Herbert W Armstrong

   Think in your mind, what is the definition of the word "Beatitude"? Is it a beautiful thing? Uh, that's what I thought it was, quite frankly, before I looked it up. I thought, "Well, the word 'Beatitude' sounds like to me a Protestant word that means a beautiful thing that somebody coined somewhere along the line." But actually, if you look it up in a dictionary, the word "Beatitude" has the following definition. It is this: any of the statements in the Sermon on the Mount beginning with the two words "blessed are." That is the definition of the word "Beatitude." Any of the statements found in the Sermon on the Mount beginning with the two words "blessed are."

   Now turning your Bibles back to Matthew chapter 5, where we find the Sermon on the Mount recorded, and the Beatitudes really don't take up much space. They take up all of about 10 verses. And that's all the further you'll read about the Beatitudes here in Matthew chapter 5, about 10 verses' worth. But they are a very compact 10 verses that are the foundation of a Christian's attitude, and there are some very meaty and worthwhile things that need to be discussed in these 10 verses that I want to expound on in this sermon today.

   Now here in Matthew chapter 5, let's notice something that is a common misconception in the world today, and maybe even you have had this misconception about who the Sermon on the Mount was preached to. Because if you ask somebody, they would say, "Well, it was preached to the multitude. It was a sermon that Christ gave to this great multitude of people that came to hear it." And if you said that, you would be wrong.

   Notice, Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 (Matthew 5:1), it says, "Seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain." In other words, with the express purpose of getting away from the multitude. "And when he was sat down upon the mountain, his disciples came unto him, and he opened his mouth and taught them." So, he taught the disciples who came to him up on the mountain, not necessarily the multitude whom he left down at the bottom of the mountain.

   So he taught his disciples, and of course the word "disciple" means a student, someone who comes to learn, and all of us, I would hope, still have the attitude of being disciples, someone who wants to learn. Alright now, when he had his disciples gathered to him, this is what he taught them. He began in verse 3 by saying (Matthew 5:3), "Blessed are."

   Now I'd like to stop for a moment before we get into these different Beatitudes and tell you a little bit about the words "blessed are," because I want you to thoroughly understand what we're discussing here. And I think before we're done with these Beatitudes, they are going to test your faith and your belief in God to the strain or to the breaking point. Because you probably, by the time we get done with the Beatitudes, are going to wonder if a person is really blessed if he keeps these. I think you'll be thinking that before we're done.

   Because the words "blessed are" means someone who is not just in a small way blessed, it means someone who is supremely blessed. Someone who is infinitely well off and someone who is fortunate beyond measure. Now that's what the Beatitudes have in mind. Someone who was supremely blessed, extremely well off, fortunate beyond measure, if you are a follower of the Beatitudes.

   Now that is a mouthful, I realize, and there's a lot of promise that, in a sense, God, you know, puts in that. But as we go along, keep that definition in mind. Now, in verse 3, it says "blessed are," and then we have the first group of people who are blessed. He says, "Blessed are those that are poor in spirit."

   Now, what is the definition of poor in spirit? Are you, as an individual sitting in this room today, professing to be a Christian? Are you poor in spirit? Now it doesn't say poor in the pocketbook. Most of us could qualify for that with no problem at all. You know, with the economy what it's doing and inflation and one thing and another, I'm sure we would all have our tale of woe to tell and think we're poor in the pocketbook. But it doesn't say you're blessed for that. You're blessed for being poor in spirit.

   Now let's take the two words, "poor" and "spirit." The word "spirit" comes from a Greek word "pneuma," and it can mean breath or life, or your mental disposition or outlook, your mental disposition. The word "poor" literally means to crouch, or to be low or bent down. Or if you put the two words together, blessed is the person who is low or bent down or has a humble, if we want to use a more modern word, outlook in his mental disposition. Someone who has a right perspective, in other words, of himself.

   I'd like you to go back to the book of I Samuel, I Samuel chapter 15, and let's find an example about a man who was poor in spirit, who had a humble disposition, and see what God was able to do with him. I Samuel 15. And really we just want verse 17, or the one verse there. This is, of course, the story about Saul, who was the first king of Israel, and how God chose Saul. And when God chose Saul, he mentions the frame of mind that he had.

   Here in verse 17 of I Samuel 15 (I Samuel 15:17), and this is Samuel the prophet talking on behalf of God, and Samuel said to Saul, "When you were little, small, in other words, humble, in your own sight, were you not made the head of the tribes of Israel and didn't the Lord anoint you king over Israel?" So Saul had a trait that God looked at and liked. He was small in his own sight. He didn't have a great swelling ego. He wasn't somebody that was all puffed up in his estimation of himself. He knew, in a sense, who buttered his bread, he knew where his life came from, that it came from God, and he had a small opinion of himself.

   Now let's turn to one other scripture along this line, back in the book of Isaiah 66. Isaiah 66 verses 1 and 2. And we're going to see another description about God's feeling towards someone that has a humble frame of mind. And you know, knows his stature in God's sight. Isaiah 66. Verses 1 and 2 (Isaiah 66:1-2): "Thus says the Lord, the heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you shall build unto me and where is the place of my rest?"

