Blessed Life - Part 2

his rule dawns on his kingdom like the morning light, like sun shining on a cloudless morning. like the rain that makes grass sprout from the earth.

His rule blesses us like a tree that grows with deep roots and prospers and provides fruit. We're looking at God's good rule. This is the opening of the Sermon on the Mount, a very significant teaching section of our King. I want to keep reminding us of certain things as we look at this whole section in light of the bigger A message of Christ. And then in the details, Jesus has proclaimed his basic summary message. Matthew recorded that in chapter four,

repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Well, another King is telling us more and more about what that kingdom is. Matthew five begins fleshing out and explaining what that kingdom looks like, who belongs to that kingdom or the blessings of that kingdom. Again, the key for the citizens is rule good. Jesus has come to undo all of our sin. To purify what we've corrupted. He's come to forgive us of our guilt. He's come to reestablish us as image bearers who are able to know God, see God, and therefore reflect God. He's come to rule us with blessing. There's two ways in which we see Jesus significantly in the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes. He's the prophet. This is the word of God speaking. And he is the king who rules with righteousness and justice. If you were with us last week, there's maybe eight, maybe nine different ways in which folks count these blessings. From three to 12, we see that as the Beatitudes. And the question is, is it every time the word blessed is used, or is there a different framework for 11 and 12? I'm continuing to study and hope that I get more corrected as I go along, but I'm today standing before you more convinced that it is a 3-1-3-1 pattern. The three versus three to five stand together, showing what we lack. Verse six to fourth, hunger and thirst for righteousness. A need that sends you in a direction to find what you need. You hunger and thirst for righteousness. And now seven through nine, that's who we're becoming. Having seen our need and having hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God, the king himself, we become like the king. We want to grow closer to the king. So become merciful, pure, peacemakers. And then the last one, which is really double down, Blessed are those who are persecuted. That's the final and complete characteristics of the kingdom. I wanna be clear as we look at this as a king speaking to his people, a prophet speaking to creation. Something we take for granted, we don't really ever think about probably, from scripture is that And assume teaching and all scripture is that we were designed to be ruled. I realized that that runs against every fabric of what we've been taught in, in, in society. But, but scripture says we're, we're designed to be ruled. We are serving someone we're serving something. And that's so scary. Jesus tells us when we choose sin, we, we choose it to be our master. We pretend we have control, but Jesus is very clear, when we choose sin, it becomes our master. We pretend we're not ruled by it, but we're foolish to think so. We're designed to be ruled. We're designed to be under God. We're designed to be in his garden, under his rule, under his kingship. And the first step to understand what being ruled is supposed to look like is fear of the Lord. That's the beginning of wisdom. To know God and His ways are better. The King comes to bless us. That's how the whole Psalter began. We heard someone earlier. The entire Psalter begins that blessed is the one who does not walk in the way of corruption, does not sit with those who scoff at God, but those who delight in the word of God. Because we become blessed by knowing Him. Well, this morning my plan originally was to look at verses 6 through 9, but we're only going to do 6 through 8.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Again, we're repeating hunger because I believe that's the hinge from seeing all that we need to seeing who we're supposed to become. So, first point. Satisfaction for the hungry. Satisfaction for the hungry. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will find it. Those who hunger and thirst for God and the king of righteousness and holiness, they will find it. It presses in, we're all hungry and thirsty for something. Something is directing your, your, your choices. What, what, what kind of appetite, what kind of hunger, what, what need is directing you and what is it you're seeking to find satisfaction in? What appetite are you seeking to satisfy is a significant question. Is it be famous, important, powerful, wealthy, popular. If you're pursuing those things, is it satisfying if you find it? We pursue all these different ideas, but what's the controlling hunger of your life? Now, there's something that's just twisted about the hunger and thirst. Our desires direct what we think about and what we do. And if the Bible is correct, our desires are deceitful and fight against us. Do we realize how terrifying that is? What we long for and what we want is against us in sin and under Adam. Our very desires are opposed to what's best for us. If we're still walking in sin and fighting against God, but if we let, if we believe in God, if he blesses us, he actually changes the core of who we are, our appetite. They're out. He is. We're all dependent fully on God. And it is a blessing to hunger and thirst for the King of righteousness who truly satisfies. This assumes first three, when we're blessed and poor in spirit, it means we're going to have the right hunger and thirst for what satisfies. And that is righteousness. When we truly mourn what we've lost in purity and holiness and goodness and, and being under God, we're going to hunger and thirst for righteousness. The fruit, the blessing of those who hunger and thirst for righteousness is that they're satisfied. And it's also, they become merciful, pure in heart peacemakers. Let's turn to those two are the, the, the first seven and eight as more of our focus this morning for those who are hungry and thirst for righteousness, they become merciful. Uh, verse seven.

Blessed are the merciful.

Why are the merciful blessed?

For they shall receive mercy.

It's Reformation Sunday, that should feel prickly. Grammatically, that should feel prickly. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. As it's written, You will receive mercy if you're merciful. If we take this on its own, that's a work salvation, right? Protestants, where are you? That's prickly. The implication is, as written here from our king, if you're merciful, well, the benefit of that is that you will be shown mercy. The blessing of being merciful is that you will be shown mercy. Well, I think we really need to let how awkward and prickly that is really sink in, turn over to chapter six of the Sermon on the Mount. Same setting, same sermon. And notice from the Lord's Prayer, verse 12,

and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Very similar relationship. Forgive us. as we also have forgiven our debtors. And in case that doesn't sit in and sting fully, look at what his declaration is after the prayer. Verse 14,

for if you forgive others their trespasses, then your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, Then neither will your father forgive you.

This passage, blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy in this pattern, that should really lead to some serious soul searching. The if then condition is, I think it's the scariest verses in all scripture. I think the idea that Christ is very clear. If we're not forgiving, we should not expect to be forgiven. If we're not merciful, we're not shown mercy. The emphasis of Christ's teaching here is on that conditional aspect of mercy and forgiveness in case that hasn't quite sunk in deep enough. Let's keep going. Matthew 18. Peter asks, how many times should I forgive my brother? Seven seems like a good number. What does Christ say? Seventy times seven. Now, if you're the brother who's sinned against, that feels daunting. Let's be very clear, if you're a child of God, that is so refreshing. because Jesus is expecting from us what he gives us. The high bar of forgiving 70 times seven is because that's what God gives us. It starts with a merciful, forgiving God, and he makes that clear in the parable. The king is owed lifetimes of debt. And the one who owes it, he brings before him and he begs. And the king has pity on him, shows him mercy, forgives that debt, absorbs that. He's now forever that much money less rich. He's poor of that money now. And then that servant goes and shakes down someone else who owes him a couple of days wages and demands he pay without mercy. And the king calls forth that servant who was forgiven but not forgiving and punishes them. I believe this condition is supposed to frighten us. We have to understand what Christ is saying and the consistency is very clear as to how it is presented. But I want to be clear, God shows us mercy so that we can show mercy and there is No reason we should think we would be shown mercy if we are not ourselves merciful. The fruit of God showing us mercy of forgiving us is that we would then show others mercy and be forgiving. Here's a fruit of what this weighty, terrifying passage should do. It should take us back to verse three of chapter five.

Blessed are the poor in spirit.

If we really let the words of forgiveness if we are forgiving. Merciful if we are merciful. Sink in, it should show us how impoverished we are in showing mercy. And the fruit of that should then be to cry out for mercy from God who is merciful upon merciful upon merciful. Mercy must be at the center of our Christian lives. We are impoverished and therefore we look to him who blesses us in our poverty of mercy and we ask him to show us mercy and the fruit of that would then be we would show mercy. We have a difficult time being merciful. Mercy is a gift from God. Mercy is what God initiates in us and then expects of us. In case we haven't felt quite uncomfortable enough, turn to chapter five, verse 48. Under the heading of love your enemies,

you therefore must be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.

Loving your enemies is one of the ways in which we're merciful. Let that sink in.

Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.

Now, if you don't like that, you can become a Roman Catholic because they say that isn't expected of everybody. It's just for the priest. That's a lie. You can always find somebody who tells you you can loosen the law of God. That's what God expects of you. And it's not be holy and perfectly sinless and great and mighty and holy, holy, holy, but it's perfectly merciful as God's shown you perfect mercy. Again, as sons, we reflect our father. As the recipients of mercy, we want to show mercy. Loving enemies and those who revile you, well, that's the last beatitude and the last blessing. The blessing of the Beatitudes is not a reward system, but it's God blesses us with mercy so that we are merciful with the assurance that we will receive mercy. We need to be very careful not to think we earn it. I think with this passage, another parable of Jesus really is helpful. Do we come and say, thank you, God, that I'm not a sinner like those people? Or do we say, like the tax collector who beats his chest, forgive me, show me mercy, because I'm a sinner? Jesus' question after that parable is, who left justified? I also want to ask, who left do you think would be the one who shows mercy? The Christian life. It's about mercy. We receive it and it defines us. We receive it and it shapes us and transforms us. We receive it and to be a citizen of the king of mercy means we are merciful. The great hope is we'll be shown a final mercy, but there is no way to be merciful unless we've first been shown mercy. So what does it mean to be merciful? Well, sometimes it's easier to say what it's not. Being merciful is not being easily offended. A merciful person is not easily offended. Because merciful aligns with being meek. We don't take ourselves so seriously. A merciful person is not easily offended. It's also not needing to correct everyone. A merciful person isn't looking for every possibility to make sure someone is corrected. If there's correction, the whole goal is that it's clear and embracing and restoring. Being merciful, well, you cannot keep long accounts and be merciful. As I tell my kids, if you keep score, you lose. So what is it to be merciful? Well, it's to be eager to seek swift and lasting reconciliation. That's on the covenant right in front of you. It lets love cover a multitude of sins. It trusts others and assumes the best of others. It's patiently walking with a brother or sister who's going through a real struggle. It seeks to show sympathy. I, too, am a sinner in need of mercy. Mercy does not wash away any idea of sin or wrong or evil. It seeks to walk alongside those who are also sinful and also show the kindness of God. Merciful people are wonderful to be around, aren't they? I hope that's, no one ever like, no one even give like a facial response to that. I hope you know someone who's merciful. I hope you can look around and see people who you know are merciful. People who are merciful are wonderful. You're not scared of how they're gonna overreact. They're not quick to judge. You're not on eggshells, like might I say something wrong? A merciful person is so wonderful to be around. Can you imagine if the church was full of merciful people? Again, who don't just wash over all sins, but are eager to come alongside and expect the best and assume the best and show kindness. Well, that's what Jesus expects. The church is supposed to be full of merciful people. People are gonna come in with different problems. We're gonna walk alongside of them, but the church, the main characteristic of all people should be merciful. There's no way to be a peacemaker if you don't know mercy. There's no way to seek purity if there's no mercy. So how do you become more merciful? The starting place is recognizing the full poverty we have in sin, to be good and show any kind of goodness. The starting place is verse three. to realize it's a blessing to see how impoverished we are in the righteousness of God and in showing the mercy of God. The only way to really be more merciful is to look above to the full, rich, fount of mercy God himself who sent his son to die for you, to suffer wrath for your sin, to rise again for you, to give you everything we don't deserve. No more of God and his abundant mercy. Contemplate on the cross, the grand symbol of mercy, where God washes away our sin, where God takes our sin upon himself, where Jesus dies for us, who are undeserving of love. Philippians 2. Significant meditation. Have the same mind of Christ. Look at the cross that will give you the humility to see how merciful God is to die for you so that you might too show mercy. I also think you have to learn mercy from others. You have to learn how to receive mercy. I hope you're around people who are regularly merciful. I hope you would be around people who are regularly building up this character and conduct of the citizenship There have been times where I've been in relationships with someone who I respected or enjoyed and I realized I'm becoming more harsh and more critical or I'm becoming more gentle and kind. Find folks who are going to help you become more gentle and kind and merciful. I hope you regularly experience the blessing it is to speak to a Christian about your sin and say, I'm sorry, I'm confessing this sin. and to receive someone's mercy that in Christ you're forgiven. I pray you would be ready and quick to have someone confess to you a sin and be ready to say in Christ I forgive you or in Christ you are forgiven. The Lord's Supper is an opportunity for us to consider the mercy of God together as we all come to the one Savior whose body, one body was broken for us and whose one blood washes us. We do this together to remind ourselves we are nothing but a people of mercy, receiving mercy, to show mercy. Church, the world needs to see a people who live in and under the rule of mercy. This world that feels chaotic to most, angry, To be a shining light of mercy as a people who live merciful towards one another. We must learn to be merciful. This is key for your marriage, for raising children, for being a child, for being a good teacher, for being a good student, learning how to be merciful. That's the first positive trait that his people put on. They show mercy, they're quick to show mercy, and they will receive mercy, and I believe the whole assumption is they've already been given mercy if they are merciful. Verse 8, the second characteristic we're going to focus on. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Here, we have to remember God is giving us his rule. His rule is a blessing to us. It is happiness. It is flourishing. It's for our good. It's for our good that we receive mercy and show mercy. It's for our good that we are pure in heart and shall see God. Now, this is one of my favorite passages, this one verse. It's one of my favorite easy load emunitions because of how much can be unpacked from this simple, sweet statement. They're all amazingly packed in with rich theological truth from our King, but this one stands out for me. I don't know if it's okay to have favorites of beatitudes, but I do. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. This one stands out because seeing God is what we were created for and it should be the most significant desire we all have. It's the most significant thing we lost in the garden is what we will be restored fully in the kingdom. Seeing God, the grand vision of God, seeing God stands in as having a peaceful, right relationship with God. Seeing God means we get to know Him and come to Him, and as an image bearer, reflect His goodness and His glory. Some say this is merely and only eschatological. I certainly believe there's an eschatological fulfillment, but I believe this is for today. We should long to see God today. We should long to see God more clearly and truly and fully today. Let's unpack a theology of seeing God. In the garden, God created Adam and Eve in his image and with eyes to see him. Adam heard him coming in the forest. He was able to experience a real relationship with God where he would be able to look at him face to face without shame, knowing him and being known by him, commuting with God. The whole idea of seeing God is that you're before him in his presence. The God who created us and is holy, we were in his presence. And then remember Genesis 3. It wasn't the first temptation, but the temptation that finally put Adam and Eve over the edge. If you eat it, you'll see like God. What an incredible, horrible decision. They gave up seeing God, believing the lie that they could see like God. We give up seeing God, believing we can be like God. This is what is the most significant loss and sin. To be able to go before God with a clear conscience, with a full heart, with righteousness, with the ability to go before him without fear, We used to see God. Well, fast forward to Moses. He's on the Mount. And Moses asked a bold question. Because Moses has been somewhat restored as an almost a new Adam, but not the real new Adam. He's communing with God. He's hearing from God. And it's still terrifying. But Moses gets to the point where he says, God, let me see your glory. God said, you cannot see my face. Notice how his glory and his face are one to one in the story. God's face and his glory are seeing him truly as he is. And he says, you cannot see my face. I will hide you. How merciful that is of God. And then I'll bring my hind parts across so that there's an image of my glory, there's a taste of my glory, but you cannot see my full glory. Then God declares, the Lord is my name, and hear how he defines his name in relation to that previous beatitude.

