"When
Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat
down, His disciples came to Him. 2 He opened His mouth and began to
teach them, saying,
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."
5 "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth."
6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."
7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy."
8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. "
9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."
10 "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
11 "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Good Morning my beloved,
We welcome you to worship
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is my honor and privilege to have you
here with us today. We are especially grateful for those of you who have
been sharing the ministry website, and social media platforms with all of your family and friends.
Your faithfulness and commitment to share God's Word with others
continues to bring about tremendous results. People are responding to
God's Word! This is all so amazing. We ask you to pray that God will
continue to give us boldness to speak the truth in ministry in the face
of adversity in the coming days! As you may have noticed, it's becoming
more and more challenging in the day in which we live.
I
want to let all of you know how grateful I am for all of you. We are so
thankful your prayers and continue to pray for all of you. Prayer is
such a powerful tool, and a mighty weapon against the adversary. And
through your sharing, God continues to bring a number of people to faith
in Jesus Christ. Praise God! May He continue to use you and this
ministry mightily to effect change in even more lives. Let's give God some praise for all He has done!
The heart of man is naturally depraved; nor is it within the power of man to make it clean. Man is a totally and thoroughly depraved creature by nature. In separating himself from God, he has corrupted his soul, filled his heart with sickness, separating himself from the only source of holiness.
The exceeding sinfulness of man and the dark depths of human depravity must be viewed in the light of God's Word, for which divine redemption is the only cure. I believe there are two points that every faithful gospel preacher should never cease to
enforce upon the consciences of the congregation, the first is the
utter sinfulness of man; and the other is the complete salvation through
the blood and righteousness of Christ. Before they are called by grace, all God's people have sinned.
In Jeremiah 17, the prophet of old, Jeremiah wrote "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?"
In Romans 5, the Apostle Paul says "For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous."
In I John 1, John says "This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us."
J.C. Philpot, known as "The Seceder," once wrote "My desire is to exalt the grace of God; to proclaim salvation alone
through Jesus Christ; to declare the sinfulness, helplessness and
hopelessness of man in a state of nature; to describe the living
experience of the children of God in their trials, temptations, sorrows,
consolations and blessings."
When we "confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts
that God raised him from the dead," we become pure in position. In other
words, as dark, evil, wicked and unworthy as you are, after salvation,
when you stand before God He no longer sees that sin, but sees the righteousness of His Son,
our Savior! Therefore, as the redeemed in Christ, we must boldly proclaim "Come and see the great things that Christ has done!"
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank You for enriching our hearts with Your Word, may it penetrate even the deepest part of our souls. Lord, thank You for meeting us where we are, we know our transgression separates us from You. Make our hearts pure O Lord, that we may know the purity that only Christ can give. We pray for those who are yet lost, deceived by false religion, touch their hearts Lord, that they might come to repentance and purify their heart by confession and receive the forgiveness that can set them free. We thank You and praise You, in faith believing for doing that mighty work. May it be for Christ's sake and Your glory.
In Jesus' name we ask and pray
Amen
Today's Message: When Christ Shines Through Part III
The subject of our text is purity of heart. The infinite theme of purity of the heart is necessary to see God, can be traced from the beginning of the Bible to the end. In fact, it is so vast, it's impossible to uncover all that's there. So, I pray that what we discover will be rich and meaningful for us today.
Open
your Bibles with me to the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5, today we will
pick up at verse 8, where we left off in our last message. This text is one of those all-encompassing statements, that stretches over everything else that’s revealed in Scripture.
I invite you to follow along with me as I read the first twelve verses, just to refresh our
minds, as we prepare our hearts for the Spirit of God is saying to each
of us.
Matthew 5:1-12. Listen for the voice of our Lord.
"When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.
He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, "Blessed are the
poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those
who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, 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 have been persecuted for the sake of
righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you
when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of
evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in
heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who
were before you."
Many scholars believe that Jesus is drawing from
Psalm 24, verses 3-4,
where David declared "
Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully." In other words, having clean hands is not enough, those clean hands must come from a pure heart.
While other books may be able to speak to us, the Word of God has the ability to
speak through us. It is the only book that is supernatural as it was
breathed by God ,it is alive, active, full of energy and power and able
to discern not just the things people do but why they do the things
they do! The Word of God has the power to recognize not only the outside actions of man but reveal his inward attitudes. Allow me to add, only God’s Word has the supernatural ability to change your very life.
I am often told that the importance and focus on God's Word is very evident in every message I preach. I am so thankful for the honor and privilege I've been blessed with to be able proclaim God's truths. I believe that understanding the Word comes by properly applying the Word. A preacher must not throw all
doctrines together as they come into his
mind, but in small bites, for each of his hearers,
a portion such as he needs. When the preacher’s own life depends upon the Word of
God, that he regularly breathes, he must see to
it that the care-free, and
willful sinner hears the thunderings of the sweet Savior's voice. I want the wound of the tool God has given me, to go as
deep as the heart. That means my preaching is going to
have some bite, which will often offend. However, it is always motivated by love. The Good News of the Gospel is of no value if it is not
applied to the open wound.
The writer of
Hebrews 4:12 says "
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
I believe that
the congregation should be able to see the same man in
the pulpit they've watched playfully share
a laugh with children during the children's ministry or lovingly embrace the family members at their loved ones funeral. By being himself, faithfully committed to the truth in God's Word and his convictions, a pastor gains a credibility despite his weaknesses. It seems that many pastors today, hidden behind their robes, and hiding from the gospel, rather than shepherding the congregations into through the dark valley into green pastures by a Word they trust.
