Matthew 5:1-3

5 verses 17 through 20, right, where Jesus says, I came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law.

And so I thought, well, what if rather than starting in on Exodus 20 this morning, we start in on the Sermon on the Mount.

It's been quite some time as a church since we've done that.

I think it's been 10 years since we looked at the Sermon on the Mount together.

And to do instead a series through the Sermon on the Mount, which will get us to Matthew chapter 5 verses 17 through 20 and force the issue once again at that point.

Matthew 5:17–20

So essentially, I bought myself eight or nine weeks to sort through it all.

However, there's a massive richness at the beginning of chapter 5.

So I don't want you to feel like we're just biding time, but rather let's dive in together into the Sermon on the Mount and then we'll get to that place.

I believe you'll find that Exodus 20 and Matthew 5 and on into 6 are intrinsically interwoven, but we'll see when we get to that point.

So we're going to begin working on that.

If you are a college student and you were really, really hoping to do Exodus 20 before the semester was out, I'm just sorry.

We probably won't get into it until this summer, but we'll see how the pace goes and hopefully this will serve you well.

So our text for today is Matthew chapter 5 verses 1 through 3.

Matthew 5:1–3

Before I read that, let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us.

It is written for his glory and for our good.

And so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 and following.

Matthew 5:1

Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain and when he had sat down, his disciples came to him.

And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In Matthew's account, this sermon comes very quickly at the beginning of Jesus' ministry.

So as introduction, let's take a quick look back into chapter 4 at Jesus' ministry to this point.

Matthew 4, 12 through 17.

John the Baptist has just been arrested.

And Matthew writes for us, verse 12 and following.

Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee.

And leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali.

In verses 14 through 16, Matthew tells us this was to fulfill an Old Testament prophecy.

And then in verse 17, he writes,

From that time, Jesus began to preach, saying,

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

So this is the very beginning in Matthew's account of Jesus' earthly ministry.

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Then we see in chapter 4, verses 18 through 22,

Jesus calls some of the first disciples, four of them, two sets of brothers.

And then in verses 23 through 25,

Jesus proclaims the gospel of the kingdom,

this good news of the coming kingdom of God.

He performs many miracles as signs to this coming kingdom,

verifying the things that he's teaching.

And as a result, gathers crowds.

People begin to follow him around.

And so in chapter 5, verses 1 and 2,

Matthew sets the stage for this most famous of Jesus' sermons.

It was not his only sermon,

but it was certainly the most famous of Jesus' sermons.

And Matthew tells us that there is a crowd.

Seeing the crowds,

Jesus goes away from the crowds and goes up onto the mountain.

He tells us that Jesus ascends an unnamed mountain.

We're not entirely sure there's some long-standing tradition which mountain it is,

but we're not exactly sure which mountain.

It's not significant really.

He goes away from the crowd in order to teach.

And Matthew tells us that his primary audience is not the crowd.

So note verse 1,

Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain.

And when he sat down, who came to him?

His disciples.

His disciples came to him.

So he's called some, right?

So far we've seen in Matthew's text 4.

There may have been some others at this point.

Some of this crowd may have been considered disciples at this point.

But the thing I want you to hear very clearly is that Jesus preaches this sermon not to unbelievers,

but to believers.

Much like many of the New Testament epistles, right, are written as letters to churches.

And so we do well to keep that in mind as we're going to walk our way through the text of the Sermon on the Mount.

The Sermon on the Mount is understood to be a declaration of the kingdom of God.

The kingdom has come because the king has come.

Jesus here is teaching what those who are citizens of his kingdom will look like.

Remember, he is teaching his disciples.

And as we study across these three chapters, we're going to see two major themes emerge,

which we'll consider at length in the coming months.

The first major theme that I'm going to talk about anyway is whole person righteousness.

Whole person righteousness.

Jesus in this sermon corrects the misunderstanding that God is only concerned with action

and the outward appearance of righteousness.

Citizens of God's kingdom will not only honor God with their actions,

but also with their thoughts, intentions, motivations, emotions.

God cares about our hearts, not merely the exterior.

