The Beautiful Attitudes Part 4

If you have your Bibles, please turn to Matthew chapter 5, starting in verse 1. SLIDE

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.

This morning is Pentecost Sunday. In Acts 2, we see the Holy Spirit descending on the church. The disciples were all gathered together waiting as Jesus had instructed them. Suddenly, the blowing of a violent wind filled the place where they were and it was at that moment that they were filled with the Holy Spirit. I’ve always wondered what it would have been like to been there in the room and experience that!

After that, however, we see tongues of fire descending on the disciples and they begin to preach in every language - every person there heard in their own language. And then Peter spoke up to the crowd telling how what just happened fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Joel.

Acts 2:17–21 NIV

17 “ ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. 21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

SLIDE

Going back to our text for this morning we are going to focus first on the last three verses, talking about persecution. SLIDE

You might be asking what Pentecost has to do with persecution? Hang with me for a minute, we will make that connection.

As I’ve mentioned a couple times before, we again see Jesus being a master of paradox. In these three verses, we see a relationship between persecution and joy that doesn’t seem to make sense to us on the surface. It seems very contradictory to what we hear in our culture every day.

Notice the change in the way this last beatitude is written? All of the previous ones are written in third person, “blessed are those”, while this one is “blessed are you”. It’s meant to give this a more personal meaning. It is of great importance that we understand that we will be persecuted as followers of Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us that we will be shunned, and suffer in a variety of ways for being a believer. But we are supposed to be joyful when this happens? That doesn’t seem to make sense, does it?

What did the disciples experience? After Pentecost, the persecution began. When Peter and the other apostles were flogged before the Sanhedrin soon after Pentecost, “the apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name” (Acts 5:41).[3]

It didn’t end there. There are many accounts of persecution in the New Testament, with one of the most famous being Saul - who killed Christians - who became Paul and became one of the greatest, if not the greatest missionary the church has ever witnessed.

Here’s a question that I think we need to honestly ask ourselves. Are we persecuted for our Christianity, or for our lack of it?Sometimes Christians are rejected simply because they have unpleasing personalities. They are rude, insensitive, thoughtless—or just plain obnoxious. Some are rejected because they come off as proud and judgmental. Others are disliked because they are lazy and irresponsible. Incompetence mixed with piety is sure to bring rejection.[4]

The beatitude doesn’t say blessed are those who are persecuted and stop there. It goes on to say because of righteousness, meaning living rightly, or as the previous beatitudes suggest. If we are truly living according to the beatitudes, the world cannot tolerate us. Why? Notice in verse 11 he changes the wording from “because of righteousness” to “because of me”? Primarily, we will be persecuted because we will be like Christ. In John 15:18-20 we are told that everyone who lives like Christ will be persecuted. We see this message again in Paul’s message to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:12) and also to the Thessalonians (1 Thessalonians 3:3-4).

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Suffering, then, is the badge of true discipleship. The disciple is not above his master.… That is why Luther reckoned suffering among the marks of the true church, and one of the memoranda drawn up in preparation for the Augsburg Confession similarly defines the church as the community of those “who are persecuted and martyred for the Gospel’s sake.”… Discipleship means allegiance to the suffering Christ, and it is therefore not at all surprising that Christians should be called upon to suffer. In fact, it is a joy and a token of His grace.[5]”

The logic is revealing: since the first seven Beatitudes describe the character of the true believer, we must conclude that ostracism, persecution, and rejection are just as much signs of the believer as being poor in spirit or merciful. We should not be surprised when persecution comes but rather, surprised when it does not. Therefore, if the person who claims to follow Christ never experiences any persecution at all, it may be reasonably asked if he really is a Christian.

If we have never experienced rejection for the sake of the kingdom, are we citizens of the kingdom? If we have not been out of step with the surrounding culture and suffered its disapproval because we practice the ethics of God’s children, are we truly God’s children?

Of course, we should be careful not to condemn ourselves if at the moment we are not undergoing persecution. No one is persecuted all the time. Also, we must be careful not to imagine persecution in overly dramatic terms. Most of it is mundane, and some is even quite “civilized.”[6]

Folks, the true tragedy of our western, American culture today is that this does not often happen to “Christians”. We are disconnected from the world too often. We don’t like it when things get messy, and frankly we have become like the world. We don’t tend to preach about things like hell. We tend to live like the world to the point where people do not see us as Christians. Folks, here are some harsh words. If we are not experiencing some sort of rejection or ostracism, or being harassed for our faith, we have to ask ourselves if we are truly followers and disciples of Jesus Christ.