   Now, to a God who is so great that he considers all of the heavens his throne and the earth is something that he puts his foot on, how would you build a house for a God that great? Well, you couldn't, but notice verse 2: "For all those things referring to the heavens and the earth has my hand made and all those things have been, says the Lord, but to this man will I look." You want to know who I pay attention to? Do you want to know who I'll listen to his prayers and help him out in a time of need? "Even to that individual or to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at my word."

   Now the word "poor" there has the same connotation of being humble. It doesn't mean you have to be poor physically in this worlds goods, but it means you have a humble frame of mind, you have a contrite or a repentant and broken spirit, and you tremble at God's word.

   Now, let's analyze that for a moment, because if we're going to be good Christians as God wants us to be, we should be keeping the Beatitudes where it says we should be poor in spirit. But do we, as Isaiah brings out here, still tremble at the word of God?

   Now I'm sure all of you have had an experience in your lifetime where you were probably afraid. I'd like to relate to you one that I had about 14 years ago when I was in Bowling Green, Ohio, and I'd just been assigned there as, you know, a new college graduate coming out to serve in the field ministry. And I remember that it was the night of July 4th, and this was in 1968, and we were living in a little two-bedroom frame house there that we were renting in Bowling Green, Ohio, and my wife's parents had come over to visit us for the July 4th weekend.

   And I remember there was a thunderstorm that came through that night that had one of the worst lightning, shall we say, attacks that I have ever been through in my life. I mean, the lightning was hitting so close that it was knocking tree branches off of the trees in the front yard. It was setting it on fire, you know, the electrical lines out on the street, and I thought if one of those bolts of lightning hits this house, it's gonna turn it into just an absolute pile of rubble. And you know, there were tornadoes that were cropping up all around town—one touched down just a couple of miles down the road from us—and we were literally quaking.

   And you know, you think, "Oh, little thunderstorm, no big sweat." Well, when you get one like that and you think that you're going to go next, I tell you, you begin to tremble just a little bit and you're praying more than just a little bit, I'll tell you for sure, asking God to please put his angel over you and not let your house go up in smoke.

   But again, you've probably had many frightening experiences in life, maybe along this nature or some other, but you probably know what it means to tremble, for your heart to beat quick and you to be kind of getting that rubbery feeling in your legs and you get nervous and it's hard to calm yourself down. Well, if a person has a proper respect for God, they have, God says here, they would tremble at his word. In other words, they would be afraid to disobey it.

   But many times as time goes along, we get calloused. We think we know pretty much what we're supposed to do. Bible study becomes one of those things that we do if we can find time. If we can't find time, we don't worry about it. When we come to church and we hear the sermons, probably a lot of us were like President Reagan. You know what President Reagan did when he was listening to the Pope, don't you? He fell asleep. You see, you're not the only one that struggles to stay awake in a religious service. He had this private audience with the Pope for 30 minutes and they caught him nodding. That's right. I had a couple of cartoons in the newspaper about him and it showed him, you know, with the Z's going away from him, and here's the Pope droning on and the president has fallen asleep. I don't know how the Pope liked that. He probably laughed, probably had a lot of people fall asleep on him before anyway.

   But, I guess Reagan wasn't all that interested in what the Pope had to say when you come down to the final analysis. But if we're not careful, we can take that same kind of an attitude towards God's, you know, word. Instead of respecting it, instead of standing in awe of it, instead of being in a right frame of mind and being humble before God in His way or poor in spirit, as the Beatitudes say, no, we become a little bit puffed up. We think we know a lot, we can't be taught too much, and we lose our respect for God's word.

   So are you poor in spirit? Because if you are, God promises you a reward. And let's go back to Matthew 5 again, and you can just keep a marker there because we'll be coming back and forth through it all the time. God says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." In other words, the ones that are contrite, the ones that are humble, the ones that have a proper respect for God, and the ones that know their place and are not all puffed up with ego and with vanity. Blessed are those people, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. In other words, if you want to be in God's family and live forever and be a part of his government, then you must have the attitude of one who is poor in spirit.

   So that's Beatitude number one. Now Beatitude number 2 seems like a contradiction, because it says in verse 4 (Matthew 5:4), "Blessed are"—and remember the word "blessed are" means extremely fortunate or well off—"are those people that mourn." Now how in the world could God say anybody was well off if he mourned? As a matter of fact, I thought God's way of life was one of joy. I mean, didn't Christ say he came that we should have joy and happiness and be prosperous and so on? And You know didn't we read back in the book of I John that they wanted us to prosper and to have a lot of physical and mental well-being and spiritual well-being? It would seem like somebody who mourned would not be doing God's will.

   Now the word "mourn" is not a mysterious word. It means to grieve or to sorrow. In other words, there's somebody—I guess the closest analogy would be if you're at a funeral and maybe you've lost a close friend or someone in the family—you would probably be mourning. You would be sorrowful, you would be grieved, you would probably be shedding tears. Why in the world would anybody who had that kind of an attitude be blessed by God?

