Fourth Sunday after Epiphany — Year A — exegesis on the Gospel, Matthew 5:1-12

The Fourth Sunday after Epiphany is January 29, 2023.

Readings for Year A can be found here.

The Gospel is as follows (emphases mine):

Matthew 5:1-12

5:1 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.

5:2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

5:4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

5:5 “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

5:6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

5:7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

5:11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

5:12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Commentary comes from Matthew Henry and John MacArthur (as specified below).

This is another long post. John MacArthur preached ten sermons on these verses in 1979, one verse a week for the most part.

Jesus gave this sermon in Galilee. When He saw the crowds, He went up a mountain, and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him (verse 1).

Then, He began to speak and taught them (verse 2).

Recall that last week’s reading for the Third Sunday after Epiphany, Matthew 4:12-23, ended as follows:

4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and curing every disease and every sickness among the people.

Keep that in mind while reading the rest of this post, which is the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), with the eight Beatitudes.

Matthew Henry’s commentary sets the scene beautifully:

The many miraculous cures wrought by Christ in Galilee, which we read of in the close of the foregoing chapter, were intended to make way for this sermon, and to dispose people to receive instructions from one in whom there appeared so much of a divine power and goodness; and, probably, this sermon was the summary, or rehearsal, of what he had preached up and down in the synagogues of Galilee. His text was, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This is a sermon on the former part of that text, showing what it is to repent; it is to reform, both in judgment and practice; and here he tells us wherein, in answer to that question (Mal 3 7), Wherein shall we return?

Henry elaborates on these verses, using contrasts from the Old Testament to illustrate what a welcome occasion this is. Note that Zebulun was mentioned in last week’s first reading, Isaiah 9:1-4:

II. The place was a mountain in Galilee. As in other things, so in this, our Lord Jesus was but ill accommodated; he had no convenient place to preach in, any more than to lay his head on. While the scribes and Pharisees had Moses’ chair to sit in, with all possible ease, honour, and state, and there corrupted the law; our Lord Jesus, the great Teacher of truth, is driven out to the desert, and finds no better a pulpit than a mountain can afford; and not one of the holy mountains neither, not one of the mountains of Zion, but a common mountain; by which Christ would intimate that there is no such distinguishing holiness of places now, under the gospel, as there was under the law; but that it is the will of God that men should pray and preach every where, any where, provided it be decent and convenient. Christ preached this sermon, which was an exposition of the law, upon a mountain, because upon a mountain the law was given; and this was also a solemn promulgation of the Christian law. But observe the difference: when the law was given, the Lord came down upon the mountain; now the Lord went up: then, he spoke in thunder and lightning; now, in a still small voice: then the people were ordered to keep their distance; now they are invited to draw near: a blessed change! If God’s grace and goodness are (as they certainly are) his glory, then the glory of the gospel is the glory that excels, for grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, 2 Cor 3 7; Heb 12 18, etc. It was foretold of Zebulun and Issachar, two of the tribes of Galilee (Deut 33 19), that they shall call the people to the mountain; to this mountain we are called, to learn to offer the sacrifices of righteousness. Now was this the mountain of the Lord, where he taught us his ways, Isa 2 2, 3; Mic 4 1, 2.

III. The auditors were his disciples, who came unto him; came at his call, as appears by comparing Mark 3 13, Luke 6 13. To them he directed his speech, because they followed him for love and learning, while others attended him only for cures. He taught them, because they were willing to be taught (the meek will he teach his way); because they would understand what he taught, which to others was foolishness; and because they were to teach others; and it was therefore requisite that they should have a clear and distinct knowledge of these things themselves. The duties prescribed in this sermon were to be conscientiously performed by all those that would enter into that kingdom of heaven which they were sent to set up, with hope to have the benefit of it. But though this discourse was directed to the disciples, it was in the hearing of the multitude; for it is said (ch. 7 28), The people were astonished. No bounds were set about this mountain, to keep the people off, as were about mount Sinai (Exod 19 12); for, through Christ, we have access to God, not only to speak to him, but to hear from him. Nay, he had an eye to the multitude, in preaching this sermon. When the fame of his miracles had brought a vast crowd together, he took the opportunity of so great a confluence of people, to instruct them. Note, It is an encouragement to a faithful minister to cast the net of the gospel where there are a great many fishes, in hope that some will be caught. The sight of a multitude puts life into a preacher, which yet must arise from a desire of their profit, not his own praise.

IV. The solemnity of his sermon is intimated in that word, when he was set. Christ preached many times occasionally, and by interlocutory discourses; but this was a set sermon, kathisantos autou, when he had placed himself so as to be best heard. He sat down as a Judge or Lawgiver. It intimates with what sedateness and composure of mind the things of God should be spoken and heard. He sat, that the scriptures might be fulfilled (Mal 3 3), He shall sit as a refiner, to purge away the dross, the corrupt doctrines of the sons of Levi. He sat as in the throne, judging right (Ps 9 4); for the word he spoke shall judge us. That phrase, He opened his mouth, is only a Hebrew periphrasis of speaking, as Job 3 1. Yet some think it intimates the solemnity of this discourse; the congregation being large, he raised his voice, and spoke louder than usual. He had spoken long by his servants the prophets, and opened their mouths (Ezek 3 27; 24 27; 33 22); but now he opened his own, and spoke with freedom, as one having authority. One of the ancients has this remark upon it; Christ taught much without opening his mouth. that is, by his holy and exemplary life; nay, he taught, when, being led as a lamb to the slaughter, he opened not his mouth, but now he opened his mouth, and taught, that the scriptures might be fulfilled, Prov 8 1, 2, 6. Doth not wisdom cry—cry on the top of high places? And the opening of her lips shall be right things. He taught them, according to the promise (Isa 54 13), All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; for this purpose he had the tongue of the learned (Isa 50 4), and the Spirit of the Lord, Isa 61 1. He taught them, what was the evil they should abhor, and what was the good they should abide and abound in; for Christianity is not a matter of speculation, but is designed to regulate the temper of our minds and the tenour of our conversations; gospel-time is a time of reformation (Heb 9 10); and by the gospel we must be reformed, must be made good, must be made better. The truth, as it is in Jesus, is the truth which is according to godliness, Tit 1 1.

We all know the eight Beatitudes, however, as we go through them, we will see that one builds on the other. Jesus did not randomly arrange these. Nor did He intend them to be socio-political platitudes. He never preached about politics or social conditions.

John MacArthur points out:

There’s no politics in the Sermon on the Mount. None. There is not one reference to the social, political aspect of the kingdom made here, not one. The Jews were so concerned about the politics and the social life. Jesus makes no reference to that at all. The stress – I want you to get this – the stress is on being. That’s the word you’re going to have to see. The stress is on being. It’s not on ruling or possessing it is on being …

This is a different kind of a kingdom. It even advocates persecution without retaliation and blesses those who live that way. It’s a spiritual kingdom. So the political aspect of this message was devastating. It was absolutely everything was the opposite of what they expected a Messiah to say …

What he was saying is this, “My kingdom is inside.” Do you see? It’s inside. That’s the whole point. That’s the whole message of Jesus to the world. That’s the whole basis of the Sermon on the Mount. It’s inside, not outside. Not outside rituals, not outside philosophy, not outside location or monasteries or any of that stuff, not outside activism, it’s inside.

Jesus said that blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (verse 3).

MacArthur gives us the meaning of ‘blessed’, which runs through the Bible and our prayers:

In Matthew chapter 5 through 7, our Lord is establishing and counter standard of living, counter to everything the world knows and practices, a new approach to living that results in blessedness, makarios.  And we saw that this makarios is deep inner happiness, a deep and genuine sense of blessedness, a bliss that the world cannot offer, not produced by the world, not produced by circumstances, and not subject to change by the world or circumstances.  It is not produced externally.  It cannot be touched externally.

The promise of Christ, then, in the Sermon on the Mount is at the very beginning.  He is saying if you live by these standards you will know blessedness.  And so in verse 3, it’s blessed, in verse 4, it’s blessed.  In verse 5, blessed.  Verse 6, verse 7, verse 8, verse 9, 10, 11, and finally, as a result of all this blessedness, verse 12, rejoice and be exceeding glad.

