Would you turn back to Matthew
chapter five? Now we have considered each individual
beatitude in the last eight or 10 weeks. And let me remind you
that the beatitudes are not what a believer strives to be. The
beatitudes are what a believer is. This describes the character
of all of God's elect. I heard a message by brother
Tim James once that he entitled the more blessed. It was from
Acts chapter 20 verse 35, where we read the words of our Lord
was it's more blessed to give than to receive. And he said,
the Lord Jesus Christ is the one who is more blessed. He gives,
we receive. Isn't that the truth? He gives,
we receive. He is the more blessed one. And he preeminently is the blessed
one who embodies the Beatitudes. If you want to see him who shows
us what the Beatitudes mean, look at the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there was none as poor in
spirit as him. The scripture says, for you know
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet
for your sakes, he became poor. Oh, how poor he became, destitute
of all on the cross. A poorness that you and I don't
know anything about. No one ever mourned like the
Lord Jesus Christ. No one ever mourned over sin
like the Lord Jesus Christ. When he cried out, My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? I've been thinking more this
week, it seems like, than I've ever thought of before about
my sin actually becoming his sin so that he bore the guilt
and the filth of it and felt the shame of my personal sin
and how he himself mourned over sin, much more so than I ever
have. None so meek as the meek and
lowly one. He said, I'm meek and lowly in
heart. Now the Lord Jesus Christ is
also the one who is high and lifted up the high and lofty
one who inhabits eternity. And yet he says, I'm meek and
lowly in heart. How approachable, how accessible
is the Lord Jesus Christ to sinners? None ever thirsted for righteousness
like he did. When he said from the cross,
I thirst, no one ever thirsted like him. Truly, he is that merciful
one. Blessed are the merciful. Is
not the Lord Jesus Christ the embodiment of mercy? He's the
merciful one who delights in mercy and oh, the pureness of
his heart. Blessed are the pure in heart,
the pureness, the immaculate spotlessness, the perfect holiness
of the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. Without blemish, without
spot, And truly, he is the peacemaker, isn't he? Having made peace through
the blood of his cross, he is the true peacemaker. And was there ever anyone persecuted
for righteousness sake like he was? The answer to that question is
no. He is the embodiment of the Beatitudes. And the Beatitudes
describe the believer. These are present states of being
with the believer. The work of the Holy Spirit in
them. First of all, every believer
is poor in spirit. That means to their own consciousness. They have no personal righteousness,
no merit. They realize that their righteousness
is as filthy rags. And they hate their self-righteousness
that they see in themselves because they see it's such hypocrisy
because it's not real. They have no personal righteousness. They know they're bankrupt of
this thing of righteousness. They know that in and of themselves,
they're nothing but sin. They didn't used to be poor in
spirit, they still are. And as they grow in grace, they
become more poor in spirit. More understanding of their need
of grace. And believers mourn over their
sin. Not just the consequence of sin,
but the being of sin. My sin is ever before me. And when I think of my Lord taking
my sin in his own body on the tree, and my sin is ever before me. And a believer is meek before
God. This is an attitude toward God
that believes that whatever he sends my way is right because
he sent it. And you know how meekness is
manifested toward men? You see, I can't see if somebody's
meek toward God, but I can see if somebody's meek toward God,
or I can see if I'm meek toward God if I'm meek toward men. What
is meekness toward men? Well, it's really the embodiment
of the fifth commandment, honor your father and mother. It is
a respectful attitude. And I got to thinking about this
thing of a respectful attitude or a disrespectful attitude.
