The Beatitudes Are Godly Attitudes Producing Godly Action

Brennan, our God is the great designer and the great architect of the universe. That is no... that's not news to anybody. He is designed. He has created the most simple of things to the most complex of things, from the simple single-cell organisms that thrive on this planet to the complex workings of the universe. If you have taken a look at... peek at that God of Wonders video that I sent you, if you haven't, please do so. It is a tremendous piece of documentary. You know, when I was asking over in Chicago who had seen it, a number raised their hands. Mrs. Bradford, Joanna Bradford, really enjoys it very much. She's used it to teach Billy, and I certainly enjoy it very much. But when you see that video and you see what God has produced... for example, they were showing these stars... and I've discussed this with you. Some of these stars, they make our star looks like a little marble in comparison. They're like a big beach ball, and there's our little star. You know, if you were to drill a hole in this one star that we can see, probably... I forget how many hundreds or thousands of our sons you can dump in that one star. Our Father created that. Now, in relation to that, our human abilities are very puny. We, as mankind, can't create a single-cell organism from nothing. Think of it. We can't... with nothing, with no precedent, with nothing to work from, no idea, mankind can't even create a single-cell organism. So, Brendan, if God is our great designer and architect of the universe, doesn't it stand to reason that He would design and create an instruction book for us, His greatest creation? And, of course, that's true. He has. He's taken great care in the design and creation of His Word, the Bible. Let's take a look at John 17, verse 8. To start off today, John 17, verse 8. In my Bible, this is all red lettering. John 17, verse 8.

For I have given to them the words which you have given to me, and they have received them, and have known, surely, that I have come forth from you, and they believe that you sent me. So, here we see Jesus Christ saying that God gave Him words and that He gave us all of those words. Now, it's not just the words He gave to His disciples. It's not just the words that He gave to the masses as He's giving lectures, and preaching, and teaching, and so forth. We're talking about every word from God. As a matter of fact, let's turn over to 2 Timothy, chapter 3.

2 Timothy, chapter 3. Again, this is a very familiar section of Scripture for us. 2 Timothy, chapter 3. Starting here in verse 15.

2 Timothy 3, chapter 15. And that from childhood, you're talking to Timothy, from childhood you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Now, you tie that in with John 17, verse 8. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Every word in the Bible has been placed there by God. God has a reason for everything He does. Every word is in the Scriptures just where it should be to teach us what God would want us to learn. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Every word of it. It's been designed, it's been created, it's been put down, set forth for us. And it's profitable for doctrine. Doctrine is teaching. The Bible is profitable for teaching us. It's profitable for reproof. Another word for reproof is conviction. The Bible is to convict us. It's profitable for correction and for instruction and righteousness. Instruction and righteousness. In the Greek, it has more of the meaning of disciplined training and righteousness. That the man of God might be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. So here we have the Scriptures that God has designed, created, handed down to us.

The very word of God. Today, we're going to take a look at a masterpiece of Christian teaching. It's called the Sermon on the Mount. It's called the Sermon on the Mount because Jesus gave it on a hillside near Capernaum. It's the heart and core of the teachings of Jesus Christ. It's the very essence of what God desires in mankind's thinking and mankind's living. Now, I gave this as a Bible study in Wisconsin-Dells back in 2013, a long time ago. I dusted this off, and I've added to it. So much so that today you get part one. I don't know how many parts we're going to do, but today you're getting part one. Here in the Sermon on the Mount, we see the great designer, the great architect at work. God is designed as sermon. Jesus Christ delivered it, so we would have what we need in terms of our walk with God. This sermon, which goes from Matthew 5 through 7, started with a discussion with maybe a few people present, and it took place perhaps over a number of days. You see a whole lot bigger crowd at the very end in chapter 7. But this powerful sermon began with a discussion of attitudes. Beautiful attitudes, they're called, or B attitudes. Beautiful attitudes. These beautiful attitudes produce beautiful action. And as I've said to you on a number of occasions, attitude is the father of action. If we have the right attitudes, if we've got beautiful attitudes, God-given attitudes, we'll have God-given action.

