Matthew 5:6-10

 

Mat 5:6 (KJB)

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

 

The words “hunger” and “thirst” in the Greek text are both in the present tense which means that this is not speaking of only a one time hunger and thirst. It is speaking of an ongoing desire for the Kingdom of God. The righteousness which the true believer seeks for is not the righteousness which was according to the law and taught by the Pharisees which taught that righteousness was attained by doing good works. Many false religions, denominations, and cults teach that works will help you attain the righteousness of God. Nothing could be farther from the truth. (Rom 10:4 KJV) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. First of all, Christ was the end of the law for righteousness, that is, He fulfilled the demands of God’s holy Law and when the believer is in Christ, that fulfillment is imputed to them making them identified with the sacrifice of Christ.

 

(Eph 4:24 KJV) And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. The new man, that is, those who have become saved is created in righteousness which now gives the true believer the ability to live in purity of heart and a holy lifestyle apart from the world. (2 Pet 3:13 KJV) Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Not only does the true believer hunger and thirst after righteousness in this life, but the New Heavens and Earth will be created in righteousness. If you notice, Jesus uses the term “hunger and thirst” which means that both food and water are essential for the life of the human body. Here He states that to hunger and thirst is to have righteousness as the focus of our total spiritual sustenance. The more the believer seeks these things, the more they are filled. (Psa 81:10 KJV) I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. The principle is that the wider we open our mouth, the more God can fill it. In other words, the more we continually seek, that is hunger and thirst, the more God fills us and teaches us and will bless us.

 

Mat 5:7 (KJB)

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

 

Those who are blessed will be those who are merciful to others. This would entail placing ourselves in the other person’s shoes. We are merciful to them by not only being physically merciful to them (1 John 3:17 KJV) But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? but we must also be spiritually merciful to them, that is, to show them the true way of salvation. Many are caught up in cults or false religion and they may be very vitriolic toward Christianity. They are on their way to eternal hell and instead of hating them, we understand their position because we were once there ourselves. Now this beatitude sounds like a works gospel that if we show mercy, then mercy will be showed to us. Those who bring the true Gospel and evangelize are doing so because they have already been shown mercy by means of salvation. The unmerciful, like the Pharisees and Sadducees in the time of Jesus and the Apostles will not obtain mercy because they were unmerciful showing they were unsaved except for Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Many religious leaders are unmerciful because of their pride and they abuse the sheep below them to their own benefit. On judgment day they will not receive mercy because their acts on earth plainly showed that they were not merciful because they were unsaved. True mercy and salvation are brethren.

 

Mat 5:8 (KJB)

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

 

Here is a straight beatitude that only those who are truly saved will see God. The word “pure” means exactly what it says. (1 John 3:9 KJV) Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. Once a person becomes saved, their soul is perfectly cleansed and readied for Heaven. 1 John 3:9 speaks of a true believer having the inability to sin in their soul because it has been cleansed. We saw before that Jesus removed our sins and nailed it to His cross, which means there are no more sins attached to our souls making us 100% clean. The reason why we sin is because of the fact that the sin desire is in our flesh and the flesh always wars against the spirit. Paul had this problem and all one has to do is read Romans 7:15-24 and we will see Paul’s struggle. (Rom 7:17 KJV) Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.  Paul states that it is not him doing the sinning but sin that dwells in him. The real him has been redeemed and cleansed in his soul. So the only way one can ever see God is through salvation in Christ and that is because salvation completely cleans the soul of all sin. (Col 2:13 KJV) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Notice what Colossians 2;13 states, “…ALL TRESPASSES…” not some.

 

Mat 5:9 (KJB)

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

 

This beatitude speaks of the fact that those who bring peace will be called the children of God. Once again the key phrase is, “children of God.” One cannot be a child of God unless they are truly saved. Now a saved person will try to bring peace among those involved in strife but the meaning goes much deeper than that. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.  (Romans 12:18)  The truest meaning of this verse goes much beyond just physical peace among people or nations.  Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1) Every single unsaved person on earth is at war with God because of their sin and rebellion, and that includes religious people. The true child of God, one that is saved, brings the true Gospel to as many people as they can. If God saves any, then they are no longer at war with God but are now at peace with Him. The true peacemaker is the child of God who desires to see others reconciled to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. When you hand out tracts, support missions, or true ministries, you are being a peacemaker because you are trying to get people reconciled to God through salvation in Christ so the war would be over. The disciples of Jesus went to many places to bring the true Gospel and as they did, they were being peacemakers, even though many of them caused riots by the unbelievers. And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre. (Acts 19:29) Ephesus was a good example.

 

Mat 5:10 (KJB)

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 

Here Jesus begins to instruct His disciples that there is another method of being blessed and that method is not a pleasant one. However, it gives the believer the realization that they are bringing the truth. (1 Pet 3:14 KJV) But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; In many countries, Christians are severely persecuted just for being Christians but Jesus is telling them they are blessed because they are in the truth and the world hates anything that challenges its ways. Christians are even persecuted in churches where they will challenge a false teaching or the pastor and they will be looked down on by the pastor’s disciples. They will be escorted out and that is a definite form of persecution. Jesus was warning the people that those who follow Him would face much persecution. True Christians were persecuted by the Roman Empire, the Roman Catholic Institution, Communist countries, and many others right down to the present time. In the United States there is a satanic movement under way to remove every vestige of Christianity from the public arena and even many churches have stopped teaching the Gospel and replaced it with the Emerging Church lie, sympathy for the Sodomites in the land, abnormal obsession with Israel, and other false teachings. This is why many Christians do not attend church because if they open their mouth with the truth, they are escorted out. Jesus gives great encouragement here for those who suffer persecution, that they are in the Kingdom of God. It is in the present tense in the Greek, meaning not a future placing, but they are already in. Only those who are truly saved will endure to the end, the rest will run for the hills when persecution comes. (Mat 10:22 KJV) And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

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