In Matthew 5:3-10, Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. A progression takes place in these verses that begins with Jesus declaring the conditions that must exist in order for a person to truly repent and ends with the conditions that will exist when a person has repented, believed the gospel, and become a new creature. I pray Father God will give you eyes to see these realities and a heart to be among those who are blessed.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
In Psalm 99:1-3 we read, “The Lord reigneth; let the people tremble: He sitteth between the cherubims; let the earth be moved. The Lord is great in Zion; and He is high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and terrible name; for it is holy”. These are just a few of numerous verses that speak of God’s majesty and holiness. He is righteous in all His judgments, is no respecter of persons, and will have no fellowship with sin. He is far above man and his ways. God is holy! He proclaimed His name to Moses saying, “The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; . . .”(Exodus 34:6-7). The Lord is gracious, longsuffering, merciful, and forgiving, but “will by no means clear the guilty”. This means that those who continue in sin will not enter the kingdom of heaven. The Holy Spirit says this in Romans 2 where the apostle Paul writes, “God will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; but glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: for there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;” (vs. 6-12). No man is good. When addressed as “good master”, Jesus responded saying,“Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God:”(Matthew 19:17). The poor in spirit are those who have come to realize: sin separates them from God, His judgment of sin is righteous, they have no goodness of their own, they have nothing to offer God, and their only hope is in His mercy and grace. This realization produces a reverent fear of God and begins to work repentance. Proverbs 16:6 says, “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil”. People will not repent unless they have a revelation of their destitute condition. The poor in spirit are blessed and may enter the kingdom of heaven because, like a helpless, desperate beggar, they turn to the only One who can meet their need.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted
Having the revelation of their own unrighteousness, and of God’s holiness, the poor in spirit are grieved and their heart is broken because they have rebelled against the holy Father and are separated from Him. This is the godly sorrow that the apostle Paul wrote about saying, “For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death” (2 Corinthians 7:10).Godly sorrow is not grieving because my unrighteousness has been uncovered. Instead, it is sorrow resulting from the conviction that my state of being is wicked, and that I have transgressed and displeased the loving Father. Those who mourn are blessed because it is godly sorrow that produces repentance. No true repentance occurs without it, and without repentance there is no blessing. They that mourn will be comforted because, having been brought to repentance by godly sorrow, they may receive forgiveness, peace with God, and restoration by Jesus Christ. Isaiah prophesied about those who mourn and the restoration Jesus provides saying, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the Lord hath appointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified” (Isaiah 61:1-3). Jesus quoted from this prophesy in the 4th chapter of Luke, and in verse 21 said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears”. People who hate sin can now be delivered and be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth
True meekness is being totally surrendered and yielded to God. Hopefully, you are seeing the progression I spoke of and realizing that it is “the poor in spirit” and “they that mourn” who are moved to complete surrender. The meek have forsaken pride and have no more confidence in their own efforts. They are the only ones who may partake of God’s grace. In the 4th chapter of James the apostle writes,“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do you think that the scripture saith in vain, The Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? But He giveth more grace. Wherefore He saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up” (vs. 4-10). The substance of grace is the divine influence upon the heart. Man’s nature is to serve himself, but the meek, or humble, are granted to partake of God’s grace which imparts His loving, selfless nature to us — “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4). The meek are blessed because total surrender opens the door for God’s grace to change their nature and produce His righteousness in their lives. It is through this work of God in the heart that the meek will inherit the earth. The inheritance not only refers to a physical “new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:13), it also refers to a spiritual possession. In Luke 21:19 Jesus says, “In your patience possess ye your souls”. The Bible often relates the earth to the heart of man. An example is in the parable of the sower. There, the seed is the word of God, and the soil, or earth, is the heart (Matthew 13:3-23). The meek will also inherit a new soul wherein dwells righteousness through patiently submitting and yielding themselves to God. The proud will not inherit an earth wherein righteousness dwells because, “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble”.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be filled
