(Read Matthew 5:1-10)
We are on week three of our study of the Sermon on the Mount. So far, we have just been establishing some groundwork. Looking at why we would dedicate such energy to this study, and what the overall structure of the sermon is. I hope you are getting engaged at a personal level in preparing for the coming week’s study, and exploring at a deeper level what we have looked at together during our time here on Sundays.
Let’s see how well we already know the Sermon on the Mount. Sermon on the Mount Trivia – Part 2. Let’s get the blood flowing a little this time. Everybody stand up. This side of the room is true. This side of the room is false. Ready? (Give Trivia Quiz)
Okay, you can return to your seats, but one more trivia question. Last week we broke down the sermon into three major parts that matched up with the chapters. Chapter five was primarily concerned with the what of God (Law)? Chapter six guides us through living where (in the presence of God)? And chapter seven provides a forecast of the coming what of God (judgment)?
In case you have not taken the time to explore some of the resources that will go along with our study, or in particular, if you have not had a chance to look at John Wesley’s opening sermon on the Sermon on the Mount, I want to read you just a few thoughts from him on the importance of this sermon. (Read highlight #1 from Wesley’s introductory message on the Sermon on the Mount)
As we go through this study, never lose sight of that. These are the very words of Jesus. Not some mere mortal, prophet or teacher. The very Son of God, who is within the Trinity fully God. This is God speaking directly to us. That’s a powerful thought, and should strike you as such. Three chapters of God speaking to you.
And then catch this (read highlight #2). Wesley is saying, the Sermon on the Mount is unlike any other place in the Bible, or history for that matter, because it is the only place where in one single setting Jesus set out to give us a picture of the whole of Christianity. The entire thing at once. How we are to live. Who we are to live before. And the reality that we will be judged on those two items.
We often tell new Christians to begin reading their Bibles in John. I have never understood that. I get 15 verses into John, and I’m already confused. However, I think the Sermon on the Mount is a great starting place. Because in three chapters, Christ lays out for us the whole of what it means and looks like to follow Him. Powerful thoughts from the namesake of our denomination.
So today we find ourselves diving into this sermon, beginning at the beginning with a passage commonly known as the Beatitudes.
If you were to ask me the most important part of any sermon, I would tell you it is the beginning. (example of mentored ministry sermon processing)
But even beyond presentation, it is the content that sets the stage for the remainder of the message. Often, it is what people remember most. Maybe all they remember. If they remember anything at all!
So it is with great interest that we should approach and examine, how did Jesus start this sermon? And the answer is, with the Beatitudes. With this general description of what the essential characteristics and features are of the Christian life.
And I want to highlight two important things that I feel towards a study of the Beatitudes. First, as with any Bible study, we should almost always, almost by rule of thumb, begin by looking at the whole before we start picking apart the parts. So we need to take at least some time to look at this group of verses, this introduction to the message, as a whole. The Beatitudes as a whole.
Secondly, often in a sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount, the entire look at the Beatitudes might consume one message. One out of 10 or 12 messages. Handled in a block like passages on the law, passages on the spiritual disciplines, or the like.
In fact, people like us pastors to quickly move to the thrilling and exciting. “Okay, blessed, blessed, blessed. Great. Now, what does it say about how much money I have to give? What does it say about if my husband is looking at women at the pool? What does it say about whether I really have to do this crazy thing called fasting?” That’s what people want to know.
But those are conduct issues. And I don’t think it does any good to address conduct issues without first addressing character issues. You can keep suspending the high school kid who is constantly caught smoking in the boy’s room. But until you address his character of honesty and integrity and respect, it’s not going to make any difference.
Can I suggest something this morning? Holiness is not a change of conduct. Holiness is a change of character. We have gotten that wrong through the years. It is not about behaving different while still having the same, corrupt, carnal, and sinful heart. It is about having a different heart, which changes the way I behave.
So we need to spend a good deal of time with “the poor in spirit” and the “meek” before we go onto the exciting, and thrilling “what we can get away with and what we can’t” items.
So here we go. Read through the beatitudes this week. Might take you 30 seconds to 1 minute a day. Read through them, reflect on them as a whole, and consider the following general lessons about the beatitudes.
1. ALL CHRISTIANS ARE TO BE LIKE THE BEATITUDES
Last week I told you about my recent disturbance with all of these labels of different kinds of Christians. Is he a “born-again” Christian? Is she an “evangelical” Christian? Are they C & E Christians? You know, Christmas and Easter Christians. Are they in the Lord’s Army or the Secret Service?
Well when we read the Beatitudes, we are reading a description of the character of all Christians. Not just those looking to earn a whole role of gold stars in Sunday School. Not just the “over achievers” in the crowd. This is Jesus’ description of a Christian. This is what they, we, are all supposed to look like.
A common place of misunderstanding comes about from passages such as I Timothy 3:2, which is on your teaching outline. It says, “An overseer (or church leader, LBA member in today’s world) must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.” (I Timothy 3:2-4, ESV)
That is how a leader of the church is described. But nowhere in Scripture does it say, “So, if you don’t want to be a leader. You can simply be a Christian in the church who has many wives, is constantly drunk, kicks his dog, lives for the almighty dollar, and loves arguing from the time he wakes up until he goes to bed.” Right?
