Good morning, everyone. Please open up your Bibles to Matthew chapter 5.
For those of you who are new, who haven't met me, my name is Sean, and I'm one of the pastors of
Trinity Cambridge Church, and it's my great joy and honor to preach God's Word to you,
the beloved body of Christ, this morning. If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hands,
and we'd love to bring you a copy of a Bible you could have and use.
We're in chapter 5 of Matthew. We've been going through this since beginning of December, this book.
Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.
Heavenly Father,
my words are inadequate, but your Word
never returns empty.
So, Lord, now may the preaching of your Word this morning accomplish its purposes.
May it exalt
your glory and your name.
may it humble the pride of man.
May it
lead us to proper
mourning
and poverty of spirit in light of your
holiness.
So that we might experience
the true joy of salvation.
open
our ears.
Give us ears to hear
and hearts to receive.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
If you are able, please stand
as I read God's Word.
Let's honor God together by sending
yet the reading of God's Word from Matthew 5,
verses 1 to 12.
I'm going to just preach the first four verses today,
but I will read all 12 verses.
Matthew 5, 1 to 12.
Seeing the crowds,
he went up on the mountain,
and when he sat down,
his disciples came to him.
And he opened his mouth
and taught them,
saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted
for righteousness' sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when others revile you
and persecute you
and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely
on my account.
Blessed are the people of God.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward is great in heaven,
for so they persecuted the prophets
who are before you.
God's holy and authoritative word.
You may be seated at this time.
Herbert George Wells, H.G. Wells,
might be best known for his science fiction writing,
including War of the Worlds,
but he was also a prolific writer of history.
And in 1935, as a historian,
he wrote a newspaper article entitled,
Greatest in History.
Somehow I was able to find the actual clipping of this online.
He shared this opinion,
his opinion,
about the greatest figures in the history of mankind.
And even though he was an atheist,
H.G. Wells argued that Jesus is the single individual
who has, quote,
left the most permanent impression on the world.
This is what he says.
Jesus is, I think,
a quite cardinal figure in human history,
and it will be long before Western men decide,
if ever they do decide,
to abandon his life as the turning point
in their reckoning of time.
We do not know as much about him
as we would like to know,
but the four Gospels agree
in giving us a picture
of a very definite personality.
They carry a conviction of reality.
To assume that he never lived,
that the accounts of his life are inventions,
is more difficult
and raises far more problems for the historian
than to accept the essential elements
of the Gospel stories as fact.
Now, it is interesting and significant
that a historian,
without any theological bias, whatever,
should find that he cannot portray
the progress of humanity honestly
without giving a foremost place
to a penniless teacher from Nazareth.
Yet more than 1900 years later,
a historian like myself,
who does not even call himself a Christian,
finds the picture centering irresistibly
around the life and character
of this most significant man.
It is one of the most revolutionary changes
of outlook that has ever stirred
and changed human thought.
The world began to be a different world
from the day that doctrine was preached.
In our passage today,
Jesus opens his mouth
to preach his first recorded sermon
in all the Gospels.
This is that dynamite doctrine
that changed the world
and changed human thought forever.
It says in verses 1 to 2,
Seeing the crowds,
he went up on the mountain,
and when he sat down,
his disciples came to him,
and he opened his mouth
and taught them, saying,
To open one's mouth
is an Old Testament idiom.
It's a Hebrew idiom
that precedes significant pronouncements.
This is not just us chatting.
This is the Messianic manifesto.
And in the same way
that Moses went up on a mountain
to bring down the Ten Commandments
which told the old covenant people of God
how they ought to live,
now Jesus here goes up on the mountain
and then teaches us
how the citizens of the kingdom of heaven
ought to live,
what they are really like.
So the mountain setting is not incidental.
And the audience is focused.
The crowds are in the background,
as you can see in this passage.
They're in the background eavesdropping,
but the primary audience of Jesus' teaching
is not the crowds.
It's his disciples
to whom we were just introduced
in the preceding chapter.
It says in verse 1,
When he sat down,
his disciples came to him.
That's interesting,
some cultural background
because in our context,
when people want to teach,
they stand up.
When preachers give their sermon,
they stand up.
When professors give their lectures,
they stand up.
