Series: The Be-Attitudes of Blessing - 9 Character Traits for Christian Application...Message 1 - When Brokenness becomes a Blessing

Introduction

Today we are about to embark on a journey that will take us probably a couple 3-4 months to get through if I’m being honest.

We are going to start today, looking at the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher to ever walk the face of the planet.

Now, you all hear Doug say quite often how much he loves listening to Adrian Rogers, Charles Stanley, and Tony Evans and you often hear me talk about how much I also enjoy listening to Adrian Rogers and Chuck Swindoll and I often quote Charles Spurgeon which is in my estimation one of the greatest preachers to ever stand behind the sacred desk.

But the sermon we are about to start looking at today has stood the test of time and the preacher who delivered it, the flame of His fame is still burning as bright today as it’s ever burned!

The preacher I’m referring to is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ and His greatest message was what is referred to as “The Sermon on the Mount.”

We will find this one of a kind sermon beginning in Matthew Chapter five and continuing on all the way through the end of Chapter 7.

And you all call me long winded!

Before we actually get into the message I want to read to you what some other great preachers of yesteryear have said about this one of a kind sermon.

John Phillips — We have now come to the famous sermon on the mount. There is nothing to compare with it in all the literature of the world. Even the greatest of the world's moral, religious, and philosophical statements blush and stammer in the presence of this sublime declaration.

Jesus took the Mosaic law, passed it through the prism of His glorious mind, and broke the light of the law into its primeval colors. Then He lifted everything from the earthly to the heavenly, from the natural to the spiritual, and placed it far beyond all human reach. "That is how people are to live in the kingdom," He said in effect. Obviously only people born again of the Holy Spirit, people indwelt and empowered by the Holy Spirit, can live that kind of life. "Christ in you, the hope of glory" is the key (Colossians 1:27).

D Martyn Lloyd-Jones — There are certain general lessons, I suggest, to be drawn from the Beatitudes.

First, all Christians are to be like this. Read the Beatitudes, and there you have a description of what every Christian is meant to be. It is not merely the descrip­tion of some exceptional Christians. Our Lord does not say here that He is go­ing to paint a picture of what certain outstanding characters are going to be and can be in this world. It is His description of every single Christian… We are all meant to exemplify everything that is contained here in these Beatitudes. Therefore let us once and for ever get rid of that false notion. This is not merely a description of the Hudson Taylors or the George MacDonalds or the Whitefields or Wesleys of this world; it is a description of every Christian. We are all of us meant to conform to its pattern and to rise to its standard.

The second principle I would put in this form; all Christians are meant to mani­fest all of these characteristics. Not only are they meant for all Christians, but of necessity, therefore, all Christians are meant to manifest all of them. In other words it is not that some are to manifest one characteristic and others to mani­fest another. It is not right to say some are meant to be 'poor in spirit, and some are meant to 'mourn, and some are meant to be 'meek, and some are meant to be 'peacemakers, and so on. No; every Christian is meant to be all of them, and to manifest all of them, at the same time. Now I think it is true and right to say that in some Christians some will be more manifest than others; but that is not because it is meant to be so. It is just due to the imperfections that still remain in us. When Christians are finally perfect, they will all manifest all these charac­teristics fully; but here in this world, and in time, there is a variation to be seen. I am not justifying it; I am simply recognizing it… It is impossible truly to manifest one of these graces, and to conform to the blessing that is pronounced upon it, with­out at the same time inevitably showing the others also. The Beatitudes are a complete whole and you cannot divide them; so that, whereas one of them may be more manifest perhaps in one person than in another, all of them are there. The relative proportions may vary, but they are all present, and they are all meant to be present at the same time.