So whole person righteousness is going to emerge as a prominent theme throughout this text.

And I believe as a result of this whole person righteousness,

the second theme that emerges is human flourishing.

The well-being of God's disciples, those citizens of God's kingdom will flourish.

They will have joy and comfort and peace and satisfaction.

We will see in the sermon that the flourishing of God's kingdom

often runs in direct contradiction to the world's concept of flourishing.

But nonetheless, we'll flourish in the kingdom of God.

And in verse 3, Jesus begins his sermon and leads out with this second theme of human flourishing

in making the declaration,

blessed are the poor in spirit.

Now, I'll get into some of this in the coming weeks.

We'll talk more about this word that's translated blessed here.

We know, if you're familiar with your scripture,

that this is often called the Beatitudes,

which is a translation of a transliteration from Latin into English.

It's very complex why we end up arriving at this spot of beatitude.

These blessings, these declarations of blessing on particular quality of citizens of the kingdom.

The Greek word here translated blessed is makarios.

And there's a lot of translation dilemma here.

Some words translated from Greek into English are very simple translations.

Often when we're looking at New Testament texts,

we want to go on the deeper dive and go see what the original language means.

And you go, oh yeah, yeah, it means what it means in English.

Well done, translators.

But there are some Greek words that are very difficult to apply an equivalent English word to.

And that's when it's helpful that we are students of the original language

and we do our best to try to wrap our minds around what this word means.

So often we see it, and here in this case, in the ESV, we see it blessed.

Some will say happy.

Some will say joyful, like an abiding, intrinsic happiness.

But the challenge to some of those things is that God's people aren't always happy, are we?

It's acceptable as God's people to mourn.

The very next blessed is about mourning.

It's about sadness over something in particular.

So it becomes a little bit difficult then.

What does it mean exactly?

Are we meant to be bubbly?

Is that what Jesus is suggesting to us here?

And it's not.

Fortunate could be another English word put in this place.

But my favorite is flourishing.

And we will, in the coming weeks, unpack what that flourishing looks like.

But you could think of it as well-being.

Doing well are the poor in spirit.

Jesus here is making a declaration, right?

That those who are poor in spirit are blessed.

It's as if he is observing a person poor in spirit.

And he's saying to them, he's saying to the disciples, look at the poor in spirit.

They are blessed.

He's declaring this.

He's putting a label on to this person.

Look at the way they are.

They are blessed.

They're doing well.

They're flourishing.

All goes well with them because they're poor in spirit.

An example of this, just to make the point of the way this is a declaration made.

Matthew 16, 17, after Peter declares that Jesus is the Christ.

Jesus asked Peter, who do you say that I am?

And Peter responds, you are the Christ.

Verse 17 says, Jesus answered him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, right?

Blessed.

He puts this label on to him.

You are blessed.

Why?

For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven, right?

You've had this truth of who I am revealed to you by my Father.

And therefore, you are doing well.

You are flourishing because you're recognizing me as the Christ.

And so, Jesus says, declares, blessed are those who are poor in spirit.

So, what does it mean to be poor in spirit?

Jesus here is not talking about those who are financially poor.

He does not say, blessed are the poor.

He says, blessed are the poor in spirit.

Now, the financially poor may have one less obstacle to recognizing their spiritual poverty.

But that is not the criteria that Jesus is teaching here.

He declares, blessed are those who are poor in spirit.

In order to grasp the meaning of this phrase, I want to take you on a brief survey of Bible characters.

I want to show you men throughout biblical history who were poor in spirit to help us wrap our mind around what this means,

beginning with Abraham and ending with Paul.

And my prayer is that we'll witness these individuals' recognition of their spiritual poverty.

So, hang with me.

I don't think you actually need to turn, maybe write references so you can test me later that I'm actually reading to you the scripture.

But let's start with Abraham.

In dealing with the Lord about Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham said in Genesis 18, 27,

Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord.

I who am but dust and ashes.

Jacob, when he returned to the promised land after spending 20 years in exile,

he wrestled with God in prayer and said in Genesis 32, 10,

I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant.

Abraham, I am but dust and ashes.

