Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at CosgroveGraceChurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nyberg. In Matthew Chapter 5, when the
Lord gave what is known as the Sermon on the Mount, He began
with what is known as the Beatitudes, the states of blessedness that
He declares believers to be. I think it's very interesting
that the last word of the Old Testament is curse. And when
our Lord began His public ministry at this time, His first words
were, blessed, blessed be. I would like for us to consider
the first beatitude, verse 1 of Matthew chapter 5, and seeing
the multitudes, He went into a 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." The poor in spirit. What does it mean
to be poor in spirit? Now, this is the first Beatitude,
and it's foundational. All of the other states of blessedness
come from this poverty of spirit. For instance, it's only as you're
poor in spirit that you'll mourn. Blessed are they that mourn.
It's only as you're poor in spirit that you'll be meek. Blessed
are the meek. It's only as you're poor in spirit
that you'll hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed
are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed
are the pure in heart. Only the poor in spirit are pure
in heart. They have a new heart given to
them by God Himself. Blessed are the merciful. You
can only be merciful if you're poor in spirit. All of the other
beatitudes arise from this foundational beatitude, poor in spirit. The Lord says, and He's the one
who knows what through blessedness is, he says, blessed are the
poor in spirit. Now, the Beatitudes, understand,
are a description of a believer. It's not what a believer is to
strive for. It's what a believer is. This describes every believer. And the first description is
that of poor in spirit. Now, being poor in spirit is
wholly Supernatural. What do I mean by that? Well,
it took omnipotence to create something from nothing, didn't
it? Only God could create something from nothing. There was a time
when there was nothing. God said, light be, and light
was. There was a time when there was
no material universe. God created the universe. He
created the stars, the planets, the heavens. as an act of His
will from nothing. Now, that takes omnipotence.
And in like manner, it takes omnipotence to make something
nothing. And that's what the poor in spirit
are. They see that they are nothing
in and of themselves. And only God can teach somebody
this. Now, I'm not talking about low
self-esteem. You can have low self-esteem
and be proud as a devil. This has nothing to do with what
people think of a bad self-image. I hope by the end of this message,
you and I will understand what the Bible means by this thing
of being poor in spirit. Now, it takes the grace of God
to make someone. It takes the will of God to make
someone poor in spirit. And poor in spirit is the best
way to be. You want to stay poor. Now, if
you're materially poor, you don't want to stay poor. I realize
that. You'd rather have money to pay your bills. If your health
is bad, there's nothing wrong with wanting to have good health.
I mean, if your health is poor, you'd like it to be healthy,
wouldn't you? There's nothing wrong with desiring to change here.
But here's the place where you need to stay poor, poor in spirit. Remember what our Lord said to
the church at Latter-day Saints? He said, you say, and rich and
increased with goods and have need of nothing, but you don't
know that you're poor and wretched, naked, miserable and blind. Oh,
if you stay poor, then I'd come and suck with you. He said to
this same church, I'm going to skew you out of mouth. You're
neither hot nor cold. Poor in spirit. Now, what is
poverty of spirit? Man's religion has very little
to say, very little to say about this thing of poor in spirit
or poverty in spirit. We hear about the higher life,
but what about the lower life? We hear about being filled, but
what about being emptied? Now, if you want to understand
this thing of poverty of spirit, please listen to this statement
very carefully. This first beatitude is not about
what you have, but about what you do not have. Let me repeat
that. This first beatitude is not about
what you have, But it's about what you do not have. It's about
an absence of something rather than a possession of something. It's about an absence of something
rather than a possession of something. Now, here it is, spiritual poverty,
poor in spirit. Now, every man is spiritually
poor, but only God's people are poor in spirit. Every man is
spiritually poor, he just doesn't know it. But only God's people
are poor in spirit. Now what is it to be poor in
spirit? Here it is. It means spiritually,
I have nothing, I am nothing, and I can do nothing. Now that's
spiritual poverty. Spiritually, I have nothing,
I am nothing, and I can do nothing. Now, what does that mean? Is
that just a negative view of yourself and not having self-esteem
and self-confidence? It has nothing to do with anything
like that. I have nothing that would recommend me to God. I
don't have any merit. I don't have any righteousness.
