The Poor in Spirit

Matthew 5:3

Recap the Sermon on the Mount.

Central verse

Matthew 5:13–16 ESV

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

We are called as individuals to be salt and light to the World. We are called to be enhancers of attributes of God to the world.

We are called to enhance the truths about God to the lost in the world by being physical representations of who God is to the world.

Spirit-filled believers are God’s chosen path to reveal Himself to the world.

I believe that the Sermon on the Mount teaches us to do that practically.

But the sermon begins with a list we call the Beatitudes.

It is a list of attitudes, or mindsets or heartset, that a Christ follower should begin with.

Before we can shine properly outward, we must allow the Spirit to do the work inwardly.

We talked about this last month, God cares more about the “why” then the “what” that we do.

So, these beatitudes are more about the “why’s” and the proper mindsets that we should have to be the salt and light of the earth.

So, let’s read our passage.

Matthew 5:3 ESV

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

First, I want to make sure that we understand what the verses is saying.

Blessed - An adjective describing a person as experiencing positive circumstances or a happy disposition.

Blessed describes a believer in the fortunate position for receiving God’s provision or favor, to extend His grace or benefits

Well, YES PLEASE!

We need to recognize this, each beatitude begins with this word.

And this word is saying that these beatitudes are conditional promises of God.

Do you want to be a person experiencing positive circumstances or having a positive disposition even during tough circumstances? Do you want to be in the fortunate position for receiving God’s favor or provision?

Then have these thing!

Okay! Got your attention!

Before we look at the phrase poor in spirit, let’s try to grasp the meaning of the kingdom of heaven because its important to our understanding of being poor in spirit.

Its important to know that the NT uses 2 different phrase to express the same thing.

The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God.

Matthew uses the phrase kingdom of heaven 32 times and he is the only writer in the NT to use the phrase.

The phrase kingdom of God is used 68 times in 10 different NT books.

So, kingdom of God is more widely used. Do we know that they mean the same thing?

I believe that they can be used interchangeably because Jesus used them both in a passage to describe the same thing.

In the story of the rich young ruler,

Matthew 19:23–24 ESV

And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven. 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.”

Jesus uses the two different phrases to describe the same destination.

Regardless of all of this, what is the kingdom?

Simply put, in my studies, I have come up with this definition,

The kingdom of heaven, is a time and location in which the authority, power, and will of God is being manifested on Earth.

Men, pay attention. This is going to be important to what we have been talking about for the past 6 months in our men’s studies.

The kingdom of God was, it is, and it will be.

The kingdom was and began with Jesus’ first recorded words in His ministry.

Mark 1:14–15 ESV

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

The kingdom is here, it is currently at hand. It is right now.

When Jesus was in the flesh, He brought a time and location where the authority, power and will of God was manifested on Earth like never before. When He healed, when He cast out demons, when spoke and taught with authority. He was showing the world God’s authority, power and will.

So, the kingdom of heaven was.

Now, when Jesus was about to ascend to heaven, Matthew 28 and Acts 1 tell us that Jesus taught His disciples about the kingdom of God, according to Acts 1:3. And what does He tell them?

In Matthew, He tells them that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. And in previous chapters, Jesus gave His disciples authority. Authority.

And in Acts 1, He tells them that when the Spirit comes upon them that they will receive power! God’s power.

Back in Matthew, He tells them the Father’s will. That they would go to all nations making disciples, baptizing them, teaching them to obey. God’s will.

And that they will be witnesses to the world!

They will be the manifestation of the God’s authority, power and will to the Earth.

This is how the kingdom is. This is how the kingdom manifests currently. Through us, the disciples.

Men, when we step into submitting to Christ, His authority, power and will and exercise His authority, power and will in our areas of responsibility we will become kingdom men!

When Spirit-filled, Spirit-led Christians walk in Jesus’ authority, exercise the power of God through the gifts of the Spirit, and submit themselves to the will of God in their lives.

This is how the kingdom of heaven is now. It comes through us.

And the kingdom will be.

There is still the battle raging between the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. We play a role in that battle. This is why we are still here. To be used by the Lord to win this fight in our lives, in the lives of others and in our communities. Jesus has authority and has chosen it to be shown through us, for now.

