Poor In Spirit
Notes
Transcript
Intro; At the beginning of the Civil War, there was a lot of confusion created on the battlefield by the uniforms of the soldiers. The gray uniforms, known as the “Rebel color” were not worn only by soldiers of the South. Units from the First Wisconsin, First Iowa, Fifth Maine, 21st New York, and the Twelfth Illinois infantry drilled in gray uniforms which were not well received. At the first battle of Manassas, the uniforms created confusion and a catastrophe as men accidentally fired at their own troops. It was difficult for them to tell who was on what side.
Because of a shortage of cloth, the Second Texas infantry went into battle with pure white uniforms which invited shots from both sides not familiar with this infantry. A southern unit known as the Orleans Guard had stylish blue uniforms which caused them to be mistaken for Yankees. They were fired upon by their own army. All of these problems were created by a failure to clearly identify the side the soldiers represented. The lack of a clear-cut message in their outward appearance created confusion.
The same thing happens when we claim to be Christians, but live like the Devil. People are confused and wonder where we really stand, what we really believe, and whose side we are really on.
When a person is born again, there is a change in the character and behavior of that person. That’s what Jesus is teaching in The Greatest Sermon Ever Preached!
The Sermon on the Mount has nothing to do with living good enough to gain salvation or the kingdom of heaven [like some believe], but everything to do with those who are already in the kingdom of how we are to live in Christ today!
What side are we on and can people see it?
The first part of Jesus’ sermon is called “The Beatitudes”. It is the attitudes that a believer in Christ should have as one walks in fellowship with God and is happy/blessed in life.
Text; Mt. 5:3
Matthew 5:3 (NKJV)
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
1. Poor in Spirit; 3
1. Poor in Spirit; 3
Poor- [Ptochos] frightened, cower like a beggar, down and out, destitute [used in Luke 16:20 to describe the beggar Lazarus]
Luke 16:19–21 (NKJV)
19 “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.
20 But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate,
21 desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.
The beggar Lazarus seems to be at the mercy of rich man’s generosity. But the dogs treated Lazarus better than the rich man did. But if we look deeper into that story, Lazarus was always at the mercy of God.
Luke 16:22 (NKJV)
22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
Lazarus was dependent upon God regardless of what his external circumstances were. And that’s what Jesus is saying here about the “poor in spirit”. The poor in spirit are already heirs to the kingdom of heaven, “their’s is” regardless of what happens here on earth.
The man who is poor in spirit is the man who has realized that things mean nothing, and that God means everything.
William Barclay
2. Contrast between Poor in Spirit and Rich in Pride;
2. Contrast between Poor in Spirit and Rich in Pride;
Rich in Pride- refers to those who trust in and desire the riches and wealth of the world instead of a close walk with the Lord.
Solomon, the wisest, most influential and magnificent of ancient kings, tried the world’s way to happiness for many years.
He had the royal blood of his father, David, flowing through his veins.
He had vast amounts of gold and jewels and “made silver as common as stones in Jerusalem” (1 Kings 10:27).
He had fleets of ships and stables filled with thousands of the finest horses.
He had hundreds of wives, gathered from the most beautiful women of many lands.
He ate the most sumptuous of foods on the finest of tableware in the most elegant of palaces with the most distinguished people. [1 Kings 10:4-7]
He was acclaimed throughout the world for his wisdom, power, and wealth.
Now by all accounts, Solomon should have been the happiest man in the world.. Yet Solomon, so great and blessed by earthly standards, concluded that his life was purposeless and empty. Solomon wrote his memoirs, The Book of Ecclesiastes, his personal testimony on the human situation and life under the sun, and this is what he said; “Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!”
1 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.
2 “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
3 What profit has a man from all his labor In which he toils under the sun?
If you are spending your life working for the things that will pass away and perish, let me tell you now, they won’t make you happy!
Poor In Spirit- to be conscious of one’s continual dependence on God
The Bible gives us various examples of people who demonstrated the trait of being poor in spirit.
1. The Publican— tax collector
13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’
2. The Prophet Isaiah— before the throne of God
5 So I said: “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The Lord of hosts.”
3. The Patriarch Job— confesses he has a lack of understanding
6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”
4. The Pessimistic Gideon— threshing wheat in the grape vat
15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
5. Peter— launching his boat out at Jesus’ command and caught fish and the nets began to break
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
6. Paul— the greatest christian we know said he could not walk a day in this world without the help of the Lord
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
When we are poor in spirit it means we are blessed by God, approved by Him, covered in His favor, because we are dependent upon Him alone!
Close;
As we look at the “Beatitudes” I want to close each sermon with the opposite view of what they are.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
“Wretched are the spiritually self-sufficient, for theirs is the kingdom of hell!”
Let me close with the last words of Solomon from his memoirs;
13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.