I don't have any good works. I don't have anything that God
can accept in and of myself. I have nothing. If it just took a penny's worth
of merit, to be saved. All you had to do was come up
with a penny's worth. I would not be saved because I have nothing. Nothing. And I am nothing. The reason I have nothing is
because I am nothing. I have no spiritual ability. I have no... I am nothing. The reason I have nothing is
because I am nothing. This has to do with my sinful
nature. That is why I can do nothing. Because I am nothing. I have no spiritual ability. I can do nothing. The Lord said
without me you can do nothing. He didn't say without me it would
be very hard for you to do anything. He said you can do nothing. He
didn't say without my assistance you can do nothing. He said without
me you can do nothing. The Lord put it this way in John
chapter 6 verse 44, no man can come to me except the Father
which has sent me draw him and I'll raise him up at the last
day. Now, if I'm poor in spirit, that
means I have nothing, nothing to recommend me to God. And the
reason I have nothing is because I am nothing. And because I am
nothing, I can do nothing. I'm totally dependent upon grace. Now, poor in spirit. Wherever you have this poverty
of spirit, you have great need. David, the man after God's own
heart, described himself thusly, I'm poor and I'm needy. Now, David was very wealthy materially. He had great riches. He was the
most powerful man in the world. But in armies and kingdoms, I
mean, he was the fear of David, the scripture says, came upon
all nations. He was a very wealthy man. Yet when he described himself,
he said, I'm poor. And I'm needy. Not only am I
poor, but I have great needs. This word poor is also translated
a beggar. Beggar. What is a beggar? A beggar
is someone who can't work. Or he doesn't work. A beggar
is someone that's dependent upon charity. And a beggar is not
too proud to beg. Now, every believer, it's just
like blind Bartimaeus, they cry out, Lord, thou son of David,
Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And the crowd tried
to shut him up. No, shut up, Bartimaeus, don't
say anything else. But he said he cried the more,
a great deal, have mercy on me. Now, here's why in this thing
of being poor and needy, having great needs. I need mercy. I need forgiveness, and therefore
I'm going to cry for it. I know I can't get it unless
He gives it to me, so I'm going to cry for it, like a beggar,
like Bartimaeus. I'm going to keep crying. Have
mercy on me. I need righteousness because
I can't come up with one, and I have to have righteousness
to be accepted before God. So, Lord, make me righteous.
Give me the righteousness of Your Son. I need a sin payment
because I can't come up with one. I can't come up with a penny's
worth of merit to pay for my sin. So how desperately I need
a sin payment. I need faith. I can't help but
believe. I've tried to believe. Lord,
give me faith. Give me repentance. Give me love.
I'm begging in that sense. I'm begging. I'm not too proud
to beg because I need these things. Now, it's not like God is up
in heaven just waiting for me to get so low in begging in order
and then, okay, because he's begged enough. That's not the
way it is. But I am poor. Poor before God. I had great
needs. And I asked the Lord like the
blind beggar, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. Now, because of my poverty, I
need election. I need God to choose me, because
my poverty is such that I'm so sinful and evil, I know that
my will will never choose Him. You know, the Lord said He didn't
choose me, but I chose you. I need election. I need God to
elect me. I won't be saved if He doesn't,
if He didn't. I need election. I need, because
of my poverty of spirit, I need Christ's redemption to be for
me and to be successful. Now, what do I mean by that?
Most preachers preach that Jesus Christ died for everybody and
paid for everybody's sins, yet some of those people that he
died for will wind up in hell anyway. Now, if that's the case,
I know with regard to me, I'll wind up in hell. That won't do
me any good. Oh, the only thing that'll do
me any good is if Christ is dying for me and actually paying for
my sins to where I won't have to pay for them because they've
been blotted out. I don't need that. It's not just
a doctrinal stance concerning the atonement. I need the Lord
Jesus Christ to be successful. If He could pay for somebody's
sins and they wind up in hell, He's taking away the only hope
I have because the only hope I have is that Christ died for
me. I need God's grace to be irresistible and invincible.
I need Him to do something for me. I need His grace. I need to be preserves so I can
persevere. If I'm not preserved, I won't
persevere. Therefore, I need him to preserve
me. These things are not just doctrines
to me. This is life. This is it's necessary. I need these things because I
am poor in spirit. And like I said, everybody is
spiritually poor, but not everybody is poor in spirit. Only God's
people are poor in spirit. Now, why is it a blessed thing
to be poor in spirit? The Lord says blessed are the
poor in spirit. And the Lord knows who's truly
blessed. Now, if you and I would have looked at Lazarus and the
rich man who fared sumptuously every day and Lazarus, the beggar,
Having the dogs licking his sores, desiring crumbs that fall from
the rich man's table. Who would you say was blessed?
