All right, let's turn now in
our Bibles to the book of Luke, chapter 6. I thought a few moments ago when
I was reading this scripture, this is the word of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Handle it carefully. prayerfully, reverently, study to show thyself approved
unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth, rightly applying the word of truth. And here in
verse 20, it says, he lifted up his eyes on his disciples. It seems to me our Lord is addressing
primarily his disciples, believers. You recognize this is a shorter
account of the Sermon on the Mount, which Matthew reported
in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. And Luke, it seems to me, he's
reported primarily what our Lord had to say to his disciples, And that's the way I'm using
it today, because I'm convinced of that. He lifted up his eyes
on his disciples, as I lift up mine eyes this morning on believers
who met here in the name of Christ to worship him. And our Lord
said, Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Now he's not talking about material poverty. He's not talking about
material riches or poverty, because neither riches nor poverty bless
a man or curse a man. A man's not cursed because he's
rich. A man's not cursed because he's poor. He's not blessed because
he's rich materially. He's not blessed because he's
poor. Both rich and poor in material things are blessed if they're
poor in spirit. That's what he said in Matthew,
blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom of God.
So both the rich and the poor are blessed if they're poor in
spirit before God. If they confess their sins, if
they look to Christ alone for mercy and grace and forgiveness,
they're blessed, poor in spirit. But both the rich and the poor
are cursed and condemned. if they're proud people, self-righteous
people before God. Like those in the book of Revelation
who said, we're rich, increased with goods, and have need of
nothing, and they do not know that they're naked, miserable,
poor, and blind. But if we know that, like David
said, Lord, I'm poor and needy. Was there ever a man who had
more acclaim and popularity and prosperity than David, and yet
he says, I'm poor and needy. Yet the Lord thinketh upon me.
So blessed are the poor in spirit. Those who have been brought down
recognize their poverty in spirit, their need of Christ, their need
of mercy, their need of grace. I, Pink, said poor in spirit.
Spiritually, by nature, I have nothing. I know nothing. I can do nothing. It has to come
from Him. A man can receive nothing except
it be given him from above. Who maketh thee to differ? What
do you have you didn't receive? Now if you received it, why do
you boast as if you didn't? So blessed are the poor in spirit. Then read on. And he said, Blessed
are ye that hunger now. Hunger for what? Well, Matthew
said, hunger for righteousness. Blessed are they that hunger
for righteousness, for truth. I know the Lord provides our
daily bread and our clothing and our physical needs, but this
hunger here is for righteousness. This hunger is for fellowship
with God. Oh, that I may know him and the
power of his resurrection. Oh, that I may win Christ and
be found in him. Oh, that I might be filled with
the fullness of his love. Oh, that I might be before him
righteous and holy, accepted in the beloved. Ye shall be filled. Blessed are they that hunger
for righteousness. They shall be filled. That's his promise. Ask, and
it be given you. Seek, and you shall find. Knock,
and it shall be opened. And then he says, blessed are
ye that weep now. What cause? Why do we weep? We weep under affliction. We weep because of our sins.
We weep under the trials of life. We weep under the pressures of
life. We weep under the sorrows that
come our way by the good providence of God. God doesn't have a child
that doesn't weep. Blessed are ye that weep now."
You're going to laugh. Well, that, you shall laugh.
You shall laugh is twofold. Number one, we laugh here. We
have our times of sorrow, deep sorrow, and affliction. We have those times. But we have
our times to laugh and rejoice. The Word of God is our comfort.
The Spirit of God is our teacher and our comforter. And God gives
us spiritual joy with other believers. The fellowship of the saints
is a happy fellowship, a fellowship of rejoicing. Paul, if you look
over here in Romans, I believe it's chapter 9 or 10. Let's look
at this a moment. In chapter 9, of Romans, Paul says, I have
great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. I have great heaviness and continual
sorrow. And yet he's the same man that
wrote in Philippians ten times, rejoice in the Lord, rejoice
in the Lord, rejoice in the Lord. He's the same man that said,
in everything give thanks. This is the will of God concerning
you. So the believers are paradox. We weep over our sins, yet we
rejoice in his righteousness. We weep over our failure, yet
we have full confidence and assurance in our victory in Christ. We
weep in this life, yet in five minutes we are laughing and rejoicing. You are laughing now. You'll have times when you'll
laugh now. But listen, he's talking here about that day when we will
never stop rejoicing. There'll be God's tomorrow, no
more sorrow, no more weeping. God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. Blessed are ye that weep now.
