Blessed! A Sermon on the Beatitudes from Matthew 5:1-12 by Pastor Colin Smith

well it is good to be back in the Pulpit today and to be beginning a new series on the Beatitudes these marvelous statements of the Lord Jesus Christ about the blessing of God upon a person's life you'll find them in Matthew in chapter 5 the passage that has been uh read to us and I hope that you'll have that open uh in front of you over these last weeks I have had the privilege of immersing myself in these words of Jesus and I have to tell you they have had a profound effect on me continue to do so um in a number of ways one is that I am finding them immediately compelling Jesus speaks about a life that is blessed by God who doesn't want to roll up a chair and listen to him speak about that every one of us wants to be blessed you want to be blessed in life you certainly want to be blessed in death and all of us want to be blessed for all eternity and that is precisely what Jesus is speaking about here the opposite of being blessed is to be cursed nobody wants that uh but here is the Son of God himself speaking about a life that is blessed and he's speaking about people who are blessed so I I read this and and I say to myself I want to be very sure that I'm one of these people I I I want to take a fresh look at myself and be very sure that I am pursuing this kind of life that that the Son of God says is under the blessing of almighty God the Beatitudes um are compelling to me because they not only describe a life that is blessed by God we we're going to see and we'll begin to see even today that that they actually give us the means by which we pursue it I want to share with you today how you can make progress in the Christian Life directly from these Beatitudes and I think once you see this you're going to find it gives you a kind of grid that we're going to be pursuing for some weeks together so that it really settles into our minds and our hearts this is how a person grows in the Christian Life this is how sanctification happens this this is how I can get off where I am and begin to grow in likeness to Jesus Christ so I have found these Beatitudes absolutely compelling and I trust that very quickly you are going to find uh the same I don't know if you can really believe that a guy's heart can beat faster while he's sitting at a desk surrounded by some books but I promise you that my heart has been beating faster as I've looked deeper and deeper into these very simple verses and yet these very profound verses that are going to be our Focus for these next weeks second I I've found over these last weeks in my own life that the more I've engaged with these uh Beatitudes I've not only found them compelling but I've also found them very searching uh Jesus describes a person who is blessed by God and that forces the question um is he then describing me am I the person who is described here who lives under the blessing of God am I displaying in my life uh more of the marks that Jesus is speaking about here because what what what matters really folks is not that you or I go around saying well we're very blessed what matters is not that we think that we're blessed what matters is whether God pronounces us to be blessed and Jesus is describing the people God says are blessed and he's doing it right here so I found this compelling I have honestly found this and continue to find this deeply deeply searching in my own life I hope that you will find the same I I found thirdly that the Beatitudes are leading me into worship um what you hear from Jesus you see in Jesus there is total Integrity in the Son of God this preacher practices what he preaches in every degree and in every respect that's the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and and meditating on these Beatitudes I have found is leading me to worship because worship happens as we Glimpse the glory of the Son of God so we're going to keep coming back to that as we as we move through uh this wonderful teaching of the Lord Jesus over these next weeks so today is really an introduction to uh the series I I want us to become familiar with uh these Beatitudes and particularly I want us to learn how to use them the question I think when we come to the Bible the Practical question okay I see this teaching most of us will be familiar with it the question is how do I use use this how am I going to put this to work in my life I want you to see three ways today in which you can use the Beatitudes put them to work in your life and see God working through this Truth by the power of His holy spirit here's the first thing I I want to encourage you to be using these Beatitudes as we learn them together as a tool for discernment a tool for discernment now think with me for a moment about bird spotting some of you will know a great deal about this and certainly an awful lot more than I do but um whether or not you're into this particular Pursuit I want you to imagine yourself getting a pair of binoculars and you go out um uh looking to spot a few of Our Feathered Friends you look at the trees and there you see it an American Gold Finch how do you know that it is an American goldf answer because of its dis distinctive yellow color you walk along a river and there you see a spotted Sandpiper and how do you know that it is a spotted Sandpiper the answer is you know that it is a spotted Sandpiper because of its distinguishing spots now I'm making the most obvious and simple Point here but I'm asking this question we all know that birds are distinguished by their uh distinct marks that's how you tell one kind from another one breed from another so let us ask this question what then are the distinguishing marks of a Christian how would you know a Christian if you actually spotted one what are the distinguishing marks or or to put it more personally how can I know that I am actually a true Christian and not merely self- deceived because all of us spend too much time deceiving ourselves in one way or another what are the distinguishing marks of a true child of God now as you ask that question and it's obviously a very important