From Rags to Riches
Matthew 5:1-3
Introduction:
John Stott calls the Sermon on the Mount the “most complete delineation anywhere in the New Testament of the Christian counter-culture.”
Today we launch into a new series that I have entitled “Being the Believing!” as we journey through the Sermon on the Mount, the Greatest Sermon ever Preached by the Greatest Preacher that ever lived, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
We are freshly off the heels of a journey through the book of Hebrews which was doctrinally heavy. Over and over again we were introduced to what we should be doing: trusting in God, surrendering to His Son, submitting to the Holy Spirit, overcoming through tribulation, pressing on through persecution and rejoicing whether we are dancing on top of the mountain or struggling through the valley.
Now, as we step off the pages of Hebrews and into the pages of Matthew, we make the transition from Doctrine to Duty.
I have struggled for the past two years in the decision to pursue my Doctorate in Philosophy (PHD) or Doctorate in Ministry (DMIN). One is a research degree the other is a practical degree, in other words the PHD would put me in books LEARNING, the other, the DMIN would put me in the field DOING. That is the best way I can describe this transition from Hebrews to the Sermon on the Mount. We are going from learning to doing, and that’s why I have entitled this series, Being the Believing!
And how important it is for modern day Christians living in such a sinful and wicked culture that was best described by Vance Havner when he stated “The world has become so church and the church so worldly, you can’t tell the two apart”. How important it is for modern day Christians living in such a sinful and wicked culture to start living out what they believe to be truth. To take what you learn in Sunday School, through the sermons, your personal devotions, prayer and an intimate walk with God and actually DO something with all of that information. Wonderful that you know that spreading the Gospel is your Great Commission, life changing that you actually act on that knowledge. Great that you know you are to forgive as Christ has forgiven you, powerful when you actually forgive someone that has offended you. It’s nice that you know that you should mourn over your sin but when was the last time you hit your knees broken that you have hurt the very heart of God.
So, now that we have camped out for over two years in Hebrews LEARNING, let’s open to Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 as we start our journey DOING!
PRAYER
1. The God of the universe sees, cares and is ABLE!
“Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.”-Mt. 5:1
The first word, seeing, has captivated me theologically and practically as did Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 where the author writes “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God SPOKE to our fathers by the prophets” What a life changing event for God did not have to speak, He was not lonely, He did not need a new friend, and He was not incomplete without us! And, we certainly did not deserve or earn the voice of Almighty God! Yet He chose to speak anyway!
Now here, we find that God sees us! Let me jump ahead in this verse to the words “he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down…” In order to understand the significance of Jesus “seeing” the crowds, we must delve into the theological significance of this statement that Jesus went up on the mountain and SAT down.
In this simple statement, the Apostle Matthew is making some Old Testament Moses comparisons to the New Testament Christ. That as Moses the deliverer of the nation of Israel went up to a mountain (Ex. 19:3) and sat down (Deut. 9:9) so Jesus Christ, the better deliverer, went up to a mountain and sat down (Mt. 5:1). As Moses gave a law that would be binding, Jesus gives liberty that would be freeing.
One of my favorite quotes from C.S. Lewis is “either Jesus was Liar, Lunatic or Lord”. Oh friend to believe that Jesus Christ was more than a: prophet, miracle worker, teacher, healer or priest but God, is to believe that He is the risen living Savior seated before the disciples and crowds, speaking to humanity through the Sermon on the Mount! By comparing Moses to Christ, Matthew seeks to prove that the words of Jesus Christ carry divine authority since He is the better Moses.
Now, having established that Jesus is the Old Testament prophesied Messiah; we can look at this word “seeing”. As I stated earlier this first word, seeing, has captivated me theologically and practically. Theologically to know that God, with all that He has going on in the universe, sees me is compelling to say the least.
Even more profound is the understanding that the Greek word for see implies a deep knowledge of the unseen! In other words, only God has the unique, supernatural ability to SEE the REAL you, the you that you will never share with anyone else. The late night struggles, the deep rooted pain, the past hurts, the emotional scars, your hopes and dreams, your fears and worries. God SEES YOU.
