God be pleased to bless us this
evening as we meditate in his word. Let's turn to the Gospel
of Matthew and the fifth chapter. This evening we'll speak from
the third verse, which of course is the first verse, the first
words that Jesus spoke on this mountainside. Blessed are the
poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. No doubt it was an unexpected
commencement to the words that the Lord was to speak. And clearly
he was sat there, he was sat down there to preach the great
truths of the gospel. And as he spoke these first words,
blessed are the poor in spirit. Well, that must have made many
people wonder really what he was saying what the purpose of
such words were, because no doubt many of them did not understand
and did not listen carefully to the words that were spoken,
because the Lord did not say, blessed are the poor. He said,
blessed are the poor in spirit, and therefore he was clearly
referring to the spiritual state and the spiritual condition of
the people. And it's important to realise
that here, as he begins his sermon, he addresses them and there are
eight characters which, God willing, we'll deal with as we proceed. Eight characters who are enumerated
as being blessed and to the natural man, to the worldly man. Such blessings are really incomprehensible
to think that people should be classified as being blessed who
are favoured in this way. They would generally think they
were not favoured. In actual fact, they would think
the complete opposite. But the Word of God tells us,
the Saviour spoke these words, blessed are the poor in spirit. So we may say, well, what does
that mean? Well, this word can also be interpreted
as beggars. Blessed are the beggars. And again, I'm not referring
here to natural things. Many people are beggars today
who just need physical help but have no concern about their eternal
soul. But this refers here to those
who are beggars in spirit, those who really come and cry for mercy,
realising their great need of a saviour, realising how poor
they are in the things of God. And you may say, well, why is
that? And give us some examples. Well, we can't give a better
example, of course, than the Apostle Paul. Because the Apostle
Paul, he tells us that he was the lowest, least prophet, and
also the worst sinner. Or the worst, sorry, the apostle
and the worst sinner. So surely the Apostle Paul was
within the bounds of these words and classified as the poor in
spirit. And that of course means that
we are humble in the things of God. That we don't think ourselves
very great. We don't think ourselves an important
person. We don't think that we're something
to really look up to. Because as the Spirit of God
works in our hearts, I believe it's quite clear that this work
brings us down in our own estimation. It makes us poorer in our own
estimation. It doesn't raise us up in our
estimation, it does raise Christ up. our estimation, as a great
and glorious saviour to such unworthy sinners, to such those
who are poor in spirit. And we'll be thankful for the
Word of God, therefore, that comes to us in this way, because
as the Spirit works in our heart, we have to recognise we are a
sinner indeed, a black sinner, and a great sinner, and we're
not little sinners, and how poor we are. and how we need the Spirit
of God to come and to bless us indeed. And I believe, you know,
when you're poor, you're satisfied with small things. The woman
in the scriptures was satisfied to have a crumb from the master's
table. Well, she had a real hunger. She was really poor. And it's
good when the Spirit of God brings us down to be thankful for a
crumb, for a crumb of mercy, for some word from the Lord God
Himself. Not some wonderful banquet, not
some great feast. Occasionally the Lord does come
and grant us such wonderful occasions. But generally speaking, it's
just here a little and there a little. And it's line upon
line, and precept upon precept. It's these small things, which
when we are poor in spirit, we are truly thankful for. And therefore, to be found humble
and lowly in our own eyes. That's a blessing of the Spirit
of God, to bring us down, not to raise us up in ourselves,
but to bring us down. We read that chapter in the Revelation
which speaks to us about the church in Laodicea and it describes
that church and what did the church say? The church described
itself like this, I am rich and increased with goods and have
need of nothing. Who is that? That's someone who
is really, perhaps, out of the secret. Someone who thinks they
know everything, they're proud of their religion, just like
the Pharisee was in that parable of the Pharisee and the publican.
But here is the words that the Lord speaks to the Apostle John
as he wrote to the seven churches. And this was, of course, the
last church because Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with
goods, and have need of nothing. And he tells them the truth.
And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and
poor, and blind, and naked. Now tonight, what a wonderful
blessing if we come within those words. And that we do know that
we are poor. Now let me say this. It's only
the Spirit of God which brings us to a position to acknowledge
that we are poor in spirit. And when the Spirit of God has
done that, the result is we are blessed. Blessed indeed. And so he tells them, blessed
are the poor in spirit. And what's going to happen? Are they going to have a wonderful
inheritance in this world? Are they going to enjoy all the
riches of time? Are they going to be blessed
with wonderful prosperity and many worldly friends? The Lord
doesn't mention that. What does he say? For theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Well, there's no greater blessing
for us to look forward to that inheritance which is incorruptible
and undefiled and that fadeth not away, a place reserved for
us in glory. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This is the promise of God. This
is not just a theory. This is the true word. So if
the Spirit of God has brought us down, And it's a wonderful
thing, if that is so, because it's the Spirit's work. You and
I don't bring ourselves down naturally. We exalt ourselves. But the Spirit of God brings
us down, so that we are nothing. We don't go about expecting everybody
to believe what we say. We trust that everybody will
believe the Word of God, and that the people won't raise us
up as some important person. but they will raise up Christ
as the important person. And so to be favoured, to understand
the truth of these words, pour in spirit. Remember, that is
to feel ourselves like that and to rejoice then in the wonderful
blessing and favour that is ours to be found rejoicing in the
truth that if the Spirit of God has brought us down to this position,
then we can look forward to that great time of blessing when we
shall be eternally rich. We won't be poor in heaven. No,
there's nobody poor in heaven. They're all rich. They're all
blessed. They're all blessed with that
great and glorious salvation. They're all found amongst those
who have been granted the forgiveness of all their sins. Those for
whom the Saviour, the one who they will worship eternally died
on their behalf. And therefore, oh, how thankful
they are that the Spirit of God brought them down in their own
estimation in this world, so that they may be raised up to
spend eternity in glory. We have that parable, don't we? The Lord spoke about the rich
man and Lazarus. What a comparison. The rich man
had all that he wanted in this life. Lazarus, covered in sores,
nothing at all. When they died, one went to hell. One went to glory. What a difference. The rich man realized immediately
that he was a loser. He realized that the little things
that he felt were so important had passed and left them behind.
But now, He was eternally damned, whereas Lazarus was eternally
blessed. There he was, in the bosom of
Abraham, in glory forever, to praise the Saviour. And so tonight,
as we think of these words, remember the first words of this wonderful
sermon that the Lord Jesus spoke as He opened His mouth and He
said, Blessed are the poor in spirit. Well may we all come
under this truth and be found by the work and blessed work
of the Holy Spirit to be poor in spirit. It means poor in ourselves.
It means if we're poor in ourselves we shall be rejoicing in what
Christ has done and by his grace looking forward to that time
when we shall be in the kingdom of heaven with Christ, which
is far better, and that throughout eternally. Well, it's a great
prospect, isn't it? And therefore we should not think
that this world is anything but just a place that we're passing
through. This is not our home. This is
not our rest. Indeed, as Micah said, it is
polluted. And again, if the spirit of God
brings us to that situation, to realise that we're poor in
spirit, we look around and we realise that this world is a
polluted place and to look forward to that eternity in glory where
there is no sin and no sorrow and eternal happiness and praise
to our God. Well, may we enter in to the
great truth of these words, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Amen.