Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit

Selfies, seriously.

Selfies are amazing.

It's changed kind of our culture,

the selfie culture that we are.

The camera on your phone has brought new dimensions

to our life together.

We are a selfie people living in a selfie culture.

It's a snapshot, no pun intended,

of where our hearts tend to lie.

Is it not true that we tend to be the center

of our own little world?

Standing in sharp contrast to the selfie kingdom

is the kingdom of heaven.

The kingdom of heaven works according to

a different value system and a different ethic.

It stands in sharp contrast to the culture we live in.

The kingdom of heaven

is the active reign of Jesus.

And you can't be thinking about the kingdom of heaven

as Jesus reigning over geographic territories

of the earth.

At least not yet.

When he comes back, he's taken over the planet.

But right now, to be thinking about

the present and active reign of Jesus

is to think about his interest

in the territory of individual hearts.

And he's winning and gaining a kingdom

by winning, saving one sinner's heart

at a time.

He's gathering a kingdom

of radically changed followers for himself.

In Matthew 3.1,

John the Baptist starts his ministry

with these words,

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven

is at hand.

In Matthew 4.17,

Jesus begins his ministry.

He's been inaugurated king at his baptism.

This is my beloved son

with whom I'm well pleased.

Matthew talks about Isaiah

and Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah.

A light has dawned.

His ministry begins

in the very first words of Jesus

in Matthew,

or the same words of John the Baptist,

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.

Is at hand.

And in Matthew 4.23,

we read that Jesus was

traveling through Galilee,

teaching in the synagogues,

and proclaiming the good news,

the gospel of the kingdom.

You see,

what Jesus was talking about

was good.

It was good news.

It was blessed.

Blessed news.

From the beginning,

the proclaiming of the good news

of the kingdom

included a call to repentance.

Repent, for the kingdom of God

is at hand.

To experience the goodness

of the kingdom,

in order to experience

the blessedness of being

under the reign of Jesus,

one must repent first.

Repentance is a word

that means to change your mind.

And I'm not sure

if this morning

you opened up the cupboard

and you're like,

am I going to eat Lucky Charms?

Or am I going to eat

Captain Crunch?

And you reach for the Captain Crunch

and you're like,

no, I changed my mind.

I repent of eating Captain Crunch

and I'm going to eat Lucky Charms.

That's one way

to talk about repentance.

When you get into the Bible,

the Bible talks about repentance

on a whole different scale.

And so when Jesus calls people

to repent for the kingdom of heaven

is at hand,

what He's talking about

is forsaking the kingdom of darkness

in order to devote yourself

to being His follower

as part of the kingdom of heaven.

We forsake the selfie kingdom

in order to be citizens

of the kingdom of heaven.

And in so doing,

we come under the

gracious reign of King Jesus.

This is all going somewhere.

To become a Christian,

to become a kingdom citizen,

a citizen of heaven,

it requires a radical shift

of devotion.

The values and ethics

of the kingdom of heaven

stand in sharp contrast

to the values and ethics

of the kingdom of darkness.

And so when someone becomes

a citizen of heaven,

when they become a Christian,

they have walked into

a counter-cultural kingdom.

And to be part of this

counter-cultural kingdom,

you are going to have

some ramifications

that ripple through your life.

To be a follower of Jesus

means that you're going

to be thinking differently

about yourself,

about who you are.

You're going to believe

what our King says about you,

not about what this culture

says about you.

And not only that,

you're going to think differently.

You're going to live

differently here.

Your life's going to look

different because you are

different because the grace

of God has radically

changed you.

And so for us citizens

of heaven living on earth

right now,

and we live in between

the comings of the King.

So Jesus has come the first time

and He's coming back

a second time.

And as citizens

of His kingdom,

we live now on this planet

for Him.

And just to be up front

with you,

it's counter-cultural.

If you are a follower

of Jesus,

your life will stand out.

That's what Jesus

is getting at

when He speaks

this manifesto

that we're calling

the Sermon on the Mount.

In this manifesto,

He tells us

who we are

and how we are

to live.

We are citizens

of heaven

and we live

on this planet

for Jesus.

And so Jesus

starts His manifesto

with

eight beatitudes.

They all have to do

with who we are

as Christians.

