Identifying Believers, Part 2

Transcript

GRM 1027
4/26/2009
Identifying Believers, Part 2
Matthew 5:7-9
Gil Rugh

We're looking into the Sermon on the Mount together, we've been looking at the beatitudes so turn in your Bibles to Matthew 5. Important when we come to a section like the beatitudes, like the Sermon on the Mount and really like anything in the gospels that we are careful to handle things hermeneutically correct, with the right principles of interpretation, putting it in its context. We've heard things from the Sermon on the Mount that are often pulled out of and quoted in ways that have nothing to do with what that passage meant. For example, blessed are the poor in spirit, we have people talking about a ministry to the poor which has nothing to do with what He is talking about. Blessed are the peacemakers as though we should be opposing war and doing what we can to bring an end to war, armaments and the build-up of armaments. It has nothing to do with what we are talking about in the Sermon on the Mount. We have to be careful that we use the scriptures properly and have a proper understanding. Paul wrote to Timothy and told him, be diligent to show yourself approved unto God. What does that require? Being a workman that handles accurately the Word of truth.

When we get into the Sermon on the Mount, it covers three chapters of our Bibles—Matthew 5-7. Jesus is really dealing with matters related to His coming earthly kingdom. We noted in chapter 4 verse 17, from that time Jesus began to preach and say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Down in verse 23, He was proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. Now we go back to the Old Testament and we find out what the kingdom is. We noted there the time when God promised that His Son would rule and reign on the earth, it would be a time of perfect peace and prosperity. Jerusalem would be the capital of the world, the Jews would be the central nation on earth. That's the kingdom that He is talking about. We want to be careful that we just don't change things now as though there were no Old Testament background. Jesus is talking about the kingdom that He as the Messiah came to earth to offer to the nation Israel. They will reject it, but at this point in time He is coming proclaiming the kingdom is at hand, the king is here, the Messiah is here. If you will believe in Him, turn from your sin, repent you will be saved. The king will establish a kingdom.

So what He is saying when we come into chapters 5-7, He is setting out some of the matters relating to His kingdom. He is really describing those who will be part of the kingdom when it is established. And this is in contrast to the belief of the religious people of the time. When we talk about religious people, we're talking about the Jews and the Jewish leadership, Pharisees, scribes, Saducees, key religious groups that were the leadership of the nation Israel. And He tells them down in chapter 5 verse 20, I say to you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. That's the issue. The scribes and Pharisees, they thought by keeping the law they were assured of being in the kingdom when the Messiah established it. Jesus said, you need greater righteousness than they have. We mentioned Nicodemus in John 3. He was a teacher and Israel and yet Jesus said to him, unless you are born again you will never see the kingdom, you won't be part of it.

So we have in Matthew 5-7 a description of those who would be part of the kingdom and by contrast those who will not be part of it. Be careful here. He is not describing Millennial conditions, He is not describing the conditions that will exist when the kingdom is established on earth. He is describing those who will be part of that kingdom. Some of the things He says here will be true in the kingdom but they are true as He draws a contrast between those going into the kingdom and those who are not.

The beatitudes start this sermon as it is usually called, the Sermon on the Mount because Jesus is on a mountain when He gave it, the side of a mountain, or a hill as we might look at it. The blesseds, the blessedness, they are descriptive. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom in heaven. You'll note it describes what they are and show what they will receive. They are the poor in spirit. He's not telling them how to become poor in spirit, he is describing what they are. And those who are poor in spirit will go into the kingdom when the Messiah establishes it. The poor in spirit here refers to their spiritual poverty, they've realized their spiritual condition, they have realized their unworthiness, they realize that their forgiveness is a result of the grace of God in their lives.

Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are those who mourn, that's their present condition, they will at a future time be comforted when the kingdom is established. They grieve not only over their own sin but over the sin of the nation Israel in its decadent condition. Blessed are the gentle, the humble, the meek; they shall inherit the earth. What do you mean they inherit the earth? They'll enter into the kingdom which will be Christ reigning over the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied. That deep longing for God and passion for Him and His righteousness and the desire not only to see His righteousness permeate my character in every way, but to see it permeate His people, Israel, and permeate the world. They will be satisfied, that hunger and passion for righteousness will reach its fullness when the kingdom is established and they are part of it.

Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. We left off at this point. Again remember He is describing those who are going into the kingdom. He's not telling what you must do to get into the kingdom, particularly. He is describing the character of those who will enter the kingdom when He will establish it. And in doing so He is showing that they have a righteousness that is different than the righteousness of the religious leaders of the day. It is a righteousness of character that results in action, not superficial actions without any transformation of character. Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. The believer, one who has placed his faith in God and the revelation He has given, placed his faith in Jesus the Messiah of Israel, now the One who has been crucified and raised from the dead. We have received the mercy of God and so we are merciful. Those who have genuinely received God's mercy respond by showing God's mercy, if you will.

Turn over to Matthew 18. Jesus is going to give a parable that elaborates on this point. You'll note how the chapter begins. The disciples came to Jesus and said, who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. He called a child to Himself, set him before them and said, truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child is the greatest in the kingdom, and so on. You see the issue is what about the kingdom? What is it going to be like in the kingdom? Will I be great in the kingdom? Jesus said, first let's settle who is going into the kingdom. We're back to the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are gently, the humble.

He goes on, down in verses 15-20 He talks about sin and the correction of sin in what we call the passage on the pattern of church discipline. Coming to verse 21, then Peter came to Him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Jesus has just talked about sin, Peter wants to know what about someone who sins against me. How often should I forgive them? You read the context, it fits, and a good question. If we're honest we've all come to the point where we've said, enough is enough. I just can't forgive them one more time. You talk to people that said, I can't help it, I'm at the end, I''m at my limit, I can't forgive again. Peter says, should I forgive them seven times? I mean, that's going out on a limb. Somebody seriously sins against you, they come and say, I'm really sorry, I was wrong, please forgive me. You say, sure. They turn around and do it again, they come back and say, please forgive me, I was wrong. You say, all right, I forgive it. They do it the third time, then the fourth time. You say, there has to be an end to this. This time, the sixth time, the seventh time. You say, I'm not doing this anymore, I'm done, I just can't forgive him. Seems like Peter has really put himself out there, seven times.

Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times but up to seventy times seven. Now I don't think Jesus is saying you need a larger record book. Get a ledger and when you get to 490 you draw a line. The point is there is no limit. And He's going to illustrate that point, He picks up on Peter's point. Would seven times be it? No, seventy times seven, Peter. In other words, we're not keeping track.

For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king. Now we're going to talk about matters related to the kingdom, related to going into the kingdom, related to being excluded from the kingdom, what is required of those who will go into the kingdom. May be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he had begun to settle them one who owed him 10,000 talents was brought to him. Now a talent, I believe it took 6,000 denari to make one talent. A denari was an average wage for a working man. So the margin of my Bible has more than fifteen years' wages of a laborer. For one talent you would have to work almost sixteen years. Now this man owes him thousands of talents, the Bible says 10,000 talents. It literally says thousands of talents. I mean, if it takes you sixteen years for one talent and you owe thousands of talents you get the point. Multiple lifetimes wouldn't be enough for you to pay back this debt. Since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold along with his wife, children and all that he had and repayment to be made. I mean, I'm never going to get my money but I'm going to get something and a little bit of vengeance in it, too.
The slave fell to the ground, prostrated himself before him saying, have patience with me, I will repay you everything. The lord of that slave felt compassion, released him, forgave him the debt. One writer said this is over $1 billion in our money today. And it is forgiven.

That slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denari, 100 days' work. Nothing compared to the debt he has just been forgiven. That's the contrast here. He began to choke him saying, pay back what you owe. So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him saying, have patience with me, I will repay you. But he was unwilling. He went and threw him into prison until he could pay back all that was owed. So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. Then summoning him his lord said to him, you wicked slave. I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave in the same way that I had mercy on you? And his lord moved with anger handed him over to the torturers until he should pay all that was owed him.

