Grace Audio Treasures

"Avoid every kind of evil!" 1 Thessalonians 5:22 Be careful to guard against all occasions of sin and evil. There is no safety without setting a watch against all that is likely to prove a stumbling-block. I read one day of the remarkable precautions which are taken to avoid danger in a gunpowder manufactory. The walls are all of stone, and no wood is allowed to be in the place. Anyone who walks through has to take off his shoes, lest the nails in them should strike a spark. Then, if he has any metal on him, he must leave it at the door. The danger is so great, that everything must be done to avoid any approach to it. Oh that Christians would take heed in a similar way to keep from the peril of sin! Keep far away from any approach to temptation. You have gunpowder hearts--so ready to ignite from the least spark! A look, a word, an evil example, a sentence in a book, a suggestion from a bad companion--any of these may be the cause of a world of mischief. Therefore, make it your firm resolve to keep out of harm's way. Beware of all places, and scenes, and people--that may turn you from the right course. Don't imagine you are strong enough to go, and get no harm. Better to keep far from the edge of the precipice. Better to keep out of the lion's reach! Better to keep from the long grass where the viper is coiled up! Stop while you can--or you may go so far that it may be impossible to escape. Be careful to guard well the various gates of access to the heart--and of egress into the world. Guard well the eye. Keep it from vanity. Remember that one look cost Achan his life--and a lustful look embittered the whole of David's years. Let the eye look straight onward,

Luke 24:5-6, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen!" There is no greater proclamation in all the universe than this: Jesus Christ is risen from the dead! This singular truth distinguishes Christianity from every religion. Our Redeemer is not buried in a tomb, but He is reigning from His throne in Heaven. The One who was crucified in weakness, now lives in resurrection power and eternal glory. The resurrection of Jesus is not a peripheral truth--it is the very bedrock of our hope. Without it, the cross would be meaningless, and our hope would be in vain. The resurrection . . . affirms His deity, authenticates His mission, and guarantees the salvation of His people. Consider the comfort this brings to the believer. In a fallen world where suffering, sorrow, and death are ever present--we cling to a living Savior. Our faith is not an intellectual adherence to a dry dogma, but a vital relationship with a living Savior. His victory over the grave is our assurance that . . . sin's penalty has been paid, God's wrath has been satisfied, and eternal life has been secured! Moreover, the same Spirit who raised Jesus, now indwells every child of God, empowering him to . . . mortify sin, pursue holiness, and persevere in the Christian life. Is your heart weary today? Fix your eyes on the risen Christ. He is not distant or detached--He walks with His people, just as He walked with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. He . . . opens the Scriptures, warms the heart, and strengthens the soul. He intercedes for us at the right hand of God, bearing our names upon His heart and pleading the merits of His blood,

"Avoid every kind of evil!" 1 Thessalonians 5:22 Be careful to guard against all occasions of sin and evil. There is no safety without setting a watch against all that is likely to prove a stumbling-block. I read one day of the remarkable precautions which are taken to avoid danger in a gunpowder manufactory. The walls are all of stone, and no wood is allowed to be in the place. Anyone who walks through has to take off his shoes, lest the nails in them should strike a spark. Then, if he has any metal on him, he must leave it at the door. The danger is so great, that everything must be done to avoid any approach to it. Oh that Christians would take heed in a similar way to keep from the peril of sin! Keep far away from any approach to temptation. You have gunpowder hearts--so ready to ignite from the least spark! A look, a word, an evil example, a sentence in a book, a suggestion from a bad companion--any of these may be the cause of a world of mischief. Therefore, make it your firm resolve to keep out of harm's way. Beware of all places, and scenes, and people--that may turn you from the right course. Don't imagine you are strong enough to go, and get no harm. Better to keep far from the edge of the precipice. Better to keep out of the lion's reach! Better to keep from the long grass where the viper is coiled up! Stop while you can--or you may go so far that it may be impossible to escape. Be careful to guard well the various gates of access to the heart--and of egress into the world. Guard well the eye. Keep it from vanity. Remember that one look cost Achan his life--and a lustful look embittered the whole of David's years. Let the eye look straight onward,

