The Good Life

Matthew 5:3-12

The Most Popular Class Ever

Yale’s most popular class

Just a few days after registration opened for Yale

300 students had signed up for a class called Psychology and the Good Life

After 3 days there were 1200 students signed up for the class

1/4th of Yale undergrads

The goal of the class

Teach students how to lead happier and more satisfying lives

Laurie Santos (The Professor)

“Students want to change, to be happier themselves, and to change the culture here on campus.”

Alannah Maynez (Freshman)

“A lot of us are anxious, stressed, unhappy, numb…”

Something inside all of us longs for the good life

Happiness

Fulfillment

They try to find that happiness in so many ways

Travel

Go all over

See all the greatest sights

Possessions

Have the house

Have the truck

Have the boat

Pleasure

Sex

Eating

Experiences

Climb the mountains

Go bungee jumping

Go snorkeling

We see people living those lives…

They’re so lucky

I wish that was me

I wish I could travel

I wish I had a big house

I wish I could go on vacations like that

I wish I had the corner office

If only I had that then I would be happy

To kick-off the sermon on the mount Jesus redefines the good life

Let me tell you where happiness is found

Let me tell you where to place value

Let me tell you what to celebrate

It’s not what you would expect

I think it would be wise to approach this series with humility

These are the words of Jesus Christ

There are the teachings of Jesus Christ

“Man should never read scripture except on his knees.”

In a spirit of humility

Getting ourselves out of the way

Getting our opinions out of the way

That we would bow in reverence understanding that these are the words of our King and Creator

I just want to invite you to pray

Pray that you can receive the word in humility

Pray that the Lord would open your eyes to behold the wondrous things of his law

The Sermon on the Mount

Early in Jesus’s ministry

John the Baptist has announced Him as the Messiah

He’s performed several miracles

He’s gathering a following

He goes up on a mountain

Begins to teach

Explaining to his followers what it actually means to follow Jesus

There were religious people during this day

Made following Jesus all about

Rules

Outward portrayal of righteousness

Let me tell you what it’s all about

Let me tell you what to focus on

Let me tell you what to expect

Let me tell you what the Father expects from you

This sermon has been called The Declaration of Independence of Christianity

These are the core beliefs of Jesus Christ

This is the life of followers of Jesus Christ

This sermon leads to life

Strength

Happiness

Righteousness

Few people find it

The Beatitudes

Beatitudo - Latin word meaning blessings

This is Jesus’s explanation of the good life

If happiness is what you want, here’s the life that leads to it

Matthew 5:3-10

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the humble,

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 the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

Blessed

Fortunate

Worthy of applause

Worthy of congratulations

What we applaud

Athletic performance

Academic performance

Financial status

Professional status

Relational status

What Heaven applauds

What gets celebrated in the Kingdom of God?

Not the same values

In fact we look down upon many of these

Quick Preview

8 things that Heaven applauds

Worth celebrating

Lead to happiness

Poor in Spirit

Poor

We’re familiar with this word

Unfavorable circumstances

Lacking in worth

Inferior in quality

In need of help

A beggar

In Spirit

Spiritual bankruptcy

Understanding of your unworthiness before God and complete dependence on him

Know your need of God

It has nothing to do with finances

It has everything to do with your stance before God

You don’t show up in arrogance

But you realize how unworthy you are of anything

It’s conviction

What you’re going to find is every single one of these go against culture

What does the world value?

Self-Reliance

Self-Confidence

Self-Expression

Assurance in your self

Self is King

Examples

If you want to be a good salesman you must give off an air of confidence and be assertive

If you want to succeed you must give the appearance of success

It’s seeped it’s way into church

Personality is celebrated

Confidence is celebrated

Aggressiveness is celebrated

Self-Assurance is celebrated

Rarely is it celebrated to give off an air of unworthiness

Consider Paul

Came to the Corinthians in weakness and fear and trembling

We would say

Paul stand up straight

Speak clearly

Look people in the eye

Don’t let people see your weaknesses

Jesus actually honors those who understand their weakness

Spiritually bankrupt

Spiritual beggars

They have nothing to bring to the table

“Who am I… that you would be mindful of me?” (Psalm 8)

Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones - “It means this, that if we are truly Christian we shall not rely upon our natural birth. We shall not rely upon the fact that we belong to certain families; we shall not boast that we belong to certain nations or nationalities. We shall not build upon our natural temperament. We shall not believe in and rely upon our natural position in life, or any powers that may have been given to us. We shall not rely upon money or any wealth we may have. The thing about which we shall boast will not be the education we have received, or the particular school or college to which we may have been… We shall not rely upon any gifts like that of natural ‘personality’, or intelligence or general or special ability. We shall not rely upon our own morality and conduct and good behavior. We shall not bank to the slightest extent on the life we have lived or are trying to live. That is ‘poverty of spirit’. There must be a complete deliverance from and absence of all that. I say again, it is to feel that we are nothing, and that we have nothing, and that we look to God in utter submission to Him and in utter dependence upon Him and His grace and mercy.”

