The Fire that Purges Corrupt Doctrine (Matt. 5:1-2) (2/1/26)

It's good to be in the house of the Lord on this

fourth Sunday of Epiphany. The season of Epiphany

is where God reveals who Jesus is to all of us.

Let us now pray together and ask for his blessings

of the preaching of his word. Our most good and

gracious God and Heavenly Father, we thank you

for the privilege that we have in gathering in

your name as your children to look at your word

to us. We pray that your grace would be with

us this morning as it has been in the past. We

thank you for your so great salvation in Christ

Jesus and your goodness to us each day. We thank

you that you have given us meaning, purpose,

and hope. And so now let the words of my mouth

and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable

in your sight. Oh Lord, our strength and nearest

kinsman, Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Amen. So here

this morning, I want us as we go through our

scripture passage today to think about three

things so that we can look at this well together.

Man's chief issue is our own sin. Man's chief

issue is our own sin. In Jesus corrupt ideas

are purged from us. In Jesus corrupt ideas are

purged from us. Finally God's people are oriented

to towards the world as he is because we are

restored to life by Jesus God's people are oriented

towards the world as he is because we are restored

to life by Jesus Let us now once again hear our

gospel reading Matthew chapter 5 beginning in

Matthew 5 · chapter mention

verse 1 and seeing the multitudes he went up

on a mountain And when he was seated with his

disciples, his disciples came to him, and he

opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed

are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom

of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they

shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for

they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those

who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for

they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful,

for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the

pure in heart. for they shall see God. Blessed

are the peacemakers, for they shall be called

the sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted

for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom

of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and

persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against

you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly

glad, for great is your reward in heaven. For

so they persecuted the prophets who were before

you. These are the words of Almighty God receive

them in your hearts Matthew's gospel presents

Jesus life in parallel to the history of the

people of Israel in contrast to Israel Jesus

is the faithful son we see that Jesus is called

out of Egypt and So was Israel both Israel and

Jesus fled from kings who were trying to kill

baby boys Israel was in the wilderness for 40

years to undergo temptation so that they might

know what was in their hearts, so that it may

be revealed to them. In their temptations, Israel

utterly failed. They murmured, complained, and

disobeyed at every turn. Jesus was in the wilderness

for 40 days and he defeated Satan and all of

his temptations. Then both Israel and Jesus crossed

the Jordan River to establish the Kingdom of

God. Just as God called the people of Israel

to a mountain to receive His law, Jesus sees

the multitudes and goes up on a mountain. Not

to replace the law, but to drive out all of the

false teachings and false explanations that have

been placed on the people by the leaders of Israel.

The false ideas and applications of the law were

not just a problem for kings and governors and

the Roman Empire, but also a great judgment to

the scribes. Those were the protectors of God's

word. They were supposed to be copying it and

making sure that it was held in high regard without

error. This was also a great judgment for the

pious insurrectionists and to the priests, especially

the high priest. who were corrupt and in many

cases, laying excessive burdens on the people

that had very little to do with God's law or

His work for His people in their daily lives.

Our Old Testament reading today from the book

of Micah showed us that even though the priests

were leading the people in God -given sacrificial

worship, it was empty, that is, vain or vaporous.

