A Sermon For Our Times Part 1 Series

A SERMON FOR OUR TIMES

A Series On The Sermon On The Mount

Section 1 “Be All That You Can Be With The Right Attitude”

Part 1

Matthew 5:3-12 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:3-4 (AMP)

3 Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions) are the poor in spirit (the humble, who rate themselves insignificant), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!

4 Blessed and enviably happy [with a happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His matchless grace] are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted!

INTRODUCTION: The Sermon on the Mount was an extended message of Jesus to His disciples. Not just the 12, but to all of his followers at the time. Several suggestions have been offered as to what this sermon actually is. Some believe that it is a code of conduct for believers, while others think Jesus is contrasting the values of the world with the values of the kingdom of heaven, a third group asserts that Jesus is contrasting the superficial faith of the Pharisees with genuine faith, and a final group thinks this is a message about the fulfillment of the Old Testament in the New Testament.

Greater scholars than I will ever be have debated this for years, so may I first suggest that what we have here is a forward look at kingdom living – the way we should be living now, and will live in the kingdom. Second, may I also suggest that the Pharisees provide an excellent example of how not to live as a believer.

Biblical living will always contradict secular living.

BIBLICAL LIVING SECULAR LIVING

GIVES TAKES

HELPS ABUSES

LOVES HATES

God’s kingdom now and when Christ returns is organized differently from the world.

Lets take a moment and go back to the reason for this sermon – to expose and enlighten disciples to kingdom living, using the Pharisees as an example, …

So, “Are you a Pharisee?”

*****EMAIL FOR PHARISEE CHART*****

Were more concerned with appearing to be good than obeying God

The result was that the Pharisees believed they were RIGHTEOUS, so they had no HUNGER for it!

When we cease hungering for the attitude of the Beatitudes’ we lose the blessing of genuine faith (we become superficial believers)

I BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT, FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

A What it means to be “blessed”

1 Originally this word meant “great outward prosperity

2 We would use it in a similar way today – we look at outward prosperity and say or think that that person is blessed

a OR lucky

b OR shrewd

3 Jesus changes the realm of meaning

a Takes it from the physical realm and moves it into the spiritual realm!

b For Jesus blessed mean the inevitable state of being in the kingdom

1 The result of salvation is blessed”ness”

2 "blessed" is the experience of hope and joy, independent of outward circumstances.

B The fact that Jesus associates Blessed”ness” with biblical living – ie: living as a believer tells us:

a Each of the characteristics described should be ours.

b Each of the remedies are ours as well

C The Believer in Christ Should be “Poor in Spirit”

1 As I mentioned before, the Pharisees of Jesus’ time thought they were righteous and could not see themselves as poor spiritually

2 The word used for poor here is also the word used for beggar (Lazarus and the rich man) – meaning to crouch and to cower

a Spiritual destitution – even seeking “spiritual crumbs”

b Living by whatever is given to him by another

c This word is different from the Greek word that refers to the poor who have to work for a living

d This word refers to a poor person who cannot work for what he needs – kind of like salvation! We cannot work for it either!