The beatitudes were spoken directly to the multitudes, Yet i am sure you can read the message there in.
Yes, we can take lessons from the text even though the message itself was not directed to us. That's why His words were preserved, because we can learn from them even 2,000 years later. And they point to the One who gives eternal life.
Generally speaking..... When Jesus says some of you will be alive that carries a lot of weight to the general topic here. IMO more so then 'to them' I am not good at grammar although i do see who He was recurring to.
As in , sorta like, A room full of people and your giving a speech you may direct some of the wording to Jack , Jill, Tom and Sally yet you are talking to the whole room...
Jesus spoke only to Peter, James, Andrew and John on the Mount of Olives, though I'm sure they took what He said to the others. His message was meant for all of them, but it was all to be fulfilled within their generation, while some of them were still alive. That much is perfectly clear from two specific passages:
"For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.
"Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." Matthew 16:27-28 (NASB)
"But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape
all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."
Luke 21:36 (NASB)
All these things that are about to take place is a direct reference to
everything He had just told them earlier in the chapter.
Everything...as in "all these things."
The point here is that either we take Him to be true in
everything He said or we don't, but we don't get to pick and chose what we believe to be true, especially when He was specific about the timing of these things He was prophesying.
By refusing to see what Christ said regarding the timeliness of His words, Futurism essentially calls Christ a liar.
I think that's pretty thin ice both spiritually and theologically speaking.