Please turn with me this morning to Matthew 5. Matthew 5 as we read together the first 12 verses, the opening portion of our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. A well-known section that we call the Beatitudes. We're going to consider these Beatitudes in a general way this morning before we take the time to look at them, Lord willing, one by one. Beginning at verse 1, as we hear now the Word of God. Now when He saw the crowds, He went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him, and He began to teach them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. May God add his blessing to his word this morning. O beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, happiness is indeed a great desire of mankind. I trust that we would all agree about that. I think it's safe to say that if you were to take a poll of 100, 500, 1,000, however many people and ask them, is being happy important to you? I suspect that they and all of us here together would say, yes, everybody wants to be happy. Yet if you were to also ask the very same people whom you've polled, if you were to ask them, well, then how do you become happy? what makes you happy, you would probably get a very, very wide variety of answers. And most of those answers would reflect the things of this life which give temporary happiness, which give fleeting happiness, happiness that is here today, it's gone tomorrow, it simply doesn't last. Because we know that there are many things in this life that promise us so much blessing and so much happiness, but they supply nothing. they're like a mirage out in the desert. It looks beautiful as you see it way out there, but once you get there, it doesn't exist. It's nothing but dusty sand. And indeed, that's the deceitfulness of sin, isn't it? Sin offers all kinds of happiness. It always does. You know that. But it always, always, always leads to unhappiness and misery. But Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount that there is a source of true and lasting happiness. The psalmist in Psalm 144, verse 15, I believe, I believe Jesus in a sense is summarizing that in these Beatitudes. the psalmist says blessed are the people of whom this is true blessed are the people whose god is the lord see true and lasting happiness beloved is found only in the blessing of god only in in being his belonging to him and that blessing is found only into the kingdom of heaven which we said a couple of weeks ago is to be understood as the realm of christ's reign and rule in the life of those he saves the realm of christ's reign and rule and the life of those he saves who then submit and embrace in gladness and in confidence to the the rule of the kingdom's king we mentioned in the sermon on the mount that jesus teaches what life in his kingdom under his rule is to be like and he describes first of all in the first section in these Beatitudes, he describes kingdom character. He describes what the Christian heart is like. And then he follows that up by talking about kingdom conduct. Conduct that flows from character. Conduct that is a response to the blessing of God. And in the Beatitudes, which this morning I said we want to consider generally and broadly before we consider them specifically with these Beatitudes, we notice that Christ declares kingdom blessedness. There is a blessedness to this kingdom. He declares kingdom blessedness, first of all, with its surprising focus, secondly, with its gracious application, and then finally, with its glorious promise. But first, Christ declares kingdom blessedness with its surprising focus. Now, no doubt many of those who were listening on that day were somewhat spellbound, maybe even taken aback a little bit by the opening sentences of Christ's sermon. The things that he was saying, no doubt, were somewhat unbelievable. They were hard to imagine. Surprising as the people would understand the meaning of blessed, surprising as they would be taught about the character of the blessed, and then especially surprising as it would be contrasted with what is perceived, what is considered to be real among mankind. But first of all, surprising as we notice the meaning of blessed. Now, each beatitude, as we will consider, has three parts. It's clear to see, I think. First of all, there is the declaration of blessedness, as if Jesus says, oh, the blessedness of. And the second part is the description of those to whom the blessing applies, a description of their character. And then the third part is the statement of the content, we might say, of the blessing of the blessed. Now, with regard to this word blessed, some translate it as happy, fortunate. If you look in the Greek tools, it'll say blessed. The Greek word is blessed, happy, fortunate. But I think we need to be a little bit careful there because happy may not be the best way to understand it, especially for us because of how we think of happy. For us, happy is very simply an emotion that arises based on how you feel about something. But here we need to understand that this is more than just the emotion of being happy. It's much broader than that. We are, to understand, blessed in this way, that it's talking about the spiritual well-being of having the approval and the favor of God. It's talking about being approved, but finding approval, finding favor, a spiritual well-being of having the approval, the favor of God, which results then in the utmost happiness and joy. Blessed. There is no higher blessing, beloved, than to be approved by God, to have His favor. His is the favor and the approval that we are to desire, that we are to seek