But the third is perhaps even more important. None of these descriptions refers to what we may call a natural tendency. Each one of them is wholly a disposition which is produced by grace alone and the operation of the Holy Spirit upon us. I cannot emphasize this too strongly. No man naturally conforms to the descriptions here given in the Beatitudes, and we must be very careful to draw a sharp distinction between the spiritual qualities that are here described and material ones which appear to be like them. Let me put it like this. There are some people who appear to be naturally `poor in spirit'; that is not what is described here by our Lord. There are people who appear to be naturally `meek'; when we deal with that statement I hope to be able to show you that the meekness which Christ talks about is not that which appears to be natural meekness in an ordinary unregenerate person. These are not natural qualities; nobody by birth and by nature is like this… The truth is that the Christian and the non-Christian belong to two entirely different realms. You will notice the first Beatitude and the last Beatitude promise the same reward, 'for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' What does this mean? Our Lord starts and ends with it because it is His way of saying that the first thing you have to realize about yourself is that you belong to a different kingdom. You are not only different in essence; you are living in two absolutely different worlds.

A T Robertson — Jesus repeated His sayings many times as all great teachers and preachers do, but this sermon has unity, progress, and consummation. It does not contain all that Jesus taught by any means, but it stands out as the greatest single sermon of all time, in its penetration, pungency, and power.

Warren Wiersbe — The first sixteen verses of Matthew 5 describe the true Christian and deal with character. The rest of the Sermon on the Mount deals with conduct that grows out of character. Character always comes before conduct, because what we are determines what we do. In Matt. 5:1-16, Jesus shows us that true righteousness is inward, and in 5:17-48, He points out that sin is also inward. Thus, He exposed the false righteousness of the Pharisees, who taught that holiness consisted in religious actions, and that sin was what you did outwardly. How many people make these mistakes today! God looks upon the heart, for there is life’s destiny decided.

The sermon on the mount is undeniably the greatest message ever recorded of our Lord and it’s insights and instructions are to this day as practicable and applicable as they have ever been!

So, with no further ado...I’d ask you if you have your Bibles opened to Matthew Chapter 5 and Verse 1, would you say, Amen.

We are going to read down through Verse 12 but we will only be looking today at Verses 1-3 at a message I’ve entitled…When Brokenness becomes a Blessing.

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We’re going to start by looking here at Verses 1-2 and I want us to see three things before we actually get into the Beatitudes.

The Where

The Sermon on the Mount is thought to have taken place on the slopes above Capernaum.

The Why

The reason Jesus gives this masterpiece of a sermon is because of the multitudes that were following him. To date, this was probably the largest gathering of people He had had come to Him and so it was the most opportune time to speak to them about exactly why He was here and what He had come to accomplish.

Charles Spurgeon — Jesus waited until the congregation around Him had reached its largest size, and was most impressed with His miracles, and then He took the tide at its flood, as every wise man should. The sight of a vast concourse of people ought always to move us to pity, for it represents a mass of ignorance, sorrow, sin, and necessity, far too great for us to estimate. The Savior looked upon the people with an omniscient eye, which saw all their sad condition; He saw the multitudes in an emphatic sense, and His soul was stirred within him at the sight. No one cared for them, they were like sheep without a shepherd, or like shocks of wheat ready to shale, out for want of harvest-men to gather them in (cf Mt 9:36-38). Jesus therefore hastened to the rescue. He notices, no doubt, with pleasure, the eagerness of the crowd to hear, and this drew him on to speak.

We see the where and the why now comes the who.

The Who

Notice that the Bible says here that, “when he was set, his disciples came to him: and he opened his mouth and taught them.”

A. The Posture

First off, we see the posture of the sermon.

Jesus went up on the side of the mountain but then He took a seat.

Now, the thing you need to know is that in this day and age when a Rabbi went to officially teach his pupils, instead of standing as we do nowadays, they would sit and the pupils would stand.

I love what Spurgeon wrote about Jesus sitting to teach....

Charles Spurgeon — The Preacher sat, and the people stood. We might make a helpful change if we were sometimes to adopt a similar plan now. I am afraid that ease of posture may contribute to the creation of slumber of heart in the hearers. There Christ sat, and “his disciples came unto him.” They formed the inner circle that was ever nearest to him, and to them he imparted his choicest secrets, but he also spoke to the multitude, and therefore it is said that “he opened his mouth,” as well he might when there were such great truths to proceed from it, and so vast a crowd to hear them.

Not only do we see the posture but we also see the pupils.

B. The Pupils

The Bible says, “his disciples came to him.”

We must keep in mind who this sermon was specifically for.

It was for the born again. And the reason we can know this is because the sermon was directed toward Jesus’ disciples.

