Latest / HBCWestminster / 11.28.21 Matthew 5:1-12 Pastor Danny Gardner

Transcript

11.28.21 Matthew 5:1-12 Pastor Danny Gardner · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  So let's stand together. We will read what is quite possibly the greatest introduction to the greatest and most famous sermon ever preached. Allow me to read verses 1 through 12. And church, hear the word of God. Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain. And when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn.
• 0:34
  for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• 1:02
  Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. This morning I borrow a prayer from St. Augustine, and would you pray with me? Lord God, in our weakness, we ran after the beauty of the things you have made. You were with us, Lord, but we were not with you.
• 1:35
  The things you have made kept us from you. Those very things which would have no being unless they existed in you. You called and you cried to us. And you pierced our deafness. You radiated forth. You shined out brightly. You dispelled our blindness. Father God, you have sent forth your fragrance. And we breathed it in. And now, Lord, we long for you.
• 2:07
  We have tasted you, and now we hunger and thirst for you. You have touched us, and we ardently desire your peace. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Thank you, church. Well, as you know, our Declaration of Independence includes these now famous words, which I've echoed down through history. It says, we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
• 2:35
  that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and what? The pursuit of happiness. And let me be clear in just saying, I know that there's a difference between the Declaration of Independence and the Bible. All right? I know that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are not the Bible. Those are the words of man. These are the words of God. Okay?
• 3:03
  But don't you find it to be universally true among humans that we are pursuing happiness without exception? Every person on earth, every man or woman who has ever lived through history, from the richest to the poorest, from the North Pole to the South, from the workaholic to the alcoholic, from the partygoer to the family man, from the athlete to the academic.
• 3:32
  Even the man who in his desperation considers taking his own life. These are all pursuing one thing. That one thing is happiness. I recently came across a statistic that was alarming to me. In fact, it was this past Wednesday, just the day before Thanksgiving, that said that nearly one in five American women, 20% of American women, is pill coping. Pill coping is what they called it, meaning that they're taking drugs.
• 4:05
  in order to either numb them from the reality of their own lives or they're taking drugs, simply to give them the energy to get by. And I was jarred by that. One in five? I shared that number with Hallie yesterday as she and I were hiking together and just enjoying the sunshine. And her reply to that was even more jarring to me when she said, oh, Danny, I think it's way more than that. She said, I don't think it's restricted to women alone.
• 4:36
  She said, I think men and women in America, she said, are doing whatever they can to cope, whatever they can to get by, and many of them dependent upon drugs and alcohol. I find that fascinating because here in our text, we discover a formula for happiness. It's literally a formula for happiness. Plug in these things and the result will be joy.
• 5:02
  blessing, happiness, supreme happiness. There's literally a formula directly from heaven, directly from the words of Jesus, and yet this formula is only rarely applied. We're chasing after worldly things, and when we catch them, when we grab hold of them, we discover them to be mere wind. They are shallow, unfulfilling, and we chase them in the hopes that they will somehow satisfy the longing of our hearts.
• 5:33
  And church, if we're honest with ourselves, very often we would rather have the created, which would soothe our souls and comfort our hearts just for a moment, rather than the creator who is eternal joy and peace. We are today now ankle deep in the Christmas season. Next Sunday we'll be knee deep and the Sunday after maybe hip deep and the Sunday after that neck deep.
• 5:59
  But today, we are ankle-deep in the Christmas season, and we will find again an opportunity to illustrate this great truth to our children and grandchildren. And that is that not everything you thought would make you happy will satisfy your soul's demands. Isn't that true? Not everything you thought would make you happy, once you receive it, does it actually make you happy? I mean, simply put, you could ask, have you ever thought...
• 6:29
  That something would make you happy only to find out that it did not. Surely that's happened to you. Many years ago, and when my sons were younger, Hallie, my beloved bride, decided to get me for my birthday an opportunity to go deep sea fishing.
