Matthew 5:3-5 - This is the way to be blessed.

My wife hates cliches.

She breaks out into a rash if she senses a cliche.

This causes identity issues for me because I feel like I’m a walking cliche most of the time.

I become whatever I’m interested in—I’ve been watching Spiderman a lot, so she caught me trying to climb the walls the other day.

When Yellowstone came out, I had to go out and buy a cowboy hat.

Since Hilary is not into cliches, that means that I can’t fit into one.

I had invited Bill over to the house to process a deer, and he told me “You surprised me. I thought of you more as city folk.”

I like to keep people on their toes.

You want to know who is really good at cliches? Christians.

“Thoughts and prayers”

The fish symbol on the back of your car—Even though you just cut off five people in traffic.

“How are you?” “Too blessed to be stressed.”

What does it mean to be “blessed?”

We hear this word used a lot in a lot of different contexts.

Some people end a conversation with “God bless”

Politicians end their political speeches: “God bless you, God bless the USA”

People will even invoke a blessing on you if you sneeze.

Does it mean that I’ll be blessed with good health?

I hope this sneeze, by God’s grace, doesn’t become something worse?

Does it mean I’ll be blessed financially?

God is going to give me security and comfort?

Jesus is going to tell us..

Big Idea: This is the Way…To Be Blessed.

Context

Jesus had gathered major crowds following Him because of the miracles He was doing.

He was going through the region, proclaiming the kingdom and “healing every disease and affliction among the people (4:23).

He’s not merely looking to gather a crowd of followers, but He’s looking for disciples.

Jesus preaches the longest documented sermon: The Sermon on the Mount.

Jesus begins the sermon with with the Beatitudes

A beatitude is simply an explanation of a way to blessedness.

Jesus is explaining the blessed life as a disciple of Jesus.

You want to live like you belong in the Kingdom of God?

Stand to read

Matthew 5:3–5 ESV

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.

Leader: This is God’s Word.

Everyone: Thanks be to God.

Jesus doesn’t say the courageous, wise, or just are blessed.

Nor does He say the funny, attractive, intelligent people are blessed.

Jesus says that the poor, sad, lowly, mistreated people are blessed.

These sound like major contradictions.

This is the upside down kingdom.

This separates us from the people who want a health and wealth/name-it-claim-it gospel.

Jesus is telling us that there is a blessedness that does not look like blessedness to the world.

Matthew 5:3–4 ESV

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.

Blessed are the poor in spirit (v. 3)

Jesus says that God’s blessing is upon you if you are “poor in spirit”

We are spiritually bankrupt.

This spiritual poverty is a posture of our hearts.

The world tells you to “believe in yourself,” “Realize your inner strength”

The kingdom of God tells us the truth about ourselves.

Those who belong in the kingdom of heaven have a realistic, honest attitude toward themselves.

We recognize that we don’t deserve the kingdom.

In ourselves, there is nothing—not family ties, reputation, “good works,” or self righteousness—There is nothing in us that makes us commendable to God.

We have no reason to believe that God should look at us and think, “We’ll isn’t he something.”

Those who are poor in spirit are honest with themselves about their relation with the Lord.

Jesus tells a story of a religious man and a tax collector that went to church.

The religious man walked to the front and prayed, “God, you must be really proud of me. I pray, I fast, I tithe, and I’m not like other guys, like that tax collector.”

The tax collector wouldn’t even approach the front of the church or lift his eyes to heaven.

He was distraught and beat his chest: “God have mercy on me, a sinner!”

Jesus says that it was the tax collector who went home justified.

Blessed are those who mourn (v. 4)

Mourning our sin flows from being poor in spirit.

When we recognize that we don’t deserve God’s affection.

When we realize that we have strayed from God and need His mercy.

As we think about God’s holiness and His purity and compare it to our lives, this should create a sense of honest smallness.

Church, to be blessed,

We have to acknowledge we’re broken.

We do not have our act together.

We don’t want to walk in the hypocrisy that Christians are accused of.

We walk to live in the light and call our sin, sin.

We don’t want outsiders to look at us and think that we think we have it together.

