The Poor in Spirit

Q: What does the Bible say about being poor in spirit?

The Bible states that 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' (Matthew 5:3), highlighting the spiritual humility required to enter God's kingdom. In Matthew 5:3, Jesus teaches that those who are 'poor in spirit' are blessed, for they will inherit the kingdom of heaven. This concept reflects an acknowledgment of our spiritual poverty, realizing that we are spiritually bankrupt and completely dependent on God’s grace for salvation. Being poor in spirit means recognizing our inability to earn God’s favor through our own efforts or righteousness. Instead, we learn to rely solely on Christ's righteousness, which is the foundation of our faith.

Q: How do we know that salvation is by grace and not works?

Salvation is based solely on God's mercy and grace, as emphasized in Ephesians 2:8-9, where it states that we are saved by grace, not by works. The doctrine of salvation by grace alone is a central tenet of Reformed theology. Ephesians 2:8-9 clearly articulates that we are saved through faith and that this is not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. As we recognize our spiritual poverty, we understand that our deeds cannot contribute to our salvation. True acknowledgment of Christ as our Savior leads to a deeper appreciation for the grace we receive as the sheer unmerited favor from God. This grace is sufficient and is the only means by which we can stand before a holy God without condemnation.

Q: Why is spiritual humility important for Christians?

Spiritual humility is vital for Christians as it aligns us with the understanding that we are dependent on God's grace and not our own righteousness. Spiritual humility underpins the Christian faith, allowing believers to approach God with the right heart attitude. In James 2:5, we see that God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith, emphasizing that those who recognize their weakness are positioned to receive God’s grace. Without humility, one may fall into self-righteousness and pride, which can lead to exclusion from God’s kingdom. Thus, a humble spirit opens the door to deepening one's relationship with Christ and living a life that reflects His love and grace to others. As Paul says, 'For by grace you have been saved through faith,' which inherently involves cultivating an attitude of humility before God.

Q: How does Christ's sacrifice relate to our spiritual poverty?

Christ's sacrifice addresses our spiritual poverty by atoning for our sins, allowing us to be reconciled with God despite our capability. Christ's sacrificial death on the cross directly correlates with our state of spiritual poverty. As stated in 1 John 2:1-2, Jesus is our advocate and the propitiation for our sins, meaning that His sacrifice satisfied God's justice for our sins. This act of grace underscores that we, as poor in spirit, are utterly incapable of achieving righteousness on our own. It reminds us that our salvation is not built on our merits but solely on Christ's redemptive work on our behalf. Thus, by understanding our spiritual poverty, we can fully appreciate the depth of Christ's love and His willingness to endure the cross for our sake, making us rich in spiritual blessings.

Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Matthew chapter 1, or chapter 5, I mean. Matthew chapter 5. We're going to take one line out of the Beatitudes, and I'm going to preach to us from this one line. And I pray the Holy Spirit will take it and use it for His glory. And who will He point us to? Christ. He said that, right? The Lord said He won't speak of Himself. He'll speak of me. Oh, look at this, Matthew chapter 5. Let's stand up together and read these seven verses. Matthew chapter 5, verses 1 to 7. We'll read these verses together. These are wonderful verses.

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into the mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

My, what a wonderful portion of Scripture. And you know there when it says, blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, do you know who that's speaking of? That's not speaking of anything we do, is it? That's speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our righteousness. Isn't that wonderful? And there was a time when we never even hungered or thirst after Christ. And what do we do now that we're born again? We hunger and thirst after Christ, don't we?

We seek to glorify him. We seek to magnify him. Because he's everything to us. Like Paul said, now he's become our all in all. So people don't expect the natural world to understand that Christ is everything to us now. He was nothing to us before. Now he's everything.

Oh my. You know, my heart burns when I talk about Christ. Is it so for you? You know, there are lots of things people talk about in this world, but my heart really burns when I'm sitting with people and we start talking about Christ. Oh, it's wonderful, because he's my life. And I know if you're a believer, he's your life. It's wonderful to talk about.

And remember, we're all ambassadors for Christ. And what do we do? We tell about our King. We tell about our King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let us know who the preacher is. The preacher in these words is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. The preacher of these words is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the greatest preacher that ever lived. People call Spurgeon the Prince of Preachers.

