The Beatitudes Are Godly Attitudes Producing Godly Action

As I mentioned, I've started a two-part series on the Beatitudes. I want to let you know why I thought this would be something good for us to get into. The world and our society around us is getting progressively darker and darker, spiritually speaking. There's a greater emphasis on the secular and not the spiritual. There's a greater emphasis on human reason and not principles we find in God's Word. Our nation was founded by men and women who believed in the Word of God. Our founding documents reflect that fact. We have been blessed because of the blessings God gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Those have been handed down to us. But we've also been blessed, as you and I, and the rest of the country, for people who look to the great God. God blessed us because, even though we were not, as a nation, being all called into the church, we still recognized God as the supreme being. We recognized the laws that he has set forth in the Scriptures. But now we're turning our back on God. We're turning our back on the Scriptures. We are becoming almost a wholly secular country. Now, again, there are people in this country who are, as we would say, nice folks, good folks, the people who believe in the Bible. But those kinds of folks are getting lesser and lesser in numbers. Predominantly, what we see in the media, what we see on TV, and what we hear on radio, and so on, as a very secular society. I want to quote something here, and you can take this down in your notes. You need not turn to it. I'll read it for you. But Isaiah 55, verses 8-9, say, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord God. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. So today, as we complete a two-part series on the Beatitudes, we want to take a look at the attitudes God wants us to have. We want to take a look at the thoughts God wants us to have. And those attitudes and those thoughts help us to put together our actions, how we're going to live our lives, how we're going to be pleasing in God's sight. But other than by ourselves, and especially if we start allowing ourselves to be motivated by society and not the Scripture, then we are definitely going down the wrong path. Again, in your notes, I'm not going to have you turn to this unless you want to, but 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verses 1-5, is a prophecy for the end of the age. 2 Timothy, chapter 3, verses 1-5. Let me read that for you. But know this, that in the last days, perilous times will come, for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanders, without self-control, brutal, spicers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power, and from such people turn away. 2 Timothy, chapter 3, is a state of mind for our society and the world around us.

Yes, there are still some people who we would call good people. But brethren, we want to be God's people. We don't want ourselves to be dictated to by what society thinks. We don't want to conform to society. We want to be renewing our minds and following the ways of God.

I would like you to turn to Matthew chapter 5 for a moment. Let's take a look at Matthew chapter 5.

As you're well aware, starting in Matthew chapter 5 going into chapters 6 and 7, we've got the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is the heart and the core of Christianity. We certainly want to make sure that we are following what it says in these chapters because this is what it means for us to be a Christian.

Isn't it interesting, brethren, that as we studied last time we were together talking about this, we looked at John chapter 17 and verse 8, where Christ was given words from God, and Christ brought those words to the people. All the words God gave him, he brought. We read that in John 17 verse 8. We also read last time 2 Timothy chapter 3 verses 15 through 17, where it talks about how all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for being taught, it's profitable for being convicted, it's profitable for being corrected, and it's profitable for instruction and righteousness, say.

So these words that we're seeing in the Sermon on the Mount are so important for us to understand, so important for us to make a part of our being. And understanding, when Christ said that God gave them all of these words, notice what comes first in this Sermon on the Mount. The very first things that are discussed are these beautiful attitudes, these be-attitudes.

And so God is telling us something. If we're going to live by every word of God, if we're going to live by what the Scriptures have to say, if Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 are the heart and core of the teachings of Jesus Christ, notice what comes as a foundation. The foundation are these attitudes. If we have these attitudes, and they're growing and thriving in us, then we're going to be the kind of people who can live by what it says in the rest of the Sermon on the Mount that follows these first 12 verses.

In Matthew chapter 5. But notice after the Sermon on the Mount is given, notice what it says here in verse 14. Again, God put these in the order for a very specific reason. He's showing us what's valuable, what's important, what's some of the foundational things we should be thinking about, and then what we need to be doing with those foundational things. Matthew chapter 5 verse 14. You are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. So God expects us to take these beautiful attitudes and let our light shine in a very dark world. Yes, we have a work that we do. We have a beautiful internet site. We've got literature. We've got articles. We've got magazines. We've got newsprint, such as our United Church of God newspaper. We are on TV. We're hoping to have a stronger presence on TV, but one of the greatest works that we do is you and I doing what it says right here.

You and I being a light to the world. A light is, generally speaking, silent. I'm sure there can be bells and whistles with lighting, but generally speaking, a light is silent. A light sheds illumination on things, and our lives, you know, we don't necessarily have to go around knocking on all of our neighbor's doors and preaching the gospel to them, but we need to be people who are living by these beautiful attitudes. As we live by those beautiful attitudes, some people will come and ask us about the hope that is within us. As people come and ask us for the hope that's within us, then we can answer their questions very specifically.

We want to answer their questions in such a way that it's appetizing to them. It's a reasoned response. It gives them hope. It gives them encouragement. It gives them a sense that there is a bright future, that these dark times that we're now looking at, and then they will get darker, that these dark times will come to an end at some point. So again, we see the import of taking a look at the message we're looking at today, and we should appreciate the fact that these beatitudes are the highest standard of thought and conduct for all of us as believers, a very high bar that God gives to us.

These beatitudes contrast godly eternal values with temporary worldly values. These beatitudes contrast superficial faith, such as what the Pharisees had with real faith, the faith of Jesus Christ, the faith we need be having as Christians. Each of these beautiful attitudes tells us how to be blessed.

Blessed means to be favored, to be graciously approved by God, and be given God's blessings. So the last time we were together here in Beloit, I went through three of the first four beatitudes, and as if you recall, I said that the beatitudes are in two sections. There's four beatitudes in section one, and four beatitudes in section two. Just a little bit of review. The first four beatitudes outline a deepening relationship with our God.

