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Blessed: Matthew 5:1-12 · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  Well, we began a new sermon series today called The Hard Sayings of Jesus. I told you a couple of weeks ago this was coming, and today it's finally here. And we know that some things that Jesus said were hard, hard to understand. It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to go to heaven. What? How about this? Whoever blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven? What are you talking about?
• 0:33
  There are some things that he said that were hard to understand and that made them hard. But there were some things that Jesus said that were very easy to understand. Don't be anxious about tomorrow. Go and make disciples of all nations. Those aren't hard to understand. We just don't want to do them. And that's what makes them hard. We begin our series with quite possibly the most famous sermon ever preached and the most famous section of the most famous sermon ever preached. The Sermon on the Mount.
• 1:04
  and the Beatitudes. And these words that we're going to look at this morning are well known, both to Christians and non-Christians alike, and yet they are rarely applied. In this passage this morning, we are going to see Jesus's formula for happiness. Well, I've got Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 to 12. Allow me to read the text, and then we'll pray. Beginning in verse 1.
• 1:30
  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.
• 2:01
  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. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. And Lord, I pray a blessing on the...
• 2:30
  hearing and preaching of your word today. God, may we be submissive to these truths, even though they may be hard to apply. God, I pray that we would define happiness and blessing the way that you do. And I pray that we as a church would put off the temporal, cheap, shallow blessing and happiness that this world offers and exchange it for something permanent in the life to come.
• 2:58
  Lord, we love you and are grateful for every word we will study this morning, and it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Well, if I asked you, are you happy, what would you say? If I asked you what it would take to make you happy, what would you say? What is it that's keeping you from being happy? How would you define happiness? Have you ever thought something would make you happy only to find out later that it didn't?
• 3:26
  You ever saved up all of your money to go on a cruise and the entire time you're heaving over your balcony? You ever been pleasantly surprised by something you thought you wouldn't enjoy? I tried acupuncture for the first time this week. Our friends here from church, as you all know, opened a place here in town that offers acupuncture. I went on the family and friends day.
• 3:56
  You know, they offered it free the first time, just like drug dealers would. I walked in there, you know, and I don't know. I've never tried it before. I don't fully understand the science behind it or anything else. But I walked in there and I sat in the chair and had it done. And I was skeptical, if I'm honest. But honestly, I walked out feeling pretty good. I enjoyed it. I would totally go again.
• 4:23
  I hear people say that they have, and I am often asked about my five-year plan. And listen, there's nothing wrong with planning ahead. There's nothing wrong with five-year plans as long as we do them with the understanding that God is in charge and our plans may change. And as long as we do them in subjection to his sovereign will for our lives, there's nothing wrong with planning out. You know, as I listen to people's five-year plans,
• 4:51
  It occurs to me that nobody ever plans to be miserable in five years. You ever notice that? Nobody ever says, I'm going to do this and then I'm going to make this bad choice and this bad choice and this bad choice to ensure my misery five years from now. Nobody says that. In fact, I think your answer to where you would like to be in five years is probably your answer to what I believe will make me happy. I've never, I've heard supposed Christians.
• 5:22
  in an effort maybe to justify their own sin, make this claim, I'm going to do this or I'm going to act in this way because after all, Jesus just wants me to be happy. I'm going to treat my spouse this way because after all, Jesus just wants me to be happy. I'm going to treat my employer this way because after all, it is my happiness that Jesus most desires. And the truth is that that is true depending on how you define happiness.
• 5:57
  My desire as your pastor is that you be happy, genuinely happy, supremely happy. But before you get all excited, understand that supreme happiness often comes at the expense of temporal happiness. As we study Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, I would encourage us to ask ourselves, am I willing to forego the cheap happiness of today so that I can inherit the authentic happiness of tomorrow?
• 6:30
  If you're taking notes, I've divided our passage into two points. And the first is verse 1, the setting of the sermon. Look at verse 1. Seeing the crowds, it says, Jesus went up on the mountain. When he sat down, his disciples came to him. Notice, he sat down on the mountain. He went up to the mountain. Not only had the Lord no place to lay his head, he also had no place to preach. And although...