most. Blessed. And then Jesus talks about the character of the blessed. Who are the blessed? Those blessed, those favored, those approved, Jesus says, are the poor in spirit. those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, peacemakers, the persecuted. Those are the ones whom Jesus calls blessed. But now we need to understand that the favor and the approval of God that is contained in the word blessed is not because one has taken on this character. This approval of God is not earned by having and demonstrating these things. This character is evidence of God's blessing and approval. It's not the path to getting it. Jesus is talking about covenantal blessedness here. We know the opposite of blessing is curse. And blessing and curse are two words that are intimately connected, associated with God's covenant with His people. Moses makes that clear in Deuteronomy. He points out clearly, specifically, blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. This blessedness that Jesus is talking about is the blessing of God's covenant of grace. This kingdom character that he describes is the result of God's blessing in Jesus Christ, the King of the kingdom. It is the result of one's relationship with Him by faith. This blessedness is a saving relationship with Jesus Christ evidenced by this kingdom character. Beloved, those who are brought to see by the Holy Spirit, those who are brought to see the truth of their need because of sin, the truth of themselves before God, their weakness, their emptiness, their ugliness, their inability, their unworthiness, those who are brought to see the truth of their need because of sin and who respond by faith to the saving mercy and work of Jesus Christ, which results in this kingdom character, which is the fruit of that new life in Christ, these enjoy the blessing, the happiness, the approval, the favor of God because of Jesus Christ. This kingdom character that Jesus is talking about is a matter of the heart. It's a matter of the heart transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. And this indeed is a surprising focus when it is contrasted with the perceived, that which the world perceives. That which mankind believes to be real. These Beatitudes are a paradox, aren't they? They seem like a contradiction. They're not a contradiction as we hope to see, but they seem like a contradiction to so many. Really? The poor in spirit? Those who mourn? The meek? Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart. These are those who are blessed? It seems like a contradiction to so many, especially to the Pharisees. We can only imagine how the Pharisees may have responded to these opening sentences of Christ's sermon. Well, how could people like those that you were describing, how could they be favored by God? They're good for nothing. Those kind of people have nothing to offer you. well the pharisees we know were motivated boys and girls they were motivated by externalism externally outside keeping the law of god which they had expanded to countless demands i suppose with countless demands it gave them a better opportunity to keep a greater percentage of them at least outwardly but to them this externalism this external obedience this is what earns the favor it earns approval with god but these that you're describing jesus well these can barely stand on their own two feet. How can they be blessed? We know that in other places, Jesus challenges the externalism of the Pharisees. He calls them whitewashed sepulchres, whitewashed tombs, graves. The headstone, the grave stone is nice and polished. It looks beautiful. But inside they're dead. He says they're more concerned about keeping the outside of the cup, The outside of their lives, squeaky clean and shiny, while the inside they didn't care about. It's ugly, it's gross, it's disgusting. The Pharisees' character, we know, was far from the humility of the Beatitudes, but instead it was arrogance and pride. But they were not the only ones to whom the Beatitudes would seem like a contradiction to the world at large. Because Jesus' words here are a reversal of how man evaluates things, how man evaluates a particular situation based on what he sees. Someone has said, left to ourselves, our natural beatitudes would go something like this. Blessed are the rich, for they have it all and have it all now. Blessed are the happy, for they are content with themselves and don't need others. Blessed are the arrogant, for people defer to them. Blessed are those who fight for the good things in life, for they will get them. Blessed are the sophisticated, for they will have a good time. And I suppose we could think this through and add all kinds of examples to this. Yet Jesus is saying here, it's not the rich, it's not the well-fed, it's not the unoppressed, it's not the self-confident who are considered well-off and happy. Those things are not necessarily evidence of God's approval and favor. But Jesus says the very opposite. The very opposite of what the world sees and believes. Or the blessed. Beloved, for our self-examination to which we have been called, we are called to look at our lives, to actually do an examination. I'm not very good at this. I'm not sure about you, but I tend to forget until maybe even next Sunday morning again, even when I have to administer the sacrament, I've put the examination out of my mind. We are to think this through. Every day, not just on this week, but in a particular way, we are called to examine ourselves, to do a heart check, to look at our lives and ask some of the tough questions, to ask, what is most important to me? To ask, where