Have A Blessed Attitude

Have A Blessed Attitude
Matthew 5:1-12
May 23, 2024

     Jesus had gone into the desert for 40 days and was fasting. At the end he was tempted by the enemy. A great picture for us because Jesus, as our representative, is such an encouragement.

     Jesus began His ministry in the area of the Sea of Galilee. He settled in the city of Capernaum.

     The first message that Jesus preached was, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Repent of course is a very important thing for that is what Jesus came to do, to turn people around, they were going in the wrong direction. 

     One of the things that we saw as Jesus began His ministry were tremendous miracles. Jesus was healing the sick, the blind, the lame. He was a demonstration of God’s power and it should remind us of the history of Israel. The period of time of Elisha and Elijah, who were doing their miracles.

     It was Israel’s darkest time. They were going after the idols, they were going after the world, they were going the wrong direction. Idols that had no power, idols that had no significance. So, God sent his prophets that did awesome miracles. What was His purpose? To demonstrate that God was the God of Israel and that the gods they were chasing were nothing.

     The Sermon on the Mount. God Himself is speaking to His people. Jesus gathered great multitudes. They followed after Him because of the power of the miracles that He did. They were amazed at His power, but then when he began to teach, the writer says they were amazed at His teaching. He is telling them the heart that God wants to see in them and that is the same right now, the heart He wants to see from you and I.

     Chapter 5:1 tells us when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain and after He sat down His disciples came to Him and He began to teach them.

     The word disciples means learner. If you are a disciple of someone, you are learning from them. We are disciples of Jesus Christ. We are learners. It requires a teachability and that’s what we want to see in the church. There are those who hear, but then there are those who listen. There are those who want to learn, they’re hungry to grow, they’re hungry to grasp the things that are very important for the transformation that God wants to do.

I. Pursue Godly Blessings

Chapter 5 called the Beatitudes. Be-attitudes are very powerful attitudes of the heart that God wants us to have. Blessings that come from the transformation of the heart. And it starts out with the word, “Blessed”.

Many people believe that the word blessed means happy, but I think it means much more than that. I think the best definition includes the favor of the Lord and the fullness of joy.

• If you are in Christ, there are blessings that are yours, but there are other blessings that come because you believe you’ve been transformed.

Our Declaration of Independence…

The problem is that people are pursuing happiness in the wrong things. Many people believe it’s kind of a common thought that happiness is found in the things that you have.

People pursue the American dream just to have the expected fulfillment of that happiness. The problem is that it’s not true. True happiness is not found in what you have. This is the point that Jesus is making here. True happiness is found in who you are. It’s found in the transformation that God brings.

Jesus came to change us, to transform us, to be more like Himself. He shows us how God wants a man or woman to be by becoming like Him, His heart, His attitude. These reflect His heart and by becoming like Him, then we are truly blessed. We are then finding the favor of God and the fullness of joy.

A. Blessed are the poor in spirit

Now he’s not referring to how much money or possessions you have. He is referring of course to a spiritual attitude.

James 1:9-10, But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position; and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.

You may have much in regards to possessions and money or whatever, but you can still be poor in spirit.

• Blessed are we when we have such a humble attitude before God.
• You should recognize being poor in spirit has the favor of God.
• It’s referring to an understanding that when it comes to our relationship to God, we have no spiritual power without Him.
• We come completely humble before Him and recognizing that without His grace, without His mercy, we have nothing and that is being poor in spirit. The fullness of joy comes because of it.

Humility is actually very freeing. You’re free not to have to prove that you’re better than others around you. Isn’t that what pride is?

Pride is the thought, the understanding that someone is better than others.

We’re all imperfect. The attitude of pride makes life difficult because you’re always under pressure. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

B. Blessed are those who mourn

The favor of the Lord and the fullness of joy comes to those who mourn. It’s similar to being poor in spirit, but it’s a mourning that is very important. It’s a mourning over our broken condition. You’re turning to the Lord where the blessing comes from, when we assess our lives in the reality of the way God sees it.

