Outer Banks Community Church

Are You That Witness Series - Matthew 5:1-11

Intro: What does it mean to be truly blessed? Must true happiness come with wealth? Must there be stuff involved? Is it a person, place or thing? Does blessed mean you have all the pieces of the puzzle of your life together? In chapter 5 of Matthew we have the great Sermon on the Mount; in this sermon Jesus gives the pieces of the puzzle. What He delivers in this mountain experience message is a picture of heaven and He gives us all the pieces and a peace that passes all understanding. This is where Jesus gives us the blueprint to a spiritual blessed lifestyle. Matthew calls these piece’s Beatitudes. The Beatitudes of our Lord are powerful, holding before the world a descriptive picture of the true disciple of God. The Beatitudes cover the glorious hope and reward the believer can expect, now as well as in eternity. The Sermon on the Mount was given to the disciples not to the multitudes. “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.” Matthew 9:36

Text: Matthew 5:1-11 (NKJV)

Application: The true disciple of God has a Blessed Attitude!

Setting of the Blessed: The evangelist sits and in this case it is Jesus Himself, the multitude is present and the standard of spiritual life Jesus offers here will not be understood but everyone unless they belong to Christ. If you notice the disciples are also present sitting at the feet of their master. He opened His mouth and taught them. Jesus’ sermon was both authoritative and intimate; it was of the utmost importance and was delivered with the utmost concern.

In this sermon our Lord establishes a standard of living counter to everything the world practices and holds dear. To live by the standards He gives here is to live a life of blessed happiness. This is a new approach to living, one that results in joy instead of despair, in peace instead of conflict-a peace that the world does not understand and cannot have: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

It is a blessedness not produced by the world or by circumstances, and it cannot be taken away by the world or by circumstances. It is not produced externally and cannot be destroyed externally. Jesus tells the multitude and His disciples follow these beatitudes and you will be Blessed!

There are two basic ingredients for reaching the multitudes. Compassion: seeing the multitudes; keeping one's eyes open so people and their needs can be seen. Discipleship: realizing that one cannot accomplish the task alone. Others must be taught to help in the great commission. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. Matthew 28:19-20

When you buy a puzzle from the store, almost all of them have a picture on the box cover showing you what the picture will look like when it is complete. Our Lord as He broke down the Beatitudes He first made sure they understood what the complete picture looked like; this complete picture encompasses “What True Righteousness Is.” In the Beatitudes and the pictures of the believer, Jesus described Christian character that flowed from within. Jesus first word was Blessed! Blessed implied an inner satisfaction and sufficiency that did not depend on outward circumstances for happiness. This is what the Lord offers those who trust Him! The Beatitudes pieces describe the attitudes that ought to be in our lives today. Four attitudes are described here.

1. Our Attitude toward Ourselves: Vs. 3

The first beatitude piece isn’t what you think to be poor in spirit means to be humble, to have a correct estimate of oneself: “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” Romans 12:3 It does not mean to be “poor spirited” and have no backbone at all! “Poor in spirit” is the opposite of the world’s attitudes of self-praise and self-assertion. It is not a false humility that says, “I am not worth anything, I can’t do anything!”

It is honesty with ourselves: we know ourselves, accept ourselves, and try to be ourselves to the glory of God. There is the difference of being self-righteous versus being given the righteousness of Christ. Self-righteousness goes no farther than self; that is, it goes no farther than death. Self dies and everything with self including our self-righteousness. But the righteousness that is of Christ lives forever.

2. Our Attitude toward Our sins: Vs. 4-6

4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

I have always found it interesting when trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, there always seems to be some very strange shaped odd and even ugly pieces. Our attitude toward our sin has some strange odd and even ugly pieces. We mourn over sin and despise it. We see sin the way God sees it and seek to treat it the way God does. Those who cover sin or defend sin certainly have the wrong attitude. To Mourn is to have a broken heart. It is the strongest word possible for mourning. It is like the deep mourning over the death of a loved one. It is sorrow—a desperate, helpless sorrow. It is a sorrow for sin, a broken heart over evil and suffering. It is a brokenness of self that comes from seeing Christ on the cross and realizing that our sins put Him there. To put this beatitude piece into the puzzle our attitude must show concern toward others. We should not only mourn over our sins, but we should also meekly submit to God. Meekness is not weakness, for both Moses and Jesus were meek men.

