As we began our consideration of the Beatitudes last time, we pointed out four general observations about our Savior’s teaching in Matthew 5:1-12. We said that the Beatitudes speak of God’s personal concern for us; that they declare nine positive facts, that they emphasize proper perspective in life; and that the Beatitudes are progressive in nature.
We talked about how the principles and promises set forth in the Beatitudes explain how we might experience true happiness. We said that as one seeks to apply these principles and promises, he will travel down a path to happiness which, unlike that which the world gives, can never be taken away.
As the old Bill Gaither chorus puts it, “The world didn’t give it to me and the world can’t take it away.”
But how does one begin to travel down the path that leads to true happiness both in this life and the next? Jesus tells us in verse three.
(READ TEXT)
One begins to travel down the path that leads to true happiness when he gains the proper perspective on salvation. A proper perspective on salvation will cause you to . . .
1. Admit your spiritual poverty - v. 3a
Jesus tells us, “Blessed are the poor.” What is Jesus referring to here?
Well, some insist that He is speaking of those who are experiencing material poverty. But remember, the beatitudes are not a special set of blessings for a special group of people who find themselves in a special set of circumstances. Jesus is sharing principles and promises that we can each apply to our lives no matter who we are, where we are, or what may be going on in our lives, because He is personally concerned with each one of us.
No, the poverty that Jesus is speaking of is a kind of poverty that characterizes us all. Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” The kind of poverty that He is speaking of here, clearly is spiritual poverty.
No matter who you are, no matter what your circumstances, you are spiritually impoverished.
“However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.” - John 15:5 (Amplified)
“No one is acceptable to God!” - Romans 3:10 (CEV)
“For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.” - Romans 3:23 (NLT)
“We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.” - Isaiah 64:6 (NLT)
The word Jesus uses here is interesting. He uses the Greek word “ptokas.” He could have used another Greek word meaning “poor,” the word “penace,” from which we get our English word, “penance.”
The Greek word, “penace” refers to poverty where one struggles just to keep his head above water. He is barely making ends meet.
It is fitting that our English word, “penance” comes from this word because the teaching of one doing penance in order to attain forgiveness accepts the idea that through one’s religious effort, he can keep his head above water as far establishing a right relationship with God is concerned.
But Jesus condemns that teaching as false by using the word “ptokas,” which means to have no resources at all; to be totally destitute.
That is where each of us is before God spiritually. We can’t even be good enough to keep our head above water.
Which brings up one of the primary problems mankind faces with respect to sin. Because we are guilty of sin, we stand condemned before a holy God to pay the penalty for our sin.
But this is part of the reason why Jesus came. He came to do for us what we could never do for ourselves. He came to pay sin’s penalty.
A. Christ overcame the problem of sin’s penalty for us through His crucifixion.
“You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.” - 2 Corinthians 8:9 (NLT)
But our spiritual poverty relates not only to the problem of sin’s penalty, but to the problem of sin’s power.
When it comes to paying sin’s penalty, we are penniless; and when it comes to overcoming sin’s power, we are powerless.
“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells.”
- Romans 7:18 (NKJV)
For this reason, we can never be good enough for God; and we can never on our own, attain true happiness. The reason for this is that we do not have the nature to act according to God’s will.
Imagine that you have a lemon tree in your yard. All it can
produce is sour lemons. Now if you want to grow oranges, you may decide to pull off all the lemons from your tree and then stick sweet, juicy oranges in their place. In a few minutes your tree could be covered with the sweetest oranges in town. Everyone looks and sees your “orange” tree-but in reality all you have is a lemon tree with dead oranges on it. You haven’t changed the nature of the tree at all.
In the same way, our human nature is sour. Often people don’t want to admit this and seek to justify themselves before God by resolving to do better. They try to throw away the fruits of their sour nature. They get rid of the bottle, clean up their language, and try to do better at family and business relationships. But all they’re really doing is picking off lemons and sticking on oranges. They may even succeed in getting rid of bad habits and acquiring good ones. However, this does not change the source of the stream of life. Our nature is untouched by our resolutions and reformations. We are as powerless to make our hearts good as we are to make a lemon tree into an orange tree. We need a new nature. We need to be changed on the inside, and this change is made possible because of the cross.
“For Christ [the Messiah Himself] died for sins once for all, the Righteous for the unrighteous (the Just for the unjust, the Innocent for the guilty), that He might bring us to God.” - 1 Peter 3:18 (Amplified)
Only in Christ can we be made new; have a right standing with God; and begin to know true happiness; for only in Christ can we know victory over the power of sin. The power of sin is death - death with respect to my ability to live a life that pleases God, death with respect to the penalty I am condemned eternally to pay apart from God.
“For sin is the sting that results in death.” - 1 Corinthians 15:56 (NLT)
B. Christ overcame the problem of sin’s power for us through His resurrection.
“I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” - Ephesians 1:19-20 (NLT)
Show the video - The original bailout plan
One of the best illustrations of how our Savior has won victory over sin for us is the Lord’s Supper.
“While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.’” - Matthew 26:26-29 (NIV)
Through the Lord’s Supper, we are reminded of the fact that through our Savior’s sacrifice, we . . .
