Participants: Shelley Quinn
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000129A
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00:21 Hello, I'm Shelley Quinn, and we welcome you to A Sharper Focus, 00:24 our Wednesday night Bible study here at the Thompsonville 00:28 Seventh-day Adventist Church. And I want to welcome all of you 00:32 who are sitting here as well as those who are watching by 00:36 television and internet or listening on radio. I have to 00:40 tell you, you know, J.D. and I just have returned from Israel. 00:44 We had a beautiful two week trip to Israel but I'm quite jet 00:49 lagged. I'm still on Israel time. I've been up since 00:52 midnight so it's going to be a bit of a challenge tonight, but 00:57 John Lomacang asked me yesterday if I would do today and you know 01:02 what 3ABN's motto is. You have to be a minuteman to work there, 01:06 right? So why don't we go to the Lord in prayer and ask for his 01:10 blessing over the study of his word. Heaven Father, we come 01:14 once again in the name of Jesus and Lord we come to acknowledge 01:18 our full dependence upon you. We ask in the name of Jesus you 01:21 will send the Holy Spirit tonight to be our teacher and 01:26 Father help make sense of the material that is prepared here 01:32 that _ to hear what the Holy Spirit would have to say. Father 01:37 we want to be all things to the glory of your name. Thank you 01:42 Lord, in Jesus name, Amen. Because we just returned from 01:49 Israel and because I didn't have time to do anything else, 01:54 no, we are going tonight to study the beatitudes. So please 02:00 open your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5, Matthew chapter 5. 02:05 You know, I don't think we spend enough time really focusing on 02:10 these. Tonight we're going to dig deep into the beatitudes and 02:16 what the meaning, what Christ was doing when he actually give 02:22 the sermon on the mount. This is Christ's inaugural address, 02:27 a King of the kingdom of grace. So it's a very important sermon 02:33 and we will only have time to consider the beatitudes. But 02:38 let's look at Matthew chapter 5 and we're going to begin with 02:42 verse 1. And seeing the multitudes, he went up on a 02:48 mountain and when he was seated, his disciples came to him. Then 02:54 he opened his mouth and taught them saying, Blessed, happy, to 03:00 be envied, are those the poor in spirit. Blessed are the poor 03:05 in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. As I said, 03:11 this is Christ's inaugural address, if you will, as King of 03:16 the kingdom of grace. And he proclaims immediately that his 03:22 main objective is to restore the lost happiness of Eden. Blessed 03:28 are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 03:34 J.D. and I have had the privilege of going to Israel 03:37 that last five years and we stood on the mount of beatitudes 03:42 they believe it's the most perfect place where they believe 03:46 Christ gave this address because it forms a natural amphitheater. 03:56 And it's close to Capernaum and actually this mount is sometimes 04:05 referred to as the Sinai of the New Testament. We know that this 04:13 sermon has the same relationship to the Christian church as what 04:20 happened on Mt. Sinai had to the Jewish nation. So what we want 04:27 to do tonight is look at how Matthew often parallels Moses 04:34 and Jesus. And we're going to look from Mt. Sinai God gave his 04:40 divine Law. But here from the Mount of Beatitudes Christ is 04:45 reaffirming this Law and he is explaining its true meaning in 04:51 great detail. So when we look at this we should read it through 04:56 the backdrop of Moses' teachings You know, the only time that 05:01 Moses used the word blessed was in his blessing on Israel in 05:06 Deuteronomy 33:29. You don't need to turn there. But he said 05:12 how happy, how blessed you are Israel. Who is like you a people 05:19 saved by the Lord. Of course, he's referring here to their 05:23 exodus from Egypt and the remainder of that blessing in 05:30 Deuteronomy is assuring the Israelites of their success in 05:35 their conquest of the promised land. So against this backdrop 05:41 if we think about this, what Matthew is doing is he is 05:50 showing that Moses was the type and Christ was the antitype. 05:56 He's kind of setting Christ up as the new Moses and he's going 06:02 to describe the new Israel who are Jesus' disciples who will 06:07 enjoy a new exodus and conquest. Now for us the idea of the new 06:12 Israel is fairly familiar, but for some of you at home it may 06:17 not be and I wanted to just give you a few scriptures and we'll 06:21 look at these together. Turn to Genesis 32. Keep your finger in 06:25 Matthew 5 because we'll be coming back here. But if we look 06:31 at Genesis 32, and we're going to begin with verse 24. Let me 06:38 say this: Israel is a spiritual name. Israel is a spiritual name 06:45 God gave to Jacob after Jacob wrestled with the Lord. Genesis 06:49 32 and verse 24. The Bible says, Then Jacob was left alone and a 06:57 man wrestled with him until breaking of day. Now when he saw 07:01 that he did not prevail against him, he touched the socket of 07:05 his hip and the socket of Jacob's hip was out of joint 07:08 as he wrestled with him and he said, let me go (this is the Man 07:13 speaking, capital M) and He said let me go for the day breaks. 