• 6:57
  The scribes and the Pharisees had seats of honor in their synagogues, which they used to twist and distort and corrupt the law. Jesus just found the nearest, handiest location that was suitable to him in order to set things straight. Jesus went up on a mountain to preach because the mountain was there. In Luke chapter 6,
• 7:23
  We find Jesus again, and in my opinion, preaching the same sermon but at a different time. Luke chapter 6 is a retelling of, a re-preaching of the sermon on the mount. Only Luke chapter 6 says he went out to a level plain. He went out to a different location and preached the same message. Why did he go out on the plain? And I think the answer is because the plain was there. It's what was in front of him. And can I just ask us and maybe challenge us with this idea? What is your mountain?
• 7:56
  What location has the Lord put right in front of you that is just the most suitable place to proclaim his name? What is your level plane? You know, Easter is coming and I would encourage us to preach where we're at. Don't wait for certain circumstances because they may never come. Don't wait for the opportune time. The opportune time may never come. Wherever the Lord has placed you, that's where he's called you to proclaim the good news.
• 8:28
  He went up on the mountain. Notice also verse one says, and when he had sat down, when he had sat down. Now it seems to be the normal manner for Jesus to preach while sitting. But in this instance, I think that his posture is more significant than that. He was about to preach his most famous sermon. He was about to preach what some have called his kingdom manifesto, the Christian Magna Carta, the laws upon which his kingdom would be governed.
• 8:58
  If you want to know what it's like in the kingdom of God, read the Sermon on the Mount. And here, the king takes the posture of a king on his throne, like the judge on his bench. He sat down, and notice verse 1 says, begins to preach to what you find out is a mixed multitude. The very beginning of verse 1 says, seeing the crowds.
• 9:23
  But within that crowd, he had disciples. There were disciples and non-disciples alike, Christians and non-Christians alike, the crowds and then the disciples. We see clearly that Christ addressed his message to both the multitudes and to the chosen, to the hearers and to the scoffers. You find out that Jesus was willing to preach, honestly, to anybody who would listen. And can I encourage us with the same thing? Preach where you're at to anybody who will listen.
• 9:53
  Anybody to whom the Lord gives you opportunity. He set forth in the Sermon on the Mount what believers must do in order to live a God-glorifying life. Things like honesty, purity, integrity, but also for non-Christians, non-believers, the spiritual nature of God's kingdom and an invitation to join it. So that's first, the sermon setting. Notice second, and this is for the remainder of our text, Jesus' formula for happiness.
• 10:24
  Jesus' formula for happiness. Notice every verse from verses 3 through verse 11 begin with the same word, the word blessed. Blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, until he hits persecution, reviling, suffering, and then in verse 12 he switches to rejoice. Rejoice, ironically.
• 10:47
  Blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed, blessed comes from the Latin word beatus, where we get the English word beatitude from. And its meaning is supremely blessed, blessed beyond measure, blessing upon blessing, happy, happy is what it means. I've always been impressed with composite artists, composite artists of those guys at the police station.
• 11:15
  who they send in if there's a witness to a crime and this person witness saw the perpetrator of that crime.
• 11:22
  Got a good look at the guy's face. I didn't get a picture, but I can tell you what he looks like. And they send in the composite sketch artist, right? And you say, well, I saw him and he definitely had beady eyes, right? And the guy's drawing little beady eyes. And he had, you know, kind of a furrowed brow. He looked mad, you know, okay, the furrowed brow. And he had a pencil-thin mustache because criminals do, you know. And he's drawing. And what you end up with as you're giving these traits, what you end up with is a drawing of the guy.
• 11:50
  Yeah, that's pretty much what he looks like. And here we find Jesus's composite sketch, eight descriptions of the happy man or woman. If you want to know what a happy person looks like, he begins to give these descriptions, right? Here's what his life looks like. Poor, mournful, meek, hungering, and thirsting for righteousness. And as we study, I would encourage us to compare our own spiritual portrait.
• 12:19
  To the one that Christ paints. And ask yourself, am I on the path to true happiness? Everybody on earth, including the people in this room, want to be happy. And are you pursuing true, genuine, authentic, eternal happiness? That's what Christ is going to talk about this morning. And so let's look at it. Let's look at the sketch. Begin to paint a picture of what a happy life looks like. Beginning in verse 3, he says,
• 12:47
  are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. In contrast to the common view of man, which states, blessed are the rich, for theirs is the kingdom of the world. The poor in spirit are humble, lowly-minded, self-abased.
