The Marks of Grace In the Soul

Q: What does the Bible say about the poor in spirit?

The Bible teaches that the poor in spirit are blessed because theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). In Matthew 5:3, Jesus proclaims, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This Beatitude highlights the necessity of humility and recognition of one's spiritual poverty before God. Being poor in spirit signifies an attitude of utter dependence on God, acknowledging that we have nothing to commend ourselves to Him. It is a realization that in our sinful state, we are empty and needy, requiring the grace and favor of God for salvation and spiritual sustenance. This posture aligns closely with Scripture, as seen in Psalm 40:17, where David acknowledges his own neediness and dependence on the Lord.

Q: How do we know the marks of grace are true?

The marks of grace are evidenced in one's spiritual condition and attitudes as outlined in the Beatitudes of Christ (Matthew 5:3-12). The marks of grace manifested in a believer's life are evidenced through the attitudes and behaviors consistent with the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5:3-12. These qualities include being poor in spirit, mourning over sin, and exhibiting meekness, mercy, and a hunger for righteousness. Each of these attributes serves as an indicator of genuine faith and transformation resulting from divine grace. Christ outlines these characteristics to help His followers understand what it looks like to be truly blessed and favored by God, distinctly contrasting the values of the world with those of the kingdom. The presence of such traits in a person's life reinforces their experience of Christ's redeeming power and the reality of salvation.

Q: Why is mourning over sin important for Christians?

Mourning over sin is crucial for Christians because it leads to genuine repentance and the comfort of God's forgiveness (Matthew 5:4). According to Matthew 5:4, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Mourning over one's sin is a fundamental aspect of the Christian life, reflecting an understanding of our fallen nature and the consequences of sin. This mourning is not a superficial sadness; rather, it is a deep, heartfelt sorrow over our transgressions against God, leading to true repentance. Just as David exemplified in Psalm 51, mourning allows believers to acknowledge their need for cleansing and forgiveness. It is through this authentic grief that God offers comfort, assuring us of His mercy and grace. Such mourning is instrumental in cultivating a relationship rooted in humility, dependence on God, and a desire for holiness.

Q: What does it mean to be merciful according to the Bible?

Being merciful, as depicted in the Bible, means showing compassion and kindness to others, leading to receiving mercy from God (Matthew 5:7). In Matthew 5:7, Jesus states, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." This Beatitude emphasizes the character of God’s people as those who demonstrate mercy in their interactions with others. True mercy transcends mere sympathy; it is an active response that seeks to alleviate the suffering of others—physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Believers are called to reflect the mercy they have received from God to those around them, understanding that their capacity for mercy is only possible through the grace extended to them. This principle is deeply rooted in Scripture, suggesting that showing mercy is a sign of the grace of God at work in a person's heart, ultimately resulting in God's mercy being poured out upon them as well.

