Steps to Victory!
Matthew 5:3-9
Introduction:
If you remember back about two months ago, I launched a sermon series, preaching on the Greatest Sermon Ever Preached by the Greatest Preacher that Ever Lived, Jesus Christ on the Sermon on the Mount that I titled “Being the Believing”. And, we started that journey with the Beatitudes introduced in Matthew chapter 5 verse 3.
If you remember when I started preaching through the Beatitudes, I stated that I liked to view them as a ladder, or the “Beatitudnal ladder”. That as I studied them I could not help but observe that these were all steps that led to the victorious Christian life. Yet to each step was dependent on the completion of the step before it. One of the problems facing our culture is that we like to have the best NOW, we are a self-entitled and instant society. We shun work. We are lazy. We expect to have everything our Grandparents had without going through the sweat, blood, time and work to have it!
And, this attitude has crept into the church in the past 50 years and so many think that they should have Peter walking on water and David slaying Goliath faith the moment they become Christians. That is why the health and wealth, prosperity message of today is taking root in our churches: its message can be summed up by: GREATNESS NOW! This is verified by the title of a book written by a leader in that prosperity camp “Your Best Life Now!”
Listen, Christianity is TOUGH! It is HARD! It is a journey! It is NOT instant! Like John MacArthur once said, if this is your best life NOW, you are on your way to hell!
(Saved…POW you are SUPER CHRISTIAN!). You ever see someone have great faith? (Lady in Friendship Manor-lost husband, legs, homes, car, job, dog in same accident…wheeling her room to room to brighten the knee replacement folks!!!) You DO NOT GET THAT kind of faith instantly or without work!
That is why I love the beatitudes! It is here we discover the Christian journey laid out in 8 steps! Take a step, receive a reward and move up, take another, receive a reward, and move up. And, by the time you hit the 8th rung of this ladder, you claim VICTORY! In fact, these Beatitudes have such a progression that when you reach the 8th rung, it is as if you have fought in the Greek coliseum, won the battle and have made your way up the stairs to the King and are prepared to be awarded a crown of victory, your ultimate reward! (PICTURE OF STAGE)
These 8 steps should be divided into two segments: the first four steps deal with our relationship with God and the last four deals with our relationship with each other:
Our Relationship With God:
Step One: Poverty “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” –Mt. 5:3
This does not mean that God blesses those that have no value, are junk and are nobody’s. God does not make junk and everybody is THUMBODY! For YOU are created in the image and likeness of God! And “The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” –Zeph. 3:17
Do not believe the devils lie that you have no value, you are a creation of the living GOD and He loves you with an everlasting love.
This word poor means “to cower and cringe like a beggar, and to be pitiful, inferior and worthless.” To be “poor in spirit” literally means that you are spiritually bankrupt before God. To understand there is nothing you can do to elevate yourself up into glory, latch hold of God and claim heaven as your future home. You can’t bring your: Bible study, church attendance, money, good deeds, intelligence, baptism, church membership, degrees or positions held. It is simply a matter of falling on your face before the cross of Calvary, crying from your heart “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling”.
Hear me: Only this cry of brokenness will move God’s hand of grace in your direction. It is not about what you do, or who you are but what He has done and who He is. What did He do?
One day God looked down at a sinful humanity marked with rebellion and pride and said to His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ, I want you to leave Glory, don the robes of humanity, be born of a virgin, become one of them that you might save all of them. Live, laugh and love for 33 years then lay your life down: suffer, be rejected, despised and hang on the cross made from the tree that you planted thousands of years ago, suspended ½ way between your home and ½ way between your world, with both turning their backs on you and die. On the third day, you will have the power and authority to raise yourself from the dead, defeating sin, Satan and even death itself! You will walk out of that borrowed tomb demonstrating to an unbelieving world there is power in the blood!
If God believed that your need was so great that He had to sacrifice His Only Son, you must believe that you need that kind of sacrifice to save you. You will never enjoy a saving relationship with God until you NEED a saving relationship with God. And when you cry out with that poor spirit, he will give you the kingdom of heaven! Now that is a reward!