one both personally and in relation to Ministry someone might say something like this well I would know a true Christian by what they believe and that's a good answer because God has revealed certain truths in scripture and a person who does not believe them simply cannot be a Christian um Jesus says unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins so you if a person does not believe that Jesus is the Messiah they they cannot be a Christian because it is defined by this truth Jesus says so you may take that name to yourself but it doesn't mean anything if you do not believe because what matters is how Jesus defines he said this the work of the father is to believe in the father who has sent me so that there are certain things that a person believes and without believing them a person cannot be a Christian but remember this that James reminds us that even the Devils believe um Satan knows that Jesus died for sin on the cross Satan knows that Jesus he knows to his own great cost that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day he's not in doubt about it it is an undeniable reality in Hell itself and and all of us will have heard stories or perhaps been aware of someone or another in our circle of friends or acquaintances um you you you're aware of of how someone can profess to believe all the main doctrines of the Christian faith while still indulging their own sins of choice and such a person is not a Christian but a hypocrite um when what a person believes is a necessary Mark of being a Christian but it is not a sufficient Mark of being a true Christian so how would you know a true Christian if you saw one just by what they say they believe has to be more than that someone else will say well I would know that a person really is a true Christian I could identify about a real Christian by what they do they you might say well it's it's not uh words that count it's deeds and real Christianity it's all about putting your faith into practice now again that is a very good answer because you cannot be a Christian apart from that Jesus said it is the one who hears my words and puts them into practice who is like the one who builds his house upon the rock and yet Jesus tells us him himself that there will be people to whom he will say on the last day depart from me I never knew you it's Matthew 7: 21 one of the most sobering verses in all of the Bible and it's sobering because these people to whom Jesus says depart from me I never knew you they are completely taken by surprise and the reason that they are taken by surprise the reason that they have assume assumed that they are genuine Christians who are known to Christ uh is that they have been so actively involved in Ministry and so they say Matthew 7 you can read this from the teaching of Jesus they will say on the last day now now Jesus did we not prophesy in your name they will say did we not cast out demons in your name did we not do Mighty works in your name so so this is these are impressive things here that these people did in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ by any standards they regarded themselves as Christians and were active in the doing of ministry and it never occurred to them that they might not actually be true Christians friends here's what that means for me there would be absolutely no value whatsoever in me on the last day standing in the presence of Jesus Christ and saying I was the senior pastor of the orchard Evangelical Free Church in Chicago no value in me saying that whatsoever why that's not what he's looking for that's not where the blessing lies not in having some kind of a position or a role or a Ministry where does the blessing lie you've got it right in front of you blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven so what is going to be far more important as far as I am concerned just to put this personally for you is not that I had the privilege of serving as a senior pastor of the orchard in Chicago but is there a genuine evidence of the work of Grace that is seen first in a poverty of spirit before almighty God you think about that in relation to yourself how then do you know that a person is a real Christian how would you spot one if you saw a real Christian well is this not significant Jesus does not begin with a great class on all the doctrines of the Bible he does not begin with saying now let's get all you guys involved in Ministry he begins by saying let me tell you what a person who lives under the blessing of God looks like here it is and so as I've been reading these Beatitudes and as I seek to lead you into doing the same we have to ask the question together are these the things that we are pursuing are these the things that are distinct about us Colin forget being a senior pastor Colin forget saying that you've been a Christian for 50 or more years what is the evidence of these things in your life that's searching isn't it that's searching so I want to invite you in this series to be opening yourself up to the searching gaze of our Lord Jesus Christ look at what he is looking for I'll begin at verse 9 and just work backwards blessed are the peacemakers so am I a person who brings peace does peace follow me because it lives in me that's the question here or or do other people experience in in the the home or in the workplace or wherever that is do they experience tension from me because of the turmoil that's within me verse eight blessed are the pure in heart what is the condition of my heart to what extent is it marked by Purity to what extent is it marked by impurity verse seven blessed are the merciful how am I doing when it comes to this whole business of of forgiving others do I forgive quickly am I merciful towards the weaknesses and towards the failings of other people verse six blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness does that describe you today I go for one day without food and at the end of it my stomach thinks my throat's been cut and the end of it I say boy I would do anything for a beef sandwich you know um really really hungry is that how you feel about pursuing a life