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When Jesus delivered The Beatitudes at the Sermon on the Mount, He was not showing a person how to be saved, but describing the characteristics of those who have been saved. "Blessed" means to be happy. This is the basic description of the believer's inner spirit as a result of the work of God in his or her life.
As you study each of the eight Beatitudes, look into your own heart and examine your feelings towards them. Are you trying to follow each of them? To be successful, you will find that you need a humble, childlike attitude toward them. Jesus often said we need to become more like children in our attitudes and thinking towards many things in this life.
- Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
What is poverty of spirit? It is the opposite of that haughty, self-assertive, and self-sufficient disposition, and opposite of the independent and defiant attitude that refuses to bow to God. To be poor in spirit is to realize that we have nothing, are nothing, can do nothing and have need of all things. We are conscious of our sins and know in our hearts that we are completely unworthy of the grace that God pours down upon us. We are not only conscious of our sins and utter lack of righteous, but we profess we are totally unqualified to commune with and have fellowship with a Holy God.
Only the poor in spirit will enter into the kingdom of God, because they come to God having full knowledge of their own sinfulness and lostness. They readily confess that they are full of guilt and are totally unqualified to enter into the kingdom of God. They are the ones who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
- Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
The mourning referred to here is not that of bereavement, affliction, or loss, it is mourning for sin. It is mourning over the destitution of our spiritual state, and over the iniquities that have separated us from God. The person that mourns is the one who recognizes that he is a sinner before God. Conscious of the corruption of our sin, we cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner." (Luke 18:13)
Such a person mourns over his various sins because he recognizes that not only do his sins greatly hurt our heavenly Father, he also realizes that he is empty of righteousness and does not even begin to deserve salvation and the joys of Heaven. This miserable, but repentant sinner, realizes that only through the grace of God does he have forgiveness and salvation. Those who know this, will see God and dwell with him forever.
Christians mourn because they realize that they have sinned against a Holy God and have brought dishonor to His name. Those who mourn (repent) will be comforted, because they know that Jesus came to seek and save those which are lost. They look to the cross of Christ and realize He died for their sins.
Those who mourn for sin shall be comforted in confession. Those who mourn for the human anguish of the lost shall be comforted by the compassion of God.
- Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
True meekness is not weakness. A meek person is a man or woman whose strength is controlled by God, is patient and has a long view of life, knowing in the end it is not the wicked who win, but the meek. He or she is controlled by God in thought, word, will, emotion, and action. They are the ones who submit, not to their own will nor to the will of the world, but to the Will of God. They are those who have the greatest enjoyment of the good things of this life as they have been delivered from a greedy and grasping spirit and are content with such things as they have.
Those who have put their faith and their trust in Jesus Christ will be meek before God, but mighty and bold before the world and before satan. A meek person is the one who by faith sees God as great, and himself as nothing. And because of that, he submits to the righteous Will of God. A meek person is the one who proclaims as Jesus did , "Not my will but Thine be done."
Those who have been humbled before God will inherit not only the blessings of Heaven, but shall ultimately share in the Kingdom of God upon the earth.
- Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled
The sinner is destitute of righteousness, and to thirst after righteousness is to be turned away from self toward God. Hunger and thirst are strong desires that return frequently and require that they be met often during the day. The initial spiritual hungerings and thirstings occur before a sinner turns to Christ by faith. It also is the continual longing that is perpetuated in the heart of every saved sinner until his dying day. The true believer calls for constant meals of righteousness to do his daily Godly work, just as the physical body calls for its daily food.
Righteousness are those things that are upright, virtuous, noble, morally right, and ethical. It is a life style that is in complete conformity to the Will of God. Sin for the righteous believer is never worth the pain and dishonor he knows that he has brought upon the Lord. A righteous life is what fills the believer with peace and joy.
- Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Mercy is love toward those that are miserable, those that are wretched, and those that need some type of help or assistance. It is that kindness and benevolence that feels the miseries of others. It is a compassionate spirit that towards the sufferings of others and the grace that causes one to deal leniently with an offender and to scorn the idea of taking of revenge. Those that are merciful go out of their way and make an effort to help others.
To be merciful as a Christian does not mean to perform isolated, occasional acts of charity. A Christian is to be habitually merciful, and all acts of mercy should be done in a thankful and cheerful manner. Mercifulness is one of the attributes of the spiritual nature that one receives at the new birth. In the child of God, it is a reflection of the abundant mercy that is found in his heavenly Father.
God shows us mercy, not when we are good, but when we are miserable, helpless, wicked, ungodly, and powerless. He shows us mercy when we are his enemies and we are disobedient, unrighteous, dead in trespasses and sins, foolish, ignorant, suffering, and miserable due to the consequences of our sin. Each one of us needs the mercy of God each and every day.
A Christian is not saved because he shows mercy and is kind - he shows mercy and kindness because he is saved.
- Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
That purity of heart does not mean sinlessness of life. The path to a pure heart begins with the realization that we have impure hearts. The Lord looks at the heart of the person and not at their external appearance, their behavior, or their achievements. God alone is able to make rotten people pure in their imaginations, thoughts, words, deeds, and desires.
"How can a believer keep his heart pure? By keeping it according to The Word of God". (Psalms 119:9)
This beatitude tells us if we are pure in heart then we will see God. The reward for this is truly wonderful, because when the believer becomes pure in heart, not only will he see God as he passes into Heaven immediately upon his death, but he will see God right now, not with his natural eye, but through his spiritual vision, through his faith in Jesus Christ
- Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Being a peacemaker has to do more with conduct than character. The peacemakers are those who desire sinners to be reconciled to God. They know there is no peace for the wicked. Believers know that peace with God is only through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The peacemakers are those children of God who not only have great love for God, but also have love for all of mankind and attempt to do everything possible for the advancement of peace everywhere. They have a peaceful disposition because they have a strong affection for peace and delight in it. The peacemakers have a great desire to recover it when it is broken. The reason we can love others, including our enemies, is because Christ destroyed the hostility between man and man when he died on the cross. "And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross". (Colossians 1:20)
The peacemakers realize that there is only one way that this world can have peace, and that is by trusting in Jesus Christ.
- Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.
Persecution has ever been the lot of God’s people. Christ pronounces a blessing on those who are being persecuted for doing righteousness. There is much evidence that proves that Christians around the world have been martyred for their faith.
The greatest assaults against Christianity are the many laws that have been passed with the idea of suppressing Christianity in all areas of society. In today's society, to tell others that you are a born-again Christian who has put his entire faith and trust in Jesus Christ, is to bring on smirks and laughs, rude and disgusting comments, alienation and retaliation.
The Word of God is a stumbling block to ungodly people. The unbelievers that don't know Jesus enjoy sinning. It is what gives them pleasure.
When persecution comes into our lives then we must conclude the following:
- That we have put our complete faith and trust in Jesus Christ.
- That we can truly call ourselves Christians.
- That we belong to the kingdom of God.
- That we are righteous.
- That we have been chosen by the Father and the Son.
- That ours is the Kingdom of God now and in the future.
- That Jesus is truly our Lord and that is why we are being persecuted.
- That our salvation is sure and certain.
- That we are not false prophets.
- That we are not worldly for the people of the world are not persecuted.
- That we are in the very good company with many other saved Christians.
- That we can know that we are truly born again.
- That eternal life is ours.
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