Transcript

ANNOUNCER: In the Beatitudes of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, is the word blessed, equivalent to believer? Are these Beatitudes a checklist to see who is the true believer? Thank you for joining us on Grace in Focus, a broadcast and podcast ministry of the Grace Evangelical Society. We are currently in a series about tough texts in relation to eternal salvation. We have a website, faithalone.org. We invite you to go there for lots of information about us, our national and regional conferences, articles, our bookstore, and we have a magazine also called Grace in Focus. It’s published bi-monthly and it is free. You only have to pay the postage if you live outside of the 48 contiguous United States. We invite you to come on our website and get subscribed for that. It is free. We want you to have it. Faithalone.org. 

And now with our discussion of today, here is Bob Wilkin, along with Ken Yates. 

BOB: Okay Ken, I believe our first passage out of the box has to do with the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes in Matthew 5 verses 3 through around 12, right? 

KEN: Exactly. Jesus gives us a series of “Blessed are” these kind of people because—

BOB:And that’s why they’re called the Beatitudes because the blessed people are people who have a certain kind of attitude or a certain kind of behavior. They’re going to be highly blessed, right? 

KEN: Right. And the issue here and the reason why these are tough texts or is a tough text is because a lot of people think that He is describing all believers. 

BOB: Right. So therefore you say, if I’m not one who is poor in spirit, for example, then I’m not born again. 

KEN: Yeah. For example, the first one, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  And so people look at that and say, okay, all believers belong to the kingdom of heaven. 

BOB: And they say all poor in spirit. 

KEN: Well, yeah. 

BOB: Is the believer mentioned in the Beatitudes? 

KEN: No, but what I’m saying is that’s what they’re saying. They’re saying that all some—

BOB: But most would say believing means being poor in spirit. And so now believing is lost and the issue isn’t believing at all. 

KEN: Or would they say that all believers are poor in spirit? 

BOB: They might, but they ultimately get to the point where if in order to get into the kingdom of heaven, I have to be poor in spirit. And if I know from John 3:16 that the way to have everlasting life is never perish, and never perish is to believe, then they say believing means being all the things in the Beatitudes—

KEN: I see what you’re saying.

BOB: And then believing. Have you ever heard people say believing is not being persuaded that something is true? That’s just intellectual assent.Haven’t you heard that? Right. They say believing is not just believing facts. But you’ve got to have some sort of encounter with the risen Lord. You need to yield to him. You need to commit to him. Well, I think that’s where they go with all this. 

KEN: So they would say that believing then would be willing to be humble before the Lord and and make him Lord of your life or— 

BOB: Something like that. But they clearly say, don’t they? That believing doesn’t mean what we normally think of. They think that’s where people get easy believism. That’s where they get cheap grace.  And they say, see, you got to pay the price. It’s not easy. It’s hard to commit your life. It’s hard to be poor in spirit. It’s hard to suffer persecution, right? This list goes on to say, if we suffer for Jesus, then we’re going to have these blessings in the life to come. And so if you interpret that as who’s born again and who’s not or who will be, because I think in most of these people’s views they recognize, this has to be ongoing, right? 

KEN: Yeah. I mean, when you look at the Beatitudes, it’s, I’ll summarize it. They’re all works, you know, got to suffer. 

BOB: Even the attitudes are related to works, like being poor in spirit is attitude related to our circumstances. 

KEN: Sure. Yeah. However, we’re going to define poor and spirit, whether it’s humble or whatever the case might be. I mean, anybody just read Matthew 5:3-12, and see, is He talking about grace? Is He talking about faith? Or is He talking about works? 

BOB: Okay. So let’s do that. They hit the various points. So the first one was poor and spirit kingdom of heaven, right? 

KEN: Right. And then the second one is those who mourn. I think that we would have to say, okay, that, that implies going through some kind of difficulty. 

BOB: And what did the mourners get? 

KEN: The mourners get to be comforted. 

