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One Sunday as they drove home from church, a
little girl turned to her mother and said, "Mommy, there’s something about
the preacher’s message this morning that I don’t understand." The mother
said, "Oh? What is it?" The little girl replied, "Well, he said that God is
bigger than we are. He said God is so big that He could hold the world in
His hand. Is that true?" The mother replied, "Yes, that's true, honey." "But
Mommy, he also said that God comes to live inside of us when we believe in
Jesus as our Savior. Is that true, too?" Again, the mother assured the
little girl that what the pastor had said was true. With a puzzled look on
her face the little girl then asked, "If God is bigger than us and He lives
in us, wouldn't He show through?"
That is what the beatitudes are about – God
showing through. It has always been God’s purpose that when He entered our
lives, He would be allowed to so fill and control them that He would "show
through" – that He would be visible in our attitudes and actions. Not that
we would imitate Christ, or try to do the things that Jesus would do, but
that Christ Himself would be allowed to live through us. The beatitudes are
like a light bulb…that only shines when plugged into God’s power!
Don’t try to act this way. One preacher said
the beatitudes are supposed to ‘be’ your ‘attitude’. No…you can’t pretend.
Humans aren’t able to keep the beatitudes, no matter how hard they try.
Nobody can be like Jesus like Jesus
can. By the Holy Spirit, He has come to live IN us that He might live
THROUGH us to meet the needs of hurting humanity. And when He does, others
see the image of Christ shining through this veil of flesh.
Let me ask you a question: How would life be
different if Jesus were to come take
your place? What if He took your place in the home? What if He performed
your work on the job? Teenager, what if He sat in your desk at school? What
if He filled my place in the pulpit? Yet, that is exactly what He
wants to do. He came to live within me to
mortify the carnal works of this body, master the
circumstances of my life, manifest His character, and minister
to others whom my life touches every day.
Knowing that makes me wonder, does anyone
ever see God showing through me. Well, if they did, I know what He would
look like, for the beatitudes are a self-portrait of Christ.
·He was poor in spirit. Although
He was Almighty God with all the rights and privileges of deity, He made
Himself of no reputation, and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and
was made in the likeness of men. He humbled Himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross.
·He mourned. He wept for
Lazarus. He wept over Jerusalem. He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with
grief.
·He was meek. He hungered and
thirsted after righteousness. He was merciful. Measure the life of Christ by
these qualities, and you will find that He modeled them all. I am convinced
that this is not a description of the Christian man, but of the man Christ.
And as He was while on this earth, so we become as we yield our lives to
Him.
So, why should we study this today? The
answer is the first word of the first verse: ‘Blessed’
Joke—the
forgetful preacher: went to conference to glean good things to bring home
to his ministry / heard them say that the first thing you say in your
message should be attention grabbing / then he heard a preacher stand up and
give an example, saying, ‘I spent many years of my life in the arms of
another man’s wife.’ [the people gasped] He continued ‘…she was my mother!’
/ the forgetful preacher said, oh, I’ve gotta remember that one. He got
home and couldn’t wait to grab their attention Sunday morning. He said, ‘I
spent many years of my life in the arms of another man’s wife.’ [dramatic
pause] ‘…for the life of me I can’t remember who she was!’ Well, at least
he got their attention!
So, why should we study this today? The
answer is the first word of the first verse, and almost every verse:
‘Blessed’. Jesus got our attention from the get-go. We want to be blessed!
Here is what
others will see when God shows thru:
I. A Happy
Person
This is the first sermon recorded in the New
Testament as having been preached by Jesus Christ. It begins with a promise
of happiness. Nine times the voice of Jesus reached out to the multitudes
seated on that hillside – people who were oppressed politically, socially,
and economically – with the offer of genuine happiness.
A.
Happiness – the uncommon feeling
1. The word translated
"blessed" is makarios.
a. It was a common
word, but Jesus used it in an uncommon way.
Typically, it was used to describe:
• The wealthy, because they enjoyed a
standard of living that appeared to put them out of reach of the cares of
this life. (Money can buy happiness.)
• The Greek gods because they had the
power to gratify their every desire.
b. It described a
state of contentment and delight that was reserved for a very privileged
minority.
2. This world gives us the
popular concept of happiness.
a. Blessed are the
rich
b. Blessed are the
famous
c. Blessed are the
gifted
d. Blessed are the
powerful
Happiness is a common desire. Yet, so few
people seem to have it that we put it in the same category as four-leaf
clovers and the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow – the elusive, the
unattainable.
• If happiness is linked with power,
not every one can have it.
• If happiness is linked with
prosperity… “”
• If happiness is linked with
popularity… “”
B. Happiness – the unexpected
offer
Chuck Swindoll, in his book Simple Faith,
made the following observation. After noting that Jesus used nine,
back-to-back announcements of blessing, he remarked, “Having endured a
lifetime of verbal assaults by the scribes and Pharisees, the multitude on
the mount must have thought they had died and gone to heaven.”
For some reason, many people look at the
Bible and all they can see is the negative. They emphasize the prohibitions,
the curses, and the judgments and leave people with the impression that God
has the disposition of a dill pickle. They seem to see God as the “cosmic
killjoy” who spends His time trying to think up new ways to make people
miserable.
Jesus painted a different picture. He showed
them a God who wanted them to be happy – who wanted to fill their life with
satisfaction, contentment, and delight. G. Campbell Morgan wrote that
blessed is a word "full of sunshine, thrilling with music, brimming over
with just what man is seeking…."
The same word is used in 1 Tim. 1:11
According to the glorious gospel of the
blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
I’m so glad I serve a happy God, a joyful
God. Don’t ever let someone criticize you for having fun at church. It’s a
wonderful life, a natural high, and you don’t have to wake up tomorrow
feeling guilty!
