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Matthew 5:1-12
When Jesus saw the
crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to
him. 2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the
meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 “Blessed are the
merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 “Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 “Blessed are
those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
11 “Blessed are you
when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against
you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward
is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were
before you.
We say
Be imitators of God as
dearly loved children and live a life filled with love, following the example
of Christ.
Ephesians 5:1-2
Jesus says
Follow me.
The question is How?
The answer to the ‘How?’ is Matthew’s gospel. It is a Manual for life.
The Bible says and it is true,
9 The heart
is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10 “I
the LORD search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward everyone according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”
Jeremiah 17:9
As a young person I was taught that our make-up is like concentric rings. The body is what you see and its actions are visible. But underneath the skin is our minds are at work and within out minds, our hearts or emotions or motivation. Jesus says in this manual for life:
18 But the
things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these defile you. 19
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality,
theft, false testimony, slander.
Matthew 15:18-19
45 Good
people bring good things out of the good stored up in their heart, and evil
people bring evil things out of the evil stored up in their heart. For out of
the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
Luke 6:45
Within the heart is the soul and the Spirit. I need to warn you that this is not Biblical theology but a working model of human beings. So while it helps to understand ourselves a bit it is not the full story.
It is our soul and spirit which relate to God, who is spirit.
In
Man has sought to replace that aching void with a variety of religion . Mainly demonic spirits as in animism and Hinduism. Buddhism seeks enlightenment by changing our mindset; Islam and much of Christianity by controlling actions so that our minds conform. Atheism or anti-theism reject the spirit and seek to address the mind alone.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is that he brings new life to our spirits and that presence of the Holy Spirit changes our hearts and minds and therefore our actions are transformed into right actions because at source they are the expression of a pure heart.
17 if
anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is
here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through
Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17
19 I will give them an undivided heart and put
a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give
them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be
careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.
Ezekiel 11:19-20
Which is expanded in Ezekiel 36:25-28
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you
will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your
idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I
will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27
And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be
careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave
your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.
We say
“Let God change the
way you think”
Romans 12:2
Today’s passage is 8 changes to the disciple’s mindset.
But they must come from a changed heart and a new spirit.
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is
Lord,” and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are
justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are
saved.
Romans 10:9-10
What are the 8 ‘pillars’ of Christianity?
· Poor
· Mourn
· Meek
· Hunger & thirst for righteousness
· Merciful
· Pure in heart
· Peacemakers
· Persecuted
They are what you are not what you do. They are your state of mind not a series of actions.
So how many of the 8 pillars do you have?
Lets look at them one by one. I am aware this morning we will only consider the mindset, not the promises. For homework you could well meditate on the promises of this passage.
· Poor
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.
You are poor?
The government defines assets, other than a house of £16 000 as sufficient. You are not poor if you have £16 000 or more in the bank.
You are not poor if you have enough food and drink to keep you in reasonable fitness.
You are not poor if you have a home to live in.
You are not poor if you have or can afford health care.
You are not poor, so it is impossible for you to appreciate this blessing in its fullness.
Going beyond just being poor, we need to know ourselves. We are full of our strengths these days, we train our children to write brilliant CVs and build up our egos to amazing proportions. While we need to know our strengths, we need to know ourselves fully. Our weaknesses, particularly in sin and giving in to temptation. We have nothing to offer God. We need to know our limitations. We cannot earn our salvation, we cannot live forever without a work of the Spirit of God in our lives. We need to understand our dependency on God, the very air we breath, our health our food, our homes all come from him and that is why we , the not poor, find it so difficult to understand because we have earned it, saved up for it, have a national Health Service and we pay our National Insurance. But we are distracted by our ability to do amazing things and forget that our dependency on God is absolute.
· Mourn
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Know you sin. To do that you need to look at the cross. The pain and the suffering that Jesus suffered shows the depth of the gulf between you and God. Sin is not trivial. One crime maybe a small thing but several thousand crimes committed on one or two nights has shaken this nation. We blindly think that God is so loving he has no problem with our refusal to follow his way, his standards. The cross tells us how serious our sin is.
· Meek
5 “Blessed are the
meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Know your Saviour. Dying
on the cross was the greatest victory of all history. When Jesus cried out “It
is finished” he had completed the master work of the universe – your salvation
and mine. Yet, he was meek, but not weak, he did not defend himself, his
concern was for others never himself. He fought for your salvation with no
thought for his own. The tough one is to understand that simple obedient living
in the suburb called Ruislip is the way to inherit the earth. Not
· Hunger & thirst for righteousness
6 “Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Are you hungry? Or is and hour and a half on a Sunday morning enough to see you through the week? Is being saved by grace enough or do you want to know Jesus more? Tonight at 6:30pm we meet to seek to satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst. Jesus offers himself as bread and wine. He is the only one to satisfy our spiritual hunger. He is the way, the only way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, he said, but by me. You are invited to share in the relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Never settle for anything less. Be hungry. Be filled with God.
· Merciful
7 “Blessed are the
merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Imitate Jesus. He frequently used the word forgive. Do you? On the cross he said Father, forgive them… He taught us to pray “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Do you? In the way Jesus does? “Your sins” , he says, “I will remember no more forever” . Can you, when you remember another’s sin, deliberately put it out of your mind? Choose to forgive and go on forgiving?
· Pure in heart
8 “Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they will see God.
To be like Jesus, pure in heart, is such a beautiful idea and so elusive. Yet our good news is that Jesus transforms us by renewing our spirit and purifying our hearts. But we struggle and succumb to sin all to easily and willingly. We need the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts and drive out all the evil that lurks there. That is a daily matter of urgent prayer. One day we will stand before God, pure in heart, not because of our efforts but because the Holy Spirit has completed his work in us. More of your Spirit now , Lord!
· Peacemakers
9 “Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
This is the proactive blessing. We are called to be peacemakers. That is our active role in the world. We are ambassadors of peace, going into battle unarmed but with the Word of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
· Persecuted
10 “Blessed are
those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
And the result of us spreading the message of peace will inevitably be persecution. History whether in the Old Testament, Jesus refers to here or Acts or modern history tells us that the people of God have been persecuted. Why? Because man does not want to be like Jesus. That is too high an ideal. He does not want to receive grace, he wants to earn his salvation. So our message as peacemakers upsets the unrepentant man. But do not be silent because there are many whom God has called living around you who are waiting for the water of life to be poured into their souls. So for them and obedience to following our Saviour, tell the good news and take the persecution.
11 “Blessed are you
when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against
you falsely on my account.
In fact, rejoice and be glad because the persecuted are in the best company of all. Jesus, the Old testament prophets, all the apostles, countless Christians throughout the ages. Today persecution is the consequence of declaring your faith in most of the church.
12 Rejoice and be
glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted
the prophets who were before you.
This is not a superficial joy that lasts to the next crisis. It is a deep joy based firmly on the hope that we have in Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit assuring us that nothing that the world can throw at us, can shake our eternal destiny, our acceptance in the heavenlies. Trust in Jesus, follow him, that is what you were created for, what you yearn for. Be filled, rejoice and be glad that your names are written in the lambs book of life. Receive the promises and live life in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Imitate God
How?
By making these 8 beatitudes yours. You are blessed if you are
• Poor Know yourself
• Mourn Know your sin
• Meek Know your Saviour
• Hunger & thirst for righteousness
Know your Saviour more
• Merciful Imitate your Saviour
• Pure in heart Be filled with the Holy Spirit
• Peacemakers Imitate your Saviour
• Persecuted Follow your Saviour
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