The Real Kingdom Values: Who Is Really Blessed? - Matthew 5:1-16

- I want to take a moment and place this message of Jesus within the context of his whole ministry, and within the context of his preaching.

- In 4:17, we read these words, "From that time on Jesus began to preach, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.'" This verse contains a summary of the preaching of Jesus. It sums up the content of Jesus' message. So, what we must remember is that Jesus' preaching has to do with the kingdom of God, the kingdom which is nearby and therefore his listeners needed to repent because God was near. In the person of Jesus, God is available to a sinful humanity.

- Jesus demonstrates the nearness or availability of God to the common sinful human being first of all by teaching and second of all by healing every disease and sickness, those in severe pain, the demon possessed, seizures, and the paralyzed. As revealed by Isaiah, these acts of power are signs of the kingdom's arrival and they also occurred both immediately before where Matthew places this sermon and in the chapters immediately the after this sermon.

- Take a few moments to read Matthew 5:1-16

- If we are to understand Jesus' message within its proper context, then we must see here that he is introducing to his listeners, as Matthew is introducing to his readers, what the available kingdom of God does for sinful people.

- I must express that I am  indebted to Dr. Dallas Willard and his book The Divine Conspiracy, for the thoughts we are about to explore.

- As we get started I want to ask a question: whom did Jesus tell his listeners was really blessed and why?

- To get us rolling on our answer, in the Beatitudes Jesus told his listeners and Matthew passes on to his readers, those who are really blessed are not the people the world assumes are blessed. In other words, those who have God's favour are not the people we would naturally assume have God's favour.

-This thinking may be revolutionary in some of our minds this morning, but something we absolutely must understand is that the Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of the law. He didn't come to give us more laws and more rules to follow. No, he came to call us to repentance and faith so that we could receive the Holy Spirit and keep the law of love.

- We need to be clear on what the Beatitudes are not. They are not laws. Most of what we have read and heard in our lives about the Beatitudes tells us that the Beatitudes are the code of ethics for disciples of Jesus Christ, that they are the standard of conduct for all believers. This line of thinking, however, misses the mark. It falls short and does not portray the gospel of Jesus, rather it simply places a heavy burden of legalism on the shoulders of Christians.

- ³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit," said Jesus, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

- This Beatitude gives us a introductory summary of all the Beatitudes, and indeed, his entire sermon. This beatitude says, "Blessed are the spiritually bankrupt because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them." Are you kidding me? From a worldly point of view, I cannot possibly see how that makes any sense at all. How can spiritually bankrupt people be blessed? How can the kingdom of heaven belong to them?

- The only way for this opening statement in Jesus' sermon to be true is if Jesus' proclamation about the availability of the kingdom of God through repentance and faith is true. Spiritually bankrupt people, the poor in spirit, can only have favour with God if God is near and if God receives them by faith. The good news of the kingdom is for everyone.

- Jesus said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (v. 4)

- We live in a world that denies grief, loss, and death. In fact, even Christians assume that because someone is a believer that when they lose a loved one they will not be overwhelmed with grief. That is a terrible assumption. It should never be but it is and it needs to change. People who are dealing with grief, loss, and death are so often told that they need to just sweep it under the rug and move on with their lives. The law of the land only allows three days for those who lose an immediate family member. That is only enough time to bury a loved one and that's about it.

- The prophet Isaiah described Jesus as "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." What the world denies, God affirms, in fact, God embraces in the person of Jesus Christ. The message of the gospel for those stricken with grief is this: God is near. God sees the suffering and grief of his children and is so moved with compassion that he allowed his own son to become intimately acquainted with grief and death so that we might truly live.

- As those who mourn enter into the kingdom of God and find comfort, their sorrow turns into joy and tears into laughter. They soon find that they are better off than they were before their time of grief.

- V. 5, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."

- In the eyes of the world, it is not the meek who inherit the earth, but the aggressive, the wealthy, and the powerful. The meek and the timid, the unassuming and the apprehensive, the fearful and the anxious, they don't stand up for themselves and often consider others as more important. They're victimized by bullies and tyrants, the opinionated and the competitive. These are the ones whom Jesus said are truly blessed, who have found favour with God.

- As the kingdom of God breaks into their lives, they discover that "the earth is the Lord's and everything in it", they embrace the Lord who is their provider, and find that they shall not want.

- Power and control is unavailable to the timid and the meek in this world, but the good news of the kingdom of God is that he meets every need of those who love him.