He would have hated that. He would have hated that title. You know, I read his sermons a lot, read some of his books. He would have absolutely despised people calling him that, because he wanted all glory to go to God. He didn't think himself up as highly learned in all this. No, he knew he is just a lowly servant like all of us. So we need to take, now we need to take ear when the preacher's preaching, but here's the master speaking. Here's the one we talk about.

These are his words. So the speaker is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. This is during the Beatitudes. And he's talking to his disciples. This is the prince of preachers. This is the prophet. This is the one who's called prophet, priest, and king. This is the Messiah. And he's speaking to his disciples. Think of this.

This is the one of whom Moses spoke of. This is the one of whom Isaiah saw high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. This is the one who Jacob wrestled with. This is the one who Moses saw in the burning bush, who said, I am that I am. This is the Messiah, the sent one of God, sent to save his people from their sins. This is who he is. Let's take heed to his words. This is the master. This is God incarnate in the flesh. The long expected Messiah. And where is he speaking from? A mountain in Galilee. It's not Mount Sinai. It's not Mount Olivet. It's not Mount Calvary. It's a common Galilean hillside. And here is the Son of God. He's meeting with his disciples. He's instructing his disciples.

And you know why that place was holy? Because Christ was there. You know why God said to Moses, take off your shoes for the ground that you are in is holy? Because Christ was there. Do you know why Joshua fell before the Lord? But the Lord told him, take your shoes off, the ground you're standing on is holy, because Christ was there. That's the only reason. That's the only reason. There's no speciality from one place to another. It's because the presence of God was there. It was God in the flesh. It's wonderful.

And he came to his people, right? And they rejected him. Came unto his own, and his own received him not. But, see, that was always part of the plan, wasn't it? Because here we are, a bunch of Gentiles sitting here, praising God. But the Jews didn't know that. They were shocked when Paul said the Gentiles are included. They lost their minds. Remember we saw that in our study of Acts? They were ready to kill Paul. But praise God, here we are. I'm thankful God included the Gentiles, aren't you? My, oh, my. It's wonderful. And who is the congregation sitting before him? His disciples. The sermon was addressed to those who profess to be his followers. Now, there was one in there who really wasn't his follower, was there? But he knew who he was. So there was terror, a terror among the weak. My.

This is why we're not to assume everyone's saved before whom we preach. We just preach Christ, the only savior of sinners. And here he is. He's addressing his followers. And they heard this message, but the message was particularly addressed to men and women who have publicly avowed their faith in Christ by baptism. And they were looking forward to being with Christ forever because Brother Zane, he saved them from their sins, didn't he? And this sermon was addressed to who? Common people like us.

You know, one of the things I've learned in my walk in the Lord, and I didn't even know this verse existed until the Lord showed me grace. He says, never forget the rock you were hewn from. Don't forget where you came from. Don't forget where we were when the Lord pulled us out of that dunghill. Right? The garbage heap of humanity. That's where he found us.

So we ought never to get haughty, beloved. Oh, Lord, keep us from a self-righteous spirit. Keep us from glorifying ourselves. Let us glorify the Lord. Let us sing praises about what He's done. Because that's all that matters, right? He saved us from our sins. Chris and I were talking a couple weeks ago about preaching. And that verse just popped again. Who's sufficient for these things? You know, Travis and I have talked about that. It's like, Travis, you and I, I love what you say. You say, I'm more scared about saying something wrong than anything. That's like saying, I'm not qualified for this. And every preacher will tell you, we don't feel qualified for what we do. Not at all.

God makes a preacher, doesn't he? But it starts with him giving us a message, doesn't he? Christ and Him crucified. I remember Donnie Bell. He listened to one of my messages. You know what he said? He said, well, you got the message. And he said this to me. Remember, and I've told Chris this. I've told Travis that we talk about this.

It's not the man. It's not the man. It's the message. Don't get hooked up on the man preaching. It's the message. Christ and him crucified. Christ, the savior of sinners. Christ, the one who washes his people in his precious, precious blood, the blood of the God-man. Oh my, I'll tell you why. And who are God's people? Well, they're the poor in spirit. Right? We're poor in spirit. Oh my.

