Title: The Beatitudes Script: Mt. 5:1-5
Type: Expos. Series When: 1-14-18
Intro: When Thomas Jefferson selected the phrase “the pursuit of happiness” to describe one of the unalienable rights of man, he was appropriating an idea with a very long history. Since the time of Aristotle and before, happiness was understood as a condition to which all people properly aspire. But for the Greeks, as for the biblical writers, happiness was an objective reality, not just a feeling or an emotional state. The phrase “whatever makes you happy,” so commonly uttered today, would have been nonsense to Hebrews, Greeks, and Christians alike, since it implies no fixed moral order in which happiness resides. Happiness is roughly synonymous with the biblical idea of “blessedness.” In Christian ethics happiness referred to a state of well-being that aligned the life of a person with the truest good. Actions, thoughts, desires, and ambitions had to be ordered in light of the proper end of mankind for a person to be truly happy. Happiness was thus an ethical, not a psychological project. To pursue happiness was to pursue the whole reason for one’s being. We find the reason for our being when we find a relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ. “If you want to be truly happy, here is the way! This and this alone is the type of person who is truly happy, who is truly blessed. (From Lloyd-Jones p.32)
Prop: Today we’ll examine the first 3 blessings that make up the Sermon on the Mount.
BG: 1. The Sermon on the Mt., Mt. 5-7, is the longest unbroken section of Jesus’ teaching in the Bible. 2. It was and is to this day, nothing short of revolutionary. It is a standard of behavior that is expected of all Christians and is the standard of behavior in the KOG. 3. “Beatitudes” – cover verses 1-12, roughly translated, means “How blessed.”
Prop: Exam the 1st 3 blessing that make up the SOM will show us the different life Xst wants for us.
I. The Blessing of Being Poor in Spirit. v.3
A. What does Jesus mean when He declares that the “Poor in Spirit” are blessed?
1. First, let’s deal with a couple of considerations often associated with the Beatitudes.
a. “Poor in Spirit” – one may think of a person who is beaten down by the world and its efforts to humiliate and dehumanize us. “Poor in Spirit” as Christ states here means: poor and unable to help one’s self. It is the first step in spiritual blessedness to realize one cannot help him or herself. This verse does not say: “Blessed are the poor.” , as some denominations teach. The poor man by nature of his poverty is no nearer to the KOG than the rich man speaking of their natural condition. There is inherently no spiritual merit or advantage in being poor. It does not give someone an artificial standing with God.
b. Let me being very clear from the outset, the SOM in general and the Beatitudes in particular are not arguing to two different levels of Christians or experience. This isn’t the “higher” life as some Protestant groups want you to think. This is to be the experience of ALL Christians. The RC Church “canonizes” certain people, not the New Testament! Read virtually any NT Epistle and you will see that the author writes to the “Saints” at that church: i.e. Corinth, Ephesus, etc. According to the Bible, if you are in Christ you are by virtue of the finished work of Christ, a saint!
2. What does Christ say is the condition of this Christian?
a. “blessed” – Remember that this blessing, this being “fully satisfied” in Christ, comes to the one who is fully committed to Christ and is indwelt by the Holy Spirit. The satisfaction is NOT due to the circumstances of one’s life, but rather, is due to the indwelling person of Xst in the life of the believer. You want a blessed life? Be fully committed to Christ! Playing church won’t do. Being partly committed won’t do.
b. People can be and are in fact happy because of positive circumstances in life: being asked out on a date, graduation from HS, acceptance to college, getting an apprenticeship, paying of a mortgage…. List can be endless. However, someone can only be blessed if he or she is in a right relationship with Christ and is honoring Jesus and His Word.
