‘Mate in 2
PPT 1 Series title
Intro: The Beatitudes ss the name for the first major teaching Jesus gave, and it encompasses the beatitudes, the Lord’s prayer, and teaching on judging, forgiving others et cetera. His teaching is summed up in the name the beatitudes which comes from a Latin word that means blessing.
The blessed life
No mention of financial status
No mention of social status
No mention of education
No mention of looks or health
Jesus defines the blessed life by attitudes and convictions.
In another place He defines blessing by quality not quantity: Well done thou good and faithful servant, not much done.
PPT 2 Message Title
PPT 3, 4 Text
Matthew 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
Matthew 5:2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Matthew 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Matthew 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
The beatitudes speak to us in 3 area’s
Want
Wonder
Worship
Want blessing, Blessed is the man/woman... He is the One who will be passing out the blessings, so we should really pay attention to what He says.
Wonder -
They search us? am I the man or woman who is described here?
Is He describing me? How long have you been a Christian, well you ought to live these out perfectly by now!
Jesus once rebuked a group of people saying in John 8:37 my word has no place in you. One translation says it this way, my word hasn’t penetrated your thick skulls. What it means is that the words Jesus said need to be working in you, and working on you, and they need to be lived out and expressed through you.
The devil believes the bible, the miracles, he believes it all. But he doesn’t walk in it. We live in generation where the claim to believe is at an all time high, but can it be said we are living the beatitudes, can the world see a difference in us.
If you don’t imitate Christ’s life, you cannot claim to be saved by His death. Not saved by works but saved by His death. A saved person is one who tries to imitate his life.
Worship -
What you hear from Jesus you see lived in Jesus.
He practices everything he declares.
Worship happens as we glimpse the Glory of God in the life Jesus lived.
The beatitudes also appear to be cumulative in nature:
Poor in Spirit - heaven
Mourn comforted
Meek - inherit the earth
Hunger and thirst filled
When you are poor, mourn, and meek - then you are in a position to forgive others, and to pray for your enemies. When you see yourself as a sinner in need of grace, you will find it easier to extend grace to others.
But if you don’t start there, it is a lot harder to forgive others.
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
In my research I ran across one guy who used this text to say poor people are going to heaven.
The disenfranchised, the down and out, the refugees of this world.
If poverty were the key to going to heaven it would be our job to make everyone as broke as possible.
But Jesus didn’t say the poor are going to heaven, but the poor in spirit.
It doesn’t mean the financially poor, nor does it mean those that are really bad sinners, though they are really poor in spirit.
It means those that recognize they have no business being puffed up and that if they are to get in to heaven it will not be on the basis of reward, but of grace.
It speaks of people who don’t expect to get into heaven because they were the kind of person who would give you the shirt off their back, but those who know they will get there because Jesus took the stripes on His back.
Poor in spirit means to be painfully aware of your short comings. Which leads to mourning, which leads to being meek, which leads to hunger and thirsting, which leads to salvation.
What do you think the devil thinks about this poor in spirit get to go to heaven? After all in the book of Jude verse 9 we are told he disputed with the archangel Michael for the body of Moses, after Moses death. We are not told what they argued about, but I feel pretty confident the devil said, Moses didn’t keep the law, I demand his body. Michael simply said, “the Lord rebuke you.”
Which leads me to my closing illustration and thoughts. I want to show you an interesting picture.
PPT 5 picture
It is called, “The Chess Players” and it was done by an Moritz Retzsch in 1831, it was based on a German play called Faust. If you read the play you find a striking resemblance to part of the story of Job in the bible, with some significant twists.
Anyway in Faust a demon tells God that if he will let the demon give Faust whatever he wants Faust will turn his back on God. The demon then gets Faust to sign a contract giving the devil his soul upon death, and seals the deal with a drop of blood.
Now to our picture, this was an interpretation of the play Faust.
The guy on the left represents the devil, the guy on the right represents Faust and they are playing chess, now it is not very clear but they are playing chess on top of a coffin. (Death and hell are on the line) It appears the game is over and the devil is about to checkmate Faust. It is as if the devil is saying, “mate in 2, the game is over you lose I win.” There is an angel looking on, and the angel appears disheartened that the game is about over for Faust’s soul.