My heavenly Father will also do the same to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart. There's the application of it, verse 35. The point in verse 33 is should you not have had mercy, the same way I had mercy. So verse 35, may Father will do the same to you. What is the point? Be careful, we try to make something out of every detail. He's illustrating one point here. If you have received mercy from God, you must show mercy to others. Now note, you don't show mercy to God in order to receive mercy from God. You show mercy because you have received mercy. Be careful, people turn it around and think they are going to earn favor with God by showing mercy. You can't earn favor with God like that. But those who have received mercy from God now must show mercy. He's not saying you can lose your salvation if you don't show mercy. The whole point here is a person who has been forgiven such a large debt is shown such great mercy and would be required to show mercy. If you don't show that mercy then you don't receive that mercy _______________.

The point is those who have genuinely understood ................ That's why we started in these beatitudes with blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek or the humble or the gentle. I have to realize what God has done for me, my sin. Shall I forgive someone who sins against me seven times or seventy times seven? What has God forgiven me? I mean, note how God sees it. We have sinned against Him innumerable times, there is no way to measure it. Now I'm going to keep a ledger as though ............ I have rights, I mean, you just can't expect me to keep forgiving this person. I can't forgive them anymore. Sometimes when a person has come to me and said this, I can't forgive them again, I say, let's stop. First, are you a believer in Jesus Christ, do you know that you have trusted Him as your Savior, that you with the multitude of your sins and sinfulness have sinned against a holy God and He has forgiven you. Do you know that has happened? Yes, I'm sure. Well then don't lie. It's not that you can't forgive again, it's that you don't want to. We have to clarify things, don't we? Well you don't know how many times I've forgiven them. I don't, but do I need to know? No. Am I minimizing the offenses? When I talk about God's great mercy to me, am I minimizing my offenses? No, that's why true believers are characterized as those who are poor in spirit. We know we are nothing but sinners saved by grace, not works. How often have I sinned against God? I can't keep track, I can't keep track of one day's offenses. But you know I'm so righteous that I have a right not to forgive someone else. You understand how God has measured this—you don't forgive anything compared to what I have forgiven you. That's the comparison, that's what He is talking about. Blessed are the merciful. They shall receive mercy. It's an ongoing thing, there is future mercy for me. I'll be part of that kingdom in a world ruled by righteousness, receiving the ongoing mercy of God through eternity and an eternal kingdom. Blessed are the merciful, they shall receive mercy.

Turn over to Ephesians 4. This is foundational to what we are told in other parts of scripture. The context here, he's talking about the transformation God has brought about in our lives. The chapter opened up with we are to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which we have been called. What does that involve? With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And so on. Verse 17, we are to walk no longer just as the Gentiles walk in the futility, emptiness, of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them. The hardness of their heart, they have become calloused, given themselves over to sensuality, the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you didn't learn Christ in this way.

Come down to verse 30, do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption, that ultimate anticipation again. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ has forgiven you. Those words mercy and forgiveness are used interchangeably. We saw that in Matthew 18. I have mercy on you, you should have forgiven your fellow slave. _______ _________ forgiveness so we're not holding grudges, we're not refusing forgiveness. That doesn't do away with things like discipline and church discipline as we would refer to it in Matthew 18 that just preceded that parable on forgiveness. But a person repents, they are forgiven. Doesn't matter if this is the third or the thirtieth or the three hundredth or the three thousandth time they've been forgiven. I'm not keeping a record. I know it is probably going to be hard to forgive me again. Why?

I received a letter this week and the person said, I know you are going to have a hard time getting over this but I want to tell you I'm sorry. That shouldn't be the case. Why should I have a hard time getting over something? What have you done? I mean, you don't understand, for what I've been forgiven, I forgive on the basis of comparison to what others have .........? No, what God has done.

Turn over to Colossians 3. He is drawing the contrast here between unregenerate people and regenerate people and the life and conduct of those who have not been saved and those who are. We are those, verse 9, who have laid aside the old self, the old man, with its evil practices and have put on the new self. It's being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him. You see what's happening? According to the image of the One who created him, made us new in Christ. Remember the master who was very forgiving, had great mercy. The slave should have manifested his character as he had received his mercy. So here we are being renewed according to the image of the One who created us, made us new or like Him.

