Jesus gave us the key to leading a truly blessed life. Do you want to hear more? Hey friends, welcome to the line of fire. Michael Brown, delighted to be with you as we are digging into the words of Jesus. A previous podcast, we looked at the Jewish background to the Sermon on the Mount.
Podcast before that, introducing the series, we emphasize the words of Jesus are for us. Today.
So We dig into the Beatitudes. Matthew 5. Beginning in verse 1. And when Yeshua saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. This was the customary way to teach.
You sit down, and his disciples came to him. They would only sit at his feet, sit at the feet of the teacher. and he began to teach them. All right, are you ready? Verse three.
Blessed of the poor in spirit For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The word blessed in Greek makarios is equivalent to Hebrew ashre or Aramaic tuveihon, It does not mean blessed as in blessed versus cursed.
So, for example, in Hebrew, that's the word baruch, blessed. You are blessed if you do this. You are blessed if you do that. blessed by the Lord. This is not blessed.
This is blessed. Actually, it's a different pronunciation in English. It means truly happy. If it was secular, it would mean fortunate.
So Psalm 11, the word is used. Ashreihaish. Blessed is the man, truly happy is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly, etc. The one whose delight is in the teaching of the Lord meditates in it day and night. That one is truly blessed, truly happy.
That's what Jesus is saying, all right? That the path to true happiness. The path to true, fulfilled, blessed life. is is this and What what the Lord does is turn everything upside down. He says in Luke 16, that that which is highly favorable among people.
is is often detestable. in the sight of God. And the things that we value Are sometimes the things that God hates, and the things that we despise are sometimes the things that He values.
So truly happy are the poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of God. What does it mean to be poor in spirit? It means that you are wholly dependent on God. It means that you are not haughty.
and full of yourself. It means that your only boast is in the Lord. And in His grace and in His goodness, and his power. You're not Full of this self-confident haughtiness. I can do it, I can do anything.
No, rather we recognize That God's ways are so far above our ways, that God's holiness is so far above our holiness, that God's goodness is so far above our goodness. That's what God requires of us is so far above our own ability that it puts us in a place of. Dependence. Lord, I'm leaning on you. Lord, I put all my eggs in your basket.
Lord, I don't trust in myself. I trust in you. It does not mean you have an inferiority complex. It does not mean you walk around saying, woe is me. It does not mean you're hopeless.
No, you're actually... Blessed, you're truly happy. Why? Because you know And depending on God. that you have a sure reward.
That in depending on God, yours is the kingdom of heaven, and God is with you in the here and now. It's like Isaiah 57:15, where the high and lofty God. dwells Uh among Who just the the the lowly, the contrite in heart. Those are the ones he's near to. He's near to the humble.
Satan likes to humiliate us and destroy us and crush us. It's an unhealthy crushing. But the divine crushing leaves us leaning wholly on him, and there's a beautiful fragrance with that. Truly happy are the poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
And now this seems so paradoxical. truly happy, blessed Or those who mourn For they will be comforted.
So on the one hand There is the the happiness knowing that comfort is coming. I'm grieving today, but I'm going to rejoice tomorrow. It's the knowledge, for example, that if If someone you love has died in the Lord, You miss them now. You grieve now, but you know you're going to be comforted because you're going to be with them forever. and even their lives in the days ahead can be a comfort to you.
So there's that aspect. of being truly Blessed, true. truly happy. that future comfort is coming. Hey, you're weeping now.
We're just going to rejoice tomorrow. But there's something else. There's something beautiful when our hearts break for the things that break God's heart. There's something beautiful when God's burden becomes our burden. When God's pain becomes our pain When we're weeping at his feet and solidarity with him, there's a beautiful fellowship.
And that's part of the reward as well.
Next. Blessed are the meek. For they will inherit the earth, Truly happy. Or the meek. for they will inherit the earth.
The meeker the ones, who don't always have to fight for their own way. And they always have to Push ahead. and always have to be aggressive. The New York Jewish personality. that I grew up with, born in Manhattan, raised on Long Island, and lived there the first 32 years of my life.
There is an aggressiveness to that. There is a always in a hurry, always pushing. part of that is not meekness. Meekness is not weakness. We understand that it is strength.
