“Blessed are the Spiritual Beggars”

THE BEATITUDES: How to Be Truly Blessed Sermon Series

“Blessed are the Spiritual Beggars”

KEY PASSAGE: Matthew 5:3 (NASB)

Thank you, Worship Team for the total praise in the house of God. And so, Father God, today we are reminded again and again about Your blessings upon every one of us gathered here today. Psalm 100 verse 5 says, “For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.” This verse reminds us that the Lord can be trusted from generation to generation. And so, as we continue with our Sunday Worship Service, our prayer is for You to give us ears to hear what the Spirit says to the church, and we will give You the glory, honor, and praise in the name of Jesus. Amen. You may have your seat.

TITHE and OFFERING

Giving to God is also part of the Sunday Worship experience. This church depends on your tithes and offerings to do God’s work and keep the church operational. Paying our tithes and offerings is an essential principle for Christians to follow and practice. I want to encourage our church to be faithful to God in our giving because it demonstrates that we are good stewards. There are many other areas where we honor God in our faithfulness, and paying our tithes and offerings is one of those areas. It tells God that we belong to Him first and foremost. So, thank you for obeying God’s command in tithe and offering. Users, please pass around the offering plates. Please follow the instructions on the screen on how to give. Worship band, please lead us in worship as we collect our tithe and offering.

WELCOME

Welcome to our Sunday Worship Service. We are glad to have you with us today. Please find some folks around you, greet them in the Lord, and tell them Jesus loves you. Our first visitors, please stand so we can see you. We also welcome all who join us online. Let's clap for our online viewers.

ANNOUNCEMENT

· Women’s Night is on Saturday, September 14th, at 6:00 p.m.

· The Church Leadership Meeting is on Saturday, September 21st, at noon.

· Night of Worship Service is on Friday, September 27th, at 6:00 p.m. Please join us for a night of Praise and Worship. These are times when we gather as a church and have extended times of music, singing, prayer, testimonies, and praise. There is no sermon or teaching time.

· Men’s Breakfast is on Saturday, September 28th, at 10:00 a.m.

· Marriage Checkup Workshop on Friday, October 25th, at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, October 26th, at 9:00 a.m. Please be sure to sign up for the marriage workshop.

· Wednesday Night Bible Study Connect is at 7:00 p.m. Please join us on Wednesday night to STUDY THE WORD OF GOD.

· Also, our church corporate weekly prayer meeting is every Saturday at 8:00 a.m.

· If you want to join the church, please talk to Farai and Paula about the new member class.

· Please fill out the sermon survey sheet and return it to the usher and media team.

· All the church events and activities are posted on the church App and website.

PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION

Let us pray. Holy Father, we pray today that You will open our eyes and help us see more completely the evidence of Your grace toward us. Help us to recognize that every day is a blessing and a gift from You. Please help us to accept this honor of worship as a divine appointment. Give us the faith we need to experience the living presence of Christ in this church. As we give to You our tithes and offerings, help us to place them in the hands of Him who gave Himself for us on the cross. In His precious name, we pray. Amen.

DECLARATION of FAITH in GOD

Let us stand and say the Declaration of Faith in God together.

SERMON INTRODUCTION

If you were to go and visit [the] Universal Studios in Florida or California, they would take you across in their Universal Studios Lot. In these movie lots, you will discover and see cities, western cities, and modern-day cities where films are produced. As you drive through these movie lots, the tour guide or host will explain that what you are looking at is a façade [far-sad], or if you will, the face of the building. That is, where the external looks like a real town or a city; if you were to go to the other side of the building, there would be nothing there because a facade is an outward appearance that is false and gives you a wrong impression about someone or something.

In other words, there is no reality behind what you see. It looks good, but there is nothing else there to see. It is to create an impression of a town or a city to film a movie, [it is] called a movie façade. Unfortunately, today, much of what goes under the listing of a blessing is a façade because there is nothing on the other side of it. We explained to you last week that far too many folks today have misunderstood what a blessing is because [Watch This] they define blessing by the stuff you see and not the state you are in.

To recap [recapitulate] what we said about blessing. We define blessing as a state of well-being, where the kingdom follower of Christ gets to enjoy and extend the goodness of God in their lives. You are blessed, not because you have stuff. We also explained to the church that if stuff were the definition of a blessing, then the devil is the most blessed being or person in the world because he has more stuff than everybody. He owns the kingdoms of this world.