The first beatitude is to be poor in spirit, and that references a frame of mind of humility. Humility. We can't learn anything if we're not humble. So God wants us to... notice the order in which God gives us. These beatitudes build on one another. These principles are beautiful, and they build on one another. So being poor in spirit means to be humble. The second beatitude we went through is, the less it are those who mourn. Now that's talking about being convicted, seeing our spiritual need. Okay, so we're humble. We ask God for humility, and once we have that frame of mind, and God says, okay, you've got needs, God will convict us through his scriptures about those needs.

And then the third beatitude is, blessed are the meek, which talks about how we should be teachable. So we're humble, then we're convicted, then we're teachable. And that leads us now to what I want to cover with you that I didn't cover last time, but this is the fourth and the last of the opening beatitudes. This fourth one is... and let's take a look. Let's turn over here now to Matthew chapter 5, and verse 6. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 6.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled, hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Now, as I made mention, as we did last time, I'm going to define what it means to do with each of these beatitudes. I'm going to define them. Then we're going to take a look at where we find these attitudes in the Old Testament, Old Testament roots. Then we're going to take a look at, very briefly, what worldly values are overcome by these beautiful attitudes. And then we'll take a look at how we can develop these attitudes. Okay, so it sounds like a lot, but we'll move through these in a way that is not too pedantic. And again, we can spend a whole sermon or a series of sermons on each of these beatitudes. There's a lot here. I'm just trying to give an overview of what God has, and then you can take that overview and you can study more in depth. But what does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness? The words hunger and thirst picture an intense longing that God wants His people to have. An intense longing for righteousness, and not just any righteousness, God's righteousness. We don't want to hunger and thirst for man's righteousness. We want to hunger and thirst for God's righteousness. And it's interesting that this fourth beatitude is kind of like a bridge. The fourth beatitude shows how we are to love God and worship God properly, and giving us the proper frame of mind. And then a second set of beatitudes, beatitudes 5 through 8, show us how we are to function with our fellow man. And so in one sense, the beatitudes reflect the law of God. We understand that the law of God, you've got basically you have got love toward God, love toward man, as they're shown in those four Ten Commandments. So here we have this fourth beatitude, which is a bridge. Now let's take a look at the Old Testament roots here. Let's go to Psalm 63. Psalm 63 is a psalm of David when he was in the wilderness. He was fleeing from his son Absalom. And notice what it says here in Psalm 63 about hungering and thirsting for righteousness. And the attitude here, brethren, of hungering and thirsting is an attitude of spiritual motivation. Let's make sure we understand that. An attitude of spiritual motivation. You know, as we've been humbled, as we've been teachable, now we have a direction. And that direction is motivating us to want to hunger and thirst for righteousness. So Psalm 63 verse 1, Oh God, you are my God. Early I will seek you. My soul thirsts for you. My flesh longs for you, in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So David is expressing just how desperately he's longing for the great God. When he says, you are my God, David's emphasizing the personal relationship that he has with the great God, just as you and I should have a personal relationship with the great God. David is describing here his intense spiritual need in terms of his physical surroundings. He has fled from Absalom. He's fled from Jerusalem. He was stranded in the Judean wilderness or the desert. It was a dry and place where you can be very thirsty.

His soul, you know, physically was being parched, but spiritually he wanted to make sure that he was hungry and thirsting, not just for physical food and drink, but for the righteousness of the great God. And so the worldly values overcome by this beatitude. The worldly value is a physical orientation. We want to overcome a physical orientation and make sure our orientation is the hunger and thirst, not for a better home or a better car, not that those things are evil, but if those things are all we're hoping for and working toward, then that is a wrong orientation. That is a physical orientation. We want a spiritual orientation, and that spiritual orientation begins with our desire to hunger and thirst for the things of God.

So now how do we develop that hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Let's go over to Philippians chapter 3.

Philippians chapter 3.

And we want to take a look at verses 7 through 10. Philippians chapter 3 verses 7 through 10.

Let's read that. Philippians chapter 3, starting in verse 7 here. For what things were gained to me, these have kind of lost for Christ. Now, when Paul is saying here the things that were gained to me, what's he referring to? Well, let's take a look, starting here at verse 4. Well, I might also have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so. So he's going to start listing things he considered gain in the flesh. Circumcised the eighth day, following the scriptures along those lines, of the stock of Israel of the tribe of Benjamin. So not only was he of God's people, he was the tribe that produced the first king. That's why he says it that way. A Hebrew of the Hebrews concerning the law of Pharisee. So he was a man who was very much into the law of God, understanding the law of God, and so forth. And brethren, understand something. I don't know that we've always understood this, but you know, young boys and even young girls, when they were growing up in Israel, if they had the mental ability to do so, as they were going to synagogue. Now, synagogue was more than just a place for church, so to speak. The synagogue in Bible times was more like a community center. The synagogue was a place where, yes, you would have services, but also there was a school attached to the synagogue. And young men, especially young men who may have wanted to be a rabbi, were taught from an early age, and by the time they were 12, again, this wasn't for everybody. Not everybody could have done this, but by the time they were 12 years of age, some of these young men had memorized the first five books of the Bible. Can you imagine memorizing word for word the first five books of the Old Testament?

That's why when Jesus Christ would many times quote Scripture, people would quote Scripture back because they were a well-schooled group of people. So when he says he's a Hebrew, the Hebrew is the concern of law of Pharisee, he knew the book that we call the law of Moses. Genesis 3, do it around me. Concerning verse 6, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, concerning the righteousness, which is the law of blameless. So he had all these things going for him, but he says, those things which I counted gain, I counted loss for Christ. Verse 8, yet indeed I also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, whom I have suffered a loss of all things and count them as rubbish, that I might gain Christ. So Paul had a different outlook. We were talking about motivation, to hunger and thirst for God's righteousness. Now he has a different motivation. His motivation is not what you see in verses 4 through 6. His motivation is to find the things of Jesus Christ, to understand them, and to apply them to his life. Totally different value system. Verse 9, and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.

