THE MEASURE OF A CHRISTIAN -- PERSECUTION
(The Beatitude Series)
17 July 2011
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 5:10-12
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
-- this morning, we are finishing our sermon series on the Beatitudes called “The Measure of a Christian” -- on that very first Sunday that we started this series, I reminded you that these Beatitudes are the attitudes and attributes that we should be seeking to develop in our lives if we wanted to become more and more like Jesus and become mature Christians in the faith
-- each Beatitude that Jesus gave us represented a step of progression in our Christian lives -- we started with the call to be poor in Spirit and respond to the grace that is offered us at the cross -- next, we were made aware of our sins as we mourned them and began the arduous path of sanctification
-- we learned to experience and express the power of the Spirit in our lives through meekness -- not prideful of God’s presence in our lives -- not boastful of our position -- but power in control -- power exercised for our good and the good of others
-- next we talked about relationships -- first, our need to hunger and thirst for righteousness as we tried to maintain a right relationship with God -- and then we talked about our relationships with others, as we learned to be merciful and to live as Christ to those around us, especially those who have wronged us
-- we moved on to talk about a life of purity -- a life of holiness -- where we are constantly cleansed through the power of the Word and our lives display a direction and a devotion to Christ and the things of Christ
-- and then, last week, we talked about our need to be peace makers -- people who are actively involved in God’s work of bringing hope and life and love to this world
-- this week, we finish up the Beatitudes by learning that real life only comes through death
II. Persecution
-- in this eighth and longest Beatitude, Jesus makes a promise that seems foreign to our modern-day American ears -- look back at verse 10 with me again
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
-- when’s the last time you heard that message from the pulpit?
-- when’s the last time you heard a preacher give an altar call at the end of the service with these words, “If you come and believe in Jesus and put your faith in Him, He will forgive you of all your sins and you will start a new life with Him -- a life filled with trouble and tribulation -- a life filled with persecution and insults and lies -- a life that may lead to your death -- come to Jesus this morning and die”
-- that is the very message that Jesus gives us with this last Beatitude -- that is the call of every Christian who truly wants to follow Jesus wherever He might lead -- “Come and die,” Jesus says, “and you will be blessed”
-- remember the context of this passage -- remember the setting -- this is early in Jesus’ ministry -- the people who were originally going out to see John the Baptist are now flocking to hear Jesus along with many others who have heard of the miracles -- great crowds of people are following Jesus -- outside of the official temple in Jerusalem, Jesus has the biggest and fastest growing church in the land -- by all accounts, He is a success because that’s how we judge the quality of a church and its pastor, isn’t it?
-- pastors like to see growing churches -- they like to see large numbers on Sunday mornings -- it validates them -- it lets them know that they’re doing good -- and so some pastors become careful in their sermons so they don’t alienate the crowd -- so they don’t lose what they’ve got -- they stay safe in their sermon topics and in their teachings
-- so, when Jesus sees the crowd here in Matthew 5 and goes up on top of a mountain to preach, that’s kind of what you expect to hear -- that’s probably what his disciples expected to hear -- and what does Jesus do? -- He gives them the Beatitudes -- He calls the people to do more than just come to church -- He calls them to live out their faith -- and then He caps it with this final Beatitude -- “blessed are you when you are persecuted -- blessed are you when you come and die”
-- now that’s hardly a sermon that will win friends and influence people -- that’s hardly a message that will keep the crowds coming and the church rolls filled -- I can just imagine Peter and John standing there cringing as Jesus delivered these words -- “Come on, Jesus -- we had them -- look at this crowd -- look at all these people -- we’re finally getting somewhere and you had to go and ruin it all by telling them that they will die if they follow you”
-- as I was working on this message, I looked out into my backyard and saw a bunch of chickens and one lonely pig -- and that reminded me of a story I heard one time about a chicken and a pig who were walking down the street -- and, as they passed by a restaurant, they noticed a sign in the window that said, "eggs and bacon wanted" -- the chicken looked at the pig and said, "we should go in and help" -- the pig said "I don't think so" -- the chicken said, "why not?" -- the pig said, "because for you it's a contribution -- for me it's a commitment"
-- that day, when Jesus looked out over that great crowd of people who had come to hear Him, He knew that there were a lot of chicken Christians out there -- people who had just come to Jesus for what they could get -- people who were attracted to Jesus because of the rewards of Christianity -- they liked the idea of salvation -- they didn’t mind making a contribution -- but they were just not willing to pay the price that Jesus demanded for holiness
-- so Jesus used these Beatitudes as a way to get the people to count the cost of following Him -- “if you want to follow Me,” He says, “there is a price”
-- in these Beatitudes, Jesus isn’t just asking for you to give Him part of your life -- He’s asking for you to give Him everything -- body, mind, and spirit -- even your very life
-- that is the cost of discipleship -- that is the price that must be paid if you are going to live for Him
-- the Bible tells us to expect persecution -- I’m going to give several verses here, so you might want to jot these down so you can look at them later
-- 1 Peter 4:12-13 says, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ’
-- in Acts 14:22, Paul and Barnabus told the disciples in Asia, "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,"
-- Philippians 1:29 -- it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him
-- and 2 Timothy 3:12 -- everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted
-- persecution because of righteousness -- persecution because of Jesus -- is the badge of the Christian and the cost for following Him
-- this was something the early church knew well -- from the moment that Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane and led to the cross at Calvary, the disciples and the other believers lived in fear for their lives
-- even after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, persecution continued -- first from the Jews and later from the Romans
-- in fact, all 11 of the remaining apostles experienced hardship and persecution in their lives -- with 10 of them ending up as martyrs of the faith
-- Matthew was killed by a sword in Ethiopia -- Peter was crucified upside down -- Thomas was stabbed with a spear in India during a missionary trip -- James was beheaded in Jerusalem -- and the Apostle John was tortured and sent in exile to the island of Patmos to live out his days in hard labor
-- even today, as we pointed out in the preparation for Secret Church, many believers around the world live in persecution daily and many give their very lives for their faith
-- right now, more people are being martyred for believing in Jesus than at any other time in history, including the intense persecution by Nero and Domitian and the other Roman emperors
-- which kind of brings us to the question, “Are we truly Christians if we are not facing suffering and insults and persecution in our lives because of our faith?”
-- Kyle Idleman puts it this way in his book, “I am not a Fan” -- “When is the last time that following Jesus cost you something? When is the last time it cost you a relationship? When is the last time following Jesus cost you a promotion? When is the last time it cost you a vacation? When is the last time you were mocked for your faith?”
-- shouldn’t there be a cost to following Christ? -- if the Bible tells us to expect persecution, shouldn’t we at least be a little uncomfortable as Christians? -- could it be that we are not living the committed lives that Jesus has called us to? -- could it be that we are just part of the crowd?
III. Committed Christians
-- C.T. Studd said, "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice is too great for me to give for Him" -- Jesus is looking for men and women who are willing to sacrifice themselves for Him -- men and women not willing to settle -- men and women who are willing to stand up and pay the cost and follow Him -- men and women who consider a reward in Heaven as worth more than a cost here on earth
-- the question, then, is how do we become men and women who are committed to Christ? -- how do we become people of faith who have given all that we have so that we might be blessed in Him and receive the kingdom of heaven?
-- to answer that, we have to turn over a little farther in the book of Matthew -- to Matthew 16:24-27
24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.
-- in these verses, we read the steps to commitment -- to becoming a Christian who possesses all the attributes of the Beatitudes -- to becoming a Christian who is truly living out their faith in Christ, even though it might lead to suffering and hardships and persecution
-- the first thing we see in verse 24 is that this call to commitment is just that -- it is a call -- it is an invitation -- Jesus says, “if” -- if you want to come after Me -- if you want to truly follow Me -- if you want to walk the way of the committed Christian
-- Jesus is not going to force anyone to come to Him -- He’s not going to force anyone to love Him and to obey Him -- He’s just going to invite us to come and tell us to count the cost and then make the decision on our own
-- every single one of the Beatitudes included a blessing and a promise -- Jesus tells us up front that the cost to follow Him is high -- but He also says that if we follow Him, these are the rewards we can expect -- the kingdom of heaven -- comfort -- satisfaction -- mercy -- He says that we will inherit the earth and will be called sons and daughters of God
-- these are the rewards...IF
-- the choice is up to you whether you will be part of the crowd or part of the committed -- the choice is up to you whether you will just be a pew-warmer or if you will be on the front lines of faith
-- next, Jesus tells us that we must come after Him -- to come after Jesus means that we follow Him -- it actually implies that we follow hard after Jesus -- we pursue Him -- we chase Him -- we go where He goes -- we follow His footsteps and His path regardless of where they might lead
-- to come after Jesus means that we daily make the choice to follow Him and not the world -- to follow Him and not our flesh -- to follow Him and not our own wants and desires and wishes
-- to come after Jesus means that we let the Holy Spirit work through us and in us to transform us from the inside out into the person God has called us to be
-- Eph 1:4 says that God chose us to be holy and blameless in His eyes -- 1 Pet 1:16 says, "be holy because I am holy" -- When Jesus tells us to “come after Him”, He is calling us to follow Him and His ways so we can become holy like Him
-- Jesus never wanted us to be satisfied with just being saved -- He never wanted us to be satisfied with being part of the crowd -- He wants us to become committed Christians, sold out for Him
-- the next step on this path to commitment is to deny ourselves -- now this means more than just choosing to lay aside our wants and wishes and desires -- we already do that when we choose to come after Jesus
-- no, to deny ourselves means to go one step farther -- it means to disappear -- it means to forget about ourselves -- “to not even acknowledge or recognize our own existence” -- as John the Baptist put it, “I must decrease so He can increase”
-- Kyle Idleman writes about the time he preached in a tribal area in Africa -- after he was finished, he closed with an altar call that made clear both the rewards and the cost of following Christ -- two young men came forward and offered their lives to Christ
-- the next day, these men showed up at the house where Kyle was staying with bags on their shoulders stuffed with everything they owned -- Kyle asked the local missionary what was going on -- the missionary explained that by accepting Christ, these men “would no longer be welcomed by their families or in their village”
-- they were going to cease to exist for all intents and purposes -- by coming to Christ, they were giving all, even to the point of denying themselves and being shunned by families and friends forever
-- next we are told to take up our cross -- in our society, the cross has become just a symbol -- something that we wear around our necks or use as decorations -- true, it is a symbol of Christ -- but we have forgotten its true meaning
-- to take up your cross was to die -- the cross was the Roman’s most cruel form of execution, reserved for those criminals and rebels who they wanted to make an example of -- who they wanted to humiliate and shame even as they died
-- no one would willingly offer to go to the cross -- no one would ever think of taking up a cross -- this was something that was forced upon them -- to the people who heard these words of Jesus, the cross was a symbol of suffering and death -- certainly not an ornament to be taken up and lightly worn around our necks
-- Jesus is making it clear here -- to follow Him is to die -- to follow Him is to suffer hardships and trials and persecution -- to follow Him is to give everything that we have, even our very lives
-- C.S. Lewis puts it this way: “Christ says, ‘Give me all -- I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work -- I want you.
-- ‘I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it
-- ‘No half-measures are any good -- I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there -- I want to have the whole tree down
-- I don’t want to drill the tooth -- or crown it -- or stop it -- but to have it out”
-- when Jesus tells us to take up our cross, He is telling us to agree to pay the price -- any price -- any cost -- that there may be to follow Him -- it may cost us our job -- it may cost us a promotion -- it may cost us a good grade in school -- it may cost us our finances and our resources and our family -- it may even cost us our life -- but, this is the price to follow Him
-- finally, after we have died -- after we have taken up our cross -- Jesus tells us, “You are ready to follow Me” -- you are ready to walk the pilgrim’s way -- you are ready to be My disciple
-- this is the pinnacle of the Beatitudes -- this is where that arduous path to sanctification was leading -- to the place where we truly become committed followers of Christ -- men and women who have counted the cost and who have paid the price and who stand with Christ despite what the world may throw at us
IV. Closing
-- Nathan Schaeffer wrote, "at the close of life, the question will not be, "how much have you gotten? But how much have you given? -- not how much have you won, but how much have you done? -- not how much have you saved but how much have you sacrificed -- it will be how much you loved and served -- not how much were you honored?”