So, stuff [in and of itself] does not automatically equal a blessing, and all of us know people who have stuff [but] they are unhappy [miserable]. So, blessing is more than stuff; it starts by being in a state. We talked about the blessed island where everything was self-contained and self-sustained. So, stuff, as it relates to a new car, [new] house, [new] job, [new] money, and all that, is nice to have, but it is extra; it is a bonus.

Last week, we asked the question, what good is having the stuff of a new house if when you go there, it is not much of a home? It is not a pleasant environment because there is no peace of mind. You got stuff, but the state in it is not a state of well-being.

God wants you to be blessed, and our sermon series is titled “How to Be Truly Blessed.” That is from the inside out and not just from what you have or see on the outside. The Beatitudes, the state of blissfulness, are God’s explanation of how to be truly blessed. Jesus, as He does in each of His teachings, gave His disciples His principles and precepts for living Kingdom of God. If you walk through these eight beatitudes, you will understand how to be truly blessed. Jesus is saying if you live by these standards [if you live by these spiritual principles and instructions], you will know what it means to be truly blessed.

SERMON EXPOSITION

Today, we will examine the first beatitude. Last week, we summarized the concept of blessing. The first beatitude in Matthew 5 verse 3 says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” I want to read this verse from the New Living Translation: “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for Him.” If truth be told, nobody in their right mind likes being poor. Nobody wants to be poor. If you love being poor, you have a problem. Alright. You have a problem if you love being poor.

Many of us grew up poor, with little in the physical realm. I remember growing up and not having much to eat during the day. Folks know what it means to be poor. And I am sure if you were poor, you wanted something better [a better life and a better future]. You wanted something better, and many of us, if not all of us, have been able to raise our children with the progress of education and the prospect of something better.

So, if that is you, if things are better for you now than they were for your mother, father, grandmother, and grandfather in terms of not having to walk, you can drive a car now. You have a two-car garage, [you] live in your dream house, and you do not have to rent an apartment. You also have a salary-level job above the minimum wage many parents had to live on. And so what you have going on is a good thing because that makes life more comfortable on earth when you are not embellished in poverty [hardship].

Other folks are so glad and thankful not to be poor that they don’t even know how to spell ‘poor.’ When we look at poor people, we feel sorry for them because we are so far removed mentally from wanting to identify with them. Well, that may be great for your life on earth. But when it comes to being blessed according to Jesus, Jesus knows what He is talking about. Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor …” but please notice He says, “… in spirit.” In this verse, Jesus Christ here pronounces a blessing on poverty, but the poverty He is pronouncing a blessing on is spiritual poverty.

Many of God’s servants in the Bible were rich; according to today’s standards for measuring wealth, they would be called multimillionaires. Abraham would have fit into that group of multimillionaires. David would fit into that group as well. Job was a very wealthy man, and there was one mega-billionaire in there, and that would be Solomon.

So, God had no problem giving His people “stuff,” but He does have a problem using stuff to measure one’s spiritual status and success. . To think that because I have a nice car, I and God must be close. Just because I am wearing nice clothes, working a better job, making more money, and having some power and success, as men would call it, God must be on my side.

You could be very successful in the physical realm and be God’s worst enemy [at the same time]. He says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”The Greek word here for poor is the word that referred to a beggar in New Testament times. It is like in Luke 16 when the beggar went to the rich man and ate from the crumbs that fell from his table; it was a man who was or a woman who was destitute. That is the word poor. Poor refers to folks who acknowledge they are weak and rely on God’s power [omnipotence]. They were so destitute that they could not take care of themselves. They were beggars.

To be poor in spirit means that you have full recognition in the inner man of your complete inability to meet and address your own spiritual needs. [Watch This Now] To be poor in spirit means that I do not possess in my human capacity the ability to live life as life was meant to be lived by the Creator. It is the cry of a desperate man or a desperate woman who cannot meet their own spiritual needs or to put in the words of Jesus in John 15 verse 5, “Without me, you can do …” “… nothing.” He was saying that when it comes to living life as it was meant to be lived, when it comes to your spiritual foundation and orientation, as it applies to living life without me, you are going to be hungry.

When you, in your independence, humanity, self-confidence, and pride, [able to ] live life in your way, you have just lost the blessing. I don’t care how much stuff you have. I don’t care how much stuff you have acquired. You have lost the blessing.

SERMON ILLUSTRATION

In the second half of Revelation 3, the Bible mentions a church at Laodicea. Let me tell you about the church at Laodicea. Laodicea was a very wealthy church, and the city of Laodicea was known for three things. First, it was known for its finance industry and its banking industry. Second, it was also known for its fashion industry. In New York, you would call it the "fashion district," where they made fancy clothes.

