The Sermon on the Mount
Notes
Transcript
Today we are going to start diving into the greatest sermon, The Sermon on the Mount. For the last several weeks, God has laid this on my heart for us to go through this. I am not sure how long this will take us , but we are going to take our time and dive deep into this. Today we start with Matthew 5:1-3. We start of with the Beatitudes. When we look at the Beatitudes we see a similar structure to that of the Ten Commandments. The first four Beatitudes focus on our relationship with God (the first four 10 commandments focus on our relationship to God) and the second four focus on our relationship to our fellow man (the last six of the 10 commandments focus on our relationship to man). Just like in the two greatest commandments it starts with God, our relationship with God is where it all starts. I titled this series Living the Kingdom Life, because what we learn from Jesus through the Sermon on the Mount is how to live the true kingdom life, and how we become a part of that kingdom.
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
Jesus once again followed by a crowd slipped away for a more private lesson with His disciples. Those desiring to learn more followed Jesus up the hill, and He sat down and taught them. There would have been others who followed along, but Jesus desired to teach His disciples how to live the kingdom life. He is not delivering a new set of the laws, but an accurate interpretation of the existing law, remember He did not come to abolish but to fulfill the Law. He was teaching those committed to him how to live, how to be a part of the kingdom, living the kingdom life. Before we dive into the Beatitudes we must define the word Blessed.
Blessed
Blessed
The way Christ uses blessed here in the Beatitudes, it is not just to be happy, it goes beyond an emotional state. Blessed is a positive judgment by God, “to be approved”, or to “find approval”. Obviously being blessed will bring joy or happiness, but it is much more than that. The root idea of blessed is an awareness of approval by God. Being blessed is a pronouncement of what we actually are—approved— Max Lucado puts it this way to be blessed is to receive “the applause of heaven”. Having God’s blessing/approval means more to us, or it should mean more to us than the approval of anyone else. For example I am not up here to please you, or to make my self feel good and if I am I am wrong. I am up here to please God and God alone. Do we truly desire God’s approval above all else or are we more concerned wit the approval of the world. My prayer for all of us as we dive into the Beatitudes is that we allow them to penetrate our hearts, to truly understand their meaning, and heal our broken hearts, and build the character of the kingdom in us all. Now lets dive in. I am going to read all the Beatitudes first and then we will go through verse 3, yes we are only going thorough one verse today.
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The Poor in Spirit
The Poor in Spirit
As we go through the Beatitudes you will notice a progression as we move through them. This first one ends with the phrase “theirs is the kingdom of heaven” and the last one verse ten ends in the same way this shows us that the ones in between carry the same weight or have the same result. As we look at “the poor in spirit” we must define what it is not first.
Matthew 5:3 (ESV)
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Being “poor in spirit” does not mean that we have an absence of self worth. It does not require us to believe we are nothing, because that is not scriptural. Look at 1 Cor. 6:20.
20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God with your body.
We are so precious to God that He bought us with the blood of His own Son. This alone should show us how important we all are.
Matthew 5:3 (ESV)
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Poor in spirit” is not meekness or shyness, it is definitely not showy humility. You have all met someone like that, they make sure you know how humble they are in an attempt to get you to say that they are quite wonderful, that shows the lack of the poverty of the spirit. well then what does it mean to be “poor in spirit”. Ptochos is the Greek word used for poor and it means poor or destitute of all resources, one cannot provide for themselves. They are completely reliant on outside help to provide, they cannot survive without help.
Now take that definition and put it back in verse 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, blessed are those who are so desperately poor in their spiritual resources that they realize they must have help from an outside source. they recognize they are spiritually bankrupt. The realization that we are utterly sinful and without moral virtues to commend us to God. We realize we do not have what it takes, we are broke and destitute. Now this goes against our world today because they have a much different view of blessed. The world view of blessed is the one who is right, blessed is the one ho is strong, blessed is the one who rules, blessed is the one who is satisfied with themselves, blessed is the one who is popular, blessed is the one who is rich. The world says the answer to life is found in oneself. David Wells puts it this way “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 oneself… The past recedes, the church recedes. the world recedes. All that remains is self.” We are a self absorbed people, like the Toby Keith song says “I wanna talk about me, wanna talk about I, wanna talk about number one.” It is all about me.
Being Poor in Spirit is Essential
Being Poor in Spirit is Essential
We are going to look at three areas that being “poor in spirit” is essential for. It is essential for knowing God’s approval, it is essential for salvation, it is essential for spiritual growth.
Matthew 5:3 (ESV)
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Being “poor in spirit” is essential for knowing God’s approval. David says in 2 Samuel 7:18 “who am I, O Lord God”, the greatest king of Israel, a man after God’s own heart realized it was not about him.
Being “poor in spirit” is also essential for salvation. there are many who claim to know Christ, but they have never truly came to a blessed emptiness, to the very end of themselves. Coming to the realization it is not about them, that there is nothing in themselves. We cannot come to Christ without being “poor in spirit”. The spiritually proud and self-sufficient, those who actually think there is something within them that will make God accept them, these people are lost. We must come to the end of ourselves and cling to Christ.
Being “poor in spirit” is essential for spiritual growth. A perpetual awareness of our spiritual insufficiency opens us up to continually receive the spiritual riches of God’s word. If e do not think we are poor or bankrupt we begin to grow stagnate and do not grow. A continual recognition of our deficiency allows us to take in and grow feeding our malnourished spirit on God’s word.
Matthew 5:3 (ESV)
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The riches of the poor in spirit. The last of verse 3 speaks of the reward for those who are “poor in spirit”. It says “theirs” it is theirs alone all who approach God without being “poor in spirit” will not receive this reward. Only those who are “poor in spirit” will enter the kingdom of heaven. One thing we must keep in mind this reward is both now and future. Remember the kingdom is the here and now as well as the not yet come. Those who are “poor in spirit” have life in the kingdom right now. We are Christ’s now, we are overcomers now, we are priests now. We are kings and queens that reign in life and exercise vast authority and power. Our weakness is an occasion for His power, our inadequacy for His adequacy, our poverty for his riches. we are also free, truly free, free to be full of God, free to truly be who He would have us to be. The kingdom is ours, and our alone.
The Sermon on the Mount
The Sermon on the Mount
Without being “poor in spirit” no one enters the kingdom of heaven. This verse declares that no one is saved who believes that their is something within themselves that will make God accept them. We must empty ourselves and fill ourselves with Christ. Self-righteousness, moral pride and vain presumptions will damn the soul. It is not about you or me it is about Him and Him alone. Let me ask have you experienced the poverty of the soul, have you come to the end of self. Augustus Toplady put it this way “Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to they cross I cling; Naked, come to thee for dress, Helpless, look to thee for grace, Foul to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die”. Is this your hearts cry, or are you a church attender without Christ, are you an unsaved evangelical, are you a Christ-less Christian. It is about Christ and what He has done, when we let go of self and cling to Him, realizing He is the only way.