Let's read again, if you will,
with me, Matthew 5, beginning with verse 3, Matthew
5, 3. Blessed, happy, highly favored
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. And blessed are ye when men shall
revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against
you falsely for my sake. and be exceeding glad, for great
is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you." My friends, a sermon seems to me to be of greater
importance the greater the speaker. When John was on the Isle of
Patmos, he heard a voice, and he wrote in the book of Revelation,
I turn to see who spoke with me." It's important who's speaking. And our interest in a message,
in a sermon, has a lot to do with who preaches that sermon.
John said, I turn to see who spoke with me. Well, the one
who's speaking here is the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not reading
this from the book of a man. I'm not reading this from the
writings of Spurgeon or Whitefield or Calvin or Edwards. I'm reading
this from the word of God, and these words fall from the lips
of our Master. It's Christ who is the speaker.
When the word says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is
the kingdom of heaven, that's the Master speaking. When he
says, Blessed are they that mourn, they shall be comforted, that's
the Master speaking. Let's listen. Let's listen. And I'll tell you something else
about this sermon. We would do well to remember
this, that Christ is not telling men how to be saved. He's not
telling men in the Sermon on the Mount, and that's what this
is called frequently, the Sermon on the Mount, but he's not telling
men how to be saved. Our Lord has dealt with that
in many passages of scripture, how men are saved. He said in
John 3, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That's
the way a man is saved, by believing Christ. He said, All that my
Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me
I'll in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he
hath given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day.
And this is the will of him that sent me, that he that seeth the
Son, and believeth on him," that's the way to be saved, might have
everlasting life. And I'll raise him up at the
last day. John wrote in John 20, these things are written
that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ and that believing
you might have life through his name. Our Lord said, he that
heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting
life. So he's dealt with how men are
saved. He's not dealing here with how
men are saved. What our Lord is dealing with here is the evidences
of those who are saved. He's revealing the marks of people
who are redeemed. That's what he's dealing with
here. Blessed are the poor in spirit, theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Blessed are they, not that shall
mourn, and shall deceive, but those that do mourn, for they
shall be comforted. Many people believe that our
Lord's speaking only to his disciples here. Go back to verse 1. Seeing
the multitude, he went up to the mountain. When he was set,
his disciples came to him, and he opened his mouth and taught
them." And there are a lot of people who say, well, his disciples
came to him, and the crowd stayed down there, and he was teaching
his disciples these things. Perhaps, I don't know. But I
feel like his disciples were gathered close about him, as
they always were. as there always were. These twelve
were always sitting round about him, and the multitude was out
there, and our Lord Jesus Christ is speaking to his disciples,
but he's also speaking to everyone that hath ears to hear. He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear. And if you're here this morning,
God by his providence has brought you here today. You say, well,
these things are applicable only to those who are believers. These
things are applicable to all men because all men ought to
be believers. Every man ought to believe God.
He that believeth not hath made God a liar. All men ought to
worship God. Somebody said, well, Christians
ought to worship God. Everybody ought to worship God.
Somebody says, well, Christians ought to praise the Lord. Everybody
ought to praise the Lord. What does the Scripture say?
Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. This whole society
of Adam's sons is responsible to worship God, and to pray God
is worthy to be worshipped. Someday every voice will proclaim
he's Lord. Someday every knee will bow in
heaven, earth, and under the earth, and declare that Jesus
Christ is Lord. That will be the day. But our
Lord is not just speaking to his disciples here, he's speaking
to them and to all who will hear, and to all who hath an ear. And then watch this. There are
seven Beatitudes. Now, nine times the word happy,
blessed, highly favored of God fell from our Lord's lips. Nine
times he said, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed,
blessed, But seven of these are beatitudes. What is a beatitude? Well, a beatitude is a pronouncement
of great happiness and special blessings upon certain people.
Blessed are ye. Blessed are ye. Beatitude is
a pronouncement of great happiness and great and special favors
upon certain people. And there are seven blessings,
there are seven beatitudes. The other two are benedictions
upon those described by the seven. You got that? There are seven
beatitudes. Our Lord gave seven beatitudes,
seven blessings, highly favored are these people who of whom
it can be said these things are true. These are marks or evidences
of grace in the soul. Now, watch this. Every one of
these blessings are in the present tense. It does not say, look
