Poor in Spirit
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Poor in Spirit
Poor in Spirit
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Foundation - illustration
w/0 foundation there is no building
SF leaning building
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
Jesus presents for us in Matthew chapter 5 the most profound and at the same time paradoxical teaching on true happiness.
But it's not just a subject among many, it's foundational to all His teaching and it's foundational to entrance into His kingdom. God wants us happy.
Jesus starts with these Beatitudes, they're called.
Each one begins with the word "blessed" which is just another word for happiness.
Everyone needs to hear that God wants to bring to us true happiness, true blessedness.
And the question is...how do you find that?
And the Beatitudes indicate to us that it really is opposite what the world would assume.
Blessed are the poor...the world would say blessed are the rich.
Blessed are those who mourn...the world would say blessed are those who laugh.
Blessed are the gentle, or the meek...the world would say blessed are the proud and the confident.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst...the world would say blessed are those who don't hunger and don't thirst cause they have everything.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Now we want to answer a few questions that will be posed and that will take us through the meaning of the beatitude.
I The Start “Poor in Spirit”
I The Start “Poor in Spirit”
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
I mean, this is the first recorded sermon of Jesus. This is how He inaugurates His unfolding teaching throughout the New Testament.
It begins with these first things, and this first statement, "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
This is the first real instruction Jesus gave in the New Testament, the first gospel, the gospel of Matthew, first recorded sermon of Jesus, first statement, "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And it's fair to ask...why does He start here?
Because it is the fundamental characteristic of the Christian.
It is the fundamental characteristic of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven.
You cannot enter My kingdom, you cannot be happy until you realize your bankruptcy, your poverty.
This is very important stuff to the Jews who are very proud about their religious achievements, very proud about their ceremonial accomplishments, very proud about the sacrifices they had offered to God, very proud about their zeal for the law, very proud about their circumcision, very proud about their identification with the covenant people Israel, very proud about their self-righteousness. They were self-confident. They were self-important.
If you're going to enter the kingdom and find true happiness, you've got to recognize that you have absolutely nothing, you are bankrupt.
Isaiah said it of Christ and Christ reiterated it. ,
1 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; Because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
Until someone is poor in spirit, Christ is never seen for what He really is. He's never precious. Before you can see how bankrupt you are, you can't understand how valuable Christ is.
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me." Jesus repeated it in Luke's gospel. "He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted." Everything begins with brokenheartedness. Until someone is poor in spirit, Christ is never seen for what He really is. He's never precious. Before you can see how bankrupt you are, you can't understand how valuable Christ is.
He who sees himself clothed in filthy rags can appreciate the robe of righteousness that Christ breaks.
Until you're poor, you can't be rich.
Until you're a fool, you can't become wise.
Until you lose your life, you can't save it. Jesus often said such paradoxical things.
5 Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord: Though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
key - And why is this first? Because inevitably what prevents people from entering into the kingdom is pride.
And at the very start pride must be broken. says, "Cursed are the proud." These things God hates, a proud heart...at the top of the list.
16 These six things doth the Lord hate: Yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17 A proud look, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, Feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19 A false witness that speaketh lies, And he that soweth discord among brethren.
prov 6.16
II The Meaning of “Poor in Spirit”
II The Meaning of “Poor in Spirit”
18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; And saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
pro 34.18
What is He saying in specific? Or to put it another way, what kind of poverty is He talking about?
Well, let me say, first of all, that He's not talking about material poverty.
And there are a lot of people who want to sort of make the Sermon on the Mount into a nice little warm and fuzzy ethical standard and they want to quote it, "Blessed are the poor
So what is this poor in spirit? It is the Greek term ptochos and it comes from the verb ptosso. Ptochosmeans to cower and cringe like a beggar.
It's a beggar, somebody with no wealth, no influence, no position, no honor, no respect, in some cases possessing nothing but the ragged clothes they wear, a real beggar here.
Typically in the ancient world it would so humiliate a man to be a beggar that he would crouch, cover his face with a garment, holding out his hand, ashamed to let even the giver know his identity. That's the word Jesus used.
You want to enter His kingdom? That's where you start. This is the true diagnosis of man.
And it's only when you recognize it that you become a candidate for entrance into God's kingdom of happiness.