do I place my trust? To ask, how do I define true blessing? To ask myself, whose approval and favor is most important to me? To do that examination by the power of the Holy Spirit. He'll bless that. He'll lead us in that. Only then to be reminded that true blessedness is found only in a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. that relationship of faith by which then the Holy Spirit helps us to put the rest of life in proper perspective. In Him, in Christ, we enjoy kingdom blessedness in the second place with its gracious application. You see, when we talk about this kingdom character, these things that our Lord lists, none of these kingdom characteristics, these virtues, we might say, come natural to you and me. They don't come natural. We don't come by them naturally. By nature, it's the very opposite. By nature, sin makes us arrogant. It makes us conceited and proud and selfish. It makes us merciless. It makes us troublemakers. It makes us persecutors. But the Holy Spirit, through new birth and through the cleansing work of sanctification, making one more and more like Christ, brings an amazing transformation to God's people. You see, beloved, it is gospel power. Gospel power is able to take the proudest man by nature and make him poor in spirit so that this kingdom character identifies believers by the grace of God. This kingdom character identifies believers. In a sense, God shows them off. It's clear that those whom Jesus calls blessed are kingdom citizens. And the Beatitudes found in verses 3 and 10, some consider them to be the first and the last, the application there is theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That kingdom, as we said, where Christ's rule and reign is found and where kingdom citizens submit willingly and gladly to the rule and reign of the kingdom's king. And therefore, Jesus is talking in all of these about believers. And he is saying that these kingdom characteristics belong to all Christians. All believers have this character, whether young or old. Whether new to the faith or whether quite mature in the faith. All, as Paul makes clear in his introductions in many epistles, are saints. To the saints in Ephesus, to the saints in Corinth. All believers. Christians may have many differences. We may have many different strengths and weaknesses from each other. We may have different tasks to which God has called us in life and even in His church, but all share the same family likeness because of the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. All those who are favored by God for Jesus' sake are marked by these hallmarks of kingdom life. and all Christians have all of these kingdom characteristics. It's not that some have this and some have that. It's not that, well, you might be poor in spirit, but you don't mourn, and you mourn and are meek, but you're not poor in spirit. That's not at all what Jesus is saying. Jesus is not explaining different classes of Christians here. It's like the fruit of the Spirit. It's not the fruits of the Spirit. It's the fruit of the Spirit, which includes love, joy, peace, patience, kindness. Those who have the fruit of the Spirit, all believers, have all of those things contained in it. All Christians have all of these kingdom characteristics. Every Christian has every characteristic all the time. Not that they are all manifested in equal manner all the time. We know that that's the case because we still struggle with sin. But all are there in some measure. And if we notice Christ's listing of the Beatitudes, there is a sort of a progression. Some of them may seem to overlap, but there is a sort of a progression following the path of the new life. Each character implies the next one. For example, you cannot be poor in spirit without mourning. You cannot be poor in spirit and mourn without being meek. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be merciful. And ultimately, those in whom this character is real and visible, They will be persecuted. Yet in the application of kingdom blessedness, the kingdom character not only identifies believers, but it also then, and I think this naturally flows from this, it also then distinguishes believers from unbelievers. God sets His people apart. Visibly. Jesus is speaking here about the difference between the Christian and the non-Christian. And that difference is seen in many ways, but it is seen, for example, in what they admire. The Christian admires and rejoices with one who demonstrates, through kingdom character, demonstrates a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. What a reason to rejoice. That's what causes believers to rejoice, but not the world. The world laughs at believers. The world despises the believers. The world looks at you and me as Christians who have this conduct. They think we're weaklings. They think, what a sorry excuse for mankind. They see those who will never enjoy the true blessings of life. The world believes in self-confidence, not being poor in spirit. And we can see all around us the world's choices for people, can't we? Every year somehow we hear in the news and the tabloids of the most richest people or the most famous or the most attractive. You see, the world is attracted to a certain kind of people. The arrogant. Those who can help me achieve all I ever wanted in life. Those are the ones who seem to have courage. Who aren't afraid of anything. But the difference between believers and unbelievers is also seen in what they seek. The world, unlike believers, hungers and thirsts for wealth and power and status and position and publicity. While righteousness, being