When John the Baptist was in the wilderness preaching, "Repent for the kingdom is at hand," multitudes gathered, they couldn’t get there fast enough, because they were living under the frustration of the law, and they just couldn’t do it. I believe they were looking for a way to relieve the burden of sin. Peoples hearts were aching for forgiveness. They knew the prophecy of Isiah, that one would come one who would forgive their sin. How can a holy God grant salvation to a sinful man? Jesus answers that question about the kind of righteousness must we have to be accepted into the Kingdom, in the Beatitudes.
Let's begin with verse 8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." The answer is, the pure in heart. That’s the answer. Those who have purified their hearts, they alone are the ones who see God. I remember the day of my own salvation like it was yesterday, it was if heaven came down and glory filled my soul, the Savior made me whole, my sins were washed away.When I walked out of the sanctuary that day, the sky was bluer, the was sun brighter, the trees were greener and my burdens were lighter. From that moment on, I could feel the presence of God! Everywhere I look, I am reminded of a gloriously powerful and loving God that creates and sustains all life. Having a heart that is pure and being rewarded with sensing God's presence is so
pleasurable and life changing, that nothing else even compares. What an incredibly powerful statement this becomes then.
Man tends to measure himself by his fellow man, looking for someone inferior as the standard by which to measure himself against. The Pharisees were good at that. We see that in
Luke 18, "
Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee
stood and was praying this to himself: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’" When God set a standard for acceptable character, He didn't say that you have to be better than an immoral man. He said if you want to see God, you have to be pure in heart. That's the standard. God sets the standard by Himself, whereas men set the standard as the worst human being alive.
In
Matthew 23, Jesus confront the Pharisees when He said "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and
say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in
shedding the blood of the prophets.’ So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered
the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?"
I've been asked, "If this Beatitude is such a sunum bonum, why isn't it first?" All I can say, is they flow imperfect order, according to the mind of God. You cannot isolate the one from the whole, they are all equally important and the kingdom person fulfills them all. It all begins with the poor in spirit, and the rest flows out in a wonderful outworking of the spirit of God. It’s not hard to define a pure heart, a hatred of sin, a love for other believers, and a preoccupation with God’s glory
In verse 9, Jesus says "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." This is Beatitude number seven. The theme of peace permeates the Bible. In fact, there are nearly four hundred references to peace in the Scripture. Then, the fall came, and peace with God was interrupted. That's the problem with the world today, man is at war with God. Not only is man at war with God, so is Satan. There is conflict at both the spiritual level and at the human level. On the cross, Jesus brought peace to the heart. That's the story
of redemption, the story of peace, peace forfeited, peace regained in
the heart, peace regained on the earth, and finally peace regained in
the eternal state.
The issue of being peacemakers is very important in the world today. God has place a high priority on peacemaking.
Romans 12, "If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men." I hasten to say, notice God did not task this responsibility to politicians, lawyers or even judges. Which is good, because we’ve had enough of the failures of the world’s peacemakers, they are little more than a harbinger of further conflict. Nobody has succeeded in bringing peace to this world, nor will they, until Jesus returns and establishes His kingdom of eternal peace.
In fact, more people are being killed in our day than ever before. Stress and anxiety are at an all time high, more people are taking antidepressants today than in any other generation. Quite frankly, the world reflects the heart of man. The world is wicked, and the hearts of men are wicked. As the children of God, we are to be the true peacemakers. Peace is not the absence of anything, peace is the presence of something. Peace, then, is a creative force producing goodness and well-being. God never instructs us to avoid confronting sin, to keep our mouths shut in order to live in a superficial tranquility. That's very dangerous. The Bible confronts sin, and produces a true peace, a peace that exists after the conflict has been resolved. Peace is never sought at the cost of truth. Before there can come the true peace, there has to be the sword of truth that falls. Unmasking of sin is necessary. We do not abandon truth for peace. True peace comes because conflicts are resolved.
The Christian who confronts sin, and heresy is a peacemaker because he’s working toward the true peace of God. The world today says, if you want to have peace, let’s strip away all the stuff that divides us. Let’s get everybody together and agree on everything. Allow me to point out, that Jesus never pronounced blessings on apostates who opposed Him. The world today would say that Jesus was anything but a peacemaker. A true peacemaker will not tolerate anything that dishonors God! He seeks a peace that demands truth. To be a peacemaker, you must have a view of yourself that is very different than most people. Sinners have always been proud. In fact, pride is the virtue above all virtues. If you’re going to be a peacemaker, you have to realize you have nothing to be proud about. You realize that you are destitute, mourning, meek, hungering and thirsting for a righteousness you don’t have, desperately in need of God’s mercy. Biblically, you cannot feel good about yourself until you first feel bad about yourself.
In
James 3:17, James writes "
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy." In other words, follow the peace that is associated with holiness. Not confronting sin, is not true peace, it's superficial. That kind of peace is dishonoring to the Lord. That said, there are times when it is wise to overlook a transgression. We don’t want to go around just creating strife. We all know people who are good at that.
In Closing..
Some of you here today, do not know the true peace that comes from a pure heart because you have never taken that first step of being poor in spirit. Let me introduce you to the Prince of Peace, His name is Jesus Christ.
The happiest people in the world are those who yield themselves to Christ, because He makes them into a whole person.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
Copyright © 2019-2022 All Rights Reserved
