Do You Really Like to be “Blessed” in Christ? <Mt 5:3-12; Lk 6:24-26>

Read <Mt 5:3-12; Lk 6:24-26>.

1. God’s “blessings” are different from what man commonly thinks.

· Man’s blessing and woe are not so much about things of the flesh than things of the spirit. What is important is whether a person belongs to heavenly kingdom and God.

· “Beatitudes” begin and end with “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” <Mt 5:3, 10>. If a person is saved by God, such that he can enter the kingdom of heaven, then no matter how his earthly conditions are like, he is blessed.

· “Beatitudes” are not the conditions for a person to be saved, but they describe the characteristics of a person who has been or will be saved by God.

2. Confirm: Do I have the “beatitudes”?

1) “Blessed are the poor in spirit”.

· Opposite from “poor in spirit”: Trust oneself too much, do not feel “poor” in spirit at all.

· Although all men are poor in spirit, not everyone is blessed, for not everyone will acknowledge they are poor in spirit and thus turn to God.

· Blessing for the poor in spirit: The kingdom of heaven (“present tense”).

2) “Blessed are those who mourn”.

· Not every mourning is blessed.

· The blessed person mourns not just for earthly reasons, but for his own sins, his broken relationship with God, the depravity of the world and the perishing of souls.

· Not just mourning emotionally, but have concrete actions.

· The blessed person will be comforted by God.

· Ponder: “What am I mourning for?”

3）“Blessed are the meek”.

· Read <Ps 37:7-11>.

· The meek that the Bible talks about: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him”.

· The meek will not stubbornly holds on to his own will but will surrender to the Lord.

· Read <Jas 1:21>: A meek person is able to humbly accept and obey God’s word.

· A meek person is also not one who is weak and cannot get things done.

· Blessing for the meek: Inherit the earth.

4）“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”.

· Not just thirst for God, but God’s “righteousness”.

· Such a person will seek Jesus, God also promised that he will be filled, as only Jesus can satisfy the deepest longing of man.

· The hunger and thirst for righteousness should continue.

5）“Blessed are the merciful”.

· Understood that they themselves received God’s mercy, so they should also be merciful to others.

· Being merciful does not mean ignoring righteousness.

· Those who are merciful will all the more be shown mercy by God.

6）“Blessed are the pure in heart”.

· Pure in heart: Single and not double minded.

· Pure in faith, not mixed with a lot of doubts.

· Very clear in the heart, have fixed perspective  “they will see God”.

· “Pure in heart” also means a heart that is not tainted by sin.

7）“Blessed are the peacemakers”.

· We ourselves must first be reconciled to God.

· In reconciling people to God, sometimes we need to disrupt their “false sense of peace”. We must not refrain from preaching the gospel, nor should we compromise the truth, just because we want to keep the peace with others.

· Should also be peacemakers between people.

8）“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness”.

· When we are persecuted for the Lord, it shows we belong to the Lord.

· True blessings do not lie in present life conditions, but in eternal rewards in heaven.

3. After knowing what the Bible considers as “blessed”, do you still desire to be a “blessed person” in the Lord?