I'll be speaking to you this
morning from the book of Matthew. I'd like you to turn to the fifth
chapter of Matthew, and our message is on the subject, a sermon from
the Beatitudes. Now, most all of you are familiar
with the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5, 1 through 12. And
in just a few moments, I'm going to bring a message on that subject,
the Beatitudes. But first of all, I'd like to
make an announcement I've been invited to speak tomorrow night,
Tuesday night, and Wednesday night in the Danville, West Virginia
Civic Center. Now, the services begin each
evening at 7 p.m. I'll be speaking tomorrow night,
the 16th of November, Tuesday night and Wednesday night in
the Danville, West Virginia Civic Center. Now, someone tells me
that the Civic Center is located in the middle of town and it's
located near the railroad station. We'd like for our listeners in
that area to come to these services Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
in the Danville, West Virginia Civic Center. Now let's read
from Matthew, the fifth chapter, beginning with verse three. Our
Lord said, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted Blessed are the meek, for they shall
inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst for 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. Now a clear
warning needs to be sounded at the beginning of this message.
These Beatitudes do not set forth the way to be saved. This is
not the way to be saved. It's not the way to be pardoned
or forgiven of your sins. Our Lord clearly sets forth the
way to be saved. It's by grace through faith in
the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is not by work. Salvation
is not by mourning over sin. Salvation is not by making peace
with your neighbor. Salvation is not by adopting
a meek and humble attitude. Salvation is in Christ. The way
to be saved from sin, the way to be pardoned and forgiven,
the way to become a child of God is believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. When the Philippian jailer asked
the Apostle Paul, what must I do to be saved? Paul's reply was,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. John
1.12 says, As many as received him, to them gave he the privilege,
the power, the right to become sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name. John 3.14 says, As Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. John 3.36 says, He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall never see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. So the way to be saved is not
given here in the Beatitudes. The way to be saved is by believing
on Christ. It's by faith through grace. It's by the grace of God through
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord is speaking here in
the Beatitudes, not about half of the saved, but he's speaking
of those who are saved. In other words, the Beatitudes
are characteristics of those who know Christ. The Beatitudes
are marks of grace in the soul. You see, people who are children
of God are not just children of God by profession. But they
are children who show a work of grace in the heart, in the
conduct and conversation of life. Faith that saves, true saving
faith, produces definite evidences of a new birth, and of regeneration,
and of sanctification of salvation. Faith that saves produces a change
in a person's attitude, personality, and conduct, not just in his
doctrine. 2 Corinthians 5.17 says, If any
man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed
away. Behold, all things become new.
And you're familiar with what James had to say about this.
He said, Faith without works is dead being alone. So let that
warning be sounded. Let that foundation be laid.
As I bring you this message on the Beatitudes, it is not how
to be saved. The Beatitudes concerns those
who are saved. Characteristics, evidences, marks
of saving grace in the soul. Now let's look back at the text.
And this time I want you to go back to verse 1. It says in verse
1, and seeing the multitude, and seeing the multitude, he
went up into a mountain. And he called his disciples unto
him, and he taught them saying. Now many people say he was speaking
only to his disciples, in this Sermon on the Mount. But I kind
of believe he was speaking to the whole multitude. Actually,
the message we preach is to all the people. We don't have a separate
message for the rich and the poor, the old and the young,
the wise and the unwise, but all men need to hear this message. All men will not hear it. All
men will not receive it. Isaiah said, Lord, who hath believed
thy report? And to whom is the message or
the arm of the Lord revealed? But this message is the same.
It's the same for you and me. It's the same for the old and
young, the rich and poor, the wise and the unwise. Our Lord,
seeing the multitude, taught them, saying..." Now, notice
the next thing. It says, "...he went up into
a mountain." Now, the Lord didn't seek an elevated place just to
be seen and just to be heard. But it's the King who's speaking
here. It's the King who is speaking
with authority, and the mountain is symbolic of his greatness,
his authority, and his majesty. He gave his law on Mount Sinai. He calls his church Mount Zion. He died on Mount Calvary. He
ascended from the Mount of Olives, and here he went up into a mountain
and sat down as a king sits on his throne and speaks forth the
words of his kingdom. The father said, This is my son. You hear him. Now notice the
next line. It says, he opened his mouth
and taught them saying. Now God does not express anything
in the word needlessly. The word of God is a brief book
compared to all that Christ did and all that Christ said. It's
said in the scripture that if everything Christ did and said
had been written in books, the world wouldn't contain the books.