What’s celebrated in the Kingdom is having an understanding of our unworthiness.

Mourn

Mourn

Grieve

Sadness

This one follows being poor in the spirit

Our sense of unworthiness brings us to a place of mourning

We’re broken over our condition

We’re not indifferent

We’re upset

Anti-Culture once again

Culture

All of culture seems to be focused on keeping us from being sad

Do what makes you happy

Forget your worries and your troubles

Endless supply of entertainment

TV shows

Movies

Music

Concerts

Video games

Youtube

Activities

All to distract us and keep us happy

Kingdom

Real conviction over sin

Broken people

What gets the applause of heaven is mourning

I know this sounds depressing

Consider Christ

Read through the gospels

See several emotions

Suffering from hunger

Suffering from thirst

Angry

Exhausted

We don’t see laughter

I’m positive Jesus laughed

Joy is a major part of the Christian life

Jesus was joyful

We don’t get any stories

Weeping

Weeping at the tomb of Lazarus

Weeping over the condition of Israel

Isaiah 53:3 - “Man of sorrows acquainted with grief.”

We have this idea that the Christian life is one that is bright and jovial

Smile constantly

Laughter constantly

That’s not the example we get from Christ

That’s not what Christ says is celebrated

What’s celebrated is mourning

We mourn for two reasons

Our own sin

“Wretched man that I am…” - Romans 7:24

The sins of others

This is Jesus at the tomb of Lazerus

This is Jesus when he looks at Jerusalem

What’s celebrated in heaven is coming to an understanding of how unworthy we are and then weeping over our condition.

Humble

Humble

Not be overly impressed with self

Lose all sense of pride

Look at me

Look at how good I am

I deserve good things

Humility is celebrated in the Kingdom

Culture celebrated

Strength

Power

Ability

Self-assurance

Aggressiveness

Which by the way this is who they thought Christ was going to be

He was just going to step onto the scene and squash the romans

Make a show of his

Power

Strength

Instead he was gentle and lowly at heart

The Kingdom

The humble inherit the earth

You want to conquer the world?

It’s not through conquest

It’s through humility

We have a humble attitude toward self

Having an accurate view of self

Understanding that we’re not in charge

It’s expressed in our relationship with others

Jesus

Phil 2 - “Though He was in the form of God, he did not consider equality with God as something to hold on to.”

We don’t try to assert ourselves

Fight our way to the top

Display our power

We make no demands of position or privileges

We understand that we deserve nothing

What’s celebrated in heaven is having an understanding of our unworthiness, then mourning over our condition, and then naturally this leads to humility.

Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness

What do you want?

What are you desperate for?

What are you starving for?

This again goes along with what was before it

After realizing who we are before God, we have a desire to live in righteousness

I wish I wasn’t so broken

I wish I could do better

I’m sick of this sin that ruining my life

I wish I could walk in righteousness

Most people are hungry for the blessing

Hungry for happiness

Try many different paths

Sex

Money

Popularity

Drugs

Alcohol

Travel the world

Why are they doing all of this?

They’re hungry for happiness

Trying to find something that will keep a smile on their face

It’s even possible to do this within church

Hunger and thirst for experiences

Just want to sit in emotional worship services

If every day could just be Thursday at Bogg Springs

Hands raised

Tears falling

Addicted to the experience

We go from service to service hoping to have an experience like that again

Conference to conference

Just want to sit in fellowship

Go on trips

We live for it…

We love it

We want more of it

What’s celebrated in heaven is having an intense desire to be formed into the image of Christ

Righteousness

Free from sin

We know that sin separates us from God

We want to be right with God

Free from the power of sin

The influence of Satan is so strong

We want to break free from that

Free from the desire to sin

We like it

We want it

But we don’t want to want it

What’s celebrated in heaven is having an understanding of our unworthiness, then mourning over our condition, and then naturally this leads to humility and an overwhelming desire to be made righteous.