You'll laugh. You'll laugh. Oh, how you'll
laugh. The little rejoicing we have
here is not worthy to be compared with the rejoicing we're going
to have. We'll know why everything happened
that happened, why it happened, when it happened, the severity,
the heartache, whatever happened. We'll know and we'll laugh about
it. We'll rejoice in it. Absolutely
rejoice in it. You're going to laugh. And listen,
in verse 22, "...blessed are ye when men will hate you." Now
that sounds strange, doesn't it? Blessed are the poor. But if you find the key to that,
poor in spirit, yours is the kingdom of heaven. God's going
to save the poor. He's going to save the lost.
He's going to save sinners. He's going to answer the prayer
of the needy. Blessed are you poor, yours is the kingdom of
God. that weep now, you're going to laugh. Blessed are you that
hunger, you're going to be filled with righteousness. Now blessed
are you when people hate you, when they separate you from their
company, when they don't want you around,
don't want to listen to you, don't want you in their presence,
avoid you. Blessed are you when men reproach
you, Cast out your name, say bad things about you. Now here's
the key. For the gospel's sake, for the
Son of Man's sake, they hate you for Christ's sake. For what
you believe. Now turn to John 15. Nobody's blessed if people hate
them because they're hateful. Well, that's not being blessed.
You're not blessed if people hate you because you're greedy
or covetousness or hateful or talk unkind to folks and treat
them unkindly. Now, that's not a blessing. We're
talking about for Christ's sake. For Christ's sake, for the Son
of Man's sake. Now, listen to John 15, verse 18. If the world
hate you, you know it hated me before it hated you. Now, why
did they hate Christ? Our Lord was tender, kind, went
about doing good, healed the sick, fed the hungry, never sinned,
never spoke a word unkindly, always obeyed the Father, perfect
in word, thought and deed. But people hated him. They hated
him because of his gospel, his words. His words offended them. His gospel offended them. God's salvation by blood, by
sacrifice, by grace, through faith, not works. They hated
him for his gospel. That's why they hated him. He
said, listen, if you were of this world, the world would love
his own. If you were like them, they'd love you. But because
you're not like them, you're not of the world, your message
is different, your gospel's different, your God's different, your hope's
different. I've chosen you out of this world, therefore they'll
hate you. I remember the word I said to you, the servant is
not greater than his Lord. If they persecuted me, they'll
persecute you. If you preach what I preach,
they'll persecute you. If you believe what I believe,
they'll persecute you. If they kept your sayings, my
sayings, they'll keep yours. But all these things will they
do unto you for my name's sake, because they do not know him
that sent me." That's the reason they do it.
They don't know God. You pity them and you feel sorry
for them, you weep over them, but they don't know God. And
if they don't know God, they don't know God's gospel. If they
don't know God, they don't know God's Son. If they don't know
God, they do not know God's servant. If they do not know God, they
do not know God's salvation and truth. So they hate it. It's
not what they believe. They hate it. Paul called it
the offense of the cross. Turn to Galatians 5. the offense
of the cross. That's something that's offensive.
An odor's offensive. A cruel person is offensive.
But to the world, the gospel's offensive. The truth's offensive. The message of Christ is offensive. It's offensive, and I'll tell
you, look at Galatians 5, verse 11. Brethren, I, brethren, if
I yet preach circumcision If I preach works, if I preach man's
duties and deeds for salvation, why do I suffer persecution?
