SERMON ON THE MOUNT SERIES Message 3 THE BEATITUDES ...

Message for THE LORD’S DAY MORNING, January 20, 2013
MESSAGE 3: Living The Salt Life (A Study of Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount)
Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina
by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister
THE BEATITUDES (Part II)
Message 3 in “Living The Salt Life” Sermon Series
(A Study of Jesus’ Sermon on The Mount)
Matthew 5:5-7 (NKJV)
As we continue with our series of messages from Jesus’
Sermon on The Mount, please open your Bibles once again
to the fifth chapter of Matthew’s gospel.
In last Lord’s Day’s message, we learned that The Beatitudes
aren’t a description of eight different types of people, but rather
they are eight characteristics of one life…..the life of a true
disciple of Jesus Christ….the life of one who is truly saved.
These eight Beatitudes provide us with the kind of
character Jesus Himself modeled while here on
earth. And as you and I grow and mature in our
spiritual life, these eight characteristics should
become more and more evident in our lives.
Last Lord’s Day, we looked at the first two beatitudes:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
of heaven.”
and
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted.”
In today’s message we are going to be looking at the next
three beatitudes. Before we read our text, let’s ask God’s
blessings on the study of His Holy Word this morning.
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Let’s pick up the record in verse 5.………..
I. BLESSED ARE THE MEEK (v. 5)
v. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
1. When we think of someone who is “meek” a number
of adjectives come to mind, and none of them are
flattering.
We think of someone who is WEAK…..WIMPY……
COWARDLY……A “PUSH-OVER”…..or A SISSY.
When we think of someone being “meek” we think
of someone who gets bullied…..teased…..picked d…..picked on
……..pushed around……stepped on…..and walked all
over.
2. Certainly if this is what “meekness” is then none of us
would ever aspire to be “meek” would we?
3. Obviously Jesus has something different in mind
when He says, “Blessed are the meek.”
4. The Greek word for “meek” is the word praus.
It is a word that was used by ancient sailors
to describe a gentle breeze. It is a word
used by ancient farmers to describe a broken
colt.
These things describe POWER under CONTROL.
In fact that is a good definition of the word “meek.”
To be “meek” is to exercise power under control.

5. Jesus was the “meekest” man who ever lived.
Would anyone dare say Jesus was weak or wimpy
or cowardly? Not at all!
Jesus displayed meekness in two ways, both of which
demonstrated POWER UNDER CONTROL.
When it came to how He Himself was treated Jesus
practiced neither RETALIATION or VINDICTIVENESS.
When He was mocked and spat upon, he didn’t respond
in anger, but rather trusted in His Father. When He
was confronted by Pilate, He kept silent. When Peter
denied Him, Jesus restored him to fellowship and service.
When Judas placed the kiss of betrayal on Him in
Gethsemane, Jesus called him “friend.” And when Jesus
was crucified, He pleaded with His Father to “Forgive
those who had done this to Him, because they didn’t
know what they were doing.” That was one side of
Jesus’ meekness.
But when it came to matters of faith and the welfare of
of other people, JESUS WAS A LION. He rebuked the
Pharisees for their hardness of heart when He healed
the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath day.
(Matthew 12:9-45) He rebuked His disciples when they
tried to prevent the little children from coming to Him.
(Mark 10:13-16) Jesus made a whip and drove the
moneychangers out of the temple. (John 2:14-17)
He called Peter “Satan” when Peter tried to deter Him
from His mission to Jerusalem.
That is “meekness.” That is “power under control.”
6. How do you and I become meek? Only the Holy Spirit
of God can break us and make us meek. If you and I
could produce meekness by our own human effort, we
would be proud of ourselves wouldn’t we? And if we were
proud of ourselves, we would no longer be meek, would
we?

7. You see, because “meekness” is a Christ-like
character, it cannot be produced by SELF-EFFORT,
only by SPIRIT-EFFORT.
When we become “poor in spirit” realizing that
without God we are nothing; and when we
mourn over sin in our own lives and in the world
around us, our hearts become “fertile ground”
for the Holy Spirit to produce a spirit of Christ-like
meekness in us.
8. And what is the reward? Jesus says, “Blessed are
the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Now what does that mean? Think of it this way:
The proud and arrogant, who try to inherit as
much of this world as possible through WEALTH,
POWER, or FAME are never satisfied or content.
Those who pursue WEALTH will always want one
more dollar than they have right now.
Those who
pursue POWER will always want more power than
they have right now. Those who pursue FAME will
always want more fame than they have right now.
And in their pursuit to “gain the whole world” they
will forfeit their own soul.
But the “meek” who seek after the things of God
rather than the things of this world are those who
will truly inherit God’s spiritual riches here on
earth that the world knows nothing about.
“Blessed are the MEEK for they shall inherit the earth.”

Let’s move on to the next Beatitude.
II.
BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST
FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS (v. 6)
v.6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be filled.
1. We know what it means to be hungry, don’t we?
“I’m hungry for a big, ‘ol juicy steak!”
“I’m so hungry I could eat a horse!”
“I’m as hungry as a bear!”
And we know what it means to be thirsty, don’t we?
“I’m so thirsty I could die!”
“I’m so thirsty I could drink a gallon of tea.”
2. But living in a land of plenty as we do, none of us has
ever experienced “true hunger” or “true thirst.” I’m
talking about the kind of hunger and thirst that is so
intense it causes pain.
3. When Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness” he is talking about those
who have an intense, painful hunger and thirst for
the things of God.
4. David wrote a couple of passages in Psalms that
describes the kind of “spiritual hunger and thirst”
Jesus is talking about. In fact, we sing a couple of
praise choruses based on these passages of scripture,
so they should sound familiar to you.
One is found in PSALM 42:1-3 (NKJV) As the deer pants for the
water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts
for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before
God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they
continually say to me, “Where is your God?”

