It is a special joy for us to welcome to our pulpit here, Reverend Jeff Bannister. I have known my dear brother in the Lord for many, many years, going back to various times. We've met in the presbytery meetings over the years. And he was here at the Congress, he reminded me, and he was giving a word of testimony. Well, I thought that he had preached in our pulpit one time before, but he says, no, I've never actually preached the Word. So that is a special honor for us today to have him, and we're very thankful about that. Do remember, our brothers work in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Lord would bless them as they are attempting to serve God there, and we're very, very happy that he's here with us today to share the Word of God. So, brother, please come. Well, I do count this an honor and a privilege to be with you today. I did mention to Larry that I've never preached here, and he kind of marveled at that, but it was, I think, back in 2010 when this church hosted the conference. I was called on to give a testimony at that time. I was told that I had 10 minutes. I think I stretched it into 20. and felt awful afterwards. I don't think that that is usually characteristic of me, I hope not, but in light of that, the thought struck me, maybe it would be appropriate for me to strike the same deal with you folks that I do when I go to the rescue mission once a month and I preach to homeless men. And I usually begin each time by pledging to them, I will make a deal with you. I pledge to you that if you will give me your undivided attention for the next few moments, I in turn promise that I won't go too long. And I know how hard it can be when sermons go so long. With regard to that hymn that we just sung, I should express my gratitude to you folks for singing that hymn. That was an Isaac Watts poem. that I discovered on a Facebook meme that our sister Amanda Barrett, she is the Reverend Reggie Kimbrough's sister, she had posted that and I was so struck by it and I realized that it would not be hard to appropriate that poem to a hymn tune and that's what led to the hymn that we just now sang. So I appreciate that. Let me take this opportunity also to express my gratitude to the Lewis's. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis for having me in their home yesterday. A wonderful time of fellowship. It was thrilling to hear their testimony and how the Lord brought them together. And it was just a joyful time. I should as well take this occasion to bring you greetings from Indianapolis. You have perhaps heard of that city. It's very famous for a race that is held there every year, the Indianapolis 500. That'll be coming up actually in just a couple of weeks. I like to describe it as the only sporting event in all the world where you can actually drive 500 miles. And when you're done, you've gone nowhere. But you sure got there fast. But that event is coming up. And we do appreciate your prayers. If you have occasion to visit us in Indianapolis, we would welcome you. We do have a draw that I hold out to people. We are only 90 minutes away from the Creation Museum. That is just across the state line and if you come to visit us and we can set it up in advance, we would be happy to take you to the Creation Museum or now even to the Ark Encounter which is in that same vicinity. I would invite you to turn with me this morning to the Gospel of Matthew Matthew's Gospel, chapter five. I'm going to read a portion of scripture from this chapter that I'm sure you're familiar with, many of you. That section known as the Beatitudes. I always think it's worth mentioning whenever you're in Matthew chapter five, six, or seven, whenever you are contemplating the Beatitudes or the Lord's Prayer, Those are both elements to the Sermon on the Mount, the sermon that our Savior preached. And I am very conscious that this is the Lord Jesus Christ's sermon. I've referenced it many times as the best sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher who ever lived, which is the Lord Jesus himself. And in some respects, I consider it the preacher's task to get out of the way. and let the Lord preach His own sermon. But we're going to look at one of these Beatitudes in particular this morning, but let's read them all beginning in verse one, Matthew five and verse one, and with God's Word open before us, let's seek the Lord in prayer. And I would invite you as we go to the Lord in prayer to pray for yourselves that the Lord will give you that hearing of faith that hearing that enables you not merely to hear with the physical ear, but to hear with the understanding of the heart, so that you have an appreciation for the reality and the truth of the things that we'll contemplate, and then pray for me, that the Lord will make me a vessel fit for his use. Let's pray. Oh Lord, as we bow now in thy presence with thy word open before us, We do pray, dear God, that thou wilt send forth thy word with power. We pray that the Holy Spirit himself would bear witness to the truth of thy word and make the application to every heart need that is represented here today. We thank thee, Lord, that when we gather in thy name to worship thee, that thou dost at that time tend to thy flock. And, O Lord, we pray thou wilt indeed tend to thy flock today. And for