In the Gospel of Matthew chapter
5 is what is commonly referred to as the Sermon on the Mount.
When the Lord Jesus Christ, it says, seeing the multitudes,
went up into a mountain and sat down and began to teach them,
began to preach. Multitudes followed him then
and now. Now there are many, if not millions,
who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ. Well, he one time
rebuked the multitudes for following him for just getting their bellies
filled for what they could get out of him. The same is true
today. Another time he turned to a multitude
of people and said, you follow me because you saw the miracles.
You want to see something exciting, something fantastic. The same
is true in religion today. But some, there were a few who
followed Him because He chose them, He called them, He revealed
Himself to them. He revealed to them their need
of Him and He blessed them with a revelation, with a knowledge
of Himself. I hope that's you. He went up into this mount and
He sat down and He opened His mouth and taught them saying,
blessed are The poor in spirit, blessed are they that mourn,
blessed are the meek, blessed are they that hunger and thirst,
and so on. Blessed, blessed or blessed. It's a popular saying today,
a popular greeting. You hear it all the time from
people who are obviously somewhat religious and they say, Have
a blessed day. What they mean by that is they
hope all things go well with you, nothing bad happens to you.
Hope you have anything and everything you want and need today. But
now, true blessings are spiritual blessings. In this sermon of
our Lord, not one material earthly thing is mentioned as being a
blessing. In fact, God's blessings are
not what people think or want. In verse 3 he begins by saying,
blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is a kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the poor in spirit. The world says blessed are the
rich. Blessed are the rich. But no,
our Lord says blessed are the poor in spirit. Over in the Revelation,
He rebuked the church at Laodicea. He said, You say you're rich
and increased with goods and have need of nothing. And knowest
not that thou art wretched, miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. He said, I counsel thee to buy
of me gold tried in the fire that thou mayest be rich. Do
you understand what that means? Are you poor in spirit? He's
blessed to be poor in spirit. Poor means to have nothing, not
a little bit, but nothing. A truly poor person is a beggar
who needs a handout from God, poor in spirit. It's one who
says, I have no wisdom. I don't know God, no righteousness,
nothing to commend me to God, no good works, no goodness, no
faith, no ability to quit sinning or to be holy. You have no need
of me, but I am totally dependent on you. I need you. I'm poor. Would you help me? Would you
give me all that I need? Our Lord said, theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. Heaven is full of those who were
once poor and needy sinners, and now they have it all. They
have Jesus Christ. The next thing he says, blessed
are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Oh no, the
world says, blessed are the happy, happy, happy, blessed are the
rich, blessed are the happy. No, our Lord said you're blessed
if you mourn. If you mourn over sinfulness. He just spoke of being poor in
spirit. And this mourning is over your
sinfulness. Many mourn over sad things, but
our Lord says here, blessed are they that mourn. Like David said,
O have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness,
according to the multitude of Thy tender mercy. He said, I'm
a sinner. Would you help me, please? I
mourn over my sinfulness. Our Lord said they shall be comforted.
The Gospel is good news. It means good news. Well, it's
only for sinners. It's not for the self-righteous.
Mercy. The Gospel is of mercy. Mercy
is only for the guilty. Grace is for the poor and needy. Love is for the unlovely, not
those who think God should love them. Pardon, a full, free, effectual,
eternal pardon is for the guilty, those on death row. Yes, blessed
are they that mourn. All who mourn. All who mourn
will cry. If you're mourning something,
you generally cry. You shed tears. Well, all who
cry, who call on the name of the Lord, Save me, Lord, or I
perish. Would you have mercy upon this
sinful sinner? They shall be comforted. How?
Christ shall say, Thy sins be forgiven thee. It is the blood
of Jesus Christ that cleanseth. Verse 5, he said, Blessed are
the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the meek. The meek, the humble, the broken,
the contrite, nothings and nobodies. That's what it means to be meek.
It means humble and poor and contrite hearted. I'm a nobody
from nowhere. A no good sinner. That's all
I am. Well, listen to Isaiah 2. Enter
into the rock and hide in the dust for fear of the Lord, for
the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks of man shall
be humbled. The haughtiness of men shall
be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts
shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty. Everyone that
is lifted up shall be brought low. And yet, our Lord said,
over in Isaiah 66, to this man will I look, that is, him that
is poor, of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. Oh
yes, blessed are the meek, blessed are the meek, the poor, the contrite. I'm a nothing, I'm a nobody.
