(THE BEATITUDE SERIES)
15 May 2011
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Matthew 5:1-12
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.
-- Several years ago, Popular Mechanics published an article entitled, “25 Skills Every Man Should Know”1 -- it was a list of things that Popular Mechanics felt defined a real man -- a man who was stepping up and fulfilling their roles and responsibilities in this world today -- this was the standard that all men should strive for in their lives
-- the list was quite interesting, and I’m not going to say how many of these I can or can’t do -- but let me read a few of the items on the list this morning so that the men here might see how they measure up against this standard that Popular Mechanics put forth
1. Patch a Radiator Hose
2. Rescue a Boater Who has Capsized
3. Frame a Wall
4. Back up a Trailer
5. Fix a Dead Outlet
6. Build a Campfire
7. Get a Car Unstuck
8. Paint a Room
-- this is just a partial list of the skills that Popular Mechanics said were the measure of a man -- a real man, they said, should be able to do all of these things
-- well, interestingly, Jesus also gave us a list of eight things in this passage in Matthew that He said are the measure of a Christian -- not skills, per se, but character standards that all Christians should be striving for -- that all Christians can use to measure their progress and growth in the Kingdom of God
-- we call this list of eight things that Jesus gave us here the Beatitudes -- and we’re going to be starting a sermon series now on these eight Beatitudes because these are foundational and are things that we need to know if we are going to be the men and women of faith that Christ has called us to be -- if we are truly going to be His church in this world today
II. The Beatitudes
-- so, before we look at the first Beatitude in detail, let’s spend a few moments talking about the Beatitudes in general
-- now, the word “Beatitude” is not in the Bible --it is derived from a Latin word “Beatus” which means “happy” or “blessed” because each of these eight standards that Jesus gave us begins with the words, “Blessed are”
-- let me list those for you again:
-- Blessed are the poor in Spirit
-- Blessed are those who mourn
-- Blessed are the meek
-- Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
-- Blessed are the merciful
-- Blessed are the pure in heart
-- Blessed are the peacemakers
-- Blessed are those who are persecuted
-- some Bibles translate the word “Blessed” as “Happy” -- so you might see these in your Bible as “Happy are the poor in Spirit” or “Happy are those who mourn”
-- I am not a big fan of this rendering of the Beatitudes because I don’t believe the word, “Happy,” really catches the true meaning of what Jesus is trying to get across in this passage and I don’t believe it fits with the original manuscripts -- I think it changes the focus and intent of what Jesus is saying
-- let me explain what I’m talking about -- the focus of the word “happy” is self -- happiness is an emotion -- it is what gives you pleasure -- people in this world today run around seeking this elusive happiness so that they will have pleasure in their own personal lives -- the focus is on themselves and their feelings and their emotions -- and when their conditions change, their happiness flees
-- on the other hand, the focus of the word “blessed” is God-oriented -- the word literally means, “favored by God” or “experiencing spiritual prosperity” -- it is more closely related to the biblical concept of “joy” which is not an emotion, but the sense of fulfillment and peace that comes from being in complete and total fellowship with God -- you can be going through the worst trials in the world, and still be joyful and still consider yourself blessed because of the presence of God with you
-- that’s why the rendering, “Happy are those who mourn,” makes no sense -- because there is no happiness in mourning -- by definition, you are grieving a loss -- your happiness is gone -- but, yet, we see all the time those men and women who, in times of mourning, still exhibit the character of joy and blessedness in their lives because they know that God is with them even in the midst of their sorrow and grief
-- so, I think we need to stick with the term “blessed” in the Beatitudes rather than the term “happy” -- if you want to say “joyful,” I’m good with that -- but let’s move past “happy”
-- now, as I have said, the Beatitudes are our standard of conduct -- our standard of living -- in the Kingdom of God -- one writer has said that these are the attitudes that Christians should be striving for in our daily lives -- so, when you’re faced with issues in your life and don’t know how to respond, you look to the Beatitudes to see what your attitude should be
-- one way to think of the Beatitudes is a ladder, leading to our ultimate goal of purity in heart -- each Beatitude builds on the one before it -- and you must pass through each one on your way to spiritual maturity and perfection
-- we start with poverty of spirit -- with humility and humbleness of heart -- next, we mourn for our sins and for the sins of others and the corruption of this world -- we strive to become meek, refusing to exalt ourselves or compare ourselves with others
-- “we hunger and thirst for righteousness as if it were bread and water, the righteousness of Christ that justifies us so that we may act justly in the world.”
-- “We extend mercy to everyone for everything, not judging anyone for anything and in so doing we feed the hungry and visit the prisoner and give to the poor.”
-- “We extend mercy and hospitality to whoever is put before us at any moment.” And as we follow these steps, we learn to overcome conflict and persecution -- to be peacemakers and peacebringers -- who usher in the Kingdom of God and the presence of Christ wherever we may be 2
III. Poor in Spirit
-- so, let’s look at the first Beatitude -- if you would, look back at verse 1 and let’s start there
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.
-- at this time, Jesus’ ministry is growing -- He has called His 12 disciples, and has been traveling throughout Judea and Galilee, ministering to the people -- healing and preaching and teaching
-- Matthew tells us that one day Jesus is being followed by large crowds of people -- and He goes up on a mountainside and sits down facing them so that His voice would carry throughout the crowd and begins to give them the message that we call, “The Sermon on the Mount”
-- the Sermon on the Mount covers three chapters here in Matthew -- and parts of it are recorded in each of the other three gospels -- as Jesus begins this lengthy message, He begins with these eight Beatitudes that we have been discussing because, as we have said, these are the steps to maturity in Christ
-- “Blessed are the poor in spirit”
-- well, the first thing that we see here in this Beatitude is the phrase, “blessed” -- now, we talked about that some earlier, but the important thing to note here is that the use of this word implies the action of God in our lives -- the Bible tells us that apart from God, we can do nothing -- and by using the word “Blessed” here, Jesus is telling us that apart from God, we cannot take up these Beatitudes and make them a part of us
-- this is an act of God in our lives -- an act of grace -- God’s free gift that is given to us and that draws us to Him and makes us into His likeness and image
-- Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit” -- Luke just renders this in his gospel as, “Blessed are the poor”
-- which obviously begs the question, “what does Jesus mean by ‘poor?’”
-- in Luke 18, we read the story of the time a rich young ruler came to Jesus and asked Him what he must do to gain eternal life -- after discussing what it meant to follow God and to live for Him, Jesus told the young man "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
-- when Jesus tells us here in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” is He telling us to do the same thing that He told the rich young ruler? -- is He calling on us to give away all that we have and to live lives of poverty in this world?”
-- no, here in the Beatitudes, Jesus is focused on the virtues of the heart -- on the character of a person -- the measure of who they are spiritually
-- Jesus is calling for us to be poor -- not in worldly terms -- not in financial terms -- but in spiritual terms -- poor in spirit
-- in this Beatitude, Jesus is calling for us to acknowledge our spiritual condition before God and turn to Him and Him alone for salvation
-- before we can begin our journey with God -- before we can start climbing the ladder to spiritual maturity and purity of heart -- we first have to put our foot on the rung of spiritual poverty
-- we have to admit before God who we are in our hearts -- who we are in our spirits -- and turn to Him and Him alone for provision -- for salvation -- for justification
-- the Bible describes for us what we were like before Christ -- in Romans 3:10-12 we read, “"There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."
-- and over in Romans 3:23 it says, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”
-- the problem continues to be that we fool ourselves and we don’t admit our true nature to ourselves or to God -- we go through life thinking that we can get to heaven because we are good ole’ boys or good ‘ole girls
-- we are not aware of who we are -- that is, we are not aware of who we are until the prevenient grace of God puts a mirror before our spirit -- until God speaks to our hearts and convicts of our sin and shows us our true nature
-- to be poor in spirit is to know who we are in the depths of our heart -- to know our true state before a holy God -- to stand before God and cry out as Isaiah did as he stood before God’s throne, “Woe unto me, I am ruined”
-- to be poor in spirit is to come before God with nothing --with empty hands -- not depending on works -- not depending on tradition or heritage or anything else -- but coming as we are and trusting Him to make us rich in Christ
-- Jesus says that the poor in spirit are blessed, because they have recognized their spiritual state and have come to the only source that can bring restoration and healing and value to their lives
-- they are also blessed because of what they receive -- “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” -- in other words, once you are poor in spirit and turn to God for salvation, you enter into the kingdom of heaven and receive eternal life with the Father
-- to be poor in spirit, then, means that you have acknowledged your sin -- that you have confessed to God who you are -- and that you have asked Him to forgive you of all that you have done
-- it means that you have repented of your sins -- you’ve done a u-turn and are now following God rather than the path you used to be on -- and that you are now living in faith in the kingdom of heaven -- trusting and believing in the atoning death of Jesus Christ for your salvation
-- blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God
IV. Closing
-- let me close today by leaving you with a story that really demonstrates the poverty of spirit that Jesus is calling us to in this first Beatitude
Jenny was 13 and wild. Eveyone agreed that she got wilder with each
passing month. Taller and more
physically mature than many of her friends, Jenny found it was easy to attract
older guys by merely tossing back her long, strawberry blonde hair and giving a
faint smile. Before she was 14 years
old, she was experienced in all the vices the world could dangle before
her. Jenny got caught up in an endless
cycle of sex, drugs, and alcohol abuse, and appeared to be heading down a long,
dark road with no way out.
-- If you asked Jenny, she would
tell you she was having a good time, but she was lying -- she knew her
lifestyle wasn't right. Maybe that's why
she agreed to go with a friend to an event put on by a local church. Even though Jenny didn't return in the
following weeks, something in the youth pastor's short message found its way
into her heart. He told a story about a
prostitute, so sorry about the way she was living that she cried at the feet of
Jesus and wiped his feet dry with her hair.
-- Several
years passed, and Jenny grew more out of control, "raging" night
after night. One night, as a very stoned
Jenny and a group of her friends roamed around town after yet another party,
God began to break through to Jenny.
Suddenly, the guilt, self-loathing, and despair that had been pressed
down and covered up with sex, drugs, and alcohol for so long, exploded in her
mind. She was sick of her life, sick of
her behavior, and sick of who she was.
For the first time in her life, Jenny desperately wanted to be clean and
to feel love, true love.
--
Remembering the youth pastor's message from so long ago, Jenny thought,
"Maybe God can help," and tried to find a church. Leaving her friends in the streets, Jenny
made her way to the nearest church. She
opened the gate to the garden leading to the back of the church, and then she
saw him. It was Jesus. He was standing on top of a concrete pad in
the middle of the garden. His arms were
out-stretched like He was waiting for her.
-- Jenny went to him. She dropped on her knees in front of this
life-sized statue of Jesus and began to weep.
And just like the prostitute in the story heard so many years ago,
Jenny's tears fell on the feet of the statue of Jesus and she dried the feet of
the statue with her hair. While Jenny
was there at the feet of the statue, the grace of the living God poured out on
her, wiping away all the years of sex and drugs and alcohol and gently removing
the obstacles that had been built up between Jenny and the one person who could
truly love her and fulfill the longings in her soul, Jesus.
1 25 Skills Every Man Should Know, Popular Mechanics, http://www.popularmechanics.com/home/skills/4223337?page=1&all
2 The Pure in Heart Shall See God, Eric Simpson, Associate Editor, "In Communion: The Journal of the Orthodox Peace Fellowship" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-simpson/the-pure-in-heart-shall-s_b_854738.html
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