Matthew 5:1-3

Well, good morning, Saylorville! If you brought a copy of scripture with you this morning, you can turn to Matthew chapter 5 as we begin our brand new series, “Blessed.” Matthew chapter 5. And this is otherwise known as the Beatitudes we’ll be tackling over the next eight weeks, and we trust you’ll be blessed in the process. Let’s start asking God’s blessing upon ourselves. Should we do that?

Our Father in heaven, we thank you that we can come to you and ask for your blessing. Lord, I just thought of this, just this second, that the etymology of our English word “bless” means to wish your blood upon someone else. And that’s a pretty, that’s a beautiful prayer! We pray the blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanses us from all sins, would be actual and real in our lives. Those of us who know you and to those here and those who are watching online who do not, that they would understand what the true blessing of knowing you is. Bless this series, Lord, as we begin it. May your name be glorified in that of your Son’s… in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Matthew chapter 5.

When I was a new Christian, I was a very, very zealous man, and I went where angels fear to tread! There was a synagogue in our town called the Sons of Jacob Synagogue and the Rabbi Serber served that place. I thought, “I’m going to go in there and talk to the Rabbi about Jesus.” And so I did! I went in there. I walked around and I could not find anybody. And I thought, “Well, God, you don’t want me in here.” — and all of a sudden I heard someone say, “Are you… do you need something?”— and it was him! So we talked back and forth, and I shared my testimony with him. I shared the claims of Jesus, our Messiah with him. And he said, “You are so wrong, young man!” He said, “We teach Jesus here!” I said, “Huh?” And he said, “Yeah!” And he pulled out a New Testament. He opened it to Matthew 5, and he showed me the Sermon on the Mount! “We teach Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount!” In his thinking, Jesus’s teaching on the Sermon on the Mount were a set of morals that if we follow them, that would bring about the righteous life that all of us desire — But without God’s righteousness imparted to us, a righteous life will never flow from us. And the sermon on the Mount is about the life of Christ in us flowing from us. Remember, Paul said,

[Philippians 2:12b-13] 12b ”…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling,
13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work (do) for his good pleasure.”

Have you ever read that? That’s God’s salvation in you coming out.

So with that in mind, let’s look at these Beatitudes, Matthew chapter five, where it says,

Matthew 5:1-12, 1 “Seeing the crowds (multitudes) (and by the way, is that not cool graphics up there, huh? Three of you like it. I think it’s pretty cool myself!) he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to 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 those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

The late John Stott, the great theologian and pastor, once wrote… He said,

“The Sermon on the Mount is probably the best known part of the teaching of Jesus, though arguably it is the least understood, and certainly the least obeyed.” John Stott

This is the Gospel of Matthew, and the Gospel of Matthew is all about the kingdom of heaven. In fact, that phrase is bracketed in these Beatitudes, the one we’re looking at today, 1 “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs the kingdom of heaven,” and then verse 10, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

I actually had an alternative title for this series. The alternative title was going to be “On Earth as it is in Heaven,” that’s in the Sermon on the Mount, in the Lord’s Prayer, in the next chapter, and I think… it explains what living for Christ in this world should look like. It’s on earth as it is in heaven.

So again, we’re looking at the composite of Scripture on this, as well. And so here’s what Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2:11. He says,

1 Peter 2:11, ”Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles (See that?) to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which war against your soul.”

Sojourners and exiles. That’s what we’re called if you are a follower of Christ. A sojourner, the Greek word means “to be beside the house,” and exiles which literally means “beside the people.” Different words… Both mean “beside.” Here’s the point. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are always “beside” in the world. When you visit another country, as some of you have and myself included, you get a sense of what it means to be in the country but not of the country, and you better obey the laws of that country or you’re in trouble, right? We are not from this country. We are from another, and Paul has told us that in Philippians 3. He said,

Philippians 3:20, ”… our citizenship is in heaven…” and it’s from there that we wait for Jesus.

We just sang, “My soul will wait for you.” That’s the idea behind this, right? This whole concept of “waiting,” being one living on earth with a citizenship in heaven, is what provoked me to write these words down many years ago that

“Christians are heavenly citizens holding earthly visas.” Pastor Pat Nemmers

That’s what we are. And that’s something you should be thinking of, because if you have that literally in your mind, that will change everything about you!