The whole Sermon on the Mount introduces itself with a promise of blessedness, happiness, deep, inner satisfaction.  Now we said also last time that this blessedness, this well being, this bliss, this happiness, in which believers live and which they enjoy, is really a gift of God.  For makarios or blessedness is characteristic of God. 

The greatest possible understanding of the term “blessed” comes when you understand that God is blessed.  So happy is the people whose God is the Lord.  Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord, for he, above all, is blessed.  “Blessed be God,” says the Bible.  “Blessed be the Lord Jesus Christ.”  And if they are blessed, if they have this deep inner bliss, this deep sense of contentment and blessedness because of the virtue of divine nature, then only those who partake in that divine nature can know that same blessedness.

MacArthur points out — as does Henry’s commentary — that each beatitude is a spiritual paradox. In other words, how can we be without and yet have so much?

MacArthur says:

Now as you look at the Beatitudes, you’ll see that they’re like sacred paradoxes.  They’re almost given in absolute contrast to everything the world knows.  And let me just say a word that I want as a little footnote here.  You see the word “blessing.”  The word “blessing” or “blessed” has an opposite word in the Bible.  The opposite of makarios is ouai and we translate it “woe.”  The opposite of blessing is cursing.  The opposite of blessed, Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount “blessed” and he turned around to the Pharisees later and said, “Woe unto you.”  Those are opposites. 

And let me hasten to say this.  The word “blessed” and the word “woe,” neither one of them are really a wish.  They are a judgmental pronunciation.  Jesus is saying, “I” – he’s not saying, “I wish you blessedness.”  He is saying, “Blessed is the man who goes this way, does this, thinks this way.”  And other places, “Woe to the man who does this.”  They are judicial pronunciations.  They are not simply wishes.

MacArthur gives us a sense of progression in the ordering of the Beatitudes:

We see a sequence.  Look with me quickly at verse 3.  First we see the poor in spirit.  “Poor in spirit” is the right attitude towards sin, which leads to mourning, in verse 4, which leads after you’ve seen your sinfulness and you’ve mourned, to a meekness, a sense of humility, then to a seeking and hunger and thirst for righteousness.  You can see the progression. 

It is important to remember that the verse says ‘poor in spirit’, not simply ‘poor’:

When you have two records in the Bible in the Gospels, you compare them.  “Blessed are the poor.”  What poor?  There are all kinds of poverty, right?  You could be poor in terms of money.  You could be poor in terms of your education.  You could be poor in terms of friends.  You could be poor in terms of a lot of things.  So when you read Luke say, “Blessed are the poor,” and you find Matthew, “Blessed are are the poor in spirit,” you make the conclusion simply that Matthew tells us what kind of poverty Luke was referring to.  That’s all.  It’s no big problem.  We just put the two together, comparing scripture with scripture.

‘Poor in spirit’ implies humility, the sort of humility that depends on God’s grace, says MacArthur:

Nobody yet ever entered God’s kingdom on the basis of pride.  Poverty of spirit is the only way in.  The door to the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ is very low and the only people who come in crawl. 

Jesus begins by saying, “There’s a mountain you have to scale.  There are heights you have to climb.  There is a standard you must attain, but you are incapable of doing it, and the sooner you realize it the sooner you’ll be on your way to finding it.”  In other words, he’s saying you can’t be filled until you’re empty.  You can’t be worthwhile until you’re worthless.

You know, it amazes me that in modern Christianity today there is so little of the self emptying concept.  I see a lot of books on how to be filled with joy and how to be filled and how to be filled with this and how to be filled with the spirit and so forth.  There’s lots of books on how to be filled, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a book on how to empty yourself of yourself …

You know, if you don’t have poverty of spirit, beloved, you might as well expect fruit to grow without a tree as the graces of the Christian life to grow without humility.  They can’t.  As long as we’re not poor in spirit, we can’t receive grace.  Now even at the beginning, you can’t even become a Christian unless you’re poor in spirit. 

And as you live your Christian life you’ll never know the other graces of the Christian life as long as you violate poverty of spirit.  And this is tough.  Jesus is saying, “Start here.  Happiness is for the humble.”  Happiness is for the humble.  Until we are poor in spirit, Christ is never precious to us.  Because we can’t see him for the looking at ourselves.  Before we see our own wants and our own needs and our own desperation, we never see the matchless worth of Christ.  Until we know how really damned we are, we can’t appreciate how really glorious he is.  Until we comprehend how doomed we are, we can’t understand how wondrous is his love to redeem us.  Until we see our poverty, we cannot understand his riches. 

And so out of the carcass comes the honey.  It is in our deadness that we come alive.  And no man ever comes to Jesus Christ, no man ever enters the kingdom who doesn’t crawl with a terrible sense of sinfulness, repentance. 

MacArthur examines the meaning of ‘poor’ in the Greek:

Now let’s take that term.  The word “poor,” ptchos, interesting word.  From a verb – now watch this one – the verb in the Greek means “a shrinking from something or someone to cower and cringe like a beggar.”  That’s what it means.  Like you just kind of cringe and cower like a beggar does. 

Classical Greek uses this word to refer to one who is reduced to beggary, who crouches in a corner of the dark wall to beg for alms.  And the reason he crouches and cowers is because he doesn’t want to be seen.  He is so desperately ashamed to even allow his identity to be known.  Beggars have all that stuff piled on, all those things pulled over their face, and they reach like this, lest they should be known.

By the way, the word “poor” here, the very word, is the word used in Luke 16 when it says, “Lazarus the beggar.”  That is what the word means.  It is not just poor, it is begging poor.  And by the way, there is another word in the Bible for normal poverty, pens.  Pens means you’re – generally and sometimes there’s an overlap – but generally pens means you’re so poor you have to work just to maintain your living. 

Ptchos means you’re so poor you have to beg.  You’re reduced to a cringing, cowering beggar.  Pens you can earn your own living.  You can earn your own sustenance.  Ptchos, you are totally dependent on the gift of somebody else.  All you’ve got going for you, no skill, no nothing.  In many cases, you’re crippled, you’re blind.  You’re deaf.  You’re dumb.  You can’t function in society and you sit in the corner with your shamed arm in the air, pleading for grace and mercy from somebody else.  You have no resource in yourself to even live.  Total dependence on somebody else. 

MacArthur moves on to ‘in spirit’:

Well, what does it mean in spirit?  Let me talk about that for a minute.  It means with reference to the spirit, which is the inner part of man, not the body, which is the outer part.  That’s all.  He’s begging on the inside, not necessarily on the outside.

Isaiah put it this way.  Isaiah 66:2.  “But to this man will I look.”  Here’s God talking.  Now listen.  “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word.”  It’s the man who shakes on the inside because of his destitution.  Psalm 34:18 put it this way.  “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”  Psalm 51:17.  “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, Oh God, thou wilt not despise.”

… It’s the broken and the contrite.  “Blessed are the beggars,” says Jesus.  Blessed are those whose spirit is destitute.  Blessed are the spiritual paupers, the spiritually empty, the spiritually bankrupt who cringe in a corner and cry out to God for mercy.  They are the happy ones.  Why?  Because they’re the only ones who tapped the real resource for happiness.  They’re the only ones who ever know God.  They’re the only ones who ever know God’s blessedness.  And theirs is the kingdom.

James put it this way.  It’s not just the Sermon on the Mount, James said it.  He said in James 4:10, “Humble yourselves in the sight of God and he will – ” what? “ – lift you up.”  The poverty here is not a poverty against which the will rebels, but it’s a poverty under which the will bows in deep dependence and submission.  I’m afraid this is a rather unpopular doctrine in the church today.  We emphasize celebrities and experts and superstars and rich, famous Christians.  But happiness is for the humble …

The sum of the great truth is simply stated.  The first principle of the Sermon on the Mount is that you can’t do it by yourself.  There’s a new lifestyle to live and that new lifestyle promises eternal happiness for you, but you can’t do it by yourself, so that the only standard for living is for those who know they can’t do it …

We have the grace now, the grace of the kingdom.  We have the glory later.  The kingdom as I see it is grace and glory.  Grace now, glory later.  What a tremendous thing.  Do you know what it is, people to possess the kingdom?  That’s what the word means, to possess.  You possess the kingdom.  It is yours.  The rule of Christ, the reign of Christ, you know what that means?  You’re his subject, he takes care of you …

And by the way, you can’t do it by looking at yourself.  Also, you can’t do it by looking at other people.  Don’t try to find somebody else who will set the standard for you.  There’s only one place to look if you want to become poor in spirit, that’s to concentrate on God.  That’s the first thing.  Look at God.  Read his Word.  Face his person in its pages.  Look at Christ.  Look at Christ constantly.  As you gaze at Jesus Christ, you lose yourself.  You lose yourself. 