Now, the B attitudes, I'm going to give this is going to be almost more like a Bible study. We're going to go into depth on this. The B attitudes present the highest standards of thought and conduct for all believers. The highest standards, the highest bar.

The B attitudes contrast godly eternal values with worldly temporary values.

You know, brethren, it is getting so important for us to appreciate that fact. Coming across today, as we are always doing, Mary and I, we leave our home, we eat our lunch on the road as we're driving. And we've been taking, I've been taking to listen to a podcast that Mary enjoys, Todd Starnes. And Mr. Starnes and his podcast was talking about the, oh, that's the cartoon channel. Now, we've got some grandparents in this room. And Mr. Starnes was talking about the fact of what's happening with the cartoon channel. You know, people in this country are very, very busy. I think a lot of parents probably think, well, I'm so busy, I've got to do my thing. My wife's got to do her thing. Let's just sit the kids in front of the cartoons and let them watch the cartoons. Well, apparently, the cartoon channel has now decided that they have to be a leading force, or at least a force, in teaching about gender. And so now the cartoons will have hymns and hers and its and all sorts of different kind of combinations of things. And it's all programmed right into these cartoons that, you know, our little tiny children would be watching, big wide eyes, and taking all of that in. It's Satan's propaganda. It's Satan's propaganda. So again, the beatitude show God's eternal values, contrasted with worldly temporary values. And we are under assault in terms of the values in this country, in this world. Beatitudes contrast Christ's real Christ-like faith with the superficial faith of the Pharisees. Beatitudes tell us how to be blessed by God. Have God's favor, have God's graciousness bestowed upon us. They are treated, you know, as is true with science, as is true with nature, the closer you get to nature, the more you see the beauty of God's handiwork. The more you and I look into the scriptures, the more we see the beauty of the scriptures. Excuse me. Again, quoting the God of Wonders video, it shows in that video snowflakes, and it shows different types of snowflakes. You know, all of them, in one sense, similar, but each and every one different, each and every one distinctive. And you take a look at all these snowflakes, and they show blowups in all of them. It is such a beautiful thing to see. So they show you God's creation, then they show you man-made snow. And man-made snow is very, very block. They look like chunks or blocks, whereas God's creation has all these little fingers that go out, and it's just very, very beautiful. So my point today in this message, part one, the Beatitudes are godly attitudes producing godly action. That is the theme for this series, the Beatitudes are godly attitudes producing godly action. Let's turn over to Matthew chapter 5. We'll take a look at the Beatitudes here. Matthew chapter 5, the very beginning. It's interesting. This is how Christ began the Sermon on the Mount.

Let's talk for a moment before we actually get into the Beatitudes. There are eight Beatitudes we will only go through for today. Okay, part one. That's at least, that's my plan. Maybe we'll only get through two today. I don't know. We'll find out. Before we actually get into it, though, we want to talk just for a couple of minutes about the design and the creation of the Beatitudes. Let's take a look at Matthew chapter 5 verse 3.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So it starts off by talking about the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. If we have these attitudes and live by these attitudes, then ours will be the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven.

The very last of the Beatitudes, the longest of the Beatitudes, you take a look at verse 10. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So we see that the order, the orientation of the Beatitudes provide several key insights.

And one of the insights here is it begins and ends with the promise of the kingdom of God. That's our goal. Our goal is the kingdom of God. So this is what we view as kingdom thinking, kingdom thinking, kingdom rewards for kingdom thinking. And we progress in these Beatitudes from chapter 5 verse 3, humility, which we'll get into in a moment, which is the point of our greatest need. I think there's a reason why Jesus Christ started with talking about being poor in spirit. I think this is one of mankind's greatest needs.

And it ends with our greatest identification, one of our greatest identifications, with Jesus Christ. And that is in verses 10 through 12 there, where it talks about being persecuted as Christ was persecuted. Not necessarily as in the exact same manner, but as we will be persecuted too. Sometimes the persecution is a smaller persecution. Sometimes it's a much greater type of a persecution, but we progress. Now, these Beatitudes, and I said there are eight of them, are divided in two groups.

