Beatitudes in the Home Image

11232014TheBeatitudesInTheHomeDonRuhl

The Beatitudes in the Home 

Learn to apply all biblical teachings in the home

Matthew 5.1–12

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • November 23, In the year of our Lord, 2014

Scripture Reader and Reading: Michael Crisp – Mark 12.28–34

Song Leader and Song Suggestions: Phil Joseph – Songs on love

Prelude:

  1. Kerri and I became engaged about 4 months after my conversion. 
    1. I was pouring my heart into my new found faith, and
    2. wanted to base everything in my life on the teachings of the Bible.
      1. I expressed my desire to search the whole Bible
      2. to see what it said about marriage.
        1. I concluded that it did not say much and wrote to tell Kerri.
        2. I had forgotten about that and a few years ago
          1. I discovered the letter that I had written to her
          2. while she lived in Colorado and I was in California.
            1. We both laughed at the discovery, because
            2. we knew how much I had changed in my view of the Bible.
              1. The Bible does not have to address itself specifically
              2. to a topic or situation for it to guide us on that subject.
  2. As I will show you, the Bible speaks on the home more than we may realize. 

Persuasion:

  1. The Greatest Commandments and the Home 
    1. As the Scripture reading showed, Mark recorded the testimony of Jesus
      1. that loving God with your whole being, and
      2. that loving your neighbor as yourself
        1. form the first and second greatest commandments.
    2. Matthew’s record of the testimony of Jesus reveals more,

      40 “On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt 22.40).

      1. The basis for the entire Hebrew Bible,
      2. the point of Genesis through Malachi, is to get us
        1. to love God and
        2. to love one another.
    3. The New Testament has not shrunk from that double theme, but
      1. so emphasizes it that we can say,
      2. On these two commandments hang all the Gospels and the Epistles!
    4. This tells us that everything in the Bible
      1. somehow deals with one or both of these commandments.
      2. That means the countless passages in the Bible
        1. about human relationships
        2. also have application to the home.
          1. Do you realize how much that means
          2. the Bible addresses the home,
            1. whether spousal relationships or
            2. parent-child relations?
    5. If we listen to what all the Bible says
      1. about loving our neighbor as ourselves,
      2. we will experience the richest home life.
  2. The Creator’s Manual for the Home 
    1. Additionally, the Holy Spirit reveals
      1. that He has delivered to us
      2. the Creator’s Manual on life, and
        1. the home comprises one of the largest issues of life we face.
        2. He who created the home,
          1. did not leave us without a way
          2. to have a successful home.
    2. The Bible is God’s only direct and explicit communication to us, yet,
      1. it more than supplies what we need
      2. to form perfect relationships,
        1. showing us how to love our neighbor as ourselves, making
        2. the home a testing ground for such things.
  3. What Makes a Blissful Home? 
    1. Proper attitude is fundamental.
      1. Attitude guides us in how we treat people.
      2. Attitude dictates how we respond to people.
    2. Jesus teaches proper attitudes for the home.
      1. The Beatitudes are all about having the right attitudes toward others.
      2. That is why I call a beatitude, be-this-attitude.
        1. You may not find that in the dictionary, but
        2. it fits nevertheless.
  4. The Beatitudes in the Home 
    1. Living the Beatitudes in the home creates beautiful relationships, because
      1. the Beatitudes will draw you to your family and your family to you, and
      2. the Beatitudes make pleasant people.
    2. The Poor in Spirit

      And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

      “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
      For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
      (Matt 5.1–3)

      1. He who sees no need for God and for others
        1. makes for a miserable person and
        2. will only use his family for personal convenience.
      2. He who recognizes his deep need for God and for others
        1. humbles himself and
        2. seeks to build relationships.
      3. Why do we have families?
        1. We want love.
        2. We need love.
        3. We give love.
    3. Those Who Mourn

      “Blessed are those who mourn,
      For they shall be comforted.”
      (Matt 5.4)

      1. This is he who mourns over anything severing relationships in the family.
      2. There is comfort in mourning, because
        1. mourning leads to problem-solving, and
        2. mourning is not concerned with self-vindication.
      3. It humbly examines self and the situation,
        1. leading to an active remedy,
        2. even if self must take the first step.
    4. The Meek

      “Blessed are the meek,
      For they shall inherit the Earth.”
      (Matt 5.5)

