The Bryce Crawford Podcast - What Are The Beatitudes? (EP 40)

Episode Date: August 12, 2024

In this video, Bryce breaks down the beatitudes. Filmed By; Josh Rodriguez @whitehorse.studios MERCH👉 https://www.jesusinthestreet.com subscribe for more! Sow Into My Ministry One-Time or Monthly! Visit 👉 https://www.equipnet.org/missionaries/bcrawford (all donations are tax deductible) Download Our FREE Bible Plan https://growinfaith.readytoconnect.com/join-the-one-year-bible-challenge follow me on other platforms! Podcast Instagram 👉https://instagram.com/brycecrawfordpodcast Personal Instagram 👉 https://instagram.com/brycecrawford Merch Instagram 👉 https://instagram.com/ilovejesus Tiktok (main) 👉https://www.tiktok.com/@brycecrawford Tiktok (2nd) 👉 https://www.tiktok.com/@adventuresofbryce Snapchat https://snapchat.com/add/brycecraww Twitter 👉 https://twitter.com/ibrycecrawford #christianity #christian #Jesus #BryceCrawford #christiantiktok #christianvideos #holyspirit #Jesusheals #viral #christianvideo #venicebeach #evangelism

All right, welcome back to another episode of the Bryce Crawford podcast. I'm Bryce. Today, we have every pet in the house hanging out with us right now. This is not normal. Nalu actually hates me. And then Moses just won't ever get out of my lap. So Moses being here, you guys know, he always likes to be here. Nala, on the other hand, I'm shocked. She wanted to come in here. I think it's because she got threatened to be put in the crate while we recorded the episode. And so she knew she was coming to hang out with me. Guys, if you clicked on this episode, you know what we're talking about today. We're talking about the Beatitudes.

I'm super excited. Thank you guys for tuning in to another episode of the Rice Crawford podcast. If you're enjoying it, subscribe to us, follow us on Spotify, Instagram, YouTube, Bryce Crawford podcast. Super stoked. Let's get into the podcast. Guys, there's a reason that they call it the beatitudes because it's a state of being. It's not something that we do. It's a state of being.

It's things that we need to be. The be attitudes, not the do attitudes. the beatitudes. And today we're just going to go verse by verse and break down what each beatitude is one of Jesus's most popular and famous sermons is the sermon on the mountain here. And imagine Jesus Christ stands up before a crowd and he's releasing the beatitudes here. All right, let's start in verse 3 of chapter 5 of the gospel of Matthew. Blessed are the poor and spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure and heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness's sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven. they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

We're going to pray and we're going to get into it exactly what this means. Jesus, I thank you so much for everyone watching and listening to this episode, God. We just bless this time, use my words to pierce the hearts of everyone watching and listening, God. We just thank you for a blessed day in Jesus, name, amen. All right, guys, if we go back to verse three, when Matthew says, blessed are the poor and spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. There's a reason that the very first beatitude is being poor in spirit. to be a foundation for the rest of the beatitudes. Being poor in spirit is a confession of your

sinful nature. It's when you're spiritually bankrupt. If you're poor in spirit, you're spiritually bankrupt. There's absolutely no aspect of God in your life and you're saying, I am poor in spirit. My spirit is dry. I am in need of a savior. I need you Jesus. That's why the back half says, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those who are poor in spirit, those who are spiritually bankrupt, the ones that acknowledge that they are sinners in need of a savior, in need of a perfect, blameless savior, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Because what happens when you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ? You gain the kingdom of heaven. And what is the message that John the Baptist goes out preaching to the world? Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. And so when we

put our faith and trust in Jesus, we're acknowledging, hey, I'm poor in spirit without you, Jesus, and I'm actually in need of you. That's why Jesus is first. Beattitude is saying those who are poor in spirit, those are the ones that get in the kingdom of heaven. Those who are honest and know that they are in need of me, they receive the kingdom. It's powerful. Verse four, blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. When it's talking about mourning in verse four, it's talking about a deep grief for God because of your fallen sinful nature. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Do you know what the comfort is from Jesus Christ when we are mourning and grieving over the fact that we are sinners in need of a saving grace?

There's two comforting factors we get. Number one, Jesus Christ himself and the strength of the cross because of the cross in Jesus' blood, death, and resurrection, we can be free from sin. We get a clean slate. But we are allowed to be comforted because Jesus comes alongside of his children, those who have that godly sorrow and say, dang, I am in need of a Savior. God comes alongside those who are sorrowful and say, now, now comforts us and says, you are clean now because of me. There is comfort for sinners who acknowledge that Jesus is their Savior.