those, Lord, that are in our midst, who are yet outside the fold, who have never been saved, we pray especially for such as these, that you'll command the light to shine in their hearts, that you'll convince them of their sin and then convince them of Christ's love and compel them to flee to Him, whom to know is life eternal. I pray, dear Lord, that it may please thee to take me up. I have no power to accomplish anything, dear God, in my own strength. And so I come to Thee to plead the blood of Christ over my life and to ask of Thee, Lord, based on the merits of that blood, that Thou would cleanse me and then grant to me Thy Spirit. And may it please Thee to grant me strength of heart and mind, clarity of thought and speech, and especially unction from on high, So the message will be perceived not merely as a sermon preached by a man, but may it be perceived as a message from God himself for this people, for this time, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Matthew chapter five, we begin in verse one. And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 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 name's sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Amen. We'll end our reading in verse 12. And we know that the Lord will let his blessing to the reading of his word for his namesake. I want to call your attention in particular to the last of the Beatitudes we have just read. If you would look with me at verse 12, where the Lord says, blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Who would want to follow Christ after hearing this final beatitude? Persecution, men reviling and persecuting and saying all manner of evil against you falsely. Is this really to be the portion of those subjects of the kingdom of heaven? This hardly would have fit the picture that was common in the Jewish mind about the Messiah's kingdom. This final beatitude presents a marked contrast to those beatitudes that precede it. There's a spiritual progression in the order of these beatitudes. And if we were to include this final beatitude in that progression, I think we could say that this beatitude reveals the indestructible faith of those that are the subjects of the kingdom of heaven. Having seen their spiritual bankruptcy, being poor in spirit, in other words, the very first beatitude, having mourned over their sins, blessed are they that mourn, having submitted meekly to God's terms of salvation, blessed are the meek, and having gained the righteousness that they hungered and thirsted for through the imputed righteousness of Christ, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, You could say that these first four Beatitudes depict the transforming process that takes place in the lives of the subjects of the kingdom of heaven. This is what characterizes them. They're able, therefore, to forgive others because they've come to love mercy. Blessed are the merciful. They reach for the highest ideal as they strive for purity and know the blessing of seeing God with the eye of faith. Blessed are the pure in heart. And they take on the mission of the kingdom by spreading the news of the gospel of peace. Blessed are the peacemakers. And so we see a definite spiritual progression described in these Beatitudes. And now we see that having undergone all that I've described, this last Beatitude reveals that they also will endure whatever they must for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Their faith, while knowing different levels of strength under varying circumstances, will prove in the end to be indestructible. So there is this spiritual progression and yet there's also a very marked contrast between this final beatitude from the others. And this contrast is readily seen by the way the Lord Jesus expands this beatitude in the verses that follow and places an emphasis on the blessing of it. I take it to be a single beatitude with a double emphasis because of the subject matter. And the subject is the inevitability of persecution. It's readily apparent that verses 11 and 12 describe in more detail what the Lord says in verse 10. I also believe it can and should be understood as being distinct from the other Beatitudes because of the way that our Lord not only expands it, but he also becomes very direct for the first time when he leaves the style of speaking in which he utilizes the third person and he more directly addresses his audience in verse 11 by saying, blessed are ye. when men shall revile you and persecute you, et cetera. Up to this point in the first seven Beatitudes, the Lord has been giving us general descriptions that show the true character and the actions of every subject of the kingdom of heaven. The poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers. These are all character descriptions. those that mourn, those that hunger and thirst for righteousness. These describe the actions of the subjects of the kingdom. But when the Lord reaches this eighth and final beatitude, his focus shifts in such a way that he's not now giving a description of the character of his subjects or of the actions of his subjects as much as he's shifting our attention from those character descriptions and actions of his subjects to what the true subjects of the kingdom of heaven can expect. This beatitude anticipates what would soon be the portion of Christ's disciples. And the Lord doesn't leave the matter in any doubt. Notice that he says, blessed are ye when. He does not say if, he says when men shall revile you and persecute you. It's plain to see from this beatitude that the Lord Jesus is now preparing his followers for what would be their portion from the devil and the world. And he's certainly indicating, isn't he, that his followers shouldn't expect a warm welcome from the world or from the devil. You could say then that the Lord Jesus is preparing his disciples for the inevitable. And that's how I want you to see this beatitude this morning. I believe it serves the same purpose today. The Lord would have you prepare for the inevitable. Therefore, we must prepare for the inevitable. And in the moments that remain this morning, I want to draw from this portion of scripture the lessons that can be drawn from it that will enable you to prepare for the inevitable. How then do we do that? How do we prepare for what is certain or what is inevitable? Well, consider with me that we prepare, first of all, by knowing what to expect. We prepare for the inevitable by knowing what to expect. And the Lord Jesus leaves us in no doubt about that. This is one aspect of the beatitude that receives a very strong point of emphasis when our Lord says in verse 10, blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake. And when he says in verse 11, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Such a statement, you might argue, spoken twice, marks the absolute certainty of our Lord's prophetic prediction. You may recall, if you know the story of Joseph back in Genesis chapter 41, that when Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dream, he pointed out that Pharaoh's dreams were one and the same. And the fact that it had been repeated to him under two different images served to mark the certainty of that dream. And for that, the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice. It is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. We read in Genesis chapter 41 and verse 32. I think the same thing applies to this beatitude. The Lord Jesus is marking the certainty, or as I just said, the inevitability of what would await the follower of Christ, the subject of his kingdom. Now such a statement might seem discouraging on the surface of it, but the Lord Jesus also indicates in his explanation of the beatitude that this is not anything new. For so persecuted they the prophets which were before you, he says in verse 12. And what the Lord predicts as the portion of his people has certainly been borne out by history, by the history of the Old Testament church and the New Testament church, as well as church history in general. It's in reference to the Old Testament church that we read in Hebrews 11, of those who walked by faith, who brought forth great conquests, both in terms of what they accomplished, and in other cases, of what they endured. That's in Hebrews 11 and verse 36, and the verses that follow. We find the same phenomenon in the book of Acts, when we read in Acts chapter eight and verse one, and at that time there was a great persecution against the church, which was at Jerusalem, and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Oh, here is persecution in the true sense of the term. The word persecute carries the literal meaning of chasing or hunting or pursuing. The concept, however, is broader than that. As our Lord explains in verse 11 in Matthew 5, persecution also takes into account being reviled and being slandered. I'm reminded of the testimony of the church in the age that followed the apostles. It seems that the practice of abandoning babies was as common then as abortion is today. And members of the early church were known to gather those abandoned babies in order to save their lives and raise them for the Lord. But such was the animosity against them that they were slandered and they were accused of stealing babies in order to sacrifice them to devils. And so the history of the church vindicates this beatitude spoken by the Lord Jesus. Read the accounts of the early martyrs in Fox's Book of Martyrs. Read the accounts of the Scottish Covenanters who were chased from their churches and chased from their homes. Perhaps some of you have seen the drawings of a worship service held in some secluded field in Scotland. I can still see in my mind's eye a picture of a communion service held outdoors in a field. Men and women are seated on the grass while lookouts are posted a little further out to watch for the invading dragoons who would scatter them and arrest them and kill them for the simple act of worshiping Christ outside the established church. Such things, I know, seem foreign to us in our nations. where we've never been driven from our churches yet or from our homes for the sake of Christ. Some have nearly been driven from their jobs. I can remember a time or two when my job was put on the line back when I worked in the printing industry. There were a lot of things that came before me that that I did and that I pleaded the blood of Christ after having done them, recognizing as I did that you just can't work in this industry if you're not going to do some things that aren't particularly savory. But I can also remember on at least two occasions