• 6:47
  I'd never been before. You guys know that I love to fish. I really do. I love it. I love fly fishing especially, but I've always wanted to try deep sea fishing. I'd never done it. Stand on a boat, you charter a boat, you go out in the middle of the ocean, you catch whatever, and I thought, man, it'd be so awesome. The fish are huge. You never know what you're going to catch. And so she, just in her generosity and grace toward me, decided to buy three passes, one for me, one for Pearson, one for Zach.
• 7:11
  to go out on this boat. And so we chartered this boat, the three of us, and then two dozen other of the oldest, grumpiest, grizzly guys you've ever seen decide we're going to go out in the middle of the ocean. We leave from Santa Barbara, kind of Marina Harbor there. We go out to the Channel Islands. We're going to catch all of these fish. Pearson and Zach were by far the youngest. They were the only boys on the boat. And man, I had such high expectations. I thought this was going to be so fun. In fact, it's quite expensive. Hallie had saved her money to buy this for me for...
• 7:39
  My birthday, I thought we were going to have so much fun. We just go idling out. It's a beautiful Santa Barbara day. We're going out, you know, and just crystal clear blue skies, no wind. Just as soon as we hadn't been on that boat for three minutes, we were scheduled to be on it for six hours. Three minutes in, we get out of Santa Barbara, a little marina there where there's the breakwater. And I felt the ship the very first time do this.
• 8:06
  And I saw the shoreline do this. And as soon as I did three minutes in, I was like, oh no.
• 8:12
  Oh, no. I've made a horrible error. Like, I am not built for seafaring. I mean, that is definitely not me at all. One wave, one time that thing rolled, and I thought, I am definitely going to be chumming the waters. Like, soon. It's coming soon. And so we keep going, going, going, going, going. We are going way out, way past. You can't see the shore anymore. We are way into the deep water, and I am feeling lousy, miserable. I had paid all of this money.
• 8:40
  just to be miserable i sat down in the middle of the boat i called one of the deckhands to me and i just said hey i i am not doing well and he says that's all right it happens all the time you know as long as your check clears we don't care and so he said just sit in the middle of the boat stay in the very center of the boat he said because the front and the back are the parts that are going to move the most right so stay in the middle of the boat just do whatever you got to do man you know and i said okay
• 9:05
  I literally curled up in kind of the fetal position. I closed my eyes, and I just prayed for six hours. Just, Lord, Lord, get me off of this boat. But, of course, I was there with my boys, so I was nervous because I thought, man, you know, Zach was six or seven years old. He's just a kid. And I thought, I'm going to be here seasick. Nobody's going to notice that my little boy goes flipping over the rail, and he's gone. And so I called this deckhand to me, this kid, you know, 22-year-old kid with the waterproof boots or whatever. I said, hey. I said, listen.
• 9:34
  I got a $100 bill in my pocket. And so I had his attention. I said, I will give you $100 if you can promise me two things. He's like, yeah, man, whatever. He said, promise me that those two boys don't flip over the rail. You keep them alive. And I said, hey, he's like, yeah, no problem. And second, promise me that they catch more fish than anybody else on this boat. He said.
• 9:56
  done for a hundred bucks. He completely neglected everybody else. He didn't even talk to him, you know, and I could just, I didn't ever open my eyes for six hours. My eyes are shut. I can just hear Zach's little tiny six-year-old voice. Got another one. Got another one. He's hauling things over the rail. You know, we finally turn around and we're making our way back. You guys, I felt horrible until the moment I got off of that boat. I thought it was going to be great.
• 10:20
  I even paid so much money. It was an expensive day. My last hundred bucks went to that kid who kept my boys alive. It turns out it made me feel lousy. You ever thought that something would make you happy, only to find out that it didn't? There's a simple yes or no question, which I think could be asked of anyone on earth, the answer to which would determine their spiritual condition.
