Matthew 5:1-12 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying: 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Introduction
I would not trade my Christian upbringing for the world. However one disadvantage of growing up with God’s Word is the fact that it is easy to become inoculated to the more extreme statements in Scripture. You hear them so many times growing up you forget how outrageous and shocking they really are. And the beatitudes are a great example of that. Jesus begins with blessed are the poor in spirit. Most every Christian knows that statement, and yet is there any evidence that we have considered what it means? There is a movement that has been very popular in Christendom over the past 150 years known as the Higher Life movement. People by the millions want to know how to attain the higher life. I am still waiting for the lower life movement to get some traction.
Isaiah 66:2 This is the one I esteem: he who is poor and broken in spirit, and trembles at my word.
God has always esteemed the poor in spirit. While the world seeks self-esteem, the people of God care about how God esteems them. And God highly esteems the poor in spirit – so much so that the very first line in the Sermon on the Mount is about how blessed they are.
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
One characteristic of Jesus’ teaching is that He very often said things that all by themselves, taken in isolation, don’t make sense. Happy are the spiritually destitute beggars. Happy are those who mourn. Statements like that, I believe, were intended to force us to take a deeper look, because on their face they don’t seem to make any sense. And I am convinced that was Jesus’ intention. Jesus routinely said things that sounded like a contradiction without offering an explanation in order to force us to stop and think carefully about what He meant. Statements like this (and there are many of them in the Sermon on the Mount) should drive us to think and study and pray and search the Scriptures until we understand how it makes sense.
And if you do that with the beatitudes – if you search the Scriptures – you will find that many of the things Jesus said in the beatitudes came from famous passages in the Old Testament; especially Isaiah 61. And that should come as no surprise to anyone given the fact that Jesus taught that Isaiah 61 was about Him. When Jesus preached His first sermon in Nazareth in Luke 4 they handed Him the scroll and He turned right to Isaiah 61 and read the first two verses.
Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
So Isaiah 61 is a chapter about Jesus’ ministry and kingdom so it is no surprise that the first couple beatitudes come out of that chapter.
Isaiah 61:3-4 …He has sent me to … 3 provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. 4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
Review
Last week I told you the humble are more blessed and have more reason to rejoice than the proud, because there is more joy in being the subject than in being the object. When there is a great unveiling, and the sheet is pulled off to reveal the glory of something, it feels good to be the object under the sheet and to receive everyone’s applause. Pride feels good, but it is a shallow, fleeting kind of joy. A much deeper joy come from being the subject who sees what is unveiled (if the thing being unveiled is truly glorious).
So what is being unveiled here? Last time I compared it to the TV show where they build a new house and then they move the bus out of the way so the family can see it for the first time and they are overcome with joy. So here we are, the poor in spirit, and Jesus says, “Blessed are you because you get what’s behind that bus.” So now the bus is moving, and we peek around and what do we see? What we see is not a new house, but a kingdom.
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Theirs is the Kingdom
Now, what does that mean exactly? What does it mean in practical, everyday terms to possess the kingdom of heaven? To answer that question we need to know exactly what the kingdom of heaven is. What is it? The phrase “of heaven” means it is God’s kingdom – “kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God” are interchangeable phrases in Scripture. Matthew has a Jewish audience and so he prefers the phrase “kingdom of heaven, which is a more Jewish way of speaking. And it may also be that Matthew used that phrase because he wanted to remind his readers that this kingdom is not of this world.
John 18:36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not from this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
This is not a kingdom that is advanced through earthly means like the sword or by political power. It exists in this world, but it is operated through spiritual means.
The word “kingdom” can refer to the territory controlled by a certain king, or it can refer to the citizens who live there, or it can refer to the king’s activity of ruling and I think the main idea here is that third one. The kingdom of heaven is God’s activity of reigning over His creation. That is why Jesus taught us to pray for the kingdom to come, and people were told to repent because the kingdom was near at hand – it is not a territory; it is an activity. It is the activity of God as He reigns over His creation.
The King reigns for You
So what does it mean that it belongs to the poor in spirit? In what sense does God’s activity belong to you? As I studied this the past few weeks there are at least three parts to what it means to have or possess God’s activity of reigning. The first is that God’s activity of reigning is yours in the sense that it is for your benefit. God is a King whose reign benefits the poor and destitute and lowly in spirit.
