Just a few thoughts this evening
on the Beatitudes the first words of this chapter the beginning
of the Lord's Sermon on the Mount and in the first 11 verses we
have really eight foundation stones which the Lord lays down. And we read those words in Matthew
chapter 5. Now there's an abridgment is
found in Luke chapter 6. From verse 20 it says, He lifted
up his eyes on his disciples and said, Blessed be ye poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now,
for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now,
for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye when men shall
hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company,
and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil for the
son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap
for joy, for behold your reward is great in heaven for in the
like manner did their fathers unto the prophets and then also with our reading
it does refer to Psalm 1 and that was why I chose that first
hymn and Psalm 1 of course says blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is
in the law of the Lord. And in his law doth he meditate
day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted
by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his
season. His leaf also shall not wither,
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not
so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore
the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in
the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way
of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. So really in Matthew at the beginning
here of the Sermon of the Mount we really have perhaps the Lord's
secret for happiness. Blessed or happy sometimes it's
translated. And J.C. Ryle says some very
sort of helpful quite succinct comments on these verses. Of course there is a condition
attached to the blessing. So just running through these
verses just briefly. The Lord up in the mountain,
when it was said his disciples came unto him, and he opened
his mouth and taught them, saying, And while it's tremendous, isn't
it? Surely the best sermon ever preached
we have before us in these chapters in Matthew. We begin in verse three. Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. As I say, Rahal is very helpful
with some of his points. And here he means the humble
and lowly minded and self-abased or feeling unimportant. He means those who are deeply
convinced of their own sinfulness in God's sight. It's a lesson
for us, isn't it? There's so many lessons to learn
from these words. They are not rich and increased
with goods. They do not imagine that they
need nothing. We all have needs. So much that
we need. And the Lord will provide, won't
he, what we need. Not what we want, but what we
need. And they regard themselves as
wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. And Ryle says, blessed are all
such those who consider themselves wretched and miserable and poor
and blind and naked. He says that humility is the
very first letter in the alphabet of Christianity. Humility is
the very first letter in the alphabet of Christianity. And blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. Mourn, he means those who sorrow
for sin and grieve daily over their own shortcomings. These
are they who trouble themselves more about sin than about anything
on earth. We read the sacrifices of God
are a broken and contrite spirit. But one day they shall weep no
more. They shall be comforted." Sometimes perhaps out of context
we might quote these words if somebody has died in sympathy. Blessed are they that mourn,
for they shall be comforted. And I remember putting that on
somebody's card once. Her relative had died and I put
those words on her card. She wasn't a Christian, so she
probably wouldn't have taken any notice of the theology behind
these things. But I thought that was perhaps,
it was the first verse that came to my mind. And I'm sure for
those who who mourn the loss of loved ones. Well, if the loved
one has died, well, I'm sure that's easier in a way to manage in a way, but The death
of a loved one whether they're believers or not is a hard thing. And may it be that we know the
Lord's comfort and may it be that we can also help others
and perhaps show a word of sympathy and comfort to others. But of course we know if one
has died who is the Lords then they're now in a far better place
and very happy. Then we have blessed are the
meek for they shall inherit the earth. Meek he means those who
are of a patient and contented spirit. This good thing isn't
to be patient and contented If our prayer is that we would be
that. They are willing to put up with
little honour here below. They can bear injuries without
resentment, not ready to take offence. Like Lazarus in the
parable, they are content to wait for their good things. And
if we are the Lord's, We know the best is yet to come, isn't
it? We never lose out in the long
run. And I always think of Moses when
you think of meekness. And we read in Numbers 12, don't
we, from verse 1 to verse 7. And Miriam and Aaron spake against
Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married. For
he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, have the Lord
indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also by us?
