Sermon Tone Analysis

“Poor in spirit,” as a virtue, must refer not to a poor quality of faith but to the acknowledgment of one’s spiritual powerlessness and bankruptcy apart from Christ

The Beatitudes form an appropriate introduction to Jesus’ sermon as they remind his disciples that God blesses them before he makes demands on them (the body of the sermon).

The same sequence appeared at Sinai.

God redeemed his people from Egypt and reminded them of his blessings before giving them his law.

All authority in heaven and on earth

the boast of self-reliance of the wicked who say, “I shall not be moved” (10:6).

Stability in life is a good thing.

The question is whether God or self will be relied upon for the stability.

Review

During our last time together we looked broadly at Jesus’ sermon on the mount.

My aim was to give us a framework, and a context from which to understand Jesus’ teachings contained in chapters 5-7.

We looked at Jesus’ audience, that the text seems to indicate that he intended to sit and teach his close disciples the ethics of this new heavenly kingdom.

To teach them what we might call Christianity 101, or how we has Christian ought to live.

We also saw how this sermon on the mount parallels the account of Moses ascending to Mount Sinai and coming down to deliver God’s Law to the Israelites in the wilderness as recorded in the book of Exodus.

Yet, while similar, Jesus’ teaching sought not just to deliver God’s law but to explain and point to the intent of the law - to get at the heart of the law.

He would say things like, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”

Jesus was not impressed with the mere lip service of the Pharisees.

It’s why he would say later in verse 20 of chapter 5 that, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

What he meant was that unless your righteousness exceeds that of a polished legalism you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

In fact, these ethics of the kingdom seem to have the intention of driving us to despair of all our own efforts.

What I mean is that the standards Jesus sets for the citizens of God’s kingdom are so high that it’s manifestly obvious to any reader that no man will be justified before God by his own merit.

God’s holiness is far too high, it’s far too wide and it’s far too deep, and all of our vain attempts to dress a corpse is foolishness.

It’s why many of his followers, even his own disciples, would later exclaim in , “Who then can be saved?”.

The question of course is rhetorical, the answer is no one, no one can be saved by the merits of their own lives.

However, thanks be to God that in verse 27 Jesus says, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

And finally, we looked briefly at the beatitudes.

We saw that these pronouncements of blessing stand in stark contrast to the value systems of this world.

That as sons and daughters of the kingdom we are called to be different, to act differently from the world and to value what God values.

And that while there will often be much sorrow and persecution, that there is a guaranteed hope and blessing for the children of God, even now, and so much more in the future.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

So, today, let’s take a more detailed look at what is promised and expected of us as citizens of God’s kingdom, so if you would read again with me starting in verse 2,

2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

The chief characteristic of any true disciple of Christ, and any citizen of God’s kingdom, is this, humility; which is precisely what’s communicated to us here by our Lord when he speaks of those who are poor in spirit.

And the important qualifier here in this first beatitude is “in spirit”.

This gives us an indication that the poverty Jesus is speaking of here is not financial lack.

Recognizing your spiritual bankruptcy

20 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said:

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! 23 Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

It’s clear that these two texts on the face of it

Blessing is not promised to all of those who are merely poor financially.

This is a promise for the godly.

And who are the godly?

They are those who are poor in spirit, they are those who humble themselves.

You might say they are the ones who recognize their own spiritual bankruptcy before God.

They understand that they bring nothing to the table for their salvation.

They realize that their citizenship is totally owing to the grace of God.

That there is nothing in them that warrants God’s favor.

Those who lack are often the first to embrace the Gospel

Yet, interestingly enough, we find that it’s often the poor, the downtrodden, the despised, the sick, the weak and the less than noble who are first to respond and follow Jesus.

They’re the first to respond to the gospel.

And why is that?

It’s because they’re circumstances have made it manifestly clear to them that they are weak and powerless.

You see riches, power, and talents can give us the vain impression that we aren’t in need of anything.

These things often puff us up and deceive us into thinking that we don’t need anything from anyone, that we’re altogether self-sufficient.

But the weak person not only realizes his deep lack for the physical and emotional, but he’s also more apt to see his deep need for salvation, you see he’s accustomed lack, and it’s not much of a stretch to see his need for Christ.

However, the wealthy, the famous, those who are of good health, find little reason to be concerned with the eternal state of their souls, because their bellies are full.

Those with much often have little concern for the Gospel

It’s like many of those who are young who live as though they’ll live forever, because they’re under the spell that since all is well now, why should I think it won’t be well for me tomorrow.

They’ve never experienced loss, they’ve never felt the decay of their bodies, they’ve often never experienced the concern of where their next meal might come from.

They feel utterly self-sufficient yet at the same time they are utterly dependent.

And it’s the same reason many of us put off following Christ, we simply don’t see the need or the urgency.

And for us as professing followers of Christ we are not immune to such thinking.

How often do we put off obeying Christ?

How often do we delay in taking our faith seriously?

Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote in one of his letters to the Corinthian church,

26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Self-sufficiency is deadly, so let us instead acknowledge our need for Christ, and not just at our initial profession of faith but every morning thereafter, and in increasing measure.

Let us esteem him as wise and ourselves fools, let us esteem him as strong and see that we are weak, let us see that he is God and realize that we can do nothing apart from Him.

Let us understand that we are altogether dependent upon him, and may we rejoice in this, because blessed are we for he has given us the kingdom.

The dangers of self-esteem

One of the things I used to say about myself was that I was born with self-esteem.

Maybe some of you have even heard me say it.

And the unfortunately thing is, I was very rarely, if ever, that I can remember, discouraged from saying so, and the reason is because our culture promotes the idea of instilling self esteem in our children.

So at a very young age we are taught to esteem ourselves, or to respect and admire ourselves.

The world’s solution to our struggles is to esteem ourselves all the more, to think more highly of ourselves, to direct our attention to the self.

“Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.

24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Scripture teaches against self-esteem

Now what’s amazing to me is that the Scriptures teach exactly the opposite.

What Jesus is calling us to in verse 3 is not to feel better about ourselves, or to look more fondly upon ourselves in order to do better and have more joy.

No, Jesus is saying that salvation, righteousness and blessedness is not found in you but rather it’s found in God.

We don’t direct our thoughts and gaze inwardly and worship the creature, no we turn our thoughts and gaze to Christ and worship the creator.

You see the world’s solution is always the self, whereas the Scripture’s remedy is alway Christ.

Our worth is found in Christ

We don’t find our value from within, we find our value in Christ.

Christ is the source of our worth, and it’s not because there’s anything of worth in us, but it’s because we’re in Christ, united to him by faith.

This is why Paul says, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord!”

Our worth is found in Christ who lives in us, the hope of glory.

Our joy is not a joy that’s rooted in any kind or renewed love for ourselves but rather a joy that’s rooted in a love for Christ.

Now the world may say what about

Look to Christ and dependence on Christ