[0:00] Well, good morning to each one.
[0:16] How are we doing this morning? Are we blessed? I think we cannot count the many ways that we are blessed.
[0:30] The peace and the freedom that we enjoy here. We just hear of the strife in other nations in this world.
[0:42] And just the blessing of being able to live in peace and to come together and together worship our Lord and Savior. What a blessing.
[0:52] Thank you, Brother Frank, for reading the text for us here this morning. We have the Beatitudes.
[1:06] It is the beginning of a portion of Scripture that has come to be known as the Sermon on the Mount. And it is a series of blessings that are spoken by our Lord.
[1:22] Blessings followed by promises. Jesus, if we look back to chapter 4, he is starting his ministry.
[1:34] And so he's teaching and preaching and healing in chapter 4, verse 23, it tells us. And so he is gaining a following. And so, as we see throughout the New Testament in Jesus' ministry, how he was moved with compassion when he saw these crowds of people.
[2:06] And I believe that here too, he felt compassion for them. And so he heads up onto a mountain or onto a hillside and he seats himself.
[2:19] And they are gathered around him. And he begins to teach them. And he starts his teaching with the Beatitudes. He does not end with them.
[2:30] He starts with them. If we look back to verse 17 of chapter 4, from that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[2:48] Jesus has started his ministry here in the region of Galilee. And his message is, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[2:58] The kingdom of heaven is here among you today. And so the thoughts and the questions of the multitude, the multitudes of having heard this, they must have wondered, where do I fit into this kingdom?
[3:16] How can I become part of this kingdom? And so Jesus, his answer begins with the Beatitudes, where he characterizes the Christian life, what it should look like.
[3:35] That is what these blessings do. Each one of them makes up a trait or a characteristic of believers, those who are part of the kingdom of heaven.
[3:48] If you take the time and you sit down and you study into them, you realize quickly that each one of these Beatitudes, each one of these blessings could make up a message in itself.
[4:05] You dig in, there's a lot there. And so this morning I'll be looking to do a bit of an overview of the whole, of all of them.
[4:20] And just briefly looking at each of the blessings and the promise that goes with it just to gain a bit of an understanding of what Jesus is saying here.
[4:31] And so the title of the message I've given it is The Blessed of the Kingdom. So before we dig into these blessings, look at each one, let's first of all look at what a blessing is.
[4:52] What does Jesus mean when with each verse he starts with, blessed are? What does he mean when he uses the word blessed?
[5:06] The definition of blessed is to enjoy spiritual happiness and the favor of God. It's an exclamation of the inner joy and peace that comes with being right with God.
[5:21] So it's a happy joy that comes from the soul. It comes from within. And so when Jesus speaks of blessed here in our text, he is saying that God's favor rests on those who demonstrate these characteristics, those who are part of the kingdom.
[5:43] And he is praising those for their character and pledging divine rewards for it. And so upon entering this kingdom, this kingdom that is at hand, there is inner joy and peace.
[6:02] All is well, for I am the Lord's and he is mine. Blessed assurance. All right, starting with the first blessed in verse 3.
[6:19] Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Poor in spirit. What comes to our mind when we think about pure, or about poor, sorry.
[6:36] Naturally, when we hear the word poor, most likely our thoughts go to being poor financially, or maybe poor in possessions.
[6:54] Turn with me quickly to Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4, verses 16 through 21.
[7:16] Speaking of Jesus here, so he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.
[7:27] And he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
[7:41] He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
[7:57] Then he closed the book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
[8:15] So here Jesus says that he has been sent to preach the gospel to the poor, among other things. And it's a quote out of Isaiah, and he ends the quote, after he's finished reading the quote, he sits down and he says, Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
[8:36] So is the gospel only for the poor? We know the gospel is for all.
[8:49] It is for everyone. And if we look back to our text in Matthew, Jesus specifically addresses who these poor are whom he speaks of.
[9:02] The poor in spirit. And so what does it mean to be poor in spirit? Our first thought, maybe, that if we think we're part of the kingdom of heaven, we should be rich in spirit, not poor, right?
[9:21] It seems backwards. And yet, as we look into this, we gain understanding. There is a spiritual side to being poor as well.