Under control. But the meek are not trying to bring down the wicked. The meek are not plotting and scheming how to destroy those who oppose them. The meek are putting their their They're causing God's hand. The meek Are looking at the injustice in the world and grieving over it and crying out to God about it and doing what they can do, but they're not fighting evil with evil.
If you want to know what it looks like, read Psalm 37. where it it it has the very words The meek will inherit the earth and delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Psalm 37. And Psalm 37 is about: don't fret because of evildoers. But the Lord's not right.
This one's getting ahead. And you can pray that, talk to the Lord about it. Sure, it's not fair. What about this one? Lord, they stole, they cheated, they put our company out of business, and they're just smirking and happy.
God says, hey, I'm going to set things right. I'm going to set things right. It's not just future, there's peace. There's peace. Do we fight injustice by righteousness, by taking action?
However, we can. But we understand that we cannot in ourselves put a stop to wickedness. We can do what we can do. But the wicked will be here until Jesus returns. Ultimately, we entrust our cause to God.
We're not people who retaliate. We're not people who take revenge. And not only is there a future promise, there's a present. I can be at peace. I can be at peace.
Blessed. Truly happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filth.
So once again, there's a promise. Being hungry and thirsty is never enjoyable for the moment. Being hungry and thirsty is It's painful. Otherwise we would fast much more. Our bodies were made to be fed and nourished.
And And Hunger and thirst are uncomfortable, but first thing You're going to be filled. You cry yourself to sleep because of the burden of the Lord. You walk around all day, oh God, because you're so hungry for Him. You feel like you're going to burst because you've just got to see him move. Oh.
There's a blessedness because you're going to be filled. And it's one of the great encouragements to me when I find myself in a place of spiritual desperation. Crying and moaning and groaning and seeking his face, and just wanting to see him move, and wanting to see him touch lies. One of the kingdom purposes accomplished in this world. Many of you understand exactly what I'm talking about.
You're living it right now. You feel like you can't live another day without him moving. He says You're truly blessed. Because you're going to be filled. you can only be filled to the degree of your hunger.
Right, if you just had a seven course Meal, you know, and you're sitting there, oh, I'm sick to my stomach. I can't believe I ate so much. You're not hungry for more, but when I remember finishing a 21-day water fast. And then Nancy said, Okay, you gotta reintroduce yourself to food little by little. And the day that she gave me just a little piece of dry bread, I was like, oh, this is amazing.
So, to the hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet, Proverbs tells us. But there's another part of this. which is just to be in that state means you're blessed. Just to be in that state means you're in a good place. Just to be in that state means something very positive.
Do you hear what I'm saying?
Next. Blessed are the merciful. For they will be shown mercy. Truly. Happy are the merciful.
So the twofold blessing of this is so obvious. When you show mercy i i i it it's a life-giving thing. When you show mercy Mercies poured out on you. Oh. So there's the future mercy you'll receive.
And that's why I feel bad when when people are not merciful. When people treat others with real venom and with a hyper-legalism and with a double standard, I feel bad for them because Jesus said, We'll be judged. By the standards that we use. And and Jacob James said that That those who judge without mercy will be shown judgment without mercy. And then he said, Mercy triumphs over judgment.
So you sell mercy, you say, yeah, but people have hurt me, wronged me. Long term, you will receive mercy. Long term, you'll see if you're a merciful person that mercy does come back to you. Maybe not always in the short term. but in the long term and certainly in the eternal term.
But not only so, It's life-giving to show mercy. There's a grace that comes to you. And it it it also is something that that people love and appreciate. Oh, these are so rich. These are so rich.
Bless it. truly happy. or the pure in heart, For they will see God. I mean, it's a promise of the Old Testament. Our eyes will see the king.
