And turn with me to Matthew chapter 5.
And we began a series last week on the Beatitudes.
! I thought it would complement Romans and be different to Romans.
! And then I find I'm preaching pretty much exactly the same sermon this morning,
this evening as I was this morning.
So the Lord must be trying to tell you something.
Let's pray.
Guide us, O Lord, by your word and by your Holy Spirit,
that in your light we may see light,
that in your truth we might find freedom,
and in your will that we might discover peace through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
And so I want us to look tonight at really what does it mean to come to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we're looking at that in Jesus' own words.
Matthew 5 verse 3.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Some of the culture is hostile to Christianity.
Most of the culture couldn't care less, let's be honest.
I don't know how you find that,
but most of the people that I talk to about Christianity,
they are apathetic.
Indifferent.
They couldn't care less.
Why bother?
For many people I know,
God is simply just not relevant.
And I think we have to face that.
For many people today,
in their mind,
God simply is not relevant.
They would say to us,
I don't need God.
If you need God,
well that's alright for you,
but I don't need God.
I've got no felt need for him.
I don't really feel the need of God.
One of the things that Jesus has come to tell us,
is whether you feel the need of God,
or not,
is irrelevant.
The fact is,
you have a need of God.
Whether you feel the need of God,
is irrelevant.
The fact is,
you have a need of God.
You're on your way home tonight,
there's a guy who's in the gutter,
drunk.
And he's in the drunk,
he's got a black eye,
he is bleeding.
But he doesn't feel the need of your assistance,
does he?
And when you go with him,
to check whether he's okay,
well,
what's the reaction you'll get?
You'll get an elbow,
or a punch maybe in the nose.
He doesn't feel any need of your help,
does he?
The drunk and the gutter.
But that's only an indication,
isn't it,
of how far gone he is,
in his drunkenness.
It's no indication of how things really are.
It's only an indication of how much trouble
that drunk is in.
And the fact is,
tonight,
you might have come to church,
and you sit in this building,
and you say,
well,
I don't really feel any need of God.
And that's only an indication,
of how out of touch with reality,
you really are.
Jesus says,
the fact is,
that you have a need of God,
and until you recognise that,
you'll never be,
truly happy in the way that,
the Beatitudes talk about.
Blessed are those who are poor in spirit,
he says,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Now what I want to do tonight,
is I just want to clear up some misunderstandings,
about what this verse is not about.
And then I want to kind of,
explain what it is about.
Karl Marx called,
Christianity,
the opium of the people.
Why?
Because it offered people,
it's a pie in the sky when you die,
and that hope of the future heaven,
well,
it kept them content,
in their present,
and that of course,
is a total misunderstanding,
and misrepresentation,
of what Christianity is.
Jesus does not say here,
Jesus does not say anywhere,
blessed are the poor,
full stop.
What he says here,
can you see it?
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
What does it mean,
to be poor in spirit?
It means to be impoverished,
not in your circumstances,
but in your relationship to God.
John Paul Getty,
he was one of the richest men,
in the 20th century,
and when he came to die,
he said this,
he's a very,
very wealthy man,
he said,
I've never known love,
I've never had a friend.
So was John Paul Getty,
a rich man?
Do you think he was a rich man?
A man who could say that,
surely he was a very poor man,
spiritually.
John D. Rockefeller,
said this,
the poorest man I know,
is the man who has nothing,
but money.
The poorest man I know,
is the man who has nothing,
but money.
And there's a man like that,
isn't there,
that Marsha read for us,
in Luke 12.
And God calls him a fool.
And why does God call that man,
in Luke 12,
a fool?
It's not because he was rich.
He's no fool,
because he made money.
God doesn't call him a fool,
because he's rich.
Why does God call that man,
a fool?
Jesus says,
that man was a fool,
because he was poor,
towards God.
And he was poor,
towards the things,
that really matter,
in his relationship,
with God,
and in his relationship,
with fellow human beings.
He was bankrupt.
Let me read to you,
from Luke 12,
he's a self-made man,
in verse 16.