07:18 But Jacob said to him, I will not let you go unless you bless 07:24 he said to Jacob, What is your name? And he answered Jacob 07:30 and then this Man says to him, your name shall no longer be 07:34 called Jacob, but Israel, for you have struggled with God and 07:40 with men and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked saying, tell 07:45 me your name I pray. And he said why is it that you ask about my 07:50 name and he blessed him there and Jacob called the name of the 07:56 place Peniel. And if we have any question who this Man was that 08:01 he was wrestling with this next verse explains it. It says, For 08:08 I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved. So Israel 08:14 is a spiritual name and, you know, as Paul told the Romans, 08:19 we've been grafted in. We were wild olive shoots, we being 08:25 Gentiles, were wild olive shoots grafted in to the cultured olive 08:30 tree. Some of the natural branches, he says, were broken 08:32 off by God, we were then grafted in. And for Paul, a true Jew is 08:40 the one who believes that Christ is the Messiah. He says this in 08:46 Galatians 3. This is Galatians 3:26-29. Paul says, For you are 08:53 all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you 08:58 as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. For there is 09:03 neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor 09:09 female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And in Galatians 09:15 3:29 he says, And if you are Christ's then you are Abraham's 09:21 seed and heirs according to the promise. What promise is he 09:24 speaking of? He's speaking of the promise that God gave 09:30 Abraham that all of his offspring, both Jews and 09:35 Gentiles, will be justified by faith alone. Not by works but by 09:43 faith. So Paul is constantly developing this idea of a new 09:52 Israel. For Paul, a Jew, one who was circumcised in his 09:56 heart. Turn to 09:58 Roman's chapter 2, we'll look at that. Romans chapter 2 and 10:05 verse 28 is where we'll begin. So a true Jew, part of the new 10:12 Israel, is somebody who has been circumcised in their heart by 10:17 the Holy Spirit. And he says in Romans 2:28: For he is not a 10:23 Jew who is one outwardly nor is circumcision that which is 10:29 outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly and 10:35 circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the 10:40 letter. His praise is not from men, but from God. So if your 10:47 heart has been circumcised by God that is our covenant, the 10:54 seal and sign of our covenant, is when our heart has been 10:59 circumcised by God. When we have allowed him to cut away the 11:04 stony heart and give us a heart of flesh, a new heart in which 11:08 he promises he will write his Laws and his commandments. So 11:13 that makes us members of Israel. We're the new Israel. Paul said 11:21 this; do you want to turn there? Galatians chapter 5, Galatians 11:27 chapter 5 once again showing that a true Jew is not one who 11:33 is circumcised physically but spiritually in the heart. 11:36 Galatians 5 and verse 1, Paul says, Stand fast therefore in 11:44 the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not 11:48 be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Indeed, I, Paul, say 11:55 to you-And he was speaking to Gentiles who were being troubled 12:02 by some Jewish brethren... and let me explain something. 12:09 Christianity didn't begin as a new religion. Christianity for 12:15 the Jews who accepted Christ as Messiah, they saw this as a 12:20 a continuation of the Jewish faith. Those who understood and 12:26 recognized. So I've been a little hard on some of these 12:30 people thinking the Judaizers who came and tried to get them 12:34 to be circumcised, in many of their minds they felt that you 12:39 had to become a Jew and follow all of the old to become a 12:44 Christian. But what Paul is saying to them is no. I mean, 12:50 he's already had this conversation, gone down and 12:53 talked with Peter and the brethren and he says no you 12:57 don't have to go through the Jewish rite of circumcision. You 13:01 don't have to become a Jew to become a Christian and here's 13:05 what he says in Galatians 5:1-6: But stand fast therefore in the 13:10 liberty by which Christ has made us free. Do not become entangled 13:15 again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed, I, Paul say to you that 13:20 if you become circumcised Christ will profit you nothing 13:25 and I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he 13:29 is a debtor to keep the whole law. If you're being circumcised 13:34 to be saved, if you're trying to keep the law to be saved, the 13:39 old law, Paul says it's not going to do you any good. And in 13:44 verse 4 he says you have become estranged from Christ, you who 13:50 attempt to be justified by law. You have fallen from grace for 13:55 we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of 14:00 righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither 14:04 circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but only what? 14:11 The only thing that matters is Christ Jesus, is faith working 14:18 through love. So a true Jew will understand that you rely on 14:24 God's grace and not the works of the law for Paul told the 14:30 Ephesians For it is by grace that you've been saved not by 14:35 works, it's not of yourself, it is the gift of God. Not of works 14:41 lest anyone should boast for we are God's workmanship created in 14:48 Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand 14:51 for us to walk in them. So salvation is by grace and grace 14:57 alone and that's something that Jesus really wants people to 15:01 understand. So now let's go back to Matthew chapter 5, Matthew 5 15:07 and we just looked at blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed 15:14 are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 15:20 What we're seeing here is Christ is being presented as the new 15:26 Moses, a spiritual deliverer, rather than a political one and 15:30 his promise has to be understood in that light, all in the 15:35 spiritual realm. So a new Israel a new exodus and in the 15:40 beatitudes Christ is pronouncing spiritual salvation. Exodus from 15:48 slavery to sin and he promises spiritual victory, conquest and 15:52 inheritance of a new promised land. In the Old Testament, and 15:59 Psalm 86 is a good one, we won't take time to turn there, but in 16:07 the Old Testament the poor were those who cried out for God's 16:12 help depending entirely on him for their needs. They had a 16:17 humble and contrite spirit and they experienced his deliverance 16:23 and they enjoyed his undeserved favor. The word poor here is 16:27 referring to a deep poverty, a deep spiritual poverty, a dire 16:36 poverty. It is people who sense their need for God and what his 16:43 kingdom of grace has to offer. Jesus, in the light of this 16:49 background, is describing his disciples as unworthy sinners 16:54 who depend on God's grace for salvation. And it's interesting 17:00 the statement, the kingdom of heaven is theirs, appears here 17:05 in the first the beatitudes and then at the beginning and then 17:09 at the end of the beatitudes, after the eighth one, that the 17:15 kingdom of heaven is theirs. So it's bracketed, the first 17:20 beatitude, the eighth beatitude are bracketed by that thought 17:25 that the kingdom of heaven is theirs. And this suggests that 17:30 the beatitude constitutes promises that only belong to 17:35 those who are in the kingdom. In Isaiah 61, Isaiah promises 17:42 that the Messiah would bring good news to the poor and this 17:48 beatitude serves as a fulfillment of that prophecy. 17:51 Only the poor in spirit will inherit and enter the kingdom 17:58 of heaven. Those who feel no need of heaven's riches will not 18:03 go in because they decline it's blessings. So blessed are the 18:11 poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now let's 18:17 look at the second one. Blessed are those who mourn, this is 18:22 Matthew 5 verse 4: Blessed are those who 18:26 mourn for they shall be comforted. This beatitude is 18:34 also dependent up Isaiah 61. Let me read to you verses 1-3, if 18:42 you want to turn there you may. Isaiah 61 verses 1-3. He says he 18:50 had sent me to heal the broken hearted, to comfort all who 18:55 mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion, to give them a 19:00 crown of beauty instead of ashes festive oil instead of mourning, 19:05 and splendid clothes instead of despair. This is portraying 19:13 mourning as an expression of Israel's sorrow over the 19:18 consequences of their sins and the exile that their sins caused 19:25 So in this light when Jesus said blessed are those who mourn, 19:28 he's talking about those who expressed the grief of the 19:35 consequences of their sins. They had an attitude of repentance. 19:42 So this profound spiritual poverty that he was talking of, 19:48 the poor in spirit, is matched by a deep mourning, that Godly 19:54 sorrow. A deep sense of spiritual need leads men to 19:59 mourn over the imperfections of their life. We talked about 20:03 that last time I was here. When you recognize your sins what 20:06 should we do? We should rejoice when we recognize our sins 20:09 because it means the Holy Spirit is working on us. You see 20:14 to bring Godly sorrow, but it is Godly sorrow that leads us to 20:19 repentance. So praise the Lord for that. But Christ is saying 20:24 that those who mourn, this is a message of comfort to them 20:29 because He's going to meet our spiritual poverty with the 20:33 riches of his forgiveness, the riches of His grace. He's 20:38 meeting the mourning over our sins with the comfort that our 20:42 sins are forgiven and He sends us the Holy Spirit to abide with 20:47 us as an over present friend and source of power. The 20:53 mourning for sin just naturally follows the sequence of 20:58 recognizing our spiritual poverty. It's just a natural 21:02 progression and it is the second requirement of those who present 21:08 themselves as candidates for the kingdom of heaven. Number three: 21:14 Matthew 5 and verse 5: Blessed are the meek for they shall 21:22 inherit the earth. This word meek, meekness is