'mate In 2

‘Mate in 2

PPT 1 Series title

Intro: The Beatitudes ss the name for the first major teaching Jesus gave, and it encompasses the beatitudes, the Lord’s prayer, and teaching on judging, forgiving others et cetera. His teaching is summed up in the name the beatitudes which comes from a Latin word that means blessing.

The blessed life

No mention of financial status

No mention of social status

No mention of education

No mention of looks or health

Jesus defines the blessed life by attitudes and convictions.

In another place He defines blessing by quality not quantity: Well done thou good and faithful servant, not much done.

PPT 2 Message Title

PPT 3, 4 Text

Matthew 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

Matthew 5:2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

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

Matthew 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

The beatitudes speak to us in 3 area’s

Want

Wonder

Worship

Want blessing, Blessed is the man/woman... He is the One who will be passing out the blessings, so we should really pay attention to what He says.

Wonder -

They search us? am I the man or woman who is described here?

Is He describing me? How long have you been a Christian, well you ought to live these out perfectly by now!

Jesus once rebuked a group of people saying in John 8:37 my word has no place in you. One translation says it this way, my word hasn’t penetrated your thick skulls. What it means is that the words Jesus said need to be working in you, and working on you, and they need to be lived out and expressed through you.

The devil believes the bible, the miracles, he believes it all. But he doesn’t walk in it. We live in generation where the claim to believe is at an all time high, but can it be said we are living the beatitudes, can the world see a difference in us.

If you don’t imitate Christ’s life, you cannot claim to be saved by His death. Not saved by works but saved by His death. A saved person is one who tries to imitate his life.

Worship -

What you hear from Jesus you see lived in Jesus.

He practices everything he declares.

Worship happens as we glimpse the Glory of God in the life Jesus lived.

The beatitudes also appear to be cumulative in nature:

Poor in Spirit - heaven

Mourn comforted

Meek - inherit the earth

Hunger and thirst filled

When you are poor, mourn, and meek - then you are in a position to forgive others, and to pray for your enemies. When you see yourself as a sinner in need of grace, you will find it easier to extend grace to others.

But if you don’t start there, it is a lot harder to forgive others.

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

In my research I ran across one guy who used this text to say poor people are going to heaven.

The disenfranchised, the down and out, the refugees of this world.

If poverty were the key to going to heaven it would be our job to make everyone as broke as possible.

But Jesus didn’t say the poor are going to heaven, but the poor in spirit.

It doesn’t mean the financially poor, nor does it mean those that are really bad sinners, though they are really poor in spirit.

It means those that recognize they have no business being puffed up and that if they are to get in to heaven it will not be on the basis of reward, but of grace.

It speaks of people who don’t expect to get into heaven because they were the kind of person who would give you the shirt off their back, but those who know they will get there because Jesus took the stripes on His back.

Poor in spirit means to be painfully aware of your short comings. Which leads to mourning, which leads to being meek, which leads to hunger and thirsting, which leads to salvation.

What do you think the devil thinks about this poor in spirit get to go to heaven? After all in the book of Jude verse 9 we are told he disputed with the archangel Michael for the body of Moses, after Moses death. We are not told what they argued about, but I feel pretty confident the devil said, Moses didn’t keep the law, I demand his body. Michael simply said, “the Lord rebuke you.”