The ight House

Sunday School (The Beatitudes)

The Beatitudes

(Matthew 5:1-12)

Matthew and John were Disciples of Jesus Christ. Besides his disciples, Jesus also had a number of followers that traveled with him in his ministry. Mark though not a disciple was a follower and witnessed many of the miracles of Jesus and heard the teachings of Jesus first hand. Luke was neither a disciple nor a follower. Luke was more of what we today would think of as a reporter or research journalist. He obtained his information from eyewitness testimonies, interviews and of course the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

We are currently studying in Matthew chapter 5. Chapter 5 begins that famous “Sermon on the Mount” and is covered in chapters 5, 6, and I believe most of chapter 7. If you want to study along with my class, read Matthew chapter 5 verses 1-12. For your convenience, those verses are shown below:

1And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
3Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 6Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 10Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Matthew 5:1-12

Here are some key points to ponder on as you study these scriptures:

• Verses 3 through 11 cover what is known as the “Beatitudes”. These are the character traits that a Christian should have.
  
  
• Each beatitude does not describe a different group of people. A Christian should strive to have ALL of these character traits.
  
  
• Notice the rewards for having each of these character traits. Some of these blessings are bestowed upon us in this life, while others are not given until we are in Heaven. Most likely these blessings are not things that are desired by the non-Christian, yet are worth more than gold to the Christian who loves the Lord.
  
  
• Some blessings are given to mankind unconditionally such as sunshine, rain, and the beauty of His creation. Other blessings however such as the ones we see here in these scriptures are indeed conditional upon how we live our life as a Christian. Read the first chapter of Psalms and you will see even further evidence that God’s special blessings are reserved for those who live godly lives.
  
  
• The most difficult of these beatitudes for me to understand was the first one…”Being poor in spirit”. What does it mean to be poor in spirit? It does NOT mean to be sad as some people might think. God does not want us to walk around in a state of sadness. We have more reason to be full of joy than anyone on Earth. Heaven is our eternal home. Our sins have been paid for (speaking about the born again only here). Also consider that as a born again child of God, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside us so that would make it seem like that we should be “Rich” in spirit not poor in spirit, so what does it mean to be poor in spirit? Poor in spirit is the opposite of being proud. There are several scriptures in the bible which address pride and all of them speak negatively about it. In fact a proud look is one of the three things the bible teaches us that God hates. The other two things He hates are a lying tongue and hands that shed innocent blood. The poor in spirit are those who have humbled themselves before God having acknowledged their sin and therefore are dependent upon God’s mercy and grace to save them. A first step in being saved is to acknowledge and understand that you are lost and without hope outside accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior. This is the heart of someone who is poor in spirit and the reward is salvation (inheriting the Kingdom of Heaven).
  
  
• In these scriptures, “meek” does not mean “passive” or to be easily pushed around. It is a willingness to submit to the ways of God and putting His will before your own. It is like an advanced form of humility. It is one thing to admit your won faults and shortcomings, but it is a little more difficult to be tolerant when someone else points them out or criticizes you. To admit your own faults requires humility, but to tolerate someone else criticizing you requires meekness. There is a teaching in the gospel about turning the other cheek if someone strikes you. This is very hard to do. I’m glad I have never been tested in this way because I know how difficult it would be to turn the other cheek. It would require something beyond mere humility; it would require the trait of meekness.
  
  
• Hunger after righteousness --- A strong yearning to be all that God wants us to be. A desire to be perfect in God’s eyes. A desire for God to look favorably on you. The lost have no such hunger for righteousness (1 Cor. 2:14), so to have it is a source of comfort because it is a testimony in itself that you are truly saved. It is a hunger that is never completely satisfied because we are still in this corruptible flesh very much capable of sin, at the best we can do. But look what Jesus said… those who hunger after righteousness shall be filled. When we get to Heaven, we will be perfect without even trying because it will be our new nature. It’s always easy to follow our nature. Our nature while here on Earth is a sinful nature. How difficult would it be to sin if you had to do so? It would be so easy you wouldn’t even have to try. The slightest thought not pleasing to God is sin. It is so easy to sin that we can not keep from it. When we get to Heaven however, it will be as easy for us to be perfect as it is for us to be imperfect here on Earth, and so then our hunger for righteousness will be filled as Jesus promises.
  
  
• The merciful shall obtain mercy. Read Matthew chapter 18 beginning with verse 21. We will all stand before Christ in judgment. Even the Christians will be judged. Although our soul is saved and Hell is no worry for us, we will give an account for how we lived as a Christian. One that day we will all need mercy because we have all failed and come short of God’s standard. How we treated our fellow man will come into play on that day. The bible says what we measure out will be measured back unto us.
  
  
• Peacemakers are not those who live in peace, but it is more. Peacemakers are those who bring about peace. One way a Christian can accomplish this is simply by spreading the gospel. Read 2 Cor. 5-18. Regarding 2 Cor. 5-18: Reconciliation means to restore cordial relations. That is being a peacemaker.
  
  
• Christians WILL be persecuted. The beatitudes we have looked at are NOT the character traits of the world, but are the character traits of the Christian who is walking in fellowship with God. The world’s reaction to someone having these character traits is to persecute them. We are fortunate to live in this country where persecution of Christians is far less than it is in other parts of the world. In some countries, persecution of Christians takes the form of violence. In this country, our persecution is mostly in the form of mocking, ridicule, and slander. If someone is able to have each of these beatitudes in high doses and lives them out before the world to see, he would be regarded as religious fanatic in the eyes of many non-Christians. What many would regard as a fanatic is simply someone who is living their life as close as they can in accordance with the teachings of God’s word. The world really does not have too much a problem with Christians just so long as they are “lukewarm” Christians not showing any passion for serving God, not spreading the gospel, not speaking the truth of God’s word boldly, and certainly not displaying the character traits described in these beatitudes. If we are what we are suppose to be however we will certainly be ridiculed and mocked, not always in our presence but often behind our backs and sometimes even to our face. But Jesus says we can rejoice about this. Why can we rejoice? Well, persecution is evidence that we are saved and living our lives before the world as God would have us to do. If we are pleasing to the world we are not pleasing to God and if we are pleasing to God, we are not pleasing to the world. I’d rather be pleasing in the eye of the one who will judge me and has all power to bless me or chastise me.
  

If you don’t see persecution, ask yourself, if you have the character traits of these beatitudes. Read 2 Timothy 3:12 and 1 Peter 4:15-16

That is all for this week. Next week we will look at versus 13-16 on Salt and Light. It’s only four verses but they are packed!

May God bless you to the point of blowing all your expectations to smithereens!

Carl
I may not look like much, but I cost a bunch!

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