No. We shouldn’t take Scripture where the role of leader, or deacon, or pastor is described, and from it deduct that the rest of us don’t have to live that way. We get to live the plan B Christian life. It doesn’t work that way. Jesus says, “This is what someone who follows me looks like. They are meek. They hunger and thirst for righteousness. They are merciful. They mourn. They are peacemakers.”
As Lloyd-Jones writes, “This is not merely a description of the Hudson Taylors or the George Mullers or the Whitefields or Wesleys of this world; it is a description of every Christian.”
A general lesson of the Beatitudes is that every Christians is to be like the Beatitudes. Another general lesson regarding this whole piece of the pie. . .
2. ALL CHRISTIANS ARE MEANT TO BE ALL OF THE BEATITUDES.
What Jesus gives us here is a description of the character of a Christian. They are not spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are given out to believers in different varieties as the Holy Spirit wills it. So I may teach, and you might intercede. I might have a gift of giving, and you might have a gift of discernment. Spiritual gifts given to us by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of being able to minister within the body of Christ and the world around us.
But remember, the Beatitudes are not about conduct. They are about character. That’s my one big takeaway for this week. Last week, the three divisions. This week, the Beatitudes are not about conduct, they are about character. And all Christians are meant to exhibit all of the character that Jesus describes in these Beatitudes. In fact, what I think we are going to begin to see as we study them together, is that they out of necessity imply the others.
As we become poor in spirit, we mourn. As we mourn, we are humbled and become meek. As we are humbled, we begin to hunger and thirst for the things of God. As we recognize how desperately we are in need of the righteousness of God, we become more merciful to those around us. And on, and on, and on.
Without the previous, it would be very difficult, if not impossible to live out the latter. That isn’t by accident. That is all part of how Jesus taught the Beatitudes, because He never intended for them to be sliced and diced, and picked apart for the pieces we desire to live. All Christians are meant to be all of the Beatitudes. Third. . .
3. BEING LIKE THE BEATITUDES IS NOT NATURAL.
When we read through this description, we can think what we want of ourselves, but none of us naturally, in and of ourselves, can conform to the description of Christian character given to us here by Christ. Nobody was born looking like this. Not Lincoln, not Madison, not Allie, not me, not Peggy or Pauline.
What we do know is that God’s desire and intention is that whatever we may be by birth, this is what we were all meant to be like in life. This is living life the way it was meant to be lived. This is what He has purposed for each and every one of us. This is what we are capable, through the power of the Holy Spirit, of being. It may not be natural, but neither is it impossible.
I have to spend very little time here, because if you have read through the Beatitudes a time or two, and want to argue that this type of life does comes naturally for you. . .well, then you probably don’t have a whole lot of need for anything we could teach you or help you with.
Which brings us to maybe the most significant, overarching lesson of the Beatitudes.
4. THE BEATITUDES DESCRIBE THE ESSENTIAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CHRISTIAN AND THE NON-CHRISTIAN.
And this stretches beyond the Beatitudes throughout the entire Sermon on the Mount. These are not just descriptions of what we are to look like. Later on, we will not just explore understanding of what we are to act like. But beyond that egocentric exploration of the sermon, is a larger perspective which makes the point that there are supposed to be significant differences between the Christian and the non-Christian.
You see, our objective and concern is not supposed to be with being as much like everybody else as we can be. Rather, we are to desire to be as different from everybody who is not a Christian as we can be. Our ambition is to be like Christ. And inherent in that ambition is the reality that being more and more like Christ will make us less and less like everybody who is not a Christ follower.
This is hard to hear, harder to live, and killing the church of the 21st century. Christians must stop living in admiration of non-Christians. I’ve been guilty of it. I’ve done it.
I’ve met people that seemed like really good parents. Loved their kids. Went to all of their events. Were patient with them. Seemed to just enjoy and relish their presence. And I thought, “I wish I could be more of a parent like them.” But I knew they didn’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Think about that. Admiring a fellow parent that seemingly does everything wonderfully, but doesn’t do a single thing to steer their child away from an eternity in hell. Why would I admire that? Why would I want to emulate that? Why would I, in any portion or amount, want to look more like that? I should know better.
I should want nothing to do with looking an ounce more like everybody else, and have everything to do with hoping I can someone look an ounce more like Christ. He is the model for what He describes in the Beatitudes.
Please hear me this morning, because again, I have been as guilt of this as anyone. But when we take a non-Christian boss, friend, or neighbor. And we admire them for their business sense. Or their financial skills. Or their patience and perseverance. Or their knowledge. Or even their athletic skill. While all along knowing that the only thing that really matters doesn’t matter to them. At that point, we have bought into the world’s standards rather than God’s.
And truth be told. More people in the church today are mesmerized by Donald Trump, than the 80 year-old prayer warrior in their church. More people are captivated by who becomes the next American Idol, than who becomes the next one to enter into a personal relationship with Christ. Us, even us. Christians. Myself included. Will celebrate with more gusto the winner of the upcoming Super Bowl, than we will the 12 year old boy who commits to reading his Bible every night as part of his hunger and thirst for righteousness.
