Qualities of the Kingdom

So these beatitudes are more concerned with the interior life of the disciple, to activate here and now the kind of life Jesus communicates in those who follow him.

James M. Houston

Good works do not save, but the good works of the saved glorify God.

Chapter 5 of the Christian Counselors New Testament and Proverbs

Biblical Illustrator Bible Photos—The Life of Christ Church of the Beatitudes

The Church of the Beatitudes, the traditional site of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. The church is built as an octagon, symbolizing the eight beatitudes in Jesus’ sermon. The church, which overlooks the Sea of Galilee, was constructed in the 1930s.

The world rejects poverty of Spirit, and Christians adhere to their rejection.

Start off with word document. Pray for the direction of the Lord with these things.

Introduction:

Our Easter extravaganza is just a month away now, we are going to have a volunteer meeting next sunday following church. if you are interested in volunteer or you just want to know whats going on, then come on out and be with us for 15-20 minutes following church.

Candy donation box is in the coffee room. Last year we raise over 2000 pieces of candy now this year we are going for 3000 to stuff 2500 eggs, over the course of 4 Easter eggs for all ages. So please while you are out and about if you dont mind remember us and grab a bag of egg sized candy so we can get them stuffed properly. We are wanting to stay away from lollipos, and hard circular candies if you dont mind please. Theres nothing i want less then to borrow some of my kiddos candies and find myself eating a fireball.

No youth group tonight, but we will have young adults class @4pm. Again no youth…but we will have Young adults, thats those adults graduated from high school and between the age of 18-25.

We have a Church Work day coming up March 15th & 16th.

the 15th is a Friday, we will be meeting here at 6pm till about 8 and then on the

16th we will come back that Saturday around 8am to get the details finished up so we can be prepared for sunday morning service.

Real Talk this wedensday at 7pm. Were following up our series Awe of God. with a new series im putting together. Called Listening to God.

Anymore announcements?

Lets get into the Word!

Id like for you to open your bibles with me to the Gospel of Matthew and when you get there go ahead and flip to chapter 3.

(if i bring mikas grandfathers bible, and some of my grandfathers book) (bring a stack of old phones)

You know these books are really special to me, they show the devotion, loyalty, and work that is put into a christian walk, the study, the attitude in which these gentlemen had and have for the word. Do you have a family bible like that?

Do you have a family study books like that?

I wonder what the next generation will have?

Will my kids have this stack of phones, where im sure there is a bible app found on them, if they turn on, if they worked, im sure they couldn taccess that old version of an app. They would never see my highlights, my notes.

Year after year the enemy of our soul has attempted to rid the word of God from this world. I wonder if he has.

Instead of destroying it, made it readily accesible for us to forget about it.

anyways. if you dont have a bible, come find me after church. We will make an appoitment this week to go get one JUST for you. One to highlight, mark in, cry over, and best of all. Be used as a weapon.

Our bibles are weapons after all arent they?

Have you ever had a dream? Whats your dream? When you were 8 playing in the yard what did you hope for? What did you go to high school and specialize in? Did you find that you loved something so dearly that you wanted to pursue it with everything you had?

Lets here from you….What was your dream in two words. You wanted to become what??

…….

Now in the aspiration of this dream or goal. did you ever think. What and who would i be if i were to obtain this dream?

What type of person would you be? What would your character be like? Would you be noble in practice, would you be self centered in practice?

David was on the battle field with his brother asking those around him, who is this person defiling the name of God? His brother hears his conversations and says what are you doing here, i know you heard david you are self centered, you only want your name in lights. Get away from here, abandon this dream of yours for you will die in the process of recieving it.

His brother thought it would kill him, it would kill others.

what is it of your dream that you may have to sacrafice to get it.

Some sacrafices are good, becoming an athlete calls for an individual to become self controlled, reserved, and to turn ambition into process.

others can be harmful, on the road to success you could use people for personal gain, put money above relationships, and work pride into your vision.

Not everyone, but many people set goals, have dreams

We set goals, that would put us in the light of success, fame, and fortune…. its just natural to us. We find people on television, movies, and even history book that encourage us to become more than. We want the best. And there is nothing wrong with that.

but heres an idea i want to float in your mind……..What if a dream you set in your life were to characteristly bankrupt you? Would you aspire to recieve it. Im not talking about spending your lifes earnings to obtain the goal. I mean. What if you had to become poor, overcome of emotions, gentle, without suffiecent means for food or water.

