Scripture Reading: Matt. 5:4-5, 9
Ⅰ
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”—Matt. 5:4:
A
To mourn is to feel or show deep sorrow or regret:
１
The entire situation of the world is negative toward God’s economy.
２
God’s glory is insulted, Christ is rejected, the Holy Spirit is frustrated, the church is desolate, self is corrupt, and the whole world is evil.
３
Satan, sin, self, darkness, and worldliness predominate among all people on the earth.
４
God wants us to mourn over such a situation.
B
A saint who is poor in spirit and seeks God will mourn because the surroundings, the present generation, and the people in the world do not want God, resist God, and rebel against God:
１
The Lord promised that those who mourn on behalf of God will be comforted.
２
Our grieving heart is comforted by gaining God and by coming under His rule; however, our comfort will be greater and richer in the coming kingdom and in eternity future.
C
A believer who lives in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens often mourns:
１
A saint does not mourn over the tribulations that he suffers but over not gaining God.
２
The object of such mourning is God and His dominion.
３
Such mourning is noble and holy.
４
Those who mourn will be comforted by God.
D
If we are poor in spirit, surely we will mourn:
１
We will feel sad and sorrowful for the poor situation among God’s people and even for our own condition.
２
The situation among God’s people today is really worthy of mourning.
３
For the kingdom life we also need to mourn.
４
We need to mourn concerning ourselves, our society, and today’s Christianity.
５
When we look at Christ, we are happy and rejoicing, but when we look at ourselves and others around us, we have to mourn.
Ⅱ
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”—v. 5:
A
To be meek means not to resist the world’s opposition but to suffer it willingly.
B
If we are poor in spirit and mourn for the pitiful situation of others, spontaneously we will be meek:
１
Toward all people we must be meek.
２
To have the virtue of meekness means that we do not invade others or fight with them:
ａ
Instead, we are willing to give in.
ｂ
The meek give in, do not fight, and do not invade others’ territory.
C
While we are being meek toward other people, we must fight against the power of darkness—Eph. 6:12:
１
The enemy is not other people.
２
It is Satan and his angels, the evil powers in the air—2:2.
D
If we are meek, willing to suffer the world’s opposition in this age, we will inherit the earth in the coming age—Heb. 2:5-8; Luke 19:17, 19; Matt. 11:28-30; Num. 12:3.
E
The Lord Jesus said of Himself, “I am meek…in heart”—Matt. 11:29:
１
In facing opposition, the Lord Jesus was always meek.
２
Paul in 2 Corinthians speaks of the meekness of Christ—10:1:
ａ
Meekness is a virtue of the humanity of Christ by the divine life.
ｂ
Christ’s meekness is not a simple matter, for it is in His humanity and by the divine life.
ｃ
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He lived a human life by the divine life.
ｄ
Through this mingling of divinity and humanity the virtue of meekness was manifested.
３
Christ’s meekness is seen in the way He entered Jerusalem as described in Matthew 21:1-11:
ａ
He was “meek and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, a foal of a beast of burden”—v. 5.
ｂ
This signifies the meek and lowly state in which the Lord was willing to present Himself.
ｃ
Christ the heavenly King did not come with haughty splendor but with gentle, humble meekness.
ｄ
The Lord Jesus came not to fight but to be a meek King.
F
Those who are meek will inherit the earth—5:5:
１
If we live in the reality of the kingdom of the heavens and partake in the kingdom, we will inherit the kingdom of God—1 Cor. 6:9a, 10b; Gal. 5:21b; Eph. 5:5b.
２
Inheriting the kingdom of God is different from entering into the kingdom of God through regeneration:
ａ
Having entered into the kingdom by being regenerated, we now need to grow and develop in the divine life.
ｂ
As a result of this growth and development, we will inherit the kingdom of God.
ｃ
We cannot inherit the kingdom of God unless we grow to maturity in the proper development in the divine life.
Ⅲ
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God”—Matt. 5:9:
A
Satan, the rebellious one, is the instigator of all rebellion.
B
For the kingdom of the heavens, under its heavenly ruling, we must be those who make peace among men—Heb. 12:14:
１
Our Father is the God of peace (Rom. 15:33; 16:20), having a peaceful life with a peaceful nature.
２
As those born of Him, if we would be peacemakers, we must walk in His divine life and according to His divine nature.
３
In this way we will express His life and nature and be called the sons of God.
C
The blessed peacemakers will be called the sons of God—Matt. 5:9:
１
The believers are children of God, and then they gradually grow up to become sons of God.
２
In His salvation God makes sinners into sons.
３
The central thought of the book of Romans is that in His salvation God is making sinners His sons with His life and nature so that they may become constituents of the Body of Christ for His expression:
ａ
Romans 8, in particular, emphasizes sonship:
⑴
Verse 14 says, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
⑵
This indicates that we may know that we are sons of God by the fact that we are led by the Spirit.
⑶
The leading of the Spirit marks us out as being sons of God in the growth of life.
ｂ
Verse 19 continues, “The anxious watching of the creation eagerly awaits the revelation of the sons of God”; this verse speaks of the manifestation, or the appearing, of the sons of God.
４
Galatians 3:26 says, “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus”:
ａ
Faith in Christ brings us into Christ and makes us one with Christ, in whom is the sonship.
ｂ
We must be identified with Christ through faith so that in Him we may be sons of God.