When you see yourself as empty, poor, helpless, bankrupt, you can't contribute one single solitary thing to your salvation,
You need mercy. You need grace from an outside source, from God Himself because you can bring nothing, you are destitute, beggarly, helplessly dependent.
What is Jesus saying then? Happy are the destitute, happy are the beggarly, happy are the hopelessly dependent, happy are the people who have nothing and can earn nothing.
Let me tell you, folks, that's shocking stuff because it just goes right against the grain of everything the world assumes to be true.
This is the first message Jesus wanted to give to sinners, recognize your condition of spiritual bankruptcy. And He gave it to people who thought they were spiritually rich. These Jews who thought they had attained salvation by their own self-righteousness.
18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; And saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
puts it this way, "The Lord is near to those who are of a broken heart and saves such as be of a contrite spirit." Same thing. Who does He save? Those who know they're nothing. Those who are broken.
says it again, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit. A broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise."
You see, the key to blessing and the key to happiness is always unworthiness.
Think about Moses who felt deeply unworthy for the task, you remember, God told him to lead the people and he said, "I can't lead the people, I have a spe..spe...spe, I can't da..da..da, I stutter." God says to him, "Who made your mouth?" He was so conscious of his inadequacy, so conscious of his insufficiency.
In the New Testament we see it in Peter, aggressive, self-assertive, confident by nature, but devastated in the presence of the Lord and saying to Him, "Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man." Get out of my presence, it's too intimidating.
The apostle Paul knew in his flesh was no good thing. He was the chief of sinners, he says. He was a blasphemer. He was a persecutor. Everything he ever was and everything he'd ever achieved was dung, manure.
So, the sum of this great truth is simply stated.
The first principle of entrance into the kingdom is to recognize that you can't enter, you're not capable...you're not capable. That's where you have to start.
And there were some people in Israel who got the message.
13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
We saw one in the tax gatherer of , there were more who realized their sinful condition, realized their inability to please God, recognized their condition, came humbly confessing their helplessness, their sin, crying out to God for mercy.
Sometimes when we go to someone who doesn't know the Lord and we find out they don't know Christ, we'll say to them, "Well, you know, you just need to ask Jesus to become your Savior and all your problems are solved."
You need to back up from there a little bit and talk about depravity and what it means
19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
That's what He means when He says poor in spirit, crying out out of poverty and one's realization that there is nothing of value in one's life that could cause God to grant salvation.
III The Results of “Poor in Spirit”
III The Results of “Poor in Spirit”
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Kingdom of Heaven
The third question that comes up in understanding this wonderful beatitude is what is the result of this attitude? He says it in verse 3. "Theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven, theirs IS, not will be, theirs IS.
So whatever it is it's present, here and now.
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven now.
A lot of people who study the Beatitudes have come to the conclusion, really I think it's a terrible mistake to make, but they've come to the conclusion that this is...this is such hard stuff, this is such strong language that it's got to refer to some...some future.
And they...many people would put it in the millennial kingdom, that's where people have to have poverty of spirit and mourning and all of that kind of thing, that here in the age of grace we don't need to do that, all you need to do is believe in Jesus and everything's fine, you don't need to get too overwrought with your own spiritual condition, and all of this.
You remember the rich young ruler came to Jesus, he says, "What do I do to get eternal life?" That's a good question, that's a right question. And he was a pretty important guy, according to , he was a ruler which probably meant in Israel there weren't a lot of different options for what a ruler could rule.
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. 23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
matt 19.16-
And Jesus said, "Well, let's start here. Keep the law, that's one way to get in. Nobody can do it but it is one way, hypothetically. Just keep the law. How about...how about," and He gives him six illustrations of the ten commandments.
"Oh," he says, "I've kept all those, I've kept all those."
Guess what? End of discussion...end of discussion, nothing more to say. Jesus does say to him, "Well, look, there's another...there's another...there's another standard that I'd like you to comply with, sell everything you have, take all the money and give to the poor." The guy turned around and split and he went away lost and condemned.
Why? Not because he didn't ask the right question.
But there were two things he would not do. One was acknowledge his spiritual bankruptcy and that he had systematically and continuously and unendingly violated the law of God. He Lied - he maybe actuall thought he kept the ten commandments ....
