121 THE PURSUIT: SUBMISSION

Matthew 5:5-6

October 11, 2025

Ok last night we asked a question:

What is blessing?

What is the answer?

(To be forgiven of my sin)

Why is that a blessing?

Because God judges unforgiven sinners in eternity.

WE ARE AFTER THE BLESSING OF FORGIVENESS.

And what two attitudes must we have to be forgiven by God?

Poor in spirit – totally bankrupt

Mourning – over our sin that has offended God

So that was the first two beatitudes.

We saw the problem which is sin.

THIS MORNING LET’S MOVE TO THE NEXT TWO BEATITUDES.

(5:5) “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.”

(5:6) “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

The question we are asking in this session is this:

HOW DO I PURSUE FORGIVENESS AND SALVATION?

I learned the attitude I must have in order to be forgiven,

But supposing that is my attitude,

HOW DO I NOW GO ABOUT GETTING GOD TO FORGIVE MY SIN?

HOW DO I PURSUE FORGIVENESS AND SALVATION?

In order to understand this there is something you need to understand.

You need to understand that God is righteous

And He cannot just ignore sin.

If you murder someone and they arrest you and take you to court,

· I would certainly hope that you are humble and mourning over what you’ve done.

· But just because you cry and say you’re sorry does that mean you don’t have to go to prison?

No, justice must be served.

If someone murders your mother and the judge just lets them off because they said they were sorry,

· Is that a good judge or a bad judge?

You get the idea.

Well, God is a righteous Judge and

He cannot and will not just ignore your sin.

In order for you to be forgiven,

Someone must pay the price for your sin.

Hebrews 9:22 “And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

· The wages of sin is death.

· That’s why the Bible requires the shedding of blood.

· If a death doesn’t happen then sin isn’t forgiven.

Here is what that means.

When you sin (even what may seem to you like a little sin) it brings with it the death penalty.

You saw that this morning in your quiet time.

All Adam and Eve did was eat a piece of fruit,

But that rebellion against God brought with it the death penalty.

The God of the universe is so high and so holy

That He does not treat rebellion as a small thing.

Sin requires death, and until death occurs that sin will not be forgiven.

JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED.

Now, this is THE HEART OF CHRISTIANITY and the message of the gospel is that we have One who has offered to die instead of us.

The holy God of the universe has devised a plan

Where He sent His own Son to come to earth and die for sinners

So that He can forgive them.

You may know this verse:

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

There are others:

Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

This means that there is One who is willing to pay your debt for you.

You committed the sin, but He will pay the penalty.

IN FACT, THIS IS WHY HE CAME.

A very important verse:

TURN TO: MATTHEW 16:21

Matthew 16:21 “From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.”

Jesus said that this is what had to happen.

· He had to go to Jerusalem.

· He had to suffer.

· He had to be killed.

· He had to be raised from the dead.

Why did He have to do those things?

Because He had to pay the penalty for sinners.

You need to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

1. He is God, He always has been.

2. But He took on human form to come and live among us.

3. He was born of a virgin.

4. He lived a totally sinless life.

5. And He then died on a cross to pay the debt of sinners.

6. He rose from the dead to prove that He was sinless and that His sacrifice

worked.

That is Jesus.

He came to pay the debt for sinners.

Isaiah 53:4-6 “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”

That is Jesus!

2 Corinthians 5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

That is Jesus!

So you’re with me up to this point.

We want the blessing of forgiveness.

But we understand that in order to receive that blessing.

1) Our attitude must be right (poor and mourning)

2) Someone must pay the debt for us.

And we just learned that the person who will do that is Jesus.

So back to our question:

HOW DO I PURSUE FORGIVENESS AND SALVATION?

Or, now we would say:

· How do I get Jesus to make His death count for me?

· How do I get to claim Jesus’ death to be for my sin?

Well let’s look still at Matthew 16.

· You’ll notice that after Jesus said He was going to die that Peter rebuked Him.

· And Jesus then called Peter “Satan” and told him to get behind him.

· Peter did not yet understand that Jesus had to die.

But then notice what Jesus says.

· This is our answer to how we get Jesus death to count for us.

Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

Jesus said, “If you want to be with Me”

You must “deny himself”

You must let go of any good you think you’ve done.

That’s back to being poor in spirit and mourning isn’t it?

· You can’t think you’re good enough.

· Don’t try to tell Me about what a good person you are.

· Don’t try to show Me all the good works you think you’ve done.

· If you want Me then forget about how good you think you are.

You must “take up his cross”

You must embrace the reality that the only way

You will ever be forgiven is through the cross of Jesus.

