Matthew 5:13-16

"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."

There is a vital application to the Christian faith that accomplishes one of two outcomes for the one who publicly professes him/herself as saved by grace through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8). It either provides circumstantial evidence of an inward change of the heart manifested in good works from an obedient will that gives glory to God, or it polarizes those who the Christian comes in contact with by creating division and confusion as to how someone who claims to be a Christian can live a hypocritical life. This is truly the crossroads we find ourselves within a highly skeptical culture, micro-analyzing the Christian faith community for signs of authenticity and fruits of the spirit. Make no mistake, Christ's admonition in Matthew 5:13-16 is the litmus test of our faith, exemplifying our depth of Biblical character or lack thereof, and giving testimony to the glory of God for his infinite grace and mercy, or in contrast, how surface we have become in our spiritual walk with Christ that in truth does more damage than good to the cause of the Great Commission.

I find it incredibly intriguing why those who are most critical of Christians and their sinful behavior first and foremost rarely point out their issues with what the Bible defines as sinful behavior. While there are exceptions of course, most often greater emphasis is placed upon the inconsistencies of application rather than the Biblical standard. It would appear that they don't necessarily have issues with what the Bible says when Christians practice what they preach, but that rarely happens. Therefore a skeptic may conclude, "Why want what they have because it doesn't look any different than what I have?" Again this is not a blanket statement, but is this a fair criticism? Absolutely. There is no greater standard of morals, ethics and character than the Bible, yet we know as habitual sinners it is impossible to attain perfection on our own through good works. Only through Christ do we attain perfection, "For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14). And let us be reminded that sanctification does not mean made clean upon conversion and perfect from this day forward. Rather, it supposes that righteousness is a progressive trial and error process of being conformed into the image of Christ--turning from sin and submitting unto Christ and His Word in increasing application.

It is difficult to see Christians acting out in direct or indirect defiance of Scripture. How can people who profess themselves to be Christian act like they do? It is a huge stumbling block to both unbelievers and immature believers and creates a Christian cultural melting pot that is inconsistent to say the least. No doubt the apostle Paul felt this weight within the church of Corinth when he wrote, "I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?" (1 Corinthians 3:2-3). The consistency of our Biblical application is rooted within the flesh which opposes obedience and submission unto God the Father. It exalts self, thus rejecting God's protective love. Perhaps writing through his experiential application of rejecting Christ, Peter conveyed similar understanding when he declared, "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation" (1 Peter 2:11-12). If our conduct does not match the truth we hold as absolute, we dishonor God by glorifying ourselves, plain and simple.

The Bible gives strong warnings to professing Christians who fail to apply Biblical truth and become stumbling blocks to those who do not know Christ. "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea" (Mark 9:42) is a perfect example of what Jesus taught concerning the importance of practicing what we preach. And if surgical procedure is needed to extract the cancer we allow to reign in our lives, Christ implores, "And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another" (Mark 9:43-50).

What an amazing picture Christ paints for us that everyone will be salted with fire! In its most basic form, salt provides flavor as a seasoning and acts as a preservative in food while also containing antiseptic properties used for cleaning wounds. Salt is a most useful substance, yet Christ likens salt to the process of cleansing by fire. In other words, while we are washed by the blood of the lamb in the obedient act of baptism, likewise our guilt and shame are purged--burned away by fire with the salt of the Spirit that gives us our flavor (righteousness) and preserves us (sanctification) against the forces of evil that wish to destroy us by cleansing us (justification) from sinful behavior we no doubt will experience in the future due to our fallen nature.

It is extremely difficult to pause and reflect upon my own personal application of this truth because the aftermath of wrong decisions I have made throughout my life is always top of mind. Even though I find great comfort in knowing I am being salted with fire, my mind naturally gravitates upon my shortcomings and how I have failed my Lord & Savior more times than I care to remember. However, it is critical to spiritual growth and maintaining the salty flavor needed to live out the Christian faith because it promotes a balance of the past (accepting full responsibility for personal sin), present (living in constant battle against sin and temptation) and future (constantly focusing on the victory found in Christ's shed blood which pays for our entry into eternity upon acceptance of His sacrifice). In all, it requires a man to take full responsibility for his actions and embrace the process of reconciliation before God for salt is the true test of our effectiveness as Christians, not perfection through good works.

No where else in Scripture is this truth better exemplified than Psalm 51 where King David declares in repentance, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment" (Psalm 51:1-4). David understood that he had sinned gravely and sought reconciliation first before God as his ultimate judge (Note: David had to reconcile with those he directly sinned against as well, i.e. Bathsheba, etc., even though verse 4 focuses specifically upon his relationship with God). He recognized through the accountability of Nathan the prophet that his saltiness was losing its flavor and if he did not seek forgiveness and accept the consequences of his actions (which inevitably resulted in the death of his son), he was destined to be useless for the God whom he so loved and trusted.

I know I can relate to David. The greatest fall from grace I have ever experienced came when I stood proudly upon the mountaintop of hypocritical pride and self-exaltation that I (like David) was "a man after my (God's) heart" (Acts 13:22) while at the same time wallowing in the filth of my sin. How ridiculous I had become to think I could continue to willingly live in adulterous sin (James 4:4) while presenting myself before a community of Christ followers as righteous before God and worthy to do His will. There is no greater regret I have than not only destroying my own life to various degrees but destroying the lives of those around me while blaspheming the name of Christ and abusing the gift He gave through his death for my sins. Praise God though for His deliverance of my soul and restoring the years the locust has eaten (Joel 2:25) for I once was incredibly blind, but now I see more clearly and am progressively being restored to righteousness.

Perspective is an amazing grace God gives to His children. For even in my regret and despair for the pain I have caused those I love, God still chose to lift me out of the depths and restore me unto Himself. Like David, I humbly cried out, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you" (Psalm 51:10-13). Praise God! He heard my cry, for now my soul proclaims, "O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit" (Psalm 30:3). What a privilege it is now to share how Christ has redeemed me and continues to illuminate His truth to me through Scripture passages such as these! To God be the glory!

It is imperative to note that the warning of salt losing its saltiness is a stern rebuke for those who believe they can continue living in sin without reproach or consequences. We must be clear that Jesus is not saying that if you sin, you have lost your effectiveness to share the Good News of His death, burial and resurrection. Rather, it focuses specifically upon any man or woman who believes that they can knowingly live as "whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness" (Matthew 23:27). Make no mistake, truly seeing the full depth and breadth of our sin is crucial to understanding Christ's teaching. And I believe if we are truly being honest with ourselves, which requires prayerful introspection and the help of others who know us, there are areas of our lives where we know we are sinning and need to stop, repent and never return to. Granted, temptation will always be present, seductively luring us back into self idolatry, but we do not have to continue living in sin without the slightest care of its destruction. Often times sin is extremely discreet and indirect, virtually undetectable without Biblical accountability with fellow Christians and a daily meal-plan of the absolute truth of Scripture that is "a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105). But nonetheless it must be extracted before it kills you like cancer, ravaging your spirit unto death.

