New Covenant Truths - the Inner Life - Part 4 — Zac Poonen

The Beatitudes Compared with the Ten Commandments

Now, compare these nine blessings or called Beatitudes with the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. There were ten commandments there and here are nine Beatitudes. As I told you in an earlier study, nobody could keep the tenth commandment which is thou shalt not lust.

So really they had only nine commandments that they could keep. And here you have nine Beatitudes. And you see they are completely different. None of these things are listed in the Ten Commandments. Blessed are the poor in spirit.

Poverty of Spirit as the Gateway to the Kingdom

You know, that is the very first step to entering the new covenant standard of life described in Matthew 5, 6, and 7. If you understand what it means to be poor in spirit, it says here, verse 3, the whole kingdom of heaven is yours.

Remember, another phrase for new covenant life is the kingdom of heaven. We saw that in an earlier study, repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. It hasn't yet come, but it's near. And it came on the day of Pentecost.

And if you want that kingdom in your life, if you want that life in your life, then you've got to be poor in spirit. And if you see how important the kingdom of heaven is and the new covenant is all about the kingdom of heaven, you will desperately want to know what it means to be poor in spirit.

Are you? Have you been till today, have you really sought God and said, Lord, if this is the gateway to the kingdom of heaven, I look at it like this, the kingdom of heaven is like a huge building with a thousand rooms, palace.

Each room has got many treasures that nobody under the old covenant could have. And there is one master key that opens every room in this palace. The name of that key is poverty of spirit. So it's important to get this master key because if you have it, you can open room after room after room after room and possess the whole kingdom of heaven.

That's what Jesus said. So let me explain to you what poverty of spirit is. Let's look at it from an example. Jesus always used earthly examples. Now we're not, we look at an earthly example to learn a spiritual truth.

Earthly Poverty as a Picture of Spiritual Dependence

Like Jesus spoke about salt and light and birds and flowers. And he was always trying to get a spiritual truth, parables that he spoke. There's a spiritual truth behind it. So to understand what poor in spirit means, let's look at what it means to be poor materially, to be poor in the kingdom of earth.

Let's look at it that way. And then we will understand what it means to enter the kingdom of heaven. To be poor on earth means to have no money. And the best example of that in India is a beggar. Not a poor man who's got a house, he's got money.

The really poor person in India is a beggar who doesn't have a house to live in, who sleeps on the streets, sidewalks. And that beggar comes to your gate and knocks there and says, Sir, can you give me some money?

And you give him food or money, whatever it is. And he goes away and he comes back again next day. And you tell him, well, what about the food and money I gave you yesterday? Oh, that's over. That was just for yesterday.

I want to come again. And he's not ashamed to come again. And if you give him again, he'll come back the next day. Because you're probably the only kind soul in the street. And he'll come back the next day.

And he's never ashamed to come back. I've seen people, beggars whom I saw 20 years ago. They're still begging. Now from that, we can learn and get an example or an illustration of what it means to be poor in spirit.

Prayer as Daily Begging Before God

We don't beg for money. God provides our need. Why does that beggar beg? Because he doesn't have. And every morning he gets up realizing, I don't have money for today. I don't have money for food. I need to go somewhere and get some money.

So to be poor in spirit is to live every day, wake up every morning and say, I don't have what it takes to go through this day spiritually. I don't have it. I have to go to God, wait at his gate and beg.

Another word for beg is pray. When we pray, we're actually begging God for something, asking him for something. For many people, prayer is a ritual. And that's why they never get anything out of their prayer life.

I've seen a lot of people who spend hours on their knees. They don't pray. They're going through a ritual, just like non-Christians pray, go through a ritual. But real prayer can only come out of a sense of need.

Genuine Humility Versus Hypocrisy in Prayer

This is not a man acting like a beggar. You know, in some Hollywood movies, sometimes some rich man, we have some Indian film stars like that who became very famous, millionaires who acted like poor rickshaw pullers or beggars in the movies.

This is not acting. This is a real thing. The beggars are not acting. They're real. A lot of people, when they pray, they're just acting. Oh, Lord, I'm nothing. I'm nobody. They don't really believe it.

They say so many lies to God. But if they're really aware of it, I mean, have you ever come to God and said like this, Lord, I'm good for nothing. I'm wretched. What if one day you hear somebody said the same thing about you behind your back?

That guy is good for nothing. He's wretched. Oh, you'll get all worked up. Why do you get worked up? Isn't that what you told God yesterday in prayer? Ah, that is only just biased language. You see, there's a lot of hypocrisy in prayer.

But when that beggar comes to your gate, he's not acting. He really knows he's got nothing. And I tell you something. It's the people who go to God like that who get answers from Him. Who get the kingdom of heaven.

Living as an Overcomer Through Daily Dependence

Who are poor in spirit, recognize every day. I don't have what it takes to go through this day and be an overcomer. Of course, you can go through this day and be defeated in all types of sins and come to the end of the day and confess your sins.

I'm not talking about that type of Christianity. I'm talking about a type of Christianity where you come to the end of the day and you're overcome throughout the day. You come to the end of your life and you're an overcomer.

You've got to live one day at a time. But if you want to be an overcomer during the day, you have to start the day by recognizing, I don't have what it takes. Like that beggar who comes early morning, acknowledging he needs money.

The Danger of Losing Poverty of Spirit

I don't have what it takes to go through this day. That is the meaning of poverty of spirit. And if a man is poor in spirit, the whole kingdom of heaven is his. Now the tragedy is, very often many people who start poor in spirit, after a while when God blesses them and they become rich spiritually, they become like the Laodicean elder.

Who say, well, I'm rich and increased with goods, even spiritual goods perhaps. Not need of nothing, I've got Bible knowledge, I'm a spiritual man, I know so much, and God's used me here and there, and people have a lot of respect for me, and I'm conducting a little Bible study here, etc., etc.

They're no longer poor in spirit. They're full of themselves. But it's a wonderful thing if you can remain poor in spirit. No matter how much God has blessed you, no matter how much God has used you, you recognize that apart from God you're nothing.

Abiding in Christ Like a Fruitful Branch

Just like a branch in a tree. When it's cut off, it's nothing. Even if it's been a branch for 20, 30 years. I can't live a single day without the tree. You know, Jesus wants us to live like that. That's the meaning of faith.

So a branch in a tree is a perfect example of being poor in spirit. What can that branch do? Even if it's produced fruit for 25 years. Nothing. Its attitude is, I can do nothing. Without me, Jesus said, you can do nothing.