[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Take your Bible if you would and go with me to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5, we'll go to verse 20 to start today.
[0:13] Matthew chapter 5 and verse 20. We're going to go through the Beatitudes, but here's the key verse for the Sermon on the Mount. The verse that kind of sums up what's going on in Matthew chapter 5, 6 and 7.
[0:27] What's going on in the Sermon on the Mount. The Bible says in Matthew 5, 20. For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.
[0:43] So Jesus is about to talk. The religious leaders of the day are sitting there listening to him talk. He's going to preach. He comes up and he sits down and he gets them all gathered around him.
[0:53] Sitting down was a sign of what I'm about to say. It's serious business and it's an authority. He was like the chair of theology, the chair of medicine at a university.
[1:04] So when they sit down, they're speaking what is important. And his theme is true righteousness. And I want you to know that you religious people don't have it. That's basically what he's going to say.
[1:16] The religious leaders of his day had an artificial external righteousness based on the law, on keeping rules, on doing good. And Jesus is going to teach them about true righteousness that begins internally in the heart.
[1:30] Let's have a word of prayer and ask God to work in our lives today as we work through this passage of Scripture and as it works through us. Father, I love you. And I thank you for the opportunity to be with your people, to have the opportunity to open your Bible.
[1:43] And I pray, God, that you would make it come alive. I pray that you would deal with hearts. I pray you would grow me. I pray that I would become more what you want me to be. And I would live in the light of what you've done in my life.
[1:55] I love you and praise you and thank you for your goodness. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 and following is what we're going to look at. But as he's speaking, he's got, if you would, in verse 1, circled, he's got the multitudes.
[2:08] Tons of people are following him. And then when his disciples get there, verse 1, circle that word, he sets down and begins to speak to him. I would like you to know who's there.
[2:19] Some of the people that are there, Pharisees, are there. And these Pharisees are concerned about the smallest details of human conduct. But they neglected the most important thing, character.
[2:30] What we do flows out of who we are. It is be before do. You see that on the wall right there all the time. Maybe you don't ever think about that.
[2:41] But we don't do to be. We do because we are. You become a born-again Christian and then God's life flows through you because that is who you are.
[2:52] Conduct flows out of character. Jesus doesn't start off with a negative attack. There are four groups listening to him. Pharisees, super concerned about obeying every detail of the law and tradition that they had received from those that came before.
[3:07] They focused on the past. Another group is their Sadducees. They focused on the present. They were the liberals of the day who doubted the supernatural, who modified the scriptures and traditions to fit their own religious philosophy.
[3:20] The Essenes were there. The Essenes were ascetics. They practiced severe self-discipline. They separated themselves from the rest of society. They lived in remote and barren regions.
[3:31] The Zealots were fanatical nationalists. They were political activists. In essence, what happened was the Pharisees said go back.
[3:43] The Sadducees said go ahead. The Essenes said go away. And the Zealots said go against. The Pharisees were traditionalists. The Sadducees were modernists. The Essenes were separatists.
[3:54] The Zealots were activists. Just like the church today. All these divisions. Jesus was none of them. He said to that Pharisee. True spirituality is internal.
[4:05] Not external. To the Pharisees said you do it God's way. Not man's way. To the Essenes he said it's not about how you affect your body. But it's about the matter of the heart. To the Zealot who was a political guy.
[4:17] He said it's not about revolution. It's about worship. So he begins with blessings. He begins with blessings. Go with me if you would down to the word blessed. You're going to find the word blessed in verse 3 and following.
[4:29] Some translations would put that happy. The word blessed. But it's not just happy. It's a lot more than happy. And it's not just what you think of when you hear blessed. It's a lot more than that. It's divine joy and perfect happiness.
[4:42] It implies an inner satisfaction and sufficiency. That doesn't depend on nor come from outward circumstances. Blessed is the idea of John 14 27.
[4:54] When the Bible said peace. I leave with you. My peace. I give unto you. Not like the world gives. Give unto you. Let not your heart be troubled. Neither be afraid. So what he starts off saying is.
[5:06] I'm going to preach a message. And I'm going to. The first part of this message is going to be about. How you have something so special. Something to make you happy. Something to realize you've been blessed by God.
