Christian Home Week -- The Beauty of the Beatitudes Introduction

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Introduction of Matthew

   Matthew was one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, a tax collector when called by Christ. This gospel was written primarily to the Jews, emphasizing the supremacy of Christ to Moses.

Introduction of the Sermon on the Mount

   The Sermon on the Mount was delivered to the disciples, but heard also by the crowd, similar but different from “Sermon on the Plain” in Luke.

   A simple outline of the Sermon on the Mount is as follows:

1. The Kingdom and Blessings (Matt. 5:1-16)

2. The Kingdom and the Law (Matt. 5:17-48)

3. The Kingdom and God (Matthew 6)

4. The Kingdom and Others (Matthew 7:1-20)

5. The Kingdom’s Foundation (Matthew 7:21-27)

Introduction of the Beatitudes

As a kid, my favorite cartoon was Peanuts and good ole Charlie Brown. I had a book called “Happiness is a Warm Puppy.” If we were to put a Charles M. Schulz title to the beatitudes, it might be “Happiness is …”

The word “Beatitude” comes from the Latin word beatus which means blessed but the word is elsewhere translated as “happy,” “how fortunate,” “God blesses” (NLT), “You’re blessed” (the Message), and the amplified Bible expounds to “to be envied and spiritually prosperous…with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions.”

We could call these beatitudes the “Be Happy Attitudes.” Someone has said that they are not the “Do” Attitudes, but the “Be” Attitudes, meaning it is not what we do in the sense of legalism, but rather who we are in Christ. We should concentrate on “being,” not “doing.”

   Each beatitude builds upon the previous one, like a staircase. The first and last beatitude promise that “theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” From the moment of our salvation, the Holy Spirit within us provides for us a portion of the qualities found in each beatitude, but we must nourish and encourage each aspect to grow in our lives.

Other Beatitudes in Scripture

   Four other times in Matthew, there are pronouncements of “blessedness.” Chapter 11, verse six speaks about not being offended in Christ; Matt. 13:16 speaks on those who were able to see and hear Jesus at work, 16:17 pronounces a blessing up Peter for his proclamation of Christ as the Son of the living God, and 24:46 proclaims a blessing on those who are faithful when Christ returns.

   Luke records similar uses of “blessed” in chapter 6 and uses the word a total of 15 times in his gospel. John’s two beatitudes include the famous rebuke of Thomas’ doubting when Jesus says “blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believe.”

   Romans and James also have some beatitudes, and Peter echoes Jesus’ beatitudes in respect to suffering and facing reproach in 1 Peter 3:14 and 4:14. King James there translates makarios or makarios as “Happy” rather than “blessed.” And in typical numerical fashion, the Apostle John records precisely seven beatitudes in Revelation.

   The practice of issuing blessed promises goes back as far as the Old Testament, most notably Psalm 1:  “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night”

    A beatitude can be traced back to the first occurrence in Scripture, found in Deut. 33:29, “Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will trample down their high places.”

   As you study these blessed promises this week, look for blessings and sources of happiness in keeping God’s word and these “Be Happy Attitudes”. As Pharrell Williams might sing, clap along if you feel a beatitude is for you.

A heart the won't melt away

    The following is second part of a study on Caleb's Following God Fully found in Joshua chapter 14. Not only should you have a reverent remembrance of what God has done and what God DESIRES, ask yourself, do I have a ...

    Half-hearted fear or whole-hearted following (7b-8)

     Notice what Caleb said in Josh 14:7, “and I brought back word to him as it was in my heart. Nevertheless my brethren  who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, but I wholly followed the LORD my God.”

    Did you know that fully following the Lord will help your heart? Not talking your physical heart but the heart you need to follow him. The word used here for melt means to turn to water. Deuteronomy 1 recalls we read earlier in Numbers 13.

     Read the following from Deut. 1:20-39. In his book Battle-Ready, author Steve Farrar points out that the ten “not able” spies and the two “notable” spies earlier were commanded by God and instructed by Moses to go into the promised land not to see whether they could take the land, but HOW they could take the land.

        ²⁰ Then I said to you, “You have reached the hill country of the Amorites, which the LORD our God is giving us. ²¹ See, the LORD your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your ancestors, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”  ²²Then all of you came to me and said, “Let us send men ahead to spy out the land for us and bring back a report about the route we are to take and the towns we will come to.”…

     …²⁶But you were unwilling to go up; you rebelled against the command of the LORD your God. ²⁷You grumbled in your tents and said, “The LORD hates us; so he brought us out of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us. ²⁸Where can we go? Our brothers have made our hearts melt in fear. They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky. We even saw the Anakites there.’ ” ²⁹Then I said to you, “Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. ³⁰The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes,”… ³² In spite of this, you did not trust in the LORD your God, ³⁴ When the LORD heard what you said, he was angry and solemnly swore: ³⁵“No one from this evil generation shall see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, ³⁶ except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.” … ³⁸ But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it.

