My sermon notes for Sunday morning, April 30th. Remember, these are my personal study notes and not a manuscript of the sermon. They are provided as an outline each week for our Tabernacle Church family. The church provides a live stream of the service each Sunday at 10:30 on Facebook. We also provide the services through YouTube by Sunday afternoon. You can find Sermon Notes, Family Devotional Guides, Prayer List, and other resources at our Church Website.
Luke 6:20–23
Intro
- Jesus prayed, commissioned the 12, healed the sick, and preached this message. (Blessings and Woes)
- KEY… God will always BLESS faithfulness. A life of Godliness. Living a life that is pleasing to the Lord.
- There are tremendous blessings when we seek our hope and purpose in Him.
- Woes when we seek hope and purpose in the world
- Our attitude is crucial. Our toward the things of life.
- The already… not yet. Here and There. Temporal and eternal.
Blessed Are
- The favor of God upon one’s life
- A state of well-being because of one’s relationship with God.
μακάριος makários; fem. makaría, neut. makárion, adj. A prose form of the poetic mákar (n.f.), blessed one. Blessed, possessing the favor of God, that state of being marked by fullness from God. It indicates the state of the believer in Christ (Matt. 5:3–11, “Blessed . . . for my sake”; Luke 6:20–22, “Blessed . . . for the Son of man’s sake”), said of one who becomes a partaker of God’s nature through faith in Christ (2 Pet. 1:4). The believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit because of Christ and as a result should be fully satisfied no matter the circumstances. Makários differs from the word “happy” in that the person is happy who has good luck (from the root hap meaning luck as a favorable circumstance). To be makários, blessed, is equivalent to having God’s kingdom within one’s heart (Matt. 5:3, 10). Aristotle contrasts makários to endeḗs (1729), the needy one. Makários is the one who is in the world yet independent of the world. His satisfaction comes from God and not from favorable circumstances.
Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).
Who are Poor
- Completely dependent on God. Spiritually bankrupt.
- Poor in NT society were dependent on others.
- This is why the GOSPEL is so important.
- WE ARE COMPLETELY POOR
- KEY IS TRUST. Trust in God for both our physical and material.
Yours is the kingdom of God
- Notice…IS. Present tense.
- Rule and reign of God.
- In my heart and outward.
Who are Hungry
- Hunger, yearning, desire to be filled.
- For His help and presence.
- Matthew 5:6 – Righteousness. (Doing and living right in God’s eyes)
You shall be satisfied
- Contentment
- IN WHO WE ARE IN HIM
- Now and later
- Needs today… Philippians 4:7 – peace that passes all understanding
- For all eternity.
Who Weep
- James 4:9-10
- Over current condition and then turn to God for redemption.
- Over the things of the day. (living this side of heaven)
You shall laugh
- New life. New perspecitve.
- Psalm 126:1-2
When you are Hated, Excluded, Reviled, Spurned
- Society is opposed to the things of God
- Hostility and animosity from the world on the Gospel
- And the messengers! CHURCH AND PEOPLE
Rejoice in that day, leap for joy
- Reward is in heaven
- MY REWARD AWAITS
- 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 – Eternal weight of glory?
Applying the Word
- The blessings of life are not found in prosperity, health… the good life.
- While as believers we may experience some of the blessings of things and health.
- The blessings of life come from our trust in the Lord. Our attitude (thinking) will manifest itself in our life (character).
- This is only possible as we consider the Gospel. We were POOR, HUNGRY, DEAD… Yet, God created a new creation… We are saved, born again… TO A LIVING HOPE 1 Peter 1:3-9