Merciful

Merciful

Concerned about people

Sypathetic

Compassionate

I do want you to notice the flow

As always in scripture, the emphasis is on being before doing

You must be broken and humble with a desire for righteousness before you can begin to show mercy

Mercy isn’t something you put on

Something you add to your life

Like a checklist item

It’s something that flows out of you because of what Christ is doing in you

The flow

An understanding of our position before God leads to mercy for others that are in the same position

In the same position

Everyone is just as broken as anyone else

They’ve pursued the wrong things

They’ve fallen victim to sin and temptation

They’ve been deceived by the enemy

They’re slave to sin

This understanding removes judgment and replaces it with mercy

Who am I to stick my nose up at someone

Who struggles just like me

Jesus on the cross

Father forgive them because they don’t know what they’re doing

Stephen being stoned

Father don’t hold this sin against them

That’s the goal

We don’t resent them when they hurt us

We don’t shame them when they mess up

We feel sorry for them…

Feel bad for them

Because we’ve been there

Merciful

To have pity on others in their suffering and seek to relieve it

The good samaritan

He didn’t just pass by the suffering man

He stopped and did what he could to help

He didn’t know the man

He didn’t know if he deserved to be in this situation

He just knew this man was suffering and he wanted to help him

Jesus

Took pity on me

Though I am rebellious to the core

He did what he could to help me

What’s celebrated in heaven is having an understanding of our unworthiness, then mourning over our condition, and then naturally this leads to humility and an overwhelming desire to be made righteous. The natural outflow of this is mercy toward others.

Pure in Heart

Pure

Clean

Free from moral guilt

Another definition is without hypocrisy or single minded

Purebred - Only one breed of dog

Not multiple breeds in one

The bloodline is pure

Meaning just one

Pure - meaning just one or single

Heart

Desire

From within

Single minded in your innermost being

Once again this is the emphasis of the gospel

Changed from within

Not just pure activity on the surface but pure from the inside out

This is what the pharisees got in trouble for

“You honor me with your lips but your hearts are far from me.”

“You’re like whitewashed tombs.”

You look good on the outside

But the inside is full of death

What’s celebrated in the Kingdom is purity from the inside out

The heart

Deceitful above all things

Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander. (Matthew 15:19-20)

We tend to thing that man’s problems are due to his environment

Due to the way that he was raised

Due to the friends that he has

Due to the town that he grew up on

No doubt these things have an influence but man’s central problem is his heart

It was in the garden of eden (paradise) that man fell

The issue is within

We want to be pure in heart

Pure - Single minded

Singular focus

God is the supreme desire of our souls

No longer going back and forth

Psalm 86:11 - “Unite my heart.”

Half of my heart wants God

Half of my heart wants money

Sex

Popularity

If I could just have my whole heart want God

This removes waste

No longer giving so much of our time to pointless things

No longer giving so much of our time to waste

But instead on a passionate pursuit of trying to with Christ and like Christ

Peacemakers

Peacemaker

Those who seek reconciliation between two fighting parties

All fighting is due to sin

Lust

Greed

Selfishness

Self-Centeredness

This is true on a national scale (wars)

This is true on a personal scale

Arguments

The Kingdom of God celebrates those who work to put an end to it

Quit looking at things in terms of self

How will this affect me?

What will this mean for me?

If all of us are thinking this way, war and bitterness is sure to follow

Quit talking

Not everything has to be said

Gossip

Slander

We’re not going out of our way to hurt people

We’re going out of our way to help people

View things in light of the gospel

What can I do right now to point people to Christ?

Love your enemies

Goes beyond not punching them in the face

Now we go out of our way to love them

Serve them

Care for them

Persecuted

This one terrifies me

John 15:18-20

2 Timothy 3:12

Am I not being faithful enough?

All the martyrs throughout history

Prophets

Apostles

Missionaries

This is the mindset

This is the result

This is the result

If this is the life you’re living, heaven is giving you a standing ovation.

Conclusion

This is what’s celebrated in the Kingdom of Heaven

It’s these traits that lead to life

It’s these traits that are a solid foundation to build your life on

Roman Empire

Reached it’s peak in AD 117

Power extended all the way around the mediterranean

2 Million square miles

Land on 3 different continents

Consisted of nearly 75 million people

In the center of the empire was the city of Rome

Called the capital of the world

Many people called it the eternal city

This was an empire with power

Knew how to win wars

Knew how to conquer new land

They had it going on

Until they didn’t

Eventually new people took over

Their focus was off

Their attention was on the wrong thing

They valued the wrong things

Lost wars

Over taken by their enemies

Made bad decisions

The empire fell

Now if you were to visit Rome

You’d see the ruins of a once powerful Empire

An empire that they believed would last forever but apparently didn’t have the policies and values that resulted in longevity

At the end of the sermon…

Matthew 7:24-27

If athletics is what you value and build your life on it’s sure to crumble

If finances is what you value and build upon

What happens when the market crashes?

When someone steals

If your job

What if they have to lay you off

What if the business goes under

Relationships

Pleasure

What we find at the beginning of the sermon is a list of values we can build our life on

What if these values are what we began to applaud

No longer impressed by the things of this world

Athletics

Education

Money

Experiences

But instead impressed by an authentic relationship and love for Jesus Christ