Characteristics of True Believers

Transcript

GRM 509
12/15/1996
Characteristics of True Believers
Matthew 5:3-12
Gil Rugh

We are going to be in Matthew this morning, chapter 5. In our last study we looked into Psalm 1. In Psalm 1 we have a description given of the man who is blessed. “Blessed is the man” Psalm 1 begins. We saw the description and the contrast that was presented in Psalm 1 between the blessed man and the wicked man. In Matthew chapter 5, Jesus Christ really picks up on that theme and elaborates it somewhat. We are in what is known as the “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew chapter 5. Really Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7 are what is known as the “Sermon on the Mount” because Jesus went up on a mountain, sat down, and gave this discourse to His followers. It’s one of the more familiar passages in the scripture and particularly the beatitudes. We have studied these and others have taught on this section of scripture. I wanted to go back and look at it with you. It forms a connection to Psalm 1 and it forms a good introduction to Psalm 2.

The context if this discourse is important and often been misunderstood and confused. In Matthew chapter 4 there is recorded the temptation of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 3 we have the baptism of Christ which begins His public ministry where He is formally presented by John the Baptist. John recognizes Him and identifies Him as the Messiah of Israel. In chapter 4 Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted of Satan for 40 days and 40 nights. After that Jesus has gone into Galilee to the northern part of the land of Israel. And in verse 17 we read, “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”” The context here is Jesus now is picking up His public ministry. John the Baptist had prepared the way by announcing to the nation, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Now, Jesus Himself picks up that message and begins to declare it. The kingdom of heaven refers to the kingdom prophesied in the Old Testament for Israel, a kingdom on this earth over which the Messiah Himself would personally rule and reign. That called for repentance. The preparation for the coming of the Messiah, for the establishing of the kingdom was a recognition of sin and a turning from sin, believing in God as your Savior. “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

In this context Jesus calls His disciples, calls them from their fishing occupation and says, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men,” in verse 19. Then in verses 23 and 24 Jesus is healing people of all kinds of sicknesses and diseases, “going throughout all Galilee [verse 23] teaching in their synagogues proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every kind of disease, every kind of sickness among the people.” News spreads throughout the region and Syria and more people are healed, at the end of verse 24. That’s the context. Jesus had begun His public ministry. He is announcing the presence of the kingdom because He is the Messiah. The kingdom hasn’t started. The kingdom is “at hand.” He is the Messiah. He can establish the kingdom. They must repent and get ready.

In this context He delivers the discourse known as the “Sermon on the Mount.” The “Sermon on the Mount” is not given about the church and church life. The “Sermon on the Mount” is given about the kingdom and kingdom life. You will note in the beatitudes the first on will say, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” in verse 3. Note to the last part of verse 3, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The kingdom of Heaven is talking about the kingdom that was prophesied in the Old Testament on this earth for Israel. The end of verse 5, “they shall inherit,” heaven? No “they shall inherit the earth.” He is talking about the earthly kingdom. Verse 8, the end of the verse, “They shall see God,” with the establishing of that kingdom. God Himself shall rule on the throne. The end of verse 10, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” These beatitudes and really the “Sermon on the Mount” is about the kingdom. It’s in the context of the gospel of the kingdom. It is in the context of “repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”


What is taking place in these chapters is Jesus is giving a description of the character and conduct of those who will be part of the kingdom that will be established on the earth. In a very real way, it is a description of the character and conduct of one who is truly a child of God. So, it is very applicable to you and I today because the character and conduct of the child of God is basically the same in any day and in any age. It is by His power that we are cleansed and forgiven. It is by His power that we are enabled to live lives that conform to His character. That is what He is going to be describing in the “Sermon on the Mount,” and particularly we are going to focus on the beatitudes.

The word blessed, our English word beatitude, comes from the Latin word for blessed. The Greek word is “makarios.” You ought to note it is a different word that is used when we speak of God being blessed or blessed. There it is the word “eulogetos.” We get eulogy from that word, to praise and honor. Here the word makarios. It is the Greek translation of the Hebrew work “eser” which was the word blessed in Psalm 1. It means happy. I am not totally pleased with that word because of the English connotations. In English we think of happiness as an emotion, as a passing feeling. That’s not what we are describing with blessed or happy in either Psalm 1 or Matthew 5. We are talking about the true heart condition of a child of God, true inner happiness and joy and gladness, spiritual prosperity we might say. That happiness carries over into external manifestation. When I speak of happy I don’t want you to think of the trite happiness that comes and goes in the way we use the word today. I’ve made fun of a church in another state called the happy church and I wouldn’t want to become the object of my own ridicule so please keep happy in the context that I just elaborated.