If you don’t know how chess is played let me give you a quick explanation:
The King is the most important piece. When he is trapped, his whole army loses. The King can only move one square in any direction. The main goal of chess is to checkmate your opponent’s King. The King is not actually captured and removed from the board like other pieces. But if the King is attacked (‘checked’) and threatened with capture, it must get out of check immediately. If there is no way to get out of check, the position is a ‘checkmate,’ and the side that is checkmated loses.”
Now the painting as you see it still exists it was sold to a private collector in 1991 at a Christie’s auction. In the late 1800’s the painting was in the home of a Reverend R.R. Harrison, who had a visitor, one of the greatest chess players of his day, a man named Paul Morphy. Mr. Morphy studied the picture for a while and then declared, I can win with the young man’s position. The pastor said he didn’t think it possible. After dinner a board was set up and Mr. Morphy won the game from Faust’s position in the painting.
The king you see had one more move he could make. Actually, a series of them. So, what does that have to do with the poor in spirit?
The devil tried to checkmate the Archangel Michael over Moses’ body, but the king had one more move. It is called grace. If you are poor in spirit and the devil is about to checkmate your soul for eternity the king has one more move. In fact He only has that one more move for the poor in spirit. God delights in getting out of the devils perceived checkmates.
A little boy with two fishes and a few loafs of bread, sees that thousands of people need food. It looks like checkmate, but it is a lie, our King has another move left! They collected twelve baskets of leftovers afterwards! (John 6:1-14) God is the only King who can never be defeated.
- The woman by the well is about to be killed by angry men with stones. It looks like checkmate, but it is a lie, our King has another move left! He tells her to go and not sin anymore.
- The murderer next to Jesus on the cross thought it was the end, yet he still repented. It looks like checkmate, but it is a lie, because the King has a move left and says: Today you will be in Paradise with me.
In Exodus 14, with the Egyptians relentlessly chasing them, the Israelites, finally released to journey to the Promised Land, came to the shores of the Red Sea. They could see the dust from approaching Egyptian chariots on the horizon and hear the war cries of their pursuers. They had nowhere to turn. Their families would be killed; their possessions would be taken. Checkmate, right? No the King has another move, He splits the Red Sea!
In 1 Samuel 17, the Israelites and their leader, Saul, were terrified of The nine-foot-tall Philistine giant, Goliath, was taunting them and making fun of their God. The Israelites were in checkmate.
But the King had one more move. An insignificant little boy too small to fit into Saul's armor knocked off Goliath and delivered the Israelites.
In Daniel 6:1-28, King Darius threw Daniel into a lions' den because Daniel ignored the new law to pray to King Darius and instead prayed to God. In imagery reminiscent of the tomb of Jesus, a stone was rolled over the mouth of the lions' den and Daniel was left to be torn apart. You can't get much more "checkmate" than that situation!
But the King had another move. He sends an angel to close the lions 'mouths
Then there is the story of Jesus, the devil thought he had Him in check mate as He hung on the cross dying. It appeared that there were no more moves left, but Then on the 3rd day God said I have another move, Jesus rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of His Father, where He makes intercession for us all.
Perhaps you feel like you are in checkmate in your life. You are in debt. You've lost your job. Your marriage is in trouble. Someone is dying. You have an addiction that is eating you with shame.
Whatever your situation, you have to remember that God always has another move in your life. He can get you out of whatever you're in. He raised his own Son from death! Pray to Him. His love for you is unconditional, and he never turns his back on you. You have another move.
When it seems as if you can't move to the next square on the calendar, remember, the King always has another move!
Illustration: At this point I placed 2 chairs facing each other and sat down in one. I had the church imagine the devil was in the other, and in between was the chessboard of life. The devil is taunting me saying, “mate in 2”. Perplexed I finally say “wait a second devil, I am going to make a substitution”? The devil says, “you can’t do that.” I say, “oh year watch this.” I reach out to Jesus and say, “Jesus please take over.” Like tagging your partner in a wrestling match, Jesus steps in, and even in the worst case chess board I have given Him, He can always beat the devil.
Close: Prayer for those who feel like the are facing a checkmate situation
Source for Chess Players illustration:
https://www.one-more-move-chess-art.com/One-More-Move.html
