Dr. Bradford Reaves
Crossway Christian Fellowship
Hagerstown, MD
www.mycrossway.org
Today we begin with a series of the greatest sermons ever spoken to the ears of man. It is the greatest because they are the words of our Lord and Eternal King himself. If ever there was a more important time for the Church to awaken itself to these words, I would say that we are living in them. If we were to seriously take the words of Jesus in this message to heart, our lives, and our churches would be radically different, and that is what I hope we allow the Holy Spirit to do over the next several months.
I take issue with those who have taught this message before me that this is a message of changing your attitude or imparting self-help lessons of being a better you. This sermon given by Jesus was not mere platitudes, nor was it meant to help you feel better about yourself. The early verse are not about what we are to “be”. No, rather I would say right out of the gate that Jesus tells us that to do things that are impossible for us to do. Thus, in doing so we come to the realization that we are hopeless wrecked without turning our lives over to a Savior.
In an essay printed in ‘God in the Dock’, by C.S. Lewis, Lewis is responding to a series of criticisms by a man named Dr. W. Norman Pettinger. In the process of answering these critiques Lewis responds to some accusations Pettinger made that Lewis did not ‘care for’ the Sermon on the Mount but preferred instead to focus on Paul’s teachings. This was Lewis’ reply:
“As to ‘caring for’ the Sermon on the Mount, if ‘caring for’ here means ‘liking’ or enjoying, I suppose no one ‘cares for’ it. Who can like being knocked flat on his face by a sledgehammer? I can hardly imagine a more deadly spiritual condition than that of the man who can read that passage with tranquil pleasure. This is indeed to be at ease in Zion.” (C.S. Lewis, God in the Dock (1958).
So, if I say something during this series that offends you, I have done my job, but in offending you, I hope that I point you to the cross to surrender that offense and bring you to a closer relationship with our Lord. To put it plainly, the Gospel is not a message to make you feel better about yourself, nor is it reserved for the religious elite.
The Apostle Paul said, in 1 Corinthians 1:23 “but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,” It is the door of salvation to the vilest a person but it will cost you everything, but promises so much more. Thus, may I emphatically say that we should never make coming through the door of salvation difficult. This is the difficult balance for the Church: we maintain a distinction from the rest of the world in our lives, yet not hinder the world from discovering Christ in the midst of the mess the world leaves in one’s life. Thus, we find before us the words of our Lord.
1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. 2 And He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:1–3)
Having told you that Jesus’ sermon will wreck you and, in the words of Lewis, leave you feeling like you were knocked on your face by a sledgehammer, may I also say that Jesus was in the business of providing people with happiness. Let me say that again, Jesus is interested in bringing to your life true happiness. Now, I’m not talking about happiness based on your circumstances or possessions. I’m talking about an inward joy, a status of contentment, and a life of fulfillment that never depends on circumstance or is subject to change based on this world. Instead, it is a state of well-being rooted in the relationship with God that He intended us to live at the creation.
So right out of the gate, Jesus begins his sermon with a word that is overused and misunderstood in the church - “Blessed.” The Greek word Jesus uses is the word marikos which can mean ‘happy’ or even ‘carefree.’ But it goes a step further. This inward blessedness indicates a character that touches the very heart of our existence and it is a word that is used to describe God (c.f. Psalm 68:35, Psalm 72:18, Psalm 119:12, 1 Timothy 1:11).
So with that in mind let’s look at the context Jesus gives this sermon. Matthew tells us that Jesus saw the crowds, went up on the mountain, and began to teach them. This is vitally important and is much more than a description of his actions. But it reminds us of something vitally important in the context of his day.
We need to remember that the Jews had just come through 400 years of silence from God. There had been no Word from God since He concluded the world of Malachi 4:6 “And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land, devoting it to destruction.” That is the way the Old Testament Ends - with a curse. Jesus begins the New Testament with a blessing and Revelation ends with a promise
As Jesus emerges in his earthly ministry, he is coming onto the scene of a people who are socially, politically, and spiritually in utter darkness. Most of the Jewish people detested being under Roman rule. Many times in the gospels we find the people wanting to make Jesus their King, but it was out of a misunderstanding of what the Messiah was going to do. Additionally, the Jewish leadership was equally corrupt. They made it impossible for the people to worship God. The Jewish people had a false, materialistic concept of the Kingdom of God. Jesus’ sermon liberates us of that.
Additionally, Matthew tells us that Jesus went to the mountain. First, we know that this area provides the acoustics that would allow Jesus to speak to the large crowds that the Bible tells us were following. Secondly, Matthew demonstrates to us the humanity of Jesus the Divine. He walked, he went, he had compassion, and he opened his mouth, meaning he spoke. In the Greek, this term is used to identify a solemn, grave, and dignified utterance. This is not a speech given on a whim; there is significance in what Jesus is saying.
What is the first word of Jesus’ sermon? Blessed - Makarios - Happy. What will follow is not what most of us would consider a good measurement of blessing. Which is the whole point of Jesus’ sermon. We have allowed what is carnal to define the divine. Subjective experiences, carnal fulfillment, and temporal wealth are often the measure of success in the church today. The advocates of the social gospel and those who rally around the Word of Faith movement have conveniently ignored the Beatitudes and the rest of Jesus’ sermons. Instead, they have rushed into temporal matters, stamping a label on it and saying. “This is gospel.”