Secondly, not only look at God.  I’ll give you three little principles.  If you’re going to know what it is to be poor in spirit, look at God, not at you, not at anybody else.  Look at God.  Two, starve the flesh.  Starve the flesh.  You know, even the ministries, even the ministries of this generation feed on pride in so many cases.  We have to seek the things that strip the flesh naked … 

I’d say a third thing.  These are the things I see in my own life.  I’ve got to look at God all the time.  Secondly, I got to starve my flesh.  I don’t want to run to the thing that compliments.  But there’s a third thing and I think it’s simple.  Ask.  You want to be poor in spirit?  Ask.  There’s one thing about a beggar.  He’s always what?  Asking.  You ever notice that.  Always.  Ask.  “Lord,” said the sinner, “be merciful to me, a sinner.”  Jesus said, “That man went home justified.”  Happy is the beggar in his spirit.  He’s the one who possesses the kingdom.  Why did Jesus begin with this?  Because it’s the bottom line.

What does it mean?  It means to be spiritually bankrupt and know it.  What is the result?  You become a possessor of the kingdom here and now and forever.  How do you become poor in spirit?  Look at God.  Starve your flesh.  And ask, beg.  He doesn’t mind a bit …

How do you know if you’re poor in spirit?  You’ll be weaned from yourself, lost in the wonder of Christ, and you’ll never complain about your situation because the deeper you get the sweeter the grace. 

Fourth.  You will see only the excellencies of others and only your own weakness.  You will see only the excellencies of others and only your own weakness.  Poor in spirit, the truly humble, is the only one who has to look up to everybody else. 

Fifth.  You will spend much time in prayer.  Why?  Because a beggar is always begging.  He knocks very often at heaven’s gate and he doesn’t let go until he’s blessed.  You want to know if you’re poor in spirit?  Are you weaned from yourself?  Are you lost in the wonder of Christ?  Are you never complaining no matter what the situation?  Do you see only the excellencies of others and only your own weakness?  Do you spend much time begging for grace? 

Six.  If you’re poor in spirit, you’ll take Christ on his terms, not yours.  You will take Christ on his terms, not yours.  The proud sinner will have Christ at his pleasure, Christ and his covetousness, Christ and his immorality.  The poor in spirit is so desperate he will give up anything just to get Christ, see.

Then Jesus said that blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (verse 4).

The interpretation which is often heard is that when we mourn the death of our loved ones or another type of loss, God will comfort us. That is true.

However, Jesus intended a spiritual mourning for the state of our souls.

MacArthur says that this has to do with repentance:

Listen, you can cry your eyes out about your problems and you can weep all you want about loneliness, and about discouragement, and about disappointment, and out of earnest love, and you can weep all you want about all those things, and you can cry your head off about your unfulfilled lusts, and when you’re said and done, every bit of that worldly sorrow will not bring you life.

There’s only one kind of sorrow that brings life, and that is godly sorrow, which leads you to – what? – repentance.  Therefore, we conclude that it is sorrow over – what? – sin that is the issue.  That’s the issue.  It is godly sorrow, sorrow over sin.  The sorrow of the world is useless.  It works death where godly sorrow works repentance, which brings salvation, which brings comfort.  That’s the whole idea.  That’s the key.  Godly sorrow is linked to repentance, and repentance is linked to sin …

You’re not mourning here over circumstances, human circumstances.  Over sin is what you’re mourning about.  Remember verse three, where the beatitudes all began?  “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  What does it mean to be poor in spirit?  I told you.  It’s a sense of being spiritually bankrupt.  It is the thing that says “in my flesh there dwelleth – ” what? “ – no good thing.”  That’s what it is. 

And that’s the intellectual part, and verse 4 is the emotional part.  Because your mind is convinced that you are spiritually bankrupt, your emotion takes over and you mourn that bankruptcy.  Such are kingdom people.

David’s Psalm 51 is one of many illustrations of mourning the state of one’s soul:

In Psalm 51, reflecting on the same sin with Bathsheba he said, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity; cleanse me from my sin.  For I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.”  I can’t get it out of my vision.  I can’t get it out of my mind. 

Verse 10, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.  Renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”  Listen.  When he mourned his sin and he confessed his sin, he was cleaned out.  It was a whole different attitude. 

Verse 32 illustrates the comfort that God’s forgiveness of sin brings:

And you know what he said in Psalm 32 when he got it all out?  He said, “Blessed, happy.  Happy is the man who mourns, because happy is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Happy is the man unto whom the Lord does not impute iniquity.”  You know why mourners are happy?  Because mourners over sin who are the only ones who are – what? – forgiven.  The rest of the world has to live with that guilt endlessly with no relief.

Beloved, let me say this.  The happiness doesn’t come in the mourning.  It comes in what God does in response to it.  You just try as a Christian to keep sin in your life and bottle it up and you just see how ruinous it becomes.  You confess it and see the freedom and the joy that comes in forgiveness …

Listen.  Nobody ever came into the kingdom of God who didn’t mourn over his own sinfulness.  And you can’t verify to me that you’re a true Christians or to anyone else unless throughout your life there is the same sense of grief over the sin in your own life.

Now I don’t mind being happy because I’m forgiven, but I can’t enjoy that happiness until I have dealt with sin.  A child of God is one constantly broken over sinfulness.  You know it’s hard for me to be happy much any more.  It really is.  I used to be a lot happier than I am now.  I know too much to be happy. 

MacArthur means this:

… going back to Matthew chapter 5, the verb here is a present tense, penthountes, continuous action, “the ones who are continually mourning are the ones continually being comforted.”  Luther in his 95 Theses said that our entire life is a continuous act of repentance and contrition.  David cried it out, Psalm 38, “For my iniquities are gone over my head.  Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.”  It was a way of life.  He just faced his sin as a reality all through his life.

You know something?  In all of the New Testament we find so much about Jesus, but one thing we never see Jesus do in the whole New Testament account is laugh.  He never laughed.  Oh, I don’t know if he did laugh or not, but it isn’t recorded.  Hard for me to imagine that he had much to laugh about.  He was hungry.  He was angry.  He was thirsty, but it never says he laughed, and that’s such a part of human emotion.  But it does say he wept.  He was a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. 

I think we’ve left that.  We have been sucked into an entertainment, thrill seeking, pleasure mad, silly world of fools and jesters and comedians, some of them even trying to ply their trade in the church.  Do you know that it was man introduced the other night on Christian television program as the leading Christian comedian?  Who needs that?  That’s what it means.  You understand now don’t you what it means to mourn over your sin?

What’s the result of it?  Second question.  These will be shorter.  And I didn’t say all I wanted to say, either, about that.  You realize that you just get the tip of the iceberg week after week.  Living with that frustration is very difficult.  What is the result of mourning?  You say, “So what’s it going to get me?  I mourn around, mope around, sorry for my sin, what do I get?”  Comfort, comfort.  By the way, as I said before, mourners are not blessed because they mourn, mourners are blessed because they comfort.  You don’t mourn, you don’t get comforted.  You just try to hide your guilt and it eats away.  There’s no happiness in the sorrow of the world because it can’t be comforted.

And by the way, they use the emphatic pronoun autoi here, which means “blessed are they who continue to mourn for they alone shall be comforted.”  It is only the mourners who know the comfort of God.  It is only those who mourn for sin who know what it is to have their tears dried by the loving hand of Jesus Christ.  They shall be comforted, parakale from which we get paraclte, the one called alongside to help, the one that Jesus referred to, the comforter. 

By the way, the Bible tells us God is a comforter, Psalm 30:5, Psalm 50:15, Isaiah 55:6-7, Micah 7:18-20, and on and on and on talks about the comfort that God gives us.  He helps us, he succors us, he hears our cry, he meets our need, he’s always there beseeching, and admonishing, and consoling, and sympathizing, and encouraging, and strengthening, and forgiving, and restoring, and that adds up to comfort.

