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The Upside Down Life #3 – Poor In Spirit

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Banquets, Bankruptcy, and The Hidden Benefits of Being Broke: The Counter-Intuitive Christ

by Gene Heacock

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5 :3

The Sermon on the Mount can be difficult to approach. There are 4 (basic) views:

  1. Literal ( Anabaptist)
  2. Liberal
  3. Existential and
  4. Dispensational

The approach will determine the outcome…

The Spirit of God will not contend with the spirit on man forever.

Jesus finished His message and people are amazed (see Matthew 7: 28). If you are not amazed, confused, frustrated, or angry today when I finish you probably have not heard Jesus words.

This is the first blush of the new wine of the taste of the new covenant. The Old Covenant was written on stone tablets. The New Covenant is written on hearts, the old external is exchanged for new internal. The old you gets pardoned, the new you gets power.

The old Moses goes up the new Christ comes down.

The Law has power to condemn. Christ gives grace that provides. Grace is not just pardon, it is power, it is provision.

OT 10 Commandments served a purpose and they still do but while they can prescribe they do not have power to transform. We warn against idolatry, encourage personal responsibility, impulse control appropriate boundaries, and motive of the heart. These are all good but they will not save nor will they transform. THE LAW WAS GIVEN TO POINT US TO CHRIST.

Jesus takes the law to a whole new level- amazed.

He uses laser beam precession to cut away flesh and performs a spiritual MRI using human imaging to do a MRI on our hearts…

IF you do not start poor by the time Jesus finishes you will be stripped naked, bankrupt and hungry for more.

Perhaps angry and confused  Jesus does “fingernails on the blackboard” many times anger, lust, revenge — look at texts chapters 5 and 6.

Jesus says that there are deep forces in your life that make you try to pay for your sins. We are internally conflicted – you judge don’t you?

Do you perfectly perform the judgement you make upon others? So you convict yourself and you know deep, deep down inside you deserve it…

Martin Luther said when we practice judgement we become the self accuser and self justifier simultaneously.

Jesus says that there are deep forces in your life that cry for justice, beauty, and self control but we come out unable to fulfill them. WE ARE POOR.

Jesus says there are deep forces of sexual impulses desires for revenge and retaliation and uncontrolled anger that cry out in our lives but we do not have the power to control them. WE ARE POOR.

Jesus teaches that there are deep grounds for your feelings of unworthiness guilt that cry our for judgement that say, WE ARE POOR.

In Matthew 5: 20 – unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pope Billy Graham, Mother Theresa, and Dr. Martin Luther King combined you will not have a chance of ever touching the door post of heaven, not the door post, not the mail box at the end of the drive, not even able to be in the same county, not even in the same state etc. etc…

The weight of your sin and mine is like a rope that ties us up with a weight that drags us down and a debt that we can never pay back. Have you heard we are close to being bankrupt as a nation? Do you know from God’s perspective we already are? WE ARE POOR.

THE SPIRIT OF GOD WILL NOT CONTEND WITH THE SPIRIT OF MAN FOREVER !!!

We all come to God like Bernie Madoff sentenced to over 150 years, not owning anything, trying to pay back 62 billion dollars. Even our underwaer is a government issued. WE ARE POOR.

I am going to say something to you that will probably make you so angry you may not listen to the rest of what I will say today…I am so thankful that you have been privileged to go through all the struggles you have at SBF. God must be thrilled that there is somebody here who is broke and hungry for more. SBF has lost pastors, people, programs ,reputation visible success and a downward trend in the bank account…

  • YOUR CHURCH IS FLAT BROKE YOU DO NOT HAVE IT ALL TOGETHER YOU DO NOT HAVE IT ALL FIGURED OUT AND YOU CAN NOT MUSCLE YOUR WAY OR BUY YOUR WAY OUT OF THIS ONE.
  • BLESSED ARE THOSE BANKRUPT IN THE SPIRIT OF MAN BECAUSE THE ARE ENTERING THE ETERNAL RESERVES OF THE RESERVOIRS OF THE GOD OF TRUE RICHES.