at verse 3, blessed shall be the poor, or theirs shall be
the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the poor, theirs
is the kingdom. Verse 4 says, blessed are they
that mourn, that are mourning They shall be comforted. These
things are all in the present tense. And lest I weary you,
let me give you one thing more before I get into the heart of
this message. One thing more. These principles of our Lord,
blessed are the poor in spirit, are they that mourn, the meek,
they that hunger and thirst, the merciful, the pure in heart,
peacemakers, These words of our Lord, these principles, are entirely
contrary to the principles of this world. They're entirely
contrary to the wisdom of this world. They're entirely contrary
to the teachings of this world. The character that the Lord describes
here, the character which the Lord praises, blessed are the
meek, blessed are the poor in spirit, The character that our
Lord praises, the world despises. The world despises the meek,
they despise the poor in heart and spirit, they despise that. And the attitude that our Lord
blesses, that attitude which He blesses, the world condemns. And the conduct which the Lord
honors, the world ridicules. Here's what the Master says,
would you be rich? Would you be rich in grace and
rich in faith? Become poor in spirit. Would
you live for God? Would you live under God? Would
you live the divine life of God? Then die to the world. That's
not the way the world teaches it. Oh, that's not their principle,
that's not their wisdom. Would you be filled, would you
be filled with God's presence? Then become empty. empty of self,
ambition, pride. Would you be wise in the word?
Would you be wise in the things of God? Then become a fool. Would
you be lifted up and sit with the king? Then come down and
repent with the sinners. That's not the world's teaching.
Let me try to touch lightly on these seven beatitudes that our
Lord gives us and pray for divine help that we may be among those
so favored and so blessed of God as to be poor in spirit,
mourning before God, me, hungering and thirsting after righteousness.
Let's take them one at a time, and let me see if I can deal
with them in the time we have together. Now, first of all,
in verse 3, the Master says, blessed, blessed, happy, highly
favored, specially favored of God. are the poor in spirit."
Now, my friends, he didn't say, blessed are the poor in purse
and in possessions. For some of the most vicious,
some of the most dishonest, some of the most conniving people
on earth are the poor. That's exactly right. Poor in
purse and poor in possessions They are certainly not blessed
of God. It's not a blessing, especially to be poor in purse
or possessions. What is the Lord talking about
here? He says plainly, they're the poor in spirit. They're the
poor in spirit. Their language is a language
of David. Turn to Psalm chapter 40 and
listen to David over here. Now, David was not a man who
wore rags by any means. And some of God's people over
the world may wear rags, but what they wear on the outside
has nothing to do with the condition of their hearts on the inside.
But I'm saying that David was not a man who wore rags. David
was not a man who sat down to nothing upon his table. David
was a man of prosperity. David was a man of great possessions
and great wealth, and yet David was a man who was poor in spirit.
He said in Psalm 40, listen to this, verse 17. But I'm poor
and needy. I'm poor and I'm needy. Yet the
Lord thinketh upon me. Thou art my help and my deliverer. Make no tarrying, O my God. Here
is a man poor in spirit. I'm poor and needy. Notice Psalm
70. Listen to him over here. Psalm
70. And he uses this phrase again
and again and again throughout the Word. In Psalm 70, verse
5. But I'm poor and needy. Verse
4 says, Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee,
and let such as love thy salvation say continually, The Lord be
magnified, but I'm poor and needy. Make haste unto me, O God, thou
art my help and my deliverer. O Lord, make no tarrying. Let's
read Psalm 86. Psalm 86, verse 1. Listen to David here. In Psalm
86, verse 1, "...bow down thine ear, O Lord, and hear me, for
I am poor and needy." This is their language and this is their
attitude. Listen to Job, "...I saw the
Lord, wherefore I hate myself." I hate myself. "...I repent in
sackcloth and ashes." Listen to Isaiah, "...I saw the Lord,
high and lifted up." And I cried, I'm cut off, I'm undone, I'm
a man of unclean lips. Listen to the apostle Paul, O
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of
flesh? I'm not one whit behind the chief apostle, and yet I
be nothing. And this is not only the language
of believers, this is not only the attitude of believers, this
is the cry of the believer, God be merciful to me, the sinner. And though a man be blessed with
health I can say this morning that by God's grace I have good
health. A man may be blessed with wealth,
and I can say this morning I am the richest man in the world,
the richest man in the world. I have the favor of God. I have
friends. I have a roof over my head and
clothes on my body. I have friends. I have happiness. I have a wonderful family. I
have strength. in some measure, some human success,
and yet I realize this, that by nature and before God, I know
nothing, have nothing, and am nothing. I'm poor and needy. I'm empty. If I have any grace,
God will have to give it. If there's any mercy coming my
way, God will have to give it. If there's any love, love of
heaven, God will have to give it because there's nothing in
me to merit God's favor. Do you feel that way? I am poor
and needy. Have mercy upon me, O God." Well, look back at the text again.
Blessed are the poor in spirit. That's what I'm talking about.
Arthur Pink said one time, those who are poor in spirit are those
who realize that before God, not before men, before God. in
the presence of the living God. They have nothing. They have
nothing. Nothing to commend them to God.
Nothing to praise them before God. Nothing to merit any of
God's attention or affection. They have nothing. They know
nothing. They're ignorant. And they'll never be able to
do anything or be anything except God has mercy upon them. And
those who realize that, now watch this, blessed are the poor in
spirit, the empty in spirit, the beggar in spirit, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven." What is this kingdom of heaven? Well,
this is the gospel and the blessings of the gospel. The gospel is
the kingdom of heaven. Christ is the king, and it's
Christ's kingdom, and the gospel is the kingdom of heaven. In
Luke 4, verse 18, our Lord stood before that crowd in this hometown
of Nazareth, and he said, I've come to preach the gospel to
the poor. I've come to preach the gospel
to the poor. I've come to deliver the gospel,
the kingdom of God to the poor. This is the kingdom of God. It's
the gospel of Christ. When John the Baptist was down
there in prison and he sent his disciples to Christ to ask him,
are you the Christ? Are you the one for whom we look?
Our Lord sent them back to John with this message. You go tell
John. at the blind sea, and the deaf
hear, and the lame walk, and the dead are raised, and the
poor have the gospel preached to them." The gospel. So what our Lord is saying here
is happy, highly favored, blessed is the man or the woman who can
put aside all haughtiness and arrogance and pride before God. and be brought down in the dust
of genuine conviction and repentance, and lift empty hands to God,
and say, O Lord, I'm poor and needy. I'm poor and needy. In my hands no price I bring
Simply to the cross of Jesus Christ I cling. Could my tears
forever flow? Could my zeal no respite know? These for sin could never atone. Thou must save, and thou alone. Thou must save, thou must clothe,
thou must heal, thou must raise the poor and the beggar from
the dunghill, and sit him among the king, because he has nothing
to bring. Highly favored is the poor, not
in purse, but in spirit. His is the kingdom, the gospel
of God. All right, the second one. Blessed
are they that mourn. Now, my friends, I'm quite confident
that all who mourn, mourn and groan under the burden of the
flesh, as all men either do or will someday, will not be comforted. I'm confident of that. I'm confident
that all who mourn, blessed are they that mourn, they shall be
comforted. Everybody who mourns is not going to be comforted.
For because of sin, now listen to me, don't get upset, because
of sin, men mourn in life, don't they? They mourn in death. You see a man lying there in
death, Moaning, groaning, grieving, mourning. Mourning over a wasted
life. Mourning over an unhappy life. Mourning over things he's done
and said. Grieving apart. Mourning in life. Mourning in death. Someday men
will mourn in judgment. Someday they'll mourn eternally.
Father Abraham sent Lazarus to dip his finger in water and cool
my tongue. I'm tormented in this flame.
He's not going to be comforted. Oh, they that mourn will not
be comforted. It depends on what we're mourning
about. It depends on what we're mourning
about. Blessed are they that mourn.
Mourn how? Over sin they'll be comforted. My little children, these things
are right unto you that you sin not. But if any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, and if we confess our sins, if
we confess our sin. He's faithful and just to forgive
us. Turn to Psalm 51. Let's listen to David as he mourns
before the Lord. And God said this was a man after
his own heart. In Psalm 51, listen to it. Here's
a man mourning, and here's a man mourning over the right thing. In Psalm 51, the psalm of repentance,
have mercy upon me, According to thy lovingkindness, according
to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. I acknowledge
my transgressions. My sin is ever before me. Against thee only, against thee,
thee only, have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest and be clear
when thou judgest. Behold, I was shapen in iniquity. In sin did my mother conceive
me. This is not a happy song. This
is a mournful song. This is not a happy ditty. This
is a sad and sorrowful and solemn hymn from a broken heart. Verse 7, Purge me with hyssop,
and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter
than the snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness
that these bones which you've broken may rejoice. hide thy
face from my sin, blot out my iniquity." That's mourning. We
mourn over sin. David mourned, Charlie, over
the nature of it. He said, I was shapen in iniquity. I was born in sin. David mourned
over his nature, his nature. David mourned not only overseeing
the nature of it, but overseeing the product of it. He said in
verse 3, I acknowledge my transgressions. And David mourned over his attempt
at righteousness. He says in verse 6, thou desirest
truth in the inward parts. Verse 10, create in me a clean
heart, renew a right spirit in me. He knew his righteousnesses
were filthy rags. All right, let's go back to our
Master's sermon. Blessed are they that mourn.
They that mourn over the right thing. They mourn over sin. They mourn over sins. They mourn
over their attempt at righteousness and worship. They mourn over
their transgressions. And our Lord said they'll be
