Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

My name is Adam, I’m the pastor here at Abide church.

I’m also a professor in here at CBC.

I teach Accounting and Economics courses.

If you’re new, I want to thank you for visiting us and tell you that we’re really glad you’re here.

Baggage… I’ve got baggage… But Jesus has made his followers family and I want to invite you into this family.

Today we are starting a sermon series on “How To Be Happy.”

One of Satan’s biggest lies is that you must choose between submitting to God and happiness.

What is a beatitude?

Derived from a Latin word that means happiness or bliss.

What does it mean to be blessed?

It means to be happy or to be fortunate.

Plain and simple.

STORY ABOUT DANIEL’S ROOMMATE (Need for speed)

(I’m so happy slide)

Truly, what will ultimately provide happiness?

Earthly things cannot produce eternal happiness, and most of the time won’t provide earthly happiness...

The blessing of God can never be taken from you.

God created you; he designed you; he knows what will bring you true and lasting happiness.

Trust him.

Blessedness is a characteristic of God, and it can be a characteristic of men only as they share in the nature of God.

There is no blessedness, no perfect contentedness and joy of the sort of which Jesus speaks here, except that which comes from a personal relationship to Him, through whose “magnificent promises” we “become partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pet.

1:4).

4 Perspectives on “Poor in spirit”

The meaning

The location

The achieving

The result

The meaning of “poor in spirit”

[NO SLIDES]

Ptōchos (poor) is from a verb meaning “to shrink, cower, or cringe,” as beggars often did in that day.

Classical Greek used the word to refer to a person reduced to total destitution, who crouched in a corner begging.

As he held out one hand for alms he often hid his face with the other hand, because he was ashamed of being recognized.

The term did not mean simply poor, but begging poor.

It is used in Luke 16:20 to describe the beggar Lazarus.

There is a different word that is used for poor in the new testament....

That is the point of the first beatitude.

The poor in spirit are those who recognize their total spiritual destitution and their complete dependence on God.

They perceive that there are no saving resources in themselves and that they can only beg for mercy and grace.

They know they have no spiritual merit, and they know they can earn no spiritual reward.

Their pride is gone, their self-assurance is gone, and they stand empty-handed before God.

Mention our liturgy...

The location of “poor in spirit”

Carly story

I don’t know everything.

I can’t make it on my own.

I am not a good person.

Yet in the church today there is little emphasis on humility, little mention of self-emptying.

We see many Christian books on how to be happy, how to be successful, how to overcome problems, and on and on.

But we see very few books on how to empty ourselves, how to deny ourselves, and how to take up our crosses and follow Jesus—in the way that He tells us to follow Him.

Until a soul is humbled, until the inner person is poor in spirit, Christ can never become dear, because He is obscured by self.

Until one knows how helpless, worthless, and sinful he is in himself, he can never see how mighty, worthy, and glorious Christ is in Himself.

Until one sees how doomed he is, he cannot see what a Redeemer the Lord is.

Until one sees his own poverty he cannot see God’s riches.

Only when one admits to his own deadness can Christ give him His life.

“Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord” (Prov.

16:5).

Being “poor in spirit” is the first beatitude because humility must precede everything else.

You cannot receive the kingdom until you recognize you are unworthy of the kingdom.

The achieving of “poor in spirit”

In one sense you’ve already “achieved” being “poor in spirit.”

At this point, it’s more about acknowledgement.

You don’t have to put yourself down, you already are down.

You don’t become humble by looking at yourself, but by looking at Jesus

Does spiritual reality match spiritual perception?

When you’re counting on your righteousness to be close to God, you always end up viewing others with contempt, and putting others down.

And the reason is that when you count on your own righteousness to be close to God, you can never compare yourself to God’s standard.

“Be holy as I am holy.”

So you compare yourself to others.

The attitude is directly opposite of “poor in spirit”

How do you know when your attitude is one that is “poor in spirit?”

Because it changes everything.

The way you view yourself

The way you view others

The way you view God

And these changes in perception change your behaviors

And these changes in perception change your happiness

The result of being “poor in spirit”

Bonus content:

Some of us have been Christians for a long time...

The moment you stop believing you are “poor in spirit” is the moment you’ve taken your eyes off Jesus.

[Communion]