The Beatitudes

Church of the Word Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Jesus was a teacher, preacher, and healer. He kept on teaching the blessings that are in Matthew 5:1-12. He repeated these blessings, and He brought people into the blessings. You can identify with the people described in this passage. There is a progression of one blessing into another. The poor in spirit mourn for their sin, and as a result they are marked by meekness, so they hunger and thirst unto righteousness and are filled, and having received such mercy became merciful themselves. He starts in the kingdom of heaven and ends up inheriting the earth. (Matthew 5:1) Jesus sat when He was teaching, which was a declaration that He was the Messiah. In Genesis 26:3-4 God said He would bless Abraham. Isaac sowed in famine and reaped one hundred fold, and the LORD blessed him. Paul preached the Christ would bring a blessing. "Blessed" is contrary to the word, "happy." The root of happiness is "chance." Happiness is fickle. Joy and blessings are here to stay. No man can take them from you. Blessed is a self-contained position put upon you. It is a victorious-consciousness. Say, "I am blessed of God." Matthew 5 belongs to you. Poverty in spirit creates a detachment from things. No matter what you have, you need God. You live in the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn means mourning over a death. The second beatitude is an attachment to people. In Matthew 6 Jesus was trying to get Philip to see that Jesus Christ was his source. He wanted him to think kingdom thoughts, to think in the supernatural. James 2:5 …"Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?" If you cannot give something away, you are tied to the flesh. Look to the supernatural where God has already blessed you. Get over into the kingdom of heaven, where all things are possible because you are doing it for God's sake. In the beginning of Acts, they were united and did not own anything because it belonged to the Lord. It is about your heart. You can claim the hundredfold because you forsake your will. Know you are blessed.