How Are Citizens of the Kingdom to Live among the Nations?

Matthew 5:5

Psalm 37:11 says, “But the humble [meek] will inherit the land and will enjoy abundant prosperity.” The meek are those who say to their King, “Not my will, but your will be done.” They give the Lord Jesus a blank check and delightedly ask him to fill it in as he chooses. A meek person is not a weak person but a strong person in Christ. When we are broken, in a saving way by God, our will is now completely and totally surrendered to God and his will. Quarles says that a meek person is one who delights in “a servant relationship to God and who subjects himself to Him quietly and without resistance” (Sermon, 55). Ferguson adds, meekness is the humble strength that belongs to the man who has learned to submit to difficulties (difficult experiences and difficult people), knowing that in everything God is working for his good. The meek man is the one who has stood before God’s judgment and abdicated [surrendered] all his supposed ‘rights’. He has learned, in gratitude for God’s grace, to submit himself to the Lord and to be gentle with sinners. (Sermon, 21)

There is an eschatological hope for the meek: “They will inherit the earth.” This may refer to the earthly reign of King Jesus in his millennial kingdom in which we will share (Rev 20:1-6). But it will certainly include the recreated and restored earth that accompanies the new heavens and new Jerusalem of Revelation 21–22.

In addition to seeing this hope, it is of significant interest to note that two persons are recognized for their meekness in the Bible. One is Moses in Numbers 12:3. The other is Jesus in Matthew 11:29. Meekness “is virtually the only personal quality about himself to which Jesus drew attention” (cf. 2 Cor 10:1; 1 Tim 6:11; 2 Tim 2:24-25) (Ferguson, Sermon, 22–23). I love these words of Sinclair Ferguson concerning meekness: “It enhances manliness; it adorns femininity. It is a jewel polished by grace” (ibid., 23).

Matthew 5:6

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are consumed with a passion for righteousness. They have an insatiable appetite, an intense longing, to be conformed to the image of Jesus (Rom 8:29). Without it they will starve. Without it they will die from thirst. In fact, such a person “longs to live a godly life as much as a starving man longs for his next piece of bread or a parched tongue yearns for a drop of water” (Quarles, character, and he fills us up! By means of Christ’s redeeming work and transforming grace, God gives me new appetites that he promises to satisfy.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has put eternity in our hearts. Likewise, Augustine said, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless, until they rest in you” (Confessions, 3). We all have what I call “a hole in the soul” that can only be satisfied and filled by a relationship with a perfect heavenly Father. Matthew 6:33 provides a wonderful commentary to the fourth beatitude. There Jesus says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” The world is hungry for happiness, and it is starving. The Bible tells us to hunger for holiness and be satisfied.

Matthew 5:7

Jesus says that those who demonstrate mercy to others will receive mercy from God. Carson writes, “Mercy is a loving response prompted by the misery and helplessness of the one on whom the love is to be showered. [If] grace answers to the undeserving; mercy answers to the miserable” (Sermon, 24). Mercy is a grace that flows directly out of the previous four beatitudes. The person who knows his spiritual bankruptcy (v. 3), grieves over his pitiful condition (v. 4), submits his will to God’s will in all things (v. 5), and longs for godly righteousness (v. 6) shows mercy to the poor and needy because he knows himself to be poor and needy (v. 7). Ferguson says, “Mercy is getting down on your hands and knees and doing what you can to restore dignity to someone whose life has been broken by sin (whether his own or that of someone else)” (Sermon, 31). How much mercy you show is almost certainly the result of how much mercy you know!

Quarles rightly highlights one important, even critical, aspect of mercy: forgiveness. He notes, “Mercy involves more than generous giving to the needy. It also involves forgiving others for their sins as an expression of gratitude to God for His gracious forgiveness” (Sermon, 63). We should never forget this foundational Christian truth: we will never forgive anyone as much as God in Christ has forgiven us (see Eph 4:32).

Proverbs 14:21 says, “The one who despises his neighbor sins, but whoever shows kindness [mercy] to the poor will be happy.” No wonder Jesus tells us that extending mercy to others is necessary for a righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees (5:20). Not surprisingly, Jesus repeatedly chastises the Pharisees for failing to show mercy to others (9:13; 12:7; 23:23; see also 18:21-35). Piper is on target:

Mercy comes from mercy. Our mercy to each other comes from God’s mercy to us. . . . You get the power to show mercy from the real feeling in your heart that you owe everything you are and have to sheer divine mercy. (“Merciful”)

Matthew 5:8

Citizens of the kingdom need to remember that God is more concerned with our inward character than our outward conduct, our attitudes more than our actions (5:27-28; 23:25-26). The bottom line is that he is most concerned about our hearts. Those who are pure in heart receive an incredibly glorious promise: “They will see God.” First Samuel 16:7 reminds us that man sees the outward appearance, but the Lord sees the heart. Matthew 12:34 tells us, “The mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.” Matthew 15:18-19 adds,

But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a person. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slander.

