A Life of Blessing-Luke 6:20-49

Many have said it is "the greatest sermon ever spoken"... It has lines like:

"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh."

"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you."

"Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?"

"Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."

"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you."

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye?"

"No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit."

"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks."

And..then it concludes with a marvelous parable that we "church" people having been singing a simple song about since early Sunday school..a wise man and a foolish man...a house built on the rock and a house built on sand. It is Jesus speaking the Word and heart of God most excellent!

Modern day scholars disagree over if the Luke version is the same event as the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. My take...it has some of the same sayings...and I often say the "good things" from God are worth repeating.

Two Questions we can draw from this passage:

1. How many want true happiness and a blessed life?
2. How many would say you that you are GODLY?

Jesus had just picked the twelve disciples-all different, needing teaching. To most Jewish people, the word blessing evoked images of a long life; wealth; a large, healthy family; a full barn; and defeated enemies. With the coming of Jesus, Israel’s childhood period ended, and the people had to mature in their understanding of God’s ways (Galatians. 4:1–6).

The Lord explained in this sermon that the truly blessed life comes not from GETTING, or from DOING, but from BEING. The emphasis is on GODLIKE CHARACTER.

Jesus' lesson applies to life today and describes the kind of godly character we should have as believers in this world. Ask yourself: Do people around me SEE me as GODLY?

What Jesus did was to focus on ATTITUDES: our attitude towards:
1. Circumstances (Luke 6:20–26),
2. People(Luke 6:27–38),
3. Ourselves (Luke 6:39–45),
4. God (Luke 6:46–49).

He emphasized four essentials for true happiness: FAITH in God, LOVE toward others, HONESTY with ourselves, & OBEDIENCE toward God.

1. CIRCUMSTANCES (vv.20-26)-Life was hard…They discovered that what they needed most was not a change in circumstances but a change in their relationship to God and in their outlook on life.

The four “woes” all share a common truth: you take what you want from life and you pay for it. If you want immediate wealth, fullness, laughter, and popularity, you can get it, but there is a price to pay: that is all you will get.

Jesus did not say that these things were wrong. He said that being satisfied with them is its own judgment.Life is built on CHARACTER, and character is built on DECISIONS. But, decisions are based on VALUES, and values must be accepted by FAITH.

2. PEOPLE (vv. 27–38). Jesus assumed that anybody who lived for eternal values would get into trouble with the world’s crowd. Christians are the “salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:13–16), and sometimes the salt stings and the light exposes sin.

How should we treat our enemies? We must love them, do them good, and pray for them. Hatred only breeds more hatred, “for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires” (James 1:20 NIV). This cannot be done in our own strength, but it can be done through the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5; Gal. 5:22–23).

Two Principles Stand Out:
1) WE must treat others as we would want to be treated (Luke 6:31), which assumes we want the very best spiritually for ourselves;

2) WE must imitate our Father in heaven and be merciful (Luke 6:36).

Luke 6:37–38 reminds us that we REAP what we SOW and in the AMOUNT that we SOW.
If we judge others, we will ourselves be judged. If we forgive, we shall be forgiven, but if we condemn, we shall be condemned (see Matt. 18:21–35).

One of the hardest part of our Christian walk is FORGIVENESS. I challenge you..ask yourself-"Have I forgiven everyone who has ever hurt me?"

If the answer is NO...you need to make it right..if you shy away from certain people, if you wish ill to others, or rejoice in their misfortune...you have UNFORGIVENESS in your heart. Be careful...Notice in the Lord's prayer, we are "TO FORGIVE"...as WE "HAVE FORGIVEN"..get it..past tense..done deal, no carrying it around.

3. SELF (vv. 39–45). The four striking figures in this section teach us some important lessons about ministry. To begin with, as His disciples, we must be sure that we see clearly enough to guide others in their spiritual walk. While there are blind people who have a keen sense of direction, it is not likely any of them will be hired as airplane pilots or wilderness guides.

Luke 6:40 (plank and speck) reminds us that we cannot lead others where we have not been ourselves, nor can we be all that our Master is. In fact, the more we strive to be like Him, the more we realize how far short we fall. This is a warning against pride, for nothing blinds a person like pride.

Continuing the image of “the eye,” Jesus taught that we must be able to see clearly enough to help our brother see better. It certainly is not wrong to help a brother get a painful speck of dirt out of his eye, provided we can see what we are doing.

The emphasis here is on being honest with ourselves and not becoming hypocrites. It is easy to try to help a brother with his faults just so we can cover up our own sins! People who are constantly criticizing others are usually guilty of something worse in their own lives.

The illustration of the tree reminds us that fruit is always true to character. An apple tree produces apples, not oranges, and a good person produces good fruit, not evil. Believers do sin, but the witness of their words and works is consistently good to the glory of God.

The last image, the treasury, teaches us that what comes out of the lips depends on what is inside the heart. The human heart is like a treasury, and what we speak reveals what is there. We must be honest with ourselves and admit the blind spots in our lives, the obstacles that blur our vision, and the areas within that must be corrected. Then we can be used of the Lord to minister to others and not lead them astray.

4. GOD (vv. 46–49). Our Lord’s emphasis here is on obedience. It is not enough merely to hear His Word and call Him “Lord.” We must also OBEY what He commands us to do.

All of us are builders, and we must be careful to build wisely. To “build on the rock” simply means to obey what God commands in His Word. To “build on the sand” means to give Christ lip service, but not obey His will. It may look as if we are building a strong house, but if it has no foundation, it cannot last.

The storm here is not the last judgment but the tests of life that come to every professing Christian. Not everybody who professes to know the Lord has had a real experience of salvation. They may have been active in church and other religious organizations, but if they are not saved by faith, they have no foundation to their lives.

If Christ is in our hearts, then our mouths must confess Him to others (Rom. 10:9–10). If we are “rooted and built up in him” (Col. 2:7), then our fruits will be good and our house will withstand the storms.

This is the “new blessing” that Jesus offered His nation and that He offers us today. We can experience the “heavenly happiness” and true blessedness that only He can give.

ARE YOU LIVING A LIFE OF BLESSING?