Thank you, Nathan. What a beautiful truth in that song. Let's take the word of God together and turn to the New Testament book of Matthew, if you would, Matthew chapter five. And our theme verse this year is found in the Old Testament book of 1 Chronicles. And we looked at that last night together at the stewardship meeting. What a blessed time we had and thankful to God for the sweet family he's given us in this church and the direction he's given us as a church, as a local assembly. Thrilled to see what God is going to do but the verses led us to is 1 Chronicles 22 verse 19. Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God. Arise therefore and build. The context of that portion of scripture was the building of the temple of course. But we take that spiritual application that we're building the kingdom of God. And I believe God has led us this morning to Matthew chapter 5. This is one of the most famous sermons that has ever been preached and certainly one of the greatest sermons ever preached because preached by our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ. There never was a preacher like Christ and there never will be. The Son of God. And he introduces this famous sermon with what we call the Beatitudes. It's a list of statements that describe what a blessed person looks like. If you were to speak to people today from around the world of different backgrounds and even different denominational backgrounds, different religious backgrounds, and even those of no religion at all, if you were to ask them what they wanted in life, many people, if not most people would say, we just want to be happy. It's interesting when we begin to look at this sermon that Jesus preached and the opening lines of it, the very first word of this sermon is the word blessed, which means happy. Let's read it together. Matthew chapter five, beginning in verse number one, we'll read down to verse number 12. 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 sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven. for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." We'll stop our reading there this morning, and we trust that God will bless the reading and hearing of His Word. Let's pray together. Would you pray with me that God would speak to every heart, that His Spirit would grant liberty? The words of man can accomplish nothing unless God's Spirit attends those words. So let's pray that God would do what no man can. Father in heaven, we thank thee for what we've seen and heard already this morning. We thank thee for the privilege of singing. We thank thee for what we've just heard of how the blood of Jesus Christ speaks for us. We're thankful that he died in our place for our sins. He shed his blood. He gave his life. He was punished for us and as us. so that we may be redeemed, so that we might be rescued from our own selves and our sin. We thank Thee that the Lord Jesus still is speaking today. We thank Thee, Father, that the door of grace and mercy is still opened through Jesus Christ today. We thank Thee that Thy love is everlasting, and even this morning, we can taste and see that the Lord is good. As we open thy word, it isn't enough that we open the physical pages of thy book, we need thee by thy spirit to open our minds, to lay aside prejudices, preconceived ideas. We need thee, Holy Spirit, to help push aside the distractions, the things that are causing us already to be thinking elsewhere. We ask that they help us arrest our attention, soften our hearts and speak to us this morning through thy word and through thy servant. For we ask it in Jesus Christ's name and for his sake. Amen. The one goal of the life of Jesus Christ was to glorify the father by bringing souls into his kingdom. Jesus himself said it, the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. Would you look here for a moment? If you are here today and you do not know the Lord Jesus as your savior, we sometimes say it like this. If you are not saved, rescued from your sin and from yourself, if you have not called upon the name of Christ and are not trusting in him, then the scriptures tell us that you're lost. You're blind. And not only that, but the scriptures teach us that you are outside of his kingdom. You're a part of this world, in this world system. You're a part of the kingdom of darkness. And the entire reason God sent his son, the Lord Jesus, into this world was that he might rescue us and bring us and put us into his own kingdom. And that was done through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. That's why you may be wondering, you may be visiting thinking, why are these people singing about blood and things like that? That's strange. Well, it's because that blood represents the life of Christ. He died for us. He shed his blood for us. And that covers our sins and our iniquities so that when someone turns from sin and from self to the Lord Jesus Christ, they trust in him, they believe he died for them, then that blood is applied. And when God sees that person, that sinner, he no longer sees them as being a sinner, but as he sees his own son. That's why we make such a big deal about these thoughts and these truths. And this was the mission of Jesus. He came to seek and to save. And the God ordained method of adding souls to his kingdom is by using those who are already in the kingdom. So this morning, if you are a child of God, if you've been born again, it is pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save them which would believe. Those who are lost. That's the way that God ordained it to be, that his children would speak of the Savior. And when His children speak of the Savior, the Spirit of God has already told us in the Word that He'll work through those words in the hearts of those who need to be saved. We believe that. We trust that. And so when we look at this life of Jesus Christ, the account given to us in God's holy word about who Jesus was and what he did, we begin to understand what Christ was trying to do. And when we look at this sermon, this famous sermon on the mount, somebody once called it this, they