So here he uses this phrase, he opened his mouth and he taught
them. Now somebody's going to immediately
say, well, how could he teach them without opening his mouth?
He would have to open his mouth to teach them, not necessarily.
Our Lord taught men without saying a word. Our Lord taught men without
speaking a word. His life, His love, His looks
taught men. His miracles, His tears, His
works. All of these teach men without
saying a word. And then for centuries our Lord
taught men through the mouth of others. That's right, it says
in the book of Hebrews chapter 1, God who at sundry times and
in divers manners spake to our fathers by the prophets. So God
taught men through the mouth of other men. But here, now,
He speaks. He speaks on earth. It says,
and He went into the mountain and sat down And he opened his
mouth and taught them, saying, Now he that hath ears to hear
had better listen to him. He speaks not as the scribes
and Pharisees. He speaks with authority. This
is the king. I speak the things he said that
I know. He opened his mouth and taught
them, and the first word he spoke was the word blessed. We see
that over and over again in these twelve verses. Blessed, blessed,
blessed, What does the word blessed mean? Well, it means this, first
of all. It means marked out for special
favor. You know, when the angel announced
to Mary that she would bear a son and that holy thing would be
called the Son of God, the angel said, blessed or highly favored
art thou among women, not over women, among women, not over
men, among men. So, first of all, this word blessed
that we're going to be looking at, means highly favored, special
favor, marked out for special favor by God Almighty. And then
not only that, but honored and esteemed, highly esteemed by
God Himself. And then it means happy, finders
of happiness. Paul said in Romans 4, 7 and
8, Blessed is the man to whom God will not charge sin. In other
words, happy. He's special. He's marked out
for special favor. He's highly esteemed of God.
And he's certainly a happy man. Happy is the man to whom God
will not charge sin. So these Beatitudes, all of them
begin with the word blessed, happy, finders of happiness.
Let's look at seven of them this morning as the Lord enables us
and as we have time. First of all, he said, blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now,
my friends, no one ever considered the poor on this earth as our
Lord considered them, as our Lord was identified with them.
I'm talking about the poor materially, physically, and so forth. His
birth in a manger identified him with the poorest of poor.
Even his life, even to the death on the cross, he was poor and
despised and rejected of men. He said, foxes have holes and
birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where
to lay his head. He's not speaking of poverty
of flesh. Here he's speaking of a poverty
of spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit. A man can be wealthy and be poor
in spirit. And a man can be financially
poor and proud in spirit. So the Lord Jesus Christ is talking
here of a humility of heart before God. A lowliness of mind and
spirit, an absence of pride, and self-esteem. The poor in
spirit are those who have been made to realize that before God,
not necessarily before men, but before God, we have nothing,
we are nothing, and we know nothing. We're born poor. We're born in
sin. As by Adam's transgression, we
were made sinners. We were born in sin, conceived
in iniquity, shapen in sin. We're born poor. We're poor by
choice. Christ said, you will not come
to me that you might have life. We love darkness and hate light
because our deeds are evil. We're poor by practice. We're
living like the prodigal son off the husk of the world. We
wasted our living, and we're living now off the husk, like
the swine eat. Poverty of spirit. Blessed are
the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. What
is this poverty of spirit? Well, it empties a man of self
that he may be filled with the grace of God. This poverty of
spirit strips a man of his own self-righteousness that he may
be clothed with the righteousness of the Son of God. This poverty
of spirit lays a man at the door of mercy, helpless and hopeless,
crying, O God, be merciful to me, the sinner. This poverty
of spirit empties a man of pride Envy, jealousy, haughtiness,
and bigotry. Six things, God said, I hate. Yea, seven are an abomination
to me. And the first one he lists is
P-R-I-D-E, pride. A proud look. God hates. God
resisteth the proud and he giveth grace to the humble. Our Lord
Jesus said he came to preach the gospel to the poor. That
is, the poor in spirit. That's where the work of grace
begins. It begins where we have the most
need, our pride. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Notice the second one. Our Lord
said, blessed, highly favored, happy, finders of happiness,
blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
I believe David's prayer of repentance in Psalm 51 is a classic example
of true mourning over sin. Listen to David. Have mercy upon
me, O God. According to Thy lovingkindness,
according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine
iniquities. Cleanse me from my sins. For
I acknowledge my transgressions, my sin is ever before me. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." One old songwriter
wrote these words, Lord let me mourn for nothing but sin, and
after no one but thee, and then I would, oh that I might, a constant
mourner be. My friends, the sacrifices of
God are a broken heart, a broken and a contrite spirit. The Lord
is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart. The Lord saveth
such as be of a broken heart. Paul knew something about this.
