The Beatitudes
Part 1
“Lost and Found”
Matthew 5:1-10 “And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
3 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’”
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The Lord’s discourse called the Sermon on the Mount begins with the Beatitudes.
Beatitude comes from the word BEATIFY which means “to have supreme blessedness.”
Jesus begins each of the beatitudes with the words, “Blessed are…”
While some have called the Beatitudes the “be-happy attitudes,” they are much more than that.
The Greek word for blessed is makarios, which means “happy to the point of being envied.”
It’s the same word the Greeks used to describe the island of Cyprus, which is nicknamed “the Happy Isle.”
The Greeks believed Cyprus was so beautiful, so rich in resources, and so fertile, that a person would never have to leave the island, because everything you would ever need for happiness was contained on that island.
But no island brings lasting happiness!
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So we will note that the happiness that comes from being blessed by God is not the same as our English word for happy.
Our concept of happiness is:
“If only I had more money, I would be happier.”
“If only I had my health, I would be happier.”
“If only I were successful, I would be happier.”
“If only I had a spouse . . .
“If only my kids were . . .
“If only my spouse were . . .
“If people were nicer . . .
“If God was nicer . . .”
And on the list goes about how we would be happier or feel more blessed in this life IF ONLY.
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The English word happy comes from the word HAP, which is a Middle English word from around the 1400’s which meant luck. It’s where we get the word happenstance.
In other words, happiness is dependent upon circumstances, and luck, and a roll of the dice.
But the Beatitudes are in no way a roll of the dice or chancy. There is no sense of uncertainty to them.
When Jesus said, “Blessed are they . . .” He didn’t qualify it with phrases, like “In most situations, blessed are they . . . or Given the right conditions, blessed are they . . . or if you win the lottery blessed are you . . .”
The pathway to blessing Jesus teaches has nothing to do with a happening, it has to do with God’s promises to people with certain spiritual conditions of heart and character.
And 5 of the 9 conditions are anything but enviable or positive.
He addresses:
The poor
The mourning
The hungry
The thirsty, and
The persecuted
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Now, there is a progression with each of the spiritual conditions Jesus lists—beginning with the poor in spirit, and ending with being persecuted for righteousness’ sake.
Those who realize they are poor in spirit are candidates for salvation, and those being persecuted for righteousness have certainly grown into a level of spiritual maturity.
So perhaps the person Jesus had in mind with the first beatitude is lost and realizes they are in spiritual poverty!
As Jesus said to the church in Laodicea, “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked…”—Rev. 3:17
The lost person absent the conviction of the Holy Spirit has no idea of their true spiritual condition—the emptiness of it, the peril of it.
But when the Holy Spirit convicts them of their sin they realize “I am wretched, miserable, POOR, blind, and naked!”
So I’m going to tackle the beatitudes from this perspective—that it lays out the spiritual progress of someone from salvation to spiritual maturity—From poor in spirit, to mourning over their sin, to meekness, to hungering and thirsting for spiritual things, to the fruits of the spirit—mercy, purity of heart, being a peacemaker, to finally being so strong a Christian they are persecuted for righteousness’ sake!
So first we have:
I. The poor in spirit
“Blessed are the poor in spirit…”
Why blessed? Because “theirs is the kingdom of heaven!”
Jesus came to rescue us from our abject spiritual poverty, and to redeem us by His shed blood.
The very first thing someone hearing the gospel realizes is, “I am miserably lost, wretched in my sin, poor in spiritual things, and up to now have been blind to my condition.”
We recall that Jesus said the ministry of the Holy Spirit was to first “convict the world of sin…”—John 16:8
Convict means “to expose, show to be guilty.”
The Spirit of God reveals to us at the moment of coming under conviction that we are guilty before God for our sins, destitute of life, and without hope apart from the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross!
So the first Beatitude is saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit who know it!
Why blessed? Because realizing your true spiritual condition is the first step to entering the kingdom of heaven. “…theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
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Listen to Paul’s description of just how spiritually poverty stricken we were.
Eph. 2:1 “And you he made alive, who were DEAD in trespasses and sins.”
Eph. 2:12 “Remember that in those days you were living utterly apart from Christ; you were enemies of God’s children, and he had promised you no help. You were lost, without God, without hope.”
Thank God for Jesus, who came to deliver us from such spiritual poverty, and make a way to heaven!