Do you know anyone who would set there sights on such a dream?

What if the first steps to experiencing the most amazing life you have ever wanted, or could even ask for would start with you having to file bankruptcy spiritually.

In Jesus greatest Sermon. The Sermon on the Mount. we find in just 111 verses. Jesus teaches us how we can be truly blessed. And it may not be the way we imagined it.

For the next few weeks this is where we are going to live. Focusing on these passages, ideas, and the blessings.

Here Jesus is speaking to two groups of people. One his disciples, followers of Jesus, and then the crowds, those who were not following jesus.

And no matter what group you are in today. The amazing thing is, God wants you to enter the Kingdom, and further more, Jesus wants you to enjoy the Kingdom.

I want to encourage you for the next few weeks up until easter, I want to encourage each of you to invite your unsaved and saved friends. Anyone in your inner circles that are without a church family. Invite them.

jesus teachings here are phenominal. They are impactful, and the best part is there against the grain, not normal ideas, they teach, inspire, renew, and transform the life of those who hear them. This sermon jesus teaches is Edgy filled with raw facts that Jesus brings on His mission journey about the Kingdom of God Like who the Kingdom is for and What the Kingdom is!

(lets set the scene with the image of Mt Beatitudes.

Were going to start In Matthew 5 1-12

Matthew 5:1–12 (NIV)

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.

How to Understanding the verses

Matthew 5:3 NIV

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Now we have 8 Beatitudes : beatitudes just simple means blessedness. 8 Things that Jesus opens his sermon with that bring blessedness to those who believe.

Now lets understand this meaning of blessed.

For it seems to be important to the whole setup of these scriptures found from 3-11.

Blessed(makarios): fortunate; happy

now lets understand something here. happiness is not what we are attempting to obtain. For to do proper exegesis, or interpretation of scriptures here we must not take our carnal definition of happiness and apply it to the Kingdom.

Thats improper and truly unexceptable. But what we must do is understand the cultural termonology then.

When a boy courts (or let me try to make this cooler) when a young man swoops…no caps……idk the new terms. but when a young man sweeps a lady off her feet and they decide to get married, the young man should go to the partners father, asking for his blessing for her hand in marriage.

This is the idea we are looking at here. the father isnt giving happiness to the boy but rather approval to take his daughters hand in marriage.

When the father walks the bride down the aisle he will answer that approval by handing her over for the young boy to recieve.

The scripture here is telling us that Blessed…or “Approval is for the Poor in Spirit”.

For the root idea of “blessed” is an awareness of Gods approval, its not a simple wish from God. it is an announcment that we are actually approved by God.

Blessedness indicates the smile of God or as Max lucado puts it. The applause of Heaven.

Sermon on the Mount—The Message of the Kingdom The World Rejects Poverty of Spirit

Theology becomes therapy.… The biblical interest in righteousness is replaced by a search for happiness, holiness by wholeness, truth by feeling, ethics by feeling good about one’s self.… The past recedes. The Church recedes. The world recedes. All that remains is self.

Lets just pause on that first line right there. its saying the biblical interest….meaning the christians interest in the bible while searching for righteousness instead comes up with a search for happiness.

For to search for righteousness takes longer than a 5 minute daily devotional. Instead of a devotional, it takes a devotion. Instead of a pre-written prayer, it takes a prayer language. Come on. …lets keep reading.

Christian Narcissim is promoted as biblical self-love.

This is an idea many fall into wihtin the church, seeking happiness rather than being sustained by God’s approval.

2 Timothy 2:15 NIV

15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

what does it mean to present yourself to God as one approved.

Hebrews 11 shows us that By Faith men of the Old testament Gain approval of God by walking in Faith rather than works.

As we study these beatitudes let us realize that if God’s blessing/approval can mean more to us than anything else—even the approval of our friends, business coworkers, and colleagues, then the beatitudes are going to penetrate our hearts. Speaking to us in the deepest of ways.

Blessing means approval. His favor.

now the next work I want us to understand is Poor.

Poor(ptōchos): trembling;beggar

There are two words for “poor” in Greek,

- one means someone who has nothing extra

- one who has nothing at all, bankrupt, has no resources.

