Verse 8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” To be righteous is to deal with ourselves, to be merciful is to deal with others, and to be pure in heart is to deal with God. Toward ourselves, we must be strict and allow no excuses. Toward others, we should be merciful, giving them more than they deserve. But toward God we must be pure in heart, seeking nothing besides Him. The reward for being pure in heart is to see God. God is our reward. No reward is greater than God Himself. We gain this reward by being strict, righteous, with ourselves, by being merciful toward others, and by being pure in heart toward God.
To be pure in heart is to be single in purpose, to have the single goal of accomplishing God’s will for God’s glory (1 Cor. 10:31). This is for the kingdom of the heavens. Our spirit is the organ to receive Christ (John 1:12; 3:6), whereas our heart is the ground where Christ as the seed of life grows (13:19). For the kingdom of the heavens we need to be poor in spirit, empty in our spirit, that we may receive Christ. We also need to be pure in heart, single in our heart, that Christ may grow in us without frustration. If we are pure in heart in seeking God, we shall see God. Seeing God is a reward to the pure in heart. This blessing is both for today and for the coming age.
Verse 9 says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Satan, the rebellious one, is the instigator of all rebellion. For the kingdom of the heavens, under its heavenly ruling, we must be peacemakers with all men (Heb. 12:14).
In all of the first seven blessings we see that we should not be fighters or troublemakers; rather, we must be peacemakers, always making peace with others. If we are peacemakers, we shall be called the sons of God. The sons of the Devil make trouble, but the sons of God make peace. As the Son of God, the Lord Jesus made peace with God and man. Now, as the sons of God, we must follow Him to make peace. Then we shall be called the sons of God.
Our Father is the God of peace (Rom. 15:33; 16:20), who has a peaceful life with a peaceful nature. As those born of Him, if we would be the peacemakers, we must behave in His divine life, according to His divine nature. Thus, we shall express His life and nature, and we shall be called sons of God.
Verse 10 says, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.” The whole world lies in the evil one (1 John 5:19) and is filled with unrighteousness. Every aspect of the world is unrighteous. If we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we shall be persecuted for the sake of righteousness. We need to pay a price for the righteousness we seek for the kingdom of the heavens. If we are righteous, we shall be condemned, opposed, and persecuted. Hence, we shall suffer persecution. Many saints who have done their best to be righteous have suffered persecution as a result. In their environment, business, or employment there were many unrighteous things. Because they desired to be righteous in that situation, they suffered persecution from others.
This verse says that those who are persecuted for righteousness are blessed, “for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens.” If we seek righteousness at a cost, the kingdom of the heavens becomes ours: we are in its reality now, and we shall be rewarded with its manifestation in the coming age. We have pointed out that, according to verse 20, in order to be in the kingdom of the heavens, we need the surpassing righteousness, the righteousness on the highest plane. To enter the manifestation of the kingdom of the heavens we need this kind of righteousness. Therefore, we need to hunger and thirst after it and to suffer persecution for it.
In verse 11 the new King said, “Blessed are you when they reproach and persecute you, and say every evil thing against you, lying, for My sake.” The persecution in verse 10 is for the sake of righteousness, because of our seeking for righteousness; whereas the persecution in verse 11 is directly for the sake of Christ, the new King, because of our following Him.
When we live a life for the kingdom of the heavens in its spiritual nature and according to its heavenly principles, we are reproached, persecuted, and evil spoken of, mostly by the religious people who hold onto their traditional religious concepts. The Jewish religionists did all these things to the Apostles in the early days of the kingdom of the heavens (Acts 5:41; 13:45, 50; 2 Cor. 6:8; Romans 3:8). This is also true today. If you are truly seeking Christ, many in the denominations will rise up against you. This is what we are suffering now. We are suffering reproach, persecution, and evil rumors circulated about us. Recently a reputable publishing firm published a book associating us with Hinduism. What an evil rumor! This reproach and persecution comes to us because we do not care for tradition, but for Christ and the pure word of the Bible.
In verse 12 the Lord Jesus speaks an encouraging word to those who are persecuted for His sake: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in the heavens; for thus they persecuted the prophets before you.” This reward of the ninth blessing indicates that all the results of the foregoing eight blessings are also rewards. This reward is great and is in the heavens, a heavenly reward, not an earthly one.