Poor in Spirit

Intro

Matthew 5:3 NASB95

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

Years ago, Dr. H. A. Ironside, who was pastor of the prestigious Moody Church in downtown Chicago, felt that he was not as humble as he should have been. So he asked an older friend what he could do about it. The friend suggested, “Make a sandwich board with the plan of salvation in Scripture on it. Put it on and walk through the business district of Chicago for a whole day.”

Ironside followed his friend’s humiliating advice. After he got home, as he took off the sandwich board he caught himself thinking, “There’s not another person in Chicago that would be willing to do a thing like that.”

One day a few thousand years a go, our Lord gave a Sermon we now call the sermon on the mount

Beatitudes

teachings are essential to growing in your faith, essential to thriving in your faith

They reflect our heart, and our attitude to life and spirituality

Poor in Spirit

Not financial

God is not requiring his children to be destitute

Not poor-spirited

whoah is me, I’m a terrible person, Life is horrible, down faced and dejected

One who recognized their need for a savior

I am a sinner

I am in need of God’s grace

I know I’m not perfect, but I serve the God who is.

Two types of Christians

Spiritually Arrogant and Spiritually Bankrupt

Spiritual Arrogance

Pharisees, Scribes, Corinthian Church

“At least I am not as bad as....”

Stop putting Sin into categories

All sin cost Jesus his life

from murder to gluttony

EVANGELICAL DICTIONARY OF THEOLOGY, Sin is “not so much the infringement of a moral code as the breaking of a covenantal relationship. Sin is an offence not so much against law as against love.”

a rebellion against the God of love who have everything to save you.

Isaiah 64:6 For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

Proverbs 16:5 Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.

1 Corinthians 4:7 For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

Paul tells us to remember where we came from so that we can show compassion and grace

and so we avoid the trap of Spiritual arrogance

Spiritually Bankrupt

Pastor Adrian Rogers used this term in his sermon of this text

Matthew 5:1–3 NASB95

When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Our human nature is made of body, soul, and spirit. With your body, you have physical life. With your soul, you have psychological life. And with your spirit, you’re to have spiritual life. With your body, you know the world beneath you. With your soul, you know the world around you. With your spirit, you know the world above you, the spiritual world.1

1 Adrian Rogers, “When Bankruptcy Becomes a Blessing,” in Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017), Mt 5:1–9.

We must understand that when we came to know Christ we were poor in our understanding of the Spiritual world

he had humility. We have realized that we have sinned against God and only He can save us

“poor” means to cower, to shrink back, to be a beggar

Romans 12:3 For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

our sound judgment shows us we need God, not just to attain salvation but for life itself

Adrian Rogers said, “when he comes to God, he must say, “In my hand no price I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling.”

Stay Humble

Remember where you were rescued from

Remember how God revealed himself to you in a mighty way

Matthew 5:1–3 NASB95

When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

She was beautiful. She was charming. She was gifted. She was the talk of the town—a lovely, gracious, talented girl. She sat at the piano and played. The crowds came and they told her how sweet and how beautiful she was. But there was a preacher there that night. His name was Cesar Millán. And Cesar Millán approached this young lady and said, “You have charm, and you have grace, and you have beauty; but if you don’t get saved; if you don’t see your need and give your heart to Jesus Christ, you’re just as lost as the worst harlot in London.” She was insulted a little bit. She was shocked by the rudeness of this preacher. I think God the Holy Spirit knew what she needed, though, because she went up to her bedroom and tried to sleep. She tried to laugh it off. But she couldn’t laugh it off. And at three AM in the morning, Charlotte Elliott gave her heart to Jesus Christ and was born again. She was the one who wrote a song that we sing here so often: “Just as I am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, O lamb of God, I come, I come.” That’s the way she came.1

1 Adrian Rogers, “When Bankruptcy Becomes a Blessing,” in Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017), Mt 5:1–9.

Will you come?

do you know that God loves you?

so much that he gave his only Son for you?

your sin has kept you from the love he has for you

if you would accept his love, his gift of salvation and forgiveness through Jesus

then you will be restored to him.

He isn’t looking for arrogance, but humility

will you come?