[5:16] And he's going to take us through eight things. And we're going to do a quick run through these eight things. We'll come back to some of them in a later time. We're going to do a quick run through these eight things. These are like. Hey. Man you are blessed.
[5:26] Man you are happy. Man you have God's working in your life. And here's some signs of what God is doing in your life. Look at verse three with me if you would. Number one. Write this out if you write things down.
[5:37] Spiritual poverty. We start off. Our blessing is. Because we are spiritually bankrupt. The Bible says in chapter five and verse three. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
[5:48] For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That means that they realized that they were nothing in the presence of God. There was. This had nothing to do with being poor financially. This poor speaks of realizing that you're in such a condition.
[6:02] You can do nothing to help yourself. And you'll have to rely on the Lord Jesus and what he will do in your life. The idea here is. Oh happy. Oh blissful. Oh blessed thought that I am utterly helpless.
[6:14] I have to trust God. I have to put all my trust in God. For only God can do a work. Poor in spirit. You got to understand who's standing around him. Religious people.
[6:25] Jesus didn't really like religious people. I don't like religious people. Religion is honestly a problem because it's a bunch of people with a set of rules they made up.
[6:35] And norms that you're supposed to follow. And they got their ideas. And Jesus comes with something totally different. He comes and says wait a minute. Poor in spirit. Here's a Pharisee standing over and saying wait a minute.
[6:46] I don't need to be poor in spirit. You know who I am. You know what I know. You know who. You know how many rules I keep. You know how I stick to the tradition. And then you got this other guy over there saying I'm not dumb enough to follow regular religion.
[6:57] I'm really something like. Especially the other guy said I am involved in getting the country changed. I'm going to bring Christianity to the forefront. And the other group over there saying don't you see me. I'm hanging out beating my body.
[7:08] And severely suffering for the cause to be alone and be holy with God. And he said wait a minute guys. Step number one. Be poor in spirit. Step number one.
[7:19] Realize you are nothing. You are nobody. You can't come to God like a rich guy. You can't come to God like a good guy. You can't come to God with the great things you've done. And you come to God saying boy God I'm nothing.
[7:31] That's what makes us happy. That takes a pressure off of us. Boy there's this pressure in church isn't there. There's this pressure in religion. There's this pressure in false Christianity.
[7:42] And I said false Christianity where it's like what you do determines who you are. There's this thing of everybody judging each other. There's this idea of the Pharisee picking on everybody else.
[7:52] And Jesus said man happy are you when you realize you are nobody. And nothing. And you didn't do it. But God did it. Being poor in spirit means we quit being preoccupied with ourself.
[8:06] Being poor in spirit means we become lost in the wonder of Jesus. We're like wow. Man can you believe he loves me. Can you believe he saves me.
[8:16] Can you believe what he did for me on the cross. Because I know me. I know who I really am. It's when we quit complaining about our situation. Because we're not worried about ourselves. Like we were before.
[8:28] It's when we begin to see others as more important than ourselves. It's when we begin to beg God to do a work in us. Because we know we're powerless. We will now serve the Lord Jesus on his terms.
[8:39] We now live a life of praise. You know where praise comes from. You know where praise comes from. Praise comes when you realize I don't deserve any of this. I don't deserve any of this.
[8:50] I deserve to go to hell. I deserve to die. God's been good to me. This is going to blow your mind. But I said this in my Sunday school class. You know we're worse than an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. A meeting. They only got one problem.
[9:02] Alcohol. We're just full of problems. Amen. This is a whole room full of sinners. Hello my name is Austin. And I'm a sinner. But I've been born again by the grace of God. And I have a new life I can live. That's a totally different attitude.
[9:14] We're going to be praising God. Because we come in here saying. Man I don't know why he saved me. I don't know how he saved me. I don't deserve to go to heaven. I don't deserve to have a new nature. I don't deserve anything.
[9:24] God is good. And I want to praise him. Because I realize I'm poor. In spirit. That was step number one. That's a step to happiness. That's a step to happiness. To realize God's doing a work in your life.
[9:37] Have you come to realize your sinful condition? That your good works aren't good enough? And have you been saved? Do you continue to realize that it's never about you and how good you are? Can I just remind you before we move to the next beatitude?
