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While we friend.
Our soul may be in life.
Be by side of her gracious save your.
Cleaning close things to the high side.
Still alive on the.
Strange.
Take away.
Eat the Lords help.
Our God and Father, we thank Thee that as we begin this morning, as we could sing this prayer, that they'll guide us.
Now who art faithful? Our God?
Those of us who the least in our measure feel our unfaithfulness.
We think of those in Ezra's day.
Who were trembling.
They felt the elements of the rain and the matter before them. And our God, we realized that even in the elements. Let us give us to.
To feel that indeed, we are strangers and pilgrims. We're not home yet. We are passing through.
Ever increasing.
Hostile world the.
Or Jesus that cast thee out.
And in any measure we're like thee. They don't want us either. So we we pray that we might be fortified by what's before us this day. We pray our God that they'll guide us if we should stay in this portion or to another. We we look to the aid that our souls might be fed and that we would be instructed and built up and encouraged. Our God we could sing. And I faithful love again.
00:05:16
What a comfort it is to our hearts and so we we look to the in anticipation.
Give me any thanks again for.
Wonderful food let us give us for our souls even thy beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and whose precious name we ask it. Amen. Amen.
Brother Vern, do you think we should continue on with the passage? What is your thought? You suggested it.
That's what I don't have any.
The idea?
If you want something else, as we find and.
I'd like to see us continue with it, but that's only my thought.
I.
Sounds like two of you have agreed on such a thing.
Would verse 9 be about right? Is that about where we left off?
I don't think we talked about verse 8.
But we gently referred to it. But we could use a little more discussion on it.
Matthew chapter 5 and verse 8.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
You're the salt of the earth. But if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted. It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. You're the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid, neither do men. Light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a Candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before man, that they may see your good works.
And glorify your Father, which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jaw or one title shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so he shall be called the least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the Kingdom of heaven.
For I say unto you, that accept your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the Kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill, and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment, and whosoever shall say to his brother, Rocca shall be in danger of the council.
But whosoever shall say they'll fool shall be in danger of Hellfire. Therefore, if they'll bring thy gift to the altar, and their remembrance that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way. First be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst they were in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge delivery deliver thee to the officer, and they'll be cast into prison.
00:10:16
Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost Farthing, we'll just stop there.
We were talking with Queen of Meetings and.
Just something along the line of this verse, pure in heart.
Every believer has a nature. One is higher than an Angel.
And the other one is lower than a snake. And so it's very interesting and it's, it's very profitable to realize that because it, this is what this verse means. Blessed are the pure in heart. So we have a, we have an enemy in the camp, a traitor.
Who's trying to bring us down? I was thinking of our our sister Dorothy. What? What must it be?
To be in the presence of the Lord without the old nature. Nothing to hold you back, nothing but the new nature.
Your brother asked what is what, What is your hope when the Lord comes? And immediately I thought to get rid of myself.
Set me free.
Good Vern when I read this, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. I think how important it is to remember that we can't walk in darkness and abide in the light. In first John one verse six, it says if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.
And I know a young man and he really struggled with looking at dirty pictures. And he was able with the Lords help and with other people's help, he was able to overcome. And he said to me, said Matt, I cannot believe how much energy I have, how much time I have. This enemy of our souls is dangling all these things for us to see and participate in and and use our time and energy in. And this right here speaks if we're pure in heart.
And obviously, I appreciate you bringing out the thought of our two natures, Uncle Vern.
Obviously that would be the flesh that would be my shadow that would respond to that because my new nature can't bless it on the are the pure in heart, for they shall see God and we think, oh, this isn't going to make a difference. We think, oh, you know, I can enjoy this and enjoy the Lord and for whatever measure that we get taken up in it, we lose the blessing of seeing God and being in his presence and knowing who he is and the wonders our brother talked about his power and his wisdom and his love. It's worth more than anything.
This world has to show us.
There's a danger to the.
Believer and those that are professing believers, you might say in chapter 6.
The Lord takes up hypocrisy and to appear to be pure, but really not to have purity. He says, Take heed that you do not your arms before men to be seen of them.
Otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. And so he gives instruction in this way that they they do these things in part verse two that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But the Lord delights in purity and.
He delights in that which is holy, and it was mentioned yesterday, I believe in the Gospel that holiness is a delight in that which is.
