Message for THE LORD S DAY MORNING, January 20, 2013 MESSAGE 3: Living The Salt Life (A Study of Jesus Sermon On The Mount) Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister THE BEATITUDES (Part II) Message 3 in Living The Salt Life Sermon Series (A Study of Jesus Sermon on The Mount) Matthew 5:5-7 (NKJV) As we continue with our series of messages from Jesus Sermon on The Mount, please open your Bibles once again to the fifth chapter of Matthew s gospel. In last Lord s Day s message, we learned that The Beatitudes aren t a description of eight different types of people, but rather they are eight characteristics of one life..the life of a true disciple of Jesus Christ.the life of one who is truly saved. These eight Beatitudes provide us with the kind of character Jesus Himself modeled while here on earth. And as you and I grow and mature in our spiritual life, these eight characteristics should become more and more evident in our lives. Last Lord s Day, we looked at the first two beatitudes: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. and Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. In today s message we are going to be looking at the next three beatitudes. Before we read our text, let s ask God s blessings on the study of His Holy Word this morning. ***********************************************************************
Let s pick up the record in verse 5... I. BLESSED ARE THE MEEK (v. 5) v. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 1. When we think of someone who is meek a number of adjectives come to mind, and none of them are flattering. We think of someone who is WEAK..WIMPY COWARDLY A PUSH-OVER..or A SISSY. When we think of someone being meek we think of someone who gets bullied..teased..picked d..picked on..pushed around stepped on..and walked all over. 2. Certainly if this is what meekness is then none of us would ever aspire to be meek would we? 3. Obviously Jesus has something different in mind when He says, Blessed are the meek. 4. The Greek word for meek is the word praus. It is a word that was used by ancient sailors to describe a gentle breeze. It is a word used by ancient farmers to describe a broken colt. These things describe POWER under CONTROL. In fact that is a good definition of the word meek. To be meek is to exercise power under control.
5. Jesus was the meekest man who ever lived. Would anyone dare say Jesus was weak or wimpy or cowardly? Not at all! Jesus displayed meekness in two ways, both of which demonstrated POWER UNDER CONTROL. When it came to how He Himself was treated Jesus practiced neither RETALIATION or VINDICTIVENESS. When He was mocked and spat upon, he didn t respond in anger, but rather trusted in His Father. When He was confronted by Pilate, He kept silent. When Peter denied Him, Jesus restored him to fellowship and service. When Judas placed the kiss of betrayal on Him in Gethsemane, Jesus called him friend. And when Jesus was crucified, He pleaded with His Father to Forgive those who had done this to Him, because they didn t know what they were doing. That was one side of Jesus meekness. But when it came to matters of faith and the welfare of of other people, JESUS WAS A LION. He rebuked the Pharisees for their hardness of heart when He healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath day. (Matthew 12:9-45) He rebuked His disciples when they tried to prevent the little children from coming to Him. (Mark 10:13-16) Jesus made a whip and drove the moneychangers out of the temple. (John 2:14-17) He called Peter Satan when Peter tried to deter Him from His mission to Jerusalem. That is meekness. That is power under control. 6. How do you and I become meek? Only the Holy Spirit of God can break us and make us meek. If you and I could produce meekness by our own human effort, we would be proud of ourselves wouldn t we? And if we were proud of ourselves, we would no longer be meek, would we?
7. You see, because meekness is a Christ-like character, it cannot be produced by SELF-EFFORT, only by SPIRIT-EFFORT. When we become poor in spirit realizing that without God we are nothing; and when we mourn over sin in our own lives and in the world around us, our hearts become fertile ground for the Holy Spirit to produce a spirit of Christ-like meekness in us. 8. And what is the reward? Jesus says, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Now what does that mean? Think of it this way: The proud and arrogant, who try to inherit as much of this world as possible through WEALTH, POWER, or FAME are never satisfied or content. Those who pursue WEALTH will always want one more dollar than they have right now. Those who pursue POWER will always want more power than they have right now. Those who pursue FAME will always want more fame than they have right now. And in their pursuit to gain the whole world they will forfeit their own soul. But the meek who seek after the things of God rather than the things of this world are those who will truly inherit God s spiritual riches here on earth that the world knows nothing about. Blessed are the MEEK for they shall inherit the earth.
Let s move on to the next Beatitude. II. BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS (v. 6) v.6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. 1. We know what it means to be hungry, don t we? I m hungry for a big, ol juicy steak! I m so hungry I could eat a horse! I m as hungry as a bear! And we know what it means to be thirsty, don t we? I m so thirsty I could die! I m so thirsty I could drink a gallon of tea. 2. But living in a land of plenty as we do, none of us has ever experienced true hunger or true thirst. I m talking about the kind of hunger and thirst that is so intense it causes pain. 3. When Jesus said, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness he is talking about those who have an intense, painful hunger and thirst for the things of God. 4. David wrote a couple of passages in Psalms that describes the kind of spiritual hunger and thirst Jesus is talking about. In fact, we sing a couple of praise choruses based on these passages of scripture, so they should sound familiar to you. One is found in PSALM 42:1-3 (NKJV) As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually say to me, Where is your God?