These Beatitudes. These characteristics that Jesus gives as a picture of a Christian. They make up the essential difference between the Christian and the non-Christian. They are not just counter-culture. They are counter our world. And the more we look like this. Simultaneously, the less we will look like them. And as Jesus describes in verse 11, that carries some pretty challenging consequences with it.
And that is all because of this final lesson. . .
5. THE CHRISTIAN AND THE NON-CHRISTIAN BELONG TO ENTIRELY DIFFERENT KINGDOMS.
Check this out. A great preaching technique of starting and ending with the same for emphasis. Verse 3 (read). Verse 10 (read).
When Jesus sits down on the mountain, and lays out the general description of the character of a Christ follower, He starts and ends the description with the same truth. . .we belong to a different kingdom.
My brother and father, and even a cousin and uncle or two really enjoy going back and forth regarding politics. Especially in an election year like this. My Facebook and Outlook inboxes have been averaging a half dozen emails a day throwing around opinions, reflections, and discussions regarding this pool of candidates that are currently before us.
And I understand that different people have different passions and interests in the political realm, and that’s okay. But I do get greatly concerned when I run into Christians that in the span of a week, spend a whole lot more time studying the future leader of this kingdom, than they do studying the leader of the kingdom.
This is not a call for Christians to be ignorant of the world around us. I believe that Christians can, and at times should feel led to be engaged in impacting our culture and society through political involvement. My mother serves on the Senior California State Legislature. Debbie and I used to be in a small group couple Bible study with the current Communications Director for Governor Schwarzenegger. I have prayed invocations at Lexington City Council Meetings, and a luncheon for the Kentucky League of Cities. We recognize sanctity of life Sunday and the importance of brining a legal end to abortion.
This is not a cry for a separation of church and state that says we have nothing to do with the political process. But we must always remember what kingdom we belong to. And we must always give priority to knowing, and understanding, and following the words and directions of our eternal president over anything that takes place within this kingdom in which we are to be aliens, and strangers.
But what is this kingdom of heaven that Christ is tying our citizenship to? It is. . .
a. The Kingdom Christ Reigns In
Wherever Jesus was present, and was exercising His authority, at that place and time, the kingdom of heaven was there. Turn quickly with me to Matthew 12. Matthew 12:22 (read through verse 28).
There was the kingdom of God. When Jesus was there. Putting His rule and reign into practice, the kingdom was there. Wherever Christ reign is being manifested, the kingdom of God is there.
Jesus passed this authority on to his disciples when He sent them out. And He told them, if there are cities which won’t receive you. You tell them. The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you. Because where my authority dwells, and is active, and is put into action, there the Kingdom of God is present.
And that means today that the kingdom of heaven is. . .
b. Present In All Believers
Look at what Paul writes in Colossians 1:13, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14, ESV)
Paul says, when we were saved. When we transferred from non-Christian to Christian. When we made that decision to follow Christ. There was a transfer of citizenship. We were delivered from the domain of darkness, the kingdom of this world, into the kingdom of the Son.
So when we recognize Christ as Lord and Savior, and allow Him to reign in our lives, then the kingdom of heaven is within us. And where we go, the kingdom of heaven goes and is present. That’s why Jesus will go on to say, “You are the light of the world.” Because we are the carriers of the kingdom of heaven into the world that we live in.
And all the while remember that the kingdom of heaven is. . .
c. Yet To Come
It was here on earth as Jesus walked the earth. It is in us as we live as citizens of the kingdom of heaven. But it is still yet to come in its fullness when Christ shall return and establish His reign over all the earth, I believe even in a very physical and material sense. And I believe soon.
The day is coming where as Paul describes in Philippians, “Every knee shall bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11, ESV)
That is the day, the kingdom of heaven that is yet to come. And that is the kingdom which we are citizens of. Not the United States. Not the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, or Green Party. Not the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Those are labels the world needs to place us in the proper hole. But our citizenship is in the kingdom of heaven.
Let me wrap this up for us by asking you, what is your response to the Beatitudes? That might be a question that requires some time of prayer and reflection of you this week. What is your response to the Beatitudes?
Do you find them harsh and hard? Unattainable? Too high of an exacting standard to be placed on us as human beings? In and of the world’s view of self-reliance and self-achievement, they are.
Do you find them too against the grain? Too strange looking to your friends and family? To odd of a life to have to live in contemporary culture? Such answers might reveal what audience we are attempting to live before. Who we are more concerned with pleasing, and being accepted by. The world or Christ?
Do you find yourself totally and utterly unlike the Beatitudes, but longing to become what Jesus has described? Desiring for your character to be molded and shaped into that of the ‘poor in spirit,’ ‘the meek,’ the one who hungers and thirsts for righteousness? Then for you, I want to pray an outpouring of the Holy Spirit into your life so that you will be filled.
Do you find yourself thinking, that is what I want to live like, but I haven’t even taken the first step of dropping my net and following Him? Then today can be the day of your salvation.
Let’s pray.