Jacob, I am not worthy of the goodness that you've shown me.

Moses, when God came to him and gave him this mission to go back to Egypt to set his people free,

Abraham said in Exodus 3, 11, and then in chapter 4, 10,

Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?

Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either heretofore or since thou hast spoken to thy servant,

but I am slow of speech and of tongue.

Why send me?

Is what Moses says to God.

We know that God gets angry at him, but not because of his understanding of himself,

but because he fails to believe that God will deliver his people.

David, King David, after he is an adulterous murderer,

he says in Psalm 51, verse 17,

Psalms 51:17

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart.

Oh, God, you will not despise.

And it's easy to agree that this is the spirit that pleases God after you are adulterous and murderous.

But what about the times when you're doing well,

when you're doing what you ought to be doing?

When a collection for the temple was being taken,

when David and his people were performing an act of virtue,

David prayed, and it's recorded for us in 1 Chronicles 29, 14,

But who am I, and what is my people,

that we should be able thus to offer willingly?

Even when we're doing good, who are we that we're allowed to do good?

And then he says,

For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.

King Solomon, 1 Kings 3, verse 7.

1 Kings 3:7

You will learn about me if you don't already know.

I like beating points.

It's recorded, he said,

And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father,

although I am but a little child.

I do not know how to go out or come in.

There's a lot of debate about when Solomon became king,

and it ranges between 12 and 20.

But either way you look at it,

I'm pretty sure at 12 he knew how to get out in and out of a room.

So he's magnifying his smallness as he prays this to God.

Why me?

Look at me.

I'm just so ignorant of the things that a king should know.

Job.

Here's a great one.

Job 42, 5, and 6.

God speaks to him out of the cloud,

and he says,

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now my eye sees you.

Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.

Isaiah, another man that encountered God.

In Isaiah 6, 5,

Isaiah says,

Woe is me, for I am lost.

For I am a man of unclean lips,

and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.

For my eyes have seen the King,

the Lord of hosts.

Let's go to the New Testament.

John the Baptist.

John 1, verse 27,

John 1:27

and then chapter 3, verse 30.

John says,

I baptize with water,

but among you stands one whom you do not know.

He's speaking of Christ.

Even he who comes after me,

the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.

And in 3.30, he says,

He must increase.

I must decrease.

We see in a parable,

a tax collector,

and Jesus tells this parable of a Pharisee,

and a tax collector who went up to the temple to pray.

And concerning the tax collector,

Jesus said in Luke chapter 18,

Luke 18:13

verse 13 and 14,

But the tax collector standing far off

would not even lift up his eyes to heaven,

but beat his breast saying,

God, be merciful to me,

a sinner.

I tell you,

this man went down to his house justified

rather than the other.

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled,

but the one who humbles himself

will be exalted.

We have a story in Luke chapter 7

Luke 7 · chapter mention

of a centurion.

Verses 6-9 say,

When Jesus was not far off from the house,

the centurion sent friends to him,

saying to him,

Lord, do not trouble yourself,

for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.

Therefore, I do not presume to come to you,

but say the word and let my servant be healed.

When Jesus heard this,

he marveled at him

and turned and said to the multitude,

I tell you,

not ever in Israel have I found such faith.

As he emptied himself for his Lord.

Peter.

When Peter saw the power of Jesus

on the lake of Gennesaret,

in Luke 5-8,

he fell down at Jesus' knees saying,

Depart from me,

for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

Then finally, Paul.

Romans chapter 7, verse 18,

Romans 7:18

he wrote,

Lord, I know that nothing good dwells in me,

that is, in my flesh.

1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 6-7,

1 Corinthians 3:6–7

Paul says,

I planted, Apollos watered,

but God gave the growth.

So neither he who plants nor he who waters

is anything,

but only God who gives the growth.

And finally, last reference,

1 Timothy chapter 1, verses 15 and 16.

1 Timothy 1:15

Paul writes,

The saying is trustworthy

and deserving of full acceptance,

that Christ Jesus came into the world

to save sinners,

of whom I am the foremost.

