- [00:00:01] In the early 1900s, mountaineering became very popular, with many eager to ascend great peaks. A famous mountaineer, while descending a large mountain, got stuck halfway down a cliff. A rescue team began to descend from above to help him, but fierce winds complicated the operation. When the rescuers reached him, instead of helping him descend, they wrapped him in their harness and carried him back up to the peak. This story illustrates a key spiritual truth: Jesus does not stand at the summit shouting instructions for us to climb to Him. Instead, He comes down to us, lifts us up, and brings us into His kingdom. - [00:01:34] The Beatitudes, which we will examine today, are God\\\'s way of reaching down to us. Jesus Himself came down to lead us back to Him and to lift us into His kingdom. This message is titled \\\"Come to Jesus.\\\" As we walk through the Bible, we began with the Adamic covenant—the covenant of works—and moved through covenants with Abraham, Noah, and Moses. The Mosaic covenant, also known as the Old Covenant, was given to Moses on Mount Sinai, where he received the Ten Commandments, reflecting God\\\'s character and laws for the people to follow. - [00:02:18] However, none could perfectly keep the law. Moses was a mediator between God and the people, a prototype of greater mediation to come. Fast forward to the New Testament: Jesus is our ultimate mediator, ushering in the new covenant. Like Moses, Jesus ascended a mountain—in Galilee—but unlike Moses, whose radiant face frightened people, Jesus was attractive and drew crowds to Himself. He did not give another set of commandments but revealed a new way to come to God, full of grace and truth. - [00:03:50] The law came through Moses, but grace and truth come through Jesus, offering hope for all humanity to enter into a relationship with God. Matthew 4:23 describes Jesus teaching in synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. The word \\\"gospel\\\" means good news, and Jesus’ gospel proclaims Himself as the better mediator and ultimate king, surpassing earthly kings like David. All Old Testament threads—Moses, the Davidic king, the prophets—converge in Jesus as the mediator of the new covenant. - [00:05:17] Jesus clearly states His mission: to proclaim the good news of a kingdom. The concept of \\\"kingdom\\\" is foreign to most today, as kings and kingdoms are rare. When a new king arrives, he owns the land and governs the people. Jesus announces a kingdom that will reign forever. Many people enjoy the Beatitudes for their social message, but Jesus was not presenting a mere social gospel. Some dispensationalists argue the Beatitudes apply only during Jesus’ future millennial reign, but Scripture shows the kingdom is near and present now. - [00:07:28] Jesus describes a radically different kingdom—different in nature, character, and outcomes. He is creating a new breed of people called disciples. Standing before crowds with twelve ordinary men, Jesus reveals what kingdom citizens will be like. The Beatitudes serve as a roadmap for authentic discipleship. Though the disciples initially did not fully grasp this message, the Holy Spirit later illuminated these truths, transforming their lives and empowering them to spread the gospel worldwide. All twelve disciples were eventually martyred, including Thomas, who brought the gospel to India. - [00:09:28] The gospel Jesus proclaims is for all nations, tribes, and people—rich or poor, moral or immoral. Recently, a young person shared that she believed in Jesus and the gospel but struggled with the hypocrisy she saw in the church. This shows how important it is for Christians to live according to gospel principles. Simply attending church does not make one a disciple. Jesus spent three years mentoring twelve men to become disciples, with even closer discipleship among three, and a special closeness with one. - [00:11:00] Discipleship requires intentional investment in someone\\\'s life. It is not about academic achievement or attending conferences. The Beatitudes call us to discipleship. Our church desires to be a community of disciples making disciples. Many leaders in the church have grown through this process. There are no self-made disciples in God’s kingdom. This gospel message is core to our church’s identity; the Beatitudes are a template unpacking the gospel, which we teach in membership classes and various sermons. - [00:14:09] The Beatitudes, presented in Matthew 5:1 through 7, are divided into three parts: first, how to come to Jesus; second, what life with Jesus looks like; and third, what to expect when living such a life. The first Beatitude begins the path to discipleship. Each Beatitude has three components: a call to blessedness, a condition defining that blessedness, and a promise. - [00:14:57] The word \\\"blessedness\\\" can be translated as happiness. Often, marketing manipulates our desire for happiness through fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD). People seek happiness through self-effort or social media. However, Jesus offers a timeless message: true happiness is not found within ourselves or external things—not even in advanced AI chatbots posing as therapists. Happiness, or blessedness, reflects sharing in Jesus’ character—becoming like Him. - [00:17:07] Jesus begins with \\\"Blessed are the poor in spirit,\\\" meaning recognizing spiritual bankruptcy—having nothing good to offer God. This contrasts with the pride of the Pharisees, who believed their religious works made them righteous. The Mosaic law was never meant to save but to point to the need for the new covenant. The Ten Commandments exposed human inability to achieve perfect obedience. - [00:19:42] This spiritual poverty opposes the Silicon Valley mentality that champions technology and human achievement as godlike. The dominant \\\"religion\\\" there is faith in technology for self-worship and self-realization. This temptation echoes the original sin in Eden, where Satan promised knowledge to become like God. Sin is essentially the quest for autonomy, to live independently from God. - [00:21:06] When Adam and Eve were