The Beatitudes describe what every Christian ought to be.
• Jesus says these are those who are truly blessed.
• And He expects us to manifest these traits.
• None of these traits are natural human tendencies; it is what we can become by the grace of God.
• They are attainable and achievable because of the work of God in our lives.
The Beatitudes clearly set a different benchmark from the world.
• God expects us to behave differently. This distinction must be maintained.
• In order for the world to know Christ, they must see Him through us.
• How we conduct ourselves, more than what we preach will bring people to Christ.
We are going to consider the first Beatitudes today:
• “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
• In order words, the poor in spirit belongs in the kingdom of heaven.
• There is no one in the kingdom of God who is not poor in spirit.
Obviously Jesus isn’t referring to poverty. He is not talking about being poor.
• Some interpreted it that way because it sounded that way.
• But that’s not right. The Lord says the poor IN SPIRIT, not the poor.
• We can be good, wealthy Christians. Abraham was one. King David was one.
• Material blessing can be a blessing from God.
• Nothing wrong with being rich; just don’t be greedy, and don’t hoard.
• Money is not the problem; it is the love of money that is wrong.
Jesus says the poor IN SPIRIT will be blessed.
• In a sense they are the ones who feel empty, who knows that there is nothing good in them.
• They are not full of selves. Rather they are longing and thirsting for righteousness.
• They are the ones who seek God, who longs to be filled.
Jesus himself declares, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.” (Luke 4:18, quoted from Isa 61:1)
• Thus to be poor in spirit is to acknowledge our spiritual poverty, our spiritual bankruptcy before God.
• For we are sinners, under the holy wrath of God, and deserving nothing but the judgement of God.
• We have nothing to offer, nothing to plead, nothing with which to buy the favour of heaven.
Are you empty? Only those who emptied themselves can be filled.
• If self occupies the throne of our life, then there is no room for God.
• There is no need of God!
• Man would not have embraced Jesus, if he has full trust in himself, that by his own efforts, he can make it through life, or even beyond.
• It is only when man acknowledges that he is bankrupt, only then will he seek God and accepts Christ.
Here we have a clear-cut distinction between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world.
• To be poor in spirit is not admired by the world. In fact, it is despised by the world.
• They are those who are too weak to be in-charge of their own life, and therefore seek some kind of religion to give them emotional support.
You go to the bookstores, and you’ll notice that the self-help section is growing.
• Books on self-esteem, self-confidence, self-awareness, self-actualisation…
• Our culture is obsessed with self. “Believe in yourself,” the world says.
• People says, “I don’t believe in gods; I believe in myself.”
• The New Age gurus will tell you to realise the powers that are innate in yourself.
• We are told to be in love with ourselves. Be in charge!
This description seems to fit Peter before he really comes to know Christ.
• He has great confidence in himself. He told Jesus in Matt 26:33-35 "Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will."
• Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times."
• But Peter declared, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you."
That is how confident he was, until he sees his true self in a real test.
• That is the kind of person the world celebrates, until Jesus steps in and said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
• It’s a reality check. Man feels that they have everything, they are in control.
• But the real fact is that man is fragile, weak and sinful, without God.
Being poor in spirit is to see yourself in the true light – and what is that: We are helpless without God. We are always in need of Him.
• The Lord says, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
• It is a consciousness that we are frail in the presence of God. We cannot achieve anything without His grace.
• To be poor in spirit is to have this strong awareness of our utter nothingness when we come before God.
It means that there is nothing really to boast about ourselves.
• There is nothing to boast, even though:
… we are smarter than others, studying in better schools
… we are better educated, better dressed, better looking, in better-paid jobs
… we are wealthier, more talented, having a better position in life
• There is nothing to boast. These are just God’s grace and gifts to us.
Paul says "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." (2 Cor 10:17)
In Gal 6:14 “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
Phil 3:4-9
4 If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
• “Look at my credentials!” Paul says. Really he has lots of things to boast about.
• We are not to boast even of our own morality, or good conduct or behaviour.
7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ-the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
There is nothing good in us. We are constantly in need of God’s grace.
Augustus M. Toplady wrote the hymn ROCK OF AGES. He was one day overtaken by a thunderstorm in Burrington Combe, in in Somerset, England. He took shelter between two massive piers of our native limestone rock, running a hundred feet high. He penned the hymn, “Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee.”
I want to share with you what he wrote, in the second and third stanzas.
Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law’s commands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone.
Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.
This is the language of the poor in spirit.
We must stand with the tax-collector in Jesus’ parable, crying out, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” (Luke 18:13)
• Not with the Pharisee who feels he is good enough, and has done enough good.
• Calvin says, “He only who is reduced to nothing in himself, and relies on the mercy of God, is poor in spirit.”
The Lord says such a person is blessed! They belong in the Kingdom of heaven.
• Jesus says, “Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 18:2-4)
• So the kingdom of heaven belongs, in Jesus’ days, not to the Pharisees or those who think they are rich, but to the poor, the publicans and prostitutes, the rejects of human society, because they knew they had nothing to offer and they had achieved nothing.
• All they could do was to cry to God for mercy, and He heard their cry.
The Lord revealed the problem to the church in Laodicea (Rev 3:14-19).
• You say, `I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
• We do not want to end up in that state.
• C. H. Spurgeon says, “The way to rise in the kingdom is to sink in ourselves.”
When we understand that, we become great in God’s hands. Isaiah, Peter and Paul experienced that.
Application:
1. Surrender Your Life to the Lord
• On God’s battlefield, surrender is not waving a white flag of defeat.
• Instead, it is a bold step taken toward victory and blessing.
• We are acknowledging His rule in our life. We are opening the door to His blessings.
• My friend, determine right now to submit your will to God on a daily basis. Seek Him in all things.
• We live under God’s grace at all times.
2. Don’t fall in love with the World
• Discipline the physical cravings and desires we have.
• Develop an eternal perspective to life. Keep reminding yourself, this world is not my home.