They address

our character.

What goes on

on the inside.

What we're going to see

is that

the character traits

of the citizens

of heaven

are radically

different

than the world's.

What God values

in us

is

completely different

than what the world

values

in us.

We've been radically

changed.

We've been bought

at a price.

We've been transferred

from the kingdom

of darkness

into the kingdom

of His beloved Son.

We've been given

new natures.

We are new people

living for a new

king.

We don't live

for ourselves

anymore.

We're citizens

of the kingdom

with a new king.

King Jesus.

And so this morning

after that huge

run up

we're just going

to focus on

the first beatitude.

Blessed

are

the

poor

in spirit

for

theirs

is the kingdom

of heaven.

blessed

are the

poor

in spirit

for theirs

is the kingdom

of heaven.

And to serve you

this morning

I thought

we could ask

three questions

of this

first beatitude.

Ask three questions

get three answers

and Lord willing

walk out of this

building

with the freshly

stirred desire

to follow our king.

So the three

questions are

what does it mean

to be poor

in spirit?

That's number

one.

The second

question is

what gets

in the way

of being

poor in spirit?

I'm going to

point to one

thing.

And the third

question is

what is the

good news

for the

poor in spirit?

What's the

good news?

So let's

tackle this

first question.

What does it

mean to be

poor in spirit?

Well if you're

looking at your

Bible

Matthew 5

3

you're going

to notice

that the

first word

is blessed

are the

poor in

spirit.

So right

out of the

gate you've

got to

realize that

to be poor

in spirit

is not a

bad thing

in God's

economy.

It's a

good thing

in God's

economy.

He says

it's blessed.

Happy

are the

poor in

spirit.

Joyful

are the

poor in

spirit.

Fortunate

are the

poor in

spirit.

Blessed

of God

are the

poor in

spirit.

But to

our ears

when you

hear the

word

poor

typically

you don't

think in

terms of

blessing.

It seems

a little

paradoxical.

So even

though we're

seeing that

this poor

in spirit

is a

good

thing

we still

got to

ask the

question

what does

it mean

to be

poor

in

spirit?

Do you

see that

word

poor?

P-O-O-R

Poor.

That word

needs a

little

explaining.

There are

different kinds

of poor

and there

is a

category of

poor people

in which

and maybe

you've been

there.

I know I've

been there.

You're just

barely getting

by.

There's no

fat in the

budget to

save or to

spend on

anything.

You just

barely have

enough to

survive.

Basic food,

simple clothes,

basic shelter.

It reminds

me of that

poor widow.

Remember Luke

21?

Jesus is

standing,

watches this

poor widow

come and

she gives

her last

two copper

coins and

putting in

the offering

box at the

temple.

Do you

remember

that?

She was

poor.

She had

just enough

kind of

poor.

she was

poor but

she was

not a

beggar.

She had

two copper

coins to

give.

The word

poor here

is not

just getting

by poor.

The word

poor is

beggar

poor.

Destitute

poor.

Completely

and

utterly

dependent

on the

generosity

of

others

poor.

The only

way you

can

survive

is from

the

generosity

of

someone

else.

That's

the

poor

we're

talking

about.

That's

the kind

of

poor.

So it's

not just

getting

by

poor.

This is

beggar

poor.

No room

for self

reliance.

No room

for self

confidence.

This

is the

kind

of

poverty

that's

like

you've

got to

do

anything

you've

got

can

do

in

order

just

to

eat.

And what you

notice is that

Jesus links

this kind

of poor

to the

two words

in spirit.

Blessed are

the poor

in spirit.

And so what

Jesus is doing

is helping

us to

understand

the kind

of poverty

he's talking

about.

What sphere

we are poor

in to be

poor in.

And so

what's important

to notice

is that

this

destitute

in spirit

Jesus

locates

within

us

poor

in spirit.

It's a

character trait.

It's a

posture of

heart.

A posture

of heart

of complete

and utter

dependence

on the

generosity

of God.

that's

what it

means to

be poor

in spirit.

Let me

read that

again.

It's a

posture

of heart

of complete

and utter

dependence

on the

generosity

of God

for your

survival.

In the

words of

Augustus

Toplady

in Rock

of Ages

nothing

in my

hands

I bring

simply

to the

cross

I cling.