[9:38] Some examples would be those who are afflicted or oppressed or without hope. So when Jesus speaks about being poor in spirit, he is addressing the spirit of man, or pride, if you will.
[9:55] So a definition of being poor in spirit contrite, abased in one's own sight by a sense of guilt.
[10:12] So we must humble ourselves before God, realizing our sin and how spiritually empty we are. There is no room for pride or being self-sufficient in the kingdom of heaven.
[10:27] There is no room for that. James 4, verse 6 says that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. There is no blessing of pride.
[10:41] And so, humbleness reflects being poor in the spirit. The blessing theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[10:57] The poor in the spirit, those who have humbled themselves before God, who fully rely on Him, they depend on Him, they have the kingdom of heaven.
[11:10] Each one who is in the kingdom came their broken heart and spirit seeking the Savior. And so, to enter into this kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, one must become poor in spirit in a state of brokenness, realizing one's sinfulness and come humbly before God.
[11:39] There must be repentance. realizing the need of the Savior, that of themselves they are nothing and they have nothing.
[11:55] Those who do this have the kingdom of heaven. It is a promise of God spoken here by His Son. Here is assurance that our hope is a lively hope.
[12:10] Jesus doesn't tell us here that the kingdom will be ours or it might be ours. He says it is ours. Becoming poor in spirit is not just a one-time thing.
[12:31] It needs to be an attitude that characterizes believers. believers. We cannot humble ourselves once to gain entrance into the kingdom and then again think we can be self-sufficient and become proud.
[12:48] We will do things ourselves. That does not work. We need to live a life that reflects our need of the Savior. We need Him all of the time. The next blessed, verse 4, blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.
[13:11] And so this blessed as well as the next few, they're a little different than the first one. The next few, they contain a promise for the future.
[13:26] We saw in the first one, it is a promise that was there and now and to be more completely fulfilled in the future but it was a promise there already.
[13:37] The next few are promises for the future. And so this one, those who mourn will be comforted. You know, we saw earlier in Luke chapter 4, verse 18 there that Jesus was sent, He said He was sent to heal, the broken hearted.
[14:00] All of us deal with loss at some point in our life. It's a loss of loved ones, a loss of possessions, a loss of health. We all have things that happen in our lives that cause us to be sad and to mourn.
[14:20] And sometimes we hear people say, why would God allow something like this to happen? and often it is because of a tragic death of a loved one or so on. The truth is that life happens.
[14:35] We are still on this earth. We're still dealing with the consequences of sin. The physical death is reality. We all face it.
[14:47] And all of us mourn the loss of a loved one. mourning. And yet we have this promise of comfort. The mourning that we experience here on this earth will one day be turned to joy.
[15:04] When we meet our tears will be wiped away. And yet this mourning is not only in the grieving of loss of loved ones and so on.
[15:18] There is another side to the mourning that Jesus is talking about. A spiritual side. And so throughout these blessings he is focusing on the believer.
[15:35] Believers mourn for spiritual reasons as well. Not only the sad things that happen in life but also because of the sin problem that is the root cause for this sadness.
[15:52] Truth is this world is lost in sin. In spiritual darkness. It will be destroyed. Many, many souls.
[16:06] And I would say the majority of the world's population faces eternal destruction. all of us we know someone or we have someone who is close to us, who is living in darkness, who is rejecting the Savior.
[16:29] And we know their destiny if they do not repent. It's a burden for believers, a cause for mourning. sin. And yet the sin aspect is not only focused on the lost around us, it affects believers personally as well.
[16:52] We still live in this sin cursed earth. Temptations bombard us. The enemy is constantly attacking. And there are times where we fall.
[17:07] And so for this reason too we are grieved. There's so much to mourn about, but we have a promise of comfort.
[17:24] For the citizens of the kingdom of heaven, sin and death do not have the final victory. 1 Corinthians 15 tells us that dead in Christ will rise incorruptible.
[17:42] And so therefore we do not walk on this earth with long sad faces. Do we mourn often? Yes, but we are called to be a light in this world.