The world doesn't hate that. Then is the offense of the cross
ceased. If I preach salvation by works,
there's no offense of the cross. The cross said it's salvation
by God's work, by Christ's blood, by His obedience, by His grace,
as His gift, not yours. It's all of grace. or all of
works, not both. Now, if I preach works, I won't
be persecuted because that's not offensive to the world. You
see, the gospel which declares all men sinners, helpless, hopeless
sinners, who in the flesh cannot please God, cannot do good, who
do not seek God, Dead in trespasses and sin. That's offensive. That
offends man's dignity. The Pharisees said, are you calling
us sinners? Are you saying we're blind? We're
blind? Are you saying that? That's offensive. I'll tell you something else
about this gospel. To teach this gospel comes by revelation. Not
by education. By revelation. Not by man's knowledge. By God's wisdom. as a gift of
God. It's given unto you to know the
mysteries of God. To them, it's not given. You
tell a man that, that he cannot, with his education and natural
brilliance and intellect, that he cannot read this and understand
it? That's exactly what I'm saying. He cannot understand. He can
understand the words, but he can't understand the truth, the
mystery. That offends his wisdom. That's
offensive. And I'll tell you something else,
if you preach that Christ's blood is particular, His death is not
for the whole world, it's for His people. It's for the elect.
It's for those given to Him by the Father before the foundation
of the world. That His blood is not an offer,
it's a gift. That salvation is not an offer,
it's a gift. It's a gift of God, not of works.
It's not by cooperation, it's by divine operation, regeneration,
that God gives the blood of Christ. In Egypt, there was blood on
the door of the Israelites, none on the door of the Egyptians. And when God saw the blood, he
passed over. Where there was no blood, condemnation. And the blood of Christ is not
everywhere. It's on the hearts of his people.
And when God sees the blood, that's offensive. It offends
a man's pride. Calling him a sinner offends his dignity. Telling
him he can't understand the Word. No man can come to me except
my Father draw him. And they shall all be taught
of God. And he that has learned of the Father cometh to me. That
offends his wisdom. And an effectual atonement offends
his pride. You mean that I don't contribute
anything to the salvation of my soul? Nothing. It's all of
grace. That's offensive. I've got to
have something to do. It's just a trip to the Holy
Land, but I've got to have something to do. No. Christ did it all. And grace alone is offensive.
Now, listen. Bless thee ye, verse 22, back
to my text. Bless thee ye when men shall
hate you, separate you from their company, reproach you, cast out
your name as evil. You know what that guy believes? Oh my. But if that's for the
son of God's sake, look at verse 23, you rejoice. Rejoice in that
day. Leap for joy. Thomas Boston said
this, when you are counted worthy to suffer, for the gospel of
Jesus Christ. And men who hated him hate you.
Men who said, we'll not have this man reign over us, said,
we'll not have this man preach to us. Men who cast out your
name as evil like they did him, he's the son of the devil, Baal. He's a gluttonous man. He's a
winebibber. He's a son of Baal. When they
cast your name out that way, you rejoice as if the greatest
honor and happiness has been conferred on you. You rejoice
as people do when they've been honored and rewarded. You rejoice. For behold, your
reward is great in heaven. To suffer with him is to reign
with him. To bear in your body the marks
of the dying of Christ is to reign with him. To deny him is
to be denied of him. great is your reward in heaven."
Listen, in the same manner did their fathers to Isaiah, Moses,
Jeremiah, all the prophets. So what you're doing, you're
numbered with Samuel, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the
prophets who've lived before you who were despised for the
truth they preached. Blessed. He looked on his disciples. Blessed are you poor. Yours is
the kingdom of God. Blessed are you that hunger and
thirst for righteousness. You don't have any of your own.
You need His. You'll be filled. Blessed are
you that weep now. You weep for many reasons. You're
going to laugh. And you'll never weep again.
Blessed are you when men hate you for Christ's sake, and persecute
you for the gospel's sake, and cast your name out as a fanatic
and a radical and evil. You rejoice. You leap for joy. You're counted to suffer with
the apostles who every one of them were martyred except one,
John, died on the Isle of Patmos in exile. But the rest of them
were killed by the religious people of this world. But now
look at the exact opposite in verse 24. The exact opposite. Take every one of these. Poor,
hunger, weak, gospel. Listen. Woe unto you that are
full. Woe unto you that are rich, in
your own opinion, who have need of nothing, whose confidence
is in your works and your righteousness, who seek not Christ's mercy.