      1. Meekness is strength corralled for delicate purposes.
        1. Families do not need people as rough as gorillas, nor
        2. do they need members as cold as a freezer.
      2. Jesus said meekness conquers the Earth.
        1. All who have tried force have lost.
        2. What has happened to everyone who tried to take it by force?
      3. Jesus rules the Earth, but
        1. He has innumerable friends through His gentle ways.
        2. Observe families where meekness reigns,
          1. then see what the family members enjoy.
          2. You will want your family to be like that one.
    5. Righteousness

      “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
      For they shall be filled.”
      (Matt 5.6)

      1. Which is more powerful: wickedness or righteousness?
        1. Wickedness appears to be stronger, but
          1. righteousness has existed from eternity and
          2. when time ends, so will wickedness.
        2. Therefore hunger and thirst after righteousness.
      2. Righteousness blesses families,
        1. as much as food and water bless the body.
        2. Without righteousness family members will do evil things,
          1. destroying that family.
          2. This pictures most troubled families.
      3. Hunger and thirst for righteousness in the home and
        1. Jesus said you shall be filled.
        2. Family will supply what everyone needs in the soul: contentment.
    6. The Merciful

      “Blessed are the merciful,
      For they shall obtain mercy.”
      (Matt 5.7)

      1. Mercy withholds a harsh spirit and
        1. shows kindness, patience, and a giving spirit,
        2. remembering how the Lord has shown us mercy.
      2. We show mercy because
        1. we remember that we have made mistakes, and
        2. that we shall need mercy in the future.
      3. The merciful attract people; the cruel repel people.
    7. The Pure in Heart

      “Blessed are the pure in heart,
      For they shall see God.”
      (Matt 5.8)

      1. The contents of the heart determine the quality of the family, because
        1. how we treat our families
        2. depends upon what we have put into our hearts.

          Keep your heart with all diligence,
          For out of it spring the issues of life.
          (Pro 4.23)
      2. The families with pure hearts shall see God,
        1. making family a prelude to heaven.
        2. Think of the images that God uses to picture His relationship with us:
          1. He is our Father; we are His children.
          2. Jesus is the groom; the church is His bride.
      3. Therefore, blessing your family with a pure heart
        1. insures that you will see God living in the members of your family, and
        2. you shall all join God later.
    8. The Peacemakers

      “Blessed are the peacemakers,
      For they shall be called sons of God.”
      (Matt 5.9)

      1. Blessed are those who solve problems rather than create them.
        1. It takes courage to sit down and analyze a problem,
        2. making compromises where necessary.
      2. Bitterness drives parties apart, but
        1. peace draws them toward one another,
        2. making the family a unit.
      3. The members of that family shall be called sons and daughters of God.
        1. Everyone who enters that home
        2. will quickly see the divine qualities of it.
    9. Those Who Are Persecuted

      “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
      For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

      “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matt 5.10–12).

      1. Not everyone in some families is a Christian, nor
        1. does everyone in some families desire the Beatitudes.
        2. Those members may persecute the other members.
      2. This does not mean you have failed, but
        1. the kingdom of heaven still awaits you.
        2. If you continue to live by the Beatitudes,
          1. you just may convert some of those family members.
          2. Do not give up.
      3. Keep focused on the reward,
        1. remembering that the prophets have had the same experience as you.
        2. Now those prophets are in heaven, the place of the ultimate family.

Exhortation:

  1. The Beatitudes begin and end with the promise of heaven. 
    1. The Christian life is designed to take us beyond this life,
    2. which means that God created the home to help us get to heaven.
      1. Do not let mistreatment of your family
      2. keep you from heaven,

        13 And this is the second thing you do:
        You cover the altar of the Lord with tears,
        With weeping and crying;
        So He does not regard the offering anymore,
        Nor receive it with goodwill from your hands.
        14 Yet you say, “For what reason?”
        Because the Lord has been witness
        Between you and the wife of your youth,
        With whom you have dealt treacherously;
        Yet she is your companion
        And your wife by covenant.
        (Mal 2.13–14)

        7 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered (1Pe 3.7).

        1. So live in your family
        2. that it will help get you to heaven, and
          1. that you will also bring your family with you.
          2. What more do you want?
  2. God values family. 
    1. He uses the home to picture the relationship that He wants with us.
      1. He is the Father.
      2. Jesus is the Son.
      3. We are children of God.
      4. We call one another brother and sister.
    2. Luke 13 shows the horror of not being allowed into heaven,

      28 “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out” (Luke 13.28).
    3. Join the family of God now,
      1. by being born into it,
      2. burying your old self in the waters of baptism, and
        1. God will add you to His family.
        2. Are you ready for that?