Blessing The Poor In Spirit

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:05.360 Five. Will be looking at the first three verses of Matthew Chapter Five. 2 00:00:05.799 --> 00:00:10.310 I'll read through the first twelve. Listen, for this is the word of 3 00:00:10.349 --> 00:00:15.750 the Lord. Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain. When 4 00:00:15.750 --> 00:00:20.269 he sat down, his disciples came to him and he opened his mouth and 5 00:00:21.070 --> 00:00:26.620 he taught them, saying blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is 6 00:00:26.699 --> 00:00:32.219 the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be 7 00:00:32.619 --> 00:00:38.890 comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed 8 00:00:38.929 --> 00:00:44.049 are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 9 00:00:45.490 --> 00:00:49.770 Blessed are the Merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure 10 00:00:49.969 --> 00:00:54.439 in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the Peacemakers, for 11 00:00:54.479 --> 00:01:00.119 they shall be called Sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for 12 00:01:00.159 --> 00:01:06.109 Righteousness Sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when 13 00:01:06.189 --> 00:01:10.909 others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely 14 00:01:11.069 --> 00:01:15.670 on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is Great in 15 00:01:15.829 --> 00:01:21.019 heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. That's by 16 00:01:21.060 --> 00:01:23.140 the reading of God's word me. He blessed to us. Please be seated. 17 00:01:33.689 --> 00:01:38.530 This morning we hear some famous words, famous words from one of Jesus 18 00:01:38.810 --> 00:01:48.560 most famous sermons. These words open Jesus's famous sermon on the Mount, this 19 00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:53.359 sermon that contains the next that's that's found in the next few chapters of Matthew's 20 00:01:53.560 --> 00:02:00.879 Gospel, contains some of Jesus's most well known instructions. It contains lessons that 21 00:02:00.000 --> 00:02:05.629 we've all probably grown up with, whether you grew up in a church or 22 00:02:05.670 --> 00:02:13.150 not. Here's where Jesus says that we are to love our enemies. Here 23 00:02:13.270 --> 00:02:16.180 is where Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek, to judge, not 24 00:02:16.340 --> 00:02:20.900 lest you be judged, to do unto others, as you'd have them do, 25 00:02:21.060 --> 00:02:28.460 untoto, you and the moral absolutes Jesus will describe in this sermon are 26 00:02:28.500 --> 00:02:34.770 alarming. Many of Jesus's statements in the sermon are truly shocking. I mean, 27 00:02:34.810 --> 00:02:38.050 there's a reason his sermon on the mount is so memorable and has a 28 00:02:38.090 --> 00:02:45.000 lot to do with just how surprising a lot of it is. But even 29 00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:53.000 if Jesus's moral teachings are shocking and surprising. At least they're still rather straightforward. 30 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:58.520 I mean, it may have been surprising the first time you heard Jesus 31 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:04.310 call you to love your enemies, but it wasn't exactly confusing. You weren't 32 00:03:04.310 --> 00:03:10.669 wondering what he means. They're so what about these beatitudes? What about these 33 00:03:10.789 --> 00:03:17.500 opening string of blessings? Blessed? Are the poor in spirit? Blessed? 34 00:03:17.539 --> 00:03:24.500 ARE THOSE WHO mourn blessed? Are Blessed? Are we can easily follow along 35 00:03:24.539 --> 00:03:30.409 and when Jesus teaching us about what is right and what is wrong. But 36 00:03:30.490 --> 00:03:36.930 I found it harder to grasp what is going on with these blessings. I 37 00:03:37.050 --> 00:03:38.650 have to confess, as a young Christian, I didn't know what this meant. 