The Sermon On The Mount - Part 1

Q: What does the Bible say about the Sermon on the Mount?

The Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew 5-7, conveys Jesus' teachings about repentance, the nature of true happiness, and the character of God's kingdom. The Sermon on the Mount is a crucial part of Jesus' earthly ministry, beginning with his call to repentance as he announces the kingdom of heaven. Jesus teaches about the attitudes and behaviors of His followers, captured in what are known as the Beatitudes. These teachings reveal not only the character of God’s people but also the divine order and wisdom in God’s kingdom, contrasting the world’s values with God's expectations. Each teaching builds upon the previous, showing a systematic progression of thought that emphasizes reliance on God and the necessity of true humility and acknowledgment of sin.

Q: How do we know the Beatitudes are true?

The Beatitudes, presented by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, reveal the nature of God's kingdom and the blessings that come to those who align with God's will. The Beatitudes affirm the truth of God's character and the nature of His kingdom, as articulated by Jesus in the opening of the Sermon on the Mount. Each statement teaches that God’s blessings are bestowed not based on worldly status or achievements, but on attributes such as spiritual poverty and mourning over sin. These paradoxical statements reflect God’s wisdom—those who recognize their spiritual need and grieve their sinfulness are comforted by God's grace. This profound truth is confirmed by scripture, emphasizing God's desire for His people to understand the real conditions for receiving blessings in His kingdom.

Q: Why is repentance important for Christians?

Repentance is essential for Christians as it signifies turning from sin and acknowledging our need for God's grace and forgiveness. Repentance holds a foundational role in the Christian faith, as demonstrated by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. It is the recognition of one’s sinful nature and a turning to God for forgiveness. This act signifies not only sorrow for sin but a transformation of the heart, aligning one's life with God's will. The biblical narrative reveals that genuine repentance leads to comfort and the experience of God’s grace, underscoring its importance in the believer's life. True repentance signifies being poor in spirit, recognizing that all we have comes from God, thereby enabling us to receive the kingdom of heaven.

Q: What does it mean to be 'poor in spirit' according to the Bible?

'Poor in spirit' refers to a profound realization of our spiritual inadequacy and dependence on God's grace for salvation. Being 'poor in spirit' is a recognition of one’s spiritual poverty and the acknowledgment that we have nothing to offer God in terms of righteousness. This trait is blessed by Christ, as it opens the door to receiving the kingdom of heaven. In acknowledging our emptiness, we are poised to receive the fullness of God’s grace. This state of heart goes against human pride, wherein we often seek self-sufficiency, but in God’s kingdom, those who understand their need for Him are truly blessed. This crucial concept is intertwined with the gospel message of salvation, inviting sinners to come to Christ in their spiritual neediness.

Q: Why are mourners considered blessed in the Bible?

Mourners are blessed because their grief over sin leads to genuine repentance and the promise of comfort from God. In the Beatitudes, Christ states that mourners are blessed because their mourning reflects a heart that recognizes the seriousness of sin and its consequences. This godly sorrow is the precursor to true repentance, prompting individuals to turn back to God for comfort and grace. Rather than leading to despair, this mourning is transformative, purifying the heart and soul, allowing the mourners to experience the restorative power of God's love. The promise of comfort from God is assured for those who genuinely mourn over sin, demonstrating that grief can lead to spiritual renewal and hope.

