[I’ve taken most of the thoughts in this sermon from D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’book Studies in the Sermon on the Mount.]
Read the Beatitudes, and there you have a description of what every Christian is meant to be.
• It is not merely the description of some exceptional Christians.
• Jesus does not say here that certain outstanding characters are going to be rewarded.
• It is a picture of every believer in Christ.
Jesus says that this is the only kind of person who is truly ‘blessed’, or ‘happy’.
• Someone suggested that it can be put like this: “This is the sort of man who is to be congratulated; this is the sort of man to be envied, for he alone is truly happy.”
• Happiness or blessing is the great question confronting mankind.
• The whole world is longing for happiness. But sadly, we see it repeated over and over again, many ended up in more misery than when they started off.
Jesus gives us the principles to finding fulfilment and happiness in this world.
• If you really want to be happy, then here is the way.
• So we are going to take at Jesus’ prescription in this passage over the next few weeks.
The first thing we need to know is that…
(1) All Christians are to be like this.
This is not for a selected few, for some exceptional Christians.
• Jesus meant it for all. It is a description of what every one of us can be, or meant to be.
• You can be blessed, whether you are a full-time Christian pastor or just an ordinary believer.
• Man tends to have such a distinction, between the full-time, religious (clergy) ones and the ‘ordinary’ Christians.
• And because they are full-time, or doing more of God’s work, they are ‘better’ blessed; or they enjoy a certain degree of blessing others do not have.
From the Scriptures, there is no such distinction.
• We are all called to be saints, and to be blessed in this way.
• These Beatitudes are a description of a character, not an office or a talent.
• The Bible talks about the different offices – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers – to help the church.
• The Bible also talks about spiritual gifts – so that members can build up the church.
• But this has nothing to do with blessings. God blesses a character, not an office or a particular gifting.
We are all called to exemplify everything that is contained here in the Beatitudes.
(2) Jesus expects us to manifest ALL of these characteristics.
It’s not a ‘pick one and be like that’ and you will be blessed.
• Apparently this is a composite picture of what a Christian can be, and ought to be.
• It is not right to say some are meant to be ‘poor in spirit’, some are meant to ‘mourn’, and some are meant to be ‘peacemakers’, and so on.
It’s like the fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Gal 5:22 – it is one fruit. You are able to manifest all nine aspects of the fruit.
• Although we may manifest one aspect more than the others, from time to time, we cannot split them up as if we can be contented to have ‘love’ and not ‘self-control’; to have ‘joy’ and not ‘kindness’.
• God expects us to “become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:13) – to be fully Christ-like.
• In order words, this is achievable! And we have to believe we can!
Similarly here in the Beatitudes, one aspect may be more prominent than the others but we need to grow in all of them.
• In fact, it seems that these qualities are interlinked - we cannot have one without the others.
• You cannot truly ‘mourn’ without ‘hungering and thirsting for righteousness’; and you cannot do that without being one who is ‘meek’ and a ‘peacemaker’.
So we can look at the Beatitudes as a complete whole, just like the fruit of the Spirit. Don’t divide them. Grow in all of them.
(3) None of these descriptions are what we may call a natural human tendency.
These aren’t moral pursuits. In fact, these qualities aren’t in worldly terms.
• The list here is not a reference to some personality traits, or some good temperaments that we can cultivate.
• This is not a ‘moral education’ class that Jesus is advocating, hoping to change some of us into good moral beings.
These are spiritual qualities. They are not learnt abilities.
• No man naturally conforms to the descriptions here given in the Beatitudes.
• Jesus is not describing for us some natural qualities, or temperaments, like some people being more ‘meek’ than others.
• They are characteristics that can be made possible in our lives because of God.
• It is by God’s grace that we can grow to be like this.
It also means that it is possible all of us to display these characteristics, regardless of our personality or temperament.
Finally, we see that
(4) The Beatitudes set a different benchmark from the world
There is a clear difference between the way a Christian and a non-Christian live their lives.
• Take a quick glance at the list – the expressions ‘poor in spirit’, ‘mourn’, ‘meek’, ‘merciful’, seems to be more a description of a ‘weakling’. The world seeks for a man of strength, of confidence, man in charge and a fighter.
• Billy Graham says the world will say it this way: "Happy are the clever, for they shall inherit the admiration of their friends: Happy are the aggressive, for they shall inherit property; Happy are the talented, for they shall inherit a career; Happy are the rich, for they shall inherit a world of friends and a house full of modern gadgets." (In The Secret Of Happiness, p. 57).
This is the kind of person the world admires.
• Yet the Beatitudes painted a contrasting picture. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, not wealth, money, status, position, or popularity.
• Blessedness has nothing to do with knowledge, wealth, health, status or fame.
I realise you can see the measure of a true Christian by the things he is seeking and the things he really wants.
• The non-Christian can only live for this world. He says, “This is the only world, and I am going to get all I can out of it.”
• The Christian starts by saying, “I am not living for this world.” His whole outlook and ambition is different.
It is clear here that we are called to be different from the rest.
• We are called to act and behave in a different way.
• This is how Peter describes us (in 1 Peter 2:9, 11): 9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires…
This distinction between a Christian and a non-Christian must be maintained.
• We cannot blur this line; we cannot make the world and church looking alike.
• Notice the first Beatitude and the last Beatitude promise the same reward, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
• Jesus starts and ends with it because it is His way of saying that the first thing you have to realize about yourself is that you belong to a different kingdom.
The Bible makes it clear that we are living in two absolutely different worlds.
• You are in this world; but you are not of it.
• Our conduct is paramount in reaching out to the world for Christ.
• I was preparing FPM two weeks ago from John 17:20-23 [turn to it]
20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
• Jesus said the phrase "that the world may believe that you have sent me" twice. Our conduct, specifically our love for one another, will cause the world to see Christ.
• Earlier on in John 13:35 Jesus said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER
A minister was being shown through a large weaving mill where one of his parishioners worked. Mentioning that particular employee to the foreman, the pastor said, "I suppose that John is one of your best workers." The foreman responded, ’No, I’m sorry to say he isn’t. The trouble with John is that he stands around talking about his religion when he ought to be attending to his loom. He is a good enough fellow and has the making of a fine weaver, but he hasn’t learned yet that while he is on the job his religion ought to come out of his fingers and not out of his mouth."
That was a wise observation. During working hours, that employee’s testimony should have come from the honest labour of his hands.
The familiar Yellow Pages slogan in our phone books says, "Let your fingers do the walking." For the Christian who wants to point others to Christ, however, there are occasions when it’s best to "let your fingers do the talking."
So here we see the 8 qualities together define the life of the citizen of God’s Kingdom.
1. We are to grow in and manifest ALL of them.
2. Not by our own but by the grace of God, through the Holy Spirit.
3. We are to live differently from the world. The distinction must remain clear-cut.
The question we need to ask ourselves is:
Are we manifesting these Kingdom’s qualities in our daily life?
We must make it our ambition to do so. This is what we are meant to be.