[9:50] Look at this. The next blessed. Look at this. You can't get saved until you realize you need help. Jesus didn't come to heal the healthy.
[10:00] He came to heal the sick. Jesus works with people that are in trouble. Sinners. Publicans. Wicked people. That's who he comes to work with. And that's who we were. And if you never got to a place in your life that you realize that.
[10:14] You're not really born again. And the second you forget that. You're going to lose this happiness and this joy. You say I did get saved. I was born again. But all of a sudden you start walking around like one of those Pharisees.
[10:26] Or Sadducees. Or Essenes. Or Zealots. And think you're somebody. Poor in spirit. Poor in spirit. Number two. Look what happens. Chapter five.
[10:36] Verse four. Blessed are they that mourn. For they shall be comforted. Now that I've recognized my spiritual poverty. I grieve over my condition.
[10:47] Why don't you write that down. Grieve over your condition. I'm sad. I'm broken. And I'm hungry for help. Blessed are they that mourn. How can you be happy when you mourn?
[10:59] Well you can be happy when you mourn. When you realize this. As I mourn. He comforts me. When I look at it. I say Lord. I don't deserve salvation. I don't deserve to go to heaven. There's nothing good in me.
[11:09] I don't know why you would choose to love me. I don't know why you would choose to save me. I don't know why you're such a good God. Man I'm so sorry God. I have messed up in every way possible. And God looks at me and says. Okay.
[11:20] You're on the way buddy. You know if you come to God and say. God. I mean you're lucky I'm here today. You know who I am don't you? I'm an executive. I got money. I'm a big shot. I'm a this and I'm a that.
[11:31] He's like. You ain't getting any comfort. The guy who's going to get comfort. The guy comes walking in saying. Man. I'm poor in spirit. And I am mourning. I am broken. Blessed are those who are intensely sorry for their sin.
[11:45] Those who are heartbroken for what their sin has done to God. And to Jesus Christ. Those who see the cross. And who are appalled by the havoc. Wrought by their sin.
[11:56] We feel a godly sorrow for our sins. And a godly sorrow leads to repentance. Blessed are they that mourn. Second Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 10. Now let me just say this.
[12:07] Many people mourn. And many people are even sorry for their sin. But it's not the kind of sorrow that says. There's going to be a change. It's not the kind of sorrow that says. I turned from myself. I turned from myself.
[12:18] And I turned to Christ. It's another kind of sorrow. It's the kind of sorrow that says. Sorry you caught me. Sorry for I'm going to get in trouble. Sorry for people thinking bad about me. Sorry for messing up my reputation.
[12:30] But this sorrow is the sorrow that says. Man I am so sorry. And I turned. Look if you would at 2 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 10. For godly sorrow worketh. What's the word there?
[12:41] Would you read that with me? For godly sorrow worketh what? Repentance. To what? Salvation. Not to be repented of. But the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing.
[12:53] That you sorrowed after a godly sorrow. What carefulness it wrought in you. Yea what clearing of yourselves. What indignation. What fear. What vehement desire. What zeal. What revenge. In all things you have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
[13:07] In other words it was a sorrow. You realize that when Peter denied Jesus he was sorry. And he goes out. Jesus. He denies Jesus that third time. And about that time Jesus comes out the door.
[13:19] And casts an eye at him. And looks at him. And Peter runs off in the desert. Weeping bitterly. But you also remember Judas was sorry. Judas was extremely sorry. About what he'd done.
[13:30] He was so sorry that he had betrayed the Lord Jesus. And he went and hung himself. And died. His sorrow was a worldly sorrow. Let me go get drunk. Let me go use some drugs.
[13:41] Let me go do anything. Let me forget how bad I am. Let me get away from it. Peter's sorrow said man I need Jesus. And it will just be a handful of days before he'll be right back teaching and preaching.
[13:52] He repented. And it made a complete change in him. This sorrow is acknowledging that I have sinned against God. Look if you would at Psalm 51 verses 3 and 4 with me.
[14:04] You can write it down and check it out on the screen if you want. But look at this. Look at these verses later. One of the things that makes our sin easy is I sinned against you. And you've sinned against me so I feel okay about it.
