I heard this teaching a while ago, and I am sure God has put this on my heart to share here. It’s a teaching about the Beatitudes (or Sermon on the Mount). I will continue with the Minor Prophets another day. What we call “ The Beatitudes” are inner qualities all true believers have. This is how God has changed us at the new birth. It’s what true believers in Christ look like on the inside. Inner righteousness vs. outer appearance…
And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. Then He opened His mouth and taught them saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5: 1-3
“Blessed” and “poor in spirit” – Jesus starts His sermon with words that seem to contradict themselves, but if you’re walking with God you know that His way of living usually contradicts the world’s ways. Bottom line… “Blessed” means having God’s approval; telling us of what God thinks of us. This first beatitude is referring to spiritual poverty. When I say spiritual poverty, I simply mean knowing we have no merit—no resources—no control… we shamefully know we are spiritually bankrupt… we are nothing… NADA without God! The world’s focus is on exalting self, but Jesus gives us an example of being poor in spirit by telling us a parable about a Pharisee and a Tax Collector (Luke 18); this parable should teach us not to be people full of self-righteousness.
In Philippians 3, Paul tells us (and I’m paraphrasing) that he could be more self-righteous than anyone… he was circumcised the eighth day, he was of the tribe of Benjamin, he came from pure Jewish stock, he was thoroughly steeped in the Hebrew language and tradition, he was a Pharisee and had been so enthusiastic about Judaism that he persecuted the church of Christ.
“But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith…” Philippians 3: 7-9
Paul deliberately turned from his heritage because none of these things he had gained throughout his life could bring him to God. Only Christ could do that! It all comes down to this… in order to be truly saved—our pride has to be dealt with. And I say this in so much love—until we stop being braggers and become beggars, we won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Our family heritage, national background, our education, our self-discipline, our achievements, and a million other things won’t matter. I heard a great teacher say that the gate to the Kingdom is low, and we can’t pass through it until we fall on our knees.
And sometimes things have to be stripped away (whatever that may mean for you). We first have to see ourselves as a helpless, sinful wretch. We have to see ourselves as being spiritually destitute. We have to be aware of our depravity. Sometimes we need to be crushed before we can see our need for Christ. You see, once God humbles us—we have humility. Humility and brokenness are characteristics of true believers. Let me end this post with Proverb 16: 5
“Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; though they join forces, none will go unpunished.”
That’s only the first Beatitude, but it’s the foundation for the rest. We’ll have to continue…
