Upside-Down Kingdom: The Sure and Surprising Path to Happiness

Blessed Be Your Name

WELCOME

Good morning family. Hear the Word of the Lord from Psalm 34…

I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!

I LOVE that! This is more than a call to personally worship the Lord.

It’s a call to worship Him together.

My worship of the Lord is enhanced when you worship with me.

As you sing, pray, listen, and respond. You’re not just honoring the Lord. You’re encouraging your brothers and sisters. Thank you.

In just a moment we’ll hear a reading from the text for today’s sermon in Matthew 5:3. Turn there now.

While you’re turning, 5 quick announcements:

1) Happy Reformation Day!

On October 31, 1517, a German monk named Martin Luther nailed a list of 95 Theses (or statements) to the Castle Church door in Wittenburg, Germany. He was inviting a debate on the Catholic church’s teaching, but that simple act of protest led to what we now call the Protestant Reformation. This church and millions of other local churches across the world trace much of their doctrinal roots to what God was doing in the heart of a lowly monk 504 years ago today.

At the conclusion of our service we’ll sing a song together that celebrates some of the key doctrines rediscovered by the Reformers.

2) A word about PBC. We are Family.

In Christians families, we use our homes to be hospitable

Tonight we’re doing that as a church family

3) Trunk or Treat

Begins tonight at 5, if you’re helping out please arrive between 4 and 4:30.

4) SBCV Homecoming

November 7 at 6 PM featuring Dr. Al Mohler at Liberty in Hampton

Register online

No evening events at PBC

5) Afghan Workshop

November 20, from 9-12. Please register online or at the blue flag.

Now look in your Bibles at Matthew 5:3-12 as our sister in Christ Addi Figgers comes to read for us.

Scripture Reading (Matthew 5:3-12)

Prayer of Praise (God is sustainer), Addi Figgers

Let the Nations Be Glad

Behold Our God

Prayer of Confession (hate), Eli Dowell

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

New City Catechism #44

Pastoral Prayer (Bubba Jones)

SERMON

Take a moment and think of eight things you wish you were different about you.

A lot of us would say things about our physical appearance...

Lose weight, gain muscle

Straight teeth, white teeth

Ability to grow facial hair, or any hair

Or maybe something about your personality or demeanor...

More outgoing

Think quicker on your feet

Different skills

Better ability to think before you speak

Better memory

More optimistic, more reserved

Liked to read more

Or your physical health...

You’d like the aches and pains to stop

Or the cancer to go away and never come back

Or to finally be free of that medication

Or your circumstances...

More time, more money, better job, better house, a spouse, children, etc. etc.

If Jesus were here, in the flesh, and we could ask Him the same question about you what would He say? What would He want to be different about you? Would anything on your lists be the same?

Jesus tells us what He wants of His followers in Matthew 5:3

Incredibly famous portion of Scripture, sometimes called “the Beatitudes”

Not “Be-Attitudes”

From the Latin word beatus, meaning “blessed”

Eight beatitudes, eight statements of each one has a condition and a promise

In these verses, Jesus tells us what He wants to be true of His followers. He’s describing the character He wants for kingdom citizens.

Before we walk through this passage together, let me suggest a few guardrails to keep us from getting off track along the way:

Kingdom character is counter-cultural.

Upside-down kingdom

From beginning to end, these are traits that the world mocks and rejects

Kevin DeYoung imagined what types of Beatitudes the world might write [1] ...

Blessed are the rich, for theirs is the kingdom of pleasure

Blessed are those who feel good about themselves, for they shall be confident.

Blessed are the aggressive, they shall control the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for recognition, for they shall be noticed.

Blessed are the demanding, for they shall receive what is coming to them.

Blessed are the sexually liberated for they shall be their own gods.

Blessed are the scheming for they shall be called children of the powerful.

Blessed are those who are praised by the world, for theirs is the kingdom of now.

Kingdom character is essential.

5:3—“...theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

5:10—“...theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

You will not go to heaven if these things aren’t true of you!

NOT saying that doing these things is how you get to heaven. Jesus is simply describing the type of person who has the kingdom.

Kingdom character is supernatural.

This is not a checklist for you to earn God’s favor. It’s the natural outflow of what happens after you receive God’s favor as a gift.

You cannot do this apart from the Holy Spirit’s help

God works this in you as you grow in your Christian life

NOT A CHRISTIAN? YOU CANNOT BE ANY OF THIS UNTIL YOU TRUST CHRIST

Kingdom character is universal.

This is not optional character for some Christians, but essential character for all Christians.

Not enough to exhibit some of the beatitudes.

