Hungry, Weeping-- and Blessed!
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Finding the Gospel in the Beatitudes.
Text: Luke 6:21
Date: 02/20/2022, the Combined service.
Series: "Luke: Thy Kingdom Come" Part 52
Description:
As we continue to study Luke's version of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reveals His second and third Beatitudes. We learned last week that a beatitude is the pronouncement of a state of divine blessedness that transcends current circumstances. In the first beatitude, we learned that spiritual poverty is actually a blessing when it leads us to recognize our need for a Savior. In this lesson we will find similar principles in those who hunger and those who weep. Once again, the answer to the riddle will be in the spiritual application. Those who are truly blessed will hunger for a relationship with God and His righteousness. Likewise, those who are truly blessed will be mortified and weep over their transgressions against the God they love. After we identify these terms, and the profound necessity and intensity represented in them, we will consider the eschatological blessings which exist both in the "here and now" and the "not yet". Ultimately we will recognize the Gospel in its simplest and yet most profound form in the words of Jesus, and realize that contrary to the understanding of the world we live in, it is a glorious thing to be hungry, weeping-- and blessed!
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I. Introduction
II. Exposition of the text, Luke 6:21.
A. Context
1. Overview of the Sermon on the Mount.
2. The meaning of "makarios".
3. Blessed are the poor.
a. The physical definition.
i. An abject poverty.
ii. Total dependence on grace.
iii. A "self-aware" poverty.
b. The spiritual application.
i. Total depravity.
ii. Sinners in need of grace.
iii. Mortification that leads to repentance.
B. The blessing of hunger and tears.
1. Blessed are the hungry.
a. Defining "hunger".
i. The degree of hunger.
ii. The necessity and intensity of hunger.
b. Defining "satisfied".
i. Reversing hunger.
ii. Filled to the brim.
iii. Specific to the yearning.
c. The spiritual application.
i. Harmonizing with Matthew, Matt. 5:6.
ii. Evidence of salvation.
2. Blessed are those who weep, Matt. 5:4.
a. The meaning of "weep".
b. The spiritual meaning.
i. Rooted in sin, John 11:35.
ii. Expressed in personal sin, Psa. 6:1,6.
iii. The reason for the blessedness!
c. Eschatological laughter, Gen. 18:12, Psa. 80:6, Jer. 31:13, Psa. 30:5, Rev. 5:5.
III. Application
A. A simple presentation of the Gospel.
1. Blessed are the poor.
2. Blessed are those who hunger, Rom. 3:10-12.
3. Blessed are those who weep.
B. The danger of over-saturation with the wrong things.
IV. Conclusion