So what is the kingdom of heaven? That’s the question. What is the kingdom of heaven here on earth? Well, for one thing, a kingdom requires (wait for it) … a King! So here’s my definition of the kingdom of heaven.

The kingdom of heaven is the realm in which God rules in the hearts and lives of his people.
Pastor Pat Nemmers

That’s it. Both now and later, spiritual and physical. Is there a literal kingdom of heaven? Yes, there is. That is where Jesus reigns on his throne in the kingdom, which is to come. But it is existing now. So the kingdom of heaven is the realm in which God rules in our hearts and in our lives. So, now leading up to this Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ cousin breaks out and he preaches in chapter 3,

Matthew 3:2; ”“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is (near or) at hand.”

That’s the idea here, it’s near. And so in the very next chapter, Jesus comes out swinging and he says the same exact thing.

Matthew 4:17, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Now here’s the deal. I tell you this because this has to happen … in your heart before the application of the Sermon on the Mount can ever take place, and we’ll come back to that. But both Jesus and his cousin, John the Baptist, said the same thing. Now what follows is the Sermon on the Mount.

Sinclair Ferguson writes, “The sermon is a description of the lifestyle of those who belong to the kingdom.”

Pretty much the same thing as I just said earlier. In… the Beatitudes here, that sort of sets the rest of it. The rest of it sort of spring from this. Jesus acknowledges the hardships that we face living in this world, right? — Poverty, mourning, meekness, hunger, thirst, persecution. And then, then he challenges us to not miss the blessing! That’s why we’re calling this, “Blessed.”

When I first became a pastor… years ago… my father figure, (I mentioned it before. I’ve written about him.) His name was Dallas. He’s with the Lord now… a great, great man of God, and I miss him! He had been in a terrible, terrible car accident! In fact, when he came to, he found himself in a hospital… upside down! (One of those flip things.) He had broken his neck, and he had a halo bolted to his head. And I’ll never forget what he said to me. He said, “Pastor, the first thing that came to my mind was, “Lord, I don’t know what just happened, but help me not to miss the blessing in all this.”” And I remember thinking, “Oh God, help me to think like that when the time comes.”

“Blessed.” That’s the name of this series. Every Beatitude begins with this word. We are in Matthew’s gospel which is distinctly Jewish, and this is important, because blessed is not a new word to a Jew or shouldn’t have been, right?

[Psalm 1:1-3] 1 “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

Prospers. That’s a blessed man! Later on Psalm 32,

[Psalm 32:1] “Blessed is the one whose (whose sin is forgiven) transgression is forgiven, whose sin is (what?) covered.”

They understood the concept of being blessed. The idea was that person isn’t in a good place, okay? If you’re blessed, you’re a person in a good place regardless of what’s happening in your life. That’s why we have all these negatives coming in here. It doesn’t matter if you’re blessed.

Now, the scene of Matthew 5, the traditional scene of the Sermon on the Mount, (well, I’ve been there on some of the trips that I’ve led. It’s not really much of a mount. It’s more of a hill that leads down to the Sea of Galilee, okay? There’s a church in that area… Yada, yada) But some think the purpose of this sermon, and this is important because this is where we look at these and we read these and we go, “Oh man, how do I apply this?” Some think the purpose of this sermon was to present God’s moral standard so high that they could only be applied and obeyed in the future millennial kingdom. If you are an ardent dispensationalist where you cut up the Bible so much that you can’t really… it’s like there’s this era, this era, this era, this era… Don’t get freaky about it. I believe that Jesus is coming again eschatologically. I fall into that camp. But otherwise I think there’s a lot of mumbo jumbo, but that’s aside. If you’re an ardent dispensationalist, this sermon is a torture chamber for you! I’m just telling you right now. I can remember one particular argument right outside the library at Faith Baptist Bible College with another guy over whether or not this was even applicable! He didn’t believe it was! “No, that’s for the future.” And if you think that’s crazy… by the way, some dispensationalist treat the Sermon on the Mount the way others treat the book of Revelation. It just doesn’t apply. That’s just cockamamy is what it is!

