Last week, we started this two part "mini-series" of messages in the first part of the Sermon on the Mount, commonly known as The Beatitudes. To the unsaved, they would seem to be insane at first glance: you will be happy if you are poor, if you weep, if you are a 98 pound weakling, if you give mercy , if you butt in and help make peace between two people, if you are beaten up or killed for what you believe. However, upon closer examination of Matthew 5:3-8 (NKJV) we can see that this is not the case:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This is the soul under conviction so much that the person is considered "beggarly", a person so poor that they cannot even look up to the person they are asking food or money from. However, they are beggarly because of the knowledge of their sin revealed in God's Law, and humbly they become saved they have a place in heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. The unsaved person, when confronted with their sin state, not only are beggarly but mourn as one that has lost a child because of that sin. The Holy Spirit comforts them with the knowledge they are heaven-bound, and continues to come along side them.
Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. Meekness is not weakness, no quite the contrary: it is power under control. It is a gentleness and ability to handle situations because the Holy Spirit works through them. Saved Jews will inherit Israel; other Christians will inherit the authority over the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. Not a physical hunger and thirst, but a spiritual one; it will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. Because of the mercy given to us even though we did not deserve mercy (grace, unmerited favor), the Christian life should be marked by mercy given and mercy received from God.
Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. "Purity of heart cleanses the eyes of the soul so that God becomes visible." (MacArthur). This week, we will finish this series with The Blessing Paradox Part II: Persecution, Preservation, Illumination.--JH
* Peaceful Living, Peaceful Seeking
Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9a (NKJV)
Again, remember that being blessed is being happy but also being content. The world seeks to find happiness in power, lust, money and stuff; the Christian finds contentment and happiness in the things mentioned in the Beatitudes. One is mentioned above in verse 9.
This does not mean to be at peace with God; that has already been handled in the first two beatitudes. It does not mean world peace, because as we have seen time and time again, there has never been peace worldwide, 24/7/365. Even when there are no out-and-out wars, there are crimes committed each and every day. It does not mean to be at peace with one's self, although that is a byproduct for the most part of being saved. In short, it means what it says: being a peacemaker.
People are always fussing and feuding about something, social media proves that to be true. It seems as though there is a twist on the old saying when it comes to facebook, twitter and the like: "you can make some of the people happy all the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't make all the people happy all the time". There are some folks that live for drama, there are some folks that have skin as thin as the onion skin pages of my Bible, there are those that look for a fight, there are those that are not happy unless they are causing a commotion. This should not be the Christian.
As Christians, we should seek to be peacemakers. Jesus provide the ultimate peacemaking for us when He died on the cross as a sacrifice for us, proving Himself to be God when He raised Himself from the dead.
"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor 5:21, NKJV).
Because of the peace that Jesus made for us, we should seek to help people make peace in three ways. First, we must be facilitators for peace between Christians. Often churches become war zones of church gossip, jealousy, ill will and pride. I found out the hard way about six years ago that you just can't let gossip, jealousy and prideful attitudes slide and not deal with them; that's the easy way out but festers and infects the church. Peace must be made but not at the expense of sin either. Church division, arguments and dissent ion must be dealt with swiftly but in love and care. People will see Jesus in us when we do.
Second, we must seek to be peacemakers with the unsaved. At work or in the neighborhood, if two friends are at odds we should offer an olive branch to both and assist in the peacemaking process. People will see Jesus in us when we do.
Third, we must be willing to carry the gospel message to the unsaved, to be an instrument of the greatest Peacemaker of all--Jesus Christ. As Christians, we are to reflect Jesus so that people will see Jesus in us when we do.
Happy Are The Harassed
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Matthew 5:10-12 (NKJV)
In the preface to the book "Tortured for Christ", the biography of Pastor Richard Wurmbrand and his wife Sabina, Tom White (USA Director of Voice of the Martyrs) made an interesting observation. The word for witness is martur in Greek, the root word for martyr. It is the same word used to describe the witnesses looking on our lives from heaven in Hebrews 12:1. His point was that you did not necessarily have to die to be a martyr as is commonly thought but being a martur involved sacrifice and suffering, but that connotation did not actually occur until the stoning of Stephen in Acts. "The very truth to which we bear witness comes at a great cost---it can cost us our reputation, popularity and prestige. It may even cost us our families, friends or our lives."
We are blessed when we are persecuted for righteousness sake. Persecution can range anywhere from a dirty look for quoting God's Word, to being beaten, to being put to death. And, it all comes because we bear witness to the unsaved that they are wrong with God. I use the word wrong intentionally; when we witness to the lost we are telling them they are wrong, and that is a bitter pill to swallow. You see, righteousness--living right by Jesus--is confrontational. Our very actions are against Satan's lost world system, and both Satan and the lost world do not like it one bit. However, it shows that we are indeed of the kingdom of heaven; we are citizens of heaven already if we are in Christ. We are willing to bear the cost as White mentioned above because we love Christ, and we love others so much we do not want to see them go to Hell.
In verse 11, we see the term revile; the Greek term means to "defame, i.e. rail at, chide, taunt (Strongs). In short, people will gossip about you, spread nasty rumors and speak evil of you even though you are doing the right thing. To persecute means "to drive away, to chase, to put to flight, to make run or flee, to harass, trouble, to maltreat" (Vines, Thayer's Abridged). In other words, these people hate you and want to cause you personal or physical harm. You might even get punched out! They will spread lies about and against you; I have been attacked more in my life since becoming a pastor by vicious rumors and gossip than I can tell you. But, there is great reward awaiting in heaven for those that have suffered this way, especially if death is the result. Each one of the Apostles (except John) died due to their faith, and they looked upon that death as a privilege to be a witness for Jesus.
