Blessed are those who are needy
Notes
Transcript
What do I want them to know? Blessed are those who are needy (poor in Spirit)
Why? This is spirit inherits the kingdom of God
What do I want them to do? Be needy (be poor in Spirit)
Why? This is spirit inherits the kingdom of God
ME/WE
When you belong to a group, a band, a club there are markers, signs, indicators that your belong to that group.
If you’re for example apart of a band there are going to markers and indicators that you are apart of the band.
One of those markers is going to be that you sing or you can play an instrument, not just own an instrument like a I own 2 guitars but that does not mean I am apart of a band.
We are going to need another marker or indicator....what is that marker or indicator going to need to be? you are going to need to have visual or audio evidence of me playing in a band.
We also see this this more vividly this week if you live in Cleveland from a group that calls themselves Browns Fans.
We say this past Sunday on full display as the Browns beat the Stinkers on Sunday
People gave makers and sings they were team Browns by lighting off fireworks on Sunday night
Other signs and markers people gave off is by wearing Browns apparel.
Other signs and markers people gave off is in social media or in phone call and text messages.
They are signs, markers, indicators that indicate, tell people that you are apart of a certain group.
TENSION
With this being the case, “What are the signs, markers, indicators that for the group that are called Christians?”
How can people identify, see, who are Christians in this world?
What’s there sign, indicator, or mark they leave?
How would someone know that we are a Christ follower?
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
ALIEN AND STRANGERS
Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.
That is what we are going to dig into over the next several weeks…and what we are going to discover is that that those who are apart of the Kingdom of God, a follower of Christ live in an upside down kingdom.... often you hear Jesus say, the world says this to live this way and God says to live this way...
We are going to to learn this in Jesus first sermon called the sermon on the mount
It the first public recorded sermon we have by Jesus and He is going to lay out what it people of the God look like, the indicator, and signs.
Before we get there lets remember where we are at in the story of the Book of Matthew.
Context to the book of Matthew, before we get to chapter 1, it is written at a time when the nation of Israel is oppressed by Rome (they live in a occupied nation), hurting, on the verge of being wiped out.
Matthew chpt 1 opens up with a God sending a righteous redeemer to deliver them....deliver them from what?…their greatest enemy SIN that brought death and shame
Jesus is then baptized on our behalf
Immediately led into the desert where he defeats the enemy
He then calls His disciples to follow Him
He goes on top of a mount to deliver the first sermon that lays out what it means to live like a Christ follower
What does this story remind you of?
Who faced dark times of slavery and injustice “nation of Israel 2000 years before Jesus where enslaved by Egypt”
What does God do? he raises up a righteous redeemer who delivers them
Who then are baptized into the Red Sea
Enter the wilderness, but do they defeat the devil? NO they give into their temptation
He then calls them to follow God into the Promise Land, but what do they do? They say we want to go to BACK to EGYPT
Then Moses go to on top of Mt. Sinia to give the nation of Israel who was under oppression and slavery, under a different rule, the way to live as people who are followers of God…by giving the ten commands
Do you see what is going on here? Jesus is ingratiating the second greater Exodus from SIN that brought death and shame.
WHO IS Jesus preaching to?
The Galilee of the Nations
“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—
the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”
Jesus is beginning His movement in the Northern Israel where there is a mixture of Israelites and the nations....
A place that is full of common folks, fisherman and carpenters, and shepherds....not the religious elites, the Pharisees, Priests, and Sadducess…the pastors and elders of the day.
Jesus starts the movement of God with common folk like you and me.....
WHAT IS THE FIRST THING THAT JESUS SAYS TO THIS GROUP? He starts off giving 8 simple phrases…know as the BEATTITUDES.....and today we are going to cover 1 of them, the first one…and what does Jesus say
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
What does it mean to be poor in spirit?
Does it mean financially poor as some people have interpreted? God will bless those have no money so what we need to do is be people who are poor and the rich are the ones who will not get blessed..... NO
Let’s think about this....Can you can be poor and far from God? YES
Also the text says poor in Spirit not in wealth
What does it mean to be poor in Spirit?
Let’s look at a parable Jesus told in Luke 18 to help clarify
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:
Jesus gives this parable to a group of people who believed they were righteous, believed they were living the right way....
2 wrongs things here
They trusted themselves, depended upon themselves, NOT God to declare or decide if they are rightous....”I’ve look at my ow scales and yep I am righteous....and this was the problem with the majority of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day....they could not live up to God’s standard so they lower the standard so that they could somewhat meet it, at least better some others. Which is making yourself God.
