The Beatitudes

Great. We're gonna have our bible reading now. Before we read tonight's passage from Matthew, we're gonna read an old testament passage first. And that is Psalm 119 versus 1 to 8. And then we're going to read from Matthew 5.

So Psalm 119 verse 1. Bless are those whose ways are blameless. Who walk according to the law of the lord. Bless are those who keep his statutes, and seek him with all their heart. They do no wrong, but follow his ways.

You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. Oh, that my ways was steadfast in obeying your decrees. Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands. I will praise you with an upright heart. As I learn your righteous laws.

I will obey your decrees. Do not utterly forsake me. And then turning to Matthew chapter 5, I'm gonna read the first 6 verses. Now, when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him and he began to teach them.

He said, bless all the poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Bless are the meek for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Father God, we, again, we thank you. You're gonna speak to us now. And so we pray that you would give us ears to hear. Lord, we pray for our brother, Rory, thank you for him. Thank you for the work he's put into this and for the prayer and lord, for having you speak to him first.

And lord, we ask that as he comes and as he opens up the Bible and preaches that you would help us to listen as if you were speaking to us because you are. And so, lord, please give us your spirit to understand and lord as we were reading to obey and to look to Jesus, who is our righteousness. In his name you pray, Armin? Thanks, Dean. So as has been said, we've been working our way through these beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5.

And I thought just before we actually got into verse 6, I thought it was worth noting that actually the beatitudes are really all about how we should live as kingdom people. So the beatitudes are all about Christians. It's what the Christians should live like. So they're saved to put on these attitude and to act in this way and to have a heart that reflects the things in Matthew chapter 5 and verse 1 to 12. And so with that in mind, that means that, I think Tom said, this is a whole package deal.

So you can't just pick and choose 1 or the other, Actually, the whole lot of them should be the marks of your life, and it should be the the strivings of us as Christians, to live like this. And so that's what we wanna see as we as we go through these these beatitudes, So that's my there's my introduction to my introduction. It's a classic preacher trick. So it hasn't started yet. You can't count it.

So with that amount, I wanted to just start in Ecclesiastes and chapter 3 with verse 11 others. What are you hungry for? Cllesiastes chapter 3 in verse 11 says this. He has made everything beautiful in its time, and then he says this. He has also set eternity in the human heart, yet no 1 can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

That's amazing verse there that really sets out the fact that that we have this eternity in our hearts that needs filling. This is like this this huge void that we want to fill. And it's interesting that once you go on in this this chapter in the next couple of verses, it says this, I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live, that each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toil. This is the gift of God. And so you see here, a whole host of ways that people will try and fill that void in verse 11.

And then actually the book of Ecclesiastes gives a whole load more reasons and more ways that people try to fill their lives. Be happy. Do good. Eat drink, toil. Now, you read those words And that could easily be easily be a commentary on our culture today.

Look at how people try and fill the void. Do good. People love to try and have meaning and to find satisfaction in all sorts of ways of doing good for 1 another, doing charity, doing great things for for the environment, doing helping out orphans, and and whatever other ways that you can think of. Or you have people that that are all about having a good time, you know, those type of people that just love the weekend. They they don't call it Friday.

They call it Friday. Josh. Or maybe it's those people that are all about a job, and it's all about my career, and it's all about getting higher on the career ladder. And I've tried and find my satisfaction by my job, or is it a relationship? My family?

My kids? I pour my life into my kids. I dedicate my life to my kids because that will give me some sort of satisfaction. And I think the reason we try and fill our lives with these things is because we all know that the truly happy person in life is the person who is full, is the person who's satisfied. So my question is, what is it that will fill us?

What is it that will fill us? I've given us a host of things that that we try. To fill our lives with, that the world tries to fill our lives with. But it is quite amazing that in our age, in 20 21, despite having so much more stuff than anyone else in history, I think. I mean, we've got things coming out of our ears, not just hair.

Yeah? We've got we've got all sorts of technological gadgets. We've got all sorts of of of of trinkets, and toys, and and and and and very The list will go on and on and on and on. And and actually, in a world where we've never had it so good, in a in a worldly sense. No.

There's not At the moment, there's less poverty than there ever has been ever. So in this world where we've got more so than ever, we've got more improvement than ever in terms of living standards, let's say, There is so much emptiness. There is so much emptiness. Hytened in our in our country by a lockdown. I've read the other day on on on on the news, that mental health and depression has significantly risen during lockdown.

There is depression, there is suicide, mental health issues are of nowhere They've never been this high, or or maybe it's just that lethargy. Now, I feel this lethargy when you're at home and just sit on the sofa and you think, oh, mistake. What is the point? I'm just just sort of like a slug. So the world tries to tell us right, that if you go for those things that I talked about, whether that's the career, whether that's the relationship, whether that's having a good time, It tries to say that there's satisfaction there, but it's a lie.

It's all lies. And what we're gonna see, well, I hope we'll see today in verse 6, is that it's only in Christ's kingdom is there something that can truly satisfy? It's only here. So let's have a look at these these, this not these verses, this 1 verse. And my first point today is blessed, and now I know we've had this this point, probably every sermon, And so I just I just ask that you bear with me as I sort of go through this.

Now, if you heard Tom talk through the first sermon. You would have heard him say that, to be blessed is is a combination of happiness and rest. And true blessedness is that happiness and rest flows from the divine being that is God. And I think that's a wonderful way of describing what blessed means. Now, what I want to show us tonight is that the first time that we see that word is in Genesis.

Genesis chapter 1, verse 27 to 28 says, so God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created, the male and female he created them. God blessed them, and said to them, be fruitful an increase in number, fill the earth, and subdue it, rule over the fish, in the sea, and the birds in the sky, and over every living creature that moves on the ground. First time we get blessed. Perfect happiness, perfect rest, adam and eve are blessed. And then Genesis 2 to 3, we get a blessed day.

By the seventh day, God had finished the work he'd been doing, So, on the seventh day, he rested from all his work, then God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because on it, he rested from all the work of creating he had done. This here is a truly blessed world with a truly blessed people. Adam and Eve are blessed. They are truly blessed. They are living In God's perfect world, with God under his perfect word, or his perfect rule.

They're living in the right way. They've got a job. They've got a role. They know who who who is the ruler. They know who the creator God is.

They're going to live for him. That is the way that they were designed to live. And so, the result of this is that these 2 human beings are the most satisfied the most full people that has ever existed. It was complete. It was whole.

It was it was glorious. They were living with the righteous 1, and they were living in a righteous manner. Now, we know that the story continues. When they they they they fail to keep God's word, they ignore him, they reject him, and they fall. And then not only is paradise lost, not only are they banished from the garden.

But actually, the blessed life is lost. The righteousness the righteous life is lost. The satisfaction is lost. And as a result, you have this huge eternal void in humanity. Now, the good news is is that in our passage today, Matthew chapter 5, and verse 1, we get Jesus.

And Christ is the king, and there was no 1 happier than Christ the king. There is no 1 more happy than him. There was no 1 more blessed than him, and the reason he comes is to bring back the blessed life. It's it's to return towards this this life that we that we once had in Adam and Eve. And so through Jesus when through him dying on a cross, and when we trust in Jesus, in Jesus crucified, To be our righteousness, then not only is this life a possibility, but this life is made a reality again.

The blessed life is the life that Christ brings in. And there, what we're seeing in this passage. So, what is the mark of the happy 1 tonight? What is the mark of the blessed 1? Well, here's my second point.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. So in other words, happy, happy is the hungry. Now, if you know canards, which I'm sure many of you in fact, even before we started this sermon, this service I said, I'm starving. Right? When I'm hungry, not that happy.

In fact, we've got a term in that we now use is hangry, and that is what canards feel for the majority of the day. Jerusalem will often complain that after about half an hour after dinner has been made and eaten in 5 minutes, I will then say, oh, I'm a bit hungry. I've just fed you. Well, I'm hungry again. Let's make some toast.

Now, the good thing about this verse, actually, is it doesn't stop it happy as the hungry. It's actually the 1 who hungers and thirsts for righteousness. Now, I imagine that although, yes, I'm a canard and I like to cringe about being hungry, I don't think I've actually fully experienced what hunger is or thirst. And I doubt many in this room have either. And I think that might hinder us from truly understanding what this means.

