Blessed are who...?

Introduction

Good morning church,

Let’s continue with a word of prayer.

It is so exciting to be back here at FBC. It’s been amazing connecting with many of you while we’ve been back, we are so grateful for those moments.

Most of you will know that for the last 9 months I’ve been the Pastoral Intern at the Shuswap Community Church in a town called Sicamous in British Columbia, Canada. It has really been quite the experience. During the last 9 months I’ve had the opportunity to learn, grow and do so many things. I’m so grateful to God that we’ve gone and done this with your prayers and support. I believe that it is because of this that God has blessed us. It is also with the many words of encouragement that we get that help to sustain and push us to continue the work there. So I thank you.

I wanted to share a quick story before we dive into our passage this morning. As soon as we arrived in Sicamous the church was preparing to host their Sicamouse Carnival. This is a big community outreach which is designed to be like Disneyland. So there is games, rides and food which is all free and available for those in attendance. The vision behind this event is to serve the kids and families not only in Sicamous but in the surrounding towns by providing this event. It is incredible because many of the families and kids may not ever get the chance to make it to Disneyland and so this is a pretty huge deal for them. The morning of Sicamouse we were preparing to set up everything and we were watching heavy rain clouds circle Sicamous, the weather apps that we were all looking at were not showing favorable weather. So we prayed and sought the Lord in what we were to do. Should we set up in the school field as planned or in the arena, which wouldn’t be ideal but the event wouldn’t be rained out. After this time of prayer we had the consensus that we are going to set up outside on the field. As the day went by it would sprinkle a little, and make us nervous, but we plowed on getting ready. As the event was to start the clouds started to part and it was an otherwise sunny and bright day in Sicamous. It was incredible to hear from folks attending the event that they would be driving through torrential rain, from all the towns surrounding and when they arrived in Sicamous it was bright and sunny. We could give no other credit to that than to our great God. I share that because it is such a wonderful example for me of God at work. How he is present when we are obedient and willing to put aside out own fears and preferences.

This morning we are going to spend time talking through part of the greatest sermon every preached, The Sermon on the Mount. These words come from the very mouth of Jesus himself. I was sharing with some really great friends that because of the power of the words and who they are spoken by that I almost feel that I should just read the passage and sit down. But I know God has a word for each of us this morning. As I was preparing for this message I was thinking back over the 8 beatitudes that are in this passage and the question that hit my mind and what I want to encourage us with this morning is “Am I dependent on God?”. You see each of the beatitudes are a demand on us from Jesus, a demand that requires us to be dependent on God. They point to characteristic that we need to respond to, a point where we need to chose and decide where we should go. And so as I spent time studying and thinking I had to think and consider whether I’ve submitted myself, my life, my desires to what Jesus is asking. I believe that we all need to do the same. So as we walk to through each of these I pray that you would take a look at your life take a look at yourself and determine whether you see the evidence of these Beatitudes.

As I was preparing for this message I was thinking back over the 8 beatitudes that are included in

Please turn with me to , “5 1Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. He said: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

5 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.

Background

As I mentioned earlier we are going to be spending time this morning talking about the first part of the best sermon ever given. These words are insight and direction straight from Jesus, it couldn’t be any better than that. The Sermon on the Mount is full of encouragement, correction, and instruction. From what I know and have read about Jesus, he doesn’t just talk to talk. Jesus knows the hearts and minds of the people and so I believe that his words are addressing real issues that are taking place within the lives of the people that were sitting in front of him. He wasn’t just making his way through a list of sins or misgivings, what he was doing was speaking into the very lives of the people. And so his words here would have been very pointed to what is taking place in the hearts of the people who were listening.

The Beatitudes

5:3–12pp—

It is really interesting here that the Beatitudes are essentially addressing those who are believers, but as we see in verse 1 the crowds were following and hearing Jesus. It is clear that the crowds were listening even though Jesus was preaching to professed disciples. Andy Stanley puts it great when he talks about what we seek when we preach and this is my prayer for this passage, “Primarily, the word is prepared to feed and strengthen and inspire the worship and life of God’s people. But we pray that more and more there will be the curious, the onlookers, the skeptical, the searchers, the doubters who come to [church] the way the crowds gathered in behind the disciples on the mount.” Jesus is calling both to make a decision.