But in this Jewish ancient context,
when teachers are about to teach,
they sit down.
And then all their disciples come around,
gather around to listen.
And that is what's going on.
The Son of God,
the incarnate Word of God,
is now speaking.
This is what it looks like
to follow Jesus.
This is what Christian discipleship looks like.
This is what the kingdom of heaven
is all about.
This is what it means
to be an alternate society,
a counterculture
to the kingdoms of this world
that Jesus just rejected
when he was being tempted
by the devil in Matthew 4.8.
This sermon is popularly known
as the Sermon on the Mount,
which is the first
of five extended discourses
of Jesus
in the Gospel of Matthew.
The Gospel of Matthew
is actually structured
around these five discourses.
I think I have an outline
for you to see.
Chapters 5 to 7
is the first one,
a discourse on discipleship.
Chapter 10
is the discourse on mission.
Chapter 13
is the discourse on the kingdom.
Chapter 18
is the discourse on the church.
And finally,
24 to 25
is the discourse on the end times.
After the conclusion
of each of these discourses,
we find some variation
of this phrase.
When Jesus had finished
these sayings,
that's why we call them discourses,
and that's how we know
that this is
an intentional structure
that Matthew has placed,
organized his Gospel around.
The first of these five,
which we're starting today,
is the longest.
And we're at the beginning
of that discourse,
known famously as
the B attitudes.
Which means blessedness,
or happiness.
The first definition
of the word blessed,
you find,
in the Merriam-Western Dictionary,
is to be held in reverence,
or to be honored in worship.
So there is a Greek word
that means exactly that,
and it's usually used
to describe God
as one who is blessed,
held in honor,
honored in worship.
For example,
Luke 1, 6, 8,
blessed be the Lord God
of Israel,
for he has visited
and redeemed his people.
And that means,
let God be held in honor
and worshiped.
Blessed be the Lord God.
But that is not the Greek word
that is used here.
There's another word
that's used here,
and it has a different nuance.
It is translated fortunate
in Acts 26, verse 2,
when Paul says,
I consider myself fortunate
that I,
it is before you,
King Agrippa,
I am going to make my defense today
against all the accusations
of the Jews.
The same word is translated happy
in 1 Corinthians 7, 39-40.
A wife is bound to her husband
as long as he lives,
but if her husband dies,
she is free to be married
to whom she wishes,
only in the Lord.
You're wondering,
why is this related?
And then it says,
yet in my judgment,
she is happier
if she remains as she is.
That's the same word
that is used here in Matthew.
Happy.
Fortunate.
I don't believe in luck,
but in modern parlance,
it's similar to how people
use the word luck
when they say,
how lucky are you?
How lucky that you have that job?
How lucky that you are married
to that woman?
How lucky?
That's similar to how
the word blessed is used here.
How happy?
This is the person
that is to be congratulated.
How happy is this person?
How blessed and fortunate
is this person?
Do you know that God
wants you to be happy?
Christian author Randy Alcorn
captures a common misconception
when he says,
being holy is something
we can do in God's presence,
but being happy is something
we're more comfortable doing
behind his back,
which isn't possible.
But truth be told,
there is nothing wrong
with pursuing happiness.
Fourth century,
Pastor Augustine wrote,
every man,
whatsoever his condition,
desires to be happy.
The problem is not
with the pursuit of happiness,
but with the pursuit of happiness
apart from God.
The problem is not
the pursuit of happiness itself.
Do you know whom
the Bible describes
in the foremost way
as being happy
or blessed?
It's God himself.
That same Greek word
used here in Matthew
is used to describe God
in the cult worship
we read in 1 Timothy 1-11,
the glory of the blessed God,
the glory of the happy God.
1 Timothy 6.15 says,
God is the blessed
and only sovereign,
the king of kings
and lord of lords.
God is the happy
and only sovereign,
the king of kings
and lord of lords.
Our God
is supremely happy.
He is sovereignly happy.
He is eternally happy.
And because God
is the original
happy God,
the happy one,
only those
who through faith
in Jesus Christ
have become partakers
in the divine nature
as it says
in 2 Peter 1-4
can be truly happy.
It is
a spiritual
impossibility
for any human
to be happy
apart from God.