Good and a hatred of that which is evil. And so you and I have those of us that know the Lord Jesus as our Savior. We have a new life, the divine life, the very life of Christ. And we have a nature that is suitable for that new life. And we are indwelt with the Spirit of God and we have the capacity to be able to live in purity and to enjoy pure things. And so it's necessary to exercise ourselves as our brother Matt has mentioned that.
00:15:14
Not all things are pure. The natural man just allows all kinds of things to come in and his vessel is not covered.
And so it becomes defiled. Let's look at that. I think it's Numbers Chapter 19, these little pictures that we have in the scriptures give us.
Instruction as to how we can remain pure Numbers chapter 19 and verse 15. Every open vessel which hath no covering bound upon it is unclean, and so we need to be careful what we allow to enter into our vessels.
Brother had in the Sunday school here might just say that this verse that we just read in Numbers 19 verse 15 is one of the reasons why the brethren cover the cup on the table. You might wonder, well, is this just a tradition? Is this something that the brethren just they cover the cup so it looks nice. It's got a white cover on. No, that's not. And some of us have been to Mexico and other places, perhaps India and.
Cuba and there's flies all over the place.
And so there is a cover on it. But the brethren, when they first began to gather, and were remembering the Lord in his death, they put a cover on the on the cup, because of this verse of Scripture exercise them. An open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean. So they covered it up on the table.
Keeping the flies out is more scriptural.
It's a but maybe if she could tell us, you know, why did the Lord leave us here with an old nature?
To become like Christ.
Did he have an old nature?
No. Oh.
And we're supposed to become like him.
Was it I? I've heard in some place that he can't. He gave. He left us here with the old nature to humble us.
What do you say, Dawn?
It's true.
Not a good job.
In a in a broader sense of the word, the.
Law.
That the people who were being addressed in this chapter knew the law required them to be outwardly righteous, but it didn't. The law didn't directly deal with the nature itself, and these verses deal with the Lord is bringing something really new to their understanding. Not to the condition man was in. But God wants purity.
Inwardly. And if what's inward is correct, then what's outward will be done properly. So the Lord is introducing something new in these verses that has to do with what's inward. And it's the motive. Is is often been said, it's the motive, it's what's inward that gives value to the action itself. Two people may do exactly the same thing outwardly.
But one is sinning and the other is acting according to God's will, because one is doing it with the wrong motive and the other doing it with an inward motive, which is correct and proper. And as a consequence, the Lord said, I've come to give life more abundantly. And that more abundant life is the resurrection life that the Lord Jesus has that he shared with us.
And it is absolutely perfect in every detail and you have it.
If you are the Lord's your sit here this morning with the capacity to be pure, because you have a pure life, the life of the Lord Jesus, their hindrances to it, and those hindrances, Vern comments, humble us because we still have three primary hindrances to that life. One is inwards, the old life, if I could put it that way, the old nature.
00:20:07
That is completely sinful in its motives.
We also live in a world that is motivated by principles and practices that are totally contrary to that life that God has given us, the more abundant life. And finally, we have a quite same problem to deal with that Adam and Eve had, and that is Satan comes into the garden of our lives with the same activities that he was acting on Adam and Eve. And so we face that.
Same character as well, but he's bringing out the fact that the Lord is bringing something in for us to recognize. There's not just the negative, but there is a capacity given to us that in the natural things the Old Testament Saints did not have because while they had some of them had life from God, they didn't have it more abundantly.
They did not have it in its resurrection character combined with the Spirit of God dwelling.
In each one of us. So you and I ought not to make excuse when we sin, because within us as a pure life and acting in that life is the Holy Spirit that dwells within us. So the end result, Vern, is, yes, we're very humbled, but we should be anyways.
Matthew 23.
The Lord was addressing the scribes, the Pharisees, as hypocrites.
Verse 25 He may clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within or they are full of extortion and excess.
If you want to help your wife clean up after a big meal and you are going to attack the big pots, you don't scrub and scrub on the outside part. You go to the inside part. That's where the food has been and that's where the the next meal the food is going to go. The outside, not so important in that in that analogy, but it's interesting. In the next verse they were trying to be clean outside with filth inside. Then in the next verse, thou blind Pharisee verse 26, cleanse that cleanse first.
