Matthew's Gospel chapter 5. I
want to begin reading in verse 1. Matthew chapter 5 and verse 1. And seeing the multitudes, he
went up 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. 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. I want us to look basically this
morning at verse 3. We don't know for sure, as far
as the chronological order, when the Lord Jesus preached this
message. It most assuredly was somewhere
at the beginning of His message, and some have suggested maybe
it was the very first message. I don't know, but there's one
thing for sure. This was the Prince of Preachers.
And He's not like the rest of us. We have to learn how to preach.
The Lord Jesus, the Son of Mary, the Son of God, never had to
learn how to preach. The first message that He preached
is just as clear and just as powerful as the last message
that He preached. And He came here to set up His
Kingdom. He calls it here in verse 3,
the Kingdom of Heaven. Another place He calls it the
Kingdom of God. Another place, the apostle calls
it the kingdom of God's dear Son. And it was to be a glorious
kingdom, an everlasting kingdom, a kingdom not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens. I guess we could say it like
this. It's a kingdom of grace now within every heaven-born
soul. If you're saved this morning,
there's a kingdom within you. And nobody can see it. But it's
there. It's the kingdom of God within
you. And there's a kingdom to come, an everlasting kingdom
in the world to come. There is a kingdom, a glorious
kingdom. When Gabriel made mention of Christ's kingdom to Mary,
he says it like this, He shall reign over the house of Jacob
forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end. Christ has a
kingdom. It's His. A gift of His Father. And there's no end to that kingdom.
Peter says it like this, "...and an entrance shall be ministered
unto you abundantly unto the everlasting kingdom of our Lord
and Savior." Some places it's called the Father's house. What
a name for a kingdom. Another place it's simply heaven.
And all the glories that heaven contains. And that glory will
never be diminished, but it will only increase. Listen to this. Of the increase of His government
and peace, there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David
and his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment
and justice from henceforth even forever. The mouth and zeal of
the Lord has spoken it. I don't understand all of that.
I know the kingdom will increase in our own apprehension for all
eternity. The angels will be like them,
but even they don't know everything. They cannot grasp everything.
And this kingdom will be so glorious that in all eternity the saints
will not grasp the fullness of the glory of this kingdom. And
this kingdom will increase into a new heaven and a new earth
wherein dwells righteousness. And this coming kingdom will
not need any light of the sun to shine in it. For the Bible
says the glory of God enlightens this kingdom. And Jesus, the
Lamb of God, will outshine ten trillion suns in that kingdom. This kingdom is also within you. It is heaven itself. And it's
a state and place of glory which the saints shall enjoy when they
reign with the triune God and with angels when sin and death
and hell have been subdued and everyone has been signed their
long home. Who can explain and who can grasp
the glory of this kingdom? Blessed are the poor for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. It said in another place, and
it will be said to these favored ones, those who are counted worthy
to inherit that kingdom, enter thou unto the joy of the Lord. A glorious kingdom and a joyous
kingdom for those counted worthy. All earthly kingdoms are kingdoms
of men. And you know they don't stand
long, do they? The strongest kingdom, those kingdoms of iron
or brass don't stand for long. Where's the mighty king, Alexander
the Great? Where's his kingdom? Where's
Nebuchadnezzar and his great Babylon? Where's the mighty kingdom
of the Medes and Persians? Where's the mighty Roman Empire?
