and the wisdom
of God to everyone that believeth. The Lord says at the end of verse
9, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the
children of God. Are you blessed? Verse 10. Well, let's just read
verses 10 through 12, because this will be my last point, and
I'll stop. Christ says, Blessed are they which are persecuted
for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you, and men shall revile you, and persecute you,
and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad.
Rejoice for being persecuted, for being mocked, for being hated,
for being ostracized from my family and friends. Rejoice and
be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for
so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Do you know why Christ says,
blessed are the peacemakers? It is because everyone who is
a peacemaker will be persecuted for righteousness sake. You tell
people about the righteousness of Christ, and that's what He
means when He says, blessed are you when you are persecuted for
righteousness sake. He's saying, blessed are you
when you're persecuted for preaching that Christ's righteousness is
the only righteousness. That's what he's saying. Some
men may persecute you for living godly in an ungodly world, but
that's not what he's referring to. Blessed are you when you're
persecuted for preaching my righteousness, Christ is saying. For preaching
and telling men that There's only one righteousness. All men
don't like to hear that. There's only one righteousness.
Because the only conclusion from that fact is this. Your righteousness
is filthy rags. Your best is sin. You believe
that about yourself. David said, man altogether at
his best state. You take every human being who
has ever lived and put them together in all their good works and all
their Vanity. Man altogether at his very best
state is altogether vanity. Oh, blessed are you when men
shall..." What does Christ say? "...when men shall revile you
and persecute you." You tell people who go about trying to
establish their own righteousness, which is of the law, that they
can't do anything good in God's sight, that Christ is the only
acceptance before a holy God, you will be persecuted. But don't
be upset. That's a badge of honor. Persecuted
for Christ's sake. Brethren, if you're ever given
the opportunity to tell others about the righteousness of God
in Christ, and that He is the only one in whom the Father is
pleased, you'll be persecuted just like every single believer
in history. Why did they stone Stephen? Why did they crucify Christ?
For a good work we stoned thee not, but because thou, being
a man, makest thyself God." They crucified Him for the things
that He taught. That's why. That's why. But they
got it wrong. He wasn't a man who made himself
God. He was God who made Himself a man. Are you blessed? Can you be honest
with yourselves, children of God? Lord, is this me? Does this describe me? Does this
describe you? If this describes you, you are
blessed of God. You are blessed of God. And I
pray that the Lord would make us blessed. Blessed with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. May God enable
us to know that we're blessed. To know that we're blessed. Let's
pray together. Oh Lord, we come to you beggars
who are poor in spirit, pleading only the righteousness of our
representative and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray
that you would bless us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ, that you would cause us to know that if we have
even one of your blessings, then we must have them all. Lord,
we pray that you would enable us to be honest with ourselves
and examine ourselves. We pray that You would enable
us to trust You for everything. We pray that You would make us
peacemakers. We pray that You would enable
us to preach the righteousness of Christ, to preach the gospel
of peace. O Lord, make us such blessed
people, and remind us day in and day out, for we so soon forget
who it is who has blessed us. O, all blessings come from Thy
gracious hand, Father. What do we have that we have
not received? And if we've received it as a gift, how can we dare
glory in it, Lord? Have mercy upon us. Give us grace. Bless each and every one of us
this morning with the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. For
it is in His name we pray. Amen. Okay.