B. We need to think as God thinks so as to enjoy God’s Blessing.
1.
a. There is an essential aspect of the Gospel that I feel must be reiterated today: “Conviction must always precede conversion; the Gospel of Christ will always condemn us before it releases us!” In some ways, I think that this Beatitude is the perfect definition of the Doctrine of Justification by Faith, consider it: “Blessed are the Poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” Illust: Right now, I want you to examine your soul. Are you regenerate? NOT do I profess Christ, but rather, “Am I poor in spirit?” Or, are we proud in our spirit? Do we look down on others? Are we critical and condemning? Are we confident in our own abilities and secure in our own service. If so we are PHARISEES! A white washed seplecure with rotten flesh and dead men’s bones inside. Woe unto you and me if we are PROUD in our spirit. We are deceived in our spiritual condition by the father of lies and our own stubborn hearts.
b. What our Lord is addressing here is ultimately a man or woman’s attitude towards him or herself. Ultimately that is what matters, bot whether the individual is wealthy or impoverished. The Beatitudes clearly demonstrate the antithesis between the natural man and the regenerate man, the born again Christian. Illust: Look at our world. It screams at us that if you want to get ahead in life you must: “Believe in yourself, have self reliance, self confidence and self expression! Look at the literature of the world. Look at the advertisements. Look at the lesson plans in the schools, look at the magazine rack in the checkout stands, listen to the talk show hosts and watch the afternoon programming! Make sure you always give the impression of confidence and assurance! Never be weak. Never be poor in spirit!
2. This Poverty of Spirit is in Relation to God.
a. Let me be crystal clear. I am not talking about a confidence that one man has before another or one woman before another. No. We are all created equal in the site of God. It matters very little to me the number of letters you have preceding or following your name. IN the site of God we are equals. What I am speaking of here, and what I believe our Savior was speaking of here is the confidence we have before God on our own.
b. Illust: Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad marches — or runs — to the beat of a different drummer. The French athlete was at a meet in 2014 when the following incident played out. The two-time Olympic silver medalist was on the verge of winning his third straight title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the European Championships in Zurich. With roughly 100 meters to go in the race though, he was overcome with exuberance and took off his shirt. He then motioned to the crowd asking them to cheer, clutched his singlet in his mouth and crossed the finish line well ahead of his fellow competitors. He was originally given a yellow card warning by officials. But following a protest by Spain, Mekhissi-Benabbad was disqualified. Track and field’s world governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), has a rule that bibs should not be obscured in any way during the race. Yes, he was stripped of his gold for stripping. As a result, countryman was awarded the top spot. Pride has consequences.
C. Applic: In life when we find ourselves in competition with another person we tell ourselves, “I can take him.” “She’s no match for me.” Well, that may be alright in that realm. However, when you or I come to God, we should be as Isaiah was in chapter 6 or as John was in Rev. 1:17, when he had an unobstructed view of the person of Christ, he fell “as a dead man”. No pride.
II. The Blessing of Mourning v.4
A. What does Jesus mean when He states that those who mourn are blessed?
1. Jesus is pronouncing a happiness that comes with mourning. Odd we would think. Correct?
a. Illust: What do we most commonly associate mourning with? (Not evening!) Death! The one thing the Western world tries to shun at all costs is our troubles in general and death and sorrow in particular. “Pack up your troubles in an old kit bag and smile, smile, smile.” “Keep a stiff upper lip.” “It’ll be alright.” “Don’t worry, be happy.” “You’ll get over him/her in time.” Pleasure, money, energy, enthusiasm, entertainment will all offer you and me are temporarily transfixed so that I may be distracted from my troubles. And like am unexpected slap in the face Jesus states: “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted!”
b. Illust: In the past few weeks we have seen our share of death. Tragic accident. Massive heart attack. Short illness. Long decline over time. Mourning is the occupation of the living on behalf of the deceased. God comforts those who mourn. God gives a special measure of grace to those who are suffering the loss of a loved one. This is at least part of what Christ is speaking of here.
2. Again, let’s realize the principle of this message is that Jesus is speaking spiritually here.
a. Illust: Remember the first Beatitude? We must be poor in spirit before we can be filled with the Holy Spirit. Negative before positive. Here, I believe, Jesus is saying the exact same thing. Negative before positive. You and I must experience a real conviction of and mourning over our sin before we can really experience the joy of our salvation! Why is it that so many teenagers who are Christians, raised in the Church and a godly Christian family, possibly have gone to Christian school or hs, why is it that they flounder, become harsh and critical, sometimes even reject their faith? The older I get, I am beginning to think it is not so much the fault of the atheistic professor or the non-Christian friends. Rather, I think it is the fault of the godly preacher who doesn’t preach the need to repent of one’s sins and mourn over their lost condition!