There are 196 countries on this planet, with as many as 27,000 people groups representing over 7 billion people, yet God sees me, and God sees you. And with God, to SEE you is to KNOW you. And to know you is to care ABOUT you! The theological implications captivate me and the practical implications encourage me.
When Moses went up to the mountain of God, and approached the burning bush, he had a heavy heart. His people were slaves under the sadistic hands of the Egyptian taskmasters, ruled by the godless Pharaoh. Moses himself had spent 40 years on the backside of the wilderness struggling through guilt, fear, purpose and life. Feeling, I am sure, that nobody cared, that he was all alone that God did not see what was going on. Then the LORD said, “I have surely SEEN the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I KNOW their sufferings…” –Ex. 3:7 There it is, for God to see you is for God to know you and for God to know you is for God to care about you!
I was having a very long and emotional day this past week and one of the issues I have been struggling with is the fact that I know have three grown children that have moved out of my house. (Story of Jeep, dog tags, prayer, God’s not Dead song, look up to the sky to find the AF antenna head looking at me!) **I love that God sees me and that I have an intimate relationship with Him!**
The truth is: Some people see but don’t care, others care but don’t see, and others still don’t see and don’t care.
How amazing it is to know that God both sees and cares and is very able to do. No wonder verse one ends with “…his disciples came to him.” When we really GET that God sees us, knows us, cares about is and is able to help us, our natural response is to position ourselves as close to Him as possible. That’s why since my salvation, for 24 years, I can’t get enough of my God: SS, AM, AWANA-PM, Tuesday morning Men’s Bible reading/prayer and breakfast, Wednesday morning, Wednesday evening, and any other time His Word is being taught and preached and His people are meeting, fellowshipping and praying, I WANT TO BE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE AS CLOSE TO HIM AS I CAN GET! As Linda Rowe came through the door Wednesday night for church I asked “you back for more?”, since she was also in attendance for our morning service, to which she replied “I need all that I can get”. AMEN, AMEN and AMEN!
Please believe that the God of the universe sees, cares and is ABLE! And:
2. Because God cares, He has earned the right for our ATTENTION!
“And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:” –Mt. 5:2
Here were people that, according to Matthew 4 verse 16 had been sitting in darkness, isolated, lonely, overwhelmed and defeated. People that had been drawn to the light, rescued from their depravity and compelled to listen to the voice of God because of the love of God.
Boy does that sound like us. There was a time that we were in the darkness, controlled by our emotions and feelings, yielding to sin, isolated, overwhelmed and defeated, and rightfully so for we were children of wrath destined to spend an eternity in hell separated from the love of God forever (Rom. 6:23). But then God “gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” –John 3:16
Jesus, who has rescued us from our depravity, saved us by His sacrifice, redeemed us through His grace, showered us with His blessings, and has compelled us to listen to His voice because of His love. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, sweetest name I know
Oh HE has EARNED the right for our attention.
In Deut. 18:15 Moses writes “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen”.
And what is He saying? In Matthew 5:3, He is saying that:
3. God’s blessings only come to those that seek His APPROVAL!
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”-Mt. 5:3
Let me draw your attention to that word blessed and point out what it does not mean:
• Blessed does not mean happiness that is tethered to feelings and emotions which are anchored to externals. This word is not referring to those moments of emotion when you receive a bonus in your paycheck or an unexpected bill.
The word blessed IS speaking of an inner complete satisfaction that is tethered to salvation in Christ that is not subject to emotion, fear or circumstance. An inner joy that is established in God that was not given by this world so it can’t be taken by this world. So, blessed, in my humble interpretational definition, would simply be APPROVED BY GOD.
So, we can read verse three thusly, “Approved of God are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” After the Apostle Matthew gets our attention on the One worthy of our attention, we find the very first thing that Jesus says to these new disciples after he called them together in Matthew 4:19 with the words “Follow me…” was Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Poor in Spirit. Again, let me point out what this does not mean:
• No value: God does not bless someone that has no value because all of humanity has value in His eyes. “The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” –Zeph. 3:17
Oh don’t you dare believe the devils lie that you have no value, you are a creation of the living GOD and HE LOVES YOU!
