The Blessing of Poverty (Matthew 5:1-3)

Transcription

1 CFCW-03/23/2014 The Blessing of Poverty (Matthew 5:1-3) Introduction Have you heard the story of multi-millionaire Chris Gardner? In 2006, the story of Gardner s life was made into a movie starring Will Smith. Gardner was a struggling salesman who managed to land an incredibly competitive and unpaid one-year internship at a brokerage firm in San Francisco. During the internship, Gardner lost his home and was forced to sleep in homeless shelters and subways stations at night along with his two-year old son. But Gardner succeeded in the internship and won a coveted spot at the firm. How did he do it? According to Gardner, the secret to his success was passion. In a 2007 interview, Gardner said Passion is everything. 1 Gardner was passionate about his job and it was his passion that enabled him to finish the internship and win a job at the brokerage firm. Armed with passion and self-confidence, Gardner achieved his dream. I think it is telling that the producers of the film about Gardner s life entitled it The Pursuit of Happyness. Ultimately, Gardner wasn t just trying to achieve a better life for himself and his son. He wasn t merely trying to get off the streets. He was after what every single human being on Earth longs for true happiness. The 17 th century French mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal noted this reality. He said: All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war and others avoiding it, is the same desire in both attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. [Happiness] is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves th century British preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones also recognized this: Happiness is the great question confronting mankind. The whole world is longing for happiness and it is tragic to observe the ways in which people are seeking it. The vast majority, alas, are doing so in a way that is bound to produce misery. 3 What about you this morning? Where are you looking for happiness? Is it in being fit and healthy? Are you pursuing happiness through getting promoted at work? Do you think a few more investments would make you secure enough that you could really sit back and enjoy life? Maybe success at work isn t your thing. Are you looking for happiness through satisfying relationships with 1 From an article by Carmine Gallo entitled, From Homeless to Multi-millionaire accessed online at on 03/20/ Cited from on 03/20/2014. [Brackets mine] 3 Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmanns Publishing Company, 1984 ), 24. 1

2 other people? Perhaps you think you will find happiness through having the perfect marriage? Will having your children turn out well make you happy? If any of this sounds like you, the stark message of Christianity is that there is no lasting happiness to be found in this world. This world is passing away (cf. 1 John 2:15-17) and so if we seek real and lasting happiness here, we are sure to regret it. We are not long for this world and, as they say, you can t take it with you. So, where can we find happiness? The good news of Scripture is that God offers us true and lasting happiness. This morning we are going to begin a four-part series in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12). As we look at this portion of Scripture, I pray that God will teach us how we can be truly happy. Background As a church plant, we have been studying the Gospel of Matthew since the beginning of this year. As we have studied through the first four chapters of Matthew s account of the life and ministry of Jesus, we have noted that Matthew is making a theological point: Jesus is the Messiah, the King of the Jews. By His descent from Abraham and David, by His fulfillment of ancient prophecies, by His life of perfect obedience, and by His defeat of Satan in the wilderness, Matthew has demonstrated that Jesus is God, who became a man in order to save sinners. Three weeks ago, we looked at the beginning of Jesus s ministry in Galilee. From 4:16 to 16:20, Matthew is going to give us something of an anthology of what Jesus said and did in Galilee. We saw that Jesus ministry in Galilee was characterized by three things: teaching, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing the sick and afflicted (4:23). People flocked to Him to hear His teaching. No disease and no demon could stand before Jesus. We also saw that it was in Galilee that Jesus called His first disciples (Peter and Andrew, James and John) to be with Him permanently (4:18-22). While Jesus was constantly surrounded by a multitude of people, He was intentional about discipling and teaching a much smaller group of men. Principally, He spent time with twelve disciples, eleven of whom became Apostles in the early church. In 5:1, we see that Jesus saw the crowds and went up to a certain mountain. He sat down, assuming the posture of a rabbi (teacher) in that culture, and then his disciples came to Him. Others were free to listen in, but Jesus was primarily instructing his disciples in the Sermon the Mount. Then in 5:2, Jesus opened His mouth and began His most famous sermon. Overview of the Sermon on the Mount Much has been written about this Sermon. Running from Matthew 5-7, it is the first of five discourses (sections of Jesus teaching) that Matthew includes in His Gospel. 4 Many scholars have studied this sermon and have given their expert opinion about Jesus purpose in writing it: 1. Some have looked at Jesus teaching and said the Sermon on the Mount is a New Law given by Jesus, the New Moses. But as we study this sermon, you will realize Jesus is not so much giving a New Law, as rightly interpreting the OT Law of God. 2. Others have noted the high demands of discipleship in the sermon and have assumed those demands cannot be for this present life. They are simply too hard, and so this must be the Law of the Kingdom to come (the Millennial Kingdom). But as you read the sermon, you will notice that Jesus clearly expects his disciples to live this way in the here-and-now. 4 The other four discourses are found in Matt. 10; 13; 18; and

