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Psalms
119:130-139 The entrance
of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple. I opened my
mouth and panted, For I longed for Your commandments. Look upon me and be
merciful to me, As Your custom is
toward those who love Your name. Direct my steps by Your word, And let no
iniquity have dominion over me. Redeem me from the oppression of man, That I
may keep Your precepts. Make Your face shine upon Your servant, And teach me
Your statutes. Rivers of water run down from my eyes, Because men do not keep Your law. Righteous are You, O LORD, And upright are Your judgments. Your testimonies,
which You have commanded, Are righteous and very faithful. My
zeal has consumed me, Because my enemies have forgotten Your words.
Father God, we rejoice in your grace
that you have made available to each of us. We ask that you chasten us in
humility so that we can be exalted in the end. In Jesus name we pray, Amen!
Matthew 5:3 NKJV
Chapter
five starts out with these two verses: Matthew 5:1-2 And seeing
the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples
came to Him. 2
Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
Multitudes
of course is referring to a vast number of people that were following and
craving the teachings of Jesus at the start of His ministry, which of course
this is the beginning of his ministry. Jesus started his ministry with a sermon
on a mount and also ended his ministry with a sermon on a mount. This mount is
not identified and probably by the Sea of Galilee, but the mount that Jesus
gave His last sermon on was Mount Olivet which we know about, and can read
about it in Matthew Chapters 24 & 25. This sermon that we are going to
explore could have also been given on a hill side at the base of a mountain, we
really don’t know. Jesus probably went up so that he could see out over the
multitude of people and this way the people could also see Him.
It was
customary for the teacher to sit down when teaching, and when Jesus sat down,
the disciples recognized that He was going to teach so they came closer to Him
and probably sat down also. When Jesus opened His mouth and began to speak it
was the Spirit of God within, that spoke and what a message He spoke. It wasn’t
at all what the people were expecting.
Why
did the vast number of people follow Jesus at that time? Was it the miracles
and healings He performed? Was it the gracious words that proceeded out of His
mouth? I believe the answer is yes to both questions. Even as a young lad Jesus
amazed the Jewish leaders with his wisdom. Luke 2:46-47 Now so it
was that after three days they
found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening
to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were astonished at His
understanding and answers.
The Beatitudes are made up of three
elements: a declaration of blessing, a quality of life, and a reason why the
recipient should be considered blessed. The first element is found in the word Blessed, which introduces each
beatitude. The second element does not describe different groups of people, but
a composite picture of the kind of person who will inherit Christ’s kingdom.
The third element looks ahead to some aspect of the coming kingdom.
Blessed; (Gk. makarios) This Greek word is
derived from the root mak, which means “large” or “lengthy,” and means
“fortunate” or “happy.” The Greek word was used in Greek literature, in the
Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), and in the New
Testament to describe the kind of happiness that comes from receiving divine
favor. The word can be rendered “happy”.
In the New Testament it is usually passive; God is the One who is blessing or
favoring the person.
3 "Blessed are
the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus
began his sermon with words that seem to contradict each other. But God's way
of living usually contradicts the world’s way. If you want to live for God, you
must be ready to say and do what seems strange to the world. You must be
willing to give when others take, to love when others hate, to help when others
won’t, not go along with the crowd when you know it is wrong, be willing to be
laughed at, etc. In other words a Christian will stand out from the crowd and
be thought of as a weirdo or Jesus freak. Just like me doing these Bible
Studies, some think ill of me.
What does “poor” refer to
in the verse above? Is it poor financially like some think when they read Luke’s
gospel? He simply states, blessed are the poor. Or is it poor in spirit meaning
“humble” which is how it is stated in Matthew’s gospel? It has been disputed
whether Christ meant poor in reference to the things of this life, or to the
humble. We do know the gospel is said to be preached to the poor, (Luke 4:18 "THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE HAS
ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO
THE POOR; HE HAS SENT ME TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY
TO THE CAPTIVES AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET AT LIBERTY THOSE WHO
ARE OPPRESSED;
and in Matthew Matthew
11:5 The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.. It was also predicted by Isaiah the Messiah would
preach to the poor, Isaiah
61:1 "The Spirit of the Lord
GOD is upon Me, Because the
LORD has anointed Me To preach good
tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To
proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;), but that’s not the case here. In
studying this out it is in reference to the poor in spirit meaning being
humble. To be poor in spirit is to have a humble opinion of ourselves; to be
sensible that we are sinners, and have no righteousness of our own; to be
willing to be saved only by the rich grace and mercy of God; to be willing to
be where God places us, to bear what he lays on us, to go where he bids us, and
to die when he commands; to be willing to be in his hands, and to feel that we
deserve no favor from him. It is opposed to pride, vanity, and ambition.
It is very evident that
the meaning is humble, because scripture supports humble. We aren’t to stand on
street corners and pray to draw attention to ourselves, we are to go into our
prayer closets and pray. Matthew
6:5-6 "And
when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray
standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be
seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have
shut your door, pray to your Father who is
in the secret place; and your
Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Matthew 6:5-6 "And when
you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing
in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by
men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. 6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have
shut your door, pray to your Father who is
in the secret place; and your
Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. This is just a couple verses that
support humility. James
4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you
up. Matthew 23:12 And whoever exalts
himself will be humbled, and he who humbles
himself will be exalted. 1 Peter 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty
hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. Job 22:29; Psalm 113:7,
Psalm 147:6; Luke 14:11, Luke 18:14
The idea of God blessing
the humble and resisting the proud can also be found in Proverbs 3:34 Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace
to the humble.;
James 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:
"GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."; 1 Samuel 2:3
"Talk no more so very proudly; Let no arrogance come from your mouth, For
the LORD is the God of
knowledge; And by Him actions are weighed.; Psalms
138:6 Though the LORD is
on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He knows from afar.; Proverbs 6:16-17 These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands
that shed innocent blood,; Proverbs 29:23 A
man's pride will bring him low, But the
humble in spirit will retain honor.; 1 Peter
5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and
be clothed with humility, for
"GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE."
