Let's open to the Gospel of Luke. I invite you to turn to chapter 6. And we're going to be reading, beginning in verse 20. we're going to be covering verses 20 through 26 this morning. And so we're going to read those seven verses. And I would encourage you though, between now and next Lord's Day, to read through the remaining portion of our Lord's words here in this chapter. And turning his gaze toward his disciples, he began to say, Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way. Lord, we ask that Your Spirit would come and teach us from this Your Word. Lord, that You would illumine our minds and our hearts to the truth You have for us here. And Lord, that You would impact us and cause us to respond in a way that is pleasing to You, in Christ's name. Well this passage looks familiar, doesn't it? It looks familiar to what we read in Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7. What we call the Sermon on the Mount. And those first few verses in Matthew 5, we call the Beatitudes. And most would refer to these as Beatitudes as well here in Luke. In fact, if you've got one of those kind of Bibles that puts little headings in there that aren't part of Scripture, it might say Beatitudes. Well we're going to be looking at all of that and seeing how what Luke has to say fits with what Matthew recorded of Jesus' words. But by this point in Luke's Gospel, remember, Jesus had become very well known. He might have been the most famous person in all of Palestine. He'd been preaching in Galilee, for the most part, for at least a year. And some say as long as two years. By now he had a very large following of disciples. And he had opponents from among the Jewish religious establishment. The Pharisees, their scribes, and the Sadducees as well. And by this point, remember, we're talking about someone who had healed many of diseases they'd had for their entire lives. He'd cast demons out of many. And he had made three declarations to this point. He had declared that in Him the kingdom of God had come unto men. He declared He had authority on earth to forgive sins, something only God could do. And He declared that He was Lord of the Sabbath, a divine institution. So our setting here, Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath in the synagogue, man had a withered hand, and Jesus healed him. And then he went off to the mountain to pray. Went off alone to pray. And he spent the whole night in prayer to God, Luke tells us. And he came down the mountain And He chose twelve out of a larger number of disciples. Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the zealot, Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot. Matthew 10, 1 tells us, Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority. Gave them authority. over demons, and He gave them authority to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Now this becomes kind of significant when we see what happens on the night in Gethsemane when the Roman soldiers and the temple police come to get Jesus. And what did they do? Despite all of this, they fled. Well Luke tells us, after choosing them, He came down with them and stood on a level place. Verse 17, And there was a large crowd of His disciples and a great throng of people. So we have three groups of people here in this setting. We have the Twelve. We have a large crowd of disciples. And then we have this great throng of people from as far away as Jerusalem in the south. And from the Gentile regions on the Mediterranean coast of Tyre and Sidon. And they'd come for two reasons. To hear Him speak. and to be healed. Either to be healed of illnesses or diseases or to have demons cast out of them. And verse 19, look at this. All the people were trying to touch Him because healing power was coming from Him. He was healing them all. He didn't heal every single person. He healed those who came for healing. And we notice this though, healing power was coming from Him. In chapter 8, verses 43 through 46, we see that at times our Lord sensed this healing power proceeding from Him. People coming up and touching Him. So He healed them all. And what follows now, beginning in verse 20 and extending all the way to the end of this chapter, to verse 49. is the first lengthy compilation in Luke of Jesus' preaching. This is not a transcript of an entire sermon. That's not what we have in Scripture. They didn't have tape recorders. They didn't have any of these things that we have today. And one can read this entire sermon in Luke, all roughly 30 verses, in four minutes. Now people were coming from all over Jerusalem, Tyre, Sidon, to hear Jesus. They traveled a great many miles, and He didn't preach for only four minutes. Jesus preached for days sometimes. All day, many times. You want to get an idea how long Jesus' sermons sometimes lasted. In Matthew 15, Jesus taught and healed for three days. This is before He feeds the 4,000. But we don't have three days of Jesus' teaching recorded for us in Matthew. Matthew 15, 32, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. I don't want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way. He was teaching for three days there. So we don't have three days of teaching recorded here. But these are Jesus' words. These are what the gospel writers wrote down, what they knew to be true, what the Holy Spirit inspired them to set down for their readers. Matthew, of course, we know to have been a witness to most of these things. Luke investigated these things carefully. So during his entire ministry, Jesus preached a