So it says
in Psalm 89-15,
happy are the people
who walk,
O Lord,
in the light
of your face.
C.S. Lewis
puts it this way,
God made us,
invented us
as a man invents
an engine.
A car is made
to run on petrol
and it would not run
properly on anything else.
Now God designed
the human machine
to run on himself.
He himself
is the fuel
our spirits
were designed
to burn
or the food
our spirits
were designed
to feed on.
There is no other.
That is why
it is just no good
asking God
to make us happy
in our own way.
God cannot
give us
a happiness
and peace
apart from himself
because it is not there.
There is no such thing.
In these
eight beatitudes,
Jesus tells us
that what true happiness
on earth
looks like.
This is what it looks like
to find true happiness
as you follow Jesus.
If you are a stickler
and you counted
the word blessed
in this passage already
and you counted
that it occurs
nine times
and not eight,
I think that is because
verse 11 and 12
are an expansion
of beatitude number eight
in verse 10
because it continues
the theme
of being persecuted
and because verses
11 and 12
deviate from the standard
third person form
and it starts saying
blessed are you
instead of blessed are they.
so I think it's part
of beatitude number eight
so I think there's eight
but that's really
not that important.
We can subdivide
the eight beatitudes
into two halves.
The first half
ends with the mention
of righteousness.
Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst
for righteousness
and then the reward
is for theirs
is the kingdom.
Oh sorry,
that's the reward
is the same
from the beginning
and the end.
And likewise,
the second half
ends with the mention
of righteousness.
Blessed are those
who are persecuted
for righteousness sake.
And then the first half
begins with the reward
for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven
and the second half
ends with the reward
for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.
So once you discern
this pattern
that there are two halves
you can also see
that those two halves
have distinctive themes.
The first four beatitudes,
the poor in spirit,
those who mourn,
the meek,
those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness
all describe being empty
or devoid of something.
you lack wealth
or you lack pride
in spirit.
You mourn the lack
of loss of something.
You lack action
or initiative
if you're meek.
You hunger
and thirst
because you lack something
and you need more of it.
But the last four beatitudes,
merciful,
pure in heart,
peacemakers,
persecuted for righteousness sake,
they all describe
being full
or overflowing
with something.
You are full of mercy
so you show mercy
to others.
Your heart is full
of purity,
it's undivided.
So you're pure in heart,
you're full
of the peace of Christ
and so you make peace
with others.
You no longer just hunger
and thirst
for righteousness,
you are full
of righteousness
and so you are
persecuted
on account of it.
So there is
a logical flow
to these beatitudes
from the first half
to the second half.
Each of these beatitudes
is so revolutionary
and countercultural
that we have decided
as a leadership team
to slow down
and take one
or two beatitudes
per week
in similar to how
we did the 10 commandments
when we were
in Exodus 20.
And today I'm going
to go over
just beatitudes one
and two
because they're very
closely related
in verse three
and four.
Blessed are the poor
in spirit
for theirs
is the kingdom
of heaven.
Blessed are those
who mourn
for they shall
be comforted.
And I think
the main point
that God's driving
home with this,
these two beatitudes
is that only
the spiritually poor
and sad
possess
the kingdom
of heaven.
It's a counterintuitive
and paradoxical statement.
How in the world
is it blessed
or happy
to be poor
in spirit
and to mourn?
If I were to
compose
the beatitudes
according to
the moral values
and the cultural
norms of
our world,
I think it would
look quite different.
So I tried
writing it down
and this is what
I came up with.
I think
blessed are the
wealthy in spirit
for theirs
is the kingdom
of earth.
Blessed are those
who laugh
for they shall
forget their troubles.
Blessed are the
assertive
for they shall
inherit the earth.
Blessed are those
who are full
of righteousness
and signal
their virtue
for they shall
be affirmed.
Blessed are the
justice warriors
for they shall
execute justice.
Blessed are the
double-hearted
for they shall
see men
in high places.
Blessed are the
war makers
for they shall
be called gods.
Blessed are those
who are praised
for their worldliness
for theirs
is the kingdom
of earth.
I think
if we're honest
with ourselves
we'd agree
that we have
assimilated
many of these
worldly attitudes
into our own
morality
and our own
outlook on life.
