MATTHEW 5:1-12 FOLLOWERS OF JESUS ARE SO BLESSED2020 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Matthew 5:1-12 Followers Of Jesus Are So Blessed

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2020. Well, as we spend our time together in Matthew chapter 5 this morning, I've titled the message, Followers of Jesus are so blessed.

And I pray that you would be able to testify and agree with that this morning. Followers of Jesus are so blessed. It's an interesting thing to consider because, of course,

Even as followers of Jesus, we face difficulties, we face challenges, and we have struggles in our life, and yet we must not forget, and I think it's a great opportunity for us as we begin this year and head into this kind of fresh start that God has for us this year, that we allow ourselves to be reminded and be encouraged by the reality of how blessed we are.

Here in Matthew chapter 5, we have the beginning of what's called the Sermon on the Mount. Famous sermon, famous teaching by Jesus that covers Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7. The first part of this we see here, it's called the Beatitudes. And it's these blessings that Jesus pronounces.

The word beatitudes, it comes from the Latin word, which means to be happy or to be blessed. And so it's a reference to each time where Jesus says, blessed are, and on and on he outlines and proclaims these blessings upon us, the people of God.

And so we can consider these things this morning and understand and be reminded of how blessed we are. We can also consider these things and walk through them together to be challenged and reminded and stirred up to be drawing near to God that we might experience the fullness of these blessings that he has proclaimed for us. And so some great things that God wants to speak to our hearts as we look at the Beatitudes this morning to understand

remember and to be encouraged that we are so blessed. We're going to start out with kind of looking at an overview of these Beatitudes in verses 3 through 12. Here's point number one this morning. We are blessed with infinite joy. We are so blessed. How blessed are we? We are blessed because we are given infinite joy by the Lord. Amen.

As you look at these beatitudes, these blessings pronounced in verses 3 through 12, there's a

definite pattern that you can see. There is, first of all, the blessing that is pronounced. Looking at verse 3 as an example, you see the word blessed. Blessed are, and he is about to pronounce this blessing on those who are in different conditions. As you walk your way through these verses, it follows the same pattern. It begins with this pronouncement. Jesus says, you are blessed.

as his follower, even under these different circumstances that he'll describe. And so you see the blessing pronounced, but then you see the condition declared. Here in verse 3, he says, "...the poor in spirit."

And again, in each of these blessings, in each of these beatitudes, he's addressing different conditions, addressing a variety of different situations that you and I will find ourselves in throughout our life, throughout this year, from time to time. Blessed are the poor in spirit. And so in each case, we have a blessing that's pronounced for the condition that is declared, but then we have also the promise that is given. Here in verse 3, the promise is,

is for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And he follows this pattern all the way through. The blessing is pronounced in verse four, blessed are. The condition is addressed in verse four that it's talking about those who mourn, but the promise is given that they shall be comforted. Blessed are is pronounced in verse five, and the condition is those who are meek. And then the promise is that they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are, the pronouncement is given in verse 6, those who hunger and thirst is the condition, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness specifically. And the promise is given that they shall be filled. Blessed are, the pronouncement is given that those who are merciful, they're promised to be obtaining mercy as well. Blessed are the pure in heart. The condition there is described, declared. Blessed

And the promise is given that they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers. This is their condition. They are those who make peace. And the promise is given. They shall be called sons of God. And blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. For theirs is the kingdom of God. Each one, you see that blessing pronounced, the condition declared, and then the promise that is given as a result.

As you walk through this pattern, it's important to understand what we're talking about with the word blessed. Blessed are the poor in spirit. What does it mean to be blessed? We'll talk about what it means to be poor in spirit, but what does it mean to be blessed as you look at these blessings that Jesus pronounced? The word blessed often is described as blessed.

oh, how happy. So you could kind of substitute, you know, that phrase instead of blessed throughout this passage. And that is somewhat accurate in the sense that it captures a little bit of what this idea of blessed is and means, but it's actually a pretty deep word. It's pretty complex in what it means. Spiros Zodiatis, the Greek scholar, defines it this way.

