It's good to be in the house of the Lord on this
fourth Sunday of Epiphany. The season of Epiphany
is where God reveals who Jesus is to all of us.
Let us now pray together and ask for his blessings
of the preaching of his word. Our most good and
gracious God and Heavenly Father, we thank you
for the privilege that we have in gathering in
your name as your children to look at your word
to us. We pray that your grace would be with
us this morning as it has been in the past. We
thank you for your so great salvation in Christ
Jesus and your goodness to us each day. We thank
you that you have given us meaning, purpose,
and hope. And so now let the words of my mouth
and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable
in your sight. Oh Lord, our strength and nearest
kinsman, Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen. So here
this morning, I want us as we go through our
scripture passage today to think about three
things so that we can look at this well together.
Man's chief issue is our own sin. Man's chief
issue is our own sin. In Jesus corrupt ideas
are purged from us. In Jesus corrupt ideas are
purged from us. Finally God's people are oriented
to towards the world as he is because we are
restored to life by Jesus God's people are oriented
towards the world as he is because we are restored
to life by Jesus Let us now once again hear our
gospel reading Matthew chapter 5 beginning in
verse 1 and seeing the multitudes he went up
on a mountain And when he was seated with his
disciples, his disciples came to him, and he
opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they
shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for
they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for
they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the
pure in heart. for they shall see God. Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they shall be called
the sons of God. 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. These are the words of Almighty God receive
them in your hearts Matthew's gospel presents
Jesus life in parallel to the history of the
people of Israel in contrast to Israel Jesus
is the faithful son we see that Jesus is called
out of Egypt and So was Israel both Israel and
Jesus fled from kings who were trying to kill
baby boys Israel was in the wilderness for 40
years to undergo temptation so that they might
know what was in their hearts, so that it may
be revealed to them. In their temptations, Israel
utterly failed. They murmured, complained, and
disobeyed at every turn. Jesus was in the wilderness
for 40 days and he defeated Satan and all of
his temptations. Then both Israel and Jesus crossed
the Jordan River to establish the Kingdom of
God. Just as God called the people of Israel
to a mountain to receive His law, Jesus sees
the multitudes and goes up on a mountain. Not
to replace the law, but to drive out all of the
false teachings and false explanations that have
been placed on the people by the leaders of Israel.
The false ideas and applications of the law were
not just a problem for kings and governors and
the Roman Empire, but also a great judgment to
the scribes. Those were the protectors of God's
word. They were supposed to be copying it and
making sure that it was held in high regard without
error. This was also a great judgment for the
pious insurrectionists and to the priests, especially
the high priest. who were corrupt and in many
cases, laying excessive burdens on the people
that had very little to do with God's law or
His work for His people in their daily lives.
Our Old Testament reading today from the book
of Micah showed us that even though the priests
were leading the people in God -given sacrificial
worship, it was empty, that is, vain or vaporous.
God pleads His case to the mountains. Which why
did he do that? It's because the mountains were
witnesses of God's covenant establishment with
his people God explicitly in Micah rejects all
the religious gestures and acts and sacrifice
unless Their faith is accompanied with works
And what did it say? What does the Lord require
of you? But to do justly love mercy Walk humbly
with your God So our text today Jesus sits down
and opens his mouth and brings light upon what
God has truly said Jesus drives the darkness
of confusion out of the people by giving them
the Sermon on the Mount in this sermon he takes
the crooked and corrupt doctrines of Israel and
purges them and Jesus begins with what we call
the Beatitudes We call them the Beatitudes not
because they are some type of attitude that we
are to be. How many have ever heard that catchy
phrase before? But rather because the Latin word
for blessed is Beatus, Beatus. And of course,
most of the scriptures that we have translations
from, a good deal of them were in Latin before
they were in English. So Jesus comes preaching
the kingdom of heaven. We talked about that last
week Several things though often enter our minds
when we hear about the kingdom of heaven We tend
to think that it is some ethereal spiritual thing
that is way out there a Place I'm trying to get
to some spiritual thing disconnected from this
world Of course this type of error comes from
barring Greek philosophy Where we divide creation
into two separate worlds one being the spiritual
world and the other one the physical world as
If there are two realities Which have some sort
of connection, but are lived in different parts
of our life Second we often treat the Word of
God as a self -help book that will guide us somehow
to our best life If I follow these things that
are in the Bible, or if I do some of the things
God's require, I'll make out pretty well in my
life. Dearly beloved, this way of thinking or
approaching the scripture is demonic and frankly
sickening. Makes me want to grab a little sex
so I can vomit. The eternal God, the creator
of all things, holy. Good in all things his word
is true and not something to be trifled with
as if we can pick and choose which part we want
to accept follow or even believe The Beatitudes
are our reality They are foundational to seeing
life through the right lens. That is the lens
of God Now Jesus uses the word blessed nine times
You notice that I said when I read it. I didn't
say blessed. I grew up learning blessed, right?
