I. Introduction
A. Two gas company servicemen, a senior training supervisor and a young trainee, were out checking meters in a suburban neighborhood. They parked their truck the end of the alley and worked their way to the other end. At the last house, a woman looking out her kitchen window watched the two men as they checked her gas meter. Finishing the meter check, the senior supervisor challenged his younger co-worker to a foot race down the alley back to the truck to prove that an older guy could outrun a younger one. As they came running up to the truck, they realized the lady from that last house was huffing and puffing right behind them. They stopped and asked her what was wrong. Gasping for breath, she replied, "When I saw two men from the gas company running as hard as you two were, I figured I'd better run too!"
B. This may be the last of the messages on the Beatitudes
1. But we do need to complete the message, turn to Matthew 5:8
II. Body
A. The pure in Heart
Matthew 5:8 (NKJV)
Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God
1. Here is a few things meant by pure in heart
a. Clean Heart
b. To Be Unsoiled
c. Unmixed
d. Unpolluted
e. To Be Cleansed
f. Purged
g. Forgiven
h. To Be Holy
i. To Have a Single Purpose, that being the Glory of God
(1) Turn to James 1:27
2. There are several significant points to note about the "pure in heart."
a. The person who is "pure in heart" lives a clean life.
b. He "keeps himself unspotted from the world."
James 1:27 (NKJV)
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world
c. We have already discussed the earlier part of this passage in the act of being and doing righteousness
(1) To visit orphans and widows means to do what is needful for these children and widows
(2) Do righteousness
(3) And keep from being soiled by the world
(a) Lets turn to Jeremiah 4:14
d. The person who is “pure in heart” washes his heart from wickedness
Jeremiah 4:14 (NKJV)
O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, That you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?
e. The pure in heart obeys the truth through the working of the Holy Spirit.
(1) Turn to 1 Peter 1:22
1 Peter 1:22 (NKJV)
Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
(2) He keeps his hands clean.
(a) Turn to Psalms 24:4-5
(b) Now that does not have anything to do with hard work
i) Garden dirt
ii) Paint stains
iii) Grease and grime
iv) Have nothing to do with this element, just do not allow yourself to be sullied with the things of the world
Psalms 24:4-5 (NKJV)
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully. {5} He shall receive blessing from the LORD, And righteousness from the God of his salvation
(3) He seeks to be without spot and blameless
(a) Turn to 2 Peter 3:14
2 Peter 3:14 (NKJV)
Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless
(4) A person's very best behavior is seldom, if ever, free from some mixture of self
(a) It is questionable if a sinful creature can ever act perfectly free from mixed motives
(b) As the Bible says in Romans 3:12
Romans 3:12 (NKJV)
They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one."
(5) The believer is to constantly search his heart and cleanse it of impure motives
(a) Motives involving self are insidious and deceptive
(b) Is a person employed primarily for self, or to serve Christ and to earn enough to help others who have a need
(c) Is a person ministering to help the needful, or to have a sense of self-satisfaction
(d) Is a person worshiping to honor God, or to satisfy a feeling of obligation?
i) Turn to Psalms 139:23-24
(e) Is a person praying daily to fellowship with God, or to gain comfortable feelings that he pleases God through praying?
(f) Impure motives enter the believer's heart so quietly, so deceptively
(g) The believer is too often unaware of their presence
(h) He needs to pray often
Psalms 139:23-24 (NKJV)
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; {24} And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting
3. The "pure in heart" minister in two very practical areas:
a. We have already mentioned these two from James 1:27
b. They visit the fatherless, the orphan
c. And they visit widows in their affliction.
James 1:27 (NKJV)
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world
4. There are two wonderful promises made to the "pure in heart."
a. The pure in heart "shall see God"
(1) In the present, today, the pure in heart shall see God by faith
(2) Just imagine! The "pure in heart" endure in the faith "as already seeing Him who is invisible"
(3) Eternally, the pure in heart shall see God face to face
(4) They shall see Him as He is and behold "His face in righteousness."
(a) Now lets turn to Matthew 5:9
B. The peacemakers
Matthew 5:9 (NKJV)
Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God
1. Lets turn to Ephesians 2:14-17
2. Peacemakers: to bring men together; to make peace between men and God; to solve disputes and erase divisions; to reconcile differences and eliminate strife; to silence tongues and build right relationships.
a. Who is the peacemaker?
(1) The person who strives to make peace with God
Ephesians 2:14-17 (NKJV)
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, {15} having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, {16} and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. {17} And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.