You know why? Because God drops your sin in the sea of forgetfulness, and it's as if it was never there. That's the beauty. That's the comfort we get from Jesus Christ. And the comfort also comes from, there's no one that understands everything you've ever gone through better than Jesus Christ

because he bore the weight of sin past, present, and future of all of mankind on the cross. That's why, right before Jesus was arrested when it said he was, he was sweating drops of blood, I believe that the interpretation for Jesus sweating drops of blood in the garden before he was arrested was Jesus Christ was feeling the pressure and the weight of all of sin, past, present, and future on his physical body, the earthly body that he had. And the comfort is, Jesus knows you best. He can comfort you best because he knows what's best for you because he experienced all that pain on the cross. Now, when you go to verse six, I mean, sorry, verse five, it says,

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Do you know what it means to be meek? To be meek means you have strength under control. You have incredible character to be meek. And hold on now our microphone's falling. That was my fault. I'm adjusting the microphone. To be meek means you have strength under control.

It means you're not easily tossed by the ways of the world. There's scripture that says, sometimes people are easily tossed back and forth by sin like a boat is tossed easily in the wind and in the sea. And someone who is meek is not easily tossed or enticed by the ways of the world. Someone who has their desires of the world under control and align them with God. They submit to the authority of God.

Those are the meek. and what is their reward? They shall inherit the earth. God promises not to give them the short end of the stick. That's the promise of those who are meek. Verse six, Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Human kind hungers for lots of things nowadays. They hunger for power, they hunger for money, they hunger for status. And did you know that you can quench that hunger with anything? You can quench it with anything. You can quench it with anything. You can quench it with the world.

You can gain as many followers on social media. That's something that a lot of people like to chase. Maybe you're chasing that bag. Maybe you're trying to get money. You can fill the hole in your heart with that because you're hungry and thirsty for something. But those things will always leave you empty in a bad way. And you'll be wanting more in a negative way

because you're trying to find validation in those things. But when Jesus says those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they shall be satisfied, he's saying that the hunger and thirst for righteousness is real, it's intense, it's natural, but it's also healthy because Jesus promises to satisfy that feeling of righteousness, but it satisfies us in such a good way that it leaves us hungry for more of him. That's the beauty of it, is when we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we are filled by God's presence, filled by His holiness and His righteousness,

but we're always hungry for more in a good way. And that's what I love. I love that that is a promise here. Because Jesus makes that something, blessed are those who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, in the middle of it. After he said the very first requirement was blessed or the poor in spirit. Did you notice that the first requirement of the beatitudes was not,

blessed are those who are holy, blessed are those who are already righteous? No. Jesus says, blessed are those who are poor in spirit, those who are in need of a Savior to make them clean, pure, and righteous in his eyes. And so now that you've been made clean, when you hunger and thirst for righteousness, you'll be filled. Verse seven, blessed or the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Mercy is having compassion on those that are deserving of punishment. That's what mercy is.

And did you know that God will judge you with the length of mercy that you show other people? And when you have mercy, it shows that you care for the souls of all men and women. not just your own. Mercy is a powerful characteristic from God because mercy is not partiality. Partiality is a sin discussed in James 1. When you show people certain favor more than others because of status,

because someone is wealthy, right? But that's not what Jesus is doing. He says, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy is what he says. It's powerful. You care for the souls of all people. You receive mercy

because you show mercy. Let's go to verse 8. Blessed are the pure and heart, for they shall see God. Being pure in heart is being honest and transparent. Sincere and honesty is being pure in heart. Did you know that a dirty heart doesn't allow you to see God?

Do you know what it means to have a dirty heart? It means to not be honest, to be dishonest, to be insincere. And so in order to have a pure heart, you can see God. The reward of being pure, honest, and sincere in where you're standing with God, in your emotions and feelings is greater intimacy.

That's what Jesus says. Bless for the pure and heart, for they shall see God. The reward for being pure in heart is greater intimacy. And we got to have straightness, honesty, and clarity. When Jesus says, if we draw near to him, he'll draw near to us. He's saying, your heart's got to be hungry and pure and right. God doesn't judge a man by the outer appearance, but he judges him by the heart. And if you're someone that says, yeah, I want to get close.

close to God, but your heart is totally far from him and you're more worried about feeding the desires of your world. Of course you're not going to experience or feel him. You know why? Because you're not sincere in wanting to know God. But if you're pure in heart and you say, you know what, I'm going to leave the stuff. That's why I think it's so interesting when in Acts, when all these believers are, gets freshly saved the 3,000. And what do they do? They sell all their belongings. Because they're being pure in heart and saying, you know, God, I'm not even worried about all this earthly stuff right now. I just want to know you. And I think there's power in that. And I think there's power in when we're honest and sincere,

we will see God. We will have greater intimacy. Jeremiah 2913 says, You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole heart. God doesn't want 99% of your heart to say, I want God, and then the 1% to be worried about money, to be worried about status.