You know, we can have our own righteousness. In your notes, you might want to jot down Isaiah chapter 64 and verse 6. Isaiah 64 verse 6, where it talks about how we can have our own righteousness. Isaiah talks about how our righteousness is as filthy rags. You might want to jot down Romans chapter 10 verses 1 through 3. Romans chapter 10 verses 1 through 3, where Paul talks about how his fellow countrymen had a zeal, but not a proper kind of a zeal. They had a zeal based upon the flesh and that upon the things of God. Verse 10, that I might know him, Jesus Christ, and the power of his resurrection. Of course, there's an illusion there, not only to our resurrection in Christ, but also our being baptized, our resurrection from the deadness of sins to a new life, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings.

We'll talk more about that in the last beatitude as to why that's so important. Being conformed to his death. Excuse me. So we know, it says here, that I may know him. And we're talking about knowing God the Father, knowing Jesus Christ, by experience. We know Jesus Christ because we're following his teachings, because we're thinking his thoughts, because we're reading his Word. And that's indelibly imprinted upon us. And that's why we know him. It's not a second hand or a third hand sort of a thing. It's a first hand thing. We're living this way of life. We're seeing the fruits. We're seeing the benefits.

Now, with each of these beatitudes, I'm also going to bring out at least one person that exemplifies the beatitude. Now, if you were thinking about a person who exemplifies hungering and thirsting, and we're not talking about Christ. Obviously, Christ lives all of those beatitudes. But apart from Jesus Christ, who would you think would be a good example of somebody who hungered and thirsted after righteousness? I'm sure there are probably a number of people that we can put down in our paper. But the example I'm going to show you is the example of David. Let's turn to Psalm 27.

Psalm 27. Psalm of David.

In this notice, David here, and how he hungered and thirsted after the great God. Psalm 27 verse 1. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? So notice, David says that God and Jesus Christ are His light, showing Him how to live, showing Him what to live for, how to live with God's righteousness. The Lord is my light. We, of course, are to be the lights of the world, as Christians. Drop down to verse 4. One thing I've desired of the Lord, that will I seek, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple. So here's a man who is hungering and thirsting after the things of God. He says it here very poetically. One thing I've desired of the Lord, that I will seek, that I might dwell in the house of the Lord, that I might be in the temple, that I might learn the things of God, hungering and thirsting after those things. Wanting those things to be a part of my very being. He says, all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. He's hungering and thirsting for the things of the Lord and how He might be able to fulfill those things. So Brethren, we've concluded now these first four of the Beatitudes, showing the tremendous design that God has in helping us to appreciate how we are to live by the Sermon on the Mount. We've taken a look at these first four, and now it's time for us to take a look at the next four. Again, the first four Beatitudes outlined a deepening relationship with our God. They built on one another. These will continue to build on one another. Now, as we look at the last four Beatitudes, these last four Beatitudes impact the way we relate to others. How we relate to others. So let's take a look. Let's go back to Matthew chapter 5.

You might want to put a marker there, Matthew chapter 5. And let's start with Beatitude number 5 here in Matthew chapter 5.

This is found here in verse 7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. How do we define being merciful?

Merciful people realize that because we have received mercy from the great God, we must extend mercy to others. The word merciful implies generosity. It implies forgiveness. It implies compassion. It includes a desire to remove the wrong as well as alleviate suffering. So that is the definition of this Beatitude, of being merciful. We're going to see in the Old Testament its roots. Let me give you these right now. The Old Testament roots can be found in first—and there are more places than this one, to be sure. I just selected this one place. I thought it was very important to look at. But Old Testament roots are found in 1 Kings chapter 3 verses 24 through 26. The worldly value of being merciful displaces is this eye-for-an-eye type of thinking—tooth for a tooth, vengeance, payback. We want to turn from that. We're not living in the Old Testament land of Israel. We are New Testament Christians, new covenant Christians, and we are to be merciful people. How we develop this attitude is found in Colossians chapter 3 verses 12 and 13. Now we'll take each of these and turn. So we've given a definition of what it means to be merciful. Let's take a look at the Old Testament roots. I'm going to find this over here in 1 Kings chapter 3.

Go to 1 Kings chapter 3, and this is a very familiar story for you. It's a story about the two women who came to Solomon with a little baby, and they both claimed a little baby.

One was the actual mother. The other was a woman who had her little infant die, but she wanted a live baby. So let's take a look at 1 Kings chapter 3 and see an example of being merciful. 1 Kings chapter 3 verse 24. Then the king said, Bring me a sword, so they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other. Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son. She yearned with compassion for her son. And she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him. But the other said, Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him. Now, this idea of mercy that's being used here, the word compassion in Strongs is number 7356.

It was used for the deep, tender feeling of compassion that was awakened by the trouble, the weakness, the suffering, the vulnerability, or the need of another. The other needing mercy. Here, this woman was full of wanting to be merciful to her own child, the child which was vulnerable, the child which was very needy. There was no idea here of just dividing this child in half and bringing death to that little child. And so there is the idea of being merciful, letting the child live. And certainly, brethren, you and I, as we go through our life, we have experienced the great mercy of God. We have experienced the wonderful sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which, as I said earlier, in a couple of months, we'll be experiencing in terms of the Passover and all of its representation, with the bread, the wine, the foot washing.

