Beatitudes #1
“Blessed are the poor in spirit”
Matthew 5:3
Have you ever been poor?
Giving plasma for gas money poor
Evicted poor because you can’t pay the rent poor
Duck tape on the broken car window poor
Electricity got turned off poor
Poor is defined:
Having little or few possessions or resources
Lacking the necessary means to live a reasonably comfortable life.
Synonyms: for poor:
destitute, unfortunate, pathetic, miserable, impoverished, broke, hard up
It’s safe to say we’d all like to avoid poverty:
It’s nice to have a comfortable bed and full belly
We like feeling independent and self sufficient
Would it surprise you to hear that Jesus encourages a certain kind of poverty?
Not poverty of possessions,
Jesus to abandon anything that steers your heart away from God...
Introduction to Sermon on the Mount:
Covers matthew 5-7
Starts with the attitudes of the people who will be in heaven.
Jesus shares his beatitudes with His folllowers:
- the new people of God,
- who have decided to live in submission to God’s sovereign reign.
Read the 5:3-11
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
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.
There is a pattern to the “Beatitudes:
There is a Blessing that comes with living God’s way (X2)
Today we are going to look at the first Beatitude
Let’s start by looking at Matthew 5:3
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3
OUTLINE: #1 The Blessed and the Blesser
A.Blessed - A gift for the wellbeing of another.
The “Blessed” means happy now, and later Happy when in heaven.
Many will feel blessed now, but in hell their will be no blessing, not happiness, only pain and punishment.
describes the present state of those who have received God’s favor
The blessing is for the present, and for the promise of eternity
Greatest blessing is salvation from Jesus
Blessed in this text doesn’t:
- mean just “Happy”,
- it means made happy by God
The College Press commentary of Matthew says:
“The first beatitude identifies the poor in spirit as the subject of this blessed state. Divine approval rests with those who acknowledge their impoverished condition and desperate dependency upon God.”
Life in the Kingdom is a life:
For intense joy found nowhere else, and can’t be taken away.
Anyone can have this joy, this happiness this blessing
But it is only found in full dependance of God
OUTLINE # 2. Characteristics of the Blessed.
B. Poor in spirit:
Those who are bankrupt of everything else, but full of confidence in God:
They say attitude is everything….God seems to agree
“These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit,
and who tremble at my word.” - Isaiah 66:2
The poor in spirit attitude that says:
I am a sinner, I deserve death and hell
I can’t pay my debt of sin,
Help me Lord!
Luke 18:13 records the prayer of one poor in spirit:
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
Outline #3 The Reward of the poor
Kingdom of Heaven
A Kingdom has at least 3 components:
A perimeter:
Some are In the Kingdom, outside the Kingdom
The lowly will enter the Kingdom
The self important will not be in the Kingdom
Not everyone is getting into the Kingdom
Some who will be kept out, who think they should be let in.
2. A King:
That’s Jesus, He’s in charge of the Kingdom and the people
Some who were important on earth
Who had the power, the money, the self righteous
Who have been bully’s on earth, mistreating the poor
Will be surprised the God doesn’t answer to them...
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Matthew 7:19-23
3. A People:
It’s fair to say we’d all like to be in the Kingdom
Should not assume that since you are in this room, you are in God’s Kingdom
examine yourself and see if you have the attitude of poor in spirit
The way to heaven is low and narrow….
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” - John 14:6
The kingdom heaven is given to:
- the poor, not the rich
- the feeble, not the mighty;
- to little children, not to soldiers
The self righteous will not be entering into the Kingdom of God
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:3
Remember The rich young ruler?
Wanted to follow Jesus
Jesus wanted him to clarify his loyalties
Jesus said sell all you have and give it to the poor.
“When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” - Luke 18:23-25
There is HOPE for the downtrodden
There is no privileged class in God’s Kingdom
The blind, lepers, prostitutes, the homeless, the alcoholic,
The unclean, Gentiles, the handicapped, the dirty, the poor and uneducated
Will not be second class citizens in Heaven
90 years ago on October 28th, 1929:
That day the stock market crashed,
Earning that day the name “Black Tuesday”
Turned into the “Great Depression” lasting 10 years
Considered the worst economic disaster in world history
Stock brokers were jumping to their death:
- out of windows, off bridges
Money was there security, and many died rather than live poor...
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. - Matthew 6:21
The poor in spirit are low and near to God:
He’s there only hope, and their only friend
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” - Matthew 5:3
Blessed could be translated “rich” and read it like this….
“Rich are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
The poor in spirit may have empty pockets,
but that’s not a problem
Because their needs are not met out of their empty pockets
God is meeting their need out of His pocket
And God’s pockets are not empty
God never runs out of resources
Observations from the text:
The rich might really be poor...
In Revelation 3, God gave a review of the Church of Laodicea:
It wasn’t a good review
Going through motions,
Doing the minimum
Playing Church
The people brag about how rich they are:
They flash their gold, they have fancy houses
People step aside when they walk down the street.
They think they are something impressive...
God has a different opinion of them…
“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Revelation 3:17
John Stott writes
“This visible church, for all its Christian profession, was not truly Christian at all. Self-satisfied and superficial, it was composed (according to Jesus) of blind and naked beggars. But the tragedy was they would not admit it. They were rich, not poor, in spirit.”
To climb you must descend:
C. H. Spurgeon expressed it, ‘The way to rise in the kingdom is to sink in ourselves.’
“ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
James 4:10 (NIV)
3. This one is a question:
If blessed means happy, then why are there so many who claim Christ who are just MEAN SPIRITED?
There is something wrong with a Christian who is HABITUALLY angry, bitter and divisive?
There is no GOOD answer for that
Poor in spirit is not talking about the poor quality of faith:
4. God has a special place in His heart for the poor.
The prophets preached against the mistreatment of the poor
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27
God cares about the poor, and the afflicted and so we should care….
5. A majority of the converts in the New Testament we from the “down and out” crowd:
6. There is hope for the helpless:
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” Romans 8:18
Life right now may be hard
The walls may be closing in, but hang on!
This is bad, the what’s NEXT is so MUCH BETTER!
7. Wealth is not a sin, and poverty is not a promise of Heaven:
The point is that what happens in the heart is Superior to what happens in the wallet
Both the poor and the wealthy must choose to be humble before the Lord.
Finish with this story:
Listen to this with a serious mind:
A farmer went to his banker and announced that he had bad news and good news. “First, the bad news...” “Well,” said the farmer, “I can’t make my mortgage payments. And that crop loan I’ve taken out for the past 10 years—I can’t pay that off, either. Not only that, I won’t be able to pay you the couple of hundred thousand I still have outstanding on my tractors and other equipment. So I’m going to have to give up the farm and turn it all over to you for whatever you can salvage out of it.” Silence prevailed for a minute and then the banker said, “What’s the good news?” “The good news is that I’m going to keep on banking with you,” said the farmer.
That is just the way we come to God:
Unable to pay our debt,
Bringing nothing but filthy hands and guilty hearts
We come to Jesus with nothing,
and Jesus not only accepts us,
But He offers to fill our empty hands with the Salvation of Jesus
Invitation/Pray: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.” Matthew 5:3
