Exposition of the Beatitudes.

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Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth."Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy."Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. ^"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God."Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. - Matthew 5: 1-12 (ESV)

The word beatitude means "blessed." The Greek word blessed means "spiritual well being and prosperity." God always has a terrific sense of humor. What I mean by that is He uses the simple to confound the wise. He uses the ordinary to confound what we think is extraordinary. When the Bible exclaims that His ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours we have no idea how much higher. God sees all time beloved. He sees the beginning and the end. He knows exactly what we get hung up on. He sees what blocks us. What we idolize. What separates us from Him. Thus I find it no small coincidence that the first time we see Him ministering, He addresses a topic that He knows will be so dear to us and so dearly manipulated by us. He could have discussed anything to start but He decides to start His ministry explaining what it actually means to be blessed. What it means according to God to have spiritual well being and prosperity. Not prosperity the way the hucksters of today preach it. Seven steps to a better you. Discover the champion in you. You, you, you. No beloved. That is not God's way at all. Until we have a "Beatitude adjustment"; we will keep getting it wrong when it comes to what being blessed really is.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those who are truly well in their spirit and prosperous are poor in their spirit. This spiritual poverty is not as difficult to understand than we might think. This refers to what esteem we hold ourselves in view of Christ and His work. This refers to our true position in Jesus, which is should be a lowly position. We ought to be humble in our own eyes. Why? Because that is when Jesus is magnified.

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. - 2Corinthians 12: 10 (ESV)

The weakest point we can reach is the realization that we need a Savior. That it is no longer about us. That it is only about Him. Now think for a second about what is preached today. Prosperity Gospel makes an idol out of gaining material stature. Word Faith heresy elevates us to little god status. Hyper-grace makes a mockery of what God has said. False signs and lying wonders teachings emphasize the personal experience over doctrine. What do these all have in common? They elevate YOU. They do not elevate God. They do not promote spiritual poverty. I doubt that any seeker friendly, purpose driven pastor would ever preach on spiritual poverty. What is the promise for the spiritually poor? Theirs is the kingdom of heaven! Do not miss this point beloved. We have swaths of congregations today that are taught and celebrate gospels of YOU. I would be very wary. I write often about the increase in false conversions and this verse lends directly to that concern. Our salvation is supposed to be about Jesus Christ, not ourselves. We are supposed to go to church for God, not ourselves. When Paul referred to himself it was as the chief of sinners. Peter demanded to be crucified upside down because he felt unworthy to die as his Savior did. Today we see more and more spiritual bravado than poverty. Christians sticking their chest out declaring who they think they are in Christ. I am the head and not the tail. I am a friend of God. I am the beez-nees. No beloved. I am a sinner saved by the unbelievable grace of God. I have seen and heard pastors preach against such talk and to them I warn - read Matthew 5:3 very closely. The first beatitude is about our humility. The first indication of being well spiritually is to be spiritually poor. Lastly on this opening Beatitude; what does this say about true prosperity? It is only found in Christ. It is only manifest when He is magnified. Remember the words of John the Baptist:

Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification. And they came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness--look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him." John answered, "A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, 'I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.' The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease." - John 3: 25-30 (ESV)

This is what we miss in today's pulpits. Instead of decreasing, we are taught to increase. The kingdom of heaven belongs to those who decrease so that Jesus may increase. People do not need my wisdom - they need His. I cannot save anyone - only He can. It is not about me - it is always about Him.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. This verse is not what it seems beloved. It is not a simple pronouncement of comfort for those who are sad. Yes, God is always our source of comfort but that is not the primary teaching here because the issue is not merely mourning, but what are we mourning over? The answer, much to the chagrin of Joseph Prince followers, is sin. This goes hand in hand with humble spiritual poverty. Blessed are those who mourn over their sinful state. Why? Because only then do we place Christ where He belongs in our lives. Do you think it is coincidence that one of the most Satanic teachings poisoning the church today tells believers to no longer worry about their sin? It is godly sorrow that works repentance. Hyper-grace advocates almost relegate grace to an event instead of an ongoing well from which we are to refresh ourselves! Those that mourn over their sin are more dependent than ever upon the mercies and grace of God. Great is thy faithfulness! Thy mercies are new each day!