The sermon on the Mount can be divided into 2 sections, with the first four pointing to our need for dependence on God and next four pointing to the result of our dependence on God. Remember as we go through each of these beatitudes our question and what I want us to consider is “Am I dependent on God in this?”

He said:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,

1. Dependence on God ()

The first point is on our dependence on God. Do you recognize that you need to be dependent on God and God alone? Is that something that goes through your mind? Do you find yourself trying to always take control? Are you master of your own life? As a believer our response to those questions should be no. As we’ve accepted Jesus as our Lord and saviour he is and should be the master of our lives. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have decisions to make, but what it does mean is that we must make those decisions in light of our relationship with God and so in this first section of the beatitudes Jesus is speaking and reminding believers that they are to first and foremost know that they are to be dependent on God.

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.f

In making his first point Jesus states that “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. When Jesus talks about those who are poor in spirit he is not talking about someone who is mean spirited or anything like that. What Jesus is pointing to is the reality that we can bring nothing to God. You and I must realize that we are completely and utterly dependant on God. It is God who is moving and working in our lives for our good and for his Glory. This is the opposite of pride. When we are prideful it is me who is getting things done, it is me who is seeing things through. Jesus is saying that those who are poor in spirit know that it is God who is in control and is working things out. And he says that the kingdom of heaven is theirs. It is in no way that these people earn their way into the kingdom of heaven. It is actually a product of them being totally dependent on their heavenly father.

Then Jesus goes on to say, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted”. We generally think of this passage as Jesus talking about those who’ve lost someone. We look at those who are mourning the loss of someone as people who’ve gone through an unfortunate circumstance and should be pitied, helped, comforted but not necessarily people who have experienced God’s blessing. What I think Jesus is really talking about here is that those who are mourning are people who realize that the worldly values are wrong and that it is only God who can change hearts and lives. A commentary puts it great when it says, “It may be that Jesus is saying that our values are wrong and that it is those who mourn in the face of the evils that are part and parcel of life as we know it, those who mourn over the way God’s cause is so often neglected and his people despised, who are the truly blessed ones.” These people will be comforted.

It may be that Jesus is saying that our values are wrong and that it is those19 who mourn in the face of the evils that are part and parcel of life as we know it, those who mourn over the way God’s cause is so often neglected and his people despised, who are the truly blessed ones.

Jesus then says, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth”. Meekness is a quality of the strong who could assert themselves, but do not. It is a recognition that we aren’t the be all end all. Meekness is when we view someone else as more important than ourselves. It’s when we choose not to advance our own agenda or aim but instead choose to consider those around us and what's best for them. Jesus tells us that it is these people who will inherit the earth, which is a statement that is a future promise, that these people will have a place in God’s kingdom.

19 αὐτοί resumes the subject and puts some emphasis on it: they and not others are the ones who will be comforted.

Then in the last Beatitude in the dependence on God section Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled”. Jesus is saying that those who have an intense longing for righteousness will be filled. It is a recognition that righteousness cannot be produced on our own, but it is something that God gives. When we recognize that we are dependent on God and seek what is right, when we have a concern for understanding what is right then it is God who will fill that in us.

Morris, Leon. The Gospel according to Matthew. Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press, 1992. Print. The Pillar New Testament Commentary.

So we have the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek and those who seek righteousness. What are the common element’s of these things? It is that they are internal in nature. These qualities aren’t things that we can necessarily see, we can see the results of these but they are really something that is taking place within us. And so Jesus is communicating that when we are in right relationship with God and are placing our complete hope and trust in God and being dependent on him that these qualities will be seen in our lives. So we need to ask ourselves, “Am I dependent on God in any one of these?”. Is there a quality here that isn’t present in your life? Are you someone who needs to submit an area of your life to God that you are holding onto, maybe it’s a situation, maybe it’s another person. Whatever it is we need to let it go and say God I want to be dependent on you, I want to see these qualities evident in my life.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.g

2. Result of Dependence on God ()

5 Blessed are the meek,

Then we move onto the results of being dependent on God. This is what life looks like when we find ourselves letting God take control and direction of our lives. It is the outward result of the inward change that we’ve experienced when we’ve allowed God to be our everything.

