Introduction:
As we continue our series, let’s back up for a moment and consider what has just transpired in the life of Christ. In the last two verses of the previous chapter we can see that Jesus had become very famous with His healings and miracles. “Great multitudes of people” from throughout the region were now following Jesus.
But for what reason? Why?
If people of that time were anything like people of our time, there had to been a growing sense of sensationalism surrounding the miracles of Jesus.
A lot of attention was being given to the miracles, and perhaps not enough was given to lives being changed.
As a result – Jesus removes Himself to a mountain.
Application:
The same can easily happen in any church setting. What I am saying is this. If we are ever to become more interested in sensational miracles than we are in the Person of Jesus Christ, Jesus may just decide that He needs to take us to the mountaintop (if we will go) for a season of personal teaching.
Not to worry, my friend. Great things are always revealed to God’s chosen people on the mountaintop. There are many examples of this throughout the Bible.
(I haven’t the time to remind us of those.)
What I notice in particular here is the fact that only those closest to Christ want to make the steep climb up the mountaintop to hear his teachings. Let us never find ourselves caught up in what the “Great multitudes of people” are doing. Many people nowadays are just looking for another miracle.
Rather, let us cherish the deeper teachings of Christ.
Text: Matthew 5:2 – 4 (Emphasis on verse 4)
There is much to learn, but we will focus on just 2 thoughts…
I. We are to think and act differently than the world.
Illustration:
The world would have us to be like a thermometer. That is, constantly changing our appearance whenever the temperature goes up or goes down. Sometimes we can appear to be hot, and sometimes we can appear to be cold. We just go with the flow of what everyone else is doing. This is not the plan of God for the Disciples of Christ. We are to be the thermostats.
That is – The Disciples of Christ are to be the ones who will set the standards for the culture we live in.
Furthermore – Christ has said that we are (oftentimes) lukewarm, but He would rather us to be hot or cold.
Revelation 3:16 (NLT)
But since you are like lukewarm water, I will spit you out of My mouth!
A. We are to be genuine.
1. The word “blessed” is defined (in the Greek) as being happy. But not the kind of “happy” we are accustomed to.
2. Our emotions can cause us to be happy temporarily.
3. Man’s idea of happiness is based completely on the given moment or the given situation. Eccles. 3:1 & 4 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
4. Without Christ we are fickled with what emotion we go through day by day, or even moment by moment.
5. Romans 8:18 “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
B. We are to be the reason for others to want Christ.
1. Others will want to find the divine “blessedness”, or “happiness” that can only be found inside us (thanks to Christ).
C. Jesus gave the relevant message (Sermon on the Mount) for everyday living.
1. Not a list of do’s and don’ts.
2. Not something to achieve on our own.
3. Not even the plan of salvation
D. His message was for the believer who had already repented of their sins.
1. It was a list of spiritual procedures that would make living for Christ more meaningful and prosperous.
2. It was a list of things that would help us to overcome the battle of good and evil.
3. It would cause the believer to mature in character and integrity.
a. This would result in a better testimony to those who were not believers.
b. This would take the frustration out of trying to be a Christian.
Matthew 5:4 – “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
II. We must understand how destructive sin is.
A. How are we supposed to “mourn”?
1. Like at a funeral of a lost family member?
2. Like when we did something wrong by accident or on purpose?
B. Greek word for “mourn” is to grieve with passion, or to wail.
1. Much more than just to aware of sin.
2. James 4:8-9 (NLT) Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, you hypocrites. Let there be… tears for the wrong things you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief.
3. We often only regret our mistakes and only wish we had done things differently.
4. To “mourn” means to experience a Godly sorrow that leads to repentance.
5. If we do not “mourn”, we will not repent. If we do not repent, we will not be saved.
6. II Corinthians 7:10 – “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”
C. Christ has paid the price for our “mourning”.
1. Romans 5:8 – “But God demonstrates his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
2. This process of mourning and repentance brings change to our lives.
a. Not because of what we have done, but because of what Jesus did on the Cross of Calvary.
b. He “mourned” and grieved for us from Gethsemane to Calvary.
Illustration and Transition:
Without a doubt, the most popular hymn in America is
Amazing Grace.
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound! That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.
John Newton knew what he’d been when he used that word “wretch”.
--At sea by the age of eleven, he fell into a life that was so wretched, even his crewmates regarded him
as little more than an animal. He was a deserter, suffered public floggings, trafficked in human slaves
(raping the women and beating the men), and felt no sin was too vile to avoid.
Though sometimes an illness would cause him to consider his spiritual condition, Newton’s
“awakenings” were short-lived and gave way to more wicked ways.
Newton spoke this about this particular time in his life,
“I was fast bound in chains. I had little desire and no power at all to recover myself.”
Finally, suffering from fever and depression, Newton crept away to a secluded spot and began to pray,
“I made no more resolves, but cast myself before the Lord to do with me as he should please.”
--Two years later, John Newton married his teenage sweetheart and began studying for the ministry.
--By his own experience Newton knew that only spiritual beggars make good disciples.
We must do as John Newton. Identify with our sins.
Application:
There’s a strange thing that I have discovered about the Christian life—the closer you get to God, the more unworthy you feel about yourself.
When the Prophet Isaiah saw the Lord in the temple, his immediate reaction was,
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Isaiah 6:5 (KJV)
Quotations:
1. If you fail to understand how to mourn over your sins, you will never understand how to come to Christ for His blessings.
2. When you quit relying on your own goodness and turn to God, He forgives, He saves, He puts His
righteousness in you.