Verse 3 of Matthew 5. There’s going to be a series of Beatitudes, blessed’s, down to verse 12. You will see verse 12 doesn’t begin with blessed but it carries the idea on Jesus is describing. He is not telling you how to become blessed but He is describing those who are already blessed. Here’s the condition of those who have true inner happiness, gladness, spiritual prosperity, God’s salvation ultimately. “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

We get into danger and great abuse of the scripture when people grab onto a verse, ignore the context, and then start a movement with it. Great and marvelous things have been done with “blessed are the poor” that have nothing to do with what Jesus is talking about. We will see this down in “blessed are the peacemakers” in verse 9 as well. People take verses and because certain words are used they develop a whole theology and a whole political action movement and social movement that has nothing to do with what Jesus was talking about. Now it is true in scripture particularly the Old Testament, it is picked up in the New Testament, warnings are consistently given to the rich. It is often the poor materially who are committed to God. The Bible is consistent Old and New Testament alike.

Wealth and riches are a great danger to spiritual life. Jesus said “it is harder for a rich man to enter the kingdom than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.” Riches become a great obstacle. They cause us to think that we are self sufficient. They develop an attachment in our heart and mind to the things of this life. They even erode the spiritual health and wealth of God’s people. And that’s true of us with abundance. It is so easy for us to be distracted by riches and our wealth and easy to say if I had more I would really have more time to commit to the Lord. But you know what? Your wealth takes more time. Your wealth gives more freedom but so seldom is that freedom for more commitment to ministry. There is a contrast often drawn in scripture between the physically rich and the physically poor. But Jesus is talking here about blessed are the poor not in material possessions but the “poor in spirit,” those who are spiritually poor. This word translated poor is a word that means completely destitute. Blessed are those who are aware of their spiritual poverty is what He is saying, who know that they are spiritually wretched and destitute.


Turn over to Luke chapter 18. Luke chapter 18. Jesus will begin this discussion of the description of a child of God the very place that we try to avoid beginning in our day. He is going to begin with spiritual poverty and awareness of sinful wretchedness, of sorrow and grief over sin and so on. In Luke chapter 18 and verse 9, “He,” referring to Christ, “also told this parable to some people,” now note who we are talking to, “who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and viewed others with contempt.” Two men went up to the temple to pray, on a Pharisee and the other a tax gatherer. The Pharisee said to himself, “God I thank you that I am not like other people, swindlers, unjust, adulterers or even like this tax gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.”” This Pharisee came to worship God and you know there is a false humility here. He is thanking God which is an aspect of humility it would seem, but it is really an expression of arrogance. He is really saying, “I thank you that I am not a sinner like other people.” We say oh that’s terrible. But how often do we come and say well at least I am not an immoral person. At least I have never done any of these serious, gross sins. You know what I am saying, I thank you Lord I’m not like other people.

The tax gatherers were viewed as the low end of the totem pole socially in Israel. They were the scum. }Standing some distance away, he was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to look up to heaven.” He viewed himself as even unworthy to look toward God. But he bows down. He is beating his breast saying, ““God be merciful to me a sinner.” I tell you this man went to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”” Do you realize there is not salvation, there is no blessedness from God in the life until a person comes to realize they are spiritually destitute? That’s the beginning point. Blessed are those who are spiritually destitute, who recognize their spiritual poverty, who don’t compare themselves quote with worse sinners and hold out hope for themselves. They compare themselves with a holy and righteous God and they bow, beat their breast and say, God I need mercy. I need mercy. That’s who Jesus is pronouncing blessed in Matthew chapter 5. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. They will be part of the kingdom that the Messiah will establish is what he is saying. They are truly God’s people. We need to be careful that we don’t improve on God’s methods as well as God’s message. You have to begin with spiritual wretchedness, spiritual poverty.