I got

nothing.

So to

be poor

is to

be a

beggar

and it's

a poor

in spirit

within me.

I've got

nothing.

I've got

nothing.

And so

what you need

to realize

is like oh

that sounds

good Mike

let me help

you bring

this home.

For you

to be

poor in

spirit

is for

you

to humbly

declare

to God

spiritual

bankruptcy.

That's what

you're doing.

That's what

the poor

in spirit

do.

They say

I am

spiritually

bankrupt.

I've got

nothing.

Nothing.

And at the

heart of being

poor in spirit

is the

recognition

of our

profound

sinfulness.

Our

sin

puts us

in debt

to God

and we

can't

pay.

You know

what bankruptcy

is.

You've got

huge debts

and you've

got no

assets

and there's

no way

to pay.

You've

got to

declare

bankruptcy.

Now

what the

Bible is

clear in

saying is

that every

human being

apart from

Jesus of

course

every human

being is

spiritually

bankrupt

for all

have sinned

and fall

short of

the glory

of God.

What makes

the poor

in spirit

different

is that

the poor

in spirit

actually

admit

that they

are spiritually

bankrupt.

They declare

to God

their

spiritual

bankruptcy.

To be

poor in

spirit

is to

humbly

admit

our

sorry

state

of

sinful

spiritual

affairs.

We're

spiritual

debtors.

we have

dug

ourselves

into

debt

so

deep

against

God

that

we

can

never

ever

repay

it.

And

when we

sin

against

God

it's

like

incurring

debt

with

compounding

interest.

Maybe

you have

one of

those

kinds

of

credit

cards

with

a

super

high

interest

rate

and

you

put

something

on

it

and

you

don't

pay

it

for

a

month

and

it

comes

back

and

you're

like

whoa

how did

it

become

a million

dollars

I

don't

know

it's

compounding

interest.

Well when

we sin

against

God

it's

like

incurring

debt

not

with

a

compounding

interest

but

with

a

compounding

judgment.

We're

adding

up

wrath

over

our

heads.

Again

Romans

3

23

for

the

wages

of

sin

is

death.

I

sin

and

earn

judgment.

And

so

as

we

sin

we

are

racking

up

this

huge

compounding

debt

of

judgment

and

wrath

and

death

from

God.

At

this

point

you

might

be

saying

well

Pastor

Salvati

I

thought

that

this

whole

thing

was

good

news.

Can

we

get

to

the

good

of

the

good

news?

Not

yet.

for

those

of

us

who

have

been

given

eyes

to

see

their

spiritual

bankruptcy

we

realize

our

greatest

need

is

the

forgiveness

of

God

for

all

of

our

sin

against

him.

The

only

option

we

have

for

our

sin

is

for

God

to

forgive

us.

There's

nothing

else

that

we

can

do.

We

don't

have

any

assets.

We

don't

have

anything

that

we

can

do

to

work

it

off.

We

are

completely

and

utterly

dependent

on

the

generosity

of

God

in

whom

we

are

indebted.

He's

the

only

one

who

can

pay

off

our

debt.

And

so

here's

what the

poor

in

spirit

say.

I

see

my

debt

against

you

God.

I

cannot

pay

this

debt.

I

have

accrued

against

you.

I

have

no

assets.

I

have

no

collateral.

I

can

offer

you

nothing.

Nothing

in

my

hands

I

bring.

I

got

nothing.

I

just

got

this

debt.

And

I

can't

pay

it

off.

The

only

option

is to

go to

the

one

you

owe

and

say,

will

you

forgive

me

my

debt?

Will

you

pay

off

your

judgment

on

me?

Will

you

pay

off

the

holy

lien

that

you've

put

on

me

for

my

sin?

You

pay

it

off.

And

so

the

poor

in

spirit

are

beggars.

We

recognize

our

spiritual

condition,

our

bankruptcy.

And

there's

no

way

out.

And

so

we

go to

the

one,

the

only

one,

and

we

humbly

ask,

we

beg

in

one

sense

for

forgiveness

to

pay

off

this

debt.

To

be

poor

in

spirit

is

in

one

word

to

be

humble.

Isn't

that

interesting

where

Jesus

starts

this

manifesto?

Blessed

are the

poor

in

spirit,

blessed

are the

humble.

Blessed

are those

who

really

see

their

actual

condition

before

God.

And

so

we

started

by

asking

what

does

it

mean

to

be

poor

in

spirit?

The

answer

is

to

be

humble

in

light

of

your

spiritual

bankruptcy

before

God.

To

admit

it.

I've

accrued

a debt

that I

can't

pay

and

it's

a debt

against

God.

I

am

completely

and utterly

dependent

on the

generosity

of God

utterly

to pay

off

the sin

debt.

It's

not

easy to

talk about

debts

is it?

Not

easy.

Especially

this debt.

The

second

question

what gets

in the

way

of you

humbly

declaring

your

spiritual

bankruptcy

what gets

in the

way of

that?

Well

something

gets in

the way

of that.

And I

just want

to point

to this

one

thing.

It's

failing

to use

the

true

measure

of what

spiritual

poverty

is.

We

tend

to

prop

ourselves

up

by our

own

self

righteousness.

You

know

what I'm

talking

about.

In

order

to keep

us

from

seeing

how

sinful

we

really

are,

what

we

do

is

measure

ourselves

against

people

that we

know

are

worse

sinners

than

us.

We

prop

ourselves

by

comparing

ourselves

measuring

ourselves

against

those

who

are

in

more

dire

straits

than

we

are

or

that

we

think

are.

Kind of

goes

like

this.

Hey,

you know,

I know

I'm not

perfect,

but at

least I

didn't go

cheating

on my

wife like

that guy

did.

Seriously.

Just

propping

yourself up.

Or

remember

you know

who?

At

least I

wasn't

skimming

off my

company's

bottom line

like he

was.

I'm not

that bad.

I mean,

I get angry

from one

at a time,

but man,

I don't

light my

kids up

verbally

like that

person

does.

It's

classic

self-righteousness.

Classic.

It's pride

incarnate.

It's pride

in us.

It's the

opposite of

spiritual poverty.

It's

the opposite

of being

poor in

spirit.

It's

propping

yourself up

with your

own

self-righteousness.

Making you

feel yourself

better in

light of

this person's

problems.

Now,

what you

need to

realize is

that when

we do

this,

we actually

rack up

more debt.

because when

we sinfully

judge in

our pride

like that,

trying to

cover over

our spiritual

debt,

we're just

taking on

more spiritual

debt.

We're just

proving the

point that

we are

spiritually

bankrupt.

You guys

feeling this?

I've been

living with this

all week.

Oh,

and it gets

good.

Hang on.

when we

measure

ourselves

against

others,

we're

using the

wrong

measuring

line.

What you

need to

do,

you do

need to

measure

yourself,

but you

need to

use the

right

measuring

line.

And the

right

measuring

line to

compare

yourself

to is

the

objective,

unchanging

standard of

God's

holiness as

he's revealed

in his

law,

the

Bible.

That's our

measuring

line.

And Jesus

goes right

there.

In Matthew

5,

21 through

22,

in this

section where

Jesus talks

about,

you've heard

it said

this way,

but I

say,

let's just

clarify what

the intent

of the

law is.

In Matthew

5,

21 through

22,

we read

this.

You've

heard that

it was

said to

those of

old,

you shall

not murder

and whoever

murders

shall be

liable to

judgment.

And those

of us

are like,

whoo,

oh man,

I haven't

murdered.

I'm not

liable to

judgment.

Whoo.

And then

we read

the but.

But I

say to

you that

everyone who's

angry with

his brother

will be

liable to

judgment.

There's the

measuring line.

There it

is.

It's not

measuring against

each other.

Jesus is

squaring us

against his

word.

And look

what he

says.

Whoever

insults his

brother will

be liable to

care.

Do you

know how

many times

I've

insulted my

brother,

Scott?

I don't,

I can't,

I don't know

where to

start.

And then

we read,

and whoever

says you

fool to

someone else

will be

liable to

the hell

of fire.

Are you

feeling the

measuring line

of God's

holy law?

And what

it exposes

in us

is our

bankruptcy.

It proves

that I am

a lawbreaker.