A disciple is one who follows after someone to learn something.

These disciples had already believed upon the Lord and now He was about to teach them what the life of a true disciple of Jesus Christ ought to look like.

But although the sermon on the mount was meant for Jesus disciples directly, the entire reason He went up on the mountain was so that the multitudes could also hear.

So it was directly for His disciples but it was also indirectly for all who would listen.

John Phillips — The sermon was given to the Lord's disciples, the same disciples who were the nucleus of the church in the upper room on the day of Pentecost. In His discourse Christ did not state the laws of salvation; He stated the laws of behavior for those who have been saved. He gave a complete code of conduct for all who desire to please God. Many people consider these laws to be impractical, but the Lord's commands are always accompanied by His enabling power.

The sermon was directed to His disciples, but it was heard by all. His words rang across the slopes with an authority that was wholly lacking in the pettifogging ramblings of the rabbis. He conveyed concepts that, though unmistakable, soared far beyond the highest aspirations of his eager listeners. "The sermon on the mount," it has been said, "was spoken into the ear of the church and overheard by the world."

Not only do we see the Posture and the Pupils but then we come to the most important part…The Preaching.

C. The Preaching

After Jesus gets to just the right position to ensure that everyone can hear Him and His disciples get settled in, the Bible says, “he opened his mouth and taught them, saying”

I want to take a moment here and just say…preaching isn’t all about hooping and hollering and slobbering, stammering, and stomping.

Sometimes our audiences today get this idea that if the preacher isn’t jumping around and getting all loud and running out of breath then it ain’t much of a sermon but I want you to realize the greatest sermon ever given was by a man sitting and “teaching” His disciples.

A good sermon has nothing to do with how loud the preacher gets or how much he runs around clapping, jumping and stomping but rather a good sermon has everything to do with how much you take away from it!

If you ain’t learning from the preachers teaching, then it doesn’t matter what all other theatricals are involved, your going to leave as dumbfounded as you came.

But when the preaching and the teaching go hand in hand and you leave this place with either a new outlook on life, or a changed perspective that brings you closer to God, then my friend, the preacher has done his job, amen!

Now, with that being said, sometimes the preacher can deliver an amazing sermon but his hearers are dull of hearing. At that point it’s on the listener and not the preacher!

That’s why I believe Jesus often times said, “he that hath an hear let him hear!”

If you’re listening this morning let me hear you say, Amen!

Alright, now that we have seen the where, the why and the who of the sermon on the mount.

And the posture, the pupils, and the preaching of the Preacher, let’s finally get into what it was that He actually taught His disciples and how that teaching translates to us today.

The first beatitude we come to here is Verse 3 which says...

Matthew 5:3 (KJV 1900)

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The thing I want us to keep in mind as we work our way through these beatitudes is the fact that these are “attitudes that ought to be” found in the born again child of God.

They are character traits for Christian application and most importantly they are the be-attitudes that if cultivated and observed will bring about blessing upon one’s life.

From my studying, I believe they can be broken down into four sections as follows....

The first three deal with our own attitudes and outcomes thereof.

The fourth deals with our attitude toward God.

The next three deal with our attitude towards others.

And the last two deal with others actions towards us and our attitudes in return to their actions.

I asked Ciara halfway through the week to read the first 12 verses and tell me what she seen and her reply was spot on…she said… “there is an attitude for every application.”

And that’s what I want us to take away from here today.

No matter what situation you find yourself in, there is an attitude we ought to have and exhibit in that situation and if conducted sincerely, it will bring about a blessing.

Now that we have a sure understanding of what the beatitudes are the first thing I want you to see about the first one is...

The Blessedness of Man — (Vs 3a)

Jesus begins His message with a most obscure and counterintuitive statement.

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

Now, for most of us we automatically begin to go…does this mean I ought to be poor is spirit all the time?

Does this mean I need to walk around town with my hung low all the time?

The answer is not at all!

And when I get done explaining exactly what Jesus meant here, you will have a reason to walk around town with your head held high instead!

The first thing he says here though is… “blessed are the poor in spirit.”

I want us to see first off the Blessedness of Man.

What does it actually mean to be blessed?

