Discipleship Part 3: Character Traits
Scriptures: Matthew 5:3-11; James 4:7-10; Psalm 51:1-4
Introduction
This morning we will continue with the character traits of a disciple. Last week I focused on how a disciple must be willing to obey Christ. I shared with you that obedience is better than any sacrifice that we can offer God. This week we will go back to Matthew chapter five and examine more closely the beatitudes. We will examine these as character traits, a way of behaving for a disciple. We will begin with verse three.
I. Poor In Spirit Trait
As I shared with you a couple of weeks ago, the word “blessed” that Jesus used throughout the beatitudes comes from the Greek word makarios and is an adjective that means “happy”. In the Old Testament the word denotes a moral quality. In the New Testament it means just what it says, happy. Revelations 14:13 speaks of the dead who died in Christ and guess what, they are now happy. As I stated a couple of weeks ago, happiness for us is based on outward circumstances that bring pleasure to us. But when Jesus chose this word, He did so because the happiness that He was speaking of comes from within based on some internal knowledge of understanding of one’s spiritual state. In verse three Jesus said “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3)
The term poor in spirit refer to those who were virtuous yet despised and persecuted by the worldly rich. This poverty goes beyond just being poor and of the working class; it also encompasses someone who might be spiritually destitute. Jesus said that this person would be happy because theirs was the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven in this verse means the reign of God in the heart and life of the person. It was not that they had to wait until they died and got to heaven; they experience this right here on earth. Remember, Jesus often spoke of the kingdom heaven being present with them because He was with them. This character trait, poor in spirit, clashes with what is promoted in the world with its value system. The world places a lot of value on pride and personal independence. The one who is poor in spirit cannot be found walking in a lot of self pride and understands by definition that they are in need of someone. Pride and personal independence fights against obedience and a need for Christ. Pride and personal independence says that “I can make it alone; I do not need anyone.” The person who walks with God with this being part of their overall character will be rewarded with the kingdom of heaven being evident in their life here on earth. There are things that they will experience spiritually/emotionally that others who do not have this will wonder about. When others are out chasing the riches and fame, these individuals will have contentment internally as they know what truly matters to God. God will reign in the heart of these people because they are open to Him being there. If you’re wondering how you can develop this character trait, turn to James chapter four and it will tell you. James 4:7-10 records the following: “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”
As you read these verses, does it not conflict with what the world says? When we read these verses the thing that stands out is that we have to make the first move. The first move is to submit to God. It is hard to submit to anyone when the world teaches us to walk in pride and become independent. “I have rights and I have the right to do what I want!” This is the world’s attitude; but Jesus called us to have a different attitude. James also tells us to resist the devil. Resistance must happen at the beginning; not when you’re in the middle of the sin. When we resist; calling upon the name of the Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit; he will flee. James also says that when we draw near to God, He will draw near to us. It is not the other way around as the world teaches us. We are taught not to chase anyone; but to wait for them to chase us or to make the first move. In our relationship with God He is waiting on us to make the first move. James also says that we should cleanse ourselves of sin and repent. Again, the ownership is on us to make the move. Finally James says that we should humble ourselves in the presence of the Lord. Being humble is not an easy thing to be in the world in which we live in.
According to James, we must submit to God; resist the devil; draw near to God; repent and cleanse ourselves of sin; and humble ourselves before Him. In taking these actions we will become someone described as poor in spirit while experiencing the kingdom of God in our lives today because we will not be living according to the world’s value system. We will become strangers to those living by the world’s standard. The first trait of a disciple is being obedient and James speaks of that. With the obedience comes the choice to be poor in spirit; meaning that we have set aside what the world says is important as we seek out what God says is important. Look at verse four. This one can be confusing if we do not understand the meaning of the words.
II. The Mourners
Matthew 5:4 says “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” You may be wondering how being a mourner can be a character trait that a disciple should develop. Well, let me explain it to you. In the Greek Old Testament this verb is usually used “for mourning for the dead and for the sorrows and sins of others.” I have had many people that I have been close to die and when they died, I mourned. I cried and I mourned their loss, even though I knew where most of them were. In each and every case, even though people tried to comfort me with words of comfort, I found the peace that I needed in God. He was the one who provided comfort when I needed it most – when I was in mourning. There is something about sorrow that makes a Christian reach out to God to find the comfort that only He can give. Grieving the death of someone is one example of this Scripture; but there is a second example which is most important as it relates to it being a character trait of a disciple.
