Welcome to Day 2104 of  Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Sermon on the Mount 2 – The Christian Character – The Beatitudes – Daily Wisdom

Sermon on the Mount – A Christian’s Character: The Beatitudes

Matthew 5:3-12 Everybody who has ever heard of Jesus of Nazareth, and knows anything at all of his teachings, is probably familiar with the beatitudes with which the Sermon on the Mount begins. Their simplicity of words and clarity of thought has attracted each new generation of Christians, and many others. The more we explore their implications, the more it remains unexplored. Their wealth is inexhaustible. We cannot plumb their depths. I will read each verse today as we go through the Beatitudes, so if you want to keep your Bibles open, we will be starting in Matthew 5:3. Let us consider the beatitudes in detail. The first four beatitudes describe the Christian’s relation to God, and the last four the Christian’s relations and duties to their fellow humans.

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (verse 3).

The Old Testament supplies the necessary background against which to interpret this beatitude. At first, to be “poor” meant to be in literal, material need. But gradually, because the needy had no refuge but God, “poverty” came to have spiritual overtones and be identified with humble dependence on God.  Thus, to be “poor in spirit” means acknowledging our spiritual poverty, indeed our spiritual bankruptcy, before God. For we are sinners, under God's holy wrath, deserving nothing but God's judgment. We have nothing to offer, nothing to plead, nothing with which to buy the favor of heaven. To the poor, in spirit, the kingdom of God is given. God’s rule, which brings salvation, is a gift as absolutely free as it is utterly undeserved. It has to be received with the dependent humility of a little child. At the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contradicted all human judgments and all nationalistic expectations of the kingdom of God. The kingdom is given to the poor, not the rich; the feeble, not the mighty; to little children humble enough to accept it, not to soldiers who boast that they can obtain it by their skill. In Jesus’s ministry on earth, it was not the Pharisees who entered the kingdom. They thought they were rich, so rich in merit that they thanked God for their attainments. The Zealots did not dream of establishing the kingdom by blood and sword. The publicans, prostitutes, and the rejects of human society, who knew they were so poor, could offer nothing and achieve nothing. They could only cry to God for mercy, and he heard their cry. Still today, the indispensable condition of receiving the kingdom of God is to acknowledge our spiritual poverty.

1. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (verse 4).

One might almost translate this second beatitude, “Happy are the unhappy,” to draw attention to the startling paradox it contains. What kind of sorrow can bring the joy of Christ’s blessing to those who feel it? The comfort is offered not primarily for those who mourn the loss of a loved one but also for those who mourn the loss of their innocence, righteousness, and self-respect. It is not the sorrow of grief to which Christ refers, but the sorrow of repentance. Mourning and comfort are the second stages of spiritual blessing. It is one thing to be spiritually poor and acknowledge it; it is another to grieve and mourn. In more theological language, confession is one thing, and remorse is another. We need to observe that the Christian life, according to Jesus, is not all joy and laughter. Some Christians seem to imagine they must wear a perpetual grin on their face and be continuously boisterous and bubbly. How unbiblical can one become? The truth is that there are such things as Christian tears, and too few of us ever weep them. Jesus wept over the sins of others, their bitter consequences in judgment and death, and the unrepentant city that would not receive him. We, too, should weep more over the evil in the world, as did the godly men of biblical times. Paul wrote of the false teachers troubling the churches of his day. Philippians 3:18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. However, it is not only the sins of others that should cause us tears for we have our sins to weep over as well. Have they never caused us any grief? Was Paul wrong to groan in Romans 7:24, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” I think not. I fear that we evangelical Christians, by making much of grace, which is greater than all our sins, sometimes make light of sin. There is not enough sorrow for sin among us. We should experience more “godly grief” of Christian repentance. Such mourners, who mourn their sinfulness, will be comforted by the only comfort which can relieve their distress, namely the free forgiveness of God. “The greatest of all comfort is the absolution pronounced upon every contrite mourning sinner.” He was to be “the Comforter” who would “bind up the brokenhearted.” Christ does pour oil into our wounds and speaks peace to our sore, scarred consciences. Only in the final state of glory will Christ’s comfort be complete, for only then will sin be no more, and “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

1. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (verse 5).

The Greek adjective praüs means “meek, gentle, humble, considerate, and courteous,” and therefore exercising self-control without which these qualities would be impossible. Although we rightly recoil from the image of our Lord as “gentle Jesus, meek and mild,” because it conjures up a picture of him as weak and effeminate, yet he described himself as “meek (praüs) and lowly in heart,” and Paul referred to his “meekness and gentleness.” So, linguistically speaking, it is quite correct to refer in this beatitude to “those of a gentle spirit.” It seems important to note that in the beatitudes, “the meek” come between those who mourn over sin and those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. The particular form of meekness that Christ requires in his disciples will have something to do with this sequence. I believe it is right to emphasize that this meekness denotes a humble and gentle attitude to others, determined by an accurate estimate of ourselves. It is comparatively easy, to be honest with ourselves before God and acknowledge ourselves to be sinners in his sight. It is much more difficult to allow other people to say things like that about me! I instinctively resent it. It may be easier to condemn ourselves than to allow somebody else to condemn us. Meekness is essentially an accurate view of oneself, expressing itself in attitude and conduct concerning others. Meekness makes you gentle, humble, sensitive, and patient in all your dealings with others. These “meek” people, Jesus added, “shall inherit the earth.” One would have expected the opposite. One would think that “meek” people get nowhere because everybody ignores them or else rides roughshod over them and tramples them underfoot. The demanding and overbearing people succeed in the struggle for existence; weaklings go to the wall. Even the children of Israel had to fight for their inheritance, although the Lord their God gave them the Promised Land. But the condition we enter our spiritual inheritance in Christ is not might but meekness, for, as we have already seen, everything is ours if we are Christ’s. The same principle operates today. The godless modern culture may boast and throw their weight about, yet actual possession eludes their grasp. On the other hand, the meek may be deprived and disenfranchised by modern culture, yet because they know what it is to live and reign with Christ, they can enjoy and even “possess” the earth, which belongs to Christ.

1. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled (verse 6).

God has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away. This general principle is personal here. The hungry and thirsty whom God satisfies are those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Such spiritual hunger is a characteristic of all God’s people, whose supreme ambition is not material but spiritual. Christians are unlike the modern culture we spoke about last week, which is occupied with pursuing possessions. Christ's disciples have set themselves to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness first. Our hunger for righteousness drives us as appetite for our bodies will. Proverbs 16:26 The appetite of laborers works for them; their hunger drives them on. Righteousness in the Bible has at least three aspects: legal, moral, and social. Legal righteousness is justification, a right relationship with God. The Jews pursued righteousness but failed to attain it because they pursued it wrongfully. They sought to establish their own righteousness and did not submit to God’s righteousness, which is Christ himself. Moral righteousness is that righteousness of character and conduct which pleases God. Jesus continues after the beatitudes to contrast this Christian righteousness with pharisaic righteousness. The latter was external conformity to rules; the former is inner righteousness of heart, mind, and motive. For this, we should hunger and thirst. However, it would be a mistake to suppose that the biblical word “righteousness” means only a right relationship with God on the one hand and moral righteousness of character and conduct on the other. For biblical righteousness is more than a private and personal affair; it also includes social righteousness. As we learn from the law and the prophets, social righteousness is concerned with seeking man’s liberation from oppression and promoting civil rights, justice in the law courts, integrity in business dealings, and honor in home and family affairs. Christians are committed to hunger for righteousness in the whole human community as something pleasing to a righteous God. Looking back, we can see that the first four beatitudes reveal a spiritual progression of relentless logic. Each step leads to the next and presupposes the one that has gone before.  In the second half of the beatitudes (the last four), we seem to turn even more from our attitude to God to our attitude to our fellow human beings.

1. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy (verse 7).

“Mercy” is compassion for people in need.  Jesus does not specify the categories of people he has in mind to whom his disciples are to show mercy. There was no need for Jesus to elaborate. Our God is merciful and shows mercy continuously; his kingdom's citizens must also show mercy. Of course, the modern culture is unmerciful, as the church, in its worldliness, has often been. The world prefers to insulate itself against the pains and calamities of humans. It finds revenge delicious and forgiveness, by comparison, tame. The universal law of planting and harvesting is just as strong as the law of gravity. Those who show mercy will find mercy. We cannot receive the mercy and forgiveness of God unless we repent, and we cannot claim to have repented of our sins if we are unmerciful towards the sins of others. Nothing moves us to forgive like the knowledge that we have been forgiven. Nothing proves more clearly that we have been shown mercy than our readiness to show mercy to others. To show mercy and to receive mercy: these belong inseparably together, just like planting and harvesting. Interpreted in the context of the beatitudes, it is “the meek” who are also “the merciful.” To be meek is to acknowledge to others that we are sinners; to be merciful is to have compassion for others, for they are sinners too. 

1. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (verse 8).