Jesus says I can make a payment for you. Jesus tells us He holds eternal reserves on your behalf are you broke?

“…The way to become poor in spirit is to look at God. Read this Book about Him, read His law, look at what He expects from us, contemplate standing before Him. It is also to look at the Lord Jesus Christ and to view Him as we see Him in the Gospels. The more we do that the more we shall understand the reaction of the apostles when, looking at Him and something He had just done, they said, ‘Lord, increase our faith!’ Their faith, they felt, was nothing. They felt it was so weak and so poor. ‘Lord, increase our faith. We thought we had something because we had cast out devils and preached Thy word, but now we feel we have nothing; increase our faith. ~Martyn Lloyd-Jones, from “Studies in the Sermon on the Mount,” p. 42.

Jesus says I have a banquet prepared that is out of this world. Blessed are you when you are hungry (v.6).

LISTEN TO JESUS COUNTER INTUITIVE PROMISE. Can we really hear it??

My own translation: God’s people are just chillin, stress free spirituality, not controlled by fear or religious performance, or playing pretend because they are living in the new reality of life in the Spirit with in the kingdom of God.

We come to the text like Bernie Madoff  – POOR.

Poor: Greek Word PTOCHOS,

  1. Reduced to beggary, begging, asking alms
  2. Destitute of wealth, influence, position, honour
    1. lowly, afflicted, destitute of the Christian virtues and eternal riches
    2. helpless, powerless to accomplish an end
    3. poor, needy
  3. Lacking in everything – as respects their spirit: destitute of wealth of learning and intellectual culture (Greek Lexicon entry for Ptochos. The New Testament Greek Lexicon, http://www.studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=4434.)

Blessed: Greek work MAKARIOS:

Matthew (reflecting Jesus’ thoughts) uses this word in a totally different way. It is not the elite who are blessed. It is not the rich and powerful who are blessed. It is not the high and mighty who are blessed. It is not the people living in huge mansions or expensive penthouses who are blessed. Rather, Jesus pronounces God’s blessings on the lowly: the poor, the hungry, the thirsty, the meek, the mourning. Throughout the history of this word, it had always been the other people who were considered blessed: the rich, the filled up, the powerful. Jesus turns it all upside-down. The elite in God’s kingdom, the blessed ones in God’s kingdom, are those who are at the bottom of the heap of humanity.

Greek mind – the island Cyprus called Makaria, meaning it’s all you will ever need…

Ron Dun: We all say Jesus is all we need but we will never know that Jesus is all we need until Jesus is all we got. When we find that Jesus is all we got then we will find that Jesus is all we need.

This is not a foreign concept to the audience. This is OT understanding see Is 57:15 —

For thus says the high and exalted One
Who lives forever, whose name is Holy,
“I dwell on a high and holy place,
And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit
In order to revive the spirit of the lowly
And to revive the heart of the contrite.

Contrite – literally crushed, pulverized, ground like powder. God dwells with those kind of people.

Like David in Psalm 51 :17:

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.

A contrite heart his world and the law of God broke him to his core.

Jesus was an OT Jew and uses the same language in Matthew 5:3 – AMAZING!!! Sounds like POOR doesn’t it??? David says he is blessed in Psalm 34:6-8, 18.

Lord is it me? Spirit of God Spirit of Man? I am a poor example of the text, I work too hard and I am very fallen.

Two illustrations:  1) My- wife  in the coffee shop my response not kind, 2) Another pastor of FBC Foxboro, we could go on for days about me…am I alone in this??

For theirs is the kingdom of another reality. Barclay: poor is good hungry is good…

How do we Respond?? Gregg says, Bring it home to SBF?

NUMBER ONE-

What not to do. What they did OT Deuteronomy 5:27 WE CAN DO IT WE WILL DO ALL. Do not read the Sermon on Mount and respond as they did, rather say we cannot but Christ can through us.

