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The Beatitudes: Poor in Spirit
Matthew 5:1-12: Seeing
the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples
came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. 4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be
comforted. 5 "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth. 6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 "Blessed are
the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 "Blessed are
the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 "Blessed are
the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10 "Blessed
are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. 11 "Blessed are you when others revile
you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my
account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in
heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
I.
What is the “Sermon on the Mount?”
A.
Set in
Biblical Story
1.
Moses on
Mount Sinai- Law
2.
Jesus on the
Mount- One who will fulfill Law, send forth the
Spirit so that His people can love and keep the Law.
3.
Pharisees: Teachers of Israel who thought that righteousness could be obtained
by allowing the Law to work for them – Jesus radicalizes the demands
of the Law to produce humility and mercy.
B.
What is a “Beatitude”?
Gk.
Makarios; Latin Beatus- “Blessed/OT
“Blessings” for obedience- Psalm 1: “Blessed is the man
who…” (cf. Deut. 28).
1.
Danger: For
Christians only! It is directed toward disciples (Mt. 5:1-2; 11-12; 7:28).
2.
The purpose
of the “Beatitudes” is to show what kind of Christians God will
produce through grace and faith in Jesus Christ.
3.
These
attributes or “Beatitudes” illustrate Christ’s character
and love for God.
II.
Blessed are the poor in spirit…
A.
What is it
to be “poor in spirit”?
1.
What kind of
“poor”?
a.
God is
concerned about the poor.
b.
Contrast
spiritually poor with earthly poor- Not identical, but very similar in the
OT. The poor in the OT were often
the pious, obedient people- Psa. 69:29-36; Luke
1:46-48.
c.
Riches keep
men from being earthly poor and oftentimes spiritually poor
d.
A humility
that you can see in one’s life- James 4:3ff
2.
Biblical
Illustration of “poor in spirit:
Luke 18:9-17: 9 And he spake
also this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were
righteous, and set all others at nought: 10
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other
a publican. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as the rest of
men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. 12 I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all
that I get. 13 But the publican, standing afar off, would not
lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God,
be thou merciful to me a sinner. 14 I say unto you, This man
went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be
humbled; but he that humbleth himself shall be
exalted. 15 And they were bringing unto him also their babes,
that he should touch them: but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked
them. 16 But Jesus called them unto him, saying, Suffer the
little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for to such belongeth the kingdom of God. 17 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever
shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall in no wise enter
therein.
3.
Opposition
to being “poor in spirit”:
A.
Arrogance
B.
Self-centered-self-willed-do-things-for-ourselves-kind-of-people
C.
“I can do it all by myself” plus the reality of needing others
in our lives and needing their help equals an unrealistic tension and
extra work for psychologists.
a.
“Heroes,
Superheroes and the poor in spirit”- Think of who we want to be
like: Clint Eastwood, Ernest Hemingway, Arnold Swartzenegger
characters - -tough guys and real men.
Some women are eager to be like their favorite models, actresses,
self-made, self-serving women who tell their stories in short biographies
and set a pattern for women to emulate.
Young people who desire to be like the evil villains in our books,
films, etc. because of their great power!
We all love the strong, tough, self-made person!
b.
Yet in all
of these people, there is a this-worldly, non-expectant, hopeless future,
where many are given to depression and absurdity.
c.
The TRUE
HERO is revealed as the “poor in spirit”.
4.
A Savior
“poor in spirit”, mighty in the Holy Spirit!
B. Biblical
Illustrations of being “poor in spirit”:
Job 10:12 You have granted me life and steadfast love, and
your care has preserved my spirit.
Job 17:1 My spirit
is broken; my days are extinct; the graveyard is ready for me.
Psalm 31:5 Into your hand
I commit my spirit; you have
redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.
Psalm 34:18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves
the crushed in spirit.
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O
God, you will not despise.
Proverbs 29:23 One's pride will bring him low, but he who is
lowly in spirit will obtain honor.
C.
Context: As
we learned the Beatitudes are for Christians only! This is the first step in understanding
how needy we are. We can’t
live like this, unless Christ reaches down into our lives, rescues us from
sin, and fills us with his Spirit.
D.
Some
Christians don’t believe salvation is all of grace.
A.
Toplady hymn: “Nothing
in my hands I bring, simply to your cross I cling”.
B.
Christians
constantly need the gospel too!
III.
…For theirs is the kingdom of heaven
A.
“Rewards
of Grace”: We do not earn or in any way merit our own salvation, yet
God allows us to enter and be a part of his holy Kingdom here on earth.
B.
“Already-not
Yet”: We are part of the Kingdom of God now by faith in Jesus Christ- - but we await the
full entrance of God’s Kingdom upon the earth when he restores all
things.
C.
In the same
way, although the Beatitudes are the way of the Kingdom, they are not fully
realized in our lives until all things are renewed!
Final Thoughts: If you are ever-dependent on God, you are poor
in spirit, yet mighty in His Holy
Spirit.
CRB
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