The Beatitudes for many years were, for me, only nice sounding, but little understood promises. In the modernistic church I was a member of, the beatitudes were a favorite reading, even though it never occurred to any of us that they were meant to become a part of our lives. Actually we felt we were already doing rather well without any outside help. Our motto for the afterlife was simply, “Do good, be good and hope for the best.” That was our supposed ladder to heaven.

After I received Jesus Christ as my Savior I learned that some evangelicals avoided the entire Sermon on the Mount, including the Beatitudes as a form of legalism and only applied to the Jews. My continued study helped me understand that Jesus taught the Beatitudes because they are the “attitudes” that out to “be” in our lives as we submit ourselves to the promptings of the indwelling Holy Spirit as He enables us to understand the rich truths of the Bible. The Beatitudes are neither a ladder to heaven, nor a form of Jewish legalism, but they are guideposts along the joyous pathway to becoming like the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we love and serve out of gratitude for the sacrifice He made to save us from our sins and prepare us for life with Him in glory.

Jesus was just beginning His public ministry. As he gathered a following of disciples He was concerned that His followers not only know the Scripture teaching about salvation, but also demonstrate a changed life, one that set forth the joy of salvation and the true character of God. We sometimes encounter people today who have abandoned church attendance because they had been “turned off” by the ungodly attitudes of a professing Christian. For that reason, Jesus left the multitudes and went up into the mountain with his disciples to teach them the attitudes required of those who professed to be His followers. He was concerned that His disciples not display attitudes that would undermine His teaching ministry. You preach in vain if you and your followers are not demonstrating the value and effectiveness of your message.

The very first word that Jesus spoke in this sermon was the word “blessed” or happy, joyful, fortunate. The beatitudes produce great joy because they teach us how to respond in a godly way to every kind of situation we may encounter in life. Joyful followers draw hurting people who are looking for hope. Jesus desired that His joy be present in the lives of His followers. To accomplish that goal He gave them basic attitudes to work on that would produce His joy in them and destroy the devil’s lie that knowing God turns a person into a grumbling grouch.

DESCRIPTION OF THESE ATTITUDES

1. BLESSED ARE THE POOR IN SPIRIT: FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

The poor in spirit are the humble, those who have conquered the demon of pride. God hates pride and so do people. The proud seek only their own glory and gain and at any cost. The humble seek God’s glory and gain. God then freely gives the kingdom of heaven to the humble while the proud discover that the devil had deceived them with false promises and had only been using them to gain his own selfish ends. God gives entrance to His kingdom to those who come to him as a humble, trusting child (Mt. 18:3-4). We must be reborn (John 3:5) and come as a newborn (1Peter 2:2). This is the blessed, joyful life.

2. BLESSED ARE THEY THAT MOURN: FOR THEY SHALL BE COMFORTED.

When we find ourselves devastated by our circumstances we are most likely to turn to God for help. A man in prison who now receives Bible Study Lessons had been placed in a solitary confinement punishment cell by mistake. His cries for help day after day went unattended and finally out of sheer desperation he cried out to God for forgiveness of his sins and opened his heart to Jesus Christ. Joy filled his whole being and later when the guard came and moved him to a regular cell, admitting that he had been mistaken for another prisoner, he could only thank God for the mistake that resulted in his finding new life in Christ.

3. BLESSED ARE THE MEEK: FOR THEY SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH.

Meekness is not weakness, but is strength under control. Anger is weakness out of control. Christ invited men to come to Him, because He is meek and lowly and we will find peaceful rest in His presence (Matthew 11:28). There is neither peace nor rest in the presence of an angry person. An angry person demands his rights, but the meek receives all his needs like an inheritance. The meek are teachable, but you can’t tell an angry man anything.

4. BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS: FOR THEY SHALL BE FILLED.

The desire for righteousness is what brings blessing: not seeking happiness, nor religious feeling, but righteousness. David expressed this desire in Psalm 42:1-2 “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” God told Jeremiah, “And ye shall seek me, and find [me], when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” (29:13)

5. BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL FOR THEY SHALL OBTAIN MERCY.

Proverbs 11:17 says, “The merciful man doeth good to his own soul.” The Lord’s Prayer reminds us that unless we forgive we will not be forgiven. We had shared Christ many times with our aunt, but her reply was always that there were many people who had offended her and she was not willing to forgive them. From the Lord’s prayer she knew that God then would not be able to forgive her. We continued to pray for her and one day as we entered her hospital room, instead of her usual angry countenance she was beaming with joy as she greeted us with the words, “I have forgiven them all.” She was new woman.

6. BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD.

With our eyes we see the works of God, but with our heart we see God. Heb. 12:18 speaks of the holiness without which no man shall see God. Impurity in our heart clouds our vision of God like steam on the windshield makes it impossible to drive the car.

7. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS FOR THEY SHALL BE CALLED THE CHILDREN OF GOD.

Peacemakers are those who establish harmony. The greatest need we have for harmony is to be reconciled to God who is in the process of reconciling the world unto Himself. Those proclaiming peace with God have the same goal as their heavenly Father.

8. BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE PERSECUTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS SAKE: FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Note that persecution for Jesus’ sake brings a double blessing and a great reward, plus the reminder that they have the promise of the kingdom of heaven even though men might call them condemned devils.

RESULT OF THESE ATTITUDES

1. TRANSFORMED WORDS.

Followers of Jesus are the salt of the earth. Salt brings out flavor and preserves from corruption, making our words helpful and healthy. Colossians 4:6 tells us that our speech must always be with grace and seasoned with salt. Godly attitudes make us ready with a healthy, helpful word in season to answer those who ask about our faith in Christ. Ungodly attitudes cause our salt to lose its savor and it becomes worthless and only serves to kill the grass that tries to obstruct our pathway.

2. TRANSFORMED ACTIONS

Followers of Jesus are the light of the world. In Jesus’ day men spread out their nets in the water at night and then hung a light outside the boat to attract the fish. Just as fish are attracted to the light, the godly attitudes of Jesus and His followers attracted people to faith in Him. That is how they became fishers of men as Jesus had promised. The beatitudes are contrary to human nature and make the followers of Jesus different. But when unbelievers note that we have the same thought patterns as they have: (same love for material possessions—except we give a little to church), (same anger or pride – except we sit through sermons), (same self-will, making all our own choices – except we choose also to be a little religious), our religious words have no effect on them because they don’t see that our religion has had any effect on us.

What the church needs to do is live the Christian life. If we did that, men and women would be crowding into our services asking, “What is the secret of this?” In this way our Heavenly Father is glorified as people see His working in us and praise Him.

Remember that the beatitudes are not humanly produced, but are the fruit of the Holy Spirit as we totally submit ourselves to Him. For practical illustrations of how these attitudes apply to daily life just read the Gospels and note their presence in the life of Jesus. Also, you may wish to listen to “Attitudes that Attract” (Matthew 11:28-30)