The second Beatitude ties to that one. “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.” Again, this is not giving any special blessing on those who have misery in life. We are talking in a context. He has just talked about those who recognize their spiritual poverty. Now “blessed are those who mourn,” who have a sense of anguish for sin. This word “mourn,” the strongest word in the Greek language for sorrow. There is true, we would say, heartfelt grief and anguish of soul. It’s not just a passing on yes I know I am a sinner, but this has gripped this person’s heart and mind. The reality that they are spiritually destitute like we saw in the tax collector in Luke 18. He won’t lift his head to God. He is beating his breast. There is a sense of anguish here, wretchedness over the fact he is a vile, sinful person. The Jews could pick up on this as language relating to the kingdom. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.”

Back to Isaiah chapter 61, the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 61 is a passage referring to Messiah. In fact, Jesus applied part of this chapter to Himself. He went to the synagogue and opened the scriptures and read. And Isaiah 61:1, “The Spirit of Lord God was upon me because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners and proclaim the favorable year of the Lord, the day of vengeance of our God [note] to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion giving them a garland instead of ashes. The oil of gladness instead of mourning,” and so on.


We are talking about people who are trodden down physically as the nation goes through the punishment and judgement of God. But Jesus picks it up where John picked it up and that is first we must come to deal with the true grief that ought to envelope the nation and the true comfort that must come to a people who recognize their sinfulness and are broken in spirit. They grieve over their sin. They shall experience the comfort of God.

Let me say something. A person who is truly spiritually destitute, a person who truly grieves over his sin is a person who turns to the living God for salvation. No matter how much a person says that they recognize that they are a sinner, no matter how much a person may express grief over their sin, until they turn from that sin, repent and believe in the salvation that God has provided, they really haven’t seen themselves as spiritually destitute. The seriousness of that situation has not really gripped their heart. They are holding out hope in something else. That means they are not really destitute yet. It’s like a person who says, can you give me some money? I need some help. I don’t have any place else to go. I can’t do anything. You say, well I couldn’t do it until next week. That’s alright. I can wait. Now wait a minute. Wait a minute. I thought you couldn’t get by another day. Well I do have a little. Well, see you are not destitute yet. So people who say, oh yes, I know I am a sinner. Yes, my sin causes me grief, not just the consequences of it but in my soul, but they don’t turn to the living God. They haven’t come to the biblical condition we are talking about. So what we are talking about is only true of a person who has really come to grips in the context of God’s work in their life and turning to Him for salvation.

Back to Matthew chapter 5. Now these two things are important. When you are going to present the gospel to people we have to start out where God does. We want to brighten it up. There is a seeming paradox here. Blessed, happy is the one who sees himself as spiritually destitute and is overwhelmed in his heart with the grief of his sin. He is happy. I say, what do you mean he is happy? God intends sorrow. Well that’s the picture of one who has truly come to see his condition and see his God. And that goes on. Paul announces himself the “chief of sinners.”

The world constantly under the leadership of the god of this world, tries to undermine the message of God. You have to feel good about yourself. You have to have a strong self image. You have to be like that Pharisee. And what? People build a resistance, a callousness toward the gospel. But it doesn’t say, oh, blessed are those who at one time saw that they were spiritually destitute, at one time were grieved about their sin but now they have come to have pride in who they are in Christ. Something truly happens when you enter into this condition in Christ. You truly enter into His salvation. I don’t see myself as any better person than I ever was. In fact that sense of wretchedness that Paul expresses in writing to the Romans, “oh wretched man that I am.” There is still that recognition that I have all the riches of glory as my inheritance, the perfection of Christ credited to me in His righteousness. Yet I still see in me the vileness of sin, it’s wretchedness which constantly reminds me but for the mercy and grace of God I would be the worst of the worst. Does our sin cause us any less grief now that we are God’s people? No. We mourned over sin. We mourn over it today. And oh, it causes us grief. I have to realize I am not yet perfect in Christ in all that I do and there is no excuse. The eternal God has cleansed me, forgiven me, made me new, placed His Spirit within me and I still sin. These characteristics are ongoing. Not that we doubt our salvation, but the reality of it is there.

He goes on. “Blessed are the gentle for they shall inherit the earth.” The King James has meek, same idea, meek, gentle, a humility of spirit is the idea. In Psalm 37:11 to show again the connection with the Old Testament, I will read it to you. Psalm 37:11, “But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.” “The humble will inherit the land.” They will inherit the earth. Look into the coming kingdom. The humble in the sense of the gentle, the meek. The word has the idea of being under the control of someone else. The word was used of animals that had been tamed. So they had been brought into subjection. They had learned submissiveness. They had learned to obey.