The other scripture is found in PSALM 63:1,2 (NKJV) O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your Power and Your glory. 5. These scriptures are not describing a take it or leave it kind of hunger and thirst. They are describing a can t live without it, must have it no matter the cost kind of hunger and thirst. 6. This is the kind of longing that Jesus is describing in this beatitude. And notice the object of the longing, righteousness. 7. What does it mean to hunger and thirst for righteousness? It means to hunger and thirst for those things that PLEASE GOD.HONOR GOD WORSHIP GOD..and GLORIFY GOD. *The world hungers and thirsts for unrighteousness, the child of God hungers for righteousness. *The world hungers and thirsts for those things which are SINFUL.SHAMEFUL and SENSUAL. The child of God hungers and thirsts for those things which are DECENT..HONORABLE and PRAISEWORTHY. 8. Do you know what you hunger and thirst for reveals the true nature of your heart. It is possible for one to put on an outward performance that looks spiritual, and talk Christian lingo that sounds spiritual, and yet in his or her heart have no intense hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God. 9. When we crave the things of this world it curbs our appetite for God, for God s word, and for quiet fellowship with God. Just like junk food curbs your appetite for nutritious food, worldliness curbs your hunger and thirst for righteousness.
10. If you have little or no appetite for spiritual things stop and think about the things you feed your mind and heart upon most the things that consume a great deal of your time, attention and energy; and chances are you will find the source of what has curbed your appetite for the things of God. 10. Jesus said, the reward of hungering and thirsting for righteousness is that YOU WILL BE FILLED. Only the things of God can truly fill us. Only the things of God can satisfy the hunger and thirst of our souls. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall l be filled. Jesus gives us the next beatitude in VERSE 7. III. BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL (v. 7) v.7 Blessed are the MERCIFUL CIFUL, for they shall obtain MERCY. 1. It has been said, We behave most like God when we show mercy to those in need. 2. Someone who is merciful is full of mercy. Some people are full of baloney! Some people are full of hot air! When one is merciful he or she is full of mercy. 3. Mercy is a compassionate disposition that leads one to take action to forgive a wrong..lighten a burden or to ease the pain of another.
4. A merciful person is one who is fully conscious that he or she is an unworthy recipient of God s mercy and only by His grace have they been saved. Do you realize God renews His mercy for you and me every morning? Lamentations 3:22-23 (NKJV) 22 Through the Lord s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Every day is a fresh start, a clean slate, in the eyes of God. God doesn t hold yesterday s sins, failures or shortcomings against us. His mercies are NEW every day. 5. Because God is merciful to me, I should be merciful towards others. *When someone has wronged me, I don t hold a grudge against them, I forgive them. That s what someone who is merciful does. *When I hear of someone in need, I don t move away from them, I move towards them. That s what a merciful person does. *When someone needs help, I don t ask why doesn t somebody do something? I ask, What can I do? That s what a merciful person does.
6. And the reward? Jesus says, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. This beatitude is unique in that THE REWARD corresponds exactly to the action it calls us to. The reward for BEING MERCIFUL is to RECEIVE MERCY. 7. What Jesus is telling us is this: If we have tasted of God s mercy towards us, we are obligated to show mercy towards others. And so long as we refuse to show mercy towards someone, it will put a strain on our own relationship with God until we do. Our failure to be merciful toward someone will result God withholding peace from our mind and heart until we let go of the offence. 8. Jesus gives a classic illustration of this in The Parable of The Unmerciful Servant in Matthew 18. Remember the man who owed the King a debt he couldn t possibly repay? The King showed mercy towards the man and forgave him his debt and released him from prison. On the way home, that man encountered someone who owed him $16 lousy bucks. Instead of showing mercy towards him, he had the man thrown into prison until he paid him the $16 he owed him. When the King heard about it, He withheld His mercy from the unmerciful servant and had him thrown back in jail until he paid back his debt.
9. As recipient s of God s mercy, you and I are obligated to show the mercy of God towards any one who has wronged us. As much as it may pain us to do that, Jesus said there is a reward. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy! C O N C L U S I O N As we go through these Beatitudes, perhaps you are realizing there are certain areas of weakness in your life. Maybe you believe you aren t meek enough; that perhaps there s too much pride in your heart. And you re thinking: Boy, I need to work harder to become more meek. Or maybe you re thinking, I don t hunger and thirst after righteousness as I should. And you re thinking: I just need to work harder at hungering and thirsting after righteousness. Or perhaps you know in your heart you are holding a grudge against someone and you have not been merciful towards them. And you re thinking, I really need to work harder at being a more merciful person. Listen very carefully! If you have a weakness in one or more of these Beatitudes, the solution is not to work harder, the solution is to surrender that area of your life to the Holy Spirit. May our prayer today be this: Dear Heavenly Father, By Your Spirit, create within me a spirit of Christ-like MEEKNESS. By Your Spirit, stir my hunger and thirst for RIGHTEOUSNESS. And by Your Spirit, create within me a MERCIFUL spirit, like that of Your Son, Jesus Christ. In Jesus Name, AMEN