E-Free Church - Gaylord Campus
What does the normal Christian life look like? Jesus gives us 8 building blocks of what Living Life Jesus Style is all about and they are called the "BEATITUDES"
Matthew 5:1-2 NASB1995
The INTRODUCTION to Life Jesus Style (Matthew 5:1-2)
A Lesson in CONTRAST
A Lesson in CONTENTMENT
Matthew 5:3-12 NASB1995
The IDENTITY of Life Jesus Style (Matthew 5:3-12)
A life that DEPENDS on God (v3)
A life that DETESTS sin (v4)
A life that DISCIPLINES self (v5)
A life that DESIRES righteousness (v6)
The REALITY of this characteristic
Hunger and thirst
Literally means “to suffer hunger” and “to suffer thirst”
It described the hunger of a starving man and thirst of one dying due to lack of water
Present tense = continual action
For righteousness
Knowing God intimately and modeling God personally
Absence of the partitive genitive
Literally = hunger/thirst for all the righteousness there is
The REWARD of this characteristic
They shall be satisfied
Used speaking of the fodder or grass used to feed cattle
It is so satisfying that our desire increases
A life that DISPLAYS mercy (v7)
The REALITY of this characteristic
The MOVEMENT of mercy
The first 4 characteristics focus on our relationship with God…the next 4 focus on our relationship with others
In Jesus day, mercy was not an honored virtue
The Jewish religionists were too proud to show mercy
The Romans glorified power and saw mercy as “a disease of the soul”
The MEANING of mercy
Mercy is the idea of being charitable or beneficial
Mercy is helping the afflicted and rescuing the helpless
Mercy is shown toward the helpless while grace is shown toward the undeserving
Mercy involves action and never waits for an invitation
(James 2:15-17) (1 John 3:17)
Mercy is best seen in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10)
He STOPPED – noticed the need
He STOOPED – cared enough to get involved
He SERVED – did everything he could to help
The REWARD of this characteristic
They shall receive mercy
Not from me, but from God
Emphatic = They and they alone will receive mercy
Matthew 18:23-35 NASB1995