when I just flat out refused to do a couple of things. It's a story in itself, and I had to meet with the manager and the man above the manager. Fortunately for me on that occasion, the man above my manager was more sympathetic to me than to him, so I was able to keep my job at that time. But those things aren't so common yet. But on the other hand, I think we have to recognize as well that our nations Canada and America, we're the exception. We're not the norm. We're the exception to the norm. And it does seem that the devil is making up for lost time, even in our nations today. I'm sure I could spend too much time dealing with all of the animosity that's being shown against Christians today. And to this day, persecution abounds toward Christians in other lands to the point where some have identified this day, this current day, as marking the most widespread and intense day of persecution that the church has ever known in the course of church history. We had a young man in our church a few years back who grew up on the mission field in Mexico. He was actually born in Columbia, South Carolina. I remember him telling me he was willing to go to any mission field in the world except Columbia. The reason being that he still had citizenship in that country and he would run the risk of being drafted into the military had he returned to that country. But he was willing to go anywhere else. And I remember he shared with me that, and this was back some time ago, that for modern day missionaries to buy life insurance, if they were going to serve as missionaries, was something that was impossible to do. There just weren't any insurance companies that would be willing to bear the risk because that risk was deemed to be too great. And don't we know that missionaries, even to this day, are viewed with contempt within our nations? They're oftentimes portrayed as troublemakers, those who lure people away from longstanding religions of their homelands in order to embrace Christianity, and it just leads to social unrest and to people being all disrupted. Now, the reason for such hostility throughout history is not all that hard to trace. It boils down to the truth that the gospel, by its very nature, confronts sinners in their sin. That's what provokes the hostility. The Beatitudes begin with the acknowledgement that we're spiritually impoverished, poor in spirit, and that we're sinners with plenty to mourn over, even our sins. That's the beginning of the gospel. And it's the same way the Apostle Paul begins his exposition of the gospel and his epistle to the Romans, two and a half chapters devoted to establishing the universal guilt of all mankind before you come to the positive exposition of the gospel that begins in chapter three and verse 21 of Romans. And the sinner in his pride doesn't want to hear it, doesn't want to face it, I remember several years ago when I still lived in Greenville, and I was called upon for jury duty. There was one case in particular, it wasn't coming before the jury, we were all seated in the auditorium, and there was a case being brought to the judge in which a man was entering a guilty plea for mistreating a lady that was there beside him. And the judge looked at this man, and he said, now, are you entering this guilty plea? Because you've thought it out, and this is really the plea that you want to enter. And he said, yes, your honor, I've thought it out. I want to plead guilty. And then the judge asked him another question. He said, are you happy with the counsel that's been appointed to you? It was a court-appointed lawyer. And so the judge wanted to know, are you happy that your lawyer has given you good advice or do you think he's just looking for an easy way out by having you enter this plea? No, no, I'm happy with my lawyer, I'm gonna enter the guilty plea. And then the judge looked at the man square in the eye and he said to him, are you pleading guilty because you're in fact guilty? The man froze, his jaw locked up, He had a countenance that just became fierce, and it was one of those electric moments in the courtroom. And he had to be excused, he and his lawyer. He had to be excused from the room to go talk it over again before he could enter that plea. I wanted to jump on a chair and say, you see? You see how it happens? A man can't even enter a guilty plea without his pride interfering at some point to keep him from actually acknowledging that he really is guilty. Well, that's what the gospel calls on you to acknowledge. There is no point to salvation if you don't know what you're being saved from. We're being saved from the guilt and dominion of sin. If you are able this morning to acknowledge the guilt of your sin, I mean to tell you that's not something you would do in the power of the flesh. The flesh would keep you from that. your pride would interfere to keep you from acknowledging that. And the very fact that you can affirm that if you really believe that, not just that you're slightly less than perfect, some people take that approach. I remember talking to one man who suggested to me, you know what, about, oh, 12, 15 years ago, I might have broken one of the commandments. Oh no, no. Acknowledging the guilt of your sin means you are able to confess that you are hell bound and hell deserving. Can you acknowledge