Sermon (29-Jan): "I'm Blessed! Matthew 5:1-12

Scripture:

Matthew 5:1-12 (SLIDE)

1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,

2 and he began to teach them. He said:

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 children 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.

Big Idea:

(SLIDE) The objective of this message is to look at Jesus’ words and see where He’s called us to

(SLIDE) It’s the Be-Atitudes (sp) not the Do-Attitudes

- Many people, Christian and non-Christian alike, remember or are at least familiar with the Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

- And, particularly, the Beatitudes

- As what was shown in the clip, Jesus introduces to Matthew the way that people would find him

- Jesus is introducing us to the (SLIDE)

“ideal heart of a kingdom citizen—a condition that brings abundant blessing”

- Everything in this passage that he mentions points to the heart more than anything that you or I could ever manufacture

- Notice Jesus is not fixed on us performing or doing anything enroute to blessings

- This is where our heart shows alignment with God’s kingdom

- In God’s kingdom/His way of doing things, the emphasis is about relationships

- Vertical and/or horizontal…relationships are always the bigger part of God’s picture

- It’s never about advancements, achievements, or promotion

- God is always into our hearts and the motives in why we do what we do—not in the quantity of what we do

- Looking at it and I was talking with someone earlier this week,

- What shall it profit a person to gain the world and lose his soul in the process

- If we must lie, cheat, steal to get ahead or above someone else,

- Is it truly even worth it?

- Jesus not only turned the world upside down—He affected the most religious beliefs systems of His day and time

- Aside from some of the acting and character selection in many of the movies and series,

- I think on how each Jesus depiction changes the landscape of religion

- Whether it’s turning over a table or challenging the Pharisees,

- Jesus showed the world and His disciples—the heart condition of a kingdom citizen

- The religious leaders thought Him to be a heretic…One worthy of death

- Yet, we see what His heart’s intention was—reconnecting humankind to the Father

- He is the original champion of a human…being what he or she is called to be

- It’s not about accolades but the heart of a servant submissive to the King

- So, in this 5thchapter of Matthew, the Beatitudes are those (SLIDE)

“statements, promises or exclamations of happiness”

- When we think about this, happiness can be…fleeting and temporary

- Jesus’ goal is not just about our happiness

- Here, when you think it through, Jesus is talking about happiness but…

- He’s more so telling us that we are fortunate, well off

- Imagine our hearts lined up with these eight statements

- One of the reasons that I believe so many people are, at the very least, acquainted with the Beatitudes

- It’s because deep in the heart of humanity—it exemplifies (SAME SLIDE)

“what kingdom-ready people should be like” (Keener, Matthew, 167)

- I believe the world over is looking for what the church (i.e. kingdom people) should be like

Transition: Years ago, in my B.C. story that’s what I was looking for

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was mind-blowin’ to me (SLIDE)

- Years ago, before I came to understand who God and Jesus was and is

- I was wrapped up in my own way of seeing and doing things

- It seemed as whatever the latest trend and way of thinking was—that helped to shape my mentality at the time

- The news, media, friends, and relatives influenced my way of thinking greater than anything else

- Christ’s kingdom and God’s way of doing things was one of the farthest things from my mind

- And, even in accepting Christ…there was this transition

- Learning to surrender how I did and do things; in many ways, it had to be unlearned

- Imagine transitioning from a materialism worldview based on sensory empiricism and reason, or science…

- To a theistic, biblical worldview

- Or, to put it in more simpler terms—having faith in what you see (the world and everything tactile around you)

- Versus having faith in what you can’t see (God and what He proclaims to be in the Word of God)

- Now, many people won’t understand your or my thinking and lifestyle

- I truly didn’t understand it

- How God can take faith the size of a mustard seed and bring things into being that I never could imagine beforehand

- It’s my theory that God does outstanding, amazing, sometimes incredible things when you initially receive His salvation…

- So much so that we can think that life will always be on the mountaintop

- But if you’ve lived life long enough as a Christian; you realize that’s not sustainable or even realistic

- That’s what I believe causes some to fall back or away from the church and/or the faith

- I know I thought that something must be wrong if I wasn’t jumping from hilltop to hilltop, mountain to mountain

- Until hearing different pastors and leaders across the pulpit over the years about maturing in the faith

- And, their words still ring in my mind that if we only knew Christ in the high times and disregard Him in the low

- What kind of relationship is that?

- Biblically speaking (Pro 24:10) (SLIDE),

10 If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.

- So, when I first heard and read Matthew 5,

- My immediate thought was “Who thinks like that?”

- There’s not too many that want to be considered poor in any form or fashion especially “poor in spirit”

- Nor does anyone want to volunteer to be persecuted

- Still, Jesus calls us blessed, fortunate or well off

- To the common person, it doesn’t make sense

- But we have to look at it as Jesus knows better than we do

Transition: In your heart, do you believe that?