This sermon's addressed to common people like we all are here. We have all different stations of life, right? But you know, we all came out of the same quarry of humanity. You came out of the same quarry as I did. We all come from Adam and Eve, didn't we? Yeah? Why do some of us think we're better than others? Pride. Self-righteousness. And the Lord shows us that without Him we can do nothing. Nothing. My. And this sermon was addressed again to common people like us, beloved. You and me. Let's remember where we were when the Lord saved us. And remember, the one who saved us is the one who's in control of the growth of every blade of grass in this world.

The one who's in control of every grain of sand This is God, the one who's in control of every creature under the sun, on earth, even the ones we can't see. The one who's in control of the dust that you see in the sun, floated in the sky, or in your room. That's all ordered by the Lord. Did you know that? It's all ordered by the Lord.

The one who is in control of all things visible and invisible. Things we can't see and things we can see. The one who is sovereign in his purpose and in his being. That's the God of the Bible. That's the one who saved us. It's wondrous. Why do I ever fear? Why do I get anxious? The flesh, the flesh, the flesh. Right?

And it surely is the planets have their orbits and are set by our holy God, our righteous God, And as the sun is marked out with precision, and the bounds of the sea, do you know the bounds of the sea are set that they cannot go past where God has said they could? The bounds are set, it says in Proverbs.

That's the one who saved us, the one who said all that. That's who saved our soul, beloved. That's who became a man, the creator, the Lord Jesus Christ. The sun comes up at his order every day, and darkness comes at his order every night. Does that sound like a God who wants to say, but can't? No. That's a sovereign God who saves whom He wills, when He wills. And as He said, I'll have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom I have compassion. And we who are the people of God, we say, praise His mighty name. He had compassion on me. Praise His mighty name. He's merciful to me.

Because I didn't look for it. I didn't seek it. I didn't understand Him. And I was trying to go about establishing my own righteousness. Now that was before I was saved, and when I was just dead in trespasses and sins, and then I got religious, and I thought thinking my religious works would gain me favor with God. Absolutely not.

So why do we serve God? Because we love him. Because he saved our souls. It's not duty, is it? It's not duty at all. We love serving Him now. Wonder of wonders, Brother Chris. Now we love to serve the King. When we used to serve ourselves. Isn't that amazing? Oh my. You know, we're trophies of His grace. Monuments to His mercy. All because of Christ. all because of that precious blood of Christ that redeemed us from all our sins. And we say, hallelujah, what a Savior is Jesus Christ my Lord. He's amazing.

This is not the best news you've ever heard? Oh my. It's wonderful, isn't it? I'll tell you. It doesn't get any better, beloved. My. Most wonderful news I've ever heard. And you know our great God has ordained that in every age there should be men who are lacking in the riches of this world and women who are lacking in the riches of this world. Yeah. There's poor people. There's people who have a little. There's people who have a little more. There's rich people.

But that's all ordained by God, beloved. That's all ordained by God. My. You know who he's chosen to save? The dirty dog. Greatest sinners in the world. Us. Me. Isn't that amazing grace? Isn't that amazing grace? And He redeemed us with His blood. My, it's wonderful.

Turn, if you would, to John. John chapter 12. When Mary anointed Jesus' feet at Bethany, Judas Iscariot, man, he got red hot, didn't he? Well, she wasted all that money that could have been used to help the poor. Well, Judas Iscariot was a fraud. He's a fraud. He's a professing Christian who never was saved. Never.

As a matter of fact, when he died, the Lord said he went to his own place. My. But he thought, right away he thought about, and don't get me wrong here, he wasn't thinking about the poor. He was thinking about how much money that filled that purse with. He just used the poor to throw out there, and the Lord knew that.

Look what the Lord says in John chapter 12, verses 7 and 8. He said, let her alone against the day, verse 7, let her alone against the day of my burying. Has she kept this? For the poor always she have with you. Look at that. Ages upon ages upon ages is already always being poor, poor folks. But me, you have not always." Oh, my. He was about to go to the cross, wasn't he, in a little while and die.

So each time we see those begging for bread, they're unwashed people or unkept and in debt with no means to pay their obligations, we should be reminded that the inhabitants of Zion, the elect of God, are just like the poor, but we're poor in spirit. We couldn't save ourselves, could we? You know what we were when the Lord found us? Bankrupt sinners. with no means to pay for our salvation, no means to earn our salvation by anything we've done.