It is immediately apparent that the words “in heart” indicate the kind of purity to which Jesus is alluding. Christ is looking for inward purity, for the quality of those who have been cleansed from moral—as opposed to ceremonial—defilement. In his controversy with the Pharisees, Jesus took up this theme and protested their obsession with external, ceremonial purity. Jesus said in Matthew 23:25, “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the cup and dish outside, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! Christ wants us to have the heart pure, though outwardly, the person may be a laborer in the kitchen, working in the sewer, coal mines, or doing all sorts of dirty work. Though a common laborer may stink outwardly, inwardly, he is pure incense before God’ because he ponders the word of God in his heart and obeys it. Jesus’s emphasis on the inward and moral, whether contrasted with the outward and ceremonial or the external and physical, is consistent with the whole Sermon on the Mount. The sermon requires heart-righteousness rather than mere rule-righteousness. The pure in heart are single-minded, free from the tyranny of a divided self. In this case, the pure heart is the single heart and prepares the way for the “single eye,” which Jesus mentions in the next chapter. More precisely, the primary reference to the pure in heart is sincerity. This type of heart includes our thoughts and motives. It is pure, unmixed with anything devious or ulterior motive. Hypocrisy and deceit are abhorrent to the pure in heart; they are without guile. Yet how few of us live one life and live it in the open! We are tempted to wear different masks and play different roles for each occasion. This duplicity is not reality but play-acting, which is the essence of hypocrisy. Some people weave around themselves such a web of lies that they can no longer tell which part of them is genuine and which is make-believe. Jesus Christ was the only person who was genuinely pure in heart, being entirely truthful.   Only the pure in heart will see God, see him now with the eye of faith and see his glory in the hereafter, for only the utterly sincere can bear the dazzling vision in whose light the darkness of deceit must vanish and by whose fire all facades are burned up.

1. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (verse 9).

The sequence of thought from the purity of heart to peacemaking is natural because one of the most frequent causes of conflict is scheming, while openness and sincerity are essential to all true reconciliation. According to this beatitude, every Christian is meant to be a peacemaker in the community, community, and church.  It is clear beyond question throughout the teaching of Jesus and his apostles that we should never seek conflict or be responsible for it unless we are forced to turn our loyalty from God to culture.  On the contrary, we are called to peace, and we are to pursue peace actively. We are to seek peace with everyone. Romans 12:18   If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Peacemaking is a divine work. For peace means reconciliation, and God is the author of peace and reconciliation.  We should understand that the words “peace” and “appeasement” are not synonyms. For the peace of God is not peace at any price. He made peace with us at immense cost, even at the price of the lifeblood of his only Son. We, too—though in our lesser ways—will find peacemaking a costly enterprise. To proclaim "Peace, peace," when there is no peace is the work of the false prophet, not the Christian witness. True peace and true forgiveness are costly treasures. We may not be personally involved in a dispute but may find ourselves struggling to reconcile to each other two people or groups who are estranged and at variance with each other. In this case, there will be the pain of listening, ridding ourselves of prejudice, striving sympathetically to understand both opposing points of view, and risking misunderstanding, ingratitude, or failure. Jesus prayed for the oneness of his people. He also prayed that they might be kept from evil and in truth. We have no mandate from Christ to seek unity without purity. We are to maintain purity of both doctrine and conduct.

1. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (verses 10–12).

It may seem strange that Jesus should pass from peacemaking to persecution, from the work of reconciliation to the experience of hostility. Yet however hard we may try to make peace with some people, they refuse to live peacefully with us. Not all attempts at reconciliation succeed. Indeed, some will take the initiative to oppose us, particularly to insult or slander us.  Persecution is simply the clash between two irreconcilable value systems.  Remember from last week that modern culture and Christian counter-culture are opposite. How did Jesus expect his disciples to react under persecution? Verse 12: “Rejoice and be glad!” We are not to retaliate like an unbeliever, sulk like a child, lick our wounds in self-pity like a dog, or just grin and bear it like a Stoic, still less to pretend we enjoy it like a masochist. What then? We are to rejoice as a Christian should rejoice and even leap for joy. Why so? Partly because Jesus added, “great is your reward in heaven.” We may lose everything on earth, but we shall inherit everything in heaven—not as a reward for merit, however, because “the promise of the reward is free.” We rejoice partly because persecution is a token of genuineness, a certificate of Christian authenticity, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets “before you.” If we are persecuted today, we belong to a noble succession. But the primary reason we should rejoice in that we are suffering because of Jesus. Because of our...