We invite you to listen now to a broadcast of a message preached during the regular Lord's Day services at Faith Free Presbyterian Church in Greenville, South Carolina. Today's message is being preached by the minister of the church, Dr. Alan Cairns. For the last couple of Lord's Day evenings, we have been considering the portion in Matthew 5 known as the Beatitudes. We're turning back to that portion this evening. Matthew chapter 5. And we're reading from verse one, the fifth chapter of Matthew, and the first verse. With God's Word open before us, before we read, let's seek the Lord's face in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, still us now in Thy presence. Open up Thy Word. Speak a word which each one of us needs to hear. May there be something from the Lord specifically addressed to the particular needs of souls this evening. Grant that Christ will be exalted, the gospel of grace will be expounded, and sinners will be sealed with saints set on fire for Christ. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Matthew 5 and the first verse. 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 exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Amen. The Lord will add his own blessing to these familiar verses from his own precious words. The Lord Jesus once said, What God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Those familiar words not only state for us the permanence of the marriage relationship, which they obviously do, but in the final analysis they state the permanence of everything which God has joined together. Now, in the Scriptures of truth, there are certain things clearly joined together by the Lord, and which must not be put asunder. For example, over in the fifth chapter of the book of Galatians, verse 22, you have the words, the fruit of the Spirit is. Then you have nine details. It's common in dealing with these nine things listed in Galatians chapter five, to look upon them as nine totally independent fruits of the Spirit in the life of a Christian. Whereas in reality, all nine of them constitute what is called the fruit of the Spirit. God has placed them together, and they ought never to be seen sundered one from another. Now, similarly, in the passage we read this evening, in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 5, we have a number of things which the Lord Himself has joined together. Again, it's common. in looking at Matthew 5, to see each description here as being a description of a different kind of person in each instance from the people in all the verses surrounding. For instance, the poor in spirit. are seen as different from those who mourn, who are different from those who are meek, who are different from those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. And we place these into so many different categories of people. But that ought not to be. You see, there is only one character being described for us throughout these verses. in the opening part of Matthew 5. The only character that is being described is the character that belongs to people who are truly saved. And those people are described by a list of graces wrought in their hearts by the Spirit of God. And so that leads me to make this far-reaching statement You cannot have one of these graces without having the rest. You cannot be saved without having all of the things which the Lord Jesus here enumerates, at least in some measure and to some degree. If you study the list of graces here in Matthew 5 very carefully, you discover that there is a glorious progress seen from the beginning right through to the end. A progress from a state of spiritual destitution right up to that position of receiving glorious rewards in heaven. You can see therefore what the Lord Jesus is doing here. What we have in Matthew 5 in these Beatitudes is what I term the spiritual biography of a child of God. The story of the workings of God's grace as He takes a man from that place in which God finds him in all his sin and shame and keeps on working with him. bringing him finally to heaven and planting him there in the midst of everlasting glory. The spiritual biography of the child of God. Now, starting in verse 3, you can see that the story commences with this expression, poor in spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit. These words picture for us utter and complete poverty. That's what the word poor signifies here. Utter and complete poverty. The picture is of a person destitute. of all esteem for self, and destitute of all hope in himself." Now here is the very first mark of grace. Here is the first stirring, if you want it, of grace in the life of a man who ultimately is brought to heaven. God first of all moves upon a soul to bring a man to the end of himself. That not only is the first step, but very often is the most difficult step. You see, proud flesh rebels against this. The Lord Jesus Christ started this sermon. Some great thinkers have said that this is the first sermon the Lord Jesus ever preached. I don't know if that can be absolutely proved or not. But if it is, it only adds to the point I'm about to make. The Lord Jesus starts this sermon on this note for a very good reason. He was, after all, preaching to Jews. And the Jews were notorious for their pride. The pride that they had in their religion. the pride that