Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

Last Week’s Message

We started last week with the Sermon on the Mount.

IN last week’s message we introduced this sermon.

There were two points of emphasis mentioned last week:

We have to view this sermon as a whole.

This sermon is a forest but oftentimes people become fixated on a tree or two in the forest.

The consequence is viewing this tree outside the context of the forest.

We cannot take bits and pieces out of this sermon to build political, social or religious points without considering the whole.

The purpose of this sermon was to refine the disciples of Jesus.

His primary audience was His disciples.

Within this group there were two subgroups:

Those who followed Jesus for the benefits, while rejecting His Deity

Those who followed Jesus while accepting His Deity.

Therefore, the purpose of this sermon separate the pseudo disciples from the authentic disciples.

This sermon is about:

loving Jesus

Learning from Jesus

Living for Jesus

This Week’s Message

Our focus is on the beatitudes.

There are two things I want us to see as I introduce this message:

The word “beatitudes” is a Latin word which means the condition or statement of happiness.

Within this text known as the beatitudes will discover the condition necessary for true and lasting happiness.

The understanding of the cause of happiness for the Christian is vastly different than that of the world.

The Greeks used makarios:

to refer to their gods and thus "the blessed ones" were the gods.

They were "blessed" because they had achieved a state of happiness and contentment in life that was beyond all cares, labors, and even death.

The blessed ones were beings who lived in some other world away from the cares and problems and worries of ordinary people.

To be blessed, you had to be a god.

Homer used makarios to describe a state unaffected by the world of men, who were subject to poverty, weakness, and death.

The Greeks also used makarios in reference to the dead who were "the blessed ones", men and women who, through death, had reached the other world of the gods and so were now beyond the cares and problems and worries of earthly life.

To be blessed, you had to be dead, a state many of us have felt like we would just as well experience because of the nature of our manifold troubles and afflictions at the time.

The word “blessed” speaks of happiness based upon God’s approval of our actions.

The Greeks also used makarios in reference to the dead who were "the blessed ones", men and women who, through death, had reached the other world of the gods and so were now beyond the cares and problems and worries of earthly life.

To be blessed, you had to be dead, a state many of us have felt like we would just as well experience because of the nature of our manifold troubles and afflictions at the time.

Finally, the Greeks used makarios to refer to the socioeconomic elite, the wealthy, the idea being (completely false I might add) that their riches and power put them above the normal cares and problems and worries of the lower socioeconomic strata, who constantly struggled to make it in life.The word “blessed” speaks of happiness based upon God’s approval of our actions.

Finally, the Greeks used makarios to refer to the socioeconomic elite, the wealthy, the idea being (completely false I might add) that their riches and power put them above the normal cares and problems and worries of the lower socioeconomic strata, who constantly struggled to make it in life.The word “blessed” speaks of happiness based upon God’s approval of our actions.

The NT - Blessed are the poor in spirit - In Scripture, there are two words translated "blessed", makarios (discussed in more detail below) and eulogetos (from eu = good, well + logos = word), the latter meaning that we speak well of someone (as when we hear a eulogy at a funeral, the eulogy speaking well of that person who has passed on from life to death).

In contrast, makarios is not to speak well of someone, but defines a condition that exists.

In other words, makarios describes something that is true about someone, not something that someone says is true about them.

Makarios is a reality, an inward state of truth no matter how you actually feel.

In other words, to be "blessed" as defined by makarios, one does not have to feel "happy" to be blessed.

You can still be blessed and act as if you are not happy.

Makarios defines one's state of being in relation to God, independent of how one feels about it at a given moment in time.

There are many times I don't personally feel very "blessed" but the Bible nevertheless declares that irregardless of my untoward circumstances, afflictions, trials, etc, I am still "blessed" by God!

Warren Wiersbe points out that “blessed” is “an inner satisfaction and sufficiency that does not depend on outward circumstances for happiness.”All of these character traits are marks and goals of all Christians (Just like the fruit of the Spirit).

It is not as if we can major in one to the exclusion of others, as is the case with spiritual gifts.

There is no escape from our responsibility to covet every one of these spiritual attributes.

All of these character traits are marks and goals of allChristians.

It is not as if we can major in one to the exclusion of others, as is the case with spiritual gifts.

There is no escape from our responsibility to covet every one of these spiritual attributes.

All of these character traits are marks and goals of all Christians (Just like the fruit of the Spirit).

It is not as if we can major in one to the exclusion of others, as is the case with spiritual gifts.

There is no escape from our responsibility to covet every one of these spiritual attributes.

Warren Wiersbe points out that “blessed” is “an inner satisfaction and sufficiency that does not depend on outward circumstances for happiness.”All of these character traits are marks and goals of all Christians (Just like the fruit of the Spirit).

It is not as if we can major in one to the exclusion of others, as is the case with spiritual gifts.

There is no escape from our responsibility to covet every one of these spiritual attributes.

Blessed are the poor in spirit - In Scripture, there are two words translated "blessed", makarios (discussed in more detail below) and eulogetos (from eu = good, well + logos = word), the latter meaning that we speak well of someone (as when we hear a eulogy at a funeral, the eulogy speaking well of that person who has passed on from life to death).

In contrast, makarios is not to speak well of someone, but defines a condition that exists.

In other words, makarios describes something that is true about someone, not something that someone says is true about them.

Makarios is a reality, an inward state of truth no matter how you actually feel.

In other words, to be "blessed" as defined by makarios, one does not have to feel "happy" to be blessed.

You can still be blessed and act as if you are not happy.

Makarios defines one's state of being in relation to God, independent of how one feels about it at a given moment in time.

There are many times I don't personally feel very "blessed" but the Bible nevertheless declares that irregardless of my untoward circumstances, afflictions, trials, etc, I am still "blessed" by God!

Blessed are the poor in spirit - In Scripture, there are two words translated "blessed", makarios (discussed in more detail below) and eulogetos (from eu = good, well + logos = word), the latter meaning that we speak well of someone (as when we hear a eulogy at a funeral, the eulogy speaking well of that person who has passed on from life to death).

In contrast, makarios is not to speak well of someone, but defines a condition that exists.

In other words, makarios describes something that is true about someone, not something that someone says is true about them.

Makarios is a reality, an inward state of truth no matter how you actually feel.

In other words, to be "blessed" as defined by makarios, one does not have to feel "happy" to be blessed.

You can still be blessed and act as if you are not happy.

Makarios defines one's state of being in relation to God, independent of how one feels about it at a given moment in time.

There are many times I don't personally feel very "blessed" but the Bible nevertheless declares that irregardless of my untoward circumstances, afflictions, trials, etc, I am still "blessed" by God!

These eight qualities can only be lived out by Christians.

These spiritual standards come about only through surrender to the Savior.

Jesus is not saying, “Live like this in order to be saved.”

He’s saying, “Live like this because you are saved.”

Conduct must flow out of character.

A Christian is one who embraces and embodies the Beatitudes.

Another way to say it is that if you want to spot a Christ-follower in a crowd, look for these eight character qualities.

These eight qualities can only be lived out by Christians.

These spiritual standards come about only through surrender to the Savior.

Jesus is not saying, “Live like this in order to be saved.”

He’s saying, “Live like this because you are saved.”

Conduct must flow out of character.

A Christian is one who embraces and embodies the Beatitudes.

Another way to say it is that if you want to spot a Christ-follower in a crowd, look for these eight character qualities.

A.W. Tozer once wrote: “There is an evil…glaring disparity between theology and practice among professing Christians…An intelligent observer of our human scene who heard the Sunday morning message and later watched the Sunday afternoon conduct of those who heard it would conclude he had been examining two distinct and contrary religions.

It appears to me that too many Christians want to enjoy the thrill of feeling right but are not willing to endure the inconvenience of being right”

Chronology

Poverty

In Greek there are two words for poor.

There is the word penēs.

Penēs describes a man who has to work for his living the man for whom life and living is a struggle, the man who is the reverse of the man who lives in affluence.

Penes is defined by the Greeks as describing the man who is autodiakonos, that is, the man who serves his own needs with his own hands.

Penēs describes the working man, the man who has nothing superfluous, the man who is not rich, but who is not destitute either.

This word is used of the widow Jesus saw giving an offering in the Temple.

She had very little, but she did have “two small copper coins” ().

She was poor but not a beggar.