So you come down to verse 12, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another, forgiving each other. Whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. That's the standard, the measure. Have I ever forgiven anyone nearly as much as the Lord has forgiven me? No. Then what's the problem here? Someone who offends you a dozen times a day every, have you forgiven them as much as the Lord has forgiven you? No. So then it's a matter of I manifest the Lord's character. We're talking about something supernatural here, not natural. We think we have a right to draw a line. Then I find out the Lord didn't draw a line on me, otherwise I could have never been saved. What if He had said, I forgive you for ten thousand offenses against Me, Gil, but you are still 400 trillion in debt. Doesn't help me a bit, right? We minimize our sin and guilt, how we have offended a holy God and sinned against Him. If we're not careful we become self-righteous. That's not a characteristic of one who has truly experienced God's redeeming grace.

Come back to the beatitudes. Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. A foundational issue. You know what the Pharisees and Saducees were looking for? A good looking life. They were moralists like many who profess to be believers are today. We try to impress moralism on society. You know Jesus has told them in verse 20, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you'll never see the kingdom. Well the scribes and Pharisees, they were pretty good people when you compared them to the average pagan Roman. They believed in marriage, the didn't run around to all the sexual excesses and deviations that were practiced by the pagans, the Gentiles. But they didn't have enough righteousness. You know what Christ said their problem was? They are like whitewashed tombs—they look nice and clean on the outside and on the inside they are full of dead men's bones. You know why? The blessing is on the pure in heart.

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Who is going to see God? Those who are in the kingdom. You know in the kingdom the throne of God ultimately will reside on earth. We'll see in the book of Revelation, and we'll see more as we progress further in our study, Father, Son and Holy Spirit will be seen in the kingdom. They shall see God, the pure in heart.

There is a problem. Come back to Jeremiah 17. This is not new material, it is just portions of what God has already said that the Jews were choosing to overlook now, ignore, minimize. Here is what Jeremiah said, there is a reason he is called the weeping prophet, the reason he had to say the Word of God has resulted derision for me every day all day. What did he have to say? Verse 9, the heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick. Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the result of his deeds. Works are judged, but they are judged in the context of coming out of hearts and minds that are corrupted, deceitful. You don't have any idea how vile and wicked your heart is. The heart is used hundreds of times, over 900 times I believe, usually not used of the physical organ of the heart but your inner person, what you are at the root of your being. You know what God says? I search the heart. And you know what it is? It is desperately sick, it is more deceitful than all else. You can't possibly understand how vile and corrupted your own heart is. I the Lord search the heart, I know, you don't even know. That's the scary thing about sin. Some people start on a path of sin and the say, I know when to stop, I'd never go there. You don't understand the potential you have. You ought to fear sin because once you start to indulge you don't know where you will end up. I know I could never do that, so we get self-righteous and we look at people doing certain things and we say, I would never do that, that's disgusting. You're right, it is disgusting, it's not true you couldn't do it. You don't know how vile your heart is, I don't know how vile my heart is, I don't want to know. I mean, you plumb its depths and you find out there is no bottom here. That's how sinful we are. That's the problem.

Blessed are the pure in heart, but where do you get a pure heart? Back up to Psalm 24. It starts out, the earth is the Lord's and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it. He has founded it upon the seas, established it upon the rivers. Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, has not sworn deceitfully. You see what God requires? Clean hands and a pure heart, he who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood nor sworn deceitfully. You know it's both the inside and the outside. God changes the inside so the outside would be different. Religious people think if you change the outside you really have accomplished something. And the more you change the outside, the more acceptable you'll be to God. That's the travesty of people who claim to be believers out trying to reform the world, implying if they stop sexual sins of all kinds that will be more pleasing to God. Sin is an offense to God but you understand when you clean up the outside you haven't touched the inside. God requires a pure heart.

Look at Psalm 51. The psalmist prays in verse 10, create in me a clean heart, oh God. Only God can provide a clean heart, cleanse on the inside. You can get baptized but all that does is get your body wet. You can take communion but all that does is put some food into your mouth that is going to pass through your stomach and out. You can do all kinds of things, call them sacraments, call them whatever you will, you can't change the heart.