the gentle quality 21:29 of humility. It's an attitude of our heart and our mind and our 21:36 life that prepares the way for sanctification. We have to have 21:43 that meekness of spirit, that humility, and that prepares the 21:49 way for sanctification. What is sanctification? It simply means 21:55 be separated from sin. Sanctification and holiness 22:00 are synonyms, they mean the same thing. Holiness is to be 22:03 separated from sin. So here what Jesus is saying is when we are 22:10 poor in spirit, recognizing our great need for God, we mourn 22:16 over our sins and then we have this humility. It means that we 22:22 will accept God's will without question. We will see His 22:29 dealing with us as being good and we will submit to Him in all 22:35 things without hesitation. That's what meekness is. 22:39 You know, we kind of have this idea that meekness means, Oh I'm 22:46 shy and retiring and I'm sitting back here. Moses, the Bible says 22:52 was the most meek of all men. Do you see Moses as someone who 22:58 is shy and retiring and standing back. No. It was humility. 23:03 That's what Moses had and in due time those who have this 23:10 grace of humility are going to inherit the earth. Christ said 23:16 those who humble themselves shall be exalted. In the 23:23 Septuagint, the Septuagint is the earliest Greek manuscript of 23:30 the Old Testament. In Isaiah 61 and verse 7, it uses these very 23:36 words, they will inherit the land. That's an exact parallel 23:42 here to Matthew 5:5. So what these first three beatitudes are 23:48 doing is confirming Jesus' identity as the servant of 23:55 Isaiah 61. And this is important I mean, it's important for us to 24:00 understand because the servant of Isaiah 61 was introduced in 24:07 Isaiah 62 talking about he would be the one who would have a 24:13 sacrificial death and that he would suffer the punishment that 24:20 sinners deserve. What I like about blessed are the meek, this 24:26 echoes Psalm 37 in which the gentle are those who stubbornly 24:31 trust God and trust His authority even when they cannot 24:36 make sense of their circumstances. Turn to Psalm 37. 24:42 We'll talk a little bit more about the meek. Psalm 37. 24:48 I am very blessed to be married to one of the most humble 24:55 people that I know. Humility is a beautiful thing and something 25:01 that J.D. has taught me is when we pray and ask God for help 25:08 he always will say increase my humility. It's a good prayer to 25:14 pray, increase my humility. Psalm 37 verses 9-11. Psalm 37 25:20 verse 9 says this: For evil doers shall be cut off but those 25:27 who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are 25:32 the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Verse 10: For yet a 25:37 little while and the wicked shall be no more. Indeed you 25:42 will look carefully for his place and it shall be no more, 25:47 but, look at verse 11, the meek shall inherit the earth and 25:52 shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Now in 25:56 the Old Testament, when it talks about inheriting the earth 25:59 they're talking about the promised land of Canaan, but in 26:05 the New Testament, the new Israel is going to inherit this 26:10 land that is promised to Abraham referring to living in a 26:16 recreated earth over which Christ rules eternally. So 26:22 Matthew's gospel is constantly anticipating the renewal of the 26:26 earth and he assures Jesus' disciples that they will enjoy 26:31 great rewards in the eternal kingdom. Now number four. This 26:39 is probably my favorite. This is Matthew chapter 5 and verse 6: 26:43 Matthew chapter 5 and verse 6: 26:46 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for 26:54 they shall be filled. Let's look at this a little bit closer. 27:01 What does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness. This 27:07 is a fervent desire to be in right standing with God. 27:14 Righteousness simply means to do things in God's right way. 27:20 It's a right way of doing and a right way of being. To be in 27:26 righteousness sustained before the Lord. Now Jesus is speaking 27:32 of the hunger and the thirst of the soul. This is like David's 27:37 experience. You know in Psalm 42 where he said as the deer 27:43 pants for the water so my soul pants for you. Let me ask you a 27:51 question tonight. Are you panting, are you desiring God's 28:00 righteousness like that. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst 28:09 for righteousness. No earthly source can satisfy the hunger 28:14 and thirst of the soul. Solomon certainly tried to fill that 28:19 empty spot, did he not? He tried to fill his emptiness with 28:24 material riches, profound philosophies, satisfying the 28:28 appetites of his physical desire with honor and power and he 28:35 finally concluded all is vanity. He realized, you know in 28:42 Ecclesiastes chapter 3 he says that God put eternity in man's 28:49 heart. Every person has a God- shaped hole in the heart. I mean 28:56 they need the Lord. So none of these things that Solomon 29:01 sought after or that anyone else is seeking after to bring us 29:05 satisfaction and happiness that we long for. And Solomon finally 29:09 realized that it was the recognition