Beginning tonight and subsequent
Sunday evenings, perhaps some Wednesday evenings, we will begin
studying through what is commonly called the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount, which
is found in Matthew chapter five. Matthew chapters five through
seven. I hope I think I believe this
will be a blessing to all of us. Sermon on the matter sermon
of our Lord. This is the beginning of our
Lord's earthly preaching. His earthly preaching ministry
and this is the longest recorded sermon preached by him. It's not the first message he
preached. Look at chapter 4, verse 17. This is significant. Chapter
4, verse 17 says, From that time, Jesus began to preach, and this
was his message. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand. And verse 23 says, Jesus went
about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching
the gospel of the kingdom. So our Lord's preaching, He first
preached repentance, and true repentance, as we read in Psalm
51, is toward God. And we don't repent to a man.
We don't repent, confess our sins to a man, but rather to
God. Repentance toward God and his
preaching was belief in the gospel. Repent and believe the gospel. And that is the primary message
of every true preacher of the gospel. It was the message of
Moses. Say Moses. Yes, Moses. The law was to bring men to repentance,
was it not? And what else does the law serve?
The law is a schoolmaster to do what? Bring us to Christ. Repentance toward God for breaking
his law and faith in the Christ who alone can keep it. Christ
said, Moses wrote of me. So it was the message of Moses.
It was the message of the prophets. Repent. Every one of them came
and their first message was repent. This is so old fashioned today,
so old fashioned you don't even hear it anymore. Repent, the
message of the prophets. It was the message of John the
Baptist, whom Christ said there was no greater who ever born
of woman. It was the message of Christ. There was no greater
period. It was the message of the apostles
and it's the message of every true preacher now. Repent of
your sin, sin to God, what you are, and look to Christ and his
work alone for salvation. Believe Christ, trust Christ
alone, and you'll be saved. Now, the Lord drew great crowds
wherever he went. People were clamoring to hear
him. Many people wanted to hear his speech, his teaching. Who
was Christ preaching to here on this mountain? Now, wait a
minute. I used to think that too. I saw
some people mouthing that. Verse 1 says, See, in the multitudes
he went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples
came unto him. Now, I've always thought that
this sermon was preached strictly to his is the inner circle his
disciples but look over chapter seven the very end of the chapter
verse twenty eight. Chapter seven verse twenty eight
it says and it came to pass when Jesus had ended these things
the people. Were astonished at his doctrine
for he taught them as one having authority not as a scribe and
when he was come down from the mountain great multitudes followed
him so He was preaching to more than just his disciples. Now, to be sure, the great shepherd
knew his sheep. He knew who they were. He could
look. Somebody once told Spurgeon, they said, if you believe, if
you believe only the elect will be saved, why don't you just
preach to the elect? Spurgeon said, well, I would if you could
go out there and put a big E on their heads. Mark a big E on
them and I'll just preach to them. But I don't. So I preached to all men. Christ
did. He did. The great shepherd knew
his sheep and he knew they would hear his voice and he could speak
publicly and he could powerfully apply particular words to particular
people. You understand what I'm trying
to say? Christ could speak and say, blessed, and so forth, and
talk about your father, and he could speak it in a public manner
to where everybody heard him, yet he was only talking to his
sheep, applying it to them. I can't do that. The reason I
have to distinguish who and what applies to who, I'm very careful
to do that. Christ didn't have to do that. Now, I want you to notice with
me as we go through this, the wisdom of God, the divine order
of, you know, Christ never uttered an idle word. Christ never said
anything haphazardly. He never spoke anything and just
off the top of his head, if you will, or in a haphazard fashion,
but everything was divinely ordered, eternally ordered and decreed
by God and set in an all wise purpose and order systematically. Talk about systematic theology.
Christ had perfect systematic theology, the study of God. Now,
I want you to notice with me as we go through this how each
of these leads to the other. Each of these things, we're going
to look at what are called the Beatitudes or the blessings,
another word for the blessings. These Beatitudes, these blessings,