BOB: Okay, they’re comforted. Right. All right. And what’s the third one? 

KEN: The meek. And so we have to maybe ask, what’s the difference between one who is meek and one who is poor in spirit? Those are very close because the poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is theirs and the meek inherit the earth. 

BOB: Yeah. And you have to ask is that in this life or in the life to come, and most everybody would say it’s in the life to come. 

KEN: Yes, I think so. 

BOB: Because you generally don’t find the meek people who are currently ruling. 

KEN: Right. And so then in verse six, it’s those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Okay. I mean, that’s a work. I mean, that takes effort. I’m hungering and I’m thirsting. I’m wanting this. 

BOB: Well, and there are also actions follow that. Right. You can’t hunger and thirst for righteousness without living righteously. 

KEN: Exactly. And then the next one is the merciful. It’s not easy to be merciful. 

BOB: And for they shall obtain mercy and people see this at the  Great White Throne. Where it’s actually at the Judgment Seat of Christ. 

KEN: You know, by the way, this morning when I was walking, I was listening to a sermon. Yeah. And the guy was saying that we’re going to appear at the Great White Throne. Well, he was talking to his congregation. And we’re going to appear at the Great White Throne and where we will obtain mercy. You know, okay. And for those who don’t know, believers will not be at the Great White Throne. We’ll be at the Judgment Seat of Christ. 

BOB: John 5:24, “shall not come into judgment.” Now, we’ll be judged, but that is judged for reward. We’re not going to be judged for eternal life. 

KEN: But in this case, the sermon I was listening to, you can see how he has taken a clear verse like, John 5:24, and interpreted this verse in light of it. You know, and saying, Oh, well, if I’m going to get into heaven at the Great White Throne and find mercy, then I need to be merciful to other people. Obviously a work. You know, I got to forgive other people. Whatever the case may be. 

ANNOUNCER: We will rejoin in just a moment. But years ago, Zane Hodges wrote The gospel Under Siege. Sadly, this is still true. And GES President Bob Wilkin has recently written its sequel. Bob’s new book, The Gospel is Still Under Siege, is a book about theological clarity on the biblical teaching about eternal salvation. It is available now. Secure yours today at the Grace Evangelical Society’s Bookstore. Find it at faithalone.org/store. That’s faithalone.org/store. Now back to today’s content. 

KEN: And then verse eight, pure in heart, that doesn’t come automatically, right? That’s not a gift. I got to be pure in heart. What my motive—

BOB: Obviously it takes growth to become pure in heart. 

KEN: Right. And then the next one is a peacemaker. 

BOB: “For they should be called sons of God.” 

KEN: Right. And then number 10 persecuted. Blessed are you if you’re persecuted. 

BOB: If you are persecuted. 

KEN: Yeah, you know, that’s not free. 

BOB: So now you’ve got to endure suffering. And by the way, Romans 8:17-18 and following talks about that. And we’re “joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him that we may be glorified together with Him.” And then Paul says, “For we do not consider that the sufferings of the present age are worthy to be compared to—” what?

KEN: “The glory that’s to be revealed in us.” 

BOB: And the us is who? 

KEN: Yeah, believers. 

BOB: Which believers? 

KEN: Suffering believers. 

BOB: Right. Not all believers. 

KEN: Exactly. 

BOB: Because it’s the co-heir believers. I remember I was talking about this at a Bible study one time. I was talking about heirship with Christ. And Sharon says, why are you talking about dirigibles? She thought I was talking about the Hindenburg or something. I remember where 1932 or so. Where it caught on fire. Yeah. 

KEN: Well, anybody who reads Matthew 5:3 through 12. How can you read Matthew 5:3-12, and then walk away. If you say this is talking about people who are going to be in the kingdom. Or people who are going to quote-unquote go to heaven. How can you then say, well, it’s free. It’s by grace. 

