Life In The
Kingdom of Heaven
Matthew 5:1-16
by Paul
George
The many miraculous cures
wrought by Jesus in Galilee were intended to make way
for this sermon, and to prepare the people to receive
instructions from one in whom there appeared to be a
divine power and goodness. This sermon was probably a
summary of what Jesus had preached in the synagogues of
Galilee.
The sermon is preached on a mountain in Galilee. As in
other things our Lord Jesus had no convenient comfort
place to preach in. The scribes and Pharisees had Moses’
chair to sit in, with all possible ease, honor, and
state, and there corrupted the law; our Lord Jesus, the
great Teacher of truth, is out on a mountain seated on a
nard rock or the stump of a tree. The sermon is an
exposition of the law. The law was given to Moses upon a
mountain. The difference is when the law was given the
Lord came down upon the mountain, now the Lord goes up
on a mountain. On Mount Sinai He spoke with thunder and
lightning. On this mountain in Galilee there is no
thunder or lightning. When the law was given to Moses
the people were told to keep their distance; now they
are invited to draw near. To this mountain we are called
to learn to offer the sacrifices of righteousness.
If we are going to follow Jesus there will be times when
we must climb a mountain.
The Sermon on the Mount does not present the way of
salvation but the way of righteous living for those who
are in the family of God. It is a contrast between the
new way with the old way of the scribes and the
Pharisees. It is a comparison between the letter of the
law and the spirit of the law. It is for the benefit of
the disciples of Jesus because they are to teach others
and it is necessary that they have a clear and distinct
knowledge of these things. Although this discourse was
directed to the disciples, it was in the hearing of a
multitude.
On this mountain Jesus will teach the disciples and the
people according to the promise in Isaiah 54:13. He
taught them what evil they should avoid, and what was
the good they should do. He begins His sermon with
blessings because in Him all the families of the earth
are blessed. The Old Testament ended with a curse
(Malachi 4:6), the gospel message begins with blessings
and each of the blessings has a double intention. They
identify those who are to be accounted truly blessed and
what their characters are. The sermon is designed to
rectify the ruinous mistakes of a blind and carnal
world; the blessed are the strong and rich, the great
and honorable men and women in the world.
Jesus corrects this error and advances a new way of
life. He gives His disciples a different idea of
blessings and who the blessed are, however paradoxical
it may appear it is in itself a rule and doctrine of
eternal truth and certainty, by which all mankind must
be judged.
The sermon is designed to remove the discouragements of
the weak and poor by assuring them that His gospel does
not make only those that are widely known and honored
for the gifts, graces, and comforts they have received,
but that even the least in the kingdom of heaven whose
heart is right in the sight of God can find blessings in
the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus makes it very to His disciple on that mountain and
in today’s pews what God expects from them and what we
may expect from Him. No where in the Bible is this more
fully set before us and in fewer words than in this
sermon or a more exact reference to what God expects
from us and what we may expect from Him. The highway to
blessing is opened and the barriers taken down. In this
mountain top message there are eight characteristics of
the blessed, their inner qualities, and their future
blessings. The inner qualities contradict the proud
thinking of the scribes and Pharisees who believe they
can attain righteousness through their good deeds and
their relationship with Abraham. Jesus points out this
error in their thinking when He tells us righteousness,
blessings, and happiness are not through good deeds or a
relationship with Abraham, but through a relationship
with Him.
In the sermon Jesus reveals the secret which is hidden
from the ungodly and unrighteous who believe the
comforts and luxuries of this world are indispensable.
He strikes at the root of the carnal conceit of the
Jews, who vainly believed external peace and prosperity
were to be the result of the coming of the promised
Messiah. He describes the blessed in this world.
First: There are the poor in spirit.
Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit.” The poor
in spirit are not blessed because they are poor but
because theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The ungodly and
unrighteous of this world claim it is the rich who are
the blessed because theirs is the kingdoms of the world.
What they don’t understand the kingdoms of the world are
fading away. The kingdom of heaven is eternal it will
never fade away. The kingdom of heaven is a kingdom far
greater than all the kingdoms of the earth.
We must confess what Jesus said about the poor in
spirit. There is a vast difference between being poor in
the spirit and financial poverty. There is no virtue and
often disgrace in financial poverty. Financial poverty
doesn’t produce humility of heart. This poverty of the
spirit Jesus speaks of is not generally found in the
majority of the religionists. Many books are written
telling us how to be "filled with the Spirit," but where
can we find one telling us what it means to be emptied
of self? In His sermon concerning wealth Jesus said,
"That which is highly esteemed among men is detestable
in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15), it is equally true
what is of great price in His sight is despised by men.
This generation feeds on pride. Spiritual poverty is the
opposite of the proud, self-assertive and
self-sufficient disposition which the world admires and
praises. It is opposite of the independent and defiant
attitude of men and women who refuse to bow to God, who
say "Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?"
The poor in spirit have arrived at the point in life
were they know they have nothing and can do nothing in
themselves, to rise above the condition they are in, and
have need of all things. Poverty of spirit is a
consciousness of their emptiness, the result of the
Spirit’s work within. All their righteousness is as
filthy rags, their best deeds are unacceptable, an
abomination to God. Poverty of spirit brings us to our
knees before God, acknowledging our utter helplessness
and deserving the judgments of God. It corresponds to
the initial awakening of the prodigal in the far
country. Poverty in spirit is realizing God’s great
salvation is free, "without money and without price,"
the most merciful provision of God’s grace. If God put a
for sale tag on His grace and salvation no sinner could
purchase them because he has nothing with which he could
possibly purchase them. Most people don’t understand it
is the Holy Spirit who opens the eyes of the sin
blinded. It is those who have passed from death unto
life who become conscious of their spiritual poverty,
take the place of beggars and are glad to receive Divine
charity, and begin to seek the true riches. Poverty of
spirit is the realization of our utter worthlessness
which precedes the laying hold of Christ. It is the
Spirit emptying the heart of self that Jesus may fill
it: it is a sense of need and destitution. The one who
is poor in spirit is nothing in his own eyes, and feels
that his proper place is in the dust before God. He may,
through false teaching or worldliness, leave this place,
but God knows how to bring him back; and in His
faithfulness and love He will do it because this is the
place of blessing for His children.
It is the spiritual poor and not the financial poor who
are pronounced "blessed." The poor in spirit are blessed
because they have a disposition the opposite of what was
theirs by nature. They are blessed because they have in
themselves the evidence that a Divine work of grace has
been wrought in their heart. They are blessed because
they are heirs of the kingdom of heaven in the present
and in the hereafter.
Second: There are those who mourn.
Mourning is hateful and irksome to the human nature.
Jesus said the blessed are those who mourn. If they
mourn, how can they be blessed? It is totally contrary
with the world’s logic. Men have, in all places and in
all ages, deemed the prosperous to be the blessed but
Jesus pronounces blessed those who are poor in spirit
and who mourn.
Mourning is hateful and irksome to the human nature.
Jesus said the blessed are those who mourn. If they
mourn, how can they be blessed? Mourning is totally
contrary with the world’s definition of blessed. Men
have always claimed the prosperous to be the blessed but
Jesus said the blessed are those who are poor in spirit
and who mourn. Who is right?
It is obvious that it is not every form of mourning
Jesus is referring to. There are thousands of mourners
in the world who do not come within the scope of this
verse. The "mourning" Jesus is referring to is a
spiritual one. The previous verse indicates clearly the
line of thought here: "Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." "Blessed are the
poor," not the financially poor, but the poor in heart:
those who realize they are spiritual bankrupt the
opposite of the Laodicean who says, "I am rich, and
increased with goods, and have need of nothing." Jesus
is referring to a spiritual mourning. Further proof of
this is found in the fact that Jesus pronounces these
mourners "blessed." They are blessed because the Spirit
of God has wrought a work of grace within them, and they
have been awakened to see and feel their lost condition.
