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JOURNEY TO THE CROSS
Getting cleaned up and making necessary preparations

 Wednesday, February 21, 2007

 Bob Bradley

 

These verses will lay the ground work for our journey that we about to start on.  To start on this particular journey, we need to look at ourselves and to make sure that we are who we say that we are.  If I am not where I should be with the Lord, if my relationship with Him is not where it needs to be with the Lord then when Easter rolls around or when a month from now rolls around; things are not going to change any. 

 

Tonight we need to look at ourselves and see who that we really are and to see whether we are genuine or not.  Jesus is going to give us some things here that we can look at that you can examine yourself and you can know whether you are genuine or not.  The question here is not going to be whether you are sinless, the question is not going to be whether you are perfect, the question is not going to be if you got a halo on your head; but the question that we need to ask ourselves is “Am I saved?” 

 

We all fail and we all mess up and I'm not talking about that we go out here and sin everyday.  I am not talking about that we go out here and commit all the horrible sins of the world.  Even at our very best; you and I mess up.  Even at our very best, we sin from time to time.  I'm glad that we have got a Savior that loves us and I'm glad that he cares about us.

 

Matthew 5:1-12

 

1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

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

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you , and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

 

 

When you read some things sometimes, you hear people use the word beatitudes.  The word beatitude is not in the Bible, but the word beatitude simply means to be blessed or a blessing.  Jesus, in the first sixteen verses of this chapter, He's going to be dealing with character of a true Christian.  In the last part of the chapter, He is going to be dealing with conduct.  You can tell by a person's character what kind of conduct that he is going to have.  Also, you can tell by a person's conduct what kind of character that he is going to have. 

 

We are going to be dealing with some attitudes in these first twelve verses.  Attitude in the dictionary would give you a misunderstanding of what Jesus is saying.  Jesus is showing us what the true character and what really is on the inside of a heart of a true Christian.  He is showing us what a Christian's true outlook on life really is.  That's what attitude really means to a Christian.  Attitude is our outlook on life, what we think on the inside, what is really going on inside.  What's going on inside is going to manifest itself on the outside.  When people are in turmoil on the inside for whatever reason; if their life is filled with sin, even their life is filled with sorrow, if their life is filled with hatred, if their life is filled with malice; although you may think that you have it hid on the inside, it will manifest itself in our lives. 

 

If we love the Lord Jesus Christ, it is going to manifest itself in our lives.  Our attitude proves who we are and will dictate our character and what we do.  The Bible tells us that a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit.  Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.  You shall know them by their fruits.  That's very simple.  A Christian brings forth good fruit.

 

If you are not saved, you cannot bring any good fruit because you are a corrupt tree.  Our character as Christian people is very important.  The world looks on the outside.  Jesus Christ looks on the inside.  That's why it's so important that I have the right attitude.  That's why it is so important that I have the right character.  He looks on the inside. 

 

The Pharisees thought that they could be pleasing to God because they went through all of the rituals and did all of these external things.  However, they could not be pleasing to God that way because God does not look on these things, He looks on the inside.  He looks on our heart.  He looks on our character.  He looks on our attitudes.  That is what God looks on and that is why it is so important for you and me to have a good attitude.

 

Do you always have a good attitude?

 

No.  You don't.  Do I always have a good attitude?  No.  Our attitude is important.  What we think about and our outlook on life.  What's really on the inside here matters.  That is why Jesus is going to show us some attitudes (plural) of a true Christian.  (This is in day one of our study.)

 

As we start on this study, and as we start on this path towards an empty tomb; that is where this is going to end up at; let us take a look at whom that we really are.  Do not look at me then stand beside of me and look at your life then look at my life and say, “Well, I ain't too bad a shape.  Looking at Bob's life and looking at my own life then I ain't too bad a shape.”  Do not do that. 

 

If you want to measure your life, do it with the Word of God.  Then you will get a true picture of whom that you really are. 

 

You can look at other people's lives, but that does not tell you who you are.  You can look at the greatest men that ever lived on planet earth; but that does not tell you who you are. 