that is marked by the very righteousness of God irrespective of cost when Jesus describes a person who is blessed is he describing you ask yourself would someone spot these marks in me a am I consciously submitting myself to the will of God even when it's costly that by the way is what is meant by weak weekness am I mourning over my sins in such a way that I'm gradually becoming to hate what I used to love and I'm increasingly coming to a place of despising what I once chose or am I remaining pretty much the same and unchanged with the same habitual sins these are the questions that the Beatitudes are raising for us do I recognize coming to the very first beatitude of all that when I have done all and when I have pursued All I Have Nothing whatsoever to offer God but hang still on the mercy of God in Jesus Christ as an un deserving sinner today now can you see why I'm saying this is searching stuff it really cuts through so much of the shallowness and the cheap talk that can go on in Suburban churches this is Jesus speaking about the reality of a Godly life what it means to pursue now before we um go further I I I need to pause just for a moment and make thing one thing as clear as I possibly can and it's this the Beatitudes are not telling you how to become a Christian the Beatitudes are describing what a true Christian is like it's very important to understand that the message here is not now look if you humble yourself and mourn over your sins and submit yourself meekly to God and get an appetite for righteousness and so forth that will be the thing that gets you into heaven that would be salvation by works and that is not the teaching of the Bible it is not the teaching of Jesus here what is the message the message is this many people profess to be Christian it's easy to see it the church at its best any church at its best is a mixed bag of people who are the genuine article and people who are self- deceived in their own complacency therefore it behoves every one of us to do what the Bible says and to examine ourselves especially as we come around the Lord's table today by the way it's a thing we should regularly be doing examine yourself to see that you are in the faith that you are not a self- deceived person resting on some vacuous decision from years ago that has not really affected the trajectory of your life here's the message the church is a mixed bag of the genuine and of the deceived therefore examine yourself and the evidence that you are a chrisan will be seen here unfakeable marks that you humble yourself before God that you truly mourn over your sins and do not skip over them lightly that you submit yourself meekly to the will of God even when it is hard instead of that self-will that says well this may not be what God wants but it's what I want and I'm going to do it anyway no you're to do you'll hear me quote from Thomas Watson who has written uh I think the definitive work um uh though it was written centuries ago on the subject of the Beatitudes and um I think perhaps one of his finest statements is this he says if we do not imitate Christ's life we cannot be saved by his death that's Thomas Watson if we do not imitate his life we cannot be saved by his death now notice Watson is not saying that we are saved by imitating The Life of Christ I know other people have suggested that but you'll not find that in the Bible and that is not what this man is saying you see that this man is saying very clearly we are saved by his death the question is who is saved by his death and how would you know a person who was and the distinguishing Mark of a person who is saved by his death is that that person is pursuing the imitation of his life so by speaking these words then Jesus is really inviting us to measure ourselves he is saying there are certain distinguishing marks of a genuine Christian that there are certain inalienable marks of the person who really is blessed as opposed to the person who is self deceived and here they are they're very clear blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are those who mourn blessed are the meek so I I'm wanting to encourage you throughout this journey that we're going to take together to be using these be Beatitudes as a tool for Discerning your own spiritual State and honestly it may be that as we move through this series you may come to a place place of saying you know what I have always thought that I was a true Christian but now I have discovered that I am not so yet and that I need to become one and friend if if that would happen to you through this series you will thank God for it for the rest of your life and for the rest of Eternity as well I'm telling you that all over the congregations of the orchard you will find people who would say to you I used to think that I was a Christian I was a moral person I attended church I uh did many good things and so forth and so on but I started listening to the word of God and as I listened to the words of Jesus something started happening inside me I I realized what Jesus is saying is not yet true of me there's a disconnect and if this is Christianity and I have to take Christianity from him then I am not yet a Christian friend if that happens in your life it will be the most marvelous breakthrough thank God for it because only when you know that you are not in fact a true Christian will you then be in a position to come to to to become one and I'm increasingly convinced that one of Satan's most effective ways of keeping people out of Heaven is to make them falsely sure that they are on the way to being so use the Beatitudes friends as a tool for discernment this is this is too big to leave unconsidered am I a real Christian second I want to encourage you to to use use the Beatitudes as a key to progress this to me has been the most wonderful Discovery in these last weeks of studying this particular part of of the scripture I I have never actually preached in my life a series from the Beatitudes I um I'm wondering now how it could have been left so long they are so rich and so wonderful I want you to notice and we'll see this increasingly