Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit (Matthew 5:3)

So, this morning I want to begin with what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 4, verse 17. He gave a divine command to all of humanity. He said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. When I was reading that, I thought, man, that is such a short, condensed verse.

Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And what's so neat is for three straight chapters, Matthew chapter 5, 6, and 7, the famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus begins to unpack what he means in that verse.

So if you would, please turn in your copy of God's Word to Matthew chapter 5. We are going to be examining the tip of the tip of the iceberg. We're going to be looking at the B attitudes, and we're not going to look at all of them.

We'd be here all day if we did, which I would love, by the way. But we're going to be looking at the first B attitude in Matthew 5, verse 3. But as we do that, I want us to hear it in the context of all the B attitudes.

So we begin, seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on a mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Let's go and pray together once again this morning. Holy Father pray that you would illuminate our hearts and our minds to be able to understand your word. God I pray that you would remove me from the picture God and it would just be your truth that is left standing.

God I pray that we would be convicted over your word this morning. I pray that we would be poor in spirit that we would not look to ourselves but but Christ we would look to you for everything. Lord I pray that your truth once again would edify your people and I pray this in your name Jesus amen.

So before we dive straight into verse 3 I want us to examine the first couple of verses just to get a little bit of context. So if you would look with me at verse 1 where he reads seeing the crowds Jesus went up on a mountain and he sat down and his disciples came to him.

Now what I think is very interesting is you have this multitude of people they're gathered around to hear the very words of Jesus but they had no idea that they were about to witness history. They were about to witness the greatest sermon ever preached.

It's because Jesus possesses all authority on heaven and earth. He is God in the flesh and so it was so different for their ears to hear someone speak with authority. This is exactly how the Sermon on the Mount closes in Matthew 7 where there we read and when Jesus finished these saying the crowds were astonished at his teaching for he was teaching them as one who had authority not as their scribes.

They were used to listening to rabbis quote other rabbis and funny enough Jesus does quote a few rabbis in the Sermon on the Mount to show that they are wrong. He is able to speak with one having authority because he is God and we see that the crowd of people that they are being distinguished from the twelve the twelve disciples and we know that they are they know what to expect.

They know that they are about to hear the very words of God. I also point out that Jesus sat down. This was a very deliberate move on his part because in that day and time when somebody was just casually walking around and talking was considered to be unofficial.

So when Jesus sat down the teacher sat down and everybody listened. That was their cue and so this is a wonderful principle for us. We see that the disciples knew that the very words of God were about to be preached and every time that I think about this I reflect those of us who are truly disciples.

We ought to desire and learn from the words of our Lord. I love how Pastor Nathan referenced Mary and Martha a couple months ago when we went through the book of Philippians. It was Mary of Bethany here.

She sat at the Lord's feet and began to listen to his teaching. Jesus explained that she chose the necessary thing. She chose to focus on Jesus and his word because that is of eternal value and that will never be taken away.

So as we delve into our verse this morning I want you to ask yourself do I cherish the word of God in my heart? Do I long for more? Are you amazed at the depth of truth given to us in God's word? Do you recognize that Jesus's authority is categorically different than anything else in this world?

You may be somebody who is indifferent that doesn't really care when it comes to the things of the Lord and to the Bible, his revealed word. Friend, I want to pray that God would illuminate your heart and your mind to realize that the word of God has the power to transform your life.

It is sharper than any two-edged sword and cut straight to the heart. So I pray that you would give all of your attention, remove all distractions and listen to the heralding of the word of God. So Jesus opened his mouth and he began to teach them saying in verse three, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

So this is the first of eight beatitudes and I want us to answer, I want us to ask three major questions and answer these as we go this morning. Three major questions, what is true blessedness? Number two, what does it mean to be poor in spirit?

And number three, what is the kingdom of heaven? Now you'll notice probably most of your Bibles above verse two, it has the title the beatitudes. I was studying this out, it has its origins in Latin, but this is a blessed attitude.

This is referring to that word that you heard repeated over and over in the passage, blessed. That's what this is referring to and the word blessed simply means to be happy, to be content, but it's not a happiness the way that the world sees happiness.

I want us to see that there is being contrasted something here. The child of God, they find true contentment, true joy and happiness with their relationship with God. That's what the beatitudes are referring to, the attitudes and characteristics of a child of God, someone who is truly a citizen to the kingdom of heaven.