He says it's possessing the favor of God. It's that state of being marked by fullness from God. His satisfaction comes from God and not from favorable circumstances. To understand the word blessed, we need to understand that it's a position, it's a standing of favor with God. It's a place of being in right relationship with God that is marked by a fullness from God. That is all that we need.

is given to us from God and by God. All of our needs are met. All of our, well, the things that we need to be fulfilled in our lives, all of our satisfaction, it is supplied and it comes to us from God. It's a blessed condition. It's a happy condition, but it's not happy in the sense that it's based on our circumstances.

It's a blessedness that continues, that endures, no matter what may be transpiring throughout our life. And you can see that in the different conditions that are declared throughout these Beatitudes. He says, blessed are the poor in spirit. That may not seem like a favorable condition to be in. Blessed are those who mourn. Oh, how happy are those who mourn. That seems to contradict itself, right? As we look at the conditions and the circumstances, a surface layer of happiness exists.

We'll be up and down and all over the place. It'll be based on our emotions and how we feel. But the blessings that Jesus pronounced are much deeper than the surface, much fuller and richer than what emotions and circumstances can provide. Notice that Jesus is not saying, blessed are you because your life is perfect. That if you follow Jesus, all problems will be taken care of. You won't have any issues. You're not going to have any struggles. You'll never face any challenges.

Blessed are you because you have the perfect family. Not like everybody else around you, you know, who struggles and has difficult relationships and issues within. No, no, you're blessed because you have the perfect family scenario or you have the perfect job and career path or you have, you know, everything lined up and you have no needs or you have no challenges or things that you struggle with. That's not what Jesus is saying.

He's addressing us in the midst of life. And real life is that we have challenges and difficulties and things that we face and struggle through. And none of those things that we struggle through are so great that they could remove us from the condition of blessing, from the state of blessing that Jesus declares for us. So the condition is declared to let us know the variety of things we face don't remove us from the blessing that is pronounced.

And we can hold fast to that with the promises that are given. Now, notice something important about the promise that is given. And you can see it throughout the passage. But looking at verse 3 as an example, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. What Jesus is promising here is not an instant resolution, not an instant solution. Or maybe you could say it this way, it's not an instant joy. That is...

You're not blessed because instantly, immediately, without any hesitancy, issues are resolved and things are taken away. It's not always going to be an immediate or an instant fulfillment. Rather, you can think of it as an investment with infinite returns. Infinite returns. That's why I phrased the point, blessed or blessed with infinite joy. We are blessed with infinite joy. That is all-you-can-eat joy.

As much as you need joy, as much as you desire joy, as much as you need to be fulfilled and satisfied joy, that is what the Lord provides for you. And so this condition of being blessed, this blessing that Jesus pronounced is huge. It's incredible. It's a marvel to behold. And I pray that you would be encouraged this morning. And maybe you walk out looking like one of these guys, just like, I'm just so blessed.

Even if I don't see the results right away, even if I don't see, you know, the evidence of all the things that are promised yet, but grasping hold of the promises of God, I can accept the blessing that he has pronounced upon me. And it's all I can eat, right? There's an infinite resource that God has in providing you joy.

And that's really important to grasp hold of and to remember as we walk through these different scenarios in life that we face. I was thinking about this as I was reading an article this week about a man who won a lifetime supply of toilet paper. I don't know if this is something you've ever desired or aspired to, but this guy won in a competition. His contribution to the contest was he created a wedding dress out of toilet paper and

And the toilet paper company was so excited by the work that he did that he won a lifetime supply of toilet paper. It's like your dreams come true, right? Lifetime supply. But the article is going on to talk about not just...

that he won, but he goes on to share what it was like to win and how that impacted his life. I want to just share a couple of things because I think it's pretty interesting to consider, even though it's not exactly the same as the blessings that Jesus pronounces, but we'll connect the dots in just a moment. But he goes on to share about three months after he won the contest, he began to receive the lifetime supply of toilet paper that he was promised. And so he describes it here. He says, I pulled up

He says, Can you imagine? What would you do with two pallets of

toilet paper. Where would you put that? Aside from just having to go to the UPS, you know, place and pick it up, like where would you put that? How would you store two pallets, hundreds of rolls of toilet paper? It's like having your very own Costco in your garage, right? Like you just, lifetime supply, but that's just the first shipment. He goes on to say this would happen every two or three months, right?