There's two groups of four. The first group of four discusses a deepening relationship with God, a deepening relationship with God. The last group of four discusses a the last four depict the impact we have on others and the kind of impact we should have on others, a godly impact upon others. So we've got two sets of four here. The Beatitudes are not, you know, a stage of development we go through, we pass through, and we can just say, okay, I've done that, I can check that off my list. No, the Beatitudes are responses we make all the time, just as the Ten Commandments. We love God, we love our fellow man, we do that all the time.

We never check off, well, I've shown God I love him. That's done. I've shown man I love him. I've kept all Ten Commandments. No, we don't view it that way. And the same thing is true for the Beatitudes.

These are ongoing types of attitudes. Attitudes can be bent out of shape at times, correct? Sometimes we can have a bad attitude. So we've got to always be on the alert to making sure we have these attitudes fully in the way God would have us to have them. Okay, that all being said is background. Now let's get into it. Let's look at the very first Beatitude here, Matthew chapter 5 and verse 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. What is that talking about?

To be poor in spirit is to acknowledge, in one sense, our spiritual poverty apart from God. That we are nothing apart from God. We don't have any knowledge apart from God. We don't have anything. We don't have life itself apart from God. It's by God's grace that we breathe every breath of air and that our hearts beat. It's by the grace of God that we understand anything that our mind even works and functions.

Those who are poor in spirit are those who have a deep understanding of their spiritual need, a deep understanding. I believe that this particular Beatitude is the foundation of all spiritual excellence.

I'm not going to turn there, but in your notes, and again I've quoted this on many occasions, John chapter 3 and verse 30. John the Baptist speaking, John 3.30, where he said, he, meaning Christ, must increase, but I, John the Baptist, must decrease. That is an excellent statement when it comes to understanding being poor in spirit.

Now, with each of these Beatitudes, I'm going to give you four sections. We've already covered the first. What is the attitude to discuss? Here it is being poor in spirit. Second thing we're going to look at is our Old Testament roots for that particular Beatitude. Thirdly, a worldly value or values that are displaced or overcome by that beautiful attitude. And fourthly, how to develop that attitude. Each of these four, each of the eight, I'll go through those four sections with you. So, yeah, I don't know how much time this is going to take, but I want to make this in depth as I can. So, the attitude—and you might want to make a chart or a graph for this—the attitude, the beautiful attitude is being poor in spirit. The Old Testament roots, the one scripture I'm going to give you is Isaiah chapter 57 verse 15. The worldly value overcome is pride.

And how to develop this beautiful attitude is found in James chapter 4 verses 7 through 10. Okay, let's go through it. The attitude being poor in spirit, the Old Testament roots. Let's take a look at Isaiah 57.

Isaiah 57 and verse 15. Isaiah 57 verse 15. For thus says the high and the lofty one, who inhabits eternity, the great God, the God of righteousness, whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Well, what does it mean to be contrite? Let me quote from Barnes' notes, because I think Barnes has a good lock on this, a good meaning for this. Being contrite, and this is Strong's number 1793, 1793.

To be contrite means that which is broken, crushed, beaten small, trodden down. Broken, crushed, beaten. We're talking from a spiritual perspective now. Broken, crushed, beaten, small, trodden down. It denotes a soul that is born with a sense of sin and worthiness, a heart that is crushed under the weight of guilt. Now, we don't want to be crushed under a weight of guilt, but we can be crushed because we come to see our sins. We come to see who we are. We come to see just how much we have need of God's help. We are poor in spirit.

We realize we have human pride. We've got human ego. We want to be independent so many times. And that's not what God wants when he's talking about the beautiful attitude of being poor in spirit. Now, how do we develop this attitude, this godly attitude, this very special, beautiful attitude? Well, let's turn to James 4.

James 4, verses 7 through 10. James 4, verses 7 through 10.

