J.C. Ryle
If we would know what holy living is, let us often bethink ourselves who they are that Jesus calls "blessed".
Psalm 32:1, Romans 4:7
Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Psalm 112:1 Blessed is the man who fears the Lord.
Ephesians 1:3 (God has) blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Makarios - "Filled with joy and having everything that you need".
We are filled (by the Spirit) with joy when we realize that all we need is Jesus, and He is ours.
Thomas Watson, The Beatitudes in Voices From The Past, Puritan Devotional Readings
http://www.gracegems.org/Watson/beatitudes.htm
The godly are blessed not only in heaven but as they travel to glory. This is a paradox to flesh and blood; blessed while being reproached and maligned? No matter how sense and reason cast their vote, the godly man is blessed. Though a mourner or martyr, yet blessed. Saints are blessed when cursed or bruised. Not only shall they be blessed, they are blessed. They are partakers of the divine nature, so this blessedness has begun. Believers have the seed of God abiding in them. Grace and glory differ not in kind but degree. One is the root, and the other is the fruit.
We are blessed because our sins are gone. The debt book is cancelled in Christ's blood. Saints are blessed becaause they are in covenant with God (Psalm 144:15). This is the crowning blessing, to have the Lord for our God. This sweet word, 'I will be your God', implies that all that is in God is ours - his love, his Spirit, and his mercy are ours.
Saints are blessed now because they have the first fruits of heaven. We have the earnest of the Holy Spirit. Heaven has already begun in a believer; 'the kingdom of God is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit' (Romans 14:17). This kingdom is in a believer's heart (Luke 17:21). Believers have secret incomes of the Spirit, the smiles of Christ's face, those kisses, those love-tokens, and they think themselves sometimes in heaven. A Christian sees heaven by faith, and tastes it by joy, and what is this, but blessedness?
"Blessed are the poor in spirit"
There are many difficulties in the way of faith. A believer's march is dangerous, and our hearts are liable to be discouraged. It is good to set the crown of blessedness before them to spark their courage and to inflame their zeal.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
The thirsty soul is unquenchable until it drinks from the river of life.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Let the condition of the righteous be ever so sad, yet he is blessed: he is blessed in affliction (Psalm 94:12), blessed in poverty (James 2:5), and blessed in disgrace; 'the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you' (1 Peter 4:14). This is a sacred paradox in our Saviour's sermon; poverty begets riches, mourning begets joy, and persecution begets happiness.
F.B. Meyer on Psalm 1:1-2 "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful: but his delight is in the law of the Lord."
Our Lord lived inside the City of Blessedness, and in Matthew 5:1-12 He reveals to all men the eight gates by which that City may be entered. For myself, I cannot go in by the Gate of Poverty of spirit, for I am not humble enough; nor by the Gate of the Mourners, for I am not grieved enough for my own sins or the sins of others; nor by the Gate of the Meek, for I often resent injury; nor by the Gates of Mercy, or Purity, or Peace. But I may claim to enter by the fourth Gate, for I Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness. And as I go in, I find myself inside the City, and in the company of all holy souls that have entered by the other gates. For in the Heavenly City, to enter by any gate is equivalent to having entered by all; and one grace which is inwrought by the Holy Spirit will ultimately lead on to all the rest.
What is Blessedness? According to our Lord's teaching, it is a condition or state of heart. Outward circumstances are not mentioned, unless it be reproach and persecution, as though they were matters of indifference. Blessedness is altogether independent of our outward lot, whether prosperous or perplexed, rich or poor. Blessedness begins and ends with a contented recognition of the Royalty of Christ's Kingdom; in the power of seeing the good in everything, and so inheriting the earth; in being satisfied, in obtaining mercy, in seeing God and being called His sons and daughters. Is it not worth while to strive to enter in at these wide-open doors? And if you can say that you really do yearn after better things, hungering and thirsting for more likeness to Christ, and more fitness for His Kingdom; if that desire really represents the purpose of your life, you may account yourself as being already admitted within the Gates of the Blessed Life.
