 All right. Well, let's continue on and finish off the Beatitudes before we go to bed. That'd be great. A few summers ago, my husband encouraged me to read a book called, Light from Old Times by J. C. Ryle. And I remember as I read that, it was a very sober read because it was recounting the martyrs that were burned at the stake during the 1500s or 1500s during the reign of Queen Mary. And many of them were beaten and tortured for preaching the gospel. For many the fires would go out and then they would have to be relit while their arms and legs were falling off. Many of their wives and their children would watch their dad or their husband be burned at the stake. And I was convicted as I read things like this. Rogers went to death as if he was walking to his wedding. Another one talks about being burned and there was a man next to him. His name was Leaf and he said, Be of good comfort, brother. We're going to have a merry supper with the Lord this night. And that was in the 1500s. And ladies, even in our day, I don't know if you know this but there are many men and women who are killed for their faith. In fact, do you know in the last decade over 900,000 Christians have been murdered? 900,000. 60,000 in 2016. One pastor in Romania, recent, recalled this being in solitary confinement with chunks of his flesh being cut from his body and he was given no food. And yet in the midst of all this, he recounts that the joy of the Lord would so overtake him that he would dance with joy in his prison. Now ladies, to us, these things that happened in the 1500s and this one from Romania was more recent, it might sound a little weird, a little foreign. But do you know in a short time from now it might not sound so foreign, but very common place for those of us who are God's children? Some of us in this room may be persecuted and yes, even killed for righteousness sake. In fact, I've noticed throughout the years that I've been speaking in the last few years, several have become more angry with me and one lady even got physical with me last year. In fact, my daughter says, Mom, you're gonna be killed on one of these trips but even so, whatever. You know, some of us may. Some of us may be persecuted. Some of us may be killed for righteousness sake. And did you know this is one of the eight blessed beatitudes that Christ taught on the Sermon on the Mount? Maybe it's not your favorite, but for the genuine kingdom citizen it's as cherished as much as the other seven. So let's consider them together and we'll just read Matthew 5, 7 to 13 since we already covered the first six verses. Blessed are the merciful, for they will obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven and so persecuted they the prophets who are or were before you. Now we have the first four blessed beatitudes in the last lesson and this one we're going to continue on with four more. Now just a reminder, because I know you've had some food and I don't know what else you did in those ten minutes, but just a reminder, we saw the first three beginning blessings. They all started with S. Jesus sat down, and first he saw the multitudes, he sat down and then he spoke. Then we looked at the first four beatitudes and remember we learned that they are listed in a proper order in the sense that once we realize our destitute state of being poor in spirit results in our mourning over our sin which leads us to an attitude of humility and in our humility we realize how desperate we are that we so much so that we hunger and thirst for all the righteousness that there is. And ladies, the first four beatitudes that we looked in the last lesson refer to our relationship with God and the last four that we're going to be looking at in this session speak of our relationship to one another. So let's begin with the first one. Jesus says, blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. So he now moves to the fifth one and remember this has to do with our relationship with each other. Jesus says, those who are happy or fortunate are those who are merciful. Now what does it mean to be merciful? What actually means someone who shows compity or passion? It actually refers to a woman who is pregnant that is in labor or in severe pain. In other words, those who are merciful, they enter into the pains of others. In fact, they endeavor to alleviate their sufferings if they can. And ladies, again we need to remind ourselves Jesus is not describing something we hope to be. He's describing a genuine Christian a kingdom citizen. And ladies, this is not new. The H.O. Apostle John says this, whoever has the world's good and sees his brother has a need and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him? In other words, it doesn't. How can we go and we see someone who's destitute, naked of daily food and we don't show any compassion or mercy? In fact, that's what James says. The prophet of my brothers, the man says he has faith and has not works. Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food and you say, I'll pray for your brother. Go in peace. And we don't give them the things that are needful for the body. What does it profit? Faith without works is dead. Listen, James, Jesus, John, they all say the same thing. If you harden your heart to the needs of others, ladies don't fool yourself. Your faith is dead. It's dead. It's empty. Now, this mercy, when Jesus says, blessed are the merciful, he's not only talking about having that bowels of compassion for others that leads us to alleviate their pain and their misery, but he also is referring to extending forgiveness to those who have offended us. And ladies, this is something that is sorely lacking in the church today. Again, just recently, another church in my hometown and there's so much going on and 500 members have left and there's so much unforgiveness and bitterness and hatred. Should not be. I don't read about that in the pages of the New Testament that that's acceptable for a genuine kingdom citizen. But ladies, think about it. If the first four Beatitudes are in place in your life, if you're poor in spirit, if you mourn over your sin, if you're humble, if you're hungry and thirsting for all the righteousness there is, then you're going to show mercy, right? Why? Because you've been extended mercy, right? God has shown mercy on you. He's forgiven you. He comforts you when you sin. He consoles you. How can you not forgive another person? How can you not show mercy to someone who needs your help? How can we not do that? We should have no problem forgiving others or showing mercy to others. Why? Because we are the forgiving ones, right? We've been shown mercy, right? Well, Jesus goes on to say those who show mercy will obtain mercy, which means they will obtain compassion by divine grace. In fact, the Greek word here is a bit different in that it refers to God's divine compassion for us, whereas the first one referred to our human compassion towards each other. Ladies, Jesus is clear and we won't get to it this weekend, but in Matthew 6, when he's talking about praying, if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive your trespasses, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father, who is in heaven, forgive your trespasses. In fact, James says, if you show no mercy, you will be shown no mercy. And the greater context is your salvation. If you can't extend mercy in this life, don't expect to be shown mercy when you stand before God. It's a greater context there. Ladies, Jesus, James saying the same thing. If you show no mercy, you'll be granted no mercy. Now, ladies, this would have shocked the Jewish audience because, you know, they didn't, they weren't about to show mercy to anybody. In fact, remember, Jesus rebukes them in Matthew 23. Woe to you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites. You pay tithes of men, and anise and come, and you've omitted the way to your matters of the law. Justice, mercy, and faith, right? Oh, they, you know, pay their tithe. They do everything. They come to church on a Sunday morning. They put 10% in the offering place. They sing in the choir. They do everything. But they go out those church doors. They see someone that needs their help. Someone needs forgiveness. Oh, are you kidding? I'm not going to do that. In fact, Jesus says, these ought you have done and left the other undone. That's pretty shocking. You'll need to tithe. You need to go, what? Show mercy to someone. In fact, he calls them blide guides who strain out in that and swallow a camel. Ladies, many of us today, we do all the outward religious requirements, but we show no mercy. We who profess Christ and remain insensitive to the needs of others are headed for eternal damnation. That's what Jesus says. What did Micah 6.8 say? He has shown you, oh man, what does the Lord require of you? You want to know what the Lord requires of you? To do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. That's what he requires of you. Simple, isn't it? Ladies, are you merciful? Do you forgive others for the wrongs that they have done towards you? Do you hold grudges? Are you reaching out to those who are less fortunate than you are? Well, Jesus continues on with the sixth beatitude. Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. Again, those who are pure in heart are blessed and pure means to be holy, to be free from every tank of evil. In fact, it has the idea of being single-focused, having a single heart, not divided in your devotion. In fact, James says the same thing. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your heart. You double-minded. Be single-focused, single-minded. In fact, the Psalmist knew this to be true too. Psalm 24-3 says, who may ascend to the hill of the Lord? Who can stand in his place? He who has clean hands, a pure heart, he who has not lifted his soul up to idols. Ladies and psalms knew what you should know. Without purity of heart, you won't be able to worship the Lord. You can't do it. You can't do it. Now you might be saying, Susan, how does this relate to my relationship with others? It does. You know why? The N-word will manifest itself in the outward, right? The N-word manifests itself in the outward. In fact, Jesus put it well in Matthew 15, 19, for out of the heart procedural thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, blasphemies. Those are the things that defile a man, right? What comes out of your heart? Ladies, when your heart is pure, it will manifest itself in having thoughts, feelings, emotions, and actions that are pure, right? So you could ask yourself questions like this. What are my motives in doing this or saying this? Is it for the Lord? Is it for me? Is it pure? Am I trying to please men? Am I trying to please God? Ladies, if your heart is clean, if your heart is pure, your life will be clean. Your actions will be clean. Well, the wonderful joy of those who are pure in heart, notice what Jesus says, they will see God. In fact, the word see means to gaze with wide eyes open. Now, maybe you're saying, wait a minute, Susan, you don't know your Bible very well because John says, no man has seen God at any time, right? The only boy who had gotten sunburned in the bosom of the Father, he's declared it. No one has seen God. So wait a minute, if your heart is pure in heart, how am I going to see God? Well, ladies, God can be seen in the person of his son, Jesus, right? In fact, do you know we see God now in the sense that we see him through this book right here? Read it, ladies. It's great. It's wonderful. 