3 3. Others have argued that the Sermon on the Mount contains Jesus ethical teaching. This is the viewpoint of liberal Christians. They say Jesus was an excellent teacher of love and if we would just follow His advice and love one another the way He tells us to, it would end all the ills of society. But the history of the world teaches us that the problem with Man is not that he doesn t KNOW the GOOD. The problem with Man is that he LOVES the EVIL. 4. It is helpful to understand that the Sermon on the Mount is not a New Law. Rather, it is a description. The Sermon on the Mount does not teach us how to BECOME citizens of the Kingdom (i.e., how to be saved). Rather, it gives an accurate picture of what the citizens of the Kingdom are like. This is a sermon for disciples of Jesus for those who have been saved. Only they have the resource of the Holy Spirit to help them live out the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:1-16, Jesus tells us what the citizens of the Kingdom look like. Then from Matthew 5:17-7:27, He tells us how the citizens of the Kingdom live. Our Lord is concerned to describe the citizens of the kingdom, the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. First and foremost, He gives us in the Beatitudes a general description of the essential nature of the Christian man. Then He goes on to tell us about the function and purpose of the Christian in this life and the world. 5 -D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. So, for roughly the next three months, as we study the Sermon on the Mount, we will answer two questions: Who is a Christian? and What are Christians like? Introduction to the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3a) As you look at 5:1-12, you notice Jesus begins His sermon by giving eight descriptions of a citizen of the Kingdom. 6 Blessed are the poor in Spirit Blessed are those who mourn Blessed are the meek... These are the Beatitudes. The word Beatitude is from the Latin translation of the Greek word makarios. In English, makarios is translated Blessed. Makarios means happy, fortunate, and blissful. 7 It carries with it the connotation that the Blessed person is a person to be congratulated because he is in a good situation in life. 8 Even though the world might not realize it, in the eyes of God, the Blessed man IS living the good life. He (and he alone!) is happy, blissful, and fortunate. This morning, we are going to focus on Matthew 5:3. Matthew 5:3- Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 5 D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, vol. 1, Commentators disagree over whether there are 7, 8, or even 10 beatitudes. I include 5:10 as the 8 th and final Beatitude even though it is a passive description. 5:10 is a description of the Christian in the sense that it pictures how the world responds to the Christian. The world will persecute genuine Christians. I believe 5:11-12 fill out our understanding of the 8 th and final beatitude. See comments in R.T. France, The Gospel of Matthew in NICNT (Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmanns Publishing Company, 2007), 161. Press, 1985), John MacArthur, Matthew 1-7 in the MacArthur New Testament Commentary Series (Chicago: Moody 8 R.T. France, The Gospel of Matthew,

4 Let s study Matthew 5:3 by asking and answering four questions: -What does it mean to be poor in spirit? -What is promised to the poor in spirit? -How does one become poor in spirit? -How does being poor in spirit affect my life? I. What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Matthew 5:3a- Blessed are the poor in spirit A. The Lord Jesus starts with this first Beatitude for a reason. These eight Beatitudes are not given at random. As we go through the study, we will see that there is a definite logical progression. We ll unpack this more over the next four weeks. For now, suffice it to say that in some sense, the Lord is saying that those who are poor are blessed. They are happy, fortunate, even blissful. B. Who are these poor ones? Some have looked at a parallel teaching in Luke 6:20 and understood Jesus to be speaking of those in actual physical poverty. Luke seems to say this when he writes: Luke 6:20- And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 1. How are we to understand the Lord s teaching in Luke 6? Some have taken him literally and have renounced their wealth in order to be blessed. But we should not understand Jesus to be blessing poverty because poverty is never listed as a positive virtue in Scripture. In the OT, God promised that those who obeyed His Law would enjoy prosperity, not poverty. Deuteronomy 28:1-5- And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the voice of the LORD your God. 3 Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. 4 Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground and the fruit of your cattle, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. 5 Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 6 Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. i. So, while it is obviously not a sin to be poor, we should not assume that the poor are somehow more spiritual than those who have possessions. Many a poor man s heart is filled with the cancer of covetousness. The Scriptures everywhere assume that Jesus will have followers who are both poor and rich (cf. James 1:9-10, ) 4