[17:57] We are filled with the Holy Spirit and we are filled with joy. And we carry the promise of being comforted as we seek to turn the lost to the Savior.
[18:14] The next blessed, verse 5, meek for they shall inherit the earth. Who are the meek?
[18:25] they are those who have a spirit of gentleness and self-control. They do not exploit or oppress others.
[18:41] They are not violent and they do not try and seize power for their own ends. things. And so to sum up someone who is meek, we need only to look to Jesus.
[18:58] He came to this earth knowing he was headed for the cross. He knew the suffering and persecution he would face and yet he never resisted or fought back.
[19:11] he led a life of humility and gentleness on the cross. And so here Jesus promises that the meek will inherit the earth.
[19:26] Some translations have the land in place of the earth and if we read it that way it seems to make a little more sense. If we look back into the Old Testament to the children of Israel, God promised them a land, the land of Canaan which was called the promised land.
[19:54] You know, we too have a promised land to look forward to. When Christ returns there will be a new heaven and a new earth. This sinful world will be burned up and we will have a new home on high.
[20:10] an inheritance that is ours for all eternity. So how does one become meek? Can someone who is not meek be a believer?
[20:32] All of us are a work in progress, are we not? meek? And so someone who is not naturally meek can become so.
[20:44] What does Galatians 5 tell us the fruits of the Spirit are? Is meekness not one of them? And so meekness is a fruit that is produced within us by the Holy Spirit.
[21:02] So how then do we become meek? We walk by the Spirit. If we allow the Holy Spirit to control our life, He will lead us into a Christ-like life and we can attain the character of meekness.
[21:28] Verse 6, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. What is a characteristic that is common to all people?
[21:45] Is a need for food and water. We all need to eat and drink to physically survive. And so Jesus focuses here on something that all of us can relate to hunger and thirst and yet here He is not speaking of food and water but a hunger and thirst for righteousness.
[22:09] Our appetite to do should match our desire to survive. This blessing here is for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness as much as they do for food and water.
[22:25] hunger. The Christian's desire is to be in the will of God, to be pleasing to Him and to live up to His standards. And we know too that when one accepts the Lord as their personal Savior, they are declared righteous or justified as we read in Romans 5.1.
[22:51] Let's turn there and look at that. Romans 5.1. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[23:16] And so this righteousness is a gift through God's grace toward us. Nothing we have done this righteousness, it is all God's doing.
[23:31] And so from there, the desire to do righteous works, to become more Christ-like, it grows from within a work of the Holy Spirit within us.
[23:45] The blessing is that those who hunger and thirst in this manner who have a strong desire toward God and toward His will, will be filled.
[24:01] So how do we develop this hunger and thirst? Again, it is a work of the Spirit within us. We must allow Him free course in our life.
[24:15] As we become meeker and we give way to the Spirit of God's calling and He is in control of our life, the appetite for righteousness will grow within us.
[24:31] If it is not growing, we need to examine, we need to find out in what area we are still being stiff-necked and we must surrender these areas to the Lord.
[24:49] And as we more fully surrender all areas of our life to God, His Spirit will grow this hunger and thirst for righteousness within us.
[24:59] And when Christ returns, He will establish a universal righteousness and we will find complete satisfaction.
[25:11] We will be filled. Blessed number five in verse seven. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.
[25:24] the quality of being merciful is being compassionate or tender. It calls for pity toward offenders and the ability to forgive their offenses, unwilling to punish for injury.
[25:50] Again, Christ is the example that we look to. all mankind is deserving of death. Yet, the Lord is unwilling that any should perish.
[26:05] And so, He delays judgment, offering each person the opportunity to repent and to turn away from their wicked ways and follow Him to receive mercy.
[26:20] Those who have repented, who are poor in spirit, comfort, they understand the need for mercy as they have realized their shortcomings and they have come to God for mercy.
[26:35] As they have received grace and mercy, they understand how to show it to others by forgiving trespasses and showing compassion to others.
[26:46] others. They are blessed for showing mercy rather than fighting for their own rights, for showing kindness and compassion rather than seeking revenge.
[27:03] marriage. This too goes against man's nature, does it not? One naturally wants to see justice when they've been wronged.
