Matthew 5:6 – Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

• Matthew 5:19
• Matthew 6:31
• I Timothy 6:11
• II Timothy 2:22
• I need to get to the point where I intensely desire to please God.

Matthew 5:7 – Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

• Ephesians 2:3-7
• James 2:13 – God is watching how we treat others!
• Matthew 9:10-13
• I need to get to the point where I naturally and automatically look on other people with compassion.

Matthew 5:8 – Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

• Psalms 24:1-5
• Matthew 23:27-28 – God has seen plenty of hypocritical people. He needs those who are pure in heart.
• James 4:8
• I need to get to the point where I am sincerely and completely devoted to God.

Matthew 5:9 – Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

• Matthew 10:34
• Romans 5:1
• Ephesians 2:11-18 – All can have peace with God and each other.
• I need to get to the point where I look for opportunities to say things and influence people to think about their relationship with God.

Matthew 5:10-12 – Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness. …

• Hebrews 11:35-38
• I need to get to the point where I can face these sorts of threats and rejoice.

• Ecclesiastes 5:10-7:29
• Ecclesiastes 5:10 – No amount of money will give us true satisfaction.
• Ecclesiastes 5:16 – We only die “naked” in the sense of earthly wealth. We should still be striving to build up spiritual wealth.
• Ecclesiastes 5:18-20 – We should enjoy the satisfaction that God gives us in our earthly labors.
• Ecclesiastes 6:1-12 – Solomon laments that man cannot enjoy his wealth on earth.
  • Ecclesiastes 6:6 – All people die, so in that sense they go to the same place, but people go to different eternal places.
• Ecclesiastes 7:1 – If you have a good reputation, the day of your death is better than the day of your birth because of the life you’ve lived.
• Ecclesiastes 7:2 – Mourning over a death is good because it keeps us grounded.
• Ecclesiastes 7:13 – Some things can’t be changed because that’s the way God made them.
• Ecclesiastes 7:25-28 – See I Kings 11:3. This point of view could be from Solomon’s bad experience with women.
• Ecclesiastes 7:29 – It’s not God’s fault that man went into sin!

Things to remember

• These are spiritual (not physical) character traits.

  • Matthew 4:17, 23

  • Matthew 6:19-20

• “Blessed” = having God’s favor / happy

• These are timeless instructions.

Matthew 5:3 – Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

• Psalms 51:2-3, 8, 17 – David showed he was poor in spirit. The poor in spirit are those who realize they are in spiritual debt and are hopeless without God.
• John 9:39-41 – These people needed to become poor in spirit.
• Revelation 3:17

Matthew 5:4 – Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

• I Corinthians 5:1-2 – The Corinthians should have mourned over their sin.
• II Corinthians 12:21
• James 4:8-10
• Jeremiah 6:15
• Romans 12:9
• I need to get to the point where I am truly sad and sorry about my sin.

Matthew 5:5 – Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

• Matthew 11:29, 20-24 – Jesus was strong, but meek.

• Matthew 21:12

• Matthew 23:37

• Meekness is strength under control.

• “Inherit the earth?”

  • Joshua 23:14 – It’s not referring to the land promise given to Abraham. That had already been fulfilled.

  • It’s not talking about a future thousand-year reign of Jesus on earth.

  • II Peter 3:7-14

  • This must be referring to a spiritual place – a heavenly inheritance.

  • I Peter 1:4

  • I need to get to the point where I have my strength under control.

Last week: forgiveness

Government

Authority comes from God

• All authority comes from God – Ephesians 1:18-23

  • Authority is under Him – Colossians 2:8-10

  • Defying authority is to defy God – II Peter 2:9-10

• He has ordained governments – Romans 13:1-7

  • They have a purpose – Romans 13:4

  • They may sustain themselves – Romans 13:6

  • He expects that we submit to their rule – Romans 13:1

God reigns supreme

• God and government don’t always agree

  • Government sometimes usurps or conflicts

  • Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3)

  • Daniel (Daniel 6)

  • Peter and other apostles (Acts 4)

For God’s purpose

• The Exodus – Exodus 10:1-2
• Cyrus – Isaiah 44:28-45:3; 46:8-11

Government service

• Joseph

  • Pharaoh’s bodyguard – Genesis 39:1-4

  • For head jailer – Genesis 39:20-23

  • Pharaoh’s number two – Genesis 41:41-44

• Daniel

  • Nebuchadnezzar – Daniel 2:48-49

  • Belshazzar – Daniel 5:29

  • Darius – Daniel 6:1-2

  • Cyrus – Daniel 6:28

• Saul and David

Claims vs truth

• Acts 8:6-13 – Simon was practicing magic and claiming to be someone great.
• Simon immediately saw there was a difference between what he was doing and what Philip was doing. It was real power and was not done to promote Philip himself.
• It’s easy to claim anything, but people need truth.

It’s hard to kick old habits

• Acts 8:14-24
• Mark 16:16
• Simon was saved through baptism, then sinned and needed to repent. This disproves the “once saved, always saved” doctrine. See Galatians 5:4; James 5:19-20.
• Simon had built a reputation as a magician and was likely used to the attention.
• Acts 8:21 – Simon’s problem was his heart.
• I John 2:16

The gospel is for all

• Acts 8:5, 12-13, 22 – Philip went to teach the Samaritans, a group hated by the Jews.
• Galatians 3:28
• You can find hope in the gospel.
• Anyone can find hope in the gospel.
  • Everybody has a soul!