The Beatitudes pt. 5

1. Discipleship in the beatitudes

Matthew 5:3 “Poor in Spirit”: Disciples recognise that we have no righteousness of our own . Reward: Belonging in the kingdom of heaven

Matthew 5:4 “mourn”: As disciples our response to our sin should be mourning. Reward: Jesus’ sacrifice and God’s grace comforts us

Matthew 5:5 “the meek”: Able to control our anger without neglecting justice. Reward: Inherit the earth - Ambassadors for Christ.

Matthew 5:6 “hunger & thirst for righteousness”: Disciples care about reflecting the righteousness of God. Reward: We will be filled.

Matthew 5:7 “merciful”: Compassionate to others, recognising our own need for mercy. Reward: We will be shown mercy

Matthew 5:8 “pure in heart”: The cry of the disciple is “create in me a pure heart, oh god!” (Ps 51:10) . Reward: We will see God

Matthew 5:9 “the peacemakers”: Peacemakers vs Peacekeepers. Peacekeepers know the temperature (thermometer), Peacemakeres change the temperature (thermostat).

These are the “active” beatitudes - the things we admit, do and become.

Jesus spoke one other beatitude - the impact of being His disciple

The end result of growing our discipleship in these other areas

If you are doing all these other things you can expect that the enemy will not be happy.

Matthew 5:10–12 (NIV)

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Righteousness NOT sin, opinions, attitude, personality, actions… Because we look like Christ

2. Blessed are the persecuted

The promise of persecution

Us: Wow Lord, this is a tough pill to swallow- you want me to be happy when I get persecuted for doing the good stuff?

Shouldn’t living a righteous life and being a good Christian make me look good to the world?

Isn’t it my job to make Christianity look attractive? Persecution doesn’t really sell !!!

The original hearers knew all about being persecuted

Under Rome - a fact of their life - they were conquered and occupied

Poor - persecuted by the wealthy

Sinners - persecuted by the righteous.

Parables like the Good Samaritan didn’t suprise them that someone got beaten on the side of the road, or ignored by those with status.

It shocked them that someone would actually intervene

Jesus was preaching to an audience who knew how it felt to be persecuted

Here he is saying: There’s one type of persecution you should expect…

The persecution that comes from following Jesus

Jesus is really clear with us - Look at how they treat me - they will not treat you differently.

Christ’s followers cannot expect better treatment in the world than their Master had.

Matthew Henry

Persecution is something Jesus is telling us to expect as we walk with Him.

But… don’t lose heart

If following Jesus leads to persecution, it so much more leads to the reward of heaven.

We are called to joy!

Matthew 5:12 NIV

Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Both here and in James 1:2-3 Rejoice, count it joy

What could possibly make us rejoice or be joyful in the face of pain and persecution?

What can we remind ourselves of when we are feeling persecuted?

3 things we are not, and 3 things we are

a. I am not in uncharted territory - Jesus has already walked the road I’m on

and when He was on it, he disarmed the enemy

b. I am not alone - The Holy Spirit is walking with me

And He is a wonderful counselor

c. I am not an orphan - God calls me His child.

d. I am a citizen of heaven

My place ultimately isn’t here and therefore I don’t need the recognition, approval, or love of this world

If you were not strangers here the dogs of the world would not bark at you.

Samuel Rutherford

The King will one day hold accountable those who persecute His people.

e. I’m an ambassador of Christ

I have an opportunity in the middle of this persecution to show the love of Christ

I have the opportunity to put my discipleship into action

F. I am being transformed into the image of Christ

- 2 Corinthians 3:18 says that we are being transformed into the image of Christ

When we follow Jesus, even the worst suffering (esp the worst suffering) has the opportunity to draw us closer to Christ.

Trees grow best when their roots go deep

When we are suffering - we go deep

James 1:2–4 NIV

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

When we face trials/persecution

we learn how to pick up the sword of the Spirit

we learn how to persevere in our walk with God

We see Him turn up in our turmoil and it grows us.

So why should we rejoice when we face persecution?

Because even this will never separate us from the love of God

because God will make every thing in our lives grow us

because we have the eternal promise of reward

The wrap up:

end of the beatitudes

Jesus’ vision statement

What it means to be His disciple

He isn’t saying “Here comes my kingdom, I’m going to pull you out of here”

He says “Here, be my disciples, and I’m going to sow you in here...”

Matthew 5:13–14 NIV

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

He is calling us to be salt

the preserver - impedes decay

We live in a world that will want to persecute us because it doesn’t want to be reminded that it is poor in spirit, it doesn’t want to mourn it’s brokenness and sin…

We are called as Jesus’ disciples to show the world what it’s like to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to repent, to give grace and mercy.

We are called to impede the moral decay around it - and it isn’t by complaining about it

we are called to live in the opposite spirit

and as we do that… we shine Jesus’ light

So we live in a world that increasingly doesn’t want Christ

We grow in our discipleship and we choose to be brave

and when sufferring comes our way - we count it all joy.

Altar Call: Lord make me brave in the places and the issues that matter to Your kingdom.

Grow me as your disciple

Lead me with your grace

Help me to be both salt and Light