We must guard against any inclination to allow our flesh (self) to elevate its desires for a quick fix to sin and its destructive wake above the righteousness of God that will use our sin as an opportunity to draw us closer unto Christ in His time, not ours. The Bible states, "For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Hebrews 12:6), and that is a promise to embrace because while God will not typically remove the consequences of sinful actions, He promises that ultimately we will not pay the final price for those sins if we surrender our lives unto Christ by grace through faith. Our time on earth is temporary, therefore we must take full responsibility for our sinful actions, allowing God to purify our hearts through their consequences, so that we may retain the salty flavor God placed within us when we accepted Christ as Lord & Savior--and that is how we allow God to shine through us as light to a dark world desperately in need of the transforming and saving power found only through Jesus Christ.

If we as Christians embrace the calling God sets upon our lives to submit to his will and authority and apply His Word in our hearts, then the light that shines forth from us will not be quenched. Does that mean we will flawlessly execute our duty unto Christ? No. Rather, God allows sin to take partial residence in our hearts in order to display His grace as we seek reconciliation with Him through repentance. And this will be a testimony to all that God is merciful and "gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6) who seek His face. Bottom-line, the Christian walk is not one without freedom. We have the choice to follow absolute truth that unwaveringly withstands the test of time, or self-truth that ebbs and flows like waves upon the shore. But in obedience and thanksgiving unto Christ, we submit to God's Word and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit that He gives through baptism, knowing that the truth of Christ sets us free (John 8:32). Moreover, we embrace our born-again identity as "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).

Christ's teaching in Matthew 5:13-16 should be one that we approach with reverence and humility, for the responsibility God places upon us as ambassadors for His name is incredible. Whether fair or not, those who do not share our faith scrutinize our every word and action and make judgments based on what they see and hear, which alone should bring us to our knees daily, seeking discernment and understanding from God through prayer and Scripture reflection on how we can live unto righteousness. But that does not give us permission to lord over others in judgment from what we see and hear in them, for we are subject to the same measure. "Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God" (1 Corinthians 4:5). We are called to rise above such secular philosophy, for in that we become lamps upon a stand in the homes, churches, workplaces and culture where we reside.

I pray that this Scripture passage from the mouth of Christ through the pen of Matthew inspired through the Holy Spirit grips your heart as it has mine. It has taken six months for me to finish composing this journal entry, which is by far my longest hiatus from writing since this blog began two years ago. I have wrestled with what God desires to teach me through it and been distracted and sidetracked by countless things from finishing it. As I conclude though, ultimately I believe God has taught me to take my role as a Christian man, husband, father, friend, etc., much more seriously, understanding that my thoughts, attitudes and actions reflect the condition of my heart which is of supreme importance to God. No doubt, I continue to struggle simply reading God's Word and praying daily let alone resisting selfish desires, ambitions and temptation in general, but I also understand that Satan continues to oppose every attempt I make to live for righteousness (which be encouraged, is a good sign, for Satan only seeks to devour those who are not already his). Therefore it is in my best interest to apply all I learned earlier this year studying the Beatitudes, for they are foundational to living as salt and light. God continues to build a new framework within my life as I have slowly progressed through Matthew 5, which at times has been excruciatingly convicting yet refreshing to my soul. May God continue to illuminate my heart and mind and may I continue to humble myself and maintain a reverent posture as he conforms me into the image of His Son through the power of His Word. "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success" (Joshua 1:8).

Devotion #8 – Matthew 5:10-12

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” If baptism is a public proclamation of a private, internal decision to follow Christ, then persecution is the measuring stick by which a Christian knows the spirit of the living God dwells within him. Make no mistake; Jesus’ final installment of the Beatitudes carries with it the most bone-chilling of promises, that to live for righteousness’ sake, there is an assurance of persecution that validates a man’s life unto Him. For just as Paul instructed Timothy, “indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12), we too must heed the same warning that to live for Christ does not mean a life without rejection from the world and even within the church itself (which can be most destructive). Rather, we yolk with Christ under the promise that “the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:16-17). It is imperative to know that this Beatitude does not say we are blessed if we suffer for being good or noble. The world embraces those who do good things but shuns the righteous, because righteous living convicts and from God’s perspective condemns those who live in contrary. How then do we apply the truth of Scripture in this light? Let us begin with the words of Christ who proclaimed, “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26). We must always be on guard for those who would seek to destroy us for speaking Biblical truth in love rather than sugar-coating truth or spinning it in a way where the power of the Word is diminished or even contradicted in sinful justification. For as Scripture warns, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy” (Proverbs 27:6). Therefore, we must know up front that righteousness draws a line in the sand and those who choose to stand in opposition to God’s Word will inevitably turn against us when we live righteously. Yet in the big picture we are comforted that “the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (1 Peter 3:12). Therefore, we have access to the Son of God who paid the penalty for our sins and an obligation that we will stand on His behalf before man. The Bible states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). Consequently, “So everyone who acknowledges me (Jesus) before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32-33). Christ and His Word are inseparable. So whether you stand for Him and who He was, or for Holy Scripture which is what He said, you stand in unison on the foundation of righteousness which polarizes those who live for the world and its self-idolatrous way of living. Bottom-line, persecution is not an easy pill to swallow. Being hated is not our goal when we take up our cross and follow Christ. Yet Jesus firmly reminds us, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” (John 15:18-19). Moreover, He instructs us to embrace persecution as an opportunity to bear witness to His name by speaking truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). “Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives” (Luke 21:14-19). For the man who lives for Christ and righteousness’ sake, lost souls are motivation enough to compel him to endure all the fiery trials that life can bring in order that men would be won for Christ and lives transformed through the power of His Word. He may get burned in the process, but that wound is only momentary because He has perspective that life apart from Christ is “vanity and striving after the wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14). He hears the voice of the Savior calling, “But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded” (2 Chronicles 15:7) and he responds faithfully, resting in the promises of God and the kingdom of heaven that awaits.