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Matthew 5:6 This beatitude follows naturally from the ones before it: the one who is spiritually poor, who mourns over his sin, and who is meek and humble before God--that one will hunger and thirst for the righteousness he lacks. He knows himself to be sinful, impure, and vile before God--and he longs to be clothed in the perfect holiness of Christ. Hunger and thirst are not mere desires--they are desperate cravings. Jesus speaks here of one who longs, not for worldly gain or fleeting pleasures, but for perfect righteousness--a righteousness he knows that he does not possess in himself. This is not the cry of the self-righteous Pharisee who boasts in his own morality and goodness--but the cry of a person who has learned that he has not one good thing in himself, and now yearns for that perfect righteousness which Jesus wrought out by His perfect life, and credits to the believing sinner. What is this righteousness? It is first, the "imputed" righteousness of Christ--that perfect obedience and sinless life credited to the believing sinner by God. We hunger to be justified before God, not by good works, for we have none--but by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. But it is also the "imparted" righteousness of a holy life--a deep longing to be made practically righteous, to be holy, to walk in obedience, to hate what God hates--and to love what He loves. This hunger is not a passing feeling or emotion, but an abiding and powerful longing. This continuous hungering and thirsting for righteousness, is an indelible mark of every true believer. The world hungers for we

Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." True peace cannot exist apart from God. Man, in his natural sinful state, is at enmity with his Maker--alienated, hostile, and rebellious against Him. Yet He, in sovereign mercy, sent His Son to reconcile God-hating sinners to Himself, through the sin-atoning blood of the cross. And now, those whom He has redeemed, are called to reflect His heart by becoming peacemakers--instruments of reconciliation, pleading with men to be reconciled to God. This beatitude does not speak of those who merely promote harmony between man and man--but those who labor to bring ungodly rebels into peace with God. These true peacemakers are those who understand that the greatest war in the universe is not between nations, but between the Creator and His sinful creatures--and they strive to intervene. But this is not a work of fleshly effort, or clever persuasion. It is the humble, God-glorifying task of proclaiming the gospel--the good news that Christ Jesus came into the world to save wicked sinners. The peacemaker knows the terror of judgment and the beauty of grace--and so with prayer and bold love, he points guilty souls to the only Savior. He speaks of . . . God's holiness, man's utter ruin in sin, Christ's sin-atoning work on the cross, and the free offer of peace through faith in Him. And what is the promise? "They will be called sons of God"--by the glorious Father Himself! For in imitating their Heavenly Father's reconciling love, they reflect His likeness. Just as Christ--the great Peacemaker--was called the Son of God, so too are those who carry His message of reconciliation to the world.

Matthew 5:10–12, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in Heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." To the world, persecution is a curse to be avoided. But to the child of God, it is a badge of honor--a sign that he is walking in the footsteps of his Savior. In this final beatitude, Jesus lifts the eyes of His disciples above the hatred of men, to the eternal blessings which await them. "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness." That is, those who are persecuted for Christ's sake . . . for standing for truth, for living in holiness, for proclaiming the gospel, and for refusing to bow to the world's idols. This beatitude is a necessary conclusion to the others. The one . . . who is poor in spirit, who mourns over sin, who hungers for righteousness, and strives to bring peace with God --will inevitably meet with persecution. Why? Because the world hates Christ. And if we are conformed to His image--then we will be treated as He was. To live righteously in an unrighteous world, is to shine a light that exposes the darkness of sin--and men love darkness instead of light, because their deeds are evil. Yet what unspeakable comfort Jesus offers: "Theirs is the kingdom of Heaven!" The very persecution that casts us out from the world, is the evidence that we belong to the kingdom of God. And even more, "Great is your reward in Heaven!" The scoffing of puny men cannot rob us o

"Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Matthew 5:7 Gospel mercy is not a product of human nature--it is the fruit of a heart transformed by divine grace. Before regeneration, we were hard, self-centered and indifferent to the souls of others. But when God had mercy on us--pardoning our sin, cleansing our guilt, and raising us from spiritual death--He made us into merciful people. This beatitude is not a call to earn mercy, but a declaration of the mercy which God's grace produces in those whom He saves. Mercy is that compassion which is moved by the sight of misery, and which attempts to relieve those in misery. What greater misery exists, than the misery of sin? What deeper need can there be, than the need of pardon from the thrice holy God? The merciful, then, are those who are moved--not merely by physical suffering--but by the eternal peril of those who are rushing madly on to a dreadful Hell! Having themselves tasted the sweetness of forgiveness, they long to see others reconciled to God. They pray, they plead, they labor that sinners might flee to Christ. They are not content to let men run undisturbed to damnation--they intervene, with the gospel of mercy in their mouths, and the love of Christ in their hearts. And what is the promise? "They shall obtain mercy!" The merciful shall be shown mercy in their daily walk--receiving patience, grace, and strength from their Heavenly Father. And on that final day, when they stand before the Judge of all, they will not receive the awful sentence they so justly deserved. Instead of Hell, they will be met with mercy--divine, sovereign, everlasting mercy! The One who should have banished them to Hell,

