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Sep 28 '08
(A Series of Sermons on the Beatitudes)
Rev. Erik O. Garthe, Pastor - Edgemere Baptist Church
Message #1 ... September 28, 2008
“Beatitudes - Introduction”
Matthew 4:23-5:2
Read Matthew 4:23-5:2
23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. 24 Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. 25 Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. 1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
Great Multitudes followed Him – How did they get there? Through a Three-Step Process
I. Jesus Went to the People, V. 23
“went about” … literally = kept moving (day after day; week after week)
• All Galilee is no small task: 70 miles by 40 miles; approximately 200+ cities and villages; about 3 million people there
It was an exhausting mission, from town to town, synagogue to synagogue:
A. “teaching” or explaining truth
B. “preaching” the good news
C. “healing”
All kinds of sickness
All kinds of disease
Look at verse 24 again … “they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics;”
Jesus was fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy. See Luke 4:18-19 … "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."
Why did He do all the healing? To validate the message—authority!
Note: there were many prophets in the land at the time; who were the people to listen to?
i.e. the same purpose for tongues in the early church
II. Jesus became Known Everywhere, V. 24a
“His fame went throughout all Syria;”
How did Jesus’ ministry spread? It was by word-of-mouth; no mass advertising. Personal invitation is effective, and the other is useful in the process.
III. Jesus was Sought by Everyone, Vv. 24b-25
“they brought to Him all sick people”
And Jesus didn’t make it easy for them. If the people wanted to hear Him or experience His ministry, they had to follow Him—(He kept on moving).
Hmm, that’s interesting! We work so hard to make a comfortable setting to attract people to hear the gospel …
Jesus attracted the multitudes while moving
Jesus attended to the multitudes while moving
What was Jesus’ motivation when He saw the people? See Matthew 9:35-38 (confusion)
35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 "Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
Jesus was motivated to teach them – Notice verses 5:1-2 once more
“seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them,”
(The Lord proceeded to teach them what it meant to be a disciple, not just to receive some physical blessing.)
In order to be effective ministers for the Lord, it is necessary to learn to see properly and respond properly to what we see. There are six different eye problems regarding sight and there are corresponding spiritual eye problems:
1. Myopia (nearsighted) – no focus at distance
2. Hyperopia (farsighted) – no focus up close
3. Strabismus (lazy eye) – weak muscles in one eye
4. Astigmatism (irregular vision) – distorted cornea
5. Presbyopia (nearsighted & farsighted) - hardened lens
6. Cataracts (blocked vision) – cloudy lens
Spiritual Myopia (nearsighted) = self-centered Christians who can’t see needs outside of their world, See Philippians 2:21
21 For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.
Solution is 2 Peter 1:5-10:
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;
Focus on verse 9 “For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.” (2 Peter 1:9)
Spiritual Hyperopia (farsighted) = Christians who overlook their own personal family’s needs, See 1 Timothy 5:8
8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
Spiritual Strabismus (lazy eye) = Christians who try to love both the Lord and the world, See James 1:8
8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Solution is found in Job 31:1a:
1 "I have made a covenant with my eyes;”
Also Proverbs 4:25 “Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you.”
Spiritual Astigmatism (distorted vision) = … actually this one is a problem common to all Christians, See 1 Corinthians 13:12
12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
“In essence, Paul is stating that we are all legally blind when it comes to spiritual matters. A high percentage of Americans understand the need for corrective lenses to help them see physically. The Bible simply declares that our need is infinitely greater in the spiritual realm. A legally blind individual has very restricted sight and recognizes he or she is only able to see a fraction of reality. They also realize their need for special guidance and help. Spiritually speaking, the same is true for all of humanity. Although we might think we have a firm understanding of how God works or the way things function on the spiritual plane, the truth is we can only see a minute portion of the spiritual spectrum. In truth, we desperately need someone to guide and assist us so we can better understand that which we cannot see on our own. God has provided the perfect solution for our need, the Holy Spirit. With His assistance we can capture more spiritual insight than we would ever see on our own.” [Raymond McHenry]
Solution is James 1:22-25:
22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
Poor spiritual eyesight can be improved
Spiritual Presbyopia (nearsighted & farsighted) = Christians with an inconsistent spiritual walk, See Revelation 2:4
4 "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
Solution is 1 John 3:17:
17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
Develop love in action!
Spiritual Cataracts (blocked vision) = those Christians who are in spiritual darkness, influenced by evil
Solution is Psalm 101:2-3:
2 I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. 3 I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me.
A question: Who was Jesus teaching, His disciples or the crowd? Both … v. 7:28.
28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,
The words weren't her own, but without her gift, the world would have never been blessed with the insight of Oswald Chambers. Little is known about Chambers' wife, Biddy. It's not known how she came to Christ or what she was like. She was a stenographer before marriage, then became a wife and mother. Oswald Chambers was connected with the YMCA and worked in Egypt with British soldiers. Throughout his brief forty-three years of life, Biddy used her stenography skills to capture his messages on paper. In 1917, Oswald Chambers died from complications of an appendectomy. This 34-year-old widow returned to England with her young daughter and began putting her husband's words into book form. She had notes enough for fifty books, the most famous of which is My Utmost For His Highest. All of these books bear her husband's name but only her initials. Were it not for the humble service of Biddy Chambers, the wisdom of Oswald Chambers would have never reached the hearts of millions. [God's Hall of Fame, Ellyn Sanna, 1998, p.27]
This is the setting of the Sermon on the Mount … a confused crowd … “multitudes”; the Greek word is ochlos, which describes a group of people who just casually gathered together. There would have been people coming and going, i.e. curious ones who appear at a fire or an accident.
o Some were only interested in the physical benefit that might be available, but Jesus sought to teach them all of them about discipleship.
Commitment … to be as concerned for the spiritual needs of people as we are for their physical needs. Also salvation, surrender, and recommitment; membership, etc.
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