[14:15] You punch me. I punch you. You insult me. I insult you. You hurt me. I hurt you. You cut me off in traffic. I cut you off in traffic. And we kind of got this man on man relationship here. Like well sin's not that bad because everybody's doing it.
[14:29] But in Bible terms real sin. Those are going to mourn over their sin. And realize I am sinning against God. I'm sinning against God. I'm not sinning against you.
[14:39] I'm sinning against God. Look what it says if you would in Psalm chapter 51 and verse 3. I acknowledge. I admit. I admit my sin. My transgression. My breaking the law.
[14:50] My breaking your rules. My sin is ever before me. God I've done wrong. Against thee. And thee only. Against you God. And you alone God. Have I sinned.
[15:00] And done this evil in your sight. That you might be justified when you speak. And be clear when you judge. Boy this is a wild verse. You do know the story. Remember what's going on here don't you. David has sinned with Bathsheba.
[15:12] A man's wife. A married man's wife. And old David has taken her. And had relations with her. While she's still married. Actually gotten her pregnant.
[15:23] And after he got her pregnant. He called for her husband to come home. Because he wanted to cover it up. So he had her husband come home. And when he got home. He said. Why don't you go home. And spend the night with your wife. And the guy wouldn't spend the night with his wife.
[15:33] So David said. Alright. Come over to my house again. Let's have another party. And David got him drunk. So that he figured. Well drunk he'll go home. He'll forget his standards. And he'll forget his rules. And he'll go on home.
[15:44] And so David got him drunk. And he didn't go home. He went down and slept with the other soldiers. And so David said. Okay I'll kill you. And so David sits writing in his hand. In his own hand.
[15:55] To one of his own other men. And this guy is one of David's most. Most close friends. David has like 35 guys. That are his intimate friends. This is one of them. He tells another one of them to kill him.
[16:06] And now David has killed Uriah. Slept with Bathsheba. Got Uriah drunk. I mean David's a pretty wicked guy. Now look at the verse. Against you. And you only.
[16:17] Have I sinned. Well I don't change the way you mourn about sin. Because it's like. Well I did wrong. But it was. Who are you? You're not so big.
[16:28] You're not such an important person. But when David saw sin. David said. Against you God. I'd like to say David. What about Bathsheba? He'd say. Against God. That's who I sinned. That's who I sinned.
[16:39] That will break our hearts. As we truly mourn over our sin. God himself comforts us. He gives us his grace. And his mercy. He saves us. In spite of us. Does your heart break.
[16:51] Over your sinfulness. And rebellion. Against God. So that you put your faith in him. For what only he could do for you. Did you ever come. And we've all been sorry for our sins. At one time or other. All of us.
[17:03] It might have been. When we got caught cheating in school. It might have been. When they. They. They. We got stopped. By that policeman. You know. You're driving down the road. And that cop stops you. Walks up.
[17:13] And he gives you a ticket. He said. Do you know what you were doing? And you're like. No. Not really. The truth is. You're going. Yeah. I do. And then when he gives you that 500 buck fine. You're like. Yeah. I'm really sorry about that. But we're really only sorry.
[17:24] Because we got a fine. I'm not really sorry. About what I did. And. And so. Did you ever come to a place in your life. When you said to God. Oh God. I have sinned against you. Oh God.
[17:35] I am so sorry. Oh God. I deserve to go to hell. God. I am broken by my sin. If you have. He saves you. And comforts you. Even as a Christian. As a born again Christian.
[17:45] Do you continue to feel grief. When your sin or rebellion. Enter your heart. Because so many times. I have this attitude. And this rebellion. And this. Things that get into my heart. And my attitude towards God.
[17:56] And God's wanting to say. All right son. You got it right. You trusted me. You're loving me. You're believing me. Do sin break our hearts. See he's going to preach about righteousness here. He's talking to these Pharisees.
[18:07] He's talking to his disciples. About what true righteousness is. Go with me if you would. To verse five. Matthew five five. Blessed are the meek. For they shall inherit the earth.
[18:17] You can write this down. Submission. Now I got. I realized I was poor. And I was sorry for my sin. And it brought me to a point of submission.