Approach Scripture not as prescriptions for more activity to do things for God but rather as an invitation to delight and depend upon God TO LIVE THE SCRIPTURE THROUGH YOU.

Grace is not just pardon it is power. -John Piper

NUMBER TWO-

Allow Scripture to be an invitation into intimacy with God Himself.

Don Monstron Illustration written on the glass…STORY and application

The sermon on the monut is not a lst of rules and regulations but it is a description of the life we live when the Holy Spirit is having His way with us.  -Oswald Chambers

NUMBER THREE-

Declare personal spiritual bakruptcy

CHAPTER SEVEN NOT Chapter 11 or 13 for slavation how about for all of life?  Anger, control, lust, revenge, regret, worry, anxiety??

The King of the this new Kingdom says when you follow Me you must give Me your whole heart!! But I will take a broken one if you give me all the pieces…

NUMBER FOUR-

Become a Poor Church on Purpose

Declare spiritual bankruptcy as a congregation as I said earlier there are deep grounds for your feelings of unwithiness, guilt and shame, but the good news?? There are deeper grounds for your forgiveness, holiness, and freedom.

What makes you hungry? What makes you feeling broke? What motivates the core of your being?

Spiritual Bankruptcy- A Contrite Spirit Corproate Dependence

Do you want to see the work that only God can do?  Then start being POOR.

Orlando Story Church that choose to make herself BROKE GODS SURPRISES

A Puritan prayer…

Cause me to be a mirror of thy grace, to show others the joy of thy service, May my lips be well-tuned cymbals sounding thy praise, Let a halo of heavenly-mindedness sparkle around me and a lamp of kindness sunbeam my path. Teach me the happy art of attending to things temporal with a mind intent on things eternal. Send me forth to have compassion on the ignorant and miserable. Help me to walk as Jesus walked, my only Saviour and perfect model, his mind my inward guest, his meekness my covering garb. Let my happy place be amongst the poor in spirit, my delight the gentle ranks of the meek. Let me always esteem others better than myself, and find in true humility an heirdom to two worlds. -Taken from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers, edited by Arthur Bennett

Fasting As A Form of Worship

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The leaders at Southside Bible Fellowship are calling for a church-wide fast from (Monday) March 26th through our Concert of Prayer (4-6pm) on Sunday April 1st.  Directly after our Concert of Prayer we will collectively break our fast with a meal of soup and bread.  Please keep reading to consider your options…

“I humbled my soul with fasting”  (Psalm 35:13b)

In Psalm 35 King David is crying out in agonized intercession to be rescued from his enemies. Part of David’s prayer is that he has bowed-down his soul with fasting.  It is widely accepted that our soul consists of our intellect, will, and emotions.  According to Matthew 6, Isaiah 58, and Psalm 35 the overall objective of fasting is to humble our soul (or to cause our intellect, will, and emotions to bow down) so that the desires and the purposes of God can become more prominent!  When we deny our appetites and soulish longings and turn to the Lord through worship, Christian meditation, supplication, and intercession there is a supernatural grace released upon us to see God’s heart and will.  The idea is to set aside regular times during a fast in order to seek the Lord and cry out for His kingdom to increase and for His will to be done – IN us and THROUGH us.

Matthew 6 describes and instructs us in three primary spiritual disciplines.  The chapter opens by encouraging us not to practice our “acts of righteousness” publicly; and if we do, we shall have no reward from our Father in heaven.  The three spiritual disciplines are giving, prayer (we are to pray secretly, sincerely, and specifically), and fasting.

Isaiah 58 is probably the best and most concise instruction on the spiritual discipline of fasting in the Bible.  Verse six lists the four reasons for fasting:  “To loosen the bonds of wickedness,”  “To undo the bands of the yoke,”  “To let the oppressed go free,” and to “break every yoke.”  Verses 8-14 contain some amazing promises concerning the fruits, or benefits, of fasting.

