Matthew 5:1-6 The Blessed People of God (How to Have the Blessings of
God)
Introduction: This is a part of the Sermon on the Mount.
(Chapters 5-7). The Sermon on the Mount
is a crash course in what God wants His people to be. Matthew’s introduction (Matthew 5:1) and
Luke’s introduction seem to contradict (Luke
There are eight beatitudes. “Beatitude” means “to be blessed.” They all begin “Blessed are . . .” the first
four show what God wants His people to be like in their relationship to Him.
I. God wants His people to be poor in spirit.
Verse 3
A. The word “poor”
means destitute, poverty stricken.
B. To be poor in
spirit means to be stripped of self importance and self worth except by the
grace
of God.
1. It
means to see self as sinful and God as Holy.
2. It
means to see self as nothing and God as all in all.
3. It
means to see self as unworthy and God as worthy of all the praise and the
glory.
4.
This is true humility before God.
C. This kind of
attitude toward God comes in stages.
1. It
began with repentance toward God which led to conversion.
2. It
will be complete in the resurrection.
3. But
now in this life it increases as one grows in grace.
D. Those who are
poor in spirit are a blessed people.
1.
They may be poor in spirit, but they are rich spiritually.
2.
Theirs is the
a. This is the kind of people who will go
to heaven.
b. The Kingdom is already made up of such
people.
c. They are the kind of people God wants
to represent Him in the world today.
II. God wants His people to
mourn. Verse 4 (This may seem strange).
A. This does not
mean that God wants His people to be in deep state of depression, weeping
all the time.
B. It does mean
that God wants His people to be grieved by the sin that is in this world.
1. Our
own personal guilt daily is enough to cause us great grief.
2. The
sin in the lives of other children of God should be a mater of great
concern.
(Ungodliness, neglect)
3. The
heresy in the so-called Christian world should grieve us.
4. The
sin and unrest in the whole world should grieve us.
5. The
great number of people still unsaved should grieve us.
C. Those who are
grieved by sin are a blessed people.
1.
They shall be comforted.
2. The
sin of the world may disturb them but the Holy Spirit of God shall comfort
them.
3.
They are assured of a better world where there will be no sin.
III. God wants His people to be
meek. Verse 5
A. This means to
be yielded.
1.
This too, is humility with stress on obedience.
2. To
be yielded to God is one of the highest traits.
B. The believer
becomes yielded in stages.
1. He
yielded to God for salvation when he trusted Jesus to save.
2. He
will be totally yielded to God in the resurrection.
3.
Even now the inward spirit man is totally yielded to God.
4. But
the flesh nature has to be brought into subjection to God’s will.
(Sometimes we are yielded and
sometimes we are not).
C. The people who
are yielded to God are a blessed people.
1.
They shall inherit the earth.
2.
They will not inherit it because of obedience; they will inherit it
because of their new birth.
3. But
when they inherit the earth, they will be totally yielded to God.
IV. God wants His people to
hunger and thirst after righteousness.
Verse 6
A. They should
have a huge appetite and a tremendous thirst.
(A craving).
1.
They crave to do right before God.
2.
They crave to see others do right.
3.
They crave to see the time when all will do right.
B. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are a blessed
people.
1.
They shall be filled. (Satisfied).
2.
They will dwell in a place where there is all righteousness.
Conclusion: The word blessed means “happy; contented,
having a sense of well being.” This is not
what the world thinks it takes to make one happy. To be humbled before God
and to make God supreme in ones life.
But in reality that is what it takes to find real happiness and lasting
contentment.
1. Lost friend
come to Jesus and be saved.
2. Saved friend
come to Jesus and follow.
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