MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(REVISED: 2016)
TEXT: Matthew 5:1-12
There is a beautiful chorus that begins with these words, "Do you want joy, real joy, wonderful joy? Then let Jesus come into your heart." And this morning we will look at a time when Jesus said, "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad." (Matthew 5:12)
ILL. There he stood, in the midst of the Golden Corral restaurant, with Thousand Island dressing dripping from his hair, over his glasses, down his face, all over his jacket, pants, & shoes. And I’m not talking about a little bit of Thousand Island dressing, I’m talking about 2 gallons of it!
What had happened was that a waitress carrying a 2-gallon container of Thousand Island dressing for the salad bar had paused for just a second while coming through the swinging doors of the kitchen, & the doors had caught her & knocked her forward, launching 2 gallons of dressing all over this guy.
Well, he went ballistic! He started shouting & cursing at her. “You’re so stupid! I can’t believe you could do such a stupid, stupid thing. This is a brand new suit & it cost me $300.”
His wife chimed in, “Yeah, you’ve ruined my husband’s $300 suit, & it’s the first time he’s worn it.” He screamed, “I want to see the manager!”
Thoroughly shaken, she went to get the manager, & the manager came out. Now picture this – here’s a guy with 2 gallons of Thousand Island dressing dripping from him, & the manager asks, “Is there a problem?”
The guy replies, “Is there a problem? She’s ruined my $300 suit. It’s brand new, & I want a new suit!” The manager says, “We’ll be glad to get your suit cleaned. Accidents do happen, & we’re really sorry about this.”
“No! No!” he said. “I don’t want my suit cleaned. I want a brand new suit, & I demand a check for $300 right here & now.” Well, to avoid a bigger scene, the manager goes back into his office, writes out a check for $300 & brings it to him. And still fuming, the angry customers leave.
APPL. Sadly, this true story happened at noon on a Sunday. Now, why would someone be wearing a brand new suit on Sunday? Do you suppose he had been to church? Do you suppose that he had just heard a sermon on “Love your neighbor as yourself,” or “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”?
A. Now I don’t want to be unkind, but to me the tragic thing is that God has called us to be different from the rest of the world. You may expect the rest of the world to behave crudely, but not Christians, especially not after church on Sunday morning.
ILL. A few weeks ago I told about a little girl who asked her mother, “If God is bigger than us & He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?” Then I made the point, “If we’re Christians, when people see us, Jesus ought to show through.”
And that is exactly what God has always intended! In fact, back “In the beginning,” in Genesis 1:26, the Bible tells us, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…”
And in Romans 8:29 (Msg) the apostle Paul says, “God knew what He was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love Him along the same lines as the life of His Son…. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in Him.”
SUM. In other words, we were created to be like Jesus. From the very beginning, God’s plan has been to make us like His Son. In all of creation, only human beings are made in God’s image, in His likeness.
We don’t know what all this might include, but we do know some of the aspects: Like God, we are spiritual beings – our spirits are immortal & will outlast our earthly bodies; we are intellectual – we can think, reason, & solve problems; like God we are relational – we can give & receive real love; & we have moral consciousness - we can know right & wrong, which makes us accountable to God.
B. Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus stood on a mountainside near the Sea of Galilee. Thousands of people have come to listen to Him. And He delivers some of the most challenging statements we’ll ever hear. They’re recorded in Matthew 5:1-12, & we call them the Beatitudes.
I call the Beatitudes steps or rungs up the ladder to joy. They each begin with the word “Blessed,” which means “blissful” or “fortunate” or “In tune with God.”
PROP. So let's look at the Beatitudes this morning. And as we do, realize that if we climb the rungs of this ladder to the top, then God’s promise of real joy is ours. So turn to Matthew 5:1-10, & consider what Jesus is saying.
Now I think Matthew wrote these Beatitudes down in the exact order that Jesus spoke them. And I believe Jesus had a reason for putting them in this particular order.
To help us understand, I’ve divided them into two groups. The first 4 Beatitudes deal with matters that are internal - our attitudes; & the last 4 deal with matters that are external - our actions.
I. INTERNAL - OUR ATTITUDES
A. The first Beatitude is found in verse 3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Now at first glance, that really doesn’t seem to make much sense. It says, “Blissful or fortunate are people who are poor in spirit.” We know what “poor” means. But what does it mean to be “poor in spirit”?
