Attitudes of a True Disciple

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Introduction:

Good morning and welcome to anyone just joining us online. Go ahead and turn in your Bibles or scroll on your device to Matthew chapter 5. We are going to be in verses 3-12 this morning. Last week we began a journey walking through the Sermon on the Mount, probably Jesus’ most well known blocks of teaching. If you missed last week, you can go back and listen to the overview message so you’ll kind of understand where we are going a little better. But Jesus has gone out into the hills and likely come to a level spot where he sat down and then with the authority of the Son of God, He opened His mouth and began to teach his followers. That brings us to the section of the Sermon on the Mount called the Beattitudes. And the question that we want to ask today is this: What are the attitudes of true disciples?

Let’s pray and then get to the scripture.

# Pray

# Read:

Matthew 5:3–12 ESV

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Blessed is a translation of the Greek word, makarios, which would be better translated happy. However, this only works if you’re not talking about the mental state but rather a condition of life. Fortunate or well-off get close to the meaning. One scholar I read uses the word delight.

Jesus’ disciples are there, likely closest to him and farther off, the crowd. His disciples are around Him and He begins by teaching what the attitudes are of those who are in the Kingdom of God. The attitudes of true disciples. These are NOT how to statements about how to be admitted to the kingdom. That admittance comes only through faith in Jesus Christ, His substitutionary death, and resurrection. These statements describe the life of the citizens of the Kingdom.

These statements are the complete opposite of what usually garners acclaim and popularity in our culture. This is radical living. It's counter cultural.

Ligon Duncan made the claim that possibly today these statements are even more radical than in Jesus' day.

These are not merely some super ethical teaching. They describe this radical living that is true of those who are truly blessed, happy in the Lord...those who know Jesus and belong to Him.

**1. What does it mean to be blessed or to be truly happy?**

Jesus would have us understand that happiness can not be found in any of the worldly things or the world's ways and attitudes. Blessed means having right relationship with God and enjoying Him.

Donald Hagener said " It refers to the deep inner joy of those who have long awaited the salvation promised by God and who now begin to experience its fulfillment."

**2. Who is the one who is blessed?**

Those who are humble, penitent, who grieve over their sin and are meek and gentle.

True blessedness begins with loss of self. Starts with self denial.

For this section let's use three divisions of the Beatitudes for us to cover. I. God Centered Humility, II. Other Centered Love, and III. God Centered Trust Amid Opposition. Today we will focus on the first division that we are calling God Centered Humility. We will be focusing on verses 3-5

I. God Centered Humility

A. Blessed in your spiritual bankruptcy apart from God's Grace. (Poor in spirit)

We bring nothing to the picnic.

>Jonathan Edwards said,

"You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary."<

John Piper explains this poverty of the spirit well. He says,

>" What then is poverty of spirit?

• It is a sense of powerlessness in ourselves.

• It is a sense of spiritual bankruptcy and helplessness before God.

• It is a sense of moral uncleanness before God.

• It is a sense of personal unworthiness before God.

• It is a sense that if there is to be any life or joy or usefulness, it will have to be all of God and all of grace.

The reason I say it is a SENSE of powerlessness and SENSE of bankruptcy and a SENSE of uncleanness and a SENSE of unworthiness, is that, objectively speaking, everybody is poor in spirit. Everybody, whether they sense it or not, is powerless without God and bankrupt and helpless and unclean and unworthy before God. But not everybody is “blessed.” (Piper, “Poor in Spirit”)"<

How do you see yourself before God?

Do you understand being a spiritual cripple before God who's only hope is in Jesus? Delight in it.

Be happy in being a citizen of heaven!

It is not until we come to the understanding that we can not earn it and do not deserve it, we show ourselves not to be citizens of the the Kingdom. Citizens know their powerlessness and are surrendered to Christ as Savior, Redeemer, and Lord.

B. Be happy in deep grief over sin knowing that God will comfort you.

Mourning over your sin. Really, this one flows out of the first beatitude. There's a sort of natural flow there. It seems odd to us for someone to say to delight in or be happy in mourning. It seems like a paradox to us. Isn't that God's way much of the time. He takes our human thinking and turns it on it's head. According to one author, these statements show, "the great reversals that God's kingdom is brining about and will usher in." The world would look at the wealthy and the powerful, the movie stars or maybe political leaders and say they are blessed but Jesus says it's the spiritually poor and the oppressed who are blessed because they will receive the kingdom of heaven.

The best example of this is Jesus, Himself.

2 Corinthians 8:9 ESV

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

- became poor for our sake

Philippians 2:5–7 ESV

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

- emptied Himself and died on the cross

Philippians 2:10 ESV

so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

- but now God has exalted Him and all people will bow before Him

So what is this mourning? It's mourning over our sin both personal and corporate.

Ezra 9:1–4 ESV

After these things had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice.

It's an act of sorrow and repentance over our sin and our sinful condition.

When we see God for who He is and ourselves for who we are we ought to be filled with the type of grief we might experience at the death of a loved one.

James 4:8–10 ESV

Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

Crushed in Heart and soul over your sin and the price it required in the death of God's only Son.

It requires a change of heart. We need internal change. Right actions will only come on the outside once God has changed the inside.

On the other side of this mourning though, is joy and hope. Through the truth of the gospel we get to go from grieving over our exile from God as sinners to His presence with us as his redeemed children.

C. You are blessed when your dependence is on God and you are submitted to Him. He will reward you.

Psalm 37:11 ESV

But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

Not my will but your will be done.

Give Jesus a blank check and happily ask Him to fill it in with whatever He wants.

When we are broken in a saving way by God, our will is totally surrendered to God's will...

>Quarles says that a meek person is one who delights in “a servant relationship to God and who subjects himself to Him quietly and without resistance” (Sermon, 55). Ferguson adds, meekness is

the humble strength that belongs to the man who has learned to submit to difficulties (difficult experiences and difficult people), knowing that in everything God is working for his good. The meek man is the one who has stood before God’s judgment and abdicated [surrendered] all his supposed ‘rights’. He has learned, in gratitude for God’s grace, to submit himself to the Lord and to be gentle with sinners. (Sermon, 21)<

There is hope at the end of days for the meek. They will inherit the earth. When Jesus returns, He will set all right that was wrong and will recreate and restore the earth. There will be a new heavens and a new Jerusalem. Ferguson says that meekness

"enhances manliness; it adorns femininity. It is a jewel polished by grace." - Ferguson

# Conclusion

Questions for response:

1. How spiritually bankrupt do you understand yourself to be?

What is your standing as far as what you have to bring to the table of your own salvation? Are you one of the blessed ones who knows that they have nothing but their sin and need Jesus to take it away and save them and that without Him you are lost?

2. Are you or have you been in deep grief over your sin?

Do you mourn your sin? Does that mourning lead to genuine repentance? You have the promise that God will comfort you.

3. Is your will submitted to God fully so that when He commands you don't hesitate or push back?

Is your dependence on God and God alone or are you still trusting your talents, your wisdom, or something else other than Jesus?

This morning is the time to consider these questions and answer them honestly to God. And then, if you find that you are holding onto some sin or unbelief, repent of it and believe the good news that Jesus died for that too. Come to Him. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. You don't have to try and earn His love. It is when we realize that we can't make Him love us that we really begin to understand how great His grace is. We don't deserve Him.

But we get HIM.

That is blessed and delighful indeed.

Pray