This is based on a deep supernatural experience of contentment and peace based on a right standing with God. One of my favorite verses is Romans 5 verse 1 where the Apostle Paul says, therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is no greater peace and joy on earth than having a right relationship with God. You can have your sin forgiven. That's what it's all about. We are sinners in need of a Savior and by faith, not by your works, but by trusting alone in the Savior, you can have peace with God.

You can have your sin forgiven and the wonderful thing is he doesn't leave us. He doesn't say, all right, I'll see you in glory one day, but he walks with us. He gives us his spirit and we're able to have that deep relationship by spending time in the Word of God and then praying to him.

And so Jesus is not inventing a new concept here when he talks about the blessed man or woman. This is something that's deeply rooted in the Old Testament Hebrew Scriptures. In fact, the opening verses of Psalm chapter 1 say this, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night.

There's a difference between a blessed man and woman of God. They care about the things of the Lord. Their delight is in the law of the Lord. This is God's Word. The world does not delight in those things.

The way of the world, as we're going to get more into, they are thinking about other things and they are actually at war with the Creator. Now a lot of people think, okay, well I would like to become a blessed man.

So I'm just going to try to do a lot of good things, a lot of good moral actions. I'm going to be a good person. I'm going to read the Bible. I'm not going to lie. I'm not going to cheat. I'm not going to steal.

That's what it'll take to become a blessed man of God. And that's simply not true. All of these good things already flow from a changed heart, someone that has experienced true blessedness. In order to become a blessed man or woman of God is to have faith in the Savior and to be walking with him.

This world essentially says, happy are the rich, the noble, the successful, the macho, the glamorous, the popular, the famous, and the aggressive. Now that list is in direct opposition to the beatitudes that Jesus gives us.

And we really, this should not surprise us because the world is that entity with God. The world is against the truth because the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. The world says, don't worry about what happens to you after you die.

In fact, go ahead and just live your best life now. The problem is none of the stuff that you accumulate here on earth, you can't take it with you. And even deeper than that, none of this stuff that you work hard for and accumulate for yourself will forgive you of your sin before a holy, perfect, and righteous God.

But for those of us that realize that things of eternal value, they are never fleeting. It's the Word of God that's not like the grass that withers and fades away, but it will stand forever. That will give us a joy that surpasses all the understanding that the world has to offer, resting in our Savior, Jesus Christ.

That's what it means to have true blessedness. So I'd like to move on to the second major question, but listen to the beatitude again. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

So this is perhaps the major thrust this morning. I want us to understand truly what it means to be poor in spirit. Jesus is not talking about financial poverty. He's not saying you have to go sell all your possessions and live on the street or in a corner somewhere like a monk or something like that.

That's not what Jesus is getting at. And I think we can know that based on the context. He's talking about true blessedness, something that is categorically different than the world. And so Jesus makes this abundantly clear because he says, blessed are the poor in spirit.

He's talking about a spiritual poverty, to be poor in spirit. Now we talk about this in the youth. We're going through the beatitudes, and really this is getting at the fact that we are spiritually bankrupt.

Now what does that mean? This means that you have nothing of worth, absolutely nothing of worth to offer to God. You've got unbelievers saying, well I do a lot of good moral things. That has to count for something.

And actually the Bible says all of your so-called good works is like filthy rags before God. Now that hopefully should strike your ears like, what? Good things aren't pleasing to God? Think about this.

When you're outside of Christ, all of your good works are tainted by sin. It has selfish motive. It comes from a heart of pride. That is detestable before God. That's why we need our sin forgiven. Romans 14 concludes this way, for whatever is done and does not proceed from faith in Christ is sin.

Spiritual poverty is to recognize your sinfulness. You must see yourself as you really are. You are lost. You are helpless. You are hopeless without God and His Savior Christ. Now when we talk about that word sin, I've heard people say, yeah I mess up.

I make mistakes. I'm just like everybody else. What's the cliche? To err is human, right? Sin is so much deeper than that. Sin means that you are a lawbreaker. 1 John 3, 4 says that sin is lawlessness.

And so when we recognize that we are sinners, that doesn't mean that we just make mistakes. But we have shattered God's holy law. And we are worthy of a just eternal punishment. Only those who are poor in spirit recognize the situation in the state that they're in.

And when you do that, you will cast yourself at God's mercy. That's the point. You can't achieve this on your own. So for a moment I want us to talk about Luke's gospel when he accounts for the beatitudes.

He gives us a condensed version of the Sermon on the Mount, and he gives us a condensed version of the beatitudes. And so in Luke's account, it's real interesting, right after he gives us the beatitudes, he gives us a pronouncement of woes.