they had in their nation, the pride they took in their law and all its ceremonies, the pride in their own works of self-righteousness. The Jews were puffed up with ideas of their own spiritual worthiness. And so the Lord Jesus, when He started out preaching to them, to give them the gospel, first of all, set out to puncture their pride. And he said, first learn this, the blessing of the gospel can only come to those who are poor in spirit, to those who have been divested of every hope in themselves, to those who have been emptied. of all self-confidence and all self-satisfaction in their own self-righteousness. You remember the story the Lord Jesus told of the Pharisee and the publican in Luke chapter 18. He said two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a publican. Now in verse 11 and verse 12 of Luke 18, the Lord Jesus said, the Pharisee stood thus and prayed with himself. Very, very telling. Free as that. Pred with himself. For God Almighty was not listening. God Almighty was not pleased. This statement of Christ about the Pharisee is a fulfillment of the old statement of the book of Proverbs, concerning the offering of the wicked. It's an abomination to God. Even the prayers of the wicked are an abomination to God. So here's this poor, bloated, self-righteous Pharisee, and he is praying thus with himself, God, I thank Thee that I am not. as other men are. Can you imagine the arrogance of a creature who would come into the presence of his Creator and say, I thank thee, not for what God is, not for what God has done, not for what God has spoken, not for the revelation of grace, but I thank you that I am not a sinner like other men. You know, when a person gets to that stage, he certainly needs to have his pride punctured. And so the Lord Jesus, dealing with people of that ilk, starts off this great message, giving the spiritual biography of a child of God at this point, and says, Grace begins working by emptying a man or a woman of every notion of self-righteousness. You remember the testimony of the Apostle Paul. He also had been a Pharisee. He had been just as proud as anybody else of his self-righteousness. He said that according to the standard of righteousness known among the Pharisees, he was more righteous than others. He had more cause to boast than others. But he said over in Philippians chapter 3, And verse 7 to verse 9, "...what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things. Now the all things were the things of legal obedience, the things of the Jewish religion, the things in which as a Pharisee he had taken such pride. He says, Yea, doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. You see what he is saying? No man can know the Lord until he has suffered the loss of everything, of self, of self-righteousness and self-satisfaction. and self-esteem. That's why up in Philippians 3, he speaks of God's people as those who worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. That's where the work of grace commences. Emptying a man of all reliance upon himself and showing him the poverty and the need of his soul. Only when a man has seen that he is destitute will he look for the riches of God's grace in the Lord Jesus Christ and honestly desire Him. But when a man desires Christ, when he sees His emptiness, then he will feel his awful plague of sin. And when he feels the plague of sin, he will mourn. Verse 4 says, Blessed are they that mourn. So having been emptied of self, having seen the utter uselessness of the works of the flesh, this man will be brought to see the awful pit of his own sinfulness and depravity. He will mourn his guilt. His past life and his present nature alike will be a grief unto him. This mourning, indeed, would even tempt him to despair. You know, when a man really comes under conviction of sin, there is very often a period when he throws up his hands to wonder, is it possible that for me there could be any hope? The old Puritans in their evangelism liked to emphasize what they called law work. Now I know that some of them went too far in that direction, but I can't help but think that nowadays there is such an emphasis on making preachers look good and churches look good by clocking up innumerable decisions. that there are people being led to professions who have never mourned their sin. Jesus said, Blessed are they that mourn. Oh, it is a foolish thing in our evangelism that would take the tears out of a sinner seeking Christ. Now, I know that a sinner is not saved by tears. And I agree with the words of the old evangelist of the last century, Henry Morehouse, when he said, I wouldn't even put a tear between the sinner and his Saviour. I quite agree with that. I wouldn't put anything between a sinner and the Saviour. But I want to tell you that when the Word of God is preached and understood, sinners will not only see their emptiness, but they will mourn their sin. and feeling the grief of their sin, my, they would wonder, could there be hope for me? But thank God the Gospel has a message of hope, a message of comfort for souls who are feeling the guilt of sin. And I say this to you tonight because I have discovered over and over again that behind the smiling face, behind very often the religious appearance, There is a heart that is torn asunder by the grief of guilt. There is a soul that is