I would receive up to 400 rolls at a time and storing it was a problem. I made a bedside table out of it. I put it under my desk. I put it in my wardrobe. I put it in the garage. He says Christmas 2014 was the cheapest Christmas ever. Everybody got toilet paper. And then when he moved across the state, he says, I had to rent a trailer to take the toilet rolls with me. Can you imagine that? Having to rent a U-Haul just to transport your toilet paper from your old place to your new place. Lifetime supply.

presents a little bit of problems, a little bit of complications because, well, he has an abundance now of toilet paper. Well, he goes on to say, after about three years, when the deliveries abruptly stopped, I was pretty shocked. I had failed to figure out that my entire lifetime supply had been sent up front. Wow.

The company had calculated how many rolls a man at my age living alone would need for a life and delivered them all. My supply eventually ran out in early 2017. I had blown it in a couple of years. Can you imagine that? A lifetime supply of toilet paper and you just waste it away within three years. That is a lot of trips to Taco Bell, I can tell you that. It was supposed to last his life, but it only lasted three years.

When it comes to the blessings that Jesus pronounces for us, listen, there's infinite resources. It's not a measured amount. You get a certain amount. If you blow it all at once, you're done. That's it. That's all you get. No, what Jesus here is declaring in these beatitudes and these blessings is that there's infinite joy for you as you walk with him, as you walk in the promises that he provides to you. This is an investment.

Walking with God and serving the Lord is an investment with infinite returns of all the joy that's necessary. Not just for a couple years, not just for a few years, not, you know, all you can handle for a little bit, but even on into the rest of eternity. God has for you infinite joy. Infinite joy. Pastor William Barclay describes it this way. He says, "...the greatness of the Beatitudes is that they're not wistful glimpses of some future beauty."

They're not even golden promises of some distant glory. They are triumphant shouts of bliss for a permanent joy that nothing in the world can ever take away. I like that description. Triumphant shouts of bliss for a permanent joy that nothing can take away. What God has for you truly is blessings.

But don't think of that. Don't limit that. Don't put that in the realm of material goods and without problems. But at the same time, it's an infinite resource of joy internally, spiritually, and eternally for you that God has. Followers of Jesus are so blessed. We are blessed with infinite joy. Every need met, every soul satisfied.

Well, jumping into some of these Beatitudes now, we're going to look at verse 3 and 4 for point number 2. Point number 2 is we're blessed for relying upon God. Followers of Jesus are blessed as we rely upon the Lord. As we rely upon God, there is this great blessing that is given to us, this infinite joy that is provided to us. Check out verse 3 again. It says, "'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'"

Blessed are the poor in spirit. And so what does it mean to be poor in spirit? Well, as you can tell from the point I'm sharing about it in the sense of relying upon God. As you look at these Beatitudes, it's worth mentioning that there is a wealth of

There's a wealth of understanding and insight that are found in these verses. More than I can share in one time together. That there's value in spending some time meditating on these things because they can be looked at from a variety of ways, understood in a variety of ways, and apply to us in a variety of ways that the Lord would speak to us about. But the thing I would focus on as we consider that this morning is

Being poor in spirit speaks of us acknowledging our poverty spiritually. It speaks of us acknowledging our need for God and our reliance upon God. Pastor David Guzik puts it this way. He says, the poor in spirit recognize that they have no spiritual assets. They know they are spiritually bankrupt.

With the word poor, Jesus uses the more severe term for poverty. It indicates someone who must beg for whatever they have or get. This idea of spiritual poverty, it speaks to us of not having any resources that we can offer God in the sense of we don't have anything that we can produce of value in the spiritual realm.

