The Sermon on the Mount: Beatitudes

I once had a conversation with a colleague about the Sermon on the Mount and its relevance to missions. It turns out we had similar thoughts about the same passage of Scripture, and at the end of our phone conversation he asked me to consider writing up some devotional thoughts to our entire group. To be honest, I was a little taken aback but agreed to pray about it, and eventually came to the conclusion that God would have me do that. What follows, is a series of messages I sent to our missionary fraternity. I hope these different messages that focus on the Beatitudes will be an encouragment and help to you.

I agree with Warren Wiersbe that Matthew 5:20 is the key verse of the Sermon on the Mount… “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Jesus then goes on to compare the righteousness of the Pharisees with those who live by the Spirit and go above and beyond the law because of the righteous of Christ at work in them. For years this text has been debated from those who see it as good works that you must do to enter heaven, to hyper Dispensationalists who say that the standards are just too high and it is not instruction for us now, but for those who will live on earth during the millennial reign of Christ. To be sure, Jesus does ask much of his disciples… and his words are just as radical today as they were then; “turn the other cheek, love your enemies, gouge out your eye if it causes you to stumble, etc.” Nevertheless, these words are applicable to all who follow Christ, and especially to us who bear his name in another culture in the world. They are things that are impossible to do in our strength, but nothing is impossible with the Spirit of God. It is He who lives in us, and it is He who calls us to a higher standard than the religious zealots of the world. We are to be salt and light in a world of decay and darkness. This is what we must live and proclaim, and this is what we should expect of those we lead to follow Christ as we have followed Him. For the next few days, I want to consider the Beatitudes and their connection to our spiritual life, and particularly to our missionary mandate. I hope you don’t think me presumptuous in sending these out, and I want you to know that I am just being transparent with you as another co-laborer who needs to step it up a notch. My prayer is that we will all step it up a notch this year and that we will give more of ourselves to Jesus and to our work; I pray that this next year we will see an increase in both the quantity and the quality of the fruit from our ministry.