At the land of a rich man,
produced plentifully,
he's arrived.
This guy has made it,
he's had a great year.
But where is he,
where has he arrived,
and what he has made?
And then verse 17,
he thought to himself,
what shall I do?
What shall I do,
for I have nowhere to store my crops?
And he said to himself,
I will do this.
I will tear down my barns,
and build larger ones,
and there I will store all my grain,
and my goods.
And I will say to my soul,
soul,
you have ample goods,
laid up for many years.
Relax,
eat,
drink,
and be merry.
First sign of madness,
is talking to yourself,
they say,
don't they?
And it's quite interesting,
that here,
I think there is this contrast.
We don't see it so clearly.
I will say to my soul.
Now there's times as a Christian,
when it's good to talk to yourself.
But I think,
as we read this parable,
we often miss the force,
of what Jesus is saying.
The Easterner,
did his thinking in the crowd.
Slightly different to the Westerner.
The Easterner would normally,
decide what to do,
after hours of discussion,
with his friends.
But this man,
we're told,
he thinks within himself.
He doesn't sit at the gate,
he doesn't talk it over,
with the elders of the village,
according to normal practice.
He dialogues with himself.
Why?
Because there is no one else.
No one that he can talk things over with.
No one but himself.
No one that he can trust.
No one that he can talk to.
No one he can relate to.
He's got nothing but money.
That's the picture.
It's all he's got.
Plenty of money,
but that's all he's got.
He's a rich man,
but in the things that matter,
relationships with others,
and relationships to God,
he's bankrupt.
And God says to him,
you are a fool man.
That's God's verdict
on the world that we live in.
That's God's verdict on materialism.
Makes no difference
whether you're a capitalist
or a communist.
The Bible says,
if that's all you live for,
you're a fool.
The communist says,
that matter is all that there is.
And God says,
don't be such a fool.
And the capitalist says,
matter is all that matters.
And God says,
a plague on both your houses.
Don't be such a fool.
A man's life does not consist
in the things that he possesses.
That's not the essence of life.
What makes human beings
happy and fulfilled?
Man's life does not consist
in the things that he possesses.
There's something that matters
more than matter.
And that's your relationship
to God.
And unless you are
rich towards God,
unless you have a personal
relationship with God,
unless your relationship
with God is good and right,
whatever else you have,
you're utterly bankrupt.
Have you come to realise that?
Have you come to understand that?
And Jesus says,
if you have,
you are blessed.
Congratulations,
Jesus says.
Blessed are the poor in spirit
because they are the ones
who realise that this life
and all these things
are not all that there is.
Blessed are they
who realise their poverty,
not in the bank balance
or in a state.
But blessed are those
who realise their poverty
in the realm of the spirit.
Jim Elliot,
he resigned from the rat race
in North America
to become a missionary
and it famously
cost him his life.
But shortly before he died,
before he was killed,
he wrote these words
in his diary.
He was quoting Matthew Henry.
He is no fool
who gives up
what he cannot keep
to gain what he cannot lose.
He is no fool
who gives up
what he cannot keep
to gain what he cannot lose.
And that's what poverty
of spirit is all about.
It is to recognise
where your true riches lie,
like Jim Elliot did.
He recognised that true wealth
was to be found
where true riches
are to be found.
And that's poverty of spirit.
Jesus says,
congratulations if you're there.
So,
to be poor in spirit
is not
to be,
it's not blessed
to be poor full stop.
But to be poor in spirit,
but to be poor in spirit
is not to be spiritually poor.
Let me explain that.
To be poor in spirit
is not to be spiritually poor.
When Jesus says,
blessed are the poor in spirit,
he's not kind of pronouncing
a benediction
on spiritual poverty
and bankruptcy.
That's the state
we're all in by nature.
It's a wretched state
to be in.
It's not a happy state
to be in.
It's the reason
for our unhappiness,
our spiritual poverty.
And Jesus says
in Revelation
that people,
just like the folk
who come to this church,
people,
kind of people
who think they're
themselves Christians,
he says,
do you know
that you're wretched
and poor
and miserable
and blind
and naked?