   Well, we have to answer one key question: What is it that you're mourning about? What is it that's making you so sorrowful? Why is it that you're so filled with grief? Let's turn back to a couple of scriptures to notice some examples where we can find Christ grieving and mourning. Go to the book of Luke chapter 19. Luke chapter 19. And let's see an example where Christ wept and grieved and was sorry. And I think we can begin to understand a little bit about why God would want us at least some of the time to mourn.

   In Luke chapter 19, beginning in verse 41. And this, of course, is down near the time of the end of Christ's ministry, when he is coming into Jerusalem for the last time. He's about ready to give the famous Olivet prophecies that you could read about in Luke chapter 21. But in Luke 19:41, it said, "When he was come near the city of Jerusalem, apparently up on one of the hills overlooking the city, he beheld the city and he wept over it." He mourned or he grieved or he was sorrowful.

   Now why? "Saying, if you had known, even you," referring to Jerusalem and the people that were in it, "at least in this day, the things which belong unto peace. If only you knew the truth, if only you knew the right way to conduct your life, but now they are hid from your eyes. For," he says, "the day shall come upon you, upon this city of Jerusalem, that your enemy shall cast a trench about you and compass you round about and keep you in on every side, and they shall lay you even unto the ground and your children with you, and they shall not leave in you one stone upon another because you knew not the time of your visitation."

   In other words, you didn't know that I was Christ, you didn't know I promised you the way of peace, and because you wouldn't listen to me, you have cut yourself off from the only source of help.

   Now, if you want to know what Christ in his mind's eye was looking forward to and why it made him so sorrowful, see if you can find a copy of the book of Josephus. I think probably most of you have it. And turn to that section that's called "The Wars of the Jews." And it will give you in very graphic detail what it was like when the city of Jerusalem fell to the Romans in 69 A.D. And it will give you in very graphic detail what the Romans did to the Jews. And you read about it, and you will find why Christ was so sorrowful. You will find why he was so upset and why he literally cried because the people would not follow the way of peace that would have saved them.

   Now, how does that pertain to us? How do we mourn as Christians? Why should we do that? All you have to do is look around. How many of you—I'm sure most of you did, I don't even have to ask the question—but as you were going down to our Pentecost services at Wooster, Ohio, did you get a chance to look around at the countryside around you?

   Now, here it was just at the end of May when everything was turning green, the flowers were coming out, the trees were budding, and things were just at their most beautiful. And going down through the countryside in Wayne County and that neck of the woods, you can look out along the roads and you could see meadows and you could see fields and you could see cattle and sheep grazing. You could see farmers out there beginning to plow their fields. Go down to the agricultural center and there were beautiful flower beds and nice trees and everything. There was a, you know, just a real crisp scent to the air and it's just a pleasure to be alive on a day like that.

   Now, if you could put your mind's eye and go forth a few years and see that same setting in Wayne County after an atomic bomb has exploded, and it's nothing but one crater, all the green grass has been turned brown, all the trees have been burned up, the sheep and the cattle are long since gone, the people have been turned to rubble and their buildings with it. Don't you think you would have a tendency to want to mourn? Don't you wish that the people could believe the message of God and repent as a nation and be spared of that kind of a travesty that's going to come upon them?

   You know, Mr. DeRezio in his sermonette talked about the wars that have taken place in the Middle East over the last number of years. And you can tune on your television tonight and on the nightly news, I am sure you can see what's going on today in Lebanon. You will probably see pictures of Israeli bombers coming over the city of Beirut, striking the buildings, dropping bombs. You will see hand-to-hand combat in the city right there on TV footage that you can watch. You can watch them shooting up the place. You can watch people mourning over their dead. You can watch burned-out automobiles.

   That is going on right now. And you can pick so many places on the face of this earth that are without the truth of God and don't know the only thing that would save them, and there is suffering and war and starvation and hunger going on, on such a scale that none of us could even imagine it.

   Now, this is what Christ was talking about in Matthew chapter 5 when he said, "Blessed are they that mourn." In other words, they have the presence of mind to look out and to see the world and to see the people and to have enough compassion that it literally brings tears to their eyes to realize what is going to happen before the second coming of Christ is a fact.

   Go back in your Bible to one other scripture on this subject to the book of II Peter. And let's look at an example of a man who was one of our forefathers and his attitude because of the wretched society that he lived in. And God said that this man was righteous. And I think he called him righteous because of the attitude that he had that we're going to read about here. And we should ask ourselves if our attitude is the same.

   In the book of II Peter chapter 2, and let's start in verse 6, where it talks about God's wrath on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. II Peter 2, starting in verse 6 (I Peter 2:6-7): "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, he condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that afterwards should live ungodly." So if you want to know what the end result of an ungodly life is, you can look back at the example of Sodom and Gomorrah and that's where you were in.

   And then verse 7, "But God delivered just Lot," who was the nephew of Abraham, "who was vexed." And the word "vexed" means he was torn up inside. It grieved him. He was mournful, he was sorry, he was just all emotionally distraught. Why? He was "distraught with the filthy conduct of the wicked around him, for that righteous man dwelling among them and seeing and hearing what they did," of course, "it vexed his righteous soul from day to day with all of their unlawful deeds."

