“Description of a Kingdom Person”

Series: “The Gospel Truth”

Text: Matt 5:1-12; Is 61:1-3

Introduction: (What?)

In what is called “The Sermon on the Mount” Jesus presented a description of the type of person who will occupy the Kingdom of Heaven. These eight characteristics don’t’ just happen. It takes effort on our part. The word “blessed” means “increased; made larger”. In the KJV it is often used as “to be made fat”. In the Amplified Bible the word is interpreted as “happy, to be envied, spiritually prosperous, with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions”.

Examination: (Why?)

1. Those to whom Jesus was sent (vv 3-5)

One day Jesus saw a crowd coming toward Him. Knowing that it would be difficult to stand among them and be heard, H turned and went up on the mountain nearby and sat down. When he sat down His followers (disciples) came to Him and settled down to hear what He had to say. They knew that most of the time a Rabbi sat down to teach, so they were expecting Him to teach. Although the disciples were the ones mentioned, it is possible that this refers to more than the twelve. Remember that in Luke 10 Jesus sent out 72 disciples on mission.

In Luke 4:16-19 Jesus entered the synagogue in Nazareth after His temptation in the wilderness and read from Is 61:1-3 “The Spirit of the Lord God is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn, to provide for those who mourn in Zion; to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, festive oil instead of mourning, and splendid clothes instead of despair. And they will be called righteous trees, planted by the Lord to glorify him.” This was essentially His job description for His ministry here on earth. The first three of the Beatitudes relate to this passage in Isa 1.

Matt. 5:3 ““Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” Jesus had read in Isa that God had anointed Him to bring good news to the poor. This is not a reference to prosperity. In the OT the poor in spirit are those who “cried out for God’s help and depended entirely on Him for their needs.” (CSB Study Bible). The Faithlife Study Bible says that the poor in spirit are “those who recognize and bear their desperate plight, and who long for God’s restoration through the Messiah.” John McArthur notes that these are those “who recognize their utter spiritual bankruptcy apart from God.” In modern day terms we would say these are people who are at the “end of their rope”. They have tried everything they know to get out of the rut they are in and finally realize that they need God to deliver them. An evangelist once said that “You’ve got to get them lost before they can be saved.” So long as people think they can make it on their own, they are not open to surrendering to Christ. However when they get to the point of realizing that He is their only answer and they surrender to Him then “the kingdom of heaven is theirs.”

In Matt 5:4 Jesus said “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” This relates to the part of His job description that says that He came to “heal the broken hearted” and “comfort all who mourn”. Normally you and I think of mourning as something that one does when a loved one or friend passes away. However, Jesus is speaking of those who mourn over their sin. This is what scripture calls “godly sorrow” that leads to repentance and to salvation through faith in Christ. In 2 Cor 7:10 Paul wrote to the Corinthian church and said, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly grief produces death.” Some people are sorry that they got caught in their sin but they aren’t sorry for their sin. They don’t see themselves as in need of forgiveness or salvation. When David was confronted by Nathan regarding his sin with Bathsheba, his spirit was broken as we can see in Psa 51:1-3 “Be gracious to me, God, according to your faithful love; according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion. Completely wash away my guilt and cleanse me from my sin. For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me.” He continued in Ps 51:10-12 “God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit.”

One who has this attitude toward their sin is one who mourns because of their sin and is in a position to be blessed by God.

In Matt 5:5 “Blessed are the humble (meek), for they will inherit the earth.” Jesus said that the humble (meek) are blessed. Meekness is not weakness, but rather is strength under control. Perhaps you have heard of someone being described as a “gentle giant”. That means that although they have great power because of their size, they don’t flaunt that power. They are not constantly flexing so that people might see their muscles. They probably don’t even wear tight tee shirts. Humility or meekness describes one who has trusted God and surrendered to His authority. These, Jesus said, will “inherit the earth” or enter into the promised land. The gospel song says it so well; “This world is not my home, I’m just a-passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door and I can’t feel at home in this world any more.” The truly humble person realizes that they don’t belong in a world that deems wealth and possessions and physical strength or youthfulness as the acme of human achievement. They recognize that their inheritance is not something left to them by a parent who has passed away, but rather is eternal life with Christ.