[27:16] Those of the kingdom, they have been shown mercy and they understand that this mercy must be carried forward.
[27:27] And so because they understand mercy and show mercy to others, the Lord says they shall obtain mercy.
[27:41] This will as well be fulfilled when Christ returns as king and the day of judgment comes and those of the kingdom escape judgment and are welcomed into the kingdom.
[27:54] the merciful will obtain mercy because they understood the importance of mercy in their own life and they were willing to extend that mercy that they had received.
[28:09] They were willing to extend it to others. They learned to forgive as they had been forgiven. They learned to show mercy as it had been shown to them.
[28:22] So the act of showing mercy comes with experiencing it for ourselves. Each believer has experienced it and now we must share it with others.
[28:37] You know, as the depths of God's mercies are revealed, as he forgives our trespasses again and again, we begin to better understand the mercy that we ought to extend to others.
[28:51] And as we learn to better understand the grace of God in showing mercy to us, the better we will be able to show mercy to others.
[29:07] Blessed number six in verse eight. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. God. Scripture refers to a man's heart as where his will or his desires come from.
[29:29] Let's turn to Matthew 15 for a moment. Matthew 15 verses 18 through 20.
[29:40] Matthew 13. But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart and they defile the man.
[29:55] For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.
[30:14] So speaking of a person's heart, naturally a person's heart is bent towards evil.
[30:27] The Lord saw this back in the days of Noah already. Let's look at Genesis chapter 6. Genesis 6 verse 5.
[30:46] It reads, Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. mankind's condition since the fall of Adam.
[31:11] So to be pure in heart means that the will or the desires of a person need to be with the will of God. They cannot be marred by sin.
[31:23] They must be wholly pleasing to God. mercy, love, desire for righteousness, these come from a pure heart.
[31:37] So how does a man's heart become pure? It is by being changed, by being transformed. Let's again turn to Romans, Romans chapter 12.
[31:56] Romans 12, verses 1 and 2.
[32:07] I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that is a sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
[32:29] A renewing of the mind or the heart and its desires that one may prove the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God.
[32:46] This renewing comes by accepting Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior, by putting on Christ by having a change of heart. Having a pure heart does not come overnight.
[33:03] I believe we all know this. It takes time and it takes the Lord's help. As King David says in Psalm 51, verse 10, create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
[33:28] The promise to the pure in heart, they will see God. What a promise. The Bible in Exodus as well as in 1 Timothy tells us that no one has seen God.
[33:48] And yet, Job, in Job 19, verses 25 through 27, he is confident that his eyes will one day behold God, that he will see him for himself.
[34:05] So, becoming pure in heart begins with our conversion when we believe in Jesus, when God gives us a new heart.
[34:16] heart. And it continues to be purified as we walk in the Lord, living according to his will and seeking his ways.
[34:30] So, it is a refining process. As we learn from his word, our faults are revealed. And as we deal with them and we change our ways, then we become purer in heart.
[34:49] Verse 9, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. When Christ was born, the angels proclaimed, peace on earth, goodwill to men.
[35:08] The prince of peace had arrived. Man, through the fall of Adam, had been alienated from God and Christ came to restore that relationship, to bring peace on earth.
[35:26] And yet, man does not seem to understand peace. Always, there are tensions and troubles, wars and rumors of wars.
[35:38] Peace does not seem anywhere near. But God does bring a true peace. Let's look at John chapter 14.
[35:50] John 14, verse 27. Jesus is speaking here. And he says, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.
[36:06] Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. It is a peace that the world cannot give, cannot even begin to understand.
[36:27] This peace, it begins with being reconciled to God. And as he gives us this peace, we can begin to reconcile with other people.
[36:41] people. And so to be a peacemaker, one must understand true peace. It will not be found or taught in the world.
[36:54] We're not talking about a political kind of peace. It is a peace that comes from God, and one can only experience this peace when we are at peace with him.
[37:08] Those of the kingdom of heaven are the peacemakers. They are meek and gentle, and yet they stand for what is right. They're reconciling enemies, ending hatred, and uniting those, bringing together those that are divided.