There are people that I don't respect and I shouldn't respect. I don't respect somebody that
doesn't preach the gospel. I don't respect somebody who compromises
their belief. I don't respect that, and I shouldn't respect
that. I don't respect somebody who doesn't conduct their life
in integrity. I shouldn't respect something like that, and I'm
not going to. But there's a big difference between not respecting
someone and disrespecting someone. Disrespecting someone is wrong,
whoever it is. You see, when I disrespect somebody,
I'm actually being arrogant, I'm being condescending toward
that person, and I'm saying, you're not important to me. You're
not valuable to me, and I shouldn't treat anybody that way. I'm to
treat all people, even people I disagree with, with respect. That's what meekness before God
is. It's a respectful spirit. It's
the embodiment of the fifth commandment. And a believer is merciful. Having, well, no, a believer,
yeah, he is, but a believer thirsts for righteousness. Blessed are
they that hunger and thirst for righteousness. And I think of
what Paul said in Philippians 3, 9. Oh, that I may win Christ
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness. I don't
want to have anything to do with that, because I know what it
is. I want to have the righteousness of God. Oh, that I may win Christ
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is
of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith. Oh, every believer
hungers and thirsts for his right. Don't you hunger to have his
righteousness? If you're a believer, I know you do. That's what you're
more hungry for than anything else, to have his righteousness. And blessed are the merciful.
You see, the believer has experienced God's mercy. And because he's
experienced God's mercy to him, he is a merciful person. A believer is someone with a
pure heart. That was the one that used to always give me the
hardest time because I looked at my heart and it didn't seem
very pure. Well, it's the pure heart that sees the impurity
of the natural heart. It's a new heart given in the
new birth. It's a new heart will I give
you. That's the pure heart. It's the
pure heart that believes. It's the pure heart that loves.
It's the gift of God's grace. It's the new nature. Blessed
are the pure in heart. Every believer has a pure heart
and every believer is a peacemaker, a peacemaker. First in the gospel,
I want to preach the gospel of peace. I want to be a peacemaker
in that sense. And I want to be at peace with
you. I want to be a peacemaker. I want to be actively involved
in this thing of making peace, being quick to forgive, being
quick to apologize, being lowly, a peacemaker. And every believer
is one who knows there's only one righteousness. They see the
reality that human righteousness is nothing more than filthy rags,
and they stand for Christ's righteousness as the only righteousness there
is. That's the only righteousness
there is, and everybody who preaches that, somebody's gonna get upset
with them, and they're persecuted for righteousness sake. Now,
I've entitled this message, The Blessing of the Blessed. Now
in this passage of scripture, he names seven blessings given
toward these people who are described by the Beatitudes. Seven blessings,
the first beatitude and the last beatitude have the same blessings. There are eight beatitudes, seven
blessings. The first one has the same as
the last one. Now, first of all, he says, blessed
are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Poverty stricken. Bankrupt. by way of merit. The one who is nothing, who has
nothing, and can do nothing. Now, regarding that one who's
poor in spirit before God, that person, what's it say? Shall There's is the kingdom
of God. That one who has nothing actually
possesses all things. There's is, that's talking about
possession. This is what they have. There's is the kingdom
of God. Like Paul said in 2 Corinthians
6, verse 10, he said, having nothing yet possessing all things. Now, I possess. This one who's born in spirit.
Let me quote this scripture. I am my beloved's, and he is
mine. What do I have? What do I possess? What do I personally possess?
If I'm born in spirit, I possess the Lord Jesus Christ, and all
that is his. What wealth. Being poor in spirit,
I possess the Lord Jesus Christ and all that is His. Turn to 1 Corinthians 3. To be
rich, you have to be poor. To have everything, you have
to be nothing. And if you're nothing, you have
everything. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 21. Therefore, let no man glory in
men for all things are yours. Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas
or the world or life or death or things present or things to
come, all are yours. And you are Christ's and Christ
is God's. The writer to the Hebrew said,
let your conversation be without covetousness and be content,
be satisfied with such things as you have. What do you have? Well, if you have Christ, you
have all, don't you? You have all the fullness of
God. He is yours. Whatever belongs
to the Lord Jesus Christ belongs to you. He's the heir of all
things, and whatever He has, you have. As He is, so are we
in the world. What does He have? Well, whatever
He has, I have. Now this one who is poor in spirit,
he has all the wealth, everything that the Lord Jesus Christ has,
he possesses. You know, what I'm thinking about,
I guess the richest man I think of is Bill Gates. I'm sure maybe
there's more rich people than that, but I think of the multi-billionaires
and all that kind of stuff. I'm looking at some people, he's
a pauper compared to them, just an absolute pauper. All things
are yours. You possess, you possess. This is talking about possession.