The progression continues as the meek are the only ones who will hunger and thirst for righteousness. All the rest will hunger for the desires of the flesh, the things of the world, and the traditions and doctrines of men. Paul spoke of this in Romans 10 where he wrote, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth” (vs. 3-4). The Jews he was referring to, and multitudes of professing Christians who are under the law today, are ignorant of God’s righteousness and going about to establish their own. They have not submitted themselves to Jesus Christ “Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30). Jesus is the“end of the law for righteousness” in that He fulfills God’s law and produces righteousness through every person in whom He dwells. A meek person hungers and thirsts for righteousness because he is empty. He is hungering for the “meat which endureth unto everlasting life” (John 6:27). This is food that the world knows nothing about because the meat he is longing for is to do the will of God — “Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). Likewise, his thirst is for the living water that is a well springing up into everlasting life. Read John 4:1-34. The poor in spirit, mourning because of sin, and wanting to please God, has surrendered himself and now believes the gospel to be regenerated into a righteous, holy being (Matthew 5:17-20, John 15:12-13, Hebrews 12:14, 1 Peter 1:15-16). The hunger and thirst that comes by humility brings a person to Jesus who in turn fills the emptiness with the Holy Spirit who causes God’s righteousness to be manifested in his deeds. They never hunger again because they do the will of the Father, and they never thirst because there is a continual flow of the Holy Spirit as they abide in Jesus (John 15:1-13). This person has been brought to repentance and has now believed the gospel to become a new creature. By the work of God, old things have passed away and all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). Understand that believing the gospel is the only way people who hunger and thirst for righteousness can be filled. By this I mean it is not only necessary to believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for sin, but we must also believe that His resurrection justifies us to partake of the Holy Spirit who gives us a righteous, holy nature. No matter how much a person may want to do the Father’s will, it is impossible to do so until they receive His nature. Many are denying the power of the gospel to accomplish this in the heart of man, but we can be assured that righteous deeds will be manifested in the lives of God’s children. In 1 John we read, “If ye know that He is righteous, ye know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of Him” and “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous” (2:29 & 3:7). Doing righteousness is the only food that will fill those who are hungering and thirsting for it.
To this point, Jesus has spoken of the conditions that must exist in a person’s life in order to truly repent, believe the gospel, and be born again. The regeneration of the Holy Spirit makes us into a new creature who walks as Jesus walked. 1 John 2:6 says, “He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked”. This is not stating a commandment so much as it is stating a fact. Jesus was “the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). Believers are regenerated with the same nature that produced His walk, so it only stands to reason that subsequent children of God will walk as He did.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy
Man does not have a nature to be merciful; he has a nature to be selfish and to demand his rights. Some may believe themselves to be merciful but, without regeneration, all of the motives are selfish. For example, an unregenerated person may express an act of mercy by helping to feed the poor, but his motive would be self gratification for doing good, guilt for not helping, being esteemed by others as benevolent, etc. Many will show mercy to friends and loved ones, but do they show the same mercy to those whom they deem undeserving? The mercy God requires can not be mustered up by man’s resolve and discipline. A person must possess the divine nature in order to extend the mercy that God demands. He not only commands us to love our friends but to also love our enemies and pray for them (Matthew 5:38-48). We are commanded to forgive everyone who comes against us(Matthew 6:14-15). The love of God is the only virtue by which mercy is extended unconditionally. Children of God are merciful because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost whom has been given to us (Romans 5:5). The nature God imparts produces mercy toward others, including those who treat us unjustly or seem undeserving. It flows from the heart to an outward expression in the life just as the sap of a grape vine flows from the root to produce grapes on the branch. Jesus says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:4-5). Though we were His enemies, God had mercy and provided us with reconciliation — “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by His life”(Romans 5:10). Righteousness requires that God’s children extend the same mercy that has been allotted to us. James wrote, “So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. For he shall have judgment without mercy that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment” (James 2:12-13). We have not merely been liberated from the penalty of sin. The gospel liberates us from the power of sin so that it no longer rules in our heart (Romans 6). Mankind will be judged on the basis that he has been freed from slavery to his selfish nature and granted to partake of the divine nature. As mercy has provided this freedom and privilege to us, we are to be vessels for it to flow to others. Mercy has been granted to all, and judgment will now be merciless to those who haven’t been merciful. Mercy rejoices against judgment because it restores people rather than condemning them. In the 6th chapter of Luke, Jesus says, “Love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give unto your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured unto you again” (vs. 35-38). Being motivated by the love of God, His children are blessed to receive mercy because they have sown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God