Devotion #7 – Matthew 5:9

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” We live in a hostile world. It seems everywhere we turn today there are people, groups and nations at war with one another on a range of political, social, cultural and religious grounds. Yet this trend is nothing new to mankind, for opposition has stood the test of time and continues to thrive in a post-modernistic world that clings to self-truth. Is there not an answer to this madness? Praise God there is, for as Christians we believe God has provided us with the tools necessary to facilitate peace. Therefore, we must look no further than the Word of God that “is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path” (Psalm 119:105) and the Holy Spirit who “searches everything, even the depths of God” (1 Corinthians 2:10) for counsel and direction. As we have studied previously, the Beatitudes build upon one another. Therefore, a man who seeks to be a peacemaker humbly seeks God’s grace for his salvation, mourns the destructive power of sin in his life and the lives of others, casts aside his selfish desires in meekness, pursues righteousness passionately, shows mercy to others in light of the infinite mercy God has given him, and seeks a purity of heart that overshadows his entire life. He cannot fathom attaining a level of true peace without living out the first five Beatitudes. They provide support to his peacemaking and enable him to seek and promote peace at the expense of himself because he has been made holy and righteous through humble repentance unto God and living out the Gospel through his own life. Specifically, a man who is a peacemaker is one who is meek, for he has only one concern which is the glory of God amongst men. Scripture admonishes, “Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it” (Psalm 34:14), because peace can only be pursued with a heart that is motivationally pure. Moreover, one’s heart must be devoid of self which directly incorporates meekness and results in a denial of self-interest and self-concern. A peacemaker must be neutral, able to check his emotions and sensitivity without becoming defensive. Stated plainly, “the peacemaker is one who is not always looking at everything in terms of the effect it has upon himself…He has seen himself and has come to see that in a sense this miserable, wretched self is not worth bothering about at all. It is so wretched; it has no rights or privileges; it does not deserve anything” (Lloyd Jones). Jesus stated, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Luke 9:24), which means you must sacrifice your idolatrous love of self so that the glory of God may be revealed in your pursuit of peace, regardless of the repercussions it may have on you. Practically, a peacemaker is one who is “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19). He is calculated in his thoughts and actions because he knows that “anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down” (Proverbs 12:25). More importantly, he is grounded in the authoritative truth of God’s Word for he knows that “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12), meaning he is not the ultimate source of peace but a facilitator of peace for the Most High God. He is willing to be used by God because his posture is low and his heart is pure. The New Testament speaks emphatically “that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another” (1 Corinthians 12:25) and the peacemaker not only takes that to heart but produces peace within the body. The apostle Paul pleaded for this cause when he said, “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment” (1 Corinthians 1:10). Division within the church family is of supreme importance to God and cannot be minimized as simply difference of opinion. For the seeds of gossip and casting judgment have no place in the life of a Christian man and a peacemaker seeks to destroy discord amongst the body and bring unity under the umbrella of God’s glory as revealed in His Word. Bottom-line, “the peacemaker is the man who does not talk about people when they are offensive and difficult. He does not ask, ‘Why are they like that?’ He says, ‘They are like that because they are still being governed by the god of this world. That poor person is a victim of self and of Satan; he is hell bound; I must have pity and mercy upon him.’ The moment he begins to look at him like that he is in a position to help him, and he is likely to make peace with him. So you must have an entirely new view of the other person” (Lloyd Jones). That is how a man lives out the Gospel and is transformed into a peacemaker. Are you that man?

Devotion #6 – Matthew 5:8

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” One would be hard-pressed to find a passage of Scripture that is more difficult to apply than Matthew 5:8. Our fallen self, wretched of sin on a consistent basis simply wages war in opposition to it. Yet Jesus Christ did not hesitate in declaring that the ultimate prize of seeing God face to face will be reserved for those whose hearts are unconditionally pure. What an amazing statement, although finding such a man may be rare today even within the church. For “who can say, ‘I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin?’” (Proverbs 20:9) Nonetheless, it is evident from Christ’s mouth that such a level of spiritual character does exist and therefore we should aim to seek it passionately for our sanctification. This subject matter is so potent though that a man dare attempt to wrap his head around this concept because it strikes a cord between a man’s true self and his perceived and hopeful self image. For instance, no man seeks to be an adulterer or abusive husband/father, yet he will allow seeds of lust and anger to take residence in his heart and remain stifled but not eliminated. What makes him think that if he allows lustful or angry thoughts in his mind that they will not overtake his heart and manifest themselves in destructive levels of behavior? Don’t be so foolish! A man cannot separate his thoughts and behavior from a discussion of purity. They are all interconnected and sin drives a stake in the heart of any man desiring to live a life of purity and divides it. Remember that Jesus spoke these words to a mixed crowd, including Pharisees, addressing the ultimate impact of Pharisaical behavior (i.e. religious hypocrisy) in His closing remarks on the Beatitudes when He calls out how they suppressed the truth of God’s Word and “persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:12). Nothing brought out the righteous anger of God more than the Pharisees’ behavior because of the impurity of their hearts, and nothing is of greater importance to God than our hearts, for they are the core of our being, our inner man and willful self. Therefore we must heed Christ’s warning: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean” (Matthew 23:25-26). Charles Spurgeon offers this thought as well: “If your language should be chaste, yet, if your heart is reveling in foul imaginations, you stand before God not according to your words, but according to your desires; according to the set of the current of your affections, your real inward likes and dislikes, you shall be judged by him.” As men of character we cannot allow our inward thoughts, attitudes, affections and desires to be inconsistent with God’s Word, nor can we place disproportionate emphasis upon our heads and not our hearts. The church is full today of over-inflated theological giants who can recite verses by memory and expound in depth upon the truth of Scripture yet never apply a single word within their hearts. We cannot fall into that trap and as D. Martyn Lloyd Jones states, “reduce the way of life and righteousness to a mere matter of conduct, ethics and behavior.” Our focus is not external but emphatically and purposefully internal to the core. I have heard it said that there is nothing that comes out of the mouth of a drunk that wasn’t there to begin with. Jesus spoke a similar sentiment: “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (Matthew 15:18-19). This magnifies the fact that “the heart is always the core of all our troubles. But the terrible, tragic fallacy of the last hundred years has been to think that all man’s troubles are due to his environment, and that to change the man you have nothing to do but to change his environment. It overlooks the fact that it was in Paradise that man fell. It was in a perfect environment that he first went wrong, so to put man in a perfect environment cannot solve his problems” (Lloyd Jones). But if you can say, “I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Matthew 7:22-23), then you are aware that purity of heart is the battleground between God and Satan in your life, and you have the choice to either live in hypocrisy and never see the face of God or cry out in humble depravity, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Matthew 7:24-25). My advice: choose purity of heart “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7) and inevitably you WILL see God for your heart WILL be made clean and pure by the blood of Christ.

