Character Quality for Kingdom Dwellers
Kingdom Instructions for Kingdom Living • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 30:06
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Introduction-General Observations
Introduction-General Observations
Even the non-christian may know something about the Sermon on the Mount or even the Beatitudes, but they are more than something to know. As we look at them these graces, qualities, are traits that the Christian should have as a kingdom dweller. Just a few general observations first.
Beatitude means “supreme blessedness or happiness”
Blessedness is for those who have these character traits, qualities
There are some questions we may ask of the Beatitudes as we look at them.
Who are the people described in them?
The people described are those who have these eight qualities.
The people described are Christians! These are qualities that each and every Christian should have
Kingdom citizens will bear these qualities much like the fruit of the Spirit (Gal5:22-23)
What are the qualities commended
Those who are poor and broken are commended qualities. This is much more than physically, it is spiritually.
Brokenness and poverty look for help, they hunger and thirst and those are good qualities commended in the Beatitudes.
What are the blessings promised?
Happiness, These are Jesus theory of happiness.
They are not ethical duties in as much as a series of eight fundamental emotional attitudes.
This should not be considered a subjective state of happiness, but an objective view of the character traits of a Christian.
To those who have these traits here are some of the blessings
Mourners are comforted
Hungry are satisfied
Merciful shall see God
Great reward in heaven
I mentioned shall see God; while it is future; it is also present; future in our heavenly home; present we see these qualities in the person of Christ and in the Christian who has the Spirit of Christ and is being transformed into the likeness of Christ. While we see the first-fruits now, the full harvest is yet to come.
One more thought as we look at the Beatitudes
The first four seem to point to character traits as related to God
The last four show character traits in our dealing with others
So now let’s look at the passage and the character required to be kingdom dwellers.
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 gentle, 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 have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 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.
Inter-related character qualities
Inter-related character qualities
Inter-related meaning they all work together, not in part, but in whole. The citizens of the kingdom will have these qualities. They are not lofty ideas we work for, strive for, like any other grace, they are given.
These graces, these qualities work in conjunction with one another
This list, this passage is similar to list in 2Pt1:5-11
It is when you have these graces that entrance into heaven is abundantly provided for you.
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness,
7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;
11 for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.
When we look at the Beatitudes in detail you will see that they are not only inter-related they are progressive and each kingdom dweller possesses them. They are eight qualities of a kingdom dweller.
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Poor in Spirit - humble opinion of ourselves with understanding of our sinfulness and God’s righteousness
Spiritually afflicted unable to save self (Zeph3:12; Psm34:6; Lk18:13)
God accepts and will bless the poor in Spirit (Isa57:15; Isa66:1-2)
Don’t become rich in your eyes; be poor in Spirit (Rev3:17-18)
They mourn - mourning over ones own spiritual poverty and sinfulness
Mourn because of spiritual poverty, sinfulness (Mt5:4; Ps51:3-4)
They are meek (gentle) - easily entreated, willing to suffer injury rather than cause injury
They hunger/thirst for righteousness - they look for, long for the righteousness that comes from God.
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Poor in Spirit - humble opinion of ourselves with understanding of our sinfulness and God’s righteousness (Mt5:3; Zeph3:12; Psm34:6)
Poor in Spirit being couched in what poor was in the O.T. a literal poor but Jesus is speaking of a spiritual poor, though literally poor made people more susceptible to the message.
12 “But I will leave among you A humble and lowly people, And they will take refuge in the name of the Lord.
Look at what David said in his humility
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him And saved him out of all his troubles.
The poor man is the one who is both afflicted and unable to save himself so he looks to God for salvation.
He is the one who is convicted of his own spiritual poverty
13 “But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’
Such people like that God will accept, God will bless, they will be happy because they are poor in the Spirit.
15 For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.
and Isaiah spoke more on this subject
1 Thus says the Lord, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? 2 “For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.
“To be poor in spirit is to acknowledge our spiritual poverty, indeed our spiritual bankruptcy before God.” - John Stott
There is a lyric from song “Rock of Ages” look at it, for it a picture of being poor in spirit.
Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to the cross I cling; Naked, come to thee for dress; Helpless, look to thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Saviour, or I die.
John Calvin wrote “He only who is reduced to nothing in himself, an relies on the mercy of God, is poor in spirit.”
May we like the publican in Lk4:18 with down cast eyes cry out “be merciful on me a sinner!”
Contrary to the world and the their view of the kingdom. The kingdom belongs to the poor not the rich, the feeble not the mighty, the little children not the soldiers, not the Pharisees or the Zealots, but the publicans, the prostitutes, the rejects who knew their broken state.
May we not have the view like the Laodicean’s
17 ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,
18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.
So, the kingdom dwellers need to have the acknowledgment of their own spiritual poverty.
Poor in Spirit - humble opinion of ourselves with understanding of our sinfulness and God’s righteousness
They mourn - mourning over ones own spiritual poverty and sinfulness
Kingdom dwellers mourn because they know they are poor in spirit, they have spiritual poverty because of their sin. One commentator said you could translate this second beatitude to say “happy are the unhappy” in other words from a place of sorrow can bring happiness. They mourn the loss of their innocence, their own righteousness, self-respect. This is godly sorrow that brings about salvation.