But Jesus'
beatitudes
turn all these
things upside
down on their
heads.
sure
maybe the rich
and powerful
possess the
kingdom of earth
now to a certain
degree
but it's the
poor in spirit
who possess
the kingdom
of heaven.
All of the
beatitudes
command
the exact
attitude
and behavior
that the world
views with
contempt.
These are the
people,
the beatitudes
in Matthew 5
are the people
that the world
would view
as the losers
of the world.
the scums
of the world.
No wonder
Jesus often
refers to his
disciples
throughout the
gospel of Matthew
as little ones.
To be a
Christian
is to be
a little one.
A small one.
Poor in spirit.
The word
poor
here is a
key word
throughout the
Bible
and occurs
many times
in the Old
Testament
and it
often refers
to people
who are
literally
poor
but also
often refers
to the
people of
God.
People of
God are
consistently
described as
those who
are poor.
Psalm 9
12 says
for the
needy shall
not always
be forgotten
and the
hope of
the poor
shall not
perish
forever.
Often
the people
of God
were financially
poor,
physically poor,
but because
of that
it comes
to represent
not just
those who
are literally
physically
poor but
those who
are poor
in spirit,
those who
are meek,
those who
are not
haughty,
those who
are humble,
those who
are afflicted.
For example,
it's translated
the same
word that's
translated poor
in other parts
of the Old
Testament is
translated as
meek in
Isaiah 29
19.
The meek
shall obtain
fresh joy
in the Lord
and the poor
among mankind
shall exalt
in the Holy
One of Israel.
It is
translated
afflicted
in Psalm
10.
12.
Arise,
O Lord,
O God,
lift up
your hand,
forget not
the afflicted.
It's calling
all God's
people as
the afflicted
ones.
It's
translated
humble
in Zephaniah
2.
3.
Seek
the Lord,
all you
humble
of the
land
who do
his
just
commands.
Psalm
149.
For the
Lord takes
pleasure
in his
people,
he adorns
the humble
with salvation.
So who
are these
poor people?
Who are
these humble,
afflicted,
meek people?
They are
the people
of God.
The poor
in spirit
are those
who humbly
acknowledge
their need
for God.
They are
needy people,
not in a
general sense,
but specifically
needy for
God.
In the
New Testament,
the poor
gets lumped
in together
with some
people like
this.
the crippled,
the lame,
the blind.
In Luke
14,
12-14,
Jesus says
that when
you throw
a party
that you
should invite
the poor,
the crippled,
the lame,
the blind.
Because then
God will
bless us
for inviting
those who
cannot repay
us.
And God
will repay
us.
In his
sermon on
this passage,
John Piper,
a pastor,
mentioned a
story of
when he was
speaking at
a small
conference
before I
was born.
And he,
after his
message,
a student
came up,
a college
student,
and asked
him a
very commonly
asked question.
Isn't
Christianity
a crutch
for people
who cannot
make it
on their
own?
And John
Piper
thought for
a few
seconds,
and then he
said he just
responded simply,
yes.
Full stop.
Yes,
Christianity
is for
the poor,
the crippled,
the lame,
the blind.
But why
is being a
crutch a
bad thing?
If you have
a broken
leg,
isn't it a
blessing to
have a
crutch so
that you
can walk
around?
Why is
calling
Christianity
a crutch
an insult?
To the
people of
this world,
being a
crutch,
having a
crutch is
an insult
because they
don't want
to admit
that they
are cripples.
In
explaining why
he ministered
to tax
collectors
and sinners
in Matthew
9,
12,
Jesus said,
those who
are well
have no
need of a
physician,
but those
who are
sick.
That's why
Jesus came.
Yes,
we are
blind.
Left to
our own
devices,
we are
blind,
but Jesus
has opened
up our
eyes so
that we
once were
blind,
but now
we see.
Yes,
left to
our own
devices,
we are
lame and
crippled,
but now
because of
Jesus,
we leap
like deers.
Yes,
left to
our own
devices,
we are
poor,
we are
destitute,
we are
bankrupt,
corrupt.
But isn't
that why
he says
in 2 Corinthians
8,
9,
though Jesus
was rich,
yet for
our sake
he became
poor,
so that
we by
his poverty
might become
rich.