struggling with this awful turmoil caused by the guilt of past sin and the feeling of shame and guilt from an inward corrupted nature. And behind all the religious observance, there is still that awful thought. And the poor sinner wonders, is this from God or is this from the devil? Is this a message from God to save me? Or is it a message from the devil to confuse me? There is this awful thing. Am I really saved? Has my guilt ever been dealt with? My friend, my message to you tonight is, that the gospel has a word of comfort for the guilty. Oh, a man needs to feel the guilt of his sin. He needs to feel that he is, by nature, a faggot who should be burned in hell. He needs to know that the guilt of his sin is like a mountain and, on the other hand, like a deep pit. He needs to know that he has offended God and that God could justly down him to the deepest hell. Oh, a sinner needs to feel the guilt of his sin. But, oh, bless God, the more acute the sense of guilt, the more glorious the sense of release. For the gospel message is clear and simple and plain. It is powerful and glorious. The message of the gospel in the words of Isaiah is, Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. The message, as the Apostle John gave it, the blood of Jesus Christ. God's Son cleanses us from all sin. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. There has never been any advance on the message which John the Baptist preached that day at Beth-Avorah beyond Jordan, when he turned the gaze of guilty sinners to Christ, And he cried, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Bless God there is an answer to guilt. The message of the gospel is that there is power in the blood of Jesus Christ to destroy forever, remove forever, every last vestige of the guilt of sin. King Solomon said in Proverbs 25 and verse 25, As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. The comfort of the gospel is good news to guilty sinners mourning their sin in the far country cut off from God. That good news comes to him like water to a soul thirsty in the desert land, and he gladly accepts it. That's why in verse 5 the Lord Jesus says, Blessed are the meek. It's a very interesting word the Lord Jesus uses. One of the greatest Greek scholars that ministers and others have to consult on the fine meanings of Greek words was an Anglican Archbishop by the name of Trench. And Trench rightly noted that the word here doesn't basically describe a person's outward behavior. It doesn't describe his relations with other men. It doesn't even describe his natural disposition. Rather, this is important, It denotes a willing acceptance of God's dealings with us. That's what it is to be meek. To have a willing acceptance of God's dealings with us. You'll notice this. How accurate is the word of the Savior here? He's giving the life story, the spiritual biography of the child of God. He paints the picture. The sinner, first of all, sees himself as empty. He mourns over his sin. He hears the good news from the far country. And then, he totally accepts God's Word and God's terms. That's how he gets saved. 1 Timothy 1.15, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. You have no doubt heard many a learned disquisition on what it is to believe, what it is to have faith, what is faith? I could practically blow your brains if I were to quote for you some of the simple definitions of faith which stupid, foolish, educated idiots who think they're theologians have given just a meaningless jumble of words in many cases. An old Scottish theologian by the name of Thomas Halliburton centuries ago saw right to the heart of the matter. And he summed it all up very, very nicely and very briefly. He said, faith is just a sinner's hearty acceptance of God's method of saving souls. Stop to think of that. And you'll discover what I discovered the more you think of it, the greater the genius of the man and the statement. What is it to be meek? What is it to accept Jesus Christ, what is it to exercise faith? It's right you're at the end of yourself. You have no hope in your own works, your own righteousness. You're grieving over the guilt of sin. You hear the message of the Gospel. The Gospel says it's not the works of righteousness that you have done. It's of God's mercy that you're saved. It's by grace that you're saved. It's on the merit of blood that you're saved. Oh, how people hate the word about the blood. For centuries, They've been trying to get the blood out of the Bible. They'll make the blood mean anything but the blood. This old, vicious, carnal nature doesn't mind even speaking of the life of Jesus and the death of Jesus, but don't talk about the blood of Jesus. You know, the blood is God's way of saving souls. And there's not a soul out of hell except by the blood. There's not a soul in heaven except by the blood. And in heaven they're singing about the blood. It's a tragedy when you look at the hymn books that are used in churches, including our own, that there is a paucity of hymns about the blood. You can hardly get good hymns about the blood. Oh, they want this lovely, sweet-sounding poetry about mountains and valleys and rivers and all the rest of it. You can go to hell with your mountains and valleys and rivers. And your poetry will not make hell any less hot. It is the blood that makes the atonement for the soul. Yet, We try to worship God and sing His praise and preach His Gospel apart from the blood. That's God's way of saving sinners. And I want to tell you, when a man has faith, he doesn't understand everything. He doesn't suddenly become a genius and a deep school theologian. But I want to tell you, there's a faith wrought in his heart that opens up to God like a flower opens up to the sun. And he accepts God's way of saving sin. He says, I have no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died and that He died for me. So he fully, wholeheartedly accepts God's Gospel in Jesus Christ. Now, every soul, and I know I am going to touch many right where they will feel it, And I say this, every soul on coming to Christ longs to be assured of the ground of his acceptance before God. The Lord Jesus goes on to say, blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. You see, the soul knows You would say almost by intuition. The soul knows that God can accept nothing less than perfection. And therefore the great question is, yes, I have come to Christ. The preacher preached to me that if I came to Christ I would receive forgiveness. And I have come to Christ. But oh, how can I know How can I be sure that I am accepted before God, a believer, one who has trusted Christ? I want you to get the force of what I'm saying. I'm not now describing a false professor. Some preachers would lead you to believe, if after you've come to Christ there is any searching of heart, have I a good ground for hope in Christ, that you're not really saved at all. Those preachers don't know their Bible. This hungering and thirsting is a spiritual grace. And when a man has come to Christ and heartily accepted Jesus Christ as He's freely offered in the gospel, he longs after the solid ground of assurance. Now, let me tell you something, and every Christian here will immediately have an answering cord in his heart. When a man is really hungry, nothing can satisfy him but real food. Now, if he's really hungry, you can set a lovely bouquet of flowers in front of him. He's not a bit interested. You can even talk to him about feasts. That makes it even worse. When he is hungry, what does he want? He wants food. There are Christians who are longing to know the ground of their assurance and of their acceptance, and all that they are getting is tantamount to a spiritual bunch of flowers or a little melody to end. And all the time their souls are longing, what does God say? Have I any solid ground of being absolutely sure? I have dealt with more Christians troubled on this issue. I've talked to people, I've talked to one man, a sad, sad case. He said, I've been to 60 different preachers. 60 different decisions. Couldn't say he was saved. Had a long talk with the lady. She told me, she said, I need help. She told me her testimony, how she had come to Christ with all the difficulties of assurance. She had gone back to her ministry and said, you remember when you were a little girl, you made a decision? No, she didn't. Somebody else had told her, well, make another decision. That lasted for a week or two. Then the doubts came back and another decision. I don't know how many times she made a decision and got baptized. She was not one bit better off for it. Turmoil of heart. A believer can only be satisfied, he can only be assured when he receives proof that he possesses a perfect righteousness before God. You remember the story of Martin Luther? almost going insane in the cloisters of the Augustinian monastery, seeming indeed to the monks around him like a madman. He needed to be saved. What did God want? What did God want of Luther? Did He want Luther to suffer? Then he would lie in the cold, damp cell all night without heat and without any warm clothing. Did he want Luther's blood? Then he would lash himself, and he did, until he was just a gory mess. Did he want Luther's life? Then Luther would starve himself to death. There he was, a young man, and by the way, such was the trouble that he caused to his constitution, he never did get over it. There he was, a young man, emaciated, scarred, dreadfully in need of knowing, how can I be sure my sins have been forgiven? Some people doubt the story. I don't think they have very good ground for doubting it, mind you. But I like the story as it's told by one great historian of the Reformation. He said, when Luther was going hands and knees up the so-called holy staircase in Rome, kissing every step. God flashed that message before his mind and thundered it in his heart, that just shall live by faith. Paul said, We are justified by faith. On what ground? Romans 5 verse 18 and 19. On the ground of the obedience of Christ. He puts it, I think, in the plainest possible terms in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21. And if you're in the meeting tonight, you say, Preacher, I have come to Christ. But oh, there are times When I don't have assurance, you're like the description given by the hymn writer, sometimes doubting, sometimes sad. Other times, you're on the mountaintop and you're rejoicing in the Lord. Now listen, how can you know that you're accepted? I have news for you. God didn't accept you because you made that decision for Christ. Do you understand that? That may sound revolutionary to some of you. Well, it's time there was a wee bit of a revolution in gospel preaching today. God did not accept you because of the prayer you prayed or because of the tears you shed. Hasn't the devil come along and said, were you really sincere enough? Did you really pray the right prayer? Did you have a enough feeling? Haven't you been over that ground again and again and again? Let me tell you, you can never re-enact that moment one year ago or twenty years ago when you came to Jesus Christ. You can never re-feel and re-live that moment. You are not accepted because of how you felt. What you felt, what you said, however important those things may be, and I have shown the importance of some of them already, you are accepted on the ground of the merits of Christ. What happens when a man comes to Christ? 2 Corinthians 5.21, God hath made him to be sin for us. Who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him? It's a little unfortunate the way the words fall together there. You'd think it was us who knew no sin. That's far from the case. I quoted Thomas Halliburton a moment or two ago. Let me quote another Scottish preacher by the name of Hugh Martin. Martin paraphrased that in a way that I have mentioned many times from this pulpit and I love to remind you of it. He said, God made him who knew no sin, to be made sin for us who knew no righteousness, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Now listen to me. What is a Christian's hope for heaven? Now think very carefully. My hope for heaven is not, Lord, I prayed the sinner's prayer. Thank God I did, by His grace. My hope for heaven is not, Lord, You saw that night when with tears I cried to God to save me. Thank God I did, by His grace. That's not my hope for heaven. My hope for heaven is Christ. Listen, in 1 Corinthians 1.30, Paul says, Christ is made unto us righteousness. Ah, my friend, God wants perfection. Well, then, He has got perfection, for He has Christ. And I have perfection, for I have Christ. And in the courthouse of God, there is not the slightest accusation that can stand against a believing soul, for Jesus Christ is our righteousness. This, then, is the soul's biography. healing his need, emptied of self, mourning his sin, hearing the gospel, accepting Christ, and then realizing when he comes to Christ, he doesn't just get a gift from Christ, he gets Christ himself. And that's the ground of his assurance. I want to tell you, when the doctrine of justification by faith When the truth of the imputation of the righteousness of Jesus Christ really grips your heart, I want to tell you, life will begin as it's never been before. I think that that's what the hymn writer had in mind when he said, Heaven above was softer blue, earth around was sweeter green. Something lived in every hue which Christless eyes had never seen. When you see Christ as your only hope for heaven, my friend, you've seen it all. Your soul will be well grounded. You'll know that you're saved. Now, the soul that's saved and assured of it can't hide it. That can't be bottled up. That's impossible. It must burst forth. I was just reading today of the Lord Jesus going into the house in the area of Tyre and Sidon. And he could not be hid. Isn't that a lovely statement? He could not be hid. You think of that. If you have Christ in your heart, then he can't be hid. I have often been asked, what do you think about being a secret disciple? Well, I'd have to think that you don't know much of the Lord. I have seen people who have said very little actually, but you couldn't help but notice they were saved. So this bursts forth and therefore Jesus says, blessed are the merciful. You see, this is works now. James said, chapter 2, verse 20, faith without works is dead. If you tell me that you've come to Christ and you've got saved and you're trusting Jesus and there's not a thing to show for it in your life, I tell you, you're a hypocrite and unless you get saved, you'll go to hell. Plain, straight, simple. Faith without works is dead. Dead faith never saved anybody. A faith that does not produce a living, active obedience to Christ is the devil's counterfeit of faith. And so Jesus said, Blessed are the merciful. Do you notice something? As soon as a man gets saved, he is marked by compassion. The word mercy, that speaks of goodness exercised toward the wretched condition of other people. And a Christian cannot remain unmoved at the wretched condition of men around him. He must be a man of compassion. And that's going to be especially in one area, not exclusively, but certainly especially in one area. And Paul noted this in Romans 11. And as he was speaking to the Gentiles, Regarding the Jews, he said to them, verse 31, even so have these also now not believed that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. What's he saying? He says the Jews will be reached for Christ when you have mercy on them and you go out to win them for Christ. Blessed are the merciful. That's speaking of people who have got such an experience of God that it's bursting out of them. And they have a love for souls. They have a compassion on the lost. They have an interest and an involvement in winning the lost for Jesus Christ. That interest and involvement in reaching souls does not belong to just a few in the church. I tell you, it's the mark of every Christian. And I want to