You possess the kingdom of heaven. And then he says in verse four,
blessed are they that mourn. We mourn over our sin. Like we
mourn over the death of a loved one. That's when you mourn. You
mourn over somebody that's died. You can't bring them back. There's
nothing you can do to bring them back. You're hopeless in that
sense. And you mourn over your sin when
you see your sin for what it is and there's nothing you can
do about it. You mourn over your sin. Now that one who mourns before
God over their sin, what does our Lord tell us? they shall
be comforted that one who mourns shall be comforted the comfort
of the gospel now this person mourning over sin you know i
mourn over the consequences of sin now i do how many times have
you done something that you thought lord don't let that Come to roots. Don't let it come to haunt me. Don't let that... You're afraid
of the consequences of sin. You're afraid of the trouble
sin gets in you, that'll get you in. But more than that, you
mourn over the being of sin. And that's what David meant when
he said, my sin is ever before me. You mourn over the being
of sin. You mourn over sin. The Lord
promises you'll be comforted. We have the comfort of the forgiveness
of sin, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sin. We have the comfort of non-imputation. Sometimes the Lord gives you
the grace to look at non-imputation, not just as a doctrine. Well,
I believe that doctrine, but it's more than that. You see,
my sins were not imputed to the Lord. They're all real. I can't
deny the reality of them, but here's my hope. They weren't
charged to me. They were charged to the Lord
Jesus Christ and they weren't charged to me. They're real,
but they weren't charged to me. Isn't that comforting? To know
that all your sin hadn't been charged to your account. We have
the comfort of justification. When Christ was raised from the
dead, I was justified. That means I am not guilty. That means I have no guilt. That
means I have nothing to feel guilty about. I'm perfectly righteous
before God. And this isn't a piece of paper
that says I'm that way. It's not a deed. It's real. He is my righteousness before
God. We have the comfort of the blotting
out of sin. 1 John 3, 5 says he was manifested
to take away our sin and in him is no sin. We have the comfort
that God who has a perfect memory and never forgets a thing says
regarding every believer, their sins and their iniquities. I
will remember no more. He doesn't see him. You know
why? Because they're not there. Do
you know when I'm in heaven, and right now as far as that
goes, but when I'm in heaven, Lord's not gonna be thinking,
I remember what he did. I remember what he thought. I remember how
he felt. No, all he's gonna see, all he
remembers about me is that I never sinned, that I was just like
his son. Now, is that comforting? Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek. Meekness
is that attitude toward God that believes whatever he sends my
way is right because he sent it. Shall not the judge of the
earth do right? This was such a blessing to me.
The day before yesterday, yesterday, I can't remember which day it
was, I can say this because Nick's not here right now, but he was
in my office, came to see me, and we were talking, and I'd
asked him about something that he was wanting to get, and he
didn't get it. And I said, Nick, are you disappointed? He said,
no, I just take it as the Lord's will for me. I thought, what
a blessing to have that attitude. You know, whatever the Lord sends
my way, it's His will. Whatever He does is right. Whatever
He does is best. And even if I don't like it,
I know it's for my good. And by His grace, I'm going to
like it. And I'm going to thank Him for what He withholds. Now,
aren't you thankful for what the Lord doesn't give you? Meekness
before God, whatever he does is right. I don't resist or complain. This person is not aggressive. He waits on the Lord. He's not
grasping. He believes God is God. But what's it say about
this meek one? Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth. Now, this meek person, he's not
aggressive. He's not grasping. He's waiting
on the Lord. But what's it say about him?
He's going to inherit the earth. I think of this thing of inheritance. I dare say that most everybody
in here is in debt. Most people. You owe money. You have debts that stress you. You know, if you knew you would
inherit $100 million, you wouldn't be too upset about it, would
you? You'd think, ah, everything's going to be okay. This is nothing.
