INTRODUCTION
ILLUSTRATION I came across of these lines from a song from the musical “Oklahoma,” -- Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day; I’ve got a wonderful feeling, everything’s going my way.
A lot people today tend to regard happiness in that light. “When everything’s going my way, I will be happy.” But life is like being on a treadmill. We can run all our life but we’ll never reach the point where everything’s going our way. There is no possibility in this life of everything going our way. However, the good thing is you don’t need to have everything going your way to be happy. Let me show you why.
God’s way of making men happy is very much different from what we know. We normally associate happiness to comfort, peace, and victory. God’s way, however, of providing happiness is sometimes found in sacrifices, discipline, and humility. Please open your bibles to Matthew 5:1-12, the title of this message is BLESSING IN POVERTY.
EXPLANATION
Jesus said that “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” What did Jesus mean by being “poor in spirit?” He promised to give them the “kingdom of heaven.” What does the phrase “kingdom of heaven” mean? How can we demonstrate being “poor in spirit?”
What does the phrase “kingdom of heaven” mean?
The phrase “kingdom of heaven” appears 32 times in Matthew and was used interchangeably with the phrase “kingdom of God.” These phrases can both mean God’s realm where he is enthroned and God’s reign in the heart and minds of His followers today. It has present and future elements in relation to the believers.
Kingdom of heaven is present as God’s sovereign rule from heaven in his Son, Jesus Messiah. It is evident in what the Lord Jesus Christ did in the past and continues to do at present – ministries of healing, preaching, teaching, caring for the outcast and needy and overcoming the work of the devil. God’s sovereign rule can be experienced today.
SEE MATTHEW 4:17; LUKE 17:20-21 – reign or power
Kingdom of heaven is also in the future as the ultimate consummation through the appearance of the Son of Man to effect vindication and judgment. The followers of Christ will then enter the kingdom of heaven as their inheritance or reward. Those who fail to hear and respond to the gospel of the Kingdom face the final judgment in hell.
SEE MATTHEW 7:21 – realm or place
Therefore God promises to give the kingdom of heaven to those who are “poor in the spirit.” It means that they are going to experience the goodness and providence of God now and after this life. Jesus said they will be “blessed.” It means that they will experience divine joy and perfect happiness. “Blessed” implied an inner satisfaction and sufficiency that did not depend on outward circumstances for happiness.
In other words, you do not need to wait until you die before you can experience blessedness. Even right now, you can experience inner satisfaction and sufficiency that do not depend on outward circumstances but on the goodness of God. The requirement however is to “be poor in the spirit.”
ILLUSTRATION When you receive a bonus in the middle of the year, you say its Christmas time in July. When you are blessed by God, you will experience heaven while on earth.
What does it mean to “be poor in the spirit?”
To be “poor in the spirit” does not mean to be “poor spirited” and have no backbone at all! It is not a false humility that says, “I am not worth anything, I can’t do anything!”
The Greek verb for “poor” carries the nuance of extreme poverty. It is derived from a verb that means “to stoop or bend low” thus when a poor person begs for anything, he is seen to be stooping or bending low. The “spirit” mentioned in this verse is not the Holy Spirit but man’s spirit i.e. his inner self, disposition, and state of mind.
Thus to be “poor in the spirit” is a figurative term for someone who because of his needs had voluntarily humbled and depended totally upon God for help. Being “poor in the spirit” is someone who does not approach life with confidence in themselves or reliance on their gifts and talents alone. Instead, he lives with total confidence on God despite of his abilities and competence.
Obviously this principle contradicts the world’s values. The world says “blessed are those who are self-confident, self-competent, and self-reliant. Thus people find ways to develop their self-confidence, self-competency, and self-reliance. Men trusted too much in their abilities, education, wealth, and connections.
Self-confidence, competency, and reliance are positive values but must be practiced within the context of relationship and recognition of God’s providence in one’s life. Practice independently from God, they results to pride, rebellion, and self-sufficiency.
ILLUSTRATION In 1863 President Lincoln designated April 30th as a day of national humiliation, fasting, and prayer. Let me read to you a portion of his proclamation on that occasion.
“It is the duty of nations, as well as of men, who owe their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by a history that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.
The awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. We have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has grown, but we have forgotten God.”
To be poor in spirit means to be humble, to have a correct estimate of oneself (Rom. 12:3). It is honesty with our selves: we know ourselves, accept ourselves, and try to be ourselves to the glory of God. We must be empty before we can be filled. To be poor in spirit is not to lack courage but to acknowledge spiritual bankruptcy. It confesses one’s unworthiness before God and utter dependence on him.
SEE LUKE 18:9-14 – avoid the mistake of the self-righteous.
How can we demonstrate being “poor in the spirit?”
SEE PSALM 37:3-7
1. Trust in the Lord (v. 3) – “dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture” : PROTECTION
Instead of placing too much confidence in oneself, the “poor in spirit’ has confidence in God alone. It means that we will adopt his ways in everything that we do. We believe in the honesty, integrity, and justice of God. Therefore we will do what is right before Him.
People who place too much confidence in themselves do not regularly follow what is right and moral. Since they have much trust in themselves, they thought that their ways will always work. But for us who “are poor in the spirit,” we believe in God’s ways always.
2. Delight yourself in the Lord (v. 4) – “will give you the desires of your heart” : PROVISION
Over self-confident person delights on himself alone. He praises his abilities and accomplishments. He boasts of himself and expects to be given special attention and priority. If not, he is unhappy and you are in trouble. But the “poor in spirit” delights in the Lord. To delight in the Lord means to be highly pleased or to have great joy or pleasure in the Lord.
Men tend to give more importance to anything that gives him pleasure or anyone who gives him joy. When we delight in the Lord, it means that we give him importance and priority in everything that we do. Instead of thinking, what will please myself, we think of what will please our God.
3. Commit your way to the Lord (v. 5-6) – “make your righteousness shine like the dawn” : DIRECTION
Committing one’s way to the Lord means that we let God to officially be in charged of our lives. We give him the authority to use us according to His purpose and plan. We surrender our abilities, strengths, and resources unto God’s authority. We are willing to be his instruments.
Persons who possessed too much self-confidence never allows anyone to interfere in his plans. Even God has no right to determine the direction he wants to pursue in life.
4. Be still before the Lord (v. 7-9) – “those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land” : SATISFACTION
Those who assert too much self-confidence and competence are always anxious of their status. They do not want anyone to be ahead of them. So they are always aggressive and if anyone went ahead of them, they are envious, angry, and irritated. But those who are “poor in spirit” are patient and wait for their opportunity.
ILLUSTRATION Psychologist Kim Hall said “people seem to believe that they have an absolute right to be happy – I want what I want and I want it now. No one wants to wait for anything and for the most part, no one has to anymore. Waiting is interpreted as pain. People like the fact that can buy a 50 foot tree and instantly plant in their yard. Why on earth would anyone want to wait on relationships or wait on God?”
The “poor in the spirit” knows that there is wisdom in waiting at times. They believe that every thing has its perfect time and they must wait. They believe that God is always at work for his people and in the world.
CONCLUSION
“Genuine happiness cannot be attained without God like light and sunshine cannot be seen without the sun. Happiness is heavenly born; its aroma is from heaven; it leads to heaven; and its emblem is heaven. On every side, in every part of the universe men and women are seeking happiness and cannot find it because they do not seek it from God.”
When God blessed your life, your circumstances do not matter. Let us be “poor in the spirit” for ours is the kingdom of heaven.