[2 Timothy 3:16] “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…”

All scripture is profitable, amen?

C.I. Scofield who gave us the first of the modern-day study bibles 100 years ago, he literally wrote that this section does not apply to the church! And I would, I’m just going to tell you, he was wrong when he said that. Others say by presenting God’s moral perfection, the intent of the Sermon on the Mount is to drive people to forsake their own self-righteousness and embrace the righteousness of Christ, because in chapter 5:48, he does say…

[Matthew 5:48, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”]

“be perfect, as your Father is perfect,” right? And this is a little closer to the truth by the way. I don’t buy that necessarily, but there’s an element of truth to that, because how do you read this and not get convicted? Please say ‘Amen!’ So there! I believe the Sermon on the Mount is for all followers of Jesus Christ. Listen to this. In our pursuit of what I’m going to call “relative holiness,” I know that’s not an expression that’s gonna become popular anywhere, but I think it fits. Something that is “relative” by definition is something that relates to something else. In this case, increasing a relative holiness in the pursuit of perfect holiness that will take place when we’re glorified. I’ll say it again. Something that’s relative by definition is something that is in relation to something else. The something else is perfection. We’re not perfect, right? So we are striving for increasing holiness in our pursuit of perfect holiness, which will occur in glorification in heaven. Theologians say, we talk about positional holiness and practical holiness. “Positional,” is what we currently have if you are a child of God. This is how the writer of Hebrews put it in chapter 10, verse 14. Look at it. Here’s what it says.

Hebrews 10:14, “For by a single offering (that’s the death of Jesus) he has perfected for all time (Look at it!) those who are being sanctified.”

That’s an awesome verse! You should memorize that! — because if you’re in Christ, you are already perfect, positionally in Christ. And yet you are being sanctified. That’s the relative element. That’s the practical element. That’s the ongoing element. That’s the increasing element. It also fits my personal definition of holiness where I say,

“Holiness is adjusting yourself to God.” Pastor Pat Nemmers

That’s what it is, constantly adjusting yourself to God… Anybody here who thinks you’ve arrived, you have NOT arrived!

Now he says, “Blessed.” There’s our key word, one that runs through the whole tablet here. It’s the Greek word “makarios.” It’s a word which carries the idea of enlarging or making large, becoming large. Some Bibles translate this word as happy. It does mean that actually, but the problem is our understanding of happy doesn’t fit, because when we talk about something that’s happy, we’re talking about our circumstances making me happy. Well, I might not be happy tomorrow! So that’s not a good translation. Now, somebody has translated it divinely happy. That’s a little better. The idea is to be supremely blessed and satisfied. We’re just saying, ‘You know, in the morning, …I’ll be satisfied.’ That’s the idea. In the morning, I might be blessed. So this word “blessed” means to be supremely blessed, supremely satisfied in what God has given us. But you get the idea. It’s very hard to translate this word. In fact, one theologian, one expositor, Chris Castaldo, has said,

“No single English word captures its beauty, depth, and nuance.” Chris Castaldo

And that’s true. Interestingly, this word “makarios” could actually be translated to be congratulated. Think about this. The word blessed could be translated to be congratulated. Now when do you congratulate someone? You congratulate someone for their accomplishment, (right?) — for something that has already occurred. They are in the place. We’ve got people graduating soon, and we’re gonna give them cards and we’re gonna congratulate them because they are in the place of accomplishment, right? Now imagine Caitlin Clark, I mean nobody’s thinking about her today, right? (audience laughs) Imagine Caitlin Clark who’s got a cavalcade of awards that have already come, all these accomplishments, (player of the year… Yada Yada) It’s impressive! Imagine somebody coming up to her right now in the next hour and saying, ‘Caitlin, I just want to congratulate you for being the National Champion in the Iowa Hawkeyes for winning it all!’ Now that would be odd, wouldn’t it? Because she hasn’t (what?)… she hasn’t accomplished it yet, right? By the way, that actually happened!