To be taken from the grips of sin and placed in the grips of His grace! To change your father from Satan to Savior. From being controlled by sin to being guided by the Spirit. From hell to heaven, Sinai to Zion, wretched to wealthy, fear to faith, death to life, darkness to light, from woe is me to been set free! Praise God there are no big shots no little shots, just a bunch of us who ought to have been shot had it not been for the grace of God! That is our reward through salvation!
That is the first step, poor in spirit.
Step Two: Mourning “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.” –Mt. 5:4
Pastor Dan asked our Sunday School class last week “what does the world and the church share in common?” He then answered for us “we are all SINNERS!” We were the ones that were lost and it was God that found us. Our goodness can never reach high enough but His grace can reach low enough. The only way He can find you bobbling around life’s ocean of trials is for you to send up the Matthew 5:3 beacon: confessing you are spiritually bankrupt in need of rescue. To “Believe in your heart, confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ died and rose again” to willfully and purposefully surrender to His will for your life by repenting of your sin and following Him, that is the GOSPEL!
Once this happens, you have been adopted by the King of Kings and Lord of Lord, you are now a child of God and your life has been touched by the love from the Masters hand. You now have the best Father a child can ever hope for or dream of. And, because of this, you want to show Him that you are thankful that He saved you, changed you and set you free.
(My Step-Father-Boy Scouts, bicycle racing, karate, grades-PLEASE). That is a normal response. The great news with our Father is that you don’t have to prove to Him that you love Him by your works, but through your works you seek to please Him as proof of your love for Him. And we do that by mourning (weeping, grieving) over our sin and the sins of those around us. Why? Because we know that sin hurts our Father. And for those that have taken that first step, what hurts Him hurts us. We know sin is what caused our Father to suffer, bleed and die and we don’t want to put Him through that ever again. Sin hurts the very heart of the only One that has loved us with an everlasting love.
And, what is our reward for caring about our sin so much that we mourn over it? He rewards us with comfort! In sin we carry around baggage, separation, scars, fear, guilt, shame and doubt. Yet Jesus Christ tells us all today that when we mourn over that very sin He will give comfort, comfort this world can’t offer or understand. Mercy Me: Greater:
Bring your tired
Bring your shame
Bring your guilt
Bring your pain
Don’t you know that’s not you’re name
You will always be much more to me
Step Three: Meekness “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Mt. 5:5
Last week, in his sermon, Pastor Dan brought out the Greek word for the power that is inside of us is dynamite, or as J.J. would say “DY NO MIGHT!” Praise God that when we surrender to the cross He gives us a greater power within us then what we encounter without. Power to: leave the devil, break free from sin, crucify the flesh, overcome the world and have hope, joy, love and the power to walk through this sinful, hurtful, wicked world full of: trials, troubles and tribulation, with a smile on my face, spring in my step, joy in my heart and victory in my life. The power to say, I was a drinkin, smoking, cussin, fussin, haten heathen, who was looking for love in all the wrong places, hopeless, lost defeated and broken in need of a fixing: a stumbling fool with my face on the ground in need of someone to turn me around and then I met Jesus, who gave me the power to face uncertain days and repent of all my sinful ways. J.J. must have been a Christian, for only a born again, blood washed, redeemed, forgiven power filled, saved by grace, not better than but better off Child of God could live this life shouting DY NO MIGHT!!!!!
Now, what do we do with this power in us? We demonstrate meekness! Power under control. As Kenny Rogers would say, “knowing when to hold em, when to fold em and when to walk away and know when to run!” (More on that next week!)
As a child of God there are times we need to use the power within us to control that power within us. When it comes to our feelings, emotions, pride, preferences, visions, dreams and goals, we should turn the other cheek and let go and let God! Anybody ever watch Reba? Reba was stressing about something and Van said “I’ve got one word for you, LETITGO!” Reba said “Van that is three words” Van-“Not when you say it like that…LETITGO!” So:
• Church is not going where you want on a mission trip? LETITGO!
• Pastor didn’t shake your hand Sunday? LETITGO!
• Carpet not your color, prefer pews over seats, suits instead of jeans, contemporary music over a Baptist Hymnal, and the preaching to last only 20 minutes? LETITGO! LETITGO, LETITGO and LET IT GO!
And, there are times as a child of God we should use the power within us to stand up, speak out and make our God given voice known when it affects others. You see there are things worth fighting for and God gives us the power to engage:
• The helpless widow that is being taken advantage of
• The lonely husband in the waiting room
• The abandoned child in the orphanage
• The special needs person that is mocked
• The doctrines of His Word
• The unity within our church
Mess with me I should be gentle, mess with my children, wife, church: others and doctrine, praise God for the power within me that enables me to become the Giant He expects me to be!
So, what rewards to we get when you take this step and demonstrate meekness? We inherit the earth! NOW and THEN. I can inherit the earth now (present): I have an assurance that I am His and He is mine and I have a confidence that enables me to look around this world and even though I see the sinner celebrating in prosperity: with the bigger house, better job, nicer car and healthier body, I KNOW that it all belongs to my Father and my Father has given it all to ME!
And, I will inherit the earth then (future): Oh, listen, I AM a prosperity, health and wealth preacher…just not this side of eternity! But when that day comes, when either I leave this world through the casket or through the clouds, I know my Father will fix everything broken and make every wrong right and when He puts His foot on the late, great planet earth, as a joint heir with Jesus Christ, that earth becomes MINE! That is quite the reward!
Our last step in dealing with our relationship with God?
Step Four: Hungering and Thirsting “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” –Mt. 5:6
Jesus wants His children to get to the point where we are hungering and thirsting to the degree that it is all we think about, that He is all we think about: having a deep insatiable continuous craving for righteousness, for Him.
There was a time when I hungered and thirsted after the things of this world: power, popularity, possessions, promotions and prestige: and I was never satisfied. That is the lie of the devil, it has always been the lie of the devil, from the Garden of Eden in Genesis to The Garden of Tomorrow in Revelation: that Jesus is NOT enough.
Remember that God created that hungering and thirsting; that void within us, He placed an eternity in our hearts; it is woven into our DNA!
After taking these steps, I can tell you now, with no hesitation, Jesus IS enough. I have been changed, transformed, made new by the love of God and now I live each day in awe. I have never gotten over the wonder of it all.
(CG: missing something, evaluation, hungering and thirsting but never satisfied “something is missing”.) NOW: I AM SATISFIED WITH JESUS. At the end of the day, no matter my lot in life, to know that I am saved, forgiven and loved, I can say with integrity, Jesus is enough, He is all I need. And that longing and passion I once had for the things of this world, I have transferred to Christ, I can’t get enough of Him!
That is why I can be found:
• In church on Sunday’s and Wednesday’s learning more ABOUT Him
• In the hospitals, nursing homes, funeral homes telling others OF Him
• At church workdays, on the mission field, and in the neighborhoods serving with others FOR Him
• At fellowships, banquets, picnics and gatherings, enjoying others that LOVE Him.
I can’t get enough of Him and the reward for that? Satisfaction.
Those four have to do with our relationship with God, now we look at the next steps:
Our relationship with each other:
Step Five: Compassion “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Mt. 5:7
So, while you walked up these steps, submitting to God, while unworthy and undeserving, you were rewarded with: the kingdom of heaven, comfort, the earth, and satisfaction. These next steps now tell you what to do with all that you have been given! The very essence of Christianity: An outpouring of an indwelling. In other words, letting out what has been let in! And the very first thing God has told us to give out is mercy.
• Meeting right physical needs: Notice I qualified this idea of meeting physical needs with the use of the word “right”? We are not called to enable the greedy but to empower the needy! To: feed the hungry, comfort the sick, provide for the orphans and widows, clothe the naked and visit the imprisoned. And, many times, in opening a door to a home to bring a gift, we find the door to their heart opened to bring the gospel.
