1. Sermon on the Mount (II) The Beatitudes Mt 5.1-12 Our (Be)Attitudes Toward God Mt 5.3-6

2. Two Groups: The 1st Four: Preparation of our character toward God: –“Blessed are the poor in spirit” –“Blessed are those who mourn” –“Blessed are the meek” –“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”

3. Two Groups: The 2nd four: Presentation of our character toward others: –“Blessed are the merciful” –“Blessed are the pure in heart” –“Blessed are the peacemakers” –“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness”

4. Blessed Are Poor In Spirit Those who are not self-sufficient, but self-deficient: –Realizing our own unrighteousness –Knowing our own unworthiness –Recognizing our helpless and destitute condition

5. Blessed Are Those Who Mourn Those who are not self-satisfied, but broken-hearted. Ps 51.3-4,17 “For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned And done what is evil in Your sight, So that You are justified when You speak And blameless when You judge…. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”

6. Blessed Are Those Who Mourn Those who are not self-satisfied, but broken-hearted. “Blessed…for they shall be comforted”

7. Blessed Are The Meek Those who are not self-willed, but self- surrendered. –Not unrelated to repentance: 2 Cor 7:8-10 “For though I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it — for I see that that letter caused you sorrow, though only for a while — I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. 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.

8. Blessed Are The Meek Those who are not self-willed, but self- surrendered. Strength under control of another: –Moses: Num 12:3 “(Now the man Moses was very humble (meek), more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)”

9. Blessed Are The Meek Those who are not self-willed, but self- surrendered. Strength under control of another: –Jesus: Mt 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

10. Blessed Are The Meek Those who are not self-willed, but self- surrendered. Strength under control of another: –Jesus: 1 Pet 2:21-23 “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously”

11. Blessed Are The Meek Those who are not self-willed, but self- surrendered. As toward God, so toward one another: Phil 2:2-8 “make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

12. Blessed Are The Meek Those who are not self-willed, but self- surrendered. As toward God, so toward one another: 1 Cor 9:19-23 “For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more…To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.”

13. Blessed Are The Meek Those who are not self-willed, but self- surrendered. “Shall inherit the earth”

14. Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness Those who are not apathetic, but spiritually driven. Psa 42:1-2 “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?”

15. Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness Those who are not apathetic, but spiritually driven. Phil 3:7-15 “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

16. Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness Those who are not apathetic, but spiritually driven. “For they shall be satisfied”

17. Our (Be)Attitudes Toward God Blessed Are Poor In Spirit Blessed Are Those Who Mourn Blessed Are The Meek Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness