(Text of a sermon preached in Cairncastle January 2026)
Matthew 5 v 1-12
The kingdom of the world as offered by the devil is all about feeling good.
We imagine we’ll be happy if we have a little more material wealth and pleasure, lots of pleasure, success, position and popularity. However often people who have these things profess to still being dissatisfied. Our pursuit of pleasure can sometimes get us in trouble. And people fight over territory and possessions, everyone still suffers with illness and bereavement. We can seem to have it all yet still be deeply unhappy.
The Lord Jesus, at the beginning of His ministry, announced a different kind of kingdom which promises blessings that are heavenly and everlasting. He declared the kingdom of heaven, God’s kingdom was at hand. God was re-establishing His rule over His creation. Jesus was the Messiah, the Saviour King promised by OT prophets like Daniel and Isaiah. The Son of God had come to earth to begin putting things right and He demonstrated His amazing, unique, divine authority by driving out evil spirits and healing the sick.
He was declaring the heavenly kingdom ‘open’ and inviting folk to come in but what kind of people will be welcome with God? As the Psalmist wrote, ‘Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His (holy) presence?’ He answered his own question like this, ‘He who has clean hands and a pure heart.’ And Jesus echoes this thought as He begins His famous Sermon on the Mount. What sort of people will find blessing in God’s kingdom? -
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’!
The kingdom is closed to self-righteous Pharisees who proudly imagine their achievements earn them a place. But it’s open to the tax-collector hanging his head in shame down at the back praying, ‘Lord have mercy on me, a sinner!’ The ‘poor in spirit’ recognise they are broken and can’t fix themselves. They realise you can have all the money in the world but are still poverty stricken in your soul if you don’t have peace with God. They acknowledge they need help from someone stronger and better than themselves. The poor in spirit are ready to welcome and submit to the King Who has come to save them!
Now here’s a strange thing. The world encourages us to pursue happiness as a main goal in life but Jesus says there is value in sadness and even tears: ‘Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted’. What does He mean?
We know Christians can experience great happiness. We were singing with the children last week, ‘I’ve got that joy, joy, joy down in my heart and I’m so happy because I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart’. That’s absolutely true and yet Jesus and His subjects are no strangers to sorrow. We feel sadness at loss and bereavement like anyone but more, we grieve over the root cause, human sin which brings so much trouble and pain into the world. We grieve over the greed, corruption and cruelty we see on TV every day and we grieve over the dark and shameful thoughts we still find in our own hearts.
But we trust in the holy One Who laid down His life at Calvary to atone, to redeem, to justify so that we are comforted with the assurance of forgiveness, acceptance and eternal welcome in our Father’s house. We cherish the promise that one day the King will complete the kingdom He has begun, evil will be ended and creation made completely new. What wonderful encouragement! We mourn at times with good reason for now but we are comforted by the King!
So we seek to be ‘meek’, gentle and considerate with the strength and resources God has given us. To be meek is to be like Jesus Himself. And we’re reminded that the resurrection age will not be ravaged by greedy oppressors but shared by generous servants of our kind and gracious King!
We gladly seek to practice righteousness, we ‘hunger and thirst’ as we would for the food and drink we need each day, for everything good that pleases God. That becomes our priority in life. Some of us like holidays, some of us like a nice car but these aren’t our greatest love or desire. We seek first to serve in God’s kingdom, we desire first to know and please God. We practise stewardship, we pay our taxes and give to support the church and charity as we’re instructed in the Bible. And we enjoy with gratitude the good gifts our heavenly Father gives! We are more than satisfied!
Commentators have noted how these ‘Beatitudes’ which begin the Sermon on the Mount are a bit like the Ten Commandments, the first few are about our relationship with God and the next ones about our relationship with each other. No other gods, no false images, honour His name and keep His Sabbath and then honour parents, no killing, stealing adultery etc. Here we have penitent faith and seeking to please God followed by showing mercy in our dealings with each other. We should be pure hearted, no hidden agendas or ulterior motives. We should be peacemakers where possible and even patient in the face of hostility, again like our Lord. Those who prove faithful are promised heavenly reward.
Jesus’ words are certainly challenging but this heart attitude He urges upon us, this lifestyle He recommends, is it a miserable thing? Not at all! It is liberating and positive, it brings God’s blessing to our souls and great benefit to our communities.
This is the word of the Lord. Let’s take it to heart! Let’s practise it daily. And to our King be honour and praise!