A simple definition for fasting would be voluntary abstinence of our appetites and our soulish longings for spiritual reasons.  The Bible speaks of it not as an option but as an expected and regularly practiced spiritual discipline.  The following are some of the purposes for fasting; these also convey some of the benefits of fasting:

1.   Fasting will sharpen our focus in prayer.  (After we get beyond the initial discomfort caused by our various addictions such as coffee, sugar, etc.)

2.   Fasting will cause us to be more sensitive to God’s guidance in our lives.

3.   Fasting is a sign of humble repentance and expressing to God our desire to be responsively obedient to His will and direction for our lives – both individually and as a church.

4.   It was common in biblical times to fast when the need for protection and/or deliverance was great.  An excellent example is when Queen Esther called for her people to fast with her when she appealed to the king to spare the Jews (see Esther 4:16).

5.   As David articulated in Psalm 35, fasting can be an expression of simple humility before God.

6.   Fasting, or the servant-leaders calling for a fast, can be the result of God’s people seeing a need and expressing their concern.  When Nehemiah heard about the great distress, reproach, and the broken down walls in Jerusalem the Bible tells us that he sat down and wept and mourned for days, and then fasted and prayed until the Lord revealed His plans (see Nehemiah 1:3-4).

7.   When Jesus fasted for forty days in the wilderness after His baptism He was strengthened spiritually against the strong temptations of Satan.  In fact, in Luke 4:14 it says that, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit” (emphasis added).

8.   Fasting can be simply an act of worship and adoration with no other purpose than to ascribe glory and honor to God.

There are many different ways to fast.  We can fast food and just drink water or juice, we can eat vegetables and/or fruit only (this has been called a “Daniel Fast,” see Daniel 1:8-17), we can choose not to eat any sugar or carbohydrates, we can fast one or two meals a day, we can fast from sun-up to sun-down.  Paul encourages married couples to occasionally fast sexual intercourse, “that you may devote yourselves to prayer…” (1 Corinthians 7:5).  We can fast television or the internet and pray instead!  Before we fast it is important to seek the Lord regarding what would be appropriate.

We are in a season of transition at Southside Bible Fellowship. There are several excellent reasons for us to embark on a corporate fast:  Over the last 2-3 years there has been relational tearing and woundedness. We want to fast and ask God to show us how to specifically engage in the ministry of reconciliation with those who have been hurt. We want to identify and “own” our past dysfunctions as a church — and repent and forsake them. We want to fast and ask God to once again visit us with salvations.  We want to fast for a fresh understanding of what it means to delight in God – as well as what it means for God to delight in us.  In addition, prayerfully consider any supplemental personal and family needs so that you will fast with a strong sense of God’s heart – asking for His “kingdom to come and His will to be done” IN you and THROUGH you.  May the Lord strengthen you and encourage you through a mighty demonstration of His power and might!!

The Upside Down Life (#2)

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BEGGARS RULE: Matthew 5:1-3

Chris Cavanaugh 3/18/12

I. INTRO

Beggars and bankruptcy – (illustrations).

What the beatitudes are not:

  • Not ultra-dispensational – only for a future millennial kingdom
  • Not unreachable ideals
  • Not for salvation – a formula for getting it right.

It’s the only way to follow Jesus – to approach life

1.  These (beatitudes) are attitudes that prepare us for the actions of the rest of the SOTM.

  • Attitudes towards God (5:3-5)
  • first steps in worship –
  • Is 6 –seeing who God is and responding accordingly
  • as we see ourselves in reality
  • Attitudes towards others (5:6-12 or 16)
  • “those people” –the world
  • e.g. we are God’s speck-removers with plank-eyes

2.  These are (largely) linear and progressive

3.  These reflect the heart of Father as seen in the Son

4.  The Gospel tells us that we can live like Jesus

  • A new humanity
  • A Kingdom people
  • Under his rule and reign
  • Vehicles to spread his rule and reign

II. EXPOSITION

1.  5:1-2

  • crowds– (Matt 4:25) “Large crowds (from all around) followed him.”
  • sat down—authority (Luke 4:20)
  • disciples­—learners, every believer
  • he began to teach them (5:2)