comforted. How shall they be comforted? They'll be comforted
with the word of truth. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is
God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. They're comforted not only by the Word of God, but by the
Spirit of God, whom Christ called your comforter. I will send you
a comforter. All right, look at the third
beatitude, blessed are the meek. Are you listening? Blessed are
the meek. If you can find this poverty
of spirit, God says yours is the kingdom of God. If we can
find some place in which to mourn before God over our sins, he
says we'll be comforted, and he says, blessed are the meek.
The meek. Now, my friends, will you listen
just a moment? I think I have some light on this. Humility and meekness is not
a product of the human nature. Humility and meekness is a Christian
grace, just like love. It's impossible for any man to
love anyone but himself, and that which is affiliated with
himself, except by the grace of God. He that loveth is born
of God. And that's the only way true
love can ever be shed abroad in a person's heart, is by the
Spirit of God, as a gift of God's grace. And the same thing is
true of humility, or meekness. It is not a product of the human
nature, the human heart. It's a Christian grace, and meekness
is the fruit of the Spirit. There are nine parts of this
fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, faith, meekness. Meekness. Now then, someone knocks
at the door, and I go to the door, or my wife goes to the
door. I'm sitting in the den. She goes to the back door, and
there's a man. with his hat in his hand, and he's ragged and
got holes in his shoes. He's standing there and he says,
I'm hungry. I need something to eat. And
she comes in the living room there and she says to me, oh,
there's a man at the door, and he's such a humble meat man. He's such a humble fellow. He's
such a meat fellow. Well, now, let's be honest. That
man has every reason to be humble. He has every reason to be meek.
He's broke. He's hungry. He's jobless. He's sick. He's totally dependent
on your charity. Why should he not be meek? But
let him win the sweepstakes tomorrow. Let him win the sweepstakes.
Let him win the lottery. And then you meet him on the
street next week. And you might find that he's, after all, not
meek at all, not humble at all. He's an arrogant, self-satisfied,
obnoxious person. You see, his meekness was brought
about by his condition. And I'm saying that that's not
meekness at all. Some of us have a reason to be
meek in the presence of great scholars, because we're not so
smart. Some of us have a reason to be meek in the presence of
great musicians because we're not too talented. Some of us
have a reason to be meek in the presence of someone who has a
million dollars and dresses like a queen when we dress like secondhand
rogues, you see. But that's not meekness. That's
meekness that's brought about by environmental condition. And
I'm saying true meekness and humility is a genuine hard work
that manifests itself whether in power or poverty. whether
in power or poverty, whether in strength or weakness, whether
when we're full or empty, it's the same. Paul said, I know how
to abound and I know how to be abased. That's what I'm talking
about. That's meekness. That's only
God-given. And no man has that but the man
to whom God has given. I've seen this happen so many
times. I've seen men who have simple jobs, and they're very
humble men, seem to be, conditioned by their environment. But they've
been promoted, and I've seen them reach and have a place of
authority, and they become so overbearing and so obnoxious,
they weren't meek and humble at all. Or their heads wouldn't
swell so much when they got a little popularity. That's not humility. Humility and meekness is the
man who's the same whether he's on the bottom or the top. He's the same whether he's empty
or full. He's the same whether he's the
follower or whether he's the boss. He's the same. He's a man
of humble spirit before God. That's right. And that humility,
let me tell you something about that humility. Our Lord said,
blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. the
new earth, the new heaven and the new earth. And I'll tell
you about this humility. Number one, it ascribes all that
it has to God. I am what I am by the grace of
God. It ascribes all it has to God. Who maketh thee to differ? What
do you have you didn't receive? True humility does not, watch
it now, does not envy the gifts and graces of others. The Holy
Spirit gives gifts, several as he will. Why should I envy the
gift of another man if the Holy Spirit gave it to him? And grace. God gave it to him. The Lord maketh rich and the
Lord maketh poor. That should be the name of the
Lord. I'm where I am by God's providence. Would I want to be
somewhere else? Would I want to be someone else? Well, that's
rejecting and resisting his providence and purpose. True humility has
honest thoughts about ourselves and charitable thoughts toward
others. A believer never excuses sin in himself, but he always
forgives sin in others. That's right. Always. And then true humility has a
teachable spirit. It does not become easily offended. When we're always getting offended,
we're always getting offended, we're always looking for something
by which or through which to be offended, that's because we've
got such proud hearts. We can't be rebuked, we can't
be reproved, we can't be taught because we're proud men, lifted
up with pride. And God hates pride. He said
he giveth grace to the humble and he resisteth the proud. But
humility has a teachable spirit. And humility will submit to the