very consistent message. Coming of the kingdom of God among men, call to repentance, and a call to belief in Him. And so it's not only possible but probable that many of the sayings that are found here in this sermon in Luke and in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 were repeated by our Lord as He traveled throughout Galilee and Judea. So Jesus would have preached the same thing many times. And sometimes He emphasized different truths in different places with different crowds. But the content of what Jesus taught did not radically change from day to day. Now, why am I explaining all of that? Well, I'm explaining all of that because here in Luke 6, we have what have come to be known as Beatitudes, declarations by Jesus of His blessing. And we also have Beatitudes in Matthew. And they're not the same. They're not exactly alike. They're not inconsistent. But in Matthew, the Beatitudes are part of what we know as the Sermon on the Mount. Now neither Mark nor John includes the Sermon on the Mount or Beatitudes in his Gospel. The question is, and the discussion that we find among the commentators, is whether this passage in Luke, despite its differences with Matthew, is part of the same sermon recorded in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. Or whether Luke is writing about Jesus preaching on a separate occasion. Now a lot of the commentators are pretty dogmatic that Luke and Matthew are writing about the same event. And they may be correct. I suspect they are. Because there are good reasons to believe they are, even though the Beatitudes in Matthew, as we will see, are far from identical to those in Luke. But remember, the four gospel writers were writing to different audiences with different specific purposes in mind. So they may have taken the very same event, the same sermon of our Lord, and emphasized different aspects of it. Matthew, remember, was writing to a primarily Jewish audience. So he included material that he deemed significant to the Jews. And that the Holy Spirit inspired him to sit down. Luke was writing to whom? He was writing to a man named Theophilus. Each wrote as he was inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit. Each of them organized Jesus' words in his own way. And while these seven verses in Luke are different from what we read in Matthew 5, nearly everything that we read in Luke 6, 27 through 49 is also found somewhere in Matthew. Either in the Sermon on the Mount or in chapters following. Now I'm almost at our passage. But the distinctions and the similarities between Matthew and Luke require some explanation if we're to have understanding of what's being taught by our Lord here. Both of them have Jesus speaking on the mountain. Now Luke says He's on a level place, but it's apparently a level place on the side of the mountain. And both tell us there was a great multitude And whether Luke and Matthew are writing about the same sermon on the same day, which I believe they are, the substance of both passages is that very thing that Jesus preached throughout His earthly ministry. The picture we have in both Gospels, as we just read, is one of great crowds coming to Jesus, all wanting to hear Him teach and or be healed of sicknesses and disease. Now two obvious distinctions here between Matthew and Luke. Matthew emphasizes the necessity of poverty of spirit and the hunger for righteousness, which lead one to Christ. And without those two things, you will not come to Christ. You don't realize your need for Him, you won't come. Luke, on the other hand, focuses on Jesus' words, in large part anyway, as they relate to a lack of worldly riches in this life. And hunger and hatred that may come because of faith in Christ. And in Matthew, most count eight, maybe nine beatitudes. In Luke, there are four beatitudes. He leaves four of them completely out. that are found in Matthew. But he adds something else. He contrasts the four blessings with four woes. These four woes aren't present in Matthew. And at the same time, there's nothing inconsistent between the two. There's so much overlap in these two accounts that Luke and Matthew may very well be drawing from the same sermon. With each emphasizing some of the same things and each also emphasizing some aspects which the other man passes by. And you know, the more time I spent with both of these passages, it seems to me that it's very possible that the Beatitudes in Matthew provide context for the Beatitudes and the woes that we read in Luke. In Matthew, we have general doctrine spoken in third person. Blessed are the poor in spirit. But here in Luke, we have, blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. This is second-person direct address. So in Matthew, he records the Lord setting forth the general doctrine. Luke turns to the application of what Jesus is teaching to his disciples. And Jesus is showing us here what it is to be a disciple. I call this, appearances can be deceiving. And that's what Jesus is telling us. Jesus also shows us what keeps a man from becoming a believer. And what keeps a man from becoming his disciple. So we come to our text. And look at the words. Blessed are you who are poor. Directed right to his disciples. For yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. These are declarations, proclamations Jesus is making. And look at the one in verse 22. Blessed are you when men hate you, ostracize you, insult you, and scorn your name as evil for the sake of the Son of Man. Be glad in that day and leap for joy. For behold, your reward is great in heaven. Four characteristics in people are blessed. To be favored. To be blessed is to be favored. To be congratulated is really the best rendering of what that word originally meant. To be congratulated are the poor. You who are poor. You who are hated. And none of these appear to men to describe people who are to be congratulated. This doesn't look like somebody who's in good shape. These words of Jesus are contrary to all human worldly thinking. But poverty and hunger are the essential keys to the door of salvation. To the door to eternal life. Poverty of spirit, not of riches. remorse over sins, hunger for righteousness are the very keys that open the door to eternal glory. And this is what Jesus says in Matthew 3, Matthew 5, 3, excuse me. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This is very much like Luke's first verse. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Very much like Luke's third verse. Notice immediately. And because it's our Lord speaking and He said these things so often, you could almost read right by it. But notice immediately that in both Matthew and Luke, they record Jesus' promise of a heavenly reward. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Yours is the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of God. This is the promise to the poor in spirit. Now, to be poor in spirit is to recognize one's spiritual poverty, one's lack of any righteousness of his own. And this man who recognizes his spiritual poverty, he sees the law of God, but he realizes he cannot keep it, no matter how hard he tries. This is the man Paul described in Romans chapter 7, verses 14 and following. Some get the idea that he's talking about the Christian who's struggling with sin, but that's not what he says. This man's still in bondage to sin, but he knows it's wrong. He's on the way to conversion. Look at Romans 7, 14. This describes this spiritual poverty. We know, Paul says, that the law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. You see, the man who's born again has been freed from the dominion of sin. For what I am doing I don't understand. I'm not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. He knows it's wrong. He's on the doorstep of faith. But if I do the very thing I don't want to do, I agree with the law, confessing that the law is good. So now I'm no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me. That is, in my flesh. This, folks, is a poverty of spirit. This is a man mourning over his poverty of spirit. This is a man hungering for righteousness. For the good I want I don't do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. He sees his need for a Redeemer. one who can free him from bondage to his sin. He hungers and thirsts for righteousness, the man who is recognizing his spiritual poverty. And this poverty of spirit, his hunger for righteousness, what does it do? It drives him to the Savior. This is God's way. Martin Luther experienced this very thing. He experienced great inner torment and turmoil because of his realization of the righteousness of a holy God and his own inability to measure up to it. And this drove him to Christ. So we see that Matthew and Luke begin with very similar statements of our Lord. And each concludes that opening verse of his account with nearly identical statements of Jesus. Yours is the kingdom of God. This is the man who's on the way to the kingdom. And both Matthew and Luke conclude their beatitudes with very similar statements spoken by Jesus. Look at Matthew 5.10, and at the same time, we'll see this same thing in Luke. Matthew 5.10, Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And then Matthew 5.11, words nearly identical to what we read here in Luke 6, 22 and 23. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Because of me. And then the nearly identical words again. Rejoice and be glad, for you're rewarded. Heaven is great. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who went before you. This is how Israel and Judah treated their prophets. This is how they treated Jeremiah and others. So we have these similarities. between Matthew and Luke. But in his first seven verses here, Luke does something very different from that which is found in Matthew. He contrasts the blessings of the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and those who are hated with the woes which will come upon the rich, the well-fed, those who laugh, and those who are popular with men. He puts this contrast here that Matthew does not. Verse 24, Woe to you who are rich! for you are receiving your comfort in full. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets the same way. The people treated the false prophets Well, they loved the false prophets, but they hated God's prophets, and they killed them. Now, obviously, a lack of earthly riches is not a guarantee of salvation. That is not what our Lord's saying here. Earthly poverty is not a guarantee of eternal life. Poverty of spirit and remorse over one's sins are the way of salvation. And this is why I say to you, Luke is using the Beatitudes of Matthew as the context for what he's now saying. And folks, no one can assure himself of eternal life just because he weeps every day. That's not what our Lord is saying. And neither will the hatred of men in this world guarantee anyone a place in the heavenly kingdom. And at the same time, Jesus could not have been saying that every person who gains earthly wealth is forever barred from the kingdom. He's not saying that. He's not saying that those