- ⁶ "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness," said Jesus, "for they will be filled."

- Many people go through life with a constant sense that something is wrong with them and don't know how to make it right. Still other people go through life with a sense that a gross injustice has been done to them and have a burning desire to see it made right. Many feel God could never forgive them for the things they have done. Many others feel they could never forgive God for the terrible things he has allowed to happen in their lives.

- How can the lust filled heart of an adulterous spouse be restored to purity?  What peace is there for the heart and mind of someone abused and molested by a loved one, respected community member, or pastor? Can they ever be made to feel pure again? What about criminals, will the murderer ever be able to wash the blood from his/her hands? Will the alcoholic ever find life outside the bottle after the accident that caused the death or disfigurement of another human being?

- What is the message of the gospel for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness? They will be filled. God will fill that burning hungry hole in their hearts with himself, and his righteousness always satisfies. He restores. He fills and renews. He is able to take the past and its tragedies and turn it into something wonderful for his kingdom.

- Jesus said, ⁷ "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. "

- The world has very little interest in mercy only when it suits its own selfish agenda. It is the merciful who are taken advantage of. To the corrupt the merciful person looks like just another sucker to abuse, oppress and extort.

- The creditors of this world are not interested in mercy. Creditors of this world are only interested in money. But God is the great creditor the one to whom we owe everything and the one to whom we will give an account.

- The merciful, said Jesus, will be shown mercy.

-The merciful will experience the words of the prophet Jeremiah,  ²² "Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
   for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
   therefore I will wait for him.”(Lam 3:22-24)

- ⁸ "Blessed are the pure in heart," said Jesus, "for they will see God."

- The pure in heart are, as Dr. Willard wrote, "the ones for whom nothing is good enough, not even themselves." The pure in heart are the perfectionists. They're a royal pain to everyone because of their perfectionism. They pick on what's wrong with everything and everyone including themselves. No one's work, no one's motives, and no one's opinions, their own included, are safe with the pure in heart around. Their perfectionism makes them miserable and the only thing that makes them feel better is making other people feel miserable.

-The message of the gospel for puritanical perfectionists is this: they're going to get to see the only one who embodies perfection and that's Almighty God.

- In the kingdom of God, he satisfies the hungers of the perfectionist with every attribute of his character in all his glorious perfection. He overwhelms their self-destructive nitpicking with the presence of his glory.

- ⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

- The peacemakers make the list of Jesus because they're oh so often in the middle of everything, trying to keep the peace at all costs, while experiencing anything but peace. Peacemakers are targets for violence in the world precisely because they're not on anybody's side but the side of peace.

- Peacemakers are people who learned that there are three sides to every story. In a domestic dispute or marital breakdown it's never all her fault or all his fault. There's his story and her story and somewhere in the middle of it all is the truth. No matter what kind of dispute, family, business, church, and so on, peacemakers know there are three sides to every story. It is the peacemakers who, by bringing together good people who can't get along, model themselves after their heavenly Father; "they will be called the children of God."

- ¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

- These are the ones who take a stand for what's right and suffer for it. Many times such people face ruined careers and worse because of their courageous stance for what's right.

- Fortunately, we live in a country that has laws which protect whistleblowers, who stand up and speak out for what's right even when they're told to sit down, shut up, and toe the party/company line or else.

- Although the world abuses whistleblowers, God says they are blessed.  The good news of the kingdom for them is that although they lose earthly security, have their lives ruined, or even face death, eternal security and eternal life is available for them.

- ¹¹ “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

- The last beatitude Jesus mentions is when you are degraded in any way because of him. If we face persecution because of our faith in Jesus, then our reward is in heaven.

- Jesus said to his disciples not to be "surprised if the world hates you because it hated me first."

- Our response to that kind of persecution must be only joy. That kind of persecution is a sign of the Lord's love for us and our love for him. It's a signal that we're doing something right in our relationship with God. It reminds us that we are walking the walk and talking the talk and so we should rejoice.

- God's kingdom is open for business; come in and become God's blessing agents.

- Because the kingdom of God is available to us in Jesus Christ then, as he said:

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

- God's kingdom is open for business; come in and become God's blessing agents.

- We are salt and light because the kingdom of heaven is open for business and available to us.

- Jesus calls us salt and light; he has called us blessed, and we are blessed to be a blessing to others.

- God's kingdom is open for business; come in and become God's blessing agents.