-- the life of a Christian may not be glamorous -- despite what some well-known preachers will tell you, it won’t be a bed of roses -- it won’t be all wealth and health and prosperity
-- Jesus promises that your life will be filled with hardships and trials and persecutions -- He tells you that you will be insulted and persecuted and have all manner of lies and falsehoods spoken against you
-- but He tells us to rejoice and be glad because great is our reward in heaven and great is His name
-- as I close today, I want to issue you a very specific call -- I want to invite you to come and die -- I want to invite you to leave behind half-hearted religion -- to separate yourself from the crowd -- and to come after Jesus, and deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Him
-- He expects nothing less from you -- He demands nothing less from those who call themselves Christian
-- so, as I close in prayer, join with me and give yourself to Him wholly and completely so that you may truly reflect His character and nature in your life from this point on
-- let us pray
Saturday, October 22, 2011
SERMON: THE MEASURE OF A CHRISTIAN: PEACE-MAKING
THE MEASURE OF A CHRISTIAN: PEACE-MAKING
(The Beatitude Series)
10 July 2011
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 5
1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
-- this morning, we are continuing on in our sermon series on the Beatitudes that we have called, “The Measure of a Christian” -- today, we are looking at the seventh Beatitude -- “Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God”
-- when I think of Christian peacemakers, I am always led to the story of Telemachus -- Telemachus was a monk in the 4th century who desperately wanted to live for God -- he tried to do this inside the walls of a cloistered monastery, but after some time there, he came to realize that true Christianity must be lived out among the world -- that to be a Christian, he must serve God by serving people -- feeling a call from God to go to Rome, Telemachus left the isolation of the monastery for the first time in his adult life and went to the capital of the world
-- when he arrived there, he found himself surrounded by jubilant throngs of people who were celebrating a great victory over the Goths -- he let himself be swept up with the crowd to the Coliseum, where the Romans were forcing the Goth prisoners to fight the gladiators in the arena to the delight and entertainment of the crowd
-- he thought to himself, “four centuries after Christ, and they are still killing each other for enjoyment? -- as he watched the first prisoners being forced into the arena and heard the gladiators announce to Caesar, “We who are about to die salute you,” he knew that this was wrong -- he knew why God had sent him to Rome
-- Telemachus vaulted over the wall and went out into the middle of the field -- he stood between a gladiator and a Goth prisoner and said, “In the name of Christ, forbear” -- the crowd began to protest this disturbance to their entertainment and began to shout at Telemachus and throw stones at him -- but still, he stood in the middle with his hands up, begging for peace in the name of Christ
-- the crowd screamed, “Kill him” -- and one gladiator, to the cheers of the crowd, turned and plunged his sword into the monk -- Telemachus collapsed onto the sand of the coliseum -- his blood staining his monk’s robes and flowing onto the sand -- in one final gasp, Telemachus breathed out, “In the name of Christ, forbear” -- all noise stopped and the coliseum became quiet as all 80,000 people sat in stunned silence at the violence done to this man of Christ
-- before long, one man stood and left --and then another and another -- and within minutes, all 80,000 spectators had left the coliseum
-- three days later, the emperor declared Telemachus a martyr of the faith and issued an official decree that ended gladiatorial events in Rome forever
II. Making Peace
-- “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” -- out of all the Beatitudes that we have studied so far, this Beatitude is different -- in the previous six Beatitudes, we saw the maturing of character -- we saw the development of a person of faith as they moved from just being aware of the existence of God and their need for a Savior to demonstrating the depth of character that a true Christian should possess
-- in each of the previous Beatitudes, the changes in character and attitude are inward-driven as the Spirit works within us to make us more like Christ -- God does the work, and our role is merely to accept and embrace the changes that He is making so that we will reflect the nature of Jesus in our lives
-- but, in this Beatitude, we become an active participant -- once again, God is working in us and through us, but here Jesus calls us to action -- Jesus calls us to make a difference
-- “Blessed are the peacemakers -- Blessed are those who intentionally go forth and choose to make peace in the midst of life”
-- I think we can really see what Jesus means by thinking again about the story of Telemachus -- Telemachus was the perfect example of a man of faith who lived out this Beatitude
-- certainly, you could say that Telemachus was a peaceful man -- as a monk living in isolation with a few other Christians, his life was one of peace and tranquility -- but that is not the calling in this Beatitude -- it does not say, “Blessed are the peaceful or blessed are the tranquil” -- this Beatitude is not a call for us to passively go through life with peace in our hearts -- serenely going about our days regardless of what is going on around us
-- no -- look at what this Beatitude says, “Blessed are the peacemakers -- Blessed are those who make peace”
-- and, so, God wasn’t satisfied with Telemachus just living a life of peace and tranquility and sereneness in his monastery -- God was calling him to more -- God was calling him to action -- and in answer to that call, Telemachus left the peace of the monastery and entered the chaos of life in the capitol of Rome and became known as a peacemaker for all time when he gave his life to abolish gladiatorial events
-- the message of this Beatitude is that peace must be made
-- last night we all gathered at my parents’ house to welcome them home after their long vacation -- as we were watching the many slides from their trip, they had a picture of a van from the 60’s that was in the Route 66 Museum -- on the side of the van was painted the slogan, “Make Love, not War”
-- well, my niece brought up a situation at school where a friend of hers had been sent home to change after coming to school in a shirt that had that same slogan on the front -- the school administration said the shirt promoted sexual behavior and sent her home
-- my niece was dumbfounded and couldn’t believe they sent her home -- “that’s not what it meant,” she said, “it means, “Make Peace, Not War” -- that’s what we’re supposed to be doing, isn’t it?”
-- I have seen that slogan all my life and never really made that association, but she’s right -- regardless of what the originators of that slogan meant, we are supposed to be making peace and not war -- we are supposed to be peacemakers
-- which leads us to the question, “How?”
-- well, I’m glad you asked -- if you would, turn over to 1 Peter 3 and let’s answer that question starting in verse 8
-- in this epistle, Peter gives his readers practical instruction on how to live the Christian life -- he has written to slaves and masters -- to husbands and wives -- and to Christians in general -- and now, as he finishes up his instructions in this area, he sums it up with these verses here in chapter 3 that echo the words of Christ, “Blessed are the peacemakers”
-- look with me, if you would, at verse 8 -- 8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
-- as Peter closes his instructions on practical living as a Christian, he ends up with this final instruction that is for everyone -- slave and free -- husband and wife -- children and adults -- everyone who names the name of Christ, Peter says, is to live in harmony with each other
-- what does he mean by harmony? -- the dictionary says that harmony is “agreement in feeling or opinion -- being in accord -- like-mindedness” -- the Jews had another word for it, “Shalom” -- that all-encompassing peace that permeated lives and cultures and that affected relationships with each other and with God
-- Peter is saying this is our goal -- this is what we are striving for -- this is what Jesus was calling us to in the seventh Beatitude -- and now he’s going to tell us how to get there
-- look back at the second part of verse 8
1 Peter 3:8b -- “be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.”
-- we could call these verses, “Steps to peace” -- Peter says that if we want to live in harmony -- if we want to experience Shalom in our lives -- then this is the way to do it
-- first, be sympathetic -- think about the other person -- before you react to another person -- before you jump to conclusions and become angry or hostile towards them, stop and consider what might be going on with them to make them act that way
-- several years ago, we were at a restaurant here in town and we just were not getting good service -- the waitress was rude and short with us and would just disappear and we couldn’t get what we needed and it was not a good situation -- and, generally, it takes a lot to get me angry and I was starting to get fed up -- I was about to let this waitress and her manager know just what I thought -- when all of a sudden, we heard tires squealing and people yelling screaming outside and just general chaos -- and when we looked out the window to see what was going on, I realized why our service was so poor and why our waitress was so distracted and appeared so rude -- turns out she was in the middle of a domestic dispute that had followed her to work -- and her husband/boyfriend was harassing her and screaming at her in the parking lot and causing all manner of disturbance -- no wonder she was distracted -- no wonder she seemed rude -- she was going through chaos in her life at that very moment -- and as I began to have sympathy for her, my anger melted away -- we ended up leaving her a very big tip and not saying a negative word to anyone
-- be sympathetic
-- the next step to peace is “love as brothers” -- how better to bring peace into a situation than by showering someone with love? -- Jesus told His disciples on the night that He was betrayed that He was leaving them with a new command -- “love one another” -- by this, He said, all men will know that you are a Christian
-- love should be the defining characteristic of a Christian’s life -- and, as the slogan on that hippie van points out, “Love leads to peace”
-- next, be compassionate and humble -- compassion and humility are kissing cousins and should be attitudes that we all seek to demonstrate in our lives at all times -- to be compassionate and humble means that we are putting others above us -- it means that we are not demanding our rights and our way, but are putting the wants and wishes and desires of others above ours so that peace may reign
-- what would happen in a relationship if everyone demanded to be first? -- what would happen in a relationship if each person demanded to have all of their wishes and desires met, even at the expense of the other? -- the relationship wouldn’t work -- it would be strained at best -- Peter is saying here that peace only comes to a household when someone chooses to be compassionate and humble in their heart
-- next, Peter says don’t repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but instead bless those and do good for those who insult you or do evil to you -- remember what Christ said in this Beatitude? -- “Blessed are the peacemakers” -- it is our calling and our duty and our responsibility to be the better person -- to accept the insult -- to accept the injury -- in order to make peace and show the love of Christ to others
-- think about Jesus’ own example -- when He was being led to the cross, He was mocked and insulted -- He was beaten and suffered all kinds of indignities -- but from the cross itself, He never spoke evil back -- He never repaid the insults -- instead, He prayed for those who had wronged Him and asked God to forgive them for what they were doing
-- this same attitude of Christ is what we are called to express in this instruction from Peter if we want to live in harmony with all
-- verse 10
10 For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil
and their lips from deceitful speech. 11 They must turn from evil and do good;
they must seek peace and pursue it.
-- here we see the final two steps to peace -- be mindful of your speech and turn from evil and do good
-- when I was growing up, we recited that familiar rhyme in the schoolyard -- “Sticks and stone can break my bones, but words can never hurt me” -- years later, I realize just how wrong we were -- words can hurt you -- words can devastate you -- I still remember hurtful words that were thrown my way when I was very young -- to this day, I still feel the hurt and pain that they caused
-- in James 3:8, it says that the tongue is a restless evil, full of deadly poison -- to make peace, we must control our tongues -- we must be mindful of what we say and how we say it -- and we must be sure to speak only the truth and only the truth in love
-- finally, we must turn from evil and do good -- all of our actions must reflect the goodness and nature of God -- peace cannot exist with evil -- peace cannot be present in the face of sin -- and so, Peter tells us to turn from evil -- to repent from what is wrong -- and to do good in our lives
-- notice that he says there in verse 11 that we must seek peace and pursue it -- peace doesn’t just happen -- it isn’t something that you stumble across in your daily life -- peace is something that is made -- something that you have to strive for and work for and live for
-- that’s why Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers” and not “Blessed are those who are peaceful” -- to be peaceful you have to first make peace -- and to make peace, you have to seek it and pursue it through the steps that Peter give us here in this passage
III. Sons of God
-- before we close, let me spend just a moment reflecting on the promise that is associated with the command in this Beatitude -- “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God”
-- as we were looking at the vacation pictures last night of my parents and my aunt and uncle, it struck me how similar everyone in our family is -- even if I had not known who these people were -- even if I had grown up away from my uncle, I would have been able to see his picture and know that he was a Lee -- you could see the family resemblance
-- that’s what Jesus means here when He says that peacemakers will be called “sons of God” -- He’s saying that when you make peace --when you seek peace and pursue it and strive to produce it in your life and your relationships, that others will know it -- they’ll see your life -- they’ll see your nature -- and they’ll see your family resemblance to God
-- without you even having to tell them you are a Christian, they’ll know because you reflect the very image of God in your life and in your actions
-- the word, “Christian,” literally means, “little Christ” -- and that is just what we should be -- that’s just what we should look like to those around us -- as we mature in Christ -- as we grow and take on the attitudes and characteristics of Jesus, our goal should be that when others look at us, they see Jesus and they call us “sons and daughters of God”
IV. Closing
-- as I close, for just a moment I want you to think back to September 11th, 2001 -- do you remember that day? -- do you remember how you felt?
