The Beatitudes - Qualities of the Citizens of God's Kingdom Pt1

The Beatitudes - Qualities of the Citizens of God's Kingdom

The Beatitudes - famous passage, preached on consistently, very familiar to frequent church goers

but do we really understand what Jesus was saying & meaning? (Slide)

As bit of background / context

Matthew 5:1–2 NIV84

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

Jesus had been in Galilee where crowds had grown & gathered around him

He decided to escape the crowds & take away those special followers to spend time teaching them

So travelled around Sea of Galilee lake shore to Decapolis = area with 10 small towns

Then went up mountain to spend time preparing his followers to be committed disciples

First thing Jesus teaches in Matthew’s gospel - traditionally called the beatitudes (Slide)

Statements starting with ‘Blessed are those’ was common amongst Jews

Psalm 84:4–5 NIV84

Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Selah Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.

Jesus gives 9 (or 10 according to some) statements or beatitudes all describing sort of people who will be part of God’s eternal Kingdom

Now there are similarities to someone else who went up a mountain, met with God...

& received God’s commands or instructions - You know who that was? Moses!

So Matthew intentionally makes a connection between Moses who received God’s commandments then instructed the Hebrews...

& Jesus the new prophet Moses promised would come, who’s speaking God’s word & explaining it (Slide)

God wants us to be patiently humble

So today we’re just going to look at the 1st three beatitudes - today

But before we start a quick pointer to help you

Whenever you see the word ‘Blessed’ replace it with the translation ‘It will be well with’ (Slide)

Hopefully that might help make things understandable

Matthew 5:3 NIV84

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

It will be well with the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven or kingdom of God

OK so what does it mean to be poor in spirit?

In Jesus time general Jewish population were looking for a messiah who’d liberate them

Both physically from Roman occupation & spiritually from the oppressive Jewish religious leaders

Unfortunately many believed it was God’s will they be set free - so they literally tried to take back their land

Unfortunately ended up with 100’s thousands of people dead, Jerusalem & temple destroyed, & Jewish people scattered by Romans (Slide)

However taking their land by physical force was not God’s will - can see in OT

Psalm 37:11 NIV84

But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.

So the meek or poor in spirit are those who willingly live in humility, patiently waiting for God to accomplish His will & purpose...

Rather than trying to make what we think is God’s will happen by force or our own efforts

It was God who made the way for the Hebrews to enter the promised land - after 40 years!

And it was God who decided they needed to o into exile after they decided to ignore hime for centires

And then it was God who made the way to bring them back into the land

So this beatitude is saying we need to wait for God to bring real justice, peace, liberation, renewal...

Rather than seek our own justice, forcing peace & liberation on others

Or to put it another way we need to let God decide what’s best rather than us making up God’s mind for Him...

Then trying to force everyone else to agree with us that this is what God wants for everyone (slide)

Have you been following the news around the whole issue of Britain leaving European Union?

Originally the vote to leave the EU was made by 51% of voters

That means 49% of voters - approx 22.5 million people didn’t want to leave EU

Since then country has argued for 3 years, onto 3rd Prime Minister & nobody knows if they’ll be better off or not!!

I don’t know about you but I used to find it very easy making big decisions for myself & my family without even thinking about God

I thought I could figure out what’s bet by thinking, asking others for advice, doing research… & then I’d remember to pray!!!

But if we truly believe in a God who is creator of everything & who is ruler, sustainer, saviour & redeemer..

Then surely we want to wait for God to do what He has planned for us & all creation

The renewing & restoring of creation & destruction of evil, sin & death, & establishing his eternal kingdom with Jesus as King (slide)

Do I try force what I think is God’s will onto others?

If we are truly citizens of God’s kingdom then we should want what God wants when he wants it

We would trust that God knows what he’s doing

We should have faith that because loves us so much he will only do what’s best for us - when its best for us

That means all we need to do is patiently & humbly wait on God

& not try & do the things only God is qualified to do… (slide)

God wants to grieve over sin & evil

The next beatitude is a one people like to recall in times of sadness or suffering (slide)

Matthew 5:4 NIV84

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

OR It will be well with those who mourn, for they will be comforted

Now that sounds quite straight forward - right

But there’s a bit more to this statement or beatitude than meets the eye

Remember Jesus is describing those who are citizens of God’s eternal Kingdom

The word to mourn or grieve here is often used in relationship to repentance of sin (slide)

King David wrote about this kind of grieving for sins he’d committed in the Psalms

Psalm 51:17 NIV84

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

We read about this same attitude of mourning or grieving for sin in NT too (slide)

James 4:8–9 NIV84

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.

Jesus saying citizens of God’s kingdom will feel & express real grief for the sin & evil committed in the world

That means grieving & humbling ourselves before God in repentance when we sin

Recognising through Jesus our sin has been forgiven because of God’s love for us

But also grieving for the pain & suffering caused by humanity’s sin & evil

As people continue to believe God doesn’t exist so they can do what they want

Although we can find some comfort now through the scriptures, prayer, worship, & fellowship

True comfort will only come when God fulfills his promises in scripture & his will & purposes are accomplished

When Jesus returns & God’s yet future kingdom is established

Photo - Stuff - Christchurch Art Gallery's "Tributes of Aroha" in September 2019 - marking six-month anniversary of March 15 terror attack.

Stuff recently reported about a survey done - 15% Kiwi adults have been personally targeted with online hate speech in last 12 months,

52 per cent of Muslim respondents said were personally targeted with online hate speech in past 12 months.

So Justice Minister Andrew Little is reviewing options for strengthening the country's hate speech laws.

Now people Asian descent around world being subjected to increased racist outbursts / abuse due to coronavirus outbreak (Slide)

Does sin & evil hurt our hearts? Grieve us?

When you read about something like that or hear about it from someone, or perhaps even witness it...

What is you first thought?

Does it grieve you when you hear about the abuse, neglect, violence, injustice, evil happening around world?

In a sense its easy to get righteously angry - wanting God to bring justice & avenge those suffering

But does sin & evil grieve your heart? People & all of creation is suffering because of my sin & your sin? (slide)

Because Jesus suffered pain & grief on the cross for all sin & evil… & God continues to grieve for his creation now

& As God’s children & citizens of God’s Kingdom - so should we

God wants us to totally depend on Him

Third & last statement we’ll look at today I’ve always found quite tricky to get my head around

Matthew 5:5 NIV84

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

OR It will be well with those who are meek, for they will inherit the earth

Again remember Jesus is describing those who are citizens of God’s eternal Kingdom

So what does it mean to be meek?

& who’d want to inherit the earth now in its current state!!!

Being meek means having humility in every aspect of our lives

In fact it means not relying on ourselves at all but being complete relient on God

We’re humble when we recognise that left on our own we just muck things up - we need God!

God values this sort of humility which we see people like Paul & James expressing... (slide) x2

Romans 8:18 NIV84

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

James 2:5 NIV84

Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?

These men were telling early Christians not to rely on themselves & their abilities to meet all their needs

Instead they’re to be completely dependant on God, rely completely on Him for everything

It means God comes first before our wealth, possessions, our homes, our friends, even our family

The Kingdom of God is for those who know & understand to be reliant completely on God

& not be reliant on material things, on power & status, on our health, our friends & family (slide)

Let’s face it this is a really hard word!

In NZ society today houses are top investment for majority of people...

But what happens when that investment disappears?

When the Christchurch Earthquake happened, people lost everything - some even lost their friends & loved ones

Everything they held dear, everything that was important to them, everything that gave them sense of worth

All of it went… many are still trying to recover from the aftermath of that event

What if there was a horrific earthquake & Tsunami in Tauranga / Papamoa?

There could be? How would you cope?

Unless we rely on completely God for every aspect of our lives then we fail to live up to our citizenship of God’s Kingdom

When disaster strikes & we loose what our lives & future are built on we will suffer in this life & potentially next

Remember Jesus says you can’t serve 2 masters i.e. either God is your life’s foundation & future security or something else is (Slide)

Is our wealth, health, power, homes, relationships security for our future?

If we make God our security for now & the future & renounce our reliance on everything else...

Then Jesus says we will inherit God’s future Kingdom of a renewed & restored creation

And the riches of an eternal life & inheritance too vast & glorious to imagine

These are the first 3 Beatitudes & as you can see they’re just as challenging as the original 10 commandments! (slide)

God wants us to live our lives - for as long as they last - as though we are already citizen’s of His eternal Kingdom

In doing so we not only give God glory through our whole lives but we will shine brightly in this dark world

And we definitely need lots more bright lights pointing others to the one true hope for all people - Jesus

So remember these 3 qualities... Let’s pray

Patiently humble, mourning over evil & sin, totally dependant on God

Heavenly Father

We thank you for Jesus who came to earth, lived, died & rose again

so we could receive your forgiveness for our sins

so we could receive a heavenly eternal inheritance

And so we could become citizens of your Kingdom

Helps us this week to draw close to you, through your Holy Spirit

That he might continue his work in us to make us worthy of your Kingdom

In Jesus our Saviour & Lord’s name we pray, Amen