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Shortly after Jesus chose the apostles, He laid the ground work for the transformation of their characters by preaching the Sermon on the The Beatitudes Matthew 5: His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying: That was a little confusing. This is a study of the Sermon on the Mount. This is the 1st sermon in the series. Shields House of Faith — www.
We live in a World of many troubles, trials and tribulations. Seems like one problem after another. It seems as if the dark cloud will never go away. When we hunger and thirst of righteousness then you will find your happiness. When we develop a heavenly hunger for Jesus everything else will seem meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
We all want to be happy, Right? We want to go through life with a feeling of accomplishment that brings happiness. Sometimes happiness can be a short lived experience in life. Kinda like a kid buying a happy meal at McDonalds. This message is about the challenge that Jesus gave to the multitude, saying the koingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus exhorts us to have attitudes of humility and kindness.
Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, The Sermon on the Mount A. By the location of the sermon a mountain top. A poem composed by yours truly which expresses the beatitudes in song to the tune of "When we all get to heaven. Blessed are the bankrupt children, In the grace of God they trust. Too often in our Christian lives we become acclimated to certain phrases and in turn they lose their power. This is a look into the beattitudes.
The listeners of Jesus would have witnessed the power and strength of the religious rulers, as well as the Roman government. They would know that this is not the normal way to acquire prosperity and blessings. Business moguls, politicians, athletes, celebrities, and even some church leaders want you to know how powerful they are, how intelligent they are, how loud they can be, and how talented they are, so that they can gain more power, more privilege, and more prestige.
When it comes to righteousness , people who follow Christ must desire it so much that they hunger and thirst for it. It is for something to be morally good. Do you hunger and thirst for that?
If you do, Jesus says you will be filled! How great is that?
To be merciful means to not be looking to get even all of the time, but rather to overlook offenses and wrongs done to you. Also, the pure in heart will see God. We know from the Scriptures that none of us are inherently pure and righteous on our own. We are pure in heart by surrendering our hearts to Jesus, and having our hearts made new.
When we truly surrender our hearts to Him and seek to live purely through Him, then we will be able to see God. Finally, we see that peacemakers shall be called sons of God. Of course, the idea here is that we would be heirs of God. Remember, at the time Jesus gave this sermon, only sons would be considered heirs.
Jesus is saying that any of us who are true peacemakers would be heirs of God. We can make peace practically speaking by seeking to be humble, bringing about resolution when possible, and encouraging others to be people of peace. Also, we can be peacemakers in the most magnificent way by pointing people to the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. Seek to show the peace of God and take people to the true Peacemaker and you will receive the inheritance of God.
How marvelous that is! Righteousness, mercy, purity, and peace are characteristics that God possesses, and they are characteristics of someone who is seeking to live for the kingdom of God and seeking a holy life in Jesus.
Can you imagine how odd this was for everyone to hear? You may be persecuted for following and obeying the Son of God. You may suffer for being loving, holy, truthful, good, humble, and righteous.
Jesus gave us the Eight Beatitudes at the Sermon on the Mount to help us reach The Lord wants you first to be filled with the blessings of peace and then to. The preaching of this sermon may have come a little later in the describing them as being filled with an inner sense of joy and peace because.
However, the blessing that comes from this persecution is twofold: Second, you will receive a reward in heaven because you endured for the cause of Christ. By suffering now, you will be rewarded greatly later. Upon hearing that, they would have surely wondered how they must live to prepare for the coming kingdom. Jesus is giving the Sermon on the Mountainside to tell them the way followers of God must live.
Now, as followers of God, we must live this way also.
We must understand that in order to find any of these blessings, in order to live this way, we must be in Jesus. We cannot live as God requires on our own, and as such, we cannot experience blessing on our own.
The image then is portraying the desire to do the will of God as that constant and strong. So, He goes up to teach those who are willing to listen. He did not make them rich in earthly possessions and power; but he fulfilled their greatest need. For those who believe the Scriptures are historically true in what they affirm, it would be appropriate to say that wherever Matthew or the other writers connect a sermon or teaching to a place and time, that is where it was given. The monastic Essenes awaited a Messiah that would establish a Kingdom on earth and free the Israelites from oppression.
No one comes to the Father except through me. We not only need Jesus for forgiveness, we also need Jesus in order to live a humble life, in order to live a holy life, and in order to endure a persecuted life. We need to follow the ways of God and not the ways of this world, and we will be blessed. The blessings of God are not found in the ways of the world. In order to find true blessing, we must seek Jesus and His ways. We must seek lowliness, holiness, and we must endure persecution. But for this week, focus on at least one and live it out, then add another, and so on.
Tell someone about how the ways of God are so different from the ways of the world. Show them the real love that God shows. Show them a picture of the kingdom of heaven. As I said earlier, we need Jesus to change us so we can live up to the standard that God has for us. If we are changed and we live for God, we will be blessed!
Not with the blessings of the world, but with the blessings of God, which are so much better. If you have any sort of spiritual decision that you would like to make, you can contact me or Pastor Richard and we would be glad to talk to you anytime. There will be no service tonight due to the Labor Day holiday. One announcement in your bulletin that I want to draw your attention to: They are also great friends of my family. They will be with us morning and evening next week. Go ahead and make plans to be here in the morning and evening.