Matthew 5 v 1-12
The kingdom of the world as offered by the devil is all about feeling good.
We imagine we’ll be happy if we have a little more material wealth and pleasure, lots of pleasure, success, position and popularity. However often people who have these things profess to still being dissatisfied. Our pursuit of pleasure can sometimes get us in trouble. And people fight over territory and possessions, everyone still suffers with illness and bereavement. We can seem to have it all yet still be deeply unhappy.
The Lord Jesus, at the beginning of His ministry, announced a different kind of kingdom which promises blessings that are heavenly and everlasting. He declared the kingdom of heaven, God’s kingdom was at hand. God was re-establishing His rule over His creation. Jesus was the Messiah, the Saviour King promised by OT prophets like Daniel and Isaiah. The Son of God had come to earth to begin putting things right and He demonstrated His amazing, unique, divine authority by driving out evil spirits and healing the sick.
He was declaring the heavenly kingdom ‘open’ and inviting folk to come in but what kind of people will be welcome with God? As the Psalmist wrote, ‘Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His (holy) presence?’ He answered his own question like this, ‘He who has clean hands and a pure heart.’ And Jesus echoes this thought as He begins His famous Sermon on the Mount. What sort of people will find blessing in God’s kingdom? -
‘Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’!
The kingdom is closed to self-righteous Pharisees who proudly imagine their achievements earn them a place. But it’s open to the tax-collector hanging his head in shame down at the back praying, ‘Lord have mercy on me, a sinner!’ The ‘poor in spirit’ recognise they are broken and can’t fix themselves. They realise you can have all the money in the world but are still poverty stricken in your soul if you don’t have peace with God. They acknowledge they need help from someone stronger and better than themselves. The poor in spirit are ready to welcome and submit to the King Who has come to save them!
Now here’s a strange thing. The world encourages us to pursue happiness as a main goal in life but Jesus says there is value in sadness and even tears: ‘Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted’. What does He mean?
We know Christians can experience great happiness. We were singing with the children last week, ‘I’ve got that joy, joy, joy down in my heart and I’m so happy because I’ve got the love of Jesus in my heart’. That’s absolutely true and yet Jesus and His subjects are no strangers to sorrow. We feel sadness at loss and bereavement like anyone but more, we grieve over the root cause, human sin which brings so much trouble and pain into the world. We grieve over the greed, corruption and cruelty we see on TV every day and we grieve over the dark and shameful thoughts we still find in our own hearts.
But we trust in the holy One Who laid down His life at Calvary to atone, to redeem, to justify so that we are comforted with the assurance of forgiveness, acceptance and eternal welcome in our Father’s house. We cherish the promise that one day the King will complete the kingdom He has begun, evil will be ended and creation made completely new. What wonderful encouragement! We mourn at times with good reason for now but we are comforted by the King!
So we seek to be ‘meek’, gentle and considerate with the strength and resources God has given us. To be meek is to be like Jesus Himself. And we’re reminded that the resurrection age will not be ravaged by greedy oppressors but shared by generous servants of our kind and gracious King!
We gladly seek to practice righteousness, we ‘hunger and thirst’ as we would for the food and drink we need each day, for everything good that pleases God. That becomes our priority in life. Some of us like holidays, some of us like a nice car but these aren’t our greatest love or desire. We seek first to serve in God’s kingdom, we desire first to know and please God. We practise stewardship, we pay our taxes and give to support the church and charity as we’re instructed in the Bible. And we enjoy with gratitude the good gifts our heavenly Father gives! We are more than satisfied!
Commentators have noted how these ‘Beatitudes’ which begin the Sermon on the Mount are a bit like the Ten Commandments, the first few are about our relationship with God and the next ones about our relationship with each other. No other gods, no false images, honour His name and keep His Sabbath and then honour parents, no killing, stealing adultery etc. Here we have penitent faith and seeking to please God followed by showing mercy in our dealings with each other. We should be pure hearted, no hidden agendas or ulterior motives. We should be peacemakers where possible and even patient in the face of hostility, again like our Lord. Those who prove faithful are promised heavenly reward.
Jesus’ words are certainly challenging but this heart attitude He urges upon us, this lifestyle He recommends, is it a miserable thing? Not at all! It is liberating and positive, it brings God’s blessing to our souls and great benefit to our communities.
This is the word of the Lord. Let’s take it to heart! Let’s practise it daily. And to our King be honour and praise!
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