That which is within the cup and platter at the outside of them may be clean also. And so a young Christian may get the impression in Christian circles today that, well, it's my heart that matters. It's what's clean inside. My spirit is right. And then outside you see confusion in the life and you see chaos and things of that nature that are not according to the word of God. You say, no, yes, you want to have a right spirit. I think we had that before us.
The day before yesterday.
But it works its way out, and it manifests itself in the life and the grace of God that works in me, which is a wonderful privilege, that God works in us while we're still here in this world. But he has begun a good work in us. He'll finish it and it works its way out. And so we read in Titus the grace of God, which brings with it salvation at the peer to all men, teaching us and denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. We should live soberly.
And righteously and godly in this present world. And so it works its way out and we we see that in one another and it leads to oftentimes when we see purity in the New Testament or pure, the word is sometimes translated about half the time clean. Something's clean because somebody it got cleansed. And so there's some some spiritual energy there to make that happen and the reward here just like.
The other day the merciful obtained mercy. What are the pure in heart get not just not just some satisfaction that well, I've I've got the inside. I got the outside going. No, you see, God because he is the pure one, and it's wonderful to think that his desire and love is to bring us into the enjoyment of the same things that he enjoys and he works in our hearts to that end. And So what a wonderful result.
The pure in heart they shall see God.
It's leading somewhere.
To the highest privilege.
This is something in the new and the annals of the universe really, isn't it? It never really occurred before, if we think about it. God is God, of course he's deity. And then he created the angels. Either they were elect or they fell. There was no redemption, but God had redemption. Has provided the resources for true liberty, hasn't it? Where?
00:25:22
There can be a choice, a desire for to overcome evil, and that's a wonderful thing. And that's new in the annals of eternity. It never existed before because the angels weren't that way. Either they were elected or they were not elected. They fell. But in humanity then God has overcome evil with good, and men that have a pure heart are doing the same thing.
And that's a tremendous testimony. Isn't it wonderful that the angels observe, don't they? And they see in the church, they they wonders of what God has done. So I wanted to mention too, we've often read it, but in Second Timothy, I know this is Christianity going a little beyond what we have in our chapter, but we've often read those verses and verse 22 of chapter two of Second Timothy. Flee also youthful lusts, but follow righteousness, faith.
Charity, peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Well, that's very important, isn't it? This is the basis of Christian liberty, is it not? That word has been confused and misunderstood, and many people think that Christian liberty simply means that once we're Christians, we can kind of live the way we want. It's not what it means at all, does it? The true Christian liberty is to have a pure heart that is walking in the new nature, isn't it? And that's a beautiful thing. And again, that's a new thing.
In the annals of the universe that God has given us the ability to rise above evil, to triumph above evil, and that's what we ought to do. And it's a tremendous thing. Now in our chapter, it's interesting too, because this is not Christianity. But the Spirit of God is going to be poured out during the Millennium, isn't he? And men then will also be able to walk with a pure heart. But Christianity is even greater, isn't it, because we're in dwell.
By the Spirit of God. But it's a wonderful triumph of good over evil, is it not?
Which the universe has never seen before, where men make a positive choice to do that, which is right. And I just want to make another comment very quickly. We're reading in Colossians recently, and I was so impressed with one of the commentators that was speaking about the introduction. There were Paul's rights to the Saints and faithful and Colossi. Many people say they're Christians. They take up Christianity.
And it seems to fail him. Why is that? Well, they may be real believers, they may be Saints, like we have in the book of Romans. A person who's saved as a St. But it's only those who.
Are consecrated that are faithful that enjoy the blessings of Christianity? Yes, all Christians have equal blessings, but only those who are pure in heart will enjoy those blessings in this lifetime. Isn't that true?
So it's a tremendous truth, isn't it?
Proverbs tells us as face answers to face and water, so the heart of man to man.
If you look in water and it's.
Quiet.
You see your reflection in it. It's a mirror.
That's what it's implied in that verse. And so if I look at you and.
As a man in the flesh and I see your behavior, lying, cheating, stealing and all the rest, I'm looking at myself.
In my own nature.
However, now that you and I have a new nature, the life of Christ in us, there is a very practical exhortation to us concerning that, and it says we all with open face be holding us in a glass. The glory of the Lord are changed into the same image. That is the purity and the now that we have the opportunity to see God as He is.