This word translated “meek” was used by the Greeks to describe a horse that had been broken. It refers to power under control. Strong, yet a tender and humble life, a teachable spirit. “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29

The third blessed opportunity in the beatitude pieces dealing with our attitude toward our sin requires a hunger and thirst. It is real hunger and starvation of soul. It is a parched and dying thirst.

It is a starving spirit and a parched soul that craves after righteousness. But there is something more: righteousness means all righteousness. The true believer is starved and parched for all righteousness. It means a hunger and a thirst for the whole thing—for all righteousness, not for little tidbits. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:8

3. Our Attitude toward the Lord: Vs. 7-9

The beatitude pieces in this attitude is toward the Lord; are we merciful, pure in heart and a peacemaker as our Lord lived and died for? Merciful is having a forgiving spirit and a compassionate heart. It is showing mercy and being benevolent. It is a deliberate effort, an act of the will to understand the person and to meet their need by forgiving and showing mercy. It is the opposite of being hard, unforgiving, and unfeeling. God forgives only those who forgive others. “forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.” To the pure it means to have a clean heart. Unpolluted by the world, purged, forgiven and Holy for the purpose that of God’s Glory.

If you’re going to illustrate pieces that are needed to put the puzzle together you got to add peace, and who is the peacemaker. The peacemaker makes peace between men and God; solve disputes and erase divisions; they reconcile differences and eliminate strife; and silence tongues and build right relationships. The peacemaker has peace with God: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1

We experience God’s mercy when we trust Christ and He gives us a clean heart and peace within. But having received His mercy, we then share His mercy with others. We seek to keep our hearts pure that we might see God in our lives today. We become peacemakers in a troubled world and channels for God’s mercy, purity, and peace.

4. Our Attitude toward the World: Vs.10-11

Final beatitude pieces deal with the world. What is your attitude toward the world? This is a lot like trying to find those last few pieces of the puzzle, you find them easier that the first part of the puzzle pieces but did you really remember the big picture?

Do you see the true righteousness? So let’s talk Persecution; We are quick to put this piece into the picture but slow to see its results. This piece requires suffering for Christ, you will be mocked, ridiculed, criticized and the list goes on and on… The world is evil and the person who lives and speaks for righteousness is opposed and persecuted. The person who cares and works for the true love, justice, and salvation of the world is actually fought against.

“If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” John 15:19

The world conceives God to be the One who fulfills their earthly desires and lusts. Man's idea of God is that of a Supreme Grandfather. They think that God protects, provides, and gives no matter what a person's behavior is, just so the behavior is not too far out, that God will accept and work all things out in the final analysis. However, the true believer teaches against this. God is love, but He is also just and demands righteousness. The world rebels against this concept of God.

It is not easy to be a dedicated Christian. Our society is not a friend to God nor to His people. Whether we like it or not, there is conflict between us and the world. Why? Because we are different from the world and we have different attitudes.

As we read the Beatitudes, we find that they represent an outlook radically different from that of the world. The world praises pride, not humility. The world endorses sin, especially if you “get away with it.” The world is at war with God, while God is seeking to reconcile His enemies and make them His children. We must expect to be persecuted if we are living as God wants us to live. But we must be sure that our suffering is not due to our own foolishness or disobedience.

Conclusion: Crowds are important, but a small band of disciples is critical to accomplish the great commission. The mission of the Lord is reaching people, but the method of the Lord is to make disciples. It is giving intensive training to a small group so they can help in the ministry to the multitudes. This sermon is perhaps the greatest scriptural resource for witnessing, for reaching others for Christ. A Christian who personifies these principles of Jesus will be a spiritual magnet, attracting others to the Lord who empowers him to live as he does. The life obedient to the principles of the Sermon on the Mount is the church’s greatest tool for evangelism.

Ocean View Embarks a New Year, What are our principles going to be?