     The ten “not able” spies not only didn’t believe God and didn’t obey God, not only did they forget what God had done and what God desired. Because they talked about what they were not able to do rather than God WAS ABLE to do, the heart of the people melted.

     But listen to this: 40 years later, two more spies went into the promised land, to the house of the harlot Rahab. Listen to what she said. Joshua 2:10-11 “For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.”

     For 40 years, the people of Jericho and the inhabitants of the land which God had ordained and prepared for the people of Israel had melted hearts! Everything that happened in Joshua could have happened 40 years earlier under the rule of Moses if only the people would have trusted God with all their hearts.

     What is it that God has given to you that fear and faithlessness is keeping you from obtaining?  Fully following God begins with a reverent remembrance of what God has done and what God desires, and it will give you a heart that won’t melt away when times of testing come. And as we will see, fully following God will give you a Lasting LEGACY.

Do you have a reverent remembrance of what God has done and desires?

     You remember what Joshua and Caleb were famous for, right? Of course, you do. Moses had sent out 12 spies into the promised land to help prepare for battle. The story is found in Numbers 13, but 45 years later in Joshua 14, Caleb reminds Joshua what happened in Kadesh Barnea. Not that Joshua could have ever forgotten that...as a result of the events that transpired, the people of Israel wandered in the desert for 40 years. 

    Remember What He has done. Caleb didn’t have to remind Joshua.  But it is important that we remember what God has done for us. It is wonderful and marvelous that God chooses not to call into remembrance our bad, but it is a terrible shame if we do not call into remembrance God’s good works. Moses sent the twelve spies into the land from Kadesh Barnea but only two brought a good report.

    The story is found in Numbers 13. 

¹ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them.”

³ So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the LORD, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. ⁴ Now these were their names: from the tribe of Reuben, Shammua the son of Zaccur; ⁵ from the tribe of Simeon, Shaphat the son of Hori; ⁶ from the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; ⁷ from the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph; ⁸ from the tribe of Ephraim, Hoshea[fn] the son of Nun; ⁹ from the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Raphu; ¹⁰ from the tribe of Zebulun, Gaddiel the son of Sodi; ¹¹ from the tribe of Joseph, that is, from the tribe of Manasseh, Gaddi the son of Susi; ¹² from the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli; ¹³ from the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael; ¹⁴ from the tribe of Naphtali, Nahbi the son of Vophsi; ¹⁵ from the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

¹⁶ These are the names of the men whom Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun, Joshua.

    The reason for the spies to go out was not to determine whether they could take the land. God already made that decision. The passage says clearly that God was giving it to them. That was why they had been delivered from Egypt in the first place! God wanted to restore them to the Holy Land.

    Has God been good to you? Do you call it into your remembrance, as Caleb did to Joshua 45 years later. There is a reason we celebrate the Lord's Supper in the church. There is a reason we have Memorial Day for those who have fallen in service of our country. God wants us to remember the good things of the past so that we can take courage for the future.

    Remember What He desires. If we are to fully follow God, we have to remember what God has called us for. You have a purpose for being here on earth. You have a mission. Moses had sent out the spies to “see what the land is like: whether the people who dwell in it are strong or weak, few or many; whether the land they dwell in is good or bad; whether the cities they inhabit are like camps or strongholds; whether the land is rich or poor; and whether there are forests there or not. Be of good courage. And bring some of the fruit of the land.”

    Nowhere was their mission to see whether they could take the land. Their job description did not say, “Go see if God knows what He is talking about.” Their mission as spies were to spy the land for the battle that was about to come.

    You know the story. Ten came back with a bad report. A report that made the people’s heart melt. Write down three words. 

Word # 1 “NOTABLE.” 

#2 “NOT” 

#3 “Able.”

    If you know someone named “Joshua” or “Caleb”, think about them and how “notable the names are based on this Bible story. Then ask yourself if you have ever met anyone named for the 10 spies who said they were “not able”. (It's okay to glance back at the passage above if you don't remember them...you probably read right past them.)