And all the time
you think to yourself,
well, we're rich,
we're increased with goods,
we've need of nothing.
And so to be poor in spirit
is to recognise
the truth about yourself,
to recognise
that you are spiritually poor,
not to be spiritually poor.
There's no blessedness in that.
That's a wretched state
to be in.
But Jesus says,
congratulations if you realise
that.
Happy is the man
who's come to see
that his greatest need
is to be rich towards God.
Now when we use the word poor,
we use it relatively.
How many poor are there
in this country?
You know all the stats.
We use it to describe
people who are not
very well off.
There's a poverty scale,
isn't there?
But the word that Jesus
uses here
is for people
who are totally destitute.
It's a particular word
that he uses for poverty.
It describes those
who have no property,
no place,
no job,
no source of income,
nothing to eat.
They're up to their years
in debt
and so if they were
given any money,
it would immediately
be lost to their creditors.
According to Jesus,
you and I are poor
like that spiritually
in our relationship
with God.
We're bankrupt.
We cannot give God
what he's got a right
to expect from us.
We are spiritually
bankrupt
and that is nothing
to congratulate
ourselves on.
To be bankrupt,
doesn't it,
maybe some of you
experienced it,
it's a desperately
unhappy situation
to be in.
The person who is
bankrupt is
desperately unhappy.
They're under an
obligation to pay
and yet they're
unable to do so.
They're really caught.
It's a terrible state.
She ought to pay
her debts
but she cannot
pay her debts.
that's exactly
where you and I
are.
Before God,
that's what the
Bible says.
God has made us.
We are his
creatures.
We are under
certain obligations.
We are under
an obligation to
love the Lord our
God with all our
heart and mind
and soul and
strength.
we owe that to
him.
But none of us
in honesty
tonight can say
that we've done
that.
None of us have
lived that way.
We're spiritually
bankrupt.
And yet we are
accountable to God.
That comes out so
clearly, doesn't it,
in Luke 12.
Do you remember
what God said to
that rich fool?
He said,
tonight your soul
will be required
of you.
And that word
is a technical
word.
It's the returning
of a loan.
Tonight your life
will be required
of you.
The man's so busy
with his accounts,
that's the picture,
he's so busy with
his accounts that
he'd forgotten he
was accountable
himself.
Accountable to the
God who had
given him the
life that he had
lived.
And so tonight
are you aware
that you are
accountable to
God for the
life that you've
lived.
That your life
will be required
of you.
And so what
does Jesus mean?
What does he mean
when he says
blessed are the
poor in spirit?
He doesn't mean
blessed are the
poor full stop.
He doesn't mean
blessed are the
spiritually poor,
for that's a
wretched state to
be in.
What does he mean
when he says
blessed are the
poor in spirit?
I think I've
told you the
story before
is that the
actress,
she's an
aging actress
and she goes
to the west
end for a
head shot,
you know,
to get her
photograph done.
And she says
to the young
photographer,
she says,
young man,
I hope you're
going to do
me justice.
And the
photographer
looks at her
and says,
it's not
justice that you
need,
madam,
it's mercy.
It's mercy.
And that's
what you and
I require
from God.
It's what you
and I stand
in need of
before God,
not justice.
If you think
that you're
going to be
able to pull
yourself up to
your full height
on the day
of judgment
and say,
God,
well,
here I am,
you must be
delighted to have
someone like me
in your kingdom.
The Pharisee
in the parable
in Luke 18
went into the
temple and he
said,
well,
I thank you
that I'm
not like
other men.
I do this
and I do
that and I
don't do
this and I
don't do
that.
I go to
church,
I give to
charity,
I do
loads of
good,
I'm a
really decent
man,
I'm an
upright
member of
society.
And you
want to be
pretty pleased
to have
me in your
kingdom,
God,
and Jesus
says,
that is not
the man
who went
home that
night right
with God.
No,
he says it
was the
other man,
which man?