Our Daily Walk
In so far as we dedicate our lives to participate with Christ in His redeeming work of delivering souls out of the power of darkness and translating them into the Kingdom of Life and Light, we share in His enduring blessedness.
A.B. Simpson
You little know the rest that comes from the yielded will, the surrendered choice, the meek and lowly heart that lets the world go by and knows that it shall inherit the earth which is has refused. You little know the relish that it gives to the blessing to hunger and thirst after righteousness and to be filled with a satisfaction that worldly delight cannot afford. You little know what it is to then rise to the higher blessedness of the merciful, the forgiving, the hearts that have learned that it is "more blessed to give than to receive," and the lives that find that "letting go is twice possessing" and blessing other is to be doubly blessed.
A.W. Tozer That Incredible Christian: How Heaven’s Children Live on Earth, “Claiming All That Is Ours in Christ”
Those spiritual blessings in heavenly places which are ours in Christ may be divided into three classes:
The first is those which come to us immediately upon our believing unto salvation, such as forgiveness, justification, regeneration, sonship to God and baptism into the Body of Christ. In Christ we possess these even before we know that they are ours, such knowledge coming to us later through the study of the Holy Scriptures.
The second class is those riches which are ours by inheritance but which we cannot enjoy in actuality until our Lord returns. These include ultimate mental and moral perfection, the glorification of our bodies, the completion of the restoration of the divine image in our redeemed personalities and the admission into the very presence of God to experience forever the Beatific Vision. These treasures are as surely ours as if we possessed them now, but it would be useless for us to pray for them while we journey here below. God has made it very clear that they are reserved for the time of the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans 8:18-25).
The third class of blessing consists of spiritual treasures which are ours by blood atonement but which will not come to us unless we make a determined effort to possess them. These are deliverance from the sins of the flesh, victory over self, the constant flow of the Holy Spirit through our personalities, fruitfulness in Christian service, awareness of the presence of God, growth in grace, an increasing consciousness of union with God and an unbroken spirit of worship. These do not come to us automatically...they are to us what the Promised Land was to Israel, to be entered into as our faith and courage mount.
CAUTION - God's spiritual blessings (in Christ) are contingent on our (heart) trust, submission, and obedience.
Psalm 119:1-4
Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart. They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways. You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.
Psalm 128:1
Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in obedience to Him.
1 John 2:3
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands...(SO)…now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (John 13:17)
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones Studies in the Sermon on the Mount (Highly recommended)
Matthew puts the teaching concerning the kingdom of heaven in the very forefront of his Gospel, for the kingdom is essentially spiritual...'within you' (Luke 17:21)...that which governs and controls the heart and mind and outlook. We are not told in the Sermon on the Mount, "Live like this and you will become Christian"; rather we are told, "Because you are Christian, live like this".
The Beatitudes are a complete whole and you cannot divide them; so that, whereas one of them may be more manifest in one person than in another, all of them are there. The relative proportions may vary, but they are all present, and they are all meant to be present.
If you want to have power in your life and to be blessed (Makarios – “Filled with joy and having everything that you need.”)…live and practice the Sermon on the Mount and give yourself to it, and the promised blessings will come. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) If you want to be filled, don’t seek some mystic blessing; don’t rush to meetings hoping you will get it. Face and live the Sermon on the Mount, see your…absolute need of the new birth, and of the Holy Spirit and His work within.
(In light of the words of Jesus in the Beatitudes)...the vital questions which we therefore ask ourselves are these. Do we belong to this kingdom? Are we ruled by Christ? Is He our King and our Lord? Are we manifesting these qualities in our daily lives? Is it our ambition to do so? Do we see that this is what we are meant to be? Are we truly blessed? Are we filled with joy? Have we peace?
My reaction to these Beatitudes proclaims exactly what I am. Let every man examine himself (1 Corinthians 11:28).
The trouble with many Christians is that we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but we do not believe Him...we do not take the Scripture as it is and believe it and live by and apply it.
CAUTION
The Giver of the blessing is greater than the gift of the blessing - look to God, not the gift.
"The Blessing U.K."