I told you before, when I was a Catholic, I used to think my good would outweigh my bad. Definitely my good would way outweigh my bad. And then I found out when someone handed me a Bible that all I was was bad. I didn't have a lick of good in me. And now I find out after I'm saved, everything I do is tainted with sin. Because I'm still a sinner, right? I talked to a fellow two weeks ago, and I said, you're still a sinner.

And he goes, no, I'm not really that bad. This is a man who professes to love the Lord. I said, well, Christ came to save sinners, man. And all God's people are to save sinners. Spurgeon said this get this he said when I'm laying in my bed in the morning And I get up in the morning, and I walk to my breakfast table I've sinned enough in that short walk to damn a thousand souls to hell See we don't think that way And that's the same man saying that Oh, Vicki and I have been talking, and Vicki says, she says, we don't understand the depravity of our souls until God starts to reveal it to us. And then we say with Paul, wretched man that I am, who can deliver me from this body of death?

But then in Romans 8, 1, he says, there is therefore now no condemnation. You know what that word means, that condemnation, for those in Christ Jesus? Now think of this. Whole bunch of people out there believe Christians will be judged for what they do. Okay. You want to believe that? I don't believe that. I don't believe that. You know why?

Because Romans 8-1. The underlying word for condemnation is judgment. There is therefore no judgment to those in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Why will we never ever be judged for anything we do? You know why? Because the judgment that was due us for all our sins fell on Christ.

Remember, Moses struck that rock once. He was told, hit the rock once. Don't hit it a second time. What'd he do? He hit it a second time. He couldn't go in the promised land. Now, he's in heaven, but he couldn't go in the promised land. You know why? Because that represented Christ being struck twice for our sins. And God would have nothing to do with that. Because that rock was Christ. Isn't it wonderful to know we'll never be judged for anything because Christ paid it all?

Now, that doesn't give us license. We always have people say, well, man, I couldn't talk like that, because then people think they can go out and do whatever they want. They could watch whatever they want. Nope. What constrains us, beloved? Someone tell me. Amen. The love of Christ, right? That's produced in us by the Holy Spirit of God. So now we don't want, we know we're sinners, but I ask you this, do you sin more than you want to? Yeah? One day we're not gonna sin anymore. My, won't that be wonderful, beloved? It'll be absolutely wonderful. Mm.

So, the poor will always be with us, but now the Lord's gonna turn it. And he says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Well, this brings another twist. James chapter 2, verse 5 says this, Hearken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith? And that faith is given to us, right? And heirs of the kingdom, which he hath promised to them that love him. Well, the poor of this world are those who've been shown that we're nothing but bankrupt sinners. And you're not many wise people that the Lord saves. You know when it says God has chosen the foolish things of the world? Do you know what that word means?

Common. I come from a common family. My dad was a trailer mechanic and my mom was a housewife. And my brothers were just common guys, and me too. Don't forget the rock you were hewn from. Your station may increase in life, but don't ever forget where the Lord took you from. dead in trespasses and sins, with no hope. Now what hope we have in Christ.

Oh my. My, oh my. God's chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith. My. Marvel at that. God's chosen the poor. The poor of this world, who are now rich in faith. Do you know I'm richer than Bill Gates, the Apple guy, and all the richest billionaires in the world? Do you know I'm richer than all of them? In Christ. I got everything I need. Brian, we got everything we need in Christ. We're rich in spiritual blessings. That's glorious. It's glorious. Hmm.

One of the things that scripture were reminded is, again, we're to remember the rock we were hewn from. We're to remember where we came from, where the Lord rescued us. Scripture says the dunghill, where maggots are squirming around. Lord, save this maggot. Isn't that wondrous? It's amazing.

And sometimes, in religion, I went through a phase like this. I don't believe I was saved. But I went through a phase of self-righteousness. Oh, everybody was wrong but me. Looking down at people, thinking I was something when I was nothing. But it's common. It's common in religion. May the Holy Spirit deliver us from that kind of spirit. Right? Oh, my. And may we remember, may we be constantly reminded where we were when the Lord saved us. Again, as I said in Sunday school, we're all hewn out of the same rock of humanity.

Now, the poor are seldom pitied. Quite often they're despised by those who have an abundance of this world's goods. They're looked upon as lazy. No, they're just lazy. They're irresponsible. And usually the ones who are looking down on them are the ones who came from that situation, but are now doing really well.