Well,
it's the guy
at the back
of the
temple who
couldn't lift
up his
eyes and
look God
in the
face,
the man
who was
so conscious
of his
poverty and
of his
bankruptcy
that all
he could
do was
beat on
his breast
and cry
out to
God,
be merciful
to me,
be merciful
to me,
I'm a
sinner.
And Jesus
says it
was that
man who
went home
right with
God,
that is
the man.
And in
the next
breath,
Jesus says
everyone who
exalts
himself,
everyone who
puffs himself
up will be
humbled,
and everyone
who humbles
himself will
be lifted
up.
Everyone who
humbles
himself,
everyone who
recognises
they've got
nothing to
offer to
God,
nothing to
commend
themselves to
God,
that is the
person who
will be
exalted in
the kingdom.
And that's
what it means
to be poor
in spirit.
The hymn
writer says,
isn't it,
just as I
am,
poor,
wretched,
blind,
sight,
riches,
healing of
the mind,
yea,
all I need,
in thee I
find,
O Lamb of
God,
I come,
I come.
Is that how
you've come to
the Lord Jesus
Christ?
If you
haven't come
in that
way,
you haven't
come at
all,
conscious of
your needs,
not for
justice,
but for
mercy.
And that's
the first
step to
putting you,
putting right
your broken
relationship with
God.
It's difficult,
isn't it?
It's so
humbling.
there's
nothing that
you can do
to put it
right.
It's
humbling to
admit that
you've got
nothing to
offer God
except the
sin for
which you
desperately
need is
forgiveness.
And that
is poverty
of spirit,
and Jesus
says that
is blessed.
why is it
blessed?
Why is that
attitude of
mine blessed?
Well,
because it
drives us to
Christ,
doesn't it?
the man
who's seen
and the
woman who's
seen their
absolute
spiritual
bankruptcy,
that person
who understands
Romans 3,
who realises
that what he
needs is
mercy alone,
and realises
that there's
nowhere else
to go
except to
Christ.
Thomas
Watson,
the
puriter,
wrote this,
he that is
poor in
spirit,
is a
Christ
admirer.
He has
high thoughts
of Christ.
He sets a
high value
and appreciation
on Christ.
He hides
himself in
Christ's
wounds.
He bathes
himself in
his blood.
He wraps
himself in
his robe.
He sees a
spiritual dearth
and famine
at home,
but he looks
out to
Christ,
and he
cries,
show me
thyself,
and this
sufficeth.
There's one
word that
sums it up,
isn't it?
All that
Jesus is
saying here,
and it
is the
word
grace.
Do you
remember,
children,
the hand
of grace?
God's
riches
at
Christ's
expense.
That's
how Paul
defines
grace,
isn't it?
2 Corinthians
8 and
verse 9,
for you
know the
grace of
our
Lord Jesus
Christ,
that though
he was
rich,
yet for
your sake
he became
poor,
so that
you,
by his
poverty,
might become
rich.
how do
you know
the grace
of our
Lord Jesus
Christ?
Where do
you see
it?
What does
it look
like?
What is
this
grace?
You know
the grace
of our
Lord Jesus
Christ,
that though
he was
rich,
yet for
your sake,
for your
sake,
he became
poor,
so that
through his
poverty,
you might
become rich.
That is
grace.
He was
rich,
wasn't he?
he was
adored by
the angels
of heaven,
he was
the king
of the
angels.
He enjoyed
an unbroken
relationship
with his
father in
heaven,
unbroken
fellowship,
and communion
in the
Godhead,
he was
rich in
the truest
sense of
the word.
And what
did he do?
He came
here,
he left
it all,
he left
his father's
presence.
The king
of the
angels
got off
his throne
and became
a little
lower than
the angels.
He
impoverished
himself.
He did
not consider
equality with
God something
to be grasped,
but made
himself
nothing.
To in the
very nature
of a servant
that through
his poverty,
you and I
might go to
where he
was.
That you
and I
might have
God's
riches at
Christ's
expense.
You see,
what does a
bankrupt man
need?
A
bankrupt man
needs a
benefactor.
He's
somebody who
is rich,
somebody who
is prepared
to come
with his
riches and
step in and
assume the
liabilities.
