Blessed Behavior

Bound For A Blessing – Blessed Behavior

The concept of a blessed life has many definitions. What does it mean to have made it. Is it the big car or the nice house, perfect health. Able to vacation five times a year. Depending on who you ask you will get different answers, ask people from different nationalities you will get different answers, different countries, different answers. I wish there was a standard for the Good life.

Today we are going to get a look at what the blessed life looks like according to Jesus. Anyone want to know what brings true and lasting happiness and blessings look like?

The book of Matthew does a lot to show that Jesus is the promised Messiah of Israel, and that He is the new law giver. There are similarities to Moses and Superior to Moses.

• Pharaoh killed the children, but Moses escaped; Herod killed the children, but Jesus escaped.

• Moses and the people came out of Egypt; Jesus came out of Egypt

• Israel is said to have been baptized when crossing the Red Sea, Jesus had been baptized by John.

• Moses went up to the mountain to receive the Law from God and taught the People; Jesus sits on the mountain, He is God and He teaches the laws of the kingdom.

• Moses wrote the first 5 books of the bible Pentateuch (torah); Matthew gives 5 major teaching sections of Jesus.

• You have heard it said..., but I say to you...

These parallels are to show that Jesus is outlining the better way of the Kingdom for this group of disciples, so regardless of the nation, social class, the past experience Here is the way of the Kingdom.

OT law: 10 commandments: Thou shalt not, NT kingdom of Heaven: Beatitudes thou shalt...

Bless and Blessing: Barak: To praise, pronounce, speak a blessing Blessed: Makarios: happy, wonderful, fortunate are English translations. It is hard to fully explain in English. Wholeness at peace. Shalom.

You are Promise: attached to these behaviors

Main Text: Matthew 5:1-12 (ESV)

1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

Beatitudes: Latin for

2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

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

POOR IN SPIRIT: this is a heart posture of humility before God. In God's kingdom you come understanding that you are bankrupt spiritually, apart from God.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)

14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Psalm 51:17 (ESV)

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

James 4:10 (ESV)

10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

• Mourn...is a deep sorrow. This mourning can be expressed over a death • Mouring and Grief is a valid emotion. God made us able to feel. Emotions make you cry sometimes, emotions make you sad sometimes, emotions make you glad sometimes, emotions make you fall in Love...

• Christians we are encouraged to embrace your emotions, now we are to hold them under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. • The realities of life.

Mourn shall be comforted...

• You will be sorrowful but it will be turned to joy...Just like a woman is in pain during childbirth, but when he baby is come she know longer remembers the anguish. God can turn it around.

• Comforter: παρακαλέω Para-keleo : To call near to console -

• Holy Spirit: Paraclete

• When you mourn the comforter will come. A name of the Holy Spirit is a Comforter. "The one who comes along side"...

Revelations 21:4 (ESV)

4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

2 Corinthians 7:10 (ESV)

10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (ESV)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Psalm 34:18 (ESV)

18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

• Meek: mild or gentle.

• Meekness not weakness. Is a disciplined or controlled spirit.

• Moses is called meek.

• Strength out of control. (wrestle my Dad).

A fruit of the Spirit is...

Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV)

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Meek people have the humility to receive counsel, instruction, or accept forgiveness.

Do nothing out of vain conceit...

6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Righteousness: Being just or right, has the idea of upright, living as one ought to be. • Being right with God • Being right with man, woman, people

Psalm 42:1 (ESV)

1 As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.

• Hunger and thirst are continuous. You don't eat a big meal and don't eat again in six months. Eat, drink regularly.

• Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Oh lord my strength and my redeemer. Ps 19:14

John 4:13-14 (ESV)

13 "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

• Give it away, want mercy, give mercy. Don't be a hypocrite.

• As a Child of god you have received Mercy, so how dare you not give grace. You are to be a channel of mercy. So don't break down the bridge of mercy.

Ephesians 4:32 (ESV)

32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

• Mercy is empathy and understanding of another problem.

Hebrews 4:15-16 (ESV)

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Acts 15:8-9 (ESV)

8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith.

• Pure in heart: unmixed motives

Psalms 24:3-4 (ESV)

3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hand and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

How do I purify my hearts? The Blood of Jesus

Hebrews 9:13-14 (ESV)

13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

• Promote peace. God made a way for us to have peace with God.

• Peacemaker: Founder of peace. One who works and build thier life on peace.

Ephesians 2:14 (ESV)

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Discussion Questions

1. The message compares Jesus to Moses as a superior law giver. How does understanding Jesus as the fulfillment and surpasser of the Old Testament law change how we read the Beatitudes?
2. Jesus says "Blessed are the poor in spirit." What does it mean to be spiritually bankrupt before God? Why is this the first beatitude and the foundation for all the others?
3. The notes emphasize that "mourning and grief is a valid emotion" and that Christians should "embrace your emotions." How do we balance emotional authenticity with the command to "hold them under the guidance of the Holy Spirit"?
4. Jesus promises that those who mourn "shall be comforted." The Holy Spirit is called the Paraclete—"the one who comes alongside." How have you experienced the Holy Spirit's comfort in seasons of grief or loss?
5. "Meekness is not weakness" but rather "strength under control." Why is meekness (gentleness, self-control) so misunderstood in our culture? How did Jesus model perfect meekness?
6. To "hunger and thirst for righteousness" implies a continuous, ongoing desire. How do we cultivate this kind of spiritual appetite? What practices help us stay hungry for God?
7. Jesus says, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy." How does showing mercy to others open us up to receive mercy? What happens when we "break down the bridge of mercy"?
8. "Pure in heart" means having "unmixed motives." What are some examples of mixed motives in our spiritual lives? How does the blood of Jesus purify our conscience?
9. Jesus calls peacemakers "sons of God." What's the difference between peacekeeping (avoiding conflict) and peacemaking (actively pursuing reconciliation)? Which is harder?
10. The final beatitude speaks of being "persecuted for righteousness' sake." Why does Jesus save this for last? How should Christians respond when they face persecution or false accusations for their faith?

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