Folks, Jesus Christ and the early church were persecuted. We have evidence of this in Scripture. In the early church, there was no question where a believer’s duty lay. There is a price to follow Jesus Christ. It will impact every area of our lives.

It is a glorious thing when the church and the individual are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, because that means they are like Christ.[7]

Three weeks we started to unpack these few verses in Jesus’s famous sermon on the mount called the beatitudes. The beatitudes are the beautiful attitudes that we should possess as disciples of Jesus Christ. We talked about how Jesus built relationship with, taught, and lived life with his disciples is an important model for each of us to follow as we look to disciple other believers. We also talked about the importance of these discipleship relationships in our lives.

We learned what the word “Blessed” meant. Blessed means to approved by God or to find God’s approval. SLIDE The first beatitude is found in verse 3. Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Poor in Spirit is an intellectual realization of our spiritual bankruptcy. Our realization that we cannot do it on our own and we need help. Our realization that we are ultimately sinful beings. In order to be a disciple of Jesus Christ we have to come to the point of recognizing our spiritual bankruptcy and need for a savior. Let me say that again, we cannot be a disciple of Jesus Christ if we have not recognized our spiritual bankruptcy. Without this first beatitude, we cannot experience the remainder of the beatitudes, this is a prerequisite. We must first know our deep need for God.

Last week we dug into the second, third, and fourth beatitude. Remember that the beatitudes are intended to cut us to our core, allowing us to recognize what we truly are in order that we might see our true need for God. They hold us up against God’s standards for how a disciple of Jesus should truly be living. These standards are high and may be difficult at times, but keep us from being shallow in our belief and only knowing how to give the “right” answers. They are also a progression and we can only attain them in order. For example, we must realize our deep spiritual need that arises from our own spiritual bankruptcy before we can continue to grow in these ways.

We started with verse 4 and learned that SLIDE “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” We discussed how this was the emotional counterpart to the first beatitude, the intellectual one. Once we realize our true poverty of spirit, or our spiritual bankruptcy and need for a savior, we should be grieved by our personal sin, the sin of others and the world, and the injustices that are present in our world. We should be grieved and mourn over the devastating dimensions of sin in our souls, words, and deeds as described in Romans chapter 3. We should see the depravity of our own ability to sin and realize that we are like other people we are so quick to condemn, capable of committing the same heinous acts we are condemning. Mourning doesn’t mean that we can’t be happy and experience laughter, or that we lose the joy that only God can give us.

We then moved on to the third beatitude, found in verse 5, SLIDE “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Meek does not refer to a weakness. It doesn’t denote cowardice, spinelessness, timidity, or willingness to have peace at any cost. It doesn’t imply shyness or indecisiveness or lack of confidence.

The one who is meek has a gentle spirit. He trusts God above anyone or anything else. He possesses immense strength and self-control. This part is important, a meek person stands up fearlessly in defense of others or of truth as needed. All of this manifests itself in extending love and not retaliation or hate.

Now in reality, none of us are perfect at this, no Christian is. We are never totally able to escape pride and self. We should aim to not be harsh, focused only on ourselves or vengeful. Instead we should strive to be gentle and focused on serving and loving others following the example of Christ himself.

We then discussed the fourth beatitude found in verse 6, SLIDE “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

We used the example of Elvis and all his elaborate material possessions and desires and how in his last months, he had become victim of the appetites that developed within him, never seeming to find fulfillment.

Righteousness refers to an inner righteousness that works itself out in one’s living in conformity of God’s will. To truly hunger and thirst for righteousness means to long to live righteously, and for this practical righteousness to prevail in the world. It is a passionate desire for the things of God and living in accordance to his will. It is wanting the character of the kingdom and wanting God’s will with all that it entails.