Isaiah 61:1-4

What’s interesting is that these verses are the very ones that Jesus quoted when He began in the city of Nazareth, His hometown. He had gone there and the scriptural reading for the day was Isaiah 61 and he picked it up and read it and then He said, these words are fulfilled this very day and they rejected Him.

What do you mean, broken hearted? It means if there is a honest assessment, then we say, God there’s a broken heartedness in it. He says He sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives, freedom to prisoners, to proclaim the favor of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God. An honest assessment is required; to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning.

• He says He will give to you the mantle of praise, He will return to you the blessing, the blessing of God, the favor of God is on it so they will be called Oaks of Righteousness, like a strong tree with deep roots.

2 Corinthian 7:10, For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.

That is such an important insight, sorrow talks of mourning according to the will of God. A sorrow that’s good produces a repentance when we turn away from those things. A repentance without regret.

• There’s a sorrow of the world which produces death; the sorry, got caught, kind of sorrow.

C. Blessed are the meek

Blessed are the gentle. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. We need to understand that meekness is not weakness. In fact it is the opposite, meekness is strength or power that’s under control. Jesus was meek. A lot of power resided in Him. Meekness is power. This is the attitude that God wants us to have. I want you to have this heart for the favor of God and the fullness of joy is in it.

Matthew 11: 28-30, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

One who is meek is gentle and is not easily provoked.

1 Corinthians 13:5, (love) does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

1 Corinthians 13 is the instruction and blessings for relationships and couples.  God gave it to us as a roadmap in our marriages, yet many marriages struggle with these very things.  They struggle because ultimately they do not want to be obedient to God.

Can you imagine the relationships that we would have? Can you imagine the favor of God and the fullness of joy in it? That’s what He tells us. Love is not easily provoked and does not keep an account of wrongs suffered. Our relationships would thrive.

Illustration – While on our travels, we watched our granddaughter training on a horse…

There’s a beautiful description of what God wants us to understand. We live in an angry and aggressive world right now. God is saying don’t you be part of it, don’t live that way.

• Blessed are the meek. The favor of the Lord and the fullness of joy is in it, for you will inherit the earth.

Matthew 6:33, seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.

II. Hunger For These Blessings

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

A. Hunger and thirst for righteousness

We all understand hunger and thirst, but we live in a society of tremendous abundance. So most Americans don’t really fully understand the power of that. Hunger is a powerful drive. But in that day they understood.

Psalm 42:1,2, As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and appear before God?

You hunger and thirst for that which is right and good and godly and there’s a real satisfying that comes in the soul because of that. But if you go after the things of the world, it’s like drinking salt water, which does not satisfy you.

Jesus said, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be satisfied. Pure water, whole fresh water will satisfy the stuff of the world. There is a kind of depression that comes with the stuff of the world, but the things of God bring life.

John 10:10, The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. At the end of that road is death, but Jesus said, I’ve come that you may have life and be satisfied.

B. Blessed are the merciful

God says I want you to be merciful in your relationships. Because the favor of God and the fullness of joy comes from it. God sees to it that when you are merciful to others, you will receive mercy. This is one of God’s principles. This is God’s truth and God will see to it that you are blessed because of that.

Luke 6:38, Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return

God is saying through Jesus that we need to give grace and forgiveness, we need to give kindness, we need to give people the benefit of the doubt.

Happiness does not come from what you have. Happiness comes from what you are. The favor of the Lord is not in bitterness, the joy of the Lord is not in holding back forgiveness. 

Fullness of joy comes from who you are and God is transforming us with these words and calling us and reminding us we need to be merciful. You will receive mercy. God will see to it that you do. It will come back to you in great measure.

C. Blessed are the peacemakers

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God. God is into peace, He is the Prince of peace. There is a tremendous understanding here of what He’s called us to do. God does not want us to have a heart of contention. The favor of God is not on being contentious. Nor is the fullness of joy.

Romans 12:18,  If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

2 Timothy 2:24, The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,