That's what
God's
son has
done.
He was
rich and
he came,
why did
he come,
why did
he step
into this
world?
He came
in order
to assume
your
liabilities
and mine,
to live
that life
that you
and I
should have
lived,
that we
haven't.
To die
that death
that you
and I
deserve,
to die
is the
punishment
for our
sin,
that death
with hell
mixed into
it.
He died
that death
upon the
cross,
that is
how poor
he became.
He
emptied
himself.
He
lost
what he'd
always
known.
He cries
on the
cross,
my God,
why have
you forsaken
me,
the cry
of dereliction?
We can't
fully understand
it.
God's
love.
And through
that you
and I
are brought
to God.
The
wonderful
thing about
the gospel
is it's
not just
negative,
but it's
a positive
thing.
It isn't
just that
our debts
and our
sins have
been liquidated,
that's part
of it.
The gospel
isn't just
great news
because the
slate has
been wiped
clean,
that's
great,
but it's
not all,
is it?
We've
been made
rich.
And so
the gospel
isn't back
to square
one again
and off
you go.
But we've
been made
rich through
his poverty.
And so
Jesus says
blessed are
the poor
in spirit
for theirs
is a
fresh brand
new start.
No,
he doesn't
say that.
Blessed are
the poor
in spirit
for the
slate is
wiped
clean,
the debts
are cancelled,
they can
start over
again,
that's not
what he
says,
is it?
Look at what
he says,
blessed are
the poor
in spirit
for theirs
is the
kingdom
of heaven.
And not
only are
their debts
paid,
but they
are rich.
You are
rich tonight
in Christ.
Theirs is
the kingdom
of heaven.
What is
the kingdom
of heaven?
Do you know
what Paul says
in Romans,
he says,
the kingdom
of heaven
is not
meat and
drink.
It's
righteousness
and peace
and joy
in the
Holy Spirit.
That's
the kingdom
of heaven.
And that's
what distinguishes
the kingdom
of heaven
from all
other
kingdoms.
Look at
who's
growing up
there.
Lots of
people,
they would
never go
abroad.
They would
never go
abroad
because the
reason they
wouldn't go
abroad is
they wouldn't
like the
food.
They're
afraid of
eating the
food.
Foreign
food
doesn't
agree with
me,
they'd
say.
He doesn't
agree with
me.
Jesus says
the kingdom
of heaven,
you don't
have to
worry about
the food.
The kingdom
of heaven
has got
nothing to
do with
food.
It's nothing
to do with
those external
things.
To be in the
kingdom of
heaven,
it doesn't
matter if you
eat pork
or not,
people ask me
that.
To be in the
kingdom of
heaven is a
matter of
righteousness and
joy and
peace.
It is to be
really rich.
It is to be
rich with those
things in your
heart that you
really need.
to be in
the kingdom
of heaven.
How do you
get into the
kingdom of
heaven when
it's all a
matter of
grace?
Jesus says
this.
Jesus says
to you
tonight,
fear not
little flock,
it's your
father's good
pleasure to
give you the
kingdom.
That's an
amazing statement
isn't it?
What are you?
A little
flock of
silly wandering
sheep.
That is all
we are.
We are not
tonight a
great important
group of
people that
God can't
do without.
And he
really must
have you in
his kingdom.
No.
We are a
silly flock of
sheep, that's
all.
And we've
gone into our
own way.
We're like
sheep we've
wandered off,
says the
prophet Isaiah.
And that's
what we are,
a flock of
silly wandering
sheep.
And God
does not need
you to
enhance his
kingdom.
The glory
of the
gospel is
that he
wants you
to enjoy
it.
Fear not
little flock.
Fear not
silly wandering
sheep.
Fear not
little flock.
It is your
father's good
pleasure to
give you the
kingdom.
It's all of
his grace.
And there's
nothing you can
do to merit
it.
There's nothing
you can do
to commend
yourself to
God.
You are
nothing.
You have
nothing.
You can do
nothing to
make yourself
fit for the
kingdom.
God
matter of
our
father's
God.
is a