Remember the prototype of this kingdom (David’s kingdom)? What was David’s reign like? He brought about righteousness and justice for the lowly and weak and oppressed and needy. Remember Mephibosheth? A helpless cripple - and David gave him riches and servants and he ate at the king’s table as his son. That is the sort of thing that happens to the destitute in this kingdom.
When you become a citizen of this kingdom, from that moment on the activities of the King benefit you. All the things God is doing in this world He is doing for the benefit of the poor in spirit. And since you cannot become a citizen of the kingdom unless you are poor in spirit, that means if you are in this kingdom, everything that happens in this world benefits you. When the bus pulls out of the way so you can see the spectacular reward on the other side, what you see is the activity of God in this world, and when Jesus hands you the “house keys” by saying it belongs to you that means all that activity is done on your behalf.
“Wait a minute – doesn’t God do all that He does for the sake of His own glory?” Yes, but He also sees to it that what He does for His own glory benefits the poor in spirit. So, for example, one of the things that glorifies God is when He puts His strength on display. And He chooses to glorify Himself by putting His strength on display in ways that benefit the poor in spirit. He will show Himself mighty on your behalf. God can give any kind of demonstration of His power that He wants. He could write in the sky, He could stir up the ocean into a giant whirlpool, He could play a game of billiards with all the stars; but the way He chooses to put His awesome power on display for all to see is by acting powerfully on behalf of His people.
Another way God glorifies Himself is by putting on display His mercy and grace. And He puts it on display by having mercy on those who believe they need mercy and grace and look to Him alone to get it. He glorifies Himself by putting on display His wisdom – opening the eyes of those who realize they are blind and seek insight from Him alone. He glorifies Himself by putting on display His beauty and faithfulness and love and holiness and all the rest of His attributes. And He could display those in a million different ways, but the way He chooses is to display them in ways that benefit the poor in spirit – the citizens of His kingdom. God unleashes all of His attributes and carries out all His activities for your benefit (for the purposes of glorifying His name).
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
How can I be sure God will do that? I can be sure because the reason why He works all things together for my good is not mainly for my sake. The main reason He does that is for the sake of His kingdom.
It is not as though God were some big Santa Clause in the sky who exists to serve me. And I don’t receive benefits from Him because I am special. God is a great King, and He is going to do what He is going to do and no one can stop Him. He has great, eternal things planned. His creation of this world is all part of a huge, massive, eternal, unstoppable plan that is of spectacularly great importance. He has an agenda He is accomplishing that is far greater than anything we could possibly imagine in our wildest dreams. And when you come to possess that kingdom that means you come into a position in which all that agenda benefits you.
He does what He does in this world for us. That is what it means that the kingdom belongs to us. So if a light turns red, that is for your benefit. If an apple falls off a tree and lands on the ground, that is for your benefit. If someone breaks into your home and steals everything and beats you up, that is for your benefit. If someone you love gets sick and dies that is for your benefit. Most of the time we won’t be able to see how it is for our benefit, because we are like a little bug on a giant canvas while the artist creates his masterpiece. We are so small that we can only see one little brushstroke at a time, and we have no way of backing off far enough to see how that brushstroke fits in with the whole painting. But we can be assured that whether we can see it or not, God works all things together for good for your benefit.
So ask yourself - what are you afraid of? What are you worried about? What are you overwhelmed by? Something you cannot handle in your own strength? You are too weak – too empty? You don’t have the resources? You are destitute on the inside and can do nothing but look to God? Blessed are people like you! If that feeling of being overwhelmed becomes true poverty of spirit blessed are you! Rejoice and be glad because God’s awesome, mighty activity of reigning over His universe is carried out in ways that benefit you!
The King reigns through you
Another aspect of possessing the kingdom of heaven has to do with your participation in the work of God. Not only does He reign for you, He also reigns through you. As a citizen of this kingdom you reign with Christ. You have the opportunity to work right alongside God Himself in accomplishing things that are of eternal significance.
Matthew 19:12 For some … have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven.