who are well-fed or joyful now are without hope. Or that popularity among men disqualifies a man from entrance into the kingdom of God. He's not saying those things. So what is he saying? Well, he was saying something that he said over and over and over again. Something that the New Testament writers often repeated in their writings. He was saying that those who recognize their depravity, their lack of righteousness, their total inability to earn God's blessing by their own works, are the very people who receive His blessing. Because when one is remorseful over his sin against God and realizes he has no merit of his own to atone for his sin, and he hungers for righteousness that he doesn't possess, God's favor comes upon him and rests on him. This is glorious news. This is the gospel to them who recognize their sin. Jesus says, yours is the kingdom of God. And He was saying that all those who find their contentment in the things of this world, who are self-satisfied, will not be inclined to seek the things of God or of His kingdom. And we know what Jesus said. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. You probably noticed in verse 20 here, Luke omits the words in spirit that Matthew includes. But he clearly has in mind the same spiritual poverty that we find in Jesus' words as recorded in Matthew. It's a poverty that pertains to the soul, to the inner man. And he says, blessed are you who hunger now. for you shall be satisfied." He omits the word for righteousness. But what is expressed in Matthew is clearly implied in Luke. In both, the references to spiritual poverty and spiritual hunger. A hunger for righteousness. And this hunger is a yearning for mercy and forgiveness for peace with God. for peace of mind and heart, for purity, for holiness. And you know what's incredible and amazing and so blessed about all of this? Jesus says, this hunger, if you have it, will be satisfied. And if you've come to Him, even now this hunger is being fed by the bread of life. And you see what all works, righteousness systems do is they remove this whole necessity. You don't have to do this, they say. And so you do these works, external works, and you can be saved. But it's a lie. You must come face to face with your sin. You must realize you're not good enough. Your good doesn't outweigh your bad in the sight of God. Jesus feeds and satisfies the poor in spirit with His Word by His Spirit. Psalm 107, verse 9. What a wonderful psalm. For He has satisfied the thirsty soul and the hungry soul. He has filled with what is good. And of course, the tragedy of the Jews was they didn't understand what God was saying to them. It's interesting. Take a look at, I didn't put it in the Scripture sheet, but chapter 1 in the Magnificat. Mary says, verse 53, she cites essentially this psalm. He is filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty-handed. And he does this the instant we come to him. Now as we saw Wednesday night, we don't become a mature Christian in that instant. But He begins to feed us the moment He comes and resides in us. This isn't a promise of just future blessing. These blessings begin for believers now. We possess right now the treasures of the kingdom of heaven. Christ's kingdom is one of both grace, which we have now, and glory, to which we look forward. Luke's third Beatitude and Matthew's second are essentially parallel. You who weep now are the mourners in Matthew's second, Matthew 5-4. By those who weep He's likely referring to people who are sensitive to evil, that's for sure. Not only to their own sin, but to the world's rebellion against God. Doesn't that make you mourn to see the world turn against God? It should. The suffering that's the result of man's rebellion against God from the time of Adam and in our very day. A world. And it's coming closer to us now. Now we live in a land that has set aside God's ways and God's Word. And it causes us to weep. It causes us to mourn. But I have good news for you, brothers and sisters. These may weep now, but in the end, they will laugh. And they will be comforted. Psalm 30, verse 5, his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning. And then he says this, verse 22, Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil. Now, how many like to be criticized? How many like to have people say bad things about you? Speak of you as evil? Not many. But if people insult you and ostracize you and hate you for the sake of the Son of Man, Be glad in that day and leap for joy. And he says it again, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. These are matters of faith, aren't they? Being unpopular among men, that doesn't mean you're automatically destined for the eternal blessing of God. There may be good reasons why you are unpopular among men. Maybe an arrogant person. Maybe a thief. may be a congenital liar, may be engaged in some other sin. So people don't like you. So if a person is unpopular, he should first ask himself, is this because I'm loyal to the Lord, or is this because of the way I behave? Is it because I fail to manifest a Christ-like character? But if you're hated by man on account of the Son of Man, because you're a disciple of Jesus, and you proclaim and share the gospel, the good news. People don't like you and ostracize you because of that. Because you live in the way He's commanded. then you are the object of God's favor. His blessing abounds upon you. Jesus says, don't feel sorry for people who suffer because they're of Mine. They are blessed. And He says here, Rejoice! Leap for