Blessings on Blessings

Series Introduction

I love good preaching. I can listen to it all day. And good preaching seems to be even more enjoyable when you know about the preacher. Here we have the greatest preacher to ever do it, and this sermon is the best ever to be preached. I am going to attempt to preach what can never be preached again.

Sermon Introduction

“I am blessed.” Typically, when we use the word “blessed” we are using it to express a condition of possession. “Blessed” is a word that we too often use to explain the way in which God has performed, provided, and/or posited for us. So, we have coined such praises such as “too blessed to be stressed” as if the things we have or have experienced should detour us from the lived reality of our suffering. No, this is not bible, this is not the “blessing” promised to us. Since Jesus gives us these beatitudes instead of saying “I’m too blessed to be stressed” we should say, “Blessed am I, even stressed out” because our being blessed is not determined by external factors our internal faith that anchors us in the God’s Kingdom. We got it right when we sang, “This joy that I have the world didn’t give it to me, the world didn’t give it and the world can’t take it away.”

Jesus has been baptized and anointed and recognized as the messiah sent by God. He is also been preaching histories greatest revival. His message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” This is the announcement, this is the gospel, that the promises of God concerning the deliverance of his people and the earth are here. The Kingdom is at an arms reach which means we have access to it. Just when his following is great he walks up the mountain, sits down, and teaches the people with his disciples with a front row seat, a Kingdom manifesto.

It is good here to at least consider the imagery of Jesus as being the one who is greater than Moses (explain).

“Blessed” Constitution

The “Blessed” that Jesus is describing is an inward condition. There is no perfect way to translate this word from both Hebrew and but both words speak of more than material points of evaluation. Matthew uses makarios which carries with it the connotations of being happy, fortunate, blessed, prosperous, and worthy of congratulations. To put is simply--you are not blessed because of your possession, (not by Kingdom standards anyway) you are because of your position in God’s Kingdom. The Blessedness is inward, not outward. It is the All kinds of wicked folk have possessions. That doesn’t make them the “blessed” Jesus is referring to. Enjoying the accouterments of this life are a type blessing but that does not make one the “blessed” Jesus is referring too. First of all, we must stop evaluating our being blessed by wordly standards and start looking to the Word for our definitions. God may have blessed you with something but are not “blessed” because of that, not the makarios blessed. Let me run it down...

God may have blessed with you a car, but the car can’t keep you happy.

God may have blessed you with a spouse but that man or woman can’t give you peace.

God may have blessed you with some money, but that money can’t buy you Kingdom entry.

God may have blessed you with a job but the work you do isn’t why you are favored.

God may have open doors for you, but those opportunities cant get you into heaven.

You are blessed because as a citizen of God’s Kingdom and you know that their is more to this life than what the world has to offer! You have a different mindset that separates you from the rest of the world. You see things not as they are, not as they could be, but how they are going to be day.

In addition to all of that, what is more remarkable about these pronouncements is that the people that are blessed are at face value, seemingly the worst off. That is because we assume blessing and blessings are consequences of good behavior, therefore if a person is poor or mourning they must have done something wrong. That also is not Bible. These people Jesus are calling “blessed” are are those who have placed their dependence on Jesus for salvation and look to his rule in their lives.

Lastly concerning the “Blessed”, they are people who belong to the Kingdom. This may go without saying, but I have to say it anyway. These pronouncements of blessing do not apply to everyone. These beatitudes only apply to those who have surrendered to King Jesus and His Kingdom rule. What we have are the attitudes of the disciple who has accepted the ways of Jesus for Kingdom advancement.

Godly Character

Poor in spirit- This here is not the same as Luke’s poor. Here the poor in spirit are the spiritual destitute. Those who realize that their vitality is dependent on God. The practice and character of being poor in spirit to so acknowledge and live as though you need God in every area of your life, because you do. It also is contrasted wit those who are spiritually arrogant and think that they are spiritually better off than the person next to them. It is the attitude of the old song, “I need thee every hour I need thee.”

Mourn- Mourning can be one of two things: 1) Mourning in generally, which we all will and do at some point. 2) Mourning for the things that break God’s heart. (give examples)

Meek- Meekness is not weakness. There strength is remaining cool, calm, and collected. Being gentle and lowly is a way of showing that although you can go off, you have to all the time. Meekness is forfeiting your your personal preferences and privileges for the sake of the Kingdom.

Hunger and thirst for righteousness- What is your appetite like? What does your palate prefer when it comes to right and wrong. A true disciple of Jesus will hunger and thirst to see things done the way God would have them done. Somebody said, “You are what you eat” and there is some truth to that. Look at the world who’s cravings are that of selfishness, pride, power, greed. You are you blessed because these things don’t do it for you. You will be filled with the righteousness of Jesus. One day Jesus is gonna set things right.

Merciful- Mercy is withholding what is deserved for the wrong committed. Jesus requires his people to be merciful, and blessed are the merciful. Again this is not a law but an exercise in grace so we are not blessed because we are merciful, we are blessed because God is merciful to us. Our experience with God’s mercy should prompt us to extend mercy to others. How dare we withhold something that we received but also didn’t deserve. You sinned against a holy a righteousness God surely you can let some stuff Go. You…So you can forgive…(Run)

Pure in heart- You need a good heart. The heart is the health of the body. If the heart is bad you don’t have long. The heart is so important to the life of the disciple that Proverbs 27:19 says, “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.” In the Kingdom if you even want to see God you are going to need a pure heart. The problem is, we are born a spiritual heart defect and we need a surgeon. A surgeon, not to give us another heart, but to create in us a clean heart.

Peacemakers- Now this is fitting for such an occasion as this. The peacemaker is the person who desires to see all things under the just rule of our just King, and is willing to do whatever means available to see God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven. Yet, being a peacemaker is not the same as being peaceful. King was a peacemaker, but he was not peaceful. (preach on protest)

The persecuted for righteousness-

The persecuted for Jesus-

Eternal Compensation

All of the beatitudes/blessings seem antithetical. It just seems like every pronouncement Jesus is connected to some type of suffering as if Kingdom living is to suffer. And that is right. Kingdom living requires suffering because when you align yourself with the King you will have enemies, you will have problems. The world will not like you and be nice to you all the time. This is why whenever Jesus speaks about persecution and suffering for Him, the Kingdom, or righteousness he does so with “When” and not “if” because trouble is coming. However, I’m so glad that have a King who knows how to compensate God’s children. The proof of the compensation is the company we are in with those who have gone before us and received their reward. “...for in the same way they persecuted the prophets before you.”

Rejoice. That means to celebrate. The idea, as I mentioned before about being blessed is that congratulations are in order. And when you have something to be congratulated for you rejoice about it. And, further, the greater the cause of congratulations the bigger the rejoicing. When you graduate from school you rejoiced, when you got married you rejoiced, when you found out the test came back negative you rejoiced. (run)

And yes, I get it, we want to be blessed now and we are blessed now. We have possessions, we have peace, we have people in our lives, but all of those things are contingent upon time. But one day God is going to reward me with some things that don’t expire. God is going to give me the keys to a mansion built for me and mine. God is going to give me a robe.

“And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight The clouds be rolled back as a scroll The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend Even so, it is well with my soul”