“BEGGARS BEFORE GOD”
(Luke 16:19–31; Mark 10:46–52; Matthew 5:3; Revelation 3:17–18)
I. PROLOGUE — THE MAN WITH NOTHING
Imagine the man under the bridge.
He has no bed, no shelter, no table, no name anyone remembers.
He stretches out his hand not because he is lazy, but because he has nothing else to give.
Every crumb is mercy. Every drop of water is grace.
Jesus saw such men — and told us to look through them, not past them.
Because the beggar at the gate is a mirror. When we see him rightly, we see ourselves.
II. BIBLE PASSAGES ON OUR TREATMENT OF BEGGARS
God often tests our compassion for the poor — not to see what we will give, but to show us what we truly are.
1. Deuteronomy 15:7–11
“If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren… thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother… for the poor shall never cease out of the land.”
Lesson: God intentionally allows poverty to remain among us to soften our hearts and keep our hands open — training us in mercy.
2. Proverbs 19:17
“He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will He pay him again.”
Lesson: Giving to a beggar is not charity — it is an act of worship. You lend to God Himself.
3. Luke 16:19–31 — The Rich Man and Lazarus
“There was a certain beggar named Lazarus… full of sores… desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.”
Lesson: The story reverses the world’s values.
In life, the rich man would not look at the beggar. In eternity, the rich man becomes the beggar — pleading for a drop of water from the very one he once despised.
4. Mark 10:46–52 — Blind Bartimaeus
“And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out… ‘Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me!’”
Lesson: Bartimaeus owned nothing but his cry. Yet Jesus stopped the entire procession for him.
Faith does not begin with self-confidence — it begins with the cry of a beggar.
III. OUR TRUE CONDITION — BEGGARS BEFORE GOD
1. “Blessed are the poor in spirit…” (Matthew 5:3)
The word “poor” (Greek ptochos) means utterly destitute, a beggar crouching with a hand extended.
We cannot earn, buy, or trade anything for God’s mercy. We can only beg for it.
Like the homeless man’s outstretched hand, so is the soul that realizes:
“I have nothing to give — but everything to receive.”
2. Revelation 3:17–18
“Thou sayest, I am rich… and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”
Lesson: The Laodiceans were spiritually self-sufficient. But Jesus saw beggars pretending to be merchants.
He counseled them to “buy” from Him — gold, garments, and sight — yet even that buying is symbolic. They purchase without money (Isaiah 55:1).
3. Romans 3:23–24
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by His grace…”
Lesson: Even the most righteous person is spiritually bankrupt.
God’s courtroom has no middle class — only paupers saved by mercy.
IV. GOD’S HEART TOWARD THE BEGGAR
1. Psalm 34:6
“This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.”
God never despises a beggar’s cry — but He ignores the proud man’s boasting.
He fills hungry souls (Luke 1:53) and sends the self-satisfied away empty.
2. Luke 14:13–14
“When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee.”
When we invite those who cannot repay, we imitate the God who invited us — who could never repay Him.
V. PERSONAL APPLICATION — “WE ARE THE MAN UNDER THE BRIDGE”
1. We have nothing God needs.
• Not our money (Psalm 50:10).
• Not our righteousness (Isaiah 64:6).
• Not our strength (Zechariah 4:6).
2. We live on grace crumbs.
Every breath, every heartbeat, every answered prayer — is mercy handed to a beggar.
3. The beggar’s humility is our only hope.
• The Pharisee prayed proudly: “I thank Thee that I am not like other men.”
• The beggar prayed simply: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
• Jesus said only one went home justified (Luke 18:13–14).
VI. THE KING WHO STOOPS TO THE STREET
The gospel is not about God finding a few good people to reward — it’s about a King walking the alleyways of the universe, stooping beside beggars, and saying:
“I will make you sons and daughters.”
He became poor —
“that ye through His poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
He had nowhere to lay His head (Luke 9:58),
so that we might one day sit at His table.
VII. CONCLUSION — A HANDFUL OF DUST AND GRACE
When you see the beggar at the corner:
• Don’t think, “I am better.”
• Whisper, “That’s me, O Lord — I’m the beggar, too.”
And then thank God — that He did not pass by.
“This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him.”
“He lifted me out of the gutter, set my feet upon a rock, and put a new song in my mouth.” (Psalm 40:2–3)
EPILOGUE
At heaven’s gate, every crown will fall,
every robe will fade,
and the soul will whisper the beggar’s eternal cry:
“Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling.”
INVITATION
