THAT EMPTY FEELING
Matthew 5:3-5
S: Holiness
C: Empty before God
Th: Live the Difference
Pr: TO BE HAPPY, WE MUST BE EMPTY.
?: Inductive
KW: Realities
TS: There are realities we must face and endure.
The _____ reality we must face and endure is being…
I. PUNY (3)
II. PAINED (4)
III. PLIABLE (5)
PA: How is the change to be observed?
Version: ESV
RMBC 24 October 04 AM
INTRODUCTION:
There have been some things, when it comes to just living life, that I have been wondering about.
Like…
ILL Notebook: Humor 2 (some questions)
How can there be self-help "groups"?
Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all"?
What’s another word for thesaurus?
If swimming is so good for your figure, how do you explain whales?
Is it my imagination, or do Buffalo wings taste like chicken?
Well, at times, life can be confusing.
So…
How are you doing when it comes to life?
TRANSITION:
How we live our lives has been our theme for 2004.
For…
1. Our challenge for the year has been to “live the difference.”
We are to live lives that demonstrate our possession of the Holy Spirit.
As Christians, we are temples, the very residence in which God the Holy Spirit resides.
This means, then, that our lives should be characterized by holiness.
We are to live godly lives that are reflected in the communities in which we live, both inside and outside the church.
People, though, are sometimes mistaken about how a “holy” person is to act.
You see…
2. We are mistaken if we think a pious person is meant to be unhappy.
We somehow have gotten the idea that if you are a truly spiritual person, you are always very serious.
You never crack a smile.
You never tell a joke.
You never are able to laugh.
And so we have come to think that being religious means that you are miserable all the time.
But the fact is…
3. We are on a journey where holiness and joy are meant to be companions.
When we live the point and the processes of salvation and sanctification, happiness and joy are meant to be constant friends along the way.
As we begin our three-part study on what are known as the Beatitudes, we find that Jesus desires us to know His blessing.
The word that is translated “blessed” means “happy.”
It is not God’s desire that we find misery and unhappiness to be our continual companions through life.
No, He wants us to know the bliss of His friendship as we travel along the way.
This state of blessing is not something that is only for the future.
It is for the here and now.
But, let the truth be known that…
4. God’s path to joy features unexpected turns and twists.
The path God takes us on is not the way we would choose to go.
We must understand this.
While we look to do things our way, God consistently has us going the opposite direction.
It seems that His priorities for the world and ourselves is much different than what we think.
While we look for the easy way, God takes us on a path that is harder, full of surprises and the unexpected.
This means that…
5. There are realities we must face and endure.
As believers in the Lord Jesus, we live the opposite of the world’s priorities.
But let us freely admit that this is very difficult for us to get used to.
For when we become Christians, it is as if someone has changed all the price tags.
We know that if we want to succeed in this world, we have to give the impression that we are a winner.
The world only wants success.
And this thinking comes into our churches as well.
We measure success about how many people we have and how much money we have coming in.
But as we walk on the journey, we discover that those things that we thought were useful are not that way at all.
We discover that “happy are the rich” is not so true after all.
Those that are noble, successful, and glamorous do not have it altogether.
Those that are popular, famous, and aggressive are not so glad about where there lives end up.
Before we go on, let’s hear this section in its entirety…
Matthew 5:1-12
[1] Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. [2 ] And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
[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 meek, 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 are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[11] "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. [12] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first reality we must face and endure is being PUNY (3).
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
1. We must come to an understanding about our true condition before God.
Typically, each one us likes to think that we are a good person.
We work hard.
We don’t do anything that is drastically wrong.
We go to church.
We are nice to other people, most of the time.
Jesus says here, in effect, that this kind of thinking will get you in trouble.
For until we are truly poor in spirit, we will not experience the kingdom of heaven.
So what does that mean?
Well, it is not poor according to the amount of money one has.
But the word poor does speak to total destitution.
It speaks of being so bad off that you are beaten to your knees.
When it comes to our relationship with God, this is where we must be.
We must recognize that we are poor.
We have nothing to bring.
We are utterly helpless.
We are utterly ignorant.
We are truly lost and hopeless.