   In other words, Lot didn't laugh at the dirty joke. Lot didn't think it was a great thing to see people die. He didn't think it was a great thing to see all the sexual perversion that was going on around him. It tore him up inside. He wished he could change it. He wished he could do something for the people who wouldn't listen. He wished that they would change their way of life and be blessed and keep God's way instead of going the way that he knew was going to lead to destruction.

   And God said, because he had that kind of attitude, he was righteous. And maybe that gives you a little indication of what it means to mourn. It means a person who instead of being so tied down with his own physical problems and his own wants and desires, can have enough foresight to look at the society around him and mourn because of the destruction, because of the illness, because of the starvation, because of the ignorance, because of what people are doing to themselves because they don't know the truth of God.

   Now if a person has that kind of an attitude, God says the time is going to come when they shall be comforted. They shall be comforted. Now I don't know about you, and I've had many discussions with you, I think you feel exactly the same way I do. But I know after you've gone through a particularly trying day or trying week, you probably say, "God, would you please hurry up and bring your kingdom? You know, what's the use of continuing this? You know, one more frustration after another, one more bill to pay, one more illness to fight off." And especially do you think that way when you read some of the things that go on around you and you wonder why do people have to treat each other this way.

   Maybe you read the account of the man up in Cleveland who had an automobile accident and was trapped in his car, and a bystander came by ostensibly to help him. And he got the door of the man's car open and this man, you know, he's in agony and he's in pain and he's trapped in this car, and instead of taking the man out, the individual went to get his radio. And he couldn't get the radio out of the guy's car, so he went back to his car to get a bigger pry bar or something that would help him get the radio out, and about that time the police came.

   And the police asked the man what he's doing and he said, "Well, I'm going back to my car to get a bigger pry bar to help this poor man out of his car." And so the police left to get the rescue squad and the man came back with his bigger pry bar and slipped the car while the police were gone and took everything and left the man there to suffer.

   Now, this is what you get in society. You can read about that, open up your newspaper, listen to the evening news, you will hear about that kind of thing just night after night after night after night. It just doesn't stop. And you begin to realize why God prophesied that in the end time people were going to be without natural affection. They just wouldn't care. They would take and grab and do what they had to do and if they walk over somebody in the process, too bad. And it's just a sad world.

   But I would hope that our consciousness has not been so calloused that when we see these things happen, we can't mourn, we can't get a little bit broken up. We can't perhaps even have a tear come to our eyes and say, "God, please bring your kingdom to end this mess, you know, and to rescue these people and to give them a better way of life." That's what it means to mourn. And Christ said, "Blessed are they that mourn," for they are going to one day be comforted when it's all put to an end and God's government is set up.

   Now verse 5, another Beatitude. He said, "Blessed are the meek." Now if you ask someone for a definition of the word "meek," most people would give you a word that rhymes with meek, and they say if you're meek, that means you're weak. But on the contrary, meek does not mean weak.

   Let's go back in the book of Numbers. Numbers chapter 12. And we're going to read an incident about a man who was the meekest man on the face of the earth. And we're going to see what quality it is that this man had to have that definition given to him, and also a quality that we need to emulate as Christians.

   Numbers chapter 12 in the Old Testament. I think this is an account that most of you are familiar with, beginning in verse 1 (Numbers 12:1-12): "And Miriam and Aaron," who were the sister and brother of Moses, "spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married." And verse 2: "And they said, 'Has the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses?'" In other words, they were kind of chiding him, and they said, "Has he not spoken by us also?" In other words, "Moses, you're just taking too much on yourself. We ought to share in the leadership of the nation along with you. We're just as good as you are, Moses."

   Now, what was the reaction of Moses? Well, we're gonna get to that in a little bit. The Lord heard that. Now the man Moses, verse 3 said, "was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth." So Moses had a characteristic greater than any other human being that walked the face of the earth at that time, and it was the characteristic of meekness.

   Well, "The Lord spoke suddenly unto Moses and Aaron and Miriam and said, 'Come out, you three, unto the tabernacle.'" And so they came, and the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle and called them, and they both came forth, speaking of Aaron and Miriam.

   And he said, "Now you listen to me. If there be a prophet among you, I, the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and I will speak unto him in a dream. But my servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all my house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently and not in dark speeches, and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold. Wherefore then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?" In other words, what he's saying is, "Look, I have spoken to Moses face to face. Don't you think I can take care of my own business?"

   And the cloud departed from off the Tabernacle, and behold, Miriam became leprous, as white as snow. And Aaron looked upon Miriam and behold, she was leprous. Now apparently if Miriam was the ringleader in the thing because it didn't do anything to Aaron, so I guess he was not basically at fault.

   Now of course I think you're familiar with what leprosy is—it's a skin disease where quite literally your skin just rots. And that's what she had. And she was just a mess to look at. So Aaron said unto Moses, "Alas, my lord, I beseech you, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly and wherein we have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he comes out of his mother's womb."