And the other was, he was not willing to follow Christ. Christ gave him a simple command, he said no way would I do that...which indicated there was no sense of allegiance and submission to Jesus as Lord, nor was there any recognition of sin.
He's outside the kingdom and he can't get in because he won't become poor in spirit. And he went away as lost as when he showed up.
Key - I suppose somebody might say, "Well, you know, Jesus really should have never lost that guy, all He had to say to him was pray a prayer, raise your hand, walk an aisle, whatever." But not Jesus. Jesus wanted to get to the real issue, you don't get into My kingdom without realizing your sinful, helpless, hopeless condition. And when he wouldn't admit it, there was nothing more to say.
IV The Wrong Comparison
IV The Wrong Comparison
11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Maybe I can just pose a last question. How does one become poor in spirit? How do you get to that place? I would say, first of all, and this is the best place to start, compare yourself to God, stop comparing yourself to other people.
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
Are you perfect? Don't look at other people.
Compare yourself to Him. And when you conclude that you're not as holy as God, you will have concluded the most necessary thing, you fall short and you can't make up the gap.
Pray - Hey, beggars have to ask, right? When you've recognized your beggarly condition, it's time to ask. And what should you ask for?
How about this, "Lord, be merciful to me a sinner."
Illustration
I remember praying with a guy who was dying of AIDS
So, I went to the hospital to see him. And he told me that he was afraid to die and he told me that he was afraid of the judgment of God and he told me that he had lived a wretched, wicked, sinful life. And he knew it was wicked and he knew it was sinful and he knew it was worthy of the judgment of God.
And he said, "I don't deserve to go to heaven. I don't want to go to hell. I don't want to die lost. I don't want to die in my sin." And he went on to talk about the...the terrible life...well...that he had lived.
In the room there was, I guess, some of his friends and lovers, there was an AIDS worker who was sent there who is another homosexual.
And as this confession started to come out of his heart, these guys started exiting rather rapidly out of the room. And finally it was just the two of us. And after he had unloaded this, I said, "Do you understand the gospel, David?"
He said, "Yes, I understand the gospel."
I said, "Do you understand that Jesus Christ died on the cross in the place of sinners? That Jesus Christ actually bore the punishment of God in His own body for all that filth that you just spilled out on me in which you've been living for twenty years?"
And I said, "If...if God is gracious enough to do that, I think you ought to...you ought to reach out in faith."
He said, "What do I do?"
I said, "I only know to tell you one thing, you're a beggar and you just need to ask God to be merciful.
I can't tell you that there's something you can say or something you can pray that will make it happen. All I can say is God saves whom He saves when they cry out to Him." So I said, "Why don't you just do that?"
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry came before him, even into his ears.
So he grabbed my hand and he was squeezing my hand the whole time, prayed a long time, about ten minutes. "Please, God, please be merciful, I only want mercy, be gracious, please forgive me
And he looked at the clock and the calendar, there was a calendar on the wall, and he kept looking at it. I said, "What are you looking at, David?"
He said this one sentence to me, he said, "I just...I want to remember the time and the day of my new life." And a smile came across his face and he lived for five days and for those five days he had me giving him...he was trying to make up for a whole life...books and tapes.
You know, I mean, what else can I say?
You just need to start by comparing yourself to God.
Compare yourself to God and Christ, recognize in that how far short you fall and then just cry, "Lord, be merciful to me a sinner."
And then you will find another attitude that is manifest in your heart, it's the second beatitude, "Blessed are those who...what?...mourn." Well, we'll talk about that next time.
How do you know if you've really come to a poverty of spirit? How do you know that? Can I ask you this final question quickly?
You know it when your pride is gone, your self-righteousness is gone.
And all of a sudden you will have a hunger for the truth and a hunger for Scripture and you'll take it at face value and you'll believe it.
key - See, I don't think the coming to believe the Bible is an intellectual exercise, I think it's a result of a spiritual transformation, that you find yourself longing to talk with the Lord and longing to read His Word and you'll take His Word at exactly what it says on His terms, not yours.
And you won't try to twist it around and make it fit your life style.
And you'll stop complaining about your situation and you'll begin to see the excellencies of others and only your own weaknesses. And you'll start to praise God incessantly for grace and mercy. Those are the evidences that your cry has been heard.
Well, we need to start here. As the hymn writer said, "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling."
Are you “poor in spirit” ?