But we see that God has mercy on the poor in spirit. God has mercy on the poor in spirit. Listen to this. And this is why I say that God saves bankrupt sinners. There's a few things we realize after the Lord saved us. And we shouldn't forget them. We should remember them all through our walk. And it's wonderful. What does the Lord demonstrate when he says, when he says, blessed are the poor in spirit? What's he demonstrating here?

Well, He's demonstrating that the kingdom of heaven is not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the washing of the regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed upon us abundantly through Jesus Christ. Not by our works, our works, they don't, they can't have anything to do and they don't have anything to do with our salvation.

Our salvation's in Christ. We sin more than we want to now. And praise God that our salvation's still secure in Christ. If we confess our sins, he's what? Faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's why we continuously confess our sins. We're already saved, but we confess our sins to Christ, don't we?

Turn to 1 John, 1 John chapter 2. You know, the born-again blood-washed people are likened to the poor of this world. You know why? Because we have no power to save ourselves. A lot of times, some of the poor don't have the power to get themselves out of the situation they're in.

Joshua was telling us when he went to the Dominican Republic with his sister, the average yearly wage in the Dominican Republic is 400 and something dollars. He said to see the huts down there really changed his thoughts about things. He says, dad, I don't know why everybody's complaining about here because we have everything in abundance. We were talking about that last night. He says, it's amazing. Why do people complain about the U.S.? He says, we're not perfect like any other country's not perfect, right? But he did admit it's the greatest country in the world because everybody wants to come here. Why? Because there's people who make $400 a year in places. And we have abundance. Isn't that amazing? Absolutely incredible.

So, now they don't have any power to get themselves out of that situation. Some of them are going to live and die in that situation. Did we have any power to make ourselves alive? To make ourselves born again? No, the Lord said the Holy Spirit is the one who regenerates us. Because we don't have any power to do that.

That's why the scripture says salvation is of the Lord in Jonah 2, 9. Right? That means from the beginning to the end is all the Lord and everything in between. Again, there's no two steps and footsteps in the sand. I told you, I don't even like that picture anymore because there's two steps. No, there's one set of steps. And it's the Lord carrying us the whole way through. That's right. And if he didn't carry us, we'd be gone, gone, gone. If he didn't keep us, we'd be gone, gone, gone. Isn't the Lord merciful? Isn't he wondrous? Look at this in 1 John. Look at this.

Do you know we have an advocate? Do you know the poor, they have no one who really pities them. They don't have an advocate. But you know, we who are poor in spirit, we who are bankrupt sinners, we who are trusting Christ, do you know we have an advocate?

And he's in heaven. Look at this, 1 John 2, verses 1 and 2. My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. Now, notice that you sin not. He already knows we're going to sin. We sin more than we want to. We don't desire to sin, but everything we do is tainted with sin. You know, my best sermon, my best prayer is covered in sin.

It's true. My. But look at this. We have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ, I love this name, the righteous. He's the righteous one. And we're only made righteous in Him. My. And he is the propitiation of our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world, all the elect of all the ages. How do we know that's for all the elect? Because not everyone's saved.

And remember, the Jews and the Romans considered the world to be their civilizations. The Gauls were dogs. The Persians were a bunch of dogs to them. They weren't part of the world, their world. Context, context, context, and you have to look at what the situation was when these verses were written.

It's wonderful, though, for the God's people. We have an advocate. I got an advocate. Jesus Christ the righteous. Now turn over to chapter 3. Look at this. This is even more wonderful. Look at this. You know, Sister Karen and I were talking about this, that we are right now the sons of God. We can enjoy heaven right now. The benefits of it. My, look at this. Behold, 1 John 3, 1. Behold.

Get your attention Behold what manner of love that's the everlasting love of God in Christ The father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God. That's right now If you're a believer we're we're the sons of God right now We're not waiting to be the sons of God We are the sons of God who made us the sons of God and Who made us the sons of God? Christ. And Christ alone.

It's wonderful. It's wonderful. Therefore, the world knoweth us not, it thinks we're crazy. Mike, when you got that letter from your sister, you thought, what is she writing me here? What is this? Right? The world don't know us. Natural man don't know us. They think we're crazy. Because it knew him not. That's the whole reason right there. It doesn't know him. He's not revealed himself to them.