We want to be merciful people as our Father. We want to emulate our Father in every way, and Jesus Christ in every way. And they were merciful beings, Jesus Christ and God the Father. We want to be merciful as well, to be compassionate, and not to have an eye-for-an-eye type of an attitude. In our society today, this is running rampant.

We're seeing where people today in our society, they talk about, you know, we want to be unified. Well, is that really true? Is unity the big thing people want, some people want today in our society? No. They want conformity. They want, as long as you think the way they think, well, yeah, then there can be unity. But if you don't think the way they think, then they'll do things so that maybe you can't get a job. Or if you're in business, they try to blackball your business. If you're on one of the social platforms, they may say, well, you know, you don't think like we do, and because of that, you're a danger, and we're going to take you off of that social platform so nobody can hear your thoughts. You know, another reason, brethren, I'm giving these beatitudes, sermons on these beatitudes, is we are entering a very dark time in our national history. We prize freedom of the press. We prize freedom of speech, and those things are being stripped away by people who feel they know better than you.

And it's a shame, but you know, we've discussed prophecies along these lines for generations, and now we are the people who are seeing these things come to pass. But we need to be a light and not let the world overcome us. We need to make sure we are overcoming the world, and being that light and being that witness, even as we are being persecuted, which we'll get to with the last beatitude, the last beautiful attitude. So how do we, you and I, become having—how do we develop a more merciful attitude? Let's go to the book of Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter 3.

Verses 12 and 13.

Colossians chapter 3 verses 12 and 13. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, we're holy. It doesn't mean we're sinless. It means we've been set apart to do the work of God. We've been set apart by God, and we're beloved by God. Put on tender mercies, tender mercies in a world full of darkness, in a world where people want to get at us and hurt us. We need to put on tender mercies. A brethren that takes the spirit of God. We can't do this on our own. We need God's help. We need God's power. We need it every day.

That's why we must hunger and thirst for God's righteousness. That's why we must be humble and teachable. We must be convicted. We must be motivated. We must be merciful. Putting on tender mercies. Kindness. The whole idea behind kindness is where you do something positive and good for somebody who may have done you wrong. Humility, meagness, long suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, even if anyone has a complaint against another. You may have a legitimate grievance, a legitimate beef with somebody. And yet, we're told to be forgiving.

Doesn't mean we condone what has been done to us. Doesn't mean it's okay what's been done to us.

What's been done to us may be very simple and hurtful and wrong, but we can't allow the poison of being unforgiving and lacking mercy to be a part of who we are. That rots the soul, and we don't want to have a soul that's full of spiritual rot. We need to release those poisons and get rid of those things.

If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you must also do as Christ forgave us, and he forgave us in a tremendous way. And we are to be God's kids and Christ's brothers and sisters.

Now, apart from Jesus Christ, who is in a tremendous example in the scriptures of having a tremendous amount of mercy?

Somebody who did have a complaint, somebody who was wrong, somebody who was very wrong, and yet God revealed to him the things we're talking about here that he needed to be humble, that he needed to understand the ways of God, and he needed to be merciful. The person I'm thinking of is Joseph, whose brothers sold him into slavery.

Now, Joseph wasn't a perfect brother, and he said some things that would get probably a lot of us upset. But to sell him into slavery? I'm sure Joseph had to overcome a lot of hard feelings. Let's turn our attention to Genesis chapter 45.

Genesis chapter 45, and see where God led this man. And as you and I are following the laws and ways of God, as we're striving to live by these beautiful attitudes, God is going to shine light on our path. God is going to shine light on our hearts and minds to reveal why we're doing what we're doing, even if it doesn't come naturally. And living by the ways of God is not natural in this world. That's why we need God's Holy Spirit. But let's take a look at Genesis chapter 45. And there's a long section of Scripture I want to read here, but let's take a look at this and understand what we've got. Genesis chapter 45 verse 1. Joseph here is being revealed to his brothers as to who he is at this point in history. Verse 1, Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, Make everyone go out from me, so no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers. Now, he could have been very having an attitude of eye for an eye, vengeance, payback.

With the position Joseph was in, he was like a prime minister of the land. Tremendous power, and his brothers knew that. They knew that the one standing before him had tremendous power. At this point, they don't know who he is yet. Verse 2, And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians in the house of Pharaoh heard it.

So we're talking about somebody showing tremendous emotion here with his mercy. Then Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph. Does my father still live?

But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence. They're wondering, What is this man talking about? And Joseph said to his brothers, Please come near to me, so they came near. And he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.

I'm sure at this point their knees are kind of knocking.

What's this man going to do to us? Well, we're going to see a tremendous heart of mercy.

Verse 5, But now do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life.

Brethren, there's a thought there in verse 5, that as you and I go through the difficulties of life, the dark times of life, the trials of life, that God has a purpose for each and every one of us. Each and every one of us go through our various trials that tell us something, to teach us something, to prepare us for our future service in the kingdom of God. God doesn't do anything by happenstance. There is a plan, a general plan, for all mankind. But I believe very strongly there's a specific plan for you, and how God is working with you, because you are a beloved son or daughter of God. And so what is it God is doing with you? Well, there was something God was doing with Joseph. There was a bigger picture to be seen. And at the time, when this was beginning, Joseph didn't understand it or see it, nor did his brothers. But in time, God shone the light on Joseph so he would understand it, or see it here.

Verse 6, For these two years the famine has been in the land, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting. And God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives for a great deliverance. God didn't send him forward so that he would become powerful and get back at his brothers. God sent him forward so he can be a help to his family, a help to those who hurt him, who sold him into slavery, so he can not only help his brothers, but his brothers' wives, their children, and posterity. They're safe. So now it was not you who sent here, but God. And he made me a father to Pharaoh, and a lord to all of his house, and a ruler throughout the land of Egypt. So as God, as we live by the word of God, we won't necessarily do all the things that Joseph did. We will not necessarily become a United States senator or governor in the United States of America. But we see a principle here of God working with a man who is living in the world. But we see a principle here of God working with a man who is living by the ways of God, and how he was blessed, and how he was going to be a blessing to those around him. Verse 9, Hurry and go to my father and say to him, Thus as your son Joseph, God has made me the lord of all of Egypt. Come down to me and do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children, your children's children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have. They will not provide for you, lest you and your house and all that you have. Come to poverty, there are still five years of famine. So over and over here we're seeing a heart of being merciful, an attitude of being merciful.

And we can read further, but you know the rest of the story here.

How we fell on their necks and wept on their necks. And again, the idea here of somebody who is full of mercy. So that is the fifth of the eight beatitudes. Let's now look at the next one. Go back to Matthew chapter 5.

Here we see the sixth of the eight beatitudes, Matthew chapter 5 and verse 8. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. What does it mean to be pure in heart? What kind of attitude is that? Well, it's an attitude of moral integrity.

Do we see moral integrity at large in our nation today? Well, in some places we do. But this is why you and I need to be a light. This is why you and I need to understand these beautiful attitudes. Because we want to set the example of moral integrity. People who are pure in heart, they're characterized by being honest and sincere. They are people of integrity. They have a single-minded commitment to God. And because of that, so moral purity to honesty and so forth. So that's what it means to be pure in heart. Old Testament roots. Just go through these. There's found in Psalm 24. Just go through these. There's found in Psalm 24, verses 3 through 5. Psalm 24, verses 3 through 5. The worldly value that's being displaced here is darkness of heart. A heart that rejoices in sin. A heart that rejoices in the ways of the world. No, we want to be pure in heart. And where that's the value, we can develop that. One of the places we look in the New Testament is James chapter 1 and verse 27. James chapter 1 and verse 27. But let's now take a look specifically at the Old Testament, at some of the Old Testament roots for being pure in heart. Let's go to Psalm 24.

Psalm 24, verses 3 through 5.

Psalm 24, verse 3.

So, David's asking a really good question here.

Well, we understand, sinful people aren't going to be in God's presence. They'll have no place there.

So notice here what we have. You know, David's asking a wonderful question. Who's going to stand before God? Then he says, verse 4, He who has clean hands and a pure heart. Clean hands refers to action.

Right action, righteous action, godly actions. A pure heart refers to a right attitude, a right will before God.

And because of this, as we see here, and the attitudes are all full of blessings, he shall receive a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of the salvation.

So, how do you and I achieve or begin to have this attitude of being pure in heart? Well, one scripture, as I may mention, is James 1, verse 27. Let's go there.

James 1, and verse 27.

James, of course, being Jesus Christ's half-brother.

Ten quarters, pastor, apostle.

A man who at first did not really understand his brother. And later on in his life, he began to understand, not late, late in life, but when he became older, more aware of who Jesus Christ was after Christ's death.

James 1, verse 27.

Pure and undefiled religion for God and the Father is this.

So, we're trying to take a look and understand what it means to be pure in heart. And here, Jesus Christ's half-brother says, pure and undefiled religion for God and the Father is this. And so, he gives us an understanding here.

To visit the orphans and widows in their trouble.

What does that mean? To visit the widows and orphans in their trouble. It means practical, humble service to those truly in need, to those who are not in a position to be able to help themselves as much as you probably can help. They can do some things for themselves, but they need help with other things. And so, it's a practical, humble service to those truly in need. And isn't that what God does? Those in our father and elder brother, aren't they a father to the fatherless? As it says in Psalm 68, verse 5. In a judge of the widows and his holy habitation.

Those in our great father and our elder brother, aren't they the ones who we are to imitate? Don't they help with humble service, each and every one of us?

The very fact that you and I right now are alive. The fact that our eyes see, our ears hear, our heart is beating. That is the grace of God in action. That is practical, humble service from the greatest beings that there are. God the Father and Jesus Christ. Well, how do we develop this purity of heart?

We work with it. We work on it. With God's help, with God's Holy Spirit. And again, without God's Holy Spirit, we are not going to turn to 1 Corinthians 13. But you know, our words can be like a tinkling symbol that's hollow sounding.

We can give our bodies to be burnt, and all for naught. If we don't have the proper frame of mind, the proper reference.

And so, we want to be humble serving with the way God teaches us to be humble in our service. And of course, we will discuss more about that as we get closer to the Passover service. But the second thing we see here in verse 27 is to keep oneself unspotted from the world.

Unspotted from the world. Pure religion does not become corrupted with false beliefs, false values. We don't want to allow ourselves to be dictated to by what society tells us to be dictated by. Society tells us how to live. We want to be dictated to by Scripture. How Scripture shows us how we are to live. So, pure religion doesn't become entangled with the affairs and the pleasures of this world.

And brethren, the next time I come before you to speak, I want to talk about that to some degree.

What we're seeing politically in this country, and I'm not going to get into politics, but there are values that are being corrupted. There are issues that are coming out, and some of our own people—I've been sorry to hear that some of our own people, not necessarily in Beloit or Chicago, but I'm hearing where some of our people are taking up the cause of some of these worldly organizations.

One in particular that's been getting a lot of ink over the last number of months, dealing with race. And yet, when you take a look at the founding fathers of that particular movement, who are Marxists, who don't believe in a nuclear family, who have all sorts of things that they promote that are totally against Scripture. And yet, some of our people are mouthing off some of the phrases and beliefs and getting after some of our people because they're not following that particular movement. We want to get into that a little bit in a sermon I want to give here in the near future. We have got to keep our eyes on the goal. We need to be doing the work of God, not the work of men. We're not here to save our society. We're here to be a witness to God's society that's going to be coming to this earth, the coming kingdom of God. We can't be involved in these politics, which takes us down a very wrong path. And so I want to talk to you as a group, both here in Beloit and in Chicago, about making sure we have our vision clear as to what our duties are before God. So we want to be unspotted from the world, not entangled with the affairs and pleasures of this world, separating ourselves from the world and the world's politics.