said it could be called the manifesto of the king. Jesus the king speaking about what his kingdom should be like. And these opening lines, we call them the Beatitudes, the blessings you could say, they reveal the essential nature of God's kingdom. And simply put, the kingdom of heaven is first and foremost internal, not external. One of the biggest mistakes that the disciples made in the days that Jesus walked this earth was that they were expecting a physical kingdom to be built and established. We make the same mistake in 2025. We think that the kingdom of God and Christianity is marked by buildings and numbers and property and material things and we forget that the real mark in the beginning of the kingdom of God is an internal work that cannot be seen. And these opening words explain to us what it is to be a part of that kingdom. Christianity is not about clothing and money and words only. Sometimes if we're not careful, we'll think that we're acting like a Christian because we go to a certain building every week and we wear certain clothing every week and we sing certain words every week and we read certain words, but it's definitely possible. to come every week to a building like this and dress every week in your Sunday best and sing every week the hymns and listen every week to a sermon and still not be in the kingdom of God. And it may be that even this morning some of our well-dressed and beautiful looking congregation may not actually be in the kingdom. Jesus used many words, the Bible uses many words to describe what that transition is. Jesus said at one point, you must be born again, born from above. You need new life. When you stand before God one day, the scriptures tell us we'll all stand before the Lord Jesus in judgment. Look here for a moment. Are you ready for that day? Are you ready to meet the piercing eyes of Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords? Are you ready to stand before him and to answer for the life that you've lived? The only way to be ready is by being born again, having new life, being changed. And that change is an inward change, which will affect, of course, outward things, but it's a matter of the heart. It's interesting, there's not a word in this sermon about a physical kingdom. Not a word in this great sermon on the mount that describes the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. Not a word about buildings and street lamps and government officials. No, no, no, not at all. It's all about the work of God in your heart. So let me ask you today, The Lord Jesus is less concerned with what we do and what we have and he's more concerned, infinitely more concerned with who you are. So I ask you, who are you? Well, I'm Derek Moreland, you may say, whatever your name may be. No, no, no. Where do you find your identity? Some people find their identity in what they do. We say, who are you? Well, I'm a builder, or I'm a preacher, or I'm a salesman, whatever it may be. Some people find their identity in what they have. They find their happiness, or they try to find their happiness in the things that they own, the things they possess. They try to find their contentment and happiness in what they've accomplished and what they do. But if you've ever lived that way, you'll always know that it never works. Because as soon as you get one thing you wanted, you want another. And as soon as you accomplish one great task that you put your mind to and expected that it would bring you happiness and contentment and joy, you want to do something else. Bigger and better because that so-called happiness didn't last. Who are you? And this is where we begin. The kingdom of heaven is characterized by who and not what. Look at it with me. 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. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are they which are persecuted. It's about people and who you are and what characterizes you. And it's amazing to me that this sermon begins with one word, blessed or happy. The whole world is searching for this happiness, this perfect peace and joy and this perfect rest inside. And by the way, I believe it's God's will for man that we indeed be blessed. Don't worry, I'm not preaching a prosperity gospel, but I believe that. And if you read the scriptures, you'll understand there's coming a day when he will wipe away all tears. And there'll be no more sorrow and no more sighing and no more grief and no more pain because God wants us to be blessed. It's true. It's in the heart and the mind of God. We even read that when Christ was born by the message that the angels brought to the shepherds and those who were about, they brought glad tidings, good news, great joy. This is what God desires. This is the divine intention for the human life. That's encouraging. So why is it that we have a hard time finding it? I think we have a hard time finding it because we're searching in all the wrong places. The very first word of the sermon is blessed. It's a word full of sunshine, full of hope, full of joy. Can you imagine the Lord Jesus standing up like some of our distinguished preachers today with a furrowed brow and the first word out of his mouth is blessed. Isn't that precious? If that doesn't kind of blow to smithereens some of our misconceptions of who God is, then I don't know what will. First word in the sermon and it further explains what all of humanity is searching for but never can find because humanity is searching for it in doing and in owning and in having. What God makes in us and of us is what results in the blessing. Make no mistake about it, it's not the other way around that God blesses us and then we change. No, no, it's God does something inside of us and that creates that happiness and contentment that we so desperately want and need. If you're not careful, you chase the happiness when you ought to be chasing the Savior. And one of the mistakes we make in life, those who are lost, who do not know Christ, and perhaps they're searching for happiness. The problem is they've made happiness their goal and ambition in life. And they're chasing, chasing