It’s not a picture of weakness. You use the word meek or gentle and think of someone timid and weak, a mild mannered, mild spirited person. Well, that’s not what the word is talking about. This word is talking about a character of life. Jesus is said to be gentle. He used it of Himself in Matthew chapter 11 verse 29. He says “I am humble and gentle in spirit.” In Matthew chapter 21 verse 5, He quotes from Zachariah that their king, the king of Israel would come mounted on the foal of an donkey. He goes on to say He is gentle, using this word. It is used for wives, Christian wives and godly women, wives in 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 5, a submissive and gentle spirit. And that’s the idea. It’s not that there isn’t power there but it is under authority. We are talking about a person, gentle, meek, lives under the authority of the will of God. That is a person who will inherit the earth. That doesn’t mean there is not power there. That does not mean that there is sometimes not anger expressed in the right context, for the right purpose. Jesus, the gentle one would take the whip and drive the money changer out of the temple and we see the wrath of the Lamb manifested so fully in the book of Revelation. God’s people are those who have a gentle and meek spirit. They live under the authority of their God in submissiveness to Him. They will inherit the earth. Now again we are not talking about a heaven or a spiritual kingdom. We are talking about the earth. The earth. People just play fast and loose with the word of God and say well we are talking about here the spiritual condition of people and the spiritual condition of the heart and it’s just what it will be in heaven. Well, Jesus said they will inherit the earth ultimately.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied.” “Hunger and thirst for righteousness.” They have an insatiable appetite for God and His character. “Hunger and thirst for righteousness as we will see in Old Testament passage is to hunger and thirst for God. To desire Him and more of Him. For His character to become my character, what is consistent with His character to characterize my life. They have a passion for godliness we might say today. They hunger and thirst for righteousness. “They shall be satisfied.” Turn back to Psalm 42, a passage that many of you have memorized. Psalm 42:1, “As the deer pants for the water brook, so my soul pants for You O God; my soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” See that passion for God? The same picture as we have, “hunger and thirst for righteousness,” a thirst for the living God. I cannot get enough of Him. This is in the context of tears and sorrow as the Psalm goes on as well, written by the sons of Korah. That’s a sovereign work of God as He draws people to Himself. As you are sharing the gospel with someone you begin to see an interest that is developing. It’s like at first they are interested to hear more, and it intensifies until by the grace of God they come to believe and trust in Christ as their Savior. That doesn’t end your passion for God. This is written by the sons of Korah, Psalm 42, godly men. That’s the beginning of a lifelong pursuit and intensifying appetite for God, for more of Him.

Something is dramatically and drastically wrong when this is not there. Some people come on and they say, oh, yes this is wonderful. This is what I want. I want more of it but over time they pass off the scene or their appetite dulls. One of two things is true. Number one: They never were truly born again. It is a passing fad like some foods are that you eat for a little while and you say, why did I ever like that? I don’t want it anymore. They were never born again or there is something wrong spiritually in the life just like with the body. I mentioned John for prayer, John Maddux. He came back to work after his surgery. I said, John you look great. He said, well I seem to be doing alright. But he said, something is wrong. He said, I don’t have any appetite. Well you know over a period of time it demonstrated something was wrong. So, he had to go back in the hospital. Something is wrong with no appetite. You don’t eat. How can people say, oh yeah I trusted Christ 12 years ago. You know I am not interested in bible study anymore.


Don’t you have any hunger and thirst for your God? We are not talking about a feeling here. We are talking about the food of the Word as we saw in Psalm 1 that nurtures us. That draws us into a deeper more intimate relationship with our God. That causes us to be transformed into His character. As Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 3:18 “As we are beholding in the mirror of the word of God we are being transformed into the same image by the Spirit’s work from glory to glory.” That passion ought to be deepening and growing. It’s an intensifying appetite. It’s like Paul wrote to the Philippians in Philippians chapter 3. I don’t count myself as having arrived, “but this one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind,” I press forward to “the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” I take it he is pressing after that complete perfection that will sometime characterize him in the very presence of God’s glory. He is not satisfied yet that he has arrived, and he hasn’t. And we haven’t.