Jesus is saying, hey, I just want all of your honesty and sincerity and your eyes to be focused on me. Verse 9, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. This verse isn't saying, Blessed are those who already live in peace. Jesus is saying, blessed are those who bring peace because the devil's a troublemaker. And do you know the number one way to bring peace and to be a peacemaker and to receive your reward of being a son of God?

Being a peacemaker is a characteristic where people can recognize that you are a son of God, that you're a Christian. Do you know how we bring peace the number one way? It's what the gospel. 2 Corinthians 5 shows us that the gospel. is the ministry of reconciliation. The gospel of Jesus Christ brings peace. And so blessed are the peacemakers, those who bring peace. Because the devil is going to cause disruption.

He's the liar. He's got no new tricks. And when we spread the gospel and preach the gospel, it brings a supernatural unity, a supernatural peace. It's powerful. Verse 10 and 11 go hand in hand here. We're going to read them together and break it down. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake,

theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven. Let's talk about this. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That's those who are hunted for the sake of Jesus Christ. Not people that are hunted for stupidity or being a fanatic. Those who are hunted for the honesty and sincerity of their faith in Jesus Christ. Not those doing outlandish things and public things to purposefully cause disruption. Let me point you guys to a verse here in 1 Peter 4.

Verse 14, if you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. Because those who endure till the end will be saved, those who endure through the persecution and the trials, what the Bible says. Verse 15, but let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evil-doer. or as a meddler, those who cause strife and disruption with their words and actions. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. I feel like we have a lot of people that chase after being hated and saying crazy stuff on the

internet to get views. And when they say something wild or they say something outlandish to people and they get hated, they go, oh, it's persecution, brother. I'm blessed by God. When in reality, when in reality the bible says in romans it's the goodness of god that brings me into repentance so maybe the sincerity of your faith and being naturally persecuted for being faithful and sincere and honest and humble in your walk first peter says no no no those that are medlers that are persecuted for evil doing meddling meddling causing strife murdering theft that's not righteousness they're not persecuted for righteousness sake and then verse 11 says blesser you and others revile you and persecute you and you and persecute you utter all kinds of evil things against you falsely on my account.

So there's two types of persecution that Jesus describes here. One called physical persecution. You're probably getting beat. There are people that are murdered for the faith. But he's also talking about people that utter hateful things about you, people that gossip about you because you're a Christian. That's a beautiful thing, Jesus says. And then what does he say?

He says, rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven. Rejoice and be glad. The Greek translation for that is like a leap of joy. Jesus is saying, a phenomenal thing to be persecuted for my sake. And your reward is a great reward in heaven. And that's an emphasis not to store up earthly treasures on earth because those things will fade. And it's where moth and rust destroy, as the Bible says, but store up the heavenly treasures. And by doing so, be sincere in your faith and chase after Jesus. You'll naturally store up

heavenly treasures by chasing after Jesus. By being persecuted for the sincerity of your fate, you'll store up many treasures in heaven. And he says, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. And in the gospel of John, Jesus even says, if the world hates you, be comforted because remember it hated me first. Is there such a power in the beatitudes? It's a beautiful thing that one of Jesus' most famous sermons, if not the most famous sermon Jesus has ever preached, is a handbook on how to live the life of a Christian, being meek, humble, walking out in sincerity, being pure in heart, acknowledging that you're a soul.

center in need of God's saving grace, partnering with Jesus and intimacy, how cool is it that the reward for being honest with Jesus is greater intimacy with him? And that's not just for the moment that you get saved. That's for every moment you meet with him in your prayer closet, when you're driving to school, driving to work, driving somewhere, talking to him. Honesty will God will take you far a long way when you're walking with Jesus. If you're holding things back from God, why would you attempt to hold things back from an all-knowing God that knows everything you said, everything you've done, everything you're thinking,

and everything you're going through, an omniscient, oh-knowing God knows those things. But when you're honest about your life and actually saying, God, I'm not going to wait until the day of judgment for my life and actions to testify against me. I just want to be honest with you.

I'm going to grow closer to you. There's power in that. Guys, I want to pray for you guys, pray that God gives you strength and uses the beatitudes to strengthen your walk with Jesus Christ. God, I thank you for everyone. everyone watching and listen to this episode Jesus, I just pray not only in my life, but in everyone's

life watching and listening to this, God, well, you just allow the beatitudes to flow from us, God, but we look at the beatitudes. It's not something that we're to do, something to chase after, but God, will you just allow these beatitudes to manifest through us? Let them be actions in our daily lives, God. We just thank you and love you and praise you. Thank you, God, so much for the Word of God. We love you in Jesus' name. Amen. Guys, thank you so much for watching and listening to the podcast. If you guys enjoyed it, like, subscribe, follow us on Instagram, YouTube. Spotify, Bryce Carver podcast across all platforms.

Love you guys. See you guys next time.