   Now you know if Moses was a typical carnal human being, Moses could have said, "Well, it serves her right. Let's just let her stay that way for a while. Now maybe you and Miriam will know who's the boss around here and who God backs up, and I think she's got her just punishment for her big mouth."

   No, Moses didn't have quite that attitude. Moses said the following, he cried unto the Lord saying, "Heal her now, O God, I beseech you."

   Now, verse 13 is a key verse (Numbers 12:13), because I want to read to you the definition of the word "meekness" and you will see why Moses was the meekest man upon the face of the earth and you see if you have the same quality Moses had. Now the word "meek" does in one sense mean to be mild, to be gentle, and to be humble. It does have that connotation. But a far greater meaning for the word "meekness" is the following: It means someone who is able to endure injury or insult with patience and without resentment. Let me give that to you again: Someone who is able to endure injury and insult with patience and without resentment.

   Now, when someone insults you or harms you in some way, or takes advantage of you or gossips about you, or does you some harm, are you able to take it patiently and without resentment? Or do you hold a grudge and wait till you can get even, and you steam and you go around mad for days on end? Or are you able to do like Moses and with patience and without resentment, endure injury and insult?

   Because you see, obviously, Moses didn't hold it against Miriam and Aaron. He wasn't looking for revenge. He didn't want more problems on them. Obviously they had learned their lesson. He was very determined when he went to God and prayed, "Lord, heal her. Don't leave her like this." You know, he didn't want revenge on the poor woman.

   Well, God said to Moses, "If her father had spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days?" So let her be shut out from the camp for a week and then you can bring her back again and she'll be healed. So God didn't go quite along with Moses and heal her instantaneously—he let her sit outside the camp by herself for 7 days and then he healed her of the leprosy.

   But Moses had that quality of being able to endure insult and injury without resentment and to do it patiently. Brethren, I can make you an absolute promise: Before any of us get into God's kingdom, unless of course we die before the time comes, we're all going to be putting up with a lot of insults and a lot of injury. I can promise it to you because if you're going to be a converted member of this church, you can just read the prophecies that God has made about what we're going to go through and you will go through some insult and injury. Are you going to be able to take it patiently and without resentment? In other words, are you going to be able to be meek and have the characteristic that Christ said that "blessed are the meek," because if you can adopt that characteristic and that's your character, then he says of you, you shall inherit the earth. In other words, that's the promise that he makes to you.

   Alright, verse 6 (Matthew 5:6), another Beatitude: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness." So here's another individual that Christ goes on to describe—someone who is able to hunger and thirst after righteousness. Now to put this in a proper setting, I'd like you to go back to the last Day of Atonement. You remember it, don't you? The last Day of Atonement. Probably your stomach was growling. I know you must have gotten thirsty. You might have been fighting a very bad headache, you know, as the day wore on, you probably got grouchy.

   Now, the part I want you to zero in on is when you were sitting in that restaurant looking at your watch. I remember sitting in a restaurant in Wooster, Ohio. And I was sitting there with a group of other individuals and we had deliberately planned our reservations to get there about 10 minutes before sunset, because that way by the time the waitress took our order and brought out the bread and the water and the rest, they would be just about right on the button. Surely most of you were as carnal as I am, right? Right, OK, you know what I'm talking about then.

   All right, you're sitting there, you're thirsty, your mouth is dry, the ice water is sitting there. They brought out the fresh bread, the aroma is coming off of it because in this case it was still hot from the oven, the butter is there. And sunset comes. Do you know how good it tasted? Oh, do you know how good it tasted? Do you know how, oh, just how exquisite that cold water felt on my palate as it went down? Do you know how good that steak tasted when I took the first bite and chewed it and all the juices came out and just, oh, can you imagine the joy? Oh, I tell you it was, it was delight beyond words.

   Well, now you can experience that. You understand what I mean. All of you have gone through the same thing that have ever fasted. Food tastes so good when the fast ends. Well now Jesus Christ said, that "blessed are they which have the same desire, the same fervency to acquire righteousness." As I just described to you to acquire that drink of ice water or that steak or that hot bread. Because he said if a man can keep that kind of an attitude, if a human being diligently seeks after righteousness, just as I described, you would seek after a meal after you had fasted, then Christ guarantees you shall be filled.

   Let's notice a couple of scriptures. Turn in your Bibles back to the book of John chapter 7. John chapter 7. And we have an account here during the days of the Feast of Tabernacles—actually, the Last Great Day would be more precise. Starting in verse 37, and it says John 7:37: "That in the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood up in the midst and cried, saying, 'If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. Because he that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.'" For this spoke he of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Spirit was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified.

   Now Christ used an analogy here of someone drinking water when they were thirsty. And you know what the problem is about drinking physical water—it doesn't last. You've got to do it again and again and again. Because after I had that meal and drank that ice water and coffee and whatever else went with it, the next morning I woke up, was I still filled? Was I ever going to thirst again? You know the answer to that as well as I do. You're probably getting hungry right now. Right? Right! Your mind, you're probably wondering, "What is in your refrigerator at home? What is the wife gonna fix for lunch?" Or maybe you're saying to yourself, "He's made that steak sound so good. I don't think I'll make it home. I'm gonna stop at a restaurant on the way. We can't wait till we get home."