We don't have anything that we can produce that has value when it comes to the things of God and the work of God, the ministry of God, and even the salvation of God. We're completely poor. And as Pastor David Guzik points out, it's a severe word for poverty. There's another word for poverty that speaks of like you just make enough to get by. Some people, we have the saying, right? They live paycheck to paycheck. We've all been there. And maybe some of us are still there.

And the idea of paycheck to paycheck is, right, you just make enough to make it to the next paycheck. And then that paycheck gets you to the next one. And the idea of poverty in the Greek, there was another word that described it to a greater degree. It was even more than just paycheck to paycheck. It was day to day. That you would work the day to just get enough to survive that day.

And then tomorrow would start over again. And so it was right on the edge of destruction because there was no room for error. There was no room for issues. There was no room for sickness or illness because it was just, I have to get today enough to provide for me today. But that was a different word for poverty. This word for poverty is even more poverty than that. And that is, I don't even have the resources to work today to get what I need today.

The only way I can get what I need is by begging. If it's given to me. And this is the reality that we must acknowledge and accept when it comes to the things of the Spirit. When it comes to spiritual things. When it comes to the things of God. We don't even have what it takes to work a day

to earn blessings from God, to earn grace from God, to earn mercy from God, to earn God's work in our life, to earn God to pay any attention to us. We don't have anything that we could do to earn or deserve to have wages from God. What we need to do is to recognize we are completely bankrupt spiritually. And we come to God not giving him what we can provide. We come to God to receive something.

what he offers to us. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Listen, you are blessed if you come to God acknowledging your need for him, receiving his grace and mercy that is extended towards us, receiving his goodness that he loves to pour out. When we come to God in that way, poor in spirit. Now, when we come to God proud of how great we are, when we come to God

excited about how righteous we are. When we come to God, you know, with what we can offer to God, God, look, here's what I can do for you. You're going to be so thankful because I'm the best guitar player in the world. And boy, I can really do some music for you. You know, I can do this and I can do that, or I have this, or I've accomplished that. And that's not coming to God in poverty of spirit. But when we come to God, acknowledging our need for him, Jesus says, you are blessed.

And he gives the promise, yours is the kingdom of heaven. You receive the kingdom of God by coming to God, acknowledging your need for him. Well, continuing on into verse four, he says, blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are those who mourn. Jesus here is not saying that they are blessed because they mourn. He's saying they're blessed even though they mourn.

He's not saying they're blessed and so they won't ever mourn. He's saying that even though there will be occasions for mourning, yet still there will be the persistence of blessing. There will still be that resource, that infinite joy, those needs being met. And the promise is that they shall be comforted. You and I are going to face occasions and situations in our life that cause us to mourn.

And that's consistent with us walking with God and being men and women of God and being right with God. And yet we still have occasions for severe mourning. This word to mourn is, again, it's a intense mourning. It's a severe mourning. It's the mourning of someone that has, you've lost someone who is really close to you, someone that you've loved greatly. It's that kind of mourning.

Blessed are those who mourn severely, who weep bitterly. In our minds, that doesn't seem to connect, right? We don't connect and, wow, look at that weep, you know, that bitter weeping. And boy, there's great blessing attached to that, right? We don't connect those two things. No, we separate those things. But Jesus connects them and says, no, blessed are you who mourn, for you shall be comforted. You shall be comforted. Now, the idea that Jesus is expressing here is not that

Comfort is provided in every instance for every person who mourns. It's in the context of his disciples. And so going back to the point, we're blessed for relying upon God. The idea here is that as we mourn and weep bitterly, we mourn severely, but when we take our mourning to the Lord and we rely upon the Lord for comfort, he says they shall be comforted. The promise is that you will be comforted when you bring your sorrow to the Lord.

You will be comforted when you bring your mourning to him. The apostle Paul put it this way in 2 Corinthians 1. He said, He says, look, God is the God of all comfort.

