Sermon on the Mount (Part 1)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and Welcome,
I am blessed to see you all this morning. I hope and pray you all have had a good week.
Each day the Lord’s gives us is a good day and indeed we should be thankful my friends.
So this morning we have the joy of gathering and worshiping, and now we are going to open the Word of God and grow in the Word.
Now if you remember last week in Matthew chapter 4, Jesus began the task of calling His first disciples there by the sea of Galilee at Capernaum.
There walking by the shore, where the people brought their boats in and out of the water, Jesus calls Peter and Andrew, James and John to come and follow Him.
And I love that the Scriptures tell us that immediately they left their boats and nets and followed Jesus.
Following Jesus is a necessary part of knowing Him as our Savior. It requires commitment and sacrifice at times as we learn to say no to self and yes to God.
Today we move forward to Chapter 5.
Chapter 5 begins a new section that is referred to as the Sermon on the Mount, and it concludes at the end of Chapter 7. It is a huge discourse or message that Jesus communicates to those who are following Him.
So this morning, lets look at Matthew 5, verses 1-12
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Now I am not are not going to make it through all 12 verses today, but we will do our best to get through the first half of this passage..
So lets set the stage.....
So lets set the stage.....
Many are now following Jesus here this day. So from the shore line of the sea of Galilee, Jesus walks up literally upon the side of the mountain to a flat area, those followed him up there as well and it is here that Jesus has the people sit down so He can teach them.
And with all the people, He begins to teach.
And this is where we begin my friends.. So I hope to share a few thoughts with you this morning as we seek to be His disciple.
So the very first thing I can tell you is this is as His disciple we are called to as Paul says to the believers at Philippi, have this same mind in as that was in Christ Jesus.
So lets start with this first theme of Possessing his attitude for living each day.
1. Possess His Attitude for Living....
1. Possess His Attitude for Living....
Several years ago there was a little bracelet or band that people wore that said WWJD - “ What Would Jesus Do”
It was designed to help us, His disciples consider every action, every thought and see if they conform to his ways. And if not, then what do we need to change to make it align with Jesus.
What would Jesus do in this situation? So lets consider what Jesus is saying here…
As you open each of these statements, Jesus begins with the word ‘Blessed”
What does that mean… The word “Blessed” means those who act in accordance to His attitudes are happy… but more than just a smile on your face but those who act, live according to His standard will possess divine joy, perfect happiness. It is an inner satisfaction that does not depend our our outward circumstances.
This “joy or happiness ” is what the Lord offers those who trust Him…
And this is important, this joy or this happiness differs from what the world offers to people, the world’s attempt at joy or happiness is temporal, fleeting.
But what Jesus offers is eternal, lasting.... it is the outward product of having one’s life aligned with God.
So lets begin with the first one..the first attitude for those are happy in Jesus .
A. The Poor in Spirit....
A. The Poor in Spirit....
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
This first point jumps at us quickly to consider our attitude, our ways before God. Jesus says “Blessed are the poor in spirit…”
What does poor in spirit mean?
To be “poor in spirit” refers to our attitude, our own humility.. to be poor in spirit reminds us that we called to be humble and to think nothing of ourselves instead we are to be reminded that Christ has purchased us from the death of sin and has made us alive in Him. We can only brag upon Jesus, not anything to do with us.
All that we are or hope to be is found in Jesus and His plan for our lives. We can do nothing to elevate ourselves or our status.
So we are to think nothing of ourselves and instead He is our everything. And in our poor condition Jesus says… Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven...
Remember Jesus has already told people as did John the Baptist that the kingdom of God was drawing near. For those who are His, even in our poor condition we have something marvelous that awaits us.
More than gold or silver, but a place, His place where we will forever be with the Lord. All this is possible because of all we have received in Jesus Christ.
As I thought about that, for theirs is the kingdom of God. I thought about Jesus the night before His crucifixion where he told His disciples of what He was preparing for them.
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
All those who have conformed and come to Christ, who have taken His Yoke upon themselves, they have a kingdom that awaits them. We journey in this life like Abraham, looking, longing for the city whose builder and maker is God.
Our blessing is to remain in Him… so humbly we walk before the Lord, remembering we are only blessed because of Him.
We owe everything to Jesus!
Amen...
Now we come to verse 4… His second thought...
B. Those Who Mourn....
B. Those Who Mourn....
Then verse 4; Jesus says..
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Mourning… not a topic we really care to experience, we useless associate mourning with physical death.
We mourn with the passing of a family member or friend. In almost 40 years of ministry I have walked alongside of families who were dealing with death, with sorrow.
But mourning isn’t just associated with death, Mourning can speak to the sadness of our heart over any things...
We mourn sin, failure concerning many things and other spiritual concerns and at times we might even weep over those times we say no to God and fail to follow Him.
For example....
Think of David, the greatest King of Israel in the Old Testament, as he confessed his sin with Bathsheba before God. His heart is broken as you read through Psalm 51. David is grieving not only over his sin but also the the consequences of that sin.
He has failed on so many levels the greatest is before the Lord, his God.
Let me ask you… have you grieved, mourned over your failures.. whether it was physical or spiritual. - It think at times we have done both…
So in our lamenting, in our grief over physical or spiritual matters please note God is there. He is there and stands ready to help.
In fact the Scriptures tells us God comforts those who mourn… He comforts and consoles those whose hearts are heavy.
Consider this… I love when you come to the end of the book of Revelation, well at the end of our days, at the end of our journey, the Scriptures remind us that God will wipe away every tear from the eyes of His children.
On that day, when we see Jesus there will be no more sorrow, no more same there will only be joy for He will be with us. But while we remain here, He comforts His children.
Aren’t you happy to know He is there to help, to comfort and stand with us in our times of need? I am
Now moving on we come to verse 5
C. Blessed are the Meek....
C. Blessed are the Meek....
Meek, or meekness , - is not a world we often consider a a positive trait for living, instead it is often considered to be a negative one. It was not looked upon well in the Roman -Grecco world and the same it true for us today. But yet, Jesus uses it here a a trait that is positive to the kingdom of God
A trait that he can indeed bless...
Lets look at the whole verse, verse 5.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
So consider this .. Meekness has a positive side.. it speaks to the humble, the gentle, those who are not aggressive… Meekness could also be considered as power under control.
Meek and meekness was often associated with those who were poor.
You see it was the rich who often abused and pushed back against the poor. .. they mistreated people, abused them and took advantage of us and did not care for the needs of those under them.
In the days of Jesus, we know many of the inhabitants of the land were to poor to own their own property. You see in such times of great need people may have been forced to sell off their property.
Thus the rich took advantage and bought the land. And remember every Year of Jubilee it was to be returned to the rightful people, to the people in the lands of their fore-fathers.. but it never was...
The continued abuse led people to even push back against God’s standard for living… and what He required of people. wealth made them unholy, greedy.
So the people are oppressed, broken, poor and despised…
But Jesus give them hope for the future...
V 5. “Blessed are the meek, for hey shall inherit the earth....”
The future holds something wonderful, the meek - the poor, those who have been oppressed, hurt and taken advantage of… one day they will not just return to their lands, there is a day coming when they will inherit the whole earth… Jesus is echoing the promise of the Psalmist in Psalm 37:11
11 But the meek shall inherit the land
and delight themselves in abundant peace.
Remember by friends the 2nd coming of our Lord. Jesus come in the air ( I Thess 4:13-18) to gather His bride the church and then will return to establish His kingdom here on this earth for a 1000 years.
On that day the Christian will not rule just a land, or a particular country but we are destined to rule and reign with Jesus over the whole earth as His kingdom is established on this earth for a season.
Let me share Revelation 20:4
4 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority to judge was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
He has a blessed inheritance my friends, one that is promised, one that is sure and certain for it is His promise to us.
There is an inheritance for His people, His children.
Now lets move on to verse 6…ready...
D. Hunger and Thirst for Righteous
D. Hunger and Thirst for Righteous
Here Jesus shares a important thought for those who are following Him. There must be a heart, a passion for righteousness. God’s righteousness above all else.
Lets read verse 6...
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
When we think about these words, “... Hunger and Thirst...” we think about a desire to have the basic needs of humanity meet, to have provision, food and water. We know those things are at the very basic needs for a person to live, to thrive.
Just has people have physical desires they also needed to have Spiritual ones as well
But in a spiritual plain the followers of Jesus are to have a desire, a real longing for righteousness.
Paul in his second epistle to Timothy, His faithful friend and minister tells him this in relation to having a hunger and thirst for the things of God...
22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
Let go of the those things of the flesh that would have no eternal value and take hold of righteousness.
Faith, love and peace are the necessary points as we call out to the Lord for help with a pure heart.
So as we follow Jesus we recognize that He is the only source of true righteousness. So we long for His righteousness, We follow Him, we desire that His righteousness be evident in our lives and the lives of all those who love Jesus.
We must have Jesus in every area of our live, there is no way a person can only take hold of him halfway.
Jesus reminds us of that in Matthew 6:33
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
And in seeking Him, in seeking his righteousness, we are satisfied.
You see those youthful passions, those youthful desires lead to those things that are fleeting.
Jesus reminds us to store up for ourselves treasures in heaven, Why? They will not be lost or spoil.
What are you chasing after? What are you trying to do? And what is the outcome/ Does it have a temporal value or a eternal value?
Now we are going to stop there, there is no way for us to cover all the Be attitudes in one setting.
Let me begin by asking you this question.. are you one Jesus would call blessed?
Is the very inner portion of our life rightly aligned before God that He has approved your walk before Him.
You know we talked about David earlier, David pursued the wrong things at times, but when He aligned His life before the Lord, God then approved of His life and it was said that David had a heart for God...
Could that be said of you today… You have a heart for God, you put Him first in every area of your life.. So that these positive attitudes we have examined already fit your life.
Does God approve of your life? Is there joy to be found because you are in Him.
Max Lucado says
God applauds the poor in spirit. He cheers the mourners. He favors the meek. He smiles upon the hungry.
This morning if you are here and you need to execute some changes in your life,
If the Lord spoke to you this morning as we walked through His Word… follow through on what He has shared with you.
let pray together.