“God's Blessings for the Down-and-Out”
Matthew 5:1-12 August 14, 2005 Play
video
Spiritual Insurgents – Undoing the "Great Satan"
• heightened security response to suicidal terrorist
zeal
• Sermon on the Mount revolutionary call to create
new covenant community
Recognizing the Enemy: Works-righteousness & Heart-rot
• Sadducees, Pharisees: buy / earn your way to heaven
• blessing comes from obedience in OT (Lev 18:5; Dt
30:16, 28:1f; Ps 37:21f,25f)
• Job’s friends: God prospers the righteous, reap
what sow (Job 4:7f, 8:6f, 5:17, 11:14f)
• extrapolated to infer blindness result of sin (Jn
9:2)
• Pharisees do all for others to see: outside clean,
inside wicked (Mt 23:5, 27f; 2Chron 16:9)
Exploding Selfishness: the Disciple's Inner Dynamite
• 1) poor in spirit: beggars, know need God (5:3; Lk
16:20,22)
• 2) mourners paracleted: have crossed over from
death to life (5:4; 1Cor 15:57, Jn 5:24)
• 3) meek: gentle, humble, rely on God not own
strength for defence (5:5; 11:29)
• 4) hunger for righteousness: put right with God
through Jesus’ death; not works-righteousness of our own (5:6; Rom
5:10; Php 3:4ff,9; Gal 3:10,13f; Rom 10:9; Eph 2:8f)
• 5) merciful: not ‘justice’ but ‘just as’ Christ
loved us, gave self for us (5:7; Eph 4:23-5:2; Mt 6:14f)
• 6) pure in heart: clean, free from alloy, not God
and mammon, but God at home in us (5:8; 6:24; 1Jn 1:9; Jn 14:23)
• 7) peacemakers: ‘make up’ involves sacrifice, cost,
patience; Jesus the Great Peacemaker (5:9; Eph 2:14ff)
• 8) persecuted for righteousness / Jesus: like OT
prophets (5:10)
Living the Kingdom
• baseball player great despite pain, glorifies God,
wants to stay humble
• con artist - turned - pastor recognized need for
God, had everything but morally bankrupt
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