As our mourning rises to the throne of God, His unsurpassed and matchless comfort descends from Him by Christ to us.  “God is a God of all comfort,” the Bible says.  And did you know who the comforter was?  … Jesus … said, “When I go away, I’ll send another – ” what? “ – comforter.”  …  God, the God of all comfort, Christ, the first Paraclete, called alongside to help, and the Holy Spirit followed up on the work.  God is a God of comfort.  Christ is a Christ of comfort.  The Holy Spirit is a Spirit of comfort.

Jesus said that blessed are the meek, because they will inherit the earth (verse 5).

Meekness is similar to yet different from humility.

MacArthur explains the progression, which related to the urge for political domination, something the Jews wanted over the Romans. Yet, Jesus addressed the spiritual side and proclaimed meekness, recognising God’s holiness and pursuing godliness:

Meek.  It’s different from broken in spirit.  Let me show you how.  The root word is the same idea – different word, same idea.  But let me show you.  In fact, some places in the Bible these two words could be used interchangeably, but there’s a beautiful distinction made here.  Now watch.  “Broken in spirit” centers on my sinfulness, okay?  Verse 3, “Broken in spirit” centers on my sinfulness.  “Meekness” centers on God’s holiness.  Two sides of the same thing.  Broken in spirit because I’m a sinner and meek because God is so holy by comparison.  Two sides of the same thing.

Look at it another way.  Broken in spirit is negative and it results in mourning.  Meekness is positive and it results in seeking righteousness.  See?  It’s just the other side of this thing.  That’s the beauty of the sequence.  There’s a progression here.  First of all, there is this brokenness, this tremendous sense of sinfulness and it’s negative and it results in mourning.  And then, all of a sudden, you begin to see the other side of it.  You begin to see a holy God, and that’s meekness.  And then you begin to hunger after his holiness.  You see the sequence, the flow? 

“Happiness,” Jesus says, “Happiness, blessedness.  Oh, that’s for people like this, people who are – watch – realistic about their sin, who are repentant about their sin, who are responsive to God.”  And the unblessed and the unhappy and those shut out of the kingdom are the arrogant, self-sufficient, self-righteous, unrepentant, stiff-necked, proud people.  Man this was devastating.  Ooh. 

You see, the Zealots were saying, “We want a military Messiah.  We want a military kingdom.”  The Pharisees were saying, “We want a miraculous Messiah.  We want a miraculous kingdom.”  By the way, the Sadducees were saying, “We want a materialistic one.”  They were the materialists.  I suppose the Essenes were over in the corner saying, “We want a monastic one.”  But Jesus said, “I’ll give you a meek one.”  The kingdom is not going to be materialism.  It’s not going to be monasticism.  It’s not going to be militarism, and it’s not going to be just flashy miracles.  It’s going to be for the meek. 

And, you know, our world will still have trouble with that. Our world is, associates happiness and success with strength, and confidence, and self assurance, and survival of the fittest, and conquest, and power. That wasn’t Jesus’ way. His kingdom is for people who are meek.

MacArthur says that meekness also ran throughout the Old Testament and cites several passages.

He then gives us the biblical definition, which does not mean being a doormat, by the way. It means to be submissive towards God:

Look further.  “The meek” comes from a Greek word.  The root is praus.  And it means basically, here’s the root, “mild, gentle, and soft.”  Mild, gentle, and soft.  So the idea is a person who is gentle, mild, tenderhearted.  Somebody who’s patient.  Somebody who’s just submissive, and so forth.  Now that’s the root concept:  Mild, gentle, soft, patient, kind, quiet, willing, submissive … 

It is a byproduct of self emptying, of self humiliation. It is a brokenness before God.

Meekness also means exercising self-control over one’s own power:

When Jesus came into the city, you see, he didn’t come on a white charger conquering and to conquer. He came riding in on the colt, the foal of a jackass. I mean, that was really low-class transportation. He was meek. Further, let me say something to you about it. It is a gentleness, and a mildness, and a subdued character – watch this – it is not weakness. It is power under control. Get that definition …

It’s Ephesians 4:26.  It’s okay to be angry, but don’t sin.  In other words, let it be a righteous anger, a controlled anger for God’s purposes.  Don’t be angry because you’ve been offended, be angry because God has, see?  It’s anger for the right reason at the right time. 

Meekness doesn’t mean impotence.  It is power under control.  And if you examine Proverbs 25:28 it says, “He that hath no rule over his spirit is like a city that is broken down and without walls.”  That’s power out of control.  You’ve got power, but there’s nothing to contain it, and it’s like a destroyed city.  On the other hand, Proverbs 16:32 says, “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.”  In other words, to rule the spirit is meekness.  To be out of control is the lack of meekness.  It is power under control … 

Power under control.  They trust in God.  They delight in him.  And God promises to give them the earth.  It isn’t cowardice.  It isn’t flabbiness.  It isn’t a wishy-washy lack of conviction.  It isn’t just human niceness.  Meekness says, “In myself, nothing is possible.  But in God, everything is possible.”  Meekness says, “For me, I offer no defense.  For God, I’ll give my life.  For God I’ll die.”  It’s not a passive acceptance of sin, but it’s an anger under control.  It’s holy indignation. 

Illustration. “For even hereunto were you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps.”  Now here’s real meekness.  He did no sin.  Neither was guile found in his mouth.  Now start right there.  He never did anything wrong.  So, whatever anybody accused him of was false accusation.  So whatever anybody punished him for was wrong.  Whenever they abused him, they were out of line.  Whenever they slandered him, they were wrong.  Whenever they mocked him, it was a lie, because he never did anything wrong.  He never sinned.  He never deceived.  He never did anything wrong. 

And even though he never deserved any criticism, when it came – in verse 23 – and when he was reviled, he didn’t revile again.  And when he suffered, he didn’t threaten.  He just committed Himself to him that judges righteously.

Stop right there.  That’s meekness.  Jesus never defended himself, never.  But when they desecrated his Father’s temple, he made a whip and started beating them, didn’t he?  Meekness says, “I’ll never defend myself, but I’ll die defending God.”  That’s meekness.  “I’ll never defend myself.  I’ll die defending God.” 

As for inheriting the earth, MacArthur says:

The people in the kingdom shall inherit the earth and the only ones who enter my kingdom are the meek, not the proud. The ones that are broken over their sin, not the ones who think they have no sin. The ones who are mourning over the fact that they’re lost, not the ones who are laughing about the fact that they’re supposedly all right.

Jesus said that blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteouness, for they will be filled (verse 6). This is another verse that is often misinterpreted in a socio-political context, yet it builds on the preceding Beatitudes and has spiritual, not temporal, significance.

MacArthur explains:

… in your meekness before God, you realize that the only hope you have of ever knowing righteousness is to seek it at His hand, and so you come to the fourth Beatitude and you hunger and thirst after what you know is not yours on your own. 

So the progression is simple.  Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes:  “This Beatitude follows logically from the previous ones.  It is a statement to which all the others lead.  It is the logical conclusion to which they come.  It is something for which we should all be profoundly thankful and grateful to God.  I do not know of a better test that anyone can apply to himself or herself in this whole matter of the Christian profession than a verse like this.  If this verse is to you one of the most blessed statements of the whole of Scripture, you can be quite certain you’re a Christian.  If it is not, you had better examine your foundations again.” 

Because if you have been broken in your spirit and are overwhelmed with your sinfulness and you mourn over your sinfulness and then you look up to recognize the holiness of God, the response should be that you hunger and thirst for what He has that you need.  And if you do not hunger and thirst after righteousness, you are not a citizen of God’s kingdom.  Our society chases all the wrong things, you see.  They chase money, materialism, fame, popularity, pleasure, usually all because of greed, not need, but it’s all the wrong stuff.  And you know the sad part of it is, even though the United States grants us the pursuit of happiness, people don’t find it because they define happiness in a wrong way.  Happiness is money.  Happiness is pleasure.  Happiness is having material things.  Here it says happiness is brokenness, happiness is mourning, happiness is meekness, happiness is hungering and thirsting after righteousness. 

This is spiritual thirst, spiritual hunger, neither of which abates in the true believer:

The Greek verbs are just very powerful.  Peinntes means to be needy, to suffer hunger.  It has the idea of a deep hunger, not just superficiality.  The word dipsa, to suffer thirst.  Again, it carries the idea of a genuine thirst.  And here they are, the strongest impulses in the natural realm.  And by the way, they are in a continuous present participle.  The ones who are hungering.  The ones who are thirsting.  It is a continuous thing.  And so I say to you, beloved, this is not only the one – the condition of the one coming in, but this is the condition of the one in the kingdom. 

You know – I’ll put it this way:  When I came to Jesus Christ, I hungered and thirsted for His righteousness, and now that I know Him, I hunger and thirst for more of it, right?  That’s what He’s saying.  In fact, Lenski, the great commentator, says:  “This hunger and this thirst increases in the very act of being satisfied.”  Luke adds a note to this.  Luke has a parallel passage and he adds the word “now.”  “Blessed are they who are hungering now.”  It is a present, it is a continuous thing.  It is a moment-by-moment way of life.  When you become a Christian, you don’t stop …

This is because sanctification is involved. Paul urged the Thessalonians, even in their abundant faith and love, to improve on that. It is part of the Christian journey:

Happiness is a byproduct.  Happy are those who hunger and thirst after what?  Righteousness.  You want to be happy, it comes as a byproduct of righteousness.  It’s not any holy high you get with some zap.  It’s not some experience you find.  That isn’t what it is.  Dikaiosun, righteousness, justification to be made right with God.  And what am I saying?  Listen, simple, the only real happiness in life is to be right with God.  That’s it.  The only real happiness in life is to be right with God.  And I believe this points to two things.  First of all, salvation and second of all, sanctification.  First of all, salvation and second, sanctification … 

Now let me say it in simplicity:  Happiness belongs to the holy.  That’s what he’s saying.  If you’re unhappy in your life, somewhere along the line, you’re unholy.  Jesus was talking to Jews who thought they were righteous.  To them holiness was a conformity to rules, it was an external thing.  But it wasn’t enough.  That’s why Jesus said, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you’ll never enter the kingdom.”  Their righteousness doesn’t cut it.  The Beatitudes took the external, stripped it away and forced us to look at the inside.  And when you hunger and thirst for salvation, then you’ll be filled. 

But there’s a second element.  I think it also implies sanctification.  I don’t think once you get saved you stop hungering and thirsting, as I said.  Then you hunger and thirst for sanctification, for an increasing holiness.  Beloved, I don’t know how to express this as strongly as I feel it.  I hope in your life there is this hunger, hunger that never stops, the desires to be more and more like Christ.  This is a mark of a Christian.  You keep on hungering, you keep on thirsting to desire more virtue, a greater purity, more Christlikeness.  You never get to the place where you’ve arrived. 

Jesus said that blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy (verse 7).

MacArthur says that the first four Beatitudes point to the inner life. The one about those who are merciful points towards outward actions:

These first four Beatitudes were entirely inner principles.  They dealt entirely with an inner attitude.  They dealt entirely with what you see of yourself before God.  But now, as He comes to the fifth Beatitude, this, while being also an inner attitude, begins to reach out and touch others.  There is a manifestation in this that is the fruit of the other four … 

So we’ve made a transition now.  Now we’re going to talk about the character that is manifest when that inward attitude is there in the first four Beatitudes.  When you have those first four, there are going to be four characteristics of your character that will be made manifest, and we’ll see them as we study these last four areas in this wonderful introduction. 

Now, you know, there are a lot of people who’ve tried to use this Beatitude in kind of a humanistic way …

It isn’t simply the idea that if you’re merciful to everybody, then everybody’s going to be merciful to you.  That’s wishful thinking in a Roman society, and I’ll tell you something else:  It’s wishful thinking in our selfish, grasping, competitive society.  You know, in our society we could say, “You be merciful to somebody else and he’ll step on your neck.”  That doesn’t always work.  But the best illustration of the fact that it’s not just a human platitude is our Lord, Jesus Christ.  He proves once and for all that it isn’t a human platitude. 

MacArthur gives us examples of our Lord’s mercy:

Jesus Christ came into the world and was the most merciful human being that ever lived.  Jesus Christ came into the world and never did anything to harm anybody.  Never.  Jesus Christ came into the world, He reached out to the sick and He healed them.  And He reached out to the crippled and He gave them legs to walk.  And He reached to the eyes of the blind and they saw and to the ears of the deaf and they heard and to the mouths of the dumb and they spoke.  And He found the prostitutes and the tax collectors and those that were debauched and He drew them into the circle of His love and He redeemed them and He set them on their feet.  He picked up the sorrowing, He wept with them, and He took the lonely and He made them feel like they were loved.  And He took little children and He gathered them into His arms and He loved them.  Never was there a human being who ever lived in the face of the earth with the mercy of this one. 

Once He was going along the streets and a funeral procession came by, and He saw a mother weeping because her son was dead and who would care?  No son, no husband.  And Jesus reached out in the midst of the funeral procession, stopped the casket, put His hand on it, and raised the child from the dead and gave him back to his mother.  In John chapter 8, some men had caught a woman in adultery and they dragged that woman into the presence of Jesus, and He looked at that woman after He had talked with her and after He’d confronted her accusers and He forgave her and He said, “Neither do I condemn thee.  Go and sin no more.”  What mercy. 

He ate with tax collectors, He ate with sinners, and when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eat with the tax collectors and the sinners in Mark chapter 2, verse 16, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with publicans and sinners?  He runs around with the riffraff.”  From start to finish, the life of the blessed Lord Jesus was one of constant mercy.  He was merciful to everyone.  Listen, I’m telling you something, people:  Mercy given doesn’t mean mercy returned.  You can’t work that human platitude in Jesus’ case.  You know what?  He was the most merciful human being that ever lived and they screamed for His blood and they slammed Him to a cross and they nailed Him there.  That’s not a human platitude.  Doesn’t make it.  That’s not what it’s talking about.  If mercy carried its own reward, they wouldn’t have nailed the most merciful being that ever lived to a cross and spit in His face and cursed Him.  The most merciful one who ever lived received from the people to whom He gave mercy no mercy at all. 

MacArthur explores the Greek and the Hebrew words for mercy:

Let’s look at the word “merciful.”  Elemnes.  The word is only used twice in the entire New Testament.  Once it is used here and once it is used in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 17, and there it says, “Wherefore in all things it behooved him to be made like his brother and that he might be a merciful and faithful” – what? – “high priest.”  Christ is the great illustration of mercy.  He is our high priest who intercedes for us, and it is from Him that mercy comes.  The verb form, however, is used many, many times in the Bible.  It is very, very common.  It is common in the Old Testament, Septuagint, the Greek edition.  The Hebrew synonym would be chesed and it is also very common.  The word simply means to have mercy on – now listen – to succor the afflicted, to give help to the wretched, and to rescue the miserable.  It’s a very broad idea. 

Anything you do that is of benefit to someone in need, that’s mercy.  Very broad idea, we think of mercy so much in terms of its aspect of forgiveness in salvation, but it’s a very broad term.  It means compassion in action.  It goes beyond compassion.  It goes beyond sympathy.  It means compassion in action, sympathy in action toward anyone who has any need.  And when our Lord talks about it here, the real elemnes, the real stuff, is not a weak sympathy which carnal selfishness feels but never does anything to help.  It is not that false mercy which really indulges its own flesh in salving of conscience by giving tokenism.  It is not the silent, passive pity which could be genuine but never seems to be able to help in a tangible way.  It’s not any of those superficial things.  It is genuine compassion with a pure, unselfish motive that reaches out to help somebody in need.  That’s what it is. 

In other words, Jesus was saying to them, “The people in my kingdom aren’t takers, they’re givers.  The people in my kingdom aren’t condemners, they’re mercy givers.  The people in my kingdom aren’t the ones who set themselves above everybody, they’re the people who stoop to help everybody.”