This is what we call believing.

· You now believe that you have no good works that can save you,

· But you believe that Jesus, through His death on the cross, can save you.

· You let go of what you’ve done and you believe in what He did.

And then what do you do?

You Must “follow Me”

You devote your life to Jesus Christ.

He gave His life for you, you now give your life to Him.

We’re going to talk more about sincerity tonight, but you have to understand this is not just a one-time momentary decision that you make and then forget all about it and go off and live your life.

This is like enlisting in the military for life.

You are now a servant of Jesus for the rest of your life.

If you want His death to count for you.

That is the deal.

Do you want the blessing of forgiveness?

Do you want Jesus to pay for your sin?

· Then you must believe that only Jesus’ death is enough

· And you must give your life to Him.

Romans 10:9 “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;”

That is how you pursue the blessing of forgiveness.

BUT WHAT ABOUT THOSE TWO BEATITUDES?

· What about being “gentle”?

· What about “hungering and thirsting for righteousness”?

What do those have to do with any of this?

Well first let’s talk about “gentle”.

· Some bible’s translate it as “meek”.

· Meekness or gentleness is not weakness.

· It is strength under control.

Think about a horse for a second.

· A horse can way over 1,000 pounds.

· It is way stronger and faster than the man who rides it.

· And yet if the horse is “gentle” it will obey the commands of the rider.

That is what we are talking about here.

We are talking about a person who is submissive.

They are gentle.

They are obedient to commands.

And then we see that they “hunger and thirst for righteousness”

· And we see why a person would be so gentle.

It is because they want righteousness

Worse than they want to be in charge.

They want forgiveness

Worse than they want to call their own shots.

Now do you see how those fit what Jesus told us?

If you want the blessing of forgiveness…

If you want Jesus’ sacrifice to count for you…

· Then you must not only be broken and mourning over your sin,

But you must want righteousness and forgiveness so badly

That you are willing to submit yourself to Jesus and follow Him.

SO WE ARE ASKING:

HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT TO BE FORGIVEN?

HOW BADLY DO YOU WANT TO BE RIGHTEOUS BEFORE GOD?

Do you want it bad enough to deny yourself?

Do you want it bad enough to submit to Jesus?

Because that is where it is found.

Now, one more time go back to Matthew 16.

Matthew 16:25-27 “For whoever wishes to 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 will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.”

Jesus just asked some very important questions there.

After He told you to deny yourself, to believe in Him and to submit to Him He understood you might not want to.

He understood that you might not want to

Enlist as a life-long follower of Jesus.

So Jesus asked you two questions and you need to think about them.

1) “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?”

We saw that rich man last night.

· How much was all his money worth after he died and went to hell?

So let me tell you what Jesus is asking.

How much would you take to go to hell when you die?

· Would you go to hell for $50?

· How about $1,000?

· How about 1 million?

· How about for all the money there is?

· Would you go to hell if you could have that much money?

And you say, “No!”

There’s nothing you could pay me

That would make me agree to go to hell when I die.

That is the right answer.

BUT LET ME GIVE YOU THE BAD NEWS.

We determined last night that you already have sin.

You’re already heading to hell.

Nobody has to pay you a thing to go there.

You have sinned against God and a just God will judge you for your sin.

How much would you take to go to hell?

IS NOT A QUESTION YOU WILL EVER BE ASKED.

But Jesus asks a second question:

“Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

What is He asking there?

· How much would you give to not go to hell?

· How much would you give to have your sinful record wiped clean?

· How much would you give to be forgiven of your sin?

And you probably say –

Anything! I’ll give anything to not to go to hell.

· Will you admit that you are a sinner?

· Will you mourn over your sin?

· Will you desire righteousness?

· Will you submit your life to the service of Jesus Christ?

SEE JESUS CAN GIVE YOU FORGIVENESS.

Jesus can save you from your sin and from hell.

And He requires that you believe in Him.

He requires that you follow Him.

But a refusal to do that means that you face the judgment on your own.

(27) “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.”

JUDGMENT IS COMING.

You will pay for your sins

Unless you believe in Jesus Christ and submit your life to Him.

THIS IS WHY WE SAY:

“Blessed are the gentle for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

So our first question was:

WHAT IS BLESSING? – To be forgiven of my sin

Here’s our second question:

HOW DO PURSUE FORGIVENESS AND SALVATION? – By believing in and submitting my life to Jesus Christ.

TO BE BLESSED:

· You must be meek or gentle or submissive.

· You must want righteousness more than you want sin.

Jesus can save you, but you must deny yourself,

Take up your cross, and follow Him.