We are beaten to our knees.
ILL Notebook: Humility (a mistake)
There was a young woman that asked for an appointment with her pastor to talk with him about a sin about which she was worried. When she saw him, she said, "Pastor, I have become aware of a sin in my life which I cannot control. Every time I am at church I begin to look around at the other women, and I realize that I am the prettiest one in the whole congregation. None of the others can compare with my beauty. What can I do about this sin?"
The pastor replied, "Mary, that’s not a sin, why that’s just a mistake!"
Well, when it comes to kingdom thinking…
2. There is no room for self-righteousness (James 4:6).
There must be a complete absence of pride.
It is possessing the same attitude that Peter had when he said to Jesus, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.”
It is being able to live out what James 4:6 says…
"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
There can be no room for self-exaltation.
For where self is exalted, Christ cannot be.
We need to see how mighty, worthy and glorious Jesus is.
And when we get that right…
When we truly see Him as He is…
And understand where we stand in comparison…
It is then that placing our whole trust in God makes sense.
It is at this point we understand being poor in spirit.
3. This is the way of salvation.
Here is the wonderful news…those that come to God poor, do not leave that way.
When we become detached from the things of the world, we become completely attached to God.
This is kingdom living.
II. The second reality we must face and endure is being PAINED (4).
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Notebook: Grief (Fred Brown died)
Mrs. Brown drove the old pickup into town one day and parked in front of the local newspaper office. She went inside and told the editor, "My husband died. I want to make sure his name gets in the obituary column."
"Well, it’s fifty cents a word," he said as he slipped her a piece of paper and pencil. She thought for a minute then quickly scribbled something on the paper. She slipped it back across the counter to the editor. It read, "Fred Brown died."
"There’s a seven word minimum," he said, pushing the paper back across the counter. She thought for a few minutes, wrote some more and sent it back across the counter. It read, "Fred Brown died. 1983 pickup for sale."
Well, hopefully, when I die, I’ll get a few more words than that!
Seriously though, the description of mourning that we find here is the most intense.
It is more than sadness.
It is the type of mourning as one mourns for the dead.
Again, these are values that don’t seem right to us.
Why would we want to mourn?
Isn’t happiness something that is much more worthy of our pursuit?
At least that is what the Declaration of Independence tells us.
But we are supposed to mourn.
It is right for us to do so.
So, what is supposed to cause this kind of mourning in us?
Well, it is this…
1. We must come to an understanding that our sin offends God (Psalm 51:4).
When we become believers in Jesus, we can only do so if we possess a true sense of our sin.
It is not a time to feel good about ourselves.
In fact, it is time to kick that self-esteem nonsense out the window.
We must come to grips with the reality that we are sinners in the hands of an angry God.
He hates sin.
And we are contaminated with it.
David got it right when he said…
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…
We must have a conviction of the heart that our sin insults God.
And to get it right, at the very least, we must be grief stricken.
We must enter into self-examination.
For…
2. We will not possess joy until we are truly heartbroken.
Until we are appalled by the destruction and the chaos our sin has caused, blessing will be in the distance.
Until we are intensely brokenhearted and repentant, true joy will be out of reach.
You see, without sorrow, there is no joy.
Joy does not come from human effort.
Happiness does not come from being optimistic.
Gladness does not come from positive thinking.
There is only one thing that brings joy that can never be taken away.
It is mourning over sin.
Joy comes because there is healing waiting for us.
3. Wonderful healing is waiting for our pain.
Those that mourn will be comforted.
Interestingly, the word for comfort is the same word used of the Holy Spirit.
He is the Comforter.
And I believe that fits here.
When we experience salvation, we receive the Holy Spirit, and He makes us whole.
He heals our soul.
The pain is gone.
And we move on with joy.
III. The third reality we must face and endure is being PLIABLE (5).
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Once again, the world’s values are turned upside down.
For the world thinks in terms of strength and power.
It is ability and aggression that is viewed as significant.
But not with Jesus.
What is important according to Jesus is meekness.
But what is it?
