Lesson 2: Kingdom Citizens and Our Attitudes | Sermon on the Mount

this is a production of world video Bible School to God be the glory thank you for joining us once again for our ongoing series of lessons on the Sermon on the Mount will be in Matthew chapters 5 through 7 one of the fiercest battles that we face is the temptation to just be like everybody else that's kind of the easy way of living life just kind of see what the crowd is doing what most people think how most people act and just blend in with the crowd and it's a it's a pretty tough temptation at times but one of the things that we find in the Bible is that God has always called on his people to be different from those that are not his people and the things that make God's people different from others have to do with their conduct with their values with their attitudes God has always wanted his people to be separate from the sinful world around them going back even into the Old Testament God said to his people under that old law under the law of Moses in Leviticus chapter 20 verse 26 he said to them I have separated you from the peoples that you should be mine so from the very outset God said I'm separating you from the rest of the world because you are my special people that I have a special purpose for that's why it's interesting that in 1st Samuel chapter 8 the people came to 2 Samuel God's representative and they said to him give us a king that we may be like the nations around us though it was embedded in their law though it was emphasized on so many other occasions the people said we want to be just like everybody else the very thing that God had called them not to be was the thing that they were clamoring for and when their their request was initially rebuffed by Samuel and Samuel came back and said you know if you do this you're going to be all the negative consequences the people just finally said in first samuel 8 verse 19 we will have a king in other words we are going to be like the nations around us even though that was not God's ultimate will for them and that principle is carried over in the New Testament to where we find passages like 1st Peter chapter 1 verses 15 and 16 where Peter quoting from the Old Testament but making the application of the principle to New Testament Christians he said you are to be holy God's words you were to be holy as I am holy the idea of holiness is the idea of separation separation from that which is profane separated from from the profane for God and for His purposes and so God wants us not to just be like everybody else but to be who he wants us to be and when we do that we'll be separated from those that are in the world and early on in the Ministry of Jesus he started to emphasize that to the people that if they wanted to be his disciples if they wanted to be citizens of his kingdom it was going to require them to be different from those around them and that's why we're doing this series on the Sermon on the Mount to emphasize that as one of the major points in the sermon to be a citizen of his kingdom is going to call on us to be different from those around us and the Beatitudes are a great example of that the Beatitudes constitute the first major section in the Sermon on the Mount in our last session we gave some introductory remarks about the theme of the sermon and and how challenging it is and then some of the major emphases in the sermon but now as we begin to kind of look in its component parts we start with the Beatitudes and a beatitude that word is simply a word that refers to a statement that imparts a blessing and Beatitudes begin with the word blessed blessed are these people blessed is the person who does this or who is that so it's a statement that imparts a blessing and the word blessed is sometimes translated by the word happy happy are the / are the people who do this or that and that's that's not a bad translation it probably doesn't capture all that the word blessed seems to capture but the idea is it's a statement that imparts a blessing and Jesus gives several here in the Sermon on the Mount it's probably the the most widely known part of the sermon but in the sermon what Jesus does again is going to call attention to the contrast between citizens of his kingdom and those who are not what's the difference between those who follow him and between and those who are not following him those that are in the world and so we're going to look at those contrasts as they relate to the common view of people in the world today I have to give credit where it's due dear friend of mine who's gone to his reward now cecil hudson outlined these Beatitudes this way and i'm grateful that he did because I think they really capture the contrast that Jesus is making so what are those contrasts Matthew chapter five verse three is the first of the Beatitudes where Jesus contrasts total dependence versus total independence look at Matthew chapter 5 verse 3 as he begins blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven here's the view of the world with regard to this cept the the attitude of the world is basically I don't need anybody I I don't need anybody to help me I don't I don't even need God I am all that I need to be just in and of myself it's a similar attitude expressed by a church oddly enough in revelation 3 verse 17 the church at Laodicea who said with regard to themselves we are rich and we have need of nothing now the response of the Lord to that church was not only are you wrong he says you need everything you don't even realize that you're wretched miserable poor blind and naked you think you've got it all but you don't really have anything at all and so that's