120 THE PROBLEM: SIN

Matthew 5:3-4

October 10, 2025

THEME: BLESSED

(MAKARIOS) – “Happy, Blissful, Prosperous”

But that is worldly thinking.

WHAT CAN MAKE ME TRULY HAPPY?

(stuff, money, fame, comfort, etc.)

Last year our theme was “Chasing After Wind”

Remember Solomon?

Ecclesiastes 2

· He got money

· He accomplished projects

· He got women

· He experimented with alcohol

· If it felt good he did it

Ecclesiastes 2:9-11 “Then I became great and increased more than all who preceded me in Jerusalem. My wisdom also stood by me. All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and this was my reward for all my labor. Thus I considered all my activities which my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.”

Then he decided to get an education and learn everything.

Ecclesiastes 2:17 “So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind.”

True happiness shouldn’t expire.

True happiness shouldn’t get old or boring.

But even more than that, true happiness shouldn’t end when you die.

THAT IS THE POINT OF JESUS HERE.

He wants us to look at happiness or blessing

From an eternal perspective, not an earthly one.

Now, I know, you are young.

You’re a long way from death.

No need to be thinking about these things yet, right?

· I mean right now it’s just about having fun and gaining popularity.

· Right now it’s just about getting that pair of shoes you want.

· Right now it’s just about the glory of the football field.

But I want you to understand that

Now is exactly the time you should think about such things because…

Right now you are developing attitudes

That you will use for the rest of your life,

And you will very soon start making decisions

Regarding where you want your life to go.

You are building mindsets and attitudes about life.

You will soon start making decisions.

You definitely need to know what blessing is and how to pursue it.

SO LET’S START THERE.

Here’s your first thing to think about:

WHAT IS BLESSING?

I googled it: “A beneficial thing for which one is grateful; something that brings well-being”

That really doesn’t help much.

What is a beneficial thing?

And again the world would say,

“Money, Fame, Health, Relationship, Success”

Can I tell you a story real quick?

Luke 16:19-21 “Now there was a rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in splendor every day. “And a poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gate, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores.”

Let’s be honest.

· Which one do you think the world would say is “Blessed”?

THE RICH MAN OF COURSE!

No one is walking by that poor man and saying, “Wow, that guy is really blessed.”

From an earthly perspective it looks like

Wealth and fame and comfort is certainly blessing.

But Jesus continues in the story.

Luke 16:22-25 “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom. “And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.”

In a moment both of those men died.

And eternity had a different situation for each of them.

WHICH ONE WAS REALLY BLESSED?

See sometimes earthly riches and comforts can just be a mirage.

· They are an illusion.

· They aren’t real and they don’t last.

SO WHAT IS BLESSING REALLY?

Well we are studying the BEATITUDES.

And each one of these beatitudes

Describes for us true blessing.

You see it as the second half of each verse.

Help me identify the blessing in each one.

(5:3) “the kingdom of heaven”

(5:4) “comforted”

(5:5) “inherit the earth”

(5:6) “satisfied”

(5:7) “receive mercy”

(5:8) “see God”

(5:9) “called sons of God”

(5:10) “the kingdom of heaven”

(5:12) “reward in heaven is great”

Jesus said that those things are real blessings.

Those things are true bliss and happiness.

Those are the things a man ought to seek.

· To go to heaven when they die.

· To have Jesus comfort you of your afflictions.

· To reign with Jesus on the earth.

· To be satisfied with the righteousness Jesus gives you.

· To receive mercy and forgiveness from God.

· To be accepted by God as a son.

· To receive a great reward in heaven.

That is true blessing.

That is what that poor man found.

But that leads us to a second question.

HOW DO I GET IT?

How do I obtain those blessings?

Well, for that we look at

The first half of each of our beatitudes.

Help me identify them again.

(5:3) “Blessed are the poor in spirit”

(5:4) “Blessed are those who mourn”

(5:5) “Blessed are the gentle”

(5:6) “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”

(5:7) “Blessed are the merciful”

(5:8) “Blessed are the pure in heart”

(5:9) “Blessed are the peacemakers”

(5:10) “Blessed are those who have been persecuted”

So Jesus tells us what true blessing is

And He tells us how to pursue it.

That’s what we want to look at this weekend.

We want to look at true blessing and how to pursue it.

We’re going to look at 2 each time we meet together.

SO TONIGHT IT’S THE FIRST TWO.

