Blessed Are These (Matthew 5:1-10)

Matthew  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  38:36
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Introduction

When you think of the word blessed, what comes to mind? Are you blessed because of the provisions you have? Your family? Your job? Are you blessed because you have the perfect instagram worthy picture, including a cup of coffee and your Bible neatly opened and laid out, #Blessed?
These are the ways that the world generally thinks of being blessed. But what happens if they are all stripped away? What happens if they are stripped away because of your following a King that the world does not approve of?
As we continue with our study of the gospel of Matthew, we are going to see that Jesus tells his disciples that he has not come to bring peace, but a sword. That families will be divided because of him. That the world which hates Jesus will hate his disciples as well.
Therefore as we think of what it means to be blessed, we need something radically different than what the world calls blessed. We need something that is not here and then gone. We need something more deeply rooted and more firm for our blessedness. And that is what we come to this morning as we turn our attention to Matthew 5:1-10 and the beatitudes. Blessedness that is far greater than the temporary!
So I invite you this morning to take your copy of the Bible and open with me to Matthew 5:1. If you are using one of the Red Pew Bibles in front of you, you can find our passage on page #962.
Now maybe you are unfamiliar with the Bible and when I say Matthew 5:1, you have no clue what I mean by that. The first number is what we call the chapter number. It is the big 5 there on the page. The 1 is what is called the verse number, it is the smaller number there on the page. These references are not original to the Bible, but for our benefit in finding where we are as we make reference to the Bible.
As you continue to find Matthew 5:1 this morning, let me note that this morning we shift gears in our study in Matthew. In the first four chapters, Matthew writes in a historical narrative genre, informing us about who this Jesus is and where he came from and the purpose of his coming, to save people from their sins.
To fulfill this mission, Jesus has been fulfilling all that was promised about the coming Messiah. He has come as a new and better Adam, a new and better Moses, a new and better Israel. He has come to bring about a second exodus, this time from the bondage of sin. And he is fulfilling all righteousness as the beloved Son of God.
But now, following his call of his first disciples and a growing fan club from his healings, we shift from this historical narrative genre to a discourse, that is a teaching format in the writing.
There are more pointed and instructive commands given describing what it means for those who would truly follow Jesus. Particularly, who it is who inherits the kingdom of heaven. For the beatitudes begin and end with this description, theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Let us then now stand for the reading of God’s word from Matthew 5:1-10. Please follow along in your Bible as I read aloud…
Here is what I understand the main idea of Matthew 5:1-10 to be: True followers of Jesus are strengthened not by earthly blessings, but being blessed in the hope that awaits them in the coming of the kingdom of heaven.
We are going to unfold this in three points: (1) The Ascent, (2) The Beatitudes and (3) the Hope.

Point #1: The Ascent

As we ended last week at the end of Matthew 4. We read this there in Matthew 4:23–25 “23 And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. 24 So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.”
But now, there comes a transition. Matthew 5:1-2…
Jesus moves away from the great crowds that are now following him from the fame of his healings. And he departs, going up the mountain. A certain allusion to Moses’ ascent up Mount Sinai.
But where Moses would sit and listen to God give the instructions for his people, Jesus would sit and open his mouth to teach his disciples, instructing them. For while Jesus is like Moses, he is the better Moses. For he is the one who is both fully man and fully God and he is the giver of the law and its implications for his people.
In his ascent up the mountain, Jesus makes it plain that he desires to be alone with his disciples to teach them about the ways of the kingdom, to equip them. He does not want the following fanfare to distract from this mission.
Church, we must not get distracted from the fanfare either. We must not give way to entertain crowds while neglecting the making of disciples. This is the mission, to make disciples teaching them all that Christ commanded so that they may go and do likewise.

Point #2: The Beatitudes

Eight beatitudes are given here in Matthew 5:3-10. They are given to turn our eyes away from happiness and blessedness in the flesh and turn it to a happiness and blessedness in taking up our cross and following Jesus. They are to reshape our minds and hearts with where our hope and joy comes from.
To aide in this, we will work our way through each of these 8 beatitudes, explaining them in this second point before coming to the hope we have in them in the third point.
Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
To be poor in spirit is to recognize one is spiritually poor, having nothing to offer to a holy God whose rule is coming in the drawing near of the kingdom of heaven.
To be poor in spirit is then to recognize our sin. Romans 3:23 says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”.
Therefore to be poor in spirit is to acknowledge our poverty of being short of God’s glory and unable to pay or work our way back up. The poor in spirit recognize their spiritual poverty before a Holy God.
The second beatitude comes in verse 4. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
This mourning builds off being poor in spirit, because to be poor in spirit recognizes our spiritual poverty because of sin, these who mourn are mourning over the consequences, guilt, and effects of sin.
Daniel Doriani in his Expository Commentary writes,

This mourning is not connected to loss (of wealth or position) or mere shame (over misdeeds). Disciples mourn sin: their own sin; the sinfulness of friends, of family, of the church; social sins such as oppression of the weak; spiritual sins such as unbelief and ingratitude.

Sin has affected all of creation. It has brought about strife and division in our relationships with others. It has brought about disease and death. Sin is the cause of every injustice and evil in the world in which we live. And therefore blessed are those who mourn that sin and its effects.
Matthew 5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
What is meekness? Listen to John Calvin’s helpful definition:

By the meek he means persons of mild and gentle dispositions, who are not easily provoked by injuries, who are not ready to take offence, but are prepared to endure anything rather than do the like actions to wicked men.

The meek are not weak, they are the strong who resist giving way to sin in conflict. They are those who like Jesus are unafraid to confront sin, to speak truth, but they do so in a manner of gentleness, love, and compassion. Blessed are the meek who point people to Jesus with such gentleness.
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Those poor in spirit and who mourn their sin now hunger and thirst for righteousness. Not a righteousness to be produced within, but a righteousness that comes from the one who is the bread of life and the living water. A righteousness that is found in Christ and Christ alone!
Consider the righteousness that Christ later calls for in this sermon:
Matthew 5:20 “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:48 “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Jesus calls his disciples to this kind of perfect righteousness, a righteousness that we should eagerly hunger and thirst to come.
Blessed are those who long for such righteousness to be formed in them and to see such righteousness come about in the world.
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
To be merciful is not a one time act of mercy, it is a posture of mercy. A posture of showing mercy to those least deserving of it. To show mercy to those in need. For it is in realizing our own state and great need of mercy that we as true disciples of Jesus are to show mercy towards others.
Our mercy towards others does not flow from ourself, but the mercy we have tasted in Christ. A lack of mercy will prove that we have yet to taste God’s mercy to us in Christ. Let the hearer hear and understand this warning.
Blessed are the merciful, this is the fifth beatitude.
Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
A pure heart is of importance if one is to ascend the hill of the LORD. Psalm 24:3–4 “Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.”
But here in lies the problem. We have already seen that there is none who are pure in heart. So then none are able to ascend the hill of the LORD. Not without aide, the aide of Christ!
Charles Spurgeon here notes,
The Gospel of the Kingdom: A Commentary on the Book of Matthew Chapter 5:1–16: The King Promulgates the Laws of His Kingdom

There are no pure hearts on earth unless the Lord has made them so, and none shall see God in heaven who have not been purified by grace while here below. Lord, create in me a clean heart, that I may behold thee, both now and for ever!

Therefore we who are true disciples of Jesus must be given to prayer, asking that the LORD would give us a pure heart, a heart that is not given to double-mindedness and evil! A heart that runs from sin.
Yet there is one more thing regarding those pure in heart. J.C. Ryle adds,
Expository Thoughts on Matthew Matthew 5:1–12: The Beatitudes

He means those who do not aim merely at outward correctness, but at inward holiness. They are not satisfied with a mere external show of religion. They strive to keep a heart and conscience void of offence, and to serve God with the spirit and the inner man.

May the LORD grant to us pure hearts, Christian, that we may serve him wholeheartedly.
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
The blessed are those who labor to bring peace and to make peace in every possible matter.
John Calvin notes,

By peace-makers he means those who not only seek peace and avoid quarrels, as far as lies in their power, but who also labour to settle differences among others, who advise all men to live at peace, and take away every occasion of hatred and strife.

These peacemakers are blessed! True disciples of Jesus are to labor to make peace as best as they can.
Romans 12:18 “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
For it is by peacemakers that the kingdom of righteousness is sown.
James 3:18 “18 And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
Blessed are the peacemakers who sow peace and make peace as they go. This is the seventh beatitude.
Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
To be persecuted for righteousness sake as we identify with Jesus, though painful in the moment is a blessed thing. To be counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ is to identify with the Messiah in his own sufferings.
But, let it be made clear, there are those who will call what they face persecution, but it will not be because they have identified with Christ, it will be because they act like jerks while proclaiming to be Christian.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. Blessed are those who are persecuted because they live and proclaim a kingdom of righteousness that points to the Righteous King, King Jesus!
Those who are persecuted because they boast of their own efforts and elevate themselves over others are not done so for righteousness sake, they oppose the call to meekness and a poor spirit. They are not blessed. It is those who stand with the King and respond in the manners that he did!
Friends, it is with these eight beatitudes, the LORD Jesus declares that it is these who are truly blessed. They flip the world in which we live upside down, they overturn how the world thinks of being blessed.
But it is only in grasping these beatitudes, this true blessedness that we will be able to joyfully take up our crosses and follow Jesus.
For in following Jesus we will be stripped of various things of this world, from relationships, to lies made about us, and persecution. But with our blessedness grounded in these, we can endure with hope, hope set on what is ours in the kingdom of heaven!

Point #3: The Hope

Matthew 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
The poor in spirit who we considered earlier, they are blessed in recognizing their own poverty and turning to trust in Jesus!
For truly we were poor, but now we are made rich in the good news of the gospel!
Consider these words from Isaiah 61:1 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;”
Jesus has come and declared the good news to us, that in our poverty, a way has been made! In hearing this news, in accepting it as true, by placing our faith in Jesus and Jesus alone for salvation, we are made rich in Christ! We move from being captives to being blessed! Blessed that the kingdom of heaven is ours! Thanks be to God!
But friend, if you are not yet a Christian, I pray that you see your own poverty this morning. Your own spiritual poverty and will hear that the kingdom of heaven can be yours too if you will but acknowledge your need and come to Jesus!
Jesus is calling, he is saying:
Come ye sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore; Jesus ready stands to save you, full of pity, love and power.
Come to Jesus and believe! Join those who stand in Christ and who the kingdom of heaven belongs! What hope we have in Jesus!
Matthew 5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Those who mourn their sin, those who mourn the sin present and its effects on the world! Though we presently and continue to mourn, we will be comforted in our waiting by the comforter, Jesus himself as we wait! But there is coming a day in which we will be comforted once and for all! Because there is coming a day in which every tear will be wiped away!
Revelation 21:4 “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.””
This is the hope we have! The LORD Jesus will see to it that it comes to pass!
Matthew 5:5 “5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
As already noted, the meek are not weak and pathetic, but show true strength. They are those who resist returning evil when provoked. It are these who will inherit the earth.
It is tempting to think that the bullies and those who fight back are those who will rule the world. But in the end, those to inherit the earth are the meek, a reversal comes through Jesus! Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth in the coming of the full rule of the kingdom!
Matthew 5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Those who presently hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will soon no longer hunger and thirst! I can not say it any better, so I am going to refer to the words of Charles Spurgeon,
The Gospel of the Kingdom: A Commentary on the Book of Matthew Chapter 5:1–16: The King Promulgates the Laws of His Kingdom

In the world to come the satisfaction of the “man of desires” will be complete. Nothing here below can fill an immortal soul; and since it is written, “They shall be filled,” we look forward with joyful confidence to a heaven of holiness with which we shall be satisfied eternally.

For in that day, we shall have all our sin removed and be glorified! We will be made like Christ, full of his righteousness forevermore!
Matthew 5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”
The hope for those who show mercy is that they give evidence of the mercy they have already received in Christ! They will be certain of the mercy they will taste on the day of judgment, having nothing to fear as they receive mercy in Christ!
Matthew 5:8 “8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
The pure in heart are those who shall ascend God’s holy hill! It is they who shall see God’s face in all his glory! Blessed are those who sought a pure inner obedience to Christ and not a merely external obedience in going through the motions, for it is they who shall see God! Others will soon be warned that they will be told to turn away and depart, let the hearer hear the warning for those who are hypocrites and merely acting to be a disciple.
Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
Those who labor for peace as best as they can in all circumstances as far as it depends on them, they will be called sons of God. For they are the ones who imitated the Son of God in all they did. Their labors are not in vain! They have the assurance in this promise from Christ! Assurance even when our efforts to make peace bring hostility against us.
Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Even when peace does not come our way, we as Christians are to remain meek, to remain peacemakers, to remain pure in heart even if it means our suffering and even our death in persecution. For blessed are the persecuted, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those who are persecuted for righteousness sake are those who are part of and who inherit the kingdom of heaven. They are those who have God’s rule working in them and advancing in them and through them to advance his kingdom. And they can rest knowing that their suffering was not in vain.
Revelation 6:9–11 “9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 10 They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”
The judge is coming and will judge the earth, but those who were persecuted and slain, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. They have received their reward in hearing well done my good and faithful servant. They rest with their savior in glory!
This is the hope that belongs to those who are blessed in Christ! As Christians, we are blessed because all of these will be made true! We are blessed, because even in the midst of this world’s present troubles and sufferings, we have a secure hope of what is to come! Though the things of this world may fade as we take up our cross and follow Jesus, our blessedness will not!

Conclusion

Therefore we must see that if we are to flourish as disciples of Jesus, then we must see that we who have been saved by grace through Christ are not living for this city, but the city to come. We are living for the city of gold, the city to come, that of heaven.
A former professor of mine notes this in saying, “They (the beatitudes) are invitations to flourishing in light of God’s coming eschatological kingdom.”
In other words, we live in the hope of Christ now, true flourishing will come in the kingdom of heaven. Though we may suffer now, we will not for long.
Or as John Calvin notes,

the disciples of Christ must learn the philosophy of placing their happiness beyond the world, and above the affections of the flesh

Brothers and sisters, let us put our treasures in heaven at the blessedness we have in the promises of the kingdom of heaven! And let us live not for this world and the false happiness it offers, but let our happiness be beyond this world in the Almighty and his kingdom that is ours!
Let’s pray
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