00:30:09
Expressed to us in the person of the Lord Jesus.
Were encouraged and exhorted to keep our eye on him and God when we put our eye on that perfect object, that perfect expression of purity. God says I'll do my part by the Spirit in you. I'll change you to be more like Him. The process will not be complete until we're at home in glory.
But if you and I go home this weekend and some of us see each other.
I'll pick a number. I hope the Lord's come before. But let's say we were here a year from now.
I would expect, and you should expect as we look at each other to see more of Christ.
We should look more like Christ in in that process that is going on in us that God is doing because in the end result of it all, He wants every one of us to be perfectly inside and outside like Christ as we had the other day. Every single effect of sin, even outside in our bodies will be completely eliminated.
When we are raptured.
Total depravity was not taught in the Old Testament I've.
Been taught that there's just one scripture that speaks of that, of having a old nature, and that's when David said and and sin, my mother conceived me. But the rest, it was all transgression. It was sinned. Man was under probation, but it's in the new name. It's in the New New Testament that we see that we man is totally depraved.
After he.
Placed the Lord on the cross.
Verse nine it says blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God. The only reason people fight is because their feelings get hurt.
The only reason there's a verse in Proverbs about the wrenching of a nose bringeth forth blood.
So forcing an issue bringeth forth wrath. And I just want to say on Rob Morrell's toolbox in his shop, it used to say only by pride cometh contention. So if I'm at odds with a brother or a sister, somebody's got pride. It may be me, it may be them, it may be both of us, and we can go before the Lord about our own side of the table. In Romans it says as much as it lieth with me.
Live at peace with all men. We can't necessarily fix everybody else, but we can show up as light in love. Blessed are the peacemakers. And one of the things that's so helpful in this, and I am the guiltiest person in the room, so it's I'm teaching this out of experience by fault is listening. If you listen to what the other person is saying, they will more likely feel heard. And often people fight simply because they weren't heard.
Not even about the issue and the issue isn't the issue. How we deal with the issue is the issue. And when we give people room to be themselves and not try and force them and push them around, then it says right here they shall be called the children of God. And it's so beautiful when you talk to somebody who isn't shoving people around, who's open in James three, I think it's verse 17, it says the wisdom that is from above is first pure.
And peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated. Am I easy to be entreated? It's these things are so practical. They're so real. Like our our brethren are saying what's right when we're right on the inside, then we're going to have right behavior on the outside. The Lord help us in these things.
I wonder if we could step back just a little bit to our brother Burns question about why we have the old nature.
It is wonderful to be occupied with our blessed Lord and to be changed from glory to glory, but often there's an intermediate step and we have to realize that God is revealing Himself to us. And necessarily it has to be most of the time by contrast and not by comparison. And I believe in Romans 7.
00:35:22
We have a very important lesson. Here was a man with the new nature and he wanted to do right, but he couldn't. He couldn't find a refuge, he couldn't find the strength. And what happens at the end of the chapter is he owns his own wretchedness. Now God doesn't delight in peeling off the layers so that I can see.
The wretchedness that's within me and I believe that we can thank him for his mercy, how he protects us and how gentle he is, but in the end, we we must learn more of himself and often the path.
Is laced with our wretchedness, recognizing and as someone put it, I think 2 afternoons ago.
Very beautifully. It's not what I've done, it's what I look in my heart and I see what I'm capable of in the flesh. This is real wretchedness.
And what happens? It is the realization of what I am Helpless, hopeless, without strength.
That brings me to the Lord as the refuge, and that's what he says. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And what happens in chapter 8, we have the fullness of the liberty of the gospel made good to the soul. And so it is God teaches us. By contrast, he doesn't delight in this process of showing me up to myself.
That he might reveal more of his beauty and his grace. But it is part of the process. And I say this for the young people.
These these lessons, they are important and it is something that we should not insulate ourselves against. When we open the word of God, it needs to speak to our conscience, it needs to speak to my heart and then it will find its way down to my feet.
And then I will be in the good of the glory of the person of Christ and be able to be free of myself and to be changed into His image.
And so when it comes to peacemakers, then I believe it's connected with that, isn't it?
I respectfully match suggest that.
All contention does not come from people being offended.