Devotion #5 – Matthew 5:7

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Up until this week we have studied Beatitudes that focus on the inner self of man—character attributes that reveal how the transforming power of Christ changes a man from the inside out. It is vital though that we know where we have come from in order to understand Christ’s proclamation that the merciful are indeed blessed. We need context for clarity’s sake to better grasp the depth and breadth that our Lord and Savior sets before us as we grow in our understanding of this prophetic sermon. Therefore, let us summarize the relationship between the first four Beatitudes and the fifth installment as follows: “I am poor in spirit; I realize that I have no righteousness; I realize that face to face with God and His righteousness I am utterly helpless; I can do nothing. Not only that. I mourn because of the sin that is within me; I have come to see, as the result of the operation of the Holy Spirit, the blackness of my own heart. I know what it is to cry out, ‘O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me?’ and desire to be rid of this vileness that is within me. Not only that. I am meek, which means that now I have experienced this true view of myself, nobody else can hurt me, nobody else can insult me, nobody can ever say anything too bad about me. I have seen myself, and my greatest enemy does not know the worst about me, I have seen myself as something truly hateful, and it is because of this that I have hungered and thirsted after righteousness. I have longed for it. I have seen that I cannot create or produce it, and that nobody else can. I have seen my desperate position in the sight of God. I have hungered and thirsted for that righteousness which will put me right with God, that will reconcile me to God, and give me a new nature and life. And I have seen it in Christ. I have been filled; I have received it all as a free gift.” “Does it not follow inevitably that, if I have seen and experienced all that, my attitude towards everybody else must be completely and entirely changed? If all that is true of me, I no longer see men as I used to see them. I see them now with a Christian eye. I see them as the dupes and the victims and the slaves of sin and Satan and the way of the world. I have come to see them not simply as men whom I dislike but as men to be pitied. I have come to see them as being governed by the god of this world, as being still where once I was, and would yet be but for the grace of God. So I am sorry for them. I do not merely see them and what they do. I see them as slaves of hell and of Satan, and my whole attitude toward them is changed. And because of that, of course, I can be and must be merciful with respect to them. I differentiate between the sinner and his sin. I see everybody who is in a state of sin as one who is to be pitied.” (D. Martyn Lloyd Jones) The ability to show mercy to others is an incredible gift that cannot be taken lightly. It was the power of mercy that enabled Stephen the martyr to proclaim, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them,” (Acts 7:60) as he was being stoned for proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ. It was the power of mercy in the parable of the Good Samaritan that drove the Samaritan, not a priest or Levite, to have pity on a man left for dead and care for his neighbor when no one else would (Luke 10:30-36). And it was the power of mercy that left our Creator God in such a state of pity and compassion to send His one and only Son to save a world of sinners in the midst of their ongoing law breaking by suffering execution for their sake. Let us not confuse grace with mercy though. While grace is especially associated with men in their sins, mercy focuses on men in their state of misery. Moreover, grace focuses upon sin as a whole while mercy targets the consequences of sin. And it is relatively easy to test how merciful you are based on the next time you suddenly find yourself in the position of having in your power someone who has transgressed against you. “Now the way to know whether you are merciful or not is to consider how you feel towards that person. Are you willing to say, ‘Well now, I am going to exert my rights at this point; I am going to be legal. This person has transgressed against me; very well, here comes my opportunity?’ That is the very antithesis of being merciful. This person is in your power; is there a vindictive spirit, or is there a spirit of pity and sorrow, a spirit, if you like, of kindness to your enemies in distress.” (Lloyd Jones) The litmus test of mercy is simple, and in truth, it reveals whether a man has developed the ability to apply the first four Beatitudes in his life. Mercy is not something that can be faked because it flows from an outpouring of mercy shown unto you via your repentance unto God. Hence, we are subject to showing mercy to our fellow man because our own necessity for mercy unto God demands it, and thus we gladly welcome the opportunity to give mercy unto others as we undeservingly have been granted the same from our Father in Heaven.

Devotion #4 – Matthew 5:6

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” The pursuit of happiness is a concept that virtually every man can relate to. The choices we make and actions we take all seem to revolve around a purpose that life is meant to drive a man to seek happiness as his ultimate goal. Yet we find in our culture for example that personal debt is rampant, roughly half of all marriages (Christian and non-Christian) end in divorce, and post-modernistic thinking is monopolizing our culture and the church. Where have we lost our compass? Perhaps Matthew 5:6 gives us a glimpse into our dilemma. D. Martyn Lloyd Jones states, “The world is seeking for happiness. That is the meaning of its pleasure mania, that is the meaning of everything men and women do, not only in their work but still more in their pleasures. They are trying to find happiness, they are making it their goal, their one objective. But they do not find it because, whenever you put happiness before righteousness, you will be doomed to misery.” It is vital that we understand this distinction because while there is nothing inherently wrong with happiness, it must be a by-product that comes from a pursuit of righteousness first and foremost. Righteousness itself is simply a desire to be one with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, through a pursuit and application of God’s absolute truth, for “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Therefore if we desire to know God, we must begin by immersing our hearts and minds in truth, allowing change to break forth from the inside out. Within that crucible of truth, sin is magnified and we begin to understand how our thoughts and actions directly affect our relationship with God. Conversely, we also witness the power of grace and mercy found in the ultimate sacrifice of Christ that propels a Christian to pursue righteousness out of obedience in thanksgiving for the saving power of Christ in his life. Yet do we truly understand what it means to hunger and thirst for righteousness? A simple question to ask ourselves is, “What affect would it have on me to fast for a day without food or drink?” Consider a few days and then perhaps a week. Would you be able to perform your daily duties as a husband, father, employee or friend like you do currently? Could you even fathom going a day without anything to eat or drink? So what makes any of us think that we can live righteously without proper nutrition from the Word of God on a daily basis? It simply does not make any sense, yet we predominately live in this state oblivious to the fact that we are literally starving for intimacy with God which is our only source of life. Jesus admonishes, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35), therefore “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Peter 2:2-3). Charles Spurgeon summarizes it this way: “There is nothing in the world that is more real than hunger and thirst, and the truly blessed man has such a real passion, desire, and craving after righteousness that it can only be, likened to hunger and thirst. He must have his sins pardoned, he must be clothed in the righteousness of Christ, he must be sanctified; and he feels that it will break his heart if he cannot get rid of sin. He pines, he longs, he prays to be made holy; he cannot be, satisfied without this righteousness, and his hungering and thirsting for it is a very real thing.” Intimacy with God is consistent, purposeful and genuine, and you cannot attain happiness without seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness—only then will it be added unto you (Matthew 6:33). Therefore to reach a point of satisfaction in your life, which is promised to the man who hungers and thirsts for righteousness, you must cast aside happiness as your goal in life and pursue true, intimate communion with Jesus Christ. The world (and even the church) is full of unhappy people with a tainted perspective on God’s economy, to which you must respond accordingly by embracing a desire to be free from the power of sin and self-idolatry in all its manifestations and forms, from which only the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse. Our need is desperate, like a man wandering aimlessly in the desert without food or water, yet Jesus promises that if we pursue Him, He will meet our needs. And in the end, that is nothing but a longing and desire to be like the Lord Jesus Christ Himself which is our ultimate satisfaction this side of Heaven.