2.  5:3

  • blessed—Gr. makares
  • Cyprus – the happy isle- rich and completely fertile—all one could want.
  • Homer-blessedness of the gods (within themselves)
  • Appropriating the gospel will yield a blessed existence
  • abundant life, (Jn 10:10) “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
  •  that your joy may be full— Jn 16:24 “Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”
  • Full riches-to know Christ, Col 2:2 “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ”
  • like the joy of Jesus— “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11)
  • (the blessedness of the Godhead before creation)

2.  poor (in spirit)—Gr. ptochos

  • carries the sense of extreme poverty –comes from the verb to cower, to crouch, noun form is used for beggar…. (Mounce, 38)

I am beggar poor and pitiful

Just enough is not enough

I am midnight blind and slum naked

I need love, I need love

 3.  the beginning of worship (i.e. life)—this is the daily tuning up for life (illustration).

4.  kingdom of heaven

  • rule and reign of God (Matt 6:16)
  • Kingdom come (and coming)
  • is near, (Lk 10:9, 11)
  • has come upon you, (Matt 12:28)
  • has come to you, (Lk 11:20)
  • has come, (Lk 22:18)
  • It is in you. “Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you”” (Lk 17:20)
  • e.g. through works: “But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you” (Lk 11:20)

III. CONCLUSION

1.  Seeing our desperate need for God

  • is the key to life (thinking/being and doing)
  • or It is the key to letting God reign in and through you.
  • Relational (SOTM examples galore)
  • We are changed by this process to
  • Live in all circumstances – I have learned to be abased or abound.
  • Invite persecution (Matt 5:11-12)
  • Effect those around us (Matt 5:13-16)

The Upside Down Life (#1) – An Indepth Look At Matthew 5:1-16

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The Way In Is the Way On.  An Overview of the Beatitudes…

I. INTRO

I have been serving here at SBF for 11 months now – and I can tell you that everything we have been studying up to this point has been preparing us for the study we are about to embark on…

We will take our time and work through the first 16 verses of Mathew 5.  These are also the first 16 verses of the most famous sermon of all time – The Sermon on the Mount (SOTM), which consist of chapters 5-7.  They are all red-letter verses, in other words these are the words of Jesus.

Here’s what John Stott the late pastor, author, and missiologist has said about the SOTM:

“The Sermon on the Mount is probably the best-known part of the teaching of Jesus, though arguably it is the least understood, and certainly it is the least obeyed. It is the nearest thing to a manifesto that he ever uttered, for it is his own description of what he wanted his followers to be and to do.”[1]

Now, reading the SOTM only takes about 10 minutes so it’s widely thought that Matthew is giving us the “Cliff Notes” version (i.e., highlights).

We need to make some theological distinctions as we lean into the Beatitudes and the SOTM…

Some of the theological roots of SBF include what’s known as a dispensational[2] view of the Bible.

Dispensationalists and most of the rest of Evangelicalism would differ on the interpretation and application of the Beatitudes (and the SOTM).

Classical dispensationalism would argue that the Beatitudes (and the SOTM) are not gospel but pertain to life in the millennial kingdom after to the second coming of Christ.[3] (If you have a Scofield Study Bible – that would emphasize the classical view of dispensationalism.)

It should be noted that there are more moderate views of dispensationalism.  If you have a Ryrie Study Bible – he’s a more moderate dispensationalist.  Yet he would still believe that primary fulfillment of the Beatitudes (and the SOTM) are in the millennial kingdom.[4] (Popular contemporary dispensationalists include John MacArthur and Charles Swindoll.  I have also heard that John MacArthur has become more moderate in his dispensationalism, but I don’t have first hand knowledge of that.  Charles Swindoll would also be considered a more moderate dispensationalist.)

The basic evangelical approach is to recognize that the kingdom of God has come in the person and work of Jesus. (Mk 1:15: “kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel). This “kingdom now” theological perspective teaches that Jesus established the kingdom of God (KOG) at His first coming and will consummate the KOG at His second coming – and we live in the age (or dispensation) between the two.  One theologian, George Ladd, has said we live in the presence of the future – between the already and the not yet.[5]

So, how will this affect our study of the Beatitudes?  I believe the Beatitudes (and the SOTM) ARE for today – and that they are the means to allowing the gospel to be worked into our lives – and then through our lives to others.