cut off from God, they were left with only their physical senses, leading to empiricism and the scientific quest for knowledge apart from God. This worldview makes it difficult to experience spiritual poverty. Alternatively, people may pursue happiness through consumerism and work. Early church fathers like Augustine and Martin Luther found pride to be their biggest barrier to receiving the gospel. - [00:23:44] Isaiah 66:2 says God looks to the humble and contrite in spirit—the poor in spirit. Recognizing that our righteousness is like filthy rags is essential to entering God\\\'s kingdom. This realization cannot be achieved by self-effort alone. Though being poor in spirit might feel like losing everything, Jesus promises that such people will inherit the kingdom of heaven, where God reigns. - [00:25:02] Recognizing spiritual bankruptcy changes our lives and priorities. We begin to question the purpose of our work and what we build. Instead of creating technologies for selfish gain or power, kingdom citizens build for the good of all, reflecting the principles Jesus inaugurated. This flips worldly values upside down. When we realize we have nothing to offer God, we come before Him in confession rather than comparison. - [00:27:00] The second Beatitude says, \\\"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.\\\" Mourning here is deep sorrow, the kind David expressed in Psalm 51 after his sin. Once we recognize our spiritual poverty, the natural response is mourning—not just for our sins but for the brokenness and evil in the world. This mourning leads to repentance. - [00:28:52] True mourning is a sign of repentance, which the Holy Spirit grants. Repentance leads to knowledge of truth and draws us to Jesus. Jesus Himself mourned deeply—over sin, death, and the rejection by Jerusalem—experiencing such anguish that He sweated blood in Gethsemane. Mourning draws us closer to Jesus, and repentance becomes a lifelong process, as Martin Luther emphasized. - [00:30:56] The third Beatitude is \\\"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.\\\" Meekness is not weakness but gentleness and self-control. It is like breaking and training a wild horse, harnessing strength for good. Meek people do not respond defensively when confronted with sin but accept correction and embrace humility. - [00:32:51] GK Chesterton famously said the world\\\'s problem is \\\"me,\\\" pointing to the need for meekness. Meekness involves forgiveness, gentleness under pressure, and a willingness to be taught and corrected. Jesus modeled meekness by entering Jerusalem on a donkey, a symbol of gentleness, not military power. Though meekness seems like weakness, it is the pathway to inheriting the earth in God’s kingdom. - [00:35:01] The fourth Beatitude states, \\\"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.\\\" This double action expresses a deep longing for God\\\'s righteousness—freedom from sin, its power, and desire. It is a desire to be like Jesus in holiness and justice. - [00:36:47] This hunger is not a fleeting feeling but a persistent, passionate pursuit. Just as a deer pants for water, our souls long for God’s righteousness. The promise is that those who hunger for righteousness will be satisfied. This manifests in a daily thirst for Scripture, holiness, and justice, not only in personal life but in society. - [00:38:13] Jesus came to us, leaving His glory and becoming poor, to remove our hardened hearts and give us sensitive hearts. He mourned for our sin, lived meekly, absorbed God’s wrath on the cross, conquered death, and rose again. He invites the weary to find rest in Him, satisfying our thirst for righteousness by imputing His righteousness when we believe and transforming us inwardly through the Holy Spirit. - [00:39:45] Life in the kingdom results in mercy, purity of heart, and glorifying God. Receiving mercy compels us to extend mercy to others. The pure in heart are those whose hearts are cleansed and undivided in devotion to God. Jesus focuses on transforming the heart—not just external behavior. A pure heart sees God, reflecting His image. - [00:42:22] Even in creation, we see God’s attributes, but walking with Jesus and reading the Bible illuminated by the Holy Spirit reveals God more deeply. The speaker shares a personal story from his scientific career, where despite groundbreaking achievements, the joy of encountering God’s word far surpassed scientific success. - [00:46:17] Without holiness, we cannot see God. Only those who surrender their hearts fully to Jesus and are cleansed will see God. The psalmist’s prayer, \\\"Create in me a clean heart,\\\" expresses this desire. Peacemaking also characterizes kingdom life, bringing peace with God and others. - [00:47:38] However, discipleship involves persecution. Kingdom citizens disrupt the status quo and face verbal and physical attacks. Yet Jesus calls us to rejoice in persecution because it is the cost of godly living. The apostles endured such trials to spread the gospel worldwide, and contemporary missionaries face the same challenges. - [00:49:41] The speaker asks the audience: Have you truly come to Jesus? Not merely attending church or reading the Bible, but experiencing the transformation described in the Beatitudes? Can you recall times of being poor in spirit, mourning sin, growing meek, and hungering for righteousness? Without these, one is not a disciple of Jesus, even if they call themselves Christian. - [00:50:28] The invitation is to come to Jesus with a contrite heart, using the Beatitudes as a mirror to see who we are without Christ and who we can become in Him. Parents are encouraged to practice meekness, mercy, and peacemaking at home. Professionals are encouraged to pursue purity of heart over personal branding, embodying kingdom values in the workplace. - [00:51:59] Finally, the speaker asks three reflective questions: Which Beatitude challenges you most? Where are you pursuing worldly happiness instead of kingdom blessedness? Will you respond by coming to Jesus daily and continually? The Beatitudes are not only a starting point but a lifelong way of life in God’s kingdom.