• 10:49
  If you want to know if you're truly regenerated, if you want to know if your soul is genuinely healthy, then honestly ask yourself, are you happy? And are you pursuing the things which will truly make you happy? In our text this morning, Jesus answers that question by painting a portrait of the truly happy man, by calling us blessed, blessed. And you'll notice it is the most often repeated word. It is the title of our sermon this morning, blessed. In fact,
• 11:21
  It starts almost every verse from verses 1 to 12. Blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed. But let's look at the setting of the sermon first in verse 1. It just simply says, seeing the crowds, He went up on the mountain, He sat down, and His disciples came to Him. He went up on the mountain. You'll notice that not only had our Lord no place to lay His head, He also had no place to preach. He had no church. He had no sanctuary. There were no pews. He had no pulpit.
• 11:52
  And although the scribes and the Pharisees of his day did have seats of honor in their synagogues, and in those seats they corrupted the law, Jesus just simply found the nearest location that was suitable and was intent on setting the law straight. And Matthew chapter 5 is called the Sermon on the Mount because Jesus went up on the mountain. And Luke chapter 6 describes, I believe, the same sermon but a different time. I believe that Jesus preached it twice.
• 12:22
  When it says in Luke chapter 6 that he went out on a level plain and said similar things. And I think that he went up on the mountain because the mountain was there. And I think in Luke chapter 6 he went out on the level plain because the level plain was there. In other words, Jesus just preached wherever he was at. It's a lesson and an example for us to learn from. Preach where you're at. It's funny because I often when I'm considering...
• 12:54
  preaching the good news, sharing my faith, evangelizing. I kind of think that I have to wait for an opportune time. But church, may I encourage you, don't think that you have to wait for everything to align. Don't think you have to wait for the opportune time because that opportune time may never come. A couple of Wednesdays ago, I stepped into our youth group for a moment on a Wednesday night. Pastor Sam, our youth pastor, was in the middle of answering a question about evangelism. He had opened the...
• 13:23
  the teaching time to just question and answer they could ask any question they wanted this is our seventh through twelfth graders there's 30 or 40 of them sitting in the west hall over there just answering questions they could type a question into their phone the question would then be projected onto the screen and so it's completely anonymous somebody asked a question about sharing their faith how do i know when there's the right time to share my faith and i thought pastor sam's answer was fantastic he told them that praying and waiting for an opportune time were both good things
• 13:53
  Pray that the Lord would open a door. And when he opens the door, you'll know that it's time to share your faith. But then he said this, at some point, just share your faith. Because, he said, the perfect opportunity may never come. It may never fully align. And it may happen that you get all the way to the end of your life and you realize you actually never preached the good news.
• 14:19
  You were waiting for the opportune time and it never came. And his encouragement to our youth group and praise God for it. What great advice. He said, waiting for the opportune time and praying for an open door. Those are good things. But at some point he says, you just got to do it. Because the opportunity may never be perfect. We see Jesus just preached wherever he was at. But notice also the people to whom he preached. Verse one says, seeing the crowds. He sat down and his disciples came to him.
• 14:47
  Seeing the crowds, we see clearly that Christ addressed His message to both the multitudes and to the chosen. The crowds were those who were following Him but had not committed yet, who were following Him but didn't yet believe. These were unbelieving crowds mixed in with His own disciples. There were hearers and there were scoffers. Really, we find that He preached to anyone who would listen. Recall the parable.
• 15:16
  of the sower from mark chapter 4 do you guys remember this mark chapter 4 says that a man went out to his field to sow and jesus describes this farmer like he has this kind of sling pack with a big bag of seed and the farmer is reaching into the seed that you find out later jesus says that seed is the seed of the gospel right he reaches into the bag and he's pulling out seed and he's just throwing it you remember where the seed was falling where did it say it went it went everywhere
• 15:45
  The farmer wasn't discriminant at all about where the seed went. Some went on good soil, yes. But other seed fell on rocky soil, others on thorny soil, others on the road. And he says the farmer doesn't care. He's going to throw the seed wherever he's at, wherever it falls, and he's going to entrust that seed to the Lord. And then we find in Matthew 5 that Jesus does the exact same thing. That's his method as well. I'm going to go wherever I am, I'm going to preach, and to whomever.
