Kingdom Requirments

Kingdom Requirements

Sermon on mount #2

Matthew 5:1-11

January 11, 2026

On your sermon guide there is a line that looks like this:

“I am blessed because ____________________________” Please take a minute and fill that in. This last week the idea of being blessed has troubled my mind. Let me ask some special people to share with me what they put on that line.

In our time and culture, we take great joy in some of the blessings we have. Family, friends, kids, parents, health, wealth and the list go on and on. While we truly live in a blessed time and space (2026 in the US in Idaho), I don’t know that we are really understanding what it means to be blessed.

For example, if I say I am blessed with health and then complain about the fact that I need to lose 20 more pounds, my hair is thinning and my eyes are not as good as they once were, does that mean I am really appreciating my blessings? My point is that if we have no real contentment in the blessing, how much of a blessing is it? A blessing that we enjoy is supposed to transfix the entirety of our heart on God not turn our hearts to pride that we have the blessing.

To the world and us, our idea “blessed” is opposite to God’s idea of blessed. Our definition of what should be celebrated as a blessing is very different than what God says we should be happy and blessed about. I bet many of you wrote, family, friends, house, job, even church on that line.

However, God’s kingdom has a different standard on the way we live and the way we view the world around us. If we say that we are of God’s Kingdom (saved) then we need to understand what God’s idea of blessed is, not ours. After all, it is God’s kingdom, and we are living in it. The King has His idea of what being blessed looks like and our views need to match His.

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My question before we start is this. Do you see being poor, mourning, and meek as a blessing? Did any of you actually write those types of words on your line? If I said that being poor, mourning and meek is the goal for your life, would you say, yea, sign me up? If you are being honest, I doubt any of us wrote those words.

Let’s do some context review from last week because if we don’t, we will only scratch the surface of these passages. Matthew was Jewish and wrote his gospel to Jewish readers. He wanted his readers to know that their King had arrived. He quotes the OT over 60 times, makes references to Jewish customs without providing context or explanation.

His writings are broken into 5 discourses (or sermons). The sermon on the mount is the first of the five. He opens this sermon with an address. Meaning, Matthew tells us who this sermon is directed to. Of the crowd that is around, Jesus taught His disciples: “and when He sat down, His disciples came to Him.” The sermon on the mount opens with Him directing the content to the ones who have ears to hear, the called-out ones who He wanted to teach.

Yes, there were others in the crowd. But our Lord is purposely talking to His disciples, not just to His apostles who are different. This is key because of what we are going to talk about. If we don’t get that, we are left with only a surface layer of understanding what He is saying. The beatitudes are specific for the ones who would understand it, “those who do not have ears to hear.” (Matt 13:9)

1.             Blessed are the poor.

Vs 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

We are going to used “blessed” a lot, so let us all get on the same page as to how Jesus is using it. The word “blessed” means:

(Makarios): “happy, fortunate, blissful. This is more than a surface emotion. It is a deeper idea of fortunate. Jesus was describing the divinely bestowed well-being that belongs only to the faithful disciple (those who He is teaching). He just flipped the script on all those who heard Him speak. In the ears of His day and in the ears of ours, this would be crazy talk.

In no time and space has people thought, I want to be so poor that I am destitute and have no way of fixing my position. Ladies and gentlemen our LORD is not talking about financial status.

That word “poor”: (ptōchos). adj. destitute. especially so poor as to be dependent on others for support. But Jesus is not talking about finances here.

He is speaking of a spiritual position. Listen carefully. In the context of who He is speaking to (His disciples), He is speaking about spiritually poor. I am pushing all of you to go deeper into the point of the passage. We know this because of the words before and the words coming next. He is speaking on a spiritual level!

The poor in spirit that is spoken of here are those who KNOW just how poor they are. They have no way of fixing, altering or changing their destitute situation in sin. No additional education, no handouts, no effort, no lucky break will change this level of this kind of bankruptcy they are in caused by their sin. When they know who He (the Righteous One) is and now they see just how bankrupt they are in comparison, they are now aware of how poor they are.

He never says, blessed are the poor in finance/status. No, blessed are those who are so aware that their sin makes them destitute. Blessed are those who know that without Divine mercy, their sin makes them the destitute wretch that they are. These that get this, “blessed” or fortunate are you!

