And that is my desire this morning. I desire that the Lord would
meet with us. And speak for us. And send his spirit and bless
his word. That's all I desire. Turn to Matthew chapter five. Matthew chapter five, I'll read
the first twelve verses. 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. Blessed
are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are
the meek. For they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness,
for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are
they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. I said, are you 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 day the prophets
which were before you. Verse one says, seeing the multitudes. The Lord still sees the multitudes His eye is on all of mankind. And this is what I was going
to tell the teenagers this morning. This was the lesson for downstairs.
I feel that I've told them this before. I think it's important.
It used to scare me to death. When I was their age on Friday
nights thinking the Lord sees me. He's watching me. He sees me. He sees my actions. My thoughts,
my heart. That's a scary and exposing thing. The Lord sees that man is enmity
against God. He sees that man is an enemy
of God. He sees man's hatred of God.
He clearly sees man's sin. He sees man's ignorance, their
lack of wisdom, lack of any knowledge. He sees that man is a fool. And for his people, conversion
begins. Conversion from death to life
begins by the Lord revealing this to them now in this life. All of mankind will come to a
knowledge of this sooner or later. But for most, it's going to be
on the day of judgment, and that's going to be too late. So God's great mercy towards
his people is that he pulls them away from the multitude. And
he sits them down. And he teaches them the truth. Verse one and two say and see
in the multitudes up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples
came unto him and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, The thought went through my mind
as soon as I read verse 2. How wonderful to be taught directly
from the Lord Himself. To sit and learn directly from
the mouth of the Lord Himself. And then I thought, we are. Scripture
says all are taught of Him. All of His people shall be taught
of Him. He opened His mouth and what comes out of the mouth?
Words. Beautiful words. Wonderful words
of life. This is a side note, but it was
a great blessing to me when we all went to Mexico. We traveled
to these different churches in these villages. And I knew how
to say hola, buenos noches, and adios. And I tried to communicate with
them, but it was lip service on my part. I didn't understand
them. I couldn't enter into anything
that they had to say. But as soon as that worship service
started. And they were singing the song. Beautiful words, wonderful
words, right? I felt like I was at the day
of Pentecost. I thought. I understand what they're saying.
I don't understand their words, but I know what they're saying.
And that man believes the same thing that I believe. That blessed
me. Well. Verse three, the first first
word in verse three. Can be pronounced in two different
ways. Blessed. and blessed, and I think both
are a good representation of this text. It is true, as verse
three says, blessed are the Lord's people who are poor in spirit.
They are blessed people and they are blessings to other people.
But the second way of pronouncing it truly reveals the goodness
of the Lord. And the great work of grace that
he performs in his people And the proof of it by listing these
evidences are fruits of the spirit. And that's what we're going to
look at. These are evidences that the Lord has created a work
of grace in a person. So verse three says blessed. Are the poor in spirit. In other
words, if you see someone who is poor in spirit. then you're seeing someone who
has been greatly blessed by the Lord, given a great blessing. Poor in spirit. If the Lord doesn't
break us, then he doesn't love us. He chastens those whom he
loves, right? There are some in the world who
appear to be poor in spirit. But if you tell them the truth
about who God is, And you tell them the truth about who they
are, they immediately turn into proud, haughty, self-righteous
rebels, don't they? They change. They change. But if you tell a person the
truth about who God is and what He is, an undeserving sinner,
and he bows in humility and says, let God be true and everything
else and everyone else be a liar. Then you're looking at a person
who has been greatly blessed by the Lord. And the Lord says
he's going to give them the kingdom of heaven. That's who he's going
to give the kingdom of heaven to. Verse four. Truly blessed are all they that
mourn. Blessed are those who cry. For
most people in this world, Everything is great. Life is great. Finances are great. Family and
friends are great. Doing just fine. Don't need anything. Don't need the Lord. I don't
even have time to think about the Lord. I'm too busy thinking
about my bank account. But for those who mourn and feel
the weight of this world caving in on them, and those in distress
thinking I can't make it on my own. I need the Lord Jesus Christ.
I need him every hour of every day. I long for his return. To them, the Lord says, you have
no idea how blessed you really are. I will personally see to
it. It says they shall be comforted. Would you like to hear how? Turn,
hold your place here and turn to Isaiah 61. The heading at the top of my
page says that this is the office of Christ. Isaiah 61. Verses one through three. The Lord Jesus Christ is saying,
the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath
anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He hath sent me
to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives
and 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 unto them that mourn
in Zion, to give 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, planting of
the Lord, that he might be glorified. That's how the Lord will see
to his people's comfort. He said it there in verse one,
the Lord hath anointed me to preach. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
one Sunday after Wednesday doing all the preaching. The Lord's preachers are only
delivering the message. That's all. Reading his word,
and it's the Lord who speaks through the messenger to his
people. That's what we want anyway, and
the messenger is just the instrument. It's just the tool to perform
the work. Otherwise, it'd be no different than saying it's
a hammer and a saw that built this house. No. The master craftsman who
built this house, that was just the tools he used. So the Lord says. The Lord has sent me to preach,
what does he say? He says, is anyone broken hearted? Because I've come to find you
up. Does anyone feel held captive by sin? The prison doors have been opened.