Because one day, when Jesus returns the 2nd time, He will exercise FULLY the authority, power and will of God across the entire earth and the battle will be over. The conflict will be finished. The kingdom of God will be fully manifested here on Earth. And we who are found in Christ, will live eternally in the authority, power and will of God without conflict externally or internally. Peace will come.

Just to make sure I am clear. The kingdom of heaven was, is and will be. It was manifested in Jesus. It is manifested by the Spirit within us. And it will be manifested fully when Christ returns.

And the kingdom of God is the time and location in which the authority, power, and will of God is manifested on Earth.

So, coming back to the Beatitude, and honestly all throughout the sermon on the mount,

if you desire have a positive disposition or happy in circumstances, in a place to receive the favor of God in your life,

it can be found in times and places that the authority, power and will of God is made known in your life.

And that happens for people who have the mindset or heart-set of being poor in spirit.

Lexham Theological Wordbook πτωχός

πτωχός (ptōchos). adj. poor, destitute. Refers to being poor, especially so poor as to be dependent on others for support.

So, in our spirits, in the spiritual realm, we are poor, we are destitute, we are completely dependent on God for all things spiritual.

When it comes to spiritual matter, I bring nothing to the table. I have nothing to offer.

Martyn Llyod-Jones, one of the greatest preachers of the 20th century says this,

“It means an absence of pride, an absence of self-assurance, and of self-reliance. It means a consciousness that we are nothing compared to the presence of God. It is nothing then that we can produce; it is nothing that we can do ourselves. It is a tremendous awareness of our utter nothingness as we come face-to-face with God.”

Poor in spirit is an understanding, awareness and acceptance that compared to God we are nothing and without Him, we have nothing.

Paul hit this same nail on the head when he listed, in Philippians, all of the human reasons why he should have something to offer the Lord. He had plenty of reasons that he could have had confidence in himself or his accomplishments. Paul could have easily had seen that he had something good to offer to the Lord and his service.

But he says that he puts no confidence in the flesh.

Philippians 3:7–8 ESV

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Paul saw himself, his flesh, and all of his accomplishments as rubbish compared to Christ. He saw himself as spiritually poor.

Being poor in spirit is one of the central requirements throughout scripture for someone to be used by God!

We, literally, see this all throughout scripture. Are you ready to see it?

Moses at the burning bush, when he comes into the presence of God and is given a mission, he immediately thinks about his inability and how he is not eloquent and slow in speech and tongue and recognizes that in his flesh he can not do what the Lord is asking him on his own.

Gideon meets an angel of the Lord, who I believe is actually the Lord, and immediately recognizes his lack of personal qualifications, because he is of the weakest clan and the least in his father’s house.

David was ruddy, small and the youngest in his house. Not even to be considered as a possible candidate for the king. But the Lord does not look at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart and chooses him to be king, a man after God’s own heart.

David goes on to write Psalm 40:17

Psalm 40:17 (ESV)

As for me, I am poor and needy,

but the Lord takes thought for me.

You are my help and my deliverer;

do not delay, O my God!

and

Psalm 86:1 (ESV)

Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,

for I am poor and needy.

Isaiah comes before the throne of God and immediately thinks about his unworthiness. He says, “Woe is me! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” In his spirit, he is aware of his inability to stand before God in his flesh. Compared to God, he was nothing!

Isaiah goes on to write Isaiah 57:15

Isaiah 57:15 (ESV)

For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,

who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:

“I dwell in the high and holy place,

and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,

to revive the spirit of the lowly,

and to revive the heart of the contrite.

and

Isaiah 66:2 (ESV)

But this is the one to whom I will look:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word.

This is the spirit in Peter that caused him to fall on his knees and ask Jesus to depart from him because he was a sinful man. He has nothing to offer him.

Its John the Apostle in Revelation 1, falling at the feet of Jesus as if he was dead.

Can you see the common thread of people in the Bible looking at God or having an encounter with Jesus and immediately being hit with their lack, their personal inability?

I used to think that Moses and Gideon was showing a lack of faith but I now see that they were experiencing an understanding of compared to God how much they fall short and have nothing physically to offer the holy and perfect God.

Jesus modeled and taught this throughout His ministry as well.

Jesus said of Himself,

John 5:19 (ESV)

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.

