The Poor in Spirit

An introduction to the Sermon on the Mount

It is in light of the message Matthew tells us about in 4:17

Matthew 4:17 “17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

The Sermon on the Mount is a message about Kingdom Living.

It is teaching the transition from living under the law, to living in the spirit

He doesn’t teach an end to the law, but a fulfillment of the law.

For example, the “you have heard it said” passages.

Don’t murder

Don’t commit adultery

He is teaching us the spirit of the law

He is saying, here is how we live in the kingdom, not, how do we get to the kingdom

Do not fall into the mistake of supposing that the opening verses of the Sermon on the Mount set forth how we are to be saved, or you may cause your soul to stumble. You will find the fullest light upon the matter of how to be saved in other parts of our Lord’s teaching, but here He talks about the question, “Who are the saved?” or, “What are the marks and evidences of a work of grace in the soul?”The word beatitude comes from the latin work meaning blessed

When we look at the beatitudes we are looking at what could be called keys to a happy life

Blessed means: happy, well off, fortunate

What we see in the beatitudes is a spiritual condition that leads to a kingdom reward

It is important to not, in each of these 8 beatitudes the blessing is now

It may not be fully realized in this world, but it is no less than partially realized today.

It is not “Blessed shall be but blessed are” - Spurgeon

The Poor in Spirit Recognize their Spiritual Poverty

bankrupt

destitute

Spurgeon likens the beatitudes to a ladder, each one building on the next

A ladder, if it is to be of any use, must have its first step near the ground, or feeble climbers will never be able to mount it. It would have been a grievous discouragement to struggling faith if the first blessing had been given to the pure in heart. The young beginner makes no claim to that excellence, while he can reach to poverty of spirit without going beyond his limit.

Spurgeon

This beatitude teaches us that one that recognized our helpless estate, is the one that receives the kingdom of Heaven.

If a person is a true follower of Christ they will recognize they are spiritually bankrupt.

They will see nothing good in themselves

In Matthew 18:4 Jesus says we must come to him as a child

one thing we know about a child is that they are truly helpless

especially infants, they can do nothing on their own

when we recognize our spiritual poverty, it opens the doors to the kingdom

We are Dead in our trespasses

Ephesians 2:1 ESV

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins

Without Christ we are not mostly dead, because being mostly dead is slightly alive

But because we are dead in our sins, we can do nothing to better our circumstances

We are but a beggar, poor and homeless.

the materially poverty stricken may have excuses.

Maybe illness, or unfortunate circumstances allow those in poverty to not always be at fault.

Spiritual poverty though is different. It is who we are.

It is our fault. We have no excuse

As Spurgeon puts it, “spiritual poverty means fault, blameworthiness, sham and sin”

No One is Rich in Spirit

Those who do not realize they are poor:

Revelation 3:17–19 ESV

17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

Even this church of believers, who thought they were rich, was really poor

Laodicea was a wealthy province and with that wealth brought pride

They mistook their wealth for something proving their value

Likewise, we can make the same mistake in our spiritual lives

We can forget that we have nothing to bring

It may start by resting in our faith, statements like “I am saved because I believe” as benign as that may seem, is an open door to believing we are the reason we are saved.

Some may even lift themselves up by acknowledging their need of repentance and having faith in their repentance

But what one must realize is that our riches are non-existent

While faith is required of us, it’s not our faith that saves

While repentance is what we are called to, we are unable to truly repent on our own

We must receive faith from Christ

We repent, not because we are somewhat good enough to recognize our sinfulness, but because Christ, in his great mercy, showed us our sin and gave us the gift of repentance.

Be Joyful Because The Kingdom of Heaven is Yours

In this we can rejoice

In that we, the lowly, are placed in a place of prominence

How amazing the salvation of Christ, that those who are poor, would possess a kingdom