They've all gone back to the dust, haven't they? that was
said of even the British Empire, that there was a time when it
was so great the sun never set on the British Empire. And I
tell you, before it's over with, it'll be said of the British
Empire, the sun never rises on it, because it'll be gone like
all other kingdoms. They come and they rise and they
go. All these kingdoms have been
set up, and in a short time, their foundations are shaken,
and they fall back to the dust, and they rise no more. But the
kingdom of heaven is not made with hands. Its foundation will
never be shaken, its walls will never be moved. It is an everlasting
kingdom, and its glory will never fade, and its strength will never
fail. And this is the reason why God
is its founder. God is its maker. Behold, I make all things new,
he said. And Jesus Christ Himself is the
everlasting King of this kingdom. Of the increase of His government
and peace, there shall be no end. Listen, upon the throne
of David and upon His kingdom, He will set to order it and to
establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth
even forth. The Bible says, to the saved
we have received a kingdom which can never be moved. The angel was telling Mary about
the Lord Jesus and His glory and His kingship. And she says,
He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of His kingdom
There shall be no end. And Zechariah said of Him, He
shall bear the glory and sit and rule upon His throne. He is indeed King of kings and
He's Lord of lords. And listen to this, all the redeemed
in this kingdom of heaven, they're kings. They are kings. Christ is the King of kings and
Lord of lords, and the redeemed are said to be kings, and as
such they shall wear crowns upon their heads. Be thou faithful
unto death, and I will give thee a crown." Why? Because that's
what kings wear, is crowns. There is laid up for me a crown,
the Apostle said, and all the saved in heaven who stood before
the throne of the Lamb, They took off their crowns and they
cast it at His feet. Why did they do that? He was
the one that gave them the crown. It's a crown of free grace. It
was purchased by the Savior's blood. They're called crowns
of glory, crowns of life, and crowns of righteousness. And
they take them off and they say, this belongs to you. Our crowns
belong to you. because you gave them and you
purchased them with your own blood. They wear royal apparel
as kings. I'm just talking about the kingdom
of heaven, what a glorious kingdom it is. They wear royal apparel
as kings because they are said to be arrayed in white robes. Behold, and lo, a great multitude,
which no man could number, of all nations, and kindred, and
people, and tongue, and they stood before the throne, and
before the Lamb, clothed with white robes. And not a one stood
there without being clothed with this robe, for it said that white
robes were given every one of them. And the Lord Jesus said,
They shall walk with Me in A road. And another place they
are said to have palm branches in their hands. One man said
this, that it was a custom of great conquerors to have palm
branches in their hands in token of their victory. Why does the
saints in heaven have palm branches in their hands? Because they've
gotten the victory. To him that overcometh, the Lord
Jesus said, will I grant to sit with me in my throne and to walk
with me in white. They have these palm branches
because they've gotten the victory. The victory over sin, the victory
over Satan, the victory over this world, the victory over
flesh. So they have the emblem of victory
in their hand, the palm branches. But not only does these palm
branches show victory, but prosperity. David said, the righteous shall
flourish like the palm tree. What good thing will be lacking,
brothers and sisters, in this kingdom? Nothing. Nothing. It's a rich kingdom. The kingdom
is rich beyond measure. Its streets are said to be fine
gold. Its walls are said to be made
of jasper, and gates of pearl. There is a river of life there
to make the saints glad. There is the water of life to
heal them. The only thing that's not there
are evil things. For there'll be no tears there,
and there'll be no death there, and sorrow, and pain, and crying. And the saints shall reign and
flourish as kings, and they shall shine as the sun in the kingdom
of their Father. For they have indeed gotten the
victory, and they are now flourishing. And not only will they have robes
and palm branches in their hands to depict their victory and prosperity,
but the Scripture says that they sat on thrones. Listen to this,
"...to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my
throne, even as I overcame and sat down with my Father in His
throne. If we suffer with Him, we shall
reign with Him." When a believer falls asleep in Jesus, when he
dies in the Lord, he immediately enters a kingdom of untold glory. It's a glory that that that kingdom
will only increase, a glory in which will only increase throughout
the endless ages. It's a kingdom of free grace,
for it's the gift of the Heavenly Father. It's my Father's good
pleasure to give unto you the kingdom. And it's a kingdom that
comes to us directly through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. For it is only through the blood
of Christ that we are brought into this everlasting kingdom. He said this, that Christ has
once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might
bring us to God. How do you and I, if we are wise,
judge of matters? How do we judge what we go through
in our life? This is the way we judge. What
is the end of the matter? What is the end of a thing? What is the end of true godliness? Is your faith sorely tried? Are
you in heaviness through manifold temptations? Are you persecuted
for righteousness' sake? Are you assaulted by the devil?
Are you called upon to deny yourself and take up your cross and follow
Him? Are you told to be faithful unto
death? We're told all of those things,
aren't we? But what's the end of it all? That's what we must
look to. The end of it all. The end of
sin is death, isn't it? It's shame. But what is the end
of true godliness? It's life. It's glory, or a glorious
life. Brother Randy quoted it this
morning, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall He live. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death that I may live with Christ forever in this
kingdom? What do you and I know, brothers
and sisters, about living? We are in a body of death. We
know so little about what it will be to live. But when we
leave this world and go to that world, to that kingdom, we shall
live We shall live. Oh, the kingdom, the kingdom. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Who can describe such
a thing? Not only I fail to do it, but
I've never heard anybody succeed in describing the glory of this
kingdom. And how does Christ address the
heirs of this kingdom? This is very interesting, isn't
it? Blessed are the poor in spirit. That's the airs of this kingdom.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. The poor in spirit. Blessed. I tell you, heaven doesn't estimate
blessings like we do. We would say something like,
oh sad, how sad it is to be poor of spirit. But the Lord Jesus
said, how blessed, oh fortunate people He said. Supremely blessed,
a people well off and happy. He doesn't say poor in their
worldly possessions. Being poor in spirit has nothing
to do with worldly possessions. A man may be poor and not be
poor in spirit. And let's be honest, most poor
people are proud in spirit, aren't they not? There are people who
are poor in this world's possessions, and they have a proud and haughty
spirit. And there are some who have much
of this world's possessions, and they are poor in spirit.
So it makes no difference, our possession. And neither did Christ
say, blessed are the spiritually poor, for everybody is spiritually
poor. The sad part is they don't know
it. The Lord Jesus wrote to the Laodiceans and He says, you're
wretched and you're miserable and you're poor and you're blind
and naked, but you don't know it. I tell you, the greatest
poverty Poverty, brothers and sisters in this world, is to
be in poverty and not know it. And not know it. Every man outside
Jesus Christ is poor, isn't he? He just doesn't know it. They're
nigher to cursing than being blessed. What is meant by poor
in spirit? The definition means to be destitute
in poverty. Strong says, This word poor is
very akin to the word fall down, to fall down, to be frightened. So to be poor in spirit means
to be sorely aware of our spiritual poverty. It's to see yourself
fallen and helpless in abject spiritual poverty. It's to see
ourselves this way. in poverty. John Gill said this
about this. He said, these are those who
are sensible of their poverty. They see their poverty and they
see their want. And they freely acknowledge it.
They bewail it and mourn over it. They are humble for it and
are broken under a sense of it. They entertain low and mean thoughts
of themselves. They seek after the true riches,
both of grace and glory, and frankly acknowledge that all
they have or hope to have is owing to the free grace of God
in Jesus Christ. And he says, now these are the
persons intended in this place who are not only poor, but they
are poor in spirit. They are poor in their own eyes.
They are poor in their own apprehensions. and judgment of themselves. Poor in spirit. Thomas Watson
says this, the Greek word for poor is not only taken in a strict
sense for those who live upon charity. You talk about welfare
cases. We are, aren't we? When it comes
to being poor in spirit, all of us are on welfare. We can
earn nothing. We merit nothing of ourselves. We're charity cases. But in a
more large sense, for those who are destitute, as well of inward
as outward comfort. The poor in spirit then signifies
those who are brought to the sense of their sin and see no
goodness in themselves. They despair of themselves and
they sue for the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. That's the way
the old timers used to call it. Suing for mercy. When you sue
for help from the courts, they sue for mercy. The mercy of God
in Jesus Christ. What is it to be poor in spirit?