They are "blessed" because God does not leave them at
that point, "they shall be comforted." The mourning
Jesus is referring to is the initial mourning which
precedes a genuine conversion.
There must be a real sense of sin and a godly sorrow
before the remedy for it will even be desired. Thousands
acknowledge that they are sinners, who have never
mourned over the fact. The prodigal in Luke 15 before he
left the far country said, "I will arise and go to my
Father and say to Him, Father, I have sinned against
heaven, and before you, and am no more worthy to be
called your son." The publican of Luke 18 "smite upon
his breast" and said "God be merciful to me a sinner"?
The prodigal and publican felt a sense of sin in their
heart. The mourning Jesus is referring to springs from a
sense of sin, from a tender conscience, from a broken
heart. It is a godly sorrow over rebellion against God
and hostility to His will. In some cases it is grief
over the worldly things the heart has trusted, over the
self-righteousness which has caused complacency. It
comes from an agonizing realization that it was our sins
that nailed Jesus to the cross. It is these tears and
groans which prepare the heart to truly welcome and
receive the Savior. It is mourning over the felt
destitution of our spiritual state, and over the
iniquities that have separated us and God. Such mourning
always goes side by side with poverty of spirit.
But this "mourning" is not to be confined to the initial
experience of conviction. It is a present and continuous
experience. The Christian has much to mourn over, the
sins which he commits both of omission and commission
that should be a sense of daily grief to him, or should
be, and will be if his conscience is kept tender. The
surging of unbelief, the swellings of pride, the
coldness of his love, and his failure to produce good
fruit should make him cry "O wretched man that I am."
"Blessed are they that mourn" refers to the convicted
soul sorrowing over sins. Jesus does not say they are
blessed because they mourn. They are blessed because
they will be comforted. True comfort is not to be found
in self, but in Jesus. When the Holy Spirit produces in
the heart a godly sorrow for sin, He does not leave us
there, but brings us to look away from sin to the Lamb
of God, and then we are comforted.
This gracious promise of comfort is fulfilled first in
the removal of the burden of guilt that is an
intolerable burden on the conscience. This comfort is
the peace of God which passes all understanding, filling
the heart with the assurance we are "accepted in the
Beloved." It is a continual comforting by the Holy
Spirit. The one who sorrows over his departures from
Jesus is comforted by the assurance that "if we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1
John 1:9). The one who mourns under the chastening rod
of God is comforted by the promise, "afterward it yields
the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them which are
exercised thereby" (Hebrews 12:11). The one who grieves
over the dishonor done to his Lord is comforted by the
fact that Satan’s time is short, and will soon be cast
into the pit. The final comfort is when we leave this
world and are done with sin for ever. Then shall "sorrow
and sighing flee away." To the rich man in hell, Abraham
said of the one who had begged at his gate, "now he is
comforted (Luke 16:25). The good news is the comfort of
heaven will more than compensate for all the mourning of
earth.
Third: There are the meek.
Jesus said the blessed in this world are the meek. There
have been many debates as to exactly what this meekness
consists of. Some defined it as humility. This
definition does not fully reveal all that is included in
meekness. Its usage in Scripture reveals a link between
meekness and lowliness that cannot be separated (Matthew
11:29; Ephesians 4:1-2) It is associated with and cannot
be separated from gentleness (2 Corinthians 10:1; Titus
3:2). The psalmist tells us God “leads the humble in
justice, and He teaches the humble His way (Psalm 25:9).
In the Beatitudes Jesus is describing the orderly
development of God’s work of grace in the soul.
Meekness is a by-product of self-emptying and
self-humiliation; or, in other words, a broken will and
a receptive heart before God. It is not only the
opposite of pride, but of stubbornness, fierceness, and
vengefulness. It is the taming of the lion, the making
of the wolf to lie down as a lamb. In the ungodly and
religionist the meekness that is found in the love of
ease, absence of sensibility, stability, and other
passions, is susceptible to change in form or nature,
must be separated from biblical meekness. It is
susceptible of being modified in form or nature, from
good, and persuaded to evil. It is often found in
ungodly men and in the character of the religious.
