Lesson 3 – The Beatitudes Part 2

Review from last week

· This is the way of blessing

· 1-4 heart conditions of Kingdom Citizens

· 5-9 actions from heart attitudes

· Are in logical and progressive order

· Blessed – happy (from Christ inside), spiritually prosperous, fully satisfied.

Tonight we’ll look at the remaining six beatitudes

I. Verse 6 - Hunger & Thirst

a. Indicate the importance & necessity of righteousness

i. Tells us to have a love & strong desire for righteousness

ii. Equates the desire for righteousness for the necessities of life.

iii. To hunger and thirst Shows a want of it, indicating a need

b. Righteousness – is not as Gill comments, “justice and equity, as persons oppressed and injured; nor a moral, legal righteousness, which the generality of the Jewish nation were eagerly pursuing; but the justifying righteousness of Christ, which is imputed by God the Father, and received by faith.” A right state before God, it is promised for the asking.

i. “Man in his natural, fallen condition tends rather to accept his own set of standards, creating his own righteousness (Rom_10:3; Php_3:6). In reality, however, such a set of standards is not righteousness (Rom_10:3, Rom_10:5; Gal_3:21) and does not satisfy God. God's righteousness is imputed and imparted as a gift to man and not earned. It results in God's act of justification by faith through Christ.” WORD STUDY

ii. The tense of this words ‘hunger & thirst’ is in the direct accusative tense in the Greek language. “The meaning is that the hunger and the thirst is for the whole thing. To say I hunger for bread in the accusative means, I want the whole loaf. To say I thirst for water in the accusative means, I want the whole pitcher. You might translate this verse in this way,

1. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for the whole (or complete) righteousness.

a. It is not enough to be satisfied with a partial righteousness.

i. Goodness, warm-heartedness, or even morality is not enough.

c. To be filled – Saturated, or satisfied.

II. Verse 7 – Merciful – Compassionate, tender-hearted, “they who love all men as themselves

a. Mercy – Our attitude toward others, Love of God shed abroad in our hearts.

i. The way we treat the outcast of society should be merciful. (Even if we can’t do anything physically, should be an attitude of the heart.)

ii. Jesus (Father forgive them they know not what they do)

b. They obtain mercy

III. Verse 8 – Pure in heart – Holiness, Holy

a. Not just pure, but pure in heart

i. Unmixed, no dirt, free from impurities. Skimmed (uncle Buddy going all to skimming’s.

b. What does it mean to “not see God”

i. Two interpretations ( I tend to agree with both)

1. Can’t see God here (God is Spirit, doesn’t have a body, have to be pure to see it)

2. Can’t make it to heaven without purity

IV. Verse 9 – Peacemakers – The wisdom that is from above is first pure, and then peaceable.

a. Not just someone who brings peace to feuding people and nations but…

b. Someone who has found the peace of God, and shares that with others.

Such a life as the preceding verses have described will be in direct conflict with the world, and will produce persecution

V. Verses 10-12 – Persecuted

We find the way of blessing is not the way of ease and leisure. It is the path of least resistance, but by far the most rewarding, in this life and the life to come.