Today, in the concluding part of our series on the orderliness of God with special reference to the perfect order in the Beatitudes, we come to the final three “pearls”… read beatitudes…
Incorruption…
“Blessed are the pure in heart…” (Matt 5:8)
With passage of time, as the Holy Spirit — the Master sculptor keeps chiseling away at the rough edges in a Christian’s character, the latter becomes more and more Christ-like, with the purity of his heart being reflected in the radiance of his countenance. This purity, which is imparted in this side of eternity, would become intrinsic on the day of ethereal wedding (I John 3:2/Rev 19:7-8). With steady upward progress in sacrificial, holy living, a Christian in due course of time, gets recognized in the society for his godliness and trust-worthiness that comes along with it. Now this, more than anything else, qualifies him to be the perfect peacemaker!
Mediation…
“Blessed are the peacemakers…” (Matt 5:9)
There is an insightful saying that “the rich are respected, the strong are feared, the intelligent are admired but it is only the godly, who are trusted“.
Now there are 2 dimensions to the concept of “peacemaking”. One is of a socio-spiritual type, where a mature Christian’s counsel is sought by troubled individuals, families and even some welfare societies plagued by troubles arising from mutual distrust and discord. Now would they confide their problems to a passer-by on the road? NAY! But only to a godly, reliable, wise, sympathetic and empathetic individual, that an erstwhile sinner has now become…remember it all began with he poor in spirit sought the Saviour!
The second type of “peace-making” is an unalloyed spiritual one, when a Christian donning the robes of an evangelist brings “peace between holy God and unholy sinners” by sharing the Gospel with the latter. Now would sinners, listen to a man preaching the Gospel, when he doesn’t walk his talk? NO WAY! But they would lend a hearing ear only to a person, whose exemplary life does the preaching before his mouth does… whose heart is pure…! So once again, it all goes back to the that first step of faith…this sinner turned saint had taken, when he poor in spirit sought the Saviour…all those years back! Amazing, isn’t it? HALLELUJAH!
Persecution…
“Blessed are those, who are persecuted…” (Matt 5:10-12)
Hey, someone is bound to get alarmed and terribly upset when a Christian grabs a sinner from the realm of darkness and brings him into light! Satan, our ole’ enemy, also described fittingly as a roaring lion (I Peter 5:8)! David the Shepherd testified as to the lion’s habit of turning upon the rescuers of sheep, when they pull the sheep out of its murderous jaws (I Sam 17:34-35). NO WONDER, WHEN A CHRISTIAN GOES ABOUT EARNESTLY IN WINNING SOULS FOR THE LORD, GRABBING “SHEEP FROM THE MOUTH OF A LION” PERSECUTION IS BOUND TO FOLLOW, AS NIGHT FOLLOWS DAY! It may even result in martyrdom but take heart, no Christian shall die, before his God-ordained work is completed in this World (John 8:20). Amazing thing about those who have suffered for the Lord and the martyrs is that they continue to inspire long after they expire. Is not the good Lord still using the lives of His faithful servants and martyrs’ such as James, Peter and Paul, to inspire us even today?
Accept Martyrdom and the Crown that comes with it (Rev 2:10), should the opportunity come your way of making the supreme sacrifice. Meanwhile, be orderly in serving the orderly God! Now isn’t there unmistakable beauty in the order of the beatitudes? THERE IS! Finally, it is only in order that theology should always end with doxology! HALLELUJAH!
Suresh Manoharan
(To access the entire “Beauty in the Beatitudes” mini-series, please click here.)