And so before we get to the woes, I want to just read to you Luke 6, verse 20. And Jesus lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said, Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Now you may notice that there's a couple things different here in this beatitude.

And I just want to tell you, that's okay. Jesus was a traveling teacher. So no doubt that he gave this Sermon on the Mount multiple times, and I'm sure he added more information at different times. And so here Luke highlights that Jesus makes these beatitudes more personal and tender by saying, Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

I just want to remind you that this is once again not talking about financial poverty here, but being spiritually poor, recognizing that you are a sinner. And after these beatitudes, we see corresponding woes.

And I just want to look at one with you briefly. Jesus says in Luke 6, 24,. But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. Now oftentimes when we read woe in Scripture, this is a pronouncement of judgment.

The idea is that you are not at peace with God. In fact, you are storing up wrath for yourself. I want you to notice who Jesus is condemning here. He says, You who are rich. Now follow me for just a second.

Since Jesus is not talking about financial poverty, poor in spirit, right? He's talking about a spiritual reality. I believe here he's not talking about material riches. He is referring to those who think that they are rich in the spiritual realm as well.

He's talking about those who think that their righteous deeds are sufficient to obtain salvation. Now this is all the false religions of the world. They say that you have to muster up enough good works in order to obtain God's favor.

Christianity stands alone apart from all the religions of the world and says you cannot work your way to God. Good works will not get you there. You are not a good person. You are a sinner that has shattered God's law.

Jesus Christ did all the works necessary for salvation. He is the one that was perfectly obedient to the law. He is the one that died on the cross paying the full punishment for sin and he's the one that resurrected the third day.

You cannot add your good works to the already finished work of Jesus Christ. And the gospel calls us to repent and believe the gospel. Repent means to change your mind. Recognize that you are a sinner.

Change your mind and turn in your heart and look to Jesus and rest in him. Don't trust in what you can do. Trust alone in the Savior. But someone who thinks that they are a good person, someone who is spiritually rich, Jesus says you have received your consolation.

Now like the NASB, it translates a little bit different. I think it brings some clarity. It says you who are receiving your comfort in full. Now Jesus' point is this curse is pronounced on those who are trusting in their own good works before God and they are receiving a comfort in full here on earth.

Now Jesus is describing perfectly of what the Pharisees looked like. They were always concerned with the externals, the things of this world. They wanted other people to look at them. And that's exactly what, sorry there's a wasp flying around there, but the Pharisees.

Matthew chapter 6 in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says this, beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them. For then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

Thus when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the streets, that they may be praised by others. And Jesus says this, truly, truly they have received their reward.

Those people that perceive themselves to be spiritually rich, they receive comfort here and now. And that can be done in many different ways. You may try to be like, I'm going to help as many people as I can.

But if you think that you are the one that's earning favor with God, you're simply putting on a show before other people. And what Jesus is saying, that you are getting a temporary comfort here on earth.

But what awaits the spiritually rich is an eternal, comfortless, ceaseless torment in hell. And so with that being said, please turn with me to Luke chapter 18. I want us to consider this parable where I believe Jesus is comparing and contrasting a Pharisee and a tax collector.

He wants to show us what somebody who is poor in spirit looks like, and he's also showing us of what somebody is proud in spirit looks like. So let's look, starting in verse 9 in Luke chapter 18. So Jesus told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt.

Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee standing by himself prayed thus, God, I thank you that I'm not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

I fast twice a week and I give tithes of all that I get. But the tax collector standing far off would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Jesus says, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. Now, I just want to ask you briefly, which one of these two men were poor in spirit? Tax collector. It was the tax collector.

And I love how Jesus talks about a tax collector in this parable because this would have pierced the minds of the Pharisees and the Jews listening because they hated tax collectors. Tax collectors were typically Jews that betrayed their Jewish people and started working for Rome and they would gather taxes, but they would gather more than what they were supposed to.

They would steal from people and keep it from themselves. So Jesus definitely got the attention of the Pharisees that he was talking to. But he's illustrating something. Even somebody as despised as tax collectors, they are the ones that they are convicted of their sins.

That is the one that Jesus is after to call them to repentance. Jesus, in fact, says, I have not come to call the so-called righteous but sinners to repentance. This tax collector understood his sinfulness before God Almighty.

And we know that because the tax collector was so overwhelmed with his sin that he could not even lift his eyes to heaven. He beat his breast. You can just feel the conviction that he also felt. And what did he say?