Right and the reason I did that is we tend to
think that blessedness is like this special spiritual
place Right as opposed to blessed because the
actions of God Right. We're not trying to get
to some special place No, God has created us
to live in this world that we live in right now.
And we are blessed in this world right now. And
the things that we do to follow God are blessed
by God. So he uses this word blessed nine times.
And so we need to understand what blessed is
in biblical terms. Blessed is not simply an internal,
emotional, or spiritual state. As if to say,
like if I do these things, I'll feel better.
The Beatitudes, these things, this blessedness
of God, is not a vending machine where you put
a quarter in and you push the button. It is rather
about the state of God's people. When Adam was
formed and given life, he was given all he needed
to flourish, to be fruitful and multiply and
take dominion over the earth. When he sinned
all of mankind received all mankind and creation
received the just curse for sin and so creation
and Man were set against each other and sin was
bringing death to all men and so since that time
Men and all the world are crying out to be set
right to have our status restored In Isaiah chapter
61, we prophetically read this of Jesus. to console
all those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty
for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment
of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they
may be called trees of righteousness, the planting
of the Lord, that he might be glorified. And
they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall
raise up the former desolations, and they shall
repair the ruined cities, the desolations. of
many generations. You here today, do you think
that this once Christian country is of no good,
of no ability to be restored? God will restore
His people. Empires fall, but the church remains.
And so we know that the Christian world, the
Christian life, the kingdom of heaven will continue
to be built and restored here. Jesus is preaching
the kingdom of heaven is at hand because he has
come to restore and make all things right. And
so as we briefly look at the Beatitudes, we must
see this as a declaration by Jesus that these
Beatitudes are the current state of God's people
because of his atoning work. The fulfillment
of all things in heaven and earth are joined
together as we see described in revelations 21
and 22. This is a world where thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven is no longer a petition
or something that we work for each day, but it
is the eternal reality of all nations. These
things are not accomplished in the ways of men,
for the ways of men are corrupt. For the cross
is foolishness to the Greek and an offense to
the Jew So the ideas of the mighty Greek philosopher
and the self -righteousness of the Jews are not
able to truly bring truth beauty and goodness
to the world as one commentator put it The problem
as Greek philosophers saw it was not sin against
God, but ignorance of ideas Hence, happiness
was a consequence of knowledge. And for the Jews
of Jesus' day, their own teachings and self -righteousness
put them in a place where they could not accept
Jesus, the very Son of God, as their Messiah.