A. Have been saved from sin’s penalty - v. 28 (crucifixion)
B. Can be saved from sin’s power - v. 29 (resurrection)
C. Will be saved from sin’s presence –
“For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” - 1 Corinthians 11:26 (NIV)
Conduct Lord’s Supper Observance
Christ came to die on the cross because we are all spiritually bankrupt. So, the sooner we admit our spiritual poverty the better off we are.
For admitting our spiritual poverty will lead us to . . .
2. Acknowledge God’s saving power - v. 3b
Admitting my spiritual need is a step that leads to the discovery of the only solution for my need. The solution to my need for a new heart; the solution for my need for a right standing with God; and the solution to my need for living a life filled with true happiness all stems from my trusting in God’s saving power are revealed through the person of Jesus Christ. But that is a solution I will never discover until I have first
admitted my spiritual poverty and my absolute helplessness apart from the intervention of God.
Consider the example of Nicodemus. We are told in John chapter three the story about how Nicodemus came to Jesus by night to ask Him questions.
We are told that Nicodemus was a Pharisee. Just what does that tell us about him?
The Pharisees were actually some of the best people in all Israel. The word “Pharisee” means “separated ones.” The Pharisees were known as a chaburah, or brotherhood. They entered into this brotherhood by taking a pledge in front of three witnesses that they would spend their lives observing every detail of the scribal law.
Now the Scribes were are group of scholars who devoted themselves to extracting from the law an infinite number of rules to govern every conceivable situation in life.
The best example of what they did is to be seen in the observance of the Sabbath. The law said that no work must be done on the Sabbath. Now, they reasoned, since work is defined as carrying a burden, they felt there was a need to define what a burden was.
What the Scribes came up with was that a burden is: food, equal to the weight of a dried fig; enough wine for mixing in a goblet; milk, enough for one swallow; honey, enough to put into a wound; oil, enough to anoint a part of the body; water, enough to moisten the eye; paper, enough to write a customs house notice upon; ink, enough to write two letters of the alphabet; and a piece of reed, enough to make a pen with to write those two letters.
So the Scribes spent hours upon hours arguing over what was right and what was wrong according to the law. They argued over how far a man could carry a lamp from one place to another. They argued if a tailor sinned by keeping his needle stuck in his lapel as he walked about on the Sabbath. They argued whether it was a sin for a woman to wear a broach on the Sabbath day, or whether it was a sin for her to even wear a wig. To go out on the Sabbath with your false teeth in was a sin, to wear your wooden leg was a sin, and even if a man lifted his own child it was seen by a Scribe to be a transgression of the Sabbath day.
The scribes spent their lives working out these regulations. In Jesus’ day, it was an oral tradition, but in the third century it was written down and is now known as the “Mishna.” It comprises about 800 pages in English, and the Pharisees had dedicated themselves to living according to these rules and regulations.
Now, it was to one of these highly committed and religious persons that Jesus said:
“I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that unless a person is born again (anew, from above), he cannot ever see (know, be acquainted with, and experience) the kingdom of God.” - John 3:3 (Amplified)
There in John chapter three, we see Nicodemus in the DARKNESS OF CONFUSION. He cannot understand the need to be born again, for he thinks that he is pretty good.
Later, however, in John chapter seven, we find Nicodemus on the DAWN OF CONVICTION, as during a discussion by the Pharisees, he points to the quality of Jesus’ life, evidently beginning to recognize that something was missing in his own.
Finally, in John chapter nineteen, we read about Nicodemus walking in the DAYLIGHT OF CONFESSION as this man, who had dedicated himself to the strict observance of the Sabbath, defiled himself on the eve of the Sabbath by coming in contact with the dead body of Jesus as he and his associate, Joseph of Arimathea, saw to our Lord’s burial.
What had happened to cause Nicodemus to disregard his religious devotion to the rituals of Sabbath observance? What had happened to cause him to change from one who visited Jesus only by night to one who publicly identified himself with the shame of the cross? What had happened to enable this man to pass from the darkness of confusion to the daylight of confession?
He had come to admit his spiritual poverty and, as a result, he had acknowledged his need of God’s saving power in the person of Christ. He had been born again. He had entered the kingdom of heaven. He had gained the proper prospective on salvation.
Conclusion: Have you come to the point where you have admitted that you are spiritual bankrupt? That spiritually, you are both penniless and powerless? If so, than acknowledge today that the saving power of God as revealed in the person of Christ. Only then can you be truly happy.
Here we are, the broken and the used, mistreated, abused, here we are.
Here we are, bandaged and bruised, awaiting a cure, here we are.
Here You are, the beautiful One, who came like a Son, here You are.
Here You are, our beautiful King, bringing relief, here You are.
So we lift up our voices, we open our hands,
to cling to the love, that has freed us from sin.
So we lift up our voices, we open our hands,
Let go of the things that have kept us from Him.
You are the One who has saved us, You are the One who forgave us,
You are the One who has come and is coming again
to make it all right, You’re the remedy!
- Remedy, David Crowder Band