clearly as we move through the series um each of the virtues that Jesus speaks of here actually flows out from the one that went before there is order there is development there is progress there is to use another picture a pathway here and that's why I'm encouraging you to think of these and to use these in terms of a key to progress um think about the orig of the Beatitudes and I I would simply divide them up this way the first three Beatitudes deal with our need with our need we are poor in spirit because we do not have what it takes to live as God commands uh we mourn because seeing our inability we become more aware that our sins are many we we become Meek rather than self-willed and and Def scient because because we know that we do not have the ability to direct our own lives wisely and so all of these first three are really um about our need and I'm going to describe these as the roots of a Godly life now now what comes out of these roots what comes out of this recognition of our own need is it par permeates into the soul of a follower of Jesus Christ well what comes out of it is the fourth beatitude a deep longing for what we do not have we've seen our own poverty uh we've seen our own need we begin to long for the righteousness that we do not have and to say this I must pursue we begin to say I must seek to move forward in being more like Jesus Christ who is the righteous one that's what comes out of an awareness of our need without that awareness of our need we never make progress we're just complacent and self-satisfied and smug but when the roots of these first three Beatitudes are really being nourished within our lives it it it it produces from that a a passion to pursue a life that is pleasing to God I'm going to call that the life of godliness because the soul of a Godly life is a hung and a thirst for the righteousness that is in Jesus Christ and you know where I'm going now because we got roots and we got life so where are we going to go next fruit of course um this life nourished from these roots produces beautiful fruit and what is the beautiful fruit it is Mercy blessed are the merciful it it is purity of heart that's the fruit and and peace bless are the peacemakers so so to use the language that we found so helpful at the orchard and and we'll keep coming back to this right here in the Beatitudes there is a Roots life Fruit pattern and it becomes very obvious then doesn't it that you can't get the fruit unless you begin with cultivating the root that's why some of us end up so frustrated we say now why can't I grow in Purity well you can't just stop start with Purity you have to start with what leads to it why can't I forgive I really want to forgive and I feel so messed up over this forgiveness thing well you can't just start at forgiveness you have to start at the the roots that produce it by the way you will notice that there is an eighth beatitude which reminds us that the person who pursues this Godly life and lives under the blessing of God will'll find at the same time that they are not blessed but they are persecuted by the world that's the outcome of this life that we're looking at here is in the eth beatitude now I want you to see then this distinct pattern and I want then to go a step further not only is there progress but because there is progress it follows that each of these Beatitudes flows out from the one that went before in other words you grasp the next by laying hold of the last there's progress now I have an image in mind uh that I think we'll keep coming back to and uh I want therefore to settle it in in your mind uh today it's the picture of a man swinging from uh one ring uh to another now uh the key for this uh kind of uh monkey swing can you get this picture in your mind here's this um uh uh series of of rings that are suspended from some kind of a frame way high up there and uh um here's this man and he's going to try and swing from one to the next and he's going to try and swing from the second to the third and and so forth and so on now um the key to this I just have to say for integrity's sake I am speaking from observation and not from experience okay the key to this monkey swing is what it is momentum it is momentum so uh here we have a marvelous piece of uh equipment that uh uh you could have constructed in your backyard if you particularly wanted it um it's called the uh the ring swing which I think is rather a good uh title uh for it and the key to making progress from ring to ring for this guy as he moves from one platform to the other it all hangs on momentum momentum uh the momentum of your swing on the first ring is what makes it possible for you to reach the second which apart from the first would be beyond your reach and the swing the momentum of your swing on the second ring is what makes the third ring uh reachable for you because apart from that momentum it too would otherwise be beyond your reach now you're seeing where this is going um for for for someone who for for for someone who who comes and says Pastor I cannot forgive you see you're you're you're you're reaching for the um for the fifth ring and you say I I can't get there and there you are standing on the platform and you're saying that that that that forgiveness um ring it's so far away from me and and the answer is you you can't get there in one jump you got to swing your way there through the others someone else is saying pastor I I look into my own heart there is so much impurity there I hate it and I don't know how to get rid of it how do I get to purity of heart it's a deeply felt question for many and the answer is you can't get to that ring in in in in in one jump as it were you got you got to swing through the others in order to get there how do you get to the fifth or the sixth beatitude answer You' got to start from the first is the only way to do it and everyone can do this because the first ring and this is absolutely marvelous think about this the first ring is to recognize that you do not have what it takes blessed are those who are poor in spirit can you imagine how sunk we would all be if the