Preached on the Evening January 29 2017 at Riverview 798 Santa Fe Pike Columbia TN

Matthew 5:1-12 (KJV) 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.

“Multitudes” or “huge crowds” flocked to see Jesus. Why did Jesus attract such a following? Because we are told in the previous chapter that:

Matthew 4:23-25 (KJV) And Jesus went about ALL Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing ALL manner of sickness and ALL manner of disease among the people. [24] And his fame went throughout ALL Syria: and they brought unto him ALL sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatics, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. [25] And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

There are five ALLs in our above text. Five is the number of Grace.

Jesus came “preaching and teaching the Gospel of the Kingdom”. He came preaching Grace. He came teaching Grace. He came preaching the Way of God. This was what Jesus placed His emphasis on. He is “the Word become flesh Who dwelt among us”. The most important thing is what God’s Word has to say to us. I say again:

The Most Important Thing Is What God’s Word Has To Say To Us!

Jesus “went ALL about Galilee in their synagogues”. Where ever the Bible was, Jesus was. This was His focus. But Christ also cared for those whose lives were in the valleys, in the “valley of the shadow of death”. What brought Jesus fame was that

He healed ALL MANNER of sickness and

ALL MANNER of disease among the people

This is what drew the crowds. We as Christ’s Church can have eating meetings or fall festivals or Christmas or Easter programs or Children’s events and people will flock in to be entertained. If God gave us the power of healing and people were healed like in Jesus’ day:

they brought unto Him ALL sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatics, and those that had the palsy; and He healed them

This brings the crowds. People came to the Living Word but had no interest in the Word. They wanted to be healed. They wanted to be entertained. But Christ came for more than healing or entertainment. Christ came to teach us the Way of God. So what did Jesus do?

Matthew 5:1 (KJV) And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain:

These “multitudes” were following Jesus for a quick fix, a healing, a quick blessing. These multitudes were down in the valley of life. So what does Jesus do?

Jesus went UP into a mountain

If you want to go from a valley to the mountaintop you must follow Jesus

The blessings of life are on the mountaintop

But you must go to Him and only Him

You cannot sit on your derrière and be blessed

You MUST go to Jesus

What is interesting is what we read next.

Matthew 5:1 (KJV) …. and when HE WAS SET, his disciples came unto him: 

Jesus sat down, and His disciples came to Him. This is a picture of a King delivering great truths to His people. Jesus went out seeking and saving the Lost. He went through ALL GALILEE preaching and teaching the Gospel. But now Christ is going to deliver great truth to His Church through what we have come to call The Beatitudes.

Matthew 5:2 (KJV) And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

The Word of God cannot be assumed, it must be taught. The truths of God’s Way have to be spoken.

Romans 10:17 (ESV) So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

The things that the world believes it loudly promotes. God’s Word must be spoken. Christ makes no apology for what He is about to say. He speaks authoritatively, as one who knows truth. He tells the people who were part of the multitude but who now come to Jesus as Disciples the truths of God.

You cannot know God’s truth following the multitudes

Truth is found by going to Jesus

By stepping apart from the crowd

By following Him

 Nine Times Jesus Uses The Word “Blessed”. This is the Greek μακάριος makarios which means “Supremely Blessed” or “Happy”. The multitudes thought they were “supremely blessed” because Jesus healed them. Though every person healed was blessed, eventually disease, sickness, or death will strike again. No one is immune to the ravages of time and the old sin nature, this body of corruption we are in. Healing is a temporary blessing. Lazarus was temporarily blessed when he was raised from the death – but Lazarus still died later. What Jesus is telling those who come to Him is:

Here is the Eternal Blessing

Here in My Presence

Matthew 5:3 (KJV) Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Christ is not speaking of “the poor” but “the poor in spirit”. The “poor in spirit” are those who know they are spiritually bankrupt.

The Pharisees and Sadducees were religious roosters, crowing all about how good they were. These self righteous people would parade around in fancy “religious”, strutting like roosters. They made a show of giving, though they robbed widows houses. They prayed numerous times during the day, stopping traffic so the multitudes could see them and admire them. Jesus said of the self righteous …

Isaiah 65:5 (ESV) … who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.

Self righteousness and pride cannot enter into God’s Heaven. There will be many Church goers on the Day of Judgment Who are like the Pharisee of Jesus’ parable:

Luke 18:10-14 (NRSV) Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.

Not only does “pride cometh before destruction” (Proverbs 6:18) but PRIDE COMES BEFORE DAMNATION. I am sure there were many in those multitudes who saw Jesus sitting and said to themselves “Let Him come to me. Why should I climb this mountain for Him?”

