Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
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For the next several weeks we will be talking about how to be blessed.
There are several blessings that are promised in scripture, but probably among the most famous are those promised in the sermon on the mount.
So, this week we will begin with the first one
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Let’s start by defining what the poor in spirit is...
The poor in spirit are the ones who recognize that they are, as one commentator put it “spiritually bankrupt.”
These are those who realize that they are unable to come to God on their own...
Their spiritual coffers are empty...
It is by nothing that they can do to be saved...
I like what Matthew Henry writes about it..
They are humble and lowly in their own eyes. They see their want, bewail their guilt, and thirst after a Redeemer
The poor in spirit are the ones who long for Jesus, but know they have nothing to offer....
On the contrary, the rich in spirit would be the ones who think they have it all figured out...
They are the ones who think they deserve salvation by something that they have done...
Similar to these people would be the ones who say things like “God wouldn’t send me to hell because I am a good person”
Also in this crowd are the ones who think they have everything figured out, but seem to miss one thing, Jesus!
It’s possible the legalists are in the camp as well…maybe they started out with the right intentions, but it has turned into going through the motions as if that honors God....
The poor in spirit are those who are spiritually lost and broken…and who recognize it…it’s those who repent and turn towards Jesus with nothing...
Another commentary puts it this way:
Matthew A. The Heart of a Kingdom Citizen (5:1–12)
The beginning of repentance is the recognition of one’s spiritual bankruptcy—one’s inability to become righteous on one’s own.
spiritual bankruptcy.....the fact that we can’t make our self righteous...
A picture of the man with leprosy in
12 While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” 13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.
the poor in spirit come to Jesus understanding that is the one who can make clean.... it is not of our own doing…all we can do is come before Him begging Him on our knees saying “Lord if you are willing, you can make me clean...”
the man with leprosy had nothing…he was an outcast, probably family-less, and poor.....
Unlike the pharisees who were quite the opposite…they had plenty to offer Jesus. All the money they would need and the dedication that they had given their life to....
Yet, that is what Jesus rejected..
Jesus addresses this issue with Nicodemus, a pharisee...
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” 3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” 9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus moves us from the physical world into the spiritual one...
Nicodemus had pretty much whatever he would need in the physical world, but Jesus tells him that he must be born again...
It is no longer about all that they had worked to do…they had the knowledge and the dedication…but one thing they lacked, was the spirit...
Jesus was interested in what he had to offer....
He was offering him something that he didn’t have
He must be born of water and of the Spirit.
To be poor in the spirit means to be born of the spirit and born again...
To be bankrupt in the spiritual world so that we may focus completely on Jesus...
I think the lyrics of “Turn your eyes upon Jesus” speaks to this
“O soul are you weary and troubled
No light in the darkness you see
There's light for a look at the Savior
And life more abundant and free
Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of his glory and grace”
Let’s talk about some obstacles to being poor in spirit and then end with some benefits.
The first obstacle to being poor in spirit is:
1. Arrogance
The definition of arrogance according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is
offensive display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride.
having or revealing an exaggerated sense of one's own importance or abilities.
It would be impossible to be arrogant and still poor in spirit
They are literally opposites
You can’t have a complete dependance on God to fill your spiritual bank and think that you are superior....
We are probably all familiar with
18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
To be poor in Spirit means to lay ourselves down before Jesus...
To deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him!
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
2. Legalism
legalism is thinking that you are saved by your good works
Jesus talks about this in
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
12 He said: “A man of noble birth went to a distant country to have himself appointed king and then to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.’ 14 “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We don’t want this man to be our king.’
The Pharisee was so proud of himself for everything that he had done...
he thought that he could “buy” his way into heaven through what he had gave and did...
But Jesus clearly warns that is the one who stands who was too ashamed to look to heaven and recognized that he is a sinner is the one who would be made right with God
My personal opinion is that there are two things that are causing the decline of the church in America.
The first is apathy.....many people just don’t care what the Bible has to say....