66 letters. We can see God right now through His word, through creation. But seeing Him face to face is something that's not going to transpire until, what, glory? In fact, first John says, now we are the children of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And listen to this. Every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure. Interesting. John says the same thing. Those that are pure in heart, well, what? See God. That's what Jesus says, right? The pure in heart, well, what? See God. John says it too. Isn't it funny how the Bible all relates to each other? Debbie and I were talking this afternoon about something, and I said, but the whole Bible talks about it. I mean, just look at the whole Bible. It all comes together. One man says this, if we grasped this, it would revolutionize our lives. You and I are meant for the audience chamber of God. You and I are being prepared to enter into the presence of the King of Kings. Do you believe it? Do you know it's as true? Do you realize a day is coming when you're going to see the blessed God face to face? Not as in a glass darkly, but face to face. Surely the moment we grasp this, everything else pales into insignificance. You and I are going to enjoy God and to spend our eternity in His glorious and eternal presence. End of quote. Ladies, do you realize that? We're going to see Him. Now listen, for the prideful Jews, the person sitting on that slope, the Pharisee, the hypocrite, this beatitude would be bleak. Why? Because they prided themselves in the outward rituals, washing their hands and cleaning the cups. They didn't know anything about an inward cleansing of the heart. But, ladies, Jesus tells them their hearts are revealed in what they think. And, ladies, it is for us too. In fact, Jesus says, why do you think evil in your hearts? Why do you think evil in your hearts? In fact, He calls them brood of vipers. How can you, being evil, speak good things? You can't, right? Because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. In fact, I've often thought about that when I'm around people. Now, some of the stuff that comes out of their mouth, and I'm like, ah, out of the abundance of what? The heart. What's coming out of their mouth is what's in their heart. In fact, a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things and evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil things. And you know what Jesus says, I say to you every idol word that men will speak, they will give an account in the day of judgment. Or by your word, you'll be condemned. But ladies, what comes out of our mouth is what's in our heart. Well, what about your heart? Is it pure? Maybe you're saying, Susan, I don't know if it's pure. I really don't. Well, I think it's an easy way to find out. You know how? What about your thoughts? Are they pure? Your words? What about the 18,000 words you've spoken today? They say the average person speaks 18,000 words a day. What if you were to have written a book about your 18,000 words a day and I'd get up tonight and read it before I send all of you home, what would those 18,000 words look like? That tells us a lot about our purity. Doesn't it? Our actions. What have you done today? What did you do today? That tells a lot about our life. If it's pure. Ladies, those things, your actions, your words, your thoughts that you've had today, that gives indication of the condition of your heart if it's pure or not. Well, Jesus moves on to the seventh to be attitude, the one of being a peacemaker. Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God. Happy are those who make peace. Now, ladies, being a peacemaker would be the natural result of those who are poor in spirit mourning over their sin, who are meek, hungry and thirsting for all the righteousness there is. They're showing mercy. They have a pure heart. They're reacting to others from a pure heart. Why do you say that, Susan? Ladies, when you see yourself in light of God's holiness and you start acting on it, then you aren't interested in stirring up trouble. You don't want to be a troublemaker. You want to be a peacemaker. Ladies, when you realize your own depravity of your heart and where you've come from, you don't want to stir up conflict. You want to solve it, right? In fact, Proverbs 16.7 says, when a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. Ladies, one who is a peacemaker strives to solve conflicts, not start them. They want unity. In fact, they also want others to be at peace and so they pursue peace. And they hold others accountable to be peaceful. In fact, when people come to me with problems about others, I'll ask them, have you gone to that person? And if they haven't gone to that person, I hold them accountable to go to that person. And my husband, as I've told you before, takes it a step further. He says, let's get in my car right now and you can go to that person and tell them what you just told me. And that stops a lot of that. Peacemaker, not a troublemaker, a peacemaker. Isn't it interesting that purity of heart came before peacemaking? You might say, why is that interesting? You know what James says, the wisdom that comes from above is what? First, sure. Then peaceable, right? Then, generally, easy being treated full of mercy and good fruits without partiality without hypocrisy. Ladies, you can't have peace without purity. Can't