He cried in Romans 7, O wretched, wretched man that I am. Who shall
deliver me from this body of death? I thank God. through Jesus
Christ our Lord. The victory in Christ is mine. But he never ceased to mourn.
Throughout his life, he said, I'm less than the least of all
the saints. On one occasion, shortly before his martyrdom,
he said, Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom
I am the chief. We never cease to be sinners
saved by the grace of God. And we never cease to be sinners
who mourn, a constant mourner, over our sins. Now, true poverty
of spirit will lead to mourning over sin. Now, the third one,
blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Now,
my friends, there's a vast difference in meekness and weakness. There's a difference in meekness
and compromise. There's a difference in meekness
and cowardice. We are exhorted in the Scriptures
to be strong in the faith. We are taught in the Word of
God to be bold in the Lord. We are commanded in the Scriptures
to contend earnestly for the faith. But the believer is a
gentle person. That's right, a gentle person.
Our Lord said, Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you. The believer,
blessed is the man who cares for the feelings of others. Blessed
is the man who cares for the burdens and trials of others. He is a gentle person. I don't
know where we got the idea that a Christian, a believer, is supposed
to be an unbending, stern, unyielding, unforgiving defender of the law. Tis not so. The Christian is
a tender-hearted, gentle person. Not weak, not cowardly, not compromising,
but meek in spirit. The meek are self-sacrificing. His greatest happiness is in
making someone else happy. The meek are a quiet spirit,
a people with a quiet spirit, a patient and long-suffering
attitude. Blessed are the meek. Now you
see how these attitudes lead from one to the other. Blessed
are the poor in spirit. Blessed are they that mourn over
sin. When a person knows he is nothing,
has nothing, he mourns over his failures, his poverty of spirit. It leads to a mourning over sin,
and that leads to a meekness. There's no one who'll forgive
like the man who's been forgiven. There's no one who'll show mercy
like the man who's received mercy. There's no one who'll be long-suffering
and patient like the man who's a participator in the patience
of God. What's the fourth one? Blessed
are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness, they shall
be filled." This can be called holiness, it can be called righteousness,
it can be called sanctification, and it's twofold. They that hunger
and pant and thirst and yearn for righteousness or holiness,
it's twofold. I want a twofold righteousness.
First of all, the righteousness that they hunger for and seek
is the righteousness of God, or righteousness before God.
Now, Paul, writing of the Israelites, said, Brethren, my heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved.
I bear them record. They have a zeal for God, but
it's not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of the
righteousness of God, are going about to establish their own
righteousness. In other words, through their
works and laws and deeds and ceremonies and morality, they
were trying to establish a righteousness before God, before His holy throne,
before His holy law, and it can't be done. Christ is our righteousness. Christ is our righteousness and
our sanctification. We are accepted in the Beloved.
By the disobedience of one, we were made sinners. That's Adam.
By the obedience of one, we were made righteous. God hath laid
upon him our sins, who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him." That's where it's found in Christ.
His obedience is my obedience. His holiness is my holiness.
His acceptance by the Father is my acceptance, for He's my
representative. Now, I want that righteousness.
I must have it or perish. Without this holiness, no man
will see the Lord. And then the other righteousness
is a personal righteousness, or a life of godliness, or the
fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, long-suffering,
temperance, and so forth, a growth in grace and a knowledge of Jesus
Christ. But neither of these righteousnesses
come by law or by works. The righteousness of God comes
by the love of Christ, and the righteousness inwardly comes
by love for Christ. The love of Christ constraineth
me, his love for me and my love for him. His love for me gives
me a perfect righteousness before the Father. My love for Him leads
me to walk in His steps. So blessed are they that hunger
and thirst for righteousness, they'll be filled. They're seeking
the right thing. Not their righteousness, but
His. And they'll be filled. Now, the
fifth one, blessed are the merciful. They shall obtain mercy. When
I think of mercy, I think of God. He's plenteous in mercy.
He delights to show mercy. But mercy is not only a characteristic
of God, it's a characteristic of the sons of God. It's a characteristic
of saving faith. The man who shows no mercy is
not an object of mercy. The man who does not forgive
has never been forgiven. Our Lord taught us to pray, forgive
us of our debts as we forgive those who are indebted to us.
