Mattew 5:1-12 vs 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit

[Guest]

The following was written from notes that I took on Steve's intro lecture to the Beatitudes. I hope that I did not butcher Steve's teaching, and that others will find this usefull. Feel free to use it, make comments or corrects, and hopefull it will be useful to someone else as well. I also appologize that the outline isn't very easy to follow. It was more to break things up so that I could keep from loosing my place.

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Title: Poor in Spirit
Date: 2006-07-30 pm
Text: Mathew 5:1-12 vs.3

Matthew 5
1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.



Intro:

We are going to look at the first of the beatitudes:
Mat. 5:3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

If you remember from the last time we looked at the beatitudes, we pointed out that the word blessed could mean happy, blissful, well, or fortunate. So what we see here is a series of statements by Jesus that each begin with pronouncement of blissfulness, happiness, wellness, or fortunateness, to a category of people. We also pointed out that though there are 8 Statements, there is really only one group or category of people, those that are citizens in the kingdom of God.

/* ------------------ optional side note ----------------------
We can deduce this a number of ways, including common sense.

For example, each of these statements begins with a proclamation and ends with a reason. It isn't always obvious why these people would be happy, so Jesus tells us why.
-- morn - they shall be comforted
-- meek - they shall inherit the earth
-- pure in heart - they shall see God
-- peace makers - they shall see God
-- persecuted - theirs is the kingdom of God

It is a gathered group of sayings that are applied to the same group of people, those that are followers of God, to those that are citizens of the kingdom of God. This is pointed out by a literary whole that the first and last are the same. So from here on out, we will assume that that all of the people are one people, the citizens of the kingdom of God. And that ideally the traits are traits all apply to this group of people, as do all the blessings apply to this same group of people.

Certainly we can not argue that some Christians:
-- are children and some not
-- are obtain mercy and some do not
-- shall see God and some shall not
...

It seems that all true Christians contain these traits, though some may be more eminent in one trait than another. All of these things should be true of you in measure. The greater the measure of these traits, the more it is true that we are happy. The happiness is not the happiness of this world, just as Jesus said:
Jhn 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Such, the happiness that Jesus gives is also not as the world giveth. The ones that Jesus calls happy are the ones that the world would call pitiable, or unfortunate. Jesus points out that they are not missing out on happiness, but is is those that are not in the kingdom that are missing out on what will ultimately be the only thing that makes them happy.

Later in Sermon, Jesus points out that we are to seek first the kingdom of God all other necessary things will be added. Mat 6:22?

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The Kingdom of God is presented as Jesus is the ultimate desirable thing to obtain or posses.
We could argue that those that do not posses these trait do not posses the kingdom of God. It may appear at first that this is farther than Jesus goes, but even though he doesn't say that here, it is clear throughout scripture.

For example: 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
We know that from scripture that only merciful will obtain mercy
Later in chp 6 "Do not forgive will not be forgiven"
Matthew 6:14-15 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
James in his book, which appears to be a commentary on the sermon on the mount says:
Jam 2:13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.

So we see that:
-- only the merciful shall obtain mercy.
-- only the poor in spirit have the kingdom of God
-- only the pure in heart will see God
Hebrews 12:14 Follow peace with all [men], and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

Jesus is really saying that these people and only these people will be in the kingdom.
So we could say that one who is laking in one of these traits is not part of the kingdom.

So this means that we need to discover what it means to be poor in spirit, or merciful, or what direction we should go in order to fit the description.