And we will see any time you JUDGE for you righteousness, become self-righteous, it leads to NO RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR ANYONE....and damaging to everyone including yourself
Plus they had their own version of the beattitudes they were following that was giving by
Ben Sira,
There are nine who come to mind as blessed,
a tenth whom my tongue proclaims:*
Blessed is the man who finds joy in his children,
blessed is the one who lives to see the downfall of his enemies.
8
Blesses is the man who lives with a sensible woman,
Blessed is the one who does not plow with an ox and a donkey combined.*
Blessed the one who does not sin with the tongue,
Blessed is the one who does not serve an inferior.
9
Blessed is the one who finds a friend,
Blessed is the one who speaks to attentive ears.
blessed is the one who is important than when they speak people will want to listen to them
10
Blessed is the one who finds wisdom,
but none is greater than the one who fears the Lord.
11
Fear of the Lord surpasses all else.
To whom can we compare the one who has it?†
Some of these we say we agree with and others we say “what!?!”....and that is the Pharisees way
2. They also had contempt for those who were not living up to GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS? NO THEIR SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS ....and they looked down on others.
What does John 3:16-17 say?
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
This is not good, this is not being poor in spirit, but pride in spirit....and Jesus wants to show thing the errors of their ways and the beauty of the kingdom of God…THEY ARE NOT GETTING THE KINGDOM OF GOD BUT THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS, that unleashes darkness to others.
Parable you are going to relate to, and personally relate to the first person in the parable.
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
The Pharisees is saying God, look at how great I am, look at how awesome I am.....I am the one of the most amazing people in all the world…I have arrived, you should be proud of me God....those around Jesus would see that Jesus is talking about them....what’s wrong with that… again puffed up with pride.
Jesus knows PUFFED UP WITH PRIDE is NOT POOR IN SPIRIT then continues and says let’s look at the tax collector....tax collectors where considered the worst of the worst because they were extortionists…how there job worked is they had to gather a certain amount of taxes for Rome and then how they were paid is by adding onto the tax.
- If you owed $5 they would charge you $7 to get $2 for themselves but the could also change you $10 and you had to pay it.
AND WHAT MADE IT WORSE WAS THE TAX COLLECTORS WHERE PEOPLE FROM THEIR OWN FAMILY OR NATION....they were extorting their own people....
CAN YOU IMAGE YOUR OWN BROTHER COMING TO YOU AND SAYING YOU OWE THE IRS $500 with $250 going to the IRS and $250 to him....and nothing could stop these folks, except God changing their heart, they had the government behind them.
How does this TAX COLLECTOR APPROACH GOD? PUFFED UP WITH PRIDE? NO…He knows he’s messed up.
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
God I need you, I am lost without you! I am a sinner! I have messed up.
He says I have nothing but you God as my hope.
That’s what it means to be poor in Spirit
What does Jesus say about the tax collector?
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
God says those who humble themselves, who say I am nothing without you God, I need you God, “that’s poor in Spirit” those people will be exalted…to those people is the kingdom of heaven.
Not those who think they have it figured out....
John Piper
At the end of my talk one of the students asked a very common question. He said, “Isn’t Christianity a crutch for people who can’t make it on their own?”
My answer was very simple. I said, “Yes.” Period.1
Here’s why the kingdom of God is so upside down....because as you grow older in most other areas of life you become more independent, not dependent
As a child your are dependent upon someone to feed you and change your diapers
As you get older you learn to feed yourself and changer yourself
As you continue on you get a job, vocation, or married and you learn how to provide for yourself
YOU BECOME MORE AND MORE INDEPENDENT
BUT IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD it is the opposite it is an upside down kingdom.
As you follow Jesus, live into the kingdom of God you become more and more dependent upon God....you become more needy, we don’t like that word, we want to be independent.
More dependent upon Him
God I need you in my marriage
God I need you at my work today
God I need you to help me walk faithful
God I need you to help me raise my children
God I need you in America right not
I NEED THEE
I need thee, oh, I need thee;
Ev’ry hour I need thee!
Oh, bless me now, my Savior;
I come to thee!
Those in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11
Moses…He meet with God so much that the GLORY OF GOD show brightly on his face that people could not look at Moses
David: the Psalms are full of David saying God I need you
Paul
Romans 7:24
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
1 Tim 1:15
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
What God says those who are poor in Spirit…to them is the kingdom of God.
Those who are humble I will lift up
This is also upside, we are told, make a name for yourself, blaze your own trial, write your own story.... you want to know what is also upside down....those who humble themselves God lifts up....
People in the kingdom of God never sought fame, thought sought God, poor in SPIRIT
Moses
Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.
Esther never sought fame, Mother Teresa never sought fame…just being poor in Spirit.
YOU
HOW ARE YOU DOING? Have been needy? Or have been trusting in yourself?