b. Everyone says they want to find and experience joy, but very few have really been convicted of their sin so as to experience joy! They don’t like the doctrine of sin. They dislike it intensely and object to it being preached. “Preach on relationships!” “Preach on child-raising.” Preach on Social Justice issues”. Aye, do that and you will pack the place and people will think you are a modern Spurgeon. Preach on sin… Not so much. Yet, our Christian people, both young and old, have so little joy in their lives because they I believe, at the end of the day, they really never believed they were that bad off nor that sinful. Illust: At our last baptismal service we had Jesus and Maddie both give their testimonies. Two very different testimonies with 2 very different backgrounds. Similarity: Both recognized own sin and need of the Savior.
B. Let me ask you, do you and I have a sorrow for our sin?
1. The Christian man and woman mourns over his/her sin.
a. James wrote, “Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom” (James 4:8–9). James is referencing this kind of deep sorrow with his command to “grieve, mourn, and wail.” Such words are reminiscent of the Old Testament prophets’ call for the people to repent, to grieve over their sins, and to sit in sackcloth and ashes. in 2 Corinthians 7:10–11: “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.” Godly sorrow, also translated “godly grief,” is an acute sense of sadness we experience as a result of the sins we have committed, but it can also be the sorrow we have as Christians over the sin in our land.
b. Let me ask you Christian: Are you always right? Are you never wrong? Have you never asked another for forgiveness? Do you simple cut off relationships without trying to seek reconciliation? Is everyone else stupid or dumb? Do you admit your own part in the wrong? Is your complete focus on earth and only a fleeting thought on heaven? If this is you or me, then why do we still believe that you are saved? IN Romans 7, the Apostle Paul, in his struggle with sin stated: “Oh wretched man that I am, who will rescue me from this body of death???”
2. The Christian man and woman mourns also over the sins of others.
a. Illust: As of 2016, since 1973 there have been 60 million abortions in the US! More than the population of every European nations except Russia , Germany, UK, France. Every other nation would be gone. Only Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, and DRC of all the African nations have a larger population than 60 million! Do we have sorrow that people “choose” whether child will live based on perceived health or sex of child? Do we grieve over the fact that Western culture has blurred the clear line between male and female and has left a generation questioning not only who they are, but what they are?! The Christian is not simply concerned about the state of society, he is not simply worried about the events of the world, she isn’t just mildly disgusted as reads the morning paper or watches the nightly news. Rather, the Christian man or woman MOURNS over the sin of the world.
b. Illust: Throughout history Christians with conviction have stood against the graphic sins of society because they knew first of all that these grieved the heart of God! William Wilberforce and John Newton and Sam Sewall and George Whitfield and Henry Beecher condemned slavery. Child labor, illiteracy, alcoholism and drug, lack of clean water, hospitals, trafficking industry, all of these and more were targeted by convicted Christians who saw the sin as an offense against God and the inherent dignity of man.
C. Applic: When a man or a woman sees his/her utter sinfulness and hopelessness and looks instead of to self but to the Savior, Jesus Christ, he finds life, He finds hope. He finds peace. He finds joy! Just as surely as day follows night. Joy follows mourning!
III. Third Blessing: The Blessing of Gentleness. v.5
A. Christ says there is a Blessing in being Gentle/Meek
1. Notice the blessing that the “Gentle” will receive: “Inherit the earth”
a. “gentle” – the word may sometimes be translated “humble or meek”. Very experiences in life or history shows us that this principle is correct. Conquerors never appear to be gentle, or at least rarely do they. “The world thinks in terms of strength, power, ability, and self assurance.” Rarely in our world today does the humble or meek individual seem to get the attention he or she deserves. Rather, it is all about making a name for oneself. Promoting oneself. However, we need to be reminded here again that what Jesus is saying is that the Christian is to be different from the world!
b. Illust: Several years ago Alabama won a stunning come from behind victory over Georgia for the title of Collegiate Football’s National Champion. At halftime Coach Saban made a risky coaching change and brought in Freshman QB Tua Tagovailoa. His insertion into the national championship game and on field leadership brought Alabama another title. Pretty heady stuff for a freshman right? A lot of bragging right? “I want to begin by thanking my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! It was a team effort. Those guys made me look good tonight.” Not a weak individual! However, a meek individual. Meekness is strength under control.