Now, who would be a good example of somebody that was pure in heart in the scriptures? Again, there could be a number of people you might have in your thinking that you might say or was an example somebody was pure in heart. But the person I'm thinking about was young Timothy. Let's go to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2, verses 19 through 22. Philippians chapter 2, verse 19.

But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I may be encouraged when I know of your estate. So this particular scripture shows us a dynamic example of a man who is totally committed to Jesus Christ. Both Paul and Timothy, they are both committed to the work of God. They both had a pure heart in what they wanted to accomplish. And Paul says here he trusts in the Lord to send Timothy that he might be encouraged by the report Timothy will bring back.

Verse 20, for I have no one like-minded will sincerely care for your state. No one like-minded. Timothy had a kindred, brotherly spirit with the Apostle Paul. His heart was, he naturally cared. He sincerely cared. He was truly a converted man who was wanting to be pure in heart and do the job God called him to do. Just as we should want to be pure in heart to do the job God's called us to do, to be a light to the world, to be the salt of the earth. As it says there in Matthew, chapter 5, right after the beautiful attitudes, the salt of the earth. Verse 21, for all seek their own and not the things which are Christ Jesus, but you know his proven character that is a son with his father and he has served with me in the Gospel. Verse 21 shows by inference that Timothy wasn't seeking his own. He was seeking what was proper in God's eyes. He had a pure heart in terms of wanting to serve God and his fellow man. The Apostle Paul relied upon Timothy to be an example of that, even though he was a younger man. And they had been a man who had his share of issues as well as we all do, but he was overcoming those issues. He was overcoming and being the kind of person God wanted him to be, to be pure in heart. Beautiful attitude. Let's go now to the next beautiful attitude. We go to Matthew chapter 5 once again.

In verse 9, we've got here the seventh of the eight beatitudes. Matthew chapter 5 verse 9.

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God.

Blessed are the peacemakers. So we have an attitude here of peacemaking. And again, in our society today, we don't have that attitude. We are a camp of the conservative right and the liberal left. We have an ongoing civil political war taking place in this nation.

Let's be honest about it. We've got half the country who thinks one way, the other half of the country thinks another way, and it's becoming more and more. One half of the country looks at the other and they think that they're evil. There is no peace in the land. And every day gets worse and worse. Pundits, people who make commentary for a living have recently wondered, has the United States of America reached a tipping point? Just like Rome reached a tipping point where it was only down from there. There was the point of no return, so to speak. There was no going back to the glory of the past. There was going to be a downward spiral as the United States of America reached a tipping point. Brethren, I think we reached a tipping point some time ago. I don't think it's with the last political election. I think we've been there. I think we are on a downward spiral. But Jesus Christ came as the Prince of Peace. He gave the ultimate sacrifice to make peace between God and humanity. And we are to be God's children. We are to be Christ's brothers and sisters. We are to be peacemakers. God is called as children to be peacemakers. Peacemakers, brethren, do more than just live peaceful lives. Peaceful people actively seek to make peace, to cause reconciliation, to end bitterness, to end strife. And you in your heart of hearts, as you and I prepare for the upcoming pensover, we need to ask ourselves, are we peacemakers? Are we doing everything within our power to live with our brothers and sisters as peacefully as we can? Now, sometimes that is impossible because the other party wants no part of us. But are we doing all we can do? And that's all God requires from us, is to do what we can do. We can't do something. We can't make the other guy do something or the other gal do something. But we can watch our attitudes. And are we having an attitude of going the extra mile, of accepting the undeserved wrong at times, to make for peace?

So that is a definition of what it means to be a peacemaker. Old Testament roots, we find in Isaiah 32, verse 17. Isaiah 32, 17. A worldly value displaced is violence in relationships. You know, we can have violence where people hurt one another, physically hurt one another, they assault one another. But there's also a violence in relationships where people can't stand one another, where if you're on one side of the room, they go to the other side of the room.

If there's a conversation, you say, if you say left, they say right, and you say white, they say black, and so on and so forth. A violence in relationships. How do we develop this attitude? We see that in Philippians chapter 2, verses 3 through 5. We'll get to all these in time. Let's take a look at an Old Testament root of being a peacemaker. Let's look at Isaiah chapter 32.

Isaiah chapter 32.

Isaiah chapter 32, verse 17. The work of righteousness will be peace.

Now, what is righteousness? In your notes, I'm not going to turn there, but you might jot down Psalm 119.172. What is righteousness? Psalm 119.172 says, all your commandments are righteousness.

The work of the commandments of God will be peace, as we're obeying the law of God with the proper heart and mind and attitude.

And the effect of righteousness, the effect of living by God's ways, His commandments, quietness and assurance forever. Quietness and assurance forever. In other words, peace. Living God's way brings peace.

You know, if we don't live by... if we're not at peace with somebody, now again, it could be the other guy or other gal who won't give you the time of day, but we have to ask ourselves, are we making it possible for that person to be angry with us? And we've done everything we can do to help put water on that hot anger of theirs.

Are we showing ourselves be kind and so on and so forth? We don't want violence in our relationships. We want peace in our relationships, and we need to be working on peace as peacemakers.

How do we develop this attitude? Let's go to Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians chapter 2.

Philippians chapter 2 verses 3 through 5.

Philippians chapter 2 verse 3.