The Lord is my name. I will be gracious to whom I am gracious, and I will show Mercy, to whom I wish a mercy.

Moses has the right question and desire, but because of sin, he could not see God. He hungered and thirst for God's righteousness because he had come into the presence of God. He knew God in a unique, very close way, but not a near way. And so he asked to see the face of God, the glory of God, and God said no, but God told him, I'm the God of glory, grace, and mercy. You can see this theme of seeking God's face throughout the Psalter. One particular declaration, Psalm 27, verse four.

One thing I have asked of the Lord that I will seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

We're God's image bearers. He's designed to rule us, but he's designed us to go into his presence, to know him and his goodness and his kindness. Moses could not see God's face. That brings us to John chapter 1, verse 17 and 18. I encourage you to turn there. John opens with a grand theological prologue, verses one to 18, and I'm just gonna drop us straight down to verse 17. There's a comparison and contrast John has given us.

For the law was given through Moses,

who asked to see the face of God and could not.

Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. But the only God,

really should be the only begotten God

who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

Jesus is the Son of God who comes down so that he can once again restore for us hearts and minds and eyes to once again see God, the Son, the Word of God who's become flesh, he's come down to make him known. He's come down to overcome the sin that keeps us from God. He's come down to give a full revelation and manifestation of who God is and all of his goodness and kindness. Remember what Jesus says when Philip asked, will you show us the Father?

When you see me, you see the Father.