Devotion #3 – Matthew 5:5

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Installment three of Jesus’ famous Beatitudes shifts the attention from an inner focus on man’s complete depravity and a proper attitude of how a true follower of Christ mourns over sin in response, to a quality that frankly is one of the most misunderstood of all the Beatitudes—meekness. It is simply not a quality we commonly reference in culture, yet its fingerprint can be found among the Mount Rushmore of character attributes. For instance, we can wrap our minds around what it means to be humble, gentle, patient, forgiving and content, yet do we understand what meekness truly entails? Rest assured that meekness carries more weight than all of these, because when combined they give us a glimpse into the mystery of meekness. In a simplistic sense, meekness is a quiet strength, under control and without self-motivations. A man of meekness is mild-mannered, not easily irritated or provoked, and submissive to God’s divine will and purposes. He does not elevate himself over another, but yields by choice for he is content with his lot, whatever that may be. More importantly, he is not proud or intent on pursuing his own ambitions but humble and willing to accept the lowest position. He views himself honestly and without bias which expresses itself in his attitude and conduct with respect to others. In other words, meekness cannot be fabricated. It is measured by one’s thoughts and actions and sifted through a colander of self-idolatry. Yet in the purest sense, meekness cannot be compartmentalized from pride. Like oil and water, they do not mix. Therefore a man must concede that if he desires to attain the blessing Jesus promises to those who are meek, he must slay the dragon of pride within his heart. Scripture declares, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble,” therefore “humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you” (James 4:6,10). Be ever vigilant to heed the warning that “the Lord tears down the house of the proud” (Proverbs 15:25), but that “the reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life” (Proverbs 22:4). Allow the truth of God’s Word to wash over your heart and cleanse you from all self-righteousness. Only then will you be able to discern God’s will for your life as a man of meekness. What we fail to recognize is that there is infinite power in meekness. Jesus Christ was the epitome of meekness which should come as an encouragement to those who assume that meekness = weakness. Jesus was all-powerful, fully man and fully God but subservient to the will of the Father. He is our ultimate example of meekness. The apostle Paul summarizes the meekness of Christ this way: “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:1-11). Just as Jesus did not count equality with God as something you or I can grasp, neither still can meekness be completely understood. It is almost too big a concept to understand, let alone apply. But for those who claim the name of Jesus Christ as their only salvation, meekness is where the rubber meets the road. It is the outpouring of a changed heart within a depraved world. It is 100% counter-culture, just like the man who epitomized its definition, but in reality is our true test of Biblical application in our lives. You cannot fake meekness—its construct simply doesn’t allow it. But the more you die to your own selfish ambitions and embrace the role of a servant, immersed in an attitude of contentment in Christ and His provision, the more you will see the fruit of meekness break forth in your life. You don’t have to abandon your masculinity to be meek. Quite the opposite! Embrace God’s design for true masculinity and examine the behaviors of Christ, then begin applying your new-found meekness within your marriage and how you parent your children, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide your path in humility as you die to self.

Devotion #2 – Matthew 5:4

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” The second installment of Beatitudes Jesus proclaimed in His Sermon on the Mount focuses on the process of mourning, and this is an easy verse to take out of context when we are faced with the issue of death. Logically, when we read this verse, immediately our minds filter to the comfort God promises when we lose a loved one. As difficult as the circumstance may be, Christians tend to cling to this verse for healing when faced with the reality of living life apart from someone whose impact on their life is immense. Make no mistake, there is nothing wrong with leaning upon Christ in times of mourning for strength and comfort, but what Jesus is addressing in Matthew 5:4 is a passionate mourning over the issue of sin and how that impacts a man’s heart. Remember that the Beatitudes build upon one another, creating a staircase of character attributes that gauge the spiritual temperature of man. Each blessing is a building block that depends on that which precedes it. So in consequential form, it is safe to conclude that the process of mourning sin is integral to becoming poor in spirit. D. Martyn Lloyd Jones describes it this way: “As I confront God and His holiness, and contemplate the life I am meant to live, I see myself, my utter helplessness and hopelessness. I discover my quality of spirit and immediately that makes me mourn. I must mourn about the fact that I am like that. But obviously it does not stop there. A man who truly faces himself, and examines himself and his life, is a man who must of necessity mourn for his sins also, for the things he does…It is a good thing for every man to pause at the end of the day and meditate upon himself, to run quickly over his life, and ask, ‘What have I done, what have I said, what have I thought, how have I behaved with respect to others?’ Now if you do that any night of your life, you will find that you have done things which you should not have done, you will be conscious of having harbored thoughts and ideas and feelings which are quite unworthy. And as he realizes these things, any man who is at all Christian is smitten with a sense of grief and sorrow that he was ever capable of such things in action or in thought, and that makes him mourn. But he does not stop merely at the things he has done, he meditates upon and contemplates his actions and his state and condition of sinfulness, and as he thus examines himself he must go through that experience of Romans 7. He must become aware of these evil principles that are within him. He must ask himself, ‘What is it in me that makes me behave like that? Why should I be irritable? Why should I be bad tempered? Why am I not able to control myself? Why do I harbor that unkind, jealous, and envious thought? What is it in me? And he discovers this war in his members, and he hates it and mourns because of it.” Great sorrow leads to great joy, and without sorrow there is no joy. This is true in how we see ourselves in the light of the truth of God’s Word and it holds true in how we must mourn the sins of others. Look around you—there is no shortage of sinful thoughts and actions surrounding you every day. Yet do you take time to mourn sin or have you become desensitized from it? Are your morals and values convoluted within the melting pot of political correctness and inclusivity? Do you mourn over and pray for God’s deliverance of salvation when you encounter people who blatantly live in contradiction to Biblical truth? Sadly, it is common-place even in the church to cast judgment upon those living in sin, but do you sincerely pray for them? Do you share the Gospel of Christ’s healing by pointing out their faults or by evangelizing through the depravity of your own soul and life experiences? True evangelism comes from a humble heart that is poor in spirit through mourning of sin. If you desire to address the issue of sin in this world, begin with your own heart and mind and allow the transforming power of the Holy Spirit change you from the inside out. If we desire to be sanctified in the image of Christ, we must mourn over sin as He did. Scripture tells us He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief who wept over the city of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44) and shed tears of blood in the garden of Gethsemane as he willingly accepted his fate as sin-bearer of mankind (Luke 22:39-46). Therefore, this is the image of mourning we must adopt within our own lives as we live within a sinful world. Again, as Lloyds Jones describes, “The true Christian is never a man who has to put on an appearance of either sadness or joviality. No, no; he is a man who looks at life seriously; he contemplates it spiritually, and he sees in it sin and its effects. He is a serious, sober-minded man. His outlook is always serious, but because of these views which he has, and his understanding of truth, he also has ‘a joy unspeakable and full of glory.’” Therefore, let us not diminish the destructive nature of sin but mourn over it—both in the world we live in and within our own hearts and minds. Only then will we understand the joy God promises to those who are simultaneously willing to speak truth in love to others while taking their own medicine on a daily basis.

