Sound The Trumpet : Blessed are the Poor in Spirit Matthew 5:1-3

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“Blessed are the Poor in Spirit Matthew 5:1-3”
by Art Sadlier
December 4th, 2016

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit or (Blessed are the Nobodies)

Matthew 5:1, “And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:” There is a gradual slopping hill on the north shore of Galilee. A vast multitude could assemble there. They tell us that the acoustics in that spot are very good.

“When He was set,” (or seated) in that day in Israel, if a man spoke while standing he was not speaking with authority but only casually. A teacher who spoke with authority would sit as he spoke.

Verse 2, “And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying.” Christ is now about to give His manifesto for the kingdom. He is saying this is what it will be like in the kingdom. This is a description of the kingdom. This is a description of what Jesus meant when He said “repent.”

Jesus gives eight changes of attitude that accompany genuine salvation. The first 4 are a change of attitude toward God. The second 4 are a change of attitude toward men.

If our conversion experience is genuine, there must be a change in our lives and our lives must be characterised by the change Jesus describes here. If we are true children of the kingdom our lives will continue to be characterised by these attributes. "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed." (John 8:31). Continuing in these characteristics is proof of true discipleship.

The first attitude change is found in verse 3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

“Blessed” means happy, genuine internal joy. God is in the happiness business. Not frivolous, silly excitement based on trivial things. God gives inner peace and joy which no man can take from you. It is the same happiness God experiences. It is the joy and happiness which God has designed for us to enjoy. It is the very thing which every human heart craves for. It is a joy that is not because of circumstances, but rather a joy in spite of circumstances.

The world says happy are the rich, happy are the glamorous, happy are the popular, happy are the famous and happy are the aggressive. Ultimately the world discovers that none of these things brings real lasting happiness. Only God can satisfy the longings of the human heart.

So the first change of attitude toward God is, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” It is not poor in material things. If that was the case our missionaries would be going around the world taking material things from people to make them happy. It is not poor in material things. We are told the location of this poverty, “poor in spirit.” That means poor in the inner man, poor in the inner life. It is an attitude of heart.

Scripture describes what it means to be poor in spirit.

Isaiah 66:2, “For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.”

Psalm 34:18, “The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.”

Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

The Greek word used for poor is “Ptokas” it means to be very poor, so poor that you have to beg to remain alive, it means to be a shameful beggar. Another word for poor is the word “penace,” which means so poor you have to work to maintain yourself. The word Jesus used here is the word ptokas, to be a shameful beggar.

We have a dramatic contrast illustrated in scripture of the attitude of “rich in spirit”. Luke 18:9-14, “And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

This is the very basis of God’s required attitude for salvation. There is no place for easy-believism in God’s plan of salvation.

This same attitude applies also to believers in their walk with God.

Examples

Jacob finally came to the place in his life where he knew he needed God. He knew for the first time that he couldn’t solve his own problems. He realized that he didn’t have the resources within or without to face tomorrow. He wrestled all night with God in prayer. God broke his hip and he lay flat on his back, helpless. All of his self-sufficiency and pride was gone. In Genesis 32:29 it simply says, “And God blessed him there.”

On his back, helpless in the dust, God made him happy. That is the place that God can bless His own people, the place of spiritual brokenness. The heart of spiritual poverty; is the attitude God can bless.

We have an example in Isaiah; until he as a believer recognized his own spiritual bankruptcy God couldn’t bless him. Isaiah 6:5, “Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”

Isaiah saw his own spiritual bankruptcy, and it was there that God blessed him. Verse 6-7, “Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.”

It was there that the Lord could cleanse him. We see in verse 9, that now the Lord could use him, “And he said, Go, and tell this people.”

Gideon, see how Gideon saw himself, “And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house” (Judges 6:15). That is the very attitude that God can bless and God did bless Gideon in a marvellous way.

Paul tells us the secret of his amazing spiritual power, he said, “For when I am weak then am I strong.” It was in the place of recognition of his own weakness and inability that God so abundantly blessed Paul.

One day I made a very distressing discovery. I discovered that God doesn’t really need me.

The world says, assert yourself, demand your rights, be proud of yourself and grab your place in the sun.

God says, when you admit your weakness, when you say I can’t, when you admit your nothingness, then I can bless you.

The spiritual resource for living and serving is for those who recognize their own poverty of spiritual resources. It is the first step toward God’s gracious intervention in our lives.

1 Corinthians 1:26-28, “For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are.”

Notice the next verse, “That no flesh should glory in his presence.” God is choosing a group of people for the purpose of glorifying His name. There are five spiritual qualifications for that group.

1 – Foolish – simple enough to depend on Him for His wisdom.

2 – Weak – to depend on Him for strength.

3 – Base – lowly enough to have no honour but God`s honour.

4 – Despised – enough to remain in the dust at his feet.

5 – Nothing – enough for God to be everything to you.

These are attitudes of heart and we must not substitute false humility or physical poverty or physical weakness.

This concept of man being too poor to measure up to God`s standards is seen in the Old Testament. Some Israelites recognized their spiritual poverty, so they humbly brought their sacrifices and confessed their sin. God in mercy and grace forgave them.

Other Israelites brought their sacrifices but they were proud and filled with a spirit of self-righteousness. They went about keeping the law in their own strength. In order to help themselves they whittled the law down to a series of traditions, traditions they could keep, man-made traditions that took the place of the law. Traditions are possible to keep in our own strength the law is not.

Matthew 15:1-3, “Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?”

In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ is trying to bring these Jews to see that they must recognize their spiritual bankruptcy, so that God can meet their needs and bless them. We see Christ raising the standard that they had lowered. He was seeking to bring them to realize that they needed God`s help.

In Matthew 5:48 Jesus said to them, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven.” That settles it we cannot make it on our own. Not one sin is going to be left undealt with. Finally Christ removed any doubt as to what He meant in verse 20, “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

Illustration

A government worker in India was engaged in irrigation. He came to the owner of a field and told him he was going to make his field fruitful. The owner answered, “The field is hopeless; you will never make it fruitful.” The government worker said, “I can make your field rich and productive if only it lies low enough.” The application is that if we lie low enough in our own eyes, if we become poor in spirit, Christ can make us fruitful.

Someone said to Hudson Taylor, “You must sometimes be very proud of the way God has used you so greatly.” Taylor answered, “On the contrary, I often think God must have been looking for someone small enough and weak enough for Him to use and He found me.”

A broken vase of priceless worth rich fragrance shed, in ointment poured in worship on thy head. A lovely thing all shattered thus – What waste they thought. But Mary’s deed of love thy blessing brought.

A broken form upon the cross and souls set free. Thy anguish there has paid the price in riven flesh and pain and blood – Redemptions cost, the broken Lamb of God.

Oh, break my life if it must be, no longer mine, I give it thee – Oh break my will; the offering take, for blessing comes when thou dost break.

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13