I. What does it mean, poor in spirit?
This beatitude is one that almost seems to be worded wrongly.
A. Because it says poor in spirit it does not mean mean materially poor, as Jesus said in another place, Luke 6:20.
Luke 6:20 ... Blessed [be ye] poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
Just because someone is materially poor doesn't mean that they are part of the kingdom of Heaven, so it must mean something else.
B. So your possibly you could compare this to those that have a lot material things are rich and those that have few material things are poor, so maybe having a lot of spirituality means being rich in spirit and having little spirituality mean being poor in spirit. But this doesn't make sense either, if this was the case, shouldn't the Jesus have said that it is the rich in spirit that posses the kingdom of Heaven, because elsewhere doesn't Jesus advocate spiritual qualities?
C. The beatitude is really Hebraism that comes from the Old Testament.
1. Isaiah 66:1-2 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven [is] my throne, and the earth [is] my footstool: where [is] the house that ye build unto me? and where [is] the place of my rest? 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.
a. Could be him that is of a poor and contrite spirit, which brings in the relationship with the word contrite.
b. Contrite - crushed into tiny pieces, small, broken (need to look up in detail)
c. God is always pleased with a broken or contrite spirit. One that is broken and contrite over sin.
2. Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name [is] Holy; I dwell in the high and holy [place], with him also [that is] of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
a. Similarities between Isaiah 66:1-2 and Isaiah 57:15
1. Both talk about the place where God lives.
2. In Both we see that God approves of the one that is of a poor and contrite spirit, or a humble and contrite spirit
D. Going back to Matthew chapter 5, most Bible scholars would agree that poor in Spirit is speaking of spiritual humility.
1. The Greek word here that Jesus uses if for the poorest of the poor, a beggar.
a. There are 2 groups of poor in Jesus' time
1. The poor that had the land from their ancestors, but no more, and were able to make a meager living.
2. Then there were the beggars, or those that couldn't earn a living by any other means, maybe because of some illness such as being lame or blind.
b. The idea is absolute destitution as the beggars were, 100% dependant on the generosity of others.
1. This is the same people that Jesus told the Rich Young Ruler to give too, when the man came to him asking what must I do to inherit eternal life.
Luk 18:18 And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
2. In Luke 14 Jesus says:
Luke 14:12-14 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor [thy] rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.
Jesus is simply saying don't extend your generosity to those who can repay you, but reach out to those that can't repay you so that God will be indebted to you on their behalf.
?? (Proverbs) Not Salvation, but rewards. ??
?? Palms 10:14 - Helpless, poor or victim. ??
c. These are examples to show that the poor is someone who is helpless, someone who is dependant, someone who is at a loss because he cannot help himself, so he commits himself to God. A beggar, as Jesus was using the word, is someone who cannot repay the generosity shown to him.
d. When this word poor is attached to the word spirit as Jesus did, it would mean someone who is poor, or a beggar in spiritual things. This is someone who does not feel that he is of great value, or that he is God's gift to the church.


II. Self-Esteem
A. To most modern people, Jesus' words almost sound as if he is saying that we should have a low self-esteem, and this seems to be a good description.
B. So this raises the questions.
1. Why does the modern church then pushes high self-esteem?
2. Why are so many books being written on the subject?
3. Why are we pushing to build up our own self-esteem, the self-esteem of our mate and children?
4. Shouldn't be be showing the Jesus instead?
C. In our culture, Self-esteem seems to have become the great Saviour of the modern world. Everything that is wrong is society, behaviour, unhappiness, etc. is due to people having low self-esteem.
D. But if we look at this more closely, this idea of high self-esteem is refuted every time it comes up in the Bible. One of the places it comes up here at the beginning of the sermon on the mount.
E. Poor in spirit as we looked at in the Old Testament is about having humility, and not having a high self-image, especially in terms of spiritual things. Self-image can consist of other things, but that is not our focus here.
F. Having a low self-image appears to be appropriate, but this does not mean having a lower than realistic self-image. When we look at the Bible, we find that we do not think of ourselves soberly, but think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think.
1. Rom 12:3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think [of himself] more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.
2. The modern church, and the world seem to think that we have a plague of low self-image, but the Bible indicates that we actually have a problem with high self-image, and that low self-image is hard to find.
G. A group of criminals were studied by some Psychologists, and it was found most criminals have a higher than average self-image. This raises some serious questions about weather or not a crime is committed because a person's image of them self is too low.
/* ------------------ optional side note ----------------------
H. Self-image is an American problem. (student studies)
*(need to look up phsycology sudies on self esteem of ethnic groups)
http://muse.jhu.edu/cgi-bin/access.cgi? ... ith_h.html
1. self-esteem high and basis for such is low.
2. social problems are high as well.
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IV. For some examples, let's now take a look at greatest men in the Bible
A. Moses -- First, lets take a look at Moses.
1. Bible says that Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth
2. Moses was one of the greatest leaders in history (because of God).
a. He took a group of people who were illiterate slaves who had spent 400 years in Egypt and in 2 generations they were molded into one of the nations with the longest histories. This is not to condone slavery, but just to make a point, but in comparison, the slavery of African Americans, in America for a century of two, is almost treaded as if these people were permanently disadvantaged.
d. They had one of the best legal codes ever.
e. They are some of the most surviving people.
f. It was because of God through Moses transformed the nation.
3. Let's look at Moses self-image.
a. Early in life it was high:
- He was raised in Pharaoh's court.
- He had a good education (Learned in the ways of the Egyptians)
- Steven said in Acts 7 that Moses was mighty in word and deed.
- He felt like he had the right to take things into his own hands when someone abused one of his fellow Israelites, and he killed an Egyptian.
- (Acts 7) He thought that the Israelites would appreciate the fact that God had sent him to deliver God's people.
- Who else would be qualified? He saw himself as the man for the job.
b. But when we take a look at Moses, later in life, after spending 40 years in exile, we see a different man.
- He had to be a Shepard (an occupation that we see in Gen 46:34 was an abomination to the Egyptians) for 40 years before he could rely on God. He had to be brought low.
- After 40 years, when God called him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, he didn't feel qualified to full fill the job.
- In Exodus 3:11 we read "And Moses said unto God, Who [am] I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
- Though Moses had saw himself in that same role 40 years earlier, God had to reduce him from someone that had much to give to someone who had nothing to give, someone unworthy and unqualified.
- Moses thought himself slow of speech, though Steven had said that earlier he was mighty in word and deed. I guess talking to sheep for 40 years doesn't increase your eloquence very much.
- It is interesting that God didn't say to Moses that he was disappointed that Moses wasn't qualified or didn't have better self-esteem. When Moses said "Who am I?", God said I'll go with you. It doesn't matter who you are, I am God and together we are a majority, even if you are a zero, and I will use you within the range of possibility.

B. Next let's take a look at David.
1. Throughout David's life you can see evidences of his deep humility, even though he did have his moments where he did sin.
2. We'll look at one of David's writings rather than a story from his life.
3. Psalm 8:3-4 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
4. David is the king, and his Nation is the greatest. All the nations pay tribute to him. He killed Goliath, the great Philistine warrior, and now the Philistines, and all "ites" now pay tribute to him. He was the strongest king in the middle east.
5. Yet when David saw himself in reference to God, not to other men, he asks, What is man?
6. It is a rhetorical question that implies man is nothing.
7. Man is nothing that God should pay attention to him.

C. Let's move on and take a look at Job, a man that was commended by the prophet Ezekiel, and in the New Testament by James.
We often look at Job in terms of the fact that he suffered without reason, but let's look at things from a slightly different angle.
1. Job was a blameless man for the most part, at least before his trials.
2. But Job seemed to have a slight self-esteem problem, he thought that he was pretty good.
a. All the people stood up for him, all the poor fed from his hand, and he even argued that he was a righteous man, and that he shouldn't have to suffer the trial that were come upon him.
b. But by the time that God appeared at the end of the story in Chapter 42, we read in verses 5-6, that Job abhorred himself.
c. If someone like Job in chapter 42, were to come to the modern church, the pastor would probably send him off to a counselor, because it is thought that we are to love ourselves.
d. But for Job, when he saw God, he abhorred himself and he was healed, and things turned around for him.
e. Maybe its possible that Job suffered because he needed to be be brought to a point that he could see himself compared to God, and not to others.

In general, every man in scripture, when he is little in his own sight, God accepts him, when he is not little in his own sight, God rejects him.
This can be summed up by Jesus' words, in Luke 14:11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
We also read in James and Peter, that God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble.

D. Lets move on and take a look at a comparison of 2 churches in Revelation
1. The church in Smyrna, is one of the 2 that Jesus did not find fault with. He said that they were rich.
Rev 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but [are] the synagogue of Satan.
2. Yet the church of Laodecia thought they were rich, when they were really poor.
Rev. 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
3. Look at the contrast.
a. Smyrna was materially poor, but Jesus said they were rich in the sense that matters.
b. Laodecia was materially rich, but Jesus said that they were poor and wretched.
4. Laodecia had a high self-esteem, thinking of themselves as rich, and in need of nothing
a. Jesus said that he would spew them out of him mouth, and they would not longer be part of the body of Christ.
b. Jesus said that it was the poor in spirit that would inherit the Kingdom.
c. The church of Laodecia was not poor in spirit, they were rich and in need of nothing, but their real state was far worse than they imagined.