 

When you look at the gospel and when you look at the Bible, when you look at the Word of God, then it will show you what kind of character you really have.  That's what we want to do.  That is what we want to do as we embark on this “journey;” we must examine ourselves. 

 

First of all, to make sure that we are saved. 

 

Second, if there is any sin that we need to get rid of; let us get rid of it.  Let us start on this “journey” right now.

 

This is the acid test that we can take to prove whether we are really saved or not saved. 

 

The first thing that He says here in verse three:

 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” 

 

The word blessed means to be spiritually prosperous.  Since it means to be spiritually prosperous, He says blessed are spiritually prosperous or the poor in spirit.  He is telling us that if these other attitudes are going to mean anything to us; we first of all have to be poor in spirit. 

 

He is not talking about dollars and cents.  He is not talking about material things.  He is talking, when He uses the word “poor in spirit” He wants us to look at ourselves and to see how destitute spiritually that we are apart from Jesus Christ.  If we do not have Jesus Christ, then we are poor spiritually.  If we do not have Him in our lives, then we are destitute spiritually. 

 

We do not have any wealth spiritually, if Jesus Christ is not in my life and He is not in your life.  He says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit...”  When we realize and understand that I am absolutely nothing, when I take a look at myself, my spiritual life and I know that I'm absolutely nothing apart from the Lord Jesus Christ then I am getting on good grounds where I can get saved.  I'm getting on good ground where I can grow and mature.  I am thinking right about whom that I really am. 

 

When I get exalted in myself, when I think that I am self-sufficient; then that is not being “poor in spirit.”    Being “poor in spirit” we understand that we are not self-sufficient.  We understand that our sufficiency is in Jesus Christ and Him alone.  That's what He is telling us.  We will understand that we are absolutely nothing apart from Jesus Christ spiritually.  I can't be a Christian without Him. 

 

Christianity is not a system, it is not a church; Christianity is Christ in us.  I can't be a Christian if I'm not poor in spirit.  If I don't understand that I need Him more than anything else, if I don't understand the fact that I'm spiritually destitute, and I'm spiritually bankrupt without Jesus Christ; then everything else that we are going to talk about tonight is not going to mean anything to you.  We must understand that.  We must understand that we are not self-sufficient.  We must realize how weak that we are apart from God's hand being upon our lives.  That's a great place to be.  When we are poor in spirit then that's showing/manifesting/saying, “Lord, I need your help.  Lord, I can't make it without you.”  When I recognize that I can't make it by myself, then we are getting on grounds that we can start moving up in the work of Jesus Christ.  Do not think that you can do it by yourself. 

 

Do you know what the opposite of self-sufficient is?  If you are saying that you are self-sufficient, you are saying that you are proud.  You are saying that you can do it all by yourself.  We must be humble.  We must have the right thinking about ourselves and that we are bankrupt, and if we don't do that then we will never get anywhere with God.

 

In verse, three He says:

 

“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” 

 

If I am poor in spirit, if I have the right thinking about who I am, and I reverence Him as my Lord and my Savior; He says here, “...theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  It is great to know that there are rewards for all those who will live faithful on planet earth.  Thank God, we have somewhere to go and something to look forward to. 

 

The second thing here is this in verse four:

 

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

 

The word “mourn” means to have a broken heart.  That is what the word “mourn” in the Greek means.  What you and I think about plays a big part in what we are going to do. 

 

A broken heart...  He's talking about mourning over something.  We always think about mourning over a death and that's very true.  We mourn at people's deaths.  We have a broken heart when people die.  When things happen in life, we mourn.  That's not what He is talking about.  If we are poor in spirit...He says blessed are the spiritually prosperous or those that mourn.  When you read this in the original, He is talking about those that mourn over SIN.  He is talking about those that have a broken heart over their own sins, and mourns or has a broken heart over the sins of others. 

 

If you have enjoyment and if you really get pleasure out of someone sinning, or someone falling, then there is something wrong with your relationship with God.  If you take pleasure in someone else falling into sin then you need to make things right with God.  If I am on my way to heaven then I will have a broken heart over my sins.  There are times in my life that my own sin does break my heart.  If you will live as you should live, God will get your attention sometimes.  We do mess up.  We do sin. 