(2) The peacemaker conquers the inner struggle, settles the inner tension, handles the inner pressure
(3) He takes the struggle within his heart between good and evil, and strives for the good and conquers the bad
b. The person who strives at every opportunity to make peace within others
(1) Lets turn to Romans 14:19
(2) He seeks and leads others to make their peace with God, to conquer their inner struggle, to settle their inner tension, to handle their inner pressure.
Romans 14:19 (NKJV)
Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another
c. The person who strives at every opportunity to make peace between others
(1) He works to solve disputes and erase divisions, to reconcile differences and eliminate strife, to silence tongues and build relationships
(2) The peacemaker is the person who has made peace with God, and knows the peace of God
d. Peacemakers love peace, but they do not passively accept trouble
(1) There are those who claim to love peace, yet they remove themselves from all trouble
(2) They ignore and flee problems and threatening situations, and they often evade issues
(3) They make no attempt to bring peace between others
(4) The peacemaker, of whom Christ speaks of here, faces the trouble no matter how dangerous, and works to bring a true peace no matter the struggle.
3. The world has its troublemakers
a. Practically every organization has its troublemakers, including the church
b. Wherever the troublemaker is, there is criticism, grumbling, and murmuring; and, too often, a division within the body, a division that is sometimes minor, sometimes major; sometimes just distasteful, sometimes outright bitter
c. The peacemaker cannot stand such
d. He goes forth to settle the matter, solve the problem, handle the differences, and reconcile the parties
4. The gospel of Christ is to be spread by peaceful means, not by forceful means
a. There are many kinds of force
(1) There is verbal force through loudness, a dominating conversation, improper sales tactics, threats, bigotry, and abuse
(2) There is physical force through facial expressions, body language, an overpowering presence, and attacks
5. The peacemaker will be called the sons of God
a. This can only be true if the person is adopted into the family of God
b. That is such a sweet idea
(1) The adoption of sons
(2) Adoption
(a) Remember adopted child of God, we can never be unadopted
(b) Adopted sons
(c) We will have the inheritance of sons
i) Lets turn the Matthew 5:10 - 12
C. Those persecuted for the name of Christ
Matthew 5:10-12 (NKJV)
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. {11} "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. {12} "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you
1. To be persecuted means to endure suffering for Christ; to be mocked, ridiculed, criticized, ostracized; to be treated with hostility, to be martyred
a. There are three major kinds of persecution mentioned by Christ in this passage:
(1) Being reviled: verbally abused, insulted, scolded, mocked
(2) Persecuted: hurt, ostracized, attacked, tortured, martyred, and treated with hostility
(3) Having all manner of evil spoken against you: slandered, cursed, and lied about
b. Who are the persecuted?
(1) If you are, you will know it
(2) It is the person who lives and speaks for righteousness and is reacted against
(3) It is the person who lives and speaks for Christ and is reviled, persecuted, and spoken against.
2. Persecution is a paradox
a. It reveals that the true nature of the world is evil
b. Think about it: the person who lives and speaks for righteousness is opposed and persecuted
c. The person who cares and works for the true love, justice, and salvation of the world is actually fought against
d. How deceived is the world and its humanity, to rush onward in madness for nothing but to return to dust, to seek life only for some seventy years or so, if nothing happens before then, then what?
(1) Turn to John 15:19
3. Believers are forewarned, they will suffer persecution
a. Believers shall suffer persecution because they are not of this world
b. They are called out of the world
c. They are in the world, but they are not of the world
d. They are separated from the behavior of the world
e. Therefore, the world reacts against them
John 15:19 (NKJV)
"If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you
4. They shall suffer persecution because believers strip away the world's cloak of sin
a. They live and demonstrate a life of righteousness
b. They do not compromise with the world and its sinful behavior
c. They live pure and godly lives, having nothing to do with the sinful pleasures of a corruptible world.
d. Such living exposes the sins of people.
(1) Turn to 2 Timothy 3:12
2 Timothy 3:12 (NKJV)
Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
5. Those who desire to live Godly shall suffer persecution because the world does not know God nor Christ
a. The ungodly of the world want no God other than themselves and their own imaginations
b. They want to do just what they want, to fulfill their own desires, not what God wishes and demands
(1) Lets turn to John 15:21
c. However, the godly believer dedicates his Me to God, to His worship and service
d. The ungodly want no part of God; therefore, they oppose those who talk about God and man's duty to honor and worship God.
John 15:21 (NKJV)
"But all these things they will do to you for My name's sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.
e. Turn to John 16:1 - 4, and with this we will close
John 16:1-4 (NKJV)
"These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. {2} "They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. {3} "And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. {4} "But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you
6. Jesus promised persecution
a. And my friends it is just beginning here in the good ol’ USA
b. But we have very precious
c. Study to show thyself approved unto God a workman who needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth