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." - Lamentations 3: 22-24 (ESV)

Far too many in the church today have the Lord as their portion on Sundays but not so much on Wednesday. There is no comfort in that Christianity beloved. There is no blessing in denying our sinful state. When we live in that denial then God is diminished as a result. I am so saddened when I hear Christians belittle this position as being "sin focused." The reality is you cannot be Savior focused if you are not sin focused. It is the remembering of our sinful state that glorifies and magnifies who Jesus is in our lives. Not trite sayings and catchy slogans but real comfort. We are blessed and prosperous to mourn over our sin because God is always there to comfort us and forgive us.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. - 1John 1: 7-10 (ESV)

This letter was written to believers. This is not speaking about the unsaved. Our sinful state is forgiven eternally but we remain such temporally. So many struggle in this walk because they are still holding the pen instead of the Author and Finisher of their Faith. Because we refuse to deal with and mourn over our sin, so that we might accept the comfort from our loving Father.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Once again we see the chasm between how man thinks and how God thinks. Our society encourages and rewards brashness. Boldness. Some of the most popular movies are revenge centered and the one seeking revenge is usually cast as the hero. We see this confrontational mindset infect the church today as well. We saw it recently with the decisions by business owners to not sell their products to gay consumers. I am not going to rehash this here except to point out the inherent un-meekness of such a stance. What is meekness? Let's see what the Matthew Henry Commentary says:

"The meek are those who quietly submit to God; who can bear insult; are silent, or return a soft answer; who, in their patience, keep possession of their own souls, when they can scarcely keep possession of anything else. These meek ones are happy, even in this world. Meekness promotes wealth, comfort, and safety, even in this world."

I love the emphasis of "even in this world." There is so much of this world in the church today. So much of its brazen carnality wrapped up in pseudo-piety. It seems when a Christian in this country is insulted the first thing they cry is persecution and the second thing they cry is lawsuit. Not exactly the meek of the earth. There were no soft answers in the case of the Oregon baker or the Washington florist. We are not called to turn this country into a theocracy. When was the last time you saw Christians bear insult? Believe me, I am not suggesting any of these things have I mastered either. We lose our minds it seems when anything comes against us. We puff out our chest in self righteousness and when someone points out the unbiblical nature of it all we are quick to point them to when Jesus overturned the tables, as if that was a relevant theological point. We do not keep our patience. We scarcely keep our souls. We lose our witness far too easily and far too often. That is not meekness and not how we are to behave towards the unsaved.

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. - Colossians 4: 5-6 (ESV)

Seasoned with salt? No beloved. We have far too many peppery Christians. Remember the premise here from the key verses. We think blessed are those who stand up for themselves but that is not meekness. That is not how God thinks. Those who will inherit the earth and last eternally will be serving the interest of God not themselves. I recognize these are hard lessons. Jesus knew that when He was teaching them too. That is probably why he started with them. They are foundational. I simply do not understand why Christians get so mad when the world behaves like the world. We ought to have a godly remorse for them, knowing where they will be without the glorious salvation we enjoy. I have heard it taught that meekness isn't weakness and most of the times that is followed by carnal teaching that makes it clear they missed the point. Jesus laid His life down like a lamb being led to slaughter but if someone removes a nativity scene from the town square we act as if Armageddon has begun. Jesus willingly took the beatings and insults and had a crown of thorns shoved into His head until His own blood filled His eyes and we act as if baking a cake for a sinner requires an angry public response. Please beloved. I know meekness is difficult. I know it is the opposite of this world. Yet it is who will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. What do we pursue beloved? What is it that we chase after? Is it money and riches? Is it fame and notoriety? Is it the baubles and trinkets of this world? Is it ministry and church recognition? I find it interesting that God delineates between hunger and thirst. Hunger implies what we seek for sustenance and thirst what we seek for relief. The cold hard reality is that many of us in church have one or both of these things wrong. Perhaps we feast on the things of this world and only come to God when we are desperate. Thirsty for what is good, pure and right. Or perhaps we feed correctly on the Word and fill ourselves in Christianity but seek our satisfaction and relief from the world. Sitting on the fence. Half in the church and half in the world. It becomes so much harder when you can no longer tell them apart. When mega churches allow Miley Cyrus songs during worship. Disco dancing during praise. When preaching is coming from lessons found in secular television or movies instead of the Word of God. The reality however is that none of that will satisfy us.