Woe unto you rich, You've received your consolation right now. Resting
in your own righteousness, proud of your works, proud of your
deeds, that's your reward. What are you that are full, full
of vanity, full of conceit, full of pride, have no appetite for
spiritual food, have no longing for his righteousness, no desire
to know Christ? Well, one day, you'll mourn,
you'll hunger, you'll hunger someday, but it'll be too late
then. He said over here in Proverbs
chapter 1, let me just read it to you. He said in Proverbs chapter
1, when your fear does come and your destruction does come as
a whirlwind, When distress and anguish comes upon you, then
shall you call upon me, but I won't answer you. Then you'll seek me, but you'll
not find me. You hated knowledge when you
heard it. You didn't choose the fear of
the Lord. You wouldn't listen to my counsel. You despised my
reproof. Therefore, you eat of the fruit
of your own way. You're filled with your own devices.
Proverbs 1, 20, 28. Woe unto you that are full now. Someday you'll hunger, but there'll
be no food. Woe unto you that laugh now.
Laugh at sin. Our whole world is laughing at
sin. Make a mock of sin. Make a mock
of evil. Laugh and joke about the gospel.
Make jokes about God's servants. Woe unto you that laugh now.
You'll weep. You'll mourn and weep. Now look
at this verse 26. Woe unto you when all men speak
well of you. Now this is talking about the
gospel. Back there in verse 22. Woe unto you, or blessed are
you when men hate you for the Son of Man's sake. Now verse
26. Woe unto you when men speak well of you. For so did their fathers, the
false prophets. Blessed is the faithful believer,
preacher, pastor, or witness who endures the hatred and ill
will of today's religion for the sake of the gospel. That
person ought to leap for joy, and he's counted worthy to suffer
for Christ's sake. That's the way they treated the
prophets. But woe to that person that men speak well of. They
compromise the gospel. They water it down. They take
the edge off of it. They take the offense out of
it. They take the glory out of it for the applause and popularity
of men. Woe unto you. Men speak well
of you. They spoke well of the false
prophets. They bragged on them. All right, verse 27, our Lord
continues. But I say unto you who hear me,
I say unto you who have ears to hear, aren't you glad that
we can hear him? Aren't you glad that you rejoice,
that you understand what he's just saying? I'm hearing. Are you hearing? Are you listening?
That's what he said. I say to you which are listening,
which hear me. Love your enemies. Do good to
them that hate you. Bless them that curse you, even
for the gospel's sake. Pray for them, which despitefully
use you. How can we hate them? We used
to be just like them. If it wasn't for His grace, we'd
be just like them now. How can we curse them and find
fault with them? Except for the grace of God,
we'd be numbered with them. Those who hate Christ and hate
the gospel and hate us because we love it, we're different,
the message is different, love them. Pity them. Pray for them. Don't hate them. Don't curse
them. Turn to 2 Samuel. David set a good example for
us here. 2 Samuel chapter 16. You know, 2 Samuel 16, Absalom
had taken the throne. David. was in exile. David was leaving, some of his
people going with him, and he'd been kicked out. His son, Ephraim,
had taken the kingdom. And there was this fellow sitting
by the side of the road called Shimei, Shimei, Shimei. Verse
5 of 2 Samuel 16, when David came to Bahurim, Behold, there
thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul,
one of Saul's kinfolks, King Saul, whose name was Shimei,
the son of Gera. He came forth and cursed still
as he came. And he cast stones at David.
Here is David, the king, ex-king, walking, and his men with him.