There are people who choose singleness over marriage in order to advance the kingdom. Millions of unbelievers are single, but their singleness is not a participation in the kingdom of God. But part of what it means to possess the kingdom is the fact that by following God’s calling on your life you can make the activities of your life – things like getting married, staying single, working your job, raising your kids – whatever God calls you to do – those activities can become the very actions that advance and increase the kingdom of God if you do them in the way He calls you to do them. That is why in Colossians 4:11 Paul refers to his friends as fellow workers for the kingdom of God. Being a citizen in the kingdom means serving in the kingdom as a worker.
Luke 9:62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
To be in the kingdom means to participate in the kingdom activity. And if that results in some hardship and some suffering, that suffering also advances the kingdom.
2 Thessalonians 1:4 we boast about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are enduring. 5 All this is evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.
World’s work is meaningless
So we are laborers for the kingdom and our suffering is for the kingdom. But the life and work and suffering of the unbeliever is absolutely pointless and meaningless because it is not for the kingdom. They convince themselves that they are making a difference or that their lives matter in some way, but that is a fantasy. The average person is born, lives, has some relationships, works a job, and then dies. And one hundred years later that man’s life is like a little drawing in the sand at the beach after a few waves come up over it. It is completely erased and it is as if the man never existed. There is no lasting impact. Even if someone builds a memorial that lasts for one hundred years – still his life is meaningless because it is not eternal and it is not in harmony with the workings of the King. Nothing they do is done in partnership with God and therefore all their accomplishments are no more meaningful than the flight path of a mosquito.
And not only is their life’s work meaningless; so is all their suffering. If you suffer a loss as a citizen of the kingdom, it is always for a purpose – a purpose so great that it is worth that suffering one hundred times over. If you lose your wallet you can be assured it is for some kingdom purpose that will benefit you one thousand times more than keeping your wallet would have benefited you. The same goes for losing your job, or losing a limb, or losing a loved one, or losing your life.
Lamentations 3:33 [the LORD] does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.
He does not do it willingly – He does not enjoy doing it, so when God brings any suffering into your life that means it must be for a purpose so grand and a benefit that is so great that it is more than worth the suffering. Otherwise God would not bring the suffering because He does not like bringing suffering. So all your suffering has meaning. But if you are not a citizen of the kingdom then your suffering is just empty, random pain – nothing more.
Priestly work
Now, it is possible for us as believers to mimic the world at times and make our work empty and pointless like theirs when we fail to follow God’s guidance and calling. Our work is kingdom work only inasmuch as it conforms to the purposes of God’s calling on our lives. “What is that calling?” What is our role in this awesome, cosmic kingdom? We are the priests. We are a kingdom of priests.
Revelation 1:6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God
Revelation 5:10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
1 Peter 2:5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
9 you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood … that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
When those New Testament writers keep calling us a kingdom of priests, they are referring to a key Old Testament passage. This particular Old Testament passage I am talking about is a passage about what it would be like when the Messiah (the great Davidic King) arrived and set up His kingdom. This passage said that the Messiah would arrive and set up a kingdom comprised of priests – all the citizens in the kingdom would function as priests. Any idea what the passage is? I will give you a hint – it will be easy for you to find because you have a marker in it. It is that same passage Jesus preached about in Nazareth that He said was all about Him – Isaiah 61.
Isaiah 61:6 And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God.
God promised Israel that He would make them a kingdom of priests under the Messiah, and the beginning of the fulfillment of that promise is realized in us. Someday all Israel will be saved, and then this promise will be fulfilled in ethnic Israel, but in this age the Church is the Israel of God, and we are the fulfillment of this promise. We are the kingdom of priests.
So, what is it that makes our work kingdom work? What sets our lives apart from the lives of the world? They wake up, go to work, come home, interact with friends and family, and go to bed every day; and we wake up, go to work, come home, interact with friends and family, and go to bed every day. But their lives are meaningless and pointless and ours are eternally significant and meaningful – why? Because we function as priests in God’s kingdom.
So to the degree that you and I neglect our priestly role we make our lives meaningless and empty. But to the degree we fulfill that role we make our lives of eternal importance. That is why some are called great in the kingdom and others are not – we are laborers in this kingdom with varying degrees of faithfulness.
