Kingdom Living - The Beatitudes

I'll take your Bible turn back with me to Matthew chapter 5 Like I said earlier, this is a very familiar place in your Bible. We've been here in Matthew chapter 5 for quite some time But we're in our series on the Sermon on the Mount which is Matthew chapter 5 chapter 6 and chapter 7 and I have titled this series the extraordinary Christian life I've said this before I'll say it again. I do not imply that there is an ordinary Christian life and then an Extraordinary Christian life.

No, there's only one we have one Christian life We see this in the scriptures and it is extraordinary and we are seeing this being flashed out in the Sermon on the Mount Now we will end our first section here in the Sermon on the Mount really and truly the same way that we got started in our first message that was Pertaining to the Beatitudes.

We looked at what I called kingdom living We look forward into the Beatitudes We examine this word blessed which is so prevalent right here in the verses and then we looked at this phrase Theirs is the kingdom of heaven Now this morning we will do something very similar The main point of our message will be to look at the Beatitudes as a whole But we're going to look back we're gonna look back into the Beatitudes We're gonna reflect on what we've learned in these nine Beatitudes and we're gonna make a lot of application Which I think is very very needed Now I want to remind you about what this word Beatitude truly means now.

This is really important The word Beatitude or the phrase the Beatitudes is not found in your English Bible If you have a heading there above verse 2 it was added there It was added to help you categorize the verses now a question. What does the word Beatitude mean? this word Beatitude simply means blessings a Little broader definition will help us.

It means a declaration of blessedness, especially made by Christ himself Understanding the meaning of the word helps us see what these individual Beatitudes are each of these Beatitudes are statements their declarations of blessing Verses 3 to 12 is a body of teaching a group of verses and it's all centered around blessings from Christ for His people this body of teaching is for the sole purpose of bringing about Blessedness and happiness and joy in his people now also It's important for us to see the power behind this word Jesus teaching here reveals more than just a blessed life a blessed life for the Christian these Declarations of blessing they possess great power Tremendous life change can take place within a person when this teaching here is worked out within the life of a man And we all need this power We need life change in the life of the church today and and in many families and men and women and young people That are before us today, and I will speak more about that power later on in the message Now this morning I want us to see that there is something going on in all of us no matter where we are in life No matter who we are no matter our experiences No matter our background.

We're really all the same here this morning Now we would all say that we want a blessed life We would all raise our hand and say yes, I want this joy. I want this blessing I want this happiness If I were to come down from behind the pulpit and ask each of you if you want to be happy if you want to Bless life. I don't think any of you would say no and that reality compels us It compels me to ask two questions, and I think these are very very important We should be asking ourselves. How do we get true happiness true joy and true blessing? How do we get it? Where do we go? Where do we go to get this joy? Where do we go to find this blessing?

Where do we go to find this? happiness I Knew a man that quite a few years ago. He had great financial struggles. I still know him although time and distance has Separated us he had been involved in a failed business which caused years of financial difficulties In a conversation one day he made one of those Very funny, but yet dead serious statements. You know those kinds of comments or conversations With a stone cold look he was staring away kind of staring into the distance But yet he was speaking to me.

He said and I'm quoting word for word They say money can't buy happiness, but I sure would like to give it a try On the surface was a laugh, but right behind that chuckle was years of struggle and difficulties And on that day I'm sure that if I had it within my power To show him how to get that money that he needed and where to go get that money that he needed He would have taken me up on it now why?

He wanted to cure the problem that was causing him so much Happiness and heartache and pain and struggle now now those were physical struggles But this helps us see how people look for happiness and sometimes where they look for happiness I Remember a young man that I talked to a few years ago He had many struggles in life now his struggles in life all centered around drugs and alcohol And all that goes on with that kind of a lifestyle He had been kicked out from living with his parents all of his family had disowned him for obvious reasons He did not have a job.