And this fellow is sitting on the side of the road throwing
rocks at him. And all the servants of King David, all the people,
the mighty men, were with his right hand on his left. And here's
what he said. Shimei said, when he cursed,
he said, Come out, come out, you bloody man, man of Baal,
Belial, that's the devil. The Lord hath returned upon thee
all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead you've reigned. The Lord hath delivered the kingdom
into the hand of Absalom your son. Behold, you've taken in
your mischief. You're a bloody man." Oh, that'd be a hard take, wouldn't
it? He was wrong. It was all false. It was all
lies. David was God's anointed. And then said Abshi, the son
of Zerubbabel, unto the king, Why should this dead dog curse
my Lord the King? Let me go over, I pray you, and
take off his head. That sounds like a good idea,
doesn't it? Whack his head off. My nature says that. Whack his
head off. I'll stop his cursing. He won't
throw me any more rocks either. But the King said, here's the
grace of God. Listen. What have I to do with
you, you sons of Zeruiah? Let him curse. Because the Lord
has said to him, curse David. Who shall then say, wherefore
have you done so? God permitted that. God sent
him to curse me. God put him there. That's what
David said. David said to Abishai and to
all his servants, Behold, my son which came forth from my
own bowels seeks my life. How much more now may this Benjamite
do it? Let him alone! Let him curse!"
The Lord had bidden him. It may be that the Lord will
look on my affliction and the Lord will requite me good for
his cursing this day. So that's what our Lord is saying
to us. Your enemies, love them. Do good to them that hate you.
Bless them that curse you. Bless them. They couldn't do
it without God's permission. Pray, Father. Pray, Father. Now look at verse 29. This verse
has suffered much abuse and ridicule. Unto him that smiteth thee on
the one cheek, offer also the other. Him that taketh away thy
cloak, forbid him not to take thy coat also. And people laugh
at that. I have a lot of cute things to
say, but the best commentary on that verse is found in Romans
12. You want to turn over there? Here's the best commentary on
that, Romans 12, verse 17. Romans 12, verse 17. Recompense to no man evil for
evil. Don't get evil. Don't carry on
the fight. Don't carry on the grudge. Recompense
to no man evil for evil, Romans 12, 17. Provide things honest
in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as
life in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, don't
get evil and avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath.
Let it go. It's written, vengeance is mine.
I will replace, saith the Lord. If you envy me, hunger, feed
him. If he thirsts, give him drink. For so doing you shall
heap coals of fire on his head. Now, these are light matters
over here that our Lord mentions. Unto him that smiteth thee on
the cheek, turn the other one. A man takes your cloak, let him
have the cloak also if he wants it. These are light matters.
A smitten cheek heals quickly. That quick. Somebody does something
like that to you, you know, either physically or emotionally, It
heals quickly. It doesn't hurt long. Not worth continuing a fight
over. And a cloak, there's plenty of
cloaks. You've got more than one. There's plenty of cloaks.
If he takes your cloak, give him your cloak also. There's plenty of cloaks. The
Lord's able to replace anything that anybody takes from you.
Now, here's what he's saying. If a fellow comes along does
something to your property, or something that's yours, or says
something bad about you, or wounds you or hurts you, drop it. Just forget it. Because if you
get even, if you seek revenge, if you take him to court, if
you get his license number and hunt him down, the battle will
never end. It'll never end. You don't know
what you'll stir up by that. You don't know what kind of conflict
of problems you'll get in like that. It's like a young man driving
his car, and fellas run into it. Some hooligans, this is a
true story, run into it, knocks a dent in it. And he comes home,
tells his father, knocked a dent in my car. I got their license
number. But they live over here in a
rough district. And they're rough people. They
got a lot of rough friends. And they got a lot of influential
friends. You raise the ruculus and go over there, you've got
something stirred up like the Hatfields and McCoys. It has
no end. It just goes on and on and on
and on. Your name is drugged. You're
lied about. Just let it go. Isn't that right? Forget it. Don't pursue it. That's what he's saying. If a
fellow smites you on the cheek, turn the other. If you take away
your coat, I'm going to give you another coat. I'm not going
to take you to court over that coat. It's not worth it. That's exactly what he's saying
here. Don't avenge yourself. Don't get even. Don't pursue
a conflict and hold a grudge. Drop it. The Father will supply
the need. That's good advice. It's not
good. That is the way. That's God's way. All right,
verse 30. Give to everybody that asketh
of you. Him that taketh away your goods, don't ask him again.