• 16:15
  We'll listen. That's first. Notice now the sermon. And it says in verse 2, he opened his mouth and taught them. And this is often described as the Beatitudes. Beatus is a Latin word meaning supremely blessed, supremely happy. We just read from Isaiah chapter 6 that describes the Lord as holy, holy, holy.
• 16:39
  Holy, holy, holy is our God. And here we find in Matthew chapter 5 that his people, we, should be happy, happy, happy. It's like a composite artist. The Lord is weaving together eight descriptions which taken as a whole form a picture of the blessed man's life. Beginning with verse 3 which says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the poor.
• 17:07
  In spirit, it is in contrast to the common view of man, which states, blessed are the rich, for theirs is the kingdom of the world. The poor in spirit, rather, are the humble, the lowly-minded, the self-abased. They are those who think not too highly of themselves, like Romans 12 says. They are those who are not wise in their own eyes, like Proverbs 3 says. Rather, they regard themselves accurately.
• 17:38
  This is not to say that they loathe themselves. They hate themselves. He doesn't say blessed are the self-deprecating. That's not what he says. Rather, because that wouldn't be accurate either. Rather, they are those who view themselves accurately. Revelation 3, the context here is the letters to the seven churches of Revelation. Jesus now is writing, so these would be red letters in your Bible. Jesus is giving a message to...
• 18:07
  The church at Laodicea. Laodicea was the lukewarm one. Do you remember that? Laodicea was the one that was neither hot nor cold. Jesus said, I'm going to spit you out of my mouth. The church at Laodicea, Revelation chapter 3, they didn't view themselves accurately. And Jesus says, for you say, I'm rich. I've prospered. I need nothing. They haven't a care in the world. And then Jesus says, but you're not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
• 18:34
  So he's looking at them saying, no, you're not rich. You're not prospering at all. But they're looking at themselves and saying, man, we're doing great. Man, what a scary verse that is. What a scary thought that is. That we could be, that we in our own eyes could think that we're doing very well. And Jesus says, no, you're not at all. J.C. Ryle says, humility is the very first letter of the alphabet of Christianity. That's a great thought.
• 19:04
  Like you want to know the ABCs of Christianity? Well, A is humility. If you don't have A, you can't get anywhere else. And then he says, we must begin low if we would build high. Our family has now lived in Denver for seven years next year, next month, seven years when we moved.
• 19:25
  You know, it's been interesting to watch the city grow. I know many of you have been here for 20, 30, 40, 50 years. You've watched as Denver was kind of a slow and sleepy city. Now it's growing to become this bustling, vibrant, growing, maybe even overcrowded city, right? But it's been interesting to watch the city grow. And as the city landscape and even skyline has changed, it's been kind of fun in the seven years that we have lived here.
• 19:52
  There are new high-rise buildings that were not there just seven years ago. Our family enjoys going to Denver, walking around there on a sunny day when it's warm and going to places like Confluence Park, you know, where the river goes through and there's Union Station you can walk through. There's cool restaurants and whatever. And there's that really neat REI building, right? Used to be a powerhouse, power station or whatever. Now it's converted to an REI right there on the river, directly across from that. That was nothing when we moved here.
• 20:22
  It was just part of the park and whatever. But directly across, as soon as we moved, they fenced the whole thing off with chain link fence. They scraped it and they began digging a hole. And this hole was massive. And for a couple of years, this hole was just getting deeper and deeper and deeper. And we were kind of walking along, always speculating. My boys were young, you know. What in the world? It's like the deepest swimming pool in the world, you know. What are they putting in here? Now, if you go down there, it's a 30, 40, 50 story.
• 20:51
  High rise. But what was interesting about it was before they could build up, what did they have to do? They had to dig deep. And the deeper they dug, the higher they could build. In church, the same thing is true spiritually. If you would build your soul high, you must begin low. Arthur Pink describes it as a poverty of spirit. Poverty of spirit may be termed the negative side of faith.