This kind of hungering should draw us closer to the Lord. It should create a hungering for being in his presence, in his word and in communion with him through prayer and worship. This is a never-ending sequence. The more one conforms to God’s will, the more fulfilled and content one becomes. But that in turn spawns a greater discontent. Our hunger increases and intensifies in the very act of being satisfied.[8]

The fifth beatitude is found in verse 7, SLIDE “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” This beatitude is the perfect corrective for those mired in the trap of bitterness. We talked about two tests that we can use to determine through self examination if we are truly merciful. SLIDE The first is that if we have no mercy for those who physically or economically oppressed, we are not following the commandments of Jesus and dare I say maybe not even a believer at all. We discussed the parable of the Good Samaritan and how the “religious” leaders of the day got it so wrong, but the despised Samaritan showed the love of God for his brother. SLIDEThe second test was that if we are not willing to extend forgiveness while exercising mercy, we are not Christians. We talked about the unmerciful slave in Matthew 18 and how he refused to extend the mercy shown to his by his master when his debt was forgiven.

SLIDE The sixth beatitude is found in verse 8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

Pure in heart means a heart that does not bring mixed motives and devotions and divided loyalties to its relationship with God. We must be purely devoted and loyal to God and God alone. As James reminds us (4:8) we cannot be double minded. In other words, we cannot be devoted to both God and something else. We must have a radical inner purity that can only be received from Jesus Christ himself.

The seventh beatitude is found in verse 9, SLIDE “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”

A peacemaker will be honest even if it brings pain. Thus there are two main characteristics of peacemakers. First that they are honest at all costs and second willing to risk the pain of this honesty in pursuing peace. The peacemaker is to be a fighter, but at the same time gentle, positive, and tolerant in the best sense of the word. He is also humble in his/her dealings, loving, and the Shalom of God permeates his/her personality. James reminds us (3:17-18) “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”

Jesus is the ultimate example of a peacemaker. He is the source of true peace for all men.

So again, as I’ve repeated many times through this series, I think this is the most important thing to take away from this sermon series is that there is a progression of the beatitudes in the believer’s life that is important, if not vital, to our walk with Christ.

We must first realize our poverty of spirit, or spiritual bankruptcy. Second, we must mourn for our sins, the sins of the world and injustices among us. Only then can we truly develop the virtue of meekness. Meekness is the first positive virtue we find in the beatitudes. Once we develop this virtue, a never-ending hunger/satisfaction relationship develops within us that constantly brings us back to the Word and to prayer, desiring to know more and be continually filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit. As we continually look to satisfy this hunger and live within the Shema, we must become merciful people. Willing to freely extend the mercy and forgiveness that we’ve been given from Jesus Christ. Once we’ve reached this point, we need to ask God to renew us inside in our hearts and minds in only a way he can do. We must grow deeper roots with the character of the kingdom within us and only then will we be pure in heart and see God. As we continue to grow, we should become a peacemaker. Remember that a peacemaker will be honest even if it brings pain. There are two main characteristics of peacemakers. First that they are honest at all costs and willing to risk the pain of this honesty in pursuing peace.

We then are reminded that we must suffer hardships and persecution just as Jesus himself did. We cannot be greater than Jesus, so why would we expect any less? We must remain focused on Jesus, growing in our walk with him.

As we look to wrap up this series, I want us to return to one of the first ideas we started with four weeks ago. SLIDE Blessed. I want to dig a bit more into why the blessedness is so vital in our lives as followers of Jesus Christ.

What does it mean? We talked about how it doesn’t necessarily mean health, wealth, or even security or comfort. God can certainly bless us in those ways, but it’s not guaranteed in Scripture. We talked about how blessed means to have or to find God’s approval. Who is blessed according to Jesus? It’s not the courageous, wise, temperate, or just. It’s the one who is poor, sad, lowly, hungry, and mistreated. That’s who Jesus tells us throughout his ministry is blessed.

Remember the story of the narrow gate that leads to life? These beatitudes tell us many of the attitudes that we need to have to enter through that narrow gate. We have to be ready and willing to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus daily. It’s not only about what we do, but the heart which causes us to serve our neighbors. As my commentary put it, “Welcome not to “the few, the proud, the Marines,” but “the few, the humble, the followers of Jesus.” Welcome to what it means to be a “blessed” disciple of Jesus Christ.[9]”

So the final thoughts I want to leave you with are this. What are the beatitudes all about? It’s a three part answer.

In 1888 Friedrich Nietzsche wrote a very anti-Christian book quite creatively titled The Anti-Christ. In it he asks and answers questions such as this:

Question: “What is more harmful than any vice?”

Answer: “Active sympathy for the ill-constituted and weak—Christianity.”

