The Tale of 4 Blessings and 4 Woes, the Great Separation

 Many people are familiar with Jesus' sermon on the mount and in particular, what scholars call The Beatitudes. As I was reading this earlier in the week, I felt the Lord pour on me an interpretation that was very apropos for these last days. Think spiritual meaning rather than physical.

Blessed are you poor, For yours is the kingdom of God.

These people are not necessarily poor in money or things but poor in spirit. These are people who know they are sinners. They know they don't deserve God's grace. They humbly come before His throne for His mercy and forgiveness. 

Blessed are you who hunger now, For you shall be filled

These are people who hunger for the Lord. They love Jesus, want to know Him and yearn for more of Him. They want to be filled with His Spirit.

Blessed are you who weep now, For you shall laugh.

These are people who weep for their own sins and the sins of the world. They care about the lost. They cry for the evil condition of the world. 

Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.

These are people the world hates. They might refer to them as being "So heavenly minded, they are of no earthly good".  These people are often prejudiced against at school and work and in the community because they are overtly in love with Jesus and can't stop talking about Him

These 4 Blessings describe a believer in Jesus who is all in for the Lord. They love Him, and they do their best to obey Him. They do not love this world or the things of this world. They walk in the Spirit and are warriors for the Kingdom of God

Now for the Woes!

But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.

This doesn't mean it's a sin to be rich. The kind of richness this is talking about are those who are living their best life now. They are living it up, so to speak and in need of nothing. They live for this world and this life.

Woe to you who are full, for you shall hunger.

Again, this person doesn't need Jesus. They don't have a hunger for the things of God. They may go to church and may even pray and read their Bible, but they don't hunger to know Jesus at all. 

Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.

This person doesn't care about the state of the world, doesn't give much thought to the lost going to hell.  Their concerns revolve around themselves and their families and their next purchase, next vacation and next party

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

This person is popular with people of the world. Those in the world love this person and party with them. It could even be a pastor or Bible teacher who only preaches nice things about God's love and His blessings. This is a person who is greatly loved by the world. Remember Jesus told us that if we were truly His, the world would hate us because it hated Him first. He also said that if we love this world, the love of the Father was not in us. 

I'm reminded of a close family member who I recently talked to, explaining that the rapture was near. She proceeded to say that her adult kids were fine then because "they loved Jesus".  But I happen to know they are all involved in immoral relationships and heavy drinking.  (MaryLu banging her head against the wall)

These blessings and woes paint a vivid picture of what a true Christian and a worldly Christian look like. The entire chapter of Luke 6 is good, but later on Jesus makes this statement

But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?

In other words, the title "Lord" infers someone of a much higher rank than we are. Someone we bow to and obey. He then goes on to talk about how the true Christian builds their house on the rock, but the false one builds it on sand. So, when the storm comes, the house that was built on the rock foundation stood, but the house built on the sand fell.

But he who heard (The Lord's sayings) and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.

God will not be mocked!

I'm telling you that a storm is coming, the likes of which we have never witnessed in our lifetime!  Make sure your house is built on the solid rock foundation that is Jesus!  And I don't just mean a "belief" in Him. I'm talking about a relationship with the King of Kings!