• 21:23
  It is that realization of my utter worthlessness which precedes the laying hold of Christ. In other words, if I am to lay hold of Christ, if I am to grab hold of the Savior for salvation, it's got to start with me realizing that I can't do it on my own. I'm worthless. He is worth everything and I can achieve nothing. I am utterly dependent, the eating of His flesh and drinking of His blood. It is the Spirit emptying the heart of self so that Christ may...
• 21:52
  And church, has your heart been emptied of self? I think oftentimes we think of discipleship, following after Christ, in different terms than Christ did. We live as though following Jesus just means living our normal lives, doing whatever we would normally do, just with a little bit of Jesus mixed in. Like I'll just sprinkle over the top of my life a little bit of Jesus dust. But that's not how discipleship works.
• 22:22
  christ said whoever desires to be his disciple must deny himself empty himself and live an entirely different life and that's what it means to be poor in spirit notice he continues blessed verse 4 says blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted blessed are those who mourn jesus meant those who sorrow over their sin and grieve over their own shortcomings and so let me ask you church does your heart
• 22:51
  break over your own sin? Does your heart break or do you find that the more frequently you sin and the more frequently you sin in the same areas over and over again, just the easiest, the easier it becomes just to cope with, just to deal with? Or does your sin truly trouble you? Just a few weeks ago, relatively late at night, Hallie and I were already in bed, but our lights were still on. We were just talking and one of our boys came into our room and
• 23:21
  You guys, was just sobbing. Middle of the night, he was sobbing. And he came in. What's wrong? What's wrong? And he just began confessing sin. Confessing sin to us. And I mean, you guys, his heart was broken. He could not believe he had disappointed the Lord, disappointed his parents. He's just confessing sin. And he was broken over it. And so we were encouraging him. We prayed with him.
• 23:49
  We reminded him of the truth of 1 John 1. I quoted it to him, right? That he is faithful and just. If we will confess our sins, he is faithful and just. He will forgive us of all unrighteousness. It doesn't matter what you've done. He will forgive if you will confess. That's the promise from God's word. Amen? Amen. That's a good place for an amen from all the sinners in the room. Man, quoted that to him and said, it's okay, buddy. You confess your sin to the Lord. Go back to bed. It's okay.
• 24:18
  When he left, Hallie and I marveled. I'm not joking. We just kind of smiled because the sin that he was confessing was so minor. And I understand sin is sin. Don't get me wrong. There are degrees of sin. But you guys, honestly, compared to this 45-year-old's life and the words that I've said, the things that my little boy was confessing to me, I was like...
• 24:51
  Man, I would say that stuff. I wouldn't even notice. You were mean? Like, how were you mean? You know, that's not even that mean, to be honest with you. I say way worse stuff, and I don't even give it a second thought. It was convicting for me because it occurred to me how callous my heart has become. And he left. He went back to bed, and I just said, man, Hallie, his life would be so much easier if he'd just grow a big old callous over his heart like I have. I would sleep like a baby because I don't break over my own.
• 25:22
  Blessed are those, he says, who mourn, for they will be comforted. Notice also, blessed, verse 5, are the meek. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Meek people are humble and patient. They are content. Meek people are those who are willing to put up with very little honor. They don't seek credit for themselves. They don't seek glory. They bear injuries without resentment.
• 25:51
  They never expect to retaliate. So in other words, they get punched, they never punch back. Meek people are those who will defend others while not defending themselves. And this says that one day they shall reign on the earth. And church, would you describe yourself as humble, impatient, content? Is anything below you? I've said before that kids always call for their moms. It is a daily occurrence where somebody in our house yells, Mom!
• 26:24
  And what's for lunch? Mom, I can't find my clothes. Mom, where's my baseball stuff? Mom, I fell down and I need you to kiss my owie. You know, there's only ever one time ever where I get called. Dad, the toilet is clogged. That's the only time. I never get called for anything but that. That's it. The toilet is clogged. It's my job to fix it. And I do. What a disgusting job that is.
