Introduction To The Christian Life

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Intro: the Sermon on the Mount is the initial teachings of Jesus Christ. Here we see Him give the foundations for the Christian life. As you view the different aspects of the beatitudes, you see they are revolutionary to the ways of the world.

INTRODUCTIONS TO THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

MATTHEW 5:1-12

1. 5:3—poor in spirit—a life of humility. The kingdom of heaven will be given to those who live in submission and subjection to Christ. It is the crucifying of pride, and self that Christ demands. Humility is a product of the Spirit of God, just as pride is a product of the flesh.

2. 5:4- those that mourn, for they will be comforted. Now when we think of mourning we generally associate it with loss. We are grieving over the loss of someone or something. But this mourning is different, in that it is a grieving over sin. A penitent spirit, a repentant heart. Jesus said, those that really mourned over their sins, had a true Godly sorrow would be comforted. This is the message of salvation.

3. 5:5- blessed are the meek, they shall inherit the earth. Another quality in the life of a Christian was that of a gentle spirit. Wise as serpents, but harmless as doves. This again is a fruit of the spirit. In our flesh or self life gentleness cannot be produced. We are full of strife, envy, hatred and malice. Jesus points to a different kind of spirit in operation in the lives of Christians.

4. 5:6- those that hunger and thirst after righteousness—Jesus shows that those of the kingdom of God will have a spiritual appetite. They will hunger and thirst after the things of God. His love, holiness, peace and joy are the pursuits of the believer. Jesus promises that those that will go after God will not be disappointed, they will be filled. Surely this is another promise of the empowering work of the Spirit of God that fills the life of a Christian.

5. 5:7—mercifulness is that ability to give what isn’t deserved. This is a quality of God, that His mercy endures forever. This new Christian community would operate in the gifts of mercy. They would love with God’s love and they would give mercy to those who didn’t even deserve it.

6. 5:8—purity of heart—another great attribute in the life of a Christian

would be a life of holiness before God. The believers would see God as they walked this life of purity. Their motives would be pure, their goals and desires would be right and God would bless them with Divine revelation. They would be a nation whose hearts were after God. And like Nathaniel, Israelites in whom there would be no guile.

7. 5:9—as the children of God they would be peacemakers. In a world of wars and rumors of wars, there would be a people that would promote peace through God. They would calm the storms of life with prayer and love given to those caught in the midst of turmoil and strife.

8. 5:10-12 the final quality of this Christian body would be the most difficult of all. They would rejoice in suffering. They would accept the rejection of the world, they would receive the insults of those who hated them, and instead of retaliation, they would rejoice that they could suffer for Christ. They would have that constant joy in their lives because of the knowledge that heaven was the reward of those who would be faithful to Christ.

Close: if we would be honest, it seems very difficult to even imagine arriving at this place. But Jesus didn’t give a pie in the sky description of some supersaints, but this was to be the norm in Christian living. So I guess it is safe to say, we all need more of Christ in our lives to achieve such a lofty place, and more of the Spirit of God working in our lives to have this type of testimony among the non-Christian community.

ntro: in most of our lifetimes we are witnesses to a few things that we would consider incredible. For me, one of the most incredible things I have ever witnessed took place at an open air meeting at the football stadium. A local pastor was moving a speaker that was setting on the top of a high scaffold. He tripped on some cords and fell off the scaffolding backwards, but flipped his body backwards and landed on his feet. There was a show called that’s incredible, and if I could have got that on film, it would have surely won first place. Today, I would like to title my message, That’s Incredible

THAT’S INCREDIBLE

LUKE 4:31-36

Background: What a word is this! If you have a KJV, it has an exclamation mark after these words. After people heard Jesus teach, after they heard Jesus pray, After they saw Jesus heal, after they saw Jesus cast out demons, they said, now that’s incredible. Today, we have the same incredible Jesus, with the same incredible word, and should operate in the same incredible power, and our world should be amazed, astonished, and this word should be contagious as it is spread throughout the land.