Jim Parker
Member
B. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Mat 5:4)
1. The mourning is because of what our nature has lost; paradise and for all the blessings which we have forfeited and because of all the evils into which we have fallen.
2. Through mourning for our sinfulness our soul will be filled with contrition, thinking of all the ills that have been caused by our wickedness and the trickery of the demons.
3. It is not possible to “put off the old man” and to “put on Christ” unless we are willing to take a deadly serious look at our sins; to admit that they are OURS and that they are really and truly SIN, and to lay hold of the TRUTH that every sin, no matter how small, is an act of rebellion against God who loves us and who sent His son to die for every one of those little sins.
4. It is only by such mourning that we can begin to feel a holy hatred of every sin that comes between us and the infinite, eternal, unchanging love of God.
C. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Mat 5:5)
1. By practicing gentleness (so we can get really good at it) we begin to imitate Christ.
2. Through gentleness, we become rock-solid and unshaken by the storms and trials of life. Being always the same in comfort or hardship, honor or dishonor, in abundance or in poverty, we persist and persevere in doing the will of our Father.
3. We can be meek and gentle in the face of all adversity and opposition because we know, beyond any doubt, that this life is a path leading to the future life and
a. that the life we have chosen is that of a child of God in His kingdom and
b that nothing in heaven and earth can forcefully remove us from that path.
D. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Mat 5:6)
1. “He who has tasted the sweetness of the commandments, and realizes that they lead him gradually towards the imitation of Christ, longs to acquire them all, with the result that he often disdains even death for their sake.
Glimpsing the mysteries of God hidden in the holy scriptures, he thirsts to grasp them fully, and the more knowledge he gains, the more he thirsts…” St. Peter of Damaskos 12th Century
2. From the moment of the first taste of the love of God, a disciple gains a hunger and thirst for union with God which cannot be satisfied by anything less than being united with Christ and being one flesh with Him as is the ultimate reality of Christ and His Church.
E. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” (Mat 5:7)
1. In other words: “If you want to receive God’s mercy then you best be merciful.”
2. The merciful person is he who gives to others what he has himself received fro God, whether it be money or food or encouragement or prayer or anything else through which he can express the compassion for those in need.
3. Although a needy brother can live without me giving him what he asked for, I myself can neither live nor be saved if I do not do what I can to show mercy.
4. If I am not willing to show mercy to another human being, how can I ask God to have mercy on me?
5. In Jesus’ description of how HE will judge all of mankind, found at Matthew 25:31-46, He stated that He will judge between the wicked condemned and the righteous saved based on whether they were or were not merciful.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
F. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Mat 5:8)
1.These are believers who have surrendered their hearts completely to Jesus that He alone may reign in them.
a. They keep their hearts undefiled by evil thoughts, words and acts.
b. They practice the virtues (Humility, Liberality, Chastity, Mildness, Temperance, Happiness, and Diligence) as a way of life
2. These are believers who are childlike in their obedience to God.
3. “Only they will see God, who in this life have looked solely unto Jesus Christ, the Son of God. For their hearts are free from all defiling phantasies and are not distracted by conflicting desires and intentions. They are wholly absorbed by the contemplation of God. They shall see God. They shall see God whose hearts have become a reflection of the image of Jesus Christ.” The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
G. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
1. These believers have their soul and body at peace by subjecting the flesh to the control of the spirit so that the flesh no longer rises against the spirit demanding that its lusts be satisfied.
2. These are believers who, for the sake of peace, will renounce all self-assertion and quietly suffer in the face of hatred and wrong thereby overcoming evil with good to establish the peace of God in a world of war and hate.
V. So, what does it REALLY cost to be a disciple of Christ?
A. Everything you’ve got.
1. And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. (Mat 4:18-20)
They quit their jobs and left their tools behind to follow Jesus.
2. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. (Mat 4:21-22)
They quit their jobs and left their boat and tools behind to follow Jesus who, at that point, had promised them nothing.
3. As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. (Mat 9:9)
Matthew left a very good paying job and all his wealth to follow Jesus.
4. Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Mat 19:21-22)
This was a rich young man who was willing to follow Jesus so long as he could keep his wealth to fall back on in case things didn’t work out.
He was sorrowful because he realized the value of eternal life but his response showed that he valued his earthly wealth more than eternal life.
5. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Mat 6:24)
a. Your choices are serve God or serve the idols of this world. ---- Pick one.
b. You can chase the almighty dollar or you can pursue holiness. ---- Pick one.
c. You cannot walk two paths at the same time. ---- Pick ONE.
B. Whatever it takes
1. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mat 16:24-26)
2. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. (Mat 5:29-30)
3. …the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Mat 13:14)
4. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. (Mat 10:37-38)
5. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses. (Mat 11:25-26)
C. Being a disciple means giving up your life for the life that Jesus has for you.
1. That means doing His will when it is not your will.
2. That means accepting His values when they are not your values or society’s values or your family’s values.
3. That means living a life that is in direct conflict with the culture around us.
4. That means acting in love toward people who hate you.
6. That means forgiving people who have hatefully and intentionally hurt you.
7. That means being patient with stupid, ignorant and obnoxious people.
It’s going to take a lot of prayer.