your guilt to that extent? Can you say that with regard to yourself? Shall I perform my miracle for you? This is the first time here. I haven't performed this miracle here yet. I do this sometimes when I go to the rescue mission and I take my finger, this is my accusing finger, and you'll notice that I can point it anywhere. I can point it at my neighbor, I can point it at my wife, I can point it at my boss, I can point it at the government. We all like to point it there, don't we? But you'll notice that wherever my finger is pointed, it's always pointing away from me. Now here comes the miracle. And as I told him at the rescue mission, this is every bit as supernatural as the Lord turning water to wine. I can take that accusing finger and I can point it at myself. I'm the sinner. I, like Paul, am the chief of sinners. I've broken the law countless times. At my best, I fail to measure up to what the law demands. I'm able to say that. I'm able to confess that. I do honestly believe that. Can you perform that miracle? And I mean to tell you, if you can acknowledge your guilt, that's nothing short of supernatural. And I have good news for you this morning. Those are the ones Christ came to save. The ones who won't acknowledge their guilt, well, why should Christ have come for you? You think you'll be okay. And basically, Christ had no word for those who didn't think they needed a physician, who thought they were righteous. You could say, in a sense, that Christ would say to them, okay, we'll see you on judgment day, and we'll see how your righteousness measures up to what the law demands. Oh, I wouldn't want to be in that position. Nor should you desire that. Okay. But the sinner in his pride doesn't want to hear of his sin. He doesn't want to face his guilt. It provokes his anger to have to face the truth that his sin and eternal destiny are in hell on account of his sin. And this is why we need the Holy Spirit to attend the gospel. This is why we meet twice a year as ministers to pray, oh Lord, convince men and women and boys and girls of their sin. Because if the Holy Spirit doesn't attend the preaching of the gospel to subdue the rebellious and proud hearts of men, then men will become hostile toward a gospel that begins by confronting them with their sin. A number of years ago, I preached through the book of Acts, and I remember coming to the day of Pentecost. Have you ever looked carefully at what Peter preaches on the day of Pentecost? Basically, he is confronting his Jewish audience with the greatest crime conceivable to the Jewish imagination. Why did the Jews even exist? Well, they existed for this purpose, to bring forth the Messiah, and now he had come. And Peter is saying to them in essence, but you could do no better but to take him and nail him to a cross. What would have happened on that day had the Holy Spirit not moved? I remember I used to discuss that with some of my ministerial colleagues. What would have happened on that day had the Holy Spirit not moved? And then someone pointed out to me, you don't have to guess. Just flip forward a few pages to chapter six and see what they did to Stephen when he came with the message of Christ. And the Spirit did not move on that occasion to save them. And what did they do to Stephen? They took him and they executed him. The gospel begins by confronting us with our sin. What an indictment that beatitude brings then on the modern church today. What is the philosophy of the modern church today? Is it not a philosophy that seeks to avoid the pronouncement of Christ? Is it not a philosophy that says do all in your power to avoid confrontation and instead be as accommodating as you can to the world? Such a philosophy of ministry may make for fast growth, it may make for easy growth, it may make for comfortable growth in a culture of affluence and ease, but I don't know that it will really contribute to the advancement of the kingdom of God or the true building of the church. May the Lord spare us from such compromise. The Lord's blessing in this beatitude is not given to those who don't have the courage to face the hostility of the world. It's not pronounced upon those who find ways to compromise the gospel of the kingdom in order to avoid the inevitable confrontation that the gospel by its very nature conveys. The Lord's blessing rather is pronounced upon those who suffer for righteousness' sake and for his name's sake. And if we would prepare them for the inevitable hostility of the world, then we must be grounded in this gospel of the kingdom. We must know and appreciate its power to save through its power to confront sinners in their sin and then point them to Christ. Have you not discovered that power in your own lives? Did you not find your own pride provoked before the Holy Spirit gave you the grace to surrender to Christ? I remember it in my own salvation experience, 21 years old, and a man was very blunt with me, very simple, very direct, and very blunt. You're a sinner, you're on your way to hell, nothing you can do about it. Christ died for sinners. Believe in him and you'll be saved. That's really all it was. And the first impact it had on me was to make me angry because it was confronting me in my sin. By the grace of God, I came to see it. I came to acknowledge it. To this day, I thank