[37:31] This is not something that they can do on their own power, power, but it is because the Lord is on their side, and he is the God of peace.
[37:45] They are promised here that they shall be called sons of God. So having the characteristic of true peacemaking is a sign of being a part of the family of God, of being born again to life everlasting, being joint heirs with Christ, having a home in heaven.
[38:09] What does peacemaking look like? It is in continuing Christ's work here on earth by spreading the good news of the gospel of peace to the whole world, by promoting reconciliation to God and to one another, and by sharing a peace that the world does not know.
[38:38] The eighth blessed, in verse 10, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. What happens when we try to promote the peace of God, when we declare His righteousness, righteousness, or when we exercise meekness, when we share the good news of the gospel with others, we will find opposition, resistance, and persecution.
[39:17] The world does not know God. It does not want to know God. It is under the grip of the enemy who most definitely does not want the world to know God.
[39:32] In Noah's day, the heart of man was continually evil, and that has not changed to this day. John the Baptist came to prepare the way for the Lord, and he met an early death.
[39:49] Christ Jesus came. He lived a sinless life. He proclaimed the way to salvation, and he was hung on the cross for his efforts.
[40:03] That's two examples of being persecuted for righteousness sake. The prophets and the disciples were persecuted as well. Many are the martyrs of the faith, and we can expect no less.
[40:25] People everywhere over the whole world face persecution, non-believers as well as believers over many different things.
[40:36] Persecution is not only for a person's faith, and yet this blessing is for those who follow Christ, who suffer right. as verses 11 and 12 point out, blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake.
[40:56] Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. It calls for suffering for Christ's sake.
[41:09] all who identify with Christ can and should expect opposition from a world that does not know him, that hates him for exposing their wickedness.
[41:26] peace. And yet they are called to rejoice and to be exceedingly glad, for there is great reward in suffering for Christ.
[41:42] The blessing for the persecuted, it parallels the first blessing for those of the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[41:56] no matter how great the persecution, whether it is being ill-spoken of or being martyred for Christ's sake, they are assured the kingdom of heaven.
[42:14] And it is worth dying for, if so it must be. This kingdom is not only theirs in the future, but it is theirs already.
[42:30] So when, not if, persecution comes, rejoice and be glad in it. If we love God and we are faithful to him, he is faithful to us, for he loved us first.
[42:46] And if we live for Christ in this world, we know that he has given himself for us, and we have the assurance of life in his kingdom, now and forevermore.
[43:00] Death and destruction cannot reach us there. We are safe in the arms of Jesus our Lord. He cares for us.
[43:10] So in closing, let's embrace these blessings. Let's make these eight qualities, and I'll just list them again.
[43:22] The poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, being merciful, being pure in heart, being peacemakers, and being persecuted for righteousness sake.
[43:44] Let's make these qualities part of our lives as we seek to live in his will, and as we look forward to eternity in his kingdom.
[43:57] Let's bow. Heavenly Father, we again come before you this morning. Lord, we are thankful that you first loved us, and that you have granted us the opportunity to love you in return.
[44:21] And in so doing, we become part of your kingdom, a kingdom that has been established, and it is continuing to be established as it grows, as more and more come to the faith.
[44:36] Lord, we thank you for allowing us into this kingdom. And Lord, we see here in your word the qualities of those that make up this kingdom.
[44:53] Excuse me. And Lord, we know that we fail. Lord, we know that we fail, Lord.
[45:25] Lord, we have a love of God. And yet, as we turn to you and we look to you, Lord, we have assurance that you are with us.
[45:39] And you are working in us. We are a work in progress. Lord, as you continue to grow us, may we yield to you.
[45:49] May we yield to your spirit. Lord, may we give him full reign in our life. That these qualities, that these blessings may be evident in our life.
[46:05] And that we show them in the world around us that we continue forward in the work that Christ started. that we shine as lights in this world, drawing others to yourself and to your kingdom.
[46:24] Lord, we just thank you for this congregation, Lord, and just pray that you continue to uphold them and continue to mold and to shape day by day as we seek to walk in your will.
[46:43] Lord, just continue to grow us and to fit us for your kingdom. In Jesus' name, amen.