So how do you fulfill your role as priest? That is a whole sermon that I don’t have time to preach today, but thankfully I already preached it in March of 2007. It is part 9 of the “What is a Church?” series, and it is available on the website. I don’t have time to re-preach that whole sermon now, so if you are interested in being faithful in your priestly role I would urge you to go back through that sermon. The one-minute summary is this: Priests draw near to God to offer sacrifices and they minister God’s Word to people. According to the New Testament the sacrifices we offer as priests are the sacrifices of praise, prayer, repentance, ministry of spiritual gifts, giving, generosity and good deeds in general, faith and love, and the souls of men and women. So as priests we stand between men and God. We take God’s Word and deliver it to people and we gather worshippers for God and offer Him sacrifices of worship. That is the work of the kingdom in a nutshell.
So when the bus moves out of the way, and you see this spectacular kingdom, and Jesus hands you the keys and says, “It’s all yours,” part of what that means is God’s activity in that kingdom is for your benefit – God reigns for you, and it also means God reigns through you - the activity of your life can now become the very activity of God’s kingdom so that you are acting in partnership with Him as your serve as a priest.
Kingdom resources
And if you think you don’t have what it takes to serve in the kingdom as a priest then think again because people who are truly poor in spirit do not rely on their own resources; they rely on God’s resources. And when Jesus says, “Yours is the kingdom” that means at your disposal is all the King’s resources. The King throws open the doors of the treasury to those who have nothing and depend only on Him. Only the most destitute are allowed to be citizens, but if you become a citizen you get the keys to Fort Knox.
Psalm 84:11 The Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.
What good thing would this King withhold from you? Is there anything in God’s entire kingdom – anything on earth; anything in heaven – is there any good thing in existence that God puts up on a high shelf and says, “No, you can’t have that.”
Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
God gave us His own Son – everything else is nickels and dimes compared to that. There is no good thing God will withhold from you – which means any time God says no to you when you ask for something, you can know for sure it would not have been a good thing for you at that time. No exceptions.
So you are equipped with everything you need – with spiritual gifts, with the Word of God, with the help of the rest of the body, and with the Holy Spirit Himself to empower and enable you to do great kingdom work.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Does that mean I can run a four-minute mile or master quantum physics or play the piano? No. But it does mean I can do absolutely everything God calls me to do, even when He calls me to do something that is way beyond my ability because what He calls me to do He strengthens me to do.
The King favors you
And the reason for all this has to do with your relationship to the King. This is the most important part of the whole thing. You are a citizen of this kingdom, which means you have a favorable relationship with the King and enjoy all the privileges that go along with being one of His subjects. He reigns for you, He reigns through you, and most importantly He favors you personally. He does not just reign in a way that benefits the poor in spirit as a class of people. He is your King – yours, as an individual.
And that is an encouragement only to the degree as this king is a good king. What makes a kingdom good or bad is the king. When David took over after Saul it was a completely different kingdom even though it was the same people and the same territory and the same laws. The main factor that determines whether it is wonderful or horrible to be a part of a particular kingdom is the king of that kingdom. So the best part of all of this is the fact that when Jesus says we get the kingdom, that means we get God as our King.
The poor in spirit rejoice because to them belongs the great King of this kingdom. That is why there is greater joy in being the subject rather than the object and shifting your focus on Him rather than on yourself. Someone once said it is the difference between dog theology and cat theology. Dog theology goes like this: You arrive home; the dog gets all excited, and thinks, “Man, you do everything for me. You love me, you feed me, you give me a place to live, you care for me – you must be God!” Cat theology goes this way: “You do everything for me. You love me, you feed me, you give me a place to live, you care for me – I must be God!” The way of this world is cat theology, and it has wormed its way into the church. “God loves you therefore you’re special.” But the path to real joy is to return to “dog theology.” God loves you therefore God is amazing. What will bring you joy is not thinking about how special you are but realizing how amazing God is, and that He is your King.
So let’s think about that for a moment. What is it like to have God as your King? What sorts of things does He do for His people?
• He forgives their sins.
• He cleanses and purifies them and takes their sins away.
• He gives them life.
• He makes them grow and flourish.
• He watches over them.
• He is their caretaker.
• He redeems them out of bondage.
• He seeks them when they go astray.
• He restores them after they fall and grants new beginnings and second chances.
• He turns their darkness to light and turns their wailing into dancing.
• He listens to their prayers and hears their cries for help.
• He revives those who lose heart and makes them rejoice.
• He makes Himself and His way known to them.
• He guides them and teaches them.
• He gives them His Word which functions as the medium of blessing and life to those who delight in it.
• His words are sweeter than honey and more precious than silver.
- They are right and true and pure and are worthy of our desire.
- They give light to our path and usher us into His presence.
- They are perfect and flawless and eternal.
- They impart wisdom and understanding and insight.
- They restore the soul, preserve our life, impart strength, and touch the affections.
• He is honored by supplying rather than by being supplied, and delights in over-abundant provision.
• He provides citizens of His kingdom with a place to live, and food and sleep and wealth and everything else.
• He is a sun and shield to the poor in spirit.
• He makes Himself available to them.
• He grants them access to the nearness of His presence.
• He heals them.
• He refreshes and delights them and satisfies their souls.
• He comforts them.
• He makes great and precious promises to them and then binds Himself in a covenant to keep those promises with 100% reliability.
• He enlightens them.
• He makes them righteous and holy.
• He sets His people apart for Himself.
• He conforms them to His image.
• He turns His face toward them and smiles upon them.
• He fills their lives with abundance.
• He enables them to look upon His beauty and to see glimpses of His glory.
• His timing is perfect and His rewards are always worth waiting for.
• He is the self-existent, supreme, most high, Almighty, Lord of hosts and Ancient of Days, and He is above all gods Because of that He easily overpowers our enemies.
• He is on the side of His people and fights for us.
• He controls all events and only allows what will ultimately be best for us.
• He is sovereign over every thought, word, and decision of every human heart.
• He is sovereign over every event that takes place in the creation, so that all things serve Him.
• His providence is greater than man’s works.
• He is enthroned forever and will reign forever and so every one of these benefits is eternal and will never come to an end.
• He upholds and governs all things.
• He is worthy of universal worship, universal adoration, praise, fear, honor, reverence, obedience, service, glory, exaltation, and renown.
• He is majestic and awesome and glorious and splendorous and exalted above all.
• He is the creator and owner of all things, and He gives all He owns to His people.
• He performs signs, wonders, and miracles for His people.
• He is mighty, and decrees victory for His people.
• The very creation trembles before Him.
• He determines who may approach Him and who may not, who will live and who will die, who is saved and who is lost.
• He disciplines the nations and is the hope of the ends of the earth.
• He is perfectly righteous and just, and He loves righteousness and justice and hates wickedness.
• He punishes the wicked and rewards the righteous.
• He vindicates His people and will never let them be put to shame.
• No one who hopes in Him will ever be disappointed.
• He allows us to appeal to Him for justice.
• He is angry at the rebellious.
• He is jealous for His people.
• He chastises His people for their good.
• He is nearby His people but will not tolerate the wicked in His presence.
• The greatest possible good is simply to be blessed by Him.
• And He blesses the righteous and their children and their children’s children.
• He is the lifter of our heads.
• His mere presence gives us hope and comfort and peace and joy and rest.
• He brings down the proud and exalts the lowly.
• He sets our feet in a spacious place and lifts us high upon a rock.
• He grants us honor and favor and He withholds no good thing.
• He is never at a loss in comforting you – always capable of doing good for His people.
• His compassions never fail; they are new every morning.
• He surrounds the righteous with His favor as a shield.
• He loves His people.
• He loves us with a love that is unshakable, unfailing, great, reliable, saving, praiseworthy, wonderful, surrounding, protecting, preserving, abounding, unrestrained, unlimited, desirable, preferable, priceless, redeeming, restoring, merciful, gracious, and eternal.
• He is mindful of puny man and cares for him.
• He is the portion of His people and the source of all prosperity.
• He establishes the work of our hands and grants success.
• He makes our path wide and level before us, and makes our steps firm.
• He counsels us and gives us His Spirit.
• He sustains us with rest and peace.
• He is our helper.
• He saves and delivers us from trouble, from sin, from death, and from His own wrath.
• He is our fortress and refuge and shield and protector.
• He is the defender of the fatherless and the widows.
• He strengthens the afflicted and encourages the downhearted.
• He grants sleep to those He loves and sustains us in our sleep.
• He is touched by our suffering and hears our cries and responds with creation-rattling zeal.
• He is the source of all our virtues - our faith and obedience and perseverance and praise and wisdom and beauty and purity and steadfastness and strength and willingness and hope and righteousness, and all good desires and inclinations.