Devotion #1 – Matthew 5:1-3

“Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The Sermon on the Mount is perhaps the most famous teaching Jesus ever gave during His ministry. It comprises three full chapters of Matthew’s Gospel and contains some of the Bible’s most difficult truth for man to apply to his life. Yet prior to Jesus clarifying how God measures a man’s heart regarding areas such as anger, lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation, etc., He first begins His famous sermon with a series of blessings known as the Beatitudes. I believe Charles Spurgeon said it best when he wrote, "The Beatitudes mark deepening humiliation and growing exaltation." They build upon one another, creating a staircase of character attributes that gauge the spiritual temperature of man. Each blessing is a building block that depends on that which precedes it. Therefore as a man lives his life in a spirit of humility and reverence before a righteous and holy God, the exaltation with which he is graced grows in the eyes of our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ. Whatever our understanding and application of humility may be, the truth remains that in order to receive the litany of blessings Jesus describes in Matthew 5, one must "put to death therefore what is earthly in you" (Colossians 3:5). Upon further examination though it is incredibly profound that while these seven blessings build upon one another, thus elevating their level of spiritual maturity in Christ, they also in the likeness of our Lord & Savior descend in their level of humility, coming to a triumphant climax with an admonition on suffering persecution for the sake of Christ. In other words, the Beatitudes transcend understanding and more importantly require application, thus proving character attainment or lack thereof. Scripture simplifies it this way, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22). Deception comes in many forms, with self-deception being the most common and unfortunately the most destructive to man's relationship with Christ. It is imperative though from a top-line perspective that we understand what each blessing addresses and how they are intertwined in their building structure. For instance, to be "poor in spirit" a man must come to the place where he recognizes his sins and spiritual depravity, turns away from those selfish desires/actions, humbly repents seeking God's forgiveness, and in thankful obedience submits his life to Him who bore the penalty for the sins he committed, Jesus Christ. One who is poor in spirit recognizes that, "For our sake he (God) made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21), and praise God that He graciously allows all those who are poor in spirit to inhabit His heavenly abode! God always pursues a man’s heart, and in this case, his poverty of spirit which ultimately reflects a man’s attitude towards himself. The world today places incredible emphasis upon self-confidence and self reliance, and man is prey to falling into that trap if he is not humbling himself before an Almighty and just God in reverence. Therefore, as men we must guard against self-exaltation essentially and prostrate ourselves accordingly. No where in Scripture is a man called to “be humble.” Rather, he is called to “humble himself.” In doing so, he experiences a purging of self through brokenness that validates his identity as a son of the living God and assures his final destination for eternity. The Lord Almighty plainly states, “If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). Therefore, what is holding you back from reaping the promises God sets before you? What in your life do you need to purge that is robbing you of a poor spirit which is pleasing to God? Examine your life and assess where you are self-confident and self-reliant to the point of squeezing God out. If you need help discerning areas of change, seek counsel from a Godly brother in Christ, but do not walk away without identifying areas of change and more importantly applying those changes. “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble’” (1 Peter 5:5).

Matthew 5:1-12

"Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to 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 those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.'"

As I have grown in my spiritual walk, I have come to truly embrace and appreciate expository teaching. Allowing the Spirit to speak through a book or chapter of Scripture rather than a specific verse or verses allows for greater context and inevitably greater understanding to the true meaning of the Word. With that in mind, I am challenging myself over the coming months to discipline my heart and mind as I seek to delve as deep as I possibly can into a variety of issues Jesus taught on and clarified in comparison to the Old Testament found in Matthew, chapter 5.

The fifth chapter of the book of Matthew is rich with wisdom and casts an all-inclusive light on those who might feel exempt from various sin issues. Jesus leaves no stone unturned in this chapter, addressing not only actions but thoughts as well, and adding a layer of literal application that cuts as deeply to the heart of man as any within the entirety of Scripture. "For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few" (Matthew 7:14) is a promise from Christ's lips that the way of righteousness encompasses the entire being of man and cannot be compartmentalized as an action-oriented response. Therefore, we must prepare our minds to be enlightened to a new way of thinking as Jesus addresses the depth and breadth with which the Father measures our thoughts and actions.

Yet with all the attention Jesus pays to clarifying sin issues, he begins his famous Sermon on the Mount with a litany of blessings, more commonly referred to as the Beatitudes. Now there are infinite amounts of commentaries available that aim to give understanding on this bountiful feast Jesus has prepared for our consumption, and with relative ease I could spend the majority of this post dissecting each attribute Jesus pinpoints and exploring its deepest meaning and application. However, my principle desire is simply to understand why Jesus proclaimed these blessings and how they are interconnected to one another in the hopeful prayer that the Holy Spirit will unveil a deeper understanding to Christ's motivations and revelations.

I believe Charles Spurgeon said it best when he wrote, "The seven Beatitudes mark deepening humiliation and growing exaltation." They build upon one another, creating a staircase of character attributes that gauge the spiritual temperature of man. Each blessing is a building block that depends on that which precedes it. Therefore as one lives his life in a spirit of humility and reverence before a righteous and holy God, the exaltation with which he is graced with grows in the eyes of our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ. Whatever our understanding and application of humility may be, the truth remains that in order to receive the litany of blessings Jesus describes in Matthew 5, one must "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you" (Colossians 3:5).

Upon further examination though it is incredibly profound that while these seven blessings build upon one another, thus elevating their level of spiritual maturity in Christ, they also in the likeness of our Lord & Savior descend in their level of humility, coming to a triumphant climax with an admonition on suffering persecution for the sake of Christ. In other words, the Beatitudes transcend understanding and more importantly require application, thus proving character attainment or lack thereof. Scripture simplifies it this way, "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22). Deception comes in many forms, with self-deception being the most common and unfortunately the most destructive to one's relationship with Christ.

This paradox of seven blessings that both ascend and descend simultaneously can best be understood by Jesus who proclaimed to his disciples after likening the kingdom of heaven to a master of a vineyard looking for laborers throughout the day, "So the last will be first, and the first last" (Matthew 20:16). Elevation in the kingdom of heaven comes in our ability to die to self and live righteously in obedience to Him who bore our sins on the cross of Calvary. We do not have the right to declare what is fair and what is not. Even Joseph proclaimed this wisdom when he said to his brothers who assumed he would take revenge upon them for their mistreatment of him in former years, "Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?" (Genesis 50:19). The path of obedience requires humble submission and we must recognize who we are as fallible man in respect to the almighty, infallible Godhead.