The folks at Laodicea church wore very expensive clothes. Not only was Laodicea known for its financial and fashion district, but the city of Laodicea was also known as a pharmaceutical district. It was known for its medical industry for eye diseases. Laodicea was a wealthy place to live, work, and raise a family. Laodicea was the place to go, and it was where the crème de la crème went to church.

Jesus Christ did a spiritual analysis and evaluation of Laodicea Church as members drove their expensive Mercedes chariots to the church. The church had VIP parking, a beautiful interior and exterior design, and all kinds of programs and activities going on at this church. In Revelation 3:15, Jesus delivered a message through the pastor of this church. He said, “I wish you were hot, or I wish you were cold.” To paraphrase, “I wish you were hot coffee or cold iced tea.”

He says, “You are lukewarm.” Jesus addresses the problem of lukewarmness at Laodicea Church. He says, “You are lukewarm.” Jesus says of this church that was externally blessed with all the stuff, “You make me want to throw up.” He says, “I want to spew you out of my mouth.” The phrase “to spew out of the mouth” means to vomit. Jesus says of Laodicea Church, "[Y'all] makes me sick.”

He says, “I look at your church service, congregation, wealth, cars, and houses. I look at all this stuff that you would say you have been blessed with, and every time you come to church, you all make me want to vomit.” So, it is possible to be a church that makes Jesus sick and wants to throw up. And having a lot of stuff doesn’t equal to being blessed. Jesus didn’t even go to Laodicea Church because He said, “I stand at the door and knock, hoping somebody would open the church for me.” [Watch This] Jesus is at the door of Laodicea Church, and He knocks on the door. What does that mean? They are having church, they are waving their hands, they are singing songs, they are shouting, and they are dancing, and Jesus is not even inside the building.

So, just because you are having church on Sunday, and the inside looks beautiful with stuff, it doesn't mean that Jesus is in the sanctuary. Lukewarmness keeps Jesus out of the sanctuary because they have defined being okay with God by the amount of stuff they have acquired. There is nothing wrong with having stuff. God promises to bless us with stuff, but stuff is supposed to be the bonus [the extra] and not the essence. The Church at Laodicea said, “I am rich and [have] need of nothing.” And the words of Jesus to them were, “And you don’t know that you are poor and blind and naked.” You think you are rich, but you are poor. [You see], it is bad to be poor, but Jesus says, “You don't know how poor you are.” Jesus says you allowed the physical to erase the spiritual. And so because you don't see things from my perspective, you don't see things correctly. Jesus said, “You are blind, naked, and poor.”

To be poor in spirit means to declare spiritual bankruptcy. And when do you declare bankruptcy? That means you can’t pay for what you owe the bank or the credit company. Folks file for Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy when there is no way to meet their financial obligations.

SERMON EXPLANATION

What happens when you are poor in spirit? Jesus says, “Theirs is the kingdom of God.”Or the Kingdom of Heaven. Now, the Bible talks about the kingdom in two ways. The first is the Kingdom of God, which deals with the head of the kingdom: Jesus, He is the king.

Then, it says the Kingdom of Heaven deals with the location and the spiritual realm. He says, “Theirs is the Kingdom of God.”[Watch This] Only the poor in spirit get to experience the Kingdom of Heaven. And if you are not poor in spirit because you are rich in your self-confidence and self-independence. Guess what? You don’t get to experience the Kingdom of Heaven because it belongs to folks who are poor in spirit.

The Kingdom of Heaven belongs to folks who are spiritually bankrupt. To folks who are at the bottom of the spiritual barrel. To people like Zacchaeus and the woman at the well. And for a person to experience the Kingdom of God while they live here on earth, they must joyfully accept God’s rule and participate in the life of the kingdom. He says if you are poor in spirit, watch this now, and guess what you get. You get heaven being in charge of Earth. You get the kingdom, rule, or authority of heaven while you are on earth. Don’t miss that. What you get if you are poor in spirit is seeing the rule of God operating in your life where you experience heaven on earth.. Let me say it another way. You get the experience of seeing what it looks like and feels like to be an overcomer.

Watch this: Jesus says in John 16:33, “In this world you will have tribulation.” In this world, bad days are going to come. But then Jesus makes a strange statement at the end of the verse. He says, “But be of good cheer …” Smile anyway, laugh anyway because “… I have overcome the world.” How did you overcome the world? Because I am operating from a different kingdom. Jesus says you can be an overcomer because I am an overcomer. So, if you are poor in spirit, you get His overcoming, which is the Kingdom of Heaven operating in your life. Jesus says, “In this world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer because I have overcome the world. I will share my overcoming with you, or you will experience the Kingdom of Heaven. You will see heaven overruling earth.”