God pleads His case to the mountains. Which why

did he do that? It's because the mountains were

witnesses of God's covenant establishment with

his people God explicitly in Micah rejects all

the religious gestures and acts and sacrifice

unless Their faith is accompanied with works

And what did it say? What does the Lord require

of you? But to do justly love mercy Walk humbly

with your God So our text today Jesus sits down

and opens his mouth and brings light upon what

God has truly said Jesus drives the darkness

of confusion out of the people by giving them

the Sermon on the Mount in this sermon he takes

the crooked and corrupt doctrines of Israel and

purges them and Jesus begins with what we call

the Beatitudes We call them the Beatitudes not

because they are some type of attitude that we

are to be. How many have ever heard that catchy

phrase before? But rather because the Latin word

for blessed is Beatus, Beatus. And of course,

most of the scriptures that we have translations

from, a good deal of them were in Latin before

they were in English. So Jesus comes preaching

the kingdom of heaven. We talked about that last

week Several things though often enter our minds

when we hear about the kingdom of heaven We tend

to think that it is some ethereal spiritual thing

that is way out there a Place I'm trying to get

to some spiritual thing disconnected from this

world Of course this type of error comes from

barring Greek philosophy Where we divide creation

into two separate worlds one being the spiritual

world and the other one the physical world as

If there are two realities Which have some sort

of connection, but are lived in different parts

of our life Second we often treat the Word of

God as a self -help book that will guide us somehow

to our best life If I follow these things that

are in the Bible, or if I do some of the things

God's require, I'll make out pretty well in my

life. Dearly beloved, this way of thinking or

approaching the scripture is demonic and frankly

sickening. Makes me want to grab a little sex

so I can vomit. The eternal God, the creator

of all things, holy. Good in all things his word

is true and not something to be trifled with

as if we can pick and choose which part we want

to accept follow or even believe The Beatitudes

are our reality They are foundational to seeing

life through the right lens. That is the lens

of God Now Jesus uses the word blessed nine times

You notice that I said when I read it. I didn't

say blessed. I grew up learning blessed, right?

Right and the reason I did that is we tend to

think that blessedness is like this special spiritual

place Right as opposed to blessed because the

actions of God Right. We're not trying to get

to some special place No, God has created us

to live in this world that we live in right now.

And we are blessed in this world right now. And

the things that we do to follow God are blessed

by God. So he uses this word blessed nine times.

And so we need to understand what blessed is

in biblical terms. Blessed is not simply an internal,

emotional, or spiritual state. As if to say,

like if I do these things, I'll feel better.

The Beatitudes, these things, this blessedness

of God, is not a vending machine where you put

a quarter in and you push the button. It is rather

about the state of God's people. When Adam was

formed and given life, he was given all he needed

to flourish, to be fruitful and multiply and

take dominion over the earth. When he sinned

all of mankind received all mankind and creation

received the just curse for sin and so creation

and Man were set against each other and sin was

bringing death to all men and so since that time

Men and all the world are crying out to be set

right to have our status restored In Isaiah chapter

Isaiah 61 · chapter mention

61, we prophetically read this of Jesus. to console

all those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty

for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment

of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they

may be called trees of righteousness, the planting

of the Lord, that he might be glorified. And

they shall rebuild the old ruins, they shall

raise up the former desolations, and they shall

repair the ruined cities, the desolations. of

many generations. You here today, do you think

that this once Christian country is of no good,

of no ability to be restored? God will restore

His people. Empires fall, but the church remains.

And so we know that the Christian world, the

Christian life, the kingdom of heaven will continue

to be built and restored here. Jesus is preaching

the kingdom of heaven is at hand because he has

come to restore and make all things right. And

so as we briefly look at the Beatitudes, we must

see this as a declaration by Jesus that these

Beatitudes are the current state of God's people

because of his atoning work. The fulfillment

of all things in heaven and earth are joined

together as we see described in revelations 21

and 22. This is a world where thy will be done

on earth as it is in heaven is no longer a petition

or something that we work for each day, but it

is the eternal reality of all nations. These

things are not accomplished in the ways of men,

for the ways of men are corrupt. For the cross

is foolishness to the Greek and an offense to

the Jew So the ideas of the mighty Greek philosopher

and the self -righteousness of the Jews are not

able to truly bring truth beauty and goodness

to the world as one commentator put it The problem

as Greek philosophers saw it was not sin against

God, but ignorance of ideas Hence, happiness

was a consequence of knowledge. And for the Jews

of Jesus' day, their own teachings and self -righteousness

put them in a place where they could not accept

Jesus, the very Son of God, as their Messiah.