Actually, let's start in verse 6. James 4, verse 6. But he gives more grace, therefore he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. So, something for us to understand. God resists the proud, those who aren't poor in spirit, God resists those kinds of attitudes. But he does give grace to those who are poor in spirit, those who are humble. Therefore, because what we read there in verse 6, therefore submit to God. And to submit to God means we have to be poor in spirit. We've got to be humble. We've got to admit we don't know everything. We need to admit we need God's help. When we submit, that's a type of repentance. We need to go God's way and not our own way. We can't be independent. Therefore, submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Again, verse 8. Draw near to God, talking about repentance, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. No, I'm not going to go there, but in your notes you might want to jot down Matthew 3 and verse 8. Matthew 3 and verse 8, talking about bearing fruits worthy of repentance. Bearing fruits worthy of repentance. We want to be people who are poor in spirit. Well, God's going to take a look at what you do with what you know. Are you really striving? Am I really striving to have that kind of attitude? Am I working toward that? If I'm working toward that and you're working toward that, God is going to be there for you. He's going to help you. He wants to bless you as you draw closer to him. Verse 9. Lament and mourn and weep. Yes, be humble. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom as we embrace the attitude of being poor in spirit. Humble yourselves. Now we go back. Verse 10. We go full circle back to verse 6. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and he will lift you up. I thought it might be good as we go through each of these attitudes to take a look at an example in the scriptures. Now, as you are sitting there in your seats, who would you think of would be a great—let's take Jesus Christ and one's out of the equation because obviously he fulfills all of this—but what individual in Scripture, old or new, really summarizes so very much being poor in spirit? No, I think there's a number of people I could have chosen, but I chose one in particular, and his name is Moses. Now, remember, Moses at one point in his life was a mighty general, commanding perhaps thousands of troops, leading them into battle.

He was a man who grew up in the palace with royalty. So here's a man who didn't have to be poor in spirit because he had the world—one of the greatest nations of the known world. He was right in the middle of things, and yet God worked with him. And I'm not going to turn to this Scripture. You might want to write this in your notes. Numbers chapter 12 and verse 3. Numbers 12 and verse 3. We believe this verse probably was introduced by Ezra. We don't think Moses wrote this, even though Moses wrote this section of the Scripture, but we think maybe Ezra made this as a parenthetical thought, as an entry. Numbers 12 and verse 3, where it says, Moses was very humble more than all the men who were on the face of the earth.

So Moses was a man who was poor in spirit. The Bible says so. Let's take a look at an example here in Exodus chapter 18. Exodus chapter 18.

We're going to start in Exodus 18.

You know, here Moses is leading millions of people out of Egypt. Once again, you know, he's the man everybody's looking to, and that can really go to a person's mind, go to their head, feed their vanity. But notice here an example of the spirit of being poor in spirit. Verse 13. And so it was the next day that Moses had to judge the people, and the people stood before Moses from morning till evening. He worked long, hard hours. People looked to him. So Moses' father-in-law saw all that he did for the people. He said, what is this thing that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit? Why do you alone sit? And all the people stand before you from morning to evening. And Moses said to his father-in-law, and notice to me this has always been, I've always thought of this as an epitome of somebody who truly is poor in spirit. Moses said to his father-in-law, when the father-in-law says, why are you doing this? Moses said, simply, because the people came to me to inquire of God. Because the people came to me to inquire of God. Now, there's an example of somebody who's poor in spirit, somebody who's humble. When they had a difficulty, they come to me, and I judge between one and another, and make known the statutes of God and his laws. So Moses' father-in-law said to him, the thing that you do is not good. Now, once again, what's your relationship with your father-in-law? You know, or a family member. You know, somebody says, hey, you know, you're really wrong in what you're doing. Does that kind of get the hackles up? Does that kind of get you a little upset? Not for Moses. Verse 18, both you and these people who are with you will surely wear yourselves out, for this thing is too much for you. You are not able to perform it by yourself. Listen now to my voice. I'll give you counsel, and God will be with you. Stand before God for the people that you may bring the difficulties to God, and you shall teach them the statutes and the laws, and show them the way which they must walk, and the work they must do. More we should select from all the people, able men such as fear, God, men of truth, avian covenants, play such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, rulers of tens, and let them judge the people at all times. Then it will be that every great man they'll bring to you, but every smaller man they themselves will judge. And so it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. And I can read more here at the end of the chapter, but basically Moses did exactly that. His father-in-law came to him. His father-in-law had a better way to build a mousetrap, and Moses, you know, you're right. Moses was, for all that he was in his life, for all of his great accomplishments, Moses, one of the greatest men who ever lived in the Scripture, was poor in spirit. Poor in spirit. So let us learn that beautiful attitude, and let us be poor in spirit. Okay, Matthew chapter 5. Let's go back there. Take a look at the next one.