-- when we started to grasp the fact that our country was under attack, at first we couldn’t believe it -- and then we denied it -- and then panic set in because we didn’t know what was going on -- we didn’t know if this was the first of many attacks and we didn’t know if our community would be next
-- we watched on our TVs as men and women ran for their lives in the streets of New York and Washington
-- when the first planes hit the World Trade Center and the government realized that this was an intentional attack on our nation, the Secret Service issued an evacuation notice for the White House -- they ran through the halls telling everyone to get out -- to run away from the danger
-- Tim Goeglien was there in the White House on that day -- he worked for President Bush -- and on a Focus on the Family broadcast, he talked about the panic as people rushed out of the entrances of the White House and onto Pennsylvania Avenue -- he said it was total chaos
-- but, as he ran through the gates, he noticed small groups of people clustered in circles on the street -- Christian staffers who had gathered in small prayer circles in the middle of the street
-- as chaos streamed around them, they were in perfect peace and harmony -- they trusted God despite the fear and uncertainty -- they turned to God -- and the peace that emanated from them affected the whole crowd -- and calmed those around them and took away their fear
-- on that day, Christian employees of the White House became peacemakers and were called the sons and daughters of God
-- as we close, I want to encourage you to spend some time this week reflecting on the call of Jesus in this Beatitude -- hopefully, none of us will ever find ourselves in situations like Telemachus or the White House staffers on 9-11 -- but we have the opportunity to make peace where we are and to bring peace to our relationships and to those we come into contact with
-- so, let’s close in prayer, and let’s pray that God gives us the strength to pursue and seek peace in our lives each and every day
-- let’s pray
SERMON: THE MEASURE OF A CHRISTIAN: BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART
THE MEASURE OF A CHRISTIAN: BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART
(The Beatitude Series)
3 July 2011
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 5:8
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
-- as part of my ongoing midlife crisis, I have come up with the idea that I’m going to hike the Appalachian Trail, all 2,181 miles of it -- when I announced this exciting quest to Kim, she did just like any good wife -- she just shook her head and rolled her eyes and didn’t say a word -- she probably knows that it is just a passing fancy and I’ll end up dropping this idea in a few weeks anyway
-- but it is something that I have been thinking about for some time now -- I had a friend who completed a thru-hike of the trail a couple of years ago -- a thru-hike is when you hike the entire 2,000 miles all at one time -- it took him 5 months to do it, but what an amazing accomplishment -- there’s only a few hundred people who manage to do this every year
-- I’m not going to attempt that, but I am going to try to hike it in sections -- just a few miles here and there over the years until I have successfully covered the entire distance from Georgia all the way to Katahdin, Maine -- I have actually already hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in Georgia in this way -- I did it when I was a kid -- but for this quest, I’m going to start over so I can keep a journal and really appreciate the effort more than I did then
-- I’ve started my quest by trying to get back into shape and by reading books about hiking the trail -- and already I’ve learned something that I didn’t know -- when I was a kid hiking the trail, if we needed water in our canteen, we would just find a clear mountain stream and we put some water in our pots and bring it to a boil and it would be good to drink
-- but it’s not like that anymore -- all of these mountain streams have been heavily contaminated -- years ago, we would worry about the protozoan giardia, but now you have to be concerned about all kinds of other bacteria and viruses in addition to chemicals and fertilizers and other toxins -- and I found out that boiling water just doesn’t make it safe any longer
-- I was reading an article in Zen Backpacking on water purification and it said that even if you find the clearest, most beautiful stream on the top of a mountain and you’re sure that the water in this stream has to be pure and clean, don’t drink it unless you first purify it by running it through a filter or treating it with chemical purification tablets
-- the message that I have picked up reading these books is that pure water just doesn’t exist on this planet any longer -- it’s all been tainted and contaminated and is generally unfit for drinking without purification
II. Pure in Heart
-- but, as hard as it is to find pure water nowadays, it is even harder to find a pure heart
-- that’s what makes this sixth Beatitude so hard to take -- “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God”
-- if you go back to the original Greek and look at the phrase, “For they will see God,” you’ll realize that the real meaning of this Beatitude as Jesus gave it to us is “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they are the only ones who will ever see God”
-- out of all the Beatitudes that we have looked at, this is one of the most sobering and convicting -- it tells us that if we are not pure of heart, then we won’t see God -- and who among us can say that they are pure in heart?
-- just walking through this world -- just living in our world today -- contaminates our hearts and makes them dirty -- so who can ever live up to the goal that Christ presents in this Beatitude? -- who can ever hope to see God?
-- well, let’s talk about that for a few moments
-- I guess the best place to start is to find out what Jesus means by that phrase “pure in heart”
-- the Greek word for “pure” that Jesus uses here is “katharos” -- it’s the word that we get our English word “catharsis” from -- which we use to describe a cleansing of one's mind or emotions
-- the word katharos actually has two meanings
-- first, it means exactly what you’d think a word translated as pure in the Bible would mean -- it means free from corrupt desire or wrongdoing -- free from sin and guilt -- moral purity
-- this is the first thing that probably came to mind when we read that phrase, “pure in heart” -- a clean heart -- uncontaminated -- spotless -- without blemish
-- who comes to mind when you think of a person like this? -- Mother Teresa? -- Billy Graham? -- the Pope? -- when you think of someone who is pure in heart, don’t you really think of those super-Christians who live lives of integrity and moral purity and holiness
-- for the people who were gathered around Jesus that day as He gave this sermon on the mount, there was no doubt who they thought of -- when it came to holiness -- when it came to moral purity and spiritual uprightness -- they thought of the Pharisees
-- when it came to religion -- when it came to following God’s laws and being obedient to what God said -- the Pharisees were the cream of the crop -- they were very careful about what they said and what they did and who they hung out with
-- God had originally given Moses the law for the Israelites to follow -- the law had three parts -- first, you had the moral law -- the 10 Commandments -- then you had the civil law, which dealt with civil life of the Jews -- and finally, you had the ceremonial law -- the law that governed the religious life of Israel
-- and the Pharisees believed that to be pure and holy, you had to keep all three parts of the law, especially the 10 Commandments -- so, to be sure that they didn’t miss anything, they added their own special interpretations to the law -- this amounted to over 600 new rules that they applied to make sure that they did everything that God wanted them to do
-- when it came to religion, these guys had their act together -- and I’m sure, when the people heard Jesus say that only the pure in heart were going to see God, they immediately thought of the Pharisees
-- look down at verse 20 -- that’s exactly what Jesus says right there, isn’t it
Matthew 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
-- if anyone was pure in heart, it was the Pharisees, right? -- well, maybe not -- flip over to Matthew 23 real quick -- verse 25
Matthew 23:25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
-- so here we see the truth about the Pharisees’ holiness -- they were only good on the outside -- they only put forth an appearance of being pure -- to everyone around them, they looked good and holy and religious, but Jesus said all that they had done was wash the outside of the cup -- all they had done was paint the outside of the tomb -- while on the inside, the heart was still dirty -- the heart was still contaminated -- the heart was not pure
-- if the Pharisees -- the epitome of righteousness in Jesus’ day -- could not meet the criteria of being “pure in heart” -- then who had any hope of ever seeing God?
-- we actually find the answer in Acts 15 -- as the church leaders met in Jerusalem to discuss what should be done about the Gentiles who were responding to the good news of Jesus and His salvation, Peter stood up in the congregation and told of his experience in preaching to the Gentiles
-- he tells the church that he believes the conversion of the Gentiles is real, because God has accepted them and sent the Holy Spirit to indwell them after salvation -- and he goes on to say in verse 9, “[God] made no distinction between us and them, for He purified their hearts by faith.”
-- there’s our answer -- it goes along with what God told Ezekiel in Ezekiel 36:26 -- God said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
-- when we came to Christ in faith -- when we approached the throne of grace and stood before the cross poor in spirit and mourning of our sins -- God’s grace gave us a new heart and a new life -- because of our faith in Christ, God purified us from the inside so that we might truly be pure -- not just on the outside like the Pharisees -- but pure from the inside out
-- because of Jesus, our hearts are katharos -- clean from sin and guilt -- pure and spotless and without blemish
III. Being Holy
-- but, what about the fact that we don’t live pure and holy lives? -- even though the Bible tells us that we can choose to live lives free of sin, we know that most of us don’t -- most of us go through life disobeying God and doing wrong things from time to time and we know that this has to contaminate our hearts -- what do we do about that?
-- well, that brings us to the second meaning of the word katharos -- in this definition, katharos describes a heart which is pure in motive -- a heart that exhibits single mindedness, undivided devotion and spiritual integrity -- the idea here is a heart that is set apart or separated from the world
-- to be set apart or separated from the world is the biblical definition of holiness -- it describes a person or a thing that has been taken out of the world and dedicated for service or relationship with God
-- it is this ongoing relationship with God that keeps us katharos -- that keeps us pure in heart and mind and soul
-- with this understanding of katharos, we think of a person who is striving for perfection -- who is trying to follow God -- to do His will -- to be obedient to His commands -- someone who is single-mindedly doing everything they can to live for Jesus and to be morally pure in their lives
-- to be pure in this way doesn’t mean that you don’t occasionally fall -- it doesn’t mean that you don’t occasionally miss the mark -- but what it does mean is that when you do fall, you pick yourself back up, and look back towards God, and start walking again
-- several years ago, I read a story about mountain climbers -- a psychology student was studying them to find out what made the difference between those who were successful in their quests versus those who failed and quit half-way up the mountain
-- and what she found was that when the sun was shining and the climbers could look up the hill and see the top of the mountain before them, they were filled with vigor and strength and could keep going, no matter how hard the obstacles before them
-- but, when it was overcast and cloudy and when a fog settled over the mountain and the climbers couldn’t see the top, they didn’t make progress and many of them turned back and quit
-- the difference between those who made it and those who didn’t was that the ones who finally succeeded were the ones who kept that image of the top in their hearts and in their minds -- even when the clouds covered the mountain peak -- even when it was overcast and the rain fell -- they had their goal firmly in their mind’s eyes -- they knew where they were going and nothing would dissuade them
-- that’s what Jesus means here by katharos of heart -- people who have before them the image of God -- they know Who they have believed -- they know Who they have trusted -- and when the clouds come and they can’t see the top and they find themselves falling and failing and giving into sin -- they get back up and confess and repent of their sins and they start moving again
-- these are the people that Jesus calls “pure in heart” -- pure in heart because they have been given a new heart through faith -- and pure in heart because they keep on keeping on this path that leads to Jesus and to Heaven
-- these, and only these, are the ones who will see God -- because without faith, you cannot be saved -- without faith, your heart cannot be purified -- without faith, you can’t keep going and becoming more like Jesus everyday
IV. Seeing God
-- now, before we close, I wanted to touch on the phrase, “for they will see God” just real briefly
-- what does Jesus mean when He says that the pure in heart will see God? -- what does it mean to see God?
-- probably not many of us remember the name Yuri Gagarin -- but he was the first person to travel into space -- it was back before our own space program began to really develop -- the space race was going on and the Russians were beating us at every turn -- first, there was Sputnik and then, in 1961, Yuri Gagarin went into space and circled the earth
-- when he landed, he made much of the fact that while he was in space, he looked outside the capsule window and didn’t see God anywhere
-- Dr. W.A Criswell, a well-known pastor and speaker and the two-time President of the Southern Baptist Convention, responded to Gagarin’s declaration by saying, “If he would have stepped out of his space suit for just one second, he would have seen God quick enough”
-- the Bible tells us that all of us are going to see God in the end -- that all of us are going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ -- so, why does Jesus say that only those who are pure in heart are going to see God?
