Blessed Believers
Luke 6:20-26
Introduction: The setting for our text today took place on a mountain plateau not far from the city of Capernaum, thus the phrase (sermon on the mount). The section of that sermon that we will examine today is called the (beatitudes) taken from the word “beati” meaning blessed. Most of the context of the beatitudes are what we call a paradoxical, which means the very reverse of the world’s view of things. The Sermon on the Mount does not deal directly with the plan of salvation; however, it lays out for the disciple and the potential believers how making Jesus the lord of our lives translates into ethic and moral daily living. In other words this is the believers attitudes that they should displayed or the (be-attitudes). The idea behind the ancient Greek word for blessed is "happy," but in the truest, godly sense of the word, not in our modern sense of merely being comfortable or entertained at the moment by certain “happen stances”.
Message thought: So today I want to lay upon your heart five attitudes or attributes that kingdom citizens should display and as we do so, ask you to examine your own heart and see if you are truly living the life of a blessed person according to Jesus.
A. Blessed believers are humble people: (Verse 20) “…blessed be ye poor…”
· To be poor in spirit is not a man’s confession that he is by nature insignificant, or personally without value, for that would be untrue. Humility is not thinking lowly of yourself but rather it is a confession that we are sinful and rebellious and utterly without moral virtues adequate enough to commend ourselves to a holy God.
· Poor: Jesus uses the more severe term for poverty. The ancient Greek word here indicates someone who must beg for whatever they have or will get.
· But those who are poor in spirit, so poor they must beg, are rewarded: they receive the kingdom of God. Therefore poverty of spirit is an absolute prerequisite for receiving the kingdom of heaven, because as long as we keep illusions about our own spiritual resources, we will never receive from God what we absolutely need to be saved. Poverty of spirit cannot be artificially induced by self-hatred. It comes as the Holy Spirit works in our heart and we respond to Him.
Question: Do you become irritated when corrected for mistakes? Do you accept praise for this that you had no control over such as talent, beauty, and abilities? Do you have an ungrateful spirit? Are you always in competition with others? The late great Adrian Rogers once said, “If you’ll come to Christ as a pauper, you’ll leave as a prince, come to him as a prince, and you’ll leave a beggar.”
B. Blessed believers are hungry people: (Verse 21) “…blessed are they that hunger now…”
· The worst thing that can happen to a Christian is for he or she to lose their spiritual hunger for righteousness and one of the greatest frustrations for a pastor is to try to force-feed a satisfied spirit. Note the word hunger: This describes a profound craving that cannot be satisfied by a snack. This is a longing that endures and is never completely satisfied on this side of eternity. Matthew uses the phrase “ Hunger and thirst” for righteousness, which are driving forces of the human makeup. We see Christians hungering for many things: power, authority, success, comfort, happiness - but how many hunger and thirst for righteousness? To be save, satisfied and petrified is a terrible state for a believer to be in. One of the best indicators of a healthy physical body is a healthy appetite and this is also true in the spiritual realm.
Question: How many hours do you spend each week in bible study? In prayer? In one on one witnessing? In feeding your mind on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report? The good news is the rest of this verse, which states: “…for ye shall be filled…”
· One of the greatest joys that a pastor can have, is the joy of seeing hungry souls feast upon a God given message and to watch them grow in strength through spiritual nutrition. If you are not as hungry for the things of God as you once were, go to him in prayer and ask him to restore your spiritual appetite, for he is more than willing, he has promised he would.
We have a revival planned for this church October 5,6,7 and 8. Oh how I pray for you to attend, and come truly hungry and thirsty.
C. Blessed believers are hurting people: (Verse 21) “…blessed are ye that weep now…”
· If there is one characteristic of the spirit filled Christian life that will always remain constant until we all get to heaven is this: Christians hurt! (Matt. 5:4) “Blessed are they that morn…” Morning, weeping, crying and hurting is as much of the Christian life as joy, peace, love and mercy. We weep over a fallen world. We weep over lost souls. We weep over out own sinfulness. We weep for our Lords return. We weep for our deceased loved ones. We weep for the injustices that we witness. However, the rest of this verse reads: “…for ye shall laugh.” Matthew gospel says, “…for they shall be comforted.”
Ill. If you want to learn what a person is really like, ask three questions: What makes him laugh? What makes him angry? What makes him weep? These are fairly good tests of character that are especially appropriate for Christian leaders. I hear people saying, "We need angry leaders today!" or "The time has come to practice militant Christianity!" Perhaps, but "the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God" (James 1:20).
What we need today is not anger but anguish, the kind of anguish that Moses displayed when he broke the two tablets of the law and then climbed the mountain to intercede for his people, or that Jesus displayed when He cleansed the temple and then wept over the city. The difference between anger and anguish is a broken heart. It’s easy to get angry, especially at somebody else’s sins; but it’s not easy to look at sin, our own included, and weep over it (Warren Wiersbe).
D. Blessed believers are hated people: (Verse 22) “…blessed are ye, when men shall hate you…”
One of the greatest testimonies that a Christian could have is that they were hated by the world! To be hated for taking a stand for Christ should be the goal of every believer. (John 15:18) “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before if hated you.” Ill. In 1858 the Illinois legislature--using an obscure statute--sent Stephen A. Douglas to the U.S. Senate instead of Abraham Lincoln, although Lincoln had won the popular vote. When a sympathetic friend asked Lincoln how he felt, he said, "Like the boy who stubbed his toe: I am too big to cry and too badly hurt to laugh. Rejection and hatred by the world sometimes can be very painful but as Christ has said: (Luke 6:26) “Woe unto you, when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”
Question: are you a friend of the world or hated by the world for Christ sake?
When we seek God like a poor man seeks money, like a hungry man seeks food, or like a weeping person seeks comfort, we will face persecution from those who want other things. (John 16:33) “…In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world”
E. Blessed believers are hopeful people: (Verse 23) “Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven…”
· Blessed people are people that look beyond the here and now to a different time and place where heaven will be their eternal home.
Ill. A man approached a little league baseball game one afternoon. He asked a boy in the dugout what the score was. The boy responded, "Eighteen to nothing--we’re behind."
"Boy," said the spectator, "I’ll bet you’re discouraged."
"Why should I be discouraged?" replied the little boy. "We haven’t even gotten up to bat yet!"
· The truth is, no one likes to be rejected, reproached or hated, however, our joy and hope is not in the fact that we are hated by the world, but rather that we are hated by the world “…for the Son of man’s sake…”
Ill. The Scriptures teach that the happiness or blessedness of believers in a future life will be greater or less in proportion to the service of Christ in this life. Those who love little, do little; and those who do little, enjoy less.
Charles Hodge.
Conclusion: Are you a blessed believer? Do you have a humble spirit that displays a beggar’s dependence upon God? Do you hunger for righteousness? Does sin in this fallen world and your own sinful actions cause a hurting and a morning in your spirit? Do people hate you because you are a Christian? Do you rejoice in the hope and promises of heavens rewards? If your answer to these questions is no, then you must ask yourself the hardest question of all; why not!
Sermon by
Phillip R. Schrimsher