As a
proof of
his messianic
ministry,
Jesus says
this in
Matthew 11,
5,
the blind
receive their
sight,
the lame
walk,
lepers are
cleansed,
and the
deaf hear,
and the
dead are
raised,
and the
poor have
good news,
preached to
them.
Yes,
Jesus is
my crutch,
and I'm
not ashamed
of it.
In fact,
Jesus is
more than
my crutch,
because as
if I can
do part
of the
walking on
my own,
no,
Jesus is
my wheelchair,
no,
he's more
than that,
Jesus is
my everything.
God does
not help
those who
help
themselves,
that is
deism,
that is
not the
gospel.
God
helps
those who
cannot
help
themselves,
those who
are poor
in spirit,
those who
recognize
their own
spiritual
bankruptcy,
those who
recognize
their own
moral
destitution,
their own
insurmountable
debt of
sin before
the holy
God,
they are
those
whom God
helps.
It is
critical that
we admit
this.
Objectively
speaking,
we are all
cripples.
We are
poor in
spirit
because we
are impoverished
in our
spirit,
but not
everyone
admits
this.
So this
must become
a subjective
reality to
us.
And God
tells us
that is
exactly what
he is
looking for
and the
people that
he is
searching
for.
Isaiah
66,
verse 2
says this,
says the
Lord.
He who
is humble
and
contrite
in spirit
and trembles
at my
word.
That's what it
means to be
poor in spirit,
to be humble
and contrite
in spirit,
and to
tremble at
God's word.
And the
Bible gives us
some vivid
pictures of
what this
looks like
in flesh.
in Luke
chapter 5,
verse 8,
when Peter
realizes who
Jesus really
is,
the usually
boastful
Peter,
the usually
kind of
put your
hand,
put your
foot in
your mouth
Peter,
the usually
the Peter
who has all
the braggadocio
you could
want,
when he
realizes who
Jesus really
is,
he falls
down at
Jesus'
knees and
he says,
depart from
me.
depart from
me.
For I'm a
sinful man,
oh Lord.
In the
parable of
the Pharisee
and the tax
collector in
Luke 18,
while the
Pharisee is
looking up to
heaven and
boasting of
his self-righteousness
and raising his
arms to heaven,
and God,
thank you that I'm
not like this tax
collector,
I do everything I
need to do,
I do all the
righteous deeds,
and then the
tax collector
says he's far
away,
he can't even
get himself to
draw near the
temple because
that's how
unworthy he
feels,
he's far off
and while he's
far off,
he does not
dare to look up
to heaven,
he's looking
down and he
beats his
chest and
says,
have mercy on
me,
a sinner.
God,
he's not
there.
And Jesus,
in his
kindness,
says it's
that tax
collector that
goes home
justified by
God and not
that self-righteous
Pharisee.
For everyone who
exalts himself will
be humbled,
but the one who
humbles himself
will be exalted.
Job,
when he hears the
voice of God,
this man who
was a righteous
man,
and because of
the trials that
he went through
was accusing God
and questioning
God,
even though he
still held on to
his faith and
integrity,
when he hears the
voice of God out
of the whirlwind,
he says in Job
42,
5-6,
I had heard of
you by the
hearing of the
ear,
but now my
eyes see you.
Therefore,
I despise
myself and
repent in dust
and ashes.
Just one more
example,
Isaiah 6,
verse 5.
After seeing a
vision of the
Lord,
a vision of the
glory and the
majesty of our
Lord God,
prophet Isaiah
laments,
woe is me,
cursed is me,
woe is me,
for I am lost,
for I am a man
of unclean lips,
and I dwell in the
midst of a people
of unclean lips,
for my eyes have
seen the king,
the Lord of hosts.
If we have never
felt as Christians,
in light of the
face of the glory
of God,
to just crumble to
the floor,
and confess,
woe is me,
depart from me,
I am a sinner,
then we have not
yet fully appreciated
the glory and the
holiness of God.
God.
Do you know,
brothers and sisters,
that sinful men
are just worms?
Does that sound
too extreme to you?
Because that's not
my vocabulary,
that's God's
vocabulary.