You golfing fans know the Masters is next week, the greatest of all golf tournaments. I’m not an avid golfer, but I like following it. The great Arnold Palmer was one of the most popular golfers of all time. He had won the masters in 1960. And he was going after a coveted second straight masters in 1961, and it was in the bag… no pun intended! Going into the 18th hole, he was ahead by one shot, and he almost never gave up a lead when he was ahead, and he hit a decent tee shot. That’s all he needed was a good shot onto the green, and it was over! He says he was walking to his shot and he saw a friend off to the side in the gallery, and he kind of meandered toward him as his friend said, “I just want to congratulate you, Arnold, on your second straight masters!” And Arnold Palmer said… “Can you believe it? I accepted his congratulations!” He goes, “…and I knew better!” His next shot went into the bunker. The next one over the green. He lost the tournament!

Here’s the deal. Jesus said when He died on the cross,

[John 19:30] “It is finished.”

It is accomplished, that is… for us! That’s the idea. And if you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, if you really know the King of the kingdom, you are in a state of blessedness! You’re to be congratulated… not for your accomplishment, but for His! Amen?

But there’s a condition, and don’t miss it — and this is our text.

[Matthew 5:3] “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

So here’s the condition. You must, if you want in the kingdom, you’ve got to be poor. The word “poor” literally means to crouch. It means to cower. It means to beg. It literally carries the idea of being extremely destitute. And by the way, it’s like, ‘What? Do I have to give up all my riches?’ ‘No,’ because he says, “Blessed are the poor (in what?) in spirit.” So the poverty you must experience if you want to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven is in here. It’s internal.

By the way, the word “poor” would have conjured up virtual images to this Jewish audience. They were everywhere! The poor were everywhere. Additionally, Jews understood poverty. People say, ‘Are you kidding me? They’re some of the richest people in the world and yada yada.’ I know they are! But let me tell you something. They understand poverty! They have been captured, killed, deported, persecuted for centuries, and on many occasion often deported with no more than the clothes on their back! During the Holocaust, these incredibly wealthy Jews were taken from their homes with nothing more than the clothes on their back. The Holocaust is usually associated, (now listen to this) it’s usually associated with the death of 6 million Jews, but, I’m telling you something. It started with the poverty of 6 million Jews… having had everything and suddenly… nothing!

And by the way, the Jews should have known that that’s exactly what their Messiah came to do preaching. This is what Isaiah said, and Jesus, by the way, confirmed it. Here’s how Isaiah put it,

[Isaiah 61:1a] “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor;”

And this is exactly what Jesus read the first time he read in a synagogue when he came out declaring himself “Messiah!” Messiah was coming for the poor. Now Jesus tells us, ‘We are ALL poor!’ The question is, do you realize it? Do you realize how abjectly poor you are? The opposite of being poor is being rich, right? The challenge to the wealthy has always been having no physical needs. There are some of you here in this room or watching online, you have no physical needs. You’ve got a big, fat bank account. You’ve got money to burn! — but you are poor in spirit! Jesus said to you,

[Luke 5:32, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”]

“I didn’t come to call the righteous. I have come to call sinners to repentance.” The person that’s feeling good doesn’t go to the doctor. The one that’s sick goes to the doctor. And we’re all sick… internally.

[Matthew 5:3] “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The one who gets in is poor in spirit. He or she is broken, broke, bankrupt —and God already sees you this way!

The Church of Laodicea, many believe, in Revelation 3 was like the church today in the United States. And here’s what Jesus says to them.

[Revelation 3:17, “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.”]

‘You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need anything!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.’

From time to time as I interact with people about Jesus… those of you where the Gospel is doing its work, you can sense that humility creeping in, but they also have what they have been hearing all their lives, that you’re good, you’re wonderful, you’re great and all that stuff. And people will say to me, ‘I feel so unworthy.’ And I look at them and I say, “That’s because you are unworthy!” I’m not trying to be funny! There isn’t any of us that are worthy, and until you see yourself as bankrupt and unworthy, you’re NOT gonna get in! You’re not gonna get in. Who is worthy? I’ll tell you who’s worthy!

[Revelation 5:12] “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, (Amen? He is worthy! What’s he worthy to receive? Well…) to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and (wait for it…) BLESSING!”

