Luke 6:20-26
"And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets," Luke 6:20-26.
As we learned from last time, there are multitudes of people that have gathered around Jesus Christ for different reasons. Though there are all kinds of people there, Christ does not change His message for any of them. He consistently calls people to repentance, and to examine their hearts. What Christ has been teaching has highly offended the religious crowds. What Christ is about to teach will continue to offend them. Why? Truth always has an effect. Truth will either comfort you or confront you; truth builds you up or crushes you; truth softens or hardens you. Truth reveals what is in our hearts, and then we have to deal with what has been revealed. Either you will agree with the truth, or you will disagree. Some say they will be in a neutral place. Biblically, that is not possible (John 3:36). "He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad," Matthew 12:30. Turn to I Peter 2:6-8.
Remember, there were different types of people in the crowd that Jesus was speaking to, just like there are different types of people here today. Some of you will readily receive what the Scriptures tell you, some of you will reject it. Truth always has an effect, how will it impact you? "For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon they seed, and my blessing upon thy offspring," Isaiah 44:3. Turn to Psalm 42. "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God," Psalm 42:1. What we see in these Scriptures, and what Christ is teaching here in Luke 6, is the difference between someone who is saved, and someone who is religious. Which one are you?
"And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God," Luke 6:20. Scripture interprets scripture. For us to get a better understanding of what Christ is teaching, we will at times refer to Matthew 5, but will follow our text here in Luke 6. "Blessed" in this verse is the Greek word "Makarios" and spoken in the Beattitudes of those receiving God's favour, regardless of what their circumstances may be. This means the door is open to the world. People from every nation, kindred, and tongue will be blessed. The people who make up this group come from all types of social backgrounds. No matter their social status, those who are blessed are those who are poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3). "Poor" in this verse means by implication, poor, low, humble, of low estate, including also the idea of being afflicted, distressed. "Poor in spirit" means those who recognize their spiritual helplessness. This is a work that only God can do. By God's grace, we see our spiritual state, which is lost. This is something that only God can do in someone. This is God's work; therefore, He gets the glory, not us. "Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake," Psalm 115:1. In our natural state, we are not able to come to God (Romans 3:9-12). By God's amazing grace He shows us our spiritual state, He gives us the faith to believe on His eternal Son Jesus Christ, He saves us, and immediately places us in His kingdom (Colossians 3:3-14). This is all a part of the quickening that God does to us.
When the Lord saves us, "ours is the kingdom of God". "Kingdom" in this verse is spoken generally of the privileges and rewards of the divine Kingdom, both here and hereafter. We become the adopted children of the King. We are joint heirs with Christ. One of the evidences of this truth are the fruits that we produce. We conduct ourselves as the children of God. Others know who are Father is by the way we live our lives. But, anyone can put on a front. Anyone can learn the right lingo, and that is why Christ deals with the heart.
"Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh," Luke 6:21. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled," Matthew 5:6. "Hunger" is through the idea of pinching, toil, "pine"; to famish, to crave:- be an hungered. This person is craving righteousness. We must keep in mind that it is God who gives us a craving for righteousness. We can never take the credit for anything good or spiritual that we do. By nature we don't, won't, and can't do anything that makes us right with God or in the eyes of God. God is not impressed by us in any way. Do we see how pride crushing these words of Jesus are? The pharisees were very prideful and were sure they were going to heaven because of their own good works (Matthew 7:21-23). They actually kept a record, and constantly compared themselves to others who in their eyes were lower spiritually. They actually wondered how God ever made it without them. True saving faith always produces good works that flow from us, but this is a result of God saving us. Good works follow us to heaven, they do not take us to heaven (Revelation 14:13).
"For ye shall be filled." This is the Greek word "chortazo" and means to supply in abundance:- satisfy. We struggle in this world. We are clothed with sin loving flesh, but one day, because of God's grace, we shall be filled with that which we desire, which is to be with our Lord and Saviour, and to be absent from any and all sin. What a day that will be! We know Paul looked forward to this day (Romans 7:14-25; I Corinthians 15:49-58).
"Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh." "Weep" in this verse means to sob, i.e. wail aloud:-bewail, weep. These are those who are weeping over their sins. Yes, even after the Lord saves us we still sin. The difference now is that we hate our sins, and we weep over them. This is another evidence that the Lord has saved our souls. Turn to Psalm 30. This life is temporary, and for the Christian, so is the struggle with sin. One day, "we shall laugh". This laughing is a sign of joy or satisfaction. Obviously this is not speaking of earthly things. We live looking forward to this day, which is promised to us. We hate our sins. Do you hunger and thirst after righteousness, or do you hunger and thirst after your sins? Do you weep because of your sins, or do you long for and endulge in them? You can fool everyone around you, but God knows your heart. Christ is exposing your heart. "True repentance changes a man's opinion of himself." ---A.W. Pink.
I beg you to examine yourself according to Scripture. Soli Deo Gloria.