The second is legalism....where people think they can attend church once or twice a week, go through the motions and they are good..
When really, the call to true worship, is sacrifice...
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
The call to worship is to be a living sacrifice...
One that continually lays down their life...
Holy, or separate, and pleasing to God..
Paul doesn’t say true worship is attending church twice a week, fasting regularly, giving 10% of your income to your church and millions more to the poor....
nah, he says to continually lay your life down…be separate and holy which pleases God...
Now, this doesn’t mean not to do those things…they are part of being a living sacrifice…it just means our focus is on being a sacrifice, and not raising our self up...
Coming to Jesus as a poor sinner and leaving as a rich child; being perfected through the power of the holy spirit in the presence of God as our judge, and Christ as our intercessor!
The first obstacle is arrogance, the second is legalism, and the third is
3. Self-righteousness
Self-righteousness is the fallacy of thinking that we can be righteous in and of ourselves...
Or thinking, that we can make ourselves “right”
The problem here is we are the ones in charge
we are the ones who define righteous...
by this standard, we will never be perfect in the eyes of God…we will always fall short...
And, everyone else will fall short as well....
If we come to God as righteous in our own eyes, we don’t need Him!
Tony Evans says “God’s righteousness is the standard in which He will use to judge the world”
This is the standard of righteousness that we must be to be poor in spirit
Before we wrap up really quickly, let’s look at some benefits of being poor in spirit
Reliance on God
Relying on God is not a bad thing....it’s the opposite, it’s a good thing!
God is the one who is perfect in everything, including knowledge and power...
He is creator and our sustainer!
He is the one in our corner, our life coach...
He is the one who sets the standard and the hone who helps us reach it!
He gives us everything that we need to be in right relationship with Him...
He became flesh to show us how to live…to show us what love is...
He sends His Spirit to dwell in us!
We we rely on Him, we keep our focus on who He is and what He does for us!
The second benefit is...
2. Pressure Relief
When we come before God knowing that we are not perfect, that there is nothing that we can do to achieve righteousness on our own, and that we are sinners, He doesn’t leave us that way…we turn from our sin towards Him, we believe in Him then
He takes our sin, forgives it and casts it away from us
Because of what Christ did, we become the righteousness of God through Christ...
The burden is no longer ours to bear…Christ took our sin…our imperfection, and killed in on the cross...
Righteousness is our to accept, not to complete..
We are now a new creation in Christ! We have the power to overcome…and to live...
This is freeing....we have no one to please, but God....and by doing so, we do please others...
We can doing our work with a higher purpose...
We can love with a true and perfect love...
We can raise our families on the in the Word and on the Word of God...
Jesus says
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
The third benefit to being poor in spirit is
3. We Receive the Kingdom of Heaven
Another commentator says this:
Matthew A. The Heart of a Kingdom Citizen (5:1–12)
The blessing or happiness that belongs to the poor in spirit is because such a person is, by his admission, already moving toward participating in God’s kingdom plan, acknowledging his need for a source of salvation outside himself.
When we come to God as one who is poor in spirit, the benefit is that we are already coming to the kingdom....we are already accepting who we are and what God has for us!
This is really why, or should be why, we are here…we want to be apart of God’s kingdom...
We want to be in His presence…and apart of the work that He is doing...
The kingdom of heaven is life-giving…it’s freedom!
Worship Team
This morning, maybe you need to come before God as one who is poor in spirit.
Maybe you have found yourself in one of the obstacles...
Maybe you have been arrogant and you need to lay that down...
Maybe you have been legalistic and not truly came to Jesus to accept Him...
Maybe you have felt that you are so good that you don’t need God and He has convicted you of that!
Or, maybe you have never come before Him before and want to be a part of this kingdom of God...
I would invite you to take that step this morning...
If we confess our sins…that we are a sinner…and that Jesus is Lord..and believe in Him, His death and resurrection, we can be saved...
And now a part of God’s family, the kingdom of heaven!