He was incognito as the word become flesh, but we can see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. I need to go repeat everything I just said if that didn't get an amen. Folks, this is everything. Your guilt is removed, praise God. You give a new life. God's invited you back into his presence to see him and there's nothing else you should want to see. To be given the privilege to see God in his glory, in the face of Jesus Christ, there's nothing better. Thank you. As we look to the new heaven and the new earth are, there's no temple, there's no sun or moon, There's Jesus Christ in your direct presence with him. It's what we were created for, it's what we lost, it's what Christ has come to give us a new access to, and Christ will restore it completely. The transfiguration of Christ is pointing to this new way of seeing God's glory as he appeared fully glorified before just a few disciples. We can see God. That's the promise, that's the blessing, the face of God, a stand-in for the mercy and grace that overcomes our sin, the face of God, to see him in a relationship, truly and personally. That's the grand, ultimate goal of the Christian, to see him so that we know him and love him and worship him. But now this other part of the blessing, Blessed are the pure in heart. The pure in heart shall see God. Now, let's first just take a moment and feel the weight of how counter-cultural this statement is. Blessed are the pure. Anybody hear that this week in any commercial? TV show, song? Blessed are the pure. The waters we swim in tell us blessings are found by throwing off constraint. Blessings are found in just living out and feeling out whatever is in your heart. Blessed are the pure. Blessed are those who seek purity. Blessed are those who have been purified by the mercy of God and are seeking purity and protecting purity. If we go back, the poor in spirit, if we really search our hearts, there's nothing pure there. We're impoverished. Every desire and thought is tainted by sin. And we really should mourn that. We've lost purity. We should seek Now why is it that the pure in heart will see God? Significant theological understanding here. It's because he's pure. Impure eyes and impure minds and impure hearts cannot behold a pure God. He's perfectly pure. If we're seeking only to see impurity, we can't just all of a sudden think we're gonna look up and behold the pure glory of God. We seek to pursue God who is pure in his pure way. Let's try and experiment. Without moving your head, look at the person behind you. All right, I know there's some mothers who have eyes in the back of their head, but us mere mortals have no idea what the person behind us looks like. You're only gonna see in the direction you're going. You're only going to see God if you're turned in his direction. Let me say that a different way. You will see God if you turn in his direction. That's the glory held up before you by Christ. You will see God if you turn in his direction. Jesus Christ has become to be the way to see God. The Holy Spirit indwells us to illuminate our own hearts and our minds, to enlighten our hearts so that we can see God with even the eyes of our hearts, Paul says. To think of a more earthly analogy, if you're constantly looking at perverse, disgusting images, you will never get to truly see and appreciate beauty. We train our appetites. We're training our appetites. Are we training them to enjoy and delight in God and his glory? What we seek and we hunger and we thirst after, It shapes our appetite. If you're feasting on the filth of sin, if you're seeking to enjoy a banquet in the grave, if you're delighting in destruction, you're determining the palette and what you think is going to satisfy you. You're giving yourself eyes blind to see the beauty of God. But when we turn to God because of his mercy, When we turn to Him and say, I want to see you as you are, as we turn to God in seeking His grace that washes us and purifies us and cleanses us and we set ourselves in His way, we see Him. And everything else we thought we wanted to see, we see it as it truly is, lesser than or disgusting and not worthy of looking. Do you have an appetite to see and behold the glory of God. There's a partial gospel out there. And it's a gospel that just says grace and grace and grace and mercy and mercy and mercy. Well, the true gospel says there's grace and mercy so that you can be forgiven and there's grace and mercy so that you can then be transformed to be changed so that you will see the pure God with pure eyes. It's partial now. It's not full. You'll always get to see God more. And one day you'll see him fully and truly. And absolutely you, you now see in a mirror dimly, but first John three tells us when we meet him in the air, when we see him as he is, we'll be transformed. That's the perfect vision we're longing for. And then he says, those who thus hope purify themselves so that we will see him and so that we can see him more now. This is meant to be encouraging. You don't have to keep eating with the pigs. You can come to your Father's home where you can be in His presence and know His love and know His mercy and see Him fully in His goodness. We can behold the glory of God in the face of Christ. We can behold the glory of God by His grace. Two things to consider that you can talk about over the meal today. 2 Corinthians 3.17. Again, the contrast with Moses is interesting. The glory of Moses was fleeting, but the glory we receive from God is forever. And in verse 17,

now the Lord is a spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed to the same image from one degree to glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is a spirit.

This is somewhat of an internal experience. The Holy Spirit dwells in you. to transform the eyes of your heart of what Paul calls it. So that you can see the words of scripture, so that you can know God from his word, so that you can go in the presence of God in the name of son and see him more clearly in his grace and his glory. The second one is from Ephesians 1. It's a prayer we can pray for each other. It's a prayer we should be praying for each other. One of the many prayers where Paul prays that God would bless his people with the spirit of wisdom to enlighten the eyes of their heart so they would know more surely and clearly the inheritance secured by Christ, sealed by the spirit. That we would know God in his glory and his goodness more fully and would enjoy beholding him in glory. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you that you did not leave us blind, determined to see only the foolishness that we thought was wise, looking for something to worship and to serve, knowing it's what we long for. Father, we thank you that you came, you sent your son who came to show us who you really are. the pure God, who's merciful to whom he shows mercy, who's rich and abundant and generous in mercy. Lord, may we know how to pursue you with purity. May we know how to stir each other up into that purity, that we know how to always set before each other the glorious grand vision of who you are. Thank you for not leaving us blind, but giving us a new access to see you and know you in your glory. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.