Isaiah 41,
verse 4,
what God says
to his people,
fear not,
you warm,
Jacob,
you men
of Israel.
I am the one
who helps you,
declares the Lord.
Your redeemer
is the holy one
of Israel.
What is God
saying to us?
You are but a
worm,
but don't lose
heart because
I am your
redeemer.
Yes,
we are creating
the image of God,
that is true.
But morally,
spiritually,
because of our
fallen nature,
because of our sin,
we are but worms
and it is wondrous,
breathtaking grace
and mercy of God
that God takes
mere worms
and declares
them to be
sons and daughters
of God,
heirs of the
kingdom of heaven.
the presidential
inauguration
is tomorrow.
Some people think
that President Trump
is unfit
for his high office.
Some other people
think that President
Biden was unfit
for their high office.
I'm not too
concerned about
either of those.
What's more
shocking to me
and what's more
amazing and
unbelievable to me
than both of
those things
is that you
and I
are counted
heirs,
princes
and princesses
of the kingdom
of heaven.
How can it be?
For that's what
God gives us.
Look at verse 3.
Blessed are the
poor in spirit
for theirs
is
the kingdom
of heaven.
The Beatitudes
begins and ends
with this assurance.
Verse 3
and verse 10.
By bookending
the Beatitudes
with this blessing
and this promise,
Jesus teaches us
that the kingdom
of heaven
belongs to such
as these
as described
in the Beatitudes.
And note well
that this blessing
is in the present
tense.
Theirs is,
not theirs shall be,
theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.
This is a repetition
of what Jesus
started preaching
earlier in Matthew
4, 17.
Repent for the
kingdom of heaven
is at hand.
The kingdom of heaven
does not lie
in the distant future,
Jesus was saying.
It is now.
The reign of God,
the God of heaven
here on earth
is breaking
in now.
If we are poor
in spirit,
then we are blessed
because already
we are in possession
of the kingdom
of heaven.
Not fully,
as we'll see later,
but in a real way.
So my poor
brothers and sisters
in Christ,
hear this assurance
of our Lord Jesus.
Are you aware
this morning
of your own
spiritual poverty?
Are you aware
now of your
moral bankruptcy?
Are you aware
of the insurmountable
debt of sin
that you could never
hope to repay to God?
Take heart
because you have
pledged allegiance
to Christ the King.
Yours is
the kingdom
of heaven.
Beatitude number two
flows naturally
from Beatitude number one.
It says in verse four,
blessed are those
who mourn
for they shall be
comforted.
Those who are
aware
of their
spiritual bankruptcy
and poverty
cannot help
but mourn.
There are two
specific
and one
general sense
in which Christians
ought to mourn
according to the
New Testament.
First,
the word is used
to refer to
mourning our own
sins.
James 4,
8-10
says this,
cleanse your hands
you sinners
and purify your
hearts you double-minded.
Be wretched
and mourn
and weep.
Let your laughter
be turned to mourning
and your joy
to gloom.
Humble yourselves
before the Lord
and he will
exalt you.
Mourning our own
sins,
humbling ourselves
before the Lord.
Secondly,
we not only mourn
our own sins,
we also mourn
the sins of others,
especially that
of our brothers
and sisters
in Christ.
In 2 Corinthians 12,
21,
Paul writes,
I may have to mourn
over many of those
who sinned earlier
and have not repented
of the impurity,
sexual immorality,
and sensuality
that they have practiced.
We see how sin
wreaks havoc
on the lives
of our brothers
and sisters in Christ
and so we mourn.
we mourn
and cry out
to God in prayer.
I think we can
readily agree
that mourning
doesn't really
characterize
many churches
in our day and age.
There is little
solemnity,
let alone mourning,
in so many
church services.
Everything is instead
bright and peppy.
20th century
Welsh pastor
D. Martin Lloyd-Jones
also observed
the same phenomenon
in his day
and he attributed
this partly
to this,
the idea
which has gained
currency
that if we as
Christians are to
attract those
who are not Christians,
we must deliberately
affect an appearance
of brightness
and joviality.
Thus many try
to assume
a kind of joy
and happiness
which is not
something that
rises from
within
but is something
which is put on.
Now probably
that is the main
explanation
of the absence
of this characteristic
of mourning
in the life
of the church today.
