Here are the notes from the first part of our series on the Sermon On The Mount.

We will cover the last 2 Beatitudes this week. I love you all. Can’t wait to see you Thursday!

Matthew 5:1-12

1 Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 

2 and he began to teach them. He said: 

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 

5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 

12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

• Blessed are the poor in spirit:
  What does it mean to be poor in spirit?
  To feel a deep sense of spiritual destitution and desperateness – to comprehend their nothingness before God
  If someone understands their true state before God, then they also truly understand the joy found in their new state after salvation.
  They seek God and His kingdom before (and in place of) their own desires and the world’s kingdom.
  
  God requires emptiness in us, before He can fill us.
  Poor in spirit – poverty – bankrupt – impossible to take care of obligations on our own – I can’t pay my own way.
  One of the reasons generosity is so important to a Christian – We have been given more than we could ever imagine.
  
  Luke 18:9-14
  9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and looked down on everyone else:
  10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
  11 The Pharisee was standing and praying like this about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people — greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
  12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of everything I get.’
  13 “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even raise his eyes to heaven but kept striking his chest and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner! ’
  14 I tell you, this one went down to his house justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
  
• Blessed are those that mourn:
  What does it mean to mourn?
  What are some things we mourn over?
  
  Does what saddens God, sadden me?
  If God mourns over something and I treat it casually, what does that show about my current spiritual state?
  Does God promise to console all mourning? No – He promises to comfort those who mourn about the things He mourns over.
  We want to have the same emotions God has – not be led by our own emotions.
  
• Blessed are the humble/meek:
  Meek does not mean weak
  Breaking a horse – you do not break a horse to remove it’s strength and speed – you want to remove its self will. You want it to surrender its own will to yours.
  God doesn’t want us to be lethargic, lazy people who do nothing – He wants us to use our passions and energy to serve His will.
  
  Serving Him and His will is how you inherit what God has for them.
  
• Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness:
  If I have the right appetite then I can be filled.
  What are my appetites now?
  How do I fulfill my current appetites?
  
  A lot of Christians are fed on a diet of donuts – things that taste really good in the moment but have no nutritional value. Getting worked up in a moment of emotion is fine, but you can’t live on it forever. Depth is a requirement of spiritual growth and a Christian life that is sustainable.
  
• Blessed are the merciful:
  I don’t show mercy so I can receive mercy, but I know I need mercy, so I show others mercy as well.
  I know there are times in my life when I must have God’s mercy and the mercy of others. I don’t like to extend mercy in many cases, but when I realize how it feels when I have no other option except mercy, then it is easier for me to show it to others in those same moments. Mercy removes the misery I ought to receive when I’m guilty.
  Mercy also speaks to us having compassion on someone who is suffering. We naturally think of suffering as a physical trait of an illness or injury, but it also can be spiritual and emotional.
  
• Blessed are the pure in heart:
  Purity of heart begins with authenticity before God. He knows me – so I don’t have to tell Him everything or be completely honest with Him. A failure to be honest with God is the beginning of a relationship destruction. In any relationship, dishonesty is the beginning of the end. Mistakes can be made, wrongs done, and trusts broken, but if honesty rules, then restoration has a chance. If someone is hiding something, then reconciliation is much more difficult.
  

• Blessed are the peacemakers:
  A peacemaker pursues reconciliation with others instead of looking to be right.
  God could have looked at humanity in our sin and said “well, sucks for them” and just started over. Instead He wanted to reconcile us to himself, and the only way to do that was the death of His own son.
  God was willing – and did – to give His own Son in order to reconcile me to Him, but I won’t budge an inch in order to reconcile with others because I want to be right more than I want peace.
  Being a peacemaker allows God to use me in the lives and conflicts of others by identifying the truth, addressing the sin, and constructing a bridge between the people.
  
• Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness:
  The people in scripture who chose persecution over popularity are set apart. Hebrews 11 lists them for us – Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Gideon, Samson, Samuel, and David
  So when people lie about me, speak evil against me, or insult me, then I am blessed – I’m in good company. Paul said in Romans 8:18 “The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us”