We are talking about the blessed! You want to be blessed? Then you need to be blessed by the only One who can bless you! So in the kingdom, in the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, they both are basically synonymous. If you want into this kingdom, you must acknowledge, first and foremost, Jesus is King! He is King. Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:15, he says, “… to the blessed Lord Jesus who is sovereign and King of kings and Lord of lords!’

[1 Timothy 6:15b] “— he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords…”]

You have to see him as King. A King has total rights over you. Again, we have to think like a first century person. Kings were utter despots! They weren’t necessarily good. They could just do whatever. ‘You live. You live. You die. You die.’ Whatever they say. And you are just their subject. Now, we’re not groveling, but we are children of the king, if we are in the kingdom, and we do have a kind King. Amen? But he is KING! And this is the reason why Paul says in Romans, that ‘if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is kurios… King!’

[Romans 10:9, “… if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is (Kurios – King) Lord (He is sovereign over you! That’s what that means. He’s the boss.) and believe in your heart, God raised him from the dead…” (Guess what? That’s when you get saved!)

In the kingdom of heaven, Jesus is King. In the kingdom of heaven, becoming poor in spirit is the condition of its inhabitants. And we’ve just seen that. What does it look like? That means I am broken. I am busted. I have nothing. I am bereft. I can offer nothing. ‘I can offer nothing back to you, God.’ That’s what Psalm 16 verse two says those exact words.

[Psalm 16:2 ESV, “I say to the LORD, You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”]

‘My goodness does not ascend to you.’ Have you ever read that? I’ll say it to you, the Psalmist said, “My goodness does not ascend to you.” Do you believe that?

And finally, repentance and faith in King Jesus are the requirements for admission. Remember when we said at the very beginning, John the Baptist starts by saying, [Matthew 3:2]“Repent,” (Right?) for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Jesus, in the next chapter… [Matthew 4:14] “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Whenever the Bible repeats itself, it means lean into this. What pre-dates the Sermon on the Mount is a call to repentance, and it’s only when we truly repent and have faith in Jesus our King that we get into the kingdom of heaven. And that happens when you see yourself as poor in spirit.

I’m always concerned when I share the Gospel with someone and I say, ’Is this something you desire?’ — and they say something like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it. I’ll pray.’ What is that?! Where is the brokenness? Where is the lostness?

I’m looking over here at Alan Schultz right over here. I can still remember sitting down talking with Alan Schultz about the Gospel, and he’s got a big old Bible and another big old theological book and he’s studying, and he loves to study! — But He’s just as lost as last year’s Christmas tree! — But he didn’t acknowledge it. But he couldn’t sleep that night, and God broke him and God made him poor in spirit. And he entered the very next day into the kingdom of heaven. Thank you for that illustration, true story!

When the thief on the cross in Luke 23 died, remember what he said?

[Luke 23:42 ESV, “And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”]

‘Lord, remember me when you enter into your (what?) kingdom,’ and the kingdom exists right here, right now… in our hearts! — But you gotta be poor in spirit. Will you be poor in spirit today, some of you, for the first time? Over the Easter weekend, people were becoming poor in spirit. You were getting saved! Some of you, your pride has caused you to resist this. Your church attendance isn’t gonna save you! Your glibly little flippant prayer you prayed one time, when you were a little boy or a little girl, that didn’t save you, either! It’s being poor, broken, bankrupt, destitute. That’ll save you, and you place your faith, that is, in the One who accomplished it ALL on the cross and resurrection! Amen?

God, thank you! Thank you for the Beatitudes, thank you for the blessing, thank you that the blessed are the poor in spirit, that theirs/ours is the kingdom of heaven. I pray, right now, for those in this room and for those watching online who have never truly been poor and spirit. They prayed prayers, but they’ve never been saved. They’ve never been humbled internally. May this be the day that they are. If that’s you, dear friend, right now, and from your heart you say, ‘Oh God, I am bankrupt. I am broken. I’m broke. I have nothing to offer you, except for my sin that Jesus took for me on the cross. Lord Jesus, I am a poor sinner. Have mercy on me and save me!’ Would that be your prayer? — And for those who do love you, Lord, may we continue in this sense of great humility having nothing to offer you, rejoicing in what you have given to us and reveling that we are children of the kingdom of heaven. And these things we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.