The second example as to how this word “mourn” is used focuses on how we should mourn for the sorrows and sins of others. We are compelled to reach out and comfort those who are experiencing some type of sorrow. We will call, send cards, cook for them, and do whatever we can to comfort them. That is what a good friend, relative and Christian does when someone is in sorrow. But what about those situations when we know someone is living in sin or choosing to sin consistently in the choices they make? Because we care, their lives should trouble us enough where we will mourn for them and through that mourning reach out to God on their behalf. This type of mourning is focused on others because we care about them and are concerned about how they are living in their relationship with God. Remember, a disciple of Christ is focused on the eternity of those they come into contact with and that is why this is a trait of a disciple. We do not want anyone to be separated from God for all eternity so when we know someone is living in such a state where that is a possibility, it should cause us to have concern.
Jesus was concerned about those who were hurting; experiencing sorrow; and especially those living in sin. He cared about the total person. Luke chapter four records the story of Jesus going home to Nazareth. When He entered the synagogue, they gave Him the scriptures to read. Jesus turned to Isaiah the sixty-first chapter and read the following: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners. To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.” (Isaiah 61:1-2) When Jesus finished reading, He told them that this scripture had been fulfilled in their presence on that day. Jesus came to comfort; heal and set all who were spiritually imprisoned free and He is still doing that through us. The reason this is one of the traits of a disciple is that if we do not care about the condition of the people around us we will never be moved to do anything about it. Before we can act with compassion, we must care. When we care we will mourn when we see others hurting or living a lifestyle that could possibly place their eternity with Christ in jeopardy.
Again, this character traits conflicts with the world as the world tells us to live and let live; mind our own business and stay out of everyone else’s; and leave others well enough alone! This cannot be something that we take on as a part of our character. Remember what we read in James the fourth chapter? If we begin to submit to God; drawing near to Him; and humbling ourselves before Him; this act alone will change our hearts. We will find ourselves caring about people that we never would have given a second thought about earlier. But to do that we must be like David and recognize our state of un-holiness and turn back to God. When we remember what God has done for us, we will not ever approach someone else in their sin with an attitude of superiority; but of one with compassion acknowledging that we too have been where they are currently.
When you have time, go back and read Psalm 51. It was written after David had the affair with Bathsheba and had her husband killed to cover up the affair and her pregnancy. After the prophet Nathan called him out on it, David wrote the Psalm. I want to read the first four verses of it to give you an idea of his state of mind and then I want to ask you a question. Verses one through four of Psalm 51 says: “Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash Me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge.” Psalm 51:1-4
When you read these verses does it sound like a person who would ever try to help someone else come out of sin with a mindset of superiority? No, David was broken and fell on his face before God. He did not try to justify his actions, he admitted he had sinned and cried out to God for forgiveness. When we get to this point in our relationship with God, it changes how we deal with others around us. This is how we begin to understand and mourn for the state of others. First we recognize what God has done for us. We acknowledge our sins and do not take a proud stance in an attempt to justify them or shift the blame to someone else. We know that we have sinned and we are truly sorry. It is this sorrowful state of mind that God acknowledges and comforts. When we go into mourning for the lives of others as well as when we recognize the state of our own lives, we shall be comforted through the love of Jesus Christ.
This is a way of life (being able to mourn) for those who care about others. Imagined the freedom we would have if we only cared about ourselves. As long as things were going well in our life, that would be all that mattered. We would not care about anything that was happening around us. If we lived this way we would not have a reason to ever be in mourning for someone else because we only care about ourselves. We cannot be concerned for anyone else because our own world is takes up too much of our time and energy. But this is not who Christ has called us to be.
One of the character traits of a good disciple is being able to care enough about the lives of others to the point of being troubled when their lives are out of control. Caring is one thing, but to be troubled is something else. We care about our family members and friends. We care about what happens to them and what is going on in their lives. But there are times when we see things they are doing that are not in their best interest and yet we keep our mouth closed. We care, but we are not troubled enough to say something about it. Then there are the times when someone we care about is doing something that truly disturbs us and we feel as if we have no choice but to say something to them. We know it is a risk, but we know we have to say something, even if it means angering them. This is what Jesus hints at when He talks about those who mourn. Do you mourn those around you whose lives are not what they should be for whatever reason? Is your spirit troubled enough where you will take time to pray for them in the midnight hour? As we develop more and more in this character trait, we will begin to reach out to those we care about proactively because we will be moved with compassion for them to do so.
We will pick up here next week with verse five.