joy if this is the deal you've got. They treated My prophets the same way. They treated Jeremiah the same way. And like Jeremiah, you will have an eternal reward. This is part of what it is to be a true disciple of Christ. If you proclaim Christ at every opportunity, you're going to turn a lot of people away from you. I know that because Jesus said so here. Treated the prophets the same way. They loved the false prophets. Remember on the night before Jesus died, Jesus told His disciples. Look at John 15, 18. If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. And because you're not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word I said to you, a slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they'll keep yours also. But all these things... And look at this. ...they will do to you for My name's sake, because they know not the One who sent Me. Again in Matthew 1024, a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. It's enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household? But the passage that I am most drawn to in this regard as in 1 Peter. Chapter 4, verse 12. Beloved, don't be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing. Don't be surprised at it as though some strange thing were happening to you. But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, do what? Keep on rejoicing. so that at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exaltation. And look at verse 14. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Make sure none of you suffers as a murderer, a thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. Peter was listening that day. He recalled it as he sat down and wrote that first epistle. Woe to you who are rich, you are receiving your comfort in full. Woe to you who are well fed, you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh, you shall mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you. For their fathers used to treat the false prophets the same way. Imagine, when all men speak well of you, Jesus equates that with the false prophets. Something isn't right if everybody speaks well of you. Now I realize this is very much contrary to our way of thinking. But these woes found only in Luke, they correspond to the Beatitudes. And they pronounce a verdict on things which almost all people universally regard as desirable things. He's pronouncing woes on things that we all seek after. But worldly things, Jesus is showing us, may encourage an attitude of self-sufficiency. And an attitude of self-sufficiency is fatal to spiritual rebirth in the first place. And it's an obstacle to spiritual growth. These blessings and woes, I know you've noticed, are contrary to all human intuition and to all human values. Under worldly thinking, a rich man believes it's the poor man who's to be pitied. A well-fed man believes he's far better off than a hungry man. But the Word of God tells us what our brother reminded us of this morning. God has made foolish the wisdom of the world. God has made foolish the wisdom of the world. appearances can be deceiving, and they are. So what we have here from Luke in both the Beatitudes and the Woes are authoritative declarations by the King of Kings. This didn't come about from some old Greek philosopher or some 17th, 18th century man who thought he'd figured it all out. No, no. This is from the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings. For believers, these beatitudes are authoritative declarations of blessing. No loopholes in them. For the unrepentant, the woes are authoritative pronouncements of a curse. an eternal curse. But it's uttered in a tone of compassion and sadness, but it's a curse nonetheless. And there's an element of warning in every woe here. One writer says, Woe is neither a wish nor a mere description. Woe is the Lord's judgment already rendered. So Jesus is pronouncing a woe on those who trust in riches. speaks of those for whom attainment of earthly riches is their main ambition, their passionate pursuit. They may obtain what they're seeking, by the way. But that, our Lord says, is their one and will be their one and only consolation. Because for eternity they've provided nothing, laid up nothing. And so He pronounces this woe on the rich because they have only misery to look forward to in eternity. Mark 10, 23. You know, we see Jesus teaching these same things. But He teaches them in different ways, in different settings. Mark 10, 23, Jesus was looking around, said to His disciples, How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God. The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Different way of saying what he's saying here. They were even more astonished and said to him, Then who can be saved? Looking at them, Jesus said, with people. It is impossible. But not with God. For all things are possible with God. And of course, Matthew 619, don't store up treasure for yourself on earth, where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. And look at this, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And in Luke 12, Jesus told him a parable. Beginning in verse 16. Luke 12, 16. The land of a rich man was very productive. He began reasoning to himself, saying, What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops? He's got too much. And then he said, this is what I'll do. I'll tear down my barns and build larger ones. And there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come. Take your ease. Eat, drink, and be merry. This man is well fed. He's rich. He's well satisfied. He's laughing. He has no hunger and thirst for righteousness. God said to him, You fool! This very night your soul is required of you, and now who will own what you have prepared? So is the man who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. Now Jesus wasn't condemning wealth, but He was aware of its dangers. And if one makes it his main ambition, It can make one arrogant, self-centered, cold-hearted, and it can become a curse. Proverbs 30, verse 7, is really instructive here. Two things I ask of you. Do not refuse me before I die. Keep deception and lies far from me. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is my portion. that I not be full, and deny you, and say, Who is the Lord? Or that I not be in want, and steal, and profane the name of my God? The great commentator William Hendrickson said, On the threshold of eternity, those who have placed their trust in earthly goods will suddenly discover how desperately poor they are. Wealth and contentment and material things in this life do not, in and of themselves, disqualify one from entrance into the kingdom. But they can and do present a serious and great obstacle to be overcome. Earthly wealth can lead to self-satisfaction, to a belief that one must have been doing things the right way. Otherwise, God wouldn't have given me all this. You know, people too often confuse material things with God's blessing. I mean, yes, God is the provider of all things, but look back at this whole group of beatitudes. Those who will receive His favor are the poor in spirit, those who hunger for righteousness. Earthly wealth can lead to the idea that I must be doing things the right way? And to a sense that one has no need of anything. He has no need of God. That's the danger. Being well-fed doesn't necessarily refer to the satisfaction of physical hunger either here. But to total contentment in things of this world. If you find your contentment in the things of this world, you're in danger. The only contentment is in Christ. You who laugh now, again, speaks of satisfaction not only with the things of this world, but with the way of this world. That's what he's talking about. He's not saying don't laugh, don't have joy. He often tells us to rejoice. He's not saying don't enjoy the pleasures of life that I've provided you. But he is standing in opposition to a failure to see things as they really are. A failure to see our own fallen state and the fallen state of this world. So Jesus speaks in this woe here of those who revel now in foolish merriment while they reject God and His Word. Who never weep over the sin of this world or their own sinful condition. Do you never weep over your sin? Do you never weep over what sin and Satan have done to this world and the lusts of the hearts of men? For his own people, here's what Jesus said, those who mourn now God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. But for those who laugh now, their tears will never be wiped away. In eternity, their mourning will never cease." These are difficult words. Well finally, Jesus says it's a danger when all men speak well of you. Because this can almost never happen unless you're compromising truth. Unless you're compromising the Word of God. We all want to be well thought of by others, but when all men speak well of you, there's probably something wrong. You're probably not taking the strongest stand for the truth that you should be taking. When you do, you are going to be opposed. I know every one of us here has met opposition because of standing for the truth of Christ. And if we need evidence of this, Jeremiah 5.31, the prophets prophesy falsely. Now we saw that what happened to God's prophets, they killed them. And the priests, Jeremiah says, rule on their own authority. And my people love it so. What will you do at the end of it? From the perspective of the world, The things Jesus calls blessings here are characteristics of the unfortunate. The characteristics to be sought in this world are to be rich, fat, happy, and popular. But appearances can be deceiving. And Jesus says they are. He's showing us in this sermon that those contented and well satisfied in this world have no longing to seek God's kingdom. They're already well satisfied. But those who realize their desperate state, who weep, not only of their own sins, but over that of the whole fallen world, who hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God. These will cry out for mercy. and the Lord of glory, amazingly enough, will not let them go on crying. He will fill them with every blessing." And you know, there's only one place you can go to sign up for this poverty of spirit and this hunger. And that's to Christ. Can't go somewhere else. But the reward for all who come the kingdom of heaven in glory, with the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Let us pray. Lord, we thank You for this Word. We thank You for every trial. We thank You for opening our eyes to our wretchedness, to Your holiness. We thank You for giving us Your law so that we could see in it how far short we fall of Your standards. We thank You that You moved us to come to Christ. We thank You that You have given us a hunger to draw near to You. And we pray, Lord, You will increase our hunger for righteousness. We pray, Lord, that You will cause us to stand for Your truth, whether we face the scorn of men or even hatred. We pray that You will, by Your Spirit, strengthen us. And so, Lord, we give You glory and praise. We lift up Your name as we gather here together. And we pray, Lord, in Christ's name.