The Beatitudes and Beyond

We are going to the fifth chapter of Matthew, take a quick look at the Beatitudes, and then go beyond. The Beatitudes begin with verse 3.

Matthew 5:3-6 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

The Beatitude in verse 6 is very, very important. They are all important, but this one has a special significance because too many Christians are not hungering and thirsting after righteousness. For some strange reason they seem to feel like they are okay, and really they’re not. There has to be a hunger and a thirst for righteousness!

Matthew 5:7-8 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

This is what God is looking for among His people. Every Christian should be poor in spirit. Every Christian should mourn. Every Christian should be meek. Every Christian should hunger and thirst after righteousness. All should be merciful and pure in heart, but all are not.

Matthew 5:9-10 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Now all of these who are blessed – the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers – these are the ones who will be persecuted for righteousness’ sake and theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:11-12 Blessed are you, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for My sake.
12 Rejoice …

Have you rejoiced over being reviled or persecuted or having evil spoken of you lately?

Matthew 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

This does not mean that if these beatitudes describe you then you are a prophet. But it does mean that you are counted in the prophetic company because you have a new nature. Christ is not only Lord over them, but is the Lord over you, too. So rejoice and be glad.

Matthew 5:13-14 You are the salt of the earth…
14 You are the light of the world….

The pronoun "you" here is plural. When Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth,” He is talking about all of these who are described by these beatitudes. They are the poor in spirit, the meek, the ones who hunger and thirst after righteousness. They are the merciful, the pure in heart who see God, and they are persecuted. Then Jesus says they are the salt of the earth.

Matthew 5:13 You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost his savor, how shall it be salted? It is therefore good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under the foot of men.

Those who are the salt of the earth are the ones who preserve and give mankind the flavor God is looking for. Until we become the poor in spirit, the meek, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, have a pure heart, merciful, all of these things, until that happens we will not be the salt of the earth. These are the ones Jesus is talking about and these are the ones who are also “the light of the world.”

Matthew 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

You are the light of the world. You are the ones who bring revelation, the enlightening Word. You are those who bring forth the very presence of the Lord in the earth and in mankind. In that sense you are the light of the world. We are talking about those who are described by the Beatitudes. The ones who experience these Beatitudes are the Body of Christ. They are the light of the world and they are a city set on a hill.

Matthew 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it gives light to all that are in the house.

Jesus just said, “You are the light of the world.” Now He says to not light a candle and put it under a bushel. In other words, do not put a limitation on it.

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

It is your light shining forth that brings glory to the Lord God. Do not let anything limit your light. What would limit your light? One thing that would limit the light through you is not being poor in spirit. What is the opposite of that? Being haughty, arrogant, think too well of yourself; that is the opposite of being poor in spirit. Not hungering and thirsting after righteousness limits your light. Your candle or your lamp is under a bushel.

If you put a bushel over your light, then it will not shine out beyond the measure of the bushel. Churches will often have their rules and regulations – “This is what we believe and do not believe.” Their light is limited and cannot go beyond that particular measure. Also, if it stays under that bushel it will eventually go out. The light uses up the oxygen; the life force under the bushel is used up. So if you are not letting your light shine without limitation, it could go out completely. This is what Jesus was talking about to the Laodiceans. He said, “You feel you are rich and have need of nothing, but you don’t know that you are poor, naked, miserable and blind” (Revelation 3:17). When the light begins to go out, there is such a deception that many do not realize it.

Matthew 5:17, 20 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
20 For I say unto you …

Who is the “you”? It is people of the Beatitudes.

Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

That simply means there must be a progression. Each one of the Beatitudes is expandable. If you are merciful, become more merciful. If you are hungering and thirsting after righteousness, let that hunger and thirst grow. Our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees of the religious world. So, wherever you are in your Beatitudes, there is not finality. We should have a continual progression in the Beatitudes.

Matthew 5:21-22 You have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment;
22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

This has to do with relationship and oneness. When Christians move into the realm of the Beatitudes, a relationship of oneness is created. That oneness must be maintained and treasured. That is the reason Jesus said, “If you become angry with a brother,” it has a killing effect on the one you are angry with because in that anger you are turning something loose that is negative, and it can break the oneness. It is destructive to the blessedness of the Beatitudes. So this is something we have to safeguard.

Matthew 5:43 You have heard that is has been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.

That comes from Leviticus 19:18, but if you look it up you will realize it doesn’t say to hate your enemy. It just says to love your neighbor, but the religiosity of the Pharisees and the scribes would say, “Well, we love our neighbor, and we can hate those people we don’t consider our neighbors.” That was the thinking of the Pharisees.

Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.

That might sound a little difficult to some. “You mean those who hate me and those who curse me, I am to love them?” Let me explain that.

Matthew 5:45 That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

The rain of the Spirit shall come upon all. The sun of His presence shall come upon all. Our responsibility is to maintain a right spirit and an openness to all people so that the Lord can flow through us to meet their hearts. Before I became a Christian I was anti-God, anti-Christ; I was anti-everything! But not just me, everybody else was too, because that is human nature. Human nature that is not serving God is serving something else. Jesus is not telling us to discipline ourselves to love them, but what He is saying is to maintain a right spirit, an open heart, so that He can move through you and bless them: For He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good. He cannot do that if your heart is closed. These people in the Beatitudes we are talking about – the salt of the earth and the light of the world – they are the channels through which God must move.

Matthew 5:46 For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans the same?

Even those religious Pharisees and scribes love people who love them. But the Lord is saying we must keep an open heart through which He can move. When Jesus was on the cross He looked down at His accusers and said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). We need the same attitude. They don’t know what they are doing, the people who reject us, the ones who persecute us and the ones who curse us. There is no Christian alive who at some time didn’t do those things before they became a Christian. For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans the same?

Matthew 5:47-48 And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others? Do not even the publicans so?
48 Be therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

You may say, “I can’t be perfect. I have faults. God isn’t through with me yet. I can’t be perfect.” The way you are perfect is to be forgiving, be gentle, meek, keep an open heart so that God can move through you to minister or to bless anyone. You will never be perfect by someone else’s standards. You’ll never be perfect by your own standards. But God has His own standards and His standard is as long as you have an open heart that He can move through to someone else to bless and to love them, to God that is perfection. And that is the primary ministry of the Body of Christ. How do you get there? You get there by being poor in spirit, mourning for what you are, realizing you haven’t become yet, being the meek, hungering and thirsting after righteousness – all these Beatitudes. That is what brings you into perfection. Amen.