2. The practices of the truly blessed (vv 6-9)

In Matt 5:6 Jesus speaks of those who, having surrendered to God, have developed new appetites. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Just as one might say “I’m hungry for some fried chicken”, the truly redeemed have acquired a taste for living according to God’s Word which is what righteousness is. This acquired taste is a gift from God that follows surrender to Him. Although they may have read scripture many times before, suddenly they have a insatiable appetite for not only reading it, but for living it out. Someone has suggested that righteousness comes when we “read the Word of God into our lives, pray it through our lives and live it out in our lives.” Jesus promised that those who are starving for righteousness will have that appetite satisfied. It won’t happen in an instant, but little by little as God conforms us to the image of Jesus, we will become more and more righteous and develop a deeper hunger live out the will of God.

Matt 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” This means imitating Jesus’s mercy and goodness. One parable that Jesus told related to this. In Matt 18:21-30“Then Peter approached him and asked, “Lord, how many times must I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? As many as seven times?” “I tell you, not as many as seven,” Jesus replied, “but seventy times seven. “For this reason, the kingdom of heaven can be compared to a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle accounts, one who owed ten thousand talents was brought before him. Since he did not have the money to pay it back, his master commanded that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. “At this, the servant fell facedown before him and said, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything.’ Then the master of that servant had compassion, released him, and forgave him the loan. “That servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him, started choking him, and said, ‘Pay what you owe!’ “At this, his fellow servant fell down and began begging him, ‘Be patient with me and I will pay you back. But he wasn’t willing. Instead he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what he owed.”

When the king heard about this in Matt 18:32-35 “Then, after he had summoned him, his master said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Shouldn’t you also have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And because he was angry, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he could pay everything that was owed. So also my heavenly Father will do to you unless every one of you forgives his brother or sister from your heart.””

God’s mercy is extended to those who are merciful toward others.

Matt 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Everyone is impure in heart prior to their salvation. They might try to “clean up their act” but human efforts will fail. However, once we surrender to Christ we have His strength to clean out the mess in our hearts by repentance and fill our hearts with purity by what we read, hear and see and touch. Again one of Jesus’s parables helps us to understand this. Jesus told what happens when a person who has been set free from demonic oppression does not fill his heart with purity. Matt 12:44-45 “Then it says, ‘I’ll go back to my house that I came from.’ Returning, it finds the house vacant, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that person’s last condition is worse than the first. That’s how it will also be with this evil generation.”” Again, although God doesn’t maintain the purity that He put in our hearts at salvation, He does give us the power to do so. Those who apply themselves to being pure of heart will be rewarded by seeing God. We talk about having “Christ in our hearts”. What we must realize is that He will not share our hearts with impurity. A believer with an impure heart is what we call “carnal” or worldly. Christ has not left them, but He just moved out to the perimeter. Cleansing of the heart is only achieved by confession and repentance of sin (1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Matt 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.” This is the only time that the word “peacemakers” is used in scripture. Jesus was known as “The Prince of Peace”. If He is resident in our lives then we will carry out His ministry of making peace in the world. When we do, God calls us His son or daughter. I know of no higher honor.

3. Sharing the experiences of Jesus (vv 10-12)

Matt 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. “You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “if you are persecuted”. Rather He said that blessings come to those who ARE persecuted because of righteousness. This is probably what Paul had in mind when he wrote to Timothy in 2 Tim 3:12 “In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”

If you are a Christian, you should be worried if you are never persecuted because of your faith. That means that you have compromised with the world system to the degree that they accept you as one of them. Notice also that the persecution Jesus speaks of is “because of righteousness” and “because of Me”. If you are just obnoxious and bring persecution on yourself, that doesn’t count.

Application: (How should I respond to this message?)

Be certain that you have surrendered your life to Christ. That means that He is LORD of your life and your only response to whatever He requires is “yes”.

Realize that “once saved, always saved” is not a ticket to do whatever you please. 1 Pet 4:17 “For the time has come for judgment to begin with God’s household, and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?” You are responsible for living out your faith as Jesus taught in the Beatitudes.

Take a moment to examine your heart. What do you need to confess and repent of today?