The Luckiest People Alive - Matthew 5:1-12 Series

The sermon on the mount makes some very hard demands on us. The introduction to the sermon (the beatitudes) is designed to provide motivation for the hard demands of righteous living throughout the sermon. The first half of the message focuses on how the sermon on the mount should be interpreted (a matter of great controversy). The practical application (how to get motivated to make the sacrifices necessary for righteous living) begins at about the 35-minute mark.

Matthew 5:1-12 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Introduction to the Sermon on the Mount

Connection with Samuel – Inauguration of the Kingdom

Our church is just over 2.5 years old. One year of that time we have spent studying Samuel, and we still have quite a bit left to go in 2 Samuel. But we don’t want to spend so much time in one study that we become imbalanced and neglect the central message of the gospel. So I have decided to take a break from Samuel for a while and spend some time in the New Testament. This morning I want to begin a study of the Sermon on the Mount.

And it is a very natural transition, because we just studied the heart of the books of Samuel, which is 2 Samuel 7 where God promises David an everlasting kingdom. The Bible spends more time talking about David than any other character besides Christ, because David was the prototype of the Messiah. The writer of Samuel has constantly pointed us forward to the coming of the great descendent of David who would be the final, glorious, eternal King who would reign on David’s throne.

2 Samuel 7:12-13 I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish …13 the throne of his kingdom forever.

That promise becomes the focal point and the ground of all the hopes of God’s people for the next one thousand years. They would have a lot of ups and downs during that time of David to the time of Jesus. But throughout all those ups and downs the prophets just kept pointing ahead to the time when the great Anointed One would arrive and His eternal Kingdom would be established.

Then finally one day it happened. A young woman was minding her own business, going through her normal routine, and suddenly an angel appeared to her and said this:

Luke 1:31-33 You will be with child and give birth to a son … 32 The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.

After one thousand years of waiting, the descendent of David who will reign in an eternal, glorious kingdom is about to be born!

Now skip ahead thirty years. Jesus has now gone public in His role as the Davidic King. What did He spend His time doing? Did He devote Himself to politics, networking, making all the right friends, pulling political strings, positioning Himself – maybe a few trips to Rome to gain favor with Caesar? Did He start gathering His army? What did He spend His time doing? In the biographies we have of Jesus there are several places where there is a summary statement of what Jesus spent His time doing. And all those summary statements say the same thing. Jesus spent His time preaching – preaching and doing miracles to prove the authority of His preaching. Now, what do you suppose He preached about? The people of God have been waiting one thousand years for the arrival of the great King whose kingdom would be established forever, and now He has arrived and He is going around on a speaking tour – what do you suppose He is speaking about? He spoke about the same subject every time He preached. The topic that dominated His preaching was exactly what you would expect – the kingdom. They have been waiting for this kingdom since the time of David, now the king is here, and so it is no surprise at all that He spends His time explaining to people what this kingdom is going to be like.