BOB: Have you ever heard somebody say that, Ken? Oh, sure. It’s a free gift. And so if you commit your life and yield to him. Now you are born again. If indeed it’s genuine commitment and you will know it’s genuine, if you persevere to the end of your life and faith in good works. 

KEN: Well, I’ve had people say, I’ve heard people say this and I know this sounds funny, but it’s true. They’ll say salvation is absolutely free, but it’ll cost you everything. 

BOB: Oh, lots of people say that. 

KEN: I know they do. And what Saturday Night Live skit am I listening to it? Yeah. I mean, that’s exactly—

BOB: How can it cost you everything? But see what they do is they go to Luke 14, where it talks about counting the cost. And they say, we need to count the cost of discipleship, which Jesus did clearly teach. And then they say—and the cost of discipleship is the cost of everlasting life. Oops, that’s where they made a big mistake. Because they don’t distinguish between discipleship and justification or discipleship and regeneration. And so they’ve made this mistake. 

Obviously, it’s possible for a person to be born again and not in active fellowship with the Lord, not an active disciple of Christ. I say, obviously, it’s obvious to us, but it’s not obvious to a lot of theologians. 

KEN: Again, you can look at these Beatitudes that we’re looking at. And I mean, how blind you have to be, not to be able to look and say, I’m a believer, but this may not be true of me. 

BOB: No, that’s right. Look at 11 and 12, “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and say, all kinds of evil against you falsely for My Name’s sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Well, the reward in heaven is picked up again in chapter 6 where he says, don’t pray or fast or give so as to be seen by men because if you do, that’s your full reward. 

KEN: You’ve already got your reward. 

BOB: But pray, give and fast, in secret, and then you’ve laid up treasure in heaven where moth and rust can’t destroy and thieves and the IRS can’t break the [unintelligible]. 

KEN: Is that what it says? 

BOB: No, the IRS is not in the text. I said that one time in Omaha when I was speaking at a church and after the service, a guy walked up and handed me his card. 

KEN: He was an IRS agent?

BOB: He was an IRS agent. I said, look, it was just a joke.

KEN: Did you say, my name is Ken Yates. 

BOB: I gave him your card.

KEN: My social security number? Yeah, I could help but a check me out. 

BOB: So it basically ends with talking about the rewards of the prophets. Well, as you know, the Old Testament prophets were rejected by Israel. They were killed by the Israelites. 

KEN: Now, and that’s a good point because the prophets were persecuted, but what about the people they went to, the people who persecuted them. Were some of them believers? Absolutely they were. They were believers in the group who didn’t listen to the prophets, and therefore were not persecuted along with the prophets. You know, out of fear or whatever reason, just lack of good teaching or whatever. The point is, these Beatitudes. We can fail in these areas as believers and still be in the kingdom. 

BOB: Right. But the other way to look at it, which is obviously the way the Lord wants us to look at it, and the way we want all of us to look at it, is if we follow the Lord until the Rapture or until our death, if we are these kinds of people because we’ve been sitting under solid Bible teaching, and God has renewed our minds—

KEN: Through the Spirit.

BOB: Through the Spirit, then we’re going to be highly rewarded. And so, when I read this passage, it highly motivates me to follow Him, not so I can get into the kingdom, but so I can hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” 

KEN: What a difference too. When you twist the Scriptures and you forget what the clear passages teach, you run into all kinds of problems. 

BOB: Now you’re exactly right. Well, thanks, Ken. Thank you all, and remember, let’s keep grace in focus. 

ANNOUNCER: Be sure to check out our daily blogs at faithalone.org. They are short and full of great teaching, just like what you’ve heard today. Find them at faithalone.org/resources/blog. We would like to thank all of our financial partners who help us keep this show going. All gifts are tax-deductible and very much appreciated. If you’d like to find out how you can be a financial partner, visit us at faithalone.org. 

On our next episode: You will know them by their fruits. Who is this talking about? Come back and join us. And in the meantime, let’s keep grace in focus.