He's able to provide comfort even to the deepest depths of mourning. And he's able to comfort us in all tribulation. No matter what it is that we're going through, God is the one who is able to comfort us. And then Paul goes on to say, and we're able now to comfort others because of the comfort that we have received. But notice what is happening here. It is the connection to God that is bringing the comfort here.

For the Apostle Paul, for those who mourn as Jesus declares this blessing. Blessed are those who rely upon God for comfort. Blessed are those who come to God in spiritual poverty, acknowledging our need for God. And so the Lord here again is addressing the situation of hardships, difficulty, lack, sinfulness,

All of those things exist in our life. That is part of the life that we live and the life that we face. But in spite of those things, Jesus says, you can be blessed with infinite joy as the resource, as the return on the investment. William Barclay puts it this way, the beatitudes speak of that joy which seeks us through our pain. That joy which sorrow and loss and pain and grief are powerless to touch.

that joy which shines through tears and which nothing in life or death can take away. It's a permanent residing blessing that Jesus pronounces for us. We're blessed for relying upon God. As we continue on now, we're going to look at a few different verses for point number three. Point three is blessed for representing God. And here we're going to look at verse five, seven, and nine.

These three verses, I lumped together because, well, there's a connection between them. Let's look at verse five again. It says, blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Then verse seven, blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. And then verse nine, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. These verses, we can kind of group them together because these verses really indicate that

Things relating to our connections and interactions with people around us. And so it comes back to this idea of representing God in the relationships that we have. Meekness, merciful, peacemakers. These are all speaking about interactions that take place around us. And there is a blessing that's pronounced. There's a blessing that is given to us by Jesus that

when we, in those interactions and in our relationships, represent him and show other people what his nature is like, what his character is like, the way that he relates to us is the way that we are called to relate to one another. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Now, as we consider this idea of meekness, this is another one of those words that is packed with meaning. It just, there's a lot that we could chew on and consider here.

with this word meekness. In thinking about and wrestling with the idea of meekness, I kind of combine it into three different words. It's kind of all like roped together. One is gentleness. The second is humility. And third is self-control. Meekness is really a combination of these things. Gentleness, humility, and self-control. We have the example, of course, of Jesus as one who is meek. He declared that he is meek and lowly.

And so we can look at him and we can see all of those things in play in the life and character of Jesus. He was gentle. Even with those who were sinful, even with those who came against him, even with those who hurt him or betrayed him, Jesus had a marked and genuine gentleness. Jesus also demonstrated humility. Of course, being equal to God, he did not consider that equality something to be grasped, but he humbled himself and

came in the form of man, became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. He humbled himself. He was gentle. He was filled with self-control. Jesus at any time could have just taken everybody out. Remember when he was hanging on the cross and he was saying, look, if the Lord wanted to, like he could send legions of angels or I could just come off the cross. Like it's not an issue of power. Jesus maintained self-control, humility, and gentleness.

Perhaps you've heard the phrase, meekness is not weakness, it's power under control. It's power under control. You and I, we have some power. We don't have great power, but we have some power. You could phrase it another way, we have some rights. And meekness is handling those authorities, those powers, those rights that we have in a way that is gentle and humble and with self-control.

To kind of consider this a little bit further, I want to turn to a source that has great authority, depths of wisdom like you can't imagine. It's the California DMV Driver Handbook. It says, never insist on taking the right of way. If another driver does not yield to you when he or she should, forget it. Let the other driver go first. You will help prevent accidents and make driving more pleasant.