I should put a marker here. Matthew chapter 5 verse 4.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. This is an attitude of conviction. An attitude of conviction. As verse 3 was an attitude of humility, this is an attitude of conviction. There's a principle here. The word mourning is the strongest possible word for mourning in Scripture. It's like the deep mourning and wailing that occurs over the death of a loved one. It is sorrow for our sins, a broken heart over our evil deeds, and a suffering produced as a consequence. When you tie this in—and these principles tie one upon another—when you tie this in with the beatitude in verse 3, it means that humility also requires sorrow for our sins. There's a conviction. We see what we did, how wrong it was, how awful the consequences will be for us and perhaps those around us. So we mourn. And that's a good thing. It's a good thing that we see our sins and hate our sins. If we don't hate them, we're not going to change. We're not going to repent of them. We're not going to leave them and forsake them and turn our back on them. So going through those four points again that we have with each of these beatitudes, the attitude is spiritual mourning, number one. Number two, the Old Testament root we're going to look at is Isaiah chapter 61, verse 1 and 2.

The worldly value that we overcome is hard-heartedness.

And how do we develop the spiritual mourning is found in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12. Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12. Let's go through all of that. Let's start with the idea of the Old Testament roots in Isaiah chapter 61. Let's go to Isaiah. Put a marker there, and Matthew will come back. We go to Isaiah chapter 61, verses 1 and 2.

Isaiah 61, verse 1, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn. Now, you might be familiar with that section of Scripture because it is quoted by Jesus Christ Himself in Luke chapter 4.

Let's take a look here in verse 1 again. It says, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me to preach good tidings to the poor. There's the concept here of those people who were enslaved. They were enslaved as a nation, but they certainly were enslaved to sin. And they need to be broken up about that and be weary of that. They are poor in that sense, because they have nothing. They are distressed. They are needy. They are brokenhearted. In other words, they're deeply afflicted by what has happened as a consequence of physical and spiritual consequences of what's happened physically and spiritual consequences of their sins. Phrase it that way. They're in captivity to Satan. They're in captivity to their own bad judgment. They're in captivity to the consequences of their sinful actions. Here in Luke 4, where there's a quote section, it says, they have come to proclaim liberty to the captives. Jesus Christ liberated us from sin in the sense that He has forgiven us of sin. We still have to fight sin and so forth, but we have the sacrifice of Jesus Christ whereby our sins are forgiven. In verse 2 at the end of verse 2, it says, and to comfort all who mourn. The comfort all who mourn. You know, this shows the need for Christ to come. Again, why He quoted this in Luke 4, to comfort those who are convicted of their sins. They're greatly brokenhearted. They realize they have fallen short of God's glory. And, brethren, hopefully, that speaks to you and I. But as you and I study the Word of God, we are so convicted that we are brokenhearted over what we've done. You know, you see some of that. I'm not going to turn there, but you see some of that over and see a lot of that over in Psalm 51, where David talks about, you know, his sins and how he's broken the law of God and the consequences and so forth.

Okay, so how do we develop this attitude of mourning, spiritual mourning? Let's go to Hebrews chapter 4. I can see this would be longer than two Bible studies. You know, I dearly love this new watch I've got. It's one of these kind of things. And I forgot to turn off the phone on this. I can answer phones with this, get weather reports. But if I don't have it on my wrist, it wants to always check back and kind of go where I've got to keep on typing in my little code. And so let me type my code back in here. I think I might have stopped bringing this thing. Sometimes technology is good when it works. 237 is what I've got up here. So okay, chapter 4. I know that was really interesting for you to listen to. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12. For the Word of God is living and powerful.