God for that man's direct bluntness. So the first thing we must do then in preparing for the inevitable is to know what to expect. Now I realized this morning that on the surface of it, that would seem to be discouraging to the point of being disheartening to have to face that truth. And I should say before I leave this point, that while we're aware of what we will face, this isn't the primary thing to dwell on. And this leads to my next point. For if we would prepare for the inevitable, we must not only know what to expect, But we must also prepare, secondly, by remembering that we are indeed blessed. We are indeed blessed. Do you pick that up in the Beatitudes? What's the word that occurs more than any other in those verses? Blessed, blessed. If the double mention of persecution makes certain the hostility of the world, the double mention of blessing makes certain the favor that we have from Christ. And this is where our Lord becomes very emphatic. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake, he says in verse 10, and that is as if the Lord is able to look directly into the eye of each member of his audience to add force to the statement when he says in verse 11, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. I believe the key to preparation rests here especially. There are those, you know, that seem very fond of dwelling on the negative aspect of the world's hostility and all that is wrong with the world to the point that they fail to see the matter that the Lord is stressing here even with greater force. It's as if they go day by day saying, woe is me, I'm a Christian, and that means terrible things await me. I wonder if the sky is going to fall today. I wonder if I'll lose my job today. I wonder if I'll be apprehended and executed today. Sure is hard being a Christian. I wonder if it's worth it. And there are some people, you know, that think that way. I was having this discussion with the Louis's the other night, a little bit, I shared with them my knowledge of a lady who used to attend my church, God bless her, but she seems to have been, at that time, I don't know how it stands with her now, but she loved to search out conspiracy theories on the internet. It's almost like she took some kind of a strange delight in frightening herself by all that was going to happen and all that was wrong. And while I would not want to downplay the actual challenges and difficulties that Christians face in such a way that I would run the risk of trivializing those difficulties, At the same time, I can't help but notice a very different picture of those early Christians that's given to us in the book of Acts. They were scattered abroad, Acts chapter eight and verse one tells us. And that's all it says regarding their persecution. They were scattered abroad. But stop a moment and try to think of all that is encompassed in those words, scattered abroad. It means they were fleeing for their lives. It means they were leaving their homes, leaving their jobs, leaving their familiar surroundings. And what kind of picture is given to us that we're scattered abroad? Is it a picture of downcast refugees dragging their feet in the sand with sullen expressions of sadness and lamentation? That's not the picture at all. It says rather in verse four, in Acts eight, that they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word. And in the wake of that scattering, we are given in that eighth chapter of Acts, the account of Philip going to Samaria and preaching Christ to them. And two verses later, we're told in Acts chapter eight and verse eight, and there was great joy in that city. Can you imagine that? Can you comprehend the power behind that? The scattered church, you could say, was leaving joy, the joy of salvation in its wake. How could such a thing be possible, we might well ask. How could those that had lost so much bring so much to those they came into contact with? And the answer is to be found in the fact that they knew they were blessed of God. Those early Christians in the book of Acts provide vivid proof of the consciousness God's people can have that nothing can separate them from the love of Christ. They knew in their experience what Paul would later write to the Romans in Romans 8 and verses 38 and 39, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And they knew that. They knew that, not simply the way some of us do as a part of our dogma that we're taught to affirm. They knew it in their experience. They knew they were blessed. Christ emphasizes the truth that his people are blessed. Indeed, do we not have to acknowledge that this is the thing that comes out again and again and again in the course of the Beatitudes? Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart and the peacemakers and those that are persecuted for righteousness sake. Blessed are ye. Our Lord emphasizes at the end. And this is the thing that is so clearly being driven home by the Lord Jesus that the subjects of the kingdom of heaven need to have pounded into their heads until it reaches their hearts. We are a blessed people. You are blessed with the possession of the kingdom of heaven. You are blessed with comfort, especially the comfort of sins forgiven. You are blessed with the inheritance of the earth. Christ's cause wins. You are blessed with being filled. You are blessed with seeing God. You are blessed with being identified as the children of God. You are blessed with the righteousness of Christ imputed to you. You are blessed with the peace of the gospel. And when you come to the Lord's explanation of this final beatitude, you can add, you are blessed with your association of a godly heritage in the prophets that have gone before you, and you are blessed with great reward in heaven that awaits you. There's just no way around it, my brothers and sisters. The subjects of the kingdom of God are a blessed people. Rather ironic, isn't it, and perhaps a sad testimony to our depravity, that we need to be convinced of that. We need to be convinced that we're blessed. We tend to doubt it, don't we? We're prone to forget it. or were lured into the devil's deception of measuring the truth of our blessedness by the passing things of this transient and sin-cursed world. I remember that during my ordination to be the minister of the church that I now serve, that I testified on that occasion that I considered it to be one of my primary functions in the ministry of the pulpit to convince the people of God that they're really blessed. I don't believe personally that it takes a whole lot to convince the people of God that they're sinful. I think we know that, or we should. We feel all too often that we're very much alive to sin and dead to God, the very opposite of what we're called to reckon upon in Romans chapter six. It takes faith in Christ to realize that we're blessed. It takes the ability, you may say, to see unseen things and to see through and beyond the veil of this temporal reality in which we live in order to know that we're blessed. And this becomes essential for you if you would prepare for the inevitable hostility of the world. You must be able to view that hostility in the broader context of being blessed by God and by Christ. How then do we prepare for the inevitable? Well, we do so by knowing what to expect. Okay, we're not trying to skirt that issue. We don't stick our heads in the sand and try our best to act as if it were not so. We don't compromise the gospel in order to try to change the inevitable. We simply recognize that the gospel by its very nature provokes the hostility of the world before it saves sinners from the world. And we prepare for the inevitable by viewing that hostility in the broader context of being blessed by God. It remains for us to consider then finally and lastly, and in a similar vein to what I've just said, that we prepare for the inevitable by rising above the world in the power of our blessedness. We rise above the world. in the power, in the recognition of our blessedness. Oh, the devil in the flesh and the world would tell you you ought to look for a place to hide if you identify with Christ. You ought to tremble with fear if you're a Christian. You ought to live each day in dread because of the devil's hostility and the world's hostility to you and to the gospel of grace. It's interesting to note that in contrast to this frame of mind and heart, to note the very first command that we find given by Christ in the Sermon on the Mount. The verbs are important in verse 12. They indicate commands. They're imperatives. Here then is Christ's command, the first one in the Sermon on the Mount, like I say. His command in the light of what to expect and in the light of how blessed you are, Christ commands you to rejoice and be exceeding glad. You might think the way some Christians behave that the Lord had commanded them to be sullen and exceeding dismayed. But he calls us to rejoice and be exceeding glad. And the way we're able to give heed to such a command is by rising above the world in the power of our blessedness. There is a very present aspect, you know, to the blessing of this beatitude. The beatitudes end as they begin with the pronouncement, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. As subjects of the kingdom of heaven, we are subjects right now. We enjoy our blessings right now. We enjoy Christ's presence now. We dwell in the realm of his favor now. It is the Holy Spirit's ministry to enable us in increasing measure to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height of the love of Christ. And we're told in connection with that comprehension that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think. By the way, look up that prayer in Ephesians 3 and make it your own. There is a prayer that is beyond all doubt the will of God, that you know the breadth and length and depth and height of a love that passes knowledge. This is how we rise above the world, by having the things that are ours in Christ ministered to our souls in such a way that we know the reality of the blessings we possess. When we know that reality, we won't find it challenging to rejoice and be exceeding glad in the midst of circumstances that might dictate to us otherwise, but we'll find rather that this command will represent really the natural motions of our hearts. I believe this is what those early Christians knew when they were scattered abroad. They lived above the world in the power of their blessings, and they couldn't be pulled down Nor could they be silenced. You could chase them from their homes, you could arrest them, you could execute them, but you