The word used here for blessed is (makarios) and it means: fortunate, well-off, happy. It’s used as an adjective describing a person as experiencing positive circumstances or a happy disposition.

A person who is blessed has every reason imaginable to be happy, right?

So, if in our way of thinking, poor in spirit means to be droopy and a debbie downer all the time, it would be hard for these two things to make sense now wouldn’t it?

So, if being poor in spirit means we are actually blessed, happy, fortunate and well-off, then it has to mean something totally different than our normal train of thought, right?

Listen to what Adrian Rogers said about the blessedness of man...

I've heard that a big dog saw a little dog chasing his tail. Said the big dog to the little dog, "Why are you doing that?" The smaller dog said, "Well, I have been studying philosophy, and I believe that I have mastered philosophy." He said, "I believe that I have discovered the answer to the problems of the universe. I have discovered what a dog's deepest need is." And he said, "The deepest need of a dog is happiness." And he said, "I have also discovered that happiness lies in a dog's tail." And he said, "That is why I am chasing my tail." He said, "If I can ever apprehend that tail, if I can ever lay hold upon my tail, then I shall be a happy dog."

The old dog, who was wiser, said, "I too have studied philosophy. And I too have thought and pondered about these things, and in some ways I agree with you. I too think that it is a good thing for a dog to be happy. And I too believe that to some degree happiness lies in a dog's tail." But he said, "I have made a discovery, that the more I chase my tail the more it runs away from me." But he said, "When I forget about chasing it and go about my business, it always comes after me."

Now, my dear friend, so it is with happiness. The more we pursue it, the more it runs away from us. But when we go about our business, it comes after us. But my dear friend, happiness, is not in a dog's tail, even for a dog. But for those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ, there is happiness, there is joy, that's what this word blessedness means. It's a word almost hard to be translated. It could be described to be full of joy. It could mean to be congratulated. It's a word that means to be self contained, to have what you need within you. And we call it blessedness. — ADRIAN ROGERS — TARLC

Listen this morning Church, true happiness, true blessedness can only be found in the Lord Jesus Christ!

People try to find happiness in material things. They try to find happiness in drugs and alcohol. They try to find happiness in emotions but I’m here to tell you today friend that the only place you will find true happiness is in a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ!

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of God!

Now that we have a better understanding of what exactly it means to be blessed, we need to see what Jesus actually means here by saying…blessed are the poor in spirit.

Now, I want us to focus on the “The Brokenness of Man.”

The Brokenness of Man — (Vs. 3b)

The word used here for “poor” is the Greek word (ptōchos) and it means to be absolutely destitute of all things and totally dependent on others for support.

Its the same word used in Luke 16 Verse 20 speaking of Lazarus the beggar.

The Bible says that Lazarus which was laid at the kings gate, was full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

Here was a man who had absolutely nothing! He didn’t have money to buy food. He had no money for clothes. He didn’t even have the ability to care for his own ailments for it says that the dogs came and licked his sores!

He was a man absolutely destitute of everything this life had to offer and that’s the word Jesus uses here.

But He says, blessed are the poor in spirit.

So what exactly is He trying to say?

The word used here when it speaks of spirit is (pneuma) and it speaks of the spirit of man; the breath or wind.

And Jesus says blessed are the poor in spirit. So what exactly does He mean by this.

Dr. Rogers explained it this way...

Our human nature is made of body, soul and spirit. With your body you have physical life, with your soul you have psychological life, and with your spirit you're to have spiritual life. With your body you know the world beneath you, with your soul you know the world around you, with your spirit you know the world above you. The spiritual world.

God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. But before a person can enter into the kingdom of heaven, he must first of all admit that in his spirit, in the realm of the spirit, no matter how much he may have in the material realm. No matter how much he may have in the psychological or solace realm. In the spiritual realm, he is absolutely, totally bankrupt and a beggar before God. If he doesn't see that, he will never ever get into the kingdom of heaven. Not just that he is spiritually poor, but that he is spiritually a beggar. That he is bankrupt. — ADRIAN ROGERS — TARLC

You see friend, what Jesus is telling us here is that in order for a person to enter into the kingdom of God, he/she must first become absolutely, totally and completely destitute of themselves!