   But if you ate that steak around 1:30 or 2 this afternoon, what would you be feeling like at 8 or 9 o'clock tonight? You'd be hungry again. You'd need more steak. Something else to drink, and tomorrow morning, same thing, you'd want more.

   Now I'm gonna be invited over to somebody's house tomorrow that promised to fix a recipe that I just love—chicken and dumplings. You ever had chicken and dumplings? Oh, delicious, delicious. I imagine I will gorge myself until I can't put another bite in. And regret it! But it won't last, it won't last. Because tomorrow night, I'll be opening the refrigerator looking for something else.

   Wouldn't you like to come to a time when you didn't have to do that anymore? Well, there is of course a time coming, but you know, that's physical. What about spiritual? What about mental? Have you ever had the proverbial itch that you couldn't scratch mentally? You felt restless? Maybe you felt discouraged, you felt uptight, you felt pinned in, you felt like life is closing in on you. It's a struggle to keep up with this, that and something else.

   You know our minds need food as well. And Christ said, if you want some food that's going to last, he said if you want something that's going to keep and it's not going to end up just frustrating you, he said you've got to come and drink of the living waters. And the living waters were his spirit which comes because of our prayer, because of our study of God's word and our submission to that way of life. And when our minds are filled with God's spirit and our minds are totally attuned to him, then the hungry feeling ceases.

   And of course when we are made a part of God's kingdom, that mental restlessness, that mental hunger, if we can use the term, will be gone forever. So Christ said, blessed is the person who would hunger and thirst and yearn for righteousness, and all righteousness is—and I didn't go to the scripture, I think most of you have it memorized, Psalm 119:172—and that basically says that "all thy commandments are righteousness," and righteousness is merely God's word, his commandments, his laws, his ways, God in action, that is righteousness. And we as Christians should hunger and thirst after that way of life, because it's the only way of life that is going to satisfy in the long run. Any other physical pursuit is just going to leave you empty and searching for more.

   Alright, going down to the next of the Beatitudes, he says in verse 7 (Matthew 5:7), "Blessed are the merciful." Now, the word "mercy," I don't think is a hard word to define. It means someone who's able to show compassion, someone who relieves distress, someone who does not exact the full penalty that is due. In other words, if you're merciful to someone, you don't require that they pay for perhaps all the damage that they did to you, or you don't try to go looking for revenge. You're willing to forgive and forget and let it go.

   Turn in your Bibles back to the book of Proverbs chapter 14. Proverbs chapter 14. And there's again another promise about mercy that's made back here. I'd like you to notice. Proverbs 14. And verse 21. Proverbs 14:21 says the following: "He that despises his neighbor sins, but he that has mercy on the poor, happy is he."

   Now I'd like you to notice here where it says the word "poor." The word "poor" does not just mean somebody who doesn't have physical goods. It means anybody who has a need. They could have a need physically, they could be in need of encouragement, they could be in need of somebody to talk to, they could be in need of anything that would cause them to be poor either in mind, body, spirit, whatever the connotation would be.

   Now, when you see somebody that has a need—and I don't again just mean physically, I mean somebody that looks like they could use a lift, somebody that might use a little help, maybe some shut-in that could use their house cleaned, perhaps some widow that needs her garden planted, and then you could be of service, maybe somebody that needs a ride to church. I mean we could go on and name countless thousands of examples that we could bring up. Do you look at that individual and consider their need and want to try to relieve their distress? Or do you just go right on your merry way and let them find whatever way they can to help themselves out? Do you leave it to somebody else, or as the Bible says, do you have mercy?

   Well, Christ says if you're willing to relieve distress and to help other individuals, even though you don't owe it to them, even though you're not being paid for it, and perhaps it's not even expected of you, but if you've got the kind of an attitude where you want to relieve distress and help other people, then God says when it comes time for you to need some help, you're going to obtain mercy, the latter part of verse 7.

   Now to make that part a little clearer, turn in your Bibles back to Psalm 41. Psalm 41. And let's see God's attitude about those that would help out. Psalm 41 verses 1 through 3 (Psalm 41:1-3): "Blessed is he that considers the poor, the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. The Lord will preserve him and keep him alive, and he shall be blessed upon the earth, and you will not deliver him into the will of his enemies. The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing, and you will make all his bed in sickness."

   Now that's what David recorded that God promised to those that considered the poor, those in need, that had mercy on other human beings. Now if your prayers aren't being answered, if you're not being blessed, if God doesn't raise you up off your sick bed, then ask yourself the question: How much do I show mercy to other people and help them out in their time of need? Because if I won't do it for other people, then that may be one of the main reasons why God won't do it for me. So think about that. It may be an answer to some of your questions of why your prayers are not answered any more quickly than they are.

   All right, to verse 8 (Matthew 5:8): There are a couple of three more here that I want to get to rather quickly. Verse 8, he said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." The pure in heart. What does it mean to be pure in heart? Well, if I can put it in a way that probably would be modern day English that we could all understand, it means blessed is a person who doesn't have a guilty conscience.