Jesus doesn’t say “blessed are the poor in spirit OR those who mourn, OR the meek.”

Each of these character traits should be true to some degree of every follower of Jesus.

NOT saying everybody has this character, but every Christian does to some degree.

Like working out—you’re not creating new muscles, but strengthening the muscles you already have

Kingdom character is foundational.

Jesus is eventually going to tell us a lot of things to do.

How to treat enemies, how to pray, how to fast, give, etc.

But before He does, He tells us what type of person we are

WHO BEFORE DO, CHARACTER BEFORE CONDUCT

Kingdom character is possible.

If you have the Holy Spirit living within you, you can exhibit kingdom character

As you examine yourself, look for progress, not perfection.

Kingdom character is wonderful.

This is the path to true happiness.

The word “blessed” mentioned 9 times in our text can mean “happy.”

Martin Luther—“This is a delightful, sweet and genial beginning of his sermon. For he does not come, like Moses or a teacher of law, with alarming and threatening demands; but in the most friendly manner, with enticements and allurements and pleasant promises.”

Am I demonstrating kingdom character?

Eight Questions:

Am I Poor in Spirit?

5:3—“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

NOT “Blessed in spirit are the poor”

If poverty was the pathway to blessing, it would be wrong to help anybody! No Thrive, no OCC, no Peninsula Rescue Mission, no Refugee ministry.

Two words for poor in Greek:

Penichros used of the widow in Luke 21 who was poor, but at least she had two small coins to put in the offering.

Ptochos used here, which means utterly destitute, bankrupt

Poor in spirit = spiritual bankruptcy

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, Savior, or I die.

Why this beatitude is first: God can never fill you with practical righteousness until you first admit you are spiritually bankrupt.

Thomas Watson—“Till we are poor in spirit, we are not capable of receiving grace. He who is swollen with an opinion of self-excellency and self-sufficiency, is not fit for Christ. He is full already. If the hand be full of pebbles, it cannot receive gold. The glass is first emptied before you pour in wine. God first empties a man of himself, before he pours in the precious wine of his grace” [2]

Do you believe that you are spiritually bankrupt?

In a sense, this is the first step to becoming a Christian. Admitting your spiritual bankruptcy and your need for Christ’s righteousness.

But this is not something we graduate past! A Christian continues to recognize his spiritual bankruptcy apart from Christ!

John Newton—“I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be in another world; but I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am.”

Do you know all too well your spiritual bankruptcy? Are you all-too-familiar with your failures? Congratulations! Yours is the kingdom of heaven.

Do I Mourn?

5:4—“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

NOT a dour, stone-faced, stern attitude.

Not about being “Eyeores for Jesus”

In verse 12, Jesus tells us to “Rejoice and be glad!”

NOT being sad about your circumstances, the culture, your suffering, etc.

Sometimes it’s right to be sad over those things, but that’s not what Jesus is talking about here

Jesus is talking about sadness over your sin.

Connected to the first Beatitude.

It’s one thing to admit your spiritual bankruptcy. It’s another thing to agonize over it.

Not talking about mourning over the consequences of your sin.

That’s what Judas did after betraying Jesus.

Do you mourn over your sin?

You’ll never truly cry out to Jesus to save you unless you first are broken over your total inability to please Him on your own

This mourning over sin isn’t just something we experience when we’re converted, it should characterize our Christian lives whenever we sin.

Writing to Christians...

James 4:8-10—“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.”

Are you flippant about your sin?

When we confess our attitude shouldn’t be “oops, I did it again” but “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner!”

Are you saddened by your sin? Does it occasionally lead you to tears? Do you grieve at how your sin grieves the Lord? Congratulations! You will be comforted!!!

Am I Meek?

5:5—“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

Legendary Indiana basketball Bobby Knight once said, “The meek may well inherit the earth, but they rarely get rebounds!” [3]

This demonstrates a common misconception about meekness...

NOT weakness. Not being quiet, soft-spoken, or introverted. Not passivity. Not a lack of aggression.

We tend to think meekness is being a doormat who never really gets angry.

Like Edith Bunker on All in the Family or Jerry on Parks and Rec

But that can’t be true because Jesus sometimes got angry and He was meek

“Gently and lowly in heart” in Matthew 11:29, “gentle” is the same word translated “meek” here

Thomas Boston—Meekness is the bridle of anger. [4]

A bridle keeps the horse from going when it shouldn’t, and it leads the horse to go where he should.