That’s a major reason that people don’t want anything to do with the church: hypocrisy.

Let’s practice. Turn to your neighbor and tell them, “I don’t have it all together.”

Let’s just be honest and confess—I need a Savior! I can’t fix me!

Transition

When we acknowledge that we’re broken, this opens us up to be humble before the Lord.

Matthew 5:5 ESV

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

When you understand and feel your need for the Lord, you don’t come bold, brash, and self-assertive.

You approach the Lord thankful for what He has saved us from.

We come to the Lord, humbly to ask, “Will you forgive me?”

Sorrow/mourning lead to joy and peace with God.

Meekness doesn’t mean that you’re simply compliant and indifferent, like a doormat.

Meekness is often in contrast with jealousy, selfish ambition, and self-exaltation.

A person can be strong and assertive, yet meek if they use it not to assert themselves, but to lift people up or lift high Jesus.

Poor in spirit, mourning, and meekness are not personality traits, but they are characteristics of someone who belongs in God’s kingdom.

You cannot just resolve, “I’m going to be sad about my sin so that I’ll go to heaven,”

A person who says, “I want to mourn more often” doesn’t get it.

Striving to be like one of these does not gain you access to heaven.

These beatitudes are a result that we have been saved.

Being poor in spirit, hating sin, and being meek are a result of being made new in Christ.

Jesus is telling us that spiritual bankruptcy and mourning leads us to humble repentance, where we find life, hope, and the presence of God.

In our helplessness and hopelessness, Jesus comes to us, comforts and forgives us.

Gospel presentation

This was the entire purpose of His coming: To lead us from brokenness to blessedness.

Jesus came to die on a cross to pay for our sins so that we could be forgiven and comforted by God.

We get to be right with God again because Jesus freely gave up His life to pay for your spiritual bankruptcy.

Now, when we come to Him with nothing but the empty hands of faith, He gives us the hope of eternal life.

This requires us to acknowledge who are are compared to who God is.

This produces a humility in us because we recognize that we don’t deserve Jesus’s sacrifice, but we desperately need Him.

Poverty of spirit and mourning our sins make us perfect candidate to be saved by Jesus.

If you’re not a Christian, will you recognize your need for a Savior and trust Jesus today?

It’s when we truly see the weight of our sin in comparison to God’s holiness.

It’s when we realize that we actually don’t deserve the grace of God.

It’s then we actually understand the blessing of God’s presence in our lives.

This only happens when we truly believe that when Jesus died on the cross, it somehow counted for me.

That gives us a new identity that reveals itself in these three beatitudes.

Church, to be blessed,

We have to embrace our new identity.

Before I got married, I did a deep biblical study into marriage.

I wanted to be the rockstar husband just like Jesus is for the Church.

I had these ideas as to what it was like to be a good husband.

I was going to live with my wife in an understanding way

I was going to pursue her heart

I was going to be humble and gentle.

Then I got married.

What I learned when I got married was that I had no idea what it meant to actually be a husband, until I became a husband.

I learned that I was a selfish-jerk.

I was examined in ways that I never have been before.

I’m often confronted with how not like Jesus I am.

Having ideals of what it means to be a husband is not the same as living as a husband.

Having ideas of what it means to be a Christian is not the same as living as a Christians.

The beatitudes are not the gospel, but they tell us that the gospel is at work in our lives.

When you surrender your life to Jesus, the Holy Spirit will work these things out in your life.

The Christian life is taking steps toward Jesus daily.

Take the Next Step

Acknowledge where you fall short.

What is the sin in your life that keeps you from experiencing life with Jesus?

Ask Jesus to save you and to kill that sin.

Live an examined life

If you don’t want to be known by others or live with repentance, perhaps your not a Christian.

If there’s a sense of humility and a desire for this new life, perhaps the Holy Spirit is calling you to Himself.

Jesus came to make you new, not just nice.

As you are being made new, Jesus tells you, “This is they way. Follow me.”

This is the way to be blessed in the kingdom.

Acknowledge your a sinner

Embrace your new identity that Jesus gives you.