Do you believe that Jesus knows better for you than you do? [SLIDE]

- That’s easier for many of us to say than for us to believe and live out

- You might have felt the same way when it comes to the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes as I did

- We’ve heard many times that Jesus didn’t come to save religion;

- He valued relationship and our state of being

- In many ways, He turned religion on its head

- And, to think that He did it for you and me

- Add to the fact that God could have considered us a lost cause and without hope

- He could have severed the relationship with us for all time

- That’s why it’s interesting that some think that God just wants to control us

- Or, that He’s a strict rule keeper dishing out Do’s and Don’ts

- Some would say that “The Chosen” clip and its specifics aren’t directly in the Bible

- Jesus tells Matthew that He wants to pass along to the people how to find Him

- And the Beatitudes then make sense; in them we see How to find Him and His kingdom

- Instead of us lifting ourselves up…He calls us to meekness

- Meekness meaning that we are accepting His dealings with us as good; without disputing or resisting

- In other words, our attitude doesn’t fly off the handle when things don’t go our way

- We don’t throw spiritual temper tantrums and storm off

- What makes it so hard is because, at times, it can be the most natural thing to do

- Yet, when we consider that (Ps 25:9; SLIDE),

“He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.”

- Or, that (Ps 37:1; SLIDE)

“the meek will inherit the land and enjoy peace and prosperity.”

- Meekness should begin to take on a different look for us

- It’s not popular in the world but very necessary for the believer

- If we can’t look at the Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and see where we fall short or out of alignment,

- Because I believe that we do in some way

- Then, are we being honest with ourselves?

- Are we considering ourselves to have reached so high a level that God does not need to work on us any further?

- It’s something that we should consider

- It’s those hard questions that we must ask ourselves where we push ourselves to measure up

- One commentator mentioned this (SLIDE),

“The kingdom is declared as a reality apart from any human achievement. The Beatitudes are predicated upon the experience of the grace of God” (Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1–13. Word Biblical Commentary 33A. Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 2002)

- For us to measure up in God’s kingdom, it’s simply not about us making enormous strides in our own strength and power

- But the grace of God working in us and through us

- We are blessed, fortunate and well off because we as believers acknowledge that it’ll take Jesus

- We’re not the biggest and baddest, or the smartest or most sophisticated

Transition: We simply know the key—that at my heart rests the Savior of the World

Only God Can Show Us the Way of the Kingdom [SLIDE]

- It seems like most of the world today is searching…

- Searching for immortality, the fountain of youth, or how to just make it into heaven…

- While you live whatever type of life you want to here on earth

- I can say that because I’ve been there

- But when it comes to God’s perspective

- A good number of us have the wrong perspective

- The idea shouldn’t be for us to just make it into heaven by the “skin of our teeth”

- My former pastor—spiritual father—put it this way, our desire should be to live a “God first lifestyle”

- That may be scary for some but doesn’t it make sense?

- In exchange for our old life, He gives us new life—eternal life

- Would it make sense for us to live life any old way after we have received His gift of life?

- It makes great sense for God through Jesus to show us the way of the kingdom

- If we look at the Beatitudes, they emphasize man’s humility and God’s righteousness

- There’s God working in and through man

- To redeem and restore our relationship with Him

- It sets the stage for what should be…the rest of our lives; and the transformation that will happen

- In that transformation, principles become our foundation and blessings become our lifestyle

- I told my daughter recently—weeks ago or a month or so ago

- I can’t remember the last time praying for blessings were my regular prayers

- Yet, they tend to happen and I am ever grateful

- Not that it’s anything wrong with it but I believe there is a “flow” in God where your lifestyle of obedience

- It tends to lead to blessings

- And inevitably that can lead to opposition and persecution from others like Jesus mentioned

- Peter says it this way (1 Peter 3:14; SLIDE),

14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.”

- Our responsibility is to do what is godly and right

- His responsibility is to honor His Word—which He always does

Transition: Knowing that our responsibility is to do what is godly and right, what does that look like?

God wants us to receive, learn and do (SLIDE)

- As it comes to anything in the Word of God, we must open ourselves to it

- A closed hand cannot give or receive anything

- In some areas of our lives, we have that “closed hand” mentality

- Or, in other words, we want Jesus to come into some areas of our lives

- But certainly not all areas

-“Jesus you can come into the guest room of my house (heart)…

- But not the master bedroom and surely not the “closet”

- Yet, it’s that very closet and garage area that He needs to touch

- So, when we’re ready to receive Him, He’s ready to enter in

- When we’re ready to learn, He’s willing to teach us

- We have to be ready to do what we’ve learned from Him

- Many times people can hear but—and teachers know this—

- Learning comes from repetitious information

- When we welcome and receive what Go has to say to us, our hearts receive it and it takes root

- The church should be the environment that is conducive to that learning process

Transition: Here’s the thing…

We all play the part of the disciple (SLIDE)

- What that means is that in the body of Christ—the church—we are all learners

- Forget any church related title, we’re learners and servants

- Learners of Jesus and servants of the King and it’s His will that we do

- We can be inspired to know that none of us have arrived yet

- Everyone is lacking somewhere and the Beatitudes help us see where our heart should be geared towards

Closing:

- As I’m closing, our humility and God’s righteousness take center stage in the Beatitudes

- Jesus’ words shape for the people of God what it means to be a part of the kingdom

- Someone phrased it this way, the Beatitudes (SLIDE)

“…[put] into perspective the difficulties of the present”

- It goes far beyond the idea of “happy” is this or that

- Yet and still, I am fortunate and well off…

- I am blessed!

Closing Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I ask you to forgive me for all of my sins known and unknown, I renounce them all. Lord Jesus, come into my heart. I receive you now as Lord and Savior of my life. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He died for me and arose and sits at the right hand of God praying for me, interceding for me. Lord Jesus, I give you everything. I thank you for saving me, delivering me and setting me free, in Jesus’ name!

Benediction

24 “‘“The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’