Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

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

The Beatitudes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Last week we looked at verse 9 of Jesus’ beatitudes,

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

and today we’re going to see that those who are God’s peacemakers will at the same time, you might say ironically, will be persecuted for their message of peace and reconciliation.

Many will take offense to the peacemaking efforts of God’s people, and it’s because of the very nature of the fallen human heart, that it is radically opposed to the kingship, or lordship, of Jesus.

The human heart at it’s core seeks autonomy, it reaches for divinity just as Eve reached for the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

It’s why by our fallen nature we strive against God and do everything in our power to suppress the truth about him.

God’s message of peace brings division

So while we are commanded to be peacemakers Jesus also teaches us that this message of peace and reconciliation will have consequences, often causing division, even among families.

Jesus says it like this later in Matthew’s gospel starting in chapter 10:34-36,

34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.

I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.

35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household.

Jesus doesn’t mean here that he intends to bring physical violence against anyone, rather he’s using the analogy of the sword to describe the kind of division and strife that will inevitably exist within a family when certain members of that family become disciples of Christ.

It is no small thing for a person who was once dead in their trespasses and sin to be born again, repenting of their sin and turning to God.

Because to be a disciple of Christ means to have a new Lord, a new master directing the life of the person.

And those who oppose Christ will, by their fallen human nature, want nothing to do with the lordship of Jesus Christ, and by extension nothing to do with the person who has become a follower Him.

Example of how Jesus divides family members

I have a friend who I first met while I was in my late teens before moving back to Alaska who came from a home with a father who was a very vocal atheist, and I remember when my friend gave his life to the Lord that his father had a very harsh reaction to his son’s faith in Christ.

After many arguments and heated conversations his father eventually instructed him to move out of the house.

I remember going with him to his house once while he still lived with his family, and to this day I have this very vivid memory of the tension in the house while sitting in his living room on the couch.

I remember how strange it felt to witness my friend who probably wasn’t much older than 17 or 18 at the time essentially be disowned by his father.

I haven’t talked with him in years but I periodically see pictures of him and his wife with their children on Facebook, and he regularly sends us letters in the mail with updates of their ministry efforts on the college campuses of Texas, as he has been a full time evangelist and disciple maker with the Navigators ministry since we first became friends.

The pursuit of righteousness provokes opposition from the world

My point is that as peacemakers we will encounter much difficulty because a vast majority of the people around us don’t want anything to do with Jesus.

They don’t want the gospel and they don’t even want God in their thoughts.

It’s important that we’re soberminded about this reality, it should help from thinking it strange that the people around us tend to reject the message we carry.

But it’s equally important that we know that the message we carry is promised to be effectual, that God is able to, through our sharing of the gospel, remove a person’s heart of stone and give that person next door to us a heart of flesh, a heart that responds to God’s message of reconciliation.

I want you to listen to was Luke records for us in the book of Acts chapter 13 starting in verse 44,

44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.

45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him.

46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you.

Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

47 For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,

“ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,

that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’

”

48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

I want you to look at the last half of that last verse with me again,

and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.

Effectual calling emboldens us to evangelize

This is what we call efffectual calling.

In other words, in this particular situation, God overcomes many of the hard and rebelious hearts of the Gentiles in this city and gives them hearts that respond in faith.

Or to say it as the Apostle Peter did in his letter, “[God] has caused us to be born again.”

Now, the reason I want to point this out is because this reality means that you will not fail in your proclamation of the gospel, and as many are appointed to eternal life will believe.

You see, Luke could have written verse 48 very differently, he could have said something like this, “and as many believe God granted them eternal life” and I still think Luke would have been accurate to say that.

Of course those who believe will have eternal life - that’s the gospel, but Luke chooses to tell us more.

Instead he says that “as many as were appointed to eternal life believed.”

He’s showing us more than what we just see on the surface, he’s showing us that they believe because God had already appointed them unto eternal life.

This is HUGE for us as evangelists, you will succeed, you can share the gospel with someone and pray for someone and God can change their heart.

In fact, look what Luke later records in Acts chapter 18 starting in verse 5,

5 When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.

6 And when they opposed and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads!

I am innocent.

From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God.

His house was next door to the synagogue.

8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household.

And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

9 And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

Beloved there are many in this city who are God’s people, they just need to hear the word of God.

God encourages Paul’s evangelism by telling him that there are many in this city who are His.

The teaching that God’s calling is effectual is intended to embolden us to open our mouths.

The pursuit of righteousness provokes opposition from the world

My point here is that it’s important that we realize that our peacemaking efforts will encounter opposition, and to also remember that such opposition is not too much for our God to overcome.

In other words don’t let the opposition stop you, don’t let the opposition discourage you.

Now looking back at we read,

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.

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus breaks this beatitude out into two parts that are very closely related.

The first is that we will be “persecuted for righteousness’ sake.”

If you’ll look back at verse 6 we are reminded that those who are the children of God are those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness.”

That is, as God’s people we desire and pursue righteousness, and what Jesus is saying here is that because we pursue righteousness we will be persecuted, that we will encounter opposition from the world.

The inevitable collision of two opposing pursuits

If you think about it, it’s inevitable that those who pursue righteousness will be on a collision course with those who do not.

That those who love the darkness will have disdain for those who love the light.

It’s the inevitable collision of two opposing pursuits.

Our pursuits for righteousness will inevitably conflict with the world’s pursuits for unrighteousness.

Paul reaffirms this in his letter to Timothy and writes,

12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

Examples of conflict between righteous and unrighteous pursuits

There are a multitude of examples of this conflict throughout the Old and New Testaments.

The signs that accompanied the apostles caused many to follow them which filled the Pharisees with, as Luke describes it, jealousy.

Over and over again throughout the Gospels Jesus exposes the unrighteousness and hypocrisy of the religious leaders, inevitably culminating in their insistence to have him put to death.

And Pilate sentences Jesus to death at the Jew’s request to protect himself and his rule despite Jesus’ innocence.