The Poor in Spirit
Scripture reading: Matt. 4:23 - 5:16.
Text: Matt. 5:3.
I. INTRODUCTION
Part of the Sermon on the Mount
1. Make a few remarks about the sermon generally.
a. The longest recorded continuous discourse of our Lord.
The greatest single sermon of all time.
b. Remember Who is speaking: This was no mere PREACHER, no mere PROPHET, no mere TEACHER--this was not even an Angela come down from Heaven with a message--this was God Himself in human form--the Lord of Glory, the King of kings; the Eternal Word of God, the only begotten of the Father, the one who spake like no other man ever spake. The one of whom Peter said, "Thou hast the words of eternal life."
“The people were astonished at his doctrine, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”
c. This sermon is Christ’s MANIFESTO--a manifesto of the Kingdom of Heaven, which He declares to be “at hand” (see Matt. 4:17).
It is a description of LIFE IN THE KINGDOM, showing the acts and attitudes of the Kingdom’s subjects.
d. It was addressed to the disciples (5:2).
vv13 and 14 could not have been addressed to unbelievers, but only the disciples.
However, as far as we know, the multitude was in earshot, because Matthew tells us in 7:28 that “the people” were astonished at his doctrine.
One of the Beatitudes
2. Make a few remarks about the Beatitudes to give the context.
a. The Beatitudes are CHARACTERISTICS of true Christians.
Jesus is not here describing HOW TO BE SAVED. He is describing the saved person--He is describing a citizen of the Kingdom.
Poor in spirit; mourning; meekness; hunger after righteousness; merciful; purity of heart; peacemakers--every true Christian is characterised by these things. All these things are found in the summing up of his character.
Do we have these characteristics?
Do these things describe us?
b. They are PROGRESSIVE.
Jesus did not put these things together haphazardly.
There is a DISTINCT ORDER and progression noticeable in this arrangement of the Beatitudes.
They are like a ladder that must be ascended, one step at a time.
Poverty of spirit is the first step. It is the door, the entrance--the portal if you like--to the Kingdom of God.
Purity of heart is the sixth step, not the first, nor can it be first.
Verse 4 describes godly sorrow--this is the result of feeling our poverty of spirit--never the other way around.
Christ knew what He was talking about.
This is not just a collection of random statements, like so many stones lying around, but rather a stately building, each stone cemented into place in exactly the right spot.
c. There are seven--the number of completeness and perfection.
Some may dispute, but I state it simply as I see it.
Verses 3-9 describe the citizen of the heavenly Kingdom. These are all characteristics of the Christian, as we have said.
10 and 11 also start with “Blessed are...” but instead of describing character, they show the results of living this life--persecution.
Persecution is not a characteristic but a result of living a certain way--something that we endure from the world outside.
d. The teaching contained in these Beatitudes is TOTALLY REVOLUTIONARY--totally opposite to the mentality of the generality of mankind.
Blessed are the poor, the mourners, the meek, the hungry.
The world says "Blessed are the rich, the jolly, the self-confident, the self-assertive, the self-satisfied."
"Have a good self-image."
"Believe in yourself."
"Put yourself forward."
“Be assertive.”
This is the philosophy of the world.
The teaching of Jesus in these Beatitudes is the absolute antithesis of what the world values and recognizes.
e. Finally, the teaching of the Beatitudes is PARADOXICAL.
A paradox is a statement that is SEEMINGLY contradictory.
“Blessed are the poor, for they are rich,” is what verse 3 says, for who can be richer than he who possesses the Kingdom of Heaven?
“Happy are those that are sad,” says verse 4.
And so we could go on.
II. MAIN POINTS
I have two things I want to look at in this verse, simply by dividing it up into its natural parts.
(1) The word “Blessed”
(2) The phrase, “the poor in spirit”
I had hoped to get to the final statement, “Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven,” but I’m afraid time won’t allow. That will have to wait until another time.
(1) “Blessed”
Look at the word "blessed."
Greek = makarios--happy.
All these beatitudes should be "happy are...."
Jesus thus elevates happiness to a high and holy plane.
Don’t like "happiness"--its associations today: frivolity, FUN, etc.
Other uses of makarios: John 13:17; John 20:29; Titus 2:13 "happy hope."
Characteristic of God--1 Tim. 1:11 "the happy God;"
This is REAL happiness, as opposed to the terribly degraded idea of happiness that is current today.
i.e. happiness can come through money, possessions, romance.
Christians should not fall into this trap.
All these things are legitimate, but cannot produce REAL happiness without holiness.
Holiness is the ONLY way to happiness.
The world seeks happiness by evading reality and having "fun."
But FUN not based on godliness always has a hangover when it’s all finished. There’s always a sting. Sin always promises more than it can deliver.
God never sanctions seeking happiness for its own sake.