It's to be keenly aware of our spiritual poverty. It's to see
nothing in ourselves in the way of power or merit or worth to
affect anything in the way of our spiritual deliverance. It's
a total dependency upon the mercy of God and upon the salvation
that is in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. poor, poor in spirit. How many times did David describe
himself as poor and needy? Listen to some of these places.
He said, bow down thy ear, O Lord, hear me, for I am poor and needy. This poor man cried, and the
Lord heard him and saved him out of his trouble. I am poor,
Lord, and sorrowful, Let Thou salvation, O God, set me on high. I am poor. This was probably
the richest man of his day and the most powerful king in his
time. And yet he describes himself
as being poor and needy, without any means in his soul to affect
anything. That's what it means to be poor
of spirit. If a man is financially poor,
He has the means of getting money. Go get a job. Sell something. Trade and get some money. If
he's physically hungry or thirsty, he can get food and he can get
drink. If he's physically naked, he
can find clothes. Go to the Salvation Army or to
the homeless shelter. If he's cold or if he's hot,
he can warm himself or find a shade. But a man who is in poverty of
the Spirit can do nothing for Himself. He is utterly helpless
to affect His need. And those around Him cannot help
Him. He is utterly dependent upon
God and Jesus Christ to supply all His need. Do you see many
people, brothers and sisters, that are poor in spirit? Do you
see this in your neighbors? Do you see this in your co-workers?
Do you see this in church members as you talk to them in other
places? Poor in spirit? And David realized this, and
sometimes he grew so anxious about it. He says, I am poor
and needy. Make haste, O God, unto me. Thou art my help and my deliverer. O God, make no tarry. Only a man who is poor in spirit
and who is without helping himself or others will pray such an anxious
prayer. And not only is he poor and needy,
but I tell you, a man who is poor in spirit has many adversaries
to oppose him. Satan watches for these people
because he knows that they're weak. And he seeks to overcome
them and overwhelm them. Here's what David said again.
The wicked have drawn out the sword. They have bent their bow
to cast down the poor and needy and to slay such as be of upright
congregation. And he said again, Who is lacking
to the Lord which delivereth the poor from Him that is too
strong for Him? Yea, the poor and the needy from
Him that spoileth them. Is this not our prayer, brothers
and sisters? Are you here this morning and you're poor of spirit?
This is your prayer, isn't it? We begin praying this way. Jesus,
come save me. Ain't that the way we began?
Come save this poor man. I cannot pay the price. You only
can. And ever since then, we've been
crying the cry of a poor, needy person. Lord, come and deliver
me from this body of death. Lord, come and deliver me from
these temptations. Lord Jesus, come and save me. David often cried that way. I
remember when Luther was in, I guess it was Wittenberg, wherever
he had to stand before Catholics to give account of
what he had written and his thesis and so on. He asked them to give
him another day, remember that, to think about it? And he went
back to his little room and all night long he laid and prayed,
Lord, I am Thine, save me. That's the prayer of a man who
has a poverty in his spirit. I am Thine, save me. I can do nothing. Save me. I am a poor man." Why does the
Lord Jesus call these poor blessed? Why does He say they are blessed?
Because no one else values and speaks so highly of their souls
as these people. Everybody has a soul to be saved,
but few know it. They live for the flesh. They
live for this world. But the poor and needy realize
they have souls to be saved. And nobody but them cries, Lord,
come and save me. And nobody but these poor and
needy put such a great price upon Jesus Christ and the riches
of His grace. Poor Paul, a man who was poor
in spirit, He said the grace of the Lord Jesus was exceeding
abundant with faith and with love. I am what I am by the grace
of God. And he said I count all loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom
I've suffered the loss of everything and count it done that I may
win Christ. and be found in Him, not having
my own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is
through the faith of Christ." The righteousness of God by faith. He never did pray that until
God stripped him of his own power, of his own fleshly wisdom and
righteousness and brought him into poverty of spirit. And then
he had such high thoughts and a high opinion of Jesus Christ. Oh, the man is blessed. Heaven
counts him blessed who has a poor spirit because he thinks highly
of his soul and its salvation. And he puts a great price upon
the Son of God and salvation by him. They are blessed because
they have precious promises of God to their poor spirits. Someone counted the promises
in the scripture one time and there were several thousand.
