The Beatitudes

Intro

Blessed - blessed, happy, fortunate

“Makarios then describes that joy which has its secret within itself, that joy which is serene and untouchable, and self-contained, that joy which is completely independent of all the chances and changes of life.” (Barclay)

Sermon On The Mount

Jesus is laying out the blueprint of the Kingdom of Heaven

Jesus started His ministry preaching “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Well, what exactly is that ‘kingdom of heaven’?

The Sermon on the Mount spells out what that kingdom consists of and what is required for those who want to be a part

Begins with how to be blessed

Blessing is God’s design for us

Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””

Matthew 5:2–12 ESV

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Notice the language is ‘blessed are’, there is certainly future blessing to be had but also an immediate blessing

Character

Being blessed, or happy, is something we are continually seeking. As we covered, we were designed for blessing. The issue is this sinful nature in us tells us the blessed life is different than what Jesus said.

Poor in spirit

Realize the helpless state we are in

When we realize we are in need of saving it moves us to mourning

Mourn

We weep for our circumstance

We weep for the circumstance of the world

As we weep we enter a state of humility

Meek

I am nothing and have nothing

All I have belongs to God

When a child realizes they sleep in peace because you are the one in charge, it opens up a whole new appreciation for what they have and a willingness from the parent to give even more

When we realize everything comes from God, and how good He is, we want even more of Him

Hunger and thirst for righteousness

Seeking after the righteousness of God to our fullest capability

When we satisfied in God’s righteousness we understand how much mercy He has given to us

Merciful

The mercy which we desire to be treated with

A life of mercy leads to a life of purity

Pure in heart

To understand we are poor, brings us to a place of mourning, which instills humility in us, and creates a hunger for the righteousness of God, with the mercy He has shown us we are merciful to others, and seek a pure heart

To earnestly delight in God’s laws

When we are living in such a state, we are makers of peace

Peacemakers

Peace with God is the highest peace

To love God with all our heart, soul, and strength ushers in the peace of God and gives us a wisdom of the Holy Spirit to live in peace with others and help them be at peace with God

If we are ordering our lives in such a way, so countercultural, the world will notice and feel convicted

Persecuted for righteousness’ sake

Persecuted because of righteousness, true righteousness, not persecuted because you’re a jerk

There’s an important and significant difference

So greatly will our life stand out that Jesus mentions being persecuted twice

Reviled and persecuted because of Jesus

Persecuted twice!

Catch this, Jesus is declaring His Lordship

There is a different reaction from the world when the name of Jesus is mentioned

Acts 5:41 “Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”

Never shall we be ashamed of the name of Jesus

Every Beatitude requires something of us we don’t want to give, these two are no different, we don’t want to be persecuted and it requires humility and courage in the presence of God

Thus concludes the characters we need and experiences from living according to the Lordship of Jesus Christ

Rewards

The Kingdom of heaven

Comforted

Inherit the earth

Satisfaction

Receive mercy

See God

Called sons of God

The Kingdom of heaven

Great heavenly reward

Are You In?

What will your response be?

The path is difficult but the rewards are immense

What a display of salesmanship. “Who wants to be poor in spirit, mournful, persecuted unjustly? Have I got a deal for you!”

Those rewards though!

Is it okay to follow God for the rewards? Yes, but you have to do it right.

One reason Israel was chosen was for their stubbornness to get the rewards, Jacob wouldn’t let go until He was blessed.

There’s no shortcut and there is no backing off to make it more palatable.

If you are unwilling then you are missing it and will continue to miss it

Not everyone is willing

Either your heart yearns for it or it doesn’t

If your heart is yearning for it then let us pursue God with all we have

How now shall we live?

An acknowledgement of who we are

An acknowledgement of who God is

An acknowledgement of other people’s value to God

An acknowledgement of the final judgment

Where are you today? Do you think are doing well enough in all these aspects? Then you missed it. What sticks out to you? Where is God tugging on your heart? One of the great things we see from the Beatitudes is that God is always eager to bless and continues to poor His mercy upon us. Let us, with all humility, approach the throne of grace.