5 Leon Morris, who was probably the finest theologian Australia has ever produced, had this to say about the idea that Jesus is somehow blessing physical poverty: Jesus is not saying that poverty is a blessing in itself; to canonize a state of life in which people find themselves against their will (real poverty does not mean voluntarily choosing to live simply) and from which they would escape if they could is scarcely Christian I cannot rid myself of the feeling that much modern writing proceeds from the comfortable, people for whom poverty is an interesting discussion but who have never themselves experienced what real poverty is. I have. And poverty is not a blessing, nor is powerlessness We are helped to understand what Jesus meant in Luke 6:20 when He said Blessed are the poor when we realize that Jesus was an itinerant preacher. He would travel around preaching his sermons over and over again at each new town (cf. Matthew 4:17; 23). It is most likely, that Matthew s Sermon on the Mount and Luke s Sermon on the Plain were similar messages taught at two different locations. 10 But Matthew s recounting of the teaching clarifies what Jesus said in Luke. Matthew doesn t merely record Jesus saying, Blessed are the poor. Matthew clarifies what Jesus meant when he says, Blessed are the poor in spirit. (5:3a). 3. The message of the Bible is that all mankind is poor in spirit. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23). The very best works of man are like filthy garments in the eyes of a Holy God (Isaiah 64:6). No one has anything to offer God. In Philippians 3:2-8, Paul recounts all his religious accomplishments as a Pharisee. But he concludes by noting that they were all loss (lit. dung). All men and women stand before God spiritually destitute. The word poor here refers to a beggar who lives on the charity of others. 11 Man is not just poor. Spiritually speaking, he is begging poor But that s the thing. Not everyone realizes that they are poor before God. Many people are quick to talk about the good things they have done. They assume that they can be good enough to earn God s favor and get to heaven by their own efforts. Maybe when you came to church this morning that is how you thought as well. But Jesus destroys that lie. Who are the ones who are blessed? They are the ones who realize they are spiritually poor. They have no resources in themselves. They have nothing to commend themselves to God. And so THEY GO TO GOD for mercy. They are empty and so they go to God to be filled. 9 Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew in PNTC (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmanns Publishing Company, 1992), For similarities and differences between the two sermons see the discussion in R.T. France, The Gospel of Matthew, Leon Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, MacArthur, Matthew 1-7,

6 Illustration: Let me give you a negative example to make the point. If you have wasted time on Facebook recently, perhaps you have seen the video of the little girl in the backseat of her family car trying to buckle the seatbelt of her car seat. Her father is there watching and video recording her and she is obviously getting frustrated because she can t quite buckle the belt. Her dad asks if he can help and she yells back: No! I do it. Turn around and drive. I do it! That little girl was not poor in spirit. She didn t realize she was incapable of buckling the seat belt and so she refused to be helped. In the same way, those who don t realize they are spiritually poor before God will never go to God for His help. Illustration: Now let me give you two positive illustrations from Scripture to make the point. First, think about the parable of the Prodigal Son. The prodigal goes off to the far city and squanders his wealth and ends up starving while feeding pigs (Luke 15:11-32). But then he came to himself (Luke 15:17). He realized that He was poor, but that His Father was rich. And so he heads home. Second, think about the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican praying in the Temple (Luke 18:9-14). The Pharisee uses his prayer time to brag about what a great guy he is. But the publican won t even lift his eyes to heaven and cries out for mercy. Now what happens to prodigal son? The Father welcomes back the prodigal, dresses him well, gives him a ring and throws a great party. What happens to the publican? Jesus said that he (rather than the Pharisee) was justified (declared righteous) before God (Luke 18:14). It is only those who realize that they are poor in spirit who go to God. They realize they are empty and so they go to God to be filled. Now what does Jesus say about such people? II. What is promised to the poor in spirit? Matthew 5:3- Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. A. Here we see the amazing generosity of God. I don t know what your conception of God is this morning, but you need to let this verse shape the way you view Him. Jesus says that the poor in spirit are blessed -happy, blissful, and fortunate because theirs is the kingdom of heaven. a. What is the kingdom of heaven? It is the place where God rules in power. God is sovereign over all things. But for His own purposes, He has chosen not to rule in all His fullness in this present world. One day He will, when the the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ (Rev. 12:15). But the Kingdom is a present reality in the hearts of God s people and the Kingdom is a present reality in Heaven where Jesus sits at God s right hand. What is Jesus saying? Jesus is saying that those who are poor in spirit are blessed because God has promised to give them the Kingdom of Heaven. b. Those who are poor in spirit receive Jesus as King in this life. And they receive the promise of eternal life with Christ forever in His Kingdom. How expansive of a promise is that? Paul says 1 Corinthians 3: So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future all are yours, 23 and you are Christ s, and Christ is God s. 6

7 No wonder Jesus tells such people that they are Blessed. They have received the Kingdom of God as a GIFT of grace!! The Gospel Friends, this is the wonder of the Gospel. Do you know 2 Corinthians 8:9? 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. The Bible teaches that God is Holy and we are sinful. Each one of us has a mountain of sins that are stacked against us. We are indebted to God. God promises to judge sinful men and women forever in hell. But we are poor. There is no way we can pay our debt. We have nothing to offer to God. But God, because He is rich in mercy, sent His Son Jesus to pay our sin debt. He lived a perfect life in the place of sinners and then He died on the cross in the place of sinners. Now all who realize their spiritual poverty and come to Him will be clothed with the righteousness of Christ and given the Kingdom of God. All who repent and believe in Christ are saved. They are blessed! If you want to know more about what it means to be truly blessed in Christ, we would love to talk to you about that after this morning s service. Now, if this is true, we need to ask III. How does one become poor in spirit? A. Obviously, the first step toward becoming poor in spirit is to realize our sinfulness before a Holy God. It is only as you realize the depth of your sin towards God that you will see yourself as spiritually destitute. And it is only when you are spiritually destitute that you will go to God for salvation. Isaiah 6:5- And I said: Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts! B. But Christians, we never get past needing to be poor in spirit in this life. Much of growth in Christ is growth in knowledge of just how spiritually destitute we are AND just how wonderful and gracious and sufficient our God is. Our God wants us to come to Him again and again to be filled. Only then can we grow in being poor in spirit. I love how Martyn Lloyd-Jones put this in his sermon on this passage: The way to become poor in spirit is to look at God. Read this Book about Him, read His law, look at what He expects from us, contemplate standing before Him. It is also to look at the Lord Jesus Christ and to view Him as we see Him in the Gospels. The more we do that the more we shall understand the reaction of the apostles when, looking at Him and something He had just done, they said, Lord, increase our faith. Their faith, they felt, was nothing. They felt it was so weak and so poor. Lord, increase our faith. We thought we had something because we had cast out devils and preached Thy word, but now we feel we have nothing; increase our faith. Look at Him, and the more we look at Him, the more hopeless shall we feel by ourselves, and the more shall we become poor in spirit. Look at Him, keep looking at Him. Look at the saints, look at the men who have been most filled with the Spirit and used. But above all, look again at Him, and then you will have nothing to do to 7