 

I am glad that the person of the Holy Spirit; He lives on the inside, I am glad that I have a conscience that has been saved.  I am glad that I have a conscience that when I mess up, the Holy Spirit of God comes along and says, “Hey, Bob.  You messed up.  You need to repent.”  I'm glad that He does me that way.  A lot of times I know that I've messed up when I do it and you do too.  There are some things that we do sometimes that we don't know.  I've said things before that has offended people.  I didn't know it at the time, but the Lord come along and showed me.  I may have said something in a joking way, but it hurt someone's feelings.  I am not too proud to tell people, “I'm sorry.”  It breaks my heart sometimes on some of the stupidity that I do.  On the same level, it breaks my heart to see some of the stupid things that some of you all do. 

 

We're talking about mourning.  If it breaks my heart when I sin, it means that I am going to repent.  If my heart is broken when I sin then I am going to repent.  If I see you fall into sin, I am not going to get a club and beat you.  I know some of you think that I do sometimes, but I really don't.   It breaks my heart to see people sin. 

 

I know the result of sin is death.  I know that sin steals from us the quality of life that God wants me to have on planet earth.  He wants me to have abundant life.  He wants me to have a greater quality of life and I know that sin steals that.  That breaks my heart to see what people can be, to see what they could have spiritually, to see where they could go spiritually; yet because they sinned; it breaks my heart to see what they are missing out on. 

 

He says here, “...for they shall be comforted.”  There is going to be a day that I am not going to have to mourn any longer over my own sin or over other people's sin.  There's going to be a day that we are going to be comforted and I believe that is very near. 

 

The Bible says in verse five:

  

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

 

Do you know what the word “meek” means?  I know that we read the word “meek” and we think that the word “meek” means to be weak, but the word “meek” does NOT mean “weak.”  When you look at the life of Moses, the Bible says that Moses was a meek man.  If you will look and study the life of Moses you will know that Moses was not a push over.  He was not a weak individual. 

 

We can look at the life of Jesus, the apostle Paul and so many others; we can look at them as being meek people.  There were people here that were great people.  There were people that were “meek.”  The world “meek” means to have or to be strong. 

 

It does not mean that it gives us the right to be stubborn or bull headed.  We get those words mixed up a lot of times.  When you read it in the original, it says power that is under control. 

 

Jesus Christ, when they were pulling His beard, when they were spitting in His face, when they were taking their fists and hitting Him in the face; He could have called for twelve legions of angels and they would have come.  He could have destroyed the whole thing right then.  That's power that's under control.  That is really what the word “meek” means. 

 

Moses could have done some things that he had the power/authority to do when the children of Israel were sinning; but the ability/power that he had was under control.  In other words, he used it in the right way. 

 

As Christians we have a lot power.  We don't use it a lot of times in the right way.  To be “meek” is to take the power that you and I have and let it be used and have it under control so that it can be used for the glory of God.  You and I have a lot of power in our lives, but many times, it is out of control.  We don't use it in the right way.  We think that because we are Christians, that we can say anything that we want to or do whatever we want to do; that's power that is out of control.  That is not being “meek.”  Being strong is to have a tender and humble life.  In the Greek, it means to have a tender and humble life.  Do you fit in that definition?  Do you fit in that definition of being “meek?” 

 

Also, it brings the idea that not only is it power and control, not only is it a tender and humble life; but also we have a spirit that is teachable.  If I am “meek”, I can learn something. 

 

Many times in life, we get to the place that we think that we know it all.  We can't be taught anything when we get that way.  If you think that you know it all then God cannot teach you anything.  However, if I am “meek” then I have a spirit that God can teach me some things, I need to be taught, and you do too.

