The Curse-Free Nature

Introduction

Everyone has a worldview, a way they interpret the world around them. A thousand things go into how we interpret the world that we don’t even think about, some of these things are conscious, some unconscious.

Have you ever had one of those “Aha!” moments? A moment that changed everything you though about a particular subject, or maybe even your own life?

My wife and I sometimes watch this videos put out by Youth Group Chronicles that tell stories about ridiculous things that happen in youth groups. This one youth group did a scavenger hunt in their city where various groups would drive around in attempt to find the clues. In order to make the clues visible from the roadways, they put them in large boxes with the name of the youth group on them. They had them spread out throughout the city in from of a restaurant, in the park, near the courthouse. The only problem was their youth group name was “Ignite.” By the time the first group reached the first clue, there was already a bomb squad there to defuse the bomb.

Archimedes is best known for his “Aha” moment. Archimedes is credited for deriving the formula for the volume of a sphere and finding a more accurate value for pi. He was given a task by a king to prove how this goldsmith had swindled him by crafting with silver. When Archimedes slipped into his bath, the water spilled over the edge of the tub and he figured it out and cried, “Eureka!” and ran in the streets naked so excited that he found the solution to the king’s problem.

Sometimes those Eureka moments are worldview forming. You see someone work hard and achieve and so you decide to be the tortoise rather than the hare. Your parent disciplines you and what you value is shaped either in acceptance or rejection of your parent’s values.

And although our parents attempt to work on us consciously to shape our worldview, through especially our values, sometimes what works on us subconsciously has a more powerful effect.

Think about this: If you went back into colonial times, in the majority of cases, the number one influence in a youth’s life was his parent. Now you come to today and the number one influence in a youth’s life is his peers. Why is that? Well, we live in a culture that glorifies youth. Why? Because after the sexual revolution our culture decided physical appearance was more important than wisdom and life experience. And why did this occur? Because psychologists like Freud argued that we are primarily sexual creatures. And why did he do that? Because Darwin argued we were simply another animal. And why did he do that? Because someone before him believed a rejection of the Bible would allow a more critical understanding of the physical world.

Now isn’t that interesting that your teenager is more likely to listen to peers than you ultimately because of a rejection of God, but we excuse it as a “phase” and a teenager just thinks he’s being “cool.” (Both of which are lies from the devil). Our worldviews are shaped by so many things outside of us that we don’t think about. (Language example?)

I say all this because today we are going to talk about what it means to be good. 70 years ago, I probably would not have to labor to make such a foundation. But the problem is that modern people don’t want to be good, they want to feel good. And the main reason for that is that modern people have fundamentally given up the idea that there is such thing as “good.” Western society has gone from doing everything it can to seek the good, the true, and the beautiful, to grasping it in their hands then abusing it, then believing what is good is simply like a mythical creature. We live in a society where now more than ever, the good is something that must be pursued.

We live in a society that murders countless babies every day

Where people doom scroll social media then spend thousands on cosmetic surgery

Where the government in insurmountable debt yet still preys on its poorest citizens by legalizing drugs and lotteries.

Where people are angry and shout for justice but are unable to define it and kill anyone who claims they can.

Where more families are broken than ever before; and, now, breaking up families and manufacturing fake families is legalized by the government

Where more and more people are afraid of free speech. Why? Because free speech may cause us to wake up and shout, “Eureka! This gold our culture is trying to sell us is no gold at all!” The greatest good is no longer to to discover what is truly good, but what makes me feel good.

Here is my question for America: Is it better to be good or to feel good?

Our culture is like a man who needs heart surgery. His heart is worn out and failing, but he is unsure of what’s going on. So, he goes to the doctor. The doctor does not know what’s wrong either but reassures him, “Don’t worry, everything is fine.” Then he prescribes him some sugar pills. After a while the patient still deals with worsening symptoms and the pills don’t seem to be working so he goes to another doctor. This doctor sees a problem, but is still uncertain how to cure it. So he puts the patient to sleep but enacts no cure, no replacement. The patient wakes up and is reassured that everything will be fine now.

Everyone’s going around looking for a cure of how to be happy, when what we really need is: a new nature.

Last week we began our discussion of the beatitudes. These pronouncements of blessing describe the new nature that is ours in Christ. Again, these are not behaviors that we can assume so that God will bless us; but rather, because of our new nature in Christ, these are the things that will describe us.

Ancient man used to go on a quest to discover what is good. Much time and effort were put in to distinguish between vice and virtue.

The beatitudes are the peak of any understanding of virtue

The beatitudes are impossible without first trusting in Christ

I want to give an application of the beatitudes before we continue to enumerate them:

The true result of beatitudes: (Lloyd-Jones) The greatest revival this world has ever seen.

Perception of righteousness vs. the inward reality of righteousness.

The call that the culture is going down is not a call to retreat from people

The only way that the world’s perception of our righteousness will match our inward righteousness is by us being the salt and light we are supposed to be.

Matthew 5:4 ESV

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

The first several beatitudes all allude to Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61:1–3 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; . . .; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.”

Mourning is an expression of grief from those suffering the consequences of sin and constitutes the attitude of repentance. This has the implication that repentance is a Eureka like moment. But after we repent, our continual response towards our sin and its effects is this deep sorrow.

Psalm 40:12 ESV

For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.

Psalm 119:136 ESV

My eyes shed streams of tears, because people do not keep your law.

So we see from last week, “poor in spirit” means we know we can offer know spiritual good when we approach God. And in line with that, “True repentance makes no excuses and offers no rationalizations. It grieves for sin from a broken heart.”