You know, the Lord's not instructing us to give foolishly. Turn to
Deuteronomy 15. I found a little light on this
over here. Deuteronomy 15. There's a key in the Scriptures. about giving to the poor. First, you provide for your family.
A person that does not provide for his own house is worse than
an infidel. We provide for our families,
our whole family. Secondly, we provide for the
household of faith, the people in the church. Provide for brothers
and sisters in Christ. We provide for them. Then, as
we're able, we'll help others. That's what the Scripture teaches
us. That's the altar. You provide for your own household
now. You provide for the household
of faith, and then as you're able, you help others. Now here
in Deuteronomy, here's the law. Here's the law of Moses, Deuteronomy
15, verse 7. If there be among you a poor
man of one of your brethren within any of thy gates in thy land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee, this household of faith,
Don't harden your heart or shut your hand from that poor brother.
Open your hand wide to him, and shall surely lend him sufficient
for his need in that which he wanted. Beware that there be
not a thought in your wicked heart, saying, Well, the seventh
year, the year of release, is at hand, and your eye will be
evil against our poor brother, and thou givest him not. And
he cries unto the Lord against it, and it will be sin to you.
So give to him, and your heart shall not be greedy. when thou
givest to him, because for this thing the Lord thy God shall
bless thee in all thy works, in all thou puttest thy hand
unto." So when our Lord says here in verse 30, give to those
that ask of you. And if a fellow borrows your
goods and don't bring them back, let him have it. If he takes
away, not steals it, but he takes away your goods, ask him not
again. All right, look at verse 31. Now, here's the precept,
here's the substance of all that's found in the book of the law.
Here it is, listen. As you would, that men should
do to you, do you also to them. How should I treat others? You
know, our Lord said the whole law is fulfilled in two. Love
God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your
neighbor as yourself. So how shall I treat others?
As I want them to treat me if the circumstances, situation
were reversed. That's it. Our Lord's words are
so beautiful, aren't they? As you would that men should
do to you if the situation is reversed. You're on the other end. You
treat him as you want him to treat you. if it was reversed. That's what he's saying. Let me go on here for just a
moment more. Verse 32. Now, if you love them that love
you, what thank have you? The heathen love those that love
them. You do good to people who do good to you, what thank is
that? Heathen do the same. If you lend
to people of whom you hope to receive, the bank does that.
That's how they build these big, beautiful buildings. They lend
to those from whom they hope to receive. What's that tell
you? The wicked do the same. In other
words, our Lord is saying, that's no evidence of grace. To love
those that love you, to give to those that give to you, that's
not grace. That's not the fruit of the Spirit.
That's not a demonstration of the love of God. That's self-love. That's the general conduct of
all natural men. But now here's the evidence of
grace, verse 35. Love your enemies. That's the
grace of God. Do good and lend, hoping for
nothing again. And your reward will be great.
You'll be children of the highest. He's kind to the unthankful and
to the evil. Our Lord is kind to the unthankful.
We know that. He's kind to us. He is merciful
to us. He causes His Son to rise and
His reign to fall on the unthankful and the evil, the good and the
bad, whether believer or unbeliever. He feeds the righteous. He feeds
the ungodly. He gives grace to the elect.
He gives mercy to everybody. Love your enemies. Do good. and lean, hoping for nothing
again. Your reward will be great. You'll be called the children
of the highest." That's characteristic of God, and that's characteristic
of His children. The Father acts that way, and
the sons act that way. That's just true. You see sons
and daughters that act like their parents, act like they're taught.
They follow the example set for them. And here's to sum up the
whole thing. You be merciful as your Father
in heaven. is merciful. That's right. All right, I've
preached long enough. I hope that's a blessing to you.
I know it's a blessing to you. It's our Lord's Word. I hope
it's effectual to us that we will be merciful as our Father
in heaven is merciful to us.