be absolutely honest with you. If you can think of souls without Christ and you're unmoved to pray, you're unmoved to do anything, you have a hard heart toward them, your family goes down the broad road to hell, it means nothing to you. The world on its way to a lost eternity, but you have no heart to beat with compassion for sinners. My friend, I tell you this, you have got to ask yourself, have you ever known the Lord? Blessed are the merciful. But you know, if a Christian is going to do a work for God, then he's going to have to be separate from sin. So Jesus says, blessed are the pure in heart. You can't work for God to win souls in this world while you yourself are living in sin. I told you the story, very true story of a young woman who was standing in a public bar, drinking booze, shameful place for her to be, but that's where she was. And as she was drinking, a young man came up to her with a drink in his hand and he started to talk to her about the Lord. I don't know if you could get away with that in America, but I want to tell you, you certainly won't get away with it in Belfast. They know better. And so she just stopped him. That man, if his ears never got roasted before, they got roasted that night. She told him what kind of a hypocrite he was and where he was going. She said, I know I'm a sinner. and I know I'm not a Christian, and I know the way of salvation, and I know that no Christian would be standing here drinking with me and then trying to tell me how to get saved. The two things don't go together. I think she had a lot more of the truth than he had. If you're going to do anything to reach souls, you yourself have got to have a testimony. Not just a testimony with them, with God, pure, in heart. Pure in heart. Separated in heart. God doesn't justify a man without sanctifying him. God doesn't give a man salvation without making that man holy. Oh, I would to God that we could say that in this life we were sinless. We're not. But I want to tell you a Christian desires that sinlessness. Pure in heart. One of the folks here at the church gave me a lovely framed statement of Robert Murray MacShane's. I have it stuck on the back of the door in my study so that every time I go out, this is there for me to see. MacShane said, Christ for us is all our righteousness before a holy God. Christ in us is all our strength in an unholy world. Christ in us. Men and women, let me tell you, if you're sealed, if you're going to serve God, there's the need for separation from sin. Now, it's interesting in verse 7 that Christ speaks of the Christian's attitude to souls. He's merciful. In verse 8, he speaks of the Christian's attitude to sin. He's pure in heart. And in verse 9, he speaks of the Christian's attitude to the saints. He's a peacemaker. I'm not going to spend much time in this. I dealt with this a little this morning. What I said then will bear repetition a little bit. Churches, very often, are like battlefields. And you've got the wreckages that follow church meetings. There are people in this church who have been to so many church meetings where there have been battles and feuds that if they hadn't another reason to thank God for being a Presbyterian that they didn't have a church meeting to go to every month, that would be enough. Now, it doesn't matter whether you're a Presbyterian, Baptist, Brethren or whatever. Churches ought not to be like the scene of battle. You see, if a man sees, blessed are the peacemakers. Paul put it this way, Ephesians 4 and 3, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. If God's people are not living at peace with each other, then there will not be the unity of the Spirit. I heard a preacher on the radio the other day, the slightest idea who he was. I don't know where he was speaking from. I don't know if he's a separatist or a half-compromiser. I really just don't know. He didn't say anything that was sounding like a compromiser. I was blessed by what he said. He told the story of a man of the line of Jonathan Edwards. I was really blessed when I heard this. Jonathan Edwards He was the seventh in line down that seventh generation. And every one of them had been saved, and almost every one of them a preacher. You see, the revival that God set in motion through Jonathan Edwards didn't die with Jonathan Edwards. That's real revival. That's another matter we'll go into some other time. But, this man, James Edwards, was an unusual man. He said there was a church meeting in this church long before he himself had gone to be the pastor. And there was a big riot. Something happened that ought not to have happened. They had a very strict division of funds. These funds are for mission work. These funds are for general account. Very strict division. Things got tough. And so without any recommendation or any authorization, some deacons took the funds out of the mission They transferred them to General to keep things going until such time as they could get them back. There was one on holy ride. There was no meeting ground, Christian against Christian. Mr. Edwards stood up and he said to the moderator, Mr. Moderator, I have an offer to make. The sum was $900. Back in those days, that would have been equivalent to quite a few thousands today. This was from a man who wasn't rich, just a very small-time businessman. He