of our Creator and 29:14 our cooperation with Him that provided enduring satisfaction 29:18 Just listen to this: In Ecclesiastes 12:1 he said: 29:23 Remember now, now this is the ending of his book. Remember now 29:27 your Creator in the days of your youth before the difficult days 29:32 come and the years draw near when you say I have no pleasure 29:37 in them. In verse 13 he said, Let us hear the conclusion of 29:42 the whole matter, fear God and keep his commandments for this 29:48 is man's all. Only those who long for righteousness with the 29:55 same desire of a starving man will find it. The longing in our 30:01 hearts for righteousness is evidence that Christ is already 30:08 working there. And I just want to suggest to you, if you don't 30:15 hunger and thirst for righteousness, pray and ask God 30:18 to give you that hunger and that thirst. Just as we pray for 30:25 increase our humility, it's Lord cause me to hunger and thirst 30:31 for righteousness, because it is easy to become apathetic and to 30:36 just get into the habit of going to church, just get into the 30:42 habit of doing the right things but we want to let God stir up 30:49 that desire in your heart. The words here when he says blessed 30:55 are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall 31:01 be filled. That is the passive voice. Now let me give you a 31:07 little English lesson here. What's difference between an 31:13 active voice when you're writing and a passive voice. The active 31:19 voice means you are the doer, you are the be-er. Like if I say 31:25 I will fill my cup, that's an active voice. I'm the one doing 31:32 the action. But if I say my cup shall be filled, I'm not doing 31:38 the action. So the passive voice is when you're not to do-er, 31:43 you're not the be-er. And the beautiful thing about this is 31:48 it is indicating here when it says blessed are those who 31:53 hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be 31:58 filled, it's indicating that righteousness is not something 32:03 that disciples can achieve by their own efforts. This is what 32:09 Bible scholars call a divine passage. It means that we are 32:16 describing something that only God can do. Blessed are those 32:21 who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be 32:25 filled. We're made righteous through faith in Christ Jesus. 32:33 We are made righteous; his righteousness is imputed to us 32:38 which simply means that it's like if you've got a bank 32:44 account over here that is so far overdrawn no way you can pay 32:50 this. What is our debt? The wages of sin is death. There's 32:55 no way we can pay this. But Christ's perfect record, his 33:06 record, his life, everything that he did, that is imputed. 33:10 It's just like our bank account is filled, that debt is 33:14 cancelled and that's how we're justified. His righteousness 33:18 being imputed to us. But it goes further. Christ's righteousness 33:25 is imparted. To be imparted is when his righteousness is poured 33:31 into us as he lives in us, by faith, by the power of the Holy 33:37 Spirit. He lives in our hearts by faith. So then his 33:43 righteousness is imparted to us and the Holy Spirit helps us to 33:50 will and to do God's pleasure. What a beautiful thing! So then 33:57 we end up we're not walking according to the flesh but 34:02 according to the Spirit. Only God can impart this 34:07 righteousness. Only God can fill this hunger and this thirst. And 34:11 it is crucial to understand this because if we're going to 34:16 understand the theology of the sermon on the mount, let's look 34:22 at this. Look at verse 19. Jesus says in Matthew 5 and verse 19 34:27 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments 34:33 and teaches them to do so shall be called the least in the 34:36 kingdom of heaven. So he's saying that we've got to keep 34:41 all of these commandments. In verse 20 he says, if my eyes 34:45 will work for me, for I say to you unless your righteousness 34:49 exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you 34:53 will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. What? My 34:57 righteousness has to be more that the scribes and the 35:01 Pharisees. And then in verse 48 if these tired eyes can... He 35:08 says therefore you shall be perfect just as your Father in 35:17 heaven is perfect. Wow! Do you see that such demands can be 35:25 twisted into a false theology where righteousness is achieved 35:31 by works. That's why it's so important to understand what he 35:37 is saying when he says Blessed are those who hunger and thirst 35:43 for righteousness for they shall be filled. God will fill them, 35:48 God will give you his righteousness. Then if we 35:52 understand it, it's Christ's righteousness that is meeting 35:58 the demands of verses 19, 20 and 48. So hallelujah! Blessed 36:04 are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall 36:09 be filled. Then the sixth beatitude: Matthew 5 and verse 7 36:18 Matthew 5 and verse 7: Jesus says, blessed are the merciful 36:26 for they shall obtain mercy. How merciful are they? To be 36:33 merciful means that we are compassionate and that we are 36:39 relating to others with a forgiving and compassionate 36:45 