Category: Be-attitudes

BE-Attitudes (3 of 3)

In Matthew 23, we find that the last public sermon Jesus preached was not a message regarding salvation and invitation. By contrast, He spoke of condemnation and denunciation against the religious hierarchy of the day. Jesus didn’t hold back, calling the Pharisees names like “fools” and “blind guides,” while powerfully pointing out their brand of hypocrisy. These authoritative teachers of their day failed to follow their own precepts.

Jesus’ last sermon was in stark contrast to His first. His earthly ministry began by pronouncing eight blessings that came in the form of the Beatitudes. Each of these stand as a measure in stark contrast to what Jesus saw in the Pharisees.

Looking at the various attitudes over the next few days, we see there is a clear right vs wrong and there’s little room for question regarding which attitude we are to have.

6. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8 (KJV)

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Matthew 23:25, 26 (KJV)

*A pure heart doesn’t block vision. If your desire is to see God, then start with getting a pure heart. Read Psalm 51 as it’s a great example dealing with the heart. Don’t be like the blind Pharisees.

7. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Matthew 5:9 (KJV)

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Matthew 23:27, 28 (KJV)

*At the same time the Pharisees claimed to be men of peace, they secretly plotted the murder of the Prince of Peace. Notice it doesn’t say there that the peacekeepers are blessed; it is those that will make peace. That means in the most difficult of circumstances you need to find a way to make peace.

8. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness; sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10 (KJV)

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Matthew 23:29–35 (KJV)

*Jesus said, “Blessed are the persecuted and woe to the persecutors.” The Pharisees stated “If they had been alive in our day, we wouldn’t have killed the prophets.” But their claim was inaccurate, at the very moment they told Jesus this, they sought to execute Him, the One whom the prophets spoke. We must be careful that we aren’t just hearers of the Word, but that we actually practice what is preached. Live it out, regardless of the cost! Don’t ever go along with the crowd; instead, choose to follow after His righteousness. If you hunger for it, you’ll be filled with it. Therefore the Kingdom is yours.

 

 

BE-Attitudes (2 of 3)

BE-Attitudes

In Matthew 23, we find that the last public sermon Jesus preached was not a message regarding salvation and invitation. By contrast, He spoke of condemnation and denunciation against the religious hierarchy of the day. Jesus didn’t hold back, calling the Pharisees names like “fools” and “blind guides,” while powerfully pointing out their brand of hypocrisy. These authoritative teachers of their day failed to follow their own precepts.

Jesus’ last sermon was in stark contrast to His first. His earthly ministry began by pronouncing eight blessings that came in the form of the Beatitudes. Each of these stand as a measure in stark contrast to what Jesus saw in the Pharisees.

Looking at the various attitudes over the next few days, we see there is a clear right vs wrong and there’s little room for question regarding which attitude we are to have.

4. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6 (KJV)

Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. Matthew 23:16–22 (KJV)

*Blessed are those who want for integrity, truth, and simplicity. The Pharisees weren’t hungering after righteousness; they desperately wanted power and control, manipulating the Word to fit their modes of operation. We, as the people of God, must hunger and thirst after righteousness. We cannot have revival while we hunger after our own will.

5. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7 (KJV)

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Matthew 23:23, 24 (KJV)

*According to Leviticus 11, the largest unclean animal was a camel and the smallest was a gnat. Jesus said the Pharisees picked gnats out of their soup but missed the big camel swimming around. They had everything in order and the details down to the smallest one. They even tithed on their seeds of cumin (can you imagine counting those out to get to a tenth?) but missed the much larger, more important issues. What about the issues of love, mercy, and righteousness? They didn’t hunger after those. If you want to obtain mercy, love, and righteousness, then you must extend them.

to be continued…

BE-ATTITUDES (1 of 3)

In Matthew 23, we find that the last public sermon Jesus preached was not a message regarding salvation and invitation. By contrast, He spoke of condemnation and denunciation against the religious hierarchy of the day. Jesus didn’t hold back, calling the Pharisees names like “fools” and “blind guides,” while powerfully pointing out their brand of hypocrisy. These authoritative teachers of their day failed to follow their own precepts.

Jesus’ last sermon was in stark contrast to His first. His earthly ministry began by pronouncing eight blessings that came in the form of the Beatitudes. Each of these stand as a measure in stark contrast to what Jesus saw in the Pharisees.

Looking at the various attitudes over the next few days, we see there is a clear right vs wrong and there’s little room for question regarding which attitude we are to have.

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew5:3 (KJV)

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Matthew 23:13 (KJV)

*Jesus said the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit, the Pharisees were proud in spirit. “I thank You, God, that I am not as other men,” they prayed (see Luke 18:11). We must be careful that our attitude or spirit doesn’t prevent us from inheriting the kingdom of God, nor should it prevent others.

2. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Matthew 5:4

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Matthew 23:14 (KJV)

*Jesus promised that the mourners will be comforted. The Pharisees, however, manipulated those who mourned. We shouldn’t take advantage of people who are in crisis, or manipulate it to our advantage. Instead, we are to mourn, with those who mourn, and comfort those that need comforting.

3. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 (KJV)

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Matthew 23:15 (KJV)

*The meek were to inherit the earth. The Pharisees, on the other hand, were trying to convert the earth to their legalistic, hypocritical, religious system. They were recruiting into a system where you could teach it, but not have to follow it. Instead, Jesus said the meek, those that had power under control, were to inherit the earth. We must use the power and the authority that God has given to us, in a manner that is acceptable to God.