• Holding a right attitude: ? Pastor, how do we know which needs are the right needs? Discernment and diligence. Discernment that comes from being close to God that enables us to hear the whisper of the Holy Spirit and diligence which comes from actually getting involved, doing the background work and investing your time more than opening your wallet. Most of the time I have ever helped someone or led a congregation to help someone, I am criticized. The people that criticize the most are usually the people that are doing the least. I would rather stand before God with the potential of being rewarded for doing so much than in danger of being judged for not doing enough.
Show mercy and you will be rewarded with: an assurance of your salvation, for God will be merciful to you. And, there is no greater comfort in knowing that when that day comes and you stand before a Holy and Almighty Judge in God the Father that He will give you mercy because you have shown mercy.
Showing mercy to those underserving, unworthy and even ungrateful sinners around you is really not that hard when you look back to that first step and realize that YOU are that undeserving, unworthy and ungrateful sinner.
Step Six: Purity “Blessed are those that are pure in heart, for they shall see God.” –Mt. 5:8
Purity is getting to the point in your life where you have achieved clarity and focus on the things of God by banishing evil from your life to enjoy the freedoms in Christ He longs for you to have. It is simply being honest before God in your evaluation of who you are and who He is and then allowing God to be God in and through your life. How is this step one that deals with our relationship to others, it seems to be dealing with our relationship with God? Because being pure in heart is the antithesis of hypocrisy.
This world is watching you, and your life is a stage: and they will not be fooled by the: Bible carrying, Spirit-FM playing, Christian flag waving, Property of God shirt wearing, Fish magnet displaying, fair weather Christian that has become the majority in American church culture. This word is NOT watching you when everything is OK, they only tune in when life gets tough. They want to see if what you are wearing, watching, waving, playing and displaying is the real deal. Or, if you are pure in heart.
The reward for reaching this step and achieving purity in heart: seeing God! Seeing God means that we are able to:
• Bless those that curse us, because we see that pleasing God is our only goal.
• Go through times of severe trials and suffering because we see that God is able to work all things together for those that love Him.
• Reach out to the unreachable and love the unlovable because we see that we can do all things through Christ that gives us strength.
• Cast all of our cares and burdens upon Him because we see that God cares for us.
• Not worry about tomorrow because we see that God holds tomorrow in His hand.
• And, we do not have to feel: neglected, misunderstood, or even lonely as we see that God sees us.
So, the reward for being pure in heart is to see God, to see Him change lives around you because of the love displayed through you by the grace provided to you.
Step Seven: Peacemaking “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.” –Mt. 5:9
Since this was my most recent sermon, I will not camp out here long, only to acknowledge two things:
1. This Culture longs for peace: This world is tired and weary of conflict. They see it between husband and wife, parent and child, employers and employees, brothers and sisters, republicans and democrats, and nations against nations. We should not be surprised but expect conflict and no peace where the King of Peace is not known. The tragedy: the people and place that conflict should not be expected, nor tolerated, is between brothers and sisters in Christ within the Church of God.
2. This Church should be the example of peace: It is bad enough that folks don’t love each other in the church being the greatest reason that:
a. 3,500 people leave the church every day.
b. 7,000 churches close every year.
c. 70% of those between the ages of 18-22 drop out of church
It’s bad that folks don’t love each other in the church. But even more tragic is that this lost world, in desperate need of peace, is looking to the church for answers and a difference and they are walking away empty. They look within and see the same conflict they see at home, in politics, at work, on the T.V., in clubs and other organizations. And since they walk away not seeing a difference, they walk away unchanged. Folks, we are missing the mark.
I Thess. 5:14-15 “We URGE you, brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people.” \
Admonish, encourage, help, be patient, see that, seek after…these are not “I’m not going to get involved, listen to them vent, I don’t know both sides, I’ll just pray” WORDS! These are words that DEMAND action!
Being a peacemaker is NOT just about being full of peace but one that is full of peace making peace.
So, we have completed all 7 steps, the 8th awaits and that is where we walk up the steps, and find out what reward we get for Being the Believing! Next Sunday!