God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Now, a lot of us understand mercy is love and compassion. And he's definitely talking about that here. But this is a stronger Greek word. In fact, this Greek word is only used two times in the New Testament.

This Greek word means to make propitiation. Now, that's a fancy word, but it really means to be reconciled, to be made right. And so what the tax collector is doing is he's pleading for God and his goodness to reconcile a vile sinner to himself, to make a way for salvation, to forgive his sinfulness.

And that's exactly what God has done for us, right? That's the whole message of the gospel. Now, if you're like me, a verse that I grew up hearing, and I love it, it's Romans 3 .23, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, right?

It tells us that God is the absolute standard and we fall short of that. If you're like me, I've been guilty of just reading through Romans 3 and I get to that verse, I'm like, that's a good reminder, right?

I'm a sinner. But I fail to read past what Paul is saying there. And it makes so much sense and it relates back to what the tax collector is saying. So Romans 3 .23 says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.

And here's the key, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. That is the gospel. You can receive forgiveness of sin by what Jesus has accomplished by faith apart from your dirty works.

And that's exactly what the tax collector models for us. He is poor in spirit. He recognizes that he is a sinner in need of a savior. But what about the other character in the story? The Pharisee, he is much different than the tax collector.

He is someone who is proud in spirit. And I think what bothers me so much is in verse 9, it says, those who trusted in themselves. This absolutely destroys the gospel message that you can trust in yourself, you can earn salvation with God by your good works.

The gospel is you have to deny self. Everything that you do and you accomplish, it's detestable before God. You have to repent and believe, put all of your trust in Jesus Christ and him alone. Amen? Listen to the haughtiness and the arrogance of the Pharisee.

He says, God, I thank you that I'm not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and I tithe of all that I get. He wasn't praying to God. He was praying out loud.

He was speaking openly so other people would hear how good he thinks that he is. Remember what Jesus said? Truly, truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. Meaning that they've received their temporary comfort here on earth.

Now, Jeremiah, why are you making such a big deal about this? I hope it's apparent at this point. This is a matter of salvation and being lost. Jesus goes on to say in verse 14, I tell you, this man, talking about the tax collector, he went down to his house justified rather than the other one.

Now, what's interesting about justified is we don't see this word mentioned throughout the Gospels hardly at all. This is one of the rare times that Jesus talks about that. Now, the Apostle Paul has a lot to say about our justification in his letters.

When we talk about being justified or our justification, we're talking about being made right before God, being declared innocent and no longer guilty of your sin. So someone who is poor in spirit, this is the tax collector, a wonderful example of someone who pleads to God for him to provide reconciliation, to make atonement, to give us forgiveness in his son Jesus.

So I know we're talking about three big questions today in the beatitude, but perhaps the biggest question of all is, are you poor in spirit? Are you like the tax collector who knows that you are a lawbreaker, someone who is convicted over your sin before holy God?

Are you looking to God's provision in Christ by faith alone? Let me ask you the harder question. Are you like the Pharisee, someone who is proud in spirit? Are you someone who says, look at all the wonderful things that I accomplished.

I go to church. I have built up this generational wealth for my kids, and I always do my best to help other people. Why do you do those things? Are you doing it so others can look to you and pat you on the back?

Those are good things. Are you doing those things to glorify God or to glorify self? Because it was the Pharisee who did not go home justified. He was lost. He was dead in his sins. And so Jesus ends this parable by saying, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but to the one who humbles himself will be exalted.

This is pretty neat. This is a proverb-like saying of how, you know, how Jesus ends this parable. And he's wanting to illustrate salvation and damnation. He's saying that for those who exalt themselves and trust in their good works will be humbled and crushed in eternal loss and punishment.

But for those who are humble, poor in spirit, who are trusting in Christ, they will be exalted with eternal glory. And I actually, this brings us back to the first beatitude that we're unpacking this morning.

So if you would, please turn back with me to Matthew 5, verse 3, where Jesus says again, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So our third major question is, what is the kingdom of heaven?

Now, as I was searching out this term, kingdom of heaven, I found it could mean so many different things depending on the context. But something that is in common each time is that the kingdom of heaven always refers to salvation.

And one way that we can study our Bible and understand terms is looking to see how Matthew, the human writer of this gospel, how he used this term in other places. And so later in the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 7, verse 21, he uses this term.

He says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Now, if you've read this, maybe this is your first time being exposed to it, but this is one of the scariest verses in all of the Bible.