It is this
superficiality,
this glibness
or joviality,
thanks John,
it is this endeavor
to appear to be
something
and to cut
a certain figure
instead of a life
arising from within
which controls
and determines
the whole of our
appearance and behavior.
mourning.
By the way,
I highly recommend
this book
if you're going
to follow through
this Sermon on the Mount
studies in the Sermon
on the Mount
by D. Martin Lowe Jones.
The shallow
understanding
of sin
combined
with a shallow
notion of joy
produce people
who do not mourn.
You might be thinking
to yourself,
well, mourning
doesn't seem
all that blessed
or happy to me.
I'd rather forget
my guilt
than enjoy my life,
thank you very much.
It is true
that sin brings
a certain kind
of pleasure.
Hebrews 11.25
speaks of the
fleeting pleasures
of sin,
but that is exactly
the problem.
sin never leads
to lasting joy.
Its pleasures
are fleeting.
It's like
ingesting
fentanyl,
which
gives you
a brief sense
of euphoria,
but then leads
to destruction
and death.
It is mourning
and our confessing
our sins
that we find
true happiness.
as 19th century
English pastor
Charles Spurgeon
once preached,
quote,
it does not
spoil your happiness
to confess your sin.
The unhappiness
is in not
making the confession.
Any true Christian
can attest
to the truth
of that statement.
So months ago,
didn't we learn this
from Ecclesiastes
chapter 7
verses 2 to 4?
It is better
to go to the house
of mourning
than to go
to the house
of feasting,
for this is the end
of all mankind,
and the living
will lay it to heart.
Sorrow
is better
than laughter,
for by sadness
of face
the heart
is made glad.
The heart
of the wise
is in the house
of mourning,
but the heart
of fools
is in the house
of mirth.
When we come
face to face
with our own
sinfulness
and this world's
profound
brokenness,
there are only
two ways
we can try
to fight off
despair.
The first way,
as I mentioned
in the Ecclesiastes series,
is to party
like there's no tomorrow.
Drink the night away
and dance the night away.
Divert yourself
with endless comedy shows.
Forget all your troubles,
but that route
doesn't ultimately work.
The true path
to the peak
of joy
always goes
through the valley
of mourning.
If we mourn,
we cultivate
humility
and submission
before God,
which then
produces
profound
and lasting
gratitude
and joy.
That is,
brothers and sisters,
the secret
to Christian joy.
That is the secret
to Christian joy.
Only those
who are poor
in spirit
can be filled
with the spirit.
only those
who repent
can be forgiven.
Only those
who have a real
sense of sin
can have a true
sense of joy,
of salvation.
Only those
who have died
to self
can have resurrection
life in Jesus Christ.
Humility
comes before
exaltation.
That's how it
always works
in God's economy.
So we mourn
our own sins
and we mourn
the sins of others.
There's still yet
one more thing
that we mourn
in general.
Later in Matthew 9, 15,
some people will ask
Jesus,
why don't your
disciples fast
like these other
devout Jews?
And this is
Jesus' answer.
Can the wedding
guests mourn
as long as
the bridegroom
is with them?
The days will come
when the bridegroom
is taken away
from them
and then they will fast.
What Jesus is saying
is this,
as long as
the bridegroom
of the church,
Jesus,
is with us
in the flesh,
it would be
inappropriate
for his followers
to mourn.
You don't go
to a wedding
to mourn.
But when Jesus
is taken away,
after his death
and resurrection
and ascension
and he's no longer
physically with them
anymore,
Jesus assures them,
yeah,
then they will fast.
Then they will mourn.
We live in this
intervening age
between Christ's
first coming
and then his
second coming
and that intervening
age is characterized
by mourning.
Because even though
Christ has already
inaugurated the
kingdom of heaven,
he has not yet
consummated the
kingdom of heaven.
We are already
in possession
of the kingdom of heaven,
but we are not yet
in full possession
of the kingdom of heaven.
Apart from the first
and the last
beatitudes,
all the promises
are in the future tense.
Look at verse 4.
Blessed are those
who mourn,
for they shall
be comforted,
for they shall
inherit the earth,
for they shall
be satisfied,
for they shall
receive mercy,
for they shall
see God,
for they shall
be called
sons of God.