The condition of your heart, the inner person, the real you, is critically important to Jesus. It should be equally important to us. To be pure in heart is to have a dirty heart made clean, an impure heart purified, a filthy heart cleansed. Psalm 24 is a probable Old Testament grounding for this beatitude. Verse 4 speaks of having clean hands and a pure heart. Being pure in heart involves a passionate pursuit of righteousness and obedience. We are fully aware of the deceptive wickedness and deceitfulness of the human heart (Jer 17:9). To be pure in heart, we must draw near to God (Jas 4:8) and purge every idol from our hearts that would usurp God from his rightful kingship in our lives. A line from William Cowper’s hymn “O for a Closer Walk with God” accurately expresses the proper Christian desire: “The dearest idol I have known, whatever that idol may be; Help me tear it from its throne, and worship only Thee.” A longing for God’s presence, a pursuit of God’s purity, a delight in God’s pleasure—these are the things that cultivate and characterize a pure heart.

Matthew 5:9

In 1978 President Jimmy Carter brokered a Middle East peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, between the Egyptian president Anwar Sadat and the Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin. In an address before a joint session of Congress on September 18, he closed by looking at his two friends and saying these words: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be the children of God” (Carter, “Address”). These are interesting words from a Christian directed at a Jew and a Muslim. They are understandable words to be sure. But without a doubt they are misapplied words.

This verse does not tell us how to become sons (children) of God. John 1:12 does that (see also Gal 3:26). No, peacemaking is a characteristic of God’s children, those who have entered his family by adoption through faith in Jesus Christ (Gal 4:4-5). Ferguson points out,

Jesus’ logic is not difficult to follow. God is described in Scripture as the God of peace [Rom 16:20; 1 Thess 5:23; Heb 13:20]. As such, he has made peace for us through Christ; he has reconciled us to himself (2 Cor 5:19-21). Making peace is part of God’s gracious character. Those who have become members of his family will share in his family likeness. His sons will be peacemakers. (Sermon, 37–38)

Peacemaking will have evangelism as its first priority, helping to make peace with man and God through the proclamation of the gospel. It will also involve helping brothers and sisters in Christ live at peace and in harmony with one another. Romans 14:19 reminds us, “So then, let us pursue what promotes peace and what builds up one another.” Hebrews 12:14 adds, “Pursue peace with everyone.” The word “peace” is mentioned in the Bible almost 400 times (NASB or ESV). Our Lord Jesus is called the “Prince of Peace” (Isa 9:6). God sent his Son that we might have peace with God (Rom 5:1), peace from God (2 Cor 1:2), and the peace of God (Phil 4:7). His children will follow in his footsteps.

Matthew 5:10-12

This is the eighth and final beatitude. Verses 11-12 are best understood as an expansion or commentary on it. Once more, at first blush the statement seems nonsensical. Take delight and be happy when people revile you, persecute you, and speak evil and lie about you. Really? That’s like saying, “Be sad when people are good to you!” However, I left out two key phrases found in verses 10-11. The first key phrase is “for righteousness’s sake” (v. 10 ESV). The second is “on my [Christ’s] account” (v. 11 ESV). Now the words of our Lord come into spiritual focus, and their sense becomes perfectly clear.

Living a life that reflects these beatitudes and the righteousness of God is an invitation to persecution. You would think the world would applaud such a person! Actually, they nailed the example par excellence to a cross. Jesus told us, “You will have suffering in this world” (John 16:33). He told us again in John 15:18, “If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you.” Paul adds in 2 Tim Timothy 3:12, “In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” Jesus is clear that people among all nations will act and speak evil against you. When it goes beyond words, which can certainly hurt and wound, you may experience rejection; loss of family, friends, or job; imprisonment; torture; or even martyrdom for Jesus’s sake. When that happens, know you are blessed. When that happens, rejoice. When that happens, be glad. Like the apostles you were counted worthy by God to suffer dishonor for his name (Acts 5:41). Why? First, it is evidence that you are a citizen of the kingdom of heaven (v. 10). Second, a great reward awaits you in heaven (v. 12). Third, you will find yourself in excellent company, “For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (v. 12).

John Piper’s practical application of these three verses is helpful:

So we can see why a life devoted to righteousness or godliness will be persecuted or reviled or spoken against.

Why are the Beatitudes such a beloved portion of the Bible for a Christian? I think I have an idea. We love them because they give us a portrait of Jesus and who we are becoming in him! No one sympathized with spiritual beggars more than Jesus. No one grieved over sin and a broken world more than Jesus. No one was more meek in submitting to God’s will than Jesus. No one hungered and thirsted for righteousness more than Jesus. No one showed mercy to others more than Jesus. No one sought peace between God and man, and between man and man, more than Jesus. No one suffered unjust persecution and evil against themselves more than Jesus.

I look at the Beatitudes and I see Jesus. I look at the Beatitudes and I see who I’m becoming in him. Blessed! Delighted! Happy!