He's saying that people are going to stand on judgment day before Christ and said, I prayed, I thought I was a Christian, I did all these wonderful things in your name. And Jesus is going to say, depart from me, you worker of iniquity.

He even says it like this. People will say, Lord, Lord, did we not do many mighty works in your name? What are they saying? They're saying, Lord, aren't you pleased with how spiritually rich we are? We even gave it the stamp of Jesus Christ.

He's going to say, no, I never knew you. That Jesus is the omniscient, the all-knowing God. What is he talking about? He never knew you relationally. You might have said things with your mouth, but in your heart, you denied him.

So I want you to see how Jesus uses the kingdom of heaven there. He is referring to ultimate salvation. And earlier, maybe you were paying attention about Luke's version of the beatitude. You notice at the end of his beatitude, the first one, blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God.

It's a little different, right? Because here in Matthew, it says kingdom of heaven. I want to submit to you, it's talking about the exact same thing. It's talking about salvation. In fact, later in Matthew's gospel, in Matthew chapter 19, Jesus was talking with a rich young ruler.

And these same phrases got brought up. The rich young ruler asked a question, teacher, what good deed must I do to inherit eternal life? Now, I've always thought, man, that's a good question. And as I studied it more and more, it says, teacher, what good deed must I do to inherit eternal life?

And if you combine the gospel accounts together, he was saying, good teacher, what good thing must I do? He was already starting off on the wrong foot. He felt like he was able to inherit salvation by his works.

But he's asking about eternal life. And so Jesus and him have an exchange, and then Jesus turns to the disciples. And he says, truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.

Make a note of that. Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Now, he uses both of those phrases there and listen to how the disciples understood what he was saying.

The disciples heard this, and they were greatly astonished, saying, who then can be saved? So as we begin to wind down, I want you to think about this beatitude. What does it mean to have true blessedness?

Well, it means to have a right relationship with God. Only those who are poor in spirit recognize their spiritual poverty. They're the ones that look to God and say, you're going to have to do this thing.

You're going to have to reconcile me, a sinner, to yourself. And there are those people who will inherit eternal life. And that can happen here and now. You can have salvation here and now by looking to Jesus.

But I also think this beatitude is talking about a future aspect as well. We have been promised to inherit an eternal kingdom forever and ever and ever. And I don't know about you, but if you've ever opened up the book of Revelation, it gets confusing very fast, right?

But I want you to be encouraged because that's a part of the word of God. And if you go towards the end, there's so many wonderful promises about what this eternal kingdom is going to look like. There will be no more death, no more mourning, no more crying, and no more pain.

Now, when I hear the pain, I'm approaching 30, had a birthday recently, and it's everything that the older people tell us, that your body starts to hurt. And I'm starting to go through that now. And so, but I'm promised, one day there will be no more pain.

Maybe you've been through some tragic events in your lifetime. One day, there will be no more crying. Nothing will be tainted by sin. Sin will no longer be casting its ugly shadow. And so be encouraged.

I know a lot of times when we read books, you're not supposed to go straight to the end and spoil the ending, right? But as a Christian, go to the end. Be comforted, be consumed with the promises that await us.

That will help carry you through these tough times. In fact, Revelation 22 says, no longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the land will be in it. And his servants, that's us, those of us who are in Christ, his servants will worship him.

They will see his face, and night will be no more. And they will need no light or lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever, ever. So, last thoughts here. I want to encourage you, read the Beatitudes.

That's what we're doing in the youth, and we really wear it out, don't we? Read the Beatitudes. In fact, study the Sermon on the Mount. This is the greatest sermon ever preached, and I promise you, it will transform your life.

But I also want to challenge you with something. Examine your heart as you read the Beatitudes, and see what your immediate reaction is when you read those. Because if you feel that they are harsh and hard, and if you feel like they go against the grain and show a character and type of life that you dislike, it means you're not a Christian.

But if you're somebody that reads the Beatitudes and you feel unworthy, if you have a desire and an ambition to be like what Christ is depicting here, then you're saved. You have new life. You are a citizen of the kingdom of heaven, and you are a child of God.

The way to become poor in spirit, this is profound and yet simple, is to look to our Lord Jesus Christ. When you look to Him, you cannot truly look at Him without feeling your absolute poverty and emptiness.

And when you do, your heart will sing, all for sin could not atone, thou must save and thou alone. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling. Let's pray. Holy Father, thank you so much for your word that pierces straight...