The Beatitudes: Summer Sermon Series
Introduction: Setting Our Sights on the Super 8 (1 of 9)
June 7, 2015 CFBC Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A Saint & Sinner alike are familiar with these phrases, “Blessed are the . . . poor in spirit, those who mourn, gentle, those who hunger & thirst for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, persecuted.”
1 These “blessed are” declarations are the preamble to arguably the most recognizable of Jesus’ teachings, The Sermon on the Mount.
a Even though this sermon is widely known, it is also perhaps the least understood (& obeyed) of all of Messiah’s teachings.
b The essential theme of the whole Bible from beginning to end is God calling out a people for Himself, set apart from the world to belong to Him, and be a “holy” or “different” people; it is our calling to be “different” than people who are not called/saved.
2 The beatitudes are as close to a Jesus manifesto (verbal declaration of intention, motives) as you’ll find concerning what He wanted His followers to be and to do.
a They are revolutionary, counter-cultural, radically transformational.
b The greatest sermon ever preached can be read in 15 minutes, printed on a single piece of paper; yet it has changed the world more than any other speech ever made.
aa Gandhi found nothing as rich in his 6,000 year-old Hindu tradition to equal it.
bb Even atheists, agnostics, & humanists testify to its greatness.
cc The world stares at in an ecumenical orgy of agreement of it; yet the whole world fails to follow it.
c The reason for failure to follow the Beatitudes is that they are ONLY for Christians, members who belong to the a very unique flock that God owns.
aa Without the life-changing power of Justification by faith, the Beatitudes are a list of ethics, ideas, morals.
bb Once a person has been saved, justified (which belongs to God alone), the justified person can begin to be sanctified/virtuous (which belongs to us and God.)
cc Virtue implies a mysterious power to accomplish something; that makes something real, have real effect, strength, potency, force. (IL. Flashlight without batteries is still a flashlight, but it doesn’t fulfill its purpose.)
dd Ethics without virtue is an illusion.
d James said it like this, “But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works . . . For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. " -James 2:18,26 (NASB)
aa We can’t just sit back and say, “God will work it all out. It’ll be okay!”
bb He’s not just called us, the sheep of His pasture, to wait upon Him, He’s called us to holiness, action, virtue.
e IL. Matt. 5:13, “You are the salt of the earth but if the salt has become tasteless (lost its virtue), how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing any more, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.
aa Salt was used to cure meat (keep it wholesome), to prevent it from rotting (decaying) and if meat if properly cured it will keep indefinitely.
bb The Christian has been called to keep the world whole, prevent the rot/decay, to share the “cure” of the world’s sinful condition.
B This is how God put it to the people of Israel shortly after freeing them from Egyptian slavery: “Leviticus 18:2-4 (NASB)
2 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'I am the LORD your God. 3 ~'You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.4 ~'You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the LORD your God.
1 Note that the same six words begin & end this appeal, “I am the LORD your God” because He was their covenant God.
a IL. Simplification: “I am your daddy and you will do as I ask because I am your daddy.”
aa Israel, God’s Chosen People, were to follow His commandments, not the lead from the people around them.
bb Although Israel was called to be different, we see throughout history they forgot their uniqueness.
b Although Balaam said, “lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.” Numbers 23:9b (KJV); in reality they kept assimilating into the people around them.
aa Other nations had kings, they demanded God give them a king to govern over them “like all nations.” (1 Sam. 8.20)
bb Other nations had statues of their gods, you’ve said “no graven images”, Ezekiel 20:32 (NASB)
'We will be like the nations, like the tribes of the lands, serving wood and stone.'
cc So God kept sending prophets to remind them who they were, whose they are, & what they represent; “Learn not the way of the nations. . .do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.” (Jer. 10.1,2; Ezk. 20.7: KJV).
c Because Israel kept assimilating into the culture/mimicking the behavior of people around them, for this reason, God sent judgement upon Israel
“ . . .because the sons of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and they had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel, and in the customs of the kings of Israel which they had introduced. 2 Kings 17:7-8 (NASB)
aa For this reason alone, God judged them.
bb The reason . . . they weren’t “different”, “holy”, Exodus 19:5 (KJV) Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
cc They stopped being “peculiar” and became “plain”
2 The New Testament equivalent of Exodus 19.5 is 1 Peter 2.9, “9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:” (Emphasis mine)
a Peculiar doesn’t mean weird, but rather something that is made/is done, & ownership.
b Latin Vulgate uses the word “pecus” which means “flock”, (Made by, belongs to, and is circled by God)
c Not everyone is in His flock . . .you are unique, different and thus we should live unique & different lives to the Glory of God who has given us His Holy Spirit.