Jesus says if you become poor in spirit, which means you can’t be rich in pride and self-sufficiency, you will see the earth being controlled by heaven. The problem with the Earth is that it is not interested in fixing itself [because] it can’t overcome itself because it is the Earth. Heaven must override the Earth, and that is God’s overruling access.

Earth has said you are defeated, will be miserable for the rest of your life, and have no hope. Earth has said you are going to be depressed for the rest of your life. Earth has said there is no future for you, and then you watch God drop heaven in there for you and mess up the earth. You get to see that not because you are a good Christian. No. You get to see this because you are a Christian, poor in spirit, and not depending on your [self-independence] self-sufficiency.

God must create situations in our lives to wean us from our self-sufficiency and self-dependency like a baby must be weaned from the bottle or his mother’s milk. In Psalm 131, verse 2, David says, “I had to be weaned from me.” One who is poor in spirit loses a sense of self. Self is gone; all you think about is God and His glory. You are weaned from self. In Philippians 1:21, Paul says, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” In Galatians 2:20, Paul says again, “I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” It is no longer my ability and my self-sufficiency.

Psalm 34:18 put it this way: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, God, You will not despise.”

These verses remind us that God identifies with people who beg on the inside—not folks who are self-sufficient, not people who can work out their salvation, not people who believe in their resources because they have too much stuff, but those who are destitute and desperately need a Savior. To be poor in spirit doesn’t mean you lack excitement and interest in life. It doesn’t mean you are lazy, quiet, indifferent, or passive. A poor-in-spirit individual has no sense of self-sufficiency and self-confidence. These are folks who have declared spiritual bankruptcy.

FAITH APPEAL, CALL to ACTION and ALTAR CALL

I want to conclude our sermon by leaving you with one final question. How do you know if you are poor in spirit? What is your response to this question? You know you are poor in spirit when you need to take or do an inventory of yourself. I am going to give you four spiritual principles. Number one: You will be lost in the wonder of Christ. You will be in 2 Corinthians 3:18, gazing at His glory. The second truth is that you will never complain about your situation if your spirit is poor. You will be weaned from yourself and lost in the wonder of Christ, and you will never complain about your situation because the deeper you get, the sweeter the grace of God.

The third truth is that you will spend much time in prayer. Why? Because a beggar is always begging. He knocks often at heaven’s gate and doesn’t let go until he is blessed. Lastly, you will praise God for His grace when you are poor in spirit. If ever there is a characteristic of someone poor in spirit, it is overwhelming gratitude to God. Why? Because every single thing you have is a gift from God. And so, in 1 Timothy 1:14, the beloved apostle Paul says, “The grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant to us.” Those who are poor in spirit are filled with thanks. Let’s wean ourselves from ourselves, lose ourselves in the wonder of Christ, stop complaining about our situation, spend much time in prayer, take Christ on His terms, and thank God for everything. I wonder if [we have] any beggars in the church today who are willing and ready to be poor in spirit so you can be rich in faith and experience the Kingdom of God in your life. Don’t be too cute to beg. Don’t be too proud to beg because God only responds to those who are spiritual beggars. God bless you.

Let’s stand on our feet. With your head bowed right now, it is okay to become a beggar in the spirit. This is a way to declare your lack of abundance and spiritual bankruptcy to God. I can’t make life work because this is too much for me. I can’t make life work as You designed it to work without You and Your way of doing it. And I am not too proud to beg. I submit to God right now. Do your work in me. Somebody here may want to respond and say, “Yes,” I am humbling myself to God. I am coming to Christ and want to submit my life to Christ. Quickly come up if that is you. Let’s honor this movement and give folks who need to respond a chance.

BENEDICTION

Let’s pray. Lord, help us to know that, as Paul said, whatever we are is by Your grace and nothing more. Oh, God, help us know that we exist in Your kingdom only by Your grace. Many Christians today are actually very poor in spirit. We are spiritually bankrupt, but we have something to give that is more valuable than silver and gold. And so, Father God, may you remind us that we are rich because of the spiritual riches available to everyone who belongs to Christ. We can do nothing, and may Your Holy Spirit help us be honest with ourselves, know ourselves, accept ourselves, and try to be ourselves to the glory of God. Wean us from ourselves, lose us in the wonders of Christ so that we are possessors of Your kingdom. May we be so different from the world that it is obvious that we belong to You and [we] are blessed. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.

God bless you. We will see you next week at 10:30 a.m.