For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things. - Psalm 107: 9 (ESV)

We crawl through the spiritual wasteland that is the church in this country and when we get there we are so desperate and ignorant we drink the sand. It is no wonder that the average time someone spends in a mega church is less than three years. You can only go starving and dying of thirst for so long. This Beatitude is teaching us what Ecclesiastes teaches us. So much of this is just a chasing after the wind. Instead our focus ought to be on the righteousness of God. To be in right standing with God. I can hear the false teachers crying already that we have the righteousness of Christ but that is a eternal position, not a temporal condition. We still are sinners, encased in flesh, navigating a fallen world. We still need to be pursuing what is right in the eyes of God. Not as a payment for salvation. That is where many go off the rails. Salvation is in faith alone. No works so that none may boast but too often people take that a step further as if to pretend that there should be no good works at all!. That there should be no pursuit of righteousness and doing the right thing in God's eyes. That is simply unbiblical. Not only should we desire righteousness but we ought to be hungering for it. It should be what we pursue to sustain us. We ought to thirst after it. It ought to be what we seek when we need relief in a world gone mad. Doing things according to God is not punishment beloved. False grace teachers have given the law a dirty name. We ought to WANT to do the will of God once we are saved and if we find ourselves there, He shall indeed satisfy us with living waters.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.It is not surprising that such a merciful God would be so concerned about mercy. The Prophet Micah declares three things the Lord actually requires of us and loving mercy is one of them. Not merely being merciful. Not merely paying lip service to it. Loving it. Our condition as saved Christians ought to inspire mercy within us. We ought not be able to look upon the unsaved the same way again. We ought to see them in their eternal condition of damned. A condition we once shared before God saved us. We see so much anger and hostility towards the unsaved these days. This is the scheme of the enemy to make us hate the very people we ought to be merciful towards. They are walking in darkness. The things of God are utter foolishness to them yet we act as the Sons of Thunder once acted:

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, "Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?"But he turned and rebuked them.And they went on to another village. - Luke 9: 51-56 (ESV)

The world behaves like the world and we want to call down fire from heaven to consume them. You want me to bake you a cake? How dare you! We want to usurp the wrath of God even though He stayed His wrath for us. Yet mercy is not just for matters of salvation. There is seemingly a lack of compassion amongst professing Christians sometimes. We are quick to say we will pray for someone but loathe to stop our lives long enough to do so in the moment. We speak grand thesis of doctrinal purity yet walk past the suffering, be them saved or unsaved. Church ought to be the one place we feel the most love and compassion but many hide their pain for not wanting to be seen as failing or falling by a body of Christ that traffics in judgment. Casting Crowns once wrote about this beautifully:

But would it set me free; If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person; That you imagine me to be
Would your arms be open; Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus; Be enough to make you stay

Loving mercy is prosperity. It is the state of spiritual well being. It is blessedness. Because it reminds us of the position we once held. It reminds us of how far down God had to go to save us. Paul considered himself the least of the apostles because he once persecuted the church. He never forgot where God found him. We ought to do likewise because it is the merciful who receive mercy. Take it a step further and read the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant and you will discover that he who does not love mercy will find none from God. We ought to love mercy because of who we are in Christ and if we find ourselves not loving it so, we ought to examine ourselves to make sure we are in fact, in Christ.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Holiness is one of the forgotten doctrines in the church today. No one wants to hear about creating within us a pure heart. God cannot look upon iniquity beloved. The pure in heart are not sinless because all have sinned and fall short. Instead, they view sin differently. They run away from it as Joseph ran away from Potiphar's wife. They do not run towards it as David once ran to Bathsheba. Paul Washer once preached that when someone tells him that they have a new relationship with God he asks them if they have a new relationship with sin because unless you do, you do not have a new relationship with God. Pure in heart starts with understanding that sin offends God. It distances God. The regenerate heart is sorrowful in sin. It seeks forgiveness for it knowing that Scripture teaches us He is just to forgive us. That is what the caveat, they shall see God, means. Many speak about "deeper" experiences with God but they are illusions. They are deluded by emissaries of Satan disguising themselves as angels of light. A deeper experience of God is not found in pulsating strobe lights and false "glory clouds." It is found in a penitent heart. It is found as Peter describes:

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." - 1Peter 1: 13-16 (ESV)

Sober minded. Obedient children. Do not conform to what? Passions of your former ignorance. That is a fancy way of saying sin. Our former ignorance was in that we did not see sin as offensive to God but now we do. Now we are called to holiness. Now we are called to be pure in heart because it is in that pursuit that we see God!

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. There are many in Christianity who try to turn the Prince of Peace into a gun toting, war mongering, butched up biker. They think God is on their side in the wars of man. They think that when they kill someone it is a righteous act but when others do it, there must be evil afoot. Taking it down a notch in society, there are many in the church who simple do not sow peace. They cannot keep their peace. Everything is a cause for disruption, angst, and instability. Mind you this is not the same as sowing discord amongst the brethren, which is largely misunderstood.