-- obviously, He’s talking about something different than just seeing God at the judgment seat or seeing God in heaven -- in fact, He’s talking about seeing God now
-- the Greek word that we translate as “see” doesn’t just mean to see physically -- it also means to perceive that which can be seen -- it means to comprehend -- to gain awareness or understanding of something that others can’t see or perceive
-- an easy way to think of this is the radio -- right now in this room we are being bombarded with radio waves -- in Valdosta, there are over 20 different radio stations -- and right now, every single one of them is blasting their signal and their message to us right here in this room
-- however, we’re not aware of it -- we don’t perceive it because we have no way of picking up and translating the radio waves into something that we can understand -- even though there are over 20 different signals coming through here, we don’t see them
-- but, if I were to get a radio and turn it on and set it to the right station, we would hear the message that is being broadcast -- our ears would perceive that which others outside cannot
-- that’s the way it is with seeing God -- purity of heart cleanses the eyes of the soul so that God is "visible" -- purity of heart makes it possible for us to see God here and now
-- not see Him in a physical form, of course -- but to see His Spirit -- to see His presence -- to be aware of God in us and through us and around us
-- those who are pure in heart have the ability to see God’s fingerprints on all of His creation -- and they can see Him working even when others don’t
-- when you are pure in heart -- when you have that katharos -- that single-minded pursuit of God that makes you holy and keeps you running after Him -- then you will see Him in every moment of every day
-- that is what Jesus means when He says that the pure in heart are the only ones who will see God -- it’s not that God isn’t there for the others -- but only the pure in heart are able to perceive Him and see Him
V. Closing
-- some of you will remember the movie, “Harvey,” that starred Jimmy Stewart -- in that movie, Jimmy Stewart’s character, Elwood P. Dowd, had a friend named Harvey -- an invisible giant white rabbit that no one could see but him
-- everyone thought he was crazy -- no one believed that Harvey existed -- and they all thought that Dowd should be committed to an institution -- Dowd’s sister calls a local institution, and they come out and take Dowd to their facility to have him committed because he is seeing things that no one else can see
-- as the movie moves into its final scenes, Dowd explains to the psychiatrist how he came to first meet Harvey and what an impact Harvey has had on his life and those around him -- as Dowd explains, the eyes of the head psychiatrist are opened, and he sees Harvey standing there before him
-- as Dowd explains, all it takes is faith and belief in the impossible and great things will happen
-- many people in our world today think Christians are absolutely nuts -- they think that we gather together on a Sunday to worship an imaginary friend -- they think we are just as loony as Elwood P. Dowd
-- but, the reason they think that is because their eyes have not been opened and their hearts have not been purified and they can’t perceive the God that we see and that we know and love
-- Jesus tells us in this Beatitude, “Blessed are those who are pure in heart for they will see God”
-- may you see God today and every moment of everyday of your life
-- let us pray
(The Beatitude Series)
3 July 2011
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 5:8
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
-- as part of my ongoing midlife crisis, I have come up with the idea that I’m going to hike the Appalachian Trail, all 2,181 miles of it -- when I announced this exciting quest to Kim, she did just like any good wife -- she just shook her head and rolled her eyes and didn’t say a word -- she probably knows that it is just a passing fancy and I’ll end up dropping this idea in a few weeks anyway
-- but it is something that I have been thinking about for some time now -- I had a friend who completed a thru-hike of the trail a couple of years ago -- a thru-hike is when you hike the entire 2,000 miles all at one time -- it took him 5 months to do it, but what an amazing accomplishment -- there’s only a few hundred people who manage to do this every year
-- I’m not going to attempt that, but I am going to try to hike it in sections -- just a few miles here and there over the years until I have successfully covered the entire distance from Georgia all the way to Katahdin, Maine -- I have actually already hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in Georgia in this way -- I did it when I was a kid -- but for this quest, I’m going to start over so I can keep a journal and really appreciate the effort more than I did then
-- I’ve started my quest by trying to get back into shape and by reading books about hiking the trail -- and already I’ve learned something that I didn’t know -- when I was a kid hiking the trail, if we needed water in our canteen, we would just find a clear mountain stream and we put some water in our pots and bring it to a boil and it would be good to drink
-- but it’s not like that anymore -- all of these mountain streams have been heavily contaminated -- years ago, we would worry about the protozoan giardia, but now you have to be concerned about all kinds of other bacteria and viruses in addition to chemicals and fertilizers and other toxins -- and I found out that boiling water just doesn’t make it safe any longer
-- I was reading an article in Zen Backpacking on water purification and it said that even if you find the clearest, most beautiful stream on the top of a mountain and you’re sure that the water in this stream has to be pure and clean, don’t drink it unless you first purify it by running it through a filter or treating it with chemical purification tablets
-- the message that I have picked up reading these books is that pure water just doesn’t exist on this planet any longer -- it’s all been tainted and contaminated and is generally unfit for drinking without purification
II. Pure in Heart
-- but, as hard as it is to find pure water nowadays, it is even harder to find a pure heart
-- that’s what makes this sixth Beatitude so hard to take -- “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God”
-- if you go back to the original Greek and look at the phrase, “For they will see God,” you’ll realize that the real meaning of this Beatitude as Jesus gave it to us is “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they are the only ones who will ever see God”
-- out of all the Beatitudes that we have looked at, this is one of the most sobering and convicting -- it tells us that if we are not pure of heart, then we won’t see God -- and who among us can say that they are pure in heart?
-- just walking through this world -- just living in our world today -- contaminates our hearts and makes them dirty -- so who can ever live up to the goal that Christ presents in this Beatitude? -- who can ever hope to see God?
-- well, let’s talk about that for a few moments
-- I guess the best place to start is to find out what Jesus means by that phrase “pure in heart”
-- the Greek word for “pure” that Jesus uses here is “katharos” -- it’s the word that we get our English word “catharsis” from -- which we use to describe a cleansing of one's mind or emotions
-- the word katharos actually has two meanings
-- first, it means exactly what you’d think a word translated as pure in the Bible would mean -- it means free from corrupt desire or wrongdoing -- free from sin and guilt -- moral purity
-- this is the first thing that probably came to mind when we read that phrase, “pure in heart” -- a clean heart -- uncontaminated -- spotless -- without blemish
-- who comes to mind when you think of a person like this? -- Mother Teresa? -- Billy Graham? -- the Pope? -- when you think of someone who is pure in heart, don’t you really think of those super-Christians who live lives of integrity and moral purity and holiness
-- for the people who were gathered around Jesus that day as He gave this sermon on the mount, there was no doubt who they thought of -- when it came to holiness -- when it came to moral purity and spiritual uprightness -- they thought of the Pharisees
-- when it came to religion -- when it came to following God’s laws and being obedient to what God said -- the Pharisees were the cream of the crop -- they were very careful about what they said and what they did and who they hung out with
-- God had originally given Moses the law for the Israelites to follow -- the law had three parts -- first, you had the moral law -- the 10 Commandments -- then you had the civil law, which dealt with civil life of the Jews -- and finally, you had the ceremonial law -- the law that governed the religious life of Israel
-- and the Pharisees believed that to be pure and holy, you had to keep all three parts of the law, especially the 10 Commandments -- so, to be sure that they didn’t miss anything, they added their own special interpretations to the law -- this amounted to over 600 new rules that they applied to make sure that they did everything that God wanted them to do
-- when it came to religion, these guys had their act together -- and I’m sure, when the people heard Jesus say that only the pure in heart were going to see God, they immediately thought of the Pharisees
-- look down at verse 20 -- that’s exactly what Jesus says right there, isn’t it
Matthew 5:20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
-- if anyone was pure in heart, it was the Pharisees, right? -- well, maybe not -- flip over to Matthew 23 real quick -- verse 25
Matthew 23:25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
-- so here we see the truth about the Pharisees’ holiness -- they were only good on the outside -- they only put forth an appearance of being pure -- to everyone around them, they looked good and holy and religious, but Jesus said all that they had done was wash the outside of the cup -- all they had done was paint the outside of the tomb -- while on the inside, the heart was still dirty -- the heart was still contaminated -- the heart was not pure
-- if the Pharisees -- the epitome of righteousness in Jesus’ day -- could not meet the criteria of being “pure in heart” -- then who had any hope of ever seeing God?
-- we actually find the answer in Acts 15 -- as the church leaders met in Jerusalem to discuss what should be done about the Gentiles who were responding to the good news of Jesus and His salvation, Peter stood up in the congregation and told of his experience in preaching to the Gentiles
-- he tells the church that he believes the conversion of the Gentiles is real, because God has accepted them and sent the Holy Spirit to indwell them after salvation -- and he goes on to say in verse 9, “[God] made no distinction between us and them, for He purified their hearts by faith.”
-- there’s our answer -- it goes along with what God told Ezekiel in Ezekiel 36:26 -- God said, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
-- when we came to Christ in faith -- when we approached the throne of grace and stood before the cross poor in spirit and mourning of our sins -- God’s grace gave us a new heart and a new life -- because of our faith in Christ, God purified us from the inside so that we might truly be pure -- not just on the outside like the Pharisees -- but pure from the inside out
-- because of Jesus, our hearts are katharos -- clean from sin and guilt -- pure and spotless and without blemish
III. Being Holy
-- but, what about the fact that we don’t live pure and holy lives? -- even though the Bible tells us that we can choose to live lives free of sin, we know that most of us don’t -- most of us go through life disobeying God and doing wrong things from time to time and we know that this has to contaminate our hearts -- what do we do about that?
-- well, that brings us to the second meaning of the word katharos -- in this definition, katharos describes a heart which is pure in motive -- a heart that exhibits single mindedness, undivided devotion and spiritual integrity -- the idea here is a heart that is set apart or separated from the world
-- to be set apart or separated from the world is the biblical definition of holiness -- it describes a person or a thing that has been taken out of the world and dedicated for service or relationship with God
-- it is this ongoing relationship with God that keeps us katharos -- that keeps us pure in heart and mind and soul
-- with this understanding of katharos, we think of a person who is striving for perfection -- who is trying to follow God -- to do His will -- to be obedient to His commands -- someone who is single-mindedly doing everything they can to live for Jesus and to be morally pure in their lives
-- to be pure in this way doesn’t mean that you don’t occasionally fall -- it doesn’t mean that you don’t occasionally miss the mark -- but what it does mean is that when you do fall, you pick yourself back up, and look back towards God, and start walking again
-- several years ago, I read a story about mountain climbers -- a psychology student was studying them to find out what made the difference between those who were successful in their quests versus those who failed and quit half-way up the mountain
-- and what she found was that when the sun was shining and the climbers could look up the hill and see the top of the mountain before them, they were filled with vigor and strength and could keep going, no matter how hard the obstacles before them
-- but, when it was overcast and cloudy and when a fog settled over the mountain and the climbers couldn’t see the top, they didn’t make progress and many of them turned back and quit
-- the difference between those who made it and those who didn’t was that the ones who finally succeeded were the ones who kept that image of the top in their hearts and in their minds -- even when the clouds covered the mountain peak -- even when it was overcast and the rain fell -- they had their goal firmly in their mind’s eyes -- they knew where they were going and nothing would dissuade them
-- that’s what Jesus means here by katharos of heart -- people who have before them the image of God -- they know Who they have believed -- they know Who they have trusted -- and when the clouds come and they can’t see the top and they find themselves falling and failing and giving into sin -- they get back up and confess and repent of their sins and they start moving again
-- these are the people that Jesus calls “pure in heart” -- pure in heart because they have been given a new heart through faith -- and pure in heart because they keep on keeping on this path that leads to Jesus and to Heaven
-- these, and only these, are the ones who will see God -- because without faith, you cannot be saved -- without faith, your heart cannot be purified -- without faith, you can’t keep going and becoming more like Jesus everyday
IV. Seeing God
-- now, before we close, I wanted to touch on the phrase, “for they will see God” just real briefly
-- what does Jesus mean when He says that the pure in heart will see God? -- what does it mean to see God?
-- probably not many of us remember the name Yuri Gagarin -- but he was the first person to travel into space -- it was back before our own space program began to really develop -- the space race was going on and the Russians were beating us at every turn -- first, there was Sputnik and then, in 1961, Yuri Gagarin went into space and circled the earth
-- when he landed, he made much of the fact that while he was in space, he looked outside the capsule window and didn’t see God anywhere
-- Dr. W.A Criswell, a well-known pastor and speaker and the two-time President of the Southern Baptist Convention, responded to Gagarin’s declaration by saying, “If he would have stepped out of his space suit for just one second, he would have seen God quick enough”
-- the Bible tells us that all of us are going to see God in the end -- that all of us are going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ -- so, why does Jesus say that only those who are pure in heart are going to see God?