all their life through. And they're miserable because they can't seem to lay hold of it. They've made happiness the goal. But happiness is rather a byproduct. Jesus does not say that the kingdom shall be given to the poor in spirit, but he says rather, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We're going to look at that in a moment. He does not say that if a man is poor in spirit, then Jesus will give him the kingdom of heaven to make him happy. That's not what it says. God does not give gifts to make men happy. That's not what we read in God's Word. He creates the life of Jesus in the soul of man, and that enables him to find happiness everywhere. That's what he does. When a man is truly born again, God breathes into that person's soul, and he gives them the life of God, the spirit of God, and we can be happy in any circumstance, in any situation, because of what God has done inside of us. The problem is the world is always working the other way around. They think that if my circumstances change, then I'll be happy. My children are learning this. They're trying to teach them this, but they're thinking, if I can just get those shoes, I'll be happy. And they get those shoes, and then they realize, well, those shoes are creasing on the toe. I need crease protectors. That's what my son said to me the other day. I looked at him, I said, what? Yeah, yeah, he said crease protectors. I said, what are you talking about? Well, it keeps the shoe from creasing on the toe. I said, that's what it's supposed to do. What's wrong with you? But you see the way that we think, if you get certain things, I'll be happy. But when you get it, you aren't happy, are you? Because we are putting our confidence in the things that we have or want or get. We think that happiness is... No, no. If you can have the life of Jesus inside of you, then you can experience happiness no matter what. Whether your shoes crease or not. Sorry, Micah. Happiness is found not in what you possess and what you accomplish, but are found in walking and living with Christ. Blessed. Blessed, it's found within a man, never without a man. Listen carefully. Happiness is found inside of a man, never outside of a man. That's where we go wrong. We're looking outwardly. That will make me happy. This will make me happy. This move, this person, this job will make me happy. No, no, nothing outside of you can do that. It's only Christ inside of you that can. Now look at the first. We have a series. You could really say these Beatitudes could be divided into eight. And the last two are really one and the same thing. And there are really two sections of four. We'll look at that perhaps later on. It's very interesting that when you begin to read this, you find the root. Initially the root of happiness and then you begin to see the fruit of happiness. And it's amazing when you study these things, two sets of four. At the end of the first set of four it says, blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness. And the end of the second set of four it says, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness. Isn't that interesting? The first set of four are pushing towards that direction. You're hungering and thirsting for righteousness. And when you reach almost like a ladder, these eight blessed characteristics, when you get to the top, you finally got righteousness and you're being persecuted for it. But it's okay, you're still blessed. Isn't that amazing? It's possible to be blessed in the middle of persecution. Our society, especially in the Western world, we have equated blessing with finances. We've got to be careful. I've said this before. We've got to be very careful. We think, boy, are we blessed. Look at all that we have and all we've been given. Boy, are we blessed. Well, does that mean that the people living in Africa and other countries who don't have anything are not blessed? If blessing is in what you have, then yes. But if blessing is in who you are and what's inside of you, then all the money in the world cannot make you blessed. A famous actor said many years ago, I have everything that money can buy, and yet I'm not happy. I wonder why I'm not happy. John D. Rockefeller was dying, the wealthiest man on the planet, and when he laid dying on his deathbed, somebody asked him, he was still making business proposals whilst he was dying, and someone asked him, Mr. Rockefeller, come on, how much money is enough? And he smiled and said, just one more dollar. Just one more. It's not in what you have, but in who you are in Christ. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Of all the words that Jesus could use to describe someone who is blessed, he chooses to use the word poor. Think of that. That absolutely smacks in the face of all that Western culture believes. We say, blessed are the rich. And Jesus says, blessed are the poor. Not the poor in wallet, but the poor in spirit. Think about it with me for just a moment. If I were to say to you today, I'm poor in wallet, that means that I can put my hands in my pockets and the only thing I feel is my leg. If I were to say I'm poor in wallet, that means I've got no money. I've got nothing, nothing to offer you, nothing to use for myself. I'm poor. And so when we find this expression poor in spirit, it's an understanding that I have nothing good to offer God. That's where true blessing is found. When you realize that you need God. When you realize that nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling. When you begin to realize that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, then you're on the right track. Then you're on the right track. Somewhere in today's society, in Western culture, in America, in Tennessee, somewhere God's people have got to wake up and realize that the blessing of God is not in what you have, but in Jesus Christ alone. Blessed are the poor in spirit. When you study this word and this expression, it has the idea of someone who is truly subject. Think about that. You're truly subject. You are willing to be governed because you've got nothing. You've surrendered your life