Not one ounce of us can be added to one ounce and Jesus and still enter into the Kingdom of God. We must come, in our fleshly spirit, everything that we are and lay it at the foot of the cross and allow everything that He is to enter therein and take up residence inside us to lead us, guide us and direct us in the ways of God!

Dear friend, there is nothing inside the natural man that seeks to walk in the ways of God!

Romans 3:11 KJV 1900

11 There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.

Romans 8:7 KJV 1900

7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Therefore, unless we lay down our old spirit and allow the Holy Spirit of God access to and control over our lives then we shall never enter into the kingdom of God!

And that’s what Jesus means here when He says, “blessed are the broken in spirit.”

We must come to God with a broken and contrite heart, willing to leave that old man behind before He can do a new thing in us!

Until we come broken, we can never be made whole!

When Peter understood that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah he said, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”

When Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up he said, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

Paul said of himself, “oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Until we see the brokenness of our sinful state in the sight of a Holy God we will never be made whole!

Some may be sitting here today and saying to themselves… “ah preacher you don’t know me. I’m a pretty good guy! I do this or I do that and I’m better that that fellow you call a deacon there on the front row.”

Listen to me friend, if you stand before God on the judgement day and give him that same excuse you can be good all you want but you’ll go straight to hell with all the other good men who thought the same thing!

Stop comparing yourself to a man and compare yourself to the one who died for you because that’s the one who you’ll be answering to one day!

And I’m here to tell you when you compare yourself to Jesus the bar is set pretty high!

Jesus further on down in this message tells the crowd that “except their righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven!”

Their righteousness was an outward righteousness like your thinking of. It was a works based righteousness.

They were do gooders if you will but Jesus said your righteousness must exceed their righteousness and I’m here to tell you this morning there’s not a single person sitting here who’s righteousness would exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees!

Jesus went on to say in Verse 48… “be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect!”

You think you’ve done enough good that’s great! How many of you are perfect?

That ought to put an end to all pride real quick for there is none righteous no not one for ALL and I say ALL have sinned and come short of the glory of God!

There is no room whatsoever in the kingdom of God for pride and there is none good but God therefore friend, if you plan to make it into the Kingdom of God there must be a change take place inside you on this side of eternity and it begins with being poor in spirit!

By becoming totally destitute of ourselves and totally dependent on the Lord Jesus Christ!

And once this change takes place, once we come to a point of understanding that it’s nothing of us but all of God and we put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and we set aside our pride and haughtiness, then and only then, shall you experience The Bountifulness of God which is our last point of the day!

The Bountifulness of God — (Vs. 3c)

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Not a might, or a maybe, or a possibly but theirs “is” the kingdom of heaven!

Do want to go to heaven this morning?

Would you like for that to be your final, eternal destination?

If so, then you must lay aside your pride, come to Jesus and become poor in spirit and once you have done that you shall be blessed.

Matthew 18:3–4 (KJV 1900)

3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.

4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

I love what Adrian Rogers said...

Until a man lays his pride in the dust, he cannot be saved. Even God cannot fill that which is already full. We'll never live spiritually until we admit we are dead spiritually. Jesus said to the Pharisees, because you say you have no sin, your sin remains. — Adrian Rogers — TARLC

Closing

As we come to a close this morning and they get us a song ready, I want to share a story with you about a girl by the name of Charlotte Elliot.

She was beautiful, she was charming, she was gifted, she was the talk of the town. A lovely, gracious, talented girl. She sat at the piano and played. The crowds came and they told her how sweet and how beautiful she was.

But there was a preacher there that night. His name was Cesar Milan. And Cesar Milan approached this young lady and said, you have charm, and you have grace, and you have beauty. But if you don't get saved, if you don't see your need, and give your heart to Jesus Christ, you're just as lost as the worst harlot in London.

She was insulted a little bit. She was shocked by the rudeness of this preacher. I think God the Holy Spirit knew what she needed though. Because she went up to her bedroom and tried to sleep. She tried to laugh it off, but she couldn't laugh it off. And at 3 AM in the morning, Charlotte Elliot gave her heart to Jesus Christ and was born again,

She was the one who wrote a song that we sing so often. Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

That's the way she came. — ADRIAN ROGERS — TARLC