Consequently, both are lost and cannot restore
anything but for a short time, and then failure
is sure. So let us briefly see the reality of
God's people now. These are not what -ifs, but
are true of God's people in the present. So blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. The first one speaks of the blessed
restored true humanity, our poor in spirit. For
God's people, We recognize that we are destitute
as God's people we are we have to recognize that
we are destitute in our sin our standing before
God is in a negative balance that we cannot remedy
the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who Admit
their utter poverty of their sin and stand before
God crying out for mercy Blessed are those who
mourn for they shall be comforted Blessed are
those who mourn for their sins and for the sins
of the world The first beatitude orients us as
sinners. And so we humbly relate to others The
second state of God of the people of God is to
mourn our sin and the sin of the world Salvation
is not just for you as an individual But it is
for you to imitate Jesus and to priestly mourn
for the sins of others around you. Do you understand
this? Your confession of sin. Your understanding
your place before God and His mercy that's been
poured out upon you because of Christ. Right
here it is. That is the same way we should mourn
for them and we should mourn for the sins of
others. Now those of you with small children
Right now, when your children sin, it's more
of an aggravation. But as your children get older
and they start to work through the things of
life, you, as a parent, actually mourn for your
children's sin. And I pray that you do it not
just as a, oh no, what am I going to do, but
rather mourn before God. What did Job do? He
says that he made daily sacrifices for his children.
He appealed to God in case they did anything
to offend God. I don't know about you, but I
know my children well enough to know that they're
just like me, and they are sinning all the time.
They need Jesus. And so you need to act as a
priestly person and mourn for the sins of others
around you, even at your job. And why? Because
you will be comforted. This is a promise of God.
So you may have difficulties in these relationships
all around you, but you can look to God. Mourn
for your sins mourn for the sins of those around
you and you will be comforted Blessed are the
meek for they shall inherit the earth Our transformed
state in Jesus means that we're meek that is
great power restrained for the benefit of others
Jesus could have called down 12 legions of angels
at his trial to deliver himself But Jesus was
meek and he restrained his great power so that
we might be delivered from our sin and redeemed,
made new. He trusted the Father to vindicate
him and so as it says in Psalm 2, God gave him
the nations as his inheritance and the ends of
the earth for his possession. Meekness towards
God is that disposition of spirit in which we
accept his dealings with us as good. Therefore
without disputing and resisting God we trust
God's goodness and control in every situation
Now here we sit this morning In the circumstances
in your life snow the ice In difficulties in
relationships and the problems of the people
around you Do you accept His dealings with you
as good? And do you dispute with Him? Do you
resist God and who He's placed in your life and
what they may be doing, as you might think, to
you? But rather, you need to think of them of
what God is doing for you. We must trust God's
goodness and control in every situation. Next
we see blessed are those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness for they shall be filled God's
people are hungry and thirsty for righteousness
and We will be filled Jesus is the bread of life
Which is multi which is multiplied not just to
fill you but to fill the multitudes Why are you
filled that you may fill the multitudes? He is
a well that never ends Jesus said whoever drinks
of the water that I shall give him will never
thirst But the water that I shall give him will
become in him a fountain of water springing up
into everlasting life This spring is not something
that is simply to be admired by you look at this
big fountain I have how wonderful No, it is so
that you can take the waters given by Jesus and
give them to the world Point them to this wonderful
fountain bring them to it. Let them drink You
may feel overwhelmed in your circumstances Jesus
said seek the kingdom of God First the kingdom
of God in his righteousness and all these things
will be added unto you The problem is we don't
seek it in that way. We don't seek first the
kingdom of God in his righteousness We're thinking,
I gotta figure out how to do this myself. Largely
on things we can't control. You are hungering
and thirsting for righteousness, but you cannot
be filled with anything else. This is why so
many seek to be filled with alcohol, or drugs,
or illicit sex, or entertainment. Anything else
but the righteous. thoughts and actions. People
of God, you're already hungering, hunger and
thirst after God's righteousness, and you will
be filled. He will bring contentment to you.
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy. God's people are merciful, not sometimes,
but always. We remember the frame of those around
us and stooped down with compassion grounded
in the scriptures To be merciful to others so
that we may do what? Lift them up Let me say
that again We remember the frame of all those
around us that we may stoop down with compassion
grounded in the scriptures To be merciful that
we may lift Others up. As one commentator says,
for God to bless man means that God bends down
in his grace and mercy to aid man. It is a sovereign
condescension on God's part. And so we are to
be as well. Blessed are the pure in heart, for
they shall see God. The only way that we see
God is in Christ. For he was the only one that
was pure. For every Christian, we must be cleansed.