And the Lord heard it. Now it's in brackets. Now the
man Moses was very meek above all the men which were upon the
face of the earth. Close bracket. And the Lord spake
suddenly unto Moses and unto Aaron and unto Miriam. Come out ye three unto the tabernacle
of the congregation. And they three came out. And
the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, stood in the door
of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam and they both
came forth and he said hear now my words there be a prophet among
you I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision I
will speak unto him in a dream my servant Moses is not so who
is faithful in all mine house there was see meekness is not
weakness here Moses could have really sort of had a go at Aaron
and Miriam and sort of fought his corner but he didn't. He
allowed the Lord to vindicate his name and of course we know
that Miriam became Lephoras if you read on in that chapter. So it was a strength to sort
of not say anything And that is, isn't it, sometimes it's
very tempting, very easy to just lash out. But here Moses didn't
and Lord vindicated him. Then we have blessed are they
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall
be filled. He means those who desire above
all things to be entirely conformed to the mind of God. They long
not so much to be rich or wealthy or learned as to be holy. May that be our desire. Not to be rich, famous or whatever, but to be holy. May it be that that is our desire,
man's chief end after all, is to glorify God and then to enjoy
him forever. And the hungering and the thirsting,
that sort of suggests an appetite, doesn't it? If you're hungry
and thirsty, then you eat a good meal, or you drink gallons of
water, whatever, because you're hungry and thirsty. And may there
be that pursuit of righteousness, that earnest pursuit of righteousness
in us. Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. Merciful, those full of compassion
towards others. They pity all who are suffering
either from sin or sorrow, tenderly desirous to make their sufferings
less. Full of good works, endeavour
to do good. May there be that. desire in
us to be compassionate to one another, but not just perhaps
in a kind of humanitarian way, but that there is a concern for
people's souls and where they will ultimately spend eternity. So it goes more than just the
physical, the outward, but something inner, spiritual. and blessed are the pure in heart,
for they shall see God. He means those who do not aim
merely at outward correctness, but at inward holiness. As it may be our concern and
our prayer that the Lord will work in us holiness. that we shouldn't be satisfied
with an external show of religion. Very easy to do that, isn't it?
But they strive to keep a heart and conscience void of offence
and to serve God with the spirit and the inner man. Man, of course, looks at the
outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart, as we're
told in 1 Samuel 16, 7. Let's remember that God sees
us, that God knows all about us and what we're thinking and
our motives. We can't hide from God. We can
hide from one another. We can fool one another, but
not God. And then, blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called the children of God. He means those who use all their
influence to promote peace and charity on earth, in private
and in public, at home and abroad. And we read, don't we, in Romans
12, 18, it says, if it be possible, as much as life in you live peaceably
with all men. It's always possible. Sometimes people can be very
annoying or not very peaceful. They can be very angry or aggravating
in what they say and do. But may it be that we're helped
to try and be as peaceful and as gracious as we can, even in
those situations that we may well face. And we read in Proverbs
15.1, a soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir
up anger. The scriptures speak much, doesn't
it, of the tongue, the power of the tongue. can do a lot of
damage but can do a lot of good too. A soft answer. Turneth away
wrath. And blessed are they which are
persecuted for righteousness' sake. For theirs is the kingdom
of heaven. Blessed are ye when men shall
revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil
against you falsely for my sake. Persecution for righteousness'
sake. It means those who are laughed
at, mocked, despised, ill-used because they endeavour to live
as true Christians. We felt that and known that in
our lives, that people think it's strange or laugh at us because
we come to the Lord's house, because we don't do this or we
don't do that. and we get laughed at or they
think us very strange the blessed are all such perhaps
there's a double blessing here because it's a sort of sentiment
repeated there in verse 11 and it's sort of made personal blessed
are ye ye as opposed to the or they blessed are ye sort of more
And so, yeah, you will be persecuted. You will be reviled. People will
falsely accuse you. Let's learn from the master,
the Lord Jesus, how he was falsely accused and reviled. We drink,
don't we? They drunk off the same cup.
which their master drank. And then just finally, verse
12. Rejoice and be exceeding glad,
for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets
which were before you. For great is your reward in heaven. It's not of debt, but of grace. For there is no proportion or
comparison between what the saints suffer for Christ and the glory
that shall be revealed in them by him, not in earth, but in
heaven. Saints must not expect their
reward here, but hereafter, when God himself will be their reward. He will be all in all. Christ
and all his glory and all the riches of it will be the reward
of the inheritance and which must needs be a great one. Is that the reward that we're
after? Not for gold medal, not for doing good, but the reward
of being with the Lord and knowing that he is our all in all And
in glory that shall be, we shall know that in totality, whereas
now we can only know it in part. So much can be said, of course,
just a few little thoughts on, but what a start to this sermon,
wasn't it? By our Lord and some, beautiful
words and blessed. As I say, it's often happy. Often
it's used, there's a lot of unhappiness in the world. But may we know
the blessedness of knowing the Lord. And perhaps some of the
things you say, how can you be happy being humble? Or how can
you be happy being poor? Or how can you be happy when
you're troubled over sin? We're told we are blessed indeed
in these things. So may we know the blessedness
of the Lord in our lives and know that we, by his grace, are
his. And may we have the joy of the
Lord in our hearts. More could be said, I'll just
leave those thoughts there for now. Amen.