to God because you've been brought to the point when you realize, when you've looked by the Spirit of God, when he's shined his light upon your heart and your soul and your mind, you've begun to realize, I'm not as good as I pretended to be. I'm not what I'm pretending to the whole world to be. And I stand up straight and dress nice and comb my hair just right and put a splash of perfume on and everybody thinks I'm okay. I use the right words and I try not to swear and curse and try not to lie and I try not to speed and all of those things. And you look into the mirror of God's Word and you begin to realize I'm in trouble. I'm desperately wicked. When you get honest with yourself, when God by His Spirit pulls back the veil and reveals to you the true nature of humanity, not in everybody else, but in yourself, then that's a blessing. Because when you're brought to that point, you're ready to be governed. You're ready to yield. You're ready to humble yourself. You know that you need God. I wonder this morning, do you know that? Do you know you need him? And I don't mean that you need him as a side attraction. Corrie ten Boom once said this, she said, you'll either use the Lord as a spare wheel or a steering wheel. Which one is it for you? Oh yes, I know I need God, but only when I have a flat tire. Only when I'm in trouble. No, no. Someone who's poor in spirit knows they can't breathe without God. They could not do the right thing ever unless God helped them. We become so self-sufficient. We become so self-reliant, self-absorbed that we don't really need God. But this life of happiness begins with understanding how poor we are. Isaiah chapter six, I'll just turn there briefly, is the account given to us of the famous prophet Isaiah. A talented, successful prophet, but the Bible tells us that in the presence of God, Look what it says, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims, each one had six wings. With twain he covered his face, with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. One cried unto another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me. Look here, you never, never enter into this poverty of spirit until you see God for who he is. Never. In fact, you know that a man knows God and sees God by his own estimation of self. If a man thinks himself to be God's gift to humanity, you know he doesn't know God. If a man thinks he's the world's best Christian and he's come here to make a big difference and do this, that, and the other, he doesn't know God because without God, in the presence of God, you'd say like the prophet, woe is me. The interesting thing is, in the previous chapter, Isaiah was saying, woe unto them, woe unto them. Woe unto them that drink. Woe unto them that do this, and woe unto them. And finally, when he stands before God, he melts. Woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Our problem is our eyes aren't seeing God. We're looking at each other, and we're looking at other churches, and comparing ourselves with other Christians, and other people, and other religions. And because we're not looking at God, we're living in absolute pride. And that allows us to act in an unseemly way for Christians. When your eyes are off of God and on everybody else, you will allow yourself to do things and say things that you would not otherwise do. You'll allow yourself to step across lines of sin that you would not normally do if you were looking and beholding our God. You'll sit and justify your sin about whatever that sin may be. lying or stealing or gossiping or slandering, and you'll justify it. And the reason you justify it is because you're not looking at God. If you caught a glimpse of God this morning, oh, you'd grab your lips and say, I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips. God be merciful to me. Do you remember that passage? Let's turn there, in the book of Luke, that passage in Luke when the Lord Jesus speaks about two men, Luke chapter 18 and verse number 10, two men went up to the temple to pray. He gives us an example. Two men went up to the temple to pray, very much like this morning, you could say. Let's divide this church into two categories. Let's divide this congregation into two categories of two men. All right, I want you to listen. Two men went up to the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. Look here, a Pharisee, that's somebody who's religious. They know what to wear. They know all the hymns by heart. They know the Holy Scriptures. They know how to live. They know how to act. That's the Pharisee. They are very religious. And the other one's a publican who is very sinful. A publican was a noted sinner in the community, in society. Everybody knew that they were a sinner. And here come the two men, a Pharisee and a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. Notice those words. He didn't pray with God, he prayed with himself. Are you listening? How many times do we pray and we never pray to God, we pray with ourselves. He prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee that I'm not as other men are, extortioners and unjust and adulterers, or even as this publican. Is that the way you live? I fast twice in the week and I give tithes of all that I possess. I, I, I, I, I. And the publican, standing afar off. The sinner who wouldn't even go near because he felt unworthy and maybe he sat at the back of the church and maybe he was afraid to even come in the doors because he felt himself to be unworthy and unclean. The publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven. But he smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner." I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. There's someone who's poor in spirit. God, be merciful to me. Pride can only live in the soul of someone who is a great distance from God. Pride cannot exist in the presence of God. Lucifer found that out, didn't he? So when we're walking with God, when Christ dwells within us and we're letting the Spirit of God fill us and guide us and lead us, then it pushes pride out. It exterminates that nasty bug of pride when we walk with the Lord. But when you stop walking with Christ and communing with Christ, you begin to talk like the Pharisee. I'm not like that. I don't do that. I would never do that. I, I, I, I, I. And you're deceiving yourself. Which one are you? This beatitude, blessed are the poor in spirit, is the first one given, the first mark of someone who lives near to God. Pride is the first mark of someone who lives away from God. Look, look here for a moment. What do we have that we did not receive from God? Besides our sin nature, right? You didn't do it. God did. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You're blessed when you realize you have nothing. It's the gateway blessing to everything else, because you realize you need God. It's interesting, this first one says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. But the rest of them say, they shall be. They shall inherit the earth. They shall be filled. They shall obtain mercy. They shall see God. They shall be called. Amazing. This one says theirs is the kingdom. You have it. Those who have the kingdom are those who are poor in spirit. What about you? There's is the kingdom of heaven. Not there's is mansions and streets of gold and tears and perfect saints and no more war and no more sin, but there's is the kingdom of heaven. You've begun. You've entered in. Isaiah 57 says this, let me read for you one verse. Isaiah 57 and verse 15. Did you hear that? Our holy righteous God will dwell with those who are of a contrite and humble spirit. Do you have that this morning? Is that what you are inside? Look, we've got to get rid of the idea that God owes us anything. God doesn't owe us a thing. What we deserve is hell. We've got to get beyond the fact that God owes us, but we also need to get to the place where we're not afraid to ask. Thomas Watson said, the poor are always begging. Blessed are the poor in spirit, because they know they have need, and therefore they beg and plead with the Lord, believing, God, I have nothing, I need you, not for money, but for grace and mercy and love. The things that make us what we ought to be, and we have them. In Christ, we have all of those. Are you afraid to ask? If you're proud, you'll never ask. The poor in spirit will be praying much because if you need God, you must pray. But if you feel like you have what it takes, you won't ask God. Prayerlessness is the height of pride and self-sufficiency. What about your prayer life? Thomas Watson said, how can you receive gold when your hands are full of stones? The poor in spirit say, I have nothing. But the proud says, look at all that I have. And really all that you have is dirt and stones. And until you let go, die to self and submit to almighty God, you cannot receive the richest blessings that God has prepared for us. It's interesting. Somebody once said, the more you see in yourself, the less you see in Christ. And the more you see in Christ, the less you see in yourself. Did you catch that? The more you see in yourself, oh look how good I am, the less you see in Jesus. But the more you see in him, when your eyes behold the Savior, when you're looking to him constantly, the less you even look at yourself. Robert Murray McShane used to say, for every one look at self, take ten looks to Christ. Andrew Murray wrote in his book of humility that true humility is not thinking lowly of yourself, it's just not thinking of yourself at all. Because when you're thinking lowly of yourself, I'm wretched, I'm terrible, I'm no good, I'm nothing, you are still the center of your thoughts. It's just as much pride as saying you're almighty and great and wonderful, look at me. You're still thinking about yourself. The key is not thinking of yourself at all, but Jesus Christ. Looking unto him, the author and finisher of our faith. Christ uses this text to explain to his disciples what the characteristics of his kingdom ought to be. So as we begin this journey looking at this passage of blessings, I wonder this morning, first of all, are you in the kingdom? You won't be in the kingdom unless you have found that poverty in spirit. Do you remember the day when you realized how poor you were? Do you remember the day when God showed you by his grace that you needed him? Nobody is saved without that. No one. For what other reason do you need to be saved? If you're saved because somebody dangled the carrot of heaven in front of you, then you're not saved at all. No, no. You're saved when you realize I'm in trouble and I need God. Have you been brought to that place? If so, don't ever leave that place. Never, never, never leave that place. We'll make a difference, an indelible difference on our community as long as we stay in that blessed state of understanding, blessed are the poor in spirit. We have nothing except for what Christ has given us. Stay there. Now, I don't believe that God wants you to stay there saying, I have nothing. He wants to fill your pockets after you realize. I don't mean physical pockets, spiritual pockets. He wants to fill you spiritually after you realize you have nothing. That way you'll give all the glory to him and all the credit to him. What about you this morning? Do you possess this characteristic? If not, Perhaps the Lord may shine a little light on your life today. The Bible speaks about the Lord Jesus. Never a man like him and there never will be. He perfectly exemplified all of these characteristics. We'll see that as we go on. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Would you stand with me please and bow your head I want to pray and in just a moment we're going to give you an opportunity to respond. What we mean by that is there are people here at the front who will be happy to talk to you and pray with you. Perhaps you have a question, a spiritual need. Maybe God is working in your heart and you're convicted. Maybe God has shined the light somewhere and you need someone to talk to. Then you come. These workers will be happy to talk with you, to pray with you. Maybe you need clarification on some matter. You come. Maybe you just know you're not what you ought to be.