Look over in Psalm 63. Psalm 63:1, “Oh God You are my God.” Note this, “Oh God You are my God. I shall seek you earnestly. My soul thirsts for You. My flesh yearns for You in a dry and weary land where there is not water.” You see that passion. You are my God. I thirst for You. Jeremiah, “Your words were found and I did eat them and Your word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart because I am called by Your name O Lord God of hosts.” Where do we get this distorted caricature of Christianity that says people who made a decision some years ago are saved and yet they have no interest in the word of God. They have no passionate desire for more of Him, the beauty of His character, His righteousness. When God is your God, you can’t get enough. You have an appetite that has to be satisfied, just as in the spiritual realm. That’s why the picture is drawn. It isn’t enough that I had a glass of water two weeks ago. It isn’t enough that I had a great dinner three weeks ago. Part of being human is that appetite is there. That thirst is there. So, it is spiritually. Part of being a child of God. When He is your God, you hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Back to Matthew chapter 5. “They shall be satisfied.” Oh, I thought I was righteous in Christ. I thought He satisfies the longing soul and on and on. Yes. But as I mentioned there is not a finality to that in that sense. I haven’t arrived in His presence yet. I don’t experience the fulness of the completeness of this redemption yet. The passion is for more. “They hunger and thirst for righteousness. “They shall be satisfied.”

“Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.” The picture here, merciful. They will receive mercy. People who are showing mercy to others will receive mercy. This is taken as an evidence of true salvation in the scripture. Jump over to a later New Testament passage. Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32. “Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ has forgiven you.” This forgiveness, this mercy go hand in hand. “Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.” It is a manifestation they have been forgiven. They show mercy to others because of the overwhelming mercy that has been shown to them.

Back in Matthew chapter 18, Jesus gave an extended explanation of this to Peter when Peter asked how often shall I forgive my brother. Verse 21 of Matthew chapter 18, “How often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?” Seven times? That’s a lot. A person does the same sin against me seven times. You come to a point. Look, there is a limit. You have reached it. And then Christ turns around and say no seventy times seven. And then He draws the comparison when you have been forgiven an overwhelming debt, how can you with hold forgiveness from someone else. In fact as Jesus concludes this account in Matthew chapter 18, it shows that the person who is not showing mercy, verse 33, “Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave in the same way that I had mercy on you?” Then he is turned over to the judgement. And in verse 35 that will happen to you “if you do not forgive your brother.” So you see this mercy, this forgiveness goes hand in hand, talking about the same ideas. And it is characteristic of a person who has truly been forgiven. If you have truly come to understand you are spiritually destitute and you have deep grief over that sinful condition and you realize God in mercy has washed you clean, as white as snow and now someone sins against you and you say, I am sorry, I can’t forgive you. I mean this is just one time I can’t. You mean you have found something that is greater than what God has forgiven you. I have to go back and look at myself and say, Gil, you realize what you have been forgiven? Do you really realize your vileness, your wretchedly destitute condition? No matter what someone does, it is nothing compared to what you have been forgiven, grudges, vengeance. No place in the life of a child of God.


Back in Matthew 5, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy.” And that’s an ongoing thing I need you know. I praise God for the mercy He showed me many years ago but I have to stand and confess I’ve needed that mercy repeated day after day after day after day. Sad to say (and it grieves my heart) but I have to confess I have not lived one perfect day since my conversion many years ago. No excuse. God’s power is sufficient. The presence of His Spirit in my life is sufficient. I have decided I didn’t want to for whatever foolish nonsensical reason to submit to God in areas. I have allowed thoughts to come in or actions to come, words to be spoken and on we go. I continue to receive His mercy. And when I enter into the glory of His presence that will be the overwhelming mercy. That will be mercy greater than I have ever fully seen before as my salvation is brought to its fruition. “They shall receive mercy.” And in this context they will be part of the kingdom. They will enter into that kingdom the Messiah establishes.

“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” God is concerned about the condition of the heart. You know Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things; who can know it?” “I the Lord search the heart, as verse 10 goes on. God requires of us inner purity. External purity, sure but it must flow from a heart of purity. You know why people don’t live lives of purity? Their heart’s never been transformed. They are trying to conform because conformity in a Christian context required purity. But you know the Pharisees and the Sadducees had that kind of purity, external purity. They condemned adultery. They condemned immorality. They condemned homosexuality. But Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, the one who lusts in the heart is guilty of adultery. He will say later in Matthew chapter 12 that it is the heart that is the source of all the vileness that pollutes the life, that pollutes the behavior.

