8/12/2019 1990 Issue 4 - The Beautiful Beatitudes - Counsel of Chalcedon

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The first

four

men that Jesus called were fishermen. Peter and

Andrew were brothers and they were the first called. And very

soon after he called them

to follow Him, He

called two

more

brothers,

James

and John,

also fishermen.

Jesus had a

very

simple

message as

He began His ministry -- Repent; for

the

kingdom of beaven is at hand. He went about

healing every sort

of

sickness

and

disease and news

of

him

spread

all around.

and great multitudes began

to

follow

him,

not just from Galilee but from all regions of the land

of

Palestine

.Matthew records for us

the

Sermon

on

the Mount. This was

not just a

sermon for

the

'multitudes

of Jesus' day but it

was

a

sennon

for all his

followers

of all time. It has

timeless truth

o n e ~ g

what

it means to be

a Christian. The very essence

of

spirituality, true spirituality, is

taught

in this sennon.

Every Christian must

ask

himself

this

question,

Do I

manifest

these

spiritual characteristics?

Do

the beatitudes

describe

me? If

oot, can

I

truly expect the blessings that are

lisled

in

these

beatitudes?

I am

sure that every person would

desire the blessings of the beatitudes,

to

be called a

son

of

God, to see

God,

to inherit

the

kingdom

of

heaven, to inherit

the

earth. These blessings are limited to those who do

manifest these spiritual characteristics. There are no

exceptions.

So

the sennon ought

to be of

surpassing

importance for every one who

reads these

words

today. I

would

h pe

for you what

I

would hope for myself, that

the

blessings

enumerated

by

Christ might be a certainty

for you So,

it is a

most worthwhile study to

know

what these spiritual

characteristics

are

and see them manifested in each of our

lives.

l HOW DO

'IHESE SPIRITUAL QUALITIES COME

ABOUT?

1. It ought to

be

said at the outset that a great disservice

has

been done to Christianity by those who separate Cluistians

into

two

groups --

the religious

and the

laity, the exceptional

Cluistian

from

ihe ordinary Christian, the full-time Christian

from the part-time Christian. This

is

unscriptural. There is no

~ u h

distinction in

the

Bible. We

can

say that there

are

offices

to

which

some Christians

are

called, but all Cluistians are

to

be

alike

in

their character.

All

Christians are to manifest all

of

the spiritual qualities

of

the beatitudes. All Christians are

called to

be

saints.

1be

Roman Church canonizes some

Christians, but the New Testament

does

not

do

that. for all

Christians

are

canonized. This idea that the Christian life in

its highest sense is only for a small number of special, chosen

people is totally out

of

accord with the teaching of Cluist and

His apostles.

2.

Secondly, we must make a distinction between natural

endowments

and

spiritual endowments. You may hear

or

know of a person

who'

has nothing whatever to

do

with

Christianity;

who

seldom

i f

ever darkens the door

of

a church;

who

makes

no

claim

to

being a Christian;

who

nonetheless is

a model person. This person

is

gentle and kind, courteous and

helpful. He never prays or reads a Bible. On the other hand.

he

is not harsh or judgmental and always seems to be lending

a

helping hand when needed;

and

is a good community worker

and a good neighbor.

So

a person who looks at

the

outward

characteristics

of

this person and says, Well that person may

not

go to

church or claim any religion at

all,

but

he

certainly

seems

to be living like a Cluistian should. and so

we

ought to

believe that

he

must be a Christian after all in spite of his

practical denial

of

the Christian faith.

Some people

by

natural disposition are quiet, unassuming,

friendly

and

even

kind.

And

there are many people who have

very noble qualities who

make

no

claim

whatsoever to being

Cluistian.

So

how can we tell the difference? The beatitudes

do

not describe natural temperaments which a person may

have simply by virtue of his natural endowments at birth and

perhaps cultivated and refined as life matures. No. What the

beatitudes describe are spiritual endowments,

the

dispositions

and characteristics produced by

the

grace

of

God and the Spirit

of God The

beatitudes

are

not depicting persons who have a

natural, biological, physical niceness about them, who have

pleasant temperaments.

If

that were the case

then

those who

were born with a mean streak, or an aggressive nature, or a

bad temper, would not have a chance.

It

would be totally

unfair to say that only those who could fit the description by

reason

of

natural disposition would be eligible for the

Kingdom

of

God.

But, thank

God. it

is not that way.

f

t were, I could never

have become a Cluistian. No matter what

our

biological

disposition

may

be our genes do not qualify or disqualify us

from the kingdom

of

God.

The

central glory

of

the gospel is

that it can take the proudest man

by

nature and

make

him poor

in spirit

The thing about it is, the Christian and the non-Christian

are

spiritually different.

II. TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT IS UNNATURAL

1.

I said

in

the beginning that the Christian must exhibit

in

his life all of the beatitudes, not just one or two. And

foremost

of

all

is the

first one -- to be poor

in

spirit.

This

is

absolutely contrary to what the natural man wants

to be

or

thinks

about himself.

The

nice person I described who

is

totally disinterested in the gospel, does not see himse

lf as

being poor

in

spirit.

The

natural man

has

a high regard for self-

The Counsel

of

Chalcedon May 1990

Page

3

8/12/2019 1990 Issue 4 - The Beautiful Beatitudes - Counsel of Chalcedon

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.-

.

.

.

t

'

;: ..

I

" ,

_:, ,

.

:

:

z

' .

. reliat)ce, self.coh,fi

said'of

himself

,

the king. But

when

Uzziah 'died, God I am

he

chkfof &buuri."

gave

Isaiah a

vision of the Lord on

His

There is ~ a single Ouistian who

throne ofglory,

and wheri he saw the will

.not come

.to the

place

where

he

is

Lord he said, Woe is me, for

I

am U Uly able to see i m s ~

as

poor. n . .

ruined because I

am a man oj spirit.

without any

r i g h ~ r i e s S

of

his

unclean

lips,

an.d I

iive among

a QWllj wh< his own .

p opl of

unclean lips;

form} .

insufficiency

and poverty ofSpiritapart .

eyes

have

seen .he King, the

,

frpm

the gr:ace

of G()(l

This is

idvork '

Lord o fHosts.';:

(Isa. 6:5)

When i h ~

Lotddoes mall'qfitis

clrl1drett Th e

.

Isaiahgot a

vision

Of

the

Holiness of

. , SUtneJ'

must see himSelf as ,I IJined, ...

God he

became

poor irt spirit .helpless,

d e f l l ~

'

and

Witliol thope

of

When

GideOn

saw the

angel

of

the

h ~ a v e n

~ c q > t

in Ute

Y

n4

Lord

he

became poor in spirit and said, . . goodneSs OfGOd in esns Olrist. . .

"Alas, 0

Lord

God

For

now I

. I ask you the questi()n .U;day, Do 'yoo

have seen th angel

of

th e LQTd

truiy

have th.at blessing myour life.

face

to

face ." (Judges 6:22) Are you poor in.spirit? Have you come

Peter

had been

a boastful.

and

self-

to

Christ for

cleanSing and anew beait?

confident man until he met

the

Lord

BLESSED ARE

ntE

POOR IN

Jesus,

and

then he said on one occasion, SPIRIT FOR THEIRS ISTIIE

"Depart

from me

Lord,

for

I

am

r

KINGDOM OF HEAVEN..

The Counsel of Chalcedon May, 1990 P a ~ ~ g e 4

,

Coming

to

Christ in repentmce

and

. faith

involves

a

self-awareness of my

sinfulness and insufficiency apart from

Him.

The hymn by Joseph

Hart

sqms

it

up well. . . .

o ~ ye sinners,

poot

and needy,

~

and wounded, sick.

and

sore; .

Jesus

ready stands

to

save Y.OU,

Full of

p1ty,

Io\le

and

poW'r.

~ o ~ Y.e

thirst}',

c

ome

IJ1d

welcome,

Gods

free bounty

glorify;

True belief

and

true t a Q c e

Evry grace

that

brings

you

mgh

.

Let not conscience

make

you linger,

Nor

of

fitness fond

ly

dreain;

All the fitnesS

He

requireth

Is to feel your need of Him.

Come, ye we;ary, heary laden,

LOst

and ruinea

bl tlie

fall;

I f ~ ~ ~ n e ~ e i : : : b ~

I

will

a,rise II d go to J ~ u s

He

willembrace me m ills

armil;

In the arms of my dear Savior,

0,

there are

ten th.ousand

charms.

,

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