Well, we'd say the rich man was blessed. And Lazarus was not
blessed. He didn't have God's blessing.
But who was blessed? Lazarus was blessed. And the
rich man wasn't. He ended up going to hell and
everything that he thought was good ended up being a curse to
him. Now, the one who truly knows blessedness is the one who makes
this statement. And he says, blessed are the
poor in spirit. Why? Well, let me give you the
reasons. First, because theirs is the
kingdom of heaven. You see, the only people who
will be in heaven are people who are poor in spirit. What's the entrance requirement?
poor in spirit, to have nothing. The only way that you'll be saved
is if God makes you poor in spirit and you see you have nothing. It's only when you see you have
nothing that you're going to call to Him. As long as you have
something, you won't do it. You won't call upon the name
of the Lord as long as you have anything. But it's only as you're
poor in spirit. Those are the people who enter
the kingdom of heaven. You know, the Lord said it's
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Why? Because
he trusts in his riches. And it's impossible. Can a camel
fit through the eye of a needle? No, he can't. Nor can a rich
man be saved. It's only the poor in spirit
that are saved. Christ Jesus came to save sinners.
Poor in spirit. A poor in spirit is somebody
who's sinful. Paul said, He said, this is a
faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation of Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners. That's who he came to save. Of
whom Paul said, I am the chief. Paul was born in spirit. Now,
Paul recognized the way the Lord used him. He was used as an apostle. He was used to found churches. He was used to Right Scripture? You think about the way he was
used. And yet he said, God forbid that I should glory save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Only the poor in spirit can say
that because they see all their salvation is in the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is it blessed to be poor
in spirit? Because being poor in spirit
makes you a candidate for God's mercy. Now, if you had some money,
that you wanted to use to help someone, would you want to give
it to a wealthy man? Let's say there's two people. There's a wealthy man with a
lot of money in the bank, and there's a man who's got a sick
child, very sick, needing to go to a doctor, needing help,
and not having even a penny or any insurance to give his child
to the doctor. Who would you want to help most?
Well, you'd want to help the person with the need, wouldn't
you? That's the way the Lord is. Let's say you only had $10
to give away. Who would you want to give it
to? A man who had $100,000 in the bank or a man who didn't
have a dime and had eaten for two days? Who would appreciate
that $10 the most? Well, you know who would appreciate
it the most. You see, it's only as I'm poor in spirit that I'm
a candidate for the mercy of God. If you have anything, you
disqualify yourself. It's only as I'm poor in spirit. Christ said, I came not to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now, it's good to
be poor in spirit because that means God saved you. If you're
poor in spirit, that's the work of God. He's giving you a new
heart. He's giving you a new nature. He's done something for
you. You've been born from above. It's only the poor in spirit,
remember, that have a pure heart. Blessed are the pure in heart.
Well, what is this pure heart? This is the new heart that He
gives. This new heart is what creates this poverty of spirit.
If you're poor in spirit, that means the Lord's done something
for you. I think of what the Lord said to Isaiah 66. He said,
to this man will I look. Oh, if the Lord looks to you.
Everything's fine. To this man, well, I look. Even
to him that's poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at my word. Now, in the Psalms, David ten
times said, I'm poor and I'm needy. And in the Psalms, he
said to save the poor and needy. Are you poor and needy? That's
the people he saves. Are you poor? No righteousness?
A great need of mercy? That's the people he saves. He
is said to deliver them. He is said to hear the poor and
needy. He is said to defend the poor
and needy. He is said to prepare goodness
for the poor and the needy. He is said to set them on high. He said to lift them from the
dunghill and set them among princes. If your address is Dunghill Drive,
there's mercy, there's grace for you. He saves the poor and
needy. It's a good thing to be poor
and needy. Now, what do I mean by that?
The Lord said, the Lord hath anointed me. to preach the gospel
to the poor. That's the Lord's words in Luke
chapter 4. It's a quotation from Isaiah 61. The Lord hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor. Now, if you're not poor,
all you get to hear is me. And that won't do you any good.