• He tests us until we come forth as gold.
• He carries us close to His heart and gently leads those who have young.
• He delights in us.
• He bears our burdens and cares about our struggles.
• He is patient with us, and bears our sin upon Himself.
• He calls us and draws us.
• He knows and cares about all your thoughts from afar.
• He pays attention to your going out and your lying down.
• He knows the secrets of your heart and your innermost thoughts and feelings, and He not only knows them but considers them and cares about them and takes them to heart.
• Your prayers are like incense to Him, and He is pleased with you.
• He holds your right hand and is always with you.
• He does you good and never harm.
• He is pleased with contrition above sacrifice.
• And He does all this for His name’s sake so it is the most certain, reliable thing in the universe.
That is what He is like.
And what sort of relationship do the citizens have with this God? If you are a citizen of this kingdom He is your maker, your owner, your master, your shepherd, your friend, your King, and your Father.
Those are some of the descriptions I found of Him in one book of the Bible. In fact I only read you about one-fourth of the items in my list. I have over three hundred more just from Psalms, and from there we could examine the other sixty-five books in the Bible. When that bus moves out of the way, when that treasure is unveiled, and the Lord Jesus Christ hands you the keys and says, “This is all yours,” what is it that you get? You get this King as your King. As Thomas said, “My King and my God!”
Yours alone is the Kingdom
So what does “yours is the kingdom” mean? It means God reigns for you. It means God reigns through you. And it means God favors you – as a citizen you have a favorable relationship to this kingdom’s King. You get all that if – if and only if you are poor in spirit. When Jesus said Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven He emphasized the word theirs in such a way that it has the meaning, “theirs and theirs alone.” The kingdom of heaven belongs to everyone who is poor in spirit and only to the poor in spirit. No one else gets in.
Matthew 18:1-3 the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" … 3 And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
The door to the kingdom is very low and the only people that get in crawl.
The Sermon on the Mount ends with warning, and there is a sense in which it also begins with warning. The blessings are also implied warnings – they have a double edge. Jesus is speaking to the disciples, but He is intending to be overheard by the crowds. And the beatitudes are designed to bring great joy to those whom they describe, but terror to those they don’t describe because they are exclusive.
Repentance
So nobody goes to heaven unless they are poor in spirit. And that sounds a little troubling at first because all of us struggle with pride. None of us has perfect humility like Jesus had. So how much humility do you have to have? How meek do you have to be? How merciful? How much do you need to hunger and thirst for righteousness? How much poverty of spirit? How much do you have to mourn?
Answer – it is not a matter of how much; it is a matter of whether you are repentant where you fall short. If you are not fighting a battle against pride then you are not a Christian, because this side of heaven that battle is never completely won. Every soul in this room is guilty of pride and self-importance. All of us – including me – and you. The question isn’t, “Do you have perfect victory in this area?” but rather, “Are you fighting against the pride in your heart?” If you have trouble thinking of the last time you were selfish, then you are not fighting the battle because you are not even aware of the battle. But if you can see it as plain as day and it grieves you, that is a mark of a Christian. If you see the description of humility – someone who cares about others ahead of himself, someone who is not easily offended, not easily angered, has servant’s heart, lifts others up, builds other people’s reputations without worrying about his own, focuses attention on God and not on himself, never boastful, never trying to impress or draw attention to himself, no resources of His own, completely dependent on God – if that sounds appealing to you, that is a great sign. If that sounds like a drag to you, beg God to open your eyes. Repent of your pride, and strive for humility – no matter what the cost.
Conclusion: Seek this Kingdom!
Matthew 13:44 The kingdom of heaven is like treasure
Just stop for a moment and let that sink in. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure.
Matthew 13:44 The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
If you want to understand Jesus’ point in that parable just underline the phrase in his joy. The point is not that the man sold all he had to get this treasure. The point is that his joy drove him to sell all he had to get the treasure – that is how much more desirable the treasure was than all that this man had.
What should you do in response to this sermon? What is the practical application? Jesus said it in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 6:25-33 Do not worry about your life … 33 but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness
Gaze upon the treasure of this kingdom until your joy drives you to repent of anything in your life that does not match the beatitudes.
Benediction: 1 Timothy 6:15-16 God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