John Wesley was crossing the Atlantic Ocean from England to
Georgia, to the United States, the state of Georgia. And on
the ship with him was the governor of Georgia who had been to England.
He was on his way back. And one of his servants had stolen
some of the governor's wine. And the governor was going to
have him flogged. He was going to have him beaten.
And John Wesley went to the governor of Georgia and asked him, on
behalf of the guilty man, to show mercy. He said, show mercy
to this man. He was wrong. He made a mistake.
But temper your justice with mercy. Show mercy to him. To
which the governor replied, Sir, I never forgive. I never forgive. And John Wesley replied to the
governor of Georgia, Then sir, I hope you never sin, because
you'll never be forgiven. And my friends, that's just so.
It's not just preaching, it's truth. It's the truth of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the merciful. They
shall obtain mercy. Now notice the sixth one. Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Our Lord always
deals with a man's heart. He wasn't saying blessed are
the pure in walk and blessed are the pure in deed and blessed
are the pure in actions. I know that our walk and our
deeds and our actions spring from our hearts. Out of the heart,
the mouth speaketh. As a man thinketh in his heart,
so is he. And this is where God aims. He
always aims for the heart. Other religious leaders and so-called
messiahs and so forth are content with men's ears. Lend me your
ears. God says, my son, give me your
heart. Others are content with the actions and works of men,
but our Lord Jesus Christ always aims for the heart. He says,
keep thine heart. Out of it are the issues of life.
He said, God looks not on the outward countenance, but God
looks on the heart. He says, I will give you a new
heart. He warned the religious Pharisees, be careful of cleaning
up the outside of the cup and the platter and neglecting the
inside. He said, cleanse first that which
is within, that the outside might be clean also. Blessed are the
pure in heart. They have pure motives. They
have pure and sincere attitudes. They have a pure and sincere
attitude toward God and toward themselves and toward others.
We're not without sin. We are in Christ. In Christ there
is no sin. In Christ we have a perfect righteousness. But there's a purity of motive
and a sincerity of purpose. That's what he's talking about.
Blessed are the pure in heart. They're going to say, God, it's
not just the man in the long religious robes. It's not just
the man with the doctrine and the principles outwardly and
the ceremonies and rituals. It's the man whose heart has
been vitally joined in saving faith to Christ Jesus, who has
a heart that's pure in its motive and sincere in its desire. Blessed are the pure in heart. I don't know what your religion
consists of, but faith is a heart work. Repentance is a heart work. Salvation's a hard work. Now
the last one. Blessed are the peacemakers.
Blessed are the peacemakers. They shall be called the children
of God. The peacemaker is a son of the
king of peace. The peacemaker ends a quarrel.
He doesn't start it nor carry it on. The peacemaker extends
a hand of friendship and fellowship. The peacemaker avoids discord
and dissension. He follows the words of his master,
as much as is possible, live at peace with all men. Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God. Now, as I said,
these Beatitudes follow a pattern. You see how they must be brought
together as one. Happy, highly favored, blessed,
highly esteemed of God are are the people of whom these things
can be said. And it begins here, now watch
it. It begins, blessed are the poor in spirit. The poverty of
spirit leads to mourning overseen. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. And that mourning leads to a
meekness, a genuine humility of spirit. Why should I lord
it over another? Why should I judge another? Why
should I be critical of another? When I am guilty of the same
sin, maybe not outwardly, but at least inwardly. And this meekness
of spirit leads to what? A hunger and a thirst for righteousness. If I have no righteousness, I
need it. And I not only need it, but I
desire it. I know I must have it. I must
have the holiness of God. Who shall stand in His presence?
He that hath a clean heart. A pure heart and clean hands.
I need it. And I hunger and search for righteousness. And this righteousness will make
us merciful toward others. God's been merciful in giving
to me his righteousness. Who maketh thee to differ? What
do you have that you didn't receive? And this merciful spirit gives
us a right heart toward God and toward others. A pure heart.
And this heart, purged from malice and bigotry, will lead me to
be a peacemaker. which is called a child of God.
Now this message is on cassette tape, a sermon on the Beatitudes. And it also has on the same tape
a message I'll bring next Sunday on the subject taught of God.
If you want it, write to us, send two dollars, we'll mail
it to you. Till next week, may the Lord
bless you, everyone.