Imagine you are asked to be on the panel to appoint a pastor for the church, you are asked initially to write a job specification. What types of things would you be looking for? What would be desirable what would be necessary?

In the beatitudes Jesus is teaching the disciples the characteristics of those who are in the kingdom. It’s not the marks of the keenies but of every citizen of the kingdom. We saw last week that they come to God knowing they contribute nothing to their salvation but recognising their need of grace.

We’re going to see three more characteristics of the disciple, three more marks of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven.

1. A right perspective on Sin
"Blessed are those who mourn" You couldn’t get a more confusing statement could you; in fact its ridiculous isn’t it! It’s not what we say at the grave side or wake to mourning relatives is it- oh aren’t you blessed. So what does Jesus mean? What is it that those who enjoy God’s favour mourn?

We said last week that each beatitude had Old Testament roots, so turn back to Isaiah 61 again. We read of the Messiah whose coming brings restoration and comfort for those who mourn(2) And what are they mourning? It’s not the death of a family member but all the effects of sin on the world around them; the exile, loss of the kingdom, destruction of Jerusalem and so on.

It’s helpful as we think about mourning to consider what Jesus mourned as he is approved of by God.

Turn to John 11:35 Why is Jesus weeping? Because Lazarus has died, why has Lazarus died? Because of sin.

Luke 19:41-44 What is Jesus mourning over? Jerusalem, its future destruction and refusal to recognise him as the Messiah.

Hebrews 5:7 - Here Jesus is pictured as the great High Priest who intercedes with God and he is shedding tears over sin.

Jesus mourns over sin and its effects on the world and its destruction of our relationship with God. It’s helpful to see that, but there is a sense of mourning which the disciple has which Jesus never has and that is mourning over their own sin.

The disciple is poor in spirit, they recognise that there is nothing they can contribute to their salvation and they recognise their sinfulness, their failure to please God, their rebellion against him, their determination to live life their own way.

Do I mourn my own sin? We are saved by grace, at the cross Christ pays for our past, present and future sins but the disciple doesn’t take sin lightly, it troubles them. Do I mourn over my own sin? Do I feel it when I fail?

Do I mourn over the effects of sin on those around me? This week in Epworth a man has taken his own life - do I mourn that? All the media attention on paedophilia on Friday do I weep that I live a world so sick? Do I mourn for the effects it has on those around me who are heading for a lost eternity?

The citizens of the kingdom mourn sin. And they will be comforted, both now and finally in the future. Now we know the comfort of confessing our sins and Christ’s atoning once for all sacrifice for them. But we will still continue to experience sorrow for our sins, and we will long for the day when sin and all its effects are done away with forever.

2. A Focus on Edification not Self Justification
What comes to mind when I say the word meek? Bible words have Bible meanings. It isn’t about being timid, indecisive, or laid back, it isn’t about being a doormat and it is not unmanly.

So what is meekness? In Zephaniah 3:12 the prophet declares God’s word that Judah will be taken into exile "But I will leave within you the meek and humble. The remnant of Israel will trust in the name of the LORD." The meek are those who trust in the Lord, who entrust themselves to God.

Psalm 37 promises hope for those who wait for God v11 "The meek will inherit the earth." Later at the exile that happens, as the wealthy and significant are carried off to Babylon the poor and lowly, the meek are left, and inherit the land.

So what does this mean for us? The meek person is the one who depends on God, who entrusts themselves to God. They don’t need to justify themselves they have a right view of themselves - they are sinners reliant on the grace of God - but that knowledge liberates them to build up others.

They can rely on God for their future and he will see that they will inherit the earth. When Christ comes again in the new heaven and the new earth it is the meek the citizens of the kingdom of heaven who will share in the inheritance. The disciple is meek now because it is God’s approval they seek, it is God who will exalt them therefore they do not need to justify themselves.

It is an attitude of mind that we see supremely in Christ in Philippians 2:5-11.

Is it an attitude that I share? The citizen of the kingdom is meek - they entrust themselves to God and it liberates them to edify others rather than justify themselves.

It runs counter to the spirit we see around us which is grab what you can, look after yourself, you deserve your rights so insist on them. By contrast the meek entrusts their way, their rights, their cause, their future to God especially when suffering unjustly.

3. A Growing Longing for Righteousness
What is it that Christians long for today? What do Christians pray for? Experience, a spiritual high, gifting...

What is it Jesus says those God approves of, or favours, will long for? "righteousness"

That longing for salvation, for righteousness is something expressed again and again in the Psalms: 42:2 "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God."

Psalm 107 remembers the salvation and rescue that God has provided for his people, his unfailing love and v9 "[God] satisfies the thirsty, and fills the hungry with good things."

In Isaiah 55:1 God through the prophet invites those who are thirsty to come to him to be satisfied, to find their fulfilment in relationship with him and the blessing it results in.

For God’s people a desire for righteousness, for a relationship with God is normal.

But what is righteousness? There are three parts to it, it is legal - being made right with God, it is moral - living in a way that pleases God, and it is social - wanting and working to see God’s kingdom come and contending now for freedom and justice.

The promise of this verse for those who hunger and thirst after it is that they will be satisfied. It is again a satisfaction that will only be fully experienced when the kingdom comes, when Jesus comes again and is established in the new heavens and new earth then our longing for righteousness will be totally satisfied.

But for now we will live with a curious mix of dissatisfaction and satisfaction, hunger and thirsting and filling. So we will know that in Christ we are made righteous, our desire for it is satisfied and yet we still mourn over our sin. We will know that we are given a perfect record with God in Christ and we experience comfort yet also his work by his word and the Spirit reveals our sinful character challenging us to become more holy, to make us think his thoughts. We will work to see his kingdom grow but will experience frustration. But we will have that growing appetite to be righteous.

Do I have that appetite? Are we hungering and thirsting after God, because it is a mark of a growing disciple?

Citizens of the kingdom of heaven know that they cannot save themselves, they mourn their sin, they have a right view of themselves and they long to be more holy. And God in Christ makes them part of his kingdom and promises them comfort, an inheritance and satisfaction all won for us at the cross, tasted now but to be fully realised in eternity.

Lighthouse