John 5:30 ESV

“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

John 8:28 (ESV)

I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.

John 14:10 (ESV)

The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works.

Philippians 2 tells us the when Jesus took on flesh, He did not consider Himself equal to the Father anymore. He emptied Himself. Jesus became poor in spirit.

Jesus, in His teachings, taught us in a more simplier terms the same thing in Matthew 18 and John 15.

Matthew 18:1–4 ESV

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Can you see it?

Unless you understand and accept that you are totally dependent on your father and become like a child, you will not live under the kingdom of heaven, the authority, power and will of Jesus Christ.

When you live like an independent, “I can do it on my own” adult, you are not submitting to the rule of Jesus! You are not aware of your dependence on your Father. You are not coming to Him like a child.

and finally in John 15,

Jesus is giving the example of Himself being a vine and His Father being a vine dresser.

He says this, John 15:5

John 15:5 (ESV)

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

Jesus is saying, that you are a branch that is apart of the vine, now that you have been graphed in.

And a branch that is not dependent on and drawing all that it is from Jesus is not producing fruit.

Listen, apart from Jesus and the Holy Spirit within you, you can do nothing on your own. You are incapable. You have nothing to offer. Apart from God in you, you can not produce fruit.

You can not produce the fruit of salvation.

You can not produce the fruit of repentance.

You can not produce the fruit of righteousness.

You can not produce the fruit of the Spirit.

You can not produce the gifts of the Spirit.

Apart from the vine, you can do nothing.

Blessed are those, who are fully aware of and accept their inability to produce fruit in their lives, for they will enter into a time and place to allow the authority, power and rule of God in their lives. They will enter into the kingdom of heaven in their lives now!

Blessed are those who are stripped of pride, self-assurance and self-reliance because they will walk in their dependence on the Holy Spirit and not the flesh.

In closing, I know what you are asking. How can I make this happen in my life? How can I be poor in spirit? How can I produce this in my life?

If you are asking me those questions, then I’ll ask a question. How you been listening?!

You can’t! You are incapable of producing a spirit that is aware of how poor it is! If you could, then you could be proud that you produced it! That’s the opposite of what we have been talking about here! That’s the opposite of being poor in spirit!

Apart from the vine, you can do nothing!

In order for the Spirit to be able to produce this in your life, you must come face-to-face with Jesus like the rest of the people in the Bible that we talked about. You must come to know God and who He is to the point that see yourself in comparison to Him and fall on your face before Him in full awareness of your inability.

You must abide in the vine with all of your mind, heart and soul! Walking with Christ on you mind, in your heart and allowing Him to mold your soul, will begin to produce in you a dependence on the vine.

Romans 7 and 8 tell us the same thing.

Paul is a man struggling with the grips of his fleshly desires and he is asking for salvation from his wretched flesh. But he praises God that in Jesus Christ there is no longer condemnation for those in Christ!

He says that we have been set free from the law because Jesus fulfilled it!

He says that this is for those who walk not according to their flesh. And that is not just not sin, but in their fleshly ability, according to their strength, their might, their pride. In their Independence. That is the mindset of death!

He says that the mindset that leads to life and peace is one that walks by the Spirit. Walks dependent on God. That realizes that their flesh can not produce anything good in them but only through submission to the Spirit.

Church, I hope that you know that there is so much that the Lord wants to be able to do in your life. He wants to produce great fruit in you life. He wants to produce such peace in your life that people ask how you got your peace. He wants to produce such joy in your life that your light will shine in the world.

I know that they women’s bible study recently studied that Who I am in Christ list. It is important to remember that you are incapable of producing any of those truths in your life. Only Christ can produce the fruit of who you are in your life! So, abide in Him. Abide in those truths of who you are in Him.

Church, I believe this is the foundation of the rest of the Beatitudes and sermon on the mount. So, would you this week, run after the Lord will all that you have? Would you pursue knowing God as personally and intimately as possible? Would you put yourself in the position to allow Him to be everything for you?

I firmly believe that the more we look to God and who He is, it will produce in us a greater understanding of how little we have to offer Him and how hopeless we are in and of ourselves, and that will produce a poor spirit. And that, I believe, is fertile soil for the Lord to produce great fruit in your life and through your life.