 

The next thing He says:

 

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

 

What's your desire?  What are you really seeking in life?  What are you really working toward in life?  As a true Christian not only are we going to be poor in spirit, not only are we going to mourn over our sin, not only are we going to have a spirit that is teachable, but here He says that we are going to hunger and thirst after righteousness.  That means that I am going to have a craving on the inside for righteousness; to live a right kind of life.  I'm going to have a thirst on the inside that can only be quenched by righteousness; by living right.  A child of God, a true Christian is going to hunger and thirst after that which is right.  A righteous life, a life that is pleasing to God, and a life that is right in the sight of God.  That is what I am going to be hungry for and that is what I am going to be thirsty for; if I really am a true individual.  What are you looking for? 

 

What are you really chasing today?  What are you really hungry and thirsty for?  Is it righteousness?  It is if you are saved.  It is if you are a true born again, child of God.  That's something that we can look at.  That's just as important as being poor in spirit.  That's just as important as to mourn over our sin.  It is just as important as being “meek” or have a spirit that is teachable.  Hungering and thirsting after righteousness is something that we will do.  Above everything, I want my life to be right in the sight of God.  I've got to work on it. 

 

Just as we get hungry and we eat physically, just as we get thirsty and we drink physically.  I have to work on hungering and thirsting after righteousness.  I have to put something on the inside here.  Sure, I'm saved.  We are born again by the blood.  That does not make me anymore saved but it makes my life right in the sight of God.  There are things that I don't need.  There is spiritual nourishment that I need if I'm going to grow spiritually, if I am going to be sustained spiritually then there are things that I must take in and it will satisfy the hungering and thirsting that we have after righteousness.  If we do that, the Bible says “...they shall be filled.” 

 

In verse seven:

 

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

 

 To be merciful is a good quality.  In the Greek it means to have a forgiving spirit and a compassionate heart; it's a matter of the heart.  It tells us here to have a forgiving spirit and a compassionate heart.  Merciful means that we are not critical.  We should never want to cut anyone off; we should never get to the place to say, “You can't go.”  We should never get to the place and say, “I'm better than you are.”  We should be merciful to people.  You are not any better than the drunk that is on Second Street tonight, or the drug addict that is on Second Street tonight.  The only difference between you, them and me is that if you are saved then you are on your way to heaven.  They are still yet important to God. 

 

They are still yet a human being, the soul within them is just as important as the soul that is within you.  God does not love their sin.  God hates their sin.  God loves them.  Let's don't ever think that we are better than other people.  That is something that really 'irks' me sometimes; when people want to run other people down.  Cut your tongue off.  You would be better off to do that than to run somebody else down.  You are no better than anybody else is.  You have got the same blood running through you that everybody else has.  The only difference is that the grace of God has been shed abroad toward us; we are saved.  Instead of running people down, we should be showing mercy toward people, we should be praying for people. 

 

He says “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”  That's another one of the reaping what we sow things in the scripture.  There are some things that are etched in stone in heaven and when I sow mercy, I'll reap mercy.  When I'm hard on people and I make people walk the line and people show me no mercy; it comes home.

 

The Bible says this:

 

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

 

Simply have a pure heart.  We are going to see God if we have a pure heart. 

 

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

 

If we read Ephesians chapter six, a Christian's feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.  Everywhere a Christian should go, we should take peace with us.  Everywhere we should go; there should be peace around us.  We should not be contentious people.  We should not be people that are hard to get along with.  We should not be people that always want to start a racquet/quarrel.  We should be peaceful people.  I'm not saying that we should let people run over us.  We don't go around starting fights. 

 

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

If I'm persecuted, let it be because of righteousness.  Many times, we are persecuted because of our own sin.  Jesus said that I'm spiritually happy if I'm being persecuted because of righteousness. 

 

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you , and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

 

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

 

Take these things home and examine yourself tonight.  Look at yourself in the light of these things and see where you stand. 

 

Are we merciful? 

 

Are we poor in spirit? 

 

Are we meek? 

 

Are we mourning over our sin? 

 

These are questions that we need to ask ourselves, if we will do those things, and if we need to repent; let's do some repenting.  Let's get cleaned up so that we can get started on this study and get started on the right foot. 

 

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