It is one thing to know you are spiritually poor, but it is another to grieve, mourn over it. It is the difference between confession and contrition.
Confession is admitting; contrition is being remorseful, penitent, and repenting
Look at David’s example.
3 For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. 4 Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge.
Poor in Spirit - humble opinion of ourselves with understanding of our sinfulness and God’s righteousness
They mourn - mourning over ones own spiritual poverty and sinfulness
They are meek (gentle) - easily entreated, willing to suffer injury rather than cause injury
The Greek adjective “Praus” means, gentle, humble, considerate, courteous. Does this remind you of one who exercises self-control? Jesus was one who was gentle, or meek, So this meek was not out of weakness but out of humility. Jesus has the authority, the power to do whatever but He put it aside for our sake. We, the kingdom dwellers are able to come humbly realizing our own poverty and our own sinfulness.
On a quick side note here before going into being meek, gentle, easily entreated. Notice where this comes in the passage, let me give it so you so you can see the context
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
Meekness is understanding who we are, mournful of our sinful state, and because of that we then can hunger and thirst for righteousness
Dr. Lloyd Jones summed up this verse, this beatitude as:
“Meekness is essentially a true view of oneself, expressing itself in attitude and conduct with respect to others.”
This is the kingdom dweller who gentle, humble, sensitive, patient in all his interactions, dealings with others as exemplified by Christ.
Now that brings us to our next four graces that kingdom dwellers display
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They hunger and thirst for righteousness (Mt5:6; php42:1-2; Ps19:12-14 and Php3:7-15)
They are merciful (Mt5:7; Lk23:34; Act7:60)
They are pure in heart (Mt5:8; Psm24:3-4)
They are peacemakers (Mt5:9; Rom12:18-21; Rom5:1; Eph6:15)
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There is at least 3 kinds of righteousness that are found in the bible.
Legal righteousness: Also know as justification; a right relationship with God.
Moral righteousness: Our morals, character, conduct we do, pleasing God
Social righteousness: seeking to liberate the captives, the oppressed.
Spiritual hunger for righteousness is a characteristic of all God’s people whose ambition is not material but spiritual. The one who is spiritually hungry and thirsty is the one whom the Lord will fill and satisfy. Satisfy with His righteousness.
They hunger and thirst for righteousness (Mt5:6; Ps41:1-2; Ps19:12-14 and Php3:7-15)
Need to put the verse up here again, it has been awhile since we read through the entire passage
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
The one who knows their spiritual poverty and trust God will meet the need
To one who mourns over their spiritual poverty knows God will comfort them
To the one who is gentle, knowing their spiritual poverty they trust and know the promise of their inheritance in and through Christ Jesus
1 How blessed is he who considers the helpless; The Lord will deliver him in a day of trouble. 2 The Lord will protect him and keep him alive, And he shall be called blessed upon the earth; And do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
Count your blessings, delivered, protected, kept alive and not given over to the enemy!
I was going to summarize Php3:7-15, but I think it is better we read the passage then I will give comment or two then we will close, so settle in for just a bit longer.
7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,
9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;
11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. 12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.
13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; 16 however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.
Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness have counted the past as that, past, history, a loss, with the view of today and the hope of tomorrow of the surpassing greatness, value of knowing Christ and the power of His resurrection. Obtaining a righteousness not of our own, but of His!
Luther said it like this regarding hungering and thirsting for righteousness
“The command to you is not to crawl into a corner or into the desert, but to run out, and to offer your hands and your feet and your whole body, and to wager everything you have and can do. . . It is a hunger and thirst for righteousness that cannot be curbed, stopped or sated, one that looks for nothing but cares for nothing except the accomplishment and maintenance of the right despising everything that hinders this end.”
In review we can see the spiritual progression of the beatitudes thus far. Each step progressing to the next, presupposing the others have come before.
First we are spiritually poor, in poverty because of our sin, we are poor in spirit knowing our spiritual bankruptcy before God.
Then we mourn over it, our spiritual poverty, brokenness, our sinful nature and the corruption of this fallen world.
Thirdly, we are meek, humble, gentle in spirit towards others, knowing our own spiritual poverty, sinfulness to condition, control our behavior in how we treat and deal with others.
Finally we have looked at we are to hunger and thirst for righteousness for what use is the confessing, lamenting of our sin, acknowledging the truth of our sinful state if we stop there, we need to hunger and thirst for righteousness.
All this will lead us to where we will start next week.
They are merciful (Mt5:7; Lk23:34; Act7:60)
They are pure in heart (Mt5:8; Psm24:3-4)
They are peacemakers (Mt5:9; Rom12:18-21; Rom5:1; Eph6:15)
They are persecuted for righteousness sake (Mt5:11-12; Act14:21-22; Php1:29-30; 2Tim3:12)
(Lead to prayer)