Sermon Tone Analysis

All Scripture

All scripture has something to teach us so we can be good children of God.

Recipients of the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Heaven.

All scripture is God breathed and useful (2Tim3:16-17)

wait, that is one of the interpretive bibles, I should give a translation one.

Some Scripture purposes and uses:

Scripture is useful for history and hope (Rom15:4)

Rom15:4 “4 For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

Some are for salvation (Act2:37-38; Rom10:9-10; Jn3:16; Act22:16)

What must we do?

Repent and be baptized, receive Holy Spirit

Confess with your mouth, believe in your heart

Believe that God so loved the world

And be baptized calling on His name

Some are for edification (Eph4:12)

Some for transformation (Rom12:1-2)

rom12:1-2 “1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

you are not going to present your bodies as a sacrifice unless you understand why and how we are to offer the sacrifice of our body.

(Transition) this series is going to look at some passages to ponder that help us to understand the grace of God through knowledge of God for the application of the word of God for the people of God.

This will be, at least at this time, a series of eight passages that we will look at

Context

Hermeneutics (meaning)

And finally application

(Transition) So, our passage today is from the Sermon on the Mount and please turn to Mt5:3-12 today

Context of the beatitudes

Context matters!

If you are with us on Sunday nights, and I hope and pray if not you will join us, then you understand the necessity of context

Definition of context (N):

The circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed.

The parts of something written or spoken that immediately precede and follow a word or passage and clarify its meaning.

To understand the blessedness of the beatitudes (which by the way means extreme blessedness or happiness) we need to understand the context of the Sermon on the Mount where it comes from.

The setting of the sermon (Mt3:1-3, 4:17, 23)

Starts with the preaching of John the Baptist (Mt3:1-3)

Then the preaching of Jesus Christ (Mt4:17, 23)

and add to that

(Transition) Both focused on the “gospel of the kingdom.”

- now that leads to the theme of the Sermon on the Mount

Theme of the sermon, it is the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God (Mt5:3, 10, 19-20, 6:10, 33 and 7:21)

You find it all throughout the sermon, let me give you a taste of the scriptures listed in your outline

We will look at Mt5:3, 10 this morning so will jump by those for now but look at

and one more

The kingdom was to come

They were to seek the kingdom

For not all who call on the Lord are in the kingdom, but the one who does the will of God (more will follow on this as we go today.

I think you get it, the theme of the sermon is the kingdom of heaven.

That now leads us to the introduction of the sermon.

Introduction to the sermon (Mt5:3-12)

If you are not turned to Mt5, please turn there now.

Jesus uses the Beatitudes, to show the attitude that the Christians are to have to set the tone for the sermon.

He starts the Beatitudes (v.3) and and ends the Beatitudes (v.10) with the main theme, the kingdom of heaven.

Hence why this message today is entitled “kingdom beatitudes” for what a way a section of scripture to start our passages to ponder series

Remember the word Beatitude means supreme blessings or a state of supreme happiness.

We have looked at the context, now may we look at the meaning (hermeneutics)

Meaning of the Beatitudes

Hermeneutics means “what does the passage mean.” and that is what we are going to focus on for a little while this morning.

The word hermeneutics definition is

Biblical hermeneutics is the branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation.

The word most often refers to how to interpret the Bible.

(Insert Character of Heavenly Citizens PowerPoint Here)

These verses describe the character, the attitude of the citizens of the kingdom of heaven.

They are poor in Spirit (Mt5:3)

They are humble in spirit vs. proud in spirit

They are convicted of one’s own spiritual poverty, brokenness and need for salvation.

Here are a couple of other scripture references to note down.

(below scriptures are not on slides)

and

They mourn (Mt5:4; Ps51:3-4)

They mourn because they realize their depravity, their brokenness due to their sinfulness.

A good biblical example is King David when his heart was convicted after committing adultery and murder surrounding Uriah’s wife Bathsheba

They are meek (Mt5:5)

This is gentle

Easy to be entreated (def: ask someone earnestly or anxiously to do something)

They hunger and thirst for righteousness (Mt5:6)

Looking for that which will meet their spiritual poverty.

This is a longing, a strong desire with exerted effort, a persistent longing to be filled with righteousness

They are merciful (Mt5:7)

Merciful because they are recipients of God’s mercy they are able to offer forgiveness and have a spirit of forgiveness towards others.

They are pure in heart (Mt5:8)

Here are some more scriptures that compliment this pure in heart characteristic, and attitude

Because we know our brokenness, because we mourn our sin, we are meek, and hunger and thirst for righteousness and are now merciful to others we can love from a pure heart

1Tim1:5 “5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.”

And able to approach God with sincere heart

Heb10:22 “22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

They are peacemakers (Mt5:9)

Having made peace with God (Rom5:1)

We can be peacemakers and make peace and live at peace with man

Rom12:18 “18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.”

Heb12:14 “14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

For we have the example of the Prince of peace (Isa9:6) who has given His spirit that dwells in us.

They are persecuted for righteousness sake (Mt5:10-12)

Willing to suffer, to be persecuted for the sake of Jesus (righteousness)

This can take place in many fashions and ways.

(Transition) the character and attitude of the kingdom of heaven citizens, dwellers would be able to experience the supreme blessedness of the kingdom

The blessedness of kingdom dwellers

With understanding the meaning of the supreme blessedness (happiness) we can then start to grasp the results, the actual blessedness of the kingdom dwellers.

You already have your bibles open to Mt5:3-12, so stay there but let me expand on the supreme blessedness with other scriptures.

(Insert blessedness of heavenly citizens PowerPoint here)

Theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mt5:3; Mt4:17; Mk1:14-15)

As noted before Jesus started His ministry proclaiming the kingdom of heaven - Mt4:17 “17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.””

mk1:14-15 “14 Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.””