Matthew 5:3 (KJV) Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs IS the kingdom of heaven.

Did you notice that Jesus didn’t say theirs SHALL BE the Kingdom of Heaven, but “theirs IS – Present Tense – the Kingdom of Heaven”. You who recognize you are broken, spiritually bankrupt, totally enable – Jesus came for you. Jesus said:

Luke 5:32 (ESV) I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

When someone comes to Jesus repenting, crying out for help, Jesus saves them. He will save the broken. He cannot save the self righteous.

Matthew 5:4 (KJV) Blessed are they that MOURN: for they shall be comforted.

We all have reason to mourn. We have lost loved ones. We have suffered in this sinful world. But God tells us that our mourning shall one day be comforted. The Scripture says:

Psalm 34:18 (NLT) The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

Those who mourn but come to Jesus shall be comforted. But we must come to Him. We must sit at His feet, surrendered, loving and listening to Him. The Bible tells us that:

Revelation 21:4 (ESV) {God} will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

We may mourn now, but Christ will comfort us. We will be reunited with our loved ones if they were Disciples of Christ as well. Oh Blessed reunion! Johnny Cash sang a song I love years ago. Part of it goes:

Oh, I followed close behind her

Tried to hold up and be brave

But I could not hide my sorrow

When they laid her in the grave

I went back home, the home was lonesome

Since my mother, she was gone

All my brothers and sisters crying

What a home so sad and alone

We sang songs of childhood

Hymns of faith that made us strong

Ones that mother Maybelle taught us

Hear the angels sing along

Will the circle be unbroken

Bye and bye Lord, bye and bye

There’s a better home awaiting

In the sky Lord, in the sky

“Mother Maybelle” is a reference to Mother Maybelle Carter, his mother-in-law and June Carter Cash’s mother.

Matthew 5:5 (KJV) Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Those who chase power and live according to the flesh think that they shall inherit the earth. A person is “meek” when they are submitted to God and His will. The Bible says of Moses that:

Numbers 12:3 (ESV) … Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.

God uses Moses because Moses was surrendered to God. A meek person does not live for himself, but for the Lord Who made him. We are told by the Apostle Paul:

Romans 12:2-3 (KJV) And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

“Meek” does not mean to be a doormat, but to be “humble in the sight of God” and then to do the will of God. Though Jesus called Himself “meek and lowly” (Matthew 11:28-29) He didn’t hesitate to chase the money changers out of the Temple (Matthew 21:12-13).

The enemies of God will one day be destroyed by their own sin, but God’s meek shall continue on. We shall be “the last man standing” because we are “the first ones kneeling” before the Blessed Savior.

Matthew 5:6 (KJV) Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

There is not a day that goes by that I don’t look at the condition of our world and cry out to God “how long, O Lord, shall the wicked rule?”. God’s people cringe at the condition of evil that possessed America. We have gone from Mayberry to Malice, from one nation under God to one nation gone under. So often my heart feels like King David’s when he wrote:

Psalm 94:1-7 (KJV) O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. 2 Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. 3 Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? 4 How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? 5 They break in pieces thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage. 6 They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. 7 Yet they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.

God promises us His Children that one day our desire for righteousness shall be fulfilled. There is coming a day when there will be a new Heaven and a new Earth. We who love Jesus shall see the new, the clean, the righteous. That day is coming. God will make a way.

Matthew 5:7 (KJV) Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

We who are saved have been given mercy, therefore we are to give mercy. Jesus was teaching one day when Peter asked Him:

Matthew 18:21 (ESV) … Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?

Peter wanted to set a limit on forgiveness and mercy. Seven (7) is a holy number, so he used 7. But Jesus told Peter:

Matthew 18:22 (NASB) …. I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Then Jesus spoke a parable to illustrate mercy and forgiveness. Jesus said:

Matthew 18:23-35 (ESV) 23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.

If we have received God’s Grace and Mercy we must extend Grace and Mercy to others. This is the Way of the Master.

Matthew 5:8 (KJV) Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Those who are “pure in heart” are the saved by Grace in Jesus. The Apostle said:

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (ESV) Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

When you receive Christ as Lord and Savior the Holy Spirit of God washes you, sanctifies you, justifies you through Christ. You are no longer hate filled, but God empowered. You love, for you have been loved.

My time is ending, so let us close with these words.

Matthew 5:9-12 (KJV) 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.

We will return to this text next week to finish it. But I must ask:

Do you know Jesus? Do you know Him as Savior and Lord. Has He washed your heart and claimed you as His own? If not, will you not receive Him? Will you not receive Him?

May God touch your hearts with His Gospel and His Spirit.