We can get close. I I imagine the times that we've been hungry, is usually after an illness. Once you've finished puking your guts up, then you're like, I'm a bit hungry now. You know, you get that feeling where you're weak. And you've got no energy.

And you're feeling completely empty. You just need some sustenance, or or maybe it's 1 of like a baking hot day, and you've had no water at all. Oh, actually, I tell I tell you what happened. I once worked in the garden with Christopher Tilly. We worked about 5 o'clock in the morning till about I'm pretty sure I'd gone a little bit crazy at the end of this, but I was come I was done.

I was gone. And I was so hungry. And I couldn't I couldn't even move. I was just sitting on a wall like, And then, what I just needed something to get me going, and you know what? God sent a beautiful gift in Bernadette.

And I tell you what, she made this mint crisp and I've never been so happy in my life. I I think I ate, what, 2 or 3 balls? This I was just get that in there. That's the hungries I've probably been for a long time. Anyway, hunger and thirst, it's when we're empty, that It's that I'm groaning out for something.

And when we're sick and when we're getting back from sickness, we're like, I really need some food now. I'm groaning up. My belly is rumbling. It's shouting. Feed me.

We've had a lot of babies in Cornerstone lately. I imagine that parents are probably a little bit more familiar with this than I am. I was just talking to Tom. I imagine imaging right now is probably screaming out to be fed. Babies get it.

They hunger, they thirst for sustenance and food. Feed me. Laura, mommy, feed me. And then they and then they feed and then they're happy again. Well, spiritually, it's the same.

Spirit, as Ecclesiastes has shown us, we are empty. And what is it that we wanna turn to to feel that emptiness? What is it that we're hungering and thirsting for that will will sort of satisfy that hunger, that we're groaning for. Well, the Christian, according to verse 6, hungers and thirsts for righteousness. Rightsness.

You might be sitting there going, really? Right? Phew. Now, when I read this, I go, I cannot honestly say the first thing I think of when I'm thinking I as a Christian, I hunger and thirst for righteousness. I'm challenged by this.

Do I hunger and thirst for righteousness? What does he mean by righteousness? Well, some people may argue that it's about Christ being the righteousness for us to to save us, but actually It's probably easier to understand if we look at verse 10 because it talks about blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness. And then in verse 20, it says, I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharacies and the thesis of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of God. So righteousness here is living in the right way.

It's living in the right way. So what does this what does this look like? What does this mean? Well, actually, I think to to to to be hongering and thirsting for righteousness is to desire God. And not only is it to desire God, because if I desire God, then I will desire what he wants for my life.

So I desire God and so I desire to live under his words. Righteousness means that I cherish Christ over all others. And I pursue a likeness of him. It's like Adam and Eve. They lived the right life.

They lived with God. For God's under God's word. To the Christian I I live with Christ for Christ under Christ's words. See, the world looks for all these alternatives. They look for for the the relationships.

They look for the the sex, the drugs, the alcohol, they look for the career, but the Christian is to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Now, I think it would be easier to look at this now and go, what does that mean? Does that mean I just have to do a load of good works and I'll be okay? No, it's so much deeper than that. It's not just, oh, well, if I do a load of good stuff, I'll come to church, you know, even if it is nought degrees Celsius, and I'm freezing my backside off.

Yeah? But at least I'm here. Look how good I am, God. Look, thou I'll be filled. It doesn't It's not like that.

It's to understand that God is just so much glorious than anything in this world. It's to understand that Christ is better than anything. And so because I love Christ and I desire Christ, I wanna live for him. It's because I see the most happy human being in the world and the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's my example, and he's the 1 I love. And if the 1 I love and the 1 I follow an example, the 1 I wanna live like.

I hope that Psalm was hap helpful in showing this. Did you see the sort of words he was saying, these are 2 different ones. Sorry. But he was saying blessed is the 1 who, you know, who who who stays in God's ways who follows the precepts, who's into his decrees, and then you get these verses as well in Psalm. Psalm 1 verse 1 to 3.

Blesseds, again, blessed. Is the 1 who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the lord, and who meditates on his law day and night churning it over, reading it, and thinking, how does this affect my life? That person is like a tree planted by streams of water. Which yields its fruit and season and whose leaf does not wither whatever they do, prospers. And then Psalm 42.