• 13:13
  They are those who think not too highly of themselves, those who are not wise in their own eyes. I don't think it's as much that they regard themselves lower than is appropriate because sometimes people do. It's not to say that we are valueless completely, but we define rather our value in terms of what Christ has bestowed upon us rather than what we can claim for ourselves. So rather than thinking,
• 13:45
  uh too lowly of themselves rather the person who is poor in spirit simply thinks accurately of themselves we define the poor in spirit define our existence by the lord's existence i like how jc ryle worded it when he said that humility is the very first letter in the christian alphabet
• 14:12
  humility. We must begin low, he says, if we would build high. It's been fun to watch in just the short amount of time our family has lived in Colorado, the skyline of Denver change. It's kind of cool to see high rises going up where there was nothing before. And when we moved,
• 14:33
  There was nothing across the river from that famous REI building, you know, South Platte there, Confluence Park and all of that. And we would go and sit on the shoreline and walk around the park of South Platte River and all of that. And there was nothing there, just a massive field. And then they decided to put a big high-rise in, about a 30-story or so apartment complex with retail and things on the bottom there. And it was fun to watch. What was interesting about that was before they went up,
• 15:01
  They went down, right? And for that 30-story high rise, they must have dug 50, 60, 70 feet down because they know the lower they got, the higher they could go. The more earth there was for those footings and the holes, the anchors for that building, the lower they went, the higher they could go. And the same thing is true of us spiritually. In order for us to build high, we must start low. Humility is the first letter.
• 15:32
  of the Christian alphabet, the poor in spirit. Second, notice in verse four, blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are those who mourn because comfort is coming. Mourners are those who sorrow over sin and grieve over their own shortcomings. I know that we apply that word mourning to all kinds of different scenarios. Certainly those who experience loss and sorrow are mourning. That is true.
• 16:01
  But in the Christian life, it's not only those who mourn loss the way that the world does, but actually mourn and who are heartbroken over their own sin. Those who consider their own failures and it troubles them. And praise God, there will be a day, this says, when that type of mourning, that sorrow over sin, the brokenness over sin, will be no more. That comfort is coming. Are you at the point in your life?
• 16:32
  Where you're just not okay with your own sin anymore? I think when I was a younger man, honestly, when I was a younger man, I think that I sinned more frequently and more severely than I do now. But I was less troubled by it. I slept great when I was young. But now, and I've confessed to you, there are times when I stay up in the middle of the night and I am just heartbroken over my own sin. I sin less, I think.
• 17:04
  less frequently and less severely than I did in my 20s. And it's actually keeping me up more now. I'm more broken over it now than I was then. It occurs to me as I mature, as I get older, the devastation that my own sin causes. I don't think I had just lived long enough to be devastating yet.
• 17:24
  But now when I see the consequence of my own sin, how it hurts me, how it hurts my wife, how it hurts my sons, how it hurts the church and my friends, you guys, it breaks me. I mourn over it. I coach 14-year-old boys in baseball. This year I've got eighth graders. And I'm not just teaching them how to play baseball. Brian Bowen is helping me. He's one of the assistant coaches for the team. We're doing more than just coaching them on how to play baseball. We're teaching them how to be men, right?
• 17:55
  So don't make your mommy fix your belt anymore. You fix your belt, man. Tuck in your shirt. You know, it's what men do. Comb your hair, you know, if you still have any. That's what men do. And so we're teaching them not just how to play baseball, but how to be men. I end often practices and games the same way. I'll tell the boys on their way out the door, you be good to your moms. Be good to your moms. Why, coach? Why? You know, you don't even know my mom.
• 18:24
  You know, you don't know. You know, I take care of myself. Okay. You know, you're right. I don't know your mom. I don't know who she is. I'm still getting to know the fans and the moms and dads and whatever. I don't know your mom, but I do know this. I know that you used to poop your pants. You did it every day. Every day. Consistently for years. And I don't know what your mom does for you now, but I know what she did for you then. You be good to her. Be good to her. Because she's good to you.
• 18:58
  And I feel like the older I get, the less we can live in blissful ignorance, pretending like we don't fail, pretending like we're not filthy, right? We look back and say, no, I'm actually standing upon the foundation of my life is grace. It's grace. And yet I trample all over it with muddy shoes every day. And it breaks my heart. He says, blessed are you who mourn. You'll be comforted.