He did not have a car He really didn't have any possessions other than the clothes on his back And he was staying in a cheap nasty hotel that even someone else had paid for as a matter of fact when I was talking To him he was eating a lunch that somebody else had bought him I Confronted him with his sin. I talked to him about how he was destroying his life How he was destroying the lives of his children and his wife. I really didn't hold anything back.

I said it all out of love I Was kind, but I was bold and I was honest and the whole time he was looking away But he was listening and then after a while he turned to me and he looked right in my face And he said Chris. I like the drinking. I like the drugs. I like the women I like how I'm living and he went on to say that he had life under control And he was saying that joy and happiness satisfaction in life. It can be found in drugs It can be found in that lifestyle. It can be found in all the women now that helps us see how people look for happiness How they look in where they look?

Now back to our questions Real simple two words how and where I want to get real personal with you with those two words How and where how are you going to get true joy and true happiness? The happiness and joy that you desire from where are you going to find this joy and this happiness? That what you say you want Some of you are trying to find joy and happiness and career, you know career jobs. Those are good things We need them. Do we not we need a job?

We need a career so to pay the bills and feed our families But some are trying to find joy and happiness in job and in career Some some are trying to find joy and happiness and hobbies You know in our culture and in our day We have that the monies and the abilities to be able to have hobbies and there's some that literally look for joy and happiness And hobby after hobby after hobby Some of you are trying to find joy and happiness through meeting goals Achievements in life some are goal oriented and they want to reach this goal and and accomplish this achievement in life There's some they're trying to have joy and happiness by just feeding the flesh on immorality and sex and alcohol and drugs and and the party life we know those kind But you know, there's some they're trying to find that joy and happiness by a combination of many things Many people want a good job.

They want family they want kids. They want money take care of their family They want all of those possessions, you know that we think we all need and then they want to enjoy all of those possessions And they won't enjoy those hobbies, you know, they want the good life. They want the American dream retirement and benefits I Never forget one of the men within the life of our church gave his testimony and he talked about how he had all that He had the job all the retirement in the benefits. He had the family he had the children. He had the possessions He was advancing in his career.

He was meeting those goals He was talking about having it all and everybody would say yes, he was attaining the American dream But he said he was empty no joy. No happiness. No, peace. No satisfaction. Why? Because he was looking in the wrong place trying to get that joy the wrong way Now a question that should jolt us I want you to follow me a question that should really Overturn our apple cart what what happens? Now think with me what happens what happens when you lose that dream job? What what happens when cancer comes and ruins your health? What happens when you can't enjoy life you can't enjoy those hobbies and those possessions?

What happens if your if your family is taken away from you remember that Old Testament character job? He lost all of his children. Did he not what happens when your plans for life just don't work out? Now think about this What happens if you have all of your life your way? What happens if you have that career you have that money you have the family and the hobbies and the Opportunities and the health and the good retirement you have the American dream and you get all the way to the end Where are you going to get happiness and peace and joy that inner satisfaction that does not come from material possessions?

And listen folks true joy True inner happiness the joy and happiness that cannot be destroyed by anything physical It only comes from a work that takes place within a man within a young person within a woman This joy and happiness is a byproduct Let me say that again this joy and this happiness this peace and dissatisfaction It's a byproduct of the work from each of these Beatitudes a work that God does in a life now look with me in the beatitudes I'm gonna work through these real quickly I'm gonna show you the work that goes on here and the byproduct Verse 3 blessed all the poor in spirit remember those who were beggars they come to faith in Christ as a beggar They are destitute they are at the bottom of the bottom because they are poor and they are beggars They are at the place where they're crying out in genuine repentance and faith.

They are poor in spirit They're just like a beggar now. What's the product the byproduct the blessed life? They possess the kingdom of God verse for blessed are those who mourn they mourn over their sin They have a grief that comes over them much like one who's lost a loved one. What's the byproduct? They are blessed. They are comforted verse five blessed of the meat those who are power under control They are surrendered to God.