Here’s how I would say it: “The Gospel is not advice, it is news.”  (Jared Wilson, Gospel Wakefulness, Crossway 2011: 188.)  It is the ultimate Good News.  I would suggest to you that Sunday Services are not primarily the place to give advice… Gospel-centered (or Christ centered) change (i.e., sanctification) is rooted first and foremost in remembrance. We are to remind one another primarily of what Christ Jesus has done, not what we must do.

We cannot commend what we do not cherish.  -John Piper

And the essence of Christian maturity is when the Gospel – or, what Christ has done — gets worked IN – and then THROUGH our lives – which is what I’d like to spend our remaining time considering – and this will be the main intent of our series.

Today we will take a look at the Beatitudes.  Allow me to offer a few introductory thoughts.

II. BODY

Contained in the Beatitudes are eight qualities that characterize the life of Jesus Christ, and therefore, through conversion, they begin to characterize our life in Jesus Christ.  Jesus calls us to follow him, surrender to Him, and to depend upon His strength and power.

The word beatitude comes from the Latin word meaning “blessed.”

More specifically the word means exalted joy, or true happiness. (Joy is not always exuberant, but can also be described as calm delight in even the most adverse circumstances.  Joy fueled Paul’s contentment – Phil 4:11.)

With the beatitudes, Jesus dives into our innermost being probing the heart and raising the question of motive.  (This is why, at face value, it’s harder to be a Christian than Jewish…)

What made Jesus a threat to everyone and the reason He was eventually killed was that in His encounters with people (particularly the religious leaders), He exposes what they were on the inside.  Some people find it liberating – others hate it.  (Mat 23:27: hypocrites and whitewashed tombs.)

The Beatitudes, I have come to see, is our surrendered response to the Gospel.  I see the Beatitudes as a step-by-step spiritual formation process that moves us toward spiritual depth and maturity.  This becomes cyclical as we grow deeper and deeper in our faith.  The Beatitudes become the outworking of the Gospel IN and THROUGH our lives.

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit…

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope.  With less of you there is more of God and his rule.” (Petersen – MSG)

Another translation renders this verse, “Happy are those who know their need for God.” (JBP)

What does it mean to be “poor in spirit”?  A desperateness of soul that is weary of living in it’s own strength and longs for God’s mercy and grace to come and refresh the soul.  In a word, it is DESPERATION.

Prodigal Sons (Lk 15:11-32) The younger prodigal came to the end of himself (v.17) and though he had no idea of the Father’s love, made his way home.

In the recovery movement this would be similar to steps 1 & 2:

  • Step 1 – We admitted we were powerless over our addiction – that our lives had become unmanageable.
  • Step 2 – Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

2. Blessed are those who mourn…

I have a river of sin in my life – with 3 primary tributaries…

  1. Original sin (Adam & Eve traded the presence of God for the knowledge of God – and that’s been our core tendency ever since…).
  2. Family of origin issues. (We all have negative traits and generational sin patterns that we bring into our Christian experience.  Are you in touch with yours?)
  3. My own dumb choices.

As we are honest about the sin that has infected us there will be a transforming grief and accompanying repentance, that surfaces – not only for our own lives, but also for the injustice, greed, lust, and suffering that grips our world.

I want to own my sin everyday.[6]

This is where the upside down life comes into play.  The Beatitudes are counterintuitive (paradox: seeming contradiction).  We go down to go up; death precedes resurrection; we get to joy by traveling through grief.  Our soul wants to find a way around grief, but God says, “No, you must travel through grief – and the good news is, He says, “I’ll go with you and we will do it in My strength and power.”

The way of the Gospel is a death and resurrection cycle…

**The gospel has the greatest potential to captivate us when we understand that we are more depraved than we ever realized and simultaneously more loved that we ever dared to imagine.