• 26:57
  But you know, it's a good reminder too. Next time you're unclogging a toilet and you're doing that thing, the plunger and all of that, just remind yourself, no, this is about right. Not above this. This is not below me. I haven't reached some station in my life where it's like, no, somebody comes and unclogs our toilets. No, it's me. That's me. That's who I am. It's appropriate. And the older that I get, the more I'm aware of that truth. The more I'm aware.
• 27:32
  of the meekness of the faith that even our lord did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many and if he came to serve if he came to come and wash the feet of these smelly fishermen then surely i am not above such a task blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth notice verse 6 blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied
• 28:01
  Blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty. Now we know what hungry and thirsty mean. We get hungry and thirsty all the time for physical things. But here we find that the most happy people, the most supremely blessed people on earth, hunger and thirst, not for food and water, but rather for the righteousness which God provides. The righteousness that can only be found in the Lord. In other words, above all, their desire is to be like their Lord.
• 28:30
  They long not to become rich or famous. Their sole desire is to spread the fame of another, to make another famous, and to become like Him. In Psalm 17, verse 15, the psalmist says, As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. When I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. Becoming like Him.
• 28:55
  You, who you are, your face, your likeness is what's going to satisfy my soul. Now, church, what do you dream about? When your mind drifts, where does your mind go? I've always enjoyed looking at real estate. I enjoy real estate. I enjoy kind of messing with that stuff and seeing if there's money to be made and how much.
• 29:22
  How much do different properties cost in different areas of the country? I really enjoy that. And so I'll look at, you know, I wonder what a condominium in Manhattan costs. You know, like I wonder what it costs to live in Florida. I wonder what it costs to live in Portland. I wonder what it costs. And so I'm always looking at these apps on my phone and, you know, kind of dreaming. I wonder what it would be like to live there. And most recently, the places I've been looking are all kind of these massive sprawling ranches. Do you ever go on there and just look at these places like a huge ranch in Wyoming?
• 29:51
  I wonder what it costs, 3,500 acres in Wyoming. And so I'm always looking at these things. I've always dreamt about having this huge sprawling acreage, a beautiful fly fishing river going through. I wonder what it would cost. And last night, church, good news. I found one. I found one that would suit my needs. I texted it to Hallie and I let her see it. In fact, I texted it to a couple of friends to see if they wanted to go in on it with me. Beautiful.
• 30:22
  Incredible, beautiful area. The mountains, the trees, has a lake on the property, a massive lake, beautiful river that goes through. In fact, the lodge is so large, the resort there is so large that it has to have its own airport. There's an airport on the property. And as a bonus, and for some reason, this didn't convince Hallie, but as a bonus, when you purchase the property, not only do you get the airport, you actually get the airplane. The airplane comes with it.
• 30:51
  It's a bonus. I just throw it in. You guys, I looked at all the pictures, all of them. There were people in all the pictures, horseback riding, fishing. Some of them were actually parachuting. They were jumping out of their airplane, which you would get. All of them, every single person in those pictures was smiling, supremely happy. And I just said, Hallie, for the mere cost of 44 million, you can imagine how happy we would be.
• 31:21
  Like, quick, call a couple of friends. Let's see if we, you know, anybody want to go halves? Like, 44 million is all it would cost. Man, they look delirious. That's not what Jesus says. He says the happy person, and this is, you guys, it's not just happy. Supremely happy. The supremely happy man or woman is that man or woman who hungers and thirsts, not for wealth, not for fame, not for notoriety, not for power, but rather for righteousness.
• 31:54
  Do you ever dream about becoming like the Lord? That's what will provide you with happiness. Notice 5th, blessed, verse 7 says, blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. And the merciful person is filled with compassion toward others. They don't think of themselves. They are those who cannot simply pass by and do nothing.
