The Sermon on the Mount!
It all started here!
Matthew 5:1–2 (NLT)
1One day as he saw the
crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples
gathered around him,
2and he began to teach
them.
· Seeing the crowds!
o
There
were probably a few thousand
o
Seeing
the multitudes he need to set he disciples on the right path and give them some
wisdom
· He went up on a mountain!
o
This
is the mold breaker
o
You
were only supposed to teach in the “appropriate Places”!
o
Jesus
took people to a quite spot and started to teach
o
We
still today get this wrong, it’s not about the place or the décor it’s about
the Gospel being preached
· He sat down, his disciples came to him!
o
His
true followers followed
o
He
sat down in a position of authority
o
He
is the King, on a ragged throne preaching to His chosen
o
So
why are we all caught up in the stuff rather than the people
Matthew 5:2 (ESV) And he opened his mouth and taught them,
· He wasn’t caught up in
the hype
· He didn’t care about
the place
· He didn’t care about
the rules
· All he cared about was
teaching Gods law, not some man made rules
· We can all learn from
Jesus, that we just need to ride for the brand and forget about all the rest
The beatitudes!
The beatitudes change
the norm!
· The be blessed we
think we need
o
Money
o
Fame
o
Wealth
o
Stuff
· Jesus says blessings
come from
o
Being
happy with what you have
o
Relationships
o
People
o
And
most of all your relationship with Him
We all need a little attitude
adjustment!
Here
Jesus lays out the fundamentals of his ministry, he begins to set the law straight!
And begins to reveal the fathers heart! And it starts with a different way of
acting and an attitude adjustment!
Hank Williams Jr. Say it best in his song
titled “Attitude Adjustment”!
And I went and got a
tire tool
Out of my truck
And laid him out as
cold as a block of ice
An attitude adjustment
I made him see the
light
And he says I'm his
kind of man
And he comes around
with his hat in his hand
It was an attitude
adjustment
I cured all his family
pride
We
all need an attitude adjustment, we all need to sometimes get racked on top of
the head and brought to our knees to help us see the light!
Today
we take on the first 4 beatitudes and they really work on your attitude and
start to define the position Jesus must find us in to start a transformation
from the inside out!
Do you need fixed, are
you broke?
Have you ever ridden a
wild horse?
· I don’t see many out
running barrels or working cattle
· I don’t see the grand
kids on them
· To use a horse, it has
to broke
· It must be broke and
then restored to be used
Matthew 5:3 (ESV)
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
The Beatitudes are a
ladder and the first rung on that ladder is Brokenness
· Are you broken?
o
Has
God got to you, has he broke your spirit
o
Are
you totally lost, without hope? If so God will find you
o
If
you think you’re the scum of the earth God can never use me, you’re ready for
kingdom work!
He
is looking high and low over the planet for one kind of person—the weak, the
rejected, the one who feels the most insignificant. He isn’t looking for the
strong, the person that has it all figured out so if you feel so absolutely
penniless spiritually, God has been looking for you. Yep! He’s already found
you!
· The way Up is Down!
Mark Twain: “God must have liked
poor people because he made so many of them!”
o
Are
you humble, are you are you at your very bottom, at your lowest
o
If
you are going to enter the kingdom of heaven you start at the bottom
o
We
MUST never outgrow being broken
o
The
world might see you as poor, but what matters is how God sees you
· Being poor in spirit is a phenomenon that ignores all
natural explanation.
o
It
is as supernatural as the dead being raised
o
The
blind being healed or the deaf being able to hear.
o
If
you are poor in spirit, God has already worked on you as powerfully as raising
a person from the dead.
Brokenness
is when you realize you have no bargaining power and all you can do is beg for
mercy! You no longer try to explain yourself, or making excuses, you stop
pointing fingers and you start seeking salvation. It’s the first and the last
step a Christian makes. You never stop being broken and God never stops fixing
you!
Are you happy not being happy with yourself?
Matthew 5:4 (ESV)
“Blessed are
those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
As
we move from one beatitude to another we are climbing the ladder and when we
are broken when we recognize our need and see our sin we start to mourn or
grieve over our own sin!
Isaiah said it best
when he realized how filthy his own sin was:
Isaiah 6:5 (NIV)
5 “Woe
to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among
a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
Two kinds of
suffering!
· Ineffectual Suffering
o
Do
you complain every time suffering enters your life
o
Do
always question God and get angry
o
Do
you blame everyone around you
o
Are
you constantly looking for sympathy
o
Are
you questioning Gods timing
o
Are
you trying always find a way out of suffering, looking for the wide path
Ineffectual
Suffering in moaning instead of mourning! It’s not letting God come along side
and help mold you through it!
· Effectual Suffering
o
It’s
when you dignify the trial you’re going through
o
You
see the suffering is from God
o
You
know God is working in you and welcome it
o
It
takes place when the pain makes a positive difference in you.
o
It
is when the testing of our faith develops perseverance, patience or
faithfulness.
o
When this happens, then the trial worked! It
was God’s intent that the trial would make a positive difference, so that when
it does, it is pleasing to God.
· It’s about God Getting your attention
o
When
we suffer maybe then we will fall to our knees
o
Its
Gods way of tapping you on the shoulder
o
What
trial are you going through
o
How
is God trying to get your attention?
o
It
might just be the best thing to ever happen to you!
· It’s about exposing your sin!
o
When
you go through suffering or trials do you see your sin
o
It
takes the holy spirit to see your sin
o
It’s
not about others sin
o
When
you see your sin it humbles you
o
It’s
about discipline
· We suffer for two reason
o
We
suffer sometimes even if what we are doing is right
§ Maybe you have been
falsely accused
§ The bible is full of
references that state we will suffer for following Jesus
o
We
suffer when we do wrong!
§ Let’s face it
sometimes we screw up
§ Sometimes we suffer
the consequences of our sin
§ We will get slapped on
the wrist sometimes
Don’t worry, God will
comfort you. I don’t know when, maybe during the trail or after the suffering,
but there will be comfort God promises that!
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT)
The
temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God
is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.
When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
You
will suffer and you will sin, it’s all in how you handle it that makes the
difference. Will you learn from it or will you whine through it? That the true
question. Will you let God use it or will you just continue to fall over and
over again!