Isaiah 33. Psalm 24, the one with a pure heart will enter into God's... Holy Sanctuary. It it's The ultimate is to see him face to face. I remember reading about Fannie Crosby.
as a as an infant She had eye problems and a quack doctor messed up her eyes. She went totally blind. Uh so I mean she had very bad eyesight and totally blind and And someone asked if she wrote like 10,000 poems that... became some of our greatest Thames. And Someone asked her.
about being blind and the hardship of it. Yeah, she said, Yeah, you know, it's it's true. Never seen a sunset, never seen all these things you've seen. She said, but the first face I'm going to see is the face of Jesus. Oh, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
But it's also Beautiful to be pure in heart, to not be defiled. To not have your mind filled with anger and bitterness and greed and lust and uncleanness. It's just a blessed state to be. It's a truly happy state to be. We're cleansed by his blood, and then he brings deeper purity in us as we walk with him.
Blessed truly happy are the peacemakers. For they will be called children of God. Isn't that interesting? That that's the refrain here. Not that they'll see God, not that they'll be shown mercy, not they'll be filled, etc., not that the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
But they'll be called children of God. God's the ultimate peacemaker. God's the ultimate reconciler. God's the one who brings those far away near through the blood of the cross, Ephesians 2, and makes peace. Where there was enmity and hatred, he brings peace.
between Jew and Gentile, between different groups. And ultimately between us and God, Romans 5, we have peace with God. Through our Lord Jesus, through His grace. Truly happy, blessed are the peacemakers. They'll be called children of God, so there'll be that great reward, but I believe also in this world, people will recognize you as a child of God.
Because you're a peacemaker. And then there's the joy of bringing peace. And seeing Maybe a married couple or family, there is turmoil, there's going to be divorce, kibba's going to leave the house. There's going to be a terrible split in the church and now... Their hugs and tears and reconciliation.
How beautiful. And then blessed. truly happy. are those who are persecuted because of righteousness. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
And this one we'll see actually has a double blessing where he goes from them, third person, to you, second person. Why are you blessed if you're persecuted because of righteousness, living rightly, speaking rightly? Uh walking with God.
Well, because the kingdom of heaven belongs to you. You have an eternal inheritance forever and ever. in the presence of God. And and you have that presence with you right here and now. And it's also a sign that the world's treating you the way it treated Jesus.
So, Acts 5:41, the apostles leave the Sanhedrin rejoicing. because they were counted worthy of suffering shame. For the name. Wow. And then he goes on, he makes it personal.
Blessed, truly happy, are you When people insult you? persecute you. and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. You're not truly blessed when people say all kinds of evil against you because you did all kinds of evil. But when they lie about you, they misrepresent you, they speak evil of you because of your.
Walk with God because of your identification with Jesus, Yeshua. That's when you're truly blessed. Why? Rejoice, he says, and And be glad. Luke 6, leap for joy.
Because great is your reward in heaven. In the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You have a great reward in heaven, meaning not, we're not going to see everything in this world. Martyrs did not see everything in this world. People put in prison for the gospel did not see everything in this world.
People right now suffering for Jesus around the world, they're not seeing everything in this world. none of us will see the full reward in this world. Great is our reward in heaven and it's stored in heaven for us for eternity. Great is our reward. And we have the encouragement now.
We can rejoice now because we're being treated the way the prophets were being treated. I've got one last reflection. I want to share something with you that happened in India. First, a message from our Co-sponsor Trivita. Thanks again to our friends at Trivita for their incredible generosity.
towards you. and towards us to help us get this broadcast out as widely as possible and absolutely free to everyone. All right. The last words that Jesus spoke here in the Beatitudes. Blessed are you, truly happy are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me, rejoice and be glad.
For great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. I was in India. one time during a season of intense persecution. of the church. Very, very painful, difficult season for the believers.
And And while I was while I was there I was encouraging them. Uh-huh. I'd risk my life for the gospel preaching in India. They knew that I had made certain sacrifices with their leaders.
So even though I could go safely home after this, they knew that I was in there with them.
Some of their men had been martyred. Others severely beaten. a large number of them, persecuted in different ways, physically attacked. And I went through some of these words, and I went through what Jesus said. And Later I found out that there was tremendous joy in the camp.
that these pastors and church planters and Ministry school grads were going to go out and plant churches and they were going into very dangerous areas.
Some knew that they could well die. And some did. Uh There was great joy and I said why they said because they're being treated the way the prophets were being treated It was that real and beautiful to them. All right, friends, our next broadcast. What did Jesus mean when he said, you're the salt of the earth?
and the light of the world. Mm-hmm.