Remember the rock we were hearing from? Remember where we were? We didn't know him. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. Oh my! But look at this. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is, face to face. Our faith will become sight. I ran into someone, said, I don't believe in God, I can't see him. Well, that's one of the mysteries of faith, isn't it? We believe in someone we've never seen. And I'm not talking these pictures of Wild Bill Hickok that you see the Catholics have with the long hair and the halo over. That's not Jesus. As a matter of fact, God said, don't make any image of me.

Scripture says in Isaiah that he was calmly. That means he was ordinary. He did not stand out from amongst his brethren. He looked like a normal man. Not the most beautiful. Just a normal fella. Somebody we'd pass on the street. My. Let's go back to our text. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Matthew 5, 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Look at that. It's theirs. When? Now. Brother Chris, we're not waiting. We're part of the kingdom right now. It's ours. Not by anything we did, eh? Nope. No merit, no merit, no merit, as Brother Tim James used to say. Oh, this is beautiful.

We who are the redeemed of the Lord before we're saved and even after we're saved, the only difference between us and the lost is the grace of God in Christ. Let us always remember that. Always remember that. The redeemed of the Lord know that the reason that our great God likened his saved people to the poor is because we have nothing which to pay for our sin, our great enormous sin debt.

We got nothing. We can't pay for even one sin, can we? let alone billions we commit in a lifetime. And I mean billions we commit in a lifetime. Sins we don't even know we commit in our minds. Sins we commit in our sleep. Sins we commit in our thoughts. Sins we do. Sins from the heart. Oh my. Praise God for salvation in Christ. Praise His mighty name for saving our souls. So we know we have nothing which to pay our enormous sin debt. And we know this too, that we contribute nothing to our salvation.

Nothing. What does God have to do for a man to go to hell? Nothing. What does God have to do for a man to go to heaven? Everything. We do not contribute anything to our salvation. If you have a salvation that you contributed to something, I'm going to tell you here, it's a false salvation. Because salvation's of the Lord. It's all of God, 100%. That's the scriptural salvation.

Where does he find us? Mom, we talked about it. Found us dead in trespasses and sins. Dead in our sins. Loving the sin that we were doing. And then he saved us and now we hate it. That's a miracle of God. That's a miracle of God. He takes a rebel. One who's unwilling to praise Him. And He saves our souls. And now all we want to do is praise Him. All we want to do is worship Him. All we want to do is glorify Him. It's wonderful.

Oh my. So everything that the sinner needs, everything that the redeemed of the Lord needs is found in Christ. You know, I remember when I was in religion. Religion makes you think that if you're wealthy, oh, then God's blessing you. Surely you can't be getting God's blessings if you aren't getting something. The washer breaks down. Oh, you must not have given enough. or something happens, man, God must be mad at you.

But you know what? God is never angry with his people. You know that? You know why? Because all his wrath and all his anger for our sins was poured out upon Christ. And he bore it all. And that wonderful Brother Tom, You bore it all, brother. Bought and paid for by the blood of Christ. Now that's good news for sinners, isn't it?

I don't have any books to say 50 ways to be a better Christian, because all I'm doing is looking at Christ. That's all I'm doing. You know. There's all kinds of stuff out there tell you how to be in the will of God. Well, I'm just gonna look to Christ. God tells me, this is my beloved son, hear ye him. Right? Well, tell me more about Jesus. Tell me more about Jesus. So the redeemed of the Lord, we're likened to the poor because we don't have anything to offer for our sins. We're bankrupt. And we marvel that God chose us in Christ. We marvel at that fact. And the Lord provides everything in Christ. Turn, if you would, to 2 Corinthians chapter 2.

You know, Paul didn't think of himself as any great man in Christianity. He didn't proclaim himself to be a scholar or anything like that, and neither did any of the apostles. They just didn't do that. But you know who they proclaimed? Which is the same who we should proclaim. Christ, look at my Savior. We're gonna read here about how every preacher feels. Who's sufficient for these things? Every teacher should feel this way. Who's sufficient for these things?

In everything I know about Christ, God's revealed that to me. And I wouldn't know nothing if he had left me where I was. And everything he teaches me, and I hope it's the same with you, will cause us to glorify God even more. The more we learn of his everlasting love, the more we learn of his everlasting power, the more we learn of his everlasting grace and mercy through his shed blood to save sinners such as we, the more we are in awe that he saved us. It's wondrous.