I

A. Jesus starts this section by saying, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”. Mercy is defined as, “compassion or forgiveness shown towards someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm” We are called to show mercy to one another, to forgive. Why do we do this? Because we’ve been shown great mercy by a great God, God forgives the sins of those who place their hope and trust in him. We see this in , “4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” And with that we must discern areas in our lives where we can be merciful to others. Areas were we can be forgiveness. You see we live in a world that isn’t very forgiving. This world tells us that we need to remember all the things that others do against us and be ready to strike back when ready. This is so against what is contained in the gospels. God tells us to forgive and be merciful as we’ve been forgiven. And so if we believe that we’ve been forgiven greatly then we need to be ready to give forgiveness.

for they will inherit the earth.h

4 But because of his great love for us,n God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressionso—it is by grace you have been saved.

n See

I remember a few years ago now, I had stopped to get some money out of the bank machine at Paget Pharmacy. I parked my bike just in front of Ice Queen. On my way out I noticed that my bike was on its side. There was a young lady on a bike with a child who was trying to maneuver out of her spot and she had hit a bike, which in turn toppled over a couple of bikes parked next to one another, with mine included in the pile. Seeing that the rider and her child were ok, and then realizing that I knew the rider, my thoughts shifted to what sort of damage was done to me bike. Taking a quick look at my bike I did notice that there were a few scratches and the plastics were pushed a little. At this the world would tell me to call the police and to try to get my bike repaired to what it was before being knocked over. But seeing that this young lady was getting more grief from another owner of a bike I said to her not to worry about my bike and I rode off. I had to think of showing mercy. And yes this girl was guilty and I would be justly right to give her a bill but it was an opportunity to show mercy. Yeah this might’ve been a small instance, but I can only imagine that a small weight was lifted off this young lady as she had one less person to have to deal with in this situation.

o ver 1;

The New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011. Print.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

Yeah this might’ve been a small instance, but I can only imagine that a small weight was lifted off this young lady as she had one less person to have to deal with in this situation.

B. Then Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God”. Heart in this section of scripture is referring to our whole being; that is our inner state, thoughts and emotions. God is looking for purity at the very centre of our being. This purity of our heart is something that we need to seek God in. It isn’t a quality that comes natural for us. It’s something that is developed in us as we spend time with God and are refined and shaped by Him. The Psalmist describes this so well when he says in , “3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.” This pureness of heart is a result of someone who is dependent on God and looks to be transformed in their thoughts, in their actions and in their deeds.

for they will be filled.i

Then Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God”. Heart in this section of scripture is referring to our whole being; that is our inner state, thoughts and emotions. God is looking for purity at the very centre of our being. This purity of our heart is something that we need to seek God in. It isn’t a quality that comes natural for us. It’s something that is developed in us as we spend time with God and are refined and shaped by Him. The Psalmist describes this so well when he says in , “3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.” This pureness of heart is a result of someone who is dependent on God and looks to be transformed in their thoughts, actions and deeds.

who does not trust in an idolo

or swear by a false god.

o

Jesus says that those who are pure in heart will see God. These people will experience and see God in a way that others do not. Jesus is providing this demand that they are to have this pure heart. And likewise for us we need to desire and seek to have pure hearts. With our question this morning, “Am I dependent on God?” is this an area where God needs to develop in you. Do you need to spend time developing this area in your life?

l ;

Heart in t

7 Blessed are the merciful,

m See

n ; ;

o

The New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011. Print.

for they will be shown mercy.j

C. Jesus then goes onto say that “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”. Jesus is telling the people here that they are to pursue restoration, they are to make things right with one another. It is important to note that Jesus is instructing them not to be peacekeepers but to be peacemakers, I think we sometimes get this mixed up, I know I do. A peacekeeper is someone who tries to keep things peaceful, they are not necessarily trying to solve the problem they are trying to make sure that situations don’t get out of hand. Whereas peacemakers are people who seek to end to problems and works toward reconciliation. says, “17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”

j ver 19; ;

k

This isn’t always the easiest thing to do, being a peacemaker. It requires us to put aside our pride and ego’s and for us to say that my relationship with someone is more important than the situation that is going on. I know for myself this is sometimes a difficult thing to do. I’m at my core a person who looks to avoid conflict. Sometimes this is a good thing, at times it isn’t. For example a few weeks ago I had a little conflict with a co-worker. For a time we’d just go through each day just seeking to keep the peace between each other. I’m sure there were judgements made on both sides and going through the motions of trying to just keep the peace wasn’t helping anything. It wasn’t until we sat down face to face and had a real chat about what was going on between us that things started to actually change. We moved from peace keeping to peacemaking and I can tell you our relationship is totally different, it is so much better. We are working and getting along much better. But this required us to put aside our pride, ego’s and fears and pursue what is right, which is to have true peace between each other. Again this isn’t something that I generally gravitate toward doing, but when we are dependent on God it is a quality that is developed in us. It becomes something that we desire to do because seeking peace is what we are being driven to do by the Holy Spirit that is in us.