3 All of this is essential in understanding the Beatitudes that Jesus spoke on mountain top on the shore of the Sea of Galilee 2,000 years ago.
a Immediately after His baptism & temptation by the Evil One Jesus began to announce the Good News that long awaited Kingdom of God, promised in the Old Testament, had now arrived and He Himself was the delivery man.
aa As Moses had delivered God’s Law from atop Mt. Sinai on the first Pentecost,, Jesus was delivering the message of Grace from atop a hill in Northern Galilee.
bb “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”
b Jesus’ message reflects the same tone & timbre that had been the theme of the Bible from the beginning . . .REPENT!!!
aa You are a chosen people that belongs to God ACT LIKE IT . . . You are not like everyone else so stop acting like everyone else!
bb They were not to take their cues from the people, culture, times around them . . . but from their heavenly Father.
c What does that look like? What does being peculiar, holy, unique, different look like? What does being blessed to among His flock look like?
aa Matt. 5.3-12 (Show entire text on screen)
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:3-12 (NASB)
bb He’s not talking to lost people, religious crowd . . Matt.5:1, “And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.”
cc These are not helpful hints on how to win friends and influence people, leadership rules, keys to being a successful person . . . these are Jesus’ expectations of how He wants His disciples to be and how to behave.
I The Word of God, The Holy Bible, is our Basic Instruction Before Living Earth. (Our map that charts the course of life.)
A Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (TLB) 15 "Look, today I have set before you life and death, depending on whether you obey or disobey. 16 I have commanded you today to love the Lord your God and to follow his paths and to keep his laws, so that you will live and become a great nation, and so that the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to possess. 17 But if your hearts turn away and you won’t listen—if you are drawn away to worship other gods— 18 then I declare to you this day that you shall surely perish; you will not have a long, good life in the land you are going in to possess. 19 "I call heaven and earth to witness against you that today I have set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Oh, that you would choose life; that you and your children might live! 20 Choose to love the Lord your God and to obey him and to cling to him, for he is your life and the length of your days. You will then be able to live safely in the land the Lord promised your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
1 Life has two roads (one leads to death, the other to life), yet there are opportunities on each to get turned around if we do not know where we are going.
a Life is riddled with twists, turns, dead ends, unfamiliar roads and w/o a good map/moral compass/virtues it is easy to take a wrong turn.
b One explanation of our national moral decay is because we’ve thrown away the map, God’s Word.
aa The only way to a good society is through good people, people are only good through God.
bb If the love of God is in a person, the love of God is in the family; If the love of God is in the family, the love of God is in the nation; If the love of God is in a nation, the love of God is in the world.
cc This sermon series is not intended to change the world, nation, or even your family: it’s intended to transform us.
2 Nations rise & fall, kings & kingdoms pass away, but YOU are immortal.
a When the last star in the universe stops twinkling, you will still exist for all of eternity either in eternal joy/rest/blessing or in eternal misery/suffering.
b And that’s the only issue that matters infinitely: Quo Vadisa? Where are you going?
B Many of you are saying, “Well, I was saved when I was 9, 13, 17. On 3/12/1978 or 7/18/2008 I made a decision to follow Christ.” Pointing to a past event, date of justification to verify their salvation.
1 The Bible never points to the past for proof . . . it always bases proof of real salvation on your life now.
a Proof? I’ll give you Biblical witness: 2 Corinthians 13.5; 1 Corinthians 11.28-29.
aa 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NASB) “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” (Dates & times of proof of salvation are not what the Bible is asking for.)
bb Paul speaks to the Church of Corinth as they come to the Lord’s Supper and doesn’t ask them when they got saved. 1 Corinthians 11:28-29 (NASB) 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly.” Examine (Test, KJV) is a present tense continuous action. Lit. “Be constantly examining yourselves.”
b How can we examine ourselves and know if we’re really a Christian? Look at Matthew 5 with me, go deep with me into the Beatitudes this summer.
aa You maybe challenged, changed . . .I guarantee you that you’ll know what it means to be blessed.
bb You can be happy if you find the right circumstance (spouse, job, amount of money, good health), You can be blessed if you find God in any circumstance (sickness, dead end job, broke).
cc The Beatitudes will be your road map, compass for blessing.
Conclusion:
A Growing up in an upper-lower income family, I always looked forward to vacation because I knew we’d be eating at a restaurant every day, usually the evening meal.
1 When I was about 5/6, I can remember having to order off the Kiddie Menu and when the server brought out my plate that I ordered and saw what my dad ordered, I was always disappointed.
a His plate was always more. (More appealing, appetizing, everything)
b When I was about 11, I learned something: I learned to stop ordering what I wanted off the menu and just told the server I will have my dad’s having.
aa I learned whatever he ordered was going to be better than anything I could chose on my own.
bb I would more satisfied, happier, content if I just ordered what my daddy did.
2 If only we were that smart about what we wanted in this life.
a What our Father has ordered up is much better, satisfying, . . .we’d forget about kiddie menu with its limited portions and instead just say, “I’ll have my daddy ordered!”
b I’ll trust His choices . . . we’ll not receive just happiness, but blessedness.
B This is exactly what we find in the Beatitudes.
1 Rather than call us to desire less, Jesus calls us to desire more.
a Jesus doesn’t want us to give up on our dreams, we wants us to dream bigger; not to desire less but to desire more.
b Not be satisfied with mere happiness, Jesus wants us to experience what it is to be blessed.
2 Happiness is what we order for ourselves; blessedness is what we get when we let God order for us.
3 Today, I challenge you to set your sights on the Big 8 this summer and let the Father order for you.
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Mike Fogerson