Look at this. 2nd Corinthians chapter 2 verses 12 to 17. Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, look what he, why did he come there? To preach Christ. That's all. And the door was opened unto me of the Lord. That means that he had freedom and liberty to preach the gospel. God opened the door for him to talk to the people, Jews and Gentiles.

Now remember, this is a Gentile city. Like Ephesus in Philippi, they're Gentile cities. The church is comprised of Gentile believers. The Galatians were a bunch of idol worshipers. They were a Gentile church. So he's writing to these Gentile churches, these churches that they were pagan idol worshipers one minute, and the Lord saved them the next. It's amazing. Look at this, he says, I had no rest in my spirit because I found not Titus my brother, but taking my leave of them, I went thence from Macedonia.

Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ. Now that doesn't mean we live on the mountaintop, and that doesn't mean that we have, oh, so many blessings, because we have this and that. No, he's talking about spiritual blessings, and he's talking about how the Lord spared him from some persecution. and make it manifest the Savior of his knowledge by us in every place. So he made God the Holy Spirit, made known Christ by his power. Look at this. For we are unto God a sweet saver of Christ in them that are saved.

Is he not a sweet saver in our lives? Oh yeah. But there's a flip side to that too, isn't there? It's a loss, look at this. and in them that perish. He is not, look at this, to the one, the savior of death, unto death, he saved us from the second death. He saved us from eternal condemnation. And to the other, the saver of life unto life.

So, my, the preach of the gospel has effects, doesn't it? It causes the Christian to rejoice. And that brings more condemnation on the unbeliever. That's why the Lord's Word will not return unto him void. It won't. It'll accomplish what he wills. And for we who are believers, we rejoice. What a Savior! What a Redeemer! He saved me from all my sins. It's the most wonderful news I've ever heard.

You mean all my sins are bought and paid for? Yep. And again, now we serve him out of love, don't we? Not out of duty. We serve him out of love. We support the church. We get involved because we love him. We just come and hear the gospel because we love him. That's the motivation. Religion is all about duty. You got to do this. You got to do that. You got to do that. Oh, you're out of favor with God because you didn't do that.

My, to live knowing that truly all my sins are forgiven, past, present, and future, and to know that things that I do or give or this doesn't bring favor upon me from God, but all the favor shown to us is in Christ, That's a free man or woman, isn't it?

Oh my. It's wonderful. I'm looking at a bunch of people being emancipated from their sins. Set at liberty. Free. That's true freedom, right? The sun shall make you free. You're free indeed. That's what that means. It's glorious. Look at this. For we are not as many which corrupt the word of God, but of sincerity. But as of God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ." Notice that? They don't speak of themselves. They don't speak of their doings. They speak of Christ. Look what he's done. It's magnificent. My. Then turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. My. Marvel at the work of the Master once again.

Remember that Christ came to seek and save all six sinners for his kingdom. All those who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And we praise God that he sent Christ. You know, I used to believe that We were redeemed, and then sanctification was all about what I did. But even as a safe sinner, I can't sanctify myself, can you? But there's one who we're sanctified in. There's one who we're justified in. There's one who we're redeemed in.

Let me tell you I've already been telling you about them, but look at this first Corinthians chapter 1 verses 26 to 20 to 31 For you see your calling brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty Not many noble or called But God has chosen the foolish common things common people of the world to confound the wise. You ever notice how people who are supposedly have this high intellect, they look at us and go, they're crazy. And here we are just rejoicing in Christ saved us. Oh my. Yeah.

He didn't choose the wise. He's confounded the wise by saving the common things of this world. And God has chosen the weak things of the world, the ones who without him can do nothing. And now we're showing that, aren't we? We're not born that way. We're born thinking we can do anything. So he takes the self-righteous, right? And he makes us humble. And like I said in the Sunday school, if you think you're humble, you're not humble. Not at all. No. Look at this.

Chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty. But God has chosen the fullest things of the world to confound the wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And the base things in this world, I mean like the despised, the lowest of lows, the Scythians, where the barbarians are barbarians. They drank blood out of their, they killed the men they fought against and then they drank blood out of their skulls. Well you know what it says in Colossians? There's some Scythians who the Lord saved. Praise his mighty name. Isn't that wonderful?

