Blessed are the poor ins spirit
Be these Attitudes • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Today we will begin a new series on the sermon on the Mount from Matthew chapters 5-7. So what is the sermon on the mount, and what is its purpose? The sermon on the mount is the greatest sermon ever given, it’s one of the most quoted sermons ever preached, and it’s the most convincing sermon ever preached. Mark Moore says this in the sermon on the mount. “In it we find the epitome of Jesus teachings-it’s radical, sensible, spiritual, and almost vicious in its demolition of hypocrisy. It flies in the face of every culture it enters. It pierces every heart that hears it. We try our best to examine it, only to learn it’s truly the text who examines us. The purpose of the sermon on the mount is simple. The purpose of the sermon on the mount is to prepare people's hearts to receive the gospel, and receive the kingdom of heaven. Jesus makes this intention known when he begins his teaching, in Matthew 4:17 Jesus says this. “Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is at hand” Jesus knows his teaching will be counter to what the culture of the day taught, and he wanted to implore the people to listen to what he had to say.
So we’ve established what the sermon on the mount is, and what it’s purpose is. Now we are briefly going to discuss the structure or the format of the sermon on the mount.
The structure of the sermon on the mount is divided into three sections. You could view the sermon on the mount as being a trilogy. The first act in the trilogy is the beatitudes, the second act of the trilogy is the calling out of sin. The third act of the trilogy focuses upon living in a Christ- like manner.
When it comes to movie trilogies, they usually follow this pattern. The original Star Wars trilogy follows the same pattern. The original Star Wars captures your attention and imagination, the one in which we meet Luke Sky-walker. The second installment “The Empire Strikes Back” is the darkest and bleakest. The one in which Luke Sky-walker learns about his direct relationship with Evil. The third Installment shows Luke Sky-walker learning to live within the destiny and life in which he is called.
In the trilogy of the Sermon on the Mount, the beatitudes grab our attention, and introduce us to the gospel message. The second installment is the darkest because it talks about our sin. The last installment shows us how to live out Christlike attitudes, and brings the trilogy to a close.
Today we will begin looking at the first installment of the sermon on the mount, and that first installment is known as “the beatitudes” . We will be examining the beatitudes over the next several weeks. Each beatitude will begin with the phrase “blessed are” In the Greek, the word for blessed is Makarios which in the English is best understood as “fortunate, lucky, or happy” A modern day beginning to the beatitudes might sound like this “Happy is he who___” We will be looking at 1 beatitude a week, and we’ll examine what it says, we’ll see how Jesus lived this beatitude in his own life, and how we display this beatitude in our own lives. So let’s go ahead and read our first beatitude in Matthew 5:1-3, it reads like this.
READ Matthew 5:1-3
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the 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.
When Jesus sits down and begins teaching, his first beatitude says “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for there is the kingdom of heaven. This would have immediately gotten the attention of those listening, they wouldn’t have heard anybody teach like this before. The most prominent and affluent group in the Jewish culture during the days of Jesus were the Pharisees. The Pharisees taught their righteousness makes them right with God, and the people’s righteousness is what makes them right with God. Jesus comes along and teaches something completely different. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This is completely different from teaching that you are blessed by your own righteousness. This is the complete opposite of what the Pharisees would have taught.
Remember what the purpose of the sermon on the mount is, what is the goal of Jesus? To prepare the hearts of the people to receive the gospel message. Which means he had to cut through and dispel all the incorrect teaching the people had been taught. False teaching such as you have to create your own righteousness.
What does being poor in spirit mean?Being poor in spirit doesn’t mean hating yourself or feeling as if you have no value. Nor does this imply that a person’s faith should be weak or have a sense of false humility. This idea of being poor in spirit can be found in the O.T. Psalm 34:6 says
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.
Those are the words of David in this Psalm. Proverbs 16:19 says this
It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.
There are multiple ways one can define the word “poor” including “being dependent upon charity or public support.” Bearing this in mind, being poor in spirit means you are dependent upon someone else for spiritual fulfillment. Being poor in spirit is the recognition of your own spiritual bankruptcy. Remember, I said my goal with the beatitudes was to show how Christ lived this beatitude in his own life. However that is not possible with “being poor in the spirit” why? Because Jesus is not poor in spirit. Christ is rich with righteousness. Christ is the source of our spiritual fulfillment, and the source of our righteousness. Since we cannot find an example of Christ realizing he was poor in spirit, I encourage us to turn to 2nd Corinthians 7, in this passage the Church of Corinth realizes they are poor in spirit.
Admitting spiritual poverty. (READ 2nd Corinthians 7:8-13
For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter. So although I wrote to you, it was not for the sake of the one who did the wrong, nor for the sake of the one who suffered the wrong, but in order that your earnestness for us might be revealed to you in the sight of God. Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.
In this passage Paul is rejoicing because the Church of Corinth finally realizes their spiritual bankruptcy. If you read 1st Corinthians, you’ll see Paul addressing all types of sin the Church of Corinth was committing. There was prostitution in the church, there are orgies, their idea of taking communion was getting drunk on the communion wine. The Church finally realizes their sin, they realize they are poor in spirit. Paul calls this recognition “Godly sorrow.''Paul says this Godly sorrow made people more earnest, a readiness to see justice done, and an eagerness to remove indignation. Most importantly Paul says this Godly sorrow brings repentance which leads to salvation and leaves no regret. Commentator Mark Moore explains being poor in spirit as this “In short, no one can participate in the kingdom who has not recognized their own desperate need for God, and their inability to meet that need.
INVITATION