So, “Blessed are the pure in heart.” Where do you get a pure heart? You get it from the Lord. You receive it from His cleansing. Old and New Testament alike remind us of this. We studied 1 Peter chapter 1 together and in verse 22 we are told that we have cleansed our hearts in God’s salvation for a sincere love of the brethren. We have purified our heart for a sincere love of the brethren. How? How did that happen? When we were born again by believing the gospel of Jesus Christ. “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” You realize you could live and die without ever committing an immoral act and spend eternity in hell. You need pure hearts before God who examines us as we are. Some people would like to be immoral. They are just afraid of the consequences. They don’t have a passion for purity in God’s character. They just have a fear of the consequences and it is healthy to have a fear. We ought to have a fear of God’s wrath. But we ought to have a fear that we must cleanse the heart or we are under God’s judgement. “They shall see God.” And the Jews would understand they would be brought into the very presence of God in the kingdom that He will establish on this earth.

“Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called Sons of God.” This is another one like “Blessed are the poor.” It’s amazing the ones we pick out. People want to run around and wave banners, “Blessed are the poor,” run around and wave banners, “blessed are the peacemakers.” You don’t see many people with banners, “blessed are the pure.” You don’t see many people at a social action rally, “blessed are the spiritually destitute,” “blessed are those who are grieving over sin.” We like to politicalize and socialize the Bible to take away the spiritual impact.

“Blessed are the peacemakers.” That is true. Those who have experienced God’s redemption will desire peace in the physical realm. But you have to be careful. Jesus Himself says later in Matthew chapter 10 verses 34 to 36 “I did not come to bring peace but a sword.” So I want to be careful that I don’t turn the scripture against itself. What is He talking about in the context here. “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God.” The kind of peace that He is talking about is the kind of peace that we just finished in the previous verse, “blessed are the pure in heart.@ He doesn=t want you pure in conduct? Well if you are pure in heart, you will be pure in conduct. The problem with a lack of purity in conduct is a lack of purity in heart. What kind of peacemaking is He talking about? Well, He is talking about the kind of peacemaking that changes the heart. He is talking about those who bring peace as Romans 10 quoting from Isaiah talks about, “how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the gospel of God.” It brings peace. Ephesians calls it the “gospel of peace.” They have been reconciled to God. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God.” Philippians 4 talks about the peace of God standing guard at our hearts, peace with God and peace of God.

Who are the peacemakers? Those who bring the gospel of peace, who bring the message of how you can have peace with God through Jesus Christ. How you can be forgiven your sins, be cleansed, be transformed from the enemy of God to the child of God. You can have peace with God and thus experience the peace of God in your life. The peacemakers are those who bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to a world that is at war with God. James asked the question, “where do wars and fighting come from?” They come from within your own heart. People want to go on crusades and it sounds so good. Oh, we need to bring peace to the world. We need peace. But they don’t want to come face to face with the Prince of Peace. They don’t want to begin where God says you have to begin if you are going to have true peace. Begin “blessed are the poor in spirit.” “Blessed are those who mourn.” Let’s deal with the issue of your sin, your wretched, vile sinful condition. And we move on. We bring the message of God’s peace. Those are the peacemakers. They are the ones who will see the kingdom that will be established on this earth. They shall be called the “sons of God.”

The last beatitude or beatitudes really are one beatitude, a blessing for suffering persecution. It is reiterated two times perhaps three times. The word “blessed” is used in verse 10, in verse 11 and then we are told to rejoice and be glad which is the expression of the true blessedness and happiness that we have in verse 12. We really moved through the beatitudes, and we ought to move through them as Christ gave them. Because here we will see the result of truly being a righteous, being a godly person in an unrighteous and ungodly world. It will bring suffering and persecution. “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 3, I believe it is verse 12, “All people who will live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” “All people who will live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” So if you are truly a godly person, you will be persecuted in one way or another. “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness.” What we have talked about, the righteousness of God displayed in the life in their words as they live out the character of God, as they speak forth as a peacemaker with the gospel of peace. “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

So this becomes an identifying characteristic of those who are going to be part of the kingdom of heaven just as the other beatitudes do. You understand that. You say, well, I’ve never had any persecution in my life. Oh, well what would you think if I said, I’ve never had any purity in my heart? He’s not a child of God. What gives you the right to delete this one? I mean are you going to be part of the kingdom if you are not spiritually poor? No, you have to have spiritual poverty. Well what makes you think you are going to get into the kingdom without persecution? The kingdom belongs to those who have suffered for righteousness because it is a given if you are truly a righteous person. And in our unrighteous world you will suffer for it. “Blessed are you” (here are some examples of persecution) “when people insult you, persecute you, falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.”