Living and powerful. It's not some book that was written thousands of years ago and has no relevance for today. It is a living book. The principles and contained in the scriptures are living. They're vital. They're eternal. The Word of God is living and powerful. It's not dead. They're not dead writings. They're powerful writings. Sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, to the joints of the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The thoughts and intents of the heart. God's Word helps us analyze ourselves. Are we really in spiritual mourning or not?

God's Word helps us to think through our needs, where we're at, where we go.

Let's turn over to James chapter 1.

James chapter 1.

Starting here in verse 22.

James chapter 1 verse 22. But be doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he's like a man observing of his natural face in a mirror. Of course, this mirror is the Word of God. We're looking into the Word of God. We see ourselves. The Word of God is doing what we saw there in Hebrews 4.12. We're observing our natural face in this spiritual mirror. He observes himself, verse 24, and goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. So if we look into the Scriptures, God is helping us to analyze ourselves in light of the Scriptures. And if we turn our back on what we're reading, well, that's not good news. But he looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it. Those of us who look into the Word of God, the law of God, and continue in it, and it's not a forgetful here, but a doer of the work, this will be blessed in what he does.

So we want to make sure we're taking a look into the Word of God and allowing the Word of God to show us the truth, to give us the principles of life, to help us give us the answers we need when we need those answers. Now, it does something else. The Word of God, let's look at Luke chapter 24.

Luke chapter 24. Here you've got a couple of fellows. I think it's two fellows on the road to Emmaus. Jesus Christ has been crucified. They are discouraged. They're downtrodden. They think, well, you know, it looks like these two fellows are some of the disciples, or at least they had probably attended a number of Christ's teachings, some of the sermons, and so forth. He's crucified. He's put in the tomb. They may not know all the story, but they are feeling pretty low here. They think, well, this great man, he's gone now. He's dead. They crucified him. But Jesus Christ meets with them on the road. Christ begins to talk with them, and then eventually they see Christ for who he is, and he vanishes. Verse 31. Then their eyes were opened, and they knew him, and he vanished from their sight. But now notice verse 32. And they said to one another, Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talketh us on the road, and while he opened the scriptures to us? As we open, as God helps open the scriptures to us, our hearts are convicted. Our hearts can burn within us. We can have this attitude of spiritual mourning.

Just as Jesus Christ helped them, Jesus Christ will help you. Your heart can be convicted, and you can mourn, and you can become more at one with the great God.

Which person in the scripture—again, we're leaving Christ out of the scene because he does all this. We understand that. But what's a regular human being—put it that way—shows an attitude of spiritual mourning. Again, there's more than one. But which one would you choose? If you were giving this message, who would you choose as an attitude of tremendous spiritual mourning? Somebody who saw sin, was deeply moved about it, and then did something about it.

I chose the king, Josiah. Let's take a look at 2 Chronicles chapter 34. And this is probably the last thing we'll look at today.

2 Chronicles 34. Boy, at this rate, I'll be doing the sermon for the rest of the year. Of course, we're in in December, so that doesn't mean too much.

2 Chronicles 34.

Now, remember, Josiah came to the throne when he was eight years old. He was a very young man when he came to the throne. Thankfully, for Josiah's sake, those people who were working with him and counseling him and directing him must have been people who were close to the true God. And so he was blessed along those lines. Okay, 2 Chronicles 34. Starting here in verse 3.

For in the eighth year of his reign, okay, he's 16 years old. He's a teenager. In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father, David. And in the twelfth year, he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places. So he was 20 years old. So from age 16 to 20, he's learning. He's applying himself. He's a young person, but he wants to do the right thing.

Purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, the molded images. They broke down the altars of the bales and his presence, and the incense altars, which were above them he cut down. The wooden images, the carved images, the molded images, he broke in pieces. Not that he did this all by himself, but that they were doing this in his name. He wanted this to be done. And the dust of them had scattered down the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. He's making a point here. He also burned the bones of the priests on their altars and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. So he did it in the cities of Manasseh and Ephraim and Simeon, as far as Naphtali and all around with axes. When they had broken down the altars of the wooden images and beaten the carved images and the powder, cut down all the incense altars throughout the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. He did the job. He didn't spare. He didn't do it halfway. He's a young man who is in spiritual mourning because he saw the sin of the nation.