Jesus goes

on, if

you're walking

clean there,

no problems

with murder

or getting

angry,

next thing

that Jesus

talks about

is lust.

You've

heard that

it was

said,

you shall

not commit

murder,

but I

say to

you that

everyone

who looks

at a

woman with

lustful

intent has

already

committed

adultery

with her

in his

heart.

What a

measuring line

is that?

It shows

that every

one of us

comes up

way short.

We're all

living under

the poverty

line.

What keeps

us from

declaring our

spiritual

bankruptcy

is our

self-righteous

pride.

That's what it

is.

what keeps

us from

seeing us

as we

really are

is our

pride.

And what

God uses

his word

for is to

expose it,

expose our

sin.

We learn

at different

places in

the Bible,

God opposes

the proud,

but gives

grace to

the humble.

And so

when we

measure

ourselves

against

other

people,

do you

know what?

There's no

blessing

there.

There's no

blessing

there.

There's only

curse there.

But when we

measure ourselves

up against

God's holy

word,

his law,

we start to

see ourselves

for who we

are.

We start to

humble ourselves

and say,

oh yeah,

that's true.

Help me!

There's where

we meet

grace.

The poor

in spirit

humbly

declare that

their spiritual

bankruptcy

bankruptcy be.

They are

spiritually

bankrupt.

Because they've

honestly come to

God's law and

come to the

conclusion that

they need to

come to and

say, yes,

I'm a sinner.

I get angry,

sinfully angry.

I've lusted and

it's wrong.

The law

exposes us

as law

breakers,

as sinners.

sinners.

It's all by

design.

Just kind of

on a side

note,

the Apostle

Paul spends

some time in

Galatians 3

and Romans 7

talking about the

role of the

law.

And he says,

the law of God

is good.

But he also

says,

the law doesn't

save you.

It can't.

And so we

ask,

well,

what's it for?

And then he

says to us,

it's to expose

your sin.

It's to make

your sin utterly

sinful.

It's to show

you how sinful

you are so

that you realize

your need for

the Savior.

The law

leads us by

the hand to

the Savior.

It shows us

our spiritual

bankruptcy.

It exposes

our need to

benefit from

God's generosity

that he has

provided for us

in Jesus.

Jesus.

Jesus is God's

debt relief

program

for the

spiritually

bankrupt.

Which brings

us to the

third question.

So what gets

in the way

of declaring

spiritual bankruptcy?

Our pride.

Our pride.

But we need

good news,

don't we?

We need

good news.

What's the

good news

for the poor

in spirit?

What's the

good news

for those

who declared

spiritual

bankruptcy?

What is the

good news?

Because you

know what?

I know I

want to hear

it again.

Does anybody

in the room

want to hear

it?

Do you know

what I was

lying in my

bed last night

doing?

I was

praising my

God for

forgiving me

my debt

in Jesus.

Jesus paid

it all.

All to him

I owe.

The promised

blessing for the

spiritually bankrupt

is right here

in Matthew

5.3.

Blessed are the

poor in spirit

for theirs

is the

kingdom of

heaven.

God promises

the kingdom

to the poor

in spirit.

God promises

to those who

humble themselves

and declare

spiritual bankruptcy

He promises

blessing.

We have a

generous God.

The God of the

Bible is a

generous God.

We read it

I started

this service

in Psalm 103.

He is a

God who

forgives.

He loves

to forgive.

He loves

to cancel

debts.

The

theirs

of Matthew

5.3

for theirs

is the

kingdom of

heaven.

Talking about

the poor

in spirit.

For theirs

blessed are the

poor in spirit

for theirs

is the

kingdom of

heaven.

Theirs and

only theirs.

Check this

out.

You ready?

If we

gathered all

of the

citizens of

the kingdom

of heaven

in Kenosha

and brought

them right

here to

library square

do you know

what would be

true of

everyone?

They're poor

in spirit.

They've declared

spiritual bankruptcy.

It's required.

You can't get

into the kingdom

of heaven

without it.

You've got to

recognize first

and foremost

your need

your spiritual

debt that

you owe

and cannot

pay.

To them

belong the

citizens of

heaven.

But those

who populate

the kingdom

of heaven

are not just

spiritual beggars.

They are those

who have been

forgiven of

their great

debt.

What is