You notice this is persecution for righteousness. This is because of Me, because of Christ. Some people suffer because they do dumb things. Don’t try to paper it over. Oh, that’s because I am a Christian.
You did a poor job. I saw Jimmy Swaggart of T.V. the other day. Pitiful. The guy can’t stop crying. But he is crying for the wrong reasons. His sin, oh, that was a direct attack of the devil and it was the devil that did it. No, he did it. And he is suffering the shame and the humiliation that comes from an immoral lifestyle. Don’t try to paper that over. I am suffering for the Lord. You are suffering for your sin. We are talking about suffering for the testimony of Christ, suffering for truly living righteously in an unrighteous world.

“Christianity Today” in the issue that just came out has an extensive article on believers, Christians who are being persecuted in various places in the world. They make the statement that, “Christians are the most persecuted group of people in the entire world today.” No other group suffers religious persecution like Christians. They give the example, I believe it is in Sudan. A woman becomes a Christian. She and her children are sold into slavery. Other places where people are being killed, imprisoned for their faith. It’s a byproduct of being a Christian. And I say, well, I would be willing to go if I was in China and the knocked on my door and said, “You are going to prison.” I would say, I am ready to go. I would count it a privilege to go to prison for the Lord. You know what I don’t like? I don’t like it when people think, say nasty things about me, when they slander me.

You note what verse 11 says, “Blessed are you when people insult you, and falsely say all kind of evil against you because of My name.” So it’s not just being hauled off to prison. It is not just being put of the rack. Isn’t it amazing how our mouths can be stuffed with cotton just at the thought, if I bring up their sin, if I bring up the gospel, they are not going to like it. And they are probably going to say some things about me, if not to my face then behind my back. I better keep quiet. How many times have we shared the gospel and the result of it has been people have really come down on us or it has caused a division in the family? We go away and say, I don’t have the gift of evangelist. I am done. I’ll pray for people and I will pray for those that go but it is not my gift. I find myself, Lord, I would be willing to go with Paul to prison. Lord, I would be willing to go to prison in China, but Lord I hate to open my mouth with my neighbor. I have to live next to him You know. I don’t want to talk to this person at work. Why? If you knew as soon as you said, I would like to tell you how you can be forgiven your sin and they said, oh please tell me more. You would tell everybody, wouldn’t you? If I could tell you, the next four people you talk to and you just start out and say, you know you are a sinner on your way to hell but I can tell you about a Savior who can forgive you, they are going to fall on their knees right there and say, tell me more. You would run out the door to find the next four people. Why don’t we run out and tell the first four people? Because we know good and well they are not going to respond that way. They are going to be offended. They are not going to like it.

One of you was sharing with me last week, their first week I think at Indian Hills. They have moved to Lincoln recently talking with the people they are working with about going to a church. The people say, well wherever you go, don’t go to Indian Hills Church. Oh why? They are a cult and then they went on to list all the reasons we were. I enjoyed hearing him share that because he said, as they shared why I shouldn’t go for this reason. Well, that’s what I am looking for in a church. You wouldn’t go for this reason. Well, that’s what I would like to find in a church. Oh, yeah that’s what I would like.

So why are people upset? Why are we a cult? Most of you don’t know that you come here and worship me. Just thought I would let the word out. By the time it hits the street you know what this sermon will be. It was a sermon where Gil Rugh stood up and told those people they had to worship him and then we do all kinds of strange things. We have the women be humiliated by coming up to the front and on we go. Where does this all come from? All you have to do is turn on channel 20 and watch us with all the other kooks. See, we are not doing anything strange. Sometimes we wring our hands and we say, why do people have such a bad view of Indian Hills? You know what it’s like. They say, what church do you go to? Ind.. Hil... What church do you go to? Oh, I didn’t hear you. You know I go out at the east end of town. That’s safe now. There’s only about 100 of us on 84th street. But why? Well, you know if it’s because of the word of God. Because of an unshakable commitment to His truth and to living in obedience to His word. Then we can say we are blessed that people would speak falsely of us, that would slander us.


“Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great. For in the same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” I have to take that to heart. We won’t take time to go over to acts but you know what happened after they had been beaten for sharing the gospel. They went out singing and praising the Lord and thanking Him for the privilege of being counted worthy to suffer for the gospel. They say oh I want to be like the apostles. Well, He gives you opportunities every day. Live righteously. Speak forth the gospel of peace in His love with His wisdom. It doesn’t mean you ought to turn your secular job into a witnessing or a church center. You are there to do a job that honors the Lord. You are being paid a salary to do what they require not to study your Bible or to take the employers time to witness. But I am to be praying for those people, looking for opportunities when it will be fitting. Suffering comes. Praise the Lord if we are willing to represent Him and He gives us the privilege of having such an identification.

Two statements here. We won’t elaborate but you just ought to note verse 13. He’s pronounced the third person here. “Blessed are these.” “Blessed are these.” Now you know “you are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.” These are other passages that get wrenched totally out of context. Oh believers ought to do this. Believers ought to become part of the political process and use their vote because we are the salt of the world. That had nothing to do with Matthew chapter five. How are we the “salt” of the world? How are we the “light of the world?” Well, He just told us. Manifesting the character and characteristics that He has just described. We are salt and light as we manifest the righteous character of our God, as we speak forth the message of His peace to a world at enmity, at war with God. That’s what makes us salt and light.

Note verse 16, “Let you light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify you Father who is in heaven.” I don’t see that happening in a lot of the demonstrations that are going on under the guise of being salt and light in the world. I say well I thought they were going to persecute me. Now they are going to glorify God. You know what Paul wrote? He says I endure all things for the sake of the elect that they might come to the salvation which is found in Christ Jesus. We are going to live righteously in an unrighteous world, godly in an ungodly world. We are going to give forth the gospel of peace. The mass of people will be offended, will oppose that overtly or underhandedly. But God in His grace will be calling out a people for Himself. They will respond and give Him glory as they experience His salvation. That’s our life.

Note verse 20. “For I say to you unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and the pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” This is about how you are going to get into the kingdom. How are you going to be born again, same thing. Remember John chapter 3 Jesus said to Nicodemus, “unless you are born again, you will never enter the kingdom,” the new birth. You will never experience God’s salvation first and foremost unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and pharisees. Most people think they are going to make it on their own works. That=s why most religious people are offended by the ministry of this church. They are offended by your life and testimony as a believer in Jesus Christ because you are saying they have to start from the beginning. We all do.


Have you come to recognize you are spiritually destitute, you are nothing? You are a vile, hell deserving sinner. Has that so gripped your heart such that it causes you grief? The despair that we read about in Luke 18 that all you can do is call out to God to be merciful to me a sinner. Amazing truth. That’s God’s work in your life to bring you to Him. There is forgiveness for the worst of sinners, for the chief of sinners. That’s what the salvation is all about. That there is no salvation for the righteous one, for the one who thinks he is okay. Isn’t it amazing? Only those who see themselves as totally wretched can have righteousness. Those who are pretty good in their life and think they are pretty good, there’s no help for them. You have to start where God says you have to start. Praise God for His work in our lives. Praise God that someday He is going to establish a kingdom on this earth. Praise God the righteous will be part of that kingdom. It happens through the new birth when we come to believe that Jesus Christ came to be the Savior. He came to be the Messiah. He died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin. When you believe in Him you are forgiven. Someday He will come to complete the work. He will establish that kingdom on the earth. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. They would not believe. They were not open to a spiritual change in their life so He did not establish the kingdom. But He did graciously provide the salvation. Now He continues to offer that salvation as a free gift. Someday He will come again to establish that kingdom and everyone who has received that gift of salvation will enter in. The rest will be closed out, consigned ultimately to an eternal hell. Let’s pray together.

Thank You Lord for the completeness of the message, the finality of the work that You have done for us in Christ. Thank You for the beautiful description of the blessedness, the true happiness, the inner joy, spiritual prosperity that is characteristic of everyone who has truly been born again. Thank You Lord for what You have done in our lives. Thank You for the privilege we have to be salt and light in this world. May our testimony be strong and bright and clear. May the suffering and ridicule and abuse that may come because of that testimony be taken by us as a mark of glory. And by Your grace may many come to give You the glory for the salvation You have provided. We ask it in Christ’s name. Amen.