I think this is a great illustration of meekness found in a very unlikely source. You come to an intersection, it's your turn. You have the right of way, but the other person's saying, nope, I'm going. And you can fight it. It's my right, it's my turn, you know, and you can make a fuss and you can have a fit. But they say, look, if you just forget it, just be meek, just let them go. Yes, they're trampling all over your rights. Yes, you know, it's your turn. Yes, all of that. But if you just let them go,

You'll prevent accidents and you'll make driving more pleasant. If you find yourself unpleasant while driving, perhaps you need to consider the meekness element of your driving style. It's a good picture for us. Blessed are the meek. Yes, you have rights. Yes, there's things that other people are doing that, yeah, maybe they shouldn't. Maybe they're stepping on your toes or stepping on your area or they're stepping on your territory, whatever it may be. But meekness...

demonstrates this gentleness, this humility, and this self-control. It's the way that the Lord behaved with the people around him. It's the way the Lord behaves with you. Jesus says, you'll be blessed. You'll inherit the earth. Now the pushy think they'll inherit the earth by being pushy. But Jesus says, no, the real way to inherit the earth, you want to get what you want, you want to get what you need? Look at meekness. Follow my example, Jesus would say. Well, considering verse 7, he said, "'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.'"

This is actually a challenging verse, even though it's kind of a beautiful verse, right? Blessed are the merciful. Oh yeah, that's great. Blessed are the merciful. But when you stop and think about it, you'll realize the fact that you are merciful means that, well, something wrong has been done to you that gave you the opportunity to show mercy. And so the idea of being merciful really speaks to the idea of being hurt, being wronged, being offended, injustice being done.

Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are those who are wronged. Blessed are those who are offended. Blessed are those who have been hurt and given the opportunity, given the occasion to show mercy. Mercy is the withholding of punishment that is due. And we are incredibly thankful that God is merciful towards us.

Not only is he gracious in that he overloads us with blessings that we do not deserve, but he withholds judgment, penalty, punishment that we deserve. That's mercy. And for us to be able to withhold penalty, punishment, judgment that is deserved to others, well, it means that they've done things to us that deserve penalty, punishment, and judgment. But we take the occasion to show mercy.

Now mercy does not mean that no discipline is ever given because even as you look at the example of us in the Lord, he disciplines us. It's measured. It's not the penalty for sin. It is a certain amount of measured discipline to train us and to teach us. Hebrews chapter 12 goes into greater depth talking about these things. And so it doesn't mean that there can never be any correction or addressing of issues because

But at the same time, there is mercy that is applied, that there is a withholding of, well, what could be right or could be fair and retribution for wrong that has been done. Blessed are the merciful. Again, we're representing God when we show mercy. This is the way that he relates to us. We're that demonstration, that real life demonstration to people around us. This is how God addresses you. This is how God approaches you with mercy.

Well, then verse 9, he says, Now again, this necessitates the need for peace, right? One who makes peace is pretty useless when there's already peace. But one who makes peace is really necessary when there's some turmoil, there's some trouble, there's some issues. Blessed are the peacemakers. There's some family situations where peacemakers are necessary.

There's some turmoil and trouble perhaps. And maybe it's peace between you and somebody else, or maybe it's peace between a couple others. But this idea of making peace and bringing unity, reconciling, these are things that God values. It's interesting to consider this beatitude, blessed are the peacemakers, in light of the events of this week, isn't it?

Tales of World War III and all of those things I'm sure you heard about and saw come through. I'm not going to dive into all of that, except to say that the idea of being a peacemaker does not mean that there is no involvement, no struggle, no battle.

It does not mean a retreat only to make peace. Again, I've been quoting William Barclay a lot today, but I really just appreciated the things he shared about this. So here's another quote from William Barclay. He says, what this beatitude demands is not the passive acceptance of things because we're afraid of the trouble of doing anything about them, but the active facing of things and the making of peace, even when the way to peace is through struggle. Struggle.

Sometimes the way to peace is through struggle. That is, there's going to have to be a really difficult conversation that has to be had. And perhaps there's going to be a battle, a struggle in that regard. I'm not talking about violence, okay? But there is real battles that we face. There's real battles that we go to. And sometimes to make peace, those battles have to be fought. And so blessed are the peacemakers. Sometimes that's the removing of the battle.