Turn to Matthew 12:33, either make the tree good and its fruit good or make the tree bad and its fruit bad. For the tree is known by its fruit. You see the point, an apple tree produces apples, an orange tree produces oranges, a chokecherry tree produces chokecherries. A tree is known by its fruit. So what are you doing? Jesus is rebuking again the religious people of His day because they are trying to mix something, a bad tree with good fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you being evil speak what is good? Now note this, for the mouth out of that which fills the heart speaks. It speaks out of that which fills the heart. It's from the inside, the heart, the center of your being that your words come from. So the good man brings out of his good treasure what is good, the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. I tell you every careless word, useless word that people speak they'll give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, by your words you will be condemned. See you are judged by works, right? Right. Why? Because your words as well as your works come from inside.

You know you watch crime TV these days, a detective solving a crime or watch the news and somebody has committed a horrific crime and they say, it's so unlike him. We don't know how he could do that. Go to the Bible and you find out how he could do it. When you are whitewashed tomb you just have dead men's bones on the inside. You've cleaned up the outside and people say, he looks so nice, he's such a good person. You understand you haven't changed anything on the inside.

Turn over to Matthew 15. Here He is rebuking the Pharisees and scribes again. Keep in mind, these are the people who prided themselves in doing all they could to conform themselves to the Mosaic Law. And not only the Mosaic Law, but all the laws they had added to the Mosaic Law. And when you summarize it Jesus said that they transgress, verse 3, the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition. That's the description of religious people today. They go against the Word of God, they will die for their religious traditions. You want to offend them, open the Word of God, shed the Word of God's light on their religious traditions, their family heritage, and you'll find out you have an enemy. Verse 8, this people honors Me with their lips but their heart is far away from Me. In vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. Verse 11, it is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth. This defiles the man.

Like some of you I read diet books from time to time. I've read all kinds. You know I don't mind reading books on what you should eat, not eat, whatever. But don't tell me that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and by eating that I will defile it. When I was a young person smoking was the big thing and I remember being told, you don't want to smoke because you don't want to fill the temple of the Lord with smoke. Do you think that honors the Lord? Well I didn't know enough about the Bible to respond to that, but I didn't smoke and I am not promoting smoking. It doesn't matter what you eat as far as your spiritual condition. Now I'm not saying that means you ought to eat everything. It's not a spiritual issue. It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man. How can Christians get confused on this and we have diet books supposedly based on scriptural principles. It's not what you put into the mouth that defiles you. Now there may be other reasons, but they are not spiritual reasons for eating this or not eating that. I mean, it's what proceeds out of the mouth that defiles a man.

You know what the disciples came and said to Him, verse 12? Do you not know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement? Religious people are always offended when you tell them their good works don't help them spiritually. I mean, the Pharisees had strict laws on what you eat and how you ate it, and be sure you wash your hands before you eat. You know what Jesus said? You can't defile yourself by not washing your hands before you eat. Do I think it's a good idea to wash your hands before you eat? Yes. Is it sanitary? Yes. Is it hygenic? Yes. Is it spiritual? No. We shouldn't blend the two. It's not what goes in the mouth that defiles the man. The Pharisees were offended. Are people not offended? Try it, I keep exhorting you to do this, not because I want anybody to find Indian Hills offensive. But after church, you go out and eat, there may be somebody who came from a religious meeting. Talk to them, find out if they think their works are going to get them to heaven. You say no, the Word of God says your works won't get you to heaven. You will find out. Did you not know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this? People who are depending on their works to get them to heaven are very offended when they are told their works can't get them to heaven.

What are these people? They are blind leaders of the blind, verse 14. Come to verse 15, Peter said, explain the parable to us. We all love Peter. If I had been there I would have said, I wish somebody would ask Him to explain that. I'm not going to be the one to open my mouth. But Peter never lacked a reason to open his mouth. Jesus said to him, are you still lacking in understanding also? Peter you should know this by now. Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated. We know the basic process, right? You put it in the mouth, it goes into the stomach and it goes into the latrine, literally, as you have in your margin. That's it. So what's the confusion here? How can you defile yourself spiritually? By eating a certain kind of food. The things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, slander. These are the things that defile the man. To eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man. This is a “biggy” for the Pharisees and scribes. You have to wash your hands or you will be defiled and then you'll be spiritually defiled because you didn't wash your hands. I mean, that's just not so. We know that, right? We practice that, right? Sometimes. We want to be clear. It's what comes out of the heart that defiles a man. Until you've dealt with the heart you haven't dealt with anything. A person who is sexually faithful to their partner who has not believed in Christ and had their heart cleansed is on their way to hell. The person who is immoral six times a day, five days a week is on his way to hell. Moralism does not save a person, it is repulsive to God. Sin is an offense against God. We're not saying, you might as well sin. But Jesus did say, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die. You can't clean up your life, you can't make yourself acceptable to God. Only He can cleanse a heart. When a heart is cleansed then out of the heart new things come, new behaviors come.

