We're looking into the Sermon on the Mount together. We've been looking at the Beatitudes. So if you turn in your Bibles to Matthew, chapter five, Matthew and the fifth chapter. It's important when we come to a section like the Beatitudes, like the Sermon on the Mount and really like anything in the Gospels, that we are careful to handle things hermeneutically correct. with the right principles of interpretation, putting it in its context. We find things from the Sermon on the Mount that are often pulled out and quoted in ways that have nothing to do with what that passage meant. For example, blessed are the poor in spirit. We have people talking about a ministry to the poor, which has nothing to do with what he's talking about. Blessed are the peacemakers. And so we should be opposing war and do what we can to bring an end to war and armaments and the buildup of armaments and nothing to do with what we're talking about in the Sermon on the Mount. We want to be careful that we use the scripture properly and have a proper understanding. Paul wrote to Timothy and told him, be diligent to show yourself approved unto God. What's that require? Being a workman that handles accurately the word of truth. We're looking into the Sermon on the Mount, covers three chapters of our Bibles, 5, 6, and 7. Jesus is really dealing with matters relating to his coming earthly kingdom. We noted at the end of chapter 4, verse 17, from that time, Jesus began to preach and say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Down in verse 23, they were proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. Now we go back to the Old Testament, we find out what the kingdom is. We noted there the time when God promised that his son would rule and reign on the earth. Would be a time of perfect peace and prosperity. Jerusalem would be the capital of the world, the Jews would be the central nation on earth. That's the kingdom that he is talking about. Want to be careful that we just don't change things now as though there was no Old Testament background. Jesus is talking about the kingdom that he as the Messiah came to Earth to offer to the nation Israel. They will reject it, but at this point in time, he is coming, proclaiming the kingdom is at hand, the king is here, the Messiah is here. If you will believe in him, turn from your sin, repent. You will be saved. The king will establish a kingdom. So what he is doing when you come into chapters five, six and seven is he is setting out some of the matters relating to his kingdom is really describing those who will be part of the kingdom when it is established. And this is in contrast to the beliefs of the religious people of the time we're talking with our religious people, we're talking about the Jews and the Jewish leadership, Pharisees, scribes, Sadducees, key religious groups that were the leadership of the nation Israel. And he tells them down in chapter five, verse 20, I say to you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. That's the issue, the scribes and Pharisees, they thought by keeping the law, They were assured of being in the kingdom when the Messiah established it. Jesus said, you'll need greater righteousness than they have. We mentioned Nicodemus in John's Gospel, Chapter three. He was a teacher in Israel, and yet Jesus said to him, unless you're born again, you'll never see the kingdom. You won't be part of it. So we have in Matthew five, six and seven description of those who will be part of the kingdom. And by contrast, those who will not be part of it. Now, be careful here. He's not describing millennial conditions. He's not describing the conditions that will exist when the kingdom is established on Earth. He is describing those who will be part of that kingdom. Some of the things he says here won't be true in the kingdom, but they are true as we draw the contrast between those going into the kingdom and those who are not. The Beatitudes start this sermon, as it's usually called, the Sermon on the Mount, because Jesus was on the mountain when he gave it, the side of a mountain, tall hill, as we might look at it. The blessings, the blessedness, and they're descriptive. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. You know, it describes what they are. And so what they will receive. They are the poor in spirit, he's not telling them how to become poor in spirit, he describing what they are. And those who are poor in spirit will go into the kingdom. When the Messiah established poor here in spirit refers to their spiritual poverty, they've realized. Their spiritual condition, they realize their unworthiness, They realize that their forgiveness is a result of the grace of God in their lives. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are those who mourn. That's their present condition. They will at a future time be comforted when the kingdom is established. They grieve not only over their own sin, but over the sin of the nation Israel. In its decadent condition. Blessed are the gentle, the humble, the meek. Why? They shall inherit the earth. What do you mean inherit the earth? They'll enter in the kingdom, which will be Christ reigning over the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. That deep longing for God and passion for him and his righteousness and the desire not only to see his righteousness permeate my character in every way, but to see it permeate his people Israel. And permeate the world, they'll be satisfied, that hunger and passion. For righteousness will reach its fullness when the kingdom is established and they are part of it. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. We left off at this point again. Remember, he is describing those who are going into the kingdom. He's not telling what you what you must do to get into the kingdom, particularly. He's describing the character of those. Who will enter the kingdom when he will establish it, and in doing so, he's showing. That they have a righteousness that is different than the righteousness of the religious leaders of the day. It is a righteousness of character that results in action, not superficial actions without any transformation of character. Blessed are the merciful. For they shall receive mercy. The believer, one who has placed his faith in God, in the revelation he is given, placed his faith in Jesus, the Messiah of Israel, now the one who has been crucified and raised from the dead, we have received the mercy of God. And so they are merciful. Those who have genuinely received God's mercy respond by showing God's mercy, if you will. Turn over to Matthew 18. Jesus is going to give a parable that elaborates on this point. Matthew 18. And you know how the chapter begins. The disciples came to Jesus and said, who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? He called a child to himself, set him before them and said, truly, I say to you, unless you are converted. And become like children. You will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself with this child is the greatest in the kingdom and so on. You see, the issue is, what about the kingdom? What's it going to be like in the kingdom? Well, I'd be great in the kingdom, Jesus said, first, let's settle who's going into the kingdom. And we're back to the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those are gentle, the humble. He goes on down in verses 15 to 20, he talks about sin and the correction of sin and what we call passage on the pattern of church discipline. Coming to verse 21, then Peter came to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him. Jesus has just talked about sin. Peter wants to know what about someone who sins against me. How often should I forgive them? I mean, the context fits and good question. If we're honest, we've all come to the point where we've said enough is enough, I just can't forgive them one more time. We've talked to people that said, I can't help it. I'm at the end. I'm at my limit. I can't forgive again. Peter says, should I forgive him seven times? I mean, that's going out on a limb. I mean, think about somebody seriously sins against you. They come and say, I'm really sorry. I was wrong. Please forgive me. You say, sure. They turn around, do it again. They come back and, Lord, please forgive me. I know before I was wrong. You say, all right, I forgive it. They do it the third time. Then the fourth time. You say, hmm. You know, there's got to be an end to this. The fifth time. The sixth time. The seventh time. You say, you know, I'm not doing this anymore. I've done. I just can't forgive it. So you think, Peter, he's really put himself out there seven times. Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven. I don't think Jesus is saying you need a larger record book, get a ledger. And when you get the four hundred and ninety, you draw a line. The point is, there is no limit. And he's going to illustrate that point. So he just picks up on Peter's point with seven times, be it 70 times seven, Peter. In other words, you're not keeping track. For this reason, the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king, and we're going to talk about matters related to the kingdom, related to going into the kingdom, related to being excluded from the kingdom. What is required of those who will go into the kingdom? They be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. I believe it took six thousand denarii to make one talent. A denarii was a average wage for a working man. So a margin of my Bible has more than 15 years wages of a laborer. Sixteen years, so we're in that range for one talent. It would have to work almost 16 years. Now, this man owes him thousands of talents. Our Bible says ten thousand talents. They literally say there's thousands of talents. Well, I mean, if it takes you 16 years for one talent and you owe thousands of talents, you get the point. Multiple lifetimes won't be enough for you to pay back this debt. Since he did not have the means to repay, his Lord commanded him to be sold along with his wife, children, and all that he had in repayment to be made. I mean, I'm never going to get my money, but I'm going to get something and a little bit of vengeance in it, too. I'm selling you, your wife, your children. The slave fell to the ground, prostrated himself before him, saying, have patience with me. I will repay you everything. The Lord of that slave felt compassion, released him, forgave him the debt. One writer said this would be over a billion dollars in our money today. And it's forgiven. That slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him 100 denarii, 100 days work. It's nothing. I mean, nothing compared to the debt he's just been forgiven. That's the contrast here. And he began to choke him, saying, Pay back what you owe. So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, Have patience with me. I will repay you. But he was unwilling, went, threw him into prison until he should pay back all that was owed. So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. Then summoning him, his lord said to him, You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave? in the same way that I had mercy on you. And as Lord moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers, he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart." There's the application of it, verse 35. The point in verse 33 is, should you not have had mercy the same way I had mercy? So verse 35, my Father will do the same to you. What is the point? Be careful, we try to make something out of every detail. He's illustrating one point here. If you have received mercy from God, you must show mercy to others. Now, no, you don't show mercy to God in order to receive mercy from God. You show mercy because you have received mercy. Be careful, people turn around and think they're going to earn favor with God by showing mercy. You can't earn favor with God like that. But those who have received mercy from God now must show mercy. You're not saying you could lose your salvation if you don't show mercy. The whole point here is a person receives such a large debt. We have been forgiven such a large debt. Shown such great mercy. Would be required to show mercy if you don't show that mercy. Then you don't receive that mercy. It's got to be there for the point, those who have genuinely understood. That's why we started out in these Beatitudes with what? Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the meek or the humble, the gentle. As you realize what God has done for me, my sin. Shall I forgive someone who sins against me seven times or 70 times seven? What has God forgiven me? I mean, note how God sees it. We have sinned against him innumerable times. There's no way to measure it. Now I'm going to keep a ledger as though I'm I have rights. I mean, you just can't expect me to keep forgiving this person. I can't forgive them anymore. Sometimes when a person has come to me and said this, I can't forgive them again. So let's stop first. Are you a believer in Jesus Christ? Do you know that you have trusted him as your savior, that you with the multitude of your sins and sinfulness and sin against the Holy God, he has forgiven you? Do you know that's happened? Yes, I'm sure. Well, then don't lie. It's not that you can't forgive again, it's you don't want to. We have to clarify things, don't we? What do I say? Well, you don't know what I've been. You don't know how many times I've forgiven them. I don't. Do I need to know? No. Am I minimizing the offenses? No. When I talk about God's great mercy to me, am I minimizing my offenses? No. That's why true believers can be characterized as those who are poor in spirit. We know we're nothing but what? Sinners saved by grace. That works. How often have I sinned against God? I couldn't track. I can't keep track of one day's offenses. And now I'm but I'm you know, I'm so righteous that I have a right not to forgive somebody else. You understand how God is measuring it. You don't forgive anything compared to what I've forgiven you. That's the comparison. That's what he's talking about. Blessed are the merciful. They shall receive mercy. It's an ongoing thing. There's future mercy for me. I'll be part of that kingdom in a world ruled by righteousness, receiving the ongoing mercy of God through eternity in an eternal kingdom. Blessed are the merciful, they shall receive mercy. Turn over to Ephesians chapter 4. This is foundational to what we were told with in the other parts of the Scripture. Ephesians chapter 4. Note the context here. He's talking about the transformation God has brought about in our lives, the chapter opened up with, we are to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called. What does that involve? With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace and so on. Verse 17, we are to I walk no longer just as the Gentiles walk in the futility, emptiness of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, the hardness of their heart. They've become callous, given themselves over to sensuality, the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you didn't learn Christ in this way. You come down to verse 30. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you received by the day for the day of redemption. You know that ultimate anticipation again. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ has forgiven you. Those words mercy and forgiveness are used interchangeably. We saw that in Matthew 18. I had mercy on you. You should have forgiven your fellow slave. Mercy, so there's forgiveness, so we're not holding grudges, we're not refusing forgiveness. And that doesn't do away with things like the discipline and church discipline, as we would refer to it in Matthew 18 that just preceded that parable on forgiveness. About a person repents, they're forgiven. Doesn't matter if this is the third or the 30th or the 300th or the 3000th time they've been forgiven. I'm not keeping a record, I know you're probably going to be hard to forgive me again, why? Received a letter this week and the person said, and I know you're going to have a hard time getting over this, but I want to tell you, I'm sorry. You know, that shouldn't be the case, why should I have a hard time getting over something? I mean, what? What has he done? I mean, you don't understand what I've been forgiven. I forgive on the basis of what? Comparison to what others have forgiven? No, what God has done. Turn over to Colossians 3. Colossians 3. Again, he's drawing the contrast here between unregenerate people and regenerate people. and the life and conduct of those who have not been saved and those who are. We are those in verse nine who have laid aside the old self, the old man with its evil practice, and you put on the new self is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the one who created him. You see what's happening here? According to the image of the one who created him made us new in Christ. Remember. The master. Who was. very forgiving, had great mercy. The slave should have manifested his character if he's received his mercy. So here we are being renewed according to the image of the one who created us, made us new like him. So you come down to verse 12, so those as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another, forgiving each other. Whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. That's the standard, the measure. Have I ever forgiven anyone near as much as the Lord has forgiven me? No. Then what's the problem here? Someone who will offend you a dozen times a day, every day. Have you forgiven them as much as the Lord has forgiven you? No. So then it's a matter of I manifest the Lord's character. We're talking about something supernatural here, not natural. We think we have a right to draw a line. Then I find out, no, the Lord didn't draw a line on me, otherwise I could have never been saved. Would it be said, I'll forgive you for ten thousand offenses against me, Gil? But you're still 400 trillion in debt. Doesn't help me a bit, doesn't help me a bit, right? You know what we do, we minimize our sin and guilt and how we have offended a holy God and sinned against him. We're not careful, we become self-righteous. It's not a characteristic of one who has truly experienced God's redeeming grace. Come back to the Beatitudes. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. A foundational issue. You know what the Pharisees and Sadducees were looking for? A good looking life. They were moralists. Like many who profess to be believers are today, we try to impress moralism on society. You know, Jesus has told them in verse 20, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you'll never see the kingdom. Well, the scribes and Pharisees, you know, they were pretty good people when you compare them to the average pagan Roman. They believed in marriage. They didn't run around to all the sexual excesses and deviations that were practiced by the pagans, the Gentiles. But they don't have enough righteousness. You know what Christ said their problem was? They're like whitewashed tombs. They look nice and clean on the outside, and on the inside, they're full of dead men's bones. You know why? The blessing is on the pure in heart. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Who's going to see God? Those who are in the kingdom. You know, in the kingdom, the throne of God ultimately will reside on earth. We'll see in the book of Revelation, and we'll see more as we progress further in our studies, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. will be seen in the kingdom. They shall see God, the pure in heart. There's a problem. Come back to Jeremiah, chapter 17. This is not new material, it's just portions of what God had already said that the Jews were choosing to overlook now, ignore, minimize. Jeremiah, chapter 17. Here's what Jeremiah said, there's a reason he's called the weeping prophet. The reason he had to say the word of God is resulted in derision for me every day, all day. What do you have to say? Verse nine. The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick, who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart. I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds. Works are judged, but you know, they're judged in the context of coming out of hearts and minds that are corrupted, deceitful. You don't have any idea how vile and wicked your heart is. The heart's used hundreds of times, perhaps over 900 times in the Bible, I believe, if I remember correctly. Usually not used of the physical organ of the heart, but your inner person, what you are at the root of your being. You know what God says? I search your heart, and you know what it is? It's desperately sick. It's more deceitful than all else. You can't possibly understand how vile and corrupted your own heart is. I, the Lord, search the heart. I know. You don't even know, that's the scary thing about sin. And people start on a path to sin and they say, that's all right, I know when to stop. That's all right, I'd never go there. You don't understand the potential you have. You ought to fear sin. Because once you start to indulge, you don't know where you will end up. I know I could never do that. So we get self-righteous and we look at people doing certain things and we say, I would never do that. That's disgusting. You're right. It is disgusting. It's not true. You couldn't do it. You don't know how vile your heart is. I don't know how vile my heart is. I don't want to know. I mean, it plummets depths and you find out there's no bottom here. That's how sinful we are. That's the problem. Blessed are the pure in heart. But where do you get a pure heart? Back up to Psalms earlier in your Bibles, Psalm 24. Psalm 24. Look at verse three. It starts out the earth is the Lord and all it contains the world to those who dwell in it he has founded upon the seas established upon the rivers who may ascend into the hill of the Lord who may stand in his holy place. He was a clean hands and a pure heart was not lifted up his soul to falsehood is not sworn deceitfully. You see what God really is clean hands and a pure heart. who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood nor sworn deceitfully. You know, it's both the inside and the outside. God changes the inside so that the outside would be different. Religious people think if you change the outside, you really accomplish something. And the more you change the outside, the more acceptable you'll be to God. That's the travesty of people who claim to be believers out trying to reform the world, implying if they stop sexual sins of all kinds, That will be more pleasing to God. Sin is an offense to God. But you understand, when you clean up the outside, you haven't touched the inside. God requires a pure heart. Here in Psalm, look at Psalm 51. The psalmist prays in verse 10, create in me a clean heart, O God. Only God can provide a clean heart, cleanse on the inside. You can get baptized, but all that does is get your body wet. You can take communion, but all that does is put some food into your mouth that's going to pass through your stomach and out. You can do all kinds of things, call them sacraments, call them whatever you will, you can't change the heart. Turn over in the Gospels, in Matthew, the Gospel of Matthew, where we've been to chapter 12. Matthew chapter 12. Verse 33. Either make the tree good and its fruit good or make the tree bad and its fruit bad for the tree is known by its fruit. You see the point, an apple tree produces apples, an orange tree produces oranges, choke cherry tree, I don't know if that's what you call them now, but we call them when we were kids, you know, the little things you put in pea shooters, you don't eat them. produce a joke. I mean, that's what we call them. That's what they are. A tree is known by its fruit. So what are you doing? He's rebuking, again, the religious people of his day because they're trying to mix something, be a bad tree with good fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you being evil speak what is good? Now note this, have it marked in your Bible, underline, for the mouth out of that which fills the heart speaks. It speaks out of that which fills the heart. It's from the inside, the heart, the center of your being, come your words. So the good man brings out of his good treasure what is good. The evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. I tell you, every careless word, useless word that people speak, they'll give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your word, you'll be justified. By your word, you'll be condemned. See, you're judged by works, right? Right. Why? Because your works Your words, as well as your works, come from inside. You know, you watch crime TV these days, you know, and you have detectives solving a crime or watch the news and somebody's committed a horrific crime and they say, it's so unlike him, we don't know how he could do that. You go to the Bible, you find out how he can do it. When you're a whitewashed tomb, you just have dead men's bones on the inside. You've cleaned up the outside and people say, hey, look so nice. He's such a good person. You understand you haven't changed anything on the inside. Turn over a few pages to Matthew, chapter 15. Matthew, chapter 15. Here he's rebuking the Pharisees and scribes again. In my view, the people who prided themselves in doing all they could to conform themselves to the Mosaic law, not only the Mosaic law, but all the laws they had added to the Mosaic law. And when you summarize it, Jesus said that they transgressed verse three, the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition. That's a description of religious people today. They go against the word of God. But they'll die for their religious traditions, you want to offend them, open the word of God, shed the word of God's light on their religious traditions, their family heritage, and you'll find out you have an enemy. You keep coming down. Verse 8, this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. Verse 11, it is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth. This defiles the man. Like some of you, I read Diet books from time to time. Read them all, not all of them, but all kinds, you know, I don't mind reading books on what you should eat, not eat whatever, but don't tell me that if I had my body's the temple of the Holy Spirit and by eating that I'll defile it. When I was a young person, smoking was the big thing. And I remember being told, you know, you don't want to smoke because you don't want to fill the temple of the Lord with smoke. Do you think that honors the Lord? Well, I didn't know enough about the Bible to respond then, and I didn't smoke. I'm not promoting smoking. It doesn't matter what you eat as far as your spiritual condition. I'm not saying that means you ought to eat everything. It's not a spiritual issue. It's not what goes into the mouth that defiles the man. How can Christians get confused of this? And we have diet books supposedly based on scriptural principles. It's not what you put into the mouth. that defiles you. Now, there may be other reasons, but they're not spiritual reasons for eating this or not eating that. I mean, it's what proceeds out of the mouth that devours the man. You know what the disciples came and said to him, verse 12, Do you not know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement? Religious people are always offended when you tell them they're good works don't help them spiritually. I mean, the Pharisees had strict laws on what you eat and how you ate, and to be sure you wash your hands before you eat. You know what Jesus said? You can't defile yourself by not washing your hands before you eat. Do I think it's a good idea to wash your hands before you eat? Yes. Is it sanitary? Yes. Is it hygienic? Yes. Is it spiritual? No. We shouldn't blend the two. It's not what goes in the mouth that defiles the man. The Pharisees were offended. Are people not offended? Try it. I keep exhorting you to do this, not because I want everybody to find Indian Hills offensive. But, you know, after church, you go out and eat. There may be somebody who came from a religious meeting. Talk to them. Find out. Find out if they think their works are going to get them to heaven. You say, no, the word of God says your works won't get you to heaven. You'll find out. Did you not know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this? People who are depending on their works to get them to heaven are very offended to be told their works can't get them to heaven. What are these people? They're blind leaders of the blind, verse 14. So come down to verse 15. Peter said, explain the parable to us. We all love Peter. If I'd been there, I'd be saying, I wish somebody had asked him to explain that. I'm not going to be the one to open my mouth. Good old Peter, he never lacked a reason to open his mouth. Jesus said to him, are you still lacking in understanding also? Peter, you should know this by now. Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach is eliminated? We know the basic process, right? You put it in the mouth, it goes in the stomach and it goes into a latrine, literally, as you have in your margin. That's it. So what's the confusion here? How can you defile yourself spiritually by eating or not eating, by eating a certain kind of food? The things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things that defile the man. To eat with unwashed hands do not defile the man. This is a biggie for the Pharisees and scribes. You've got to wash your hands or you'll be defiled, and then you'll be spiritually defiled because you didn't wash your hands. I mean, that's just not so. We know that, right? We practice that, right? Sometimes we want to be clear, it's what comes out of the heart that defiles a man. Until you've dealt with the heart, you haven't dealt with anything. A person who is sexually faithful to their partner, who has not believed in Christ, had their heart claims, is on their way to hell. The person who is immoral six times a day, five days a week, is on his way to hell. Moralism does not save a person. It's repulsive to God. Sin is an offense against God. We're not saying, well, then you might as well sin. But Jesus did say, eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you die. You can't clean up your life, you can't make yourself acceptable to God, only he can cleanse the heart. When a heart's cleansed, then out of the heart new things come, new behaviors come. Verse 19, why do people have evil thoughts? Because they have evil hearts. Why do they commit murders? Because they're sinners at heart. Why do they commit adultery? They're sinners at heart. Why do they commit fornication? They're sinners at heart. Why do they steal? Sinners at heart. Sinners at heart. Sinners at heart. Believers ought to stay out of the social movements, the political movements, the moral movements. Though we were saying, you know, clean up our society. We can't expect God's blessings unless you stop that behavior. As though stopping certain behavior. Would make us acceptable to God. I mean, sin is offensive to God and sin isn't, you know, is a blot on any nation. Don't imply to people you could make yourself acceptable to God. We're back to being the Pharisees and scribes committing their error again and again and again and again. I want to tell a person. They say they're trying to clean up their life. I want to stop drinking. I want to stop being immoral. I want to be faithful to my wife. They're all good things. But you know what? When you've done all that, you still will not be acceptable to God. You will still be on the same road, a road that ends in hell. You will still be the enemy of God. It may make your life more pleasant, may make it more pleasant for those around you, but you understand that will not improve your relationship with God at all. We don't want to give people a misunderstanding. This is what Jesus is addressing. Blessed are the pure in heart. One more passage. We have to move on. While you go to first Peter one, I'll make my confession. I thought I was going to do an overview of this portion of the sermon. I thought by now we would have finished chapter five. I just am not an overview person. Now, it doesn't help when somebody confesses something you already knew, right? You've been here more than a week, you know, that first Peter, chapter one, verse twenty two. What's Peter say? Since you have in obedience to the truth. Purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again. You see same things that Jesus talked about. Nicodemus, you have to be born again. You're born from above. Same point. Born a second time. As Nicodemus understood it. And when you are what you have a purified heart, so you obey the truth by what believing you're born again by the living and abiding word of God. This is the word which was preached to you as the chapter ends. So believing the truth causes you to be born again by the grace of God that purifies your souls for what? They continue to live the way I always lived. No. Now they have a genuine love of the brethren. So this ought to be the pattern of your life. Fervently love one another from the heart. Because your heart has been cleansed, you've been made new. By the living and abiding word of God, so conduct and character are inseparably joined together in scripture. People say, well, you can't see my heart. No, I can't. But I can see the results of what's in your heart. We like to excuse our sin as though it's an aberration, and I'm not saying Christians can't sin. But those who have been truly saved are made new and different, make the tree good and the fruit good, the tree bad and the fruit bad. Don't try to be running around hanging oranges on chokecherry trees. You haven't done anything. You're trying to deceive people. Oh, look at the oranges. It's a false, it's a whitewashed tomb, it's not genuine. Come back to Matthew, chapter five. Blessed are the peacemakers. You know, I think the two most misused Beatitudes are blessed are the poor. As Luke says it, or blessed are the poor in spirit, as we have it here in Matthew. And suppose it foundation for God has special love for the poor, so we ought to be working with the poor. So we can make them rich so they can be like the camel and can't get through the eye of the needle. I don't know what we've done. And then this one, blessed are the peacemakers. You see peace demonstrations and let's stop the armament build up and We don't want to be at war here and there, and you'll see someone carrying a sign, bless his soul, blessed are the peacemakers. And has nothing to do with what this beatitude is talking about, you think they can just run and take a passage of scripture and run around with it. Illustration that is often used, and I heard it when I was very young and I never forgot it. You have to keep scripture in its context. The Bible says Judas went out and hanged himself. The Bible also says, what, go thou and do likewise. Both of those are correct statements, just because you quote a verse of the Bible doesn't mean you have properly represented what the Bible says, the Bible does say, blessed are the peacemakers. End of argument. No. What does it mean when it says, blessed are the peacemakers? Judas went out and hanged himself. Does that mean that we are to go and do likewise? No, let's go find out what the Bible says when it says that. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. And the sons of God will be part of the kingdom of God, right? What are the peacemakers? Let's go back to the Old Testament. Isaiah, chapter 52. Isaiah, chapter 52. In Isaiah, chapter 9, while you're getting to Isaiah 52, in verse 6, In a millennial passage about the coming kingdom, we have the Messiah, whose name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God. Eternal Father, Prince of Peace, Prince of Peace. And it's true, someday he will establish a kingdom that will be characterized by peace and they will not learn war anymore. They can beat their swords into plowshares in that kingdom. But first, he's the Prince of Peace in bringing peace to the heart that is enmity with God. In Isaiah chapter 52, verse 7, how lovely on the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who announces peace, who brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation and says to Zion, your God reigns. How lovely on the mountains are the feet of them who brings good news, who announces peace, brings good news of happiness, who announces salvation and says the Zion your God reigns. Has to do with those who bring the message of peace. The peace of God to a world, we know that's the point, because come over to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. Paul here is dealing with the nation Israel and how the nation Israel fits in the plan of God's salvation, including Gentiles in this period of time in which we now live, the time of the fullness of the Gentiles, a time of Gentile salvation primarily. Starts chapter 10 by saying, Brethren, my heart's desire, my prayer to God for them, referring to Israel, is for their salvation. I testify about them. They have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge for not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own. They do not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. That testimony regarding Israel, the testimony of many religious people today, right there in church, they're going through religious activities. They devote much of their time to religious service. Why? Not knowing about God's righteousness, they're seeking to establish their own. And so they don't submit themselves to God's righteousness. Then he goes on to talk about the message of Christ that brings salvation. You don't have to search far and wide. You don't have to go to heaven or hell. You don't have to search the earth. The word of God is right here. The end of verse. In verse eight, the word is near you in your mouth and in your heart, the word of faith, which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus, Lord, believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, a person believes, resulting in righteousness. With the mouth, he confesses, resulting in salvation. I declare I believed in Christ. That declaration, the confession only has significant as it expresses what's in my heart. And I'm speaking out of what fills my heart. I have believed you're not saved by your confession. You're saved by believing in your heart and your confession is the testimony of what you've done in your heart with the heart of person believes resulting in righteousness with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation confesses to his salvation. Whoever believes in him will not be disappointed. You'll be sure everyone who believes in him will be saved. There'll be no failures here. I believed in him, I believed that Christ died for me, I turned from my sin and placed my faith in him, but he didn't save me. No, there's no disappointment in him. He goes on to say, verse 13, whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in him whom they have not heard? How will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? And those beautiful words from Isaiah 52 7. How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things. However they did not all heed the good news for Isaiah says who has believed our report. Sadly many of those who heard the good news did not believe it. Faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. So are the peacemakers. those who bring the message of God's peace. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 20 calls God the God of peace. And the God of peace has entrusted us with the gospel of peace. Turn to Ephesians chapter six. Ephesians chapter six. We have the armament of the believer, what we must be dressed in, to do battle with the devil, spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies. You take up the full armor of God in verse 13. Verse 14, you stand firm, having girded your loins with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Every believer is to have his feet shod with the gospel of peace. Every believer is to have those beautiful feet that is carrying the message of peace from the God of peace. The God of peace has entrusted us with the good news of peace. So we have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, going back to Isaiah 52.7 again. And how beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news. They're the peacemakers. They can bring true peace. Because where do wars and conflicts come from? James asked. They come from within your own hearts. We don't solve the world's conflicts by parading around declaring ourselves peacemakers, declaring ourselves against war. You know, the Bible says in the kingdom they will beat their swords into plowshares. You know what the prophets tell us to do before that time? Beat your plowshares into swords. You better make implements of war. Because war is coming before peace on this earth, so we do we want to bring genuine peace. Now, it's true that those who experience the peace of God, We are to strive for peace in our relationships, not talking about war. But it's talking about doing all we can to be peaceful people. As believers, it's not time for me to try to impose on our government that we ought to be a nation of peace. It may be a political conviction, it may not, but it's not a spiritual instruction there. There will be no peace on this earth. Till the one who is the prince of peace comes and establishes peace on the earth, and part of what he will do with that is what? Remove all those that offend him. So that those who have entered into his peace now are part of the kingdom of peace on the earth. Now, who are the peacemakers? Those who bring the message of peace to the lost in the world. You may be still in Ephesians. Turn over a couple of pages. Philippians, Colossians. Colossians, chapter one. Colossians, chapter one. Verse 19, for it was the father's good pleasure for all the fullness that dwell in him, the father's good pleasure for all the fullness of deity he's talking about, because chapter two, verse nine says, for in him, all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. So it was the father's good pleasure for all the fullness that dwell in him. and through him, Christ, to reconcile all things to himself. How could he do this? Bring sinful, rebellious human beings into right relationships with himself. He can do this. He can reconcile all things to himself. Having made peace through the blood of his cross. That's how it's done. Peace through the blood of his cross. How do we become peacemakers? We have our feet shod with the gospel of peace. Everywhere we go, we are carrying a message, one message, the message of Christ, right? You're a believer in Jesus Christ, you have beautiful feet. Clothed with the gospel of peace. What do we do? Walk around and keep it to ourselves? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ. No one will get saved by having you walk by. We come carrying a message. The message is the gospel of peace. No one ever gets saved who doesn't hear that message. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of Christ. What has God done? The pattern in Romans chapter 10. He's ordained and established and given the responsibility through the plan as he calls men and women to himself, cleanses them from their sin, gives them a new heart, changes their life, because now Their motivation center is different. The character of God is being produced in them. They have become partakers of the divine nature, Peter says. We have been made pure in heart. And now we have been entrusted with the message to carry it to others. You can have peace with God. How so? Oh, I'm zealous for God. I get up and go to confession or I go to church or I go to these things and I do my I said, you have a zeal for God. You know what? We need to be zealous in accord with knowledge, and here's what God has said. We can't make ourselves acceptable to him. That's why his son, Jesus Christ, came to this earth and suffered and died on the cross. So that he could make peace through the blood of his cross, the penalty for your sin is death. I'm amazed at all the good work you try to do and how religious you've tried to become, but you understand the penalty for sin is death. The only way peace can be made is through the blood of the cross of Christ. I'm here to bring that message to you. That's what you need to hear. Shared a little while back with a person, I was there for a service he could provide. I won't give any more detail. And he was providing the service. And I said, you know, I didn't come here today for the service you can provide. Appreciate it. I came here because I have a message you need to hear. God has sent me here today to tell you something. You need to hear this message. It's a message of hope. It's a message of life and proceed to share the gospel with him. He sat down with me, pulled the chair around next to him, sat down. He would listen. I haven't believed yet. But the Lord's not done with his word. I don't know what he'll do, but I have to be sure what that I carry the message with me. Remind myself, what are these feet taking me here for? Why am I being carried here? These feet? I love the picture of the feet because the feet take us where we're going. Even when you go in the car, you get out of the car and go and we're going someplace. We wrote it today. We want to say we have beautiful cars, but that wouldn't fit with it. It's our feet that take us, bring us into these personal contacts. They won't can't be saved. If they don't hear. I don't know whether they'll be saved after they hear because Isaiah said they have not believed our report. But I can bring them the report. I can tell them the good news. I realize why am I here today? Why have this contact? I'm here to do this. I'm here to do that. I'm here to get that done. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Those are peripheral. Those are reasons for you to be there, humanly speaking. But these feet are shod with the gospel of peace and they take me everywhere for one place. That's why Paul could say. In every place we have given off the knowledge of Christ. In every place. Why? Because those feet carried him everywhere and they were shod with the gospel of peace. Beautiful thing. You can't be saved by attending this church. You can't be saved by being baptized here. Can't be saved by taking communion here. But you can hear how to get saved by attending here. Because the message of the word of God is. You must recognize you are a sinner and turn from your sin and place your faith in Christ. The Lord, I'm letting go of everything. I thought I was doing what I should, but I realized I'm a sinner. I can't pay my penalty. You paid it for me. I'm trusting your son. I let go of everything else. That's when God cleanses you. He makes you new. And life is never the same afterwards. Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for the truth of this, your word. These simple truths that describe those that you've done a work of grace, a work of mercy, a work of kindness in the hearts and lives of multitudes of people. Lord, may we never forget the great debt we've been forgiven. We receive mercy that cannot be measured. We indeed are poor in spirit. We indeed mourn and grieve over sin. See the awfulness of sin, even the sin that remains, Lord, but you've been gracious. And we would manifest your character in all of our dealings. Lord, how wonderful that those who are peacemakers have the privilege of seeing you being part of your kingdom. How awesome to consider that our feet are to be shod with the gospel of peace, are going about sharing the message of the Savior is an evidence that we have experienced the peace that he brings to the hearts of those who believe. A peace between God and man. Peace that can only be accomplished through the blood of the cross of your son. Above all, we thank you that we are your children. We have peace with you because we have placed our faith in him. Use us today to carry this message to others. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.