Trust Him in the Process

Trust Him in the Process

Matthew 5:5-7

Intro: I can help!

As we continue through the beatitudes, we remember that Jesus is on a mountainside, speaking to His followers. People came to be with Him from many miles
and here, He begins to articulate how they can live a blessed life. The words Jesus spoke would point all toward His blessing, throughout the generations.

Read: Matthew 5:5-7

• To be “blessed,” is to be happy, but not in the situational or temporary sense. It is to be happy and spiritually blessed in the truest, godly sense
  of the word. Happy beyond circumstance or situation. 

• With the beatitudes, Jesus points us toward that path, which for us, is the process upon which we live blessed lives, happy beyond circumstance, chance
  or change. 

Philippians 1:6, For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

• He who began a good work in you, He will be faithful to complete it! 

I. Let Jesus Show You the Way

• Jesus continues in the beatitudes in verse 5, “blessed are the gentle (or meek, or praus in Greek), for they shall inherit the earth.” 

• Meekness is not weakness, rather, it is strength under control. It shows gentleness and humble patience.

• Meekness toward God is a disposition in our lives that we accept that He is good, since we know He is good we freely trust His will and way in all
  things.

• This gentleness and meekness is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest. We trust in God’s goodness and His control over the situation.

Illus. Uncontrolled versus controlled power.

• Meekness toward God is a disposition in our lives that we accept that He is good, since we know He is good we freely trust His will and way in all
  things.

• This gentleness and meekness is the opposite of self-assertiveness and self-interest. We trust in God’s goodness and His control over the situation.

• In an autobiographical description of His personality, Jesus said, “I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29)

• Jesus was truly surrendered to the Father’s will and plan. His strength was harnessed for the purposes of the of the Father.

• Jesus didn’t just say He was meek, it was on display, all the way to the end.

Philippians 2:5-8, Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking on the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

• Who inherits the earth? Who is blessed? The gentle, the meek. Those who follow Jesus example, surrendering their “rights” or privileges and submitting
  to the will of the Lord.        

• The “earth” is used to refer to the future inheritance of the kingdom. 

• We know from Revelation 21, that after the final victory over sin, the Lord will make all things new. A new heaven and new earth. 

2 Peter 3:13, But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

• The new earth that will be given to those in Christ is the “heaven” on which we will spend eternity. It is where righteousness dwells. 

A.Desire Righteousness

• Jesus continued, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” 

• What we hunger and thirst for is powerful. The words hunger and thirst paint the picture for us of intense longings that people desire to satisfy –
  necessities they cannot live without. 

• The term Righteousness means: God’s right standard. And it is His power that enables it. 

Hungering and thirsting for righteousness means:

1) A desire to be made righteous – forgiven and accepted by God.

2) The desire to do what is right – To do what God commands; imitating and reflecting God’s righteousness.

3) The desire to see right done – to help bring about God’s will in the world.

• The first beatitude is “poor in spirit,” which comes with a recognition of no spiritual assets, or to be spiritually bankrupt.
  

• There is an understanding of spiritual emptiness and here, Jesus points us toward what to be hungry and thirsty for, what to fill up on. 

• There are many things we can hunger and thirst after that aren’t good, Jesus is telling His follower to hunger and thirst after righteousness and they
  will be satisfied. 

• Today we make the choice as to what we will be filled with. Some are so full with other things that there is no room for what the Lord would give.
  

Jeremiah 2:13, My people have committed two evils, “They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.

• They have carved out these cisterns and filled them with their own pursuits and activities; they can hold no water for me.
  

Illus. I already ate.

• There are many who aren’t hungering and thirsting for righteousness because they are filled with all the wrong things. 

• People thirst after power, prominence, money, respect, etc. Their lives then become centered around the desire for these areas to be fulfilled in their
  lives, with no room for much else. 

• Jesus is saying, center your life on desiring righteousness. Make righteousness your desire, make righteous choices the only option.
  

Illus. You get to decide!

• Hunger and thirst for righteousness only, make that your desire, your only option.  

• I seek first His kingdom and righteousness, knowing that all my needs will be provided for, that I will be satisfied. 

• We pursue righteousness, knowing that even though it is unattainable on our own merits, Jesus made a way for us to be righteous before God (2 Cor.
  5:21). 

A.Delight in mercy

• Jesus continues after pointing His followers toward being filled with righteousness to living with mercy towards others, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy”
  (Verse 7). 

• The term mercy means to give compassion or forgiveness to a person who deserves otherwise.  

Ephesians 2:4-5, But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).

• We are able to understand our need to give mercy toward others when we understand the Lord has shown mercy on us.
  

Illus. In Matthew chapter 18 verses 23-35, Jesus gives a parable about an unmerciful, unforgiving servant.

• When Jesus says that the merciful shall receive mercy, He is saying that the mercy you give will come back to you.
  

James 2:13, For judgement will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgement.

• Certainly, the Lord has had mercy on us, this scripture however, is talking about the mercy we have towards others. When we ourselves have been given
  great mercy, we, like the Lord, should have mercy on others rather than withholding it.
  

Luke 6:37-38, Do not judge and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon and you will be pardoned. Give, and it will be given to you, they will pour into your lap a good measure – pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.

• Jesus wants you to be blessed, give mercy. Blessed are you when you are meek, when you hunger and thirst for righteousness, when you show mercy. His
  promises are sure. 

Will you trust Him from whom all blessings flow in and throughout the process?

Matthew 5:5-7