teachings of God's Word. Humility will submit to the leadership
of God's Spirit. And humility is motivated always
in conduct by an awareness of God's mercy to me. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you. That's the foundation. That's
the basis. Why shouldn't I forgive? I've
been forgiven. Why shouldn't I be merciful?
I've sure received enough of them. Why shouldn't I be generous? God sure has been generous with
me. Oh, how merciful. Blessed Lord, how merciful thou
art to me. We've seen that. Do we believe
that? Do you know how you can prove
you believe it? Be you merciful as your Father
in heaven is merciful. That's right. Otherwise, you
won't believe a word of it. And that brings me to the next
one. In verse 6, he said, "...blessed are they that hunger and thirst
after righteousness, they will be filled." Now, my friends,
I know exactly what righteousness our Lord refers to in this Beatitude.
I don't have any doubt in the world about it. "...blessed are
they that hunger and thirst after righteousness." Righteousness.
What righteousness is he talking about? No doubt about it, he's
talking about the righteousness of Romans 3. When he said, What
the law saith, it saith to every one who is under the law, that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before
God. Therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified
in God's sight, for the law is the knowledge of sin. But now
there is a righteousness of God. manifested and witnessed by the
law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is
by faith in Christ. That's the righteousness he's
talking about. He's talking about the righteousness imputed to
Abraham in Romans 4, 3. Abraham believed God. It was
imputed to him for righteousness. He's talking about the righteousness
of Christ in Romans 10, 3 and 4 when he said, Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it.
He's talking about the righteousness which Christ purchased in 2 Corinthians
5, verse 21, when he said, He was made sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. And those that hunger and thirst
for that righteousness shall be filled with it, filled with
the joy of it, filled with the confidence of it, filled with
the assurance of it, filled with the presence of it, and filled
with the peace of it. What I want, above all things,
what I want, whether living or dead, I want to be accepted of
Him. That's what Paul said, whether
living or dead, that I may be accepted of Him. Well, how in
the world are you going to be accepted of Him? Only in the
Beloved, only clothed in the righteousness, washed in the
blood, redeemed by the grace of Jesus Christ, that's how you're
going to be accepted of God. And blessed are they that hunger
and thirst, and somebody tells me the greatest, the greatest
cravings, that which is, which suppresses all other cravings,
man may be cold or too hot or these different things, but hunger
and thirst. would be the greatest. That's
the greatest need, the greatest cravings or passions of the human
body, hunger and thirst. And he said, you'll seek me and
find me when you search for me with that kind of hunger and
that kind of thirst in all your heart. And there'll be filled.
Verse 7, blessed are the merciful. Will you be patient with me just
a moment? Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. Now, then, I said in verse 6,
when I read, Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness,
I said, I know exactly what Christ means here, what righteousness
he's referring to. Well, verse 7, Blessed are the
merciful, they shall obtain mercy, he means exactly what you think
he means. Exactly. Say, does he? Yeah, just exactly. Just exactly. Blessed are those
who are merciful to the bodies of men, who pity the needy, who pity
the hungry, who pity the poor, and who pity them enough to help
them in their distress." They're merciful. They're merciful to
the poor. They pity them. Their hearts
and hands reach out to them. In all the years that I've pastored
here and sat in there in that study. And I watched men and
women come in that door, and they come in, I don't want to
exaggerate here, but they're in so frequently. They come in
dirty, and they come in weary, and they come in hungry. And
one of the evidences I feel in my heart, that God dwells in
my heart, is because I've never become hardened or steeled against
their cry for help. I just can't, can't turn them
away. Just cannot do it, knowing most
of the time I'm putting money in hands that don't deserve it,
but I can't do it. And I believe that's a mark of
God's grace. Merciful, merciful. Are you merciful to the bodies
of men? How about this? Blessed are they that are not
only merciful to the bodies of men, they care. Except for God's
grace, that'd be me. I've got to keep reminding myself
of that. Except by God's grace, that'd be me. You say he's a
cheat and a thief. I am too, by birth and nature,
except for God's grace. And then, blessed are they that
are merciful to the hearts of others. Are you merciful to the
hearts of others? Not only their bodies, but their
hearts, who love other people, who encourage other people, who
forgive other people, who are merciful to their hearts, tender
to their feelings. Do you care for the feelings
of other people? Do you care for their feelings? Do you care
for their tears? Do you care when you hurt them? Do you delight to hurt and to
wound and to afflict God's people? I hope not. I hope not, because
you may someday feel the afflicting hand of God in a severe fashion. You're merciful to the hearts
of others, and then you're merciful to the souls of men. How are
we merciful to the souls of men when we faithfully tell them