But I receive mercy for this reason,

that in me as the foremost,

Jesus Christ might display

his perfect patience

as an example

to those who are to believe in him

for eternal life.

So, a lot of examples, right,

of what it looks like

to be poor in spirit,

but are we wrapping our brains around it?

What does it mean?

What does it mean to be poor in spirit?

I'll give you a few things.

It's a recognition

of spiritual bankruptcy

and helplessness before God.

We have nothing to bring to him, right?

Dead in our trespasses

and in our sins.

We have no ounce of good

to offer God apart from Christ.

So, it's this recognition

of spiritual bankruptcy

and helplessness before God.

It is a recognition

of powerlessness

in and of ourselves.

It is a recognition

of moral uncleanliness

before God,

that our sin against

a most holy, infinite God

is of infinite offense.

It is a recognition

of personal unworthiness

before God.

Why would God show grace to me?

It is a recognition

that if there is to be any life

or joy

or usefulness whatsoever,

it would have to be

all of God

and all of His grace.

The reason that it's proper to say

that to be poor in spirit

is a recognition

of bankruptcy

and a recognition

of powerlessness

and uncleanliness

and unworthiness

is that objectively speaking,

everybody is poor in spirit.

It is part of the human condition.

After the fall of mankind,

everyone born since

has been poor in spirit.

Everybody,

whether they recognize it or not,

is utterly hopeless

before God.

But not everybody

is declared blessed.

Those declared blessed

are those who recognize

their spiritual poverty

and turn to God

by grace alone,

through faith alone,

in Christ alone.

Remember,

Jesus is teaching

His disciples.

He's teaching those

who are following Him

from faith

and they are declared

blessed.

They've recognized

their need

of Him.

So,

as we hold up

the Sermon on the Mount

and we consider it,

we want to hold it up

to ourselves.

We want to look and say,

if this is what

the kingdom looks like,

if this is how

the citizens

of God's kingdom look,

do I find myself

in here?

Is this me?

Am I poor in spirit?

We must ask ourselves

these questions

because there's such

a weighty answer

to be had.

We want to say,

yes,

this is me.

Yes,

I am blessed.

Yes,

the kingdom of God

is mine.

Because if we can't,

our end is destruction

and utter doom

and retribution

for our sin

forever.

It's a weighty thing

that's before us

to take a look at this

and really consider,

am I a citizen

of God's kingdom?

So,

how can a person

know

if they are poor

in spirit?

We do not arrive

at these things

with perfection.

Right?

So,

we're going to read

through these

as we're working

through these

blessings,

these beatitudes.

and none of us

are doing this

with perfection,

but is it

characterize

who I am?

So,

recognizing

that you are

poor in spirit

is the starting

point of

humility.

These phrases,

I believe,

are too readily

equated with one

another.

You have

poor in spirit

and humility

used synonymously,

but I think

it's right to say

that being poor

in spirit

produces humility.

Right?

Humility is the

fruit of an

impoverished spirit.

You see how

spiritually bankrupt

you are

and therefore

you become

humble

and that humility

works out.

Right?

We can see,

we can observe

both for our lives

and for those

around us.

Humility.

Thomas Watson,

a Puritan pastor,

wrote this.

He said,

I think poverty

of spirit

is the cause

of humility

for when a man

sees his want

of Christ,

sees his want

of Christ,

and how he lives

on the alms

of free grace,

this makes him

humble.

He that is sensible

of his own

vacuity

and indigence,

which means

stupidity

and poverty,

hangs his head

in humility

with the violet.

Humility

is the sweet

spice that grows

from poverty

of spirit.

That's probably

the only part

of that I should

have read.

Humility

is the sweet

spice that grows

from poverty

of spirit.

So let's

take a look.

Let's observe

your own life,

help others

in talking about

what's been

presented to you

today,

to consider

their life.

Let's look

at six measures

of humility

as our gauge

of awareness

of our spiritual

poverty.

Are you

poor

in spirit?

So let's

look at six

measures of that.

Number one,

the humble

are self-forgetful.

The humble

are self-forgetful,

and by that

I mean

we are not

occupied

only with

ourselves.