these blessings are what God's people are. Now, make no mistake about it.
These are what God's people are. This is not something we try
to obtain, attain to. And therefore, God blesses us
because of it. No, this is what we are by the
grace of God. And therefore, the promises come
because of the gift of God. Grace upon grace. This is what
God's people are, and this is what they understand. This is
not something we attain to, OK? Remember that. When he says,
blessed are they that mourn, they shall be comforted. That
doesn't mean we should try to make ourselves mourn, although
we do. But God's people do mourn. They
better, or they're not God's people. That's what they are. This is what we do experience
now. If you're not experiencing these things now, to some degree,
I'm not perfectly. But to some degree, you're not
a child of God. This is what a child of God is going through
and feeling and experience. This is the these are the characteristics
of a child of God. Now, it's not something that
you're working to strive to obtain the blessing. OK. Now, these
are paradoxes. Paradoxes paradox means simply
that it's something that says one thing. But yet carnal natural
reasoning mean thinks it believes another means another. Paradox. God's thoughts are not our thoughts.
It's so obvious in these Beatitudes God's thoughts are not our thoughts
and the exact opposite. God's thoughts are exact opposites
of our natural reasoning. Exactly. And this will be strange
double talk to the world. You think we're speaking out
of the sides of our both sides of our mouth here. But this is
the familiar heartfelt language of a true believer. We understand
this perfectly, or at least we understand it. All right, let's
look at it. Matthew chapter 5, beginning
with verse 1. And seeing the multitudes, that
right there tells me that he spoke to a lot of people here,
didn't he? He went up into a mountain. up into a mount, a high place
where everyone could hear him and see him. And when he was
set, or that is, he sat down, Christ sat down, that's quite
different from today's preaching, isn't it? But when he sat down,
his disciples came unto him, that is, his close intimate disciples
came and they gathered immediately around him while the rest of
the people were out there. And he opened his mouth and taught them. That mouth. Nancy, wouldn't you
have liked to have been sitting right there at his feet? I've
never heard his voice. Oh, I've heard it in a sense,
spiritually speaking, I have, I've heard, I've felt his hand,
I've felt his presence and all, but that voice, what that voice
must have been like. Scriptures talks about grace
pouring from his lips, what his voice must have sounded like.
I wish I could emulate it, I wish I could speak with the same compassion
and feeling and tenderness and authority. You see, it can't. No man can. No man speaked like
this man. That's what they said, didn't
it? He opened his mouth. I see a divine prophecy there,
don't you? God opened his mouth. The Word of God came forth. Christ. Christ was the mouth of God.
And he taught them, say, now this confirms what we read back
in Isaiah chapter 40, speak ye comfortably. I don't know why
it is that preachers, and my dad and I have talked about this,
I remember growing up and listening to all the great preachers, all
that there were in that day, about a handful, you can about
name them all in one hand, maybe two at the most. But they all,
all of them thought, my dad included, he told me this, they all thought
that unless you were hoarse after you got through preaching, you
hadn't preached, you know. Just begin in a storm and end
in it, you know. Where does it say that in the
scriptures? I know it does say in that same chapter, Isaiah
40, that cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice. But that
just means so everybody could hear you and do it. and authority if any man speak
let him speak as the articles of God that is authority the
power of God don't be timid don't be bashful you represent God's
word speak it out speak it with conviction with fervency with
power and authority and persuade firmly persuaded knowing the
terror of the Lord we persuade me nobody's going to believe
what they don't think you do. But. There's something to be
said, much to be said for this thing, teaching. When Paul talked
about God giving some apostles and prophets and evangelists
and pastors and teachers, that word pastors and teachers, same
word, go together, teaching pastors. And that man who calls himself
a pastor who is not a teaching pastor is no true pastor and
really not a very good preacher. As you listen to the words of
a young Elihu, I didn't get that from my brain, I got it from
God's Word here. The Lord Jesus Christ was the
greatest preacher ever lived, and what did he do? He sat on
a rock and taught them. And I just know he didn't start