It is imperative though from a topline perspective that we understand what each blessing addresses and how they are intertwined in their building structure. For instance, to be "poor in spirit" one must come to the place where he recognizes his sins and spiritual depravity, turns away from those selfish desires/actions, humbly repents seeking God's forgiveness, and in thankful obedience submits his life to Him who bore the penalty for the sins he committed, Jesus Christ. One who is poor in spirit recognizes that, "For our sake he (God) made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him (Jesus) we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21), and praise God that He graciously allows all those who are poor in spirit to inhabit His heavenly abode! Notice though that the next blessing is addressed to those that mourn, for they shall be comforted. The process of mourning in a spiritual sense is integral to becoming poor in spirit. For "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). What possibly could cause someone to confess their sins? The answer lies in the process of mourning. Yet further still, "Blessed are the meek is a benediction which no man reaches till he has felt his spiritual poverty, and mourned over it" (Spurgeon). A man of meekness can submit to authority and maintain quiet strength which comes from mourning over his spiritual depravity. "But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious" (1 Peter 3:4).

This simple progression of blessings continues through the next four. To hunger and thirst for righteousness requires recognition of sin, humble repentance, and submission to authority, creating an immense desire to live for Christ rather than in opposition to Him through love of self. Moreover, mercy comes from an understanding of knowledge and wisdom dependant upon a pursuit of truth found in God's Word. Jesus' parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21-35) addresses the issue of showing mercy and forgiveness clearly.

To be pure in heart is a level of character attainment that requires a close personal relationship with Jesus Christ, manifested in an attitude of death unto selfish desires and motives. For me personally, this is the point within the Beatitudes that I throw my hands up in surrender. Rarely have I encountered an individual who emulates what it means to be pure in heart. True, it presupposes that he is poor in spirit, mourns his sin, lives in meekness, pursues righteousness with passion, and shows mercy even to those who do not deserve it, haven't asked for it, and have hurt him thus requiring it. But to be pure in spirit the heart must be harmoniously in-tune with God and His Word. Scripture admonishes, "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water," (Hebrews 10:22) because purity of heart lives in direct opposition to love of self, and they simply cannot co-exist.

I believe what magnifies the conviction found in those who are pure in heart can be found in the Psalms. Scripture declares: "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation" (Psalm 24:3-5). Simple stated, a man or woman who is pure in heart stands for truth and more importantly, lives out the truth of Holy Scripture. In my life, that individual is my wife, for her intentions are almost always filtered through Scripture. She does not act outside of what the Word says for it is her daily compass steering her in the way of righteousness. People often marvel at the pureness of her heart because it mirrors what Jesus states in the Gospels: "Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it" (Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17). But I can assure you after spending almost one-third of my life with her that the pureness of her heart is a reflection of her relationship with God's Word, the Bible. It is not manufactured but something that comes from a right understanding of a truth found in Scripture that she belongs to God as His daughter. "But now thus says the Lord, he who created you O Jacob, he who formed you O Israel, 'Fear not for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine'" (Isaiah 43:1).

Yet being an heir to the throne of grace is an honor and privilege reserved for those who not only have purity of heart, hunger and thirst for righteousness, show mercy unto others, live in meekness, mourn with broken hearts, and are poor in spirit, but who make peace in spite of themselves. Jesus exhorts us that those who are peacemakers, who deliberately overcome evil with good are called sons of God. My last post on the issue of value echoes this point exactly. Our identity in Christ is contingent upon our application of faith, which is given to us through Holy Scripture and is manifested by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within us when we choose to accept Christ by grace through faith. Therefore, as we are transformed from the inside out, the condition of our hearts compels us to the point of enduring hardships by not reacting nor retaliating but responding in love and wise discernment. Or as the apostle Paul would say, "To the contrary, 'if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head'" (Romans 12:20).

This leads us to Jesus' final blessing, reserved for those who are willing to sacrifice themselves and endure persecution for the the sake of truth. For Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). "For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice" (John 18:37). Therefore, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:29).

The point we must realize is that the life we give to Christ and endure persecution for in His name does not belong to us. Scripture reminds us, "For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body" (1 Corinthians 6:20). Jesus summarized it this way: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom” (Matthew 16:24-28).

So what does all this mean? What is the key takeaway that Jesus is teaching throughout the Beatitudes? I have wrestled immensely with these questions and have come to the conclusion that in these blessings Jesus offers us intimate communion with Himself, the Holy Spirit, and God the Father by yoking us together with the Trinity in the character attributes that produce eternal, Biblical fellowship. For when we admit our spiritual bankruptcy (blessed are the poor in spirit) and consequently repent (blessed are those who mourn), we begin to develop humble strength under control (blessed are the meek) and seek truth (blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness) manifested in an attitude of thankfulness for the mercy God has shown us (blessed are the merciful). And as we grow, we develop a heart of truth (blessed are the pure in heart) that compels us to not just live in peace but to bring about peace (blessed are the peacemakers), and if need be endure persecution for our identity in Christ (blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake).

It is difficult for me to take these truths and even fathom trying to measure how I have lived my life over 33 years in the context of Jesus' Beatitudes. For I know while I have had glimpses of these blessings throughout my life, more often than not I have chosen to glorify my name over Christ's. Yet despite my selfishness and the sinful decisions I have made, God in His infinite grace and mercy has pursued me, a fallen man unworthy to even have the honor of being called a follower of Christ. My spiritual resume is down-right pathetic when sifted through the colander of Scripture, but I know that I belong to Him because I have felt His presence, heard His voice, and answered His call on my life. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27), and I thank God that in the midst of my self-idolatrous love I heard His voice, beckoning me to simply return to Him that I might receive not what I deserve (which undoubtedly is death for breaking my covenant with Him through sin), but grace, mercy and residence as an heir to His throne in heaven.

The key to receiving the blessings Jesus describes in Matthew 5:1-12 is simply humility. And the more we begin to humble ourselves, the closer we will come to developing the character qualities esteemed in the Beatitudes that solidify intimate fellowship with God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. "Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:5-7).

Luke 17:7-10

"Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’"

Expectations. Entitlement. These are words that should invoke great fear and trembling within the heart of a Christian. The concepts are pervasive throughout our culture yet in the church we are universally susceptible to failure in these areas. The simple truth though is that while God does NOT need us, we DO need him and are thus indebted to Christ for the honor and privilege of serving Him. Christ's teaching here is profound. While it appears cold and callous on the outside, it drives home a deeper message that centers around our elevation of self over God. In its most simplistic form, Christ is teaching the first of the ten commandments God gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai (Exodus 20) and admonishing "self" idolatry.

