The Good Life Redefined

If you have a Bible and I hope you or somebody around you does, that you can look on with, let me invite you to open it to Matthew 5. And as you’re turning, I want to welcome those of you in other locations, around Metro DC, for our church family, as well as others online, who are physically not able to be with us today. And especially if you’re visiting with us, whether you’re a follower of Jesus visiting from another church or maybe you’re not a follower of Jesus and you’re just checking out church or a friend or family member invited you today. We want you to know that you are welcome here and we are genuinely glad that you’re here.

We’re studying Jesus’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, this fall, as we think about what it would look like to experience life on earth as it is in heaven. I just want you to think about what would that look like. Think about just pulling up news on your phone, this week, you see news of global wars and terrorism and political polarization and violence and moral failings among prominent leaders, including church leaders, and mental health crises. You see social media inflaming all these things and then realize none of those things are happening in heaven.

None of them, which is why we pray, “God, our Father in heaven, may your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.”

And in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is showing us a glimpse of what the kingdom of heaven actually looks like here, in our lives. He’s showing us how the King of Heaven totally changes the way we live on earth, in ways that are completely counter-cultural. 

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Just think about what we looked at last week, from the very beginning, Jesus saying, “Blessed are so, Happy are, Fortunate are,” #blessed, “Are the poor in spirit.” It’s totally counter-cultural, it goes against everything this world says. And this world says, and we think the key to life is to believe in yourself and trust in yourself, have confidence in yourself. The mantra of the world is, please yourself, protect yourself, promote yourself, be true to yourself, satisfy yourself, comfort yourself, take care of yourself, live for yourself. Jesus says, “No,” the key to life is to die to yourself.

To express not yourself, but your utter poverty, apart from God, your complete dependence on God for life and that’s when you’ll live. The kingdom of heaven will belong to you.

Blessed are Those who Mourn

Then, “Blessed are those who mourn.” What is that? “Happy are those who mourn?”

We think happy are those who delight in this world and all it has to offer, happy are those who live it up here, who get what they want here and live how they want here. Jesus says, “No,” happy are those who mourn over sin and suffering in this world, over their sin and their suffering, over other sin and others suffering. Happy are those who long for a totally different world, God will wrap his arms around them and they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the Meek

Then, “Blessed are the meek,” who puts that on a resume? Not that you would write, “I’m really meek,” and kind of show that you’re not. But this is not a trait we prize, gentleness, humility, consideration of other interests above your own. Jesus says, “The humble,” not the proud, “Shall inherit the earth, shall gain the world.”

Blessed are Those who Hunger and Thirst

 Then we think happy are those who hunger and thirst, who long and work hard for more and nicer and better and newer and bigger in this world. Blessed are those who work hard for possessions and position and a good reputation and comfort and safety and security in this world. Jesus says, “No,” blessed are those who hunger and thirst, who long and work hard for righteousness, for holiness, for justice, no matter what that means for them in this world. That’s where satisfaction is found.

So we looked at all those last week, the first four beatitudes, these declarations and descriptions from Jesus, of blessing or happiness. So now we’re going to hit the last four today. To use language from Mike, last week, in these beatitudes, these pronouncements of blessing, how does Jesus, the King of heaven, redefine the good life in this world? And if you’re taking notes, just to let you know, I don’t have like point 1, 2, 3, 4. We’re simply going to just walk through each verse. I would encourage you to write down whatever sticks out to you along the way, when it comes to how Jesus redefines the good life. 

Blessed are the Merciful

So he says, in verse seven, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” Happy are the compassionate, the sympathetic. Happy are the people who are concerned about others in need.

You just look at the different ways this word is used in other times in the book of Matthew, we see two pictures and here’s how I would put it. You see mercy toward sufferers and you see mercy toward sinners, both end, let me show you both of these. First, sufferers, so four times, this word is used in Matthew, by suffering people who come to Jesus crying out for mercy. In Matthew 9:27, two blind men cried out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David,” and Jesus heals them. Then in Matthew 15:22, a Gentile woman comes to Jesus crying out on behalf of her demon-possessed daughter and she says, “Have mercy on me Lord.” And Jesus heals her daughter. Then Matthew 17:14, “Lord have mercy on my son,” this is a man who comes to Jesus on behalf of his son who’s experiencing uncontrollable seizures. And once he asks for Jesus’s mercy, Jesus heals his son. And then finally, in Matthew 20:30–31, a crowd tries to quiet two blind men, but they keep crying out twice, “Lord have mercy on us,” and Jesus heals them.

So this is mercy, this is compassion, concern for and helping people who are suffering. And then, you see mercy toward sinners. So Jesus uses the same word in Matthew 18:33, when he is talking about forgiving people who sin against you. He tells the parable of an unforgiving servant who receives forgiveness for what he had done but then doesn’t go out and show that same forgiveness to those who’ve done things to him. And the punchline in the whole parable, is verse 33, when the master says to this unforgiving servant whom he had forgiven, “Should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you?” So what’s the happy life, the good life? What are Christians known for, to use Mike’s language from last week? For mercy towards sufferers and mercy, toward sinners.

Towards sufferers, don’t miss this, Jesus is also talking about mercy toward those who hurt us, towards sinners. Generally, to those struggling with sin, because we know what it’s like to struggle with sin and specifically, toward those who sin against you. The good life shows mercy to them, the good life doesn’t hold on to bitterness against people who sin against you. And to be sure, when you’ve been hurt in a significant way, forgiveness is not easy and often involves a process. And mercy also doesn’t mean justice just goes out the window. I think about a judge in our church family giving just judgments all day. Jesus is not calling that judge to just be merciful and let everybody off the hook, because that’s the good life. The God of mercy is also a God of justice, which, ironically, was mentioned in that previous beatitude, “Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for justice.”

The picture here though, is just as God has shown mercy in our sin, we should desire to show others mercy in their sin.

In a commentary I’m an editor for, on the Sermon on the Mount, Danny Akin writes, “We will never forgive anyone as much as God in Christ has forgiven us.”

Happy are the merciful, who show mercy to sufferers and sinners out of the overflow we receive from God, of the mercy we receive from God in our sin and in our suffering.

Blessed are the Pure in Heart

Which leads to the next beatitude, Matthew 5:8, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” So good, the same phrase was in our church’s Bible reading this morning, Psalm 73:1, “The Lord is good to all who are pure in heart.” And the word Jesus uses for pure here, means to be clean, to be free from adulterating matter. And the heart is clearly the focus here, because later in the book of Matthew, Jesus is speaking to religious leaders who were squeaky clean on the outside, they followed every religious rule and regulation, but their hearts were far from God. Listen to the language Jesus uses there, Matthew 23:25, he says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they’re full of greed and self-indulgence.”

You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean, that word, “clean,” three times, same word that Jesus uses for pure in Matthew 5:8. The whole point is, they didn’t have clean pure hearts, they were seeking God alone.

And that’s the whole point, Jesus is saying here, in the New Testament, what Psalm 24 says in the Old Testament, “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in this holy place?” In other words, who shall see God? “He who has clean hands and a pure heart,” clean, pure heart. “Who doesn’t lift up his soul to what is false, does not swear deceitfully,” that’s a reference to swearing allegiance to other gods. “He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such as the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.” A pure heart seeks God, seeks the face of God above all.

And then it makes sense, doesn’t? That those who seek God out of a pure heart will see God and that is happiness.

To see and know and experience God himself, yes.

There’s nothing in the world that can compare with God.

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Which then leads to the next beatitude. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Oh, I love this, if you’re taking notes, maybe write down, “Like father, like son or daughter.” That’s the whole picture here. So God is a God of peace, Romans 16:20, 1 Thessalonians 5:23, Hebrews 13:20, all refer to God as the God of peace and here’s why. So if you’re not a follower of Jesus, I would invite you to listen particularly close here. God has created you and me, all of us, for a relationship with him, marked by peace and joy and love and closeness. The problem is, we have all sinned against God, we’ve turned aside from God in his ways to ourselves, our own ways, we’ve rebelled against God. Our hearts have warred against God and as a result, we deserve eternal judgment from God in his holiness and our sin.

But the good news of the Bible and the greatest news in all the world, is that God loves us so much that he sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins. So that we could be restored to peace with God, now and forever, not through works we do for God, but through faith in Jesus and his love for us. The Bible says in Romans 5:1, oh, sorry, where is it? There it is. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is the good news, you can be justified, forgiven of all your sin before God. You can be restored to peace with God, in relationship with him now and forever, by placing your faith in Jesus.

God invites you to do that today.

And when you do, so when you have peace with God, then what’s the good life? Well, it’s, first and foremost, leading others to peace with God.

And you and I have the privilege, this week, we can lead people to peace with God.

What else do you have more important on your to-do list this week?

It’s right, just in case you didn’t hear it on the other side of the camera, the shout from the front was, “Nothing.” There is nothing more important than leading people to peace with God. So this is why we live in a world that’s at war against God and we have spiritual armor and spiritual battle, including Ephesians 6:15, “Shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness by the gospel of peace.” The good news of peace, we walk into this world today, where people are rebelling against God and we bring the greatest news in the world, of peace with God, that’s possible through faith in Jesus. This is the great commission, to spread the good news of peace with God all around the world.

And then, as the overflow of peace with God, surely, it makes sense for us to live to make peace with others. Hebrews 12:14, “Strive for peace with everyone and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” It’s a great picture of both these last beatitudes, but what a word from God here. In a day of polarization and accusation and division, God is saying, “Not my children, not you. You strive for peace with everyone.” You know what that word includes? Everyone.

God says, Ephesians 4: 1 to 3, “I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love. Eager to maintain the unity of the spirit and the bond of peace.” What language, this is what marks my children, God says, humility, gentleness, patience, bearing with one another and believing the best about one another and love for them, because you’re bonded together by the spirit of peace. At the same time, knowing that there are times when people won’t respond to desire for peace, which is why Romans 12:18 says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Sometimes, in this world, people will refuse to make peace, in which case, God actually says in Titus 3:10 through 11, “As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful, he is self-condemned.”

Jesus himself says, later in Matthew 18, there’s actually a time to distance yourself and the church from people who won’t work toward peace with you and God. But even when that happens, keep longing for peace, knowing that is the heart of God. And beyond the church, in a world of conflict and division, we don’t stoke fires in person or on social media, we actually make sacrifices to de-escalate and reconcile sides. Obviously, never in a way that compromises the gospel, but always in a way that flows from the gospel, as sinners reconcile to God and one another, in the church, we work for reconciliation to God and among others in the world like father, like son and daughter. 

Blessed are Those who are Persecuted

Which all leads to the last beatitude and this one takes the cake. So all of these others have been counter-cultural, but this one is over the top. Matthew 5:10, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

What? Happy are the persecuted? That word means, harassed, pressed on, pursued by people who want to drive you out and destroy your reputation or your life. Jesus says that is happiness. Are you serious? You can almost imagine the confusion on the disciples faces and the crowds, as they think, “Wait, did he just say, blessed are the persecuted? Blessed are those who are harassed and driven out and opposed in these ways?” And you can tell they’re confused, because Jesus does something here that he hasn’t done with any of the other beatitudes. He says the same thing again, but he makes it more forceful and more personal this time, he’s clarifying what he just said. He says, in verse 11, “Blessed are you,” not just those, like he said in other beatitudes, but now it’s you. “Blessed are you,” I’m talking about you. Happy are you, “When others revile you.” That word means to keep insults on you, to mock you, to work to shame you.

Happy are you when others do that to you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you, falsely, on my account. Happy are you when people lie about you in all kinds of ways. Fortunate are you when people slander you. And then, watch this command, Jesus says, “Rejoice and be glad.” Huh, rejoice? It’s the same word that’s used in Luke 15:32 to describe the father, whose son was lost and is found. It’s the same word that’s used in Revelation 19:7, to describe the celebration in heaven, when we will rejoice in the presence of Jesus for the very first time. Rejoice and be glad, same word that used in 1 Peter 1:8, when he talks about following Jesus and loving him and rejoicing over him, with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.

Jesus is giving a command here, to rejoice and be glad when people attack you. How’s that possible? That’s impossible. Think about it, one, this is Jesus commanding an emotion, a feeling, and we don’t always have immediate control over our feelings. And two, in light of the fact that our emotions follow our thoughts, Jesus is telling us to feel an emotion that’s completely contrary to the way we think. Like nobody is slandered, attacked, shamed, lied about and feels elated by that. No, we feel inflamed by these things. In a sermon I listened to a couple of years ago, on this text, John Piper said, “I would argue, this is the most difficult command in the Bible, namely, for Jesus’ sake, to feel joy and gladness when you are reviled and persecuted and slandered.”

And the key, obviously, to all of this, is these things happening for Jesus’ sake, in verse 10 it’s, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake.” In verse 11 it’s, “Blessed are you when people revile you, persecute you, utter all kinds of evil against you, falsely, on my account,” meaning because you’re obeying me. So this is not just Jesus saying, “Blessed are those who are persecuted, reviled, slandered, in general, but blessed are you when people persecute you, revile you, slander you, because of righteousness and obedience to me.”

Now, let’s point out the obvious, obviously slanderers won’t say that’s why they’re attacking you, because you’re righteous or obeying God. They’ll say they’re doing this because they’re righteous and you’re wicked, that’s the whole point, they don’t want anyone to think well of you. I distinctly remember hearing a testimony and I can’t remember exactly who it was from, but it was a pastor in another country, who had been imprisoned for his faith and for spreading the gospel, and authorities were threatening to have him executed, to hang him. But the authorities didn’t want him to be seen, by others, as a noble martyr, so they started spreading slander about him, that he’d been unfaithful to his wife, that he’d misused the church’s money.

And he said, that there in prison, it hit him, as they started to do this, that he was glad to die for Jesus as long as the people he loved and his family and in the church, were applauding him as he went to his death. But he couldn’t bear the thought of dying and people he loved and his family or the church, not cheering him on as he went to his death, because they were believing those lies about him. And he shared how he realized, in all of this, that even in his willingness to die for Jesus, he was still prioritizing himself and his reputation. I’ve never forgotten that, and this is truly an impossible command, to rejoice and be glad when people relentlessly attack you to harm you and to cause others to think false things about you.

Can you just think about what this looks like, picture our brothers and sisters in Christ today, in a place like North Korea. If any of them are caught praying or reading any tiny portion of a Bible they might happen to have. Or just not worshiping Kim Jong Un in all the ways that he and the state prescribe, they will immediately be taken to a labor camp, where they’ll be put to work in harsh, deplorable, painful conditions, with little food and water, until they wither and die. And their family and their friends will be told, they are traitors and enemies. So North Korea, other settings like it around the world, would be the most clear and severe example of what Jesus is saying here, rejoice and be glad in a labor camp, as your family and your friends and your country think you’re a traitor and an enemy.

Then there are other examples that are nowhere near as severe, but are still significant, in the cultural climate we’re in today. I grieve over faithful, Bible-believing, gospel-spreading leaders in churches, including friends of mine, brothers and sisters alike, from a variety of different sides in our culture, but who are all in Christ as the church, who’ve been attacked and slandered and reviled, by anyone who can gain a hearing on social media by using their name. It happens enough from outside the church, makes it all the more sad inside the church and it’s humanly impossible for those brothers and sisters to rejoice and be glad in that.

Do you desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus?

But I really want to bring this into your lap, because the reality is, this is not just a blessing and a command for North Korean believers or church leaders in our cultural climate, this is a blessing and a command for you. Right where you’re sitting, right now, if you’re a Christian, because God makes crystal clear, in 2 Timothy 3:12, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus, will be persecuted, soon.” Do you desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus? If the answer to that question is, yes, which it will be true for every follower of Jesus, then God is saying, “You will be persecuted,” not might, will. That’s guaranteed persecution for all who follow Jesus.

So it’s not that you seek after persecution, opposition, reviling, slandering, no, instead, when you seek after Jesus and you obey his commands, you live in righteousness, to use language from Matthew 5:10, you spread the gospel with Jesus on his account, then you will be persecuted in this world, you will be reviled, you will be slandered. Which means, okay, this verse means, if this is not happening in your life, you need to at least ask, one, are you compromising with this world, maybe even unintentionally, living your life in such a way that you can stay in good standing with a godless world? Are you compromising what it means to truly obey Jesus? Are you living like the rest of the world lives? Or two, are you sharing Jesus with others? Are you telling people that they need Jesus, that he loves them and he’s made a way for them to be saved from eternal condemnation? Are you sharing that with others? Or are you keeping the light of Jesus under a bushel in your life?

Because mark it down, if you’re not compromising with the world and you are sharing the gospel of Jesus, then challenges are coming your way. I think about one brother in our church family, whose company was and is actively affirming LGBTQ issues in a way that, not only go against God’s word, but they’ve been making it look like he was personally promoting a sexual ethic that goes against God’s good design for men and women. He had to make a costly decision that risked his job, in order to make it clear, he does not affirm what his company is affirming.

And I know scores of you in business and in teaching, in medicine, in the government, military, all sorts of jobs, are facing decisions like this, more and more, on a daily basis in our country.

And then I think about teenagers, students, you guys are in it. Every time I do a Q&A session with you guys at camps or retreats, you’re asking questions about how to follow Jesus faithfully, how to share the gospel with friends, and in a culture where you will be canceled if you believe and talk about the Bible.

And I’m so proud of you for not compromising.

Even though it is costing you.

And I want you to know, as your church family, we are behind you, I want all of you to know, across our church family, whatever age or stage you’re in, we’re together in this.

In world here persecuting, reviling, slandering is coming for me and for you from all sides, let’s help each other to be faithful to Jesus.

To not compromise, to keep following Jesus, make him known together. And, so now bring this back to Matthew 5:12, bring it back here, realizing that faithfulness to Jesus for you and me, actually means rejoicing and being glad when this happens.

So we got to help each other rejoice and be glad.

This hit me so personally, as I was studying this passage, I want to be faithful to Jesus, more than anything else, all the way to the end. When I see his face, I want to be faithful to Jesus.

And Jesus just said, here’s what faithfulness looks like when people attack you, you rejoice and be happy.

Your Reward is Great in Heaven

How do you do that when you’re in a labor camp or when your company might fire you or does fire you or your friends at school totally cancel you. Here’s how, rejoice and be glad for, so that word clues us in, this is Jesus telling us how and why we can do this, how and why we can rejoice and be glad, when we’re obeying him and people come after us, for your reward is great in heaven.

The only way to rejoice and be glad when persecuted, reviled and slandered in this world, is when you stop looking to this world for reward.

And you start living for reward in another world.

And not just any reward, great reward in heaven.

Verse 10, “Yours is the kingdom of heaven,” it belongs to you, so you can rejoice. Talk about reward, just think about all this reward is, based on what we’ve seen in the beatitudes, put them together. You’re going to be in the presence of God himself, you’re going to see his face and be infinitely satisfied, as he calls you, his son or his daughter, as his mercy covers over all your sins and heals all your suffering. As he comforts you and wipes every tear from your eyes and he says, “Here’s the world with everything finally set right, in you and around you, everywhere.” Yes, rejoice like a father who finds his son who is lost, be glad with joy that’s inexpressible and filled with glory. You have a reward that far outweighs health and freedom and a job and a reputation in this world. You have a reward that is infinitely better than everything this world has put together.

And Jesus says, “Know that you are not alone. For so, they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” They called the prophet liars and deceivers, they attacked and canceled and even killed them too. And those prophets, Hebrews 11 and 12, are in heaven right now. And do you know what they’re doing? Brother or sister in Christ, right now, they are cheering you and me on. Why? Because they know the reward is worth it. Hebrews 11:13, “These all died in faith. Not having received the things promised, having seen them and greeted them from afar and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” For people whom speak, thus make it clear, they were seeking a homeland, if they’d been thinking of that land for which they had gone out, they would’ve had opportunity return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one.

Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God for he has prepared for them city, he’s prepared it for them and for you teenager, teacher, nurse, employee of this temporary government, whoever you are, don’t compromise your faith. Keep speaking about Jesus no matter what it costs you in this world that’s passing away, knowing that your reward is great, in the world that will last forever.

And can I just add one more thing? I’m totally out of time, but this is so important. How can you best love the people who persecute you and revile you and slander you? And the answer is, by doing what Jesus says to do here. By truly, authentically, deeply rejoicing and being glad, when, what does it say in verse 10, “When,” oh, sorry. Oh, I can’t remember where it is, but when they persecute you, when they revile you, when they slander you, rejoice and be glad. Not, so follow this, not in some selfish desire to spite them, no, but because you want to show them that Jesus really is a reward worth living for. Show them that their attacks on you don’t decrease your joy, they actually increase your joy, why? Because you’re not dependent on what they do or say or spread about you or what anyone does or thinks about you. You’re not dependent on them or others for your joy, because Jesus alone, is your supreme source of joy and gladness. And nothing that happens to you in this world can shake that.

In fact, attacks against you, in this world, only increase your joy and gladness in the king of another world, of heaven.

And in this way, hopefully, prayerfully, even your persecutors, revilers, slanderers will come to know the reward that’s found in Jesus alone.

When you put it all together, this miracle, that God alone can bring about, of rejoicing and being glad, happiness in the face of persecution, reviling, slandering, is good for you. It’s good for those who do those things to you and ultimately, it’s glorifying to God. This is the good life and it’s totally different from the way of this world. And today, I just want to invite you to believe Jesus when he says these things, to take him at his word and these beatitudes.

Observation: What does this passage say?

1) Read Matthew 5:7–12 aloud as a group. Let group members share observations. Try not to move into interpretation of the passage or application of what you read quite yet. Simply share what you observe.

• What does showing and receiving mercy look like?
• What do you think of when you think about purity?
• Besides Jesus, what peacemakers do you know about who were persecuted, and how did they respond to persecution?
• How would you summarize Matthew 5:7-12?

Interpretation: What does the passage mean?

1) Merciful – Read Matthew 9:27, 15:22, 17:15, 20:30–31, and Matthew 18:21–35 (verse 33)

• What examples of mercy do you find in these passages?
• What does it mean that the merciful will receive mercy?

2) Pure in Heart – Read Matthew 23:25–26 and Psalm 24:3–6

• How were the Pharisees contradicting biblical purity? Describe their public and private persona.
• How does Psalm 24 describe purity and what does it take to be clean

3) Peacemakers, Joy, and Persecution – Read Ephesians 6:15, Romans 5:1, Hebrews 12:14, Ephesians 4:1–3, Luke 15:32, Revelation 19:7, 1 Peter 1:8, 2 Timothy 3:12  

• How does peace relate to joy and how does it relate to persecution?
• What does it mean to find joy in persecution and what is the result of doing it?

Application: How can we apply this passage to our lives?

1) Seek mercy – Be merciful!

• How have you seen and experienced God’s mercy in your life?
• Where might you need to be a little more merciful with others, to those who are suffering or to those who have sinned against you?
• How can your genuine mercy and concern for others in need contribute to your witness?
• How is your Church Group merciful to one another and to the world around you?

2) Want purity – Be clean!

• What comes to mind when you think about pure living?
• In what areas might you need to pursue the purity of heart?
• How can being pure (clean) contribute to your witness?
• What examples do you see where your Church Group is more like the children of God than the Pharisees? 

3) Desire peace – Look for joy in persecution!

• How are you a peacemaker in your speech, actions, and social media?
• How are you being persecuted and where do you go to find joy when you feel persecution?
• How are you living the life redefined by Jesus in the Beatitudes to seek heaven’s reward?
• How can your Church Group love the world who might be persecuting our Christian values?

Matthew 5:7-12 ESV

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.

Sermon Recap

• “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
  • Happy are the compassionate, the sympathetic…happy are the people who are concerned about others in need. Christians living the good life are known for helping others in need.
  • It’s not the easy life, it’s not the convenient life, it’s not the carefree life…it’s the Christlike life, and it’s so much better.
• “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
  • The word for pure in the original language means to be clean…to be free from adulterating matter.
  • A pure heart seeks God above all. Those who seek God with a pure heart will see God, and this is happiness!
• “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
  • As children, as sons and daughters, of God, we spread this good news about peace with God.
  • We walk into a world where people are rebelling against God, and we bring the good news that eternal peace with God is possible through Jesus’ death on the cross.
• “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
  • Happy are the persecuted, which means harassed, pressed on, pursued by people who want to drive you out and destroy your reputation, if not your life…Jesus says, “That’s happiness.”
  • Happy are you when others revile you…Happy are you when people lie about you in all kinds of ways…Jesus gives a command here: rejoice and be glad when people attack you!?
  • Jesus says, ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted in general,’ but, ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted/reviled/slandered because of righteousness and obedience to Me.’