    Moses, for some reason, recorded the names of the other ten. Do you want to be notable like Caleb and Joshua. Or do you want to be in group of 10 spies who said “We’re NOT ABLE. We’re NOT ABLE to do what God has called us to do.”

    Let us all have a reverent remembrance of what has done in the past so that we can do what He desires in the future. 

Go. GO! Go to God's Roman Road

The Gospel means “good message” and Christianity has reasons to be positive in a very negative world. Another word for Gospel is Evangelism and look at the center of evANGELism. An angel is a messenger and when the angel brought “good tidings of great joy” to world in Luke 2:10, the message was “to all people”.

We live in a negative world. But the gospel is a positive message and we need to share that good message to all people.

God’s Plan. Isn’t it great that God has a good plan? His plan, the gospel, is not something to be ashamed of. Romans 1:16 says “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God for salvation.”

Our Problem. The very reason we became a Christian in the first place was because of a bad “message”: we are all sinners and imperfect and in need of forgiveness. The “ABCs” of evangelism begins with “Admit we have all sinned” (Romans 3:23). Sometimes we, the church, get in the way of the “good message.” But we, the church, are not the only ones who have sinned and we need to communicate to the world that they too have a problem with not being perfect.

God’s Provision. God didn’t wait for us to get perfect. Romans 5:8 says that even though we were sinners Christ died for us. So God’s plan was to solve our problem with His providing the solution through salvation. Rom. 6:23 says the cost of our sin is death, but there’s a free gift: salvation. You don’t earn it. You don’t deserve it. You simply receive it.

Our Prayer. How do we receive a free gift? We must “leave” in order to “receive.” If you are going in the wrong direction, you must leave that direction and turn to the right destination. Romans 10:9-10 and 13 states you need to call on God from an inner conviction that leads to an outer and life-long confession. The Biblical word for leaving a sinful direction and receiving a salvation destination is “repentance.”

My family was south of San Antonio once and we exited (okay, I exited) Loop 410 to head for Padre Island. However, my direction was just a little off and we actually headed for Laredo. (If you don’t know, there is a BIG difference in Laredo and Padre Island!) The only benefit from that diversion is an illustration that even being a little off in our direction can take us to a very different destination.

This simple Roman Road presentation has a four-point outline: “Go. GO!”. Jesus commissioned us to go share this good message (Matt. 28:19-20) and the double “Go. GO!” indicates the urgency we must have to Go. So GO!

The scandal of Christ's Words

The Stumbling

“Does this offend you?”

Jesus asked the disciples when they were murmuring and complaining about some of the hard words He had spoken and they didn’t understand.

Do some parts of the Bible that are hard to understand “make you stumble” (John 6:61 NASB, ASV)? The Greek word for offend or stumble is the same word from whence we get the English word “scandal”.

Maybe it’s not the difficult to understand parts of the Bible, but rather the parts that you DO understand that offend you. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) said, “Some people are troubled by the things in the Bible they can’t understand. The things that trouble me are the things I can understand.” (Watertown Daily Times, 1915)

The Ascension

Flash forward, several decades from when Jesus said, “Do my words offend you”. The Apostle John, now an aged man after hearing this as a young disciple, was exiled to the island of Patmos. An angel with a voice like a trumpet came from heaven and said, “Come up here!”

Immediately, the old apostle was ushered up into heaven to the very throne room of God, standing before God the Father and Jesus the Son.

That word, “Come up here” (anabaino in the Greek) was also used again in Revelation when two prophets in the end times were raised from the dead after three and a half days. “And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them” (Rev. 11:12).

What is significant about “anabaino”? After Jesus said, “Does this offend you?” He immediately asked a second question.

The Seeing

Look at how Jesus follows up His question in John 6.  “Does this offend you? What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend (Greek: anabaino) where He was before?” (John 6:61b-62)

After the resurrection of Christ, the disciples saw Jesus ascend to heaven in the clouds. One day, we also will anabaino to heaven. On that day, which will matter most? To be offended by the hard words and commands of Christ. Or to offend Him by our disobedience and lack of faith?

The word of God may be offensive to the world, but not to the believers. Jesus said, “Blessed is he who is not offended because of Me” (Matthew 11:6, Luke 7:23).

The very words that may originally cause you to be offended or stumble are given to keep you strong, especially in times of hardship. “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble (skandalizo). They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.”  (John 16:1-2)

Don't be offended, or stumble or even be scandalized by the hard teachings of God's Word. One day, we will ascend up to heaven, just as He ascended, and the entire world will stand before Him. Those who were offended by Him will be eternally ashamed. Those who were not offended will be eternally blessed.