in verse 3 and say, Bless the Lord, and start the spring. I did that for emphasis. I know
he didn't do that. I know he didn't. Maybe that's
good. I won't. Oh no grace for it from his name. He spoke with authority that
doesn't mean volume necessarily. He did speak in such a way that
thousands could hear him. It was said of some of the ancient
preachers of their years ago. I don't know how much truth is
involved in all that George Whitfield preaching to 50,000. That's what
they say anyway. I know he could. I know one man
that could. and not raise his voice. The
only one that could. But he opened that blessed mouth
that grace poured from. And here's what he said. Blessed. Blessed are the poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of
God. Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are
the poor in spirit." Well, there's a lot of talk today about living
the higher life. Everybody wants to live the higher
life. Yet here Christ speaks of the
virtues of the lowly life, doesn't he? You could draw a great crowd
if you advertised that you were going to speak on the filling
of the Holy Spirit. Come to our meeting and I'll
tell you how to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Well, here Christ
packs them in by talking about the emptying of oneself. How to be emptied of yourself.
That wouldn't draw many people today, would it? How to be emptied. Blessed are the poor. This is
a paradox. This is what we're talking about,
a paradox. The world says the proud, the haughty, the self-sufficient,
the independent, the self-assertive, you know. the movers and the
shakers and the takers and the bakers and the belly achers.
They're the ones to be happy. They're the ones to be admired,
you know, the go-get-em's, leaders, pushers, shovers. They're the
ones that are to be admired. They're the rich, you know, the
strong. Only the strong survive. And
they're the ones that the world's admired, aren't they? The rich,
the affluent, the well-known, the assertive, the independent.
The Donald Trump, you know. Crisis, the opposite is true
and. The opposite. Now, he's not speaking of poverty
in this life. Poverty concerning worldly good,
there's no virtue in that you can find a whole lot of pride
in poverty. You can find just as much pride
in a man who's poor as a man who's rich. They both look down
at their noses at one another. I remember that way I remember
when I was a young hippie and I was driving my little Volkswagen
you know all hippies drove Volkswagen back then. Sorry Stan but they
did bugs you know beetles. But I remember driving that.
and pull up beside some fella in an old 98, who had a three-piece
suit on, and I had my bell-bottom jeans on. I remember just looking
at him, thinking, you know, I didn't have anything, and I resented
him having anything. I wanted what he had, but I wouldn't
admit it, you know. I looked at him, and he was looking down
his nose at me, a dirty hippie. That's just so. There's pride
on both sides. There's pride on both sides of
him. Pride knows no bounds. It doesn't matter if you're rich
or poor. There's no virtue in being poor. And that's not what
Christ is talking about here. Blessed are the poor. He's talking
about the blessed people who are poor in spirit. Poor in spirit. And not many people are poor
in spirit. Poverty of spirit is this. Poverty
of spirit is realizing. And only God can make a man realize
this. This is a revelation, Henry. Poverty of spirit is realizing,
I'm nothing. Now, you can wear a three-piece
suit and be poor in spirit. I'm wearing a two-piece one anyway.
And I confess to you before God Almighty from the depths of my
heart, I'm nothing. I'm less than the least. Poverty of spirit is realizing
I'm nothing. I have nothing. Everything I
have was given to me. I know nothing. Everything I
know was imparted to me. Every bit of knowledge. I can
do nothing. Any ability or talents I had
was given to me. I am destitute and lacking of
all things which God requires of me and have no way of fulfilling
them. And God, if I'm going to have
these things, God has to give them to me. Everything I have.
It's being a beggar spiritually before God. Now you can be dressed
in rags or fine clothes and have this poverty of spirit. David Brainerd, I'm going to
preach on this soon, he had four points that God used, four things
that God brought to his mind when he first saved him, these
four things. He said that he realized when
God first started working on him, he was a self-righteous
man like we all are by nature. And he said he first realized
that God demanded perfection and he didn't have it. God demanded it. David Brainerd
honestly and very frankly admitted that all this made him mad when
he first found out about it. It made him mad. Mad at the God
of the Bible. God demanded perfection and David
didn't have it. And then he said God demanded