But they form a theme for us:

Tonight here is what we learn:

THE PROBLEM: SIN

Let’s read those first two together.

Matthew 5:3-4 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

What in the world do those mean?

What does it mean to be “poor in spirit”?

· What does it mean to be poor in money? (no money)

· What does it mean to be poor in clothes? (no clothes)

· What does it mean to be poor in spirit? (no spirit)

When it comes to things of spiritual value they have nothing.

THE BLUE BEGGARS

If going to heaven were a matter of buying a ticket

Or earning your way in, are they going to make it?

(No, because they are poor)

They don’t have anything.

AND THEY KNOW IT.

· There is nothing good in them.

· There is nothing valuable in them.

· There is nothing redeemable in them.

· They are poor.

That reality helps the second one make sense.

That is why they “mourn”.

· They mourn because they have nothing.

· They mourn because their life has gained no value.

If you wanted to go to heaven and you found out

You were too poor to make it you’d mourn too.

AND THIS IS WHY WE SAY THAT THEIR PROBLEM IS SIN.

JESUS IS HERE DESCRIBING A PERSON

· Who has contemplated going to heaven and standing before God,

· But after they examined their life they broke into tears

· Because they realized that had nothing to offer.

THEY WERE SINNERS.

· They had not lived a life that pleased God.

· They had nothing to offer God that was of any value to Him.

And you need to understand that about sin.

First you need to understand that you are a sinner.

Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”

And Then you need to understand that God judges sinners.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death…”

In fact, when we read the last book of the Bible,

Where God describes heaven,

You find that sinners don’t get to go in.

Revelation 21:27 “and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it”

Revelation 22:15 “Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying.”

GOD JUDGES SINNERS.

Well this guy just realized he was a sinner

And that he had nothing to offer God,

And it moved him to grief and despair.

WELL THAT SEEMS STRANGE DOESN’T IT?

I THOUGHT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT BLESSING?

WE ARE.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”

WHY? “For theirs is the kingdom of heaven”

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn”

WHY? “For they shall be comforted”

Jesus said that this man who realizes he has nothing

Is actually the man who gets to go to heaven.

Jesus said that this man who weeps over his sinfulness

Is actually the man who gets comforted by God.

HOW CAN THAT BE?

It is important that you learn something here about God.

James 4:6 “But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Isaiah 57:15 “For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite.”

The reason the man who knows he has nothing to offer is blessed;

The reason the man who mourns over his sin is blessed,

Is because God accepts the humble, the broken, and the lowly.

Well what about the man who won’t admit that he is a sinner?

· What about the man who loves his sin?

· What about the man who ignores his sin and chooses to keep it?

· What about the man who brags about what he does?

IS THAT MAN BLESSED? NO

He does not receive the kingdom of heaven

And he will not be comforted.

He will be like that rich man who was in torment.

WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT IS

A life that God accepts.

A life that God blesses with eternal things.

If you are going to be blessed by God

You must come to understand that you have a problem

And that problem is sin.

If you won’t recognize it or if you won’t admit it.

If you won’t repent of it or if you won’t grieve over it.

Then you will never be blessed.

Because God only blesses those who are poor in spirit

And those who mourn over the sin that made them that way.

We’re going to conclude with a Psalm tonight.

It’s a Psalm about blessing.

TURN TO: PSALMS 32

READ VS 1-2

What is the blessing David speaks of?

The man who has been forgiven.

· He DOESN’T SAY the man who hides his sin is blessed.

· He DOESN’T SAY the man who ignores his sin is blessed.

· He SAYS the man who gets his sin forgiven is blessed.

READ 3-5

· Did it help David to keep silent about his sin?

· Did it help David to act like it never happened?

It only helped David when he confessed his sin to God.

Because then God forgave him.

READ 6-7

· Does David regret his decision to confess his sin to God?

No, he says that was the best decision he ever made.

READ 8-11

David gives you some advice.

· Don’t be stubborn like a horse or a mule.

· Don’t insist on wickedness and force God to beat you.

· There is only sorrow there.

But true blessing and gladness and rejoicing comes from

Seeing your sin, mourning over your sin, confessing your sin,

And asking God to forgive your sin.

That person is blessed because God blesses the humble.

God accepts the humble into heaven.

God comforts the humble with forgiveness.

So when I ask you: WHAT IS BLESSING?

The answer is: TO BE FORGIVEN OF MY SIN