I find myself incredibly fatigued by the enormity of how vulnerable I have made myself in accordance with this teaching. It seems I have fallen prey to a universal epidemic that has spread across practically every area of my life. My flesh feeds upon recognition and acknowledgement while my soul fights to humble itself by not seeking praise. Compounded by what Dr. Gary Chapman would classify as a "words of affirmation" love language, I am prone to seek verbal confirmation for the things I do and say regardless of their merit. Words seem to validate who I am, but I am determined to destroy this fleshly sin in my life before it wreaks greater havoc.

Yet while I am thankful God has revealed my superficial desires for acknowledgement, affirmation and recognition concerning my labor and efforts throughout my life, I am convinced that Jesus is not merely addressing a surface level understanding in Luke 17:7-10. Rather, Jesus is exposing how misunderstood our relationship with the Father has become because of our prideful arrogance and independence. Christ has declared, "But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first" (Revelation 2:4), and I believe that love we initially had when we surrendered our lives to Christ has shifted to a love of self that demands tangible value rather than finding spiritual value in serving our gracious and merciful Creator.

It has taken me over 5 months to compose a new post which is by far the longest period of silence I have had since beginning this blog in September, 2009. Various Scripture passages have come to mind over that time and I have wrestled repeatedly with whether the Holy Spirit was prompting me to study deeper. But I have been drawn to this passage in particular by the Holy Spirit and I am beginning to see why. Simply put, I have come to terms as I have wrestled with this passage that the reason this truth is hard to swallow is because it inevitably speaks to man's desire for meaning, value and purpose to his/her life. Look no further than the total sales of Rick Warren's book, "The Purpose Driven Life," as evidence of man's insatiable desire to answer this question. We crave an identity that has value, and to our destruction we predominately seek value in almost everything under the sun rather than Jesus Christ.

Christ himself said plainly, "For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?" (Luke 9:25). In other words, if a man seeks fulfillment in any other fashion than in the sanctifying grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, he has forfeited the very essence of who he is. The apostle Paul put it this way, "You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men" (1 Corinthians 7:23). Therefore, put aside all stumbling blocks that seek to ensnare your mind, body, heart and soul. Embrace your new identity in Christ and cast off your desire for man's approval, morals and standards. "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8). The quicker we begin to recognize the state that we have placed ourselves in and the enemy's schemes set to ensnare and destroy us, the more apt we are to take advantage of the way of escape God provides through every trial and temptation. For as Paul reminds us, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it" (1 Corinthians 10:13).

In order to seek victory though, we must come to terms with this question: In whom or what do I find my value/meaning/purpose? Now before addressing that question, it is worth mentioning that the mere audacity of asking a question such as this is self-serving and self-elevating. For who can stand before an almighty God and declare that his life is his own? "But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused?" (Psalm 76:7). What value we have is not our own. It has been graciously given to us by our Father in Heaven who loves us with patience that surpasses all understanding. And if we have been bought with a price for the redemption of our sins, what right do we have to even think we have any value at all apart from Christ? Our only value is that which God the Father graciously gives us in and through Christ. Unfortunately though, we do seek to find our value in the things of this world and that is the underlying theme Jesus is addressing in Luke 17:7-10. Praise God that He has given us His Word, the Bible, as our only compass to direct us in the way of righteousness and warn us of potential dangers known as sin.

Make no mistake, the Bible without question is the most difficult book to morally and ethically accept that has ever been written. It declares itself as such without hesitation: "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). Moreover, "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness," (2 Timothy 3:16) therefore we cannot devalue it based upon its authorship. It is not man's words, but the Spirit's teaching. Honestly speaking though, we pick and choose what we like to hear from the Bible. Like a spiritual buffet, we tend to consume the things that taste good to us and decline reading passages that call out or cast a shining light of conviction on the sins we knowingly participate in. We would rather place a hierarchical division upon our sins, devaluing those that cast a magnifying glass upon the sick condition of our hearts. We emphatically choose not to relinquish our sinful behavior because we find our safety and security in their superficial byproduct of self-worth. Abandoning and surrendering them to the cross of Christ presents a tremendous weight of anxiety upon our hearts because we literally think we cannot survive without them. They are our self-imposed haven of refuge, but God is graciously calling us to abandon self-help and place our hope in Him and Him alone. We must call a spade a spade and not justify what the Bible clearly states as sinful behavior, lest we drive ourselves deeper into a post-modernistic pit of man-made religion.

• "And he said, 'What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.'" (Mark 7:20-23)


• "Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy." (Romans 13:13)


• "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)


• "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." (Revelation 21:8)

These are simply a few examples of the myriad of Scripture passages that warn of sinful behavior (i.e. unrighteousness). Therefore in response, let us now resist the urge to sugar-coat or justify these sins as anything but what God's Word declares. Let us abandon our desire to mock Scripture by blame-shifting our sins on others or justifying them in any way. Through Adam we were born into sin and consequently we choose to sin and therefore must be willing to bear the responsibility of our actions that come as a result. But we must direct our attention to the fact that if we hold firm to the sins that ensnare and ultimately destroy us, we pledge allegiance to a false sense of value and self-worth and thus will never understand the mystery of Christ's teaching in Luke 17:7-10.

Eternal value comes only through Jesus who once declared, "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matthew 6:26). We need not fear as we grind our way through life this side of heaven that we have been forgotten. We have eternal value to the Father, but it is conditionally based on whether we trust in ourselves and thus live our lives in self-idolatry or choose to surrender all and live in thanksgiving and obedience to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The entire Gospel message boils down to this decision and it is one that need not be taken lightly. We can find peace in knowing we have value in our lives, but it must be taken in context and perspective through Holy Scripture with the understanding that we are unworthy servants willingly doing what we have been commanded by Christ.

The key to breaking strongholds that give false testimony of self-worth in our lives is to admit we have no power or control over sin and death and relinquish our sinful, fleshly desires that declare we are owed something. For if we truly received recognition for the choices we have made in our lives, we would not be able to celebrate our achievements because we would have already received the just punishment for our sins that preceded our self-declared, glorious achievements. Make no mistake, "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 6:16). Therefore we can approach the throne of grace with confidence because we know through grace by faith "that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ...because by works of the law no one will be justified" (Galatians 2:16).

My prayer is that as I daily surrender my prideful arrogance, selfishness, and negative attitudes of expectation and entitlement, the Word of God would wash over my selfish heart and remind me that He is sufficient for all my needs, including my desire of value, purpose and meaning in His eyes. Yet in Christ, He has already promised that to me: "Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows" (Luke 12:7). Universally, all who claim the cross of Christ for salvation can rest peacefully in that assurance, "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God" (2 Corinthians 3:5). We simply must humble ourselves in repentance and obedience, and hold firm to the words of Paul as our reverent prayer unto God: "But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God" (Acts 20:24). Only then will we find victory over sin and death and live with an assurance of value, meaning and purpose that gives eternal peace and transcends all logical understanding.