couldn't shut them up. They knew the reality of their blessings and they knew that Christ was risen from the dead. There's no doubt that Paul knew the reality of his blessings in Christ, and by knowing that reality, he could write from experience to the Corinthians the words of 2 Corinthians 4 in verse 17, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen. That's a very incredible statement by Paul when you consider all that he underwent. It takes into account his beatings and scourgings and imprisonments and shipwrecks. These things made for light afflictions that are but for a fleeting moment when compared to the blessedness that Christ bestows. That verse also is very practical. and shows us how to rise to the challenge of viewing afflictions as light and fleeting. You know, it's one thing to look at that verse and admire Paul for his ability to do that, but he tells you how to do it too. It's accomplished while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen. There's how you do it. There's how you can put yourself in the same position where Paul was of seeing afflictions as light and fleeting. You have to look at unseen things and not so much at the seen things. And your success or lack of success in seeing your afflictions as light and fleeting wholly depends on how much you see with the eye of faith in comparison to what you see with the eye of flesh. I've often viewed with awe and amazement a text that we find in the book of Revelation. I'm sure it's a familiar text to many of you. It's found in Revelation chapter 12 and verse 11, which speaks of the persecuted church when it says, and they overcame him, the devil, by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death. That last part in particular, has struck me, they loved not their lives unto the death. How do you do that? I used to ask myself that quite often. How do you gain such triumph that you can love not your own life unto the death? And then I found a verse in the Psalms that I think provided me with the key to that text in Revelation. In Psalm 63 in verse 3, we read, because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Oh, there's the key. The persecuted Christians in the book of Revelation found what the psalmist found, something that's better than life. Something that's certainly better than the life of the flesh lived in a sin-cursed world where we battle with doubts and fears and all manner of besetting sins. Here's something better, the loving kindness of our Lord. We find the loving kindness of Christ, a love that reached down from heaven and brought us up from the pit and set us upon the solid rock. It brought us to Christ and brought to our souls the sure hope of heaven and everlasting life. How do we prepare then for the inevitable? We make that preparation by knowing what to expect. We make that preparation by remembering that we're blessed. Learn to count your blessings. And in the power of Christ's blessing, we rise above the world. I wonder this morning as we bring this meeting to a close, are you prepared for the inevitable? Do you realize how blessed you are as a child of God that a subject of the kingdom of heaven If you know your blessings, then you will rise above the world. You cannot know your blessings by being too focused on this world. If your focus is on the things of this world, then that which is inevitable is going to frighten you and weaken your resolve to be true to Christ. But if you look away to the one that died in your place, the one who bore your sins, the one who provided you with righteousness and purchased you to himself, then the power of his purchased blessings for you will lift you above this world and the worst that this world will bring will seem to you in comparison to your blessedness to be a thing of naught. You'll be enabled to say to the world, throw your worst at me. I know my God is for me. I know I'm in the realm of his favor. If God be for me, if Christ be for me, who can be against me? Oh, may Christ himself then communicate to your heart that you are blessed as a Christian And may you rise to the challenge of seeing with great clarity and fullness the unseen things that are eternal. And if you're in the meeting today without Christ, oh, it is my prayer that God will convict you of your sins and convince you of Christ's love and compel you to flee to him whom to know is life everlasting. Let's close then in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee as we bow in Thy presence and bring this service to a close. That perfect love casts out all fear. We ask, O Lord, that as we contemplate the inevitable that Christ brings our attention to, we pray, Lord, You'll help us to be intelligent enough to face it and realize it, but Lord, we also pray that You'll help us not to be dominated by it in our hearts, May we instead find our hearts dominated by the love of Christ and the wonderful blessings that he has brought upon us, even his favor, his presence, and the sure hope of everlasting life. So Lord, we ask of thee now that thy spirit would take this word and make the application to every heart in accordance with thy knowledge of every heart need. And may thy spirit continue to speak, even after the voice of man is silent. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. you you you. so so Okay.