The Sermon on the Mount

The Beatitudes

The Sermon on the Mount 2

We are in the middle of series on the Sermon on the Mount

We are in the book of Mathew 5

This is a priceless sermon,

The book of Matthew is about Jesus fulfilling all the promises

Matthew was writing to a Jewish audience,

He emphasized what Jesus thought.

The Sermon on the Mount is

The best-known sermon Jesus ever preached

The sermon Is about the kingdom of God .

This sermon It was not for the multitudes, it was for the disciples, was not intended to be a social gospel.

Mat 5:1 Jesus saw the crowds. So he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him.

Mat 5:2 Then he began to teach them. He said,

In the sermon on the mount Jesus was talking about the character of a disciple,

We are all meant to live this way

Every Christian must manifest all the beatitudes, not just some, or the ones we choose.

We need to have a Synoptic view of this sermon; we get in trouble when we break passages into many parts, we open ourselves for miss understanding.

We need to be interested in Godly character.

These are all spiritual qualities not natural qualities, qualities that no one is born with.

Ex: Some times we hear people saying my friend or my neighbor is not a Christian and he doesn’t want anything to do with God, but he is always kind always humble he is better than many Christians that I know he must be a Christian, God must be pleased with him, “these are human standards”.

We are not talking about natural tendencies; this is a disposition acquired by grace not by the will of men.

This is not a passage about what men does, is about who they will become by the grace of God,

Let’s pray

1 Blessed are the poor in spirit

Mat 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The word in the Greek is Makarios, supremely blest, happy.

This is the only kind of man that is happy

Amplified

Mat 5:3 "Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are the poor in spirit [those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven [both now and forever]. [Luk_6:20-23]

If we really want to be happy we allow the Spirit of God to develop this kind of character in us.

Luk 6:20 And looking toward His disciples, He began speaking: "Blessed [spiritually prosperous, happy, to be admired] are you who are poor [in spirit, those devoid of spiritual arrogance, those who regard themselves as insignificant], for the kingdom of God is yours [both now and forever].

The poor in spirit, They recognize their need of God, their sins and their need of repentance.

The world despises the men or woman who are poor in spirit

To be poor in spirit is not popular even in the church

To be poor in spirit is the key for all that follows, there is no entry into the kingdom of God without be poor in spirit.

We need to be empty, before we are filled.

This is the foundation of our lives in Christ, Jesus was very purposeful in the order of the beatitudes all begins with being poor in spirit.

We cannot do anything by ourselves; we cannot bring in, the kingdom of God

Jesus is not talking about physical poverty, Poor in spirit is not poverty, his concern is poverty of spirit, there is no scripture supporting poverty, some have try to interpret this way but is not what God require of us, sometimes he may ask you to give everything you have, but he will bless you and provide for you.

Poor in spirit is in opposition to being proud, and this is always the inevitable consequence of a man coming into a personal, real confrontation with God.

If you have come into a true confirmation of God in your own life, the result immediately always is that of poverty of spirit.

You see a person who is proud and haughty, he is a man who has not had a true encounter with God, yet.

In Isaiah chapter six, upon the death of the popular king Uzziah, when the throne of Israel has been emptied of this great popular monarch, Isaiah writes,

Isa 6:1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

And he had this vision about the throne room

Isa 6:5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."

That’s always the result of a man seeing God in truth. "Woe is me! I am undone".

Daniel, when he saw the Lord said, "My beauty was turned into corruption" (Dan_10:8).

The same thing that Paul said, "Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death? (Rom_7:24).

There must be a complete deliverance from our confidence and abilities, when we come into the presence of God, we need to be like Isaiah

How do we become poor in spirit

We need to look at God, read the bible, and see Him for whom He is , and we will become poor in spirit, He will open our eyes to see.

They will inherit the kingdom of Heaven, is the Kingdom of God, but Matthew was making clear that was not the Kingdom of God that the Pharisees and even the disciples were expecting a political Kingdom to overthrow the Romans

(We are nothing before God, we have nothing )

2 Blessed are those who mourn

Mat 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

The word in the Greek is pentheo, grieve, mourn wail

To mourn is to feel or express grief or sorrow

Mat 5:4 "Blessed [forgiven, refreshed by God's grace] are those who mourn [over their sins and repent], for they will be comforted [when the burden of sin is lifted]. [Isa_61:2]

This is entirely spiritual, they who mourn are happy,

We need to see the condition of our hearts and mourn over It

Luk 6:25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

Jesus was talking to his disciples

There is nothing more tragic than to think that the church in general is ok, all we need to do is to evangelize the non-Christians outside of the church and give to the poor.