right with God, only stands in the way of those things. But the believer, by the grace of God, hungers and thirsts for righteousness. And the difference is seen in what they do. The unbeliever lives for this world, this world alone, and what he can get out of it without any thought to the world to come. But the Christian, again, by the illumination of the Spirit, sees this world and life as a gift from God. He sees it for the preparation of the life to come. He sees it as one who has been delivered from the darkness of sin and brought into the wonderful light of God, as Peter says. And therefore the child of God lives to show forth the praises of God. Indeed, we are called to examine ourselves, aren't we? And the Lord willing, as we study each of these Beatitudes together and this Christian conduct, indeed it will be an examination, I trust, for each one of us. These Beatitudes, beloved, call us who are in Christ. They call us to be like Christ. Who displayed this conduct perfectly. We are called to reflect His love. We are called to reflect the joy of our salvation. That means it's to be seen. It means as well that we are to be entirely different, different from the world of unbelievers, boys and girls, young people. We are different. We have many things in common with unbelievers. There's no doubt about that. We are in the world. We live among them. We work side by side with them. we have them as neighbors there's so much in common yet there is that major difference the difference of the heart and therefore as we watch and observe the world and our neighbors and maybe even be attracted by the things that they do and the way that they talk and their whole lifestyle we are called to to be discerning and examine that with the word of god and ultimately we are not to strive to be as much like the world as possible as we are sometimes tempted to do instead we are called to strive to be as different from the world as possible and instead as much like christ as possible because those in the kingdom of heaven are completely different than those outside all because we are blessed by God for Jesus sake and because kingdom the kingdom citizen as a new nature highlighted with that kingdom character that can't help but to be visible it can't help but to be demonstrated and then finally kingdom blessedness comes with its glorious promise very briefly that glorious promise beloved simply is The fullness of life found only in and given by God for Jesus' sake. And that fullness of life, that fullness of kingdom life, that fullness of that blessedness is seen in the contents of the blessing as Jesus says. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. They shall be comforted. They shall inherit the earth. They shall be filled. They will be shown mercy. They will see God. They are called sons of God. That's the fullness of that blessedness. That's the fullness of life in His kingdom. And that's ours already. We are blessed, beloved. In Christ Jesus, we are blessed. Jesus is not saying, you will be blessed, you will be favored, you will be approved. No, you are. So that no matter how despised and rejected by the world the believer might be, the kingdom citizen already enjoys God's favor. He already enjoys the glory and the Spirit of God resting on him by which the child of God can proclaim this blessedness with the words, The joy of the Lord is my strength. It's ours already. But also not yet. We are still to enjoy the fullness of God's blessing, unhindered and free from all the effects of sin, from all the attacks of the devil, one day when Jesus Christ comes again and puts his enemies away forever and brings his people into his glorious heaven. Dear people of God, Christ's declaration of kingdom blessedness promises hope for all, all who look to him in faith, even the least in the kingdom, even the most sinful of sinners. All those who repent of their sins who are humbled in the sight of the Lord and find their hope alone in Him that for them, there is the blessedness of the kingdom. Christ's declaration of kingdom blessedness is an invitation of souls to Himself whom He makes to be kingdom citizens. That is the gospel. That is the message that we are called to preach and to share with the world. That's the message that we hope to celebrate in a particular way during this coming week with family times. And that kingdom blessedness God has shown us visibly in the table of the Lord. You see, that table of the Lord is for kingdom citizens and only kingdom citizens. That's a part of that kingdom blessedness for you and me today. It's a table of promise. The promise of comfort, the promise of inheritance, the promise of being filled, the promise of mercy. That table is a picture of the work of God in Jesus Christ. What is Christ's declaration of kingdom blessedness? Indeed, blessed are the people whose God is the Lord. That's joy. That's happiness. Forever. Amen. Let's pray together. Dear Father, God Almighty, we thank You and praise You for Your love and care so deep for Your people that You instruct us throughout this life and teach us how You would have us to represent You in this world we do thank you Lord for a saving relationship with Jesus Christ help us Father never to take that for granted but to delight in it and indeed to be conduit to the world through which your love and the light of your truth might flow we thank you for your kingdom. We thank you for your blessings. Lead us and guide us as your children until you bring us safely into your heavenly home forever and ever. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake and in his name. Amen.