We do all
already have this
in some measure.
We know that
because even though
verse 9 says,
blessed are the
peacemakers,
for they shall
be called
sons of God.
we are already
called sons of God
because throughout
the Sermon on the Mount,
Jesus will refer
to God as
God your Father
who is in heaven,
which means we are
his sons and his children.
Paul teaches this
very clearly,
this tension
in Romans 8.
Even though we have
already received
the spirit of adoption
by whom we cry out
Abba, Father,
it says,
that's Romans 8.15,
but then it also says
we still groan
inwardly as we wait
eagerly for adoption
as sons,
the redemption
of our bodies.
Until the final
redemption
and resurrection
of our bodies,
we cannot fully realize
our spiritual sonship
via our union
with Christ,
the Son of God.
So even though
we are already
sons of God,
we are not yet
fully sons of God.
Both of those things
are true.
Same goes down
the list
of all of the
Beatitudes.
We are already
comforted
in significant
measure,
but ultimate
comfort lies
in the future.
We already
inherit the earth
in some measure,
but then we shall
fully inherit
the earth.
We are already
satisfied in Christ,
but then we shall
fully be satisfied.
In this intervening
age,
we groan along
with the rest
of creation
because we have
been subjected
to futility.
And we can see
how sin wreaks
havoc upon our world
and upon our bodies.
We look around us
and we read the news
and we see the heartbreak
news after news
of wars
and of fires
and destroyed homes
and diseases
and deaths.
So we mourn.
In this sinful world,
we are poor in spirit
while the haughty
gloat over us.
In this sinful world,
we mourn
while sinners laugh at us.
In this world,
we are meek
while sinners
step all over us.
In this world,
we are persecuted
for righteousness' sake.
But Jesus assures us,
do not lose heart
for yours is
the kingdom of heaven.
You already have
the first fruits,
the down payment
of the Holy Spirit
and the rest of it
is definitely coming.
Your full inheritance
as heirs of the kingdom
of heaven.
You will be comforted
on that day
and there will be
no more tears.
And God himself
will wipe the tears
away from your face.
But why
do we deserve
such a wonderful blessing?
we who are just
poor in spirit,
impoverished,
we who mourn
our brokenness
and sin,
who are we
to deserve
all these blessings
and happinesses?
The happiness
that God promises us here
comes at a high cost,
a heavy cost.
Jesus,
who is without sin,
Jesus,
who is the perfect
son of God,
who knew
eternal happiness,
he should have
never known sorrow.
He should have
never known
any grief.
He should not
have been poor
in spirit.
He should not
have had to mourn.
And yet,
Isaiah 53,
verse 3 prophesied,
he was despised
and rejected
by men,
a man of sorrows
and acquainted
with grief.
grief.
Why did the eternal
son of God,
who according
to Proverbs 8,
30, 31,
was daily
in eternity past,
daily the delight
of his father,
who was in eternity past,
rejoicing before him
always,
before the father,
rejoicing always,
why did he
come down to earth
to become a man
of sorrows,
acquainted with grief,
because he came
to bear our sorrows,
because he came
to bear our griefs,
because he came
to die on the cross
so that we who
should know
only sorrow
and only grief
can be happy,
can be happy.
And know true happiness,
true blessedness,
true joy.
It's because Jesus
was laid low
that we are now
lifted up.
It's because he was
the man of sorrows
that we are now
a happy people.
We sang these lines
from the song earlier,
Good and Gracious King,
and it perfectly captures
these two Beatitudes.
I approach the throne
of glory.
Nothing in my hands
I bring,
but the promise
of acceptance
from a good
and gracious king.
So let's approach
God with empty hands
and rejoice
before his face.
Let's pray together.
Father,
we want to be
a truly joyful
and happy people.
We don't want anything
to do with this
forced,
affected happiness,
masks,
and pretensions
of happiness.
Lord,
we want the real thing.
We want real happiness
and real joy.
And so for that end,
to that end,
Lord God,
won't you please grant us
true poverty of spirit,
the true spirit of mourning.
so that we might be,
though ever afflicted,
yet always rejoicing.
In the name of your precious son,
Jesus Christ,
we pray.
Amen.