l See ; See

When we think through our question for this morning, “Am I dependent on God?”. Are you a peacemaker, in our seeking to be dependent on God do we see this quality being developed and done in our lives? Are you someone who tries to solve for peace when there is a situation between you and a brother? Jesus is demanding this from believers that they are peacemakers and so I would encourage you to aim for this. And he says when we do this we will be called children of God.

The New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011. Print.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,k

for they will see God.l

D. And then the final beatitude. Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you”. The last two beatitudes are really one as they talk about those that are persecuted. This is persecution because the person is following Jesus and looking to do what is right. Jesus is saying that those who experience persecution because of their commitment and devotion to God and pursuit of what is right will be given the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is essentially telling these early Christian’s that when they are experiencing this persecution it is because of their faith and commitment to God.

Jesus is saying that they enter into this life of devotion to God they will be different than those around them. They will be misunderstood by the world. And because of this they may face persecution and people saying all kinds of evil against them. Jesus is encouraging them that they are to be joyful in these moments, because it means they they are walking in the right path. He’s not saying that it will be all wonderful but if you are totally devoted to God you will be different from the world around you, you will think differently, act differently, say different things. And because of that you may face persecution. He reminds them and us that this isn’t a new concept. The prophets talked about in the Old Testament faced this exact same thing. They faced all sorts of persecution because of their faith. Jesus is saying that in this you must stay strong, he says that great will your reward be in heaven.

If you find yourself in a situation like this I would encourage you to cling to Jesus in the midst of this. Let him be your strength. says, “35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?e Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?f 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.i 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nothing can separate us from that love. That is so intense for us that our Lord would suffer and die for each one of us. To me that is worth my devotion and is someone who I want to be dependent on.

e ver 37–39

f ; ,

j

g ; ; , ; ; ;

h

i ; ; ; ;

k Or nor heavenly rulers

j

k ; ;

l See

m ver 1; See

The New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011. Print.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,m

Conclusion

for they will be called children of God.n

As we’ve spent time going through each of these beatitudes there are some final thoughts on what we are to do with all of this. For those who’ve placed their hope and trust in Jesus the beatitudes are a unique announcement by Jesus of how fortunate or blessed we are when we possess the power of the kingdom of God. For those of us who believe and who are fortunate to have God’s power at work in us we will have all this that Jesus describes. It is effectively a celebration of all that Christ has done in our lives.

For some of us we may not be there yet so these beatitudes serve as an invitation for us to be that type of person. When we seek to be dependent on God we are able to become this type of person.

Andy Stanley shares, “the Beatitudes are words of celebration for disciples — people who have been awakened by the present power of the age to come. And they are words of invitation for the crowds — the people who come to worship out of tradition or curiosity or skepticism. And for some, they are words of transformation — by the power and mercy of God.”

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,o

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.p

I’m not sure which bucket you are in this morning. But as we sing this last song I want you to think about where you are? To think about whether you are dependent on God. You see maybe you are a believer whose in a good place between you and the Lord and this morning you feel God working through your life as you depend on him, praise God for that and thank him for this.

Maybe you are a believer and you’re struggling. You’re holding onto control and you’re having a rough go because of it. Maybe it’s time to let go and say God I want to be more dependent on you. I want to let go of my ego and what I want.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you,q persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.r 12 Rejoice and be glad,s because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.t

f ver 10, 19; See

Maybe you’ve never heard this before in your life. And this morning you’re like this makes sense. I would encourage you to pray to God and simply say Lord I’ve been doing things my own way for too long. I now want to give up that control and follow you. If that’s you this morning I would encourage you to tell someone. Tell the person next to you. Allow them to celebrate with you in this moment.

g , ;

Let’s pray.

h ;

i ,

j See

k , ;

l ; ; ;

m ; See

n ver 44, 45; See

o See

p ver 3, 19; See

q

r See

s ; ; See ; ; ; ; ; ,

t ; , ; ; ;

The New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011. Print.