The vilest of the vile. What did Paul say? You know what Paul was saying when he was the chief of sinners? He's saying, I'm the vilest of the vile. He's saying that as a saved man. He knows, he knows what's in him. He knows what he's been saved from.

And the base things of this world, all the things that are despised, things people spit on, look at that. But, oh my, let us not be like that. Has God chosen, yea, the things which are not to bring to naught things that are? Why? Why did he do that? that no flesh should glory in his presence. That no flesh should say, well, I did all these things. It don't matter. If God doesn't get the glory, it don't matter.

And you remember those folks that said, they said, Lord, Lord, have we not done all these things in your name? In Matthew 7, the Lord said, I didn't know you. That's intimate relationship, that's Gnoska. But then the saints, who had supposedly ministered unto him, they said, when did we do these things? I don't have a clue when I do these things. I said, well, when you gave a cup of water.

But you didn't do it going, I'm going to get a reward for this. Christ is my reward. I ask you, is there any greater reward than Christ? No. There's no greater reward than Christ. My. Christ told Abraham, I'm your exceeding reward. So was Abraham looking for a bunch of crowns? No. He had his reward. Christ. Oh, it's beautiful, beloved. Because it gives God all the glory. Gives God all the glory.

I remember one young man, I was talking to him, and he said, man, I've told you guys, I'm gonna repeat this. He said, man, he said, I lost out on a reward today. And I said, what? He said, well, some older lady was trying to get it through the door and I didn't get there fast enough. My friend opened the door and he got my reward. And I said, you don't have a clue what rewards are. Because God's people, when we do good works, we don't even know we do them. We have no clue. And I told that young man, the only reward a Christian has is Christ. Christ. Is there any greater reward than Him? Let us look to our wondrous, merciful Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, our all in all.

Look what Paul continues to write here. Okay, so he's told us the reason all this has to be is so none of us would glory. None of us say, look what I've done. We're prone to that. We are prone to that. Oh, my. But the reason God gets all the glory, you know, He says He won't share His glory with anyone else. No one. When people say that, oh, look at this, look at that, they're stealing God's glory. They're stealing God's glory. Look at what it says here. But of Him, Here we are. What are we in Christ? This is wonderful. What are we in Christ? But of him are ye in Christ, presently, who is of God made unto us. Wisdom. We have wisdom now about spiritual things that we never had before. I had no understanding of God. I had no understanding of the Bible. And everything I know, I can't brag about it, because it all came from God. And I still feel like a little baby eating spaghetti and getting it all over my face. I love studying the Word of God, but it's because I'm looking for Christ. I'm looking for Him. Look at this. So He's made us this wisdom. And what?

Righteousness. Bunch of people going out there trying to establish their own righteousness, but the things they do, they're sinning against God. Because the righteousness of Christ is the only righteousness God will accept, period, end of story. And so we believers were made righteous in Christ. And then look at this, sanctification. Remember how I used to think that I'd grow in my sanctification by something I did? Well, Christ is my sanctification, all of it. Now, I would say that some people, what some people claim to be is being made more holy and all that. I, and we've talked about this, I believe that's growing in grace.

But that's the Holy Spirit working in us, growing us in Christ, producing fruit. Because remember, it's the fruit of the Spirit. It's not the fruit of what we do. It's the fruit of the Spirit. He's the one who gives the increase. We're just a bunch of branches hanging off fruit, hanging off us. And we don't even know we have it. Isn't it wonderful? Oh my. Look at this.

Sanctification and redemption. He, we, no human being can save themselves by anything they do. Salvation is all in and through and by the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, God incarnated in the flesh through his blood and through his righteousness. And we say glory be to God, don't we? Then look what it says that according that is written he that glorieth what? I'm going the Lord We glory in the King don't we We glory in the Lord Jesus Christ who who bought us with his precious precious blood My brother Brian, will you close us in prayer?

The Poor in Spirit

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about being poor in spirit?

How do we know that salvation is by grace and not works?

Why is spiritual humility important for Christians?

How does Christ's sacrifice relate to our spiritual poverty?

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About Wayne Boyd

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The Poor in Spirit

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about being poor in spirit?

How do we know that salvation is by grace and not works?

Why is spiritual humility important for Christians?

How does Christ's sacrifice relate to our spiritual poverty?

Sermon Transcript

About Wayne Boyd

Comments

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