The same word is also in Titus 2:13
Looking for that blessed hope, and
the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
It also has the meaning of “congratulations!”
So, are you poor in spirit?
Congratulations! [etc.]
Are you happy? Too many people spend their
lives thinking, "I could be happy if..." They are looking for happiness in
the wrong places, associating it with the wrong things. And I would suggest
that people seldom see God showing through them.
When God shows thru, the world will see
not only a happy person, for happiness is based on happenstance or
circumstances, but they’ll see something deeper…
II. A Whole
Person
The beatitudes are a self-portrait of Christ
– that which we would see if God were living in the body of a man. And God’s
purpose, according to Romans 8:29, is for every Christian to be conformed to
the image of Christ. Therefore, it is reasonable to draw the following
conclusions:
·The beatitudes describe
qualities that EVERY CHRISTIAN should exhibit. (They don’t describe a
special class of "Super Christians.")
·Every Christian should exhibit
ALL of them.
A. They are not guidelines for
Christian character.
A guideline suggests a standard that you and
I should strive to measure up to. Men do not have what it takes to reach the
standard set by the beatitudes.
·Sin at work in the heart of man
makes them proud.
·Sin at work in the heart of man
makes them pushy.
·It’s the presence of sin that
produces a hunger and thirst for that which is unholy.
·Sin is a spiritual problem
requiring a spiritual solution.
B. The beatitudes describe the
evidence of a yielded life.
They are not to be produced BY the Christian,
but IN the Christian. They tell us what men will see in a life that is
surrendered to the Lord.
1. The beatitudes do not
represent individual qualities, but a complete picture of a man mastered by
God…a complete package of qualities.
Ill.--The Bible speaks of the FRUIT of the
Spirit, not the fruits. A person under the control of the Holy Spirit isn’t
going to demonstrate love but lack self-control. The evidence that a man is
truly walking in the Spirit is that he exhibits the fruit of the Spirit on a
consistent (not perfect) basis.
The Beatitudes are the same. Are we seeing a
work of God if a person appears to be "poor in Spirit" but still hungers and
thirsts for the things of this world? Will God make me meek, but allow me to
be lack mercy and compassion? What kind of impression would people have of
God if He worked that way?
It is impossible to genuinely display one of
these qualities as the work of God without displaying them all. True,
because of circumstances, one or more will at times be more prominent, but
the Holy Spirit will not manifest one with a disregard for the others. If
that is the case in my life, it is a sure sign that what people are seeing
is a fleshly counterfeit, not a genuine, spiritual work of God.
2. The beatitudes are not a
standard for me to achieve, but a yardstick by which to measure my
submission to the Holy Spirit.
I do not spend my time worrying about whether
or not I am poor in spirit, meek, merciful, etc. My focus is on walking in
the Spirit - being submissive to the Holy Spirit – because I know that if
the Holy Spirit is in control of my life, He will manifest these qualities.
However, the beatitudes let me know that if I am being hateful and
vindictive then it is a sure sign that I am not walking in the Spirit. If I
am driven by selfish ambition, then my life is not yielded to Christ.
Poor in spirit =
emptiness. Having a humble /
sober / right self-image. This is about
our self.
We all want to feel good about
ourselves, but Biblically, you cannot feel good about yourself until you
feel bad about yourself.
Seeing ourselves accurately comes by seeing
the Lord in His glory!
·Isaiah saw the Lord and said
“Woe is me!”
·Peter saw the Lord and said
“Depart from me, I am a sinful man”
·Saul, before he became Paul,
felt very spiritually wealthy, and had the attitude that if anybody’s going
to heaven I am…but on the road to Damascus he got 1 glimpse of the Lord, and
became physically blind, but spiritually he could see for the first time who
he really was. He got saved! And it all began when he became poor in
spirit! And ‘his’ is the kingdom of heaven!
Mourn = brokenness.This is about our sin. This
is when we realize our sin breaks God’s heart, and then our heart breaking
over it, too!
Meek = submissiveness.This is about our Savior.
It’s power under control. It’s the picture of a horse that has been
broken. Is that horse weak? No! Meekness isn’t weakness. It’s us being
under God’s control.
CONCLUSION:
The happiest people in the world are those
who yield themselves to experience the grace of God every day. Why? Because
theirs is the kingdom of heaven, they are comforted, they inherit the earth,
they are filled, they obtain mercy, they see God – and others see God in
them, for they are called "the children of God." They also lead the most
fulfilling lives – because God makes them into a complete person.
I want you to do something right now.
Mentally, reach into your hip pocket or your purse and pull out a little
mirror. Now, look into it. Are you allowing God to so control and fill your
life that He "shows through?" You know what He looks like. His portrait is
in the beatitudes. If not, why not take the first step and yield yourself to
the Holy Spirit of God. It’s the only way that you can experience these
qualities and the blessedness that goes with them.
Please come back every week as we continue on
in our study of the beatitudes and the sermon on the mount: “The greatest
sermon ever preached by the greatest preacher Who ever lived!”
When God Shows Thru
The Gospel of Jesus
Matthew 5:1-5
“Nobody can be like Jesus like J
can.”
Jesus came to live within me to
m the carnal works of this body,
m the circumstances of my life,
m His character,
and m to others.
What others will see when God shows thru:
I. A H Person
A. Happiness – the
u feeling
B. Happiness – the
u offer
II. A W Person
A. Poor in spirit =
e .
·This is about our s
.
B. Mourn = b
.
·This is about our s
.
C. Meek =
s .
·This is about our
S .
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