he found out God demanded faith and he couldn't produce it no
matter what he did he couldn't drum it up. God demanded it though
and he couldn't do it. He realized that God had the
right to give or withhold that faith. And David couldn't even
solicit it. Now it's a gift. You don't, God
doesn't give things because people ask for them. He gives them to
whom he will. Right? He's merciful to whom he will.
He's gracious to whom he will. David Brainerd realized that
God could save or damn him and still get the glory and there's
nothing he could do about it or say about it. And he'd have
to bow to it. And David said it made him mad. But you know
what God did? But God made him, God made him
lost. And he started crying out as
a beggar, Lord, I don't have these things that you demand
of me. Would you give them? The Lord
gave. And the gifts and calling of
God are without repentance. What God gives, he'll never take
back. The reason you can't fall from true grace, Terry, You can't
fall from the gift of God, which is eternal life. Can't do it.
Can't lose it. Gift of God, calling of God without
repentance. He never takes it back. But this
is the foundation of saving faith. It says, I am nothing and that
everything I have is a gift of God's grace. And he says, he
gives this promise here. He said, blessed are the poor
in spirit, for this is what they get, the kingdom of heaven. What is the kingdom of heaven,
huh? Well, Christ said it doesn't come by observation, didn't he?
Didn't he? He said it doesn't come by saying,
here's the king, over there's the king. What'd Christ say?
He said the kingdom of God is standing right in front of you,
is among you, within you. In other words, I'm the kingdom
of God. I'm the king. I have dominion. The king of heaven. You get me. Oh, the unsearchable. To be poor
in spirit, Terry, is to get the unsearchable riches of Christ. You can have all your mansions
in glory, have all your streets of pure gold, an unsearchable
person, the riches of a person. That's what he said to Abraham
in the beginning. He wasn't a father of the faithful. Our father,
he said, Abraham, Lot gets the well-watered plains of Sodom,
and he might get burned up with it, so you get me, and you'll
never be burned. Got a good deal, right? The worldlings
get the world, and what comes with it? You reap to the flesh,
you'll sow corruption, right? We get Christ and what comes
with Him. Pretty good deal, isn't it? I
had a good deal. Christ didn't get the good end
of the deal. He gets us. There's scripture that says that
we are his inheritance. We are his lots. I don't think
he got much. But because he made us his inheritance,
he worked for us, God gave him a name which is above every name
and lifted him, gave him a position which is above every position.
But he gets us and we get him. Theirs is the kingdom, and this
is what it says in 1 Corinthians 1. You see your calling, brethren. You see your calling? Brother
Henry, Brother Ed, Brother Terry, you see your calling? How that
not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble
are called. God's chosen the foolish things
of the world. Confound the wise. God's chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty. Base things. Nothing, nobody, God has chosen
things that are not to bring to naught things that are. Why?
No flesh is going to go in His presence. Why are the poor in spirit blessed? Why is theirs the kingdom? Look
over at Isaiah 57 with me. Isaiah 57. Isaiah chapter 57. Why are only the poor in spirit
going to inherit the kingdom of God? Because that's the only
people God's going to dwell with. See, if you're somebody, two can't walk together except
they be agreed, right? God's not going to have anything
to do with somebody. God's not going to have you in it. Why?
Because we just read it there. I just read it to you. 1 Corinthians
1 verse 29 says that no flesh is going to glory in his presence.
Look at this. Here's who's going to be in his
presence, verse 15. Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth
eternity, whose name is Holy, I dwell in the high and holy
places with him that also is of a contrite and humble spirit,
to revive the spirit of the humble, to revive the heart of the contrite
one." And he said in chapter 66, he said, this is the man
I'll look to, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit
and trembleth at my word. See, in God's kingdom, John,
in God's kingdom, God's king, we're all, the rest of us, servants.
Down here got too many chiefs, not enough Indians, don't we? Up there, there's only one chief,
right? One king. Everybody else is servants,
right? That's the way it's got to be.
And if you are anything, know anything, can do anything, God
can't use you. God won't use you. But if you're
nothing and nobody from nowhere and know nothing, have nothing.