To think of the inheritance that the believer has, that meek one
will inherit all the earth. Blessed are the meek, they're
joint heirs with Christ. And we're waiting on our heavenly
inheritance, perfect conformity to the image of his son. We rejoice
in hope, waiting for our redemption and our inheritance. And then
the Lord says, blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
For they shall be filled. Now what that means is satisfied. Satisfied. It doesn't just mean
full as in full to where, you know, I know what it is to be
full to where you're in pain. Doesn't mean that. Full in satisfaction. You don't want anything else.
You are completely satisfied. Colossians 2, 9 and 10 says,
In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead body, and you
are complete, you are satisfied, you're full in him. Now I'd like
you to turn to John chapter 4 for a moment. Verse 10. Jesus answered and said unto
her, the woman at the well, if thou knewest the gift of God,
the free gift, and who it is that saith to thee, give me to
drink, thou wouldest have asked of him. If you knew, you'd ask,
and he would have given thee. living water now if you know
here's what you'll do you'll ask everybody who knows they
start asking and he gives verse 11 the woman saith unto him sir
thou has nothing to draw with and the well is deep from whence
then hast thou that living water, are thou greater than our father
Jacob, which gave us the well and drank thereof himself and
his children and his cattle?" She obviously didn't know who
this was that was speaking to her, did she? Are you greater
than Jacob? Yeah, I think so. Jesus answered and said unto
her, whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. That has so much significance
to it. Whatever it is you're wanting, you get it, you're gonna
thirst again. It's not gonna satisfy you. You can just write
that down. You're gonna thirst again. But
whosoever drinketh the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well
of water springing up into everlasting life. He will never thirst. He will be completely satisfied.
Now let me say a few things about this, this thing about being
satisfied. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness, they'll be satisfied. They'll
not be looking for something else. I'm not satisfied with
myself in any way to any degree, nor should I be. David said,
I'll be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness. I'm not satisfied
with myself. And I shouldn't be. But I am
utterly satisfied with the gospel. It meets my needs perfectly to
the point that I'm not looking for anything else. I am perfectly
satisfied with the gospel. I love grace. I just love grace. Being a sinner, grace is exactly
what I need. I love electing grace. I love
it. I love redeeming grace. I love invincible, irresistible
grace that won't take no for an answer, that conquers me,
that reigns in me. I love grace that causes me to
persevere. Oh, make me thine indeed. I love
the gospel because it meets my need. I find complete satisfaction
in being saved by Christ, in being saved by his grace. I'm
not looking for anything else. I don't know how many times I've
heard people say there must be something else. I feel like I
met fella that had the bass guitar and he would just hit one note. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
boom, boom, boom, boom. Same thing, driving everybody crazy.
Fella said, why don't you do like those other fellas and go
all over the place? He said, well, they're still looking for the
right note. I found it. Now that is the gospel. We're satisfied
with the Lord Jesus Christ and we need nothing else. No man having drunk old wine
Straightway desires new, for he saith, the old is better. Blessed are the merciful, our
Lord says, for they shall obtain mercy. Now what a blessing this
is, to obtain mercy. Now, mercy is God not giving
you what you deserve. Now I flat out don't want what
I deserve, do you? I really don't, not in any way.
I want mercy. If you're a sinner, and your
sin is all your fault, it's not somebody else's fault, it's your
fault. It's not God's fault, it's your fault. If you're a
sinner, and your sin is all your fault, you know what you need?