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my lords. My soul thirsts for God for the living gods, When can I go and meet with God? The psalmist get it. They understand God They understand that God's way is the best way, that God's way is the happy way, that God's way is the way of rest. And so for the Christian, and this is an amazing phrase, righteousness is just as important if not more important than food and water.

I was reading Don Carson on this, And he he says this. He wants to be the Christian. He wants to be righteous, not simply because he fears God. But because righteousness has become the most eminently desirable thing in the world, He realizes this is what I want. And so we may if we get this and if we We hunger and thirst a righteousness.

We can say with the old Scottish preacher, Robert Murray McShane, what a bloke he was. And he said, Oh, god. Make me just as holy as a pardon sinner can be. Make me as just as holy as a pardon sinner can be. We wanna live righteous lives.

That should be what we want. It should be our priority. It should be the thing that we desire because it's because it Ultimately, we desire Christ. It means that we will live lives that are that have integrity. It means that we live lives that are holy, that are different to those who that live around us.

I think this this week and this month's such a good way to show that, a kind this week. In a world that grabs and says, oh, let's quickly robble the pastor in the shops. It's a life is faithful. It's a life that that prays that has intimacy with God, that talks to God, that reads his word, that that cherishes his word more than anything, because in his word, I discover what his will is for me, and so then I can live for God and for Christ. The Christian, the blessed 1, the happy 1, the 1 who has rest, is the 1 who hungers and thirsts.

For righteousness. And what is the result? Well, thirdly, they will be filled. They will be filled. We started by looking at ecclesiastes.

There was this huge void. God has has set eternity in the hearts of men, and they can't fathom it. And if you're here, you're listening and you're chasing after the things of this world. If you're chasing after the career, that's the most important thing in your life or your your kids, and that's the most important thing in your life, then you will never be filled. We just need to see those reports of mental health going up to show that after having all this stuff in my life, I'm not satisfied.

The fact that I can have have the latest gadget and then 5 months down the line, it's rubbish. They've got a new 1 out. It doesn't even work. The battery doesn't last. I read today that Suricide is the third biggest killer of teenagers from 16 to 25 or 16 to 24.

That is shocking. Kids that are gonna have the whole life ahead of them. And they can't be filled in this world because they chase after the things of this world. As we go away from the God of the Bible, we see more and more people with these with these issues And if only they would come and they would hunger and thirst for righteousness, then they will be filled. Then they will be satisfied.

Then lockdown wouldn't just be about surviving. It would be thriving. In lockdown, I can know the God of the Bible, I can know he is glorious, I can know his character, and I can live for him. There is purpose. There is meaning.

It's interesting you might have heard this quote. Augustine, 1 of the most famous theologians from Africa, said this, you've probably heard this before, you have made us restless for you, oh, Lord. And our heart is restless until it finds rest in you. Clesiastes talks about this eternity sized void. Well, don't try and fill an eternity sized void with things that are temporary.

It's ridiculous. There's only 1 thing that can fill such a void and that is an eternal being. Jeremiah chapter 2 verse 13 says this, my people have committed 2 sins, They have forsaken me the spring of living water and have dug their own systems, broken systems that cannot hold water. If I've got this eternity sized hole and I try and go to these horrible, broken, dirty poisonous springs, systems that I've made, I will never be filled. But if I go to the God who is eternal, and is eternally good.

He's eternally happy and and has eternal rest. Then I will be filled. He will pour and pour and pour An eternal life will be mine. As I'm filled with god's words. I understand him, and I understand what a life is in his service.

So what source are you going to to be filled? Are you going to these dirty, cracked, broken systems full of lies, or are you going to the the God of truth the God of life. It's a bit like when you're hungry. I mean, You could either go for sweets. Right?

And they will never satisfy you. You know, they might be tasty. They are quite tasty, but they'll never satisfy. They don't fill you or you could get a roast dinner. Lovely beef roast if you're a vegetarian and not cutler.

And feel and feel satisfied. What source are you going to? In the new testament, John, chapter 6 35 says this, then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Never. Never.

And then in John chapter 4 verse 14 Sorry. 13 to 14. 1 of the most beautiful stories by the way, if you ever get to read read John 4. Just the way that Jesus treats this woman who's who's had so many relationships and has looked for her filling in in in in a love, and has never found it. And he says to her, everyone who drinks this water, talking about his water, will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.

