Sermon On The Mount - Kingdom Life

·         Pray

·         Matt 5:1-10

• ·          Words of Jesus have uniqueness because of who He was   

•        In many cases against or opposite way of world  (James 4:4)                                     

•              Jesus is teaching about the Kingdom of God. So they could be Kingdom people on earth

•              Jesus just beginning 2^nd year of Ministry

•              Just returning from His 2^nd Passover in ministry

 MATT 4  ²³ Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴ News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. ²⁵ Large crowds from Galilee, Decapolis,^[g] Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

• Most Jews expected the Messiah to be a political / military leader. Jesus had no intention of changing the world through politics or military might. He was here to take back the world for God with love.
•  In those times life was as cheap as it’s ever been in history. Most people (including His disciples) did not understand anything but force. Jesus instead preached – meekness, Love,  mercy, - fruits of spirit.
• Most of them did not get it (we are no different) – we want what Jesus can do for us but we don’t get WHO HE IS! HE IS RIGHTEOUSNESS, HE IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD – AND ALL THINGS HE PREACHED, HE IS OUT TO CHANGE THE WORLD THROUGH LOVE AND SERVICE THEN AND NOW!

Returning to Capernaum – preaching and teaching (what did He teach about?)

KINGDOM OF GOD AND RELEVANCE TO LIFE AND RELEVANCE OF LIFE TO KINGDOM OF GOD – THE FACT THAT THE TWO ARE INSEPARABLE but also opposite the world’s idea of life and priorities.

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           People gathering and following – traveling with Him – They expected something from Him  note: They wanted what He could do, they knew because of Jewish teachings that He might be the Messiah. They wanted to hear or be around Him for what he could do for them right now - they did not get it spiritually - they wanted what we would call "welfare". God in His compassion took this opportunity to teach – HELP them – PROCLAIM KINGDOM

Mat 5  ¹ Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, ² and he began to teach them.

The Beatitudes   He said:

·         ³ 
  “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  

•  can’t do it alone – admit and correct mistakes. Cant do it without God and the people He puts in our lives – He gets ALL the credit – GLORY - in your brokenness seek Him. - If you can fix problems yourself, you don't need God 
                                                

·         ⁴Blessed are those who mourn,
  for they will be comforted.  

• Bounce back especially when hurting (praise IN all things - not FOR all things) – remember your trust is In Him – deep compassion
  

·     
   ⁵ Blessed are the meek,         
   for they will inherit the earth.  

• Remain cool calm and collected – meekness does not mean weakness…it mean being under control. - Racehorse analogy: Race horses are awesome specimens, pound  for pound almost pure strength. Yet a rider weighing a fraction of what the horse weighs and also at fraction of the horses’ strength controls him - Strength under control

·         ⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
   for they will be filled.

•  Insisting in your personal life on being connected to God and knowing you are made right    with Him through Christ. Doing the right thing because it is the right thing to do. Showing Him to others by what you do as well as what you say.

·         ⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
   for they will be shown mercy.

• Treating others the way I want to be treated – no matter what - simple but hard to do

·         ⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
         for they will see God.  

•  Really caring because you know the Love of God and you want others to know  it to. You show them your faith by your actions. Showing and sharing you’re your faith because you care.

·         ⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
   for they will be called children of God.

•  A lifestyle of bring people together – bridge building

·         ¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
   for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  

• Choose to be joyful, by doing that, you can be happy no matter what. – Remember your Joy is in the Lord . Easier said than done. Hurt is real.Happiness and joy two different things.

God's Pursuit Of Man

·    
Gen 1 :1-3    God created heaven and earth – note The Spirit brooded over the waters – caring / salvation.  God is good…..all the time…..that’s the way God is - the model for all parents dealing with their children.

·        even before man’s existence God cared for and planned to take care of mankind to begin pursuit

·        Dictionary.com’s definition of “pursuit”

                              1. The act or an instance of chasing or pursuing.

2.  The act of striving: the pursuit of higher education.

3.  An activity, such as a vocation or hobby, engaged in regularly.

•      out of desire for fellowship and deep caring - established first a place for man and gave him everything he needed – you only pursue what you care about.

examples -

Adam / Eve – Disobedience in Garden

·        Gen 3:9  “where are you?” – among God’s first dealing’s/man – He had relationship (Gen 3:21) – walked in cool of day

• ·        When Adam disobeyed, God started relentless pursuit of mankind

                 

Dictionary.com

re·lent·less–adjective   - that does not relent; unyielding severe, strict, or harsh; unrelenting:   —Synonyms
rigid, unbending, obdurate, adamant, unyielding.

• God, without giving up – relentless – unyielding – never stops

•   Adam said “we are hiding because we are naked” – at that point (they didn’t realize it) they were spiritually as well as physically naked – without God – vulnerable.

•   Gen. 3:21 - God took care of them – made clothes for them from animal skins – already taking care of them. Begins pursuit – even though fallen state.

•   Gen. 22:7-8  Abraham knew God would provide either through his son or His Son – Abraham did not know specifically about Jesus, but knew God would reward obedience and provide one way or other.

•  Gen. 22:10-13 – Abraham / Isaac – God provided sacrifice (His compassion – He found one man faithful) – Was God bound to sac. Jesus since Abe willing to sac. Isaac? (would God be outdone – “no man is greater than his master”)

•   Took care of Noah (preserve Noah and family – as well as pursuing and preserving mankind) 

•    God takes care of man, throughout  history, in ALL dealings with mankind regardless of degree of  Love. God is Love – 1 John 4:8 – everything He does - whether it seems like it or not, is done out of love. – IT HIS NATURE!

•  rescued nation from Egypt

•  provided means for escape – Pharaoh – Red Sea

•   gave them manna, quail, water

•  Duet 30:19 told them what was good for them and then told them what to choose/do

             (life-death - choose life)….not  only physical but spiritua

• even though trip took longer than it should have God took care of them and got them there

•  Through tough love – a cycle of God punishing and man coming back and the falling away again - etc. etc. He (God) pursued (pursues) man relentlessly because of unquenchable desire to have relationship with him.

•    God made final sacrifice for us – taking care of and providing sacrifice in His Son (Him) for us – we can not be good enough or take care of ourselves.

•  How to accept His help – Rom 10:9…Eph 2:-9

• His pursuit so relentless He made it about Him rescuing us – not us rescuing us, then up to us to make final decision whether we want to be rescued or not.

• He knew and we proved time and time again He would have to do redemptive work for us.

• One final plea for us – Rev 3:20 (door of heart and knock) (pursue/knock example)

• Rev 22:13 – Alpha & Omega – 1^st and last to say about our lives –

•  Eph 1:4 foundations of earth 1^st thing to say -

•    John 3:17-18 – last thing to say JUDGED ALREADY in the sense that His decision, should we not accept Christ has already bean made.

• God does not know time – past, present and future are all the same (my opinion). So “where are you?” has same relevance today to us as it did to Adam

• He always pursues us – it’s His Nature / up to us to answer call (at the door of our hearts) –

•  Heb 11:6-7 - When we respond the circle of pursuit beginsHe rewards us with his presence

throughout the Bible God seems less interested in proving existence but more interested in showing what He is like.