the truth? Preach to them the truth. Brother
Mann, you keep on preaching, you're just going to preach everybody
away. I have a pretty good example.
My master preached one time to 5,000, and every one of them
left but his disciples. And then he turned to them and
said, Will you go away? And they said, To whom shall
we go? Brethren, I believe we are merciful to the souls of
men when we dare to tell them the truth, no matter if it wounds
and afflicts and hurts. Paul said, Am I your enemy because
I'm telling you the truth? Does that make me your enemy?
Yeah, unfortunately. Unfortunately. Well, I'll tell
you this, look at that verse again, verse 7, blessed are the
merciful, they're going to obtain mercy. They're going to obtain
mercy. Blessed are those that are merciful
to the bodies of men, to the hearts of men, and to the souls
of men, they're going to obtain mercy. Now, quickly, blessed
are the pure in heart. I sat and looked at that for
a long time, and then yesterday I worked this message over again.
I looked at it a little while longer. I looked at this for
a long time. Blessed are the pure in heart.
Pure in heart. There ain't nobody here from
standing up here, and in case there's somebody back there,
back there too, all the way back to that door, who would dare
claim to be pure in heart. Nobody here. living, who knows
God, who would claim to be pure in heart, pure in thought, pure
in motive, pure in spirit. Yet, wait a minute, I can't deny
the words of my Lord. He said, blessed are the pure
in heart. That's what he says. Well, it's
got to mean something. It doesn't mean that we're pure
by birth or pure by nature or pure by practice, by any Well,
how are they pure in heart? They're going to see God. They're
going to see God now, and they're going to see Him in eternity. They're going to see God with
the eyes of faith, and they're going to see Him someday face
to face. Not through a glass chimney,
but face to face. Well, here's what I came up with.
Number one, their hearts are pure in that they've been washed
and made white by the blood of the Lamb. That's right. The blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sins. Isn't that
what the word says? Cleansing! Oh, now I see the cleansing stream
that flows from Calvary. Their hearts are cleansed and
made white in the blood of the Lamb. Though your sins be as
scarlet, I'll make them white as snow. Though they be red like
crimson, they'll be as wool. So their hearts are pure, washed
by the washing of regeneration and sprinkled in the blood of
the Lamb. Secondly, their hearts are purified from dead works
to serve the living God. Their hearts are purified from
dead works, and that's the greatest stench in the nostrils of God,
is dead works, to serve the living God. Thirdly, their hearts are
pure in that they love Christ sincerely, unfeigned love. genuine love. They believe Christ
sincerely. They're not hypocritical in faith. Peter said, Lord, you know I
love you. And that's pure love. It may
not be the strongest love, it may not be the greatest love,
it may not be the love he'll have someday, but it is pure. It's pure. That's what their
hearts are pure. And then last of all, their hearts
are pure in that they have a sincere love for one another. John said,
I know I've passed from death unto life. I love the brethren.
All right, here's the last one, and I'll close. You've been patient
and kind. Blessed are the peacemakers.
The peacemakers, they're going to be called children of God.
Well, my friends, there's no way I can make peace between
God and men. There's no way I can make peace
between you and God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Prince of Peace. He's the King of Salem. He's
the King of Peace. And he came here and he reconciled
us to God and he made peace between us and God. Therefore, he hath
reconciled us to the Father by the sacrifice of himself, having
made peace through the blood of his cross. He's the peacemaker. He's the peacemaker, the Lord
Jesus Christ. by his blood and by his righteousness. And then
the Holy Spirit is the peacemaker in that he breaks down this rebellion
in our hearts and brings us to be reconciled to God and be at
peace with God. But these peacemakers in the
flesh are those who publish the gospel of peace. Turn to Romans
10, the gospel of peace. Now watch this. I'll give you
two verses and I'll quit. and let you go off and chew on
this a little bit, Romans 10, verse 15. How shall they preach, except
they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring
glad tidings of good things. All right, one more verse, Romans
14, They not only publish the gospel
of peace, but they promote peace and unity between brethren. They
themselves are of a peaceful disposition. In verse 17, the
kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, for he that in these things serveth
Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men. follow after
the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may
edify another."

The Marks of Grace In the Soul

What does the Bible say about the poor in spirit?

How do we know the marks of grace are true?

Why is mourning over sin important for Christians?

What does it mean to be merciful according to the Bible?

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The Marks of Grace In the Soul

What does the Bible say about the poor in spirit?

How do we know the marks of grace are true?

Why is mourning over sin important for Christians?

What does it mean to be merciful according to the Bible?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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