[18:28] It brought me to a point of obedience. Recognizing my poverty. And being broken about. It brings me to a point of submission to God. And to turn from all rebellion against God.
[18:39] Blessed are the meek. For they shall inherit the earth. The word meek. Is not weak. We tend to think of meekness weakness. The Bible doesn't.
[18:50] Is it talking that way. This word means gentleness. It refers to being mild. Or soft. It's really talking about. They use the term. When you gentle a horse.
[19:02] Has anybody ever been around a horse. When it got. When it was wild. And after it was wild. And it had been gentled. You know we ride gentled horses. And so. A gentle horse is very different.
[19:12] I can remember as a boy. Breaking my first horse. And I had worked on that horse. And gentled that horse. So that horse was like a little dog to me. And then I got up in the saddle.
[19:23] And the doggy turned into a wild buck and bronco. And about kicked me in the head. And later on. The horse was rideable and gentle. It's a wild horse that's been broken. And is useful for work.
[19:34] It's humility. We have mourned our sins. And now focus on God's holiness. Meekness and gentleness have nothing to do with weakness. The Bible uses the term meek about Moses and Joseph.
[19:47] Or Moses and Jesus. Both. Neither one were weak men. They were strong men. Meekness is the opposite of violence and seeking vengeance. Pride seeks its own glory. Meekness seeks the glory of God.
[20:01] Meekness is a controlled desire to see the other's interests advance ahead of yours. So he said blessed are the meek. Somebody who says you know I have power. I have abilities. Have all of this. But I want to serve.
[20:12] I want my life to count. Meekness in me is all I thought that I was humbling. Humbly submitting to God and his will. It's me bringing all my money. All my power. All my family.
[20:23] All my keys. All of my titles and everything. I own all my money. And laying it in front of him and saying I am a powerful man. I have all these things. But I lay them at your feet. You're in charge now.
[20:33] I am a powerful person. Or I was a powerful person. Or I thought I was a powerful person. But I now submit it all. It's taking my strengths and abilities and laying them at his feet. It's me giving up control of my resources because I know that he knows best what to do in my life.
[20:51] Now we are mostly control freaks in this room. We're control freaks. We like being in charge. That's really what kind of aggravates us. When a snowstorm comes like it just did.
[21:02] That aggravates us. Can't control our cars. Can't control. When we got electricity. Can't control. We're out of control. We're like. Man we're all going crazy. Like this is not right. I'm supposed to be in charge. And we're tend to.
[21:13] Man I want to be in charge of my wife. I want to be in charge of my children. I want to be in charge of my finances. I think I ought to be able to be in charge. Meekness is saying. No I'm not that good at being in charge. Most of us want to go to God.
[21:25] Like this. Look me and you can talk. Man to man. And I'll see if I want to do what you want. Meekness goes to God. Said no no no. There's no man to man talk here. I come to you and say. You're in charge. And I recognize that you're in charge.
[21:38] And I trust you with what you want to do. In my life. If you ever come to a point in your life. When you wanted to yield and submit to God. When you wanted to yield and submit to God.
[21:49] Do you continue to live there? Meekness. Boy I want God in charge of my life. I want God in charge of my life. I want you to imagine with me.
[22:01] An extremely powerful stag. And he's. I mean he's one of the big ones. One. You don't have to carry a big old fat boy like me. And you put a saddle on him. And he weighs 1800 pounds.
[22:12] 1700 pounds. 1600 pounds. Whatever. I'm talking about one of the big ones. And I get on him. You know what. I don't have the power to control him. Believe me. I know I don't. If I'm in control.
[22:23] It's because he lets me be in control. He lets me be in control. And he surrenders his will to my will. And he goes where I tell him to go. And he does what I tell him to do. Not because he has to.
[22:34] But because he decides to. And here's what God's calling on you to do. To say God. I am going to give up control. I'm going to yield my life. I'm going to submit myself. I'm going to put myself at your orders.
[22:46] And I'm going to continue to live there. Go with me to verse 6 if you would. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 6. Blessed. Blessed. Blessed. Blessed. Blessed. Blessed. Blessed. Happy. Happy. Happy. Happy.