the idea of the world I don't need you I don't need God I don't need anything I am completely independent and that's the way I like it well in response to that what Jesus says is the blessed life the life of the person who's devoting himself to the Lord into his kingdom he said blessed are the poor in spirit this is the person who says I'm nothing without God person in the world says I don't need God the person with the right attitude says I do need God and I'm nothing without him that's what it means to be poor in spirit we understand what it's what it means to be poor in in physical things material things the person is in poverty then they don't have much by way of material possessions to be poor in spirit is to refer to the person who not only is poor spiritually but recognizes that poverty and they recognize the fact that they need God that if they're ever going to be cleansed from sin and ever going to enjoy any spiritual blessing at all it's going to be when they recognize how dependent they are on God Jesus said in John 15 specifically verse number five he said apart from me you can do nothing see how different that is from the attitude of the world the world that says I don't need Jesus and I don't need God Jesus said you can't do anything youyou can be nothing apart from me you can do nothing and so if we're going to be what Jesus wants us to be if we're going to follow in his footsteps and be a citizen of his kingdom and we've got to start by recognizing how dependent we are on God if we are ever going to be saved from our sins it's going to be only because we recognize that we can't do it ourselves that we are dependent on God to save us yes they're going to be things that we have to do in obedience to God and Jesus will talk about that later in the sermon in Chapter 7 specifically but even our obedience is not something that pays the price for our sins we're dependent on God for that were dependent on Jesus and on his blood for that we're dependent on him for every blessing material and physical and so the world's view that that I'm smart enough on my own and I I can do it all by myself and pull myself up by my own bootstraps spiritually speaking is a concept that is foreign to the person who truly understands reality total dependence on God is what we're to have we can't do it all ourselves we certainly can't save ourselves by ourselves and so at the very outset Jesus contrasts the idea of the world with the idea of truth and reality we are dependent on God so blessed are those who are poor in spirit who recognize their spiritual poverty and recognize that they need God then we have in verse number four another contrast where we have the contrast of deep mourning and sorrow against the concept of carefree irresponsibility notice the words of Jesus specifically in Matthew 5 verse 4 blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted see the world's view about things again is completely opposite of what Jesus talks about here in the world's view people just basically say you know what who cares who cares about sin who cares about behavior I can do whatever it is I want to do and I don't have to answer to anybody and I'm not going to apologize for anything I ever do I am my own boss and I owe nobody any explanation for my actions who cares it's very reminiscent of the words of Pharaoh in Exodus chapter 5 verse 2 when Moses appeared before him and instructed him to let God's people go from captivity pharaoh's response was well who is the Lord that I should obey his voice he didn't care about what God thought what God said and that's the attitude of a lot of people today when it comes to their actions and specifically their actions that are wrong that are sinful the world's attitude is hey it's nobody's business but mine and I don't really care what you think now contrast that with what Jesus said blessed are they that mourn and specifically in context Jesus I think is talking about one's mourning over sin one who mourns his spiritual poverty from the previous verse blessed are those that are poor in spirit and blessed are they that mourn the fact that they're poor in spirit I think those two are connected I think all these Beatitudes are connected and so the the blessing is promised not to those who have a carefree irresponsibility about sin but those who deeply are bothered by their sins I don't know if there are a lot of people who recognize the fact that God wants our sins to bother us he doesn't want us to take that carefree attitude toward them he wants us to mourn our sins because if we do that it'll turn us to him who can take away the guilt of our sins so the proper view about sin is to is to allow them to bother us to the point that we do something positive about them we need to remember that we when we sin we have offended our Creator who's given me who has given us every good and perfect gift James 1:17 in Luke chapter 18 verse 13 in the parable that Jesus told we need to have the attitude of the man who would not even lift his eyes toward heaven but simply said God be merciful to me a sinner you see that's the attitude that we need to have and not it's and it's not the attitude of the world but then we turn next to the next B attitude and it's it's a contrast between self-discipline on the one hand and recklessness on the other see Jesus has pronounced a blessing on those who recognize their spiritual poverty who realize that they're completely dependent on God and their spiritual poverty caused by their own sin bothers them and it bothers them so much that they mourn the fact that they are so impoverished spiritually well then comes the next blessing which