Blessed Poverty

Intro

Illustration: Thief Changing Tags

The Pursuit of Happiness - Founding Fathers

  -Have you met someone inconsistent? Is your joy contingent?

  -Ecclesiastes 2

-Illustration: Colorblind Glasses

  -So Jesus, our Creator, stands before us and says, "If you truly want to be happy, if you want to be blessed these are the very steps in the pursuit of happiness."

Possessing Poverty

-Illustration: Paul Washer

1.) What It Isn't

   a.) Being Poor In Pocketbook

   b.) Being Poor In Personality

   c.) Being Poor In Popularity 

2.) What It Is (Romans 3:9-13 & 19-20)

-Illustration: Old man checking accounts

   a.) (v10-11) All unrighteous, all misunderstand, all unable to seek.

   b.) (v12) All gone - Ekklino - a deserting soldier, or one who avoids prickly thorns.

     b1.) Unprofitable - unservicable, unsalvagable. Rotten fruit. 

   c.) (v13) Open Sepulchre (Open grave) and deceit (bait a hook)

  -As we go back to Matthew 5:3 we find the word "ptochos" which means a thred bearer, a beggar, one who is broke, one who trembles. It is a hopeless man.

A Precious Truth

-If you want to be happy today you must be a kingdom heir and you'll never be a kingdom heir until we find ourselves poor and it is when the Holy Ghost shows us that truth that all we can do is mourn! And it is in that mourning that there is comfort! 

  -So this evening you may feel broken, you may feel dirty, you may feel consumed in sin and if that's your case I want to say "GOOD!" Because that is not the work of our musicians, that is not the work of some illustration or some emotionalistic pull but it is the work of the Holy Ghost! And in the middle of your condemnation I'm glad to tell you there is a cross! 

  -Romans 5:8 says "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."

  -I'm glad to tell you this that you must quit working for grace, you must quit running to fun joy, you must quit trusting your work and your own self righteousness and if you realize that you are poor I'm so glad to tell you that 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 says, "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:" 

  So will you come?