2.
a. Today, and Lord willing over the weeks to come we will see that there is an interconnectedness to the Beatitudes. Each one suggest or leads to the next. They are not spoken by Christ haphazardly. In some ways I think that these Beatitudes actually become more difficult the further on we go into them! What we see here now is more humbling, more searching, more humiliating if you please, than anything we have previously examined. (Lloyd-Jones p.64) The first ask us to realize our won weakness, the second our sinfulness, and now, how we look at other people.
b. Illust: Let me see if I can illust this point. I know that I struggle with sins, I know that I have bad attitudes, I see my own helplessness before God. However, those become fighting words when you say them about me. I resent it. I instinctively want to argue with your assessment. All of us prefer to condemn ourselves as to allowing others to condemn us! It is more humbling and humiliating.
B. What is meekness?
1. What isn’t meekness?
a. Illust: The Bible is replete with individuals who demonstrated meekness: Abram w/respect to Lot when allowed the younger man to choose the land. Moses is described as the most meek man who lived upon the earth. Moses rarely sought to assert himself. David, while running from King Saul, unwilling to touch the king although several times could have cut him down. Jeremiah the prophet had a terribly unpopular message to preach and yet he did by God’s grace. Stephen in NT. Paul being badgered by the very congregations he founded! Look at our Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane!
b. Friend, meekness does not mean indolence and it doesn’t mean weakness. It does not mean “niceness”. Greek word. “Prautes” was used of a soothing medicine, a soft breeze, and a trained animal.1 It is typically translated meek, humble, or gentle. Since none of these fully capture the meaning, we’ll consider what it looks like to be meek. the Greek word was used of a formerly wild animal that had been broken and trained by its master. Previously, the animal could not be ridden or controlled, but after being trained, it followed the master’s instruction. This is true of believers; when we first come to Christ, we often are wild and don’t fully submit to or trust our Master. However, through both trials and blessings, God teaches us to fully trust and obey him.
2. What then is Meekness?
a. One very good definition is “strength under control”. (Illust- Dan Dickle was Joseph’s first basketball coach when played for Heritage Christian School. Mr. Dickle was calm, composed, quiet, always encouraging of the kids. I didn’t know it at the time, but later found out he had played multiple seasons in the NFL! Very kind and gentle coach. Not weak! Meek!) Meekness is a true view of oneself with an attitude of respect towards others. A man can never be meek unless he is poor in spirit. A woman can never be meek until she sees herself as a sinner in need of God’s grace. Spiritual pride must be gone! The meek man or woman does not demand his/her rights. He or she also never pities himself. She never says: “Oh my, I am having such a hard time of things, how unkind everyone is who does not understand me.” The meek man is the one who is amazed that God and man can think as well of him as they do! (Lloyd-Jones p.69)
b. Illust: Taylor University is a Christian college about 15 mi from where I grew up in Indiana. Years ago, they were pleased to learn that an African student, Sam, was going to be enrolling in their college. This was before it was commonplace for international students to come to the U.S. to study. He was a bright young man with great promise, and the school felt honored to have him. When he arrived on campus, the President of the University took him on a tour, showing him all the dorms. When the tour was over, the President asked Sam where he would like to live. The young man replied, "If there is a room that no one wants, give that room to me." The President turned away in tears. Over the years he had welcomed thousands of Christian men and women to the campus, and none had ever made such a request. "If there is a room that no one wants, give that room to me." That's the kind of meekness Jesus talks about in the Beatitudes. If there is a job that no one wants to do, I'll do that job. If there's a kid that no one wants to eat lunch with, I'll eat with that kid. If there's a piece of toast that's burnt, I'll take that piece. If there's a parking space that's far away from the church, I'll park in that space. If there's a hardship someone has to endure, I'll take that hardship. If there's a sacrifice someone needs to make, I'll make that sacrifice.
C. Applic: Blessed are the meek, they shall inherit the world. Inheritances are usually given due to a preceding relationship: family, friendship. Here we are related to Christ. Do you know Jesus?
