A real Christian is one that has been born again by the Spirit of God into the family of God. It is one that has experienced a marked change in his everyday life, as we read in 2 Cor 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new." A born-again Christian will love God with all his heart, mind, soul and strength and his neighbor as himself. He can and will know that he is a Christian because of the great change that has taken place in his life and by the love that he has for everyone. "We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. 1 Jn 3:14-16.

The devil will keep trying to make us believe, for one cause or another, that we are not saved; but by examining our life and the great change in our desires that has taken place, we can know for a certainty that we are a child of God. A real Christian will love the precious Word of God and will read and study it because he has an inward desire to know more about God and to keep His every commandment. Jesus, while here on earth, said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

How very sad it is that so many people are looking to church membership, instead of the born-again experience to make them a Christian. The great majority of our modern church members have not experienced the great change in their everyday life that comes about by being a new creature in Christ Jesus. They can still travel with the worldly throng, smoke their cigarettes, go to the theaters, have television in their homes and do practically everything that the non professing sinner does. Please remember that Jesus said that the way of the Christian is strait and narrow and only a few would find it. The majority of our people are church members and that is not few. Therefore, they are not all on the strait and narrow way but are only professors.

Multitude Hear The Gospel

Matt 5:1---And seeing the multitude---Jesus had just recently started His ministry, healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people until His fame had spread far and wide. The previous chapter tells us that the multitudes were from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judaea and from Jordan.

The Beatitudes

Matt 5:3---Blessed are the poor in spirit---The poor in spirit are those who are not determined to have their own way and are willing to let God come into their hearts and have His own way in their lives. Thus they will be the sons of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ to the great and glorious kingdom of God.

Verse 4---Blessed are they that mourn---These are the ones who are filled with godly sorrow for their past sinful life and are seeking God for forgiveness. Godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation not to be repented of, and what a comfort to the sin-sick heart is the blessing of salvation when the heavy burden of sin is rolled away.

Verse 5---Blessed are the meek---It is only the meek that are willing and humble enough to take the lowly way of our Savior. The proud and the haughty are an abomination in the sight of God and must have a change of heart before you can find favor with God. Shall inherit the earth---If you had the earth you would have all things in a material sense and just so will the meek and lowly follower of Christ inherit all things in a spiritual sense. He can feed at Father's table until his soul is fat and flourishing.

Verse 6---Which do hunger and thirst for righteousness---In the Christian race we cannot stand still but must make progress or lose our experience of salvation. The more desire we have to know the things of God, the more progress we are going to in the Christian way. Each and everyone of us needs earnestly to seek God for a real hungering and thirsting after righteousness for God promises to fill the hungry soul. When we realize that there is but one thing of real importance in this world and that is to prepare ourselves for heaven, then we can understand what a blessing it is to have a hungering and thirsting after the things of God.

Verse 7---Blesses are the merciful---The real true Christian will have a heart of love and compassion for those in distress and will be constrained to be merciful to them in rendering aid if it is at all possible to do so. James 2:13 says, "For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath showed no mercy." Therefore if we have shown mercy to our fellow men we in turn will receive mercy at the hands of God.

Verse 8---Blessed are the pure in heart---The pure in heart are those whose hearts have been made white as snow by the precious blood of the Lamb. I do want to impress upon the mind and heart of every reader of these remarks that mere church membership will not produce a pure heart in the sight of God, and without purity at heart you cannot enter heaven. They shall see God---That is they shall see Him in peace and hear the blessed words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of the Lord."

Verse 9---Blessed are the peacemaker---A peacemaker is one who strives to promote peace among contending parties and bring about unity. As all men in their natural state are more or less at odds with God and each other, the gospel is called a gospel of peace because it tends to reconcile men to God and each other. So the real peacemaker are the children of God.

Verse 10---Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake---The world is not a friend of God and in most cases when you uncover their sins, they rise up in arms against you; and in our day it is only the law that keeps them from persecuting the preacher of the pure gospel. When you are persecuted for righteousness' sake, you are following in the footsteps of Jesus and glorifying Him as we read in 1 Peter 4:16, "If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf."

The Godly Shall Suffer Persecution

Matt 5:11---Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you---The Bible tells us that if we suffer for Christ we shall also reign with Him. We all need to be close enough to God so that we can really and truly rejoice when we are counted worthy to suffer for our blessed Savior's sake. He had laid down His life for us, so we should be willing to suffer for His sake to show our appreciation of His great love for us.

Verse 12---Rejoice, and be exceedingly glad---When we think of the great priceless reward that awaits the faithful follower of Christ, then we realize how trivial will seem the severest of persecution in comparison. Let us follow the example of Moses who cast his lot with the people of God, forsaking the riches of Egyptian royalty. He chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season in the court of Pharaoh. What a most wise choice he made and he is still enjoying the glories of heaven.

The Beatitudes given in our lesson show us the true characteristics of the born-again Christian. If you are a church member and do not have all these characteristics, then you had better seek God for a real experience of salvation, which will make you a new creature in Christ Jesus with new desires and ambitions. It will put a new song in your heart and enable you to love your neighbor as yourself. It will give you a real genuine hungering and thirsting after righteousness and enable you to live a pure and holy life right here in this present world.