Verse 19, why do people have evil thoughts? Because they have evil hearts. Why do they commit murders? Because they are sinners at heart. Why do they commit adultery? They are sinners at heart. Why do they commit fornication? They are sinners at heart. Why do they steal, why do they ........? Sinners at heart, sinners at heart, sinners at heart. Believers ought to stay out of the social movements, the political movements, the moral movements. It's as though we are saying, clean up our society; we can't expect God's blessings unless you stop that behavior. It's as though stopping certain behavior would make us acceptable to God. I mean, sin is an offense to God, sin is a blot on any nation. Doesn't apply to people, you can make yourself to acceptable to God. We're back to being the Pharisees and scribes, committing their error again and again and again. I want to tell a person, they say they are trying to clean up their life, I want to stop drinking, I want to stop being immoral, I want to be faithful to my wife. They are all good things, but when you have done all that you still will not be acceptable to God. You will still be on the same road, a road that ends in hell, you will still be the enemy of God. It may make your life more pleasant, may make it more pleasant for those around you, but you understand that will not improve your relationship with God at all. We don't want to give people a misunderstanding. This is what Jesus is addressing.

Blessed are the pure in heart. One more passage, I Peter 1:22, what does Peter say? Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart. For you have been born again. You see, sames things that Jesus talked about. Nicodemus, you have to be born again, born from above, same point. Born a second time as Nicodemus understood it. And when you are you have a purified heart. So you obey the truth by believing, you are born again by the living and abiding Word of God. This is the word which was preached to you, as the chapter ends. Believing the truth causes you to be born again by the grace of God. That purifies your souls. To continue to live the way I always lived? No, now to have a genuine love of the brethren. So this ought to be the pattern of your life. Fervently love one another from the heart because your heart has been cleansed, it has been made new by the living and abiding Word of God.

So conduct and character are inseparably joined together in scripture. They don't say, you can't see my heart. No, I can't. But I can see the results of what is in your heart. We like to excuse our sin as though it is an aberration. I'm not saying Christians can't sin, but those who have been truly saved are made new and different. Make the tree good and the fruit good, or the tree bad and the fruit bad. Don't try to be running around hanging oranges on chokecherry trees. You haven't done anything, you are trying to deceive people. Look at the oranges. It's false, it's a whitewashed tomb, it's not genuine.

Come back to Matthew 5. Blessed are the peacemakers. You know I think the two most misused beatitudes are blessed are the poor as Luke has it, or blessed are the poor in spirit as we have it here in Matthew, a supposed foundation for God has special love for the poor so we ought to be working with the poor so we can make them rich. Then they can be like the camel who can't get through the eye of the needle and we wonder what we've done. And then this one, blessed are the peacemakers. You see peace demonstrations, let's stop the armament build-up, we don't want to be at war here or there. And you see someone carrying a sign, bless his soul—Blessed are the peacemakers. And it has nothing to do with what this beatitude is talking about. They think they can just run and take a passage of scripture and run around with it. An illustration that is often used, and I heard it when I was very young and I never forgot it. You have to keep scripture in its context. The Bible says, Judas went out and hanged himself. The Bible also say, go thou and do likewise. Both of those are correct statements. Just because you quote a verse of the Bible doesn't mean you have properly represented what the Bible says. The Bible does say blessed are the peacemakers, end of arguing. No, what does it mean when it says blessed are the peacemakers. Judas went out and hanged himself. Does that mean we are to go and do likewise? No. Let's go find out what the Bible says when it says that.

