The Beatitudes of Jesus Christ

The sermon of Jesus began with the beatitudes or the says to which actually prove what REALLY AUTHENTIC FAITH is which differentiates it against false conversions. Reading through Matthew 5:3-12 details the beautiful truth of true conversion. So how does this work?

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven
  • The poor in spirit recognize that they have nothing else to do to gain God's favor. They have no resources of their own, they see themselves as those who need salvation and God's help.
  • The Bible is clear in Psalm 14:2-3 that there is none righteous, no not one. Isaiah 64:6 calls all the "good works" of man to be nothing more than rags (menstruation cloths) before God's eyes. These people realize that their all in all is in the Lord Jesus Christ and not in their own ability.
  • This is where total depravity sets in. Regardless of how much man tries to work to God but he falls down short. Romans 3:4-19 reveals how sinful man is. Man, in general, is a liar, a breaker of the Law and that by the Law he is declared GUILTY. James 2:10-11 is clear it only takes one sin to damn a person's soul into Hell.

Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted
  • Unless people repent of their sins, there is really no way they will come to the Lord Jesus for salvation. They will continue to say, "Nothing is wrong with me, I'll make it MY WAY." Sinners who came to Jesus mourning of their sins were truly sorry and as a result, acknowledge they NEED salvation in order to start a new life. Not so with people who love their sins- they will never mourn, they think that nothing is wrong with them until it is too late. John 3:20 comes to mind that many will refuse Jesus because they love their sins.
  • The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector comes to mind. Luke 18:9-14 has the Pharisee where he raised his voice towards Heaven boasting nothing was wrong with him. The tax collector mourned his sinful condition by heartily saying, "God be merciful to me a SINNER." Jesus declared that the tax collector and not the Pharisee went home absolved of blame before God.

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth
  • Meekness is a true virtue. The proud will reject God's simple plan of salvation which only involves a true surrender, complete reliance on Him, the Lord Jesus Christ and what He did for sinners- that is He died for their sins.
  • The works salvationist is a proud man who says, "I'll make it my way." They continue to slander the truth of salvation by faith alone which results to the reality of the perseverance of the saints to be nothing more than a license for sin. Talk about how Charles Spurgeon and his modern day adherents like Paul Washer, Ray Comfort and John Macarthur to name a few are being slandered as preachers who teach a license to sin. If that is so they accuse the Lord Jesus Christ of being a person who grants a license to sin.
  • Christians produce meekness. They take no credit for good works that God does through them. They give back the glory to God regardless how many good works they do even if they give everything to the poor for the furtherance of the Gospel, they'll say "It's not me, it's God." to the beneficiaries and seek NO glory from it except God be glorified. To be meek is to always rely on God and not self. After all, it's all of God's work and not man's righteousness that leads to the believers' changed life (Romans 4:5, Philippians 2:13, Titus 2:11-15).

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled
  • Many who come to Jesus for forgiveness desire a changed life. As said unless a person is ever willing to turn from sin, they will never go to the Savior. The unsaved daily see the saving power of Jesus is a life changer. Where the Gospel is spread, Christians could no longer live the way they want and they live the way God wants because they want to. Their desires are for a different life in Christ.
  • Even when Christians are saved, they still DO SIN (1 John 1:8) but the difference is they do not live their lives as wickedly as the heathen like engaging in orgies, homosexuality, temple prostitution and the LONG LIST can go on. Even if a Christian may be an honest police officer, a businessman who is fair to everyone, a mayor who fights crime yet there are still sins that the public doesn't know. In thought, in word and in action sin happens. A Christian who is an honest to goodness police may soon think of murdering every thief to clean the community- even if the act is not yet done, it is already MURDER in itself (Matthew 5:43, 1 John 3:15). Sometimes a Christian refuses to forgive, refuses to obey, etc. but their desire to stop these sins, God fills them slowly but surely.
  • The true believer desires to obey God no matter how stumbled they are. 1 John 1:9 says that God will forgive the believer. John 10 shows that the true sheep obeys. They may end up disobeying but God chastises them.
  • Hebrews 12:5-6 says that God will chastise the believer who sins. It's also His way of filling the desire for a righteous life.

Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy
  • True conversion can be evidenced by being merciful. Because they were given God's free gift of salvation even if it would cost Him His very own Son Jesus. Salvation is obtained only by God's mercy, it is something that can't be worked for, it is something that can't be earned because of man's wickedness. Yet in God's mercy, He sent His own Son to the world that whoever believes (pisteuon, full reliance on Him) on Him will not perish but have everlasting life.
  • Ezekiel 36:25-27 says that God will not only grant mercy to the sinner, wash away the sins but also replace the heart of stone with a heart of muscles that will do the precepts of God. It is impossible to be a true convert and not gain mercy. A Christian may be tempted and may land in an unforgiving state yet God is faithful that by His grace, make the Christian forgive.
  • Many of those who rely on false sources of mercies hardly show mercy. Works salvation is a merciless system, it demands its followers to show mercy yet it shows no mercy. It's like the unforgiving servant who would not forgive a fellow servant of a much lesser fault.

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God
  • Unless a Christian is truly peaceful, no man can see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14). It is also the test of true and genuine salvation. The following of holiness from start to end is the mark of genuine conversion which is marked with peacefulness. But that doesn't mean Christians can't fall into a state of warring but they will be less conflicting.
  • Christians in the past were persecuted by various threats- the Roman Empire, the Roman Catholic institution has been drunk with the blood of the true Christians (like how she tried to destroyed born again Christians via the Inquisition, Crusades, and Jesuits), Islam, atheist governments and Communism to name a few. However, by choosing to give their lives than fight back, their martyrdom became a testimony to many instead. True peacemakers show the true and lasting peace in Christ.
  • The message of Christianity is peace, not war. The holy war of Christianity is in Ephesians 6:11-17 is not against flesh and blood but against demons. Christians who lack peace, who hit back when they're insulted and dwell on pity insults will lose the holy war. The holy war is only won through proclaiming the Gospel and LIVING IT! Being chaotic and abrasive has NO PLACE for the believer.

Blessed are the those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven
  • Christians get persecuted for the WRONG REASONS! The moment that Christians uphold the Gospel not just in part but in whole, the world will go against them. The moment Christians declare salvation is only in Jesus Christ and that works cannot save, the proud and conceited wants to kill them. Ever wondered why the Pharisees hated Jesus and His disciples? Jesus showed the flaw of the Pharisees' work salvation vs. that He was the only Way to the Father (John 14:6).
  • Christianity will face one persecution after the other but here's what turned out to be:
    • The persecution in the Book of Acts only caused Christianity to wax stronger.
    • Even with the apostles suffering martyrdom, yet their preaching still lives on!
    • The Roman Empire did all they can to eliminate Christians in Rome and their other colonies yet the bloodier the persecutions, the stronger it grew.
    • The Catholic Inquisition invented by Dominic, founder of the Dominicans devised ways of torture one more brutal than the other. Yet the more Christians they executed in the most horrible ways possible, the more it grew instead. The execution of reformation heroes like Girolamo Savonarola who denounced Alexander VI's corruption, William Tyndale the Bible translator and John Huss just caused Christianity to spread. The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of Christians only caused Christianity to spread more. Even when Ignatius of Loyola established the Jesuits to openly and secretly declare war against the Reformers, the Baptists and the Anabaptists only caused a tremendous growth in Christianity.
    • Communist countries influenced by atheism sought to remove the true Christians as well considering them to be an even greater threat than the pseudo-Christian cults they were fighting against. Mao Zedong's persecution of Christians only made Christianity spread even if they got rid of the overseas missionaries. Soon Chinese Christians by refusing to bow down and worship Mao Zedong as if he were God as they were brutally executed had converted HUGE crowds like how many Christians who refused to worship Nero and Domitian as God.
  • The Gospel will be spread across the world before the end comes (Matthew 24:14). If Jesus says it, it automatically will happen. And right now, the world is getting saturated with the Gospel- the biggest and most overlooked sign that the end is near! Even so, come Lord Jesus!
  • Therefore Christians should NEVER MIND what is written about them, what is read about them, read hate sites about them- NEVER MIND THAT! Just keep preaching the Gospel!