• 19:30
  Notice third, blessed are the meek. In verse five, blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. Meek people are humble and patient and content. They're willing to put up with very little honor. And I say this to my shame, but there are times I very rarely verbalize it because that would be horribly unpopular. But in my own heart and mind, I catch myself wishing I was getting more credit, wishing people knew.
• 19:58
  the things that I was accomplishing, when people knew what I did, having high expectations for what I would receive, thinking that I'm doing all the work, that I've got the lion's share of what's happening, that I don't somehow deserve what I've been given or that I'm above such things. And there's a phrase that I've heard all too often in churches, even in our own church, that is, I've paid my dues.
• 20:27
  I've paid my dues. I've done this for a long time. Somebody else's turn. I deserve at this point just to coast, to coast. And that is not the attitude of the meek. It's the attitude of the arrogant, the proud, that somehow we've earned something in the kingdom. And we don't. If what I said in the last point, and that is the foundation of our lives is grace, then we've earned nothing. We simply get to enjoy the trickle down of fruit from heaven's table.
• 20:59
  Blessed are the meek, he says, for they shall inherit the earth. The meek bear injuries without resentment. They do not retaliate. They defend others while not coming to their own defense. The meek really do consider others more important than themselves. And one day, this says, they will inherit the earth. The earth will be theirs. Notice fourth, blessed are those who hunger and thirst, verse six, for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
• 21:32
  Who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Everybody on earth hungers and thirsts. But the happiest people on earth hunger and thirst for righteousness. And above all, they desire to be like the Lord. Their sole desire is to spread the fame of another and to become like him. The psalmist in Psalm 17 verse 15 says, As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness. And when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.
• 22:04
  I behold your face in righteousness. And when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. Can you imagine? It's like he's got his eyes shut. He's asleep. He's dreaming. And what is he dreaming about? But the Lord and the Lord's face. That is, his is the face of the psalmist's dreams. I dream about you. And when I awake, I'm satisfied with who you are. He hungers and thirsts for his Lord and to become like his Lord in righteous living.
• 22:34
  There's a technique often employed by athletes called visualization. Visualization, the idea is this. Before you do it, see it in your own head. See it in your own head and then go out and do it. And I've used this since my boys were very young, teaching them how to pitch, teaching them how to throw a fastball and then a curveball and then a change-up, right?
• 22:58
  And it is hard to switch between those three pitches interchangeably. It's hard to do that and throw strikes. Anybody can throw a curveball after the 10th one for a strike. Well, now I've got it dialed in, right? But you can't do that because the hitter will know what's coming. And so you've got to be able to throw a fastball for a strike and then a curveball for a strike and then a changeup for a strike. One after the next after the next and be able to switch. And I'll say this phrase, my son Pearson will be on the pitching mound. Pearson, see it, then throw it.
• 23:27
  See it, then throw it. Change your release point in your head, right? Don't bounce the next fastball because you threw a curveball last time. See it in your head and then do it. And can I encourage us to employ the same technique spiritually? When your eyes are shut, where does your mind go? Does it go to unpleasant things? Many people in their minds, and myself included, I will confess, many people have secret sin. When their eyes are shut,
• 23:58
  that play like a movie in your mind. And rather than playing unrighteousness, the blessed people, the happy man or woman plays righteousness. Hunger and thirsting after the Lord. Righteousness is what they dream about. Hungry people think about food long before the food comes.
• 24:21
  Right? Thirsty people imagine water long before they take a drink. And the same is true of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. They desire it. They imagine it. They long for it before it ever comes. See it and then do it. Fifth, verse seven, blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. The merciful person is filled with compassion toward others. The merciful person.
• 24:51
  is the one who cannot simply pass by and do nothing. They are those who echo Solomon's sentiment that knowledge is a burden.
• 25:02
  He said, I applied my heart, in Ecclesiastes 1, I applied my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this was a striving after the wind, for in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. You say, what does that have to do with mercy? The merciful person sees a need.
• 25:24
  sees a problem and it penetrates not only into their eyes, but into their brain, into their hearts, they cannot just forget it. There is no such thing as out of sight, out of mind for the merciful man or woman. One of the things I love about Jerry and Elisa Olarte and their ministry to the Philippines is that they cannot just pretend like those needs don't exist.