If the only voice you hear is my voice, It will do you no eternal
good whatsoever. You might as well be hearing
the wind blow. That's all it is. If all you
hear is my voice, you've not heard anything. But if you hear, as a poor and needy sinner, Christ
preaches His gospel to you. It may be through my speaking
that it's not me speaking, it's Christ speaking to you. The hour is coming and now is
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they
that hear shall live." Two people hearing the same message from
the same messenger. One finds the message life. To another, the message perhaps
is dull and uninteresting. What is the difference? Christ
was speaking to the one. And he wasn't speaking to the
other. And I'll assure you this, that one who found life in the
message was someone who was poor and needy. Poor and with great
needs. Oh, how the poor and needy hear
the Gospel, and Christ Himself preaches the Gospel to them.
They're made to believe by His grace. You see, if you're poor
and needy, that means you have Christ preach the Gospel to you.
And you cannot receive the truth. without being spiritually poor. Now, it's only as I have no righteousness
that I can trust His only. Can you see that? It's only as
I am nothing. It's only as I have nothing that
Christ can be all to me. If I have something, Christ cannot
be all to me. It's only as I have nothing that
He is all to me. It's only as I have nothing to
pay that I can receive His full, complete payment in my behalf. As long as I've got something
to pay, I can't look to His payment only. But it's when I have nothing
to pay that I look to Him only. It's only as I have no way of
getting to God by myself that I can come by Him. But if I have
some way to God, I don't need the Lord Jesus Christ. But as
I have no way to the Father, I must have Him bring me to the
Father. Now, it's only as a sinner that
I can hear the Gospel. It's just words to me. Unless
I hear as a sinner, as poor and needy. I understand that I am
totally sinful in and of myself, with no spiritual strength whatsoever. When I understand, not just cognitively,
but when I see that I'm totally depraved, I'm a sinful man, totally
dependent upon the mercy of God, only then will the gospel be
real to me. Only then will I see the glory
of God choosing people for Christ's sake. Only then will I see the
glory of Christ's atonement and the grace of the Holy Spirit
in giving me the new birth and enabling me to persevere. It's
only as I'm poor and needy that I can really understand the Gospel.
Now, if there was a store and a requirement to get in, you
have to have nothing. Not many people would be able
to get in if they were honest. Now, people would lie and say, I have
nothing to get in and get some free stuff. I realize that. But
if the requirement to get into a store to get provision was
you have to have nothing, not very many people would gain admittance,
would they? But there's some who would. The
people who truly have nothing. You see, this is our greatest
argument in prayer. Lord, save me because I'm poor
and needy. Lord, do something for me because I'm poor and needy.
Throughout the Psalms, David uses this as his great argument.
Now, if you can't come to the Lord with a poor spirit, come
to Him for a poor spirit. Ask Him to give you this poverty
of spirit. I want to be poor in spirit.
I'm not saved if I'm not. I want to be poor in spirit and
glorify His grace. Now, the last thing I'd like
to say about this thing of poverty of spirit It's the only honest spirit. You're being honest if you're
poor in spirit. If you're not poor in spirit,
you're not being honest. You're pretending. You're playing
like you have strength. It's all a show. You know, pride
is the most groundless thing. What do you have to be proud
of? I mean, anything you have, the Lord gave you. Pride is a
groundless thing. Everybody ought to be poor in
spirit, but only God's people are, and anything other than
poor in spirit is a lie. It's pretension. It's not the
truth. You're not being honest. You're
not being real before God. You're play-acting. You're pretending.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
God. I want to leave you with one
scripture. In 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 9, Paul said, for you
know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though He was rich, and
you think of His riches because of who He is. Rich in praise,
rich in love. God loves Him, has everything,
owns everything. Though He was rich, yet for your
sakes, He became poor. He who was rich in righteousness
became poor in righteousness when He was made sin. He who
was rich in love now had the father's frown and forsaking
him as the sinner's substitute. He who was rich in praise, angels
praising him, now had everybody making fun of him and nobody
with him. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. That though He was rich, yet
for your sakes He became poor. That you, through His poverty,
might be rich. Now, I say to everybody who is
poor in spirit, you have riches and wealth beyond imagination. You have the righteousness of
Christ. You have God for you. And if God is for you, who can
be against you? No one. You have the promise
of His grace. You have the promise that everything
is working together for your good and His glory. Oh, the riches
you have in simply resting in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's only
the poor in spirit who trust Him as their riches before God. Now, we have this message on
DVD and CD. If you call the church, write
or email, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Kniper praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your requests and messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
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