There is nothing so dangerous as to say that the Sermon on the Mount has nothing to do with modern Christianity. That is why Jesus begins the way he does and it is to remind us that most have little idea what it means to be blessed. So right from the start, Jesus redirects our understanding from the blessings of this world to the blessings rooted in God’s character.
“For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” (2 Peter 1:4)
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,” (Ephesians 1:3)
But I want you to understand, the Sermon on the Mount has nothing to say and nothing to offer you apart from faith in Jesus Christ. To receive the blessings of God you have to become a partaker in the divine nature of Christ through faith in him and laying aside the empty promises of this world. In fact, it says here that the happy people are the poor in spirit, the mourners, the meek, the hungry and thirsty, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the persecuted, and the reviled.
You may look at that and say, “I’m not sure I want that kind of happiness. It sounds to me like Jesus has come along with some kind of bait-and-switch scheme. It’s all inside out and upside down.”
Delight yourself in Yahweh; And He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4 LSB)
Therefore you will joyously draw water From the springs of salvation. (Isaiah 12:3 LSB)
That’s the whole paradox we need to discover. The world says, “If you want to be happy you have to seize your life and grab the gusto.” Happiness is doing your own things and defining your destiny. According to Freud people: ‘strive after happiness; they want to become happy and remain so. This endeavor has two sides, a positive and a negative aim. It aims, on the one hand, at an absence of pain and displeasure, and, on the other, at the experiencing of strong feelings of pleasure’
The 7 most common things people say will make them happy are:
Special Relationships
Exercise and Wellness
Stress-free Living
A fulfilling Career
Time with Family
Hobbies
(Source: https://www.feelgoodanyway.com/pursuit-of-happiness-answering-the-question-about-what-makes-people-truly-happy/)
While there is nothing in particular wrong with these things in of themselves, Jesus came to tell us that the tree of happiness doesn’t grow on the cursed earth. If you are looking for happiness in the world’s goods, you are looking in the wrong place. Happiness is a state of being rooted in knowing the Divine and physical pleasures and possessions can never fill that hole.
Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, (Philippians 2:5 LSB)
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2 LSB)
While on a road trip, an elderly couple stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. After finishing their meal, they left the restaurant and resumed their trip. When leaving, the elderly woman unknowingly left her glasses on the table, and she didn't miss them until they had been driving for about forty minutes. By then, to add to the aggravation, they had to travel quite a distance before they could find a place to turn around, in order to return to the restaurant to retrieve her glasses.
All the way back, the elderly husband became the classic grumpy old man. He fussed and complained, and scolded his wife relentlessly during the entire return drive. The more he chided her, the more agitated he became. He just wouldn't let up for a single minute.
To her relief, they finally arrived at the restaurant. As the woman got out of the car and hurried inside to retrieve her glasses, the old geezer yelled to her, "While you're in there, you might as well get my hat and the credit card." (Credit: Roy Fowler, Sermon Central).
Physical things don’t touch the soul. You cannot fill a spiritual need with a physical substance. But the world tells us that is exactly what we are to do. That somehow we can fill the deadness of our soul with something from this world. That’s a big source of our addictions, anger, and abuse that is so prevalent today. But you can’t fix your marriage with a new car and you can’t overcome addiction with a new suit. On the flip side, you can’t fill a physical need with a spiritual substance; you don’t need a lecture on grace when you are hungry.
Things cannot quiet the heart in a storm. Jesus tells us that we will never find happiness from this world. The great Puritan writer, Thomas Watson said, “The things of this world will no more keep out the trouble of the spirit than a piece of paper will stop a bullet. Worldly delights are winged. They may be compared to a flock of birds in the garden that stays a little while when you come near to them they take flight. So the riches make themselves wings and they fly away as an eagle.”
If you want to be happy, if you want to find true contentment, if you want to really know a life filled in the Spirit, it is not found in some mystical experience or an elusive dream, or chasing the winds of life. It you want to know true happiness, blessedness, and joy than simply put the Sermon on the Mount into practice. I believe if we truly put Jesus’ sermon into practice, we would knock the world over.
While I’m talking about the pursuit of happiness, let me also say this. Most parents view their role as to make sure their children are happy. Parents, your primary purpose in raising your children is not to give them happiness. It is to teach them holiness. It is God’s design that we should aspire to a character that is increasingly more like the character of Jesus. However, we spend most of our time making sure our kids are finding enjoyment in sports, activities, and possessions.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we boast in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1–2)
So with that, take an inventory of what you are looking for in your life to bring you happiness. What is it in your marriage, your home, your job, and your well-being that you are turning to for fulfillment? The chances are they are only partially filling the void and more than likely they are leaving you with an even greater burden. That’s what happens when we turn to substances, sex, relationships, food, or whatever it is to fill that void that only God can fill.
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. 29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. (Matthew 11:28–29 LSB)
Throughout history, God has been calling people out of the world to be different. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is a culmination of that calling. We will examine this sermon piece by piece, but they should never be extracted apart from the whole. Over the next several weeks, I am going to touch on subjects that is going to challenge you. As difficult and as convicting as some of this will be to hear, bear in mind that the One who said these words died for your sins and the perfection of your soul. He will likewise make use of these words to shape you with his grace, love, and mercy.