have it. Purity comes before peace. In fact, impurity breeds strife, right? That's what James says in James 3. If you have bitter envy and strife in your heart, and lie against the truth, this wisdom does not stem from above. What? It's earthly. It's sensual. It's demonical. It's of the devil. In fact, he says, where envy and strife is, there is all kinds of confusion and every evil thing. In fact, Paul says, pursue peace and holiness without which no man will see the Lord. Pursue peace and holiness without which no man, no woman will see the Lord. Now, I want to be clear. This does not mean that I pursue peace at the expense of the purity of the truth of God's word. Okay? Never do you pursue peace without sound doctrine. Jesus says, do not think I came to bring peace on the earth. I didn't come to bring peace but a sword. And he goes on to say, what? A man's enemies will be they of his own household. He talks about a man being against his father, father against his daughter, daughter against the father-in-law. And he says, man's enemies will be they of his own household. In fact, he goes on to say, if you love father, mother, more than me, you're not worthy of me. And so ladies, sometimes peace is impossible even though we might try very hard to be a peacemaker and that's why I think we can take comfort in what Paul says as much as is possible live peaceably with all men and I've lived long enough now to know that there are some people who do not want to be at peace with you even though you try very hard to follow the steps of Matthew 18 or whatever to go, go, go and pursue peace. Well, the good news is that if we are peacemakers notice what Jesus says you're going to be called a son of God. A son of God. Son is a word which means a relationship of a child to a parent. And ladies, since God is the God of all peace then it makes sense his children would exhibit peace as well, right? Ladies, are you a troublemaker? Do people run when they see you coming or avoid your calls because they know you're going to stir up strife? You know, as a pastor's wife there are certain people I try to love them all but I remember not the church my husband's pastoring out with the one before this and every time I saw a certain woman on my caller ID I dreaded answering the phone. You know why? Because every single time she had a complaint without fail without fail that's what a terrible indictment on her. Ladies, do people avoid you? They avoid your phone calls. They know you're a troublemaker or do you look for ways to make peace and bring peace? Well, Jesus finishes the Beatitudes with the eighth one and this one would be perhaps the most shocking of all not only to the audience that is sitting there at his feet but even to us now those of us in this room tonight that are listening to these words blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness's sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven and anybody would say no, wait a minute wait a minute Jesus just said I should be a peacemaker and yet now I'm going to be persecuted for doing what's right? Yep, that's right. Can that make you happy? Now ladies, maybe this is a Beatitude that you wish wasn't in the Bible but it is and it's just as important as the other seven and may I say this it's also a principle that has pushed many a nominal Christian to leave the faith they thought they once possessed but Jesus warned of that right? The Parable of the Sowers, Matthew 13 the Parable of the Sowers the seed that was stoned on stony ground received it with joy immediately hey, this is great but when tribulation and persecution came what? I'm out of here I'm out of here hey, I love this Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so but this persecution stuff are you kidding me? I didn't sign up for that I'm out of here but Jesus says no you're happy if you're persecuted you're happy it's a good thing in fact the word persecution means to pursue to chase to drive away and ladies notice why we're persecuted because of righteousness because of doing what is right ladies think about it think very carefully if you're hungry and thirsting for all the righteousness there is and if you're practicing righteousness then what's going to be the result? you're going to be persecuted for righteousness like right? those who hunger and thirst for all the righteousness will stand out as very strange to those who are in the world right? and even in the church in fact my sister that just moved to Oklahoma she's not a believer in you there is her husband and she said to me recently Andy thinks you're crazy and I go well I guess I am I mean I'm sure I am crazy because you stand out as a loony toon right? to the lost and I'm afraid we even stand out as loony toons to some people in our own churches right? as Debbie got the text the other day you're just too zealous that's what's wrong with you and your religion you're too zealous ladies Peter reiterates this to the Christians and first Peter if you're reproached for the name of Christ happy are you why for the spirit and glory of God rests upon you the Shekinah glory rests upon you if you're persecuted for Christ's sake you know some of us suffer because of our own sin right? but suffering for doing what's right that's good right? in fact Peter says don't anybody suffer as a murderer a thief or a busy body but if you suffer for doing what's right that's a good thing in fact my friend that I just mentioned in the last lesson she has said to me Susan you'll never regret doing what's right you'll always regret doing what's wrong but you'll never regret doing what's right in fact Peter says