Nietzsche defined good as “all that heightens the feeling of power, the will to power, power itself in man,” and he defined bad as “all that proceeds from weakness.” As wrong as this philosopher was about what constitutes good and bad, he was right about the unique feature of Jesus Christ and his teachings. What the first four beatitudes have in common is that they all point out our spiritual weakness.[10]

The first part of the answer is SLIDE a broken blessedness. We learn from the teachings of Jesus, that blessedness (or God’s approval) is found in acknowledging our poverty of spirit, or our spiritual bankruptcy. This is an intellectual realization. We realize that we are truly nothing without God and we cannot do it on our own. Next we realize its emotional counterpart, which leads us to a deep mourning over our own sin, the sin of the world, and the injustices among us. We grieve over the indifference to the gospel of Jesus Christ in our world.

A meek disposition follows these first two, meaning we will not be bold, brash, or self-assertive, but gentle, humble, unassuming, and willing to serve. We then desire a continual hunger for the righteousness of God, which develops into the never-ending hunger/satisfaction relationship that constantly brings us back to the Word and to prayer, desiring to know more and be continually filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus, in the following parable, perfectly sums up these first four beatitudes:

Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.” But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:10–13)[11]

We cannot get into heaven unless we understand our deep need for God. We cannot squeeze through the eye of a needle unless we give up all of the baggage we carry in this life which fattens us and weighs down our souls, whether it’s material possessions, pride, self-love, or self-righteousness.

The beatitudes also demonstrate a SLIDEfuture blessedness. Note that all of them denote an “is-ness”, which tells us that as we grow on our journeys and develop these attitudes, we are a part of God’s kingdom now. But there is also a stress on the future in the second half of many of the beatitudes.

Note in verse 4 – they will be comforted.

In verse 5 – will inherit the earth

In verse 6 – will be filled

In Verse 7 – will be shown mercy

In Verse 8 – will see God

In verse 9 – will be called children of God.

Verses 3 and 10 note the current belonging to the kingdom of God in the words, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, but as we see in verse 12, we have not yet inherited our reward “in heaven”. There is an already/not yet component in the beatitudes that should bring us a great hope for the reward in front of us, causing us to live more and more like Christ every day. This “delayed gratification”, if you will, is a very stark contrast to the “want it now” culture we live in. Here’s some examples:

If I ever run for political office that will be the platform I’ll run on. Do you want it now? Then vote for me.

“I don’t want to work for my retirement; I’ll take a huge pension now.” Okay, you have it.

“I only make $30,000 a year, but I want a half a million-dollar house now.” Okay, you have it.

“I hate eating healthy food. I just want to eat jellybeans all day.” Okay, you have it.

“I want complete sexual freedom to be with whomever, whenever, however; no strings attached, no marriage bed.” Okay, you have it.[12]

I have a question for you this morning church, have we succumbed to the “want it now” culture or are we expectantly awaiting the delayed gratification that will come when we receive our heavenly reward? I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” And be welcomed into heaven. We are not promised tomorrow. We need to start living like a follower of Jesus Christ today. IF THE CHURCH WAS TRULY LIVING THIS WAY, THERE WOULD BE GREAT REVIVAL SPREADING ACROSS OUR CITY, COUNTRY, AND WORLD.

I want to read a passage in Revelation to you, which I think emphasizes this future blessedness well:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth [for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; for they shall inherit the earth].… And I saw the … new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people [for they shall be called sons of God], and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore [for they shall be comforted], for the former things have passed away.… No longer will there be anything accursed [for they shall receive mercy], but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him [for they shall be satisfied]. They will see his face [for they shall see God].… (Revelation 21:1a, 2–4; 22:3, 4a)[13]

Third, the beatitudes are about a SLIDE selfless blessedness. The beatitudes appeal to us because they offer real rewards now and in the future, but did you notice that none of them are focused on self? They all focus on God or on others, or some combination of both. This gives us a true picture of what the disciple of Jesus Christ should look like. Primarily not about self.

The first four beatitudes are an expression of our need for God. The last four are about action. Actions that are pleasing to God and focused on others.

These are contrary to the way we are wired, to the “want it now” culture we live in, but are exactly what we are called to in Jesus Christ. We are called to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We cannot be a disciple of Christ and not love our neighbor and serve our neighbor by showing mercy, being a peacemaker, and yes, even persecuted for the name of Jesus Christ. Only Jesus perfectly embodies these beatitudes.

