Blessed are the poor in Spirit
Matthew 5:1-5:12
Turn to Mathew 5
We will be starting a new series on the Sermon On The Mount this morning.
It is a familiar passage, but a lot of times it is just raced over and categorized as teaching to Jesus disciples.
That is true- Jesus is teaching his disciples, but He is also teaching His followers, the believers in Christ.
Most people think Sermon on the Mount is 12 verses of chapter 5. It is really chapter 5 thru 7 as Jesus details some of His teachings.
In fact Jesus pulls them aside and takes them up to the mountains to teach them.
Scholars believe that this was as long as a week or better.
Sermon on the Mount is not just one long…..sermon that Jesus preached to them. But it was a reflection of what he had taught them the whole time He was with them.
It would be like me standing up this morning waving this Bible in front of you and saying, this morning , I am going to tell you everything contained in this Bible. It would be impossible and a lot of you would be asleep or drifting off into thinking about other things
Let’s look at what Jesus taught his disciples and what we can learn and apply to our own lives.
Matthew 5:1-12
Prayer
Luke records it also in Luke 6:20-23.
Luke goes as far to add some woes that Matthew did not record.
(V24-26)
“ Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.”
Blessings and woes are given to the disciples and read by believers on how we should live our lives.
This morning we are centering on the first one-
“Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Write this observation- because it will apply to all of the other Be-attitudes.
(v1) When He (Jesus) saw the crowds, He went up to the mountainside and sat down. Remember what I said last week. If Jesus needed to get away and spend time with the Father- How much more do we need it? If Jesus thought it beneficial for the disciples to get alone with Him, to teach them, then it has to be a priority for our lives also.
Jesus sitting down with them is significant. Rabbi’s taught sitting down.
It was honor and respect for the teacher. Rabbi sat and the people stand.
What is wrong with this picture? Maybe you should stand for the rest of the sermon.
The Pope still practices that today, especially when he is in the Vatican. He sits and teaches, it is respect for the teacher.
Jesus sat down- His disciples came to Him and He began to teach them.
Second thought- His disciples came to Him. And He began to teach them. I must admit, I struggle a little bit with chasing people to hear the gospel. The disciples come to him to hear the Word of God. They came to where the Word of God was being taught.
No where does Jesus set up a greeting team to chase them down. I do believe they did spend time in each others home and fellowship together.
Now a days- most people don’t want the preacher or anyone else just popping in for a visit.
It is important that we know what we believe, but it is equally important to know how to behave.
The Sermon on the Mount gives us balance of doctrinal and practical teaching.
Things that we should apply to our lives:
Beginning with blessed are the poor in spirit is a strange way to begin. Because let’s face it- no one here would call it a blessing to be poor.
Being poor in spirit has nothing to do with money. It has everything to do with humility. Attitude of humility.
When we think we are okay because we are “good people” we depend on our own self-righteousness.
Self-righteousness will not make us happy.
Self-righteousness will not get you to heaven.
A lot of translations prefer to use the word happy instead of blessed. It is true a person blessed by God will be happy. We have to be careful not to reduce blessedness to merely being happy.
So what does it mean to be “poor in spirit”?
First , let’s eliminate a few things people have associated with being poor in spirit.
It is not:
Being shy and never sticking up for yourself.
It is not being flat broke and having no goals for your life.
It is not being spiritually illiterate and depending on others to tell you what you believe.
What does it mean to be humble? Humble by God’s definition.
It means to be totally dependent on God. It means that what you have and who you are is directed by God and that you realize you are dependent on God.
The opposite of humble is prideful.
Luke 18 is the story of two men going to the temple to pray.
One is a Pharisee and one a tax collector.
The Pharisee (v11) “The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself; God, I thank you that I am not like other men- robbers, evildoers, adulterers- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” That is not being poor in spirit! That is being prideful! That is looking at others. Comparing his behavior to men instead of what God desires for us. Poor in spirit is the answer of the tax collector. (v13)” But the tax collector stood at a distance, he would not even look up to heaven, but beat his chest and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” God’s response- (v14) “I tell you this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled (brought down) and he who humbles himself (God’ way) will be exalted.
Poor in spirit is admitting to God that we are nothing without him.
It is admitting that we are sinner saved by grace.
It is not thinking poorly of your-self, it is properly thinking of yourself by God’s standards.
It is not looking down on other’s, it is realizing we all need God’s grace and mercy.
Illustration-
The story is told of a young American student who visited the Beethoven Museum in Bonn, Germany. The student became fascinated by Beethoven’s piano that was on display there. It was a thrill to think that Beethoven had composed some of his greatest works on that piano! The student asked the museum guard if she might play a few notes on it. To help persuade the guard, she also slipped him a lavish tip. The guard agreed and the girl went to the piano and played the opening of the Moonlight Sonata. As she was leaving she said to the guard, “I suppose all the great pianist who come here want to play on the piano.” The guard shook his head and said, “Paderewski, the famous Polish pianist was here a few years ago, and he said he wasn’t worthy to touch it”
We cannot think higher of ourselves than we ought.
Being poor in spirit – humble by God’s standards make s us realize how short we fall.
Powell- “Pride is so subtle that if we are not careful we’ll be proud of our humility.”
It is like the guy who wrote the book- “humility and how I attained it”
Let me attempt to bring this home-
How do we become poor in spirit?
Examples-
Isaiah 6:5- “Woe to me, I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the king.
Luke 5:3 (Peter)- “Go away from me Lord, I am a sinful man”
It is realizing your dependence on God.
It is a brokenness of spirit to the mercies of God.
It is a heart desiring to serve and please God.
It is taking the teaching of Jesus and applying them to our lives and receiving God’s approval above Mans approval.
It is not looking for the big opportunities to serve God, it taking and seeing the opportunities right before you.
One commentary says it this way.
“To be poor in spirit is not to lack courage but to acknowledge spiritual bankruptcy. It confesses one’s unworthiness before God and utter dependence on Him”
Money is not the issue here- you can be flat broke and not be poor in spirit.
You can be here this morning and money is not an issue, yet pride and not trusting God may be an issue.
Poor in spirit is about the heart, about being humble and about dependence of God.
The Pharisee had a prideful heart, compared himself to man instead of getting God’s approval. Thought he was righteous because of what he did.
The tax collector had a broken heart before God- realized it was not what he did, but depended on the mercies of God and humbled himself God’s way.
God loves us and accepts us just as we are. But he loves us too much to leave us that way.
Closing-
Poor in spirit requires us to die to self through brokenness, humility, and dependence on God.
The world today needs to see real Christians.
So much that they see is not real.
They see no difference in the lives who claim to be born again believers.
Jesus pulled his disciples and he wants to pull his followers aside, teach them principals that work for our lives.
The Lord is looking for not only hearers of the Word, but doers of the word.
Altar Call