The other scripture is found in PSALM 63:1,2 (NKJV)
“O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul
thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land
where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the
sanctuary, to see Your Power and Your glory.
5. These scriptures are not describing a “take it or leave it”
kind of hunger and thirst. They are describing “a can’t
live without it, must have it no matter the cost” kind
of hunger and thirst.
6. This is the kind of longing that Jesus is describing
in this beatitude. And notice the “object” of the
longing, “righteousness.”
7. What does it mean to hunger and thirst for
righteousness? It means to hunger and
thirst for those things that PLEASE GOD….HONOR
GOD……WORSHIP GOD…..and GLORIFY GOD.
*The world hungers and thirsts for unrighteousness,
the child of God hungers for righteousness.
*The world hungers and thirsts for those things
which are SINFUL…….SHAMEFUL……and SENSUAL.
The child of God hungers and thirsts for those
things which are DECENT…..HONORABLE……and
PRAISEWORTHY.
8. Do you know what you “hunger and thirst” for
reveals the true nature of your heart. It is possible
for one to put on an outward performance that
looks spiritual, and talk Christian lingo that sounds
spiritual, and yet in his or her heart have no
intense hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God.
9. When we “crave” the things of this world it “curbs”
our appetite for God, for God’s word, and for quiet
fellowship with God. Just like “junk food” curbs your
appetite for nutritious food, “worldliness” curbs your
hunger and thirst for righteousness.

10. If you have little or no appetite for “spiritual things”
stop and think about the things you feed your mind
and heart upon most……the things that consume
a great deal of your time, attention and energy;
and chances are you will find the source of what
has “curbed” your appetite for the things of God.
10. Jesus said, the reward of hungering and thirsting
for righteousness is that YOU WILL BE FILLED.
Only the things of God can truly fill us.
Only the things of God can satisfy the hunger
and thirst of our souls.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for
they shall l be filled.
Jesus gives us the next beatitude in VERSE 7.
III. BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL (v. 7)
v.7 “Blessed are the MERCIFUL
CIFUL, for they shall obtain
MERCY.”
1. It has been said, “We behave most like God when we
show mercy to those in need.”
2. Someone who is merciful is “full of mercy.”
Some people are “full of baloney!”
Some people are “full of hot air!”
When one is “merciful” he or she is full of mercy.
3. Mercy is “a compassionate disposition that leads
one to take action to forgive a wrong……..lighten
a burden……or to ease the pain of another.”

4. A “merciful” person is one who is fully conscious that
he or she is an unworthy recipient of God’s mercy and
only by His grace have they been saved.
Do you realize God renews His mercy for you and
me every morning?
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NKJV)
22 Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.
Every day is a fresh start, a clean slate, in the eyes of
God. God doesn’t hold yesterday’s sins, failures or
shortcomings against us. His mercies are NEW
every day.
5. Because God is “merciful” to me, I should be
“merciful” towards others.
*When someone has wronged me, I don’t hold
a grudge against them, I forgive them. That’s
what someone who is merciful does.
*When I hear of someone in need, I don’t move
away from them, I move towards them. That’s
what a merciful person does.
*When someone needs help, I don’t ask “why
doesn’t somebody do something?” I ask,
“What can I do?” That’s what a merciful person
does.

6. And the reward? Jesus says, “Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
This beatitude is unique in that THE REWARD
corresponds exactly to the action it calls us
to.
The reward for BEING MERCIFUL is to RECEIVE
MERCY.
7. What Jesus is telling us is this: “If we have tasted
of God’s mercy towards us, we are obligated to
show mercy towards others. And so long as we
refuse to show mercy towards someone, it will
put a “strain” on our own relationship with God
until we do. Our failure to be “merciful” toward
someone will result God withholding peace from
our mind and heart until we let go of the offence.
8. Jesus gives a classic illustration of this in “The
Parable of The Unmerciful Servant” in Matthew 18.
Remember the man who owed the King a
debt he couldn’t possibly repay? The King
showed mercy towards the man and forgave
him his debt and released him from prison.
On the way home, that man encountered someone
who owed him $16 lousy bucks. Instead of showing
mercy towards him, he had the man thrown into
prison until he paid him the $16 he owed him.
When the King heard about it, He withheld His
mercy from the unmerciful servant and had him
thrown back in jail until he paid back his debt.

9. As recipient’s of God’s mercy, you and I are
obligated to show the mercy of God towards any
one who has wronged us. As much as it may pain
us to do that, Jesus said there is a reward. Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy!
C O N C L U S I O N
As we go through these Beatitudes, perhaps you are realizing
there are certain areas of weakness in your life.
Maybe you believe you aren’t meek enough; that perhaps
there’s too much pride in your heart. And you’re thinking:
“Boy, I need to work harder to become more meek.”
Or maybe you’re thinking, “I don’t hunger and thirst
after righteousness” as I should. And you’re thinking:
I just need to work harder at hungering and thirsting
after righteousness.
Or perhaps you know in your heart you are holding a
grudge against someone and you have not been
merciful towards them. And you’re thinking, “I really need
to work harder at being a more merciful person.”
Listen very carefully! If you have a weakness in one or more
of these Beatitudes, the solution is not to “work harder,”
the solution is to surrender that area of your life to the Holy
Spirit. May our prayer today be this:
Dear Heavenly Father,
By Your Spirit, create within me a spirit of Christ-like MEEKNESS.
By Your Spirit, stir my hunger and thirst for RIGHTEOUSNESS.
And by Your Spirit, create within me a MERCIFUL spirit, like that
of Your Son, Jesus Christ.
In Jesus’ Name, AMEN