Jesus embodied this broken blessedness!

And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they spit on him and took the reed and struck him on the head. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the robe … and led him away to crucify him. (Matthew 27:28–31)

Jesus embodied this future blessedness.

Consider him [Jesus] who endured from sinners such hostility against himself … looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross … and is [now] seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:3, 2)

And Jesus embodied this selfless blessedness.

… though he was in the form of God, [he] did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant.… And … he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:6–8)[14]

SLIDE

In a moment, we are going to transition into a time of communion. My closing question is this, are you embodying the beatitudes in our own walks with the Lord? We will not be perfect at this, but are we doing the absolute best we can with the help of the Holy Spirit? Are we embodying the broken, future, and selfless blessedness that are described in the beatitudes? Have you died to self and its desires, and truly focused on loving the lord your God with everything you are and loving/serving your neighbor in any way that’s needed?

As we bow our heads, let’s ponder these questions for the next couple of minutes as we prepare our hearts for the Lord’s Supper. In the Church of the Nazarene, we believe in an open table, meaning that all are welcome to partake if you have accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. Let’s prepare our hearts for communion and ask the Lord to examine us if there is anything we need to take care of with him before we partake in this beautiful sacrament.

PRAYER

COMMUNION RITUAL

The Communion Supper, instituted by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a sacrament, which proclaims His life, His sufferings, His sacrificial death, and resurrection, and the hope of His coming again. It shows forth the Lord’s death until His return.

The Supper is a means of grace in which Christ is present by the Spirit. It is to be received in reverent appreciation and gratefulness for the work of Christ.

All those who are truly repentant, forsaking their sins, and believing in Christ for salvation are invited to participate in the death and resurrection of Christ. We come to the table that we may be renewed in life and salvation and be made one by the Spirit.

In unity with the Church, we confess our faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. And so we pray:

PRAYER OF CONFESSION AND SUPPLICATION:

Holy God,

We gather at this, your table, in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who by your Spirit was anointed to preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, set at liberty those who are oppressed. Christ healed the sick, fed the hungry, ate with sinners, and established the new covenant for forgiveness of sins. We live in the hope of His coming again.

On the night in which He was betrayed, He took bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said: “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Likewise, when the supper was over, He took the cup, gave thanks, gave it to His disciples, and said: “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.” Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And so, we gather as the Body of Christ to offer ourselves to you in praise and thanksgiving. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these your gifts. Make them by the power of your Spirit to be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ, redeemed by His blood.

By your Spirit make us one in Christ, one with each other, and one in the ministry of Christ to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

EXPLAIN ELEMENTS

The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, broken for you, preserve you blameless, unto everlasting life. Eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.

The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, shed for you, preserve you blameless unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.

CONCLUDING PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING AND COMMITMENT

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, let us pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

BENEDICTION:

May the strength of God sustain us; may the power of God preserve us; may the hands of God protect us; may the way of God direct us; may the love of God go with us this day (night) and forever. Amen. The Lord bless us and keep us. The Lord make His face to shine upon us, and be gracious unto us.

[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Mt 5:1–12). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. [2]Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Joy. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 2, p. 1224). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House. [3]Hughes, R. K. (2001). The sermon on the mount: the message of the kingdom (p. 70). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books. [4]Hughes, R. K. (2001). The sermon on the mount: the message of the kingdom (p. 71). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books. [5]Hughes, R. K. (2001). The sermon on the mount: the message of the kingdom (p. 72). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books. [6]Hughes, R. K. (2001). The sermon on the mount: the message of the kingdom (p. 73). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books. [7]Hughes, R. K. (2001). The sermon on the mount: the message of the kingdom (p. 74). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books. [8]Hughes, R. K. (2001). The sermon on the mount: the message of the kingdom (p. 42). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books. [9]O’Donnell, D. S. (2013). Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 110). Wheaton, IL: Crossway. [10]O’Donnell, D. S. (2013). Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 110). Wheaton, IL: Crossway. [11]O’Donnell, D. S. (2013). Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (pp. 111–112). Wheaton, IL: Crossway. [12]O’Donnell, D. S. (2013). Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 113). Wheaton, IL: Crossway. [13]O’Donnell, D. S. (2013). Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 114). Wheaton, IL: Crossway. [14]O’Donnell, D. S. (2013). Matthew: All Authority in Heaven and on Earth. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 116). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.