Lord, if you let me in your heaven, it'll be pure grace. And the
Lord says, they shall inherit the earth, the new earth. The
new heaven, new earth is populated with people who are humble, broken
in contrite, whom God gave his heaven to. Verse 6, blessed are
they which hunger and thirst after righteousness, they shall
be filled. Hunger and thirst, physical hunger
and thirst is a sign of life. If you have no hunger or thirst,
you're dead or dying. Here he says, blessed are they
that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Righteousness. This is a sign of spiritual life. Hunger and thirst. What righteousness?
Well, it's not just holiness or sinlessness or goodness, but
it is Christ. Christ, the one who hungers and
thirsts for true righteousness, spiritual righteousness, hungers
and thirst after Christ. Christ once said, He that eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood, he it is that loveth me. He it
is that hath a part in me. He that eateth not and drinketh
not has no part in me. Do you understand what that means?
It means to have an all-consuming desire, a heartfelt desire, a
need, a hunger, a longing, a desire for Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
His salvation, His mercy, His word, life in Him, with Him. Listen to Isaiah 45 verse 24,
Surely shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and
strength. Yes, to him shall men come, and
all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed. But in
the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and shall
glory. O God's people, know those to
whom God has given this hunger and thirst after Christ They
hunger and thirst after Him. It's Him they want, not just
heaven. Everybody wants to go to heaven when they die, but
God's people who hunger and thirst after Christ, they want to be
with Him. It says they shall be filled.
If you go to church looking for this and that and the other,
you may find entertainment and various programs and various
things that people are interested in. But if you're looking for
Christ, In Him you'll find all the fullness of God. You'll be
filled, and that's all you'll want from that day forward. If
you hear Him preach that God gives you a hunger and thirst,
you'll be filled, because in Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead. Verse 7, our Lord says, Blessed
are the merciful. Blessed are the merciful. They
shall obtain mercy. Mercy means not getting what
you deserve. Nobody deserves heaven. Nobody
deserves to be saved. Nobody deserves a chance to be
saved. Salvation is not by chance, it's on purpose. And salvation
is not deserving it, it's mercy. Salvation is by sovereign electing
mercy. God says, I will be merciful
to whom I will be merciful. It's for all those who are on
death row, guilty. But God is rich in mercy, and
He chose some to show mercy, and they know it. And those who
know it, show it. To the merciful, He shows Himself
merciful. Those who know they need mercy,
they're merciful people. Notice He says, blessed are.
Blessed are. This is not what God's people
should be. This is what they are. Oh, they
should be more merciful, but they are merciful. all self-righteous
Pharisees, holier than thou, they shall be cast into hell.
But blessed are the merciful, they shall obtain mercy." Verse
8, blessed are the pure at heart. Pure means unmixed, means undiluted. It's a heart pure, true, sincere,
full of love, gratitude, thanksgiving, hope in Christ, hope But thanksgiving
and love and gratitude for God's sovereign mercy and grace. Love
for His Son. Love for His salvation. Seeing
you have purified your hearts and obeying the truth, Peter
says, pure heart, pure grace, pure mercy, clean. Did you clean up your heart in
life or did the blood of Christ do so? Are you clear of all charges
against you? Is your record clear? How? God's
people know it's by the blood of Jesus Christ. They shall see
God. And the only God they shall see is Jesus Christ. Christ said,
ìNo man cometh unto the Father but by Me.î Verse 9 says, ìBlessed
are the peacemakers.î If youíre poor, if you mourn, if youíre
meek, if youíve obtained mercy, if youíre hungry and thirst after
righteousness, been pardoned, purified, cleared of all charges,
you're a peacemaker. You have peace with God, and
you're a peaceable, gentle, easy to be untreated child of God.
That's what it says. He said, they shall be called
the children of God. It's a violent, dog-eat-dog world
out there, but not God's children. They're not of this world. They're
for peace. They have peace with God and
have peace among one another. You have war and fighting and
strife in your so-called church, then that's not God's church.
God's people are peacemakers, and they have peace. Verse 10
says, persecuted for righteousness' sake. Theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. Blessed, he said, are when men
shall revile you and persecute you, say all manner of evil against
you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad. Great is your reward in heaven.
So persecuted they the prophets which are before you. Blessed
are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. That
is, they believe in a gospel of God's imputed righteousness.
That it's not man's righteousness, it's God's righteousness. That
nothing we have done or ever will do commends us to God, but
only what Christ did. Oh, people hate that. Not God's
people. They love it. They know they
don't have any righteousness but His. And they contend for
His righteousness. And they contend for a standard
of holiness and righteousness found in God's Word. Oh, that's
not today. Oh, men call good evil and evil
good. But no, God's law is still intact. God's people love it. And they're
persecuted, and all manner of evil falsely said against them
for His name's sake, for His truth's sake. But oh, they're
blessed. They're blessed. They're the people of God. What
about you? What about you? Are you blessed?
I hope you are. Then have a blessed day.