Sermon on the Mount – Beatitudes (3) — Matthew 5:8-12
Today we continue our Sermon on the Mount series by discussing the last three of the eight Beatitudes.
Today we continue our Sermon on the Mount series by discussing the last three of the eight Beatitudes.
When we talk about Moses, we immediately think of a great spiritual leader, a man who stood by the Red Sea holding up his staff and parted the waters, a man who stood before God 40 days, a man who spoke to God face to face and whose face became radiant from his meeting with God. Moses was indeed a great man. But at the end of the first 40 years of his life, he was but a murderer, a fugitive pursued by Pharaoh who escaped into the wilderness. At the end of his 2nd 40 years, Moses was but a shepherd in the wilderness. He was an old man waiting for his time. He said, “The length of our days is seventy years or eighty, if we have the strength.” He was still strong at 80, but he was an old man waiting for his end; nobody thought that by the end of his 3rd 40 years, Moses would become the hero of 2 million Israelites. What happened during Moses’ 3rd 40 years, what happened to this old man in his last 40 years?
The name `Dad’ is most endearing and precious yet it is also laden with much pressure. Endearing because when you hear people call you Dad, you feel a certain sweetness. To be able to be a father is a blessing, because children are a heritage from the Lord. On the other hand, we feel pressure because heavy are the responsibilities of a father, not only do they have to provide for the physical and material needs of the children, they also play an important role in their children’s growth. This message does not seek to add to a father’s guilt feelings, but to help them become better fathers.
We continue our Sermon on the Mount series by discussing the third, fourth, and fifth Beatitudes.