They are surrendered to his lordship their power is under the control of his lordship the byproduct Blessedness and they shall attain and hold on to the kingdom of God That's the byproduct and then we can just go on and on through all of these Beatitudes we see a work of God within the man within the woman within the young person and the byproduct is that blessed life that?

Happiness that joy that which only God can give Now here is what must be fully grasped Here is what we must understand we must understand this Here in these beatitudes Jesus is talking about what a person is Here in these beatitudes from verse 3 down to verse 12 Jesus is talking about what a person is not what he does Jesus is explaining that the true Christian life is about being the inner man not primarily the external things Now let's look back to that day when Jesus taught these beatitudes we covered this Quite a few weeks ago Remember what was taking place Jesus had a good start with his earthly ministry by the time we get to chapter 5 He had called his disciples and his popularity was growing among the people We see all of this in Matthew chapter 3 and chapter 4 now look with me in Matthew chapter 4 specifically verse 23 to 25 Verse 23 and he he went throughout all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and He was healing every disease and every affliction among the people So his fame spread throughout all Syria and they brought to him all the sick those afflicted with various diseases and pains And those who were oppressed by demons those having seizures and paralytics and he healed them and great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and from Jerusalem in Judea and from beyond the Jordan his great popularity And on the day when Jesus taught these beatitudes there was a great crowd oh the disciples were there in my mind I'll see them on the front row I like to see the beatitudes is the beginning of their ordination service the rest of the great crowd It was mostly Jews and there were some Gentiles there, but the greater background was their Jewish religion Their interpretation of the Old Testament and what God had done throughout their forefathers in the nation of Israel Now the Jewish religion in that day Was divided up into four groups There were the Pharisees and then there were the Sadducees They were the most popular of the two the Pharisees being more popular of the Sadducees Then there were the Essenes and then they were the zealots and see the Jewish religion was bound up in those four groups They had all put their own spin on the Jewish religion or Judaism and they all had their interpretation of the Old Testament scriptures now they all lived out their religion differently and We are more like these guys than we know today We are more like these individuals these groups then we realize and we will get to that a little later But when Jesus taught these beatitudes the lives of those Jews that were there it just caused this enormous explosion he blew up their world both religiously and politically I want us to take a look at these four Interpretations of Judaism these four ways that they lived out that religion the four ways that were being fleshed out right in front of Jesus We will then see how Jesus blew up their religion and why? first the Pharisees Now simplistically the Pharisees believed that joy and happiness in life It came from the traditions the traditions the forefathers Traditions they were always bringing up the traditions to Jesus during his earthly ministry When you read through the Gospels and he confronts the Pharisees they always talked about the traditions They were really big on the past what their forefathers had done besides the Old Testament They had hundreds of traditions and written laws above and beyond the Old Testament and they believed that inner joy and happiness It would come from obeying the traditions holding on to the traditions obeying those written laws and rules that their forefathers had crafted above and beyond the Old Testament and Then second the Sadducees Now simplistically the Sadducees taught that joy and happiness and life it came from a more modern Interpretation of the Old Testament religion and the Old Testament scriptures They wanted to disconnect from the traditions of the past they wanted a more modern religion They they even wanted to disconnect from certain portions of the Old Testament scriptures Old Testament scriptures that the Pharisees held on to now this caused very very sharp disagreements between the party of the Pharisees and the party of the Sadducees and the Sadducees believed this new way the new way of Interpretation would bring them joy and happiness and satisfaction within their religion But then the third party the lesser of the three so far is the Essenes Simplistically the Essenes did not see spiritual joy and happiness From either the traditions of the past or a new way or a new modern religion for the future They believed that joy and happiness came from separation.

They wanted to separate from everything They wanted to separate from everything and everyone they were trying to get out of the world get out of the world Theirs was a physical separation from all that would possibly Contaminate them they would live what we would call monastic lifestyles They would hide out in the deserts and in caves trying to get away from the world As a matter of fact history tells us that these were the people that gave us the Dead Sea Scrolls And these groups were very very popular in Jesus day and they sought happiness and joy from separation separation separating from everything And then the fourth group This group has probably looked over the most the zealots now these guys the zealots were the radicals Simply they thought joy and happiness would come through Revolution they were consumed with bringing about a great political overthrow to get rid of the Romans These guys were literally called dagger men.

They were terrorists They were always these groups of zealots trying to overthrow Rome and every now and then they would Act out they would break out They were wanting to usher in a bloody revolution to get the pagans out of the land of Israel And ultimately because of these guys were on finally clamp down on the Jews and wiped out Israel starting in 70 AD The zealots they thought the zealots sought joy and happiness from political overthrow So look what was in the hearts and the minds of these Jews who were listening on that day Most all if not every one of these they were believing that joy and happiness would come from their external religion all four were different but all four were focusing on the Externals the externals and let me tell you the Bible in history tells us that these guys were very Very good at their external religion.

They were professional Religionists they work really really hard at their religion but look The Pharisees what were they saying the Pharisees were saying go back. Let's go back Let's go back to the old ways the old traditions the Sadducees. They were saying let's go forward Let's move forward to a new way a new way of living out this old religion the Essenes They were saying let's get out. Let's get out of here. Let's get out of the world Let's hide from everything and the zealous what were they saying? Oh, let's break out against.

Let's go again Against we got a break out in revolution against all this now listen They all had their different way of living out the Jewish religion, but they had one thing in common It was nothing more than Externals and Jesus said a bomb under their religion and he blew it up with these attitudes Jesus was saying I don't care what you do. I care about who you are I care about what is on the inside his emphasis was on being not doing it blew their minds It destroyed everything that they have built up for generations.

It enraged most of them They hated Jesus because why he attacked their religion That's why the Pharisees and Sadducees, oh they were enemies, but they were constantly working together to try to kill him I guess the Essenes They were not a part of this because they were always hiding and the zealots they were waiting on him to leave some bloody revolution They were watching Jesus with their hands on their swords, but they were all disappointed They did not want a spiritual Messiah. They wanted a physical religious Messiah and he blew it all up Now a question a legitimate question, why do I bring all this up?

Pharisees Sadducees the Essenes the zealots in your heart and mind you might be saying man. That was the Jews What does that have to do with us? It has everything to do with us today People are trying to live out the Christian life through the externals just like the Jews did in that day people live just like this today Their Pharisees in our day yes Pharisees in our day There are those who were overly concerned with traditions there are those who were bound up in an unhealthy way With the Christians of old the history of the past the church writings of yesterday There are those who will celebrate the Reformation of the past while all along they're needing great Reformation in their own church It's always about yesterday.

It's always about yesterday in history and days of old Then let me say this we need the past Oh, we must stay connected to church history. We must stay connected to the Christians of old We need the writings from church history. Yes, we cannot disconnect from Christianity the Christianity of the past But all of that can be nothing but externals Some people have all of the traditions of the past but they do not have a changed life Their heart in their mind and their life has not changed They do not seem to possess a vibrant a healthy and ongoing walk with God their spiritual life smells more like a museum than something fresh And then those Sadducees we have Sadducees today There are those today who want to ditch the past I mean get rid of it They want just something new they want a new Christianity They want to forget church history the Christians of old they want to forget them and they want to forget the essential writings of yesterday They're always wanting to reinvent the Christian faith Meaning if not most of the time they do two things They take the faith into error at best or they take it off in the heresy at worst and it is a new movement They're wanting something new that they want to get rid of the old and they want to attach to something new if you bring up The church traditions of the past or the Christian faith of old they will scoff why because they want to invent a new way I Want to say it like this to us We need our new We need the new but it must be always attached to the old our methods today must be tied to The age-old doctrines that are found in the scriptures We must know our church history and we must study the great Christians of old We must study and know the great writings of the past the great writings that have impacted Christianity throughout the generations But there should always be a newness to our faith not a newness of reinvention We must have a newness because of the new life in Christ Christ's life working within us and through us our spiritual life must smell like Christ but that all must be tied to the scriptures and what God has done in the past and Listen, these guys don't have a smell They have a look the modern-day Sadducees have a look they are always wanting things to look new They want to ditch the old and look new And you know believe it or not there is scenes in our day They are those today who think that they can produce holiness by hiding They think that if they stay away from everything it will produce godliness Some think that they can hibernate their children and it will automatically make them Christian Some think that if they keep their families off in the corner that they will be perfect almost sinless family unit some Disconnect from the world.

They don't even know what lost people look like how they talk and what they how they live Now, let me say this. I'm not saying that we need to move in the Sodom. That's not what I'm saying I'm not saying that we're gonna let sodomites babysit our kids I'm saying that hiding will not produce holiness Listen, sir, you can be on a deserted island 2,000 miles from a woman and you can still be a pervert in your heart Living like a molt will not make you more holy We can insulate our children in such a way that it does two things first They can't make it in the world because they're so insulated and second they run straight into the world because they've never even seen it We have to be in the world but not of the world But you know these people have a smell to They usually smell like a mummy because they've been hiding out for some 2,000 years.

They're stale and they're bland But you know believe it or not we have zealots today They are those today and so-called Christianity. They think that they can save the world through politics. Oh through Legislation certain parties and certain laws Some think that if we can keep a Republican in the White House if we can outlaw abortion and do something with this same-sex marriage Then we'll have a Christian nation Some think if we can attain that that moral majority then we will have saved the nation their entire Segments of so-called Christianity that are devoted to this type of thought They are even ordained ministers of the gospel who have left the pulpit to seek after what? political positions Now listen folks.

I want you to see Politics will never fix the human heart having a Republican and every office will not cure sin Legislating morality will not save the soul When you hear so a so-called Christian voice that tells you that government can fix the human problem run Run it is external at best as an external religion in a new package You don't notice these people by smell you notice these people by noise They're always debating and arguing and planning and politicizing. They're just like the zealots Now Jesus is saying to us today just what he said to those Jews listening to him in that day remember the crowd We see that in verse 1.

What does it say great crowds were there his popularity? It was booming. There was a great crowd of Jews the disciples were there on the front row He is saying to us exactly what he said to them to those Jews in that day He is saying I don't care what you do. I care who you are I care about what is on the inside. I care about your being Now let me begin to wrap this up in Verses 3 to 9 what I believe God is teaching us there is a lot far more than you know, and this is vitally important This is found all in these verses and we must get this before we can move on in the sermon on the mouth First I want us to see the beatitude show us how we must relate to God The beatitude show us how we must relate to God look at verse 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit that first speaks to how a man relates to God God has shown them by the power and the work of the spirit that they are a sinner.

They are a rebel against God they are broken down they are a Beggar a spiritual beggar before God and they're crying out in a great poverty of Spirit and then verse 4 bless under those who mourn why do they mourn they mourn over sin They see their sin is a great offense to a holy God See they're poor in spirit and they're mourning over their sinful condition and the sinful things that they do See how the sinner relates to God and then in verse 5 Blessed are the meat they are relating to God power under control and then in verse 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for what for righteousness the righteousness of Christ They're hungering and thirsting for Christ verse 8 blessed are those who are pure in heart for they shall see God The only way they have a pure heart is by the blood of Christ being applied to their life So we see how man must relate to God and man must relate to God Exactly like we see here in the scripture.

It's about being being not doing Now a question for you do you find yourself in these beatitudes do you relate to God? The way we see it right here in the beatitudes Was there a time when you were poor in spirit? God broke you by the power on the work of the Spirit He showed you your lost condition you cried out as a beggar you mourned over your condition And it didn't just start and end there it began this lifelong process This lifelong journey of being poor in spirit of mourning and being meek and hungering and thirsting for Christ and being merciful Yes, it started then and it is continued. Is that you do you relate to God?