Biblical meekness to which the blessing of gracious is
added enables men of the most intense, passionate,
impetuous, and merciless character, by looking to Jesus
through the grace of God, learn to curb their tempers,
cease from resentment, avoid offending by injurious
words and actions, and forgive injuries. It is the
opposite of self-well toward God, and ill-will toward
men. It is quietly submitting to the will of God, His
Word, His rod, and follow His directions and comply with
His plan for their lives and are gentle toward their
fellowman.
The fruits of meekness are first God ward. Where this
fruit is dominant the enmity of the carnal mind is
subdued, and its possessor bears God’s chastening with
quietness and patience. Second it is man ward, inasmuch
as meekness is that spirit which has been schooled to
mildness by discipline and suffering, and brought into
obedience to the will of God. It causes the believer to
bear patiently the insults and injuries which he
receives at the hands of his fellowman and makes him
ready to accept instruction or admonishment and moves
him to think more highly of others than of himself.
Meekness enables the Christian to endure provocations
without being provoked to anger or vengeance. Paul told
the Galatians, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a
fault, you which are spiritual, restore such a one in
the spirit of meekness” (Galatians 6:1). This means, not
with a lordly and a domineering attitude, a harsh and
censorious temper, with a love of finding fault and
desire for inflicting discipline but with gentleness,
humility and patience.
Contrary to what is believed in this world meekness is
not a sign of weakness. It is manifested in an
individual by the yielding to God’s will and will not
yield to or compromise with evil. God-given meekness
enables His people to stand up for God-given rights.
When God’s glory is profaned we must denounce the
profanity and those who profane God’s glory. We need to
follow Moses’ example. He was "very meek, above all the
men which were upon the face of the earth" (Num. 12:3),
yet when he saw the Israelites dancing before the golden
calf he broke the two tables of stone, and put to the
sword those who had dishonored Jehovah. The apostles
firmly and boldly stood their ground when they were
beaten for preaching the gospel message (Acts 16:35-37).
Jesus in concern for His Father’s glory made a whip of
cords and drove the desecrators out of the temple. Jude
tells us we are to “contend earnestly for the faith
which was once for all handed down to the saints” (v 3).
Biblical meekness is never in conflict with the
requirements of faithfulness to God, His cause, and His
people.
The spirit of meekness is what enables us to get
enjoyment out of what God has given us. It delivers us
from a greedy and grasping disposition, what “a
righteous man has is better than the riches of many
wicked" (Ps. 37:16). The proud and covetous do not
"inherit the earth," though they may own many acres of
it. The humble Christian is far happier in a cottage
than the wicked in a palace. The author of Proverbs
wrote, "Better is little with the fear of the Lord, than
great treasure and trouble with it. (Proverbs 15:16).
Writing to the Corinthians Paul said, "Let no one boast
in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or
Apollas or Cephas or the world or life, or death, or
things present, or things to come; all things belong to
you” (1 Corinthians 3:21-22). Our right or title to the
earth is twofold: civil and spiritual. The civil is
approved by men according to their laws and customs. The
spiritual is approved by God. Adam had this spiritual
right to the earth before he fell, but by his sin he
forfeited it both for himself and his posterity. But
Jesus has regained it for all God’s children.
Our inheritance is an Old Testament promise with a New
Testament meaning. The value of this spiritual grace and
the need to pray for an increase of it is found in
Zephaniah 2:3. As a further inducement to “seek the
Lord” is the promises, "The meek shall eat and be
satisfied" (Psalm 21:26), "The Lord lifts up the meek"
(Psalm 147:6), "The meek also shall increase their joy
in the Lord" (Isaiah 29:19). From these passages we
should be able to see it is foolishness seeking earthly
possessions without any regard to the Lord’s will. Since
all right to the earth was lost by Adam and is only
recovered by the Redeemer, we can have no part of it
until we have a part in Him. Just as we can not purchase
or possess an earthly inheritance, we can not purchase
or possess any heavenly inheritance.
Read the next sermon - Life
in the Kingdom of Heaven - Part 2
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