first beatitude was blessed are the pure in heart and all of us would be saying we can't reach that ring but that is not the first beatitude the first beatitude is blessed are the poor in spirit blessed are those who know they have not got what it takes it's the most inviting most inviting door possible you can reach that ring today that's me swing on that ring my friend and you will find that you come to repentance I don't have what it takes and I I begin to see as I look at my own poverty before God that my sins are many more than I had thought before swing on that second ring the repentance of heart and you will find that you are moving towards what a me weakness of spirit that says oh God I want to submit to your way and to your will things are beginning to change inside of you roots are being nourished it's going to produce life and the life is going to produce fruit this is how we live not just a decision to start the Christian Life this is how we live the Christian Life this is how the Holy Spirit works in the life of a Christian believer so think about that man on the platform and he's trying to make his way from where he is to the destination he longs to arrive at and he's got to do it by swinging from ring to ring and here we go we get to the first the second the third the fourth the fifth and then we're swinging from the fifth to the sixth let's say and oh we miss it and you know what happens if you miss the next ring your next swing isn't as high as the last one and the next one's not so high as the last one and eventually you've lost all your momentum and there you are just hanging and some of you know that's exactly where you are today I've lost all momentum in my Christian Life I I I've missed what I was seeking to go after I I'm very aware of all of that and here I am I'm just stuck I'm stuck not being able to forgive I'm stuck with the impurity that I see in my own heart and eventually what happens is your arm gets tired and you fall up well what do you do next go back to the picture you get back up on the platform and you swing again on the first ring I don't have what it takes and friend you know what that's not just what we do when we come to church on the weekend this is how you live the Christian Life every day every day you set out saying I want to pursue purity of heart I want to be the kind of person who Forgives I I want to be a person who brings peace to the turmoil and the conflict that's all over the place uh in so many ways around me and Lord I I say to you today I don't have that in me and my own sins are are too many so Lord help me help me to submit to your will and to your purpose today and to go after a life that is going to pursue righteousness such as I see in and receive from Jesus Christ and let me bear the fruit that you long to see and I long to bear in this world that's how you live every day that's how the spirit works that's what the Christian Life actually looks like so I'm encouraging you here to to use these Beatitudes that we're going to try and immerse ourselves in over these next months to use them as a means of discerning your own spiritual condition I I cannot think of anything worse than to to be in an Evangelical Church and to think yourself saved when you are not so let us be vigorous in in searching our own hearts and our own lives and coming before the Lord to his Mercy um let's be done with smugness and arrogance about all that we've achieved in our lives and so forth and so on that really doesn't account for anything in the light of Eternity and let's use this as a key to progress let's see what we can do in terms of swinging on these rings and and gaining encouragement so that we're not simply stuck but we're getting on and we're moving in the direction of a life that bears the fruit that is is glorifying to Jesus Christ and and here's the last thing and it's just very very brief but it it Bridges us to the Lord's table today I want us throughout this series to use the Beatitudes as a window to worship um everything Christ says he does he is the blessed one so see him as he leaves the riches of heaven and he Embraces our poverty and he humbles himself to the place of being nothing and dies on that cruel Cross of Calvary see him as he Mourns over the sins of Jerusalem he does not mourn over his own sins for he has none but he Mourns over sin oh Jerusalem he says oh Jerusalem how often I would have gathered you to myself as a hen gathers chickens under our wing but you would not any weeps over the sin you know any of that in your life see him in the Garden of Gethsemane as he me submits himself to the will of the father even when that means Incredible cost here's meekness if you think that sounds like a weak word here's meekness pictured father not my will but yours be done he submits himself to the most costly will of his father and see him fulfill all righteousness and then lay down this righteous Life as a sacrifice for the sake of others and see him coming to to you today this Risen Lord Jesus Christ and he's coming to you in all his Purity and he's coming to you in all his mercy and all is forgiveness and he's coming to you and he's saying let me give you peace with almighty God who would not want to come to such a savior today let's bow in prayer together father we want to open our lives to your searching gaze we want to find the grace that is in the Lord Jesus Christ that will cause us to be Christlike and so we draw near to you today in the name of our Lord Jesus and for his sake amen

Channel: Open the Bible

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Keywords: sermons on the beatitudes, sermon on the beatitudes, beatitudes, sermon on the mount, the beatitudes, beatitudes explained, beatitudes meaning, the beatitudes explained, what are the beatitudes, sermon on the mount summary, Jesus christ, what does the bible say, learn the bible, understanding the bible, pastor colin smith, colin s. smith, what do the beatitudes mean, beatitudes in the bible, open the bible

Id: AOTmQKSBGMU

Length: 41min 25sec (2485 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 17 2012