We drop down to verse 18. Same chapter. He wants the temple to be restored, and something is found. Verse 18. Then Saphan, the scribe, told the king, saying, Kel-Kiah, the priest, has given me a book. And Saphan read it before the king. Thus it happened when the king heard the words of the law that he tore his clothes. Verse 21. Verse 21. What did he say? He was striving for the best of his ability. But there were still some things that he was not doing that he should have been doing, and that forced the nation so much so. So God sees all of this. Notice what God says there starting here in verse 26.

The King had a beautiful attitude of spiritual mourning. God saw that. God loved that. God was moved by that. Verse 28.

Then the king sent and gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. And the king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah and all the heavenness of Jerusalem. And the priests and the Levites and all the people, great and small, and he read in their hearing all the words of the book of the covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord. So again, here's a man who doesn't just go part of the way. He is all in, all in. And then the king stood in this place and made a covenant before the Lord to follow the Lord and keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all His heart and all His soul to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book. And he made all who were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin take a stand so the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God and the God of their fathers. Thus Josiah removed all the abominations from all the country that belonged to the children of Israel and made all who were present in Israel diligently serve the Lord their God all the days that they did not depart from following the Lord God of their fathers.

Now, Josiah had some issues. You know, when you study his life, there were some other issues, but right here you see a man. And of course, he was a tremendous man of God, but he was a human being who had his own issues. But here we see the attitude of spiritual mourning. And we have to ask ourselves, brethren, as you and I take a look at ourselves, how are we doing with all of this? How are we doing with all of this? Hopefully we think that we're, you know, not doing too badly with it all. Oh, one more. I'll take you over this a little bit. Matthew 5-5.

Matthew 5-5. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the meek. The attitude here is the attitude of being teachable. The attitude of being teachable. The word translated meek here occurs only three other times in the New Testament. In all three other places, it's translated gentle. The meaning conveys humility and trust in God, rather than having self-centered attitudes.

The Christian is humble before God. He knows his need for God and God's hand upon his life. The Christian is humble before men. Not always he's humble before God. He's humble before men. He knows he's not the all-in-all. He knows he's not the epitome of mankind. He's not the sum of all knowledge among men or the sum of all talents. He realizes he's just an individual. The four items here that we discuss, the beautiful attitude is one of teachability, one of meekness. Number two, the Old Testament root. We're going to find in Psalm 37. The worldly value overcome is arrogance.

How to develop the attitude of meekness is found in Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 through 40.

So let's take a look at the Old Testament root here. Let's go to Psalm 37.

Psalm 37 verse 5.

Psalm 37 verse 5. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. Commit your way to the Lord. Trust in him. Allow yourself to be taught by him. Now there's an interesting comment, and I'm going to quote here Jameson, Fawcett, and Brown. Regarding the word commit in verse 5 here, Psalm 37. Psalm 37 verse 5, the word commit. I'm quoting now from Jameson, Fawcett, and Brown. And just being a concept here.

The Hebrew word is goel, G-O-W-L.

The image, and again I'm quoting from Jameson, Fawcett, and Brown. The image is one rolling off from his shoulders, his own shoulders, a burden which he is not able to bear. Upon the shoulders of another, who is able to bear? Interesting word picture there. Now as opposed to having something on our shoulders, we let that roll off our shoulders onto God's shoulders, onto Christ's shoulders. In your notes, you might want to jot down 1 Peter chapter 5 in verse 7, where it says, cast all your care upon the Lord, for he cares for you. Or as I like to quote from the Phillips translation, cast all your care upon him because you are his personal concern. You are his personal concern. You might also jot down Psalm 55 verse 22, where it talks about getting all your burdens to the Lord. So this is all in essence of teachability. We've got to trust God, look to God, be taught by him.

