Articles - New Hope Lutheran Church

The Sermon on the Mount Series, Sermon 2

The Seventh Sunday After Trinity
July 14, 2002

NKJ Matthew 5:4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

Before we begin—we must remind ourselves that Jesus is speaking to the Jews who have incorporated human doctrine into their teachings—and those of the world who are spiritually bankrupt

They think they know God—they have come to rely on human interpretations of the Law

They thought you served God only to obtain His favor—and that once within his favor—you received his blessings in the form of riches and wealth—and lived a comfortable life here on earth

Jesus is correcting that error—He is preparing his disciples to be dispatched for the preaching of the Word—this sermon is part of the training Jesus is giving His disciples in that preparation

The text for today continues with the series of declarations made by Jesus that we have come to call the Beatitudes

TEXT: 4 Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.

Forever men have sought to live a life of comfort—have great wealth—to have no trouble or problems

It was natural that the faithful would envy the unbelievers and the wicked who had wealth and comfort—we see that recorded in the Psalms

NKJ Psalm 73:1 A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, To such as are pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; My steps had nearly slipped. 3 For I was envious of the boastful, When I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For there are no pangs in their death, But their strength is firm. 5 They are not in trouble as other men, Nor are they plagued like other men. 6 Therefore pride serves as their necklace; Violence covers them like a garment. 7 Their eyes bulge with abundance; They have more than heart could wish. …16 When I thought how to understand this, It was too painful for me -- 17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; Then I understood their end. 18 Surely You set them in slippery places; You cast them down to destruction. 19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. 20 As a dream when one awakes, So, Lord, when You awake, You shall despise their image.

Their pride and arrogance are short-lived—they cannot avoid destruction in the end

Just like Jesus spoke of Lazarus and the rich man—those who love God—and serve Him only—will be in Paradise

Those who enjoy comfort and wealth in this life—but despise God—will be destroyed—and suffer for all eternity

The word mourn in our text is the Greek word for suffering a great loss—one who is feeling such agony of the loss that they are wailing

Jesus is speaking of the believers who have such sorrow for their soul—due to sin—the sins they commit—and the sins of this world

The sin of the world which inflicts pain and suffering upon us—and our own sins which condemn us to eternal death

Reflect upon the words that Paul taught us

NKJ 2 Corinthians 7:9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

Paul understood pain and suffering for Christ’s sake

NKJ 2 Corinthians 6:4 But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, 5 in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; 6 by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, 7 by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, 8 by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; 9 as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as chastened, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

So in our text—when Jesus says “Blessed are those who mourn, For they shall be comforted.”

It is to be understood that those who mourn are believers—and they mourn for the world filled with sin

They mourn for their soul which deserves eternal death because of sin—and they mourn for all the lost—who do not understand that Jesus is the only way to heaven

TEXT: 5 Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.

Here again—Jesus is teaching not the meekness of a personality of man—but humility before God

And again—He is teaching from a Psalm—one that the Jews would be familiar with

Let’s take a look at select verses from Psalm 37—and see if Jesus’ words become more clear to us

NKJ Psalm 37:1 A Psalm of David. Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. 2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb. 3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. … 9 For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth. 10 For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more; Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more. 11 But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. … 22 For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth, But those cursed by Him shall be cut off. … 34 Wait on the LORD, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it. 35 I have seen the wicked in great power, And spreading himself like a native green tree. 36 Yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more; Indeed I sought him, but he could not be found.

Evildoers may appear strong and powerful while on this earth—but they will be cut down like grass and wither

We are not to try to become more powerful than they are—but instead—we must put our trust in the Lord—and eventually we will inherit all things

TEXT: 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.

Jesus knows that neither the Jews nor us would ever be capable of true righteousness

Satan is in constant pursuit of our souls—taunting and tempting us in every way he can

But we are capable of seeking righteousness with a hunger and a thirst—as if we were seeking to find satisfaction for worldly hunger and thirst—we should pursue righteousness

Luther puts it this way “That man is righteous and blessed who continually works and strives with all his might to promote the general welfare and the proper behavior of everyone and who helps to maintain and support this by word and deed, by precept and example”

We are to understand this verse as outward righteousness before the world

We are to maintain this righteousness in our relations with each other—and with our neighbor

Each of us has a lot in life—and it is within that lot that we must seek perfection

Harsh employers or cruel managers can drive a person to want to do as little as possible

Instead—we must perform our best at all times—that is our hunger and thirst for righteousness—because our reward is not a raise or promotion—it is true perfection in heaven

Our thirst and hunger for righteousness is on earth—our “filling” will be in heaven

TEXT: 7 Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy.

It is wise for us to reflect upon the words of our Lord later in this Gospel

NKJ Matthew 25:35 'for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 'I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 'When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 'Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40 "And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'

Again I am reminded of the rich man passing daily the poor sick beggar Lazarus—and looking upon him as an irritant rather than an opportunity to serve his fellow man

The rich man showed no mercy—and he received no mercy

TEXT: 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

First we will have to let Scripture explain Scripture—what is meant by the pure in heart?

We begin with the Psalms

NKJ Psalm 24:4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.

NKJ Psalm 73:1 A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, To such as are pure in heart.

We proceed with the Gospel—and a lesson from our Lord Himself

NKJ Matthew 23:25 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 "Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. 28 "Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

And now the Apostles Paul and Peter teach us how to obtain that pure heart

NKJ 1 Peter 1:22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,

And the Apostle John teaches us how it is that we will see God

NKJ 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.