All of our

intention is not

turned inward,

but our

intention turns

outward.

A humble

person

loses their

self-preoccupation.

They recognize

that the world

does not

revolve around

them,

and they move

outside themselves,

first toward

God,

and then toward

others.

Paul wrote

in Galatians

2.20,

I have been

crucified

with Christ.

This is no

longer I

who live.

Life is a

sacrifice,

but Christ

who lives in

me.

And the life

that I now

live in the

flesh,

I live by

faith in

the Son

of God

who loved

me and

gave

himself

for me.

So we

turn this

devotion from

ourselves,

outside of

ourselves,

to God.

We forget

so much

about ourselves

to our

great benefit,

and devote

ourselves to

him.

And we

love and

serve others.

Beloved,

if you are

truly humble,

you will

maximize the

strengths and

the virtues

of others.

If you find

yourself to be

a particularly

nitpicky person,

always drawing

out the negative

things,

always showing

somebody their

fault,

it's because you

think too much

of yourself.

You think you're

in a position

to show them

their faults.

The humble

look at others

and go,

way to go.

You're doing

a lot of

things really

well.

Romans 12,

10,

Paul writes,

love one

another with

brotherly

affection,

outdo one

another in

showing honor.

The humble

person recognizes

their spiritual

poverty,

the very depth

of how atrocious

they can be.

So the humble

are self-forgetful.

Number two,

the humble

are enthralled

with Christ

and becoming

like him.

Enthralled

with Christ

and becoming

like him.

Is Jesus

Christ

the most

precious thing

you possess?

And if you're

in him,

he is yours.

You are his

and he is

yours.

Is he the

most precious

thing to you?

And you can

measure this out

by considering

what you

think about

most and

what you

talk about

most.

It's a very

simple thing

to do.

I wish

somebody could

walk around

and record

you and

make one

of those

scatter

things,

make words

bigger the

more it's

said in a

paper.

But many

of us

would find

that we

don't talk

about Jesus

Christ nearly

as much

as we

think we

do.

The humble

are enthralled

with Christ

and becoming

like him.

Paul writes

Philippians

1.21

to me

to live

is Christ.

To do

his bidding,

to know

him more

by being

part of

the growing

of his

kingdom.

And to

die is

what?

It's gain.

Why?

Put off

the shackles

of this

world and

my sinful

flesh and

be with

him forever.

He writes

in other

places,

2 Corinthians

3.18

And we

all with

unveiled

face,

beholding

the glory

of the

Lord,

are being

transformed

in the

same

image

from one

degree of

glory to

another.

For this

comes from

the Lord

who is

the Spirit.

So we

long for

that.

We want

to be

made

more

like

him.

The

humble

are

enthralled

with

Christ

and

becoming

like

him.

Third,

the

humble

are not

complainers.

the

humble

recognize

what

they

actually

deserve.

You know

what you

actually

deserve?

Death

and

hell.

So no

matter

the state

that we

find ourselves

in,

we really

have no

space for

complaining.

So much

blessing,

blessing upon

blessing upon

blessing when

you recognize

that what you

really deserve

is death

and hell.

And complaining

comes from

expecting

more.

What I do

deserve is

this.

That's not

fair.

Beloved,

we don't

want what's

fair.

Paul writes

in Romans

Romans 8:17

chapter 8

verse 17

and 18,

if children

then heirs,

heirs of

God and

fellow heirs

with Christ,

provided we

what?

We suffer

with him

in order

that we

may also

be glorified

with him.

Paul's

saying that

an evidence

of a life

lived for

Christ,

one who's

poor in

spirit,

a citizen

of this

kingdom,

is going

to suffer.

The conclusion

of the

beatitude

says the

very same

thing,

blessed are

those who

are persecuted

for righteousness

sake.

And so,

we're going

to suffer

in this

world,

and Paul

says in

verse 18,

for I

consider that

the sufferings

of this

present time

are not

worth

comparing.

And I

like to

reread that

and say

present time

are not

even worth

comparing.

Don't even

take the

time to

compare it

with the

glory that

is to be

revealed to

us.