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. Well, we've already seen a number of the Beatitudes that deal with that type of thinking. Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit. But in lowliness of mind, again, we saw a beautiful attitude that deals with that. You know, right when you look at these eight Beatitudes, there are such beautiful principles that so much of the Word of God is founded on. Here we see this one verse, a number of the Beatitudes, the ideas, the mechanics of some of these Beatitudes being set forth here. But in lowliness of mind, let each esteem others better than himself.

Better than himself.

You know, we don't want selfish ambition. That's the desire to be number one, no matter the cost, no matter who gets stepped up. We want to find ourselves people who are looking for common ground and building on common ground. First of all, let each of you not only look out for his own interest, but also for the interests of others. Again, common ground.

How can we relate to that other person? How can we understand them better? Where there's issues that we need to take care of so there can be peace? Let us take care of our issues so there can be peace. Let this mind be in you, which is also in Christ Jesus. You know, again, brother, it's easy to read these exhortations from Scripture. It's quite another thing to appreciate and to do what it says here. And again, we need the Holy Spirit of God to do these things. Being a Christian is not an easy thing at any time in world history, and it certainly is not an easy time now. We need the indwelling of God so that we can be a Christian. We need the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit so we can do these things.

Now, who would be an example in Scripture of somebody who was a tremendous peacemaker?

Again, probably a number of people you can think of.

But let's turn to the book of Philemon and see where the Apostle Paul was really good at this.

The book of Philemon.

Just there before the book of Hebrews.

Here we've got the story of a slave owner and a slave, and the Apostle Paul.

The slave ran away from his owner, somehow was connected with the Apostle Paul, became converted, and Paul sent him back to the owner.

Now, that wouldn't be politically correct in our day-to-day, but that's how things were done back in those days. I want you to notice what Paul says to Philemon, the master, a Christian, about a slave Onesimus.

And notice how Paul is a man who's making peace between the two parties. Philemon, chapter one, or Philemon, verse 10, there's only one chapter.

Verse 10, I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I begotten while in my chains.

Philemon is one of the prison epistles. So that's why Paul refers to him being in chains. Somehow, Onesimus, the slave, came in contact with Paul.

Paul somehow was able to counsel him. I don't know that Paul was able to baptize him, but as a parent here, he becomes a Christian.

And Paul says, from my son.

So we're putting, you know, Philemon thinks very highly of the apostle Paul.

Philemon, I think, is thought to be a good Christian.

And so when Paul talks about this runaway slave as being my son, Philemon has to take note.

Who once was unprofitable to you, but now is profitable to you and to me. Well, he was unprofitable because he ran away.

But now, Paul is wanting to send him back. Not just as a slave, but as a brother in the faith. Verse 12, I am sending him back to you, therefore receive him. That is my own heart.

So Paul is talking about how much love he has for this man. And that's making Philemon think, well, Paul loves him. I should love him because I've got great respect for Paul. And the way Paul lives his life, and the light he is, you know, how he is being a light to me, how he is the salt of the earth. I'm setting a tremendous example. So Paul is using his own relationship with Philemon to help bring peace between Philemon and Onesimus. Dropping down to verse 15. For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose that you might receive him forever.

Again, much like what happened with Joseph and his brothers. Things happen in life, and God uses those things in a very powerful way. And we need to be asking, when things are happening in our life, we don't understand. We need to ask, well, God, how does this fit into the big picture for me?

What is it I should be learning here?

Or perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose. What purpose? That you might receive him forever. No longer is a slave more than a slave-y beloved brother, especially to me. And how much more do you, both in the flesh and in the Lord?

So basically, Paul here is vouching for this slave, Onesimus.

And he's relying upon the conversion of Philemon to understand that and to make peace with the situation that was rocky at this point. If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would receive me.

So Paul here is, again, vouching for this man. But if he is wronged you or owes you anything, put that on my account.

Paul's saying, I'll put my money where my mouth is. If you've lost some income because of him running away, well, I'll be good for that. So again, here's the action of somebody who's wanting to make peace between brothers. Standing into the gap, being willing to suffer his own loss for the sake of peace.

I, Paul, am writing with my own hand. No.

Paul's not asking some scribe to write this. It meant so much to Paul. He's writing this himself. He's taking the time to be a piece of the truth. He's taking the time to be a peacemaker. I will repay, not to mention, that you owe me even your own self besides. So Paul here, not so subtly, is saying that there's a debt that Philemon owes Paul.

Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in the Lord. Having confidence in your obedience, I write to you knowing that you will do even more than I say. So Paul leaves us on a very upbeat note, appreciating Philemon's character, the Spirit of God within him, and that he will do the right thing and make peace with the runaway slave Onesimus.

That brings us to the last of the Beatitudes here in Matthew 5, verses 10-12. And isn't it interesting that this last Beatitude, Beatitude number eight, dealing with persecution, isn't it interesting this is the one that is the longest of the eight, in terms of how it's spelled out for us? The longest of the eight.

What is the attitude that is being expressed here? It's the attitude of standing for God no matter what the cost.

Standing for God no matter what the cost.