Indeed, the water I give them will become in them, a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Interestingly, if you keep reading in that chapter in verse 34, Jesus says when asked if he wants some food, he says, I don't need food. Because my food is to do the will of God, to live the life of righteousness. So you want to be full, you want to be satisfied than hunger and thirst for righteousness, for you will be filled. And it's not just like filled and that's it.

But this is this kind of continuous filling. So you're sat Yes, I am satisfied, but I need more I want even more of this wonderful, tasty spring of eternal life. Give me more give me more as I as I understand God more, and I read his will for me, and I live out his words. Because it's You can't just sit back and just go loads of information and not put it into action. It needs to go into action for you to grow And as I grow a bit more in God's word and in God's will, I'm going, oh, I can have some more of this everlasting spring.

So fill me up a little bit not like the sweets where you're like I feel a bit sick now of eating 10 rollos. It's a continuous filling. It is like that when you are sick and you're recovering from your sickness. And and you get your appetite back, right? And and and you can eat a bit.

And now I've eaten a little bit more, my strength is sort of restored. I can eat a little bit more time. I don't just have to have 2 digesters, I can now have 2 pieces of toast. And then I've ate my 2 pieces of toast. Oh, now I'm feeling a little bit more, I can have a little bit of a spaghetti bolognese and oh, no.

I could eat them in crisp as well. Or or it's like the work the the person who works out And they work on their strength, they work on their strength, they And they can only do a certain amount, but then they come back, and they can go again, and they can do more. They can do more, and they can do more. What's it like this? As I as I live out for God, as I desire him, and I desire his word, and I live out for Christ.

I get some more, and I get some more, and I get some more, and I go on and on and on. And I will be filled. I will be satisfied. And ultimately, when Christ returns, I'll be fully satisfied. So how are you doing with this?

Now maybe you've you've listened to me and and you have never trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ' Savior. But maybe you've heard me and you've thought, Do you know what? He's right. I'm empty. I'm searching.

I'm trying to fill my life with with so much things. And I want filling. Well, if you want filling, if you want satisfying, then come and know the truly happy 1. And know a life in his service, a life that has purpose, a life that is holy, a life that puts off sin and lives for Christ. A life because, although some people might say it's a boring life, it's not.

It's the best life. People go, you're so boring. You're a Christian. No. I'm a Christian because it's the best life.

I've got God. And the truly blessed life was was where people lived in his service. And maybe you would come now and you would know this Lord Jesus Christ. You would seek his kingdom, and you would seek his righteousness. Now, Christian You maybe like me and find this pretty convict him.

So often, I can find myself on the sofa. And not desire Christ, and not desire living for him. And I and I have My life is just so full of things that get in the way, and they're full of distractions that I just get bogged down with. And and and, you know, I could be reveling in this world that I'm just, you know, on a finger game on my iPhone. Or maybe you're you're there going, yes, I want a bit of Jesus.

There's a desire a bit of Jesus. There's a desire a tiny bit of the righteous life. But actually I wanna do all these stuff for me as well. Can I encourage you to get a greater vision of Christ? Understand Christ the king.

Understand the truly happy 1. Let us get a greater vision of who Jesus is. He's so much greater than this world. That's why Lewis says, we're like people just settling for mud pies. When there's an offer of a lovely beach holiday.

And we'd go, wow, let me mud. He's so much greater. See him, experience him, know him, and live the righteous life as a result. Let's pray. Father we do, thank you and praise you for This passage, we thank you that to be truly blessed is to hunger and thirst a righteousness.

For there, we find true feeling and true satisfaction. Father, we we confess that so often, no. We We don't want this filling. We don't we just want a tiny drop maybe, where you're there willing to just pour out your word and your will on us, and we and we and we just sort of ignore you and fill our lives with things. And so far, though I pray that we get a greater vision of who the Lord Jesus Christ is.

I pray that we see the truly happy king I pray that we see that to live his way is truly the best way. That to live his way is truly the blessed way. And I pray that as we see this, that we will put on your clothes of writings that we will live out your words. So that we will be filled, and we will keep going on being filled. Until the day when you return.

Praise in Jesus' name, amen.