Does anyone mourn their condition? I've appointed in exchange beauty
for ashes. Is anyone sad? I brought the oil of joy. I'm giving you a garment of praise
in exchange for your spirit of heaviness. And I'm going to plant
you firm like a tree. So that you will not fall. And
all of this will be 100% to the glory of the Lord. Well, back in our text. Matthew
5. Verse 5 says, Blessed or blessed
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Let's turn
to Psalm 37. We're just going to turn to a
few places. Psalm 37. Blessed are the meek. Verse 7
says, Rest in the Lord. and wait patiently for him. Threaten
not thyself because of him who prospered in his way, because
of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger. Forsake wrath. Threaten not thyself
in any wise to do evil. For evildoers shall be cut off.
But those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the
earth. For yet a little while, and the
wicked shall not be. Yea, thou shalt diligently consider
his place and it shall not be, but the meek shall inherit the
earth and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. And
that's all anybody wants in this life is peace, isn't it? That's
all I want is peace. John 1633 says in the world you
shall have tribulation. But can you imagine one day forever
delighting yourself in a great abundance of peace? So much peace
that it's spilling over, running out. And everything that you
see and touch is covered in peace. That is this new earth that the
meat shall inherit. It's a place of peace. The King
has ordered it to be that way. The Lord told His people, Come
unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give
you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me. I am meek and
lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls. Well,
He said, Learn of Me, but man by nature can't. He can't. He said, Come unto Me, but man
can't. He's dead. Man by nature is not
meek. So meekness has to be given.
It's a grace. It's a gift. A present from the
Lord to his people. He did say, ask and you'll receive,
didn't he? Well, if you see true meekness
in a person, then it means a work of righteousness has been done
in that person. And he or she has been indeed
blessed of the Lord. Back in our text, Matthew five. Verse six says, blessed are they
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall
be filled. Whatever a person hungers and
thirsts after. Usually the Lord will give it
to them. The world, all men by nature,
hunger and thirst after fame, fortune, lust of the flesh, and
the pride of life. That's what the scripture says,
isn't it? Every bit of that leads to destruction. Every bit of
it leads to destruction. So blessed are those who hunger
and thirst after righteousness. If the Lord has given us this
hunger and thirst for righteousness, let all of us go to our closet
and fall on our knees and thank God that he's put it in us to
desire this at all. Because if he has, it says his
people shall be filled with what? Righteousness. They won't be filled with the
things of the world. They won't be filled with the things that
the world is filled with. The Lord's people will be filled
with righteousness. What is righteousness? Who is
our righteousness? The Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord's
people are filled with the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse seven says blessed and
blessed are the merciful. For they shall obtain mercy.
I think that we've well established that each of these are evidences
of salvation, fruits of the spirit. But there are some promises that
the Lord has given throughout his word based on the behavior
of his people. He did say, honor your father
and your mother and your days will be long. He did say, give and it shall
be given to you, pressed down and shaken together. He did say,
ask and you'll receive. And here he says, be merciful
and you'll obtain mercy. Yet all the Lord's people recognize
if any man glory for doing any of these things, let him glory
in the Lord. You know, I want to obtain mercy. I do. I want to obtain mercy.
Therefore, I want to be merciful. But if I am merciful, it's only
because I've already obtained mercy. And I have nothing to
glory in. It's merely an evidence of the
Lord's work. But the amazing thing is, the
Lord is so good. He rewards our evidence. He counts them for righteousness.