Sometimes that's a retreating from the battle. Sometimes that's an engaging in battle. Different situations warrant different responses, but the end result is the same. The end result is peace, reconciliation. And in this, we represent God because God desires reconciliation between man and God. One of the greatest ways that we can be peacemakers is to help people to connect to God and be united to the Lord.

but we also have the opportunity to be peacemakers amongst one another. God likes to see, he celebrates when the brethren dwell together in unity. The apostle Paul says in Romans 12, 18, if it's possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Live peaceably with all men, as much as it depends on you.

Jesus says, if you'll be a peacemaker, you will be blessed. There might be some battles. There might be some struggles. You might be engaging in things that you wish you would run away from. But the end result is you will be blessed for representing God in your meanness, in your mercy, and in your peacemaking. Well, now for point number four, we're going to look at verses six, eight, and 10, grouping these together to form point four, which is blessed for pleasing God. Followers of Jesus are so blessed.

with infinite joy because we rely upon God, because we represent God, and because we seek to please God. Verse 6 says, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. This idea of hungering and thirsting for righteousness, first of all, we need to understand it's not a righteousness of salvation type of sense, but it's a

Hunger and thirst for personal righteousness or personal holiness. The idea here is that we hunger and thirst to be right with God, to please God, to do the things that are right in God's eyes. And if you hunger and thirst for righteousness, the promise is you shall be filled. When you desire, when your heart is to please God, when you desire to do what's right, there's a great promise here.

Now there's some faith that is required because of course we know that we are unrighteous and we fall short. We have issues with sin. What the Lord is not saying here is blessed are those who are perfectly righteous. He's saying, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. It's not a perfection that brings the blessing, but it's even though I fall short, even though I mess up, even though I fall into and have issues of sin, I

what I desire. And Lord, would you work in me your righteousness? Would you work in me a sanctification? And the Lord works in us righteousness in justification, that is applying to us, imputing to us his righteousness. He works his righteousness in us in sanctification, that is in the process of time as we seek him and walk with him. He purges sin from our lives and he develops righteousness in us

But then, of course, we look forward to that glorification where we are ultimately sinless in the presence of God in eternity, where we don't have the battle with our sinful nature any longer. And when we hunger and thirst for that, to be there with the Lord without sin, to walk before him in purity, when our desire and our craving, our hunger and our thirst is for that, Jesus says, you are blessed.

Jumping to verse 8, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the pure in heart. The idea here of pure in heart, again, it's not perfection that we're addressing here. The pure in heart, Jesus is not saying, you know, blessed are you if you're perfect, and then we all just like count ourselves out and move on because we know we can never be perfect. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it? So how can we be the pure of heart, right?

But the idea here of pure of heart is unmixed. This is the idea of having an undivided heart. That our heart is not split between the world and the Lord. That our heart is for the Lord, wholly, completely. That we're sold out unto the Lord. That we're giving ourselves entirely to the Lord. Blessed are the pure in heart. And the promise is, they shall see God. Listen, you're blessed. If your desire is for the Lord...

If your heart is for God, Jesus says you will see God. You're blessed because you will be rewarded with the presence of God. As you seek him and you turn your heart to him completely, you are blessed. Well, then finally, verse 10, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

persecuted for righteousness sake. Again, that's not something we would normally associate with infinite joy, right? But at the same time, the reality is we will face issues, opposition, difficulty, persecution. Verse 11 and 12 go on to elaborate and even give a double blessing to those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. Jesus says, you're blessed. When you are devoted to me and it causes you issues in this world because the world is against me,

Even though you face difficulty, pain, opposition, affliction, you're blessed for yours is the kingdom of heaven. And so in these things, we can see this pleasing God, this seeking after the things of the Lord, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, having a heart that is devoted to the Lord entirely, even to the point of persecution and pushback and affliction around us.

As we consider these things, of course, we can understand that we all fall short in these things. And so here's another quote from William Barclay. He says, wrong quote, William Barclay, in his mercy, God judges us not only by our achievements, but also by our dreams. Even if a man never attains goodness or righteousness, if to the end of the day, he is still hungry and thirsting for it, he is not shut out from blessedness. Even when we fail in our area of righteousness, but we're afflicted by that.

and we still hunger and thirst for righteousness, we're not removed from the blessedness, he says. We still hold on to that promise of blessing. Even when we find our heart mixed and divided, and we come back to, Lord, I want to be wholly devoted to you. This seeking after, this pursuing, again, it's not perfection that God is requiring, but that the direction of righteousness, of wholeheartedness, the Lord rewards that.

