Jesus presents the Beatitudes in a positive sense, virtues in life which will ultimately lead to reward. Love becomes the motivation for the Christian. All of the Beatitudes have an eschatological meaning, that is, they promise us salvation - not in this world, but in the next. The Beatitudes initiate one of the main themes of Matthew's Gospel, that the Kingdom so long awaited in the Old Testament is not of this world, but of the next, the Kingdom of Heaven.
While the Beatitudes of Jesus provide a way of life that promises salvation, they also bring peace in the midst of our trials and tribulations on this earth. An early contemplation on the Beatitudes came from St. He described the Beatitudes this way:. Perhaps the meaning of beatitude may become clearer to us if it is compared with its opposite. Now the opposite of beatitude is misery. Misery means being afflicted unwillingly with painful sufferings. Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God. Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Humility is the realization that all your gifts and blessings come from the grace of God. To have poverty of spirit means to be completely empty and open to the Word of God.
ON THE BEATITUDES
When we are an empty cup and devoid of pride, we are humble. Humility brings an openness and an inner peace, allowing one to do the will of God. He who humbles himself is able to accept our frail nature, to repent, and to allow the grace of God to lead us to conversion. It is pride, the opposite of humility, that brings misery.
For pride brings anger and the seeking of revenge, especially when one is offended. If every man were humble and poor in spirit, there would be no war! If we are humble and appreciate that all of our gifts and blessings come from God, we grow in love and gratitude for Jesus Christ our Savior. But this can only produce mourning and regret over our own sins and the sins of this world, for we have hurt the one who has been so good to us. One also mourns for the suffering of others.
Gregory describes another reason to mourn: When one contemplates that we were made in the image and likeness of God and lived in Paradise, the Garden of Eden, and compare that to our present state after the Fall, one can only mourn our present condition. But the sentence continues that they shall be comforted , by the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, and hopefully one day in the Kingdom of Heaven. Pray for the fruit of the Holy Spirit Galatians 5: Mourning in this context is called a blessing, because mourning our fallen nature creates in us a desire to improve ourselves and to do what is right!
Jesus said that even though someone who is humble may go without a lot of things in this life, they will in fact one day inherit the earth. With this first source of blessing that Jesus mentions we already see a categorical difference between the way of the world and the way of God. The listeners of Jesus would have witnessed the power and strength of the religious rulers, as well as the Roman government. They would know that this is not the normal way to acquire prosperity and blessings. Business moguls, politicians, athletes, celebrities, and even some church leaders want you to know how powerful they are, how intelligent they are, how loud they can be, and how talented they are, so that they can gain more power, more privilege, and more prestige.
When it comes to righteousness , people who follow Christ must desire it so much that they hunger and thirst for it. It is for something to be morally good. Do you hunger and thirst for that? If you do, Jesus says you will be filled! How great is that? To be merciful means to not be looking to get even all of the time, but rather to overlook offenses and wrongs done to you.
The Beatitudes (Matthew ) - First Baptist Church
Also, the pure in heart will see God. We know from the Scriptures that none of us are inherently pure and righteous on our own. We are pure in heart by surrendering our hearts to Jesus, and having our hearts made new. When we truly surrender our hearts to Him and seek to live purely through Him, then we will be able to see God.
The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12)
Finally, we see that peacemakers shall be called sons of God. Of course, the idea here is that we would be heirs of God. Remember, at the time Jesus gave this sermon, only sons would be considered heirs. Jesus is saying that any of us who are true peacemakers would be heirs of God. We can make peace practically speaking by seeking to be humble, bringing about resolution when possible, and encouraging others to be people of peace.
THE EIGHT BEATITUDES OF JESUS
Also, we can be peacemakers in the most magnificent way by pointing people to the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. Seek to show the peace of God and take people to the true Peacemaker and you will receive the inheritance of God. How marvelous that is! Righteousness, mercy, purity, and peace are characteristics that God possesses, and they are characteristics of someone who is seeking to live for the kingdom of God and seeking a holy life in Jesus. Can you imagine how odd this was for everyone to hear?
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You may be persecuted for following and obeying the Son of God. You may suffer for being loving, holy, truthful, good, humble, and righteous. However, the blessing that comes from this persecution is twofold: Second, you will receive a reward in heaven because you endured for the cause of Christ.
By suffering now, you will be rewarded greatly later. Upon hearing that, they would have surely wondered how they must live to prepare for the coming kingdom. Jesus is giving the Sermon on the Mountainside to tell them the way followers of God must live. Now, as followers of God, we must live this way also. We must understand that in order to find any of these blessings, in order to live this way, we must be in Jesus.
THE EIGHT BEATITUDES OF JESUS
We cannot live as God requires on our own, and as such, we cannot experience blessing on our own. I have one very simple question. Who would like to be blessed by God today? Okay, if you want to be blessed by God, then I need you to raise your Survey of the Psalms outlining aspects of blessing from the Lord. Blessedness Relying on Actions of the Believer Psalms 1: But his delight is in the law of the Lord Home Sermons Search Results: Free Sermons and Sermon Outlines for Preaching: Rating 5 stars 4 stars or more 3 stars or more Any Rating.
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