Forgiveness and love are also connected to mercy:

We cannot think of mercy without its expression in forgiveness.  We cannot think of forgiveness without its source: mercy.  But listen, people, forgiveness is not the only expression of mercy … 

Forgiveness flows out of mercy, mercy flows out of what?  Love.  Why has God been merciful?  It is based on love.  But God, who is rich in mercy – why?  For His great love wherewith He loved us.  You see the sequence?  God loves and love is merciful and mercy is forgiving, among many other things.  And so love is behind mercy, but love is bigger than mercy, if you can imagine this. 

You say, “Now wait a minute.  You said mercy was bigger than forgiveness.”  That’s right.  Mercy is bigger than forgiveness and love is bigger than mercy.  Because love can do a lot of things, a lot more than just show mercy.  Because mercy presupposes a problem and love can act when there isn’t a problem, right?  The Father loves the Son, the Son doesn’t need mercy.  The Son loves the Father and the Father doesn’t need mercy.  The Father loves the angels and the angels love the Father and neither one of them need mercy.  Love is bigger than mercy.  Mercy is the physician.  Love is the friend.  Love acts out of affection, mercy acts out of need.  Love is constant, mercy is reserved for times of trouble.  But there’s no mercy without love.  But love is bigger than mercy. 

Then there is grace:

What about mercy and grace?  People say, “Well, is mercy like grace?” and “Is grace like mercy?”  Well, yes and no.  Now listen, you’re going to really get a theological exercise, so hang on.  The term “mercy” and all of its derivatives – listen – always deal with elements of pain and misery and distress.  Always the result of sin, whether it’s individual sin or just the sin of the world, just the problem of being in a sinful world.  You see, mercy always presupposes problems.  It deals with the pain and the misery and the distress.  But grace deals with the sin itself.  Mercy deals with the symptoms, grace deals with the problem. 

You see, mercy offers relief from punishment.  Grace offers pardon for the crime.  You understand?  First comes grace and grace removes the sin and then mercy eliminates the punishment.  They’re different.  You know, in three of his letters – and he never does it in a letter to a church, he only does it in letters to individuals, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus, Paul says “mercy and grace and peace.”  Mercy and grace are different.  Mercy eliminates the pain and grace grants a better condition.  Let me give you an illustration.  The Good Samaritan, right?  He’s lying – the man’s lying on the side of the road, he’s been beaten to the point of dying, he’s been robbed, and the priest goes by and walks along and doesn’t want to get involved.  And the Levite goes by, doesn’t want to get involved.  All the sudden, a half-breed Samaritan comes by and he sees this poor Jew all beaten and maimed and so forth, and he goes over and he cares for him.  You know what mercy does?  Mercy relieves his pain.  Mercy pours oil in his wombs and mercy binds up his wounds.  And mercy relieves the suffering.  And you know what grace does?  Grace goes over and rents him a room so he can live in an inn. 

You see, mercy deals with the negative and grace puts it in the positive.  Mercy takes away the pain and grace gives a better condition.  Mercy says no hell, grace says heaven.  Mercy says I pity you, grace says I pardon you.  So mercy and grace are two sides of the same marvelous thing.  And God offers mercy and grace. 

However, we cannot forget justice:

People say, “Well, if God is a God of justice, how can He be merciful?”  If you look at it that way, if God’s a just, holy, righteous God, can He just negate justice?  Can He say, “Well, I know you’re a sinner and I know you’ve done awful things, but oh, I love you so much and I have so much mercy, I’m just going to forgive you”?  Can He do that?  Yeah, He can.  You know why?  Because He came into the world in human form and died upon a cross, and at the cross when Jesus died – don’t ever forget it – justice was satisfied. 

Did you get that?  God said there would be no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood and God said there had to be a perfect sacrifice to bear the sins of the world, and Jesus was that and justice was satisfied.  And now mercy does no violation to justice.  I’m not – when I talk about the mercy of God, it’s not some foolish sentimentality that excuses sin.  Listen, we got too much of that going on, even in the church.  The only time God ever extended mercy to anybody was when somebody paid the price for the sin involved.

And God will never violate the truth of His justice and His holiness to be merciful.  He will be merciful, but only when truth has been dealt with …

We’re not talking about sentimentality.  I’m not telling you that if you sin your life away and never acknowledge Jesus Christ, God’s going to be merciful and accept you.  That’s not true.  You will have judgment without mercy.  And I believe that the only time God can really give mercy is when the truth has been accepted.  Only when we accept the sacrifice of Christ or as Christians who’ve done that, if God is to be merciful to us, then we must confess sin as sin and repent and turn from it, and then we’ll know His mercy. 

So, mercy is special.  It is more than forgiveness.  It is less than love.  It is different than grace.  And it is one with justice.  It is more than forgiveness, less than love, different than grace, and one with justice.  To sum up the significance of being a merciful person, listen to this:  The merciful not only hears the insults of evil men, but his heart reaches out to the very same evil men in compassion.  The merciful one is sympathetic.  He is forgiving.  He is gracious.  He is loving.  He’s not so sentimental that He will excuse evil.  He’s not so sentimental that He will allow for sin to go unpunished or unconfronted just because somebody is kind of sad or tragic.  No, mercy means you reach out in sympathy and total forgiveness and love and grace when truth is accepted.  Psalm 37:21 says this:  “The wicked borrows and pays not back, but the righteous shows mercy.”  We’re going to be merciful to those who accept the truth. 

Jesus said that blessed are the pure in heart — the holy — for they will see God (verse 8).

Matthew Henry tells us:

This is the most comprehensive of all the beatitudes; here holiness and happiness are fully described and put together.

1. Here is the most comprehensive character of the blessed: they are pure in heart. Note, True religion consists in heart-purity. Those who are inwardly pure, show themselves to be under the power of pure and undefiled religion. True Christianity lies in the heart, in the purity of heart; the washing of that from wickedness, Jer 4 14. We must lift up to God, not only clean hands, but a pure heart, Ps 24 4, 5; 1 Tim 1 5. The heart must be pure, in opposition to mixture—an honest heart that aims well; and pure, in opposition to pollution and defilement; as wine unmixed, as water unmuddied. The heart must be kept pure from fleshly lusts, all unchaste thoughts and desires; and from worldly lusts; covetousness is called filthy lucre; from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, all that which come out of the heart, and defiles the man. The heart must be purified by faith, and entire for God; must be presented and preserved a chaste virgin to Christ. Create in me such a clean heart, O God!

2. Here is the most comprehensive comfort of the blessed; They shall see God. Note, (1.) It is the perfection of the soul’s happiness to see God; seeing him, as we may by faith in our present state, is a heaven upon earth; and seeing him as we shall in the future state, in the heaven of heaven. To see him as he is, face to face, and no longer through a glass darkly; to see him as ours, and to see him and enjoy him; to see him and be like him, and be satisfied with that likeness (Ps 17 15); and to see him for ever, and never lose the sight of him; this is heaven’s happiness. (2.) The happiness of seeing God is promised to those, and those only, who are pure in heart. None but the pure are capable of seeing God, nor would it be a felicity to the impure. What pleasure could an unsanctified soul take in the vision of a holy God? As he cannot endure to look upon their iniquity, so they cannot endure to look upon his purity; nor shall any unclean thing enter into the new Jerusalem; but all that are pure in heart, all that are truly sanctified, have desires wrought in them, which nothing but the sight of God will sanctify; and divine grace will not leave those desires unsatisfied.

MacArthur lays out the progression of the Beatitudes thus far and prepares us for the next, that of the peacemakers:

… you begin with the reality of being poor in spirit.  And when you see yourself as a cowering beggar in a corner, reaching out a hand that can only be given a gift, you have no power to earn anything.  And as a cowering beggar, ashamed to show your face, you reach out in tremendous sense of inadequacy.  You reach out to God.  That’s where it begins, and then in your reaching out as a beggar, your next response is to mourn over the sin that has put you in that position.  And out of your total sense of sinfulness, you fall meek before an absolutely holy God.  You couldn’t be anything else but humble.  And in your humility, all you can do is cry out and hunger and thirst for a righteousness which you can’t attain and yet you’ve got to have.  And you cry that God would give it.  And then what happens?  He gives you mercy and that’s the next Beatitude and you become one of those who are merciful.  And once you have been granted mercy and once God by His mercy has cleansed your heart because you hungered for His righteousness, then and then alone do you become pure in heart, and only when you are pure in heart could you ever be a peacemaker. 

