Download Sermon On The Mount Session 2: The Be

Sermon On The Mount
Session 2: The Be-Attitudes
I.
The Attitudes Christ Highlighted:
A. Attitudes We Want to Be:
The term beatitude comes from the Latin adjective “beatus” which means
happy, fortunate, or blissful, to be blessed. So the fact that we want to be
these things is true but it wasn’t where the term originated.
B. Blessed are Those:
There is promise of great impact on our hearts if we say yes to the
beatitudes in the private and public areas of our lives. Jesus is trying to
motivate us into a vibrant heart through the onramp of the beatitudes;
the end result of faithfulness and obedience to these attitudes is that our
hearts are made alive. Jesus was saying “blessed are you if you do these
things;” over and above our circumstances that blessing means we will
have a joyous, glad heart. Hearts alive in God will serve better, will live
better and love people better.
C. Reading the Passage:
To remind ourselves what the text says; let’s read through the passage on
the these eight attitudes.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed
are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for
they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will
be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are
those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you
and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be
glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they
persecuted the prophets who were before you (Mt. 5:3-12).”
II.
Reasons to Live Accordingly:
A. Wise Way to Live:
This is just a wise way to live; there are promises of great impact for our
hearts if we say yes to the beatitudes in the private and public areas of
our lives. Our circumstances will also be impacted by choices made
according to the beatitudes, many of which will benefit us even in this life.
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B. To be Salt and Light:
Jesus identifies these eight attitudes and then tells us about their effect in
the Earth if we embrace them; they are salt and light to all around. If we
want to make impact in this life we will have to adopt these heart
postures.
C. An Eternal Perspective:
Each be-attitude has an attitude we should be and a corresponding
eternal reward we will get. Jesus is here promoting righteousness
through the use of eternal perspective, promising that each of these
choices has positive eternal consequences.
III.
Prevalence of the Beatitudes:
After we become more acquainted with the beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5
we might find more value for the other several groupings of beatitudes found
throughout the scripture.
A. Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount:
Obviously we re familiar with the concept of the beatitudes found in the
Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5:3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10).
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Mt. 5:8).”
B. Beatitudes of the Psalms:
The Psalms are filled with declarations of blessing for walking in
obedience (1:1, 2:12, 32:1, 2, 33:12, 34:8, 40:4, 41:1, 65:4, 84:4, 5, 12,
89:15, 94:12, 106:3, 112:1, 119:1, 127:5, 128:1, 144:15, 146:5).
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand
in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers (Ps. 1:1).”
C. Beatitudes of the Proverbs:
Solomon gave us a treasure trove of these blessings mostly tied to
listening to the voice of wisdom (Pr. 3:13, 8:32, 34, 14:21, 16:20, 20:7,
28:14, 29:18).
“Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting
at my doorway (Pr. 8:34).”
D. Beatitudes of Revelation:
Perhaps quite to our surprise Revelation is full of these declared blessings
for heeding God’s instruction (Re. 1:3, 14:13, 16:15, 19:9, 20:6, 22:7, 14).
“Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are
those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is
near (Re. 1:3).”
E. Beatitudes of the Old & New Testament:
Throughout the various parts of the scripture God scattered additional
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nuggets of how we might receive more from Him (Jb. 5:17; Ec. 10:17; Is.
30:18; Mt. 11:6; Lk. 10:23, 23:29; Jn. 20:29; Ro. 4:7).
“Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of
the Almighty (Jb. 5:17).”
IV.
Looking at the Eight Beatitudes:
A. Blessed are the Poor in Spirit:
Being poor in spirit is about us journeying the road to spiritual
desperation, retaining a certain level of brokenness our whole lives
through. It’s about us showing humility in the way that we are to relate to
God, seeing Him as infinitely higher than us. As we see Him it causes us to
see ourselves and this self-assessment should create the sense that we
don’t have it all together.
“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down
on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple
to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up
and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—
robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a
week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance.
He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God,
have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other,
went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted (Lk. 18:9-14).”
B. Blessed are Those Who Mourn:
This virtue has nothing to do with experiencing personal loss, as in the
death of a loved one, which would cause our hearts grief. We’re talking
about a spiritual mourning, in fact in many ways it is our response to
being poor in spirit. In part it’s our recognition of our lack, it’s finding
God’s perspective and recognizing how great the gap is down here from
what He actually intends. This causes us to enter into His burden and
therefore mourn for what He mourns for, for what He longs for here that
isn’t yet. Paul tells us that a key element of spiritual mourning is the pain
of godly sorrow. This sorrow is a deep heart recognition that things are
not as they should be down here in some area of life related to our
personal lives, to our culture or related to the lack of manifestation of His
Kingdom around us. Paul then lists many significant blessings that come
out of the heart that feels this pain.
“your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God
intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings
repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow
brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what
earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what
alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done (2Co.
7:9-11).”
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Earnestness
Eagerness to clear yourselves
Indignation
Alarm
Longing
Concern
Readiness to see justice done
C. Blessed are the Meek:
Being pour in spirit is primarily about our attitude before God, seeing
Him as big and us as small. Meekness however is mostly about relating to
people in this way, it’s showing them preference in humility, it’s
considering others as better than ourself (Php. 2:3). Meekness is about
using what limited power we have to benefit others, even when they seek
to harm us. This often comes at personal expense, instead of using our
authority for merely our own interests, we seek to bless and help others.
This is how God is, He could use His authority to crush but instead He
uses that power to benefit others.
“But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the
right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you
and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you
to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do
not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you (Mt. 5:39-42).”
D. Blessed are those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness:
The issue of hungering and thirsting for righteousness has everything to
do with how far we are willing to go in order to encounter God and grow
in His ways; we often refer to this as spiritual violence. Spiritual dullness
is actually our fault; it’s not a lacking on God’s part, as if He were
unwilling to be near us. The reason we don’t feel God is because we don’t
seek Him.
“Come near to God and he will come near to you (Jm. 4:8).”
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O
God, you will not despise (Ps. 51:17).”
“For this is what the high and lofty One says— he who lives forever, whose
name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is
contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the
heart of the contrite (Is. 57:15).”
“It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the
glory of kings (Pr. 25:2).”
E. Blessed are the Merciful:
Mercy means not giving someone what they deserve but instead showing
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them favor that has not been earned. Though we deserved Hell God, in
mercy, gave us Christ, eternity, privileges in His house, etc. Jesus says we
will be blessed if we show the undeserving mercy, those in scandalous
sin, those who annoy us, those who mistreat us, etc. Jesus told several
parables to illustrate this unique aspect of the Kingdom of God where
love overcomes justice.
“Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. The younger one
said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his
property…(and) the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant
country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent
everything…he went and hired himself out…to feed pigs…When he came to
his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to
spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my
father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against
you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your
hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still
a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him;
he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him…the father
said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring
on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s
have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again;
he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. (Lk. 15:11-24)?”
F. Blessed are the Pure in Heart:
Purity of heart includes purity in every area of our life; pursuing
righteousness and fighting impure motives. To be pure means to live
with the goal of single-minded obedience to Jesus and to resist the
defilement that comes from lust (Mt. 6:22). The heart includes all that
makes up our inner life (mind, emotions, and will). There is no substitute
for purity for those who want to see and experience more of God. Purity
does not cause us to earn the revelation of God, but it positions us so that
our spiritual capacity can be enlarged to see and experience Him. We
must be in agreement with God’s purity to see more. It’s a striving for
personal holiness in our lives.
“Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without
holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of
God (He. 12:14-15)”
G. Blessed are the Peace Makers:
Peacemaking calls us to avoid creating strife, it’s a refusal to be
argumentative or contentious but it goes further than that; it’s the willful
choice to work toward reconciling and repairing broken relationships,
our own and others as well. Going out of our way to help reconcile other
people’s issues takes effort. It may seem thankless and even futile, it
takes time to hear the hearts of offended parties so that we can mediate
on their behalf. Most people just prefer to stay out it but a peacemaker
sees the value of investing that time and energy to bring about peace. We
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are to use our position, strengths, and love to win over offended brothers.
“A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city, And contentions
are like the bars of a citadel. With the fruit of a man’s mouth his stomach
will be satisfied; He will be satisfied with the product of his lips. Death and
life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit
(Pr. 18:19-21).”
H. Blessed are Those Who are Persecuted:
Being persecuted for His Christ sake isn’t only about making it through a
situation it’s about the manner in whaich we maintain ourselves. It’s
about having a rejoicing spirit, and even blessing those who persecuted
us. Persecution can come in many forms and in not limited to
imprisionament and physically harm. In fact most persecution in the
West is either social, verbal, financial, or shows itsslef in the form of being
reviled, resisted, or ostracized for taking our stand for Christ in some
way. We are to go beyond merely enduring difficulty, we are called to
love and bless those who persecute us.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…If
you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax
collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you
doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore,
as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt. 5:43-48).”
V.
Touching Multiple Spheres:
The Beatitudes have many of applications for our lives. Because of the nature
of embodying these virtues there is powerful impact at every level of society.
A. Individual:
Most commonly we tend to view the Beatitudes through the personal lens
of how these virtues might effect us as individuals. As we have been
discussing we can surely experience incredible breakthrough on a
personal level when these principles are applied.
B. Family:
The impact goes far beyond our own life however and holds promise for
our friends an family as well. The blessings increase if we can embody
these attitudes together but even when if there were only one in a
particular of influence that one makes impact all those around them that
is a tangible blessing to the recipients.
C. Corporate:
Certain promises are only available when there is a corporate embracing
of the Beatitudes. This calls for wide scale teaching, reception and then
application of these virtues at the corporate level.
“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves (poor in
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spirit) and pray and seek my face (spiritual mourning) and turn from their
wicked ways (hunger and thirst for righteousness), then will I hear from
heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land (2Ch. 7:14).”
D. City:
When God sees a city He sees the whole city, not just the leadership, not
just the wealthy, He sees the entire populous. The Beatitudes actually
play into whether or not God will save a city from disaster. While we
can’t measure this exactly it is clear that the principle has merit.
“Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the
righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the
city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of
the fifty righteous…Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the
righteous with the wicked, treating (them) alike. Far be it from you! Will
not the Judge of all the earth do right?” The Lord said, “If I find fifty
righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their
sake (Ge. 18:23-26).”
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