Today, we will be investigating The Sermon on the Mount, the Beatitudes, and its perfect location. These significant events occurred on the north side of the sea of Galilee. It was a natural podium. The mountain was the perfect location, because the speaker would be elevated above the audience and nature could be the props that explained the ideas being taught.
The sermon on the mount is the most complete sermon that Christ gave to us. It took Matthew three chapters to record. It is found in Matthews chapter five, six, and seven. Notice with me, that this sermon was really a devotional? I think you could read through this whole this entire sermon in about 10 minutes; which would be considered the time people do a daily devotion.
I have heard and read many biblical scholars say that Jesus’s sermon on the mount is equivalent to the 10 Commandments. The 10 Commandments were given on Mount Sinai. Both sermons spoken were God’s instructions. The sermon on the mount constantly built upon the Old Testament laws and statements. What Jesus spoke, clarified and interpreted the laws of Mount Sinai, and what we spoke in the Old Testament.
The view of the Sermon on the Mount is spectacular. It served as the perfect place to study. I’m sure as the audience heard Jesus ‘s words for the first time they were mesmerized. I can’t imagine sitting there and pondering on what was coming out of Jesus‘s mouth. How amazing? Jesus often used nature to explain different concepts to the people. In fact, nature reveals God’s glory to us. For example, please find Romans chapter verse 18!
Romans 1:18, says the following: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth.”
Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. The heavens declare the glory of God and his majesty! For this reason, the sermon on the mount was the perfect location for Jesus to give “his big speech!” It was in the majesty of heaven at the Beatitudes were given. Therefore, the beauty of nature could be brought into his words and was brought into his words. It was not by chance, it was not the circumstance, but the mount of olives was handpicked by God for us to visit and grasp the seriousness of this endeavor.
Now lets read Matthew 5:1-12
Matthew 5:1-12 (King James Version) “5 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
There are eight different attitudes this text wants us to consider. In the text the word attitude means blessed. Today, in the land of Israel, a church has been erected to commemorate the event and its importance. Th church was built by the Roman Catholics. It is an octagon shaped building, because side of the shape represents one of the eight attitudes.
Now, let’s read these 12 verses together. Starting in Matthew chapter 5 and reading verses one through 12. For your convenience, I have included them here! As we read these words together, we all should feel the conviction of the Holy Ghost. We are all imperfect people, and this Scripture helps us keep in check. Afterall, it’s not always bad for us to have our toes stepped upon sometimes. Today, won’t you listen to the Holy Ghost?
| An interesting fact to note is that Jesus taught the sermon on the mount in a seated position. This is the opposite then what we do today! In the days Jesus walked the Earth Rabbi’s would sit and teach while the audience stood to listen. Sitting down says I love you. Sitting down says I have compassion on you. For example, have you ever been to the doctor and the doctor comes in and sits down in your room or sits down with you in an office. Usually, that means bad news, but sometimes it just means I want to spend time with you. You are valuable. |
But noticed with me in Matthew on 5:1 that the beatitudes are written to the disciples. The purpose of this sermon was to challenge us on what it looks like to live a Holy life.
We are to be motivated by the heart, and not by the law.
Remember, in Jesus ‘s day, the Pharisees and the Sadducees prided themselves in obedience to the law. They wanted everyone to look up to them because they go to keep the law. Therefore, obeying the law only created self-righteousness in a person. Scripture tells us that a fall comes after pride and self-righteousness. (Proverbs 16:18)
So, it’s a heart thing! One must have the Holy Ghost in order to love. Love is then what leads us to obedience. God wants our heart; rather than, legalistic system of laws. Therefore, if we have a relationship with God and his son, we will be more to obey because we love, rather than obey out of obligation.