So too the meek person doesn’t get angry when he shouldn’t

He doesn’t have a short fuse

She doesn’t get angry at the simplest inconvenience

And the meek person points their anger in the right direction

Not venting our anger but crying out to God for help

Not unloading on others, but speaking to them gently

Not pursuing vengeance when you’ve been wronged, but pursuing justice

THIS IS NOT ABOUT YOUR PERSONALITY!

Numbers 12:3 says Moses was the meekest man on earth, but Moses once killed a man in anger. This wasn’t a personality trait, but something God worked in him over time.

Are you striving for meekness? Congratulations! You will inherit the entire earth!!!

Three times in Psalm 37, God promises His patient, meek, righteous people will inherit “the land.”

Meaning, “the Promised land.”

Here, Jesus promises His people even more. The entire earth!!!

New heavens and earth

Am I Hungry for Righteousness?

5:6—“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

NOT hungry and thirsty for blessedness (happiness). If you spend your life hungering for happiness, you’ll never find it. If you hunger for righteousness, you’ll get happiness thrown in.

John Stott—“it is not enough to mourn over past sin; we must also hunger for future righteousness.”

When we’re hungry and thirsty, we’re looking for something outside us to satisfy us.

Except, perhaps in Dune where the stillsuits recycle the body’s moisture to provide drink on a planet with no water supply

There are no spiritual stillsuits—you will not find righteousness in yourself!!!

Do you hunger and thirst for personal righteousness?

Have you despaired of your own false righteousness apart from Christ?

Are you more content with merely learning truth about God, or do you want to follow God?

Are you content with merely looking righteous or do you want to be righteous?

Do you have an appetite for God’s Word? God’s people?

Are you spoiling your appetite on things that don’t satisfy?

Are you hungering for righteousness? Congratulations! You will be satisfied!!!

You will grow in righteousness now

You will have full and complete righteousness when you see Jesus face-to-face

Am I Merciful?

Halfway through Jesus’ list, let’s bust a myth about Christian morality...

What do you imagine Christian morality to look like?

Is it stuffy, cranky, severe, judgmental, uptight, hard, arrogant and holier-than-thou?

Like Angela on The Office?

If that’s where you think Christian morals lead, you’re dead wrong.

5:7—“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

Faithfully following Jesus will lead you to grow in mercy. Why? Because God is merciful towards you!!!

Ephesians 2:3-4—But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.

EXPLAIN THE GOSPEL

Are you striving to show mercy?

Do you try to empathize with those who are hurting?

Do you move towards sinners and sufferers?

Do you act to help those in need?

Do you forgive those who don’t deserve forgiveness?

Are you merciful? Congratulations! You will be shown mercy!

Jesus is NOT saying that the way to receive mercy is to show mercy. That’s works salvation.

He’s saying those who do show mercy give evidence that there lives have been transformed by Gospel mercy, and when they stand before the Father on Judgment Day they will once again receive mercy (not because of their works but because of Christ)

Am I Pure in Heart?

5:8—“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

NOT childlike innocence or sense of wonder

In the comics, a wizard named Shazam is looking for someone to replace him and he chooses a child named Billy Batson because Billy is “pure of heart”

To know what Jesus means here, we need to know what the Bible means by “heart”

NOT the opposite of the head or the hands

In the Bible the heart thinks, feels, and acts.

Paul David Tripp—“The heart is the control center of the human being. It's the center of your emotions, cognition, and desires. The heart is discussed in over 900 passages of Scripture. It's one of the Bible's most well developed themes. Essentially what the Bible says is that the heart is the steering wheel of the human being.” [5]

Why does the human heart need purifying?

Jeremiah 17:9—“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

This is highly counter-cultural, so we teach our kids regularly that our hearts are not good and that we follow Jesus, not our hearts

Last year, Zoe bought some Valentine’s Day cards to give away to some friends and some of the cards said, “Follow your heart, Valentine!” To which Zoe added her own handwritten message, “P.S., Please do not do that.”

SHOW ZOE VALENTINE CARD

What does it mean to be pure in heart?

Don’t think of it in terms of sanitation, like Jesus is saying your heart must be squeaky clean and free from sin.

Think about orange juice. When the bottle says “pure orange juice,” what is it telling you? It’s undiluted. The contents of this bottle are about one thing: orange juice.

The pure heart is the heart that, because of God’s saving grace is about one thing: following Jesus. Not perfectly, but truly.

Psalm 24:3-4—“Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.”

The person who can rightly enter God’s presence isn’t lifting up his soul to falsehood. He’s not swearing deceitfully. He’s not on the fence. He’s not pretending to want God on Sundays and then living for himself the rest of the week. His heart isn’t perfect, but it’s pure. He really wants to see God.