Now let's take a look at how we develop this over in Matthew chapter 11.

Matthew chapter 11, very end of the chapter.

Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 through 30. Again in my Bible, all read lettering.

Matthew chapter 11 verse 28.

Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily laden, and I will give you rest.

Come to me, Christ says. Those of you who are weary, those of you who think you're weary, those of you who are weary, those of you who think you can't take another step, you're burdened, you're exhausted, you're desperate, you're extremely tired, you're weighed down. Come to me, you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. So Christ is basically saying here, there's something I want to tell you, there's something I want to teach you. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. Teachability, learn from me. Fry them gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

You know, yoke was an instrument. People back in the, you know, people who do farming and so forth, they know what a yoke is. You know, you put that device on an animal, oxen or something, and it makes it easier for them to pull a load. Well, a load, Christ says, my load is an easy load. Comparatively to what you're, the load you've got from the world, the load I have is an easy load. But you've got to learn that by coming to me.

The load can, you know, if the yoke is not properly put on and used properly, it can really help hurt the animal. And here it says, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you'll find rest. So Christ is, when the yoke, Christ puts them on us, is not going to tear us up.

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

So Christ is going to teach us a much better way that we've got to be willing to learn. Christ is me, he's lowly. His burden is light. The word easy, in verse 30, means well-fitted. Christ's yoke is well-fitted to you as an individual. It's well-fitted to me as an individual. We're not just some cog in some machine. He looks after us in a very meaningful way as an individual.

Now, who would you have used as an example in Scripture, and this one is a New Testament example that I've chosen, as an example of somebody who is teachable. Who would you think? Who would you use? You know, there are probably many answers to that question. Just because I give you mine doesn't mean I've got the only one. But I chose Apollos. Let's go look at Acts 18. Acts 18.

Acts 18. Verse 24.

Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born in Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in his Scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man had a lot he could be proud about. He had a lot he could be vain about. You know, he's eloquent. He's mighty in the Scriptures. He's a learned man. Today, a person like that probably would have the letters PhD after his name. This man may have been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. So he was a man who had great instruction, was mighty in the Scriptures, but his knowledge was limited. He had limited knowledge. What he did know, he knew well. He was able to teach effectively, but he had limited knowledge. Verse 26, so he began to speak boldly in a synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained him the way of God more accurately.

Now here's a fellow who's teachable.

I've known plenty of people over the years, and you probably have too, who've not been very teachable. I would have to say I've known a number of men over the years who would never want to be taught by any woman. And you're agreeing with that statement. You've seen that happen. How could any woman teach any man anything? And yet, Apollos was one who simply wanted to know the way of God more accurately. He didn't care if it was Priscilla or Aquila. You know, if God would have a donkey talk to him, he would be willing to listen if it taught him the word of God properly. So here's a man who's willing to learn, willing to be taught. Verse 27, and when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren rode exhorting the disciples to receive him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. He greatly helped because he had been taught. He knew better. He knew more. He was willing to listen to a man and his wife. And because he was able to want to listen, he listened. He was able to help even more, and people believed through grace. For he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. See, he had not been able to do that, prior as well, because he knew only of the baptism of John. There were a lot of things, a lot of the details he probably wasn't exposed to the way he could have been. And now he's able to teach even better. One last example here from his life is found over here in 1 Corinthians chapter 3. This will be the last Scripture. I'm not taking over too much today. 1 Corinthians chapter 3.

The great Apostle Paul, speaking about Apollos, knows what he says about Apollos. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 6. I planted Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

Paul said, I was there first. I planted the seed. I began to speak to the people. I began to teach the people. Then Apollos came. He did even more because he was teachable, because he learned, and because of what was going on, because of the planting and the watering, God was able to give the increase as a result of somebody who had a proper attitude. So, brethren, today we've taken a look at three of the eight of the B attitudes. This is the high bar of Christian living. We've taken our time to take a look at what the attitude was, its roots in the Old Testament, what it overcomes, and how we develop this for our betterment, for our walking with God in a more precise way. Next time I'm here, and I don't know when that's going to be, we'll keep our journey going on the beat.