Charles L. Quarles, Sermon on the Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2011), 54.

This is not just a sorrow over getting caught. This is a deep inner sorrow. A sorrow you feel inside against actions you have taken against a holy God.

When is the last time you cried over your sins? Have you ever cried over your sins?

Notice what this sorrow leads to: comfort.

Revelation 7:17 ESV

For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Matthew 5:5 ESV

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Meek is a word that is often misunderstood. Some believe that it means to offer no resistance to anyone; to be, essentially, a door mat for everyone to walk on.

This word is used 16 times to translate the Hebrew word for “poor” in the Old Testament. A lot of commentators argue that this poverty conveys both dependence and submission. And while, the “poor” of v. 3 depicts the dependence upon God; the “meek” of v. 5 depicts the submission to God. One commentator writes, “one who feels that he is a servant in relationship to God and who subjects himself to Him quietly and without resistance”

Charles L. Quarles, Sermon on the Mount: Restoring Christ’s Message to the Modern Church (Nashville, TN: B&H Academic, 2011), 55.

And so the only person this meek person does not resist is God.

Bonhoeffer’s time: Metaxes tells story of a church who would sing louder: this is not meekness.

Bonhoeffer was willing to submit to God’s will at any cost: that is meekness (story of when he raised his hand to salute Hitler)

Psalm 37:10–11 ESV

In just a little while, the wicked will be no more; though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there. But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

There is a big contrast here between the “wicked” and the “meek”

The wicked offer resistance to God and his will. The “meek” offer no resistance to God’s will. And notice the similar promise in this Psalm compared with Christ’s beatitude: inherit the land.

Inheriting the promised land was key in all of Israel’s history. Moses was barred from being able to do so because of one seemingly minor resistance to God’s will. Israel was even exiled and removed from the land because of their constant resistance to God’s holy standards.

And so meekness here is not just a dependence upon God, but an active pursual of his holy standards. Meekness is not just letting everyone else desecrate God’s holy standards and world, but demands strength to submit to God, even when everyone else has faltered and turned away.

And the promise “inherit the earth” makes sense completely in light of Ps. 37; because it is those wicked who resist God’s will who will be removed from the land. They will be destroyed from the earth, but those who depend on God and submit to his will inherit the earth: and expansion of promised land as the whole earth. This is the recreated earth in the kingdom of God. This is the same idea as the Kingdom of Heaven in v. 3. And so this end times kingdom is one were heaven and earth meet all under Christ’s rule.

Matthew 5:6 ESV

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

“Hunger and thirst” are metaphors for intense longing, one that’s often lost on most of us who have never truly experienced the fulness of powerful cravings.

Psalm 42:1–2 ESV

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

The hypocrite, the pharisee desires righteousness so other people can look at him and applaud. His innermost soul does not really want righteousness, he simply goes through the motions in order to get the praise of men.

You see, anyone can perform what we might consider “good” actions. The most militant Atheist can help the old lady cross the street. But we know that the content of the action alone does not constitute righteousness for the one who searches even the intentions of the heart. We do not act without intention. And the proper intention for any righteous action is to glorify God, which the Atheist no matter how seemingly selfless and well-meaning cannot attain.

And so the mark of the true believer is not one who does righteous things to be seen by others, but one whose very inner core, whose very spirit hungers for righteousness.

Does your very soul hunger for righteousness? Do you have a deep inner-craving for righteousness? This is the mark of a curse-free nature. You see anyone’s nature can perform righteous deeds for any type of motivation. But only the redeemed nature, the one free from the curse truly hungers for righteousness.

Look at how this promise is fulfilled it says, “They will be filled.” This passive is so important. Some picture “Those who hunger for righteousness” maybe like a monk who has given up all worldly goods such as a family and secular vocation to devote himself day and night to read the Bible and pray. But this passive indicates that those who aspire for this righteousness also realize it is not something they can attain on their own.

Sermon On The Mount: Restoring Christ's Message to the Modern Church Matthew 5:6

A tiny infant can hunger and thirst, but that infant is utterly incapable of satisfying those longings alone. Similarly, a believer can never satisfy his hunger or quench his thirst for righteousness

Rather, God satisfies that need for him. God is the one who provides the righteousness. Christ lived this righteousness in our place. Do you truly want this righteousness or do you just want to get out of hell? Do you just want to see that beloved family member when you die? Do you just want other people to praise you for being “good”? The beatitudes penetrate to the innermost soul, to our very core desires. Which is why this is the peak of ethical goodness and impossible for an unbeliever to live out.

Matthew 5:7 ESV

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

The merciful are those who relate to others with a forgiving and compassionate spirit. How often does it seem that those who pursue justice do so with an unforgiving nature! You remember that slogan I made mention of before, “No justice, no peace!” This is the very definition of someone who seems to be pursuing righteousness while having a complete lack of compassion for anyone.

And how ridiculous it would be for us who have been forgiven so much to not offer that same forgiveness to others! We will go into this parable in more detail later on, but I just want to read it for us now.

Matthew 18:21–35 ESV

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.”

The root of the mercy that we show to others is the mercy which God gave to us. Treating others with mercy involves our general attitude towards humanity.

Conclusion

I remarked to someone that I was going to get through the beatitudes in one sermon. . .

How is it possible that God can show you mercy?

Think about the story of Abraham bargaining with God over the destruction of Sodom. . .

Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is right?

The two “Eurekas” one for the believer (these beatitudes describe my life) and one for unbeliever (these beatitudes describe the virtue to which I desire to attain)