The Purpose of the People of God - 5:11-16
The Purpose of the People of God - Matthew • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 44:53
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The Purpose of the People of God - 5:11-16
The Purpose of the People of God - 5:11-16
Introduction - Why today is important?
Read all the text:
3 “The fulfilled are those dependent upon God, because of them is the kingdom of heaven. 4 The fulfilled are those who mourn, because they will be comforted.
5 The fulfilled are the lowly, because they will inherit the land. 6 The fulfilled are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be satisfied.
7 The fulfilled are the merciful, because they will receive mercy. 8 The fulfilled are the pure in heart, because they will see God.
9 The fulfilled are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God. 10 The fulfilled are those who have been persecuted on account of righteousness, because of them is the kingdom of heaven.
Text for today
11 The fulfilled are you whenever people may insult you, and persecute you, and lying speak all evil against you on account of Me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven. For in this way they persecuted the prophets before you.
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out to be trampled under foot by men.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
16 In this way shine your light before men, that they may see your good works and may glorify your Father in the heavens.
Let’s Pray
Review SoM (Beatitudes)
This is wisdom literature
Blessed are the _________
The fulfilled are the _________
We worked through the blanks:
These are the characteristics of disciples.
Dependent Upon God
Mourning
Humble/Gentle
Desiring Righteousness
Merciful
Singular in Purpose
Restorers of Relationships
Persecuted for Righteousness
Being a disciple is imitation
Jesus is not just listing attributes of His disciples, these are attributes of Jesus.
The “Because” Statements
of them IS
they WILL BE
they WILL INHERIT
they WILL BE
they WILL RECEIVE
they WILL SEE
they WILL BE
of them IS
The “Because” Statements
Mt 5:3 (PRESENT)
Mt 5:4-9 (FUTURE)
Mt 5:10 (PRESENT)
So we see there is a future component of what Jesus is describing nested within a present reality.
This present reality is what it means to participate in the kingdom.
11 The fulfilled are you whenever people may insult you, and persecute you, and lying speak all evil against you on account of Me.
The pattern is broken
You instead of the ________
The “because statement” comes later
Narrowing of the Audience
Jesus’ invitation for self identification
You who are fulfilled!
You who imitate the characteristics of Jesus!
Jesus’ kingdom participants!
His disciples!
Can you identify with the “you”?
11 The fulfilled are you whenever people may insult you, and persecute you, and lying speak all evil against you on account of Me.
Persecution further defined:
Then we have a list of 3 things
Insult
Persecution
and Lying, Speak Evil
Similar to the persecution of verse 10, these actions are all constrained:
“because of Me”
Jesus is the reason of the persecution, not the agent of it.
Instead of going straight to the because statement, Jesus gives commands first.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven. For in this way they persecuted the prophets before you.
Rejoice!
Be Glad!
First Commands
Fulfillment comes “because your reward is great in heaven”
Support Statement
For in this way….
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out to be trampled under foot by men.
IF - Third class condition - it is a hypothetical
SALT
Availability of Salt
Cisterns
Dead Sea
Purpose of Salt
Flavor
Preservation
“Disciples are to flavor the world” - WRONG
This is a statement about purpose, not a parallel to salt. If “you,” Jesus’ kingdom participants, His disciples, lose their purpose, then what benefit do they offer?
What makes people not want to be disciples?
The Cost
IDEA: SHOULD I INVERT THE BEATITUDES HERE?
It is hard
It is uncomfortable
It costs your independence
It costs your time
It costs your pride
It costs your desires
It costs your commitment
You can’t be passive about it
But what has Jesus just said? Why do you participate in the kingdom?
12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Why do you want to be His disciple? Because I said so? NO! Because God has promised you so much more in your relationship with Him!
Disciples endure now because they are oriented to the future!
(Gladiator) Maximus Aurelius - “What we do in life echoes in eternity”
13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out to be trampled under foot by men.
If you lose sight of your purpose as a disciple, then you are not being useful.
How would a 1st Century Jew perceive their purpose?
Following the Law
In the First Testament, what was Israel’s purpose to be?
5 ‘So now then, if you will indeed listen to My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
So the 1st century Jews are not completely wrong. The law was given to point people to the grace of God and His willingness to dwell with a sinful people. Israel was to be a beacon, a kingdom of priests, that are to show right relationship with God to the world.
Jesus has just stated don’t forget your purpose.
Don’t be salt that isn’t salty
Where does He go next?
14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
Don’t miss what Jesus is doing here in the sermon!
After listing the characteristics of Himself, of the fulfilled,
He then offers an invitation in the “the fulfilled are you”
He then restates Exodus 19:5-6 in the purpose of not Israel now, but of those who will imitate Him, His disciples!
So back to our verse,
Earlier we asked what is the purpose of salt, here we should ask what is the purpose of light?
The purpose of light is to see and be seen!
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.
If you want more light, you raise it up higher up
If you have a light in a high place, it is hard/impossible to completely cover it up
Jesus re-illustrates the point in the following line, nor do you light a lamp and put it under a basket.
No, you raise it up, you place it on a lamp stand!
Then all who need the light can see by it!
16 In this way shine your light before men, that they may see your good works and may glorify your Father in the heavens.
In what way?
In a way that is purposeful and visible.
**may see
**may glorify
The response is not a guarantee.
You are not responsible for the response, your responsible for delivering the message, for shining!
MAKE SLIDE WHEN DONE WITH THIS Outline of the Sermon on the Mount up to this point:
Characteristics of Jesus (5:3-10)
Invitation to Discipleship (5:11-12)
Warning about Discipleship (5:13)
Example of Discipleship (5:14-15)
Discipleship Commanded (5:16)
It is intentional
Now if you are a first century Jew, there is a question that is hanging in your mind right now because of how radical Jesus’ teaching is.
What about the law?
5 ‘So now then, if you will indeed listen to My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My treasured possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;
What about the law?
Isn’t holiness important?
Because what has Jesus not said their purpose is?
Jesus has not qualified His disciples as though who perfectly adhere to the current understanding of the law.
Good teachers anticipate questions:
17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
This bridges us to the next section of the sermon.
So what?
Takeaways:
Disciples live today looking to tomorrow
Disciples are oriented to the future
2. Do you remember your purpose?
Not just right now, all the time
Purpose isn’t something you turn on and off it’s everything you’re about
What is your purpose?
3. Shine! Be a disciple maker!
Don’t hide your light!
Be a disciple maker!
The ultimate mark of maturity in a believer is not simply being a disciple but making them.
Example of Apostles
Let’s Pray!
16 In this way shine your light before men, that they may see your good works and may glorify your Father in the heavens.
The ultimate mark of maturity is not simply being a disciple but making them!