• Materialistically: Being poor in spirit does not mean that you have no money! For the Apostle Peter declared “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality”-Acts 10:34
• Showy humility: this is also not speaking of someone that takes great pride in their humility! Martyn Lloyd-Jones tells of meeting such a man on one of his preaching missions. When Dr. Lloyd-Jones arrived at the train station, the man asked for the minister’s suitcase and in fact almost ripped it from his hand saying, “I am a deacon in the church where you are preaching tomorrow…You know, I am a mere nobody, a very unimportant man. Really. I do not count; I am not a great man in the church; I am just one of those men who carry the bag for the minister.” Lloyd-Jones observes, “He was anxious that I should know what a humble man he was, how ‘poor in spirit.’ Yet by his anxiety to make it known, he was denying the very thing he was trying to establish.
So, if this word poor does is not connected to value, money or humility, what does it mean?
The Greek word for poor employed here actually means to “cower and cringe like a beggar, and to be pitiful, inferior and worthless.” If only we had a scriptural example of this word being fleshed out by a life! Oh…we do! In Luke chapter 16 starting in verse 19 we read “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.” –Luke 16:19-21
This man had no control of his life, so bankrupt was he that he was completely dependent upon the help of others to survive. So desperately poor was this man that the only way he could even receive a crumb off a table for sustenance was to firstly acknowledge his beggarly poor state and secondly to receive the help that was offered. When we teach, read or even preach through this account in Luke we often focus on our role in helping this poor man. In fact, I preached a message a couple years ago entitled “Who has God laid at your Gate?” which outlined our need to love and care for those around us by being Gospel driven. However, there is another way to view this text. And, it is tied to our Matthew 5:3 verse through the word POOR.
Don’t miss this, as much as it may hurt your self-image…the word poor in Luke 16 used to describe a sore ridden, disease carrying, poorer than poor reproach to society is the same word used in Matthew 5:3. So, let’s try reading this text again: Mt. 5:3: Approved of God are those that cower and cringe like a beggar: the pitiful, inferior and worthless, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The hymn Rock of Ages nails this text with words like “Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling”
Peter had it right when he declared “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” –Luke 5:8
Paul was spot on when he declared “I am the chiefest of all sinners” –I Tim. 1:15
Isaiah knew the truth when he cried, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips…” –Isa. 6:5
The mighty Gideon who delivered Israel with just 300 men acknowledged to God “I am the least in my father’s house.”
The Isaac Watts hymn written in 1885 At the Cross used to have it right when the stanza was sung “Would He devote that sacred head, for such a worm as I
Newer hymnals have replaced the words “for such a worm as I” with “for such a sinner as I” or even worse “for such a one as I”. In our current American church culture where feeling good, self-worth, inner power and a sugar coated Gospel that promotes self-esteem prevails; we don’t like anything that may damage our beautiful, deserving and fit for heaven image.
King David, a man after God’s own heart, would not have sung for such a one as I, for he had no problem acknowledging his worm status when he declared in Psalm 22:6 “…I am a worm and not a man…”
The great William Carey, a Baptist missionary in the 17 and 1800’s, known as the Father of Modern Missions had no issue with this word, for on his gravestone are the words “William Carey born August 17th, 1761 Died June 9th, 1834 “A wretched, poor, and helpless WORM, On Thy kind arms I fall.”
You must come to the place where you believe, really and truly believe that you are a wretched, miserable, beggarly poor sinning worm that needs someone, outside of you, to help and rescue you.
To embrace the formula found in Isa. 41:13-14 “For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand, who says to you, ‘do not fear, I will help you’. “Do not fear, you WORM Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you,” declares the LORD, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.”
For all of the worms, like me, out there: understand that God’s blessings only come to those that seek His APPROVAL! Are you ready to be blessed by God today?!
Invitation:
My prayer today is that as you leave this building you will be able to declare, through a heart of integrity, are the words of William Carey, “A wretched, poor, and helpless WORM, On Thy kind arms I fall”