Consequently, both are lost and cannot restore

anything but for a short time, and then failure

is sure. So let us briefly see the reality of

God's people now. These are not what -ifs, but

are true of God's people in the present. So blessed

are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom

of heaven. The first one speaks of the blessed

restored true humanity, our poor in spirit. For

God's people, We recognize that we are destitute

as God's people we are we have to recognize that

we are destitute in our sin our standing before

God is in a negative balance that we cannot remedy

the kingdom of heaven belongs to those who Admit

their utter poverty of their sin and stand before

God crying out for mercy Blessed are those who

mourn for they shall be comforted Blessed are

those who mourn for their sins and for the sins

of the world The first beatitude orients us as

sinners. And so we humbly relate to others The

second state of God of the people of God is to

mourn our sin and the sin of the world Salvation

is not just for you as an individual But it is

for you to imitate Jesus and to priestly mourn

for the sins of others around you. Do you understand

this? Your confession of sin. Your understanding

your place before God and His mercy that's been

poured out upon you because of Christ. Right

here it is. That is the same way we should mourn

for them and we should mourn for the sins of

others. Now those of you with small children

Right now, when your children sin, it's more

of an aggravation. But as your children get older

and they start to work through the things of

life, you, as a parent, actually mourn for your

children's sin. And I pray that you do it not

just as a, oh no, what am I going to do, but

rather mourn before God. What did Job do? He

says that he made daily sacrifices for his children.

He appealed to God in case they did anything

to offend God. I don't know about you, but I

know my children well enough to know that they're

just like me, and they are sinning all the time.

They need Jesus. And so you need to act as a

priestly person and mourn for the sins of others

around you, even at your job. And why? Because

you will be comforted. This is a promise of God.

So you may have difficulties in these relationships

all around you, but you can look to God. Mourn

for your sins mourn for the sins of those around

you and you will be comforted Blessed are the

meek for they shall inherit the earth Our transformed

state in Jesus means that we're meek that is

great power restrained for the benefit of others

Jesus could have called down 12 legions of angels

at his trial to deliver himself But Jesus was

meek and he restrained his great power so that

we might be delivered from our sin and redeemed,

made new. He trusted the Father to vindicate

him and so as it says in Psalm 2, God gave him

the nations as his inheritance and the ends of

the earth for his possession. Meekness towards

God is that disposition of spirit in which we

accept his dealings with us as good. Therefore

without disputing and resisting God we trust

God's goodness and control in every situation

Now here we sit this morning In the circumstances

in your life snow the ice In difficulties in

relationships and the problems of the people

around you Do you accept His dealings with you

as good? And do you dispute with Him? Do you

resist God and who He's placed in your life and

what they may be doing, as you might think, to

you? But rather, you need to think of them of

what God is doing for you. We must trust God's

goodness and control in every situation. Next

we see blessed are those who hunger and thirst

for righteousness for they shall be filled God's

people are hungry and thirsty for righteousness

and We will be filled Jesus is the bread of life

Which is multi which is multiplied not just to

fill you but to fill the multitudes Why are you

filled that you may fill the multitudes? He is

a well that never ends Jesus said whoever drinks

of the water that I shall give him will never

thirst But the water that I shall give him will

become in him a fountain of water springing up

into everlasting life This spring is not something

that is simply to be admired by you look at this

big fountain I have how wonderful No, it is so

that you can take the waters given by Jesus and

give them to the world Point them to this wonderful

fountain bring them to it. Let them drink You

may feel overwhelmed in your circumstances Jesus

said seek the kingdom of God First the kingdom

of God in his righteousness and all these things

will be added unto you The problem is we don't

seek it in that way. We don't seek first the

kingdom of God in his righteousness We're thinking,

I gotta figure out how to do this myself. Largely

on things we can't control. You are hungering

and thirsting for righteousness, but you cannot

be filled with anything else. This is why so

many seek to be filled with alcohol, or drugs,

or illicit sex, or entertainment. Anything else

but the righteous. thoughts and actions. People

of God, you're already hungering, hunger and

thirst after God's righteousness, and you will

be filled. He will bring contentment to you.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain

mercy. God's people are merciful, not sometimes,

but always. We remember the frame of those around

us and stooped down with compassion grounded

in the scriptures To be merciful to others so

that we may do what? Lift them up Let me say

that again We remember the frame of all those

around us that we may stoop down with compassion

grounded in the scriptures To be merciful that

we may lift Others up. As one commentator says,

for God to bless man means that God bends down

in his grace and mercy to aid man. It is a sovereign

condescension on God's part. And so we are to

be as well. Blessed are the pure in heart, for

they shall see God. The only way that we see

God is in Christ. For he was the only one that

was pure. For every Christian, we must be cleansed.