contrasts this self-discipline meekness versus recklessness blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth Matthew chapter 3 or 5 Matthew chapter 5 verse number 5 now the world's attitude about things like this is hey you you do whatever you're big enough to do whatever you think you can get away with you just get away with it you see it in all kinds of people's lies especially people who are powerful perhaps politically or in other areas sometimes in in in business but it doesn't even have to be in those two arenas but there are people who take the attitude of might makes right and whatever you can get away with do well that may be the attitude of the world but the attitude that Jesus calls us to have is an attitude of meekness and meekness involves the idea of self-discipline someone has defined meekness very well as power under control so a meek person is not a weak person but one who has a proper handle on himself one who has his power under control a gentle person Jesus described himself as being meek and gentle Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 through 30 one great example of meekness is how Paul described that concept in first Corinthians 9 verses 24 and following when he wrote these words do you not know that those who run in a race all run but one receives the prize run in such a way that you may obtain it and everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things now they do it to obtain a perishable crown but we for an imperishable crown therefore I run thus not with uncertainty thus I fight not as one who beats the air but I discipline my body and bring it into subjection less when I have preached to others i myself should become disqualified now even though the word meek or meekness is not used in that set of verses the concept is there that's what meekness is its power under control it's an individual who's not guided by passions but guided by reason and self-control Moses was called the meekest man in the earth numbers 12 verse 3 says Moses was certainly not a weak person but one who controlled his passions and so meekness enables a person to be teachable in ruk table one whose reasonable and so when an individual more you know is recognizes their spiritual poverty and it bothers them that they are such in such poverty spiritually and it's because of their sins and their sins bother them if that person has a meek and gentle disposition and that person is going to be receptive to God's truth and that is a part of the rest of the Beatitudes leading with Matthew chapter five verse 6 where again we see a contrast between an individual who has a thirst for God versus one who basically doesn't believe he has any need for God at all let's look at the passage Matthew 5 verse 6 blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled so here we have again the concept of thirst for God a desire for God and for things spiritual for righteousness versus those who simply want to do as they please we talked a little bit about this concept a moment ago with one of the other Beatitudes but it fits here as well the attitude of the world is I will do as I please I am my own God the only thing I thirst for is more of whatever it is I want it's similar to the period of the judges judges chapter 17 verse 6 where the Bible says about that that period of time in Israel's history that there was no king in Israel but every man did that which was right in his own eyes and if you read and study the book of Judges you'll see that it was one of the darkest periods of time in all of the history of Israel because of the terrible sinfulness of the people and that passage mentioned again or quoted again in judges 21:25 gives the reason everybody just did what was right in their own eyes there was no standard by which they they judge their character and by which they lived their lives they wore their own standard these are people that hunger and thirst for anything and everything but righteousness and that's the view of the world today isn't it don't we find so many people today who say you know what I don't want anything to do with the Bible I don't anything to do with God I don't want anything to do with anything that's going to to hamper my self-expression and that's going to stand in the way of me doing whatever it is I want to do that's the world Jesus says you got to be different from that you want to be a part of my kingdom you want to be a faithful citizen of my kingdom then you need to hunger and thirst not for your own personal pleasure but you hunger and thirst for righteousness and if you do that you will be filled so the attitude of the kingdom citizen is I will do not as I please but I will do as God pleases job said job 23 verse 12 I have desired the words of the Lord more than my necessary food what a great statement what a great concept an idea to aspire to that we would develop that attitude that we desire God's words more than any necessity of life in 1st Peter chapter 2 verses 1 and 2 this attitude is expressed this way Peter said therefore laying aside all malice all deceit hypocrisy envy and all evil speaking as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby that's the attitude we need that's the kind of thirst for God that we need in the next beatitude Matthew chapter 5 verse 7 we see the contrast between mercy and selfishness where we read these words blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy the world's view is just look out for number one and by number one they mean themselves so many people live life that way they don't care what others think they don't care what others may need they're just interest and satisfying their own