The beatitudes were counter intuitive, and they went against the common teachings of the land. This is why our soul becomes uncomfortable. This is why the soul is in a state of confession because it brings our sin into the light that. So, maybe if we just messed up, we’ll get right with God. I just want you to know upfront that that’s good and that’s a common state of being as we study the beatitudes.
| The problem comes in when we do not want to change our attitude. The problem comes in when we do not want to be more Christlike. When we do not confess, change, and conform, we become stagnant and stale. |
Side Note:
| The eight beatitudes are kind of like a pack. We cannot choose and we cannot throw out the ones we do not like. For example, if you go to Costco‘s or you go to Sam’s and you pick up a package of six chicken breasts, and you only want two. You can’t take out 2 and leave 4. It’s a package deal! |
Therefore, with all this understanding, from the Holy Ghost, Jesus begins with the least first and then it goes in a progression. For example, verse, three talks about the poor of spirit. Then, he is going to end with blessed are those who are persecuted against, because of the gospel.
| So, we have a package deal and it intensifies as they are made known! |
Each blessing opens up a pure character trait. Pure character traits lead to pure attitudes. Pure attitudes lead to loving and helping others.
Verse 3, actually tells us that if we are poor in spirit, we are magnified or lifted up. Read it with the following:
(Jesus is staying) 3. Oh, how happy are the men and women who follow me in this way for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The scripture does not mean poverty. Some of us are in poverty, and we must go to the food bank in order to make ends meet. Jesus is not talking about that kind of poverty. He also is not talking about material possessions. For example, we are poor, cannot afford the car; therefore, we must ride with others to church or to work. Jesus is asking us to come to him with the knowledge that we are destitute and absence from him. Every single person comes to Jesus’ pore in spirit and in need of him. This is the condition of all humanity.
– First, we are all poor in spirit; until we are presented the gospel and accept Jesus Christ as a personal savior. Then, we are made rich because we are joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
Happiness ends, when we realize that we are poor in spirit, and true joy begins when we meet and accept our Savior Jesus Christ.
| Yes, when we have a touch from the master, we reach our fullness! Therefore, Jesus is saying oh, happy our they! |
Then, Jesus is saying that we will receive the promise! What is our promise? Of course, heaven is our promise. Jesus was the promise fulfilled in the Old Testament, but under the new covenant heaven is promised. Jesus will return in the clouds of glory and call his angels to gather his people from the four corners of the world.
*So, our eternal award is heaven. *
In the Bible, there are two phrases, and I find people use interchangeably. Sometimes, we even use them haphazardly. The reason we use them flipping, is because we don’t totally understand them, and the Holy Ghost says that right now is the time to bring these two statements to light. The first statement is as follows:
These two phrases:
1.“The Kingdom of God”
2. “The Kingdom of Heaven.”
In this passage, he is speaking about the kingdom of heaven, because the kingdom of God is about Gods rule in your life. Individually speaking, the kingdom of God is what happens inside of your soul. Let me give you the proof for that! If you read, Luke, chapter 17 verses, 20 and 21, you or you should come to that conclusion. So, let’s read it together!
Luke 17:20-21: “The Kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is! ‘ or ‘There it is! ‘ For, in fact, the Kingdom of God is among you” (Luke 17:20-21)
In other words, a person says that I submit my life to God, and he rules in my life through the Holy Ghost and through his work. As part of the kingdom, I am subject to his leadership; just as everyone else is subject to the king. Therefore, he is in charge, and he is Lord of my life. Then, this person is obedient to his will and to his way. – That is The Kingdom of God!
Next let’s discuss: “The Kingdom of Heaven!” The Kingdom of Heaven is a real place. Heave is real. This is where God is and this is where he reins. That’s where we will go. The keys to key begin at the realization that we are all poor in Spirit and destitute for Hell.
The second beatitude is for those who mourn. So, lets consider verse 4. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthews 5:6).