[22:57] Comforted. Comforted. Comforted. Now that I see where I am. And what I have. I want him. And I want what he has. I want him. Just write that one down. I want him. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 6.
[23:09] Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. For they shall be filled. Now see I came broken and poor. And I came.
[23:20] And I came. Realized that I couldn't do anything. And I mourned over my sins. And I trusted him. And yielded my life to him. And I want more of him.
[23:31] I am hungry to know him. And hungry to know what's right. I have a strong desire to be holy. I have a strong desire to be holy like he is. I want to know God.
[23:42] I want to be in fellowship with him. I want to grow closer to him. I want this all the time. Like I feel hunger and thirst. I want to know God.
[23:52] Now I remember. I remember. In 1973. Betty and I were dating. And we were looking at getting married.
[24:03] And I was. She wasn't. She didn't know it yet. And we were in her dorm room. On a Sunday afternoon. They used to let the guys in the girls dorms. And she had two twin beds in there. And we took a nap.
[24:15] She was in one bed. And I was in the other bed. Just so we clarify things. She was in one bed. And I was in the other bed. And I looked over at her. And I told her. I said. I like this. And I. And I wanted that more.
[24:27] We got married in August. This is a few months after. We got married in August. You know what? I got married to her. I thought I knew her. I loved her. I desired her. I wanted to be with her.
[24:39] I thought I understood her. And it is 40 years later. And I think I know her. And understand her more than ever. But probably I now know. I don't know her near as good as I thought I did. When I was 18 getting married.
[24:49] How about that one? You know what happens when you love Jesus? You're like. Lord I just want to know you. You say. Well I got saved. I know him. Yeah you do. But you don't know him. And you're hungry.
[25:00] And you're thirsty. You're like. Man I want to know you. I want to understand how you tick. I want to understand what you think. I want to understand who you are. That's what I want. This is more than just wanting to grow in the Lord.
[25:10] Or know more. Or have another spiritual experience. So many of us have turned into bookworms. And we got a big full head. We've read a ton of books. Our feet are very small. We don't know him.
[25:21] We just like to come to church for the goosey goosey feelings we get sometimes. And the Holy Ghost goose bumps. But we're not growing. This is an intense desire to be holy. To be like God.
[25:32] There is a hunger and a thirst to do God's will. To be conformed to his will. I know him. But I want to know him better. I'll hunger and thirst after him.
[25:44] After holiness. After righteousness. And we will never be satisfied with what we know about him. By the way. Once you know him one year. You want to know him two. Once you know him two years.
[25:55] You want to know him five. Once you know him a little bit. You want to know him a little bit more. Once you understand a little bit about the Bible. And as you do that. You want more and more of his holiness. You didn't get saved. So you could live a sinful life.
[26:07] You didn't get saved. So you could stay like you were. You got saved. To be more and more like Jesus. You hunger and you thirst after him. And as you hunger and thirst after him. Just looking at him.
[26:18] And thinking about him. And desiring him. Will begin to work a change in you. We put aside ourself. Our sins and our power. And we turn to the Lord. We're given a great desire for righteousness.
[26:30] The more we put aside what we have. The more we long for what God has. We put aside ourselves. We long for him. You have a real spiritual hunger. If the following is true.
[26:41] You're fed up with self. And I know old Austin's a mess. I know. I've been living with this guy for 59 years. And I just don't have the answers. But he does.
[26:52] You're learning to be satisfied without external things. You find out that things are real value. It's not that fancy car. Not that girl you're going to marry. There's something deeper than that. You have a desire for God's word.
[27:04] You enjoy the things of God. You enjoy them. You look for them. You seek them. You're not serving God for what you can get. For him to make you successful. Or popular. Or satisfy you.
[27:15] But you just love him. And you want what he wants. And whatever he wants. Is fine with you. Was there a hunger born in you to know God and love him?
[27:26] Do you continue to have that hunger? Let me tell you. I know tons of young guys that got married when I got married. And they said they loved their wife like I love my wife.
[27:38] But somewhere along the way they quit wanting to know her, love her, and be with her. And they're not there today. And tons of Christians do that. You get saved, quote unquote. You say you are.