Now, God, that's an empty vessel. He can fill you, can't he? He
can fill. Now, verse three or verse four,
the second beatitude here, and we may not finish these. I won't
keep you too long. We may not finish and we'll take
them up where we leave off. My, my, obviously you could devote
one whole message on every single one, but we've got a lot of ground
to cover through this Sermon on the Mount, so I'll not bog
you down for two years in the Sermon on the Mount. We could,
and be blessed by it, but with the flesh as much studying as
awareness to the flesh. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Then he says, are they
that mourn, for they shall be comforted." Now, do you notice
how that mourning follows poverty? I want you to notice the progression
here. Divine, the wisdom of God, and
the order of things here. You got to first, Barbara, you
first got to become poor, realize you're nothing. And then what
do you do when you realize that God demands all these things
and you don't have it? What are you going to do? Mourn. I'll say I need it. How am I
going to get it? Where am I going to get it? You mourn. And this is mourning over sin. Blessed are the mourners. The
word blessed means happy. Paradox. Happy mourners. Happy
are. I experienced that the other
day. At that funeral. Indescribable loss. The loss
of a daughter. Indescribable. I don't think
there could be a greater loss than a child. I really don't.
Indescribable. Don't you know those people's
hearts are just broken. Can you imagine if that was Wendy?
Can you imagine? Broken beyond indescribable grief. But they were smiling at their
daughter's funeral. Can you explain that? Blessed
are they that mourn. How can this be? Mourning is
repulsive to nature. It's repulsive. It's the reason
preachers loathe and are so loathe to preach sin and hell. It won't bring a crowd. People
don't want to hear that. That's the reason they dwell
on happiness. Let's be happy. Let's not preach
It's not preach repentance and sin and drag people, it's preach
happiness. It's the reason they've got those
sickening grins on their face all the time. Sometimes I wonder
if they starched their mouths or something. Sickening grins.
Happy, this is a happy church and a happy preacher. Is everybody
happy? Say amen, you know. Happy church,
everybody's somebody and we're all going to heaven. Isn't it
good to be a Christian? It's good, all right, but it's
a time of tribulation. You fall to Christ, you're going
to know trouble. You're going to know sorrow unlike you've
ever known it before. The Scripture says, turn over
with me. I want you to see this. Like I said, if we don't finish,
we'll pick up later. Ecclesiastes chapter 7. You've
got to see this. Ecclesiastes chapter 7. right after the book of Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, Solomon, Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Look at these verses,
these sobering, right after the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes 7. Look at verse
2 through 6 with me. It is better to go to the house
of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. For that is
the end of all men." What? Mourning is the end of all men.
We need to start now. We need to lay it to heart now.
The living will lay this to heart now. Sorrow is better than laughter. For by the sadness of the countenance
the heart is made better. Anybody see the spiritual message
there? We'll see it here in a moment.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart
of fools is in the house of mirth. A fool thinks everything's okay,
you know. And to hear the song of fools.
That's what we're hearing a lot of today. Foolish song. For as the crackling of thorns
under a pot. Isn't that the sound of today's
preaching? That's a good description of it, isn't it? The popping
and the crack, popping off. He spelled it popping off, aren't
they? Popping and crackling of thorns under a pot. So is the
laughter of the fool. This is vanity. Well, what is this mourning,
this blessedness of mourning that Christ is talking about?
Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
They shall be comforted. Well, like I said, this is a
mourning primarily, chiefly over sin. And this naturally follows
this poverty of spirit. This is a godly sorrow which
worketh repentance and salvation that needs not to be repented
of. This is a mourning over your rebellion against God. Have you
ever mourned over your rebellion against God? Isn't that what
all sin is? Isn't that what unbelief is?
Isn't it calling God a liar? I listened to a brother preach
on the way home on the preciousness of Christ. Made me want to preach
it again. He talked about the well-beloved
son of God. He said God is highly pleased,
well pleased for his righteousness. God is well pleased with his
son. God highly approves and favors and loves and esteems