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God. And sons of God will be part of the kingdom of God, right? What are the peacemakers? Let's go back to the Old Testament, Isaiah 52. In Isaiah 9:6 in a millennial passage about the coming kingdom we have the Messiah whose name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. It is true some day He will establish a kingdom that will be characterized by peace, and they will not learn war anymore, and they can beat their swords into plowshares in that kingdom. But first He is the Prince of Peace in bringing peace to the heart that has enmity with God.

In Isaiah 52:7, how lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace, who brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation and says to Zion, your God reigns. How lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace, brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation and says to Zion, your God reigns. It has to do with those who bring the message of peace, the peace of God to a world.

We know that's the point because come over to Romans 10. Paul here is dealing with the nation Israel and how the nation Israel fits in the plan of God's salvation, including Gentiles in this period of time in which we now live, the time of the fullness of the Gentiles, the time of Gentile salvation, primarily. He starts chapter 10 by saying, brethren, my heart's desire, my prayer to God for them, referring to Israel, is for their salvation. I testify about them, they have a zeal for God but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they do not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. That testimony regarding Israel is the testimony of many religious people today, right? They are in church, they are going through activities, they devote much of their time to religious service. Why? Not knowing about God's righteousness, they are seeking to establish their own. And so they don't submit themselves to God's righteousness.

Then he goes on to talk about the message of Christ that brings salvation. You don't have to search far and wide, you don't have to go to heaven or hell, you don't have to search the earth. The Word of God is right here. Verse 8, the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness; with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. I declare I believed in Christ. That declaration and confession only has significance as it expresses what's in my heart. I am speaking out of what fills my heart. I have believed. You are not saved by your confession, you are saved by believing in your heart and your confession is the testimony of what you've done in your heart.

With the heart a person believes resulting in righteousness; with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation, confesses to his salvation. Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed. You can be sure everyone who believes in Him will be saved, there will be no failures here. I believe in Him, I believe Christ died for me, I turned from my sin and placed my faith in Him but He didn't save me. No, there is no disappointment in Him.

He goes on to say, verse 13, whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? And those beautiful words from Isaiah 52:7, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things. However they did not all heed the good news, for Isaiah says, who has believed our report? Sadly, many of those who heard the good news did not believe it. Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. Who are the peacemakers? Those who bring the message of God's peace. Hebrews 13:20 calls God the God of peace and the God of peace has entrusted us with the gospel of peace.

Turn to Ephesians 6. We have the armament of the believer, what we must be dressed in to do battle with the devil, spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies. You take up the full armor of God, verse 13. Verse 14, you stand firm having girded your loins with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Every believer is to have his feet shod with the gospel of peace, every believer is to have those beautiful feet that carry the message of peace from the God of peace. The God of peace has entrusted us with the good news of peace so we have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, going back to Isaiah 52:7 again and how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news. They are the peacemakers, they can bring true peace. Because where do wars and conflicts come from, James asks. They come from within your own heart. We don't solve the world's conflicts by parading around, declaring ourselves peacemakers, declaring ourselves against war. You know the Bible says in the kingdom they will beat their swords into plowshares. You know what the prophets tell us to do before that time? Beat your plowshares into swords, you better make implements of war because war is coming before peace on this earth. So __________want to bring genuine peace.

Now it's true as those who have experienced the peace of God, we are to strive for peace in our relationships. Not talking about war, but it's talking about doing all we can to be peaceful people as believers. Not for me to try to impose on our government that we ought to be a nation of peace. May be a political conviction, it may not, but it's not a spiritual instruction. There will be no peace on this earth until the One who is the Prince of Peace comes and establishes peace on the earth, and part of what He will with that is remove all those who offend Him so that those who have entered into His peace now are part of the kingdom of peace on the earth.