When we are persecuted, we are in good company. Jesus was put on the cross for our sins by people that loved him only a few days earlier. Hebrews 11 shows the suffering of prophets and others in the "faith hall of fame", some being sawed in two, died by the sword, were destitute and afflicted. Why? Because they knew that although the body could be killed, they would live forever with Jesus and loved Him because of what He did for them.
* Are You Worth Your Salt?
You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men." Matt 5:13 (NKJV)
There are quite a few folks that I have heard in my life say "He's as common as the salt of the earth". That was meant to mean that a man was a humble man, implying that salt was plentiful, low cost and therefore humble. Not in Jesus' time.
Jesus states "you are the salt of the earth". Salt in Bible times was actually a valuable commodity; in fact, Roman soldiers were paid in salt as it was used in place of money as a means of pay. If you were to share salt with someone, even an enemy, that was a sign of friendship because of it's value. One of the things that Jesus may have implied here was that those that are saved are valuable in His sight, and that makes sense being that Jesus paid such a high price for us.
What does salt do? Most scholars would see the obvious, that it is a flavoring agent. As Christians, we are to be different; while the world hates, plots and plans evil, gossips, steals and is self centered we are to love, plot and plan good, uplift others and look for the good, give to those in need sacrificially and think of ourselves last. Actions like these, though some would mock and take advantage, are visibly different and add a flavor to the world that God uses to draw the unsaved to Himself.
Salt is also a preserving agent. The church, as flawed as it is at times, is a preserving agent in the world. How? It's people are the primary means of extending the good news of Jesus; it's people help fund missionary causes of which the effect is felt globally; the church also helps in time of disaster. It's presence, empowered by the Holy Spirit, is an agent against evil in the world.
Salt is also a stinging agent. You are probably saying "what?". We have all had those times when we have a cut or scratch and salt is introduced into that wound; it stings like crazy. John MacArthur notes in his commentary "Christians are to sting the world, prick its conscience, make it uncomfortable in the presence of God's holy gospel." While we are to be kind, humble and have power under control, we are also to be "straight shooters" and confront a sinful world with the truth: sin kills, the penalty of sin is eternal spiritual death without the saving blood of Jesus Christ.
MacArthur also noted that salt produces thirst. "God intends for His people so to live and testify before the world that others will be made more aware of their spiritual dehydration and danger. A person may see our peace in a trying circumstance, or our confidence in what we believe, and thereby be persuaded to try our faith."
How does salt "lose it's flavor"? In Jesus' day, most salt was obtained from marshes and earthen salt deposits, and was very impure. When the salt was stored, especially if it got damp, the salt part leached out and all that was left was the earthen component. It was worthless, had no flavor, and was thrown out. This speaks of being defiled by impurities (impure living), and ruins the savor of the life of the Christian and that Christian (if indeed a Christian) becomes useless.
Shine Bright!
You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matt 5:14-16 (NKJV)
Most Christians understand that Jesus is "the light of men" (John 1:4), and that "the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (1:5). A.T. Robertson notes that "did not comprehend" would be better translated as "did not overtake or overcome": "The light kept on shining in spite of the darkness that was worse than a London fog." (Robertson's Word Pictures). When Jesus came as the light in the world, the darkness of the world fled away at His presence. Even when Jesus went to the cross and the darkness of evil seemed to win, it was only temporary but Jesus' triumph over death and the grave was permanent.
The term "Christian" (Acts 26:28, 12 Peter 4:16), means "follower of Christ", and also "little Christs"; not that we as Christians are Christ but that we are a reflection of Him. Since Jesus is the Light, we are also the light that is in the world to light it up; darkness flees the light like cockroaches when the light switch is turned on. We are to light up a dark, sinful world with the truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ.
The city that Jesus refers to is thought by scholars to be Jerusalem. The Jews thought that they were the single light to the world, and they were indeed supposed to be the light to the gentiles to bring them to God (Is 49:6; Luke 2:32). However, with Jesus uses the church today to bring light to the world, as we are members (or body parts) of the body of Christ. That being said, Jerusalem and most of the Jewish cities of note were put up on a hill and you could see them for miles; at night with the torches burning they drew people's eyes to them above all other things. Likewise, we are not to be hidden, we are to be like a bright city on a hill at night and our works and righteousness are to be seen.
We are not hide our light--keep Jesus to ourselves by not witnessing, not living for Him--and instead are to make it plain and obvious that He is our Savior and we are His people. It's like the popular saying: "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would their be enough evidence to convict you of the crime?" It is as though we light up a dark room. President Woodrow Wilson was getting a haircut, and a man unknown to him walked into the room. The man did not say a word, but his presence was felt and people acted differently--better--around him. Later, President Wilson found out the man was DL Moody; his light shined in that barber shop.
When we shine our light--the light of Jesus Christ as "little Christians"--God changes the world through us. This is not meant to be a self centered thing that draws attention to us, but a Christ centered behavior that God uses in drawing the unsaved world to Him. And people will come like moths to a flame.
