02. The Foundation Of Faith: Spiritual Poverty Series

Dr. Bradford Reaves

Crossway Christian Fellowship

Hagerstown, MD

www.mycrossway.org

We have started a journey through the Sermon on the Mount. This is a sermon that Jesus himself delivered to his disciples and the multitudes. Just like the day that Jesus preached it, it is a message that turns conventional understanding of God’s Kingdom on its head. It challenges us to put away the cultural norms of our day and dare to peer at our heavenly citizenship through the lens of Christ.

Last week, I told you that this sermon should wreck you. As C.S. Lewis said, the Sermon on the Mount will leave you feeling like you were knocked flat on your face by a sledgehammer. That is the power and the purpose behind Jesus’ words and it goes against much of what is being taught in churches today.

I went through Marine Corps boot camp on Paris Island and the Maryland State Police Academy. Both are some of the most difficult military training in the world. Their first job upon starting training is to tear you down to nothing and then rebuild you because if there are old habits and attitudes that you hold onto, they will interfere with your future.

I also pointed out t you last week that the very first word of Jesus' sermon is Makarios, which is translated as ‘happy’ or ‘blessed.’ And that is exactly what it means - not from a worldly understanding of happiness, but according to God’s definition. That is the foundation of Jesus’s message we will discover today and everything else in the Sermon on the Mount is built on that foundation.

Psalm 144:15 says, “How blessed are the people for whom this is so; How blessed are the people for whom God is Yahweh!” The fundamental truth we need to capture and know is that God wants nothing more than for your life to be filled with joy. He wants you to know and live with a deeper inner happiness that is not subject to circumstances, wealth, or any other outside force. He wants every believer in Jesus Christ to live a blessed life and Jesus outlines how we will just that in the opening of the Sermon on the Mount, known as the Beatitudes.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the lowly, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:3–12)

In the Beatitudes, Jesus sets forth both the nature and the aspirations of citizens of His kingdom. They have and are learning these character traits. What we find is that the Beatitudes demonstrate a paradox to blessing than the world would assume: Blessed are the poor; the world would say blessed are the rich. Blessed are those who mourn; the world would say blessed are those who celebrate. Blessed are the meek; the world would say blessed are proud and confident. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst; the world would say blessed are those who are full because they have everything.

Unfortunately, the world’s message of blessing inundates our culture and even our churches. Through entertainment, music, media, books, magazines, schools, and a host of other ways, the message is be strong, independent, wealthy, and the one who determines your own destiny. Shakespeare underscores this point by saying, “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.”

Jesus clearly upends this. True happiness is only found by entrance into the Kingdom of God. On the Day of Judgement, Jesus will say, in Matthew 25:34 “Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom, which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” With that being the case, the opposite of ‘Marikos’ is the word ‘Ouai,’ which is translated in English, as ‘Woe.’

The word Beatitude means “Blessings.” These 8 beatitudes give the believer his “be – attitudes” – the attitudes he should aspire to be in the Kingdom, but are also traits that should be naturally seen in our regenerated life as a believer. Also, All of these character traits are marks and goals of all Christians. And there is a flow to these beatitudes that we should observe. It starts with being poor in spirit, mourning, and being meek and hungering and thirsting for righteousness. It manifests itself in an attitude of mercy, purity, and peacemaking, and it causes the world to react to us with reviling and persecution, and false accusation. But in the end, it transforms us into the salt and light of the earth.