Those that are poor in
spirit realize money is not the answer to Happiness; So does God
not want us to be wealthy? No, because He does bless some with wealth, but
wealth is not a sign of holiness. God only gives us what we can handle and
maybe some are wealthy because they use the wealth to support the kingdom of
God here on earth. I would venture to say that some people, if they were to
become wealthy, like winning the lottery, would squander it on the things of
the world that they think would make them happy, but this only satisfies the
flesh and the inner soul still longs for true happiness.
Those
who are poor in spirit will realize their emptiness apart from God: A person
that isn’t poor in spirit will one day realize they are missing something on
the inside. They may have all types of worldly things and these things only
make them happy for a short period of time each time they are engaged in the
activity, but when the activity is over, there is a time of deflation whether
it be an hour, day, or week. Eventually, I hope these people will realize that
something is missing deep within their heart and they will start to seek true
happiness that can satisfy their inner being, and that of course is Jesus
Christ.
Those
who are poor in spirit will reach out to others with a spirit of love and
compassion: The world tells us to develop thick skin and to keep other at a distance
so they can’t hurt you, don’t cry it is a sign of weakness, be strong, take
what you want you deserve it, you can do anything you want, grab the gusto
because life is short, you don’t need anyone else, stand your ground, don’t
compromise, don’t forgive, hold a grudge and get even, etc. Does this sound
like a spirit of love and compassion? Is this what the Word of God teaches?
Does this portray a humble person? This type of worldly spirit is what our
society promotes and is not of God, but is a result of our inherited sin
nature.
Dr. David Jeremiah states this: (The kingdom of God is
completely different from the kingdom of this world. A self-centered person
won’t notice anyone else; his concern is only for himself. He cannot be
sensitive to those around him for fear their pain may ruin his happiness. But a
person who is poor in spirit will look to minister. He will seek out those who
are hurting so that he can heal the lives of others. A person filled up with
himself is unable to reach out to others, for he loves only himself. A person
who is poor in spirit will reach out to others in love.
When the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he
scolded them for being so proud of their spiritual gifts. They went around full
of pride, talking about all the good qualities they had, but Paul’s question
was simple: “Who gave you those gifts?” God did. Why walk around acting proud
as though your spiritual gifts were somehow earned when they were simply given
by the grace of God? The poor in spirit person is humble, thanking God for all
grace and mercy, not because they are earned. Show me a man who is ungrateful,
and I’ll show you a man who isn’t poor in spirit. Show me a woman who is
unthankful, and I’ll show you a woman who doesn’t understand the first
Beatitude.)
Those
who are poor in spirit will reach their highest joy in serving: Jesus gives
us many examples of how he served in the Bible, in fact to make a strong point
of it He washed His disciples feet at the last supper. He commanded them to
serve and not to be exalted, in other words be humble. John 13:5-16
We have all heard some individuals say how happy and
good they feel after leaving a good paying job and going into the mission
field, or serving food and helping other at shelters in their off time. They
found what the world could not satisfy, but through serving others their hungry
soul is fed.
So don’t search for true happiness outside of God’s
Kingdom, you will not find it. That happiness is only temporary. Seek the
happiness found in Heaven that is given freely through God’s Grace. A true
happiness found through faith in Jesus and not faith in ourselves or of the
world.
In closing do we have to be poor in spirit to become
one of God’s children to inherit His Kingdom? Yes, we have to humble ourselves
and come to the realization that we are born with the sin nature and that it is
the sin nature that separates us from God. We need to repent of our sins and
lifestyle and ask Jesus into our hearts to rule and reign our life. Then we
will find inner peace and happiness.
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All
things were created through Him and for Him.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
Bill
Wiesbrock https://www.facebook.com/bill.wiesbrock?ref=tn_tnmn
The
Lighthouse Full Gospel Church
Sinners Prayer; Pray this, and if you believe
it with your heart, Jesus will save you!
“Lord Jesus
I know I am a sinner. I confess my sins
to you; I am sorry for my sins; I repent (Meaning, desiring to turn from a
sinful lifestyle.) of all my sins, and I am asking for your forgiveness of all
of my sins. I believe that only you can
forgive sin. I commit my life to you and
ask you to come into my heart, direct, and take charge of my life. I believe that you died to set me free from
my sinful lifestyle and you rose from the dead to give me eternal life, and
right now you are seated at the Right Hand of God Almighty. I believe you are
the Son of God; the only Way, the only Truth, the only Life, and my
Savior.” I believe this and have faith
you will make a new person out of me, by sending the Holy Spirit to dwell in my
heart and lead me in a new life. In Jesus name I pray Amen.” (John 3:16,17;
Romans 3:23; 6:23; 5:8; 10:9-13; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1
John 5:11-14; 1:6-10) (Sin: Rom.
1:22-32; Gal. 5:19-21; Eph. 5:3-7)
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