his son above all else. He's the apple of his eye. He's
that precious, priceless pearl of God. He said God loves him. God esteems him precious. He's
precious to God, rare, valuable to God, the only Son of God. And he says, for anybody not
to love Him, anybody not to esteem Him highly, anybody not to worship
Him, God is angry. What? That means for men and
women not to esteem His Son. As in being anything unworthy
of their notice. That's what he says in Isaiah
53 that we did all esteem him stricken and smitten of God.
We hid as it were our faces as one being unworthy of our notice. And God is angry. With such with
unbelief, it's the it's the daddy of all sins, unbelief and God
will damn people for it. That's what Paul said. He said,
Cursed is everyone that loveth not the Lord Jesus Christ. You ever mourned over that? Your
lack of love and worship? Your rebellion against this holy,
just, and good God? Didn't he say that in Romans
2, John? Didn't he say the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
How's that? Well, when God finally starts
dealing with you, Jeanette, when God finally starts showing you
that you're His, He starts showing you what He did for you in the
past, doesn't He? He starts showing you how He restrain you and constrain
you and withheld this and that and the other and gave this and
that and the other. How merciful and gracious and tender and kind
and compassionate. What all He's done for you from
the cradle up to this present time. And what do you do? You
mourn. How could I sin against such
love? You mourn over it. And you say,
oh, wretched man that I am. You mourn over your sins. That's
what you read tonight, Henry. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned and done this evil on thy side. Against God. Sin. Wretched man that I am,
Paul said. And you mourn over your sins.
You first mourn. You haven't repented yet. Nobody's
repented unless they've seen their sin. Well, they are. Because what we do is just a
product of what we are, you know. That's what Christ said. It's
not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man. That's the
way the world categorizes sin, don't it? It's what you do. No,
sin is not what you do. Those are sins. Those are actions
of the principle within. Those are reactions of the principle
within. Sin is what we are. Sin is what
makes us do what we do. And we mourn the source. We say
the fountain is corrupt, don't we? We say the heart is the seed
of all evil. And this is where my problem
is. And that's what David said there in Psalm 51, creating me
a clean heart. Get this dirty, black, filthy
heart that's just flaking me. It's sin-stricken, smitten, corrupt,
vile, stinking. It rises in my nostrils every
day. It smells to high heaven. Get
it out of my bosom. That's what I believe. That's
the reason that the publican in the temple was smote on his
breath. Get this out. Here's my problem. It's not this
and that. God, this is good. The body is
good, what God created. It's this in here that sin has
produced. And then you mourn over your
sins, though. You mourn over what you did, what you do. There's
some preachers that make the mistake of only talking about
sin in the first life. Sins, fornication, adultery,
and so forth. He said those that do such things
will not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived. Paul
said those that do such things will not inherit the kingdom
of God. Those that do such things. Practice them. Live a life of
it. Sins. We mourn what we do. And we say,
Lord God, would you be gracious and not Allow me to do that anymore. Repentance is to turn, isn't
it? In repentance, turn. You turn
from your idols to serve a living God. You turn from yourself to
look to Christ. You turn from sin to emulate
Christ, to want to be like Christ, to walk in His paths of righteousness.
And if we live continually, how can we that are dead to sin live
any longer therein? Take it into our bosom. No, it's
repulsive. We turn from it. God help me. God help me to resist. We mourn over our barren, unprofitable
lives. Blessed are they that mourn their
barren, unprofitable lives. You remember when Christ came
to those disciples and said in a parable, He said, You clothed
me when I was naked. You fed me when I was hungry.
You took me in when I was homeless and so forth. They said, When
did we do this? We don't ever remember doing
anything like this. After we've done all that's required of us,
we're still unprofitable. We still haven't done anything
worthy of notice. Now those are good works, Terry. That's a good
work. When a man says, Ah, that's just
not worthy of notice. That's not anything. That's good
work. That is. God will sanction that. But the man that acknowledges
what he's done, now that's a self-righteous work and it stinks to God. It's
a filthy rag. We mourn our barren, unprofitable