Such a

glorious

reality that

awaits us,

right?

Having found

ourselves poor

in spirit,

looking to

this thing,

recognizing

what we

actually deserve,

which is

death and

hell.

Fourth,

the humble

have Christ

on his

terms.

I borrowed

some of

these from

Thomas Watson,

so that's

why that

language sounds

very Puritan.

The humble

have Christ

on his

terms.

The humble

will not

try to have

Christ while

hanging on

to sinful

vices.

So,

we'll have

Christ and

we'll walk

in his

ways.

If he's

going to

be our

savior,

he must

be our

Lord.

We will

follow him.

We won't

try to

manipulate him

and his

commands to

meet our

needs.

We'll have

Christ on

his terms,

right?

Jesus says,

you have

me, now

follow me.

If you

love Christ,

you will

love his

word and

make it the

standard for

your living.

The scripture

sets up as

the pole

position that

we chase

in this

race of

life.

Again,

Thomas Watson,

I think you're

going to hear

a lot from

him in the

coming months.

He wrote

this.

He wrote a

wonderful

commentary on

the Beatitudes.

He wrote,

a castle that

has long been

besieged and

is ready to

be taken will

deliver upon

any terms to

save their

lives.

He whose

heart has

been a

garrison for

the devil and

has held out

long in

opposition against

Christ,

when once God

has brought

him to

poverty of

spirit and

he sees

himself damned

without

Christ,

let God

propound what

articles he

will.

So,

bring the

treaty.

It does

not matter

what the

expectations

of the

treaty are.

He will

readily

subscribe to

them.

Lord,

what will

you have

me do?

That's the

response.

When we

recognize how

spiritually

impoverished we

are, we

recognize how

desperately we

need to be

saved.

What would

you have

me do?

Thomas Watson

in conclusion

says,

he that is

poor in

spirit will

do anything

that he

may have

Christ.

So, the

humble have

Christ on

his terms.

And, beloved,

that's a

wonderful thing.

It's for our

good.

Number five,

the humble

pray.

The humble

pray.

Beloved, we

are meant to

be a praying

people if we

recognize how

very spiritually

impoverished we

are.

We know that we

can do no

good thing

apart from

God.

We flail

about trying

to accomplish

things for

God, rather

than in

treating with

him that he

would work

and use us

in his

working.

I cannot

tell you how

many times,

to my shame,

in the past

decade, that

I have prepped

a sermon

within days of

needing to

deliver the

sermon and

not prayed.

God, it's

horrible.

I go to my

books and I

rely on my

intellect without

first stopping

and saying,

I can do

nothing apart

from you.

For a long

time now, I've

signed things,

emails and

things like that

to come out

to you.

SDG, some

of you have

asked me what

that means,

lowercase s,

uppercase d,

lowercase g.

That's the way

Bach signed

his pieces of

music.

And it means

solely Deo

Gloria.

That's what it

means.

So he was

concluding in

that way.

Men of the

ministry, you

may have

noticed that

the email

that went

out this

past time

had an

uppercase j

and a

lowercase j

at the

very top

of it.

Because I

learned,

I'm grateful

to learn this,

that many of

his pieces of

music started,

I won't get

the Latin

phrase right

off the top

so I won't

try, but

with a Latin

phrase that

meant,

Jesus help.

help.

So, starting

this Sunday,

my notes at

the top say

JJ, and at

the bottom

they say

SDG as

reminders to

myself.

Right?

We are

utterly helpless

apart from him,

and when we

recognize that,

we'll go to the

one who can

help.

Right?

Get the

phrase in

your mind.

It's a Latin

phrase.

I hope this

helps you.

Sine qua

non.

Without

which

nothing.

Psalm 145,

18,

the Lord is

near to all

who call

on him,

to all who

call on

him in

truth.

Lord, we

need you.

Come and

work.

John MacArthur

wrote in his

commentary on

this verse,

just as the

physical beggar

begs for

physical

sustenance,

the spiritual

beggar begs

for spiritual.

We will

knock often

at heaven's

gate because

we are

always in

need.

So the

humble pray.

And sixth

and finally,

the humble

are thankful.