spirit. And the promise here is that God will show mercy to the 36:52 merciful. The mercy that Christ speaks of here is an active 36:58 virtue. It means that we are demonstrating merciful deeds 37:04 towards mankind. You know, in Matthew 25, let's go ahead and 37:15 turn there. Matthew 25, let's look at verses 31-46. Matthew 37:25 25 verses 31-46. Remind me never to wear a wool sweater here when 37:35 we're teaching, because under all of these lights it is 37:40 extremely hot. When you're tired and hot, I may just lie down and 37:46 take a nap. Okay, Matthew 25 and let's look at verse 31 and he 37:52 says here: When the Son of Man comes in his glory and the holy 37:58 angels with him then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All 38:03 the nations will be gathered before him. He will separate 38:06 one from another as the shepherd divides the sheep from the goats 38:09 and he will set the sheep on his right hand but the goats on 38:15 his left. Then the King will say to those on his right hand, come 38:20 ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you 38:24 from the foundation of the world, for I was hungry and you 38:29 gave me food (you were merciful) I was thirsty and you gave me 38:35 drink, (you were merciful), I was a stranger and you took me 38:42 in (you were merciful), I was naked and you clothed (you did 38:48 acts of mercy), I was sick and you visited me (praise God you 38:52 were merciful), I was in prison and you came to me. Then the 39:03 righteous will answer him saying Lord when did we see you hungry 39:08 and feed you or thirsty and give you drink, when did we see you a 39:12 stranger and take you in and naked and clothe you or when 39:15 did we see you sick or in prison and come to you. And the King 39:18 will answer and say to them, assuredly I say to you, 39:22 inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my 39:25 brethren you did it to me. But he will also say to those on the 39:30 left hand, depart from me you cursed into the everlasting 39:34 fire prepared for the devil and his angels, for I was hungry and 39:38 you gave me no food (you were not merciful). If you're not 39:42 merciful, you're not going to get mercy). I was thirsty 39:46 and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not take 39:49 me in, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison 39:54 and you did not visit me. Then they also will answer him saying 39:58 Lord when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or 40:05 naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you. And he 40:09 will answer saying assuredly I say to you inasmuch as you did 40:13 not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to 40:17 me. And these will go away into everlasting punishment but the 40:23 righteous into eternal life. So the test of admission to the 40:29 kingdom of God is deeds of mercy Turn to James chapter 1. You 40:35 know we really can't over emphasize this idea of being 40:40 merciful. James chapter 1 and we'll look at verse 27. James 1 40:52 and verse 27. James says: Pure and undefiled religion before 41:01 God and the Father is this: To visit orphans and widows in 41:08 their troubles and to keep oneself unspotted from the world 41:14 You see the recurrent theme of being merciful. If you want to 41:20 obtain mercy, you need to be merciful. In Micah 6:8 our 41:24 obligation to God and to our fellowman is summed up as this: 41:29 To do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God. 41:34 In other words, we're supposed to have a humble heart toward 41:37 God and toward all men. For the merciful obtain mercy, both now 41:44 and in the day of judgment. You know, when we follow the golden 41:50 rule, we are considerate and kind toward others. Quite often 41:57 our fellowman takes note and they respond accordingly. If they 42:02 don't, God takes note and you can count on the fact that he is 42:07 going to reward us now and throughout eternity. So blessed 42:13 are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. Now let's return 42:22 to Matthew Chapter 5 and verse 8 Matthew 5 and verse 8: 42:27 Blessed are the pure in heart 42:31 for they shall see God. This being pure in heart is referring 42:40 to someone who is authentically righteous in their inner person. 42:48 Righteousness can be faked. Consider the Pharisees. They 42:53 faked righteousness didn't they? They had a bunch of rules and 42:59 regulations by which they walked and talked and dressed. But 43:05 Jesus said they were like white washed tombs. They weren't pure 43:10 in heart. So what Jesus is saying here is true purity is 43:19 attained when God grants it to those who hunger and thirst for 43:22 righteousness. Right? The complete fulfillment of this 43:27 divine promise is going to happen when Jesus returns, but 43:33 he is identifying his disciples even now as those who show 43:38 they've been through a dramatic transformation in this lifetime. 