And brethren, there is coming a time when we will be standing for God no matter what the cost. Now, we've done that already in terms of keeping the Sabbath and not working with some companies, a Holy Day, the same thing. Sometimes, because we are following God and in a church, we've alienated family and friends and so on, we faced our share of minor persecutions, relatively speaking. But we've not been like the New Testament church where there was a loss of life. But we see in the book of Revelation, chapter six, where there will, for some, not for all, but for some, there will be persecution to the death. And so, our convictions will be tested in this kind of an atmosphere, whether we're put to death or not. There will always be that, perhaps, thought that maybe it could be us. And so, we need the attitude of standing for God no matter what the cost. Let's read the beatitude. Matthew chapter five, verse ten. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteous sake, or theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. So, we're taking this whole last beatitude is talking about taking a stand for the great God. Brethren, those of us who are Christians, those of you who are Christians, who exemplify the characteristics we've talked about in these in these two sermons, you're not going to win awards by the world. You're not going to receive applause and honors, and as time goes along, we will receive persecution. We're seeing that taking place now on a worldly basis, worldly people against worldly people. If they don't like what you think, they won't sell your products. If they don't like what you think, you're going to be barred from a social platform. If you don't think like they think, they want you to be deprogrammed. And that's just human carnality against other human carnality. But when we throw the truth of God into the mix, people really are going to get upset and angered.

So the Old Testament roots—one last time—the Old Testament roots that we see for this attitude is found in Psalm 119, the number of verses there. The worldly value that's being displaced here is a weak commitment. A weak commitment. And how this attitude is developed is found in 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 20 through 24. So, again, the definition of this beatitude is standing for God no matter what the cost. Let's look at Psalm 119 and see some Old Testament roots here. Psalm 119.

Psalm 119. Let's go all the way over to verse 84 in Psalm 119. Psalm 119 verse 84. How many are the days of your servant? You know, life, at best, is very brief. How many are the days of your servant? When will you execute judgment on those who persecute me?

So here's an individual who feels he's having his share, maybe a disproportionate amount of his share of persecution. Perhaps you felt that way. Maybe you'll feel that way in the future.

Verse 85. The proud have dug pits for me, which is not according to your law.

Basically, here the psalmist is saying, hey, look, I'm trying to live by what you tell me to live by. But other people, they're not doing that. Verse 86. All your commandments are faithful. They persecute me wrongfully. Help me. Again, the inference there is I'm living by all of your commandments. I'm being faithful to your commandments. As you have given faithful commandments, I'm being faithful to them, living faithfully with them, and they're persecuting me. So help me. So here's somebody really crying out for some help here. Verse 87. They almost made an end with me on earth, persecuting this individual to the point where they thought they were going to die.

But, and here's the idea, but I did not forsake your precepts.

Standing for God no matter what the cost. Life is hard, but I'm going to stand by what you have to say, great God. Let's drop down now all the way to verse 157.

Here we see this same thought again, the roots of being persecuted for righteousness sake.

Psalm 119 verse 157. Many are my persecutors and my enemies, yet I do not turn from your testimonies.

Yet I do not turn from your testimonies. I'm going to be faithful no matter what the cost.

Verse 161. Princes persecute me without a cause. Well, they did that same thing to Jesus Christ, but my heart stands in awe of your word. I'm not going to allow my heart to be soured because of what I'm going through. I'm not going to allow my heart to become hardened by what I'm going through.

Verse 162. I rejoice at your word as one who finds great treasure. So, as opposed to allowing the circumstances of persecution to harden him, he's rejoicing at what he has as the pearl of great price. He's rejoicing that God has opened his heart and minds to this. And lastly, verse 165. Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing causes them to stumble.

Great peace. Even through all this persecution this man's talking about, the psalmist is talking about, great peace he has because he loves the way of God. He will not buckle. He will stand for God's way no matter what the cost. So, this the attitude fights having a weak commitment.

We don't want to be weak Christians. I want to combine how we develop this attitude with the one who exemplified it tremendously. All through this two-part series of not talked about Jesus Christ, we understand Jesus Christ epitomizes each and every one of the laws of God and the attitudes. But here I do want to take a look at Jesus Christ as an ultimate example because this is explicitly an example of being faithful to God during times of persecution. Let's look at 1 Peter 2.

1 Peter 2.

1 Peter 2. Again, we'll be reading this Passover season. 1 Peter 2 and verse 20. For what credit is it when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? Now, we should be beaten for our faults in one sense. But when you do good and suffer, if you take that patiently, this is commendable before God. Why is it commendable before God? Because Jesus Christ set the example for doing this. God's grace, we're showing God living by God's grace in a sinful world. In a world that doesn't honor God or the things of God, we're standing up for the things of God, no matter what the cost. And we take it patiently, and God says, that's great. That you love my way so much that you'll even take some lumps in order to keep this way of life. For to this you are called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow His steps. And again, we use this Scripture for so many things, and it's true in principle that Jesus Christ is our example in all things. But explicitly and specifically, this Scripture is talking about following Christ's example and being persecuted. Following Christ's example is being persecuted. Part of our calling is to suffer as Christ did, to be thankful. And notice what it says moving forward. Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth. You know, He didn't talk back. He didn't rail. We'll talk more about that in the next sermon I want to give about what's happening in our society. We've got to be very careful, brethren, about our speech. We've got to be very careful about how we discuss the rulers of this world.

And, you know, as I'm putting my thoughts together right now for that sermon, it's a very self-corrective sermon for me personally. I'm thinking it might be for you as well. Verse 23. When He reviled, did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously. He committed Himself no matter what the cost. He was committed to live God's way of life. Verse 24. Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died of sins, might live for righteousness. Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price in His persecution. He was crucified. He was tortured. He died, setting us the example that we might live the same way, living for righteousness, being committed to righteousness, committed to God no matter what the cost. So, we have gone through two sermons on these beautiful attitudes. The beatitudes, which are the highest standard of thought and conduct for all of us as believers, contrasting godly eternal values with the values of this world, the society, contrasting superficial faith that the world may seem to have, but we want the real faith, the faith of Jesus Christ. We see with each beatitude how we can be blessed as we obey God and follow God, be favored by God. And, brethren, I simply say to us, let us be about our Father's Word. Let us be lights to this world and a world of darkness. Let us set forth a different way of looking at things. Let us be the salt of the earth.