lives. Lord, I haven't done anything
up till now. Nothing. For the cause of Christ? to try to repay with such mercy
and kindness to me. I haven't done any of that. If I haven't loved you
before, let me begin today. If I haven't served you before,
let me begin now. It's to mourn our lack of love
and communion with Christ. Christ said, come unto me. He
said, I stand and behold. He said to the church, behold,
I stand and the door is open. I'll come in to him, and I'll
sup with him. And we'll have a good time. Keep my words. Christ said, and my Father will
love you, and we'll both come in, and we'll both sup with you
and have communion with you. Well, why am I so faithless?
Why am I so down? Why am I so godless and wicked? Why is that? I don't know. Christ said, come to me. How
do you come to Christ? What we're doing here, this is
how you fellowship with it. This is how you fellowship with
it. He said, keep my word, and I'll come in. Keep my word. Take
up my heart. Study them. Study to show yourself
approved. Not only that, but seek the Lord's face, and you'll
find Him. You'll find Him. And you'll see
a smile unlike any other. It'll make you smile. We mourn
our deadness and dryness to the things of God. Do you mourn that?
I never, I never feel more miserable.
My wife can attest to this fact. And I'm never more miserable
than when I go home and I feel like I just utterly failed at
preaching and that this thing didn't get a hold of me. I didn't
preach it with any feeling. It didn't bless me. I don't feel
like anybody else was blessed. And I don't feel like the Lord
was with me. I felt like I was all alone.
I'm the most miserable person on the planet. And I won't be
really happy until I feel the Lord's presence again in preaching. And we feel the same way. I feel
the same way when I sit and listen to the preaching and don't get
a blessing out of it. You go away dry, you go away dead, you
go away cold, and you feel like there was life there, but I didn't
get any of it. There was a meal served up there.
I see some other people just smiling and licking their lips. It sounded like it was good.
It smelled good, but I didn't eat it. And you go away hungry. You mourn that, don't you? Well,
Christ said, you mourn these things, your sin, your rebellion
against God, your sins, your barren, unprofitable life, your
lack of love and communion with Christ, your deadness and dryness
to the things of God. He said, you'll be comforted.
Blessed are they that mourn, they shall be comforted. Comforted. Weeping endures. for a night. But joy comes in
the morning. I tell you. And it's just a sad
fact. It's a joy. It's sadness joy.
It's madness good. That when you get down in the
valley, when you get down at your lowest ebb, it's the way
God does things, John. You get down at your very lowest
point to the time where you, like, you can cry out with David,
is it clean gone? Is His mercies clean gone? Am
I a reprobate? Am I? Am I the only one in here
that's going to be lost? Come next Sunday morning, you're
back up on the mountain, and you can shout with the best of
them. That's the way God does things,
doesn't He? He's got to bring you low. He's got to obey you
to exalt you. They shall be comforted. Joy
comes in the morning. You could do a play on words
there, couldn't you? Joy comes after the morning. Comforting. And comfort is only
God can give, and that's comfort through the gospel. The gospel
is what comforts a mourning sinner. It's the only thing that can.
The only thing that can. Ah, boy. And I told you I wasn't
going to keep you long, and I'm not. We did two of them. We might just do two at a time,
but you could certainly go on and on concerning these things
of our Lord. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Poverty of spirit. Have
you felt that? I believe you have. I believe
some of you have. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. There's a
blessed promise. Blessed are they that mourn. Mourn over your
sin. For they shall be comforted.
That's a blessed promise. Comfort. Comfort. Okay, stand
with me and I'll dismiss this in prayer.

The Sermon On The Mount - Part 1

What does the Bible say about the Sermon on the Mount?

How do we know the Beatitudes are true?

Why is repentance important for Christians?

What does it mean to be 'poor in spirit' according to the Bible?

Why are mourners considered blessed in the Bible?

Sermon Transcript

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The Sermon On The Mount - Part 1

What does the Bible say about the Sermon on the Mount?

How do we know the Beatitudes are true?

Why is repentance important for Christians?

What does it mean to be 'poor in spirit' according to the Bible?

Why are mourners considered blessed in the Bible?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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