Christian Counter-Culture



Christian Counter-Culture, Sermon on the Mount

Character Part 1

Matthew 5:3-6

Introduction:

Will Rogers was known for his laughter, but he also knew how to weep. One day he was entertaining at the Milton H. Berry Institute in Los Angeles, a hospital that specialized in rehabilitating polio victims and people with broken backs and other extreme physical handicaps. Of course, Rogers had everybody laughing, even patients in really bad condition; but then he suddenly left the platform and went to the rest room. Milton Berry followed him to give him a towel; and when he opened the door, he saw Will Rogers leaning against the wall, sobbing like a child. He closed the door, and in a few minutes, Rogers appeared back on the platform, as jovial as before.

If you want to learn what a person is really like, ask three questions: What makes him laugh? What makes him angry? What makes him weep? These are fairly good tests of character that are especially appropriate for Christian leaders. I hear people saying, "We need angry leaders today!" or "The time has come to practice militant Christianity!" Perhaps, but we are told in James 1:20 "the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

What we need today is not anger but anguish, the kind of anguish that Moses displayed when he broke the two tablets of the law and then climbed the mountain to intercede for his people, or that Jesus displayed when He cleansed the temple and then wept over the city. The difference between anger and anguish is a broken heart. It's easy to get angry, especially at somebody else's sins; but it's not easy to look at sin, our own included, and weep over it. [1]

The kind of Christian Counter-Culture Jesus describes in the Sermon on the Mount most appropriately begins with a lesson on the kind of character God’s people are to have.

The People described- not eight separate types of Christians, but qualities all Christians are to covet. In fact, there is no escape from our responsibility as Christians to covet, desire them all.

Qualities Commended- Jesus is not promoting poverty and hunger, but rather He is saying that those who know they need God, put their trust in Him and hunger to be righteous like Him.

Blessings Promised- the word used here is makarios. Some have inappropriately translated as “happy”. Happiness is subjective and what Jesus is describing here is “objective” qualities of His disciples. He is not describing what they “feel like”, but what God thinks of them because they engender these character qualities.

The simplest way to look at the beatitudes is perhaps to divide them into two groups. The first four describe the Christian’s relation to God and the second four describe our relations and duties to our fellow man.

This morning we are going to look at Christian character traits Jesus says we are to have in relation to our heavenly Father in verses 5:3-6.

I. Poor in Spirit, v. 3 - humble dependence on God, an acknowledgement of our spiritual bankruptcy before God.

Nothing in my hand I bring;

Simply to thy cross I cling;

Naked, come to thee for dress;

Helpless, look to thee for grace;

Foul, I to the fountain fly;

Wash me Savior, or I die.

John Stott says in his commentary on the Sermon of the Mount, “This is the language of the poor in spirit.”

To the poor in spirit is the kingdom of God given, absolutely free and completely undeserved. Spurgeon put it, “The way to rise in the kingdom is to sink in ourselves.”

[Christian Character acknowledges that without Jesus in our lives, we are spiritually poor.]

II. Those Who Mourn, v. 4 – this is not primarily those who morn the loss of a loved one, but those who mourn the loss of their innocence, their righteousness and their self-respect.

It is a sorrow of repentance. Godly grief for our sins 2 Cor 7:10 “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” Not just feeling sorry for sin but sorrow to the point of repentance, a changed life. The freedom from sorrow is by way of God’s forgiveness found in Jesus Christ.

Some think that Christians should walk around with a big smile on their face all the time. That is inconsistent with Jesus’ teaching that we are to mourn our sin. To confess our sins before God is to agree with Him that the temptations we fall to and sins we commit are wrong. God’s forgiveness and our changed life because of repentance do give us much to be glad and grateful, for we will be comforted.

[Christian Character is to include mourning, a sorrow for our sin that leads to repentance and a changed life that is ever more Christ-like.]

III. Meek, v.5 – that is meek, not to be confused with weak. The Greek adjective praüs means gentle, humble, considerate and therefore exercising self-control. One of my favorite definitions of meek is “strength under control.” Strength that comes from a dependence on God. Another good translation would be to have a “gentle spirit” in dealing with others.

The godless may boast and throw their weight around, but they do not inherit true eternal possessions. Christians who are meek, gentle of spirit, can be like Paul “having nothing” and yet describe himself as “having everything” (2 Cor 6:10). We enter our spiritual inheritance in Christ not by might, but in meekness.

[Christian Character is to be meek, gentle before God who, by grace, gives the promised blessing of the earth and the kingdom of heaven.]

IV. Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness, v.6 – God wants us to recognize that we are poor sinners who humble ourselves before Him. That we seek, as if starving, for His righteousness in our lives.

Jesus says that righteousness is extremely important. Mt 5:20 “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Righteousness in the Bible has three aspects: legal, moral and social. Legal righteousness is what we call justification or a right relationship with God. Moral righteousness is righteousness of character and conduct which pleases God. This is inner righteousness of the heart, not external conformity to rules like the Pharisees. Social righteousness is concerned with promotion of civil rights, justice in the courts, integrity in business dealings and honor in home and family affairs.

What is the use of confessing and lamenting our sins before God if it does not lead us to hunger for righteousness?

[Christian Character is to desire righteousness as if we cannot live without it].

Conclusion:

The first four beatitudes reveal a spiritual progression for us, as Christians. First, we admit we are spiritually poor even bankrupt before God. Secondly, we are to mourn the cause, our sinfulness. Thirdly, we are to be meek, humble and gentle toward others allowing our spiritual poverty to condition our behavior to them and to God. Lastly, we are to hunger and thirst for righteousness. We are to seek Christ-likeness as our goal for each day.

Henry Wingblade used to say that Christian personality is hidden deep inside us. It is unseen, like the soup carried in a container high over a waiter's head. No one knows what's inside--unless the waiter is bumped and he trips! Just so, people don't know what's inside us until we've been bumped. But if Christ is living inside, what spills out is the fruit of the Spirit. That is, Christian Character.

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[1] Warren W. Wiersbe, The Integrity Crisis, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, pp. 75-76.

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