Hypocrisy presents a clean exterior as a cover
for a dirty interior. So go back to the first
two Beatitudes. Know you are a sinner and mourn
for your sins. And know that your mind must be
renewed. Romans 12. That your thoughts Desires
and motives must be purified and purged by submission
to the Word of God And we will see God Blessed
are the peacemakers for they shall be called
the sons of God God's sons are blessed and peacemakers
God's peace that's Shalom. What is this? It means
God's peace means salvation and well -being in
the fullest sense. Bodily health, prosperity,
salvation, redemption, mental health, and contentedness.
The people of God are to be peacemakers. Are
you doing this for others? Are you bringing a
means of salvation and well -being? What are
you doing to bring bodily health to someone else?
To bring prosperity to someone else to bring
salvation to someone else to bring redemption
and mental health and contentedness to others
The people of God are peacemakers and all these
things are done for others to the glory of God
You see how this is it isn't just something for
you. This is something that is given to you that
you may pour out on others If you're not in alignment
see one and two and Then this is your state you've
been set free from the bondage of sin and death
through Christ He's giving you a new heart. He's
giving you a new mind He's giving you a new chance
in life. Just go and do it. This is your status.
And when we are called the sons of God, the next
blessings are realized just as it was for our
Lord Jesus. Blessed are those who are persecuted
for righteousness sake. For theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile.
Persecute you and then when they say all kinds
of evil against you falsely for my sake Rejoice
and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward
in heaven And so they persecuted the prophets
who were before you now. Here's the thing Have
you in your Christian life? Lived a certain way
following these Beatitudes following the things
of God and people people at your job. Hey hold
on You got to quit it. You got to stop being
so diligent and working so hard You're making
the rest of us look bad you ever had that happen
What about when you behave rightly According
to God's Word to people when you love them by
telling them the truth not to tear them down
but to set them free And they say don't do that
There's all kinds of ways. What about in your
own household? Sometimes in our own families,
we find places where people push back against
us when we stand up and say, I'm doing what God
says. What are we to do? We are to rejoice and
be exceedingly glad. For great is your reward
in heaven. And we're going to be persecuted.
As the sons of God will be persecuted for living
in the ways of the Beatitudes. When God's will
is done here on earth as it is in heaven, we
realize that the kingdom of heaven is all around
us for every square inch is our Lord's. And we
count it all joy and rejoice when we receive
persecution and hatred for the world for the
sake of Jesus. Jesus came to restore all things
including his church. which is the ever -expanding
Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, we are blessed.
In Deuteronomy, we find in surrender and obedience
to His commands, which we can do because we're
empowered to obey by the work of the Spirit in
our life, this encouragement. Hear now the words
of God from Deuteronomy 28. And all these blessings
shall come upon you. and overtake you because
you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed
shall you be in the city. Blessed shall you be
in the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of
your body, the produce of the ground, and the
increase of your herds, and the increase of your
cattle, and the offspring of your flocks. Blessed
shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed.
shall you be when you go out. And of course,
this is a call about being in church. You're
blessed when you come in, even though you're
a dirty sinner. And God forgives you. And He
restores you. And He transforms you by His Word.
And then what does He do? He brings you to His
table of peace. And then He gives you a blessing
on the way out the door. And you're blessed coming
in, because you weren't worthy. And you're blessed
going out. Because he has received you for Christ
Jesus sake Let us now pray Heavenly father we
thank you for your word Help us we pray to live
act and think and speak as your sons and daughters
We ask that you conform us more and more to Jesus
Grant to us the blessedness that pours out to
the world and that your will be done here on
earth as it is in heaven and to rejoice When
the world sees the light of Jesus shining and
they hate us and persecute us. Turn them to you
for your glory and praise. We ask all this in
the name of Jesus, holy name. Amen.