43:44 You know, there's something that I don't teach on. I don't teach 43:50 on anger. You know why? I've got a fuse that's this long. I've 43:55 lost my temper maybe four times in my entire life. I don't have 44:00 an anger issue. So it's not right for me to get up and 44:05 really preach about anger. You know, because to me if you're 44:09 going to teach something you've got to kind of let God walk you 44:11 through it. There's a lot of things I can talk about. Anger's 44:16 not one of them except to say this, if you have a short fuse 44:24 you cannot continually excuse yourself. As a Christian, I hear 44:31 sometimes Christians say it's my personality, you know, I was 44:39 born with it. So were the sons of thunder. They were ready to 44:47 call down fire from heaven, James and John, because this 44:50 village didn't want to accept their message and they're like 44:56 Lord shall we call down fire from heaven? They had a temper. 45:04 But John became the apostle of love. So if you are having an 45:10 anger issue, you need to pray to the Lord to help you relieve 45:16 that because I've met many a person who has walked down that 45:22 road and God just cured them. So when he says blessed are the 45:28 pure in heart, this is designating the intellect, 45:32 the conscience, the inner man. The pure in heart are clothed in 45:39 the robe of Christ's righteousness. The pure in heart 45:42 have forsaken sin as the ruling principle of their life. The 45:48 pure in heart have consecrated their lives to God without 45:54 reserve. That doesn't mean that they're absolutely sinless. 45:58 Anybody in here sinless? If you raise your hand I'm going to 46:03 talk with you after the program. It doesn't mean that the pure in 46:09 heart are absolutely sinless. It just means that their motives 46:15 are right. If your motives are pure, your life will be pure. We 46:21 have to turn our backs on our past mistakes and press forward 46:26 to the mark of perfection in Christ Jesus. Right? So he says 46:29 Blessed are the pure in heart, (what is their promise?) They 46:35 shall see God. Divine grace opens their eyes to see God, 46:43 the spiritual eyes, spiritual sight, through the eyes of faith 46:48 right now, and physical sight in the glorious kingdom when they 46:55 see him face to face. The poor in spirit sense their spiritual 47:02 need and when they do they enter the kingdom of God by faith right 47:09 now. Those who mourn over their sins are comforted. The humble 47:15 hearted receive the title deed to the new earth now. Those who 47:22 hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled 47:26 now. The merciful will obtain mercy now and in the day of 47:30 judgment and the pure in heart will develop a heavenly vision 47:34 of God in this present world and they'll see him face to face in 47:39 the world to come. Number seven, the peacemakers. This is Matthew 47:44 5 and verse 9. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be 47:51 called the sons of God. Here Christ is referring specifically 47:58 to people who bring men into harmony with God. Christ was 48:04 the Prince of Peace, the messenger of peace, God sent. 48:10 And Paul said in Romans 5:1 we are justified by faith and as we are 48:16 we have peace with God through Christ. Paul also told the 48:21 Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 5:13 that they were to be at 48:26 peace among themselves and in Hebrews 12:14 he says follow 48:32 peace with all men. We are to pray for peace. We are to work 48:38 for peace. The ministry of peace making involves conflict 48:43 resolution. It means that you're prompt to make an apology, 48:49 prompt to make acts of restitution. You refuse to seek 48:56 revenge and you humbly serve and love your enemies. Wow! 49:02 Peace makers are devoted to the cause of leading their fellowmen 49:06 to find peace with God. So the promise that the peace makers 49:12 will be called the sons of God probably means that Jesus' 49:16 authentic disciples are emulating God by undertaking 49:22 the ministry of reconciliation and thus, they begin to resemble 49:28 Christ in character. So, at the final judgment they will be 49:33 accepted as the sons and daughters of God. Now, the final 49:39 one. This is the one nobody likes to talk about. Matthew 5 49:45 and verse 10: Blessed are those who are persecuted for 49:50 righteousness' sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 49:56 Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all 50:00 kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and 50:08 be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven. For so 50:15 they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Blessed are 50:20 those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake for theirs 50:25 is the kingdom of heaven. That's the way we started off isn't it? 50:29 Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of 50:32 heaven. Blessed are those who are persecuted for 50:36 righteousness' sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Since 50:41 the entrance of sin there has been enmity between Christ and 50:46 the devil. There's been enmity between the kingdom of heaven 50:51 and the kingdom of this world; between those who serve God and 50:56 those who serve Satan. You know most people don't realize 51:02 if they're not serving God, they're serving Satan. Romans 51:09 6:16 Paul said, do you not realize you are slaves to whom 51:15 you obey. Let's look at that. That's such an incredible 51:22 scripture. Romans I believe it's 6:16. Romans 6 and verse 16. 