The Beatitudes, Part II: The Character of the Kingdom

Reformed Baptist Church of Kansas City

The Sermon on the Mount is the Manifesto of the King and His Kingdom. And the foundation to the Sermon is the famous Beatitudes, which teach the Characteristics of the Citizens of the Kingdom—characteristics which can only be produced by God's sovereign grace through the work of Christ applied by the power of Spirit to give the new life of Christ.The simple, yet profound words of the Beatitudes state the objective of the whole Sermon—that we can know real blessedness, real joy and contentedness and divine reward. Then our Lord explains in the rest of the Sermon what kind of lifestyle produces this kind of happiness.The Beatitudes describe the Characteristics of the Citizens of Christ's Kingdom. Thus, they describe the Characteristics that a Christian is to have and display.1) The first four Beatitudes describe inner qualities of the Christian, while the last four describe the resulting outer qualities.2) The first four Beatitudes focus on the Christian's relation to God, while the last four on his relation to his fellow man.3) The first four show how one by grace enters the Kingdom, while the last four show the outward result of this inward change.This sermon covers the last four (of eight) Beatitudes' progression from Mercy, to Purity, to Peacemaking, to Persecution. Here we see...1) The response of the one who by grace has entered into Christ's Kingdom.2) The resulting characteristics of how that citizen in Christ's Kingdom lives.3) How Christ fulfills these Characteristics.