said, Mr. Moderator, I have an offer to make on one condition. On the condition that it is promised before God that this matter will never be raised again. I, who had nothing to do with the transfer of funds, I will take $900 from my savings, and I will put it in that account, on condition that it's never spoken of again. It took a good man to do that. The deacons had learned their lesson, and warring factions were brought together. In the assembly of the people of God, there's nothing more precious than peace among believers. I want to say it publicly tonight to you, if you're a Christian in this church, I thank God for the peace we have enjoyed. If ever there should be a dispute or a division, settle it in your heart before God that whoever else will be the devil's tool, you will not be part of it. That's the attitude to the saints. Paul said we are called to peace. Now the devil will be mad at such a life. Therefore Christ says, blessed are they that are persecuted for preaching and practicing the gospel. Not only blessed are they that are persecuted, but blessed are also those who are reviled. False accusation joined to persecution. Sometimes that's even worse. But through it all, through it all, one thing I want you to take home with you. This man was found empty. And God gave him the gospel, comfort for the mourning of his heart, cleansing from his sin, brought him into Christ. Now, the devil's mad at him, but listen, Jesus says, he's blessed. He's blessed. I was thinking of this just before I came to the meeting tonight. The words of Balaam, as he looked at Israel, He, that is, the Lord, hath blessed, and I cannot reverse it. Isn't that good? That's what the Lord says to every Christian. I have blessed. And the old devil has to say, and I can't reverse it. And that's the devil's final confession of defeat. God has blessed that man. Athomaharim. I had chains about him, but grace snapped the fetters. I had him embroiled in schemes to bring him down to the pit, but the light of God dawned in his soul, and God saved him and cleansed him, and God has blessed him, and I cannot reverse it." Wonderful. Wonderful testimony. that even the devil himself has to admit. This, then, is the testimony of every child of God. Let me ask you, is this your life story? Have I been describing your testimony tonight, or could it be you're just the opposite? You're still self-centered, self-righteous, self-complacent, self-satisfying? Could it be that you're far from mourning your sin, indulging your sin, loving your sin? The only pleasure you have is in your sin? Could it be tonight that you have no part in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that far from accepting God's way of saving sinners, you have rejected the blood of the Lamb? And at the end of it all, unblessed, you're under the curse of God. I wonder, I've often wondered this. How can a man lay his head upon the pillow at night, knowing that he's under the curse of God? Boast not thyself of tomorrow. Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. How can you put your head on the pillow, close your eyes to sleep, knowing that you're under the curse of God? I've shown you tonight the way of salvation. Confess your needs. Confess God's grace in Christ, accept Christ as He has offered to you in the Gospel, and you will infallibly and eternally be saved. May God grant every man, woman and young person here the grace to bring them to Christ and to assure them of their standing in His righteousness. Let's bow our heads in prayer. Let's all pray. We do want every head bowed. We do want every eye closed. We want God's people praying. Are you sealed? Are you really sealed? Are you sure you're sealed? Or are you still searching for the ground of the assurance that you're accepted before God? Christ is the answer. I invite you to the Lord Jesus. Man, woman, young person, make sure of Christ tonight. I'm here as your servant for Christ's sake. I can help you in the things of God. I invite you to come and have a word with me. I'll be glad to open the book of God and point you to the Saviour. Father in Heaven, bring souls to Christ tonight. Do good through the preaching of the Word. Lead Thy people on with God. Lord, we thank Thee for grace that never leaves us until it brings us safely to Heaven. Lord, bless Thy word this evening, we pray. We look to Thee and cry that in all that has been said and in every effect produced by what has been said, the Lord Jesus Christ will have an everlasting weight of glory. Part us now with Thy blessing. Keep us in Thy fear, the beginning of knowledge and wisdom, Be the abiding portion of all Thy blood-bought people, both this Sabbath evening and until our Lord Jesus either calls us home or comes again in all His glory. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You've been listening to a message from Faith Free Presbyterian Church of Greenville, South Carolina. The message was preached by the minister of the church, Dr. Alan Cairns. If you would like further information, please write Faith Free Presbyterian Church, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, South Carolina, 29615. That's Faith Free Presbyterian Church, 1207 Haywood Road, Greenville, South Carolina 29615 We invite you to listen each week at this same time for a message from Faith Free Presbyterian Church.