-- obviously, He’s talking about something different than just seeing God at the judgment seat or seeing God in heaven -- in fact, He’s talking about seeing God now
-- the Greek word that we translate as “see” doesn’t just mean to see physically -- it also means to perceive that which can be seen -- it means to comprehend -- to gain awareness or understanding of something that others can’t see or perceive
-- an easy way to think of this is the radio -- right now in this room we are being bombarded with radio waves -- in Valdosta, there are over 20 different radio stations -- and right now, every single one of them is blasting their signal and their message to us right here in this room
-- however, we’re not aware of it -- we don’t perceive it because we have no way of picking up and translating the radio waves into something that we can understand -- even though there are over 20 different signals coming through here, we don’t see them
-- but, if I were to get a radio and turn it on and set it to the right station, we would hear the message that is being broadcast -- our ears would perceive that which others outside cannot
-- that’s the way it is with seeing God -- purity of heart cleanses the eyes of the soul so that God is "visible" -- purity of heart makes it possible for us to see God here and now
-- not see Him in a physical form, of course -- but to see His Spirit -- to see His presence -- to be aware of God in us and through us and around us
-- those who are pure in heart have the ability to see God’s fingerprints on all of His creation -- and they can see Him working even when others don’t
-- when you are pure in heart -- when you have that katharos -- that single-minded pursuit of God that makes you holy and keeps you running after Him -- then you will see Him in every moment of every day
-- that is what Jesus means when He says that the pure in heart are the only ones who will see God -- it’s not that God isn’t there for the others -- but only the pure in heart are able to perceive Him and see Him
V. Closing
-- some of you will remember the movie, “Harvey,” that starred Jimmy Stewart -- in that movie, Jimmy Stewart’s character, Elwood P. Dowd, had a friend named Harvey -- an invisible giant white rabbit that no one could see but him
-- everyone thought he was crazy -- no one believed that Harvey existed -- and they all thought that Dowd should be committed to an institution -- Dowd’s sister calls a local institution, and they come out and take Dowd to their facility to have him committed because he is seeing things that no one else can see
-- as the movie moves into its final scenes, Dowd explains to the psychiatrist how he came to first meet Harvey and what an impact Harvey has had on his life and those around him -- as Dowd explains, the eyes of the head psychiatrist are opened, and he sees Harvey standing there before him
-- as Dowd explains, all it takes is faith and belief in the impossible and great things will happen
-- many people in our world today think Christians are absolutely nuts -- they think that we gather together on a Sunday to worship an imaginary friend -- they think we are just as loony as Elwood P. Dowd
-- but, the reason they think that is because their eyes have not been opened and their hearts have not been purified and they can’t perceive the God that we see and that we know and love
-- Jesus tells us in this Beatitude, “Blessed are those who are pure in heart for they will see God”
-- may you see God today and every moment of everyday of your life
-- let us pray
SERMON: THE MEASURE OF A CHRISTIAN: BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL
THE MEASURE OF A CHRISTIAN: BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL
(The Beatitude Series)
26 June 2011
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 5:7
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
-- There is a story told about a mother who came to Napoleon on behalf of her son who was about to be executed -- The mother asked the ruler to pardon her son for his crimes -- when Napoleon heard her plea, he pointed out that it was the man's second offense and that justice demanded that her son be put to death for his crimes
-- the woman replied, "I don't ask for justice -- I plead for mercy." -- Napoleon spoke up again, "But your son doesn't deserve mercy." -- "Sir," the mother replied, "it would not be mercy if he deserved it, and mercy is all I ask." -- Her son was granted the pardon.
-- this morning, we are continuing in our sermon series on the Beatitudes that I have entitled, “The Measure of a Christian” -- as you remember, these Beatitudes are the attitudes and behaviors and attributes that we are seeking in our lives as we grow more and more like Jesus -- as we become more and more mature as Christians
-- each Beatitude that Jesus gave us represented a step of progression in our Christian lives -- we started with the call to be poor in Spirit and respond to the grace that is offered us at the cross -- next, we were made aware of our sins as we mourned them and began the arduous path of sanctification
-- we learned to experience and express the power of the Spirit in our lives through meekness -- not prideful of God’s presence in our lives -- not boastful of our position -- but power in control -- power exercised for our good and the good of others
-- and then last week, we talked about continuing growth in Christ as we realized that this Christian life is all about our relationship -- being in a right relationship with God by living lives focused on God through the power of the Spirit within us
-- this week, we are looking at the fifth Beatitude -- blessed are the merciful -- which informs us how we are to live with those around us -- especially those who have wronged us
II. Defining Mercy
-- when I was in school, one of my professors constantly quoted from Voltaire in the middle of his lectures -- he would say, “If you would converse with me, define your terms.” -- that’s pretty good advice
-- in the church we have developed this Christianese language -- we have this list of words and phrases that we use all the time and we just assume that everyone knows what they mean -- but that’s not always the case -- so, before we begin looking at this Beatitude in depth, let’s start by looking at some definitions so that we all know what we’re talking about
-- let’s start with mercy -- what is mercy? -- if you’ve been in my Bible studies, you’ve probably gotten this question thrown out at you several times
-- mercy is not getting what you deserve -- it’s really a legal term -- mercy describes a situation where you’ve done something wrong -- you’re guilty -- you deserve punishment -- but, you are let go without having to pay the price
-- “When you forget to do your homework, and your teacher lets you turn it in the next with no penalty, that's mercy -- When a police officer catches you running a stop sign and decides to let you off with a warning, that's mercy.”1
-- as Brian Wilkerson put it, “Mercy is kindness or compassion where it's not expected, because the person showing mercy is under no obligation to show it, or because the person's suffering was somehow deserved -- Mercy goes beyond what might be considered normal and natural.”
-- mercy is not justice -- it is not fair -- it is not getting what you deserve
-- mercy is often paired with grace, so I wanted to mention grace quickly before we move on -- grace is often defined as God’s unmerited favor -- a good way of thinking about grace is that while mercy is not getting what we do deserve, grace is getting what we don’t deserve
-- grace is always a gift -- it is a kindness or a blessing that we don’t expect -- that we don’t earn -- that we don’t deserve -- but we get anyway
-- mercy deals with our sins -- grace restores our relationship -- the Bible tells us that everyone of us has sinned and deserves the punishment of death for our sin
-- God showed us mercy by not punishing us for our sin and by forgiving us for what we had done
-- God showed us grace when He let the righteousness and holiness of Christ take the place of our sinful natures and restore us to a relationship with Him again
III. Mercy Displayed (Matthew 18:21-35)
-- so now that we know what mercy is, the real question before us, then, is “What does mercy look like in the life of a Christian?” -- or, to put it a little differently -- “How do we show mercy to others?”
-- Jesus says here, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”
-- What does that look like?
-- I think to really answer this, we need to look at another passage of Scripture -- if you would, flip over to Matthew 18, and let’s look at verses 21-35
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
-- before we start talking about this passage in depth, let me give you the background and context so you’ll know what’s going on -- remember what I’ve said -- you have to always interpret and understand scripture in context -- and I would encourage you to go back and read the rest of this passage in detail because it will help you really understand what is going on here
-- this passage is found within a larger teaching by Jesus on sin and forgiveness from sin
-- Jesus begins by warning His disciples to avoid sin and to be careful that their actions don't lead anyone else into sin -- especially children and little ones in the faith -- "Don't be the person who causes someone else to fall," He tells them -- and then He turns to the subject of forgiveness
-- first, Jesus talks about how the Father forgives all of those who have sinned against Him -- He tells them the parable of the lost sheep and says that God will not let even one sinner get away without offering His forgiveness -- His forgiveness is so great that He'll leave the 99 to go get the one who has wandered off
-- and then, Jesus teaches His disciples that they should forgive that way as well -- "when someone sins against you," He says, "work it out between you -- offer God's forgiveness to them and forgive them of what they have done"
-- which brings us to verse 21 and Peter's question on the subject of forgiveness -- keep in mind that to forgive is to show mercy to another person
-- look back at verse 21
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
-- now Peter has been standing there listening to all of Jesus' teachings on sin and forgiveness -- and it seems like he just wants to puff himself up before the others -- he's trying to establish himself as the leader and as the one who really gets it -- who really understands what Jesus has been saying -- so he turns to Jesus and asks, "how many times should I forgive someone who sins against me -- even up to seven times?"
-- you get the sense that Peter is fishing for a compliment -- I think that he hoped that Jesus would praise him for his question -- you see, the Talmud -- the teachings of the rabbis based on the Old Testament law -- said that you only had to forgive someone three times -- the fourth time, it was up to you how to respond -- you could forgive them or you could hold it against them
-- Peter is, in essence, saying to Jesus -- "Look how holy and merciful I am -- I would forgive someone not just three times -- but all the way up to seven times -- isn't that the right way to do it?"
-- but Peter doesn’t get the response from Jesus that he expected
-- verse 22
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
-- you can almost sense the humor in Jesus' reply -- "Peter, not seven times but seventy-seven times" -- some translations say "seventy times seven times" -- this was an enormous number -- the only way you could do that would be to carry a book around with you and keep track of how many times someone wronged you
-- Jesus was trying to make a point -- your forgiveness to others should be like the Father's -- the Father doesn't keep track of how many times you sin and how many times you come before Him -- He doesn't quit forgiving you at three or seven or seventy-seven -- He forgives every time -- and so should you -- in other words, Jesus is saying, "don't limit your forgiveness but let it flow out of your heart without ceasing" -- be merciful to others
-- to make His point, Jesus then told a story -- a parable -- to help everyone understand what mercy and forgiveness looks like -- verse 23
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
-- every sin that we commit is a debt to God -- as David said in Psalm 51, "Against you and you only have I sinned" -- all of our sins are stacking up against us as a debt against God -- borrowing against His mercy -- and at some point, that debt is going to have to be paid -- He's going to settle His accounts with us
-- verse 24
24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
-- so Jesus gives us the picture of a man who owes a lot of money to the king -- ten thousand talents in today's money would be somewhere between one and ten million dollars -- we're talking about a lot of money here -- this is not just some pittance -- this is significant
-- this debt that he owed is like the sin debt that we have racked up before God -- the number of sins that we commit in our lifetime just grows larger and larger and larger until they reach an amount that we never could hope to repay
-- so, when the king brought this man before him and demanded to be paid, there was nothing this man could do -- he couldn’t pay that sum back -- he fell to his knees and begged for mercy
-- the king listened to this man as he pleaded for mercy -- he understood the man’s hopeless situation -- there was no way he was going to work off that debt, try as he might -- and so the king had pity on the man and showed him mercy and grace
-- mercy -- not giving him what he deserved -- not selling the man and his wife and his children into slavery to repay the debt like he deserved -- and grace -- giving him what he did not deserve -- wiping the man's debt totally clean -- marking the account "paid in full"
-- what a beautiful picture of the forgiveness of the King -- of the mercy and the grace of God through Christ Jesus -- forgiving us a debt so great that we could never hope to repay it -- no matter how long we worked -- no matter how many sacrifices we made
-- verse 28
28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’
30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
-- now this fellow who has been forgiven a debt of over one million dollars goes out and finds a fellow servant who owes him only a hundred denarii -- that's less than $100 -- and he demands that the servant pay him back immediately -- and when he can't, he has him thrown into prison until the debt is paid back in full
-- the one who was shown mercy has shows none to another -- the one who was shown grace offers none to another
-- verse 31
31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
-- the master calls this man a "wicked" servant -- not wicked because he had accrued a debt of over a million dollars -- but wicked because he has refused to show mercy to another
-- after being forgiven so great a debt, how could this man not forgive such a lesser debt owed him? -- and so the king has the man thrown into prison to be tortured until he can pay back all of the money he originally owed
-- now look at Jesus' final summary of this parable and of all His teachings on the topic of forgiveness -- verse 35
35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
-- this parable makes it clear -- as a Christian, we have a duty to forgive -- it is not a choice, but a requirement -- if we are going to enjoy the forgiveness of God for the sins that we have committed against Him, then we have to extend His forgiveness to those who sin against us -- to those who hurt us -- especially to those we are in a relationship with
-- blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy
IV. Closing
-- as Ray Stedman puts it, "Not a day goes by but that we do not stand in desperate need of the forgiving word of the great King -- Again and again he cancels out the debt as we come in our guilt and abandon, in the consciousness that we have terribly failed, hearing anew the tender forgiving word
-- "And yet, when someone offends us, how quickly we revert to the basis of justice and start demanding, "Pay me what you owe." -- "I demand an apology." -- "Give me my rights." -- "Let me have what's coming to me." -- "Treat me like I deserve." -- "I demand to be treated with respect."
-- how many times do we utter such words? -- how many times do we joyfully receive the grace and mercy and forgiveness of God but turn in anger and unforgiveness against our brother and sister?
-- blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy -- in this Beatitude, Jesus calls us to a different way -- He tells us to stop living according to the pattern of this world -- to stop doing what the world would expect and demand us to do -- and to start doing what God would want us to do
-- be merciful, Jesus says -- when others wrong you -- when others do things that demands justice -- show mercy because of the mercy you have already experienced and the mercy that you continue to enjoy
-- In one of his radio spots, Chuck Colson tells a story from Iraq about a U.S. triage facility that was doing its best to save the lives of two Iraqi insurgents -- these men had been wounded in an attack against U.S. soldiers, but they had been carried from the battlefield to the hospital by the soldiers
-- The medical team had done everything possible to save the lives of the insurgents, but one of them was not going to survive unless he got 30 pints of blood, which this triage unit did not have on hand
-- The call went out through the facility for volunteer donors, and within minutes, dozens of American soldiers had lined up to donate blood -- At the head of the line was a battle-hardened soldier named Brian -- When a reporter asked if it mattered to him that he was giving his blood to an enemy soldier, Brian replied, "A human life is a human life."
-- That's a picture of mercy in action -- unexpected kindness to a person who doesn’t deserve it -- forgiveness to those who have wronged you
-- blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy
-- let us pray
References:
1[Bryan Wilkerson, pastor of Grace Chapel in Lexington, Massachusetts, http://www.preachingtoday.com/sermons/sermons/2008/september/changeofheart5.html?start=1]
SERMON: THE MEASURE OF A CHRISTIAN: BLESSED ARE THOSE
THE MEASURE OF A CHRISTIAN: BLESSED ARE THOSE
WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS
(The Beatitude Series)
19 June 2011
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 5
1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
-- Socrates was a renowned philosopher in ancient Greece -- he was known world-wide for his wisdom and understanding of life -- one day, a devoted follower of Socrates came to him and said, “I want to know as much as you -- how do I become wise?”
-- Socrates led the man to the ocean and as they stood on the shore watching the waves roll in, he asked the man, “What do you want?” -- the man said, “I want knowledge”
-- Socrates led the man into the water until it was chest deep and he paused in the breaking waves and asked the man, “What do you want?” -- the man said again, “I want knowledge”
-- Immediately, Socrates grabbed the man and plunged him underneath the water -- The man struggled to free himself, but Socrates kept his head submerged -- Finally, after much effort, the man was able to break loose and emerge from the water
-- Socrates then asked, “When you thought you were drowning, what one thing did you want most of all?” -- Still gasping for breath, the man exclaimed, “I wanted air!”
-- Socrates paused for a moment and then wisely commented, “When you want knowledge as much as you wanted air, then you will get it!” (Adapted from Our Daily Bread, RBC Ministries)
-- Jesus tells us here in the fourth Beatitude that this concept of Socrates is true for righteousness, as well -- look back with me at verse 6
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
-- in other words, Jesus is saying that when we want righteousness as much as a drowning man wants air, we will find it -- when we want righteousness as much as a starving man wants food or a thirsty man wants water, then we will find it
-- when righteousness and holiness become the overwhelming desire of our heart -- when they become all that we want and all that we need and all that we seek -- then we will find it
--as we continue in our sermon series on the Beatitudes, we are going to be exploring this concept of desiring righteousness in our lives
-- this Beatitude builds on the first three and continue to move us higher and higher on the ladder of faith -- helping us to become more and more like Jesus as we seek His presence and desire His power in our lives
-- in a very real sense, this Beatitude is the first test of our devotion to Christ -- previously, we talked about how each Beatitude led us to begin living a life with God
-- first, we are poor in spirit -- aware of our need for a Savior -- aware that we need forgiveness and salvation at the cross
-- next, we mourn our sins as we become aware of the depth of our sinfulness and of the vast gulf between us and God -- we realize that we can’t do it on our own -- we can’t live this life in our own power
-- which leads us to the third Beatitude -- realizing the power of God within us -- exercising the power of the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to start us on the path of holiness and righteousness
-- in this fourth Beatitude -- blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness -- we are confronted with the question, “Are we progressing in our spiritual lives?” -- this Beatitude asks us to pause and think about how we are living and what we are living for -- what do we spend our time and energy on? -- what desires fill our hearts? -- what drives us on a daily basis? -- are we seeking after God or are we still following the ways of this world?
-- so, let’s look at this Beatitude now and see what we can learn about living for God on a daily basis?
II. Righteousness
-- let’s start by thinking a moment about righteousness -- Jesus tells us here, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
-- what is righteousness? -- that is a common word in the Bible -- both in the Old Testament and the New Testament -- we use it a lot in our churches -- we sing about it in our hymns -- we read about it in our devotions -- but what is it? -- what does that word really mean? -- what does Jesus mean when He tells us to hunger and thirst after righteousness?
-- really, Jesus means two things -- first, He means that we hunger and thirst after a right relationship with God -- we seek to be right with God
-- I think most of us here have been in a relationship of some kind -- whether it’s a romantic relationship or just a friendship with another person -- and I guarantee you, at some point in that relationship, you had a fight -- you got into an argument -- something happened -- somebody did something wrong or said something wrong and the other person got hurt
-- and what happened to the relationship at that moment? -- it suffered, didn’t it? -- it was strained -- it was broken -- it wasn’t right
-- and what had to happen to make that relationship right again? -- the person who messed up had to make amends -- they had to apologize or buy flowers or whatever it took to repair the hurt and to make that relationship right again
-- that’s what Jesus means here by righteousness -- we are all called to be in a right relationship with God -- but when sin comes into our life, it damages that relationship -- God cannot be where sin is -- and until we deal with that sin -- until we take steps to get that sin out of our life, our relationship is broken -- it’s not right
-- we make it right by believing that Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross and asking Him to forgive us for our sins -- we apologize for what we have done and we ask Jesus to make amends for our sins with His body and His blood -- and that puts us back into a right relationship with God -- that’s part of what He means here when He says that those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are blessed
-- the second part of righteousness is keeping that relationship from getting broken again -- and how do we do that? -- by being true and faithful to God -- by living holy lives -- by doing the right things -- the things that God wants us to do and staying away from sin and temptation
-- to be righteous means that we try to live lives of integrity and character and holiness -- that we try to live the way God wants us to live so that our relationship with Him grows stronger everyday
III. Hungering and Thirsting for God
-- that’s what Jesus means by the word, “righteousness,” in this Beatitude
-- which leads us to the next question -- how? -- how do we become righteous? -- how do we stay righteous? -- how do we keep our relationship with God right?
-- one night at a campfire, an old native American was teaching the younger generation about the inner struggles that he had dealt with in his life -- he told them that inside of him were two dogs -- one of the dogs was mean and evil -- the other dog was good -- and they fought constantly for control of his life
-- when the young men around the campfire asked him which dog wins, the old man paused a moment and said, “the one I feed the most”
-- it’s the same way with us in our daily lives -- every day we wake up with desires in our heart -- we have wants and wishes -- we have needs to be met
-- in this Beatitude, Jesus uses the analogy of a person who is hungry or thirsty to describe what it is like to have a desire in your life -- the point He is trying to get across here is that our desires are natural -- they are good -- they have their source in God Himself
-- think about it like this -- why do we get hungry and thirsty? -- because our body needs food and water to survive -- God put this desire in us because He knew it was something that we needed -- hunger and thirst are good things, because they remind us to get food and water so that we can live
-- all of the desires that you have are things that God knows you need -- things like food and water -- things like relationships and marriage and sex -- things like houses and possessions and jobs -- things like spiritual satisfaction -- all of these are desires that God has put in us because He knows that we need them to live and to be happy
-- problems come only when we seek to fill our God-given desires in ungodly ways
-- this Beatitude forces us to ask the question, “where do we go to have our desires met? -- where do we go seeking to be filled and satisfied?”
-- really, there are only two choices -- we can go to God or we can go to the world
-- if we go to God, then our desires will be met in Godly, righteous ways and our relationship with Him will be good
-- if we go to the world, then our desires will be met in ungodly ways, and our relationships with God and with others may be strained or broken
-- think about food again -- how many of you have ever been shopping at Walmart for groceries? -- have you ever noticed how the stores are laid out? -- to get to the fruits and vegetables, what do you have to do? -- walk past rows of freshly baked doughnuts and cakes
-- to get to the milk and dairy section, what do you have to do? -- walk past displays and end caps with potato chips and cokes and cookies
-- why is that? -- because the store knows that, not only are these doughnuts and potato chips more expensive than healthy food, but that they won’t satisfy -- potato chips may taste good and take away your hunger for a moment, but they won’t meet your nutritional needs like a healthy meal -- and in just a little while, you’ll get hungry again and you’ll come back and you’ll buy more -- that’s their goal
-- it’s the same way with getting your desires met -- you’ve got two choices -- you’ve got the world and you’ve got God -- you can either choose to let God meet your desires in His healthy ways, or you can give in to temptation and try to get your needs filled in ungodly and unhealthy ways
IV. Filled with the Presence of God
-- in the context of this Beatitude, Jesus is not only talking about the physical desires and needs that we have, but also our spiritual desires and needs -- God made us with this place in our heart that can only be filled by His presence
-- as David wrote in Psalm 42:1-2, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
-- God put this desire in our heart to want Him -- He wants us to hunger and thirst for His presence -- to desire Him and a relationship with Him more than anything else that this world has to offer
-- and, when we choose Him over this world -- when He is our desire -- our all-in-all -- when He is what we are seeking more than anything else -- He promises that we will be filled
-- filled with what? -- obviously not food and drink -- but filled with the presence and power of Christ in our lives
-- filled with the very righteousness and holiness of God as the Holy Spirit works in our lives -- from the inside out -- to help us to become holy as God is holy
-- in the church, we call this sanctification -- that’s just a ten-dollar term that means that we are becoming more and more like Jesus everyday -- this means that we are not only following Jesus, but we’re starting to act like Jesus -- we’re starting to think like Jesus -- we’re starting to look like Jesus
-- this means that in our daily lives, we are showing those around us the same love that Jesus showed to those in His day -- this means that we are choosing to walk past the displays of doughnuts and potato chips and all the other temptations that the world throws at us and we are choosing to follow God and to follow His ways
-- this means that we are living for Him -- not just on Sundays -- but everyday
-- think about what this Beatitude says -- blessed are those who hunger -- blessed are those who thirst -- those are active words -- those are words that indicate this is an on-going situation -- right now -- this moment and every moment -- we are hungering and thirsting for God -- we are seeking His presence and His ways and choosing to follow Him, forsaking all others
-- this isn’t something that we do one time and get the t-shirt and go home -- no, this is something that becomes a part of us -- just like breathing -- it’s something that we do without even thinking about it -- it becomes our reason for living -- it becomes our life
-- remember that I said that this Beatitude is a good test of your relationship with God -- of the depths of righteousness that you have obtained
-- if you are truly hungering and thirsting for righteousness -- if you are truly hungering and thirsting for God in your life and are walking in His ways -- then you should see a change -- you should be able to look back on your life six months -- one year -- five years ago -- and be able to say, “I’m better than I was then -- I’m more righteous than I was then -- I’m more holy than I was then”
-- when we hunger and thirst after righteousness, God promises to meet us and to fill us with His presence so that we might continue to grow in grace and to become more and more like His Son, Jesus
V. Closing
-- C.S. Lewis wrote, “We are half hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us
-- like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a [vacation at the beach], we are far too easily pleased”
-- it is too easy to go through this life chasing what the world has to offer while ignoring the true gifts that God has waiting
-- too many of us waste our time and our energy and our resources by trying to have our wants and wishes and our desires and needs met by this world rather than by our Creator
-- Jesus tells us that is we would turn our eyes from the glitter and glamour of this world and would instead hunger and thirst and chase after God, that He would fill our lives with His power and His presence and His glory
-- this Beatitude tells us that the path to a full life does not lay in the temporary satisfactions of this world but in the righteousness of God
-- joy comes from being in a right relationship with God and from living life according to His plan and His will
-- so, as we close in prayer, let me encourage you to take a moment and think about where you are in your life -- are you making mud pies in a slum instead of enjoying a vacation at the beach? -- are you gorging on potato chips rather than feasting on the riches of God’s heavenly banquet? -- are you living the life that God wants you to live?
-- if not, then I want to encourage you to chase after God -- to hunger and thirst for His righteousness -- so that you will be filled and satisfied and happy living in God’s presence
-- come to Him now -- turn to Him -- for the forgiveness of your sins -- for new life with Him -- and for a change that will last forever
-- let us pray
SERMON: THE MEASURE OF A CHRISTIAN: BLESSED ARE THE MEEK
THE MEASURE OF A CHRISTIAN: BLESSED ARE THE MEEK
(The Beatitude Series)
12 June 2011
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 5
1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
-- when I was a kid, the circus came to town -- this wasn’t a big circus -- this wasn’t like the Ringling Brothers or Barnum and Bailey -- this was one of those tiny little circuses that made the route through the smallest communities around the country
-- I remember when it rolled into town -- it set up in an open area south of Adel -- with one large tent and a few smaller tents and the ubiquitous carnival stands with games of chance that no one ever seemed to win at
-- I was probably only about 5 or 6 years old -- and I don’t remember a great deal about the circus -- but the one thing I do remember is the elephant -- this was the first time I ever really saw an elephant in person
-- this circus just had one elephant -- and when it wasn’t in the tent doing its act, they had it tied up outside the tent for people to look at -- I was amazed at this large creature -- how powerful it was -- at the quiet strength that was hidden right below the surface -- it’s one thing to see an elephant on TV -- it’s another thing to be that close to an elephant in person
-- you just knew that this animal could break loose if it wanted -- the only thing that kept it in place was a metal stake driven into the ground and a chain that went from the stake and around the elephant’s foot -- even at my young age, I knew that that chain and stake couldn’t hold that elephant if it wanted to leave -- it was too strong -- it was only the power of the relationship between the trainer and the elephant that made it stay there enduring the gazes of little boys and girls
-- this elephant is a perfect example of the Beatitude that we are going to be discussing this morning -- today, we are continuing in our sermon series on the Beatitudes and are going to be looking at the third Beatitude -- Matthew 5:5
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
-- as you remember, we can think of these Beatitudes as rungs on the ladder of faith -- as the steps to Christian maturity as we seek to become true disciples of Christ -- a disciple isn’t just someone who follows Jesus -- a disciple is someone who takes upon themselves the very nature and character of Christ as they follow Him and learn from His example
-- the first step towards a mature faith in Christ is seen in the first Beatitude -- blessed are the poor in spirit -- we cannot begin our spiritual journey of faith until we become aware of our spiritual condition -- until we become aware of our need for a Savior
-- the second Beatitude -- blessed are they who mourn -- calls us to become aware of our sinfulness and of the depth of forgiveness that Jesus showed us from the cross -- as we discussed last week, knowing how great a sinner we are leads us to mourn over our sin and to rejoice over the fact of just how great a Savior we have
-- the next step to spiritual maturity is encompassed by today’s topic -- the third beatitude -- blessed are the meek
-- as we go through this series, the one thing I hope that you are starting to recognize is the supernatural quality of these characteristics -- by calling us to live counter to the ways of the world -- by calling us to live counter to our natural inclinations and our natural way of thinking and living -- Jesus is asking us to do something and to be something that we cannot do or be on our own
-- we cannot simply choose to become poor in spirit -- we have to respond to a call from God to do so -- we have to respond to His prevenient grace -- the grace that calls us to move from where we are to the cross of Calvary -- it is a supernatural act of God that creates in us the condition that Jesus calls “poor in spirit”
-- in the same way, we cannot simply choose to become aware of our sinful nature and mourn our condition and our sin -- it is a supernatural awakening to the fact of who we are and how we compare to a holy God
-- and, in the same sense, we cannot simply choose to become meek -- we become meek only when God gives us the power to truly submit ourselves to Him -- body, mind, and spirit -- and we respond to His call and willingly place ourselves under His lordship
II. Meekness
-- so, as we begin this discussion of the third Beatitude -- let’s start with the question, “What is meekness? -- when you hear the word, ‘meek,’ what comes to mind?”
-- in preparing for this message, I read an article where the author went out into the street with a tape recorder and asked this question to a lot of people who were passing by on the street
-- “What does the word, ‘meek,’ mean?” -- invariably, the answer came back the same -- almost to a person, each of them said that meekness was the same thing as weakness -- to be meek was to be weak -- wimpy -- cowardly -- frail -- afraid
-- that is what this word has come to mean in our day and age -- but that is not the true biblical definition of what it means to be meek -- think about the people that the Bible lifts up as being meek men
-- Numbers 12:3 - “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” -- is Moses someone you would call weak or cowardly or frail? -- think about what this man did -- at the age of 80, he stood in front of Pharaoh -- the most powerful leader in the world -- and pointed his finger at him and said, “Thus saith the Lord, let my people go” -- it was Moses who led the people out of Egypt and through the Red Sea with the entire Egyptian army hot on their heels -- it was Moses who brought them to the edge of the Promised Land -- who led them in the wilderness -- we served as their judge and their leader and their visionary -- who planned their battles and led them to victory against those nations who tried to destroy them
-- does this sound like a weak or cowardly man? -- no -- and yet the Bible tells us he was very meek, meeker than any other man on the face of the earth
-- who else? -- turn over to Matthew 11:29
Matthew 11:29 -- Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
-- the KJV translates Jesus as saying “for I am meek and lowly of heart” -- Jesus called Himself meek -- and there is no way you can call Jesus weak or cowardly or afraid
-- even before you get to the cross and the fact that Jesus willingly carried His own instrument of death to Golgotha and willingly sacrificed Himself for us, think about what Jesus did as a man
-- while others around Him fled in the presence of people who were possessed by demons, Jesus looked evil in the eye and commanded a whole legion of demons to come out of the man at Gerasenes and to leave him alone
-- Jesus went into the temple and turned over the tables of the money changers -- He made a whip out of cords and ran those merchants out of God’s house
-- He associated with the dregs of society -- with the sinners and the tax collectors and the murderers and thieves -- with those people that good society would have nothing to do with out of fear
-- He was friends with prostitutes and priests -- and He stood toe-to-toe against the Pharisees and the religious leaders, calling them out for the wrong they were doing
-- does this sound like the actions of a weak and cowardly man? -- not at all -- so meekness is not weakness -- a meek man is not wimply or girly or cowardly or afraid
-- the true definition of meekness is great power under control -- the submittal of your power and your nature and your will to another person
-- think about that elephant I told you about -- that elephant was much stronger than its trainer -- it was more powerful than that little chain that held it in the ground -- if it had wanted to, it could have ripped that stake up and took off down the street -- but it didn’t -- it was meek -- it submitted its will to another -- and its great power was under control
-- other ways to describe meekness are humbleness -- being lowly of spirit -- being gentle -- to be meek means that you are strong and you know it, but you have surrendered your strength to another
-- the true measure of meekness comes through our relationships with others -- meekness is expressed through how we treat those around us -- to be meek means that we move past the point where anger and bitterness and hatred rule our lives -- meekness is curbing the "natural" desires to rebel, fight, and have our own way -- to push ourselves forward and to demand our right and what we should be getting
-- to be meek is to be kind and considerate to others, even to those who oppose us -- to be meek is to be easily approachable, not prideful or resentful, not temperamental or harsh -- to be meek is to submit your will to the Lord so that you might act like Jesus in all situations
-- in other words, when you exhibiting meekness, you are making a choice to respond rather than to react -- you are choosing to express love and respect and grace rather than anger or harshness or pride
-- the greatest definition of meekness is the description of Jesus that we read in Philippians 2:5-8
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
-- Jesus demonstrated the attitude of meekness when He chose to lay aside His power and His glory and came to earth to be one of us -- the Creator of the universe willingly became a baby in a manger -- and during His time here on earth, He never once demanded what was rightfully His as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords -- through His life, Jesus showed us the true image of meekness -- power under control and submission to the Father’s will
-- don’t miss how radical a concept this was to everyone in first century Palestine
-- the Jews were very proud of their heritage and their race -- they were proud of their position as God’s chosen people -- and this was instilled in them at birth
-- think about the Romans -- they took great pride in their power -- they were the greatest empire in that time -- they ruled the known world
-- we’re not that different from them today, are we? -- as American Christians, we are proud of our country -- proud of our heritage -- we rejoice in the fact that we are the world’s last remaining superpower -- we have a swagger in our step
-- and even in our personal lives, we are told that the way to get ahead is to promote yourself -- to become a self-made man -- to become strong -- to rise to the top -- to go for the gold
-- this is what we are taught -- this is what we strive for -- this is what the people we admire look like
-- but, Jesus comes and says, “let me show you a different way” -- blessed are the meek
-- blessed are those who don’t express their strength -- blessed are those who aren’t prideful -- who don’t demand their own way -- who don’t fight for their rights -- blessed are those who submit to the will of God -- blessed are the meek
-- it goes against logic -- it goes against everything that we know and everything that we have been taught -- it basically comes down to this
-- we accept Jesus as our Savior when we come to the cross -- when we ask Him to forgive our sins and to give us eternal life -- no one has a problem with Jesus as Savior
-- but, when Jesus calls us to be meek -- when He calls us to lay aside our strength and our power in order to allow God’s will to be done -- He is calling us to make Him Lord -- He is telling us to choose whether we are going to be the god of our lives or if we are going to let Him be God -- He is calling for us to let Him make all the decisions -- He is calling for us to say, “not my will, but yours be done” -- and that is hard
-- but, to be a Christian -- to be a mature Christian -- a true disciple of Christ who not only follows Jesus but takes up the character and nature of Jesus -- then this is the next step -- we have to submit our will to His and allow Jesus to not only be Savior but to be Lord
-- and the reward for this, Jesus tells us, is that we will inherit the earth
III. Inherit the Earth
-- what does it mean to inherit the earth? -- it is simple a recognition of the state of mind that accompanies the Godly characteristic of meekness
-- a meek person is satisfied -- content -- joyful in their position with the Lord despite their position on earth
-- in Philippians 4:11-12, Paul wrote, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. -- I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. -- I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” -- and that secret? -- Paul tells us in verse 13, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me”
-- when you walk through this life without having the burden of chasing after the American dream -- without running to the end of each rainbow looking for the pot of gold -- without striving for everything that the world tells us makes a person full and complete -- then you have truly arrived
-- you can enjoy life -- while the world is running around, you can sit and rest in the presence of God because you know that you have all things in Him -- that every need is being met -- and that He is with you and His presence fills you
-- to inherit the earth means that you get the best out of life -- right here -- right now
-- there is also a future component to this promise from Jesus -- while a meek person goes through this life satisfied and contented, this is also a promise for eternity -- for the future inheritance that we will receive when Jesus comes again and His Kingdom is established
-- the Bible tells us that when Jesus returns, there will be a new earth -- an earth established, not on the principles that drive it now -- not on pride and wealth and power -- but on the Kingdom principles of love and grace and mercy
-- the glimpse of peace and contentment that a meek person realizes now will be truly expressed in the new earth as we enjoy God’s presence forever
IV. Closing
-- so, how do we become meek?
-- the answer is easy, but not easy to do -- the simple answer is...we surrender
-- we surrender ourselves -- our hearts -- our minds -- our will -- our strength -- to God
-- as John the Baptist put it -- we decrease so that Christ might increase
-- this is not an easy thing to do -- this is really not even possible for us as humans -- this is only supernaturally possible -- so this means that we depend on the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit within us to make it happen
-- it begins with the first choice to surrender -- to lay aside our wants and our wishes and to submit our will to God -- to become meek, we have to first choose to let Jesus be the Lord of our life -- and we have to choose to go against our nature and our flesh and say, “not my will, but yours be done”
-- secondly, you cultivate a relationship of faith and trust with God -- as you walk with God on a daily basis -- as you become more mature in your faith, you will naturally begin to trust Him more and more as you see how He has been with you and worked on your behalf in the past
-- look for the fingerprints of God in your life -- keep track of the ways that God has moved and has made a difference -- and then choose to let Him do so again and again and again instead of always demanding your way and your will be done
-- finally, we measure ourselves in our relationships with others -- before you react to another person, take a moment to think about that old cliché -- What Would Jesus Do?
-- when someone says something against you -- when someone hurts you -- think, “how would Jesus react?” -- would He react with anger -- with harsh words -- with cutting comments -- or would He respond with love and kindness and grace?
-- and then you respond in the way you think Jesus would
-- as R.K. Hughes wrote, the ultimate "test as to whether we are truly meek is not whether we can say we are poor sinners, but rather what we do when someone else calls us vile sinners.” -- your response displays the level of meekness and humbleness in your heart
-- if we are to be disciples of Christ -- if we are to become mature in our faith -- then we must seek to have the same mind and attitude that He displayed on earth -- Jesus modeled meekness for us with His life -- and we must strive to do the same with ours
-- let us pray
(The Beatitude Series)
12 June 2011
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 5
1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them.
He said:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
-- when I was a kid, the circus came to town -- this wasn’t a big circus -- this wasn’t like the Ringling Brothers or Barnum and Bailey -- this was one of those tiny little circuses that made the route through the smallest communities around the country
-- I remember when it rolled into town -- it set up in an open area south of Adel -- with one large tent and a few smaller tents and the ubiquitous carnival stands with games of chance that no one ever seemed to win at
-- I was probably only about 5 or 6 years old -- and I don’t remember a great deal about the circus -- but the one thing I do remember is the elephant -- this was the first time I ever really saw an elephant in person
-- this circus just had one elephant -- and when it wasn’t in the tent doing its act, they had it tied up outside the tent for people to look at -- I was amazed at this large creature -- how powerful it was -- at the quiet strength that was hidden right below the surface -- it’s one thing to see an elephant on TV -- it’s another thing to be that close to an elephant in person
-- you just knew that this animal could break loose if it wanted -- the only thing that kept it in place was a metal stake driven into the ground and a chain that went from the stake and around the elephant’s foot -- even at my young age, I knew that that chain and stake couldn’t hold that elephant if it wanted to leave -- it was too strong -- it was only the power of the relationship between the trainer and the elephant that made it stay there enduring the gazes of little boys and girls
-- this elephant is a perfect example of the Beatitude that we are going to be discussing this morning -- today, we are continuing in our sermon series on the Beatitudes and are going to be looking at the third Beatitude -- Matthew 5:5
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
-- as you remember, we can think of these Beatitudes as rungs on the ladder of faith -- as the steps to Christian maturity as we seek to become true disciples of Christ -- a disciple isn’t just someone who follows Jesus -- a disciple is someone who takes upon themselves the very nature and character of Christ as they follow Him and learn from His example
-- the first step towards a mature faith in Christ is seen in the first Beatitude -- blessed are the poor in spirit -- we cannot begin our spiritual journey of faith until we become aware of our spiritual condition -- until we become aware of our need for a Savior
-- the second Beatitude -- blessed are they who mourn -- calls us to become aware of our sinfulness and of the depth of forgiveness that Jesus showed us from the cross -- as we discussed last week, knowing how great a sinner we are leads us to mourn over our sin and to rejoice over the fact of just how great a Savior we have
-- the next step to spiritual maturity is encompassed by today’s topic -- the third beatitude -- blessed are the meek
-- as we go through this series, the one thing I hope that you are starting to recognize is the supernatural quality of these characteristics -- by calling us to live counter to the ways of the world -- by calling us to live counter to our natural inclinations and our natural way of thinking and living -- Jesus is asking us to do something and to be something that we cannot do or be on our own
-- we cannot simply choose to become poor in spirit -- we have to respond to a call from God to do so -- we have to respond to His prevenient grace -- the grace that calls us to move from where we are to the cross of Calvary -- it is a supernatural act of God that creates in us the condition that Jesus calls “poor in spirit”
-- in the same way, we cannot simply choose to become aware of our sinful nature and mourn our condition and our sin -- it is a supernatural awakening to the fact of who we are and how we compare to a holy God
-- and, in the same sense, we cannot simply choose to become meek -- we become meek only when God gives us the power to truly submit ourselves to Him -- body, mind, and spirit -- and we respond to His call and willingly place ourselves under His lordship
II. Meekness
-- so, as we begin this discussion of the third Beatitude -- let’s start with the question, “What is meekness? -- when you hear the word, ‘meek,’ what comes to mind?”
-- in preparing for this message, I read an article where the author went out into the street with a tape recorder and asked this question to a lot of people who were passing by on the street
-- “What does the word, ‘meek,’ mean?” -- invariably, the answer came back the same -- almost to a person, each of them said that meekness was the same thing as weakness -- to be meek was to be weak -- wimpy -- cowardly -- frail -- afraid
-- that is what this word has come to mean in our day and age -- but that is not the true biblical definition of what it means to be meek -- think about the people that the Bible lifts up as being meek men
-- Numbers 12:3 - “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” -- is Moses someone you would call weak or cowardly or frail? -- think about what this man did -- at the age of 80, he stood in front of Pharaoh -- the most powerful leader in the world -- and pointed his finger at him and said, “Thus saith the Lord, let my people go” -- it was Moses who led the people out of Egypt and through the Red Sea with the entire Egyptian army hot on their heels -- it was Moses who brought them to the edge of the Promised Land -- who led them in the wilderness -- we served as their judge and their leader and their visionary -- who planned their battles and led them to victory against those nations who tried to destroy them
-- does this sound like a weak or cowardly man? -- no -- and yet the Bible tells us he was very meek, meeker than any other man on the face of the earth
-- who else? -- turn over to Matthew 11:29
Matthew 11:29 -- Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
-- the KJV translates Jesus as saying “for I am meek and lowly of heart” -- Jesus called Himself meek -- and there is no way you can call Jesus weak or cowardly or afraid
-- even before you get to the cross and the fact that Jesus willingly carried His own instrument of death to Golgotha and willingly sacrificed Himself for us, think about what Jesus did as a man
-- while others around Him fled in the presence of people who were possessed by demons, Jesus looked evil in the eye and commanded a whole legion of demons to come out of the man at Gerasenes and to leave him alone
-- Jesus went into the temple and turned over the tables of the money changers -- He made a whip out of cords and ran those merchants out of God’s house
-- He associated with the dregs of society -- with the sinners and the tax collectors and the murderers and thieves -- with those people that good society would have nothing to do with out of fear
-- He was friends with prostitutes and priests -- and He stood toe-to-toe against the Pharisees and the religious leaders, calling them out for the wrong they were doing
-- does this sound like the actions of a weak and cowardly man? -- not at all -- so meekness is not weakness -- a meek man is not wimply or girly or cowardly or afraid
-- the true definition of meekness is great power under control -- the submittal of your power and your nature and your will to another person
-- think about that elephant I told you about -- that elephant was much stronger than its trainer -- it was more powerful than that little chain that held it in the ground -- if it had wanted to, it could have ripped that stake up and took off down the street -- but it didn’t -- it was meek -- it submitted its will to another -- and its great power was under control
-- other ways to describe meekness are humbleness -- being lowly of spirit -- being gentle -- to be meek means that you are strong and you know it, but you have surrendered your strength to another
-- the true measure of meekness comes through our relationships with others -- meekness is expressed through how we treat those around us -- to be meek means that we move past the point where anger and bitterness and hatred rule our lives -- meekness is curbing the "natural" desires to rebel, fight, and have our own way -- to push ourselves forward and to demand our right and what we should be getting
-- to be meek is to be kind and considerate to others, even to those who oppose us -- to be meek is to be easily approachable, not prideful or resentful, not temperamental or harsh -- to be meek is to submit your will to the Lord so that you might act like Jesus in all situations
-- in other words, when you exhibiting meekness, you are making a choice to respond rather than to react -- you are choosing to express love and respect and grace rather than anger or harshness or pride
-- the greatest definition of meekness is the description of Jesus that we read in Philippians 2:5-8
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
-- Jesus demonstrated the attitude of meekness when He chose to lay aside His power and His glory and came to earth to be one of us -- the Creator of the universe willingly became a baby in a manger -- and during His time here on earth, He never once demanded what was rightfully His as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords -- through His life, Jesus showed us the true image of meekness -- power under control and submission to the Father’s will
-- don’t miss how radical a concept this was to everyone in first century Palestine
-- the Jews were very proud of their heritage and their race -- they were proud of their position as God’s chosen people -- and this was instilled in them at birth
-- think about the Romans -- they took great pride in their power -- they were the greatest empire in that time -- they ruled the known world
-- we’re not that different from them today, are we? -- as American Christians, we are proud of our country -- proud of our heritage -- we rejoice in the fact that we are the world’s last remaining superpower -- we have a swagger in our step
-- and even in our personal lives, we are told that the way to get ahead is to promote yourself -- to become a self-made man -- to become strong -- to rise to the top -- to go for the gold
-- this is what we are taught -- this is what we strive for -- this is what the people we admire look like
-- but, Jesus comes and says, “let me show you a different way” -- blessed are the meek
-- blessed are those who don’t express their strength -- blessed are those who aren’t prideful -- who don’t demand their own way -- who don’t fight for their rights -- blessed are those who submit to the will of God -- blessed are the meek
-- it goes against logic -- it goes against everything that we know and everything that we have been taught -- it basically comes down to this
-- we accept Jesus as our Savior when we come to the cross -- when we ask Him to forgive our sins and to give us eternal life -- no one has a problem with Jesus as Savior
-- but, when Jesus calls us to be meek -- when He calls us to lay aside our strength and our power in order to allow God’s will to be done -- He is calling us to make Him Lord -- He is telling us to choose whether we are going to be the god of our lives or if we are going to let Him be God -- He is calling for us to let Him make all the decisions -- He is calling for us to say, “not my will, but yours be done” -- and that is hard
-- but, to be a Christian -- to be a mature Christian -- a true disciple of Christ who not only follows Jesus but takes up the character and nature of Jesus -- then this is the next step -- we have to submit our will to His and allow Jesus to not only be Savior but to be Lord
-- and the reward for this, Jesus tells us, is that we will inherit the earth
III. Inherit the Earth
-- what does it mean to inherit the earth? -- it is simple a recognition of the state of mind that accompanies the Godly characteristic of meekness
-- a meek person is satisfied -- content -- joyful in their position with the Lord despite their position on earth
-- in Philippians 4:11-12, Paul wrote, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. -- I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. -- I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” -- and that secret? -- Paul tells us in verse 13, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me”
-- when you walk through this life without having the burden of chasing after the American dream -- without running to the end of each rainbow looking for the pot of gold -- without striving for everything that the world tells us makes a person full and complete -- then you have truly arrived
-- you can enjoy life -- while the world is running around, you can sit and rest in the presence of God because you know that you have all things in Him -- that every need is being met -- and that He is with you and His presence fills you
-- to inherit the earth means that you get the best out of life -- right here -- right now
-- there is also a future component to this promise from Jesus -- while a meek person goes through this life satisfied and contented, this is also a promise for eternity -- for the future inheritance that we will receive when Jesus comes again and His Kingdom is established
-- the Bible tells us that when Jesus returns, there will be a new earth -- an earth established, not on the principles that drive it now -- not on pride and wealth and power -- but on the Kingdom principles of love and grace and mercy
-- the glimpse of peace and contentment that a meek person realizes now will be truly expressed in the new earth as we enjoy God’s presence forever
IV. Closing
-- so, how do we become meek?
-- the answer is easy, but not easy to do -- the simple answer is...we surrender
-- we surrender ourselves -- our hearts -- our minds -- our will -- our strength -- to God
-- as John the Baptist put it -- we decrease so that Christ might increase
-- this is not an easy thing to do -- this is really not even possible for us as humans -- this is only supernaturally possible -- so this means that we depend on the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit within us to make it happen
-- it begins with the first choice to surrender -- to lay aside our wants and our wishes and to submit our will to God -- to become meek, we have to first choose to let Jesus be the Lord of our life -- and we have to choose to go against our nature and our flesh and say, “not my will, but yours be done”
-- secondly, you cultivate a relationship of faith and trust with God -- as you walk with God on a daily basis -- as you become more mature in your faith, you will naturally begin to trust Him more and more as you see how He has been with you and worked on your behalf in the past
-- look for the fingerprints of God in your life -- keep track of the ways that God has moved and has made a difference -- and then choose to let Him do so again and again and again instead of always demanding your way and your will be done
-- finally, we measure ourselves in our relationships with others -- before you react to another person, take a moment to think about that old cliché -- What Would Jesus Do?
-- when someone says something against you -- when someone hurts you -- think, “how would Jesus react?” -- would He react with anger -- with harsh words -- with cutting comments -- or would He respond with love and kindness and grace?
-- and then you respond in the way you think Jesus would
-- as R.K. Hughes wrote, the ultimate "test as to whether we are truly meek is not whether we can say we are poor sinners, but rather what we do when someone else calls us vile sinners.” -- your response displays the level of meekness and humbleness in your heart
-- if we are to be disciples of Christ -- if we are to become mature in our faith -- then we must seek to have the same mind and attitude that He displayed on earth -- Jesus modeled meekness for us with His life -- and we must strive to do the same with ours
-- let us pray
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