it's better if it's the will of God to suffer for doing what's good than doing what's evil right? Paul says in Philippians it is be given not only to believe on him but to what? suffer suffer for his sake now ladies I know that suffering is not on your birthday list this year but Paul says it's a gift you know I think that's why we have so many apathetic Christians in the church today we do not see suffering as a gift as a means to growing in Christ likeness we shrink from suffering we don't want to be persecuted we don't want to be persecuted and so we coil the ladies Jesus even tells the disciples before going to the upper room that the world hates you you know they hated me before it hated you right? if you were of the world the world would love it some but because you're not of the world therefore the world what hates you they hate you ladies we when we are persecuted when we act like Christ people hate that in fact Jesus will even say later on the upper room the time is going to come we'll think they're doing God a service whoever kills you will think they're doing God a service well the glorious benefit is those who are persecuted are not only happy but notice what Jesus says theirs and theirs alone is the kingdom of heaven ladies the first beatitude ended with this as well remember the first beatitude we looked at theirs and theirs alone is the kingdom of heaven and now Jesus ends with the last beatitude theirs and theirs alone is the kingdom of heaven however he expounds on this beatitude a little bit more and ladies maybe because we need it because we are in an age that could incur a lot of persecution but also many Christians don't like this beatitude they don't want to be persecuted for righteousness but notice what he says blessed are you and men revalued persecute you say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake in fact it's interesting Jesus mentions that we are blessed twice two times he mentions it why? he's emphasizing this because it would be a shocking statement to the Jew and it's a shocking statement to many of you why? many consider prosperity a blessing right? not suffering suffering is a blessing are you kidding me? in fact that's the massive heresy of our day right? the prosperity gospel Jesus died to make me healthy Jesus died to make me happy no Jesus died to make me holy holy well Jesus says this persecution will be manifested by reviling and saying all kinds of evil what's reviling? will be insulting you rebuking you to your face I had that happen last year when a woman take me outside in fact she said I want to talk to you outside I was like okay so out we went and she began to do her face and shaking me and saying all kinds of interesting things that's what Jesus is saying they'll say all kinds of hurtful evil malicious things things that are not true do you know Jesus himself was called crazy? he is crazy he has a demon he's not so ladies Jesus emphasizes here it's for his sake because we live righteously ladies it's because you belong to God because you're his child that you're persecuted that you're hated do you know it's a privilege to suffer for the Lord? do you know it's a privilege? I remember the first time I was exposed to this I hadn't been a Christian very long my husband was preaching at the church he grew up in it had become quite a seeker friendly church but he had been asked to do Mother's Day message and he spoke on Titus too and it was a church of about 2,000 people and after the message was over and they were supposed to come up and greet us and maybe about six people came up I mean nobody they all vacated pretty quick this one lady came up to him and she said I hate you and I hate that message and I was like I was like okay and I remember I couldn't wait to get to the car and I said oh my and he goes what's that great and I go no and he goes great we got to suffer for Jesus I'm like I don't want to do this after all but it's a privilege to suffer for him in fact you know Paul says I want to fill up that which is lacking in my sufferings Paul says I haven't suffered enough I want to fill up that which is lacking in my sufferings I want to identify with the Lord so much and look so much like Jesus I want to suffer and ladies if this is not shocking enough Jesus finishes with telling what our attitude should be when we do suffer kind of like my husband rejoice be exceedingly glad greatest reward in heaven they also persecuted the prophets who were before you so instead of retaliating against those who persecute us we rejoice instead of resenting them we rejoice ladies this is where we practice that mercy attitude by the way right you might say well how do we do this how do we do this Peter tells us how to do it he says for this where you call suffer for us leaving an example that we should follow in his steps who did no sin neither was deceit found in his mouth when he was reviled he didn't revile back when he was threatened he didn't threaten back what did he do he committed himself to the one who judges righteously I remember last year this woman took me outside and I know she's going to take me out I know what was going to happen Debbie was inside at the book table and I thought man I guess I'm going out and I thought okay don't retaliate for this situation it's hard and pray you know commit yourself to the one who judges righteously it's hard but you can do it ladies by the power of the spirit that lives within you now notice the two responses were to have here rejoice which means to be cheerful calmly happy you know that's what the apostles did when they were beaten for sharing the gospel in act 5 it