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God!" Matthew 5:8 What a staggering promise! The highest blessing ever spoken to man: They shall see God! This is no mere poetic figure--it is the very hope of Heaven, the unveiled beholding of God in all His holiness, beauty, and glory! Yet this privilege is not granted to the mighty, the wise, or the religious--but only to the pure in heart. What does it mean to be "pure in heart"? It does not mean sinless perfection in this life, but rather a heart that has been cleansed by grace, and now sincerely longs for holiness. It is a heart that is no longer fixed on worldly trifles, and no longer pursuing sinful pleasures--but made single in its desire for God. It is a heart purified by the sin-atoning death of Christ, and by the sanctifying work of the Spirit. Such heart purity is not man-made, but it is God-wrought--born in regeneration and nurtured in sanctification. While in this world of sin and temptation, the true Christian grieves over his remaining faults and sins. He longs for the day of death, when his sins and spots will be gone forever, and he will be as pure as the freshly fallen snow. He longs for the day when he will see Jesus, and be like Him. Having this wondrous hope, he strives to be as pure as Jesus. "They shall see God!" Not through a veil, not dimly or distantly--but clearly, directly, and eternally. To see God is to be forever satisfied, forever joyful, forever changed into the likeness of His blessed Son. In that moment . . . all sin will be gone, all sorrow swallowed up, and all longings for perfect holiness fulfilled. The Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their Shepherd, and God Him

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn!" This is a strange saying to the worldly-minded and sin-loving! But here again, the Lord Jesus turns the wisdom of this world on its head. He does not speak of earthly grief over loss or pain, but of a deeper, holier sorrow: a mourning over one's sin. This is no superficial sadness, nor is it the regret of one merely caught in wrongdoing. This mourning flows from a heart that has seen the vileness of their sin in the light of God's holiness. It is the sorrow of a soul awakened by sovereign grace, grieved not only by the consequences of sin--but by its very presence. The one who mourns in this way, is crushed by the weight of having offended so good and glorious a God. Like David, he cries, "Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight!" Psalm 51:4 This kind of sorrow is a gift from God. The natural man does not grieve over sin in this way. But when the Holy Spirit convicts, He breaks the heart and draws it to repentance. And to such mourners, Jesus gives a precious promise: They will be comforted. What is this comfort? It is the comfort of full and free forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ. The mourning sinner hears the gospel and discovers that Christ has borne every sin, every shame, every curse! The very sins that caused his sorrow, have been nailed to the cross, and buried in the tomb. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! Romans 8:1 It is the comfort of divine assurance--that God will never cast out the broken and contrite heart. Psalm 51:17. It is the comfort of sweet fellowship with Christ, who is n

"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Matthew 5:5 In a world that prizes self-assertion, self-promotion, pride, and personal rights--the meek are overlooked, even despised. Yet Jesus declares that it is the meek--the lowly, the humble--who are truly blessed. This meekness is not natural to the human heart. It does not come from a gentle personality or a quiet temperament. True meekness is the fruit of the Spirit and springs from a heart humbled before a holy God. It flows from the soul that has been . . . emptied of self-righteousness, broken over sin, and made to bow before the majesty of divine holiness. The meek man sees himself rightly--as a sinner saved by grace alone. He does not fight for his own importance or honor, because he knows he has none in himself. He is content to be little, because Christ is everything. Like Job, he says, "Behold, I am vile!" Job 40:4. And like the publican, he beats his breast, crying, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner!" Luke 18:13 Yet far from being weak, meekness is a mark of true strength. It takes far more power to submit to God's will, to quietly bear wrongs, and to put others before oneself, than to rise up in pride and retaliation. The meek do not demand their way--they trust God to order all things for their good and His glory. And what is their reward? "They shall inherit the earth." Though now they may be poor, obscure, and afflicted--they shall one day reign with Christ. The proud may rule for a season, but it is the meek who will possess the earth when Jesus returns to make all things new. The new heavens and the new earth are prepared not for the boastful, but for the lowly and humble in heart.