8 yourself. It will be done. You cannot truly look at Him without feeling your absolute poverty, and emptiness. 13 IV. How does being poor in spirit affect my life? Realizing we are poor in spirit : Truth for meditation: A. Frees us from self-righteousness. Christians, be encouraged! We are beggars who live daily by God s grace alone. In-and-of-ourselves, we have no righteousness. We are justified (declared righteous before God) based on Christ s righteousness alone (2 Cor. 5:21). And we are sanctified (made more like Jesus) by God s grace alone. Even as Christians, we can t offer our good deeds to God. Why? Because apart from Christ we can do nothing (John 15:5). We will never do anything for God for which we do not need to immediately turn around and thank God. We can only do good deeds because He is at work in us both to will and do of His good pleasure (Phil 2:12-13). From beginning to end our salvation is all of grace. Application: But one of the most basic problems of the Christian life is that we tend to forget this. We tend to confuse justification and sanctification. We forget that we stand perfectly accepted before God based on Christ s righteousness alone and we begin to think that our standing before God depends on our performance. We begin to think of what makes a person a good Christian and we try to do those things. We begin to think God accepts us because we are such good Christians. After all, this morning I read my bible, said my prayers, worked hard, and then shared the Gospel with my neighbor. God is pleased with me! But what happens the next day when we sleep in and don t read our bible and say our prayers before going to work? If we think God accepts us because we are such nice people or because our children have turned out so well, what happens to our joy when we are NOT such nice people and when our children rebel? We end up on an endless rollercoaster that God does not intend for us to be on. But if we realize that we were perfectly accepted even though we ARE poor in spirit and have nothing to offer to God, then our joy is constant! Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. B. Protects unity in the body of Christ- One of the great causes of disunity in the church is the tendency to forget that we are poor in spirit but that God has still given us the kingdom. When we think that God accepts us based on certain standards other than Christ s righteousness, we begin to look down on people who don t keep our standards. If I think God accepts me because I only listen to certain styles of music, then I will look down on those who listen to music I don t like. If I think God accepts me because I give a lot to missions, then I will look down on those who aren t as passionate about missions as I am. If I think God accepts me because I don t watch certain movies or because I vote for a certain political party, then I will look down on those who do otherwise. In the book of Galatians, the issue was circumcision. The Judaizers said that only those who had been circumcised were truly spiritual. And the church of 13 Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, vol. 1, 42. 8

9 Galatia was divided. How did Paul remedy that disunity? He brought them back to the cross! Galatians 6: But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. Conclusion i. We are ALL poor in spirit, but in Jesus we have ALL received the Kingdom of God. We all need Jesus desperately! That is the basis of our unity. When I realize I need Jesus just as much as my brother or sister does, then I am no better than they are. I am freed to accept them just as God does. C. Helps us love God-Another thing that forgetting we are poor in spirit does is tempt us to think we can put God in our debt. Now we would never say this, but when we think we are acceptable to God because we do certain things and don t do other things, we end up thinking God owes us. It sounds like this: God, I raised my kids according to the Bible, so you owe me well-behaved children. Or, God, I have served faithfully for years in the church, so you owe me a godly spouse. Or, God, I have worked hard at work for your glory, so you owe me a promotion. Now, we never actually say these things to God, but what happens when the kids don t turn out the way we want, or when God doesn t give us the spouse we want, or when we get overlooked for the promotion? We get angry and bitter at God! God, how could you let this happen? I served You! But when we realize that we are poor in spirit, we realize that it is ALL of grace. The only thing God owed me was Hell. But He has given me the Kingdom! And when I realize that, I love God! And I let God be God in my life rather than try to put Him in my debt. D. Frees us from fear-if we only realized what we have been given in Jesus. Matthew 5:3 says, theirs IS the Kingdom of heaven. (Present tense) In the mind of God, it is as good as done. Jesus is my King now. And because I am in Jesus, I am guaranteed to be with God forever and ever in a perfect world where there will be no more loss, pain, or tears. At the end of the day, no matter what I am currently facing, I don t have to be afraid. God has promised to bring me home even though I don t deserve it. God always keeps His word! In conclusion, I hope we are seeing that the paradoxical sounding truth of Christianity is that the only way to be truly happy is to realize that we are beggars poor in spirit. We need to see our emptiness and need and then go to God who has promised to fill us. We are weak, but He is strong. We are poor, but He is rich. We are halting, but He never fails! Contrary to the movie, The Pursuit of Happyness, happiness is not found through a pursuit of a successful career about which we are passionate. Happiness isn t found in living for anything in this world, whether money or people. We are sure to lose the things of this world. True happiness is found in acknowledging our need of God so that we might receive the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Let s pray 9