Once we’re saved, we are literally enriched with the good things of God! Paul writes:
1 Cor. 1:5 “For in him you have been enriched in every way…”
Eph. 3:8 “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,”
The Bible says that God, “…gives us richly all things to enjoy.”
And it promises that as eternity unfolds, God will continue to “…show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”—Eph. 2:7
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Then the next Beatitude is to:
II. Those that mourn
“Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”—5:4
The word “mourn” simply means ‘to lament, to feel guilt.’
What is the first thing a person under conviction of sin experiences? Mourning, sorrow, and guilt.
Jesus says, “Blessed and to be envied are those that mourn.”
Whatever could he mean? It doesn’t make sense, because mourning don’t feel blessed, or appear blessed to others.
Here’s why—Because their mourning leads to repentance, which is accompanied by God’s forgiveness, peace, and comfort.
For instance, listen to Paul describe how the Corinthians experienced conviction of sin due to the work of the Holy Spirit:
2 Cor. 7:9-11 “…now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. 10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”
So there are two kinds of sorrow or mourning—the sorrow Godly conviction brings, and the sorrow that is worldly resulting in death.
The sorrow brought on by the conviction of the Holy Spirit leads us to repentance and returning to God. It ALWAYS involves returning, going home to the Father as the Prodigal son did.
But the sorrow of the world involves guilt, shame, and regret with no concern for God. The world’s sorrow brings no upward glance, no thought of getting right with the Lord.
Hence, with worldly sorrow the spirit is broken, and the heart pines away under the influence of the unrelenting sorrow. It is a sorrow with no hope, no comfort, no relief of guilt.
This is why worldly sorrow sometimes leads to suicide. The person sees no way out of their guilt and they can’t find relief.
This is why we bring the gospel of Christ to our sin darkened world in so many different ways!
Paul then lists the ways true repentance manifested itself:
11 “See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.”
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So we’ve thus far gone from realizing poverty of spirit, to mourning over our sin with repentance leading to salvation.
Jesus promised, the mourner “will be comforted” as they experience peace with God through forgiveness.
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Then next, Jesus addresses:
III. The meek
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”—5:5
Now we’re witnessing strong spiritual growth in the person that first saw their spiritual poverty, mourned and repented, and experienced God’s comfort and peace.
The spiritual fruit of meekness is appearing in their life.
Gal 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith 23 Meekness, self-control: against such there is no law.”
Meekness is not easy to define. Some of the characteristics of meekness are:
Meekness is the refusal to retaliate when wronged. The meek person trusts that God will vindicate them. “Vengeance is his (God’s); he will repay.”—Romans 12:19
The fruit of Meekness is evidence of true greatness and largeness of soul.
It is strength under the Spirit’s control, strength under check.
It comes from a heart too mature to be moved by little insults. The meek are not easily offended.
Meekness looks upon those who traffic in petty insults with pity, not retaliation.
Sadly, we live in a culture that is the opposite of meek.
We’ve become hyper-sensitive to the slightest provocations.
Here’s the thing—The person that is constantly ruffled, who allows every little insult or injury to throw him off his guard and to ignite a storm of anger within, is at the mercy of every person that chooses to disturb him.
He is like “the troubled sea that cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.”
Conversely, the meek take petty insults in stride, and move on down the road.
There’s a verse in Jeremiah that has spoken to me a hundred times when I could have become offended.
The context is that Jeremiah has become weary of being persecuted for prophesying.
He’s grieved over the prosperity of the wicked, how they seem to live great lives without ever being judged by God.
God answers him:
“If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, Then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace, in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the floodplain of the Jordan?”—Jer. 12:5
In other words, “You’re letting the little stuff take you down. Far greater battles are ahead, and if these “footmen” ruin your day, you will be no match for the giants that are coming!”
This is why the fruit of meekness is so necessary!
The meek are not moved by petty, small stuff. Their inner man is held in check by the Spirit of God.
Jesus promises, “They shall inherit the earth.”
It was common amongst the Jews of Jesus’ day to use the phrase “inheriting the land” to refer to coming into a great blessing.
Jesus is saying that the meek would be the recipients of great blessings on earth, and would ultimately inherit heaven, the NT Canaan!
So from poverty of spirit leading to mournful repentance and salvation, to meekness—the first appearance of the fruit of the Spirit—we move along to next time exploring spiritual hunger and thirst, mercy, and purity of heart!