Well, consider some of the synonyms for “poor,” such as “broke, busted, bankrupt, destitute.” Now put the word “spiritual” beside them, & Jesus is saying, “Blissful or fortunate are people who are spiritually busted, bankrupt, destitute, broke.”
Jesus is saying that the first step toward real joy is to realize that you are spiritually broke, & that you really need God in your life. “Fortunate is the person who finally recognizes that he or she can’t handle it all by himself.” So he comes to God & says, “God, I need you in my life. I can’t make it by myself.”
B. Now here’s #2, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
ILL. Do you remember? Charlie Brown, in the cartoon strip, was always saying, “Good grief!” Yet, how can grief be good?
But when you think of the first Beatitude as being the first rung up the ladder, you see why Jesus put this Beatitude next. He’s saying, “When you finally realize you’re spiritually broke & your only hope is to have God in your life, then your sins break your heart & you mourn.”
Let me ask, “How long has it been since you took a serious inventory of your life? How long has it been since you agonized over your sin?"
The word that should come to mind now is “repentance” because when your sin becomes repulsive to you, & you turn from it & turn toward God, that’s when God promises to comfort you.
C. Here’s #3, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Now usually people think that "meek" means weak, a spineless person without any backbone at all.
But in its original usage, “meek” is used in bridling a horse, or taming a wild animal. The word “meek” is a picture of “power under control.”
So when we talk about a meek person, we’re talking about one whose life has been brought under the influence of the Holy Spirit, & God is in control of his or her life. But most of us want to be in the driver’s seat.
What this Beatitude tells me is that I am to move over to the passenger side & say, “Jesus, you drive. You take hold of the steering wheel of my life. I turn it over to you.”
SUM. Now, have you noticed that these first 3 Beatitudes correspond to the steps we take in becoming a Christian? When we recognize how spiritually broke we are, & the awfulness of our sin, it breaks our heart, & we finally turn our life over & say, “Here, God, you drive my life.”
D. Here is #4, “Blessed are those who hunger & thirst for righteousness, for they will
be filled.” Now most of you have heard the expression, “words have meanings,” & the meaning of any word is conditioned by the background of the person who speaks it.
You see, very few of us today know what it is to be really hungry or thirsty. In the ancient world it was very different. In a land of sand & dust & burning sun, the working man & the day laborer were never far from the border-line of real hunger & actual starvation, & water was often a scarce & precious commodity.
So this beatitude is talking about someone who is starving for food, & one who will die unless he has something to drink.
In effect, Jesus is asking, “Just how much do you want righteousness – to be right with God – to know Him as your Lord & Savior? Do you want it as much as a starving man wants food & as much as a man dying of thirst wants water?”
You know, that reminds me of the prophet Elijah on Mt. Carmel in 1 Kings 18:21 crying out to the people of Israel, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” It was time for them to decide!
There are many people today who do not know what it is like to be blessed because they have never really “hungered & thirsted” after the things of God.
SUM. So there are the first 4 Beatitudes. They all deal with inward things. Inside I begin to realize that I’m poor in spirit. Inside I mourn my sins. Inside I turn my life over to Jesus. And inside I hunger & thirst after righteousness.
Now if all that is happening inside of me, changing my attitudes - then my actions will surely be changing too.
II. EXTERNAL - OUR ACTIONS
And now, as we look at the last 4 Beatitudes, we see that they deal with our actions.
A. Here’s #5: Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
This principle of mercy or forgiveness runs all through the N.T.
Jesus finished the story of the unforgiving debtor with this warning: “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart” (Matthew 18:35).
And James wrote, “Judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful” (James 2:13).
Later in this same Sermon on the Mount, when Jesus answers the disciples’ request to teach them to pray, He teaches them to include this petition, “Forgive us our debts (our sins), as we also have forgiven our debtors (those who sin against us).” (Matthew 6:12)
Then Jesus adds, “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”(Matthew 6:14-15).
You see, the Bible consistently teaches that only the merciful will receive mercy. And because, through Jesus, we’ve received mercy from God, we’ve got to be merciful to others.