needs and so the only time that some people see other people is when they look down to see what it is they're stepping on but that's not the attitude of Jesus it's not the attitude that he calls upon his followers to have he said blessed are the merciful blessed are those who are moved by the circumstances of others move to do something about it those who are citizens of the kingdom of Christ are those who know how important it is to be kind to one another tender-hearted Ephesians chapter four verse 32 there are those that are helpful to others Galatians 6 verse 10 as you have opportunity do good unto all men especially those of the household of faith those that show compassion and mercy those that weep with those who weep Romans 12 verse 15 I like the words of Micah chapter 6 verse 8 the Old Testament prophet who expressed expressed the sentiment this way he has shown you O man what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justly to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God see the person who is a citizen of the kingdom of Jesus and it's truly living as such allowing Jesus to guide their lives that will be a person who is kind and compassionate and merciful then we turn to verse 8 of Matthew 5 in the next beatitude where Jesus contrasts purity of heart with lustful pursuits see that's the attitude of the world if it feels good do it if you want it go for it you know whatever you want to do you know just you follow your own pursuit as lustful and impure as it may be that's what you want to do do it some people think well as long as I keep these things in my mind and in my heart they don't hurt anybody that's why a lot of people get wrapped up in the in the terrible sin of pornography they say though wrong in this but their attitude is well it's it's it's a victimless thing I'm not hurting anybody by consuming that it's just all something going on in my mind and and so it's not hurting anybody so why can't I do that and so lustful pursuits impurity that that gets deep within a person's heart that's what the world pursues and other attitudes like jealousy and envy and things like that that people say well it's just that's just within myself and so it's not hurting anybody else so why should I bother with that why should I why should I keep from doing that well Jesus calls upon us not to just be pure in actions oh that's important but he calls upon people to be pure in heart and we'll see that in the sermon especially in Chapter five as Jesus gets into a lot of these heart issues but the right attitude is in the person who recognizes that if they hope to see God if they hope to be in the presence of God in eternity then I need to pursue a pure heart so I'm twenty four verses three through five puts it this way who may ascend into the hill of the Lord or who may stand in his holy place he who has clean hands and a pure heart who's not lifted up his soul to an idol nor sworn deceitfully he shall receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the god of his salvation see inner purity is important and we need to pursue it how about peaceful relationships versus disposable ones Matthew 5 verse 9 blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God see the world's view is relationships are only useful if they bring advantages to me and if they don't bring any advantage if I cease to benefit from them then I'll just throw away that relationship well Jesus pronounces a blessing on those who do what they can to maintain harmony between others Romans chapter 12 verse 18 makes that point if it's possible as much as depends on you live peaceably with all men and so we need to recognize the ordinance of keeping peace how about the next beatitude willingness to suffer as opposed to the world's view of avoiding pain at all costs back to Matthew 5 beginning in verse 10 blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you the world's view is don't be too radical you know do whatever you can do whatever you have to do to save yourself certainly don't suffer but Jesus makes the point that heaven is worth any price eternity is in the balance and if we're called upon to suffer for the cause of Christ to suffer for being righteous we need to be willing to do so see the kingdom of Christ is not of this world john 18:36 it doesn't operate by the same standards and values of the world the whole world lies in wickedness 1st John 5:19 and we are to be separate from the world the world is passing away first John 2 verse 17 but our spirits are going to live on and how we choose to live here is going to determine where we will live there and so Jesus begins this Sermon on the Mount by calling attention to these attitudes that a person needs to possess and out of these attitudes will come our actions and so our values our priorities our attitudes are different from those in the world because we are strangers in a foreign land our citizenship is in heaven Philippians 3 verse 20 and so for you today if there is no difference in your life from those that are in the world and heed the words of Paul from 2nd Corinthians 6 verse 17 come out from among them and be separate says the Lord you this is a production of world video Bible School you

Channel: World Video Bible School (WVBS)

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Keywords: WVBS, World Video Bible School, Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Mount, Jesus Preach, Mount of Olives, Mount of Olives Jesus, Jesus Hypocrisy, Jesus Old Law, Jesus Pharisee, Eddie Parrish

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Length: 29min 40sec (1780 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 20 2017