Mercy. Mercy. Blessed are the merciful. Now, the merciful do not obtain
mercy because they're merciful, They're merciful because they've
obtained mercy. If I ever experienced the mercy
of God, I will be a merciful person. I won't hold people to
the law if I've experienced the mercy of God. Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. And that's what I need,
is mercy. And then he speaks of the pure
in heart. Blessed are the pure in heart, back to Matthew chapter
five, for they shall see God. It takes a pure heart to see
God. They'll see God. David said in
Psalm 17, 15, as for me, I'll behold thy face in righteousness. I'll be satisfied when I awake
with thy likeness. Listen to Job from Job 19, verses
25 through 27. He said, for I know that my Redeemer
liveth, and that he shall stand the latter day upon the earth,
And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my
flesh shall I see God. Whom I shall see for myself,
and mine eyes shall behold him, and not another, though my reins
be consumed within me. Now we see him now in nature. The heavens declare the glory
of God. I love that hymn. This is my father's world. This is my father's world. The
birds, the carols raise the morning light. The lily whites declare
their maker's praise. We see God in nature. This is
my father's world. And to my listening ears all
nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres. This
is my father's world. And we see the Lord in his providence. Can you see the Lord's providence
in your life? What he's done for you, how he's intervened,
how he stopped you, how he's brought you to the place where
you believe on his son, where he's made it to where you have
to look to his son and you can't look to anywhere else. Aren't
you thankful for his providence? Everything he does is good. And we see the Lord most especially
in Christ. We see God in Christ, don't we?
Didn't the Lord say to Thomas, he that has seen me hath seen
the father. Oh, we see God in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And how clearly we see God in
the cross. That's the great manifestation
of who God is. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Every one of his attributes that he's been pleased to make known,
we see in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see God in his
people. Now, I know it takes grace to
see grace, but if you have grace, you see grace in his people.
You see God in his people. But you know this side of God
we have? Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, now we see through
a glass darkly. And that word is where we get
the word enigma from. An enigma. A lot of enigmas we
see. I mean, we see through a glass
darkly. But then, then, face to face, Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God. And then he said, blessed are
the peacemakers. And what are the peacemakers
called? Those ones who are makers of peace. They're called the
children of God. Now what's it mean if you're
a child of God? That means God's your father. What's it mean if
you're a child of God? That means God's for you. And
if God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not?
What could possibly prevent Him from freely giving us all things? God's our Father. We ask Him
for stuff, and He gives it to us. He's for us. He's for us in all things and
in all ways. Isn't it wonderful to have God
for you? They're the children of God. The peacemakers are those
who are called the children of God. And blessed are they that
are persecuted for righteousness sake. Theirs is, possession again,
same as the blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. All that the kingdom of heaven
is, theirs is. The blessing of the blessed. Now, I'd like you to turn to
Numbers chapter 22. That's what we're gonna consider
in closing. I just want us to consider the magnitude of God's
blessing. Blessed, to be blessed of God. And Ephesians 1.3 says, He hath
blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. Numbers 22, beginning in verses
11. Behold, there's a people come
out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth. Come now,
curse me then. Peradventure, I shall be able
to overcome them and drive them out. And God said unto Balaam,
thou shalt not go with them. Thou shalt not curse the people,
for they are blessed. Look in chapter 23, verse 7. And he took up his parable, And
said, Bailet, the king of Moab, hath brought me from Aram out
of the mountains of the east, saying, come, curse me, Jacob,
and come, defy Israel. How shall I curse whom God hath
not cursed? Or how shall I defy whom the
Lord hath not defied? For from the top of the rocks
I see him, and from the hills I behold him. Lo, the people
shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.
Who can count the dust of Jacob and the number of the fourth
part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let
my last end Be like is. And Balak said unto Balaam, what
hast thou done unto me? I took thee to curse mine enemies,
and behold, thou hast blessed them all together. Now look in
verse 19 of the same chapter. God is not a man that he should
lie, neither the son of man that he should repent. Hath he said,
and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall
he not make it good? Behold, I've received commandment
to bless, and he hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it. He hath not beheld iniquity in
Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel. The Lord his God is
with him, and the shout of the king, the king of kings, is among
them. Now truly, every believer can
say, I'm blessed. Blessed of God. And we can pray
with Jabez, O that thou wouldst bless me indeed. Can't you pray
that right now? O that thou wouldst bless me
indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be
with me, and that thou wouldst keep me from evil. that it might
not grieve me. And God granted him that which
he requested. Let's pray together.