We need to begin with ourselves, examining our hearts, not by ourselves but following King David’s example In psalms

Psa 139:23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

Psa 139:24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

When we try to change on our own strength Is a meaningless exercise, because we don’t know our hearts, but when we ask our Heavenly Father to do It He will help us and He Is very precise.

We need to be convicted of our sins our short comings, repent before we are able experience happiness.

The ones who had an encounter with God

They mourn because of their sins, because of others sins; They are the one who pray for the condition of their city, their state, their country.

Sin is what leads us into troubles, wars, shootings, robberies evil in our streets.

Is ridiculous to the world, to mourn and be happy, in the world we avoid as much as we can to mourn.

But having come to a real awareness of myself in the light of God, coming to that poverty of spirit, my heart is broken over my own condition. I mourn over my failures, over what I see of myself and in myself.

Those who mourn, the promise of the Lord is they shall be comforted.

Their heart is broken they see the condition of their hearts, they are helpless but they will be

Comforted, consoled, called near

(We are broken over our sins)

3 Blessed are the meek

Mat 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Praus(prahoose) is the Greek word, humble, mild, meek.

Mat 5:5 "Blessed [inwardly peaceful, spiritually secure, worthy of respect are the gentle [the kind-hearted, the sweet-spirited, the self-controlled] (humble), for they will inherit the earth. [Psa_37:11]

Now I can see myself in truth, no longer am I puffed up, no longer am I deceiving myself about myself, and that’s an easy thing for people to do. It is again looking at myself in the light of the Lord and realizing that I am nothing.

These are not characteristics that are really admired by the world. The world admires the aggressor. Jesus is describing the child of God, he’s describing those characteristics that are admirable by heaven.

The meek: they shall inherit the earth (Mat_5:5).

This earth is not the earth that God created.

This earth has been spoiled by rebellion against God, but God is going to restore this earth to His original divine intention.

Wars are going to cease. Man is going to dwell together in righteousness, in true justice, in peace. And God’s kingdom will come to earth and those who are the children of God will inherit the earth.

Jesus said, "And I will say to them in that day, come, ye blessed of the Father, inherit the kingdom that was prepared for you from the foundations of the earth" Mat_25:34

What a glorious place this earth could be if it weren’t for the pollutions that man has brought; if it weren’t for the wars, the hatred, the greed but we will see the earth as God intended it. We will inherit the earth as God intended it. Now, these are more or less what we might call negative characteristics.

Now we get to the fourth of the beatitudes Seeing myself in the light of God, recognizing the truth of my own weakness, having a true evaluation of myself; I begin to hunger and thirst after righteousness.

Having a true evaluation of ourselves, a revelation of who we are

4 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

Mat 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Those who are famish and thirst for righteousness

Mat 5:6 "Blessed [joyful, nourished by God's goodness] are those who hunger and thirst (famish) for righteousness [those who actively seek right standing with God], for they will be [completely] satisfied.

Isa 55:1 "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

Isa 55:2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after the ideal: For they shall be filled (Mat_5:6).

As Paul the apostle expresses, "I saw the ideal,"

Rom 7:20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

Rom 7:21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

Rom 7:22 For in my inner being I delight in God's law;

Rom 7:23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.

Rom 7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?

Rom 7:25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

And in there is that cry, oh God, help. I hunger, I thirst after the ideal but I haven’t been able to attain it. Who will help me to find the ideal?

Why is this war in me? this is something for me to take before the lord

The answer is right here

Rom 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

Rom 8:2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

If you’re hungering and thirsting after righteousness, surely God will answer that hunger and thirst of your heart, and you will be filled with the righteousness of God.

As you go home today ask God this question, are the beatitudes expressed in my life ?

1 Mat 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

2 Mat 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

3 Mat 5:5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

4 Mat 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

To become a Disciple we need to make Jesus the Lord of our lives

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Joh 3:16