It's a very practical thing that happens, but if we could say it reverently, were God's feelings hurt when sin came into this world? If we wanted to say that reverently, we could say that. But sometimes the difficulty comes from that which is not according to God's mind. And so there can be, for example, bad doctrine brought out, there can be bad practices brought out.
And it may not offend anyone in the sense of causing their feelings to be hurt, but it disturbs the peace.
And blessed are the peacemakers, and I know this is a Jewish setting here, so we have to remember that. But a peacemaker ultimately in divine things brings God's mind into the picture and brings it in in the right way.
And so we find, for example, when Israel was in the wilderness, there were real difficulties. And it wasn't so much that Moses got his feelings hurt. It was that which was contrary to the mind of God. It's what it was that which disturbed and ultimately addressed and dishonored the Lord. And that was what caused the problem. And so blessed are the peacemakers, yes.
00:40:06
In a practical sense, a peacemaker can come into the picture without any feelings of his or her own in the situation and seek to deal with the problem according to God's mind. But it's a paradox, isn't it? Because we find, for example, in Jeremiah he has to say twice over they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people, likely saying peace, peace when there is no peace.
And we can do that in a way that perhaps sweeps a problem under the rug and glosses over it, but does not really address it in the right way. And so.
Here a peacemaker, I believe ultimately brings God's mind into things, but addresses that according to with reference to God and not simply with reference to man. And so further on, here we get.
Things like being persecuted for righteousness sake. Is that peace? No, not really. There, there, there isn't peace. We go. We go further on and find out that.
You're to be exceeding glad because the prophets were persecuted and sometimes they couldn't bring peace in. We get in Isaiah at the end of chapter 49, I think it is, and at the end of chapter 57.
The very same words. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. Ultimately that is from God's side. No matter how you slice it, there can be no peace to the wicked. But what a wonderful thing it is to be a peacemaker by bringing in God's thoughts in the matter, by bringing God's mind into the matter, and of course, bringing it in in the right way.
And that, if we could go on a little, as we said a moment ago, leads into what we have in verses 1011 and 12, and ultimately, of course, into what we have in verse 13 concerning salt.
How many dear believers in this world have been persecuted? And it tells us in Second Timothy three that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But ultimately, many of those dear ones were able to bring about peace in the whole matter. Why? Because first of all, they submitted to it, and then they brought God's thoughts into the picture.
And in that way they reach the consciences of those who were doing wrong.
And I know we had that before yesterday about.
Seeking to hunger and thirst after righteousness and submitting to unrighteousness in this world. But I believe here it's if we look at the scripture carefully, we see that there is the reaching the conscience of the ones that are persecuted or persecuting and.
That's part of what the Lord Jesus did in his life.
When he was brought before Pilate, he submitted to what Pilate did, but he reminded him, Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except that were given thee from above. He reminded Pilate that everyone that is of the truth heareth my voice, and Pilate was more afraid.
Way back at the time of the Reformation, or actually even before the Reformation, when Jan Huss was brought before the Council of Constance.
The early 1400s.
The Roman Catholic Church persuaded the emperor a man by the name of Sigismond.
To tell him that he would have a safe conduct to the conference, but then he broke his word because they said you don't have to keep your word to a heretic. You can break your word. And he did. And Huss was arrested and put in prison and eventually burned at the stake for his faith in Christ, but in front of the whole conference.
00:45:07
Excuse me, has reminded them at the conference, he said. Sigismond, you granted me a safe conduct.
And you broke your word.
And cigar splint. It's recorded blush to the roots of his hair, realizing that as the Emperor, he had broken his word.
Fast forward 100 years.
To Martin Luther.
And they tried to do the same thing to him. They tried to persuade the emperor, they said, grant him a safe conduct.
And then break your word or we'll get them.
In spite of the fact that it was 100 years later, the emperor at that time said Oh no, Oh no, I don't want to stand in front of a man of God and have to blush the way Sigismund blushed when Hussein binded him that he'd broken his word. And so here we find peacemakers who submit perhaps to that which is done to them, but reaching the conscience of those who persecute.
And they're going to say all manner of evil against us that was going to be the result of following Christ. But at the same time, the Lord says rejoice and be exceeding glad. Your reward will be in heaven. But as we find in the New Testament in connection with being persecuted, it will make your face shine as an Angel. And so it's a wonderful thing in that sense to be persecuted for Christ.