Is your heart wanting one main thing, the presence of God? Do you really want to see Him? Not perfectly, but purely? Congratulations! You will see God!

Lloyd-Jones—“What is meant by the vision of God? What is meant by saying we shall ‘see’ God? ... Did it really mean that in the glorified state we should see God with the naked eye or not? ... Was it objective and visible, or was it purely spiritual? Now it seems to me that, ultimately, that is a question that cannot be answered.... Our terms are so inadequate, and our minds are so small and finite, that there is a danger in any attempt at a description of God and His glory. All we know is that there is this glorious promise that, in some way or other, the pure in heart shall see God.” [7]

C.S. Lewis—“It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to.” [6]

Am I a Peacemaker?

5:9—“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."

NOT being at peace. This isn’t about whether or not you have any conflict in your life.

NOT being peaceable. This isn’t about a passive personality type that isn’t argumentative.

NOT being a peace-keeper. Often we can keep the peace by appeasing our aggressors or by ignoring insults.

NOT peace at any cost. The Christians in the early church would certainly have had greater peace if they denied or hid their faith. But sometimes the price for peace is too high.A

Romans 12:18—“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”

Naturally all of us are either peace-fakers or peace-breakers. We either attack or escape. We’re either fight or flight. Or sometimes we’re schizophrenic and go back and forth between the two. The Christian is called to be a peacemaker.

Ken Sande, author of The Peacemaker, suggests 4 steps (4 G’s):

1. Glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31)

Ask, “How can I please and honor God in this situation?”

2. Get the Log Out of Your Eye (Matthew 7:5)

Ask, “How can I show Jesus’ work in me by taking responsibility for my contribution to this conflict?”

3. Gently Restore: Galatians 6:1

Ask, “How can I lovingly serve others by helping them take responsibility for their contribution to this conflict?”

4. Go and Be Reconciled (Matthew 5:24)

Ask, “How can I demonstrate the forgiveness of God and encourage a reasonable solution to this conflict?”

Not just doing this for your conflicts, but helping your brothers and sisters do this for theirs.

Are you striving to make peace when it’s possible? Are you, as our covenant says, “quick to listen, slow to speak, quick to forgive, and slow to take offense.” Congratulations! You will be called a son or daughter of God.

Again, we don’t become children of God by being peacemakers.

But when we are peacemakers, we reveal that we truly are children of God because we’re bearing the family resemblance. We’re doing what God does. After all, isn’t that what He’s done in the Gospel?

Am I Persecuted?

5:10—“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Note: the promise is the same as in verse 3. This marks this as the final Beatitude.

The next two verses just expand on the idea presented here:

5:11-12—“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.”

NOT a call to go out and pursue persecution

Any more than you would seek to demonstrate your faith in God’s protection by running across the Autobahn at night.

NOT a blessing for any and all suffering

A few weeks ago I asked my Fellowship Group to tell about a time they got fired from work. I was hoping to hear some funny stories that would help get to know each other but it turned out I was the only one out of 16 who had ever been fired. Years ago I got fired for playing basketball (ahem, losing at basketball) while on the clock at work.

That is not persecution!

Jesus is blessing those who suffer the pain of persecution for following Him.

NOT limited to physical torture or martyrdom

12—“revile … utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”

You are blessed when you endure any mistreatment for Jesus’ sake.

Don’t go looking for persecution, just ask yourself if you’re receiving any.

2 Timothy 3:12—“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

What does the world say about your beliefs? How you spend your Sundays? How you spend your money? How you relate to your boyfriend/girlfriend? How you choose your entertainment? What apps you allow on your devices? What you believe about marriage and sex?

If you find your beliefs regularly out of step with the world, there’s a problem.

The world’s values are completely different than the Kingdom of heaven. And the only response the world knows to Christian character is to persecute it.

Do you find your beliefs, character and way of life increasingly out of step with the world? Have you been personally mistreated for following Jesus? Congratulations! Yours is the kingdom of heaven!

Why should I cultivate this character?

Jesus died to enable you to live like this

Titus 2:14 says Jesus “...gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession who are zealous for good works.”

If that isn’t enough to convince you, ask yourself if you really love Him

The Spirit indwells you so that you can live like this

Don’t use “nobody’s perfect,” “we’re all sinners,” etc. as excuses.

You have the Spirit!

If there’s no evidence of the Spirit’s work in your life, ask yourself if He is in your life

The Father is glorified when you live like this

Matthew 5:16—They may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Perhaps the greatest obstacle to our evangelism is our failure to live like Christians

The Reformation Song

Benediction (Numbers 6:24-26)