If you really do see your bankruptcy for what it is, you know just how poor in spirit you are and now, you can see why He says, “Blessed are the poor.” If your only option is to cry out and say, “have mercy on me, a destitute sinner” then and only then are you fortunate!

With the person who is poor in spirit, they receive the Kingdom of Heaven.

I looked up that “Kingdome of Heaven” in the Greek. Ouranos, or the abode of GOD. This is where we see Him, face to face in His house. The poor in spirit become the rich in eternity. Church, this is the gate key. It all starts here! You can’t get to the Kingdom of Heaven without Him showing you how poor you are.

Look at the verbiage. “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven” compared to the others that “shall” with the other beatitudes. Being poor is spirit is the qualifier. You can’t get to the mourning, meekness, righteousness and so forth without the first one. You and I must see our position of being destitute before moving forward.

Psalm 51:17 says “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” We have to get here. This is what God is teaching us. God is expecting us to be poor in spirit so that we may mourn right.

2.             Blessed are those who mourn.

Have you ever been around a grieve stricken brother or sister? The loss of a loved one, loss of a child or the loss of a spouse? It is hard to take. The recovery is not quick. They don’t just bounce back. It takes time and patience. I read this next verse thinking about the reason to mourn and am convinced that to understand this right is in light of what we just spoke about. There is a reason to mourn.

The word “mourn” in Greek is (pentheō). vb. to, grieve. A verb used to denote the grief over loss or sin. The best way to get our minds around this is by using 2 Corinthians 7:10 to help us. “For Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.”

I hate to do it, but using kids as an analogy is the easiest. Parents, you know the difference between regret of being caught. They look sad, they may even shed tears over their rebellion verse true repentance (I’ll NEVER do that again). For some kids, they use regret as a means to dupe their parents into thinking that they have changed. “Honestly Dad, I will never do that again.” Only to be having the same conversation in one week.

The truth is that Godly grief leads to a change in behavior. It works for kids and adults. If we honestly grieve over our sin like we are grieving for a death of a loved one, then and only then will we see a change in heart. We must put to death that sin in our lives to truly mourn and see it rightly.

Here is a Biblical example. there is regret (Judas) and there is true mourning over one’s sin (Peter). Many are upset with their sin because they have to pay consequences. But those who mourn are truly blessed because it leads to repentance. There is a tangible example. Both betrayed, one mourned and came was restored (Peter) and one went and hung himself (Judas).

For the child of God, He will not allow you to stay in a position of rebellion for long. He will bring all of us to the position where we mourn over our rebellion. He will not allow sin to be swept under the rug. Like Nathan the prophet confronting King David’s adultery, we will be called out.

But take heart! It is a true sign of salvation when God comes and gets His wayward child and causes them to repent. That is why Jesus says, “blessed are those who mourn!” It is a clear sign of your salvation when He comes to you and corrects you! What does true mourning look like?

Psalm 51, “Against You and You alone have I sinned…” Read the Psalms! You see mourning all over it’s pages. This is how to do that right! Then, what happens when we mourn correctly?

Vs 4 “for they shall be comforted.” parakaleō: to be consoled. The context of this means, the comfort of forgiveness and salvation. Do you see why we had to understand who Jesus was talking to, His disciples? Do you see why we had to understand that He is talking about spiritual matters not physical? Jesus is saying, blessed are those who I console and wipe the tears of the repentant.

I hope you see this. We recognize our poor status, cry over our rebellion while our savior wipes our tears away. We do not stay in a state of constantly crying, we move forward. But, you need to come back next week for that.

Think of a gentle, kind and wonderful Father offering no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1). God is not rejecting His people whom He foreknew. Considering that knowledge and awareness, we should be quick to see our poverty, quick to mourn over it and now, approach humbly.

3.             Blessed are the meek.

Meek (praus) Gentle, lowly. Again, this is not what the world would want in personal attributes. Did anyone write that on your line at the beginning? The world would see this as the 90 pound weakling. Think about what attributes are the most celebrated in our society.

In my line of work, the people who are strong, self-aware, self-starters, go getters and leaders are those who rise to the top. In my line of work and in most, people look to the strong ones to move the “needle” and “get things done.” But, for God, He asked for the humble in heart.

What Christ is describing here is meek found in Gal 5:23 in the fruits of the Spirit. He says that the fruit is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and SELF-CONTROL.” Jesus is not telling us to be week. He is calling us to power that is under control. Like Him, He was strong but exercised His strength under control.

The meek are the most powerful. Where Christ has every right to call legion upon legions to free Him from the cross, we too exercise our restraint as our Lord showed us. When the world hates and attempts to destroy, we exercise meekness, lowliness and strength under control in a world that is nothing but uncontrolled.

We are the mirror of our savior. In meekness, we are the demonstration of Him who did meekness the best. Think what He endured: (6 trials, spitting, beard plucking, flogging, crucified naked etc.) However, if I ended that explanation for meek right there, it is lacking.

Meekness is built on the understanding of the first two (poor, mournful). Here is what I mean. When the rich young ruler comes to Jesus and asks (Matthew 19:20), “what must I do to inherit the kingdom of God, Jesus says keep the commands.” In his arrogance, he tells Jesus, “All these I have kept from my youth; what do I still lack?”

Church, this is the opposite of meek and we do it all the time. If that young man would know the first two be attitudes, he would never have responded like he did. The response was arrogance or ignorance and unfortunately what many will say when they see Him face to face at the end of their lives.

Jesus had every right to crush the rich young ruler. But, how does He respond? In Mark’s record of this event, Mark says that “And Jesus, looking at him loved him…” Jesus, in a demonstration of meekness chose to love an arrogant prideful heart. Ladies and gentlemen, see your example! He had every right to crush. Instead, He loved.

Our posture in “meekness” is key. Do we meekly approach the throne room of God knowing now our position of destitution in sin as we mourn over it’s cost? I want to put you in the throne room of God. Do you stand at the door way or do you boldly approach the LORD of the universe and say, “hey God, what am I still missing?”

How dare we have that attitude! If we truly understood who we are, we should be very careful to realize we are standing on Holy Ground. If we are truly meek, we shall inherit the Earth.

This is not a new concept for Matthew’s readers. The meek inherit the earth is recorded in Psalm 37:11 (remember Matthew is writing to Jews). “But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.” They would have gotten this reference! Now, do we? The meek shall inherit the earth. It’s not a complicated text. The meek get the world.

The gateway to ownership of the earth, humility, lowliness, and meekness. Again, God’s Kingdom is an upside-down kingdom. God will honor those who get it. They understand their relationship with their king. To the poor, mournful, and the meek, they are truly fortunate!

4.             Are you fortunate?

I want to give you a vivid picture of what this looks like. All three of these beatitudes on display in one location. No one can possibly do this better than our LORD. Please turn in your Bibles to: Luke 18:9-14 He does this better than I can.

Luke 18:9-14

“He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Here is the problem with this parable. Many of us think that we are that poor man in the back beating our chest. But, in earnest, I would argue that we better fit the Pharisee. Remember what I said last week? In the stories we tell ourselves, we always paint ourselves as the hero or the victim. In reality, we are never the hero. If we do not have a grasp of our sin and how poor it makes us, we are the Pharisees!

How do I know that I am poor in spirit? We know we are poor in spirit when we finally see our sin that we can’t do anything about. We can do NOTHING to fix this sin debt we owe and thus, we mourn. We can’t fix our sin problem and without His Grace, we are absolutely bankrupt. And that truth, makes us weep bitterly.

Because we mourn, we would NEVER be so bold to say to the God of the universe, okay, now what God? How dare we be so arrogant? NO! Because we mourn, we can’t help but be meek. We would never walk to the front of the line and make our demands. We stand back recognizing our position, beating our chests in recognition of who we are in comparison to who HE is. We owe everything that we have (nothing) to the One who has to come and gets us. This is why, we stay humbly back.

Tangibly: how do you know if you are that sinner in the shadows? Do you hunger for Him to come to you in your poverty? Do you turn from your sin an shame with tears in your eyes. Do you rejoice at His comfort and then, do you humbly move forward, away from your sin? This is sign of a true relationship with the One who brings us into righteousness.

Next week we will continue on to study the rest. These three are the key to understand the next ones. But, today I want to leave you with that question. Are you fortunate? Are you blessed that you are poor, mournful and meek? Do you see the blessing in knowing these truths?