says after they were beaten they departed for the presence and the glory so they got to be what beaten for the Lord's sake suffer shame for his name secondly Jesus says were to be exceedingly glad which means leap for joy leap for joy you might say Susan why should I have these attitudes are you kidding me notice what Jesus says the first reason you should have this attitude because great is your reward in heaven you're at the kingdom of heaven but you're going to have a great reward and you might say what's that reward I want to see if it's worth it I don't know but you know what Paul says I has not seen nor ear has heard what God has prepared for those of us who love him you know my husband thinks when we get to heaven the first response is going to be laughter why did I hold on to this are you kidding me when I can have this are you kidding me what is your reward in heaven so ladies if you're being persecuted tonight take joy in that I don't know what reward God has for you but it's going to be great Jesus says mega man it's going to be great and secondly you can have this attitude because you're not the first one to suffer I know some of you in here think you are what was you you know I'm the only one going through suffer before you think about it Moses, Samuel, Jeremiah Ezekiel, Daniel, Nehemiah Steven, Peter, Paul, James and many others persecuted because of their faith so you're in good company in fact if you read Hebrews 11 you have a chilling summary don't you of those who were persecuted scourging mocking chains imprisonment sawn in half now I just thought it was going to be beat up last year but I guess the lady pulled out a little interesting stoning wandering about and sheep skins and goat skins being destitute afflicted tormented of whom the world was not worthy and why did they do this they were looking for a better country a heavenly country Jesus says listen very carefully woe to you if all men speak well of you ladies that should cause you to pause if everybody's best bud and nobody ever speaks evil of you woe to you woe to you if all men speak well of you wife so did their fathers to the false prophets ladies Jesus was not seeker friendly was he and neither should we be it is said that Charles Haddon Spurgeon's wife took these eight beatitudes and wrote them on a piece of paper and put them on their ceiling so when he would go to bed at night and wake up he would read them she did not want him to forget the persecution that he was enduring that it was because of his righteous life if you know anything about Charles Haddon's virgin it was probably persecution that killed him really if you read about it what a great wife she was that Job's wife needed a lesson from her right ladies are you being persecuted because you belong to Christ if you're not suffering for Christ's sake then maybe you're not living a righteous life that would incur suffering Paul is very clear all those who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer will suffer that is a promise you will suffer persecution well as we close what a great beginning to this sermon eight blessed beatitudes that should possess every child of God do they possess you do they describe you you know what's so interesting about these eight beatitudes besides the fact they build on one another is listen very carefully the first four that we saw in the last lesson are fleshed out in the last four for example being poor in spirit leads me to being merciful mourning over my sin leads me to purity of heart being meek leads me to being a peacemaker and hungry and thirsting for all the righteousness there is leads me to being persecuted for righteousness sake ladies these eight blessed beatitudes are blessed for those who know God but for those who are hypocrites they will not consider these beatitudes as blessed but burdens they can't possibly attain but ladies they are foundational to the rest of the sermon on the mount the next three lessons that we'll hear tomorrow the Christians impact on the world living out the golden rule and even the very last message it's foundational to the sermon on the mount but in closing if these eight blessed beatitudes do not describe you then may I say in all sincerity you need to do some serious self-examination make sure you fully understand the gospel not the cheap gospel of our day okay but the real gospel the gospel that Jesus preached repent why for the kingdom of heaven is at hand let's pray again lord I just want to give thanks to you for the beginning of this precious sermon powerful thank you for preserving it for us thank you for loving us enough to call us out of darkness and to transfer us into the kingdom of the sun that you love thank you that we are happy we are fortunate when we live out these beatitudes and lord they should describe every one of us in this room and I pray each of us before we go to bed tonight would ask ourselves if we are pure in heart if we are meek if we are suffering for righteousness that we would examine ourselves in light of these eight blessed beatitudes and lord if they don't describe us then we would mourn and weep over our sin and we would humble ourselves before you and realize our desperateness and how desperate of a savior I do pray for these ladies I know that many of them have some traveling to do and play that you would guide them safely home bring us back tomorrow for another great time in your word we do thank you for the word lord it is the joy and rejoicing of our heart because we are called by your name may we eat your words this weekend and may they be like honey to our soul and I pray this in Christ's name Amen