• 25:51
  They grew up in the Philippines. They visit multiple times a year. They know the need. And so even when they are here and life is comfortable, their minds and hearts are there where there is a need. And that's why I love that we partner together with them. The merciful person shall receive mercy. Verse 8, 6, blessed, he says, are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
• 26:22
  And many people are good at being pure in their outward appearance, right? Not a hair out of place, if only. But then those same people often fail miserably at being pure in heart. The pure in heart find no satisfaction in external religion. It's one thing to look pure. It's another thing to be pure. And the Lord knows if our hearts are genuine. The Lord knows if we're being fake. The Lord knows if we are hypocrites.
• 26:55
  We may be able to fool others. We may even be able to fool ourselves into thinking we are doing better than we are. But the Lord knows if we are genuinely pure. Verse 9, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. The peacemaker is the opposite of a peacetaker. We all know what peacetakers are. Think of everything the opposite of what they would do. That's a peacemaker. The peacemaker is the one willing to overlook an offense.
• 27:28
  The peacemaker is the one impossible to offend, the one who exerts all their effort in promoting unity. The peacemaker is the one who isn't looking for a chance to throw their weight around, the one who would learn the lesson of Job the peacetaker, Joab in the life of David, Joab the peacetaker, who constantly was trying to divide, constantly trying to divide allegiances, divide the kingdom.
• 27:59
  and who eventually succeeded to a degree. The peacemaker is the one who has no personal agenda, who doesn't care if they have the final word, who doesn't care if their opinion is ever regarded. The peacemaker unites rather than divides. And this says, that is how the sons and daughters, the sons and daughters of God act. Last, this one's a little harder.
• 28:31
  verses 10 to 12. 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. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. And you think, man, suffering? That doesn't feel like blessing. The happy man is persecuted? I don't think so. Everything else I was okay with, but not this one.
• 29:00
  You know, suffering is actually a human trait not specific to Christians. Everybody on earth suffers to some degree. But those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake suffer because they endeavor to live as actual Christians. Christians, Christ followers, are willing to separate themselves from the world, not to become isolationists.
• 29:23
  Because then who is ever going to preach the gospel with the lost and dying world, but rather willing to take a stand for the truth, even if that stand means suffering, rejection, loneliness. That person is happy. You know, our culture is changing. And honestly, it may have been more difficult. I think it might have been, at least in my experience, more difficult to tell the Christians from non-Christians 30 years ago. 30 years ago.
• 29:58
  The 80s and 90s, we had the moral majority, you know, that was huge. I mean, we had all of these political movements, conservatism, all of it, you know, applauded in our country. And it may have been in that context more difficult, actually, to tell who the genuine Christians were from the non-Christians. Because everybody felt much the same way. And the flagrant...
• 30:27
  flagrant sins of today, we were still ashamed of then. But not so now. The things that were scandals when I was in high school are nothing compared to what our high schoolers experience today. Nothing. And that's good and bad news.
• 30:53
  The bad news is it is difficult to take a stand. It may be harder to take a stand as a 14-year-old boy today than it was 30 years ago. I think that's probably true because of the intolerance of our society. They claim to be tolerant. They are not. The intolerance of our society, they're willing to separate themselves because of how easily offended they have become. So in some ways it's hard, but in other ways, I think it's actually a lot easier.
• 31:23
  Because they sure are making it easier and easier to tell the difference between true Christ followers and the phonies who lay claim to the name of Christ but deny the gospel's power. And can I just encourage you young people in the room, if you're under 25, don't be afraid to take a stand. I know that it's dark and it's getting darker, but all that means is that your light, if you're willing to let your light shine, your light will shine all the brighter.
• 31:56
  in the context in which we live. And I'm assuming that everybody in here over 25 will stand right behind you. Well, how does your spiritual portrait compare to this composite sketch given by Jesus of the happy man? Poor, mourning, meek, hungry and thirsty, merciful, pure at peace, persecuted.
• 32:28
  Jesus' description is certainly different than that of the world's, but you know what? The happiness that he offers is too. It's happiness that will actually last. Amen? Amen. God, thank you for this text. And I pray, Lord, that you would be glorified every time we open our Bibles, God, that your spirit would teach and be at work, change our lives, God, according to it. And as we sing and close now, Lord, I pray that you would be worshiped, genuinely worshiped.
• 32:57
  In the mountains or in the valleys, regardless of where we're at in our lives, God, be praised. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.