   Now, we also have to clarify that by saying that their conscience has been educated according to God's will, because I'm sure there are a lot of people who do a lot of wrong things and don't have a guilty conscience because their conscience was never educated properly in the first place. I think there are probably a lot of people in our society who believe that God made human beings basically good and we all have this good nature in us, and that any individual's conscience would hurt if he does anything that is wrong. But that's not the case.

   We were all made neutral. We weren't either good or bad, but we have all been shaped by the society and system around us. And as our conscience was shaped, that's what we're going to feel guilty about. In other words, if for example, our parents lied, our friends lied, and everybody else around us lied, then for us to tell a lie would probably not cause our conscience to feel guilty at all. We would say that's just everyday human way of doing things. But if somebody told you that was wrong and that's the way you've been educated, then you would probably...

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   So to be pure in heart means that you are without worry, you're without fear. You're a person who is doing what you know to do and you're free for God and toward your fellow man. You're not being racked by guilt feelings because you're not doing this right or that right or something else right. You can have a clear conscience and a free mind. That's what it means to be pure in heart.

   One scripture, back in the book of I John. I John chapter 3. And this is a scripture where Christ is bringing out the reward for those that are going to be in his family. I John chapter 3, starting in verse 1 (I John 3:1-3): "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore, the world knows us not because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he, Christ shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see him as he is."

   Now verse 3: "And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself even as he, Christ is pure." In other words, if you have the hope of becoming one day a member of God's family, then you should be working on purifying yourself, making your conscience totally attuned to God and having it guilt-free. In other words, doing what God would want you to do in every circumstance and not going around wondering when the ax is going to fall because you know you're not living as God would want you to live. So again, blessed are the pure in heart because they shall see God. And of course we're going to see him literally when he comes, but also we're going to be in his family and see him as he is and become God as well.

   Now verse 9, we're getting down to the last two, which are, I think the hardest two to keep in a lot of ways. Verse 9 says (Matthew 5:9), "Blessed are the peacemakers." Now I'm gonna ask you what will sound like a stupid question, but I'm gonna ask it anyway. How easy is it for you to cause trouble? I mean if you wanted to start trouble, how easy would it be for you to do it?

   I mean, what would happen if you walked up to somebody and just, you know, gave them a good poke in the nose? You think you'd have trouble on your hands? Want somebody—how would they react if you just ticked a man out on the street out there, particularly one that was bigger than you, tap him on the shoulder: "Hey buddy," and then reel off every dirty name you could think of and call him that. What reaction do you think you'd get? What reaction do you think you'd get if you came up to an intersection where there was a police car parked and ran the red light? And then thumbed your nose at him as you went by.

   Now I give you these examples for a purpose. And that is that it is very easy to cause a war. I mean, you don't have to do anything to cause trouble. You want to cause trouble, just look at somebody the wrong way and you can cause trouble. You don't even have to say anything or do anything, just have a bad look on your face, and you've already caused trouble.

   Now, spread a little gossip and you can cause some more trouble. Call somebody some names, you got more trouble. Pick a fight, you got more trouble. You want more trouble? Well, again, I don't know why I'm taking the time. You're here to learn how to do the right, not for me to give you ideas how to cause trouble. But the point is, as human beings, it is easy to cause trouble. To promote war.

   I mean, look at the Middle East. Back and forth, one war after another continually, but that's just one spot. The Falkland Islands and Africa and we can just name place after place after place. It is so easy to cause a war with other human beings, you don't even have to try. As a matter of fact, you've got to step lightly to stay out of it. I mean, you really do.

   And that's what Christ is bringing out. Because this world, it just, people are so sensitive and I think so inferior and so protective of themselves, and there's so much war and trouble and discouragement and problems and anger going on. Christ said, "Blessed is that person who is a peacemaker." Someone who instead of promoting a war will do everything he can do to keep the peace. In other words, he will go to an individual who maybe he has heard has something against him. He will sit down and try and bend over backwards to clarify whatever the problem may be. When maybe he sees two other people that are about ready to get into it or having heated words, he will try to act as a mediator and do what he can to keep somebody else from causing problems.

   Turn back to Romans chapter 12 and verse 18. And let's add a little bit more to this about being a peacemaker. Romans chapter 12 and verse 18. And again another commission that you and I have been given. Romans 12:18 says that "If it be possible"—and I think that gives you the definite understanding that it's not always going to be possible—but "if it is, if you can possibly do it, as much as lies in you, whatever control you have and whatever situation you come across, live peaceably with all men." That's the command, to live peaceably with all men as much as you possibly can do it.

   Now again there are going to come circumstances where the best efforts are still not gonna work. Somebody's still gonna go away mad. They're still gonna have a chip on their shoulder. They refuse to make peace with you. And in those circumstances, I guess there's just not much you can do about it. But if you possibly can live peaceably with all men, why?

   Well, let's face it, you know, isn't it a lot better to be around people with smiles on their face, having a nice conversation, enjoying some good food or a good activity together? Is it any fun to be around an old sorehead who's mad at the world, who drags everybody else down, who has not a kind word to say about anybody? Who wants to be around somebody that's negative, that's down in the dumps, that's mean, that's surly, that's always causing a problem? Nobody wants to be around that kind of an individual.