You’re going to really want to be a disciple.
1. The mourning is because of what our nature has lost; paradise and for all the blessings which we have forfeited and because of all the evils into which we have fallen.
2. Through mourning for our sinfulness our soul will be filled with contrition, thinking of all the ills that have been caused by our wickedness and the trickery of the demons.
3. It is not possible to “put off the old man” and to “put on Christ” unless we are willing to take a deadly serious look at our sins; to admit that they are OURS and that they are really and truly SIN, and to lay hold of the TRUTH that every sin, no matter how small, is an act of rebellion against God who loves us and who sent His son to die for every one of those little sins.
4. It is only by such mourning that we can begin to feel a holy hatred of every sin that comes between us and the infinite, eternal, unchanging love of God.
C. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Mat 5:5)
1. By practicing gentleness (so we can get really good at it) we begin to imitate Christ.
2. Through gentleness, we become rock-solid and unshaken by the storms and trials of life. Being always the same in comfort or hardship, honor or dishonor, in abundance or in poverty, we persist and persevere in doing the will of our Father.
3. We can be meek and gentle in the face of all adversity and opposition because we know, beyond any doubt, that this life is a path leading to the future life and
a. that the life we have chosen is that of a child of God in His kingdom and
b that nothing in heaven and earth can forcefully remove us from that path.
D. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Mat 5:6)
1. “He who has tasted the sweetness of the commandments, and realizes that they lead him gradually towards the imitation of Christ, longs to acquire them all, with the result that he often disdains even death for their sake.
Glimpsing the mysteries of God hidden in the holy scriptures, he thirsts to grasp them fully, and the more knowledge he gains, the more he thirsts…” St. Peter of Damaskos 12th Century
2. From the moment of the first taste of the love of God, a disciple gains a hunger and thirst for union with God which cannot be satisfied by anything less than being united with Christ and being one flesh with Him as is the ultimate reality of Christ and His Church.
E. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” (Mat 5:7)
1. In other words: “If you want to receive God’s mercy then you best be merciful.”
2. The merciful person is he who gives to others what he has himself received fro God, whether it be money or food or encouragement or prayer or anything else through which he can express the compassion for those in need.
3. Although a needy brother can live without me giving him what he asked for, I myself can neither live nor be saved if I do not do what I can to show mercy.
4. If I am not willing to show mercy to another human being, how can I ask God to have mercy on me?
5. In Jesus’ description of how HE will judge all of mankind, found at Matthew 25:31-46, He stated that He will judge between the wicked condemned and the righteous saved based on whether they were or were not merciful.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”
F. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” (Mat 5:8)
1.These are believers who have surrendered their hearts completely to Jesus that He alone may reign in them.
a. They keep their hearts undefiled by evil thoughts, words and acts.
b. They practice the virtues (Humility, Liberality, Chastity, Mildness, Temperance, Happiness, and Diligence) as a way of life
2. These are believers who are childlike in their obedience to God.
3. “Only they will see God, who in this life have looked solely unto Jesus Christ, the Son of God. For their hearts are free from all defiling phantasies and are not distracted by conflicting desires and intentions. They are wholly absorbed by the contemplation of God. They shall see God. They shall see God whose hearts have become a reflection of the image of Jesus Christ.” The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer
G. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
1. These believers have their soul and body at peace by subjecting the flesh to the control of the spirit so that the flesh no longer rises against the spirit demanding that its lusts be satisfied.
2. These are believers who, for the sake of peace, will renounce all self-assertion and quietly suffer in the face of hatred and wrong thereby overcoming evil with good to establish the peace of God in a world of war and hate.
V. So, what does it REALLY cost to be a disciple of Christ?
A. Everything you’ve got.
1. And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. (Mat 4:18-20)
They quit their jobs and left their tools behind to follow Jesus.
2. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. (Mat 4:21-22)
They quit their jobs and left their boat and tools behind to follow Jesus who, at that point, had promised them nothing.
3. As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. (Mat 9:9)
Matthew left a very good paying job and all his wealth to follow Jesus.
4. Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. (Mat 19:21-22)
This was a rich young man who was willing to follow Jesus so long as he could keep his wealth to fall back on in case things didn’t work out.
He was sorrowful because he realized the value of eternal life but his response showed that he valued his earthly wealth more than eternal life.
5. “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Mat 6:24)
a. Your choices are serve God or serve the idols of this world. ---- Pick one.
b. You can chase the almighty dollar or you can pursue holiness. ---- Pick one.
c. You cannot walk two paths at the same time. ---- Pick ONE.
B. Whatever it takes
1. Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mat 16:24-26)
2. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. (Mat 5:29-30)
3. …the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Mat 13:14)
4. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. (Mat 10:37-38)
5. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses. (Mat 11:25-26)
C. Being a disciple means giving up your life for the life that Jesus has for you.
1. That means doing His will when it is not your will.
2. That means accepting His values when they are not your values or society’s values or your family’s values.
3. That means living a life that is in direct conflict with the culture around us.
4. That means acting in love toward people who hate you.
6. That means forgiving people who have hatefully and intentionally hurt you.
7. That means being patient with stupid, ignorant and obnoxious people.
It’s going to take a lot of prayer.
You’re going to really want to be a disciple.