Jesus could have meant this in one of two ways. First, Jesus could have been speaking to those who are experiencing the grief cycle. Personal hardship and the lost of a loved one is faced by every soul on the Earth. As a follower of Christ and you have been through terrible times it builds a character trait in you that you always cannot get somewhere else. In other words, the suffer we experience prepare us for the future. Instead of allowing the emotion of grief and sadness mold us we need to allow God to be the potter and us be the clay. The best impression of us comes through intense heat and pressure. – So, Jesus is saying blessed is those who mourn because they shall be comforted.
The other aspect of mourning could be the one who is Spiritually mourning. Coming to Christ mandates a dying out to oneself and sometimes it mimics the dyeing process. For example, when doors close in life and stay closed it could often lead to questions and depression. The Lord could be saying that when you are grieving over your own sinful condition, and you come to me empty of self – He promises to comfort you.
Paul speaks to the God of comfort in 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 King James Version (KJV) states the following:
“Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”
The Holy Ghost through the words of Paul desires for us to know that God sees and hears what we are going through. He needs our struggles and our grief. He cares! However, the Scripture also reminds us that when we are comforted, we too are to provide that same comforted. Yes, even to those who we do not think deserves it!
Moving onto verse 5 it is recorded in the King James Version as follows: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” The meek does not mean week! Meek also does mean that we are doormats and that we should be taken advantage of by others. Jesus was not weak, but he was meek. Jesus did not think of himself as less that others, but he just thought of himself less often. He put the needs of others first.
In fact, God used Paul to clarify this Scripture in the book of Philippians. The New International Version records it this way: “3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,”
So, Paul and the Scriptures tells us that he desires for each one of us to have the character trait of meekness. According to Greek text and the Greek language meek means to domesticate. Therefore, the Holy Spirit wants us to consider one more example. I want you to picture a wild animal.
Can you say: “I once was wild, I meet the Lord, and he kind of domesticated me? Now he is my Master.” Jesus here on the Nort of The Sea of Galilee is saying: “if you want to be my disciple you must be meek!”
Now let’s pick out the next character trait that God wants us to contain. We will do this by first reading the next verse of Scripture!
“6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.”
Now there are two types of righteousness. The first type of righteousness we mentioned early, and it is not the kind of righteousness we want. Remember, the pharisees followed the letter of the law and they became puffed up! They thought they were better than everyone else.However, there was little truth in that because no one could ever keep all the commandments. Afterall, God gave us the law to reveal to us our short comings. This was so that we would cry out for a Savior and Jesus would come. Now, we have the guidance of the Holy Ghost and do not always have to sin.
I think this is my favorite one and most of you have heard it when I preach! Most of us come to church, open our Bibles, and listen to the preaching because we need a refill!- because we are hungry!
The kind of righteousness that God wants us to uphold is given as a free gift. We are given this free gift because of our faith in what Jesus Christ did on the cross of Calvary. If we know that we need someone to pay our penalty for sin and accept Jesus as our offering; God makes us “just as if we have never sinned” (justified and righteousness).
You ask: Pastor how do you know all of this? Well, turn in your Bible to the following verse:
2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
No matter what we do without Jesus we can not make ourselves righteous, because we can not follow the letter of the law. Therefore, we are to peruse Christ. When we huger and thrust after this -Scripture tells us we will be filled.
Next, we are being “lead by Scripture” to verse 7. The King James version records the words of Jesus this way: “7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”
We are to be merciful toward others because we have already received mercy. Justice is getting what you deserved, but mercy is not getting what you deserved. In Christ Jesus, he paid the penalty of our sins, and we went free. So,all of us deserve hell because all of us have sinned! We all deserve Hell because all of us have fallen short of the glory of God. God sent his son Jesus to die on a cross! We have to have the faith in what Jesus did for us. This faith allows us to receive the mercy of God.
You see that we did not get what we deserved, because God is merciful to us! So, friends if we have received such mercy we then have an obligation as recipients of his mercy dispense mercy to others.
With this God gives us the promise we shall obtain mercy!
The sixth beatitude that we are being lead to is as follows: a pure heart! God desires us to be pure in heart! Why? Perhaps and understanding of the why comes from the Phariesees in Jesus’s dday. They had a strict adherence to the letter of the law and they were always concerned about the outward appearance. Whereas the bible says God is always concerned about the inward appearance and condition of the heart. God is not concerned about all the outward stuff man oppress himself with. God is concerned about the inward stuff!
31:57
Therefore, the pharisees would make sure that they followed every ritual aspect of the law. For example, cleaning on the outside was a very common practice. The religious leaders performed cleansing rituals. They had ritual bathe and a strict code of how to properly wash your hands. However, like today, the people needed a cleansing of the heart. This is something only the Good Shepard can do. The ritual baths and all the ritual ways of washing your hands was all just lead up to Jesus.
The Holy Spirit wants you to know that you can only receive a pure heart through your faith in Christ. He cleanses us from the inside out!
God purifies your heart and then he calls us to walk in that kind of purity! Then, God promises for they shall see God. There’s coming a day that believers in Jesus are going to stand before the Lord and we’re going to see him.
This is our last verse then we must move onto the 7th beatitude. John wrote this in First John 3:2: “1 John 3:2 (King James Version) 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
Beloved now we are children of God! Amen! Our eyes do not know what’s coming, but we look forward to the being with Jesus!
Ok! Moving onto beatitude number seven! Matt. 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.
Here he asks us to be peacemakers! The verse states that we are blessed to be the peacemakers because we are we the sons and daughters of God. The God Most High desires for this to be our goal. We are not called to envy and strive, but we are called to make peace. Therefore, the Children of God are people who facilitate peace between families, communities, nations, and countries. Perusing peace is our quest! This means we compromise, but we do not compromise the truth for the sake of making peace! Some folks feel this is needed, but when they do this life and death are at hand. Heaven is a real place and unfortunately Hell is also too real!
Of course, peacemakers need the wisdom from above to promote peace in different situations. Therefore we must be yoke up with the Holy Ghost! God promises for they are peacemakers they shall be called sons and daughters of the King.
God himself is a peacemaker, because He reconciled man to himself! He reconciled humanity back to himself through the work and redemption of the cross. We exemplify him and we reflect him when we are the peacemakers here on Earth!
Finally, you are thinking: here is the last one: Number 8! God desires for us to exhibit the character trait that understands we will be persecuted for Christ sake! You may recall the next Scripture: Matthew 10:22 (King James Bible) “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.”
God desires for us to know that when we are persicated for righteous sake that we are heirs of Heaven. Verse 10b states the following: “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Are you ready for a little persecution? Well, church is a great place to be, because what goes on at church will help you prepare to face the fiery darts of the Devil! And guess what? It comes in the form persecution! However, in America we have it really comfortable! Although some of our religious liberties are quickly fading. Our freedoms are being threatened now of course, but we don’t suffer the kind of persecution that a lot of people suffer across the globe for Jesus. Many have been beheaded, raped, shot, and even burned at the steak.
and it’s verses 11 and 12. look at your bibles this is not another beatitude this is just an amplification of the of
Now, let us continue to verses 11 and 12. This is not another beatitude these two verse build upon the character trait of verse ten.
God said blessed are you when they revile and persecute you! God said, and say all kinds of evil against you.
God said, you are blessed: rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great as your reward in heaven.
We may have to give our natural life for your faith in Jesus, but don’t worry you will take up your life again in the Heavenly Kingdom. So, Jesus warns us this is part of being a follower of mind!
However, the promise is clear for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Don’t let your heart be troubled because Jesus has overcome the world. Our ultimate destination is not to the “middle of no where,” but it is to Heaven.
This lesson appears in the book: The Holy Land Companion Guide Biblical Sermons & Lessons to guide you through the Holy Land and Egypt. By: Pastor and Christian Author Jessica Linhart available @ Amazon.com: Jessica Linhart: books, biography, latest update