   Uh, I mean, how often do you go out of your way to fellowship with people that you know are gonna make you mad and miserable? I don't think you go very far out of your way to do that, do you? But think of the times, and whenever I talk about this subject, it always reminds me of the Feast of Tabernacles. Think of the times that you have sat down with other brethren in God's church over a nice meal, a fine conversation, and literally sat there for hours, soaking it all in, enjoying the fellowship, and you were at peace. That's beautiful.

   How would you like to do that forever and never have to worry about war, hurt feelings, fighting, arguments again? I wish it would happen. I really do. I wish it would come today. Take whatever I've got, bring it today. Peace. And I think a lot of people, I guess the older you get, you just want peace. Just give me some quiet, some peace, you know, please. That's all I want is peace, especially if you've got kids, you know what I mean? Just give me some peace, you know.

   Warfare is easy. Peace is very hard, but God says to you and me, "Blessed are you if you're a peacemaker, blessed are you." Because if you're a peacemaker, you shall be called the children of God. That is the true nature of God.

   One last Beatitude. One last Beatitude contained in the last couple of verses here, 3 verses. And this one you have to stretch your imagination to wonder how in the world can you possibly be blessed for this. Verse 10 (Matthew 5:10-12): "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake." You like to be persecuted for righteousness' sake? I never found it pleasant. I didn't like to be laughed at because I kept the Sabbath, called a fool because I tithed, ridiculed because I wouldn't eat pork. Had teachers yell at me because I took my kids out for the Feast of Tabernacles. Who likes that? That's blessed? I could do without those kind of blessings, that's the way I look at it.

   "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." But going on, verse 11: "Blessed are you when men shall revile you, persecute you, say all manner of evil against you falsely for my name's sake." And verse 12, he said, "Rejoice and be exceeding glad." Uh, I'm afraid I'm not measuring up to what a true Christian ought to measure up to. Because he said, "Great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."

   Now if you're gonna have that kind of an attitude contained in verses 10, 11, and 12, I'll tell you, you've got to have some vision. You've got to be willing to look past this current physical life to the kingdom of God and not regard anything that happens right now as being worth much. Because otherwise, when you're reviled and you're persecuted and people speak evil against you falsely for my name's sake, you're gonna have an awful hard time rejoicing if you're only looking at the now. But if you can look at what's coming, the kingdom of God, when all this is going to be made right and you can be a part of God's family, that's the only way that you can feel like you're blessed when you're persecuted and reviled.

   But one final scripture I'd like you to turn to is back in the book of I Peter. Because let's make sure we're being persecuted for righteousness' sake, and not for our sins. Because there's not much of a blessing that's going to come if you're persecuted for what you're doing when, you know, really what you're doing is wrong. I Peter chapter 2, verse 19. I Peter 2 and verse 19 (I Peter 2:19-25). He said, "For this is thankworthy," or worthy of praise, "if a man for conscience toward God," in other words, because he wants to do the will of God, "endures grief, suffering wrongfully." See that's worthy of thanks. God will praise you for that.

   But verse 20: "But what glory is it if, when you are buffeted or persecuted for your faults, you take it patiently?" In other words, if you merely had people make fun of you and ridicule and everything else because you did the wrong thing, you're not gonna get any glory for that. You're probably just getting what's due to you.

   "But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God." Now you want to know to what degree you've got to endure suffering? Let's read on. "For even hereunto were you called." This is why you're sitting here today in this room, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps.

   Now how much did he have to go through? Well, let's read on. "Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, he didn't revile again. And when he suffered, he didn't threaten, but he committed himself to him that judges righteously, who his own self bore our sins in his body on the tree," that's what they did to him, "that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes you were healed," the beating that he had to take, "for you were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd and the overseer of your souls" or your life.

   So that's the degree to which God expects you to take persecution for righteousness' sake. Even if you have to die for it like Christ did, because that's the very reason you were called.

   So the Beatitudes, a very obvious section of Scripture, but I think as I get to the end of this sermon, you can see a very tough section of Scripture to live up to. But let's review them again. Because remember, fortunate, blessed, well off are you going to be if you can do the following: If you can be poor in spirit, in other words, the proper outlook in your mind towards yourself and to God; if you can mourn, in other words, you're upset by what you see around you and long for the time when it's going to be better; if you can, as it says, be meek or in other words, be willing to endure injury or insult with patience and without resentment; if you can hunger and thirst for God's way like you would when you were hungry for a meal; if you can relieve distress or be merciful as it says in verse 7; if you can have a clear conscience that's properly educated, as in verse 8; if you can be a peacemaker and do all you can to promote it; and if when you're persecuted, you can take it and you can look to the end, then you're truly going to be the kind of a son that God will welcome into his family.

   So brethren, let's be, yes, willing to learn the little things about the Bible. Let's certainly be excited about looking into the nooks and crannies, but let's also not neglect the obvious and realize what we have gone over today is the very heart and soul of Christianity.