Jesus said that the peacemakers are blessed, for they will be called children of God (verse 9).

MacArthur says that the peacemakers are not politicians, statesmen or diplomats:

God’s peacemakers are vastly different, which is good because the world’s peacemakers have a terrible failure record … 

I’ll never forget reading a statistic.  The question was:  How many peace treaties have been broken?  The answer:  All of them.  You see, peace is that glorious brief moment in history when everybody stops to reload.  The United Nations was concerned in the aftermath of World War II with developing an agency for world peace, and so in 1945, the United Nations brought itself into existence, and since that time there has not been one single day of peace on the earth — not one.  The world is filled with never-ending upheavals.  The motto of the United Nations was set in 1945:  “To have succeeding generations free from the scourge of war.”  So far they haven’t done it for one day.  It’s a pipe dream.

He defines peace through the Jewish greeting, ‘Shalom’:

Peace is not just stopping the war; peace is creating the righteousness that brings the two parties together in love.  When a Jew says to another Jew, “Shalom,” which is the word for peace, he doesn’t mean “May you have no wars, may you have no conflict,” he means “I desire for you all the righteousness that God can give, all the goodness that God can give.”  Shalom means “God’s highest good for you.”  It’s a creative force for goodness.  So if we are to be peacemakers, we do not only stop the war, we replace it with the righteousness of God.  We replace it with all the goodness of God.  Peacemakers are those who not only call a truce but a real peace where all is forgotten, and they embrace one another.  It is an aggressive good.  What I’m trying to say is that peace is not creating a vacuum.  Peace is not creating the absence of something, but the presence of something …

The peace of the Bible does not evade issues.  It never evades issues.  The peace of the Bible is not peace at any price.  It isn’t a gloss.  The peace of the Bible conquers the problem.  You see the difference?  It conquers that problem in the middle ground so that the two can come together.  It builds a bridge to two sides.  Sometimes it means struggle.  Sometimes it means pain.  Sometimes it means anguish.  Sometimes it means a little more strife but in the end, real peace can come. 

Peace is linked to holiness — purity of heart:

The wisdom that is from God finds its way to peace through what?  Purity.  First pure, then peaceable.  Peace is never sought at the expense of righteousness.  You have not made peace between two people unless they have seen the sin and the error and the wrongness of the bitterness and the hatred and they have resolved to bring it before God and make it right, then through purity comes peace.  Peace that ignores purity is not the peace that God talks about.  In Hebrews 12:14, it says this, and another word that you must remember:  “Follow peace with all men and holiness.”  In other words, you cannot divorce peace from holiness.  You cannot divorce peace from purity.  You cannot divorce peace from righteousness.  Psalm 85:10 says, “Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.”  Where there is real peace, there is righteousness.  Where there is real peace, there is holiness.  Where there is real peace, there is purity, because that resolves the issue. 

Paradoxically, biblical peace is not without conflict:

When Jesus says, “Be a peacemaker in the world,” that doesn’t mean you don’t ever bring up anything that is true if it offends somebody.  On the contrary, you better bring it up if it’s true and it better offend them so they can get past that to the real peace.  Biblical peace is real peace.  We are not peacemakers in the world in the sense that we never make strife.  We make strife all the time.  But we are peacemakers in the world in this sense, that when the strife is over the real peace is there.  Biblical peace is that kind of peace.  Now, we are not agreeing to just settle things without dealing with truth.  We will deal with truth.  And if you’re going to deal with truth, beloved, you’re going to be a divider.  You’re going to be a disturber, you’re going to be a disrupter.  There’s no way to get around it. 

And you know, you see that, don’t you?  You go to work and you start to live for Christ and you start to give your testimony and all of a sudden, here you are trying to be a peacemaker and help people to make peace with God and help them make peace with each other and help them make peace in their own hearts, but you’re doing your best to get them to make peace and all they can do is get mad at you.  Because the whole premise of your message is that they have to deal with sin, and people don’t like to hear that so they get very upset.  Our Lord said in Luke 12:51, “Do you suppose that I am come to give peace on earth?  I tell you nay, but rather division.  From henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two and two against three.  The father shall be divided against the son, the son against the father, the mother against the daughter, the daughter against the mother, the mother-in-law against the daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against the mother-in-law.”  In other words, Jesus said it’s very obvious at the beginning that when people come to Jesus Christ there will be conflict.  And He knows that true peace can only come when truth reigns and it’s more than a truce.  It’s a real peace. 

MacArthur gives us a practical application for us to discern if we are peacemakers. This follows on from the previous Beatitudes:

You have righteousness in your life, you have purity in your life, you have holiness in your life and you’ll have peace in your life.  And if you’ve got problems in your marriage and there’s conflict in your marriage and conflict in your family or in your home, I’ll tell you one thing: You have righteousness, holiness, and purity in your marriage and your home and you’ll have peace in your home.  Because that’s always the way.  Once you have righteousness, you’re at peace with God, peace with man, peace with self. 

And so to be a peacemaker, you’ve got to go through all the Beatitudes.  You’ve got to come to the place where you see your own sinfulness, you see yourself as a wretched soul, miserable, deserving nothing with no rights or privileges, hating your natural self, crying out to a holy God to give you a righteousness you could never get but must have.  And God, in His great, great love, gives you mercy, purifies your heart, and then and only then will you ever be a peacemaker …

Peace belongs to God.  It doesn’t belong to man at all.  In fact, you want to hear something?  Since the fall of man, in Genesis 3, man has never known peace unless he took it as a gift from God, because man doesn’t have it.  God is perfect peace.  In fact, God is at perfect peace with Himself.  God is characterized by perfect oneness.  The Trinity has perfect oneness.  It is absolutely tranquil.  It is in absolute harmony.  It is perfectly united.  In the Trinity, there is no conflict.  There is only peace and that radiates from God.  The only way we’ll ever know peace is if God comes to us.  And I love the statement of Ephesians 2:14 that tells us that’s exactly what He did.  It says, “For He” – that is Christ – “is our peace.”  When Christ came into the world, He was the peace of God coming to take the hand of God and the hand of man and by His own sacrifice make man righteous and join his hand to God. 

MacArthur says that true peacemakers help people make peace with God:

There’s a second thing:  A peacemaker is one who has peace himself with God and, secondly, one who helps others make peace with God.  One who helps others make peace with God.  I think Jesus had in mind here evangelism.  I think that’s the greatest thing about peacemaking.  You can go to somebody who’s at war with God and make peace between that person and God, right?  And I’ll tell you something else.  Anybody who is unsaved is at odds with you, too, because they’re out of the family.  They’re cursed by God.  They’re set apart from the kingdom.  And the minute they come to Jesus Christ, they make peace with God and peace with you, they become God’s child and your brother, right?  Evangelism is peacemaking.  What a fabulous thought.  The best way to be a peacemaker is to preach the gospel of peace.  To impart to men the gospel so that their alienation from God can be ended.  So that their alienation from the church, the body of Christ, from your fellowship, can be ended.  And they can be at peace.  No wonder it says in Romans 10:15, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of” – what? – “peace.” 

You see, it’s a beautiful thing to bring people to a peaceful relationship with God.  You want to really be a peacemaker?  Just tell somebody about Jesus Christ.  That’s infinitely beyond what any mortal politician or statesman has ever accomplished in a political sense.  That’s ultimate, eternal, real peace. 

Jesus discusses the final beatitude — the blessed state of those who are persecuted for righeteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven — in verses 10 and 11.

MacArthur explains why:

Now, I really believe that this is one Beatitude.  The reason I believe it’s the same one is because the term “persecute” is used in verse 10, and the term “persecute” is used again in verse 11.  It’s really the same thing, it’s just expanded in verse 11.  Another reason I believe it’s really only one Beatitude is that there’s only one result given.  You take verse 10 and 11, and the only result is at the end of verse 10:  “For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”  Now, all of the Beatitudes have a promise with the character, and there’s only one promise in verses 10 and 11, and that’s at the end of verse 10.  You say, “Well, if it’s only one promise, then why does it have two ‘blesseds’?”  I believe that God double-blesses those who suffer.  I believe God double-blesses those who are persecuted.  It’s almost as if we need it in this particular case.  Double-blessed are those who are persecuted. 

