[Mat 5:3-9]] KJV*
3Blessed 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.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Since not long after the invention of the printing press men have been making books to explain and produce spiritual maturity; none of these have come close to the opening seven sentences of Our Lords sermon on the mount. The seven attributes(probably more accurately described as ways of being)found here are not independent of each other, but instead are symbiotic steps each built on a continuance of what has come before. In this way if we do not continue in any one attribute all which may have been attained beyond it is immediately lost.
The poor in spirit: with poor describing one who has such a lack that they are reduced to begging and spirit describing the vital essence of ones existence(i.e. The inner man); then those who come to the reign of God in their lives are those who have abandoned all hope of being what they should be in their own power or ability
In a world where self esteem, self respect, and self help are held as the answer to all problems Jesus foundation of maturity is 180° opposite.
Those who mourn: To mourn is to feel and express a great sorrow and grief to the point of moaning and crying over our offences toward both God and men. As with the other "steps"of our spiritual maturity each brings a new blessing from God. Those who mourn shall be comforted, this being called alongside is a picture of God pulling us close and hugging us.
The meek: when we have been brought to a place where we no longer " fight for our rights" or demand respect from God and men, our concern for recognition of who we are and what we have done is done away with. Our live is not I but Christ in me...at this place we can be given that which we are to do and be on the earth.(i.e. Moses knew he was called of God to deliver his people when he was forty years old, but it was forty years later when meekness came before God used him for his purpose.)
Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness: hunger(eager desire) thirst(immediate desire)the type pf desire that comes from knowing that without this righteousness we will be left to the death found in the old man.The righteousness itself is a purity,virtue, integrity, and correctness of thinking, feeling, and acting. The blessing of this consuming desire is that we will be supplied with this righteousness, which we can not obtain, with a abundance.
The merciful: far beyond empathy in which you can share in another feelings, but instead an active compassion were everything within us is set to be poured out for those in need around us. Those who are living this gift from God are blessed with God pouring all he is into us that others may experience Him through us.
Pure in heart: the heart is the center source of our passions, appetites, desires and understanding; it is made pure as if by a refiners fire or the cutting of the husbandman's pruning hook. Neither sounds very appealing, but the fire burns away every impurity and the pruning hook takes away everything that is not conducive to growth. The blessing that comes to this heart is to see God, yet much deeper than can be seen with the eyes. It is to experience and know his heart a place where nothing is hidden from each other.
The peacemakers: They don't make peace between angry siblings and spouses, or peace between angry men and nations,but they make peace between rebellious men who live in opposition to God and the God of heaven and earth. Those who are ambassadors of this peace are called the sons of God.
The next versus deal with how the world will react to the radical changes that have taken place and then a warning...You are the salt of the earth but if the salt has lost its savor it is good for nothing....all these blessings had their beginning in the giving up of self(as Jesus later brought us to this happens when we trust that our self was carried to the cross in Jesus that his resurrection life would make me to live). It is God each step of the way drawing us to trust him instead of self, and when we do his blessings draw us to more trust in him and giving up of the self...so the glory of God is at work in us...but if we build up a great storehouse...if we reach a perfect spiritual maturity...and then as the parable says we say self be at ease...if we return to pleasing the self....then as the land owners soul was required that night...so the death we knew from living for the self returns when we return to the self....no matter the blessings we have known
Rick Rosamond
A bond slave of Jesus
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