And promise his blessing for that. Remember what the Lord said to David? When David wanted to build the temple, but that wasn't God's plan for him. It wasn't his place to do. He told David, whereas it was in your heart to build the temple for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. Good job. You did well that it was in your heart. That was the right thing. Your heart was in the right place. And for us to please God, we're always going to fail. We're always going to fall short. But if our heart's in the right place...

God says, good job. You did well that it was in your heart. Keep going. That way you will be blessed. Keep hungering. Keep seeking. Keep pursuing the pleasing of God. Well, finally, just a quick recap of these Beatitudes. Point number five is blessed for believing God. Followers of Jesus are so blessed.

Because as you look at these beatitudes, again, seeing the pattern, the blessing is pronounced, the condition is declared, and then the promise is given. And as you look at the conditions, these are things that we don't automatically associate with happiness or joy, and it requires faith for us to believe God at his word. These things may not feel good as we encounter them, as we experience them, as we walk in them, but as we walk by faith and not by sight, we are blessed.

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We can clearly see the eternal perspective of this promised blessing. But at the same time, for those who believe God, it's not that we have to wait till eternity to begin to experience this blessing. We don't have to wait until then to begin to experience this infinite joy. But believing what God says right now,

Coming to God in poverty of spirit right now and believing what he says, I can begin to take joy. I can begin to experience the blessings he promises, even though the final fulfillment of them are not yet. Believing God at his word is why we're blessed. As you walk through each of these uncomfortable situations, difficult circumstances, things that we'll face that are challenging and may not feel good.

But we are blessed as we believe God at his word, as we hold fast to what he has declared. And we can be merciful even when we've been wronged or hurt because we believe what God says that we will obtain mercy. We can be peacemakers even when there's the struggle, the battle, the challenges because we'll be like God in making peace and bringing unity and reconciliation between people.

We can come to God in poverty of spirit. We can go through the process of mourning without having to run away from it or pretend like it's not there or escape the pain of mourning because we know that we will be comforted. We can embrace these things and walk in them blessed because we believe God at his word. And so followers of Jesus are so blessed, blessed with infinite joy because

for relying upon God, for representing God, for pleasing God, and for believing God. We want to finish up this morning with a time of communion. And so I'll invite the worship team to come up and they're going to close this in a song. And the ushers are going to pass out the bread and the cup, representing the body of Christ that was broken for us, representing the blood of Christ that was shed for us. And these are the things that speak to us that

prove to us the reality of these blessings that are promised to us. And I want to finish up with this quote from F.B. Meyer. He says, there is no soul of man, however illiterate, lonely, or poor, that may not step suddenly into this life of beatitude and begin to drink of the river that makes glad the city of God. There's nobody anywhere who is so far gone or so little or so removed that

They are unable to step right into this life of blessedness and infinite joy. Anyone can at any time by turning to Jesus Christ, by receiving what Christ has done for us, by believing God at his word and accepting the offer of salvation and grace and forgiveness extended to us through the cross. And we can, by just declaring to God that we receive, that we believe, step into this life of blessedness and have this promise of

of infinite joy as we walk with God. And so as we partake of communion together, as we start off the year and spending this time with the Lord, I would encourage you to take this time and refresh your heart, refresh your mind in receiving what Christ has done for you, appreciating what he has done for you. Receive the blessing of his forgiveness. Be blessed. Allow him to search your heart. Use this as an occasion to be pure of heart. That is to turn yourself entirely to the Lord.

that you might seek to please him in all that you do. As they lead us in worship, you can partake at any time. The ushers will pass out the bread and the cup. You can partake between you and the Lord. And at the end, Pastor Jonathan will give you an opportunity to partake and close us out. We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.