[27:48] But somehow there's no real hunger for him. No real knowledge of him. No real walking with him. Blessed, happy, comforted are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
[28:03] It ought to be in my heart to wake up and say, God, I want to know you more. I want to know your word. I want to live like you want to live. I want you to become reality in my life. I hunger for that.
[28:14] I thirst for that. That's what I desire. I want to know your heart. If you would, to verse 7. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 7. Now what God's done inside of me begins to show in how I treat others.
[28:25] You might write down how I treat others. I've received his mercy and his grace and now I show that mercy to others. Matthew 5, 7. He said, blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.
[28:37] I now know that I couldn't keep the rules. I realized how poor I was. I was deeply sad over that. I began to submit myself to the Lord and to seek him.
[28:50] And all that happened on the B level inside of me is starting to work its way out in the do level. It's beginning to affect the outside and how I treat others. I want to have mercy and help the hurting and make a difference in other people's lives.
[29:05] I want to help even those that are undeserving. I want to meet people's needs. Now let me show you something real quickly before I move on. But let me show you something. There's no idea in the Bible that if you're not kind to people, you're not saved.
[29:18] If you're not merciful, you don't get mercy. That's not the lesson here. Here's the lesson here. The forgiven forgive. We've said that a lot of times. Can you say it again with me?
[29:29] The forgiven. Say it again. The forgiven. In other words, and those that have received mercy, show mercy. Boy, that was the opposite. Man, those Pharisees are standing around him. And those religious people listen to him.
[29:41] Their religion had made them better than everybody. Their religion had given them the right to condemn people and put people down. Their religion gave them the right to go snatch a woman up who was caught in the very act of adultery.
[29:52] Let the man go free and drag the woman in front of Jesus. And throw her down and say, we caught her. We caught her. Well, what did you do with the guy? Well, he's a guy. We're guys. We figured that's okay. Guys, guys, okay.
[30:02] Guys are okay. But let's kill her. Let's stone her. Jesus said like, whoa, whoa. Your religion is no mercy, man. Your religion is I want to cream people. Jesus said, boy.
[30:13] Blessed are the merciful for they have seen mercy. I'm on the middle of this mercy stuff. I got mercy. I show mercy. I'm getting more mercy.
[30:24] I live on the mercy side of life. Amen. I don't deserve to be saved. I don't deserve it. Mercy is meeting people's needs. Has what God did in your heart affected how you treat others and how you accept them?
[30:36] Time is running out for me to finish this message. But just let me say this. It is amazing to me how mean Christians can be. It's amazing to me how it makes us arrogant and proud and boastful and shoving everybody down.
[30:51] And here's what Jesus said. The forgiven forgive. You got mercy. So show mercy. You're going to get more mercy. So show more mercy. Everything about me has been how good our God is.
[31:02] Is that a true statement or not? Amen. And he says, hey, be merciful. Show mercy. Amazing. You got saved so you could think you were better than other people. He gave you victory over your sin.
[31:14] So now you condemn that other guy without remembering you couldn't get victory until he gave you victory. You're not better than anybody. Say, hey, man. Say, oh, me. Say, I don't like that.
[31:25] Whatever you want to say. Just say something. Number six. Verse eight. Matthew five, eight. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
[31:37] Now listen to this. My relationship with God is not based on external things. He looks at these Pharisees and says, I don't want to talk about it. You keep the commandments.
[31:49] You catch this? You got a Pharisee that are going. I know every commandment and I keep them all. I am a law keeper. You remember what Paul said in Philippians chapter three? He said, concerning the law, I was blameless.
[32:02] You want to talk about rule keeping? Number one guy right here. That's me. Number one. That was their attitude. It was Paul's attitude who had been a Pharisee. That was before he got saved, of course. Jesus looks at him and says, guys, blessed are the pure in heart, not the guy that washed his hands the right way.
[32:20] Or didn't eat pork. Or didn't work on Saturday. A pure heart is an unmixed heart. Not a divided heart. It's not having different loyalties. All through the Bible and the world, people want to know what they can do to see God.
[32:35] What are the rules? What are the expectations? What are the rituals? When there is nothing you can do to see God. The pure in heart see him.
[32:46] It is what God does in you that makes you holy and pure and ready to see God. It is what God does in you. When you are truly born again and truly his, you will have one major motivating factor in your life and it will be him.
