The Sermon on the Mount Pt. 1

Matthew 5:1-12: The Beatitudes Part One

The three chapters of the Sermon on the Mount, which begin with these verses of the Beatitudes, deserve the special attention of all readers of the Bible.

Every word of the Lord Jesus ought to be most precious to professing Christians. It is the voice of the chief Shepherd. It is the charge of the great Bishop and Head of the Church. It is the Master speaking. It is the word of Him who “spoke as never man spoke,” and by whom we shall all be judged at the last day.

Do we know what kind of people Christians ought to be? Do we know the character at which Christians ought to aim? Would we know the outward walk and inward habit of mind which become a follower of Jesus?

Then we must study the sermon on the mount. Let must ponder each sentence and prove ourselves by it. Not least let us often consider who they are that are called blessed at the beginning of the sermon. Those whom the great High Priest blesses are blessed indeed.

The first time we read the Beatitudes, they appear to be simple and beautiful statements, not at all startling, they go unobserved into the subconscious mind. We are so used to the sayings of Jesus that they slip past us; they sound sweet and pious and wonderfully simple, but they are in reality like spiritual torpedoes that burst and explode in the subconscious mind.

When the Holy Spirit brings them back to our conscious minds, we realize what startling statements they are. We soon find that they contain the dynamite of the Holy Spirit.

They explode like “spiritual mines” when our circumstances require them to do so. They rip and tear and revolutionize all our ideas of life.

We are not called to apply the Beatitudes literally, but to allow the life of God to invade us by regeneration, and then to soak our minds in the teaching of Jesus Christ.

The teaching of Jesus Christ comes with astonishing discomfort, because it is out of all proportion to our natural way of looking at things. But Jesus puts in a new sense of proportion, and slowly we form our way of life on the line of His precepts.

The motive that underlies the precepts of the Sermon on the mount is love of God. We are to read the Beatitudes with our mind fixed on God, and we will realize their neglected side.

Our Lord began His discourse by saying, “Blessed are …,” and His hearers must have been staggered by what followed. According to Jesus Christ, they were to be blessed in every condition which they had been taught - from earliest childhood - to regard as a curse.

Our Lord was speaking to Jews and they believed that the sign of God’s blessing was material prosperity in every shape and form. Yet Jesus said people are blessed for exactly the opposite: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, ... Blessed are those who mourn,” and so on.

The Lord Jesus calls those blessed, who are poor in spirit. Ask yourself, “Am I a pauper toward God?” “Do I know that I cannot prevail in prayer, I cannot blot out the sins of the past, I cannot alter my disposition, I cannot lift myself nearer to God?” Then I am in the one place where I am able to receive the Holy Spirit.

People cannot receive the Holy Spirit until they are convinced of their own spiritual poverty.

He means the humble, and lowly minded, and those who consider themselves unworthy. He means those who are deeply convinced of their own sinfulness in God’s sight. These are they who are not “wise in their own eyes and holy in their own sight.”

They are not “rich and increased with goods.” They do not fancy they need nothing. They regard themselves as “wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.” Blessed are all such! Humility is the very first letter in the alphabet of Christianity. We must begin low, if we would build high.

The Lord Jesus calls those blessed, who mourn. He means those who sorrow for sin and grieve daily over their own short comings.

These are they who trouble themselves more about sin than about anything on earth. The remembrance of it is grievous to them. The burden of it is intolerable. Blessed are all such! “The sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite spirit.” One day they shall weep no more. “They shall be comforted.”

The Lord Jesus calls those blessed, who are meek. He means those who are of a patient and contented spirit. They are willing to put up with little or no honor here below. They can bear wrongs without resentment. They are not ready to take offence. Like Lazarus in the parable, they are content to wait for their good things. Blessed are all such! They are never losers in the long run. One day they shall “reign on the earth.” (Rev. 5:10.)

The Lord Jesus calls those blessed, who hunger and thirst after righteousness. He means those who desire above all things to be entirely conformed to the mind of God.

They long not so much to be rich, or wealthy, or learned, as to be holy. Blessed are all such! They shall have enough one day. They shall “awake up after God’s likeness and be satisfied.” (Psal. 17:15.)

The Lord Jesus calls those blessed, who are merciful. He means those who are full of compassion towards others. They pity all who are suffering either from sin or sorrow and are tenderly desirous to make their sufferings less. They are full of good works, and endeavors to do good. Blessed are all such! Both in this life and that to come, they shall reap a rich reward.

The Lord Jesus calls those blessed, who are pure in heart. 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. Blessed are all such! The heart is the man. “Man, looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Sam. 16:7.) He that is most spiritual-minded will have most communion with God.

The Lord Jesus calls those blessed, who are peacemakers. He means those who use all their influence to promote peace and charity on earth, in private and in public, at home and abroad. He means those who strive to make all men love one another, by teaching that Gospel which says, “love is the fulfilling of the law.” Blessed are all such! They are doing the very work which the Son of God began, when he came to earth the first time, and which He will finish when He returns the second time.

Lastly, the Lord Jesus calls those blessed, who are persecuted for righteousness sake. He means those who are laughed at, mocked, despised, and ill-used, because they endeavor to live as true Christians.

Blessed are all such! They drink of the same cup which their Master drank. They are now confessing Him before men, and He will confess them before His Father and the angels at the last day. “Great is their reward.”

These are the eight foundation-stones, which the Lord lays down at the beginning of the sermon on the mount. Eight great testing truths are placed before us. May we mark well each of them and learn wisdom!

Is it possible to live out the Beatitudes” NEVER - unless God can do what Jesus Christ says He can; unless He can give us the Holy Spirit, who will remake us and bear us into a new realm.

The essential element in the saint’s life is simplicity, and Jesus Christ makes the motive of godliness gloriously simple - do not be careless about your relationship to Jesus Christ.

Let us learn how entirely opposite are the principles of Christ to the principles of the world. It is hopeless to deny it. They are almost diametrically opposed. The very characters which the Lord Jesus praises, the world despises. The very pride, and thoughtlessness, and high tempers, and worldliness, and selfishness, and formality, and unlovingness, which abound everywhere, the Lord Jesus condemns.

Let us learn how unhappily different is the teaching of Christ from the practice of many professing Christians. Where shall we find men and women among those who go to churches and chapels, who are striving to live up to the pattern we have read of to-day? Alas! there is much reason to fear, that many baptized persons are utterly ignorant of what the New Testament contains.

Above all let us learn how holy and spiritual-minded all believers should be.

They should never aim at any standard lower than that of the sermon on the mount. Christianity is eminently a practical religion. When you begin to conduct yourself among others as a saint, you will stand absolutely alone - you will be reviled and persecuted. No one can stand that unless he or she is in love with Jesus Christ.

Sound doctrine is its root and foundation, but holy living should always be its fruit. And if we would know what holy living is, let us often bethink ourselves who they are that Jesus calls “blessed.”[1]

[1] J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew (New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860), 31–35.