It sounds so weak…
Notebook: Meekness (Playing It Cool)
Actor and martial arts expert Chuck Norris knows might doesn’t always make right. He explains:
Not long ago, after a day of filming my television series, I went alone to a small Texas bar for a cold beer. As I sat in a corner booth, savoring my drink, a large man towered over me and said with an edge to his voice that I was sitting in his booth. I didn’t like his tone or his implicit threat, but I said nothing and moved to another booth. A few minutes later, though, the big fellow headed back in my direction. Here it comes, I thought, a local tough out to make a name for himself by taking on Chuck Norris in a fight.
When he arrived at my new booth, he looked directly at me. “You’re Chuck Norris,” he said.
I nodded.
“You could have whipped my butt back there a few minutes ago,” he said. “Why didn’t you?”
“What would it have proved?” I asked.
He thought that over for a moment and then offered me his hand. “No hard feelings?” he said.
“None,” I said, and shook his hand. I had avoided a confrontation and made a friend. I won by losing.
Chuck Norris, The Secret Power Within
This story gives us a real and solid clue about what meekness is.
Because one thing Chuck Norris is not is weak.
In fact, he is not only strong physically, he demonstrated a tremendous strength in character.
He gently turned away conflict.
This helps us define meekness.
For it is not weakness.
It is not cowardice.
And it is not emotional flabbiness.
It is the very opposite of violence and vengeance.
It is strength under control.
It is supreme self-control empowered by the Holy Spirit.
And we are able to practice it.
For, you see…
1. We must come to an understanding that obedience is necessary (Philippians 2:8).
Jesus gives us the supreme example of meekness…
And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus shows us that true meekness is utter submission to the Father.
Jesus didn’t hold on to His rights as God the Son.
Instead, He showed us that the meek are submissive to the divine will of the Father.
The meek possess the strength to be content to do whatever God wants.
So, in turn…
2. We are to be confident about who we are in Christ.
When we know we are in Christ, we are self-controlled.
When we have a realistic view of ourselves…
When we know our ignorance and our weakness…
It is then that we can move forward in the journey.
ILL Notebook: Meekness (Tozer)
A. W. Tozer describes meekness well in The Pursuit of God…
The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God’s estimate of his own life. He knows he is weak and helpless as God declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is in the sight of God of more importance than angels. In himself, nothing; in God, everything. That is his motto.
This means…
3. As a result, all belongs to us (I Corinthians 3:21-23).
Paul describes it well…
For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future — all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Everything that we have here on earth has been given to us.
We have all we need to get us to the place where God needs us to be.
APPLICATION:
Here is the truth we must not miss this morning.
It is that we cannot be filled until we are empty.
Jesus is showing us the way to a life of satisfaction, blessing and joy.
He is showing us that physical things cannot satisfy spiritual things.
But we fight that!
We want the kingdom of God plus other stuff, but the truth is, is that it is the other stuff that dominates.
So do not miss this…
TO BE HAPPY, WE MUST BE EMPTY.
Human happiness is dependent on the chances and changes of life.
But this is not so for the Christian.
True blessing is found for the humble, the grieving and the gentle.
True blessing is found in being in the presence of Christ and finding that He is more than enough.
BENEDICTION: [Counselors are ]
Be puny…I know that sounds odd…but it is an essential, for we must be realistic about who we are in comparison to God; He is awesome, and we are humbled.
Be pained…Mourn over your sin…confess it and repent of it, and know the joy of the healing the Lord brings.
Be pliable…empty yourself of self-will and enjoy the blessing of God’s will; it is the path of blessing and joy.
Now may the God of peace equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
RESOURCES:
Barclay, William. The Gospel of Matthew
Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. Studies on the Sermon on the Mount
MacArthur, John. The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Matthew 1-7
SermonCentral
Assurance of Salvation, Michael King
Becoming a Person of Passion, Joel Smith
Poor in Spirit, Rich in God’s Kingdom, Sean Lester
The Poor in Spirit, Mike Hamilton
Happy Are Those That Are Sad, Edward Cook
Be Glad When You’re Sad, Bruce Hamsher
The Meek, Mike Hamilton
Christian Meekness, Edward Cook
The Who Will Inherit the What? Denn Guptill