The humble

are thankful.

Namely,

the humble

are thankful

for God's

grace to

them.

Recognizing

our utter

unworthiness

to receive

such favor,

we exult

in God's

great

goodness.

grace to

us.

Why,

O Lord,

me,

wretch that

I am,

why would

you save

my soul?

Makes me

his,

restores me

to him,

calls me

blessed,

calls me

his child,

Jesus calls

me his

friend and

brother.

Why me?

I was set

against you

in every

way.

What

grace

to us.

So,

why are the

poor in

spirit declared

by Jesus

to be

blessed?

Flourishing

are you

who recognize

your utter

dependence

because theirs

is the

kingdom

of heaven.

They are

citizens of

the kingdom

of God.

God is

their God

and they

are God's

people.

Is this

true of you

this morning?

This

first of the

blessings is

a succinct

statement

of the

doctrine of

justification

by faith

alone.

It simply

says we

will not

be found

right before

God,

declared

righteous

before God

of any

merit of

our own

doing.

We must

first be

humbled,

be found

spiritually

impoverished

that we

might find

our righteousness

in Christ,

that we

would bank

everything

on his

righteousness

because we

have none

of our

own.

If we

don't first

recognize our

spiritual

poverty and

then turn

to God

by faith

in Jesus

Christ,

then we

are not

saved from

the wrath

due our

sin.

We are

enemies of

God and

citizens of

the world

that will

be destroyed.

Praise be

to God

that the

humble who

flee to

him in

Christ are

granted the

right to

be citizens

of a

heavenly

kingdom.

In

closing,

I want to

read to

you just a

little bit

from John

Bunyan's

The Pilgrim's

Progress.

I commend

this book

to you.

If you

stay here

long enough,

I will

eventually read

every part

of it to

you in

preaching.

Bunyan

writes this

allegory as

a dream.

So he has

a dream,

and I just

want you to

hear it's

about a

man by

the name

of Christian

going on

this process,

being saved,

and going on

this process

of following

Christ.

Bunyan

writes,

I dreamed

and behold

I saw

a man

clothed

in rags

standing

in a

certain

place,

this is

Christian,

with his

face turned

away from

his own

house,

a book

in his

hand,

and a

great

burden

on his

back.

Burden

is the

weight

of his

sin,

his

recognition

of his

spiritual

poverty.

I looked

and saw

him open

the book

and read

therein,

and as

he read,

he wept

and trembled.

And not

being able

to contain

himself any

longer,

he broke

out with

a lamentable

cry saying,

what shall

I do?

Later

in the

text,

therefore,

in this

plight,

he went

home and

strained

himself as

long as

he could

so that

his wife

and children

would not

notice his

distress.

But he

could not

be silent

long for

the reason

that his

trouble

increased.

Therefore,

at length,

he broke

his mind

to his

wife and

children and

thus began

to talk to

them.

Oh,

my dear

wife,

he said,

and you,

the children

of my

deepest

affections,

I,

your dear

friend,

am myself

undone

by reason

of a burden

that weighs

heavily upon

me.

Moreover,

I am

certainly

informed that

this,

our city,

will be

burned

with fire

from heaven

in which

fearful overthrow

both myself

with you,

my wife,

and sweet

babes,

shall come

to a

miserable

ruin,

except some

way of escape

can be found

whereby we

may be

delivered.

And he does

go on a

journey,

and he is

delivered from

his burden,

and he does

arrive at the

final destination,

the celestial

city,

and his

wife later

comes and

does the

same.

But this is

where we

find ourselves,

poor in

spirit,

but knowing

where to

turn if

we are

blessed,

finding ourselves

in Christ,

clothed in

his

righteousness.

And if you

can't say

with the

confidence that

you have

placed believing

faith in

Jesus Christ,

then you

are a

pilgrim,

not yet set

out on that

journey,

living in

the city

of destruction,

just waiting,

for the

doom

that will

come.

Turn

to faith

in Christ.

Blessed

are the

poor in

spirit,

for theirs

is the

kingdom

of

heaven.

Let's

pray together.

Let's