3. Blessed are the meek…

Rick Warren would say, “Meekness is not weakness, but the power of your potential under Christ’s control.”  The concept of meekness describes a horse that has been broken.  We can either surrender to Christ and invite His breaking, or remain the undisciplined and wild stallion.

Grieving over sin and suffering grows meekness in us and delivers us into a humble learning posture (disciple means learner).

4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…Spiritual hunger and thirst is the growing desire to be empty of those things that don’t reflect God, and initiates a deep longing for wholeness in our lives.

5. Blessed are the merciful…

Mercy is entering into another persons feelings – attempting to see things from another person’s perspective – all with understanding AND acceptance…just like Jesus has done for us.

As we receive God’s mercy we begin to give mercy – to ourselves and to others.

6. Blessed are the pure in heart… Mercy cleanses our heart and restores purity to our lives.

Did you know that your virginity CAN be restored?

2 Cor 11:2For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.

7. Blessed are the peacemakers…

Purity gives way to a personal serenity and peacefulness.  Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the absence of anxiety in the midst of inevitable conflict – and when others encounter it, they want it too.

Our Western concept of peace needs to be considered in the light of the ancient Hebrew concept of peace, which is SHALOM — and means more than our limited understanding of peace (i.e., the lack of conflict).

Biblical SHALOM means a universal flourishing, wholeness and delight; a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied, natural gifts are fruitfully employed — all under the arc of God’s love. Shalom is the way things ought to be.

Neal Plantinga – “the webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in equity, fulfillment, and delight.”

I will also say there is a difference between a peacemaker and a peacekeeper.

To be a peacemaker does not mean peace at any cost.  Peacekeeping creates a false peace.  Many of us live out our lives with this false peace and say nothing or do nothing to change it—in churches, homes, work places, marriages.

Examples:

  • Someone makes inappropriate sexual comments to you at work.  You know its not accidental because its repetitive and degrading.  But you keep your mouth shut because you know they’ll threaten your job or make you miserable if you say anything.
  • A family member makes a scene at a family gathering.  It embarrasses you, the rest of the family, but you say nothing.  You keep the peace because to go there would unearth a lot of stuff that you just aren’t willing to deal with.
  • Your spouse makes insulting remarks to you or humiliates you publicly through critical tone of voice.  It grates on you.  But you keep silent because you want to keep the peace.

8. Blessed are the persecuted… Living life from a kingdom of God perspective will place us in conflict with those that oppose it (usually it’s “religious,” moralistic people!).

III. CONCLUSION

Without the knowledge of our extreme sin, the payment of the Cross seems trivial and does not electrify or transform.  But without the knowledge of Christ’s completely satisfying life and death, the knowledge of sin would crush us – or move us to deny and repress it.

By walking the way of the Beatitudes we hold our depravity and the Cross in a healthy and dynamic tension that will lead to transformation and renewal.

[1] The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, InterVarsity Press, 1978:15.

[2] Dispensationalism is a theological system that teaches biblical history is best understood in light of a number of successive administrations (dispensations) of God’s dealings with humankind. It maintains fundamental distinctions between God’s plans for national Israel and for the New Testament Church, and emphasizes prophecy of the end-times and a pre-tribulation rapture of the church prior to Christ’s Second Coming.

[3] As one dispensationalist put it, “this Sermon cannot be taken in its plain import and be applied to Christians universally…It has been tried in spots, but…it has always been like planting a beautiful flower in stony ground or in a dry and withering atmosphere” (I. M. Haldeman, The Kingdom of God, p. 149).

[4] The moderate dispensationalist [still] views the primary fulfillment of the Sermon and the full following of its laws as applicable to the Messianic kingdom” (Dispensationalism Today, 107-08).

[5] A good primer on this alternative to dispensationalism view would be the “The Gospel of the Kingdom” by George Ladd.

[6] “None is righteous, no, not one.” Romans 3:10 (ESV)
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” Eph 2:1-2 (ESV)