E. In the story of the Publican and the Pharisee, Jesus gives us an example of what it means to be a beggar or poor 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."

1. This is the 2nd time time Jesus says that the humble are rich in spirit, once in Luke 14 and again, here in Luke 18.
2. What we see here is that the man with low self-esteem, went home justified, but the man that thought well of himself tried to justify himself.
3. Those that are poor in Spirit do not think more highly of themselves than they ought. They do not think of themselves as enriching God's Kingdom with their talents or gifts. I can't justify myself, I have nothing to present on my on behalf. We need to be justified, and everyone wants to be justified, but it is God that justifies us, and not we ourselves.
Let's think about this for a minute.
a. Have you ever met anyone who didn't make excuses for their wrong deeds or someone who didn't try to rationalize their wrong behaviour?
c. People don't necessarily want to be just on God's terms, but they want to be declared just, or thought of being justified for their actions.
d. One option is to justify yourself, but when you stand before God, he doesn't let you be the one who decides if you are justified.
4. In this story we can also see some of the wrong ways of thinking, that cause someone to not be poor in spirit?
a. First, the Pharisee had a mis-directed confidence.
1. He thought that since he paid tithe and fasted, that this would justify him.
2. Paul in Philippians 3 talked about a time when he had this same mid-guided confidence.
3. Paul found that he had put his confidence in the wrong thing and he wasn't as rich spiritually as he really thought he was.
4. The only way for us to see if we have a mis-guided confidence is to humble ourselves, as Paul did. As was mentioned before, God gives grace to the humble.
b. The Pharisee he took credit for himself.
1. It sounds like he is thanking God, but if you look at his whole demeanor, you can see that he was congratulating himself that he was not like other men.
2. He was a sinner just as much as the other man, but his sins were different, and he was trying to take credit for those differences.
3. Paul warns the Corinthians to be careful not to boast in the things that make us differnt than others.
1 Cor 4:7 - For who maketh thee to differ [from another]? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive [it], why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received [it]?
4. Everything we have that we might congratulate ourselves isn't ours, but it is something that we've received, not something we we earned.
c. Lastly we see that the Pharisee made an invalid comparison.
1. People who are proud tend to compare themselves with people that are less commendable than themselves to maintain their pride.
2. People wouldn't be as proud is they compared themselves with people that are more commendable than they.
3. In order to keep self-esteem high you need to compare yourself with others that aren't as commendable as you.
4. But we should be aware that to compare yourselves with others isn't even reasonable.
2 Cor. 10:12 - For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
5. God doesn't compare you with others, he compares you against his standard, which is a high bar.
6. If we compare yourself with others, we can congratulate ourselves that we do not behave as badly as some.
7. The Pharisee was not behaving himself as crassly as the publican, but it is a false comparison.
8. God doesn't compare us with other people, he compares us with Jesus Christ.
9. When we see ourselves in comparison to Jesus, we know that we are beggars, and this the first step toward grace. Its the first step towards salvation. That is the first qualification for being in the kingdom. That know that we are are nothing and that we will never will qualify on our own, and that we are beggars. As beggars we know that we are 100% dependant on the generosity of another, and that other is God.



/* ------------------ optional side note ----------------------
After all this, you might wonder, how ought we to think of ourselves?
The Bible in Romans 12:3, says that we are to think of ourselves soberly and not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought.
We are to be small in our own eyes
We are to see ourselves as unworthy of God's mercies and privileges.
We are to find our confidence in God and not of ourselves.
We are to see ourselves as expendable.
John the baptist tells the Jews that God could make stones from the rocks.
John says that I must decrease and he, Jesus, must increase .
If we don't think we are expendable, then we are out of touch with reality.
Everything that I might think of as important of me, are gifts from God and if I were to die today, God could raise up a replacement.
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* Written from notes taken on Steve Gregg's intro lecture to the Beatitudes.
http://www.thenarrowpath.com

[Guest]

thanks for posting this. i did, indeed, find it helpful today