• 32:19
  They are those, like Romans 12 says, they are those who mourn with those who mourn. If there is somebody who is broken, they break along with them. They are those who would echo Solomon's sentiment that knowledge is a burden. Remember that when he said, I accumulated wisdom for myself, but I found the more that I knew, the more that it was a burden, it was troubling for me. Because I just saw this heartbreak all over the place. The merciful ones are the ones who see it and then do something about it.
• 32:51
  They don't even know the phrase. Well, that's not my problem. Because the problem of their brother is their problem. And church, who has the Lord put in your life to show mercy to? Blessed are the merciful. Notice 6. Blessed are, verse 8 says, the pure in heart, for they shall see God. The pure in heart. Now we know that many are good at being pure in their outward appearance. We're very good at putting on a show. But then, if you were to look at our hearts,
• 33:21
  we would fail miserably. The pure in heart find no satisfaction in external religion. Many pay lip service to God. They say the right words. They sing the right songs. Many even impress a great many others, but then might find that their faith runs short on judgment day. Notice Matthew chapter 15 and verse 8. This is a scary verse. Jesus said, this people honors me with their lips. They're saying all the right things, but their hearts are far from me.
• 33:51
  In vain do they worship me. Man, may it never be said of Highland Baptist Church that we're just going through the motions. We're just doing the thing. We're putting on a show. This is all fake. It never penetrates to the heart. May it never be said of us. Luke 13, it's actually verse 30. Behold, Jesus said, some are last who will be first. Some are first who will be last.
• 34:16
  The people we assume may be very close to the Lord may not be. It's a show. And he says here, blessed, supremely happy are the ones who are pure in their heart. Their faith, their religion has penetrated all the way to the deepest part of their affections. Notice 7th, blessed, verse 9. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are the peacemakers. We know that there are only two types of people on earth. There are peacemakers.
• 34:48
  There are peace takers. But here the peacemaker is the one who is willing to overlook an offense. They are impossible to offend. The peacemakers are those who exert all of their effort to promote unity, not demanding their own rights. The peacemaker is the one who isn't looking for a chance to throw their weight around. And church, which are you? Are you a peacemaker or a peace taker? Only peacemakers are happy. Notice finally in verse 10. Blessed.
• 35:26
  Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Blessed are those who are persecuted, but that doesn't just mean blessed are those who suffer. Suffering is a universal human trait to live on this cursed ground.
• 35:49
  is to suffer at some point in your life. It is not specific to Christians, but there are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. And they suffer because they endeavor to live as true Christians. In other words, there are those who are persecuted because they have chosen to stand with Christ, and that standing with Christ has cost them something. Maybe it's cost them their livelihoods. Maybe it's cost their marriages or their families. Maybe it's cost their freedoms.
• 36:21
  Maybe it's cost their friendships. J.C. Ryle one time said, even if you must go to heaven alone, you must endeavor that by God's grace you will go. Even if you've got to go all by yourself, even if nobody decides to come with you, he said, endeavor by God's grace that you will go. To be counted with Christ is to go outside the camp. It is to do what is unpopular, and we can even sense a growing unpopularity in our society, in our culture.
• 36:54
  That there will be a day, church, and maybe not far from now, where our stand for Jesus will cost us something truer and truer, greater and greater than it's cost in the past. I think it's funny, if you look in your Bibles from verses 3 to 12, only one of those verses does not start with the word blessed. You see that? Which one is it? Verse 12, and it starts with what word? Rejoice? Rejoice?
• 37:25
  That's the worst word to use here. Rejoice and be glad? For what? For the persecution? Yes. Why? Because you're being counted among the prophets. That's the same way they treat God's people who were before you. Supremely blessed at separating ourselves from the world and counting ourselves with God. Church, are you happy? Are you supremely blessed? Are you chasing the things?
• 37:56
  which will end in your genuine happiness, forsaking all else, chasing after those things which will truly satisfy. Lord, I pray that that would be our desire, even this Christmas season, Lord, that we would not fall for the things which we think will make us happy that will not satisfy, Lord. We want to be a supremely blessed, a supremely happy and joyful people. And Lord, may we find it in Christ the way that he describes it here. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.