It's just a reaction to what he's already done and he rewards
our evidence. So in everything to God be the
glory. Verse 8 says blessed. And how blessed. Are the pure
in heart. We know that no man born in Adam
is pure in heart. No man born in that. You can turn or I can read it
to you. Psalm 24. Verses three through five. Psalm 24, three through five
says. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? Or who shall stand in his holy
place? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor
sworn deceitfully, he shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and
righteousness from the God of his salvation." There has only been one man worthy
to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Only the Lord Jesus Christ has
clean hands and a pure heart. And the wonder of salvation is, the Lord took the wages of righteousness,
heaven itself, and He took the wages of our
sin, death, and He said, we're going to make
a trade. I'm going to take your wages
and you're going to take my wages. So truly blessed. Are those who
have received the Lord's pure heart. And the amazing glorious part
of this is whosoever the Lord chooses to give this new heart
to. It says in our text, they shall
actually. Physically, with their own two
eyes, see God. I know that everybody's heard
this because I heard it here, but I love this. I just love this. When Hannah
was a young child, very young, she was standing in her room
looking out her window at this great storm, dark rolling clouds,
thunder and lightning, this great storm. And maybe Mindy came in
and said, what are you doing? And she said, I see God. I do
too. I need to. And I long to. There are no words that can describe
how glorious that will be. It is not lawful or possible
to describe. We haven't learned how to use
our mouth to speak words like that yet. That's what the Apostle Paul
said in Second Corinthians 12. He said, 2 Corinthians 12, verse
2, he was speaking of himself, but he said, I knew a man in
Christ above 14 years ago. Whether in the body, I cannot
tell, or whether out of the body, I cannot tell. God knoweth. Such
in one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man,
whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell. God
knoweth. How that he was caught up in
the paradise. and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful
or possible for a man to utter. Well. That's hard to get a hold of,
and so I have an illustration for it, and I don't think that
our pastor holds any kind of copyright on dog illustrations.
So I have a dog illustration. unspeakable, life more abundant,
third heaven. Hannah and I have a dog, Annie. And Annie is alive. She eats and drinks and sleeps
and walks and communicates with other dogs. She is alive. But if Annie could for one day
be converted into a human being, and sit at our dinner table and
slowly cut and enjoy a filet mignon and a lobster tail. Or get on a plane and fly to
Paris and see all the great cultures of this world, not just our backyard. Or have conversations with the
professors of the great universities. Or better yet, have conversations
with Henry Mahan and Scott Richardson on the issues of life. And then the next day, go back
to being a dog. She'd gather all the other dogs
and say, y'all, I've experienced life more abundantly. I heard things. I heard words
that our mouths can't say. They communicate in ways that
are impossible for me to describe. The half can't be told. All we
can do is bark. Grovel here below. I've seen
and heard things too wonderful for me. That will be glory for me. Well, verse nine says. Blessed are the peacemakers,
blessed and blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called the children
of God. The Lord's people are not brawlers. They're not. They're peacemakers. They desire
peace. And they make peace because peace
himself resides in them. They do what they are. And I need to go on. Verse 10
says, Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness
sake, for Christ's sake. For theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. He expounds on this in verse 11. He says, Blessed, blessed
and blessed are you when men shall revile you and persecute
you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely.
For my sake. Well, I believe from verse three
to verse 11, the Lord has just described the exact series of
events. That happens to every one of
his children from conversion to translation, whether it's
translation through the ground or translation through the air. And I believe the Lord's people
go through the same things and they find comfort in going through
them together. So each verse is a stage starting with verse
3. Conversion begins by the Lord sending his word like a two edged
sword in the heart of his child. And it breaks their spirit. That's verse 3. And the first
and only reaction they can make is they cry. That's verse 4. Because for the first time, they
see their sin for the first time. And their self-righteous pride,
and it makes them want to repent and be humble. That's verse 5. And then they go seeking after
the cure. They need it. They need it now.
They hunger and thirst for righteousness. That's verse 6. And all the Lord's
people That seek? Fine. And they learn more of
the Lord's mercy and they desire to be just like him. And show
mercy as they've been shown. That's verse 7. And this new spirit that the
Lord has put in his people is the Holy Spirit. And it makes
them a changed person. It really does. Nobody wants
to admit it, but you can see it in each other. There is a
new man that really wants good and right. He can't do it. He can't do it. But he wants
it. He wants a pure heart. That's per se. And all the Lord's
people want is peace. And they see the only place to
find it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's it. But sadly, when others find out
what the Lord's people truly believe, they become persecuted
and reviled. And it's all because they believe
and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's verses 10 and 11. That's
the rest of their days. If you see that any of these
things are happening to you, if you feel broken, And you feel a need for righteousness.
And mercy. And you feel persecuted for believing
what this Word says. Verse 12 says, We do it, and
be exceedingly glad. For great is your reward in heaven. For so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you. You're in good company. Every
believer before you went through the same thing. Our Lord Himself went through
the same thing. He said of Himself, I am meek
and lowly in spirit. He mourned and suffered and bled
and died for the sin of His people. He was persecuted and reviled
and had all manner of evil set against Him falsely. He was pure
in heart. For as he was on this earth,
so are his people on this earth. But as he is in glory, so shall
his people be. So we ask, Lord, comfort us. Fill us. Be merciful to us. Let us see your face. Make peace
with us. Please, for Christ's sake. Amen. May the Lord bless his
word. Let's turn to hymn number 17
and stand.