The way the scripture say right here listen ma'am sir some people have something like this well You know preacher. I just got my deal with God if you have a deal with God outside of these verses you've invented it It's of your own imagination It just won't fly This is the holy word of God. This is how man must relate to God It starts off with being and then second the beatitudes show us how we must relate to others Look at verse 5 blessed of the meek We are meek before God first and then we are meek before men we do not defend ourselves This is not about us Oh, we are bold for the things of God the truths of God we are bold and sharing Christ Yes, but we relate to others not in pride not in arrogance, but in meekness And then in verse 7 blessed of the merciful oh we get inside the lost sinners skin We relate to them why we love them we see that they need Christ.

We are merciful We are humble to them we relate to them aggressively and then verse 9 blessed of the peacemakers We seek to bring peace between lost sinners and a holy God. Oh we even seek to bring peace between Conflicting parties see this is how we relate to others Now let me ask you how do you relate to others? Do you relate to the world like we see right here in the scriptures? Do you relate to lost sinners and brothers and sisters in the Christ? How do you relate to others? Listen again if you relate to others, and it's different than what we see in the scripture. It's something that you've made up It's your own standard of morality.

It's your own list of rules and then third the beatitude show us how the world relates to us how The world relates to us now. We see this at the end verse 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake verse 11 blessed are you when others revile you and they persecute Persecute you and they utter all kinds of evil things falsely against you And we learned this last week that true Christians do one of two things in the world the world Reacts to them in one of two ways some of the world are drawn to us.

Yes lost sinners are drawn to us They react to us in a positive way they come closer to us They draw near to us because God himself is using us in their life, but most of the world will reject us Remember the four R's they come right out of verses 10 and 11 We are rejected by the world. We are ridiculed we are all and then there are some who are really persecuted Let me say that again.

We are rejected we can be ridiculed We can be reviled and then some are really persecuted This is how the world relates to us they are either drawn to faith in Christ or they reject us Ridiculous revile us and really persecute us and my question for you is this how does the world relate to you? Do you just get along with the world does the world see you as a friend and a buddy? Do they just see you exactly the way they see themselves if the world sees you the way they see themselves? Something is wrong. You are not relating to the world the way you should So what do we see three things the beatitude show us first how we must relate to God?

Third the beatitude show us how we must relate to others and then third the beatitude show us how the world will relate to Us now watch this this is where it gets good fourth the beatitude show us how we go into the world the Beatitudes prepare us and equip us and enable us and show us how we go into the world now look back at your scriptures All of verse 3 on down to verse 12 all of that prepares us for verse 13 What does he say you are the salt of the earth verse 14?

You are the light of the world This shows us how we must go into the world the beatitudes have the power to transform us into the people That God wants us to be and then then we can be the salt of the earth and then we can be the light of The world and without this inner transformation Oh without the power of God being unleashed in our lives we can never be salt and we can never be like we'll just be like the world Now I conclude the beatitudes the same way I started them with the title of the sermon most of you can probably guess the title of the sermon and The title of the sermon is that which we have held on to all along with each beatitude We started these beatitudes with this title and we end this is kingdom living.

This is kingdom living This is kingdom living and listen folks. This is who we must be This is who Jesus wants us to be he wants to bring about this work in us So as to get glory out of our lives and then so we can impact the world This is kingdom living and I say this I've said it numerous times anything else is a dime store substitute Anything else is an invention of man. Anything else is just religion and that puts you in the same boat as all those Jews misled confused wrong You miss it all So as I close I bring the title back up to you. It's kingdom living kingdom living.

Is this you I Trust and pray that it's you Because we've got one of our two people here this morning Those who are born again, and this is speaking of their heart. This is the life that you live want to live This is the life you desire. This is how you're living Those who are outside of the kingdom you can't have this joy in this blessedness You can't have this internal happiness Until you come to Christ Like we see in verse 3 poor in spirit Let's pray and then we will close