But that one could still be a peacemaker.
Appreciate that Bill. I think there's a there's an aspect where persecution is good for us. I remember a couple different times when something happened and I was just thinking the Lord is in charge of everything. He allowed this to happen. He allowed this person to attack me and it's I think it's good for us when that happens to just take it before the Lord and ask the Lord instead of my dad said instead of saying why, why did this happen? Say what are you trying to teach me?
Because we're in this, we're in the school of God to grow, to be made in the image of Christ. So when we're persecuted for righteousness sake, when men revile us, when they persecute us, when they say evil things about us, it's an opportunity for me to grow in my soul, to judge the flesh, to face what the Lord might be teaching me. And, and it's so beautiful. I remember one time I talked in a conference and this brother that I love dearly came up to me and he kind of.
To our end, to me a little bit and it it hurt and I was like, what's this all about? And I just felt like the Lord was just saying, you know what? I just want to make sure that you did it for me.
And I think the Lord allows things like that. I knew the brother loved me. I knew there was no doubt. And I just took it from the Lord. And I was just like, OK, Lord, it's not about me. And to understand that life isn't happening to us. It's happening for us. And we can rejoice in verse 12 and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven and realize that our life isn't supposed to be easy.
We're not people who want everything to be easy, miss the opportunity that's right in front of them. The Lord wants us to grow. He wants us to love and serve the people around us.
Might notice that there's two different the attitudes here verse 10 is one of them and verse 1112 is another and they all begin these beatitudes with blessed are or not expression and so the first one in verse 10 sounds like very similar to verse 11 but really there is such a thing as suffering for righteousness sake persecution and as a brother Eric has reminded us this is a bit of a Jewish context and so they're going to.
Be in a scene of unrighteousness and there's going to be a scene of apostasy during the Tribulation period that these righteous Jews will face as they go through the persecution of that time. They'll seek to do the right thing. They'll walk in righteousness before God according to the truth of the word of God, and they will not go in a a path of wickedness. We could read some of the Psalms to refer to that, but in verse 11 it appears that it's a little bit different.
00:50:09
Because, umm, now they're not. The reward in verse 10 is that theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. But in verse 12 it says your reward is in heaven. It appears that the persecution will be such that it could involve martyrdom. And so I, they shall persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. And so it's the person of Christ identifying with the Lord.
Himself will deepen the persecution. So here in verse 10, we're doing the right thing. We're saying the right thing. We're trying to obey the word of God and walk in the course of righteousness. But really, when we identify with Christ, that's a different story. And so for my sake, rejoice and be exceeding glad. So there is a joy that is consistent with persecution. If we identify with the Lord Jesus, it's a joy that's unique.
For those that go through that persecution identifying with the Lord Jesus, it's wonderful to in a world that has cast Christ off to identify with that blessed one and to walk in fellowship with him and to suffer as he suffered the rebuke and the reproach of men. So the he says be glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you so we could read if Steven man heavenly man.
As he spoke on behalf of the Lord and identified with that man, Christ Jesus, and he saw him standing, heaven opened and he saw him there and expressed that heavenly vision. Why you and I can as well identify with the Lord Jesus and thank God that we have our associations are with that name. We're blessed by being able to identify with the name of Christ and the person of Christ.
The ultimate peacemaker is the Lord Jesus.
The ultimate example of a peacemaker is the Lord Jesus.
And verse not ten, we have the peacemaker.
In verse 11.
Think of the Lord Jesus, when men reviled and persecuted him, and said all manner of things of evil against him.
And.
The.
Falsely in verse 12.
We have hidden. I'm Speaking of Him in these verses, rejoicing.
Pretty tough to rejoice. This has already been commented on in multiple ways. How did he rejoice?
Father.
I It says he rejoiced in spirit, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them under Braves foresow it. And this is a key. For so it seemed good in my sight. He could rejoice because he accepted what was happening, as according to the will of God.
In his life at that point in the circumstances in which he was was in and he said for so it seemed good in my sight.
To enlarge a little. And that's how we find our joy.
If we follow with that new life in the same pattern, and can say, Father, for so it seemed good, and I seems good in the present circumstance and thy sight. But to take the peacemaker thought a little step further.
The Lord Jesus acted with a perfect peacemaking spirit in all the circumstances of his life, but he came into conflict.
With particularly the scribes and Pharisees, who were fearful that if He were given a place and the people were starting to follow Him, that they would lose their place and nation. And in that there was pride, there was a desire of motives for self that was included in it. And here was arrival. And so there was conflict. There was not peace between them, but as a perfect.
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Presentation of God to man. The end result was.
Could there be peace on Earth?
When he, the perfect peacemaker was being rejected, no, there could not. And so the Lord Jesus perfectly understanding where things were. Scripture says in John now is the judgment of this world. That is, there could not be lasting peace among men even with proper peacemaking, and there will not be in the world.
In which we live were exhorted among ourselves that all have the new nature as to there should be ought to be peace among us, and will be if there's submission to the mind of will of God and his word in the doctrine in it. But just to finish the thought.
There is coming peace.
And the perfect peacemaker is going to make it.
But what is it going to take?
It's going to take what's given to us in Revelation.
6.
To 19.
And that's not a very pretty happy picture. If you read Revelation 6 to 19, what's coming for this world when the King of peace comes to establish peace? There's going to be war and there's going to be a the end of that war will be peace, and there will be then peace for 1000 years. And there will be automatic peacemaking and keeping during that thousand year period because he will be the king.
And will reign in righteousness, and the attributes of this chapter will be fulfilled. But again I say as to us it gives. And I want to put it this way.
The Father and the Son.
Find joy when they see in you and in me.
Submission to the will of God in the circumstances of our life that may be difficult or troubling or even involve conflict if we are submissive to His will according to His Word. And so we have an opportunity to give the Lord joy. Let's do it.
Now make one more comment.
Lord saved you.
Where are you?
According to Luke 15, you're on his shoulders and he's one of his sheep that the father's given.
To you, he's taken you home on his shoulders. Don't make the job more difficult that it needs to be. Let him carry you without bringing it unnecessary conflict in your life with others.
John why does he switch here from they in the former blessed and like the tenth verse it says blessed are they and there for theirs is a Kingdom. But then he switches and makes it more personal.
It says blessed are you.
So it's not they, but it's you right now and and then.
That same verse goes down. It says persecute you and say all manner of of evil against you. And then he says rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets. It seems that he goes for the more general to now personal. I know when Luke he does he he uses it personally, but why would he?
Make these things more personal than the ones before? Or is there an answer to that or not?
I have a thought. Well, I'll be happy for others to share their thoughts as well.
Bringing out two things here, Salt and light.
And he's anticipating at this point the church had not been formed. But he's speaking to those who will. Some of them form the church that now existed.
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And the church has the ye in verse 13 and 14 and what follows on by having the light.
The Church has these present responsibility to be what is described here in this world.
Salt is a preservative.
And the life of the Christian should be a have a preserving effect.
Upon everybody that's about them, by their own character of life, and by living according to the principles that are described.
The Church is ye are the light of the world, and our present responsibility in this world is to be light.
In Revelation 2 and three, where we have the history of the Church on earth, it is brought before us in a way that would say that it is our responsibility to be the light and the salt of the earth. And sadly, one of the reasons this period of grace is going to end is the failure of the Church to be what is described right here.
In the responsibility is being given right here as to what it should be. Ye are the light of the world.
Is the world full of light today?
If not, why not?
No, I not.
Why isn't the world full of light? Spiritual, natural, the light of moral things?
The answer is the church has failed. The church has failed. That's why the world doesn't have its light. We look and say the governments this and the governments that and it does the other and how bad man is and so on. But the truth of the matter is the testimony of God is in the church for mankind general at this point in time. And if the world is full of darkness, where does the responsibility lie?
That lies with the church and you and I know why is.
Our Christians in every land, I think in the world there's another brother once said God doesn't put all the street lights on the same street corner and so we get spread out. But wherever we live, whatever St. you live on, morally speaking, you're the light on that street.
You have a nice right St.
Well, the responsibility is that.
Salt and its character and a Christian character is a preservative. That's the purpose of salt. It's preserved. And if there is that walk in which the proper moral character is seen in the life of the person, it has a preserving effect. And this is true. I don't care where you work. Everybody works. Everybody interacts with their neighbors.
Life should be a light where you work, and it should be a have a preserving character on the moral activity of what's gone there, because a positive moral character does affect those that are around it.