Hypocrisy presents a clean exterior as a cover

for a dirty interior. So go back to the first

two Beatitudes. Know you are a sinner and mourn

for your sins. And know that your mind must be

renewed. Romans 12. That your thoughts Desires

and motives must be purified and purged by submission

to the Word of God And we will see God Blessed

are the peacemakers for they shall be called

the sons of God God's sons are blessed and peacemakers

God's peace that's Shalom. What is this? It means

God's peace means salvation and well -being in

the fullest sense. Bodily health, prosperity,

salvation, redemption, mental health, and contentedness.

The people of God are to be peacemakers. Are

you doing this for others? Are you bringing a

means of salvation and well -being? What are

you doing to bring bodily health to someone else?

To bring prosperity to someone else to bring

salvation to someone else to bring redemption

and mental health and contentedness to others

The people of God are peacemakers and all these

things are done for others to the glory of God

You see how this is it isn't just something for

you. This is something that is given to you that

you may pour out on others If you're not in alignment

see one and two and Then this is your state you've

been set free from the bondage of sin and death

through Christ He's giving you a new heart. He's

giving you a new mind He's giving you a new chance

in life. Just go and do it. This is your status.

And when we are called the sons of God, the next

blessings are realized just as it was for our

Lord Jesus. Blessed are those who are persecuted

for righteousness sake. For theirs is the kingdom

of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile.

Persecute you and then when they say all kinds

of evil against you falsely for my sake Rejoice

and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward

in heaven And so they persecuted the prophets

who were before you now. Here's the thing Have

you in your Christian life? Lived a certain way

following these Beatitudes following the things

of God and people people at your job. Hey hold

on You got to quit it. You got to stop being

so diligent and working so hard You're making

the rest of us look bad you ever had that happen

What about when you behave rightly According

to God's Word to people when you love them by

telling them the truth not to tear them down

but to set them free And they say don't do that

There's all kinds of ways. What about in your

own household? Sometimes in our own families,

we find places where people push back against

us when we stand up and say, I'm doing what God

says. What are we to do? We are to rejoice and

be exceedingly glad. For great is your reward

in heaven. And we're going to be persecuted.

As the sons of God will be persecuted for living

in the ways of the Beatitudes. When God's will

is done here on earth as it is in heaven, we

realize that the kingdom of heaven is all around

us for every square inch is our Lord's. And we

count it all joy and rejoice when we receive

persecution and hatred for the world for the

sake of Jesus. Jesus came to restore all things

including his church. which is the ever -expanding

Kingdom of Heaven. Therefore, we are blessed.

In Deuteronomy, we find in surrender and obedience

to His commands, which we can do because we're

empowered to obey by the work of the Spirit in

our life, this encouragement. Hear now the words

of God from Deuteronomy 28. And all these blessings

shall come upon you. and overtake you because

you obey the voice of the Lord your God. Blessed

shall you be in the city. Blessed shall you be

in the country. Blessed shall be the fruit of

your body, the produce of the ground, and the

increase of your herds, and the increase of your

cattle, and the offspring of your flocks. Blessed

shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

Blessed shall you be when you come in and blessed.

shall you be when you go out. And of course,

this is a call about being in church. You're

blessed when you come in, even though you're

a dirty sinner. And God forgives you. And He

restores you. And He transforms you by His Word.

And then what does He do? He brings you to His

table of peace. And then He gives you a blessing

on the way out the door. And you're blessed coming

in, because you weren't worthy. And you're blessed

going out. Because he has received you for Christ

Jesus sake Let us now pray Heavenly father we

thank you for your word Help us we pray to live

act and think and speak as your sons and daughters

We ask that you conform us more and more to Jesus

Grant to us the blessedness that pours out to

the world and that your will be done here on

earth as it is in heaven and to rejoice When

the world sees the light of Jesus shining and

they hate us and persecute us. Turn them to you

for your glory and praise. We ask all this in

the name of Jesus, holy name. Amen.