Jesus curses it: "Woe unto you that laugh now...." Luke 6:25
Happiness is never an end in itself--only comes as a by-product--comes to those who do not seek it.
This again is the paradox--only those are truly happy who have not sought to be happy.
Are you seeking happiness tonight? Seek holiness instead, and you’ll be happy--BLESSED!
(2) “Poor in Spirit”
Blessed are the paupers in spirit, the beggars.
Why does Jesus start out with such a strange statement?
What does He mean?
Perhaps it would help to look briefly at what He DOES NOT MEAN:
a. He’s not talking about material wealth--financial poverty.
Although riches can be a hindrance in the spiritual life, neither is there any virtue in being poor.
He does not say, “Blessed are the poor,” but “Blessed are the poor IN SPIRIT.”
He’s talking about something spiritual.
b. It isn’t a natural quality. No-one is born with the kind of poverty of spirit that Jesus is talking about.
Some people naturally diffident, quiet, retiring--even weak and giving the appearance of helplessness.
c. Nor is it false humility.
I mean the kind of person who continually downgrades themselves and their abilities.
I have an aunt who says “I can’t cook like your mother.” She can cook as well if not better--at least in some things. That is false humility--worse, it is untruth.
Those who are poor in spirit do not go around fawning and faking humility.
Looking at it POSITIVELY, then, what does Jesus mean by “poverty of spirit?”
a. First of all it is an attitude toward myself in which I realize my utter bankruptcy from a spiritual standpoint.
When I stand in the presence of God, I realize that I am absolutely empty, bankrupt, devoid of anything like holiness or goodness.
It is the realization that I am not only empty of goodness and holiness, but also that I am full of vileness and badness.
You remember Charles Wesley’s great hymn, “Jesus, Lover of My Soul.” In the third verse he writes,
Just and holy is Thy Name
I am ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS
FALSE AND FULL OF SIN I AM,
Thou art full of truth and grace.
It is the state of heart that Isaiah knew when he saw the Lord. From the very depths of his being, he cried, “WOE IS ME, FOR I AM UNDONE....”
See also Isa. 57:15.
b. Secondly, it is an attitude in which I not only realize my vileness and inherent sinfulness, but also my inability to do anything about it.
Another hymn-writer, the great Augustus Toplady, comes to our aid. In the second verse of his great hymn, “Rock of Ages,” Toplady says this:
“Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling.”
NOTHING IN MY HAND!
Have you ever been to that place?
Have you ever seen your total bankruptcy?
Have you ever seen the exceeding sinfulness of sin in your heart and cried out, “Woe is me,” realizing at the same time there was nothing you could do, nothing you could bring, no goodness, nothing?
Let me tell you that if you haven’t, you are still in your sins--you are an unregenerate person.
No one gets into God’s Kingdom with anything in his hand.
Spurgeon made this statement, and I believe it to be very true, “Our imaginary goodness is more, hard to conquer than our actual sin.”
“For I know that IN ME. . . dwelleth NO GOOD THING!” said Paul. NO GOOD THING!
All of this shows that it is completely a work of the Holy Spirit. No person unaided sees themselves as utterly and abjectly poor.
NO ONE IS A CHRISTIAN WHO IS NOT POOR IN SPIRIT.
This is why Jesus puts poverty of spirit at the head of the list--it is impossible to get into the Kingdom without it. It is foundational.
c. Thirdly, remember that I said poverty of spirit is a CHARACTERISTIC of the Christian.
It is not a stage we pass through and then are done with--it is something that characterises God’s people everywhere and at all times.
The gospel does not MAKE ME SOMETHING, it keeps me aware of my NOTHINGNESS.
If you think that the Gospel has made you something, you are mistaken.
The true Christian is one who realizes his nothingness, his CONSTANT dependence on God and on the finished work of Christ for righteousness and holiness.
“Nothing in my hand I bring” is our testimony at the beginning and all the way through to the end.
We must always remember what Paul said, “we have this treasure in earthen vessels”--we must always keep a distinction between the treasure and the vessel.
The vessel: False and full of sin I am
The treasure: Thou art full of truth and grace.
By myself I am vile and full of sin; Christ--and CHRIST ONLY--is my righteousness.
d. Now we see why the next verse says, “Blessed are they that mourn.” It is the next stage--mourning over our bankrupt condition before God.
This is not any kind of mourning, but rather GODLY SORROW.
And so you see how these things follow on, and there is this logical order and progression, as I said earlier.
CONCLUSION
Nothing is more opposite to the spirit of the world than this poverty of spirit which Jesus talks about here in the sermon on the mount.
Do you possess this poverty of spirit?
Have you been emptied of every grain of self-righteousness?
Have you seen that all your righteousnesses are as filthy rags before Him?
If not, may the Lord grant you to see Him in all his spotless holiness and purity, until you cry out, “Woe is me.”
THEN, AND ONLY THEN, WILL YOU BE TRULY BLESSED!
Amen.