This beatitude carries on nicely from being a peacemaker:

There was never anyone more loving than Jesus Christ.  There was never a greater peacemaker than Jesus Christ.  And for some people, they responded to that love, and for some people, they entered into that peace.  But even though Jesus was the most loving, magnanimous, gracious, kind, peaceful person who ever lived, everywhere He went, He created antagonism.  Why?  Because He was confrontive about the issues.  And it is so with all the righteous.  You chart the course of the righteous throughout history, and they have always suffered for their godliness.  Always.  It began in the very beginning, in the book of Genesis, when a godly, righteous man named Abel was murdered by an ungodly, unrighteous brother who simply could not tolerate his righteousness, and it’s been so ever since.  Moses had to choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than compromise himself in the pleasures of Egyptian society, Hebrews 11 tells us.  There was always a price to pay. 

MacArthur says that not all of us will be persecuted. Nonetheless, we need to be prepared for that possibility:

It doesn’t mean that every single one of us is going to know constant persecution all our lives to an intense degree, he is simply saying the world will pick some of us out.  And I believe anyway that all of us who live righteously in the world, at some time or another, are going to know the rebuke of the cross …

Maybe it’s going to affect how they get their living.  Maybe they’re going to have to believe God to supply the thing that they don’t know the source for if they turn their back on what they’ve known in the past.  And so it could affect their secular job and it still can today. 

We return to an internal Beatitude here:

This is an attitude.  It is an attitude of a willingness to be persecuted.  That’s what He’s saying.  It is that lack of fear, that lack of shame, that presence of boldness that says, “I will be in this world what Christ would have me be.  I will say in this world what Christ will have me say.  And if persecution results, let it be.”  It’s that attitude.  It is a passive participle in the Greek and it indicates a permissiveness.  Those who allow themselves to be persecuted.  Blessed are they who allow themselves to be persecuted. 

There is the matter of being reviled as well as being slandered or libelled (verse 11):

There’s a second element.  He says in verse 11 they’ll revile you.  Oneidiz.  It literally means to cast in one’s teeth.  To cast in one’s teeth.  It’s used in the crucifixion of Christ in Matthew 27:44.  They cast in His teeth.  They mocked Him.  They made fun of Him.  They reviled Him.  They scorned Him.  It’s to throw something in your face, is what it is.  It’s to abuse somebody with vile, vicious, mocking words.  That’s essentially what it means.  So we not only are going to be chased out of the groups we used to be in, we’ll be ostracized from the activities that we used to be a part of.  Not only that, there are going to be people who are going to speak evil of us, they’re going to say things about us, they’re going to use unkind words when our name comes up.  They did it with Jesus.  They said, “Ah, he hangs around with prostitutes and winebibbers,” and so forth.  So if you’re going to live the Beatitude life, you’ve got to be willing to be persecuted and reviled, and there are going to be some people who are going to say unkind things about you.  Some people maybe you may care about, too. 

There’s a third thing, and this is really a hard one to take.  You know, I’ve always found that I could take the chasing me away.  Nobody wants me around much after they find I’m a minister.  It’s amazing how fast people want to get out of my presence.  After they find out I’m not like a minister like other ministers they’ve known, that I’m a little more confrontive.  And so they’ll find that out as I begin to maybe confront them a little with the things of Christ, and then they’re really itchy to get out of there.  I’m rarely invited to the activities that they engage in.  I can handle that and I can even handle people saying unkind and vile and vicious things about me and I get some of that …

And I know what it is to be arrested from preaching.  I preached a sermon in a certain place in the South and I didn’t go very far from there until a police car caught up with me and arrested me and threw me in jail and threatened to strip my clothes off and beat me with a whip and so forth and so on if I continued to do what I was doing.  That’s in the United States of America.  I guess those things, can tolerate, but then there’s that third thing where he says here that they’ll “say all manner of evil against you falsely.”  And you know, sometimes that’s so hard to take.  I don’t mind if they don’t like what I do say, but when they make me say things that I don’t say, that’s hard to take.  And then you got to try to defend yourself for something you never even said. 

“They say slanderous and evil things against you.”  They tried to say about Jesus that he was the illegitimate son of a Roman soldier.  That wasn’t true.  They’ve tried to say things about God’s people throughout all of history.  Arthur Pink well says that “it is a strong proof of human depravity that men’s curses and Christ’s blessings should meet on the same person.”  Isn’t that interesting?  What a picture of depravity.  Christ’s blessings and men’s curses meet on the same person. It’s the people He blesses that the world curses.  That shows you how far they are from God.  Such a life provokes the ungodliness of men to be resentful.  It is the enmity of the serpent against the holy seed. 

MacArthur discusses the Greek word for ‘persecution’:

“Persecution” is from a Greek word that means “to harass, to treat evilly.”  Literally, in its root, it means “to pursue.”  You’re going to come after us.

Even in 1979, he could feel the winds of change. And lo, it has come to pass:

I really feel in America, we’re on the threshold of some days that are going to be real different than what we’ve known in the past.  I think that we’ve been sort of lollygagging around in the post-American Awakening era.  You know, we’ve been living off the revivalists of the past and the benefits that America had from its heritage of those days.  That is fast coming to an end.  Not only is government acting against religion, and religion is acting against itself by proliferating all of the cults and -isms and schisms and spasms and everything else.

And we’re seeing the government crack down on religious groups.  We’re seeing changes in attitudes.  We’re seeing the IRS and other agencies begin to make laws that are going to directly impact those of us who are in the church of Jesus Christ.  We’re seeing reactions to things that once were held to be sacred, the whole idea of church and all of those kinds of things, you know, it’s all gone with mom and apple pie.  That’s gone too, and so, “They’re going to come after us,” He says.

How?  Verse 11.  Remember what we told you?  “Revile.”  That’s abuse to the face.  “…say all manner of evil against you falsely…,” that’s slander behind the back.  They’re going to come at those who are God’s people right on the nose and around the back.  They’re going to talk about us when we’re gone, and they’re going to react to us when we’re there.  There will be open confrontations, and there will be that private slander.

This is why:

It isn’t you.  It’s that they don’t know God.  And because they don’t know God, they don’t know Christ.  And because they don’t know Christ, they don’t understand righteousness.  And because they aren’t willing to accept righteousness, they want their sin and will not tolerate a confrontation at that point.

Jesus ends the Beatitude section by saying that the persecuted and reviled should be glad, for their reward will be great in heaven, because, in the same way, were the prophets who went before were subject to the same treatment (verse 12).

MacArthur says persecution probably won’t be a constant event, but God will watch over us:

It is not the idea that we are going to be incessantly, unmitigatedly persecuted, an unceasing stream of persecution.  That wasn’t true in Paul’s time.  That wasn’t true in Christ’s time.  There were times when Christ enjoyed the respite of a family time with Mary and Martha and Lazarus.  There were times when Jesus retreated to the Mount of Olives.  There were wonderful times with the Twelve in Galilee.

No, it isn’t going to be incessant, unending, unceasing.  But whenever – hotan – whenever it happens, then God will be there to bring His blessedness to bear upon that willing soul.  He always makes it bearable, doesn’t He?  “There’s no trial taken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful who will never allow you to be tried above that you are able, but will, in that trial, make a way of – “ what? “ – escape…”  …

Whatever loss here could never be compared with what gain in God’s Kingdom.  “Blessed,” he says.  Twice he says it, emphatically repeating, “Blessed.  Blessed again,” because those who would willingly stand up for Jesus Christ will know the bliss of obedience and the blessedness of being a part of God’s eternal kingdom …

MacArthur points out the circularity of the first and the eighth Beatitude:

Listen.  The kingdom is the gift of the Beatitudes.  Did you note the first Beatitude began with the promise, “Theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” and the last Beatitude ends with the promise, “Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”?  And what it’s really saying to us is that the major promise of the Beatitudes is you become a kingdom citizen now and forever, and the ones in between are just elements of kingdom life.

What we can conclude is that, if we want to be a part of God’s eternal kingdom, we would do well to heed the Beatitudes, live by them, pray that we can further fulfil them by studying the Word of God regularly. The more we read of the Bible, the better we understand God’s purpose for us.

May all reading this enjoy a blessed Sunday.