And as as so in in that sense, I think that's why it goes to ye because it's anticipating those that are being spoken to who are going to have these responsibilities that are described here.
And carrying it on into the period in which we live, these are statements of responsibility that you and I have, where we are, where God has put us, wherever we may be, and sadly.
As it says in Revelation 2, they're light bearers. It's the life of Christ, the life of that he has put in US. That should be a light. We're light bearers for God in the world today.
And if we fail in that, and sadly as a coal we have, then the Revelation Two and three is a preface to say why the Church age comes to an end and to bring about the peace by the peacemaker beginning in Chapter 4 Revelation and to the end of it, he has to take it into his own hands directly and bring peace that will last forever.
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Salt comes before light here.
And so it is that in Mark we read that expression Have salt in yourselves.
And so there's a primary exercise in a believer.
To be close to the Lord.
To have our feet daily wash by the washing of water, by the word.
And to be maintained in communion with him.
That's the effect of grace in my life.
It leads me.
To be devoted to Him. It's been said that salt is the is the work of grace in my heart that leads me in devotion to Christ and then on to holiness. But sometimes maybe we're all guilty of this. We run around our assembly with a salt shaker, salt and everybody else. This leads to a lot of problems.
And then we don't understand where the problem came from, because aren't we right? Isn't salt good? Yes, it is good.
It needs to be salty, but it's so interesting I find in Mark at the end, have salt in yourselves and then interesting. What is it going to say and be at peace one with another very interesting connection there and so salt comes before light. I wondered at times. You know, it's easy to for me anyway to.
Berate myself for not being more of a testimony, not being more light where I am. And I've marveled sometimes where I'll be in a work group when I was still working.
And don't recall saying anything about Christ.
And someone will use bad language and they'll look at me and say I'm sorry.
How did they know that that was offensive to me? I don't know, but there is in a believer.
A character of things when, when it's normal, when we're walking in normal Christianity, the character of things and we sense it in others. I know brethren who've seen somebody in the store and you could just tell how they were, how they were cashing out the groceries and say, are you a Christian? How did you know that? And there's a certain, there's a certain odor, a good odor, a saver.
That comes from those that have been with Christ. And so salt is first applied to myself, and then there could be light, whether we realize we're a light or whether we don't. You're more of a testimony than you think you are. Don't be so discouraged about that if you're walking with the Lord.
So when I make a brief comment before we close an application, perhaps of these verses, it is an application because we're applying it to the church. But sometimes young believers especially ask, why do we meet as we do? Why don't we meet like all the other Christians? Isn't there a great movement in Christendom towards unity? But based on what we've been speaking about, the only true unity, God-given unity.
Is where Christ has his rightful place and that's why we meet as we do, do we not to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is really the only possible way there can be peace among Christians. And so that's why we meet there. I just want to make that application because I think it's appropriate to what we have here. If I meet in division, there's no peace there. If I meet acubanically, that's a human.
Piece, and that's what Bill was speaking about earlier. I think that's there's a difference between compromise at any cost and an honorable piece, isn't there? And the only true honorable priest, peace is to be gathered to the Lord Jesus precious name, bowing to his authority, his person and his work. That's the calling of the Christian.
It's interesting that in Mark's gospel, Chapter 9, verse 50, the salt and the peace are mentioned together. And so it says salt is good. But if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith shall he season it? Have salt in yourselves and have peace one with another. And so it's not that we sacrifice the salt for peace, but that we can have both.
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But it requires discernment.
174.
For patience, Father's one.
Lord.
And the strange.
To.
My heart and glory of me.
Closing Prayer.
Our God and our Father, we thank Thee for this precious privilege.
To be under the sound of thy word, We thank thee for this object.
That we have before our souls.
Lord Jesus.
We ask for help.
That we would go under the yoke with the.
Learn thy blessed ways.
We pray.
That whatever time we have left.
We would walk.
In quiet peace with thee.
That we might have wisdom discernment.
To carry out what we've learned today.
Where to use that salt?
Where that light might shine forth like glory.
To our brother, our sister, to our fellow man, not for anything in us, but rather that thou might be glorified.
We just thank thee for this privilege, the kindness of our brother here locally to.
Put this on and we accept it. Our God, the blessing that we've experienced from my hand, we thank thee. We praise thee in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen.