May 3, 2020 Sermon Notes “Sermon on the Mount” Pastor David Moore
Old Testament Reading: Isaiah 61
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.
“For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their descendants will be known among the nation and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.” I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.
Matthew 5:1-6
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying,
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
Theme: Today is about righteous self-sufficiency. In the American culture there is high value placed on being able to take care of ourselves. This sets us up, that if someone cannot take care of themselves, in fact there is a negative stigma placed on that person.
But the uncomfortable truth is none of us can truly take care of ourselves. We need Jesus to take care of our sins, right our wrongs, we cannot sacrifice enough to satisfy God’s righteousness.
Over time as believers of faith, our belief grows and we finally realize that our holiness and God’s demands will never come together on our own effort. We are stuck, we want to blame our parents, our genetics, other people. We finally come to a place where we need help! And we meekly ask for help. ~D. Moore
The answer is the 4th Beatitude: Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
We thirst for righteousness versus blessedness. If we are searching for happiness and blessedness, we will never reach that goal. If we center ourselves on something other than God and His righteousness, we destroy ourselves. ~D. Moore
The heart of the Bible is we want to be part of God’s Kingdom. We cannot achieve being part of God’s Kingdom on our own merit. We build our faith on God’s righteousness, not our own.
Spurgeon on Self-Righteousness: If you trust to your faith and to your repentance, you will be as much lost as if you trusted to your good works or trusted to your sins. The ground of your salvation is not faith, but Christ; it is not repentance, but Christ. If I trust my trust of Christ, I am lost. My business is to trust Christ; to rest on him; to depend, not on what the Spirit has done in me, but what Christ did for me, when he did hang upon the tree.
Why do we struggle with self-acceptance? The issue is whether or not we are acceptable to others. And furthermore, we are waiting for God’s verdict, but we know we have failed the test. And that is why we are anxious. ~D. Moore
John Stott: For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God [Gen. 3:1-7], while the essence if salvation is God substituting himself for man [2 Cor. 5:21]. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be.
“The Gospel is the only story where the hero dies for the villain.”
Today, the question is: are you going to give yourself to God and rely completely on His righteousness? The minute we comply and ask to be filled with His righteousness, “I need help,” we become part of the Kingdom.
Matthew 5:6: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