B. Here’s #6: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Now this is a Beatitude which demands that every one of us should stop, & think, & examine ourselves.
The Greek word for “pure” was used in a number of interesting ways. It was used for soiled clothes that had been washed clean. It was used to describe grain & flour that had been carefully sifted & cleansed of all impurities. And it was used to describe milk or wine that had not been mixed or polluted.
So this Beatitude could be translated, “Blessed is the man who is genuine in heart, who is authentic, who is not a phony, because such a man will see God.”
Now what does that mean? Does it mean that I’m never going to think a bad thought the rest of my life? Does it mean I’m always going to live a perfect Christian life?
No! Bad thoughts will still come. Satan will see to that. And bad things will still happen in our lives. But we can come to God & say, “God, here I am, with all my cracks & scars & sin. I know I’m not perfect. But I want to be genuine with You.” And the promise is that God can deal with that.
So if you want to see God, take off the mask. Quit being phony. Quit pretending to be the person you’re not. Just be straight with God. “Blessed are the pure in heart.”
C. Now here’s #7, & we’re very close to the top of this ladder of joy. It says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”
Why is peacemaking so high on the ladder? Because it takes a lot of maturity to be a peacemaker. A peacemaker is not just someone who stands between two people who are fighting & separates them. A peacemaker is someone who changes the whole climate of what is going on.
ILL. Someone said that there are 2 kinds of people: “thermostat” people & “thermometer” people. A thermometer reflects the climate of the room. If the room is cold, it’s cold. If the room is hot, it’s hot.
But a thermostat can change the climate of the room. By its setting a thermostat can change a cold room into one that is warm, or a hot room into one that is cool. And a peace-maker is a thermostat person.
A peacemaker can change the climate of the room when he or she walks in. Have you ever seen that happen? Have you ever been in a room where everybody is negative & complaining, & everything is going wrong?
Then a thermostat person enters the room, & soon says something that causes people to say, “We never thought of it like that.” And the whole climate changes.
God wants peacemakers in His church, & also in the workplace. God wants peacemakers out in the world, people who don't dwell on the negative, but on the positive, people who reflect the love of God wherever they are.
D. Now we’ve reached the top rung of the ladder. We’ve taken all the steps to joy, & right at the top are these words, “Blessed are those who are persecuted…”
“What? What did you say? At the top of the ladder is what?” “Blessed are those who are persecuted…”
“You’re kidding! I’ve climbed all these steps & I’ve finally gotten to the top, & God says what?” “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Why would that be at the top? Well, let me tell you why I think it is there. I think it is at the top because the world doesn’t know how to respond to people who are living so close to Jesus that everybody sees it.
I think He is talking about people who are living so close to God that their speech & their actions make some people feel uncomfortable & not sure whether to applaud or to ridicule them.
Unfortunately, in our world, most of the time the world chooses to ridicule or persecute them.
So Jesus is saying, “When you’re persecuted for righteousness’ sake, you’re at the top of the ladder, & you'll know joy, real joy, wonderful joy.”
ILL. A number of years ago Orel Hirschheiser was pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers. They had just won the World Series, & Orel had been named “The most valuable player of the series.”
One of the TV shows about the series showed him in the dugout just before the 9th inning started. He was leaning against the wall & his lips were moving. It was obvious that he was saying something to himself.
So when he was a guest on the TV Tonight Show, Johnny Carson asked him what he had been saying. “I wasn’t saying anything,” Orel responded. “Well, then, tell us what you were doing.” Finally Orel replied, “I was singing.”
“You were singing?” Johnny said. “I didn’t know you were a singer.” “Aw,” Orel said, “I’m not.” Johnny persisted, “What were you singing? Sing it for us now.” “Nah, I don’t want to sing.” But by that time the audience was chiming in with “C’mon, sing it, sing it to us!”
Finally, Orel Hirschheiser started to sing, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below.” And Johnny Carson was speechless. The whole audience was dead silent. Then one person started clapping, & soon the whole audience joined in applause.
Listen to these words from the apostle Paul – 2 Corinthians 3:18 (NLT) – “As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like Him and reflect His glory even more.”
Jesus said, "Rejoice and be exceedingly glad." So if you want joy, real joy, wonderful joy, then let Jesus come into your heart.
INVITATION