Now who are the peacemakers? Those who bring the message of peace to the lost in the world. Turn over to Colossians 1:19, for it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him. The Father's good pleasure for all the fullness of deity, it's talking about, because chapter 2 verse 9 says for in Him all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. So it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him and through Him, Christ, to reconcile all things to Himself. How can He do this? Bring sinful, rebellious human beings into right relationship to Himself. He can do this, He can reconcile all things to Himself having made peace through the blood of His cross. That's how it's done. Peace through the blood of His cross. How do we become peacemakers? We have our feet shod with the gospel of peace. Everywhere we go we are carrying a message, one message, the message of Christ. Right? If you are a believer in Jesus Christ you have beautiful feet clothed with the gospel of peace. What do we do? Walk around and keep it to ourselves? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. No one will get saved by having you walk by. We come carrying a message, the message is the gospel of peace. No one will ever get saved who doesn't hear that message. Faith come by hearing, hearing by the Word of Christ.

What has God done? The pattern in Romans 10, He has ordained and established and given the responsibility through the plan as He calls men and women to Himself, cleanses them from their sin, gives them a new heart, changes their life because now their motivation center is different. The character of God is being produced in them, they have become partakers of the divine nature, Peter says. We have been made pure in heart and now we have been entrusted with the message to carry it to others. You can have peace with God. How so? I'm zealous for God, I get up and go to confession or I go to church or I go to these things and do my ............ I say, you have a zeal for God, but we need to be zealous in accord with knowledge. And here is what God has said, we can't make ourselves acceptable to Him. That's why His Son, Jesus Christ, came to this earth and suffered and died on the cross so that He could make peace through the blood of His cross. The penalty for your sin is death. I'm amazed at all the good works you try to do and how religious you have tried to become, but you understand the penalty for sin is death. The only way peace can be made is through the blood of the cross of Christ. I'm here to bring that message to you. That's what you need to hear.

I shared a little while back with a person, I was there for a service he could provide and he was providing the service. I said, no, I didn't come here today for the service you can provide, I appreciate it. I came here because I have a message you need to hear. God has sent me here today to tell you something, you need to hear this message. It's a message of hope, it's a message of life. I proceeded to share the gospel with him. And he sat down with me, pulled the chair around next and sat down. He listened. He hasn't believed yet but the Lord is not done with His Word. I don't know what He will do, but I have to be sure that I carry the message with me. Remind myself, what are these feet taking me here for. Why am I being carried here. I love the picture of the feet because the feet take us where we're going. Even when you go in the car you get out of the car and we're going someplace. If we wrote it today we would want to say we have beautiful cars, but that wouldn't fit, would it. If our feet can bring us into these personal contacts ________________ can't be saved if they don't hear. I don't know whether they will be saved after they hear because Isaiah said they have not believed our report, but I can bring them the report, I can tell them the good news.

__________________ why am I here today, why this contact. I'm here to do this, I'm here to do that, I'm here to get that done. Wait a minute, those are peripheral. There is a reason for you to be there humanly speaking, but these feet are shod with the gospel of peace and they take me everywhere for one point. That's why Paul can say, in every place we have given off the knowledge of Christ. In every place. Why? Because those feet carried him everywhere and they were shod with the gospel of peace. Beautiful thing.

You can't be saved by attending this church, you can't be saved by being baptized here, can't be saved by taking communion here. But you can hear how to get saved by attending here because the message of the Word of God is you must recognize you are a sinner, turn from your sin and place your faith in Christ. Say, Lord, I'm letting go of everything. I thought I was doing what I should. Now I realize I am a sinner, I can't pay my penalty. You paid it for me, I'm trusting your Son, I let go of everything else. That's when God cleanses you, He makes you new and life is never the same afterward.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the truth of your Word. These simple truths that describe those in whom you've done a work of grace, a work of mercy, a work of kindness in hearts and lives of multitudes of people. Lord, may we never forget the great debt we have been forgiven. We have received mercy that cannot be measured. We indeed are poor in spirit, we indeed mourn and grieve over sin, see the awfulness of sin, even the sin that remains. But Lord you have been gracious and we would manifest your character in all of our _____________. Lord, how wonderful that those who are peacemakers have the privilege of seeing you, being part of your kingdom. How awesome to consider that our feet are to be shod with the gospel of peace and our going about sharing the message of the Savior is an evidence that we have experienced the peace that He brings to the hearts of those who believe, a peace between God and man, a peace that can only be accomplished through the blood of the cross of your Son. Above all we thank you that we are your children. We have peace with you because we have placed our faith in Him. Use us today to carry this message to others. We pray in Christ's name, amen.