The Commands of Christ-12d

Don Parmely

Commands of Christ • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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August 25, 2021 The Commands of Christ – 12d

Adult Bible Study

The Beatitudes (Part 4)

Ice-Breaker:

Shemitah

Leviticus 25 & Deuteronomy 15

For some reason, the most vocal Christians among us never mention the Beatitudes (Matthew 5). But, often with tears in their eyes, they demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in public buildings. And of course, that's Moses, not Jesus. I haven't heard one of them demand that the Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, be posted anywhere. "Blessed are the merciful" in a courtroom? "Blessed are the peacemakers" in the Pentagon? Give me a break!

— Kurt Vonnegut

Your thoughts?

Recap: Series Foundational Scripture: Matthew 28:18-20 esp. vs.20

As we study the Commands of Christ we are using Tom Blackaby’s approach in his 2012 book, The Commands of Christ. In his book, Blackaby divides the commands of Christ into 6 areas:

We have covered the commands that relate to coming to God:

We continue to cover the commands that relate to Christ is Lord of our life as we:

John Stott reminds us: … the group exhibiting these marks is not an elitist set, a small spiritual aristocracy remote from common Christians. On the contrary, the beatitudes are Christ's own specification of what every Christian ought to be. All of these qualities are to characterize all his followers. They describe his ideal for us as citizens of God's Kingdom.

I think there is a connection with the Fruit of the Spirit, but I haven’t yet had a chance to explore that connection.

Dig:

Read: Matthew 5:1-12 (2 readings)

No, Jesus didn’t say, “I command you to… BUT, don’t these statements have the force of commands since they include blessing (favor with God), which implies NOT being/doing these things causes God to be against us?:

Be poor in spirit

To mourn

To be meek

To hunger and thirst for righteousness

To be merciful

To be pure in heart

To be a peacemaker

To GLADLY suffer persecution for the sake of righteousness. Even more, to REJOICE when we suffer for Jesus.

Last week we looked at extensively at hungering and thirsting for righteousness.

In fact the Fire Bible said:

This is one of the most important verses in the Sermon on the Mount. Without this intense desire for righteousness, a person will not pursue a deeper relationship with God or try to develop the rest of the character traits Jesus describes.

What has Jesus said so far (in the previous beatitudes) that might lead us to hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6)?

(List on whiteboard)

Because we realize we are destitute of the things of the Kingdom UNLESS we hunger and thirst for them.

Because comfort in the place of mourning comes from God alone.

Because we realize that God’s righteousness is the only thing that allows us to inherit anything.

Righteousness, for the child of god - means right standing with God — and don’t we want that above anything of this earth?

4. Jesus promises that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled (satisfied) (Matthew 5:6). What can you do cultivate a healthy, hearty spiritual appetite?

The Greek word for “filled/satisfied is used 12 times in the Gospel (14 in the NT). It is used literally 13 times in a literal sense — only once (in our 5:6) is it used figuratively.

One figurative use in Septuagint: Lamentations 3:15-16 (NASB) He has filled me with bitterness, He has made me drunk with wormwood. 16 He has broken my teeth with gravel; He has made me cower in the dust.

So, how do we cultivate an appetite for this figurative (but real!) state? (Whiteboard)

Make it a priority. Seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33)

Through the Word.

Through prayer.

Through worship.

By seeking from the ONLY One who can satisfy.

An Exegetical Summary of The Sermon on the Mount (5:6)

QUESTION—How, when, and by whom will they be satisfied? God will satisfy them [ICC, Mor; TEV]. Some satisfaction takes place now [MLJ], but ultimate satisfaction will happen in eternity [ICC, MLJ, WBC]. They will be satisfied by a relationship with God unclouded by disobedience [TNTC2]. They will be satisfied by a world where righteousness dwells [ICC].

Now, let’s move on to the next beatitude:

5. How would you define mercy (Matthew 5:7)?

This particular form of “mercy” only occurs 2x in NT:

Our verse (Mat 5:7)

Hebrews 2:16-18 (NASB) 16 For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. 17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

Complete Biblical Library: Eleēmōn can be translated “merciful” in the sense of being actively compassionate. It is used of men in Matthew 5:7 and of Christ in Hebrews 2:17. In both instances mercy is an attribute of God lived out on earth.

Question 2. Richard Lenski in The Interpretation of St. Matthew's Gospel (Augsburg, 1964) helpfully distinguishes mercy from grace: "The noun eleos (mercy) . . . always deals with what we see of pain, misery and distress, these results of sin; and charis (grace) always deals with the sin and guilt itself. The one extends relief, the other pardon; the one cures, heals, helps, the other cleanses and reinstates" (p. 191).

6. Jesus says the merciful will be shown mercy (Matthew 5:7). Why do you think our treatment of others will affect God's treatment of us?

It is a principle of God’s Kingdom (natural and supernatural):

What you plant is what you reap:

1 Corinthians 15:35–39 NASB 2020

35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” 36 You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; 37 and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. 39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of mankind, another flesh of animals, another flesh of birds, and another of fish.

Galatians 6:7–9 NASB 2020

7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 Let’s not become discouraged in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not become weary.

Dictionary of Biblical Imagery (Seed)

SEED: A seed is a product and a producer, a small investment with large potential value, an essential detail, a step in a continuum of reproduction. Though one, it becomes many through death. It is a treasury, an allotment, an investment whose yield depends on its environment. Having central importance in agriculture, which is common to all nations from Adam, the seed yields fertile imagery for both OT and NT principles and events. At a physical level, the image of seed is preeminently of the potential for life and generation.

How might mercy (being actively compassionate towards others) be a seed we plant? How does that “seed” die?

By us not expecting mercy in return?

This reminds us of The Golden Rule:

Matthew 7:7–12 NASB 2020

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what person is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Verse 7-11 somehow lead to vs. 12 (Therefore). How?

Maybe it is related to the seed above:

Asking is the seed with “it being given” is the crop?

Seeking ...

Knocking ...

Giving good things who ask is how parents deal with children and how God deals with us.

And then Jesus says: “…this is the law and the prophets.)

Matthew 22:34–40 NASB 2020

34 But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him: 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Galatians 5:14 NASB 2020

14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

7. What opportunities has God given you to show mercy to those in need?

Sick folks in the church

UGH

Missions giving

8. The "pure in heart" (Matthew 5:8) are not just inwardly pure, they are "utterly sincere" (J. B. Phillips). Their whole life, public and private, is transparent before God and others. Why is it difficult to live this way?

Question 5. The idea that "pure in heart" refers to inward purity is certainly consistent with the whole Sermon on the Mount, which requires heart-righteousness rather than mere rule-righteousness. Nevertheless, in the context of the other beatitudes, "pure in heart" seems to refer in some sense to our relationships. Thus the pure in heart, in their relations with both God and others, are free from falsehood. Their very heart—including their thoughts and motives—is pure, unmixed with anything devious, ulterior or base. Hypocrisy and deceit are abhorrent to them; they are without guile.

9. Why would the promise of seeing God (Matthew 5:8) be reserved for those who are pure in heart?

Question 6. Only the pure in heart will see God, see him now with the eye of faith and see his glory in the hereafter, for only the utterly sincere can bear the dazzling vision in whose light the darkness of deceit must vanish and by whose fire all shams are burned up.

10. Why is it fitting that "the peacemakers" will be called sons of God (Matthew 5:9)?

Question 9. A person who avoids conflict is not necessarily a peacemaker. Facing issues and helping people work through them is part of peacemaking.

11. How can we be peacemakers (Matthew 5:9) in our homes, in our churches and in society?

12. How is being a peacemaker different from settling for "peace at any price"?

Questions 10-11. It may seem strange that Jesus should pass from peacemaking to persecution, from the work of reconciliation to the experience of hostility. Yet however hard we may try to make peace with some people, they refuse to live at peace with us. Not all attempts at reconciliation succeed. Indeed, some take the initiative to oppose us, and in particular to "revile" or slander us. This is not because of our foibles or idiosyncrasies, but "because of righteousness" (Matthew 5:10) and "because of me" (Matthew 5:11), that is, because they find distasteful the righteousness for which we hunger and thirst (Matthew 5:6), and because they have rejected the Christ we seek to follow. Persecution is simply the clash between two irreconcilable value systems.

13. In spite of our efforts at peacemaking, what does Jesus say we will experience (Matthew 5:10-12)?

Why should this cause us to rejoice?

14. Why would the world hate the kind of people described in the beatitudes?

15. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was killed by the Nazis because of his faith, wrote: "With every beatitude the gulf is widened between the disciples and the people." How have the beatitudes challenged you to be different?

Adapted from: LifeGuide Topical Bible Studies - Sermon on the Mount.