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. - Romans 16: 17-18 (ESV)

It is false doctrine that cause discord and division in the body of Christ; not those who correctly point it out. The person preaching what itching ears wish to hear are those who are peace breakers. God is His Word and His Word is perfect peace. To compromise it is to compromise peace itself. There is no peace apart from God, just look at the world! Those who are the true sons of God are those who seek peace in every situation. Who crave peace. Who strive to live peaceably with everyone. That is the true nature of blessedness. That is true prosperity. If you asked most people what they lacked in life you would find peace outweighs even money. They try to find peace in drugs and alcohol. They try to find peace in sex and relationships. They try to find peace everywhere except where they can truly find it - in God. Once we experience that great peace, which surpasses our understanding, what are we to do with it? Hide it? Keep it to ourselves? No beloved. We are called to share it. We are called to embrace it and embody it. We are called to be the sons of God by living peace in everything we do. I am not saying it is easy. None of these Beatitudes are easy because they go against our sinful human nature. Which is why we need to be reflecting to the indwelt Holy Spirit to guide us. It is no wonder that peace is actually listed as a fruit of the Spirit. We ought to manifesting it as sons of God and not feeding into the world system of hate and turmoil. The final Beatitude is a grouping:

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. - Matthew 5: 10-12 (ESV)

Perhaps Jesus saved the most difficult for last. We simply do not understand true persecution in this country. There are Christians martyred every day for their faith while we whine if an atheist sues to remove the Ten Commandments from a courthouse. John Hagee actually preached last Christmas that if there were any atheists who didn't like to hear "Merry Christmas" they could get on a plane and get out of his country. Wow, that is some approach to evangelism. That is not very merciful or meek. What it is however is Christian arrogance at its finest. It pretends that it is being persecuted. Do you honestly believe that if Jesus Christ walked the earth today that He would celebrate Christmas? Seriously? Do you think He would deny a sinner flowers if He were a florist or a cake if He were a baker? I do not see Jesus shunning many sinners in the Gospels. I see Him eating with them. Sharing the Good News with them. Being merciful to them as He was to me. Beloved, hear me very clearly. When the unsaved pass laws that do not pay homage to biblical values that is not persecution. When a pastor sits in a Iranian prison for years on end for his faith - that is persecution.

I say this because I am worried. You see, persecution is coming. It will reach these shores and the church will have to finally decide if its tax exempt status is more important than the Gospel. Believers will have to come out from among her or be found in Sodom when judgment comes. We are going to be reviled. We are going to be spoken falsely of. Evil will be spoken against us. While these things will be difficult to endure; endure them we must. So far it seems we prefer to strike back. The world reaches out to arrest Jesus and we want to draw our swords and cut off their ear screaming, persecution! Yet he who lives by the sword will die by it. We are not supposed to be fighting with the world even if they are picking the fight. Look at the example of Paul:

King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe."And Agrippa said to Paul, "In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?"And Paul said, "Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am--except for these chains." - Acts 26: 27-29 (ESV)

Facing a pagan ruler who could control his very life or death, Paul preaches the Gospel. Rejoice and be glad when we face persecution because this life is temporary! They can only kill this body but Jesus holds my soul! Notice here in conclusion that Jesus compares us to the prophets of old who were persecuted. What does this teach us? That we are supposed to be about proclaiming thus sayeth the Lord! That is who is truly persecuted. Not merely those who say they are a Christian but those who are speaking and living the Good News.

This is who the kingdom of heaven is for beloved. These are not easy teachings yet this is the first recorded set of teachings from our Lord and Savior. We often gloss over them because we have heard them before but today is a day to take stock. To take inventory of our lives and see where we fall short of the standard God has outlined here for us. Compare what is laid out here to what you hear preached every week and if they are oppositional, run like your life depends upon it because it just might. We can grow so complacent in our walk. We can do our spiritual calisthenics and think we are in shape but the reality is that every now and again we need a Beatitude adjustment. We need to check our spiritual poverty and see if we truly mourn over our own sin. We need to check our meekness levels and see if we are indeed loving mercy. We need to check our holiness through the purity of our heart and see what it is we are hungering and thirsting after. We need to check if we are indeed peacemakers or breakers while we get ready for the coming persecution. These are the things that determine if we are indeed sons of God. If we are in position to inherit the earth and see the kingdom of heaven. Forget the staged altar calls and canned pseudo-prayers. Are we bearing fruit in keeping with the repentance we are claiming? Is there a difference in who we are? Are we prosperous in the things of Christ? These are the questions that we ought to face every day as believers. Lessons from the Sermon on the Mount.

Reverend Anthony Wade - March 13, 2015

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.