There's a bunch. given to those who are poor in
spirit. Let me read these to you, some
of them. For He shall deliver the needy when He cries, the
poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall judge the
poor of the people. He shall save the children of
the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressors, blessed
of the poor. Well, God is watching over them.
I am poor and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me," David
said. Thou art my help and my deliverer. How did David know this? I'll
tell you how he knew it. God had promised. God had promised. And he said again, for the oppression
of the poor, for the sign of the needy, now will I rise, saith
the Lord. I will set him in safety from
him that puffeth at him. He riseth up the poor from the
dust, and he lifteth up the beggar and the needy from the dunghill.
And listen to this, he shall stand at the right hand of the
poor. The Lord shall stand at his right hand. That's a place
of favor, a place of help and friendship. Why? To save him
from those that would condemn his soul. And again He said,
I will abundantly bless his provision. I will satisfy her poor with
bread. I know that the Lord will maintain
the cause of the afflicted and the right of the poor. Why does He give such promises?
Why is He so careful the way He speaks to the poor? I'll maintain
their cause? I'll stand at their right hand?
I'll justify them from condemnation. I'll lift him out of the dungeon.
I'll set him in safety. I'll save him and deliver him
and hear him and think upon him. Why such promises? Because these
are poor in spirit. And if God doesn't stand with
them, they sink. I tell you, a poor spirit, brothers
and sisters, is often a sinking spirit. If the Lord doesn't get
underneath a poor in spirit with His everlasting arms of love
and grace, the poor spirit will sink. David said, I sink in deep
mire where there's no standing. When the Lord comes and shows
us our poverty and strips us from any riches that we have
and makes us poor in spirit, then we begin to sink. And He
has to come and get underneath us and hold us up. And that's
what these promises are all about. I love the way He says it in Isaiah
66, too. To this man will I look, saith
the Lord, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit. And he trembles at my word. And listen to Isaiah 57, verse
15. Thus saith the high and lofty One, that inhabiteth eternity, whose
name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy
place, but get this, with Him also that is of a contrite and
broken spirit. If God discloses a man his poverty
and leaves him, oh, he'll sink. Did you ever think, dear child
of God, that you dwelled with Him in that holy and happy place? And the reason you dwell there
is because He's looking at you. You have His attention. And all
He does the day long is keep His heart and His mind and His
thoughts upon you. Because He's the one that showed
you your poverty. And now He must hold you up. But what does all these promises
mean to the proud of heart and those who are rich in spirit.
When God wants a man to have high thoughts of Christ and count
his promises exceeding precious, He brings him into spiritual
poverty. He kills and He makes alive. He wounds and He heals. He strips
naked and He clothes. He takes away our things and
He gives us the things of Christ. And I've sometimes wondered why
he began with the poor in spirit. Isn't that a way to begin a sermon?
Why does he begin with this one? Of all the beatitudes, he begins
with the poor in spirit. And surely it must be for this
reason, because of all of these other things which follow. Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for they're the ones who mourn. And they're
the ones who are comforted. Blessed are the meek. If a person
is not poor in spirit, he's not meek. Blessed are they which
do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed
are the merciful. And it must begin with this. Those who are in poverty. Those
who are in poverty. And it's the poor in spirit.
that God has chosen to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom
that He's promised. And you know something? It's
only the poor in spirit who love Him. It's only the poor in spirit
who love Him. Oh, bless the Lord for this precious
verse. Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Let's pray.