51:36 Look at this. Do you not know that to whom you present 51:41 yourself to slaves to obey, you are that one's slave whom you 51:47 obey, whether of sin leading to death or of obedience leading to 51:54 righteousness. We're all slaves to one or the other. We're all 52:00 either in the kingdom serving God or in this world serving 52:07 Satan. So what Christ is referring to here primarily 52:12 is to that persecution that is suffered in the process of 52:17 forsaking the world for the kingdom of heaven. In John 16 52:22 and verse 33 Jesus warned the citizens of the heavenly kingdom 52:24 that we can expect tribulation in this world. Our characters 52:32 and our conduct will bear silent witness against the evils of 52:36 this present world. And you know I have to say something here. 52:38 II Timothy 3:12 Paul said that all who live Godly will suffer 52:45 persecution. What a disservice we do to people when we 52:51 introduce them to Christ and we make them think that's it's all 52:56 going to be pie in the sky, sweet bye and bye. If we don't 53:02 let them know there will be persecution. But you're blessed 53:07 because of it, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. Those who 53:12 always endeavor, who are trying to evade persecution are 53:18 actually not even true disciples of the Lord, because a true 53:22 disciple will follow him at any cost. In II Timothy 2:12 Paul 53:28 said, If we suffer we shall also reign with him. So those who 53:33 suffer most for Christ right here are best able to appreciate 53:40 what he suffered for them. In the Greek when it says theirs 53:47 is the kingdom of heaven it's shifting from its normal 53:51 position at the end of the clause to the beginning and what 53:55 this does is give the pronoun the special emphasis to indicate 54:01 that the kingdom belongs to righteous sufferers and to them 54:07 alone. Theirs is the kingdom. It's appropriate that the first 54:13 and the last beatitudes contain the assurance of membership in 54:18 the kingdom. So those who experience these eight 54:24 qualifications to citizenship listed in these beatitudes are 54:29 worthy of a place in the kingdom so, let's look at them one more 54:34 time. We'll go through and review them. Because actually 54:37 that would be the title. If I were going to give this a title 54:41 it would be how to become a citizen of God's kingdom. 54:48 So, here we are on the mount of beatitudes, Jesus' inaugural 54:52 address and he sees the multitudes, chapter 5 and verse 54:59 He went up on a mountain and when he was seated his disciples 55:04 came to him. Then he opened his mouth and taught them saying, 55:09 Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who 55:16 understand they are totally spiritually bankrupt without God 55:20 They're in dire poverty and they understand their need for his 55:25 grace. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who 55:29 mourn, who are mourning over their sin. They recognize their 55:34 spiritual poverty and they've got this Godly sorrow going on, 55:38 for they shall be comforted. Their sins shall be forgiven. 55:42 Blessed are the meek, blessed are the ones who have that 55:46 gentle humility, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are 55:52 those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. And if there's 55:57 anything you take away from this tonight, pray if you're not 56:03 hungering and thirsting for righteousness, pray and ask God, 56:06 Oh Lord cause me to hunger and thirst for righteousness for they 56:12 shall be filled, God will fill you. 56:15 Blessed are the merciful, those 56:18 who are doing merciful acts for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed 56:24 are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Blessed are the 56:31 peace makers, those who are helping others make peace with 56:35 God. That means basically you're evangelizing, you're sharing 56:39 your faith. I mean, it's not only that you're being a peace 56:44 maker with your brother but that you go out and that you reach 56:48 out to others to reconcile them to God. Blessed are those peace 56:55 makers for they shall be called the sons of God. And in verse 10 57:02 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' 57:06 sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Let's pray. Heavenly 57:10 Father, we come in the name of Jesus and I pray in the name of 57:15 Jesus and I pray Oh Lord that you will cause us to hunger and 57:18 thirst for righteousness. I pray in the name of Jesus Father. 57:22 We thank you for these blessings and we pray that you will help 57:27 us to recognize and to walk as you have called us to walk as 57:31 you work in us to will and to do your good pleasure. In Jesus' 57:36 name, Amen. Thank you all so much for being here tonight. 57:41 We want to thank you at home and hope that this has some how 57:45 scratched the surface to make you even more interested in 57:50 studying God's word and knowing that God loves you. He is wooing 57:56 you with his love and he has a plan for your life, a plan to 58:01 prosper you, not to harm you. Thank you. 58:05 ¤ ¤ |
Revised 2019-01-09