[33:01] The Lord Jesus. The God of heaven. Before I read the verse I'm about to read to you and stop the message and bring the rest of it to you next Sunday.
[33:12] Before I do that, let me remind you very quickly. Let me remind you very quickly of this right here. You're pure in heart because you came broken.
[33:25] You came broken. Saying I am poor in spirit. You're pure in heart because you came mourning. And saying, man there's nothing I can do about this. I stink.
[33:37] You're pure in heart because you came saying you take charge. You're pure in heart because God sent Jesus to die on a cross and to pay debt. You could never pay and save you when you could never save yourself.
[33:49] That's how you're pure in heart. We're not pure in heart because I'm just a good guy. No. I've got to read you a ton of verses about your heart. Wicked. Desperate.
[34:01] Who can know it? We're pure in heart because Jesus did something in us. And as you are pure in heart, you know what you do? You seek him and him alone. In Matthew chapter 6 and verse 24, the Bible says, No man can serve two masters.
[34:15] For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold the one and despise the other. You can't serve God and mammon, God and money, God and material things. In Christ we have this holiness, this purity of heart.
[34:28] But it's ours completely and truly, but that does not mean that we're living out who we are. Put in practice what you have in position. Now look at me and listen to this real quickly. I'm finished, but listen to this.
[34:40] If you're sitting here and you're born again, you are pure in heart. If you're sitting here, you're accepted in the beloved if you're born again. If you're really saved, you're already accepted. Your name's written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
[34:52] You're on your way to heaven. You are a child of God. You are holy already. But you might not be living it. What you got in position is not necessarily working out in your practice. You are, now act like it.
[35:04] Live out who you are in Christ. It is your new nature. You can't tell a pig how to live like a sheep.
[35:15] But when a person gets born again, he's no longer a pig, he's a sheep. Living like a sheep will become much more natural to live that way. Today, we are pure in heart because of what Jesus did in our life.
[35:28] Now let me just sum it up this way. Have you come to him poor in spirit? Have you come to him and said, man, I just don't have it? Maybe you're sitting in the room and you're thinking, all these other people in this room, they seem to have their act together.
[35:41] Well, let me just say, they don't. You ain't never been in a place where they all got their act together. You might have been in a place where they act like they got their act together. They act like they got their act together. The only way we got our act together is Jesus got our act together.
[35:53] Say, man. He saved us. He changed us. We came poor. We came mourning. We came saying, no, you take control. I have really messed things up.
[36:06] And he, by grace and mercy, changed us through what Jesus did on the cross. We believed and trusted him and accepted a free gift of salvation. And that's where you are this morning.
[36:18] You're not saved. You need to do that. Listen, let me say this. He was also talking to disciples in chapter 5 and verse 1. Not just the religious people. It's all the disciples. And how many of us, somewhere along the way, we've become saved.
[36:29] We're on our way to heaven. We've forgotten all about being poor. It's amazing to me how mean we can be because we once were poor, but now we're not.
[36:40] We once were lost, but now we see. We once didn't have that life. And so a person that comes in whose life doesn't measure up, man, we just want to cream them. But we ought to be looking around going, no, I know who I am.
[36:51] I know where I came from. We ought to still be broken about all the mess we've done. It's so easy for me to see your sin. It's so hard for me to see mine. But I need to be willing to look at my sin.
[37:02] So you go back through those beatitudes. You go back through the blessed, the happies, the comforts, and look at that and say, God, how much of that's real in me? Let God do a work in your life.
[37:14] Father in heaven, I love you and I thank you for the chance to serve you. I pray that your name would be honored today. And I pray, God, that we would experience the happiness and satisfaction that can only be found in you. God, I pray you'd help us experience the happiness and satisfaction that can only be found in you through Jesus and what he did on the cross.
[37:33] Save anybody here that's not saved. God, help them, comfort them, and let them know you. And God, for those in this morning that are saved but honestly have slipped into religious actions and religious attitudes, I pray you'd bring them back to the merciful, the hearts broken, the submitted heart, the meekness, the humility, that we'd be better servants of yours.
[37:56] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia. For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recording.