A pure heart is another condition that will certainly exist in a child of God. It is not something a man can grow into; it has to be created from within by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit. This work of God is received by faith, and then the new man, with a pure heart, grows to“the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). 1 John 1:6-7 says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin”. A pure heart is one that has been cleansed from sin. As I have shown in other teaching, sin is not wrong doing; it is a willful preference for self over God. Unrighteous deeds are manifestations of man’s willful preference for himself. The gospel frees man from slavery to self preference and imparts the divine nature which prefers the will of God. As we walk in the light of this truth, the eternal blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from all self preference. This is a pure heart! To help convince you that the gospel is the power of God to accomplish this work, look at the following prophesy concerning the new covenant — “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:24-27). This speaks of bringing us out of the world and into God’s kingdom. It is very apparent that a pure heart, and keeping His commandments, are the product of God’s work in us. Praise Him for so great a salvation!!! The pure in heart are those who have received the power of the gospel, and they will be blessed to see God because they keep His commandments — “Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God
This verse is not speaking so much about us trying to make peace between two individuals who are at odds with one another. Jesus came to make peace between man and God. Peacemakers, who will be called the children of God, are believers who, like Jesus, have laid down their lives in order to be vessels of reconciliation between God and their fellow man. You and I can not be peacemakers any more than we can produce righteousness; only Jesus can do these things. However, we can be vessels for Him to work through. We see reconciliation as the calling of all God’s children in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 — “And all things are of God, Who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation”. I hope you can see that the godly virtues of righteousness, mercy, and a pure heart must be present before a person can fulfill the ministry of reconciliation. True reconciliation demands that a person’s trespasses not be imputed to them. A peacemaker is one who partakes of Christ’s sufferings. Like Him, we must patiently endure any physical or emotional pain that is inflicted by the unjust actions of others and respond to them in love with mercy, forgiveness, and prayer. Jesus tells us that believers have authority to loose and to bind, to forgive and to retain the sins of others (Matthew 18:18, John 20:23). The apostle John wrote that God would give everlasting life to those we pray for (1 John 5:16). As a believer denies himself, responds to the unjust actions of others in love, has mercy, forgives, and prays for his enemies, they are loosed from their transgressions and exposed to God’s love. Through this, a believer becomes a vessel for reconciling them to the Father. See the teaching titled “Love My Neighbor?”. Peacemakers are called the children of God because, like Jesus, who was the firstborn among many brethren, they are also vessels of reconciliation.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
The righteous will be persecuted! In 2 Timothy 3:12, the apostle Paul wrote, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution”. As was the case with Jesus, the apostles, and the early church, most present day persecution will come from those who claim to be the people of God — “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor Me” (John 16:1-3). In 1 John 3:11-12 we can see clearly that the righteous are persecuted because of hatred and envy — “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous”. Today in America, there are multitudes of professing Christians who have denied the power of the gospel to be regenerated into the image of Jesus, to walk as He walked, and to be as He is in this world (2 Timothy 3:1-5, Romans 8:29, 1 John 2:6 & 4:17). People can profess anything with their mouth if they think it will give them an advantage. However, the nature of the heart produces a true confession that is manifested in word and deed (Titus 1:15-16). True believers will be persecuted by people professing to know God, but they will respond in love for the sake of righteousness. This is why theirs is the kingdom of heaven — “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (Revelation 12:11). This means that, in spite of various trials and persecutions, a child of God will share in Christ’s sufferings, denying himself completely, so that God’s love may flow through him to those in need. Love never fails!
In closing, you may note Jesus saying that the kingdom of heaven belongs to both the poor in spirit, where we began, and to those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, where we ended. This is because those who truly realize their dire need will come to God, and those who become His children will continually be of the mindset that they have nothing to offer God, and that they are hopeless without God’s grace. Likewise, they will continually mourn as they see others who are still enslaved to sin. Humility, righteousness, mercy, a pure heart, reconciliation, and persecution will continue to be ever present. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven, and I pray you will have a heart to be among those who are blessed.