There are many things that are titled “The greatest…..”
• The greatest team
• The greatest movie
• The greatest song
• The greatest showman
When it comes to sermons, we can find online “the greatest”
Spurgeon
Dr Lockridge
Billy Graham
The winner of that title, the greatest sermon is usually attributed to Jesus Christ, when he preached on a mountainside in the Galilee region.
It covers giving to the needy, prayer, judging others, true and false, wise and foolish, and a list!
I like lists.
I write them often.
Who else is a list person?
Well, right at the start of this sermon Jesus gives a list of things that should make us happy!
Things that should make us go, “You know, this is happening in my life right now, but actually – it’s a blessing.
Inside, I’m happy about this.
Now this list of “Happys” or Blessings is certainly not the expected list.
If you or I wrote a list of things that make us happy, what would you write?
• A holiday
• A windfull
• A night out
• A night in
• A lovely meal
• A day off from everyday life
Fill in your dotted line……
But no.
As I said the other week, Jesus often turns our ideas upside down.
God doesn’t see things as we often see them.
But you know, it’s NOT that God turns things upside down.
He turns them right side up.
So over this series we will look at mourning, persecution, meekness as blessings – reasons to be happy!
And today we start with . . . Spiritually poor.
If you didn’t know this was in the sermon on the mount, would you ever have said that being spiritually poor was a good thing, right?
I mean, you’d expect Jesus to praise us if we were spiritually rich.
If we were up there (point up) spiritually
“Oh yes, I pray 3 hours a day, and read the entire bible twice a year – I am truly blessed”
And in Jesus time, you know there were religious leaders and teachers who made a BIG deal of being way up there spiritually.
They would make a show of just how pious they were.
• They fasted,
• they prayed,
• they followed God’s law
and a heap of other laws they made up.
• They gave money and, like I said last week, they made sure everyone knew how “Good and Spiritual” they were.
But Jesus pulled them down from their pedestal.
I have met people like that.
They talk as if they are
o in constant conversation with God, and
o they don’t sin.
They don’t have much fun in their life, but man! Are they spiritual!
Maybe we all know or hear of those and feel like we are so spiritually poor.
We feel guilty, bad inside.
Will God have me in heaven if I can’t pray super prayers or don’t know where Habakkuk is in the bible?
It’s amazing, isn’t it?
Humans make us feel guilty, but God doesn’t?
So Jesus starts the greatest sermon ever with these words:
“Blessed are those who are spiritually poor”
No one saw that coming!
It was DEFINITELY not what the Pharisees or priests would teach.
So let’s relate this to us in 2022.
If we realise that we are spiritually poor, it’s a good thing!
The bible has made it clear:
Romans 3: 9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written:
‘There is no one righteous, not even one;
11 there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away,
Spiritually poor are broke and broken.
We are poor –
we cannot buy our way into heaven.
We cannot pay for our salvation.
There is no one here, or viewing online that is on a different spiritual plain that puts them in the throne room of God.
We need to know that.
We are broke – we don’t have the resources humanly to be on such as spiritual level that makes us “safe”
We are broken – as Romans tells us – there is not one person who is righteous – without sin.
We have all messed up in the past,
we are still messing up, and I have no doubt that
we will continue to mess up in the days to come.
We are spiritually broken.
This all sounds negative right?
You might be thinking, “Thanks Steve. I really didn’t need reminding of my faults, and that I’m not really a strong place spiritually.”
Yes you did, because that’s the point!
That’s what Jesus is saying.
The first thing he says to the crowd on the hillside in the greatest sermon in history is this:
Blessed are the spiritually poor… BLESSED!!!!
Friends, if you are like I’ve just described – you are BLESSED!
Why?
Well, What does Jesus say about the spiritually poor?
For theirs is the Kingdom of God.
What!?
Those who spiritually broke and broken get the Kingdom of Heaven?
Yes!! – and its not me telling you that – it’s Jesus Christ.
The thief on the cross – broken and broken.
Luke 23: 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: ‘Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. ‘Don’t you fear God,’ he said, ‘since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.’
He was broken and broken.
He recognised that.
42 Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[d]’
“Blessed are the spiritually poor, because….”
43 Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’ – in the Kingdom!
The spiritually poor will have/ belong to/ experience the kingdom of God.
They will be …. Blessed
When you know your poor condition – you will be blessed with the Kingdom of God.
If we think we are spiritually rich, our false opinion will get in the way of experiencing and belonging to the Kingdom of God.
If we are “Rich” in spirit,
we think we have it sorted.
We think we got what it takes to enter the Kingdom.
But we don’t
When we are poor in spirit we are DEPENDANT UPON GOD.
That’s important.
If we see the reality of our spiritual poverty, we can come to God – humble, with open hands…
“Lord, remember me. I give myself to You”
And he will say, Today, you will be with me in paradise…. That’s the Kingdom of Heaven.
Do you feel spiritually poor?
Come to Jesus Christ
Come – not trying to impress
Come just as you are.