It is the second meaning that Jesus is referring to .

the one who is trembling, the one who has to coward and crouch like a beggar.

Someone who crouches about, wretchedly begging.

As Luther said, we are all beggars, living on the bounty of God. But such poverty leads to spiritual affluence. “Theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

What scripture is pointing us to is Poor in Spirit means we are spiritually anemic.

This idea that we are in poverty so deep that a person must obtain life by asking. One that is fully dependent on the giving of others that he cannot survive without help from the outside.

What does it mean to be poor in spirit?

Well what it doesnt mean is it’s not a call to poverty. You must not sell all things and become homeless. It does not mean you are down on yourself or that you are a loser in any aspect. you were made in the Image of God. You are valuable to God.

Yet we mustnt get ahead of ourselves thinking we are meant to have all we hold onto. For a wise Christian should know not to get comfortable in the quiet, allowing the enemy to uprise or uproot.

Nehemiah knew not to get comfortable in the good things, or to subcumb to the weak spirits of his workers. Instead he put a morning and night shift ready at all times. To continue to build and ready to defend.

When we give weight to the comfort of quiet we allow ourselves to be suseptable to the sneakness of the enemy.

Matthew 13:24–30 NIV

24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28 “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”

When we dont remain in the refuge of God we can easily allow weeds to grow with us, and all growth good or bad, takes resources, energy, and effort out of us.

If it means to loose one harvest its best to empty yourself to God now, then to allow a harmful character or quality to grow within you.

To be poor in spirit means to empty oneself out before the Lord. Willingly. Not JUST under the pressure of persecution or trials. But always, being dependant on His resources instead of your own.

This is hard to do when the culture rejects this truth.

the culture says you are blessed if you assert yourself, if you are proud of yourself, defend yourself, avenge yourself, serve yourself, and promote yourself.

This is where the fight begins, but our Jesus the only and only savior of the World. He says we must take everything we know about happiness and throw it out the window!

The Christian has a life of blessing, one of favor, fulfillment, and purpose.

How do we measure up to this attribute or quality?

I think its important for us to see whats the bar we are to measure up to.

Matthew 5:48 NIV

48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

This is the standard.

Yet if we think of the 10 commandments. We fail.

No other Gods: Have you ever pt another person or anything before the Lord?

No Idols: How many have worshipped a house, car, job or child.

Lords name in Vain: “oh my god, gosh, or worse.

and we could keep going but james says if we have broken one, we have broken all James 2 10

James 2:10 NIV

10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.

1. We can only read and live the beatitudes through the cross. We have to come to God saysing “ I am a beggar, i cant do this, but I thank you jesus that you have.

This is step one, to experiencing the life you have always wanted, you must file spiritual bankruptcy. and Submit your will to the Father.

Yet when approaching the beatitudes we must avoid sliding into a few extremes

2. We must not say that Jesus is calling his listeners to an attempt at earning salvation by living out these character qualities in order to enter the kingdom. Jesus statements are of grace, not law.

2. Matthew 5 is filled with teachings on the transformation that Christ does FOR us. Character always comes before conduct, because what we are determines what we do .

Jesus shows us that true righteousness is inward, and in the rest 17-48 Jesus teaches us that sin also is inward.

In turn Jesus exposes False Righteousness.. which teaches religious activities, and shows that it was sin and an outward expression.

What’s the Good News here?

Luke 18:10–14 NIV

10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

If we can learn to be honest with God. Trust in His words and his plans. We can learn to be okay with not being okay.

The Beatitudes make up the image of which Christ embodies His people.

Hebrews 9:22 NIV

22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Jesus shed his blood for the covering of our sins. Once and for all. His work starts within the darkness that WAS there. and His work continues through us.

1 Peter 3:18 (NIV)

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

Isaiah 38:17 NIV

17 Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.

Revelation 1:5–6 (NIV)

5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,

6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

The work is done by Christ; in christ, yet through our journey, we allow What jesus did upon our confession of faith, to transform our outward apperance to be like that of His glorious representation.

He trust us to continue on in His mission, not by the things we can do well, but by what he has done for us.

The blood washes us, and gives us new life.

That new life is the qualities of the Beatitudes. Starting with His approval of the christian confident enough to say: “ Lord I cant do this without you.”