38 00:03:38.689 --> 00:03:43.599 Am I supposed to be meek? I thought I was supposed to be 39 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:47.960 courageous. Am I supposed to want to inherit the earth? Shouldn't it be 40 00:03:49.039 --> 00:03:55.710 better to desire heaven? I think what we see here is there's a there's 41 00:03:55.710 --> 00:04:01.789 a poetic character that these blessings take. I mean there's balance to these words, 42 00:04:01.789 --> 00:04:06.069 their symmetry, there's simplicity to what Jesus is saying. I mean there's 43 00:04:06.069 --> 00:04:11.979 structure, obviously, to these opening words, but there's not a lot of 44 00:04:12.020 --> 00:04:16.860 explanation. So what's going on with these beatitudes? What's happening here in these 45 00:04:17.339 --> 00:04:25.610 blessings? It's easy to find many interpretations. It's easy to to find many, 46 00:04:25.850 --> 00:04:30.009 many pitfalls as well, especially when it comes to what to do with 47 00:04:30.089 --> 00:04:36.170 them, how to apply them. One of the most common opinions is to 48 00:04:36.209 --> 00:04:42.639 view these blessings simply as commands. I mean, obviously, when when Jesus 49 00:04:42.680 --> 00:04:45.519 says blessed are the poor in spirit, then there's a part of us that 50 00:04:45.560 --> 00:04:48.959 instinctively wants to reread these words as if they say, if you want to 51 00:04:49.079 --> 00:04:58.029 be blessed, therefore you must be poor in spirit. It's very easy for 52 00:04:58.069 --> 00:05:02.110 us to read conditions into these blessings. That's one way to solve the question 53 00:05:02.230 --> 00:05:06.980 of what do I do with these words? But they're not really there, 54 00:05:08.100 --> 00:05:18.220 are they? Another interpretation I've heard is to break down or to break apart 55 00:05:18.339 --> 00:05:21.769 these blessings to sort of ask the question, well, which are you? 56 00:05:23.370 --> 00:05:28.370 Are you more poor in spirit? Are You more meek? I haven't googled 57 00:05:28.410 --> 00:05:31.689 it, but I'm sure there's an online quiz you can take that will classify 58 00:05:31.850 --> 00:05:41.079 you. Maybe you're more of a peacemaker, maybe your mourning. But when 59 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:46.720 we categorize these blessings, when we split apart these blessings, we when we 60 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:49.350 part them out as maybe you're here or there, we then fail to see 61 00:05:49.389 --> 00:05:55.790 the unity that Jesus is drawing all these things together. He's not dividing them 62 00:05:55.829 --> 00:06:01.829 out among our various people of various statuses. Well then, what is Jesus 63 00:06:02.430 --> 00:06:06.459 doing here? If he's not giving commands, what's he what's he giving if 64 00:06:06.500 --> 00:06:12.139 he's not breaking up these blessings? What is it that is holding them all 65 00:06:12.620 --> 00:06:16.379 together? We're going to answer that question in a couple of ways. First, 66 00:06:16.620 --> 00:06:21.009 I want to start with the opening couple verses. Before verse three, 67 00:06:21.410 --> 00:06:27.050 we hear Jesus that he's seeing the crowds and he went up the mountain and 68 00:06:28.050 --> 00:06:31.170 when he sat down, his disciples came to him and he opened his mouth 69 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:39.120 and he taught them. So Jesus going up to a mountain where he then 70 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:44.160 sits down, he opens his mouth and he teaches. He opens his mouth 71 00:06:44.720 --> 00:06:47.509 on the top of a mountain to teach them what it means to be blessed 72 00:06:47.709 --> 00:06:55.829 before God. Does that sound at all familiar. Can you think of any 73 00:06:55.870 --> 00:07:01.019 other leader in Israel's history who likewise has sended a mountain in order to deliver 74 00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:08.740 God's Word to God's people? It's very easy to see a parallel with Moses 75 00:07:08.980 --> 00:07:14.860 here. In fact, Jesus sermon on the Mount will likewise remind us and 76 00:07:15.100 --> 00:07:19.889 comment on the Ten Commandments which Moses himself received and delivered to God's people. 77 00:07:21.889 --> 00:07:28.689 And this isn't the first time in Matthew's Gospel that Jesus's life has reflected the 78 00:07:28.810 --> 00:07:33.480 life of Moses. Both Jesus and Moses, when they were infants, their 79 00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:40.160 lives were threatened by a tyrannical king. Both Jesus and Moses had to flee, 80 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:45.110 while other infants in their town were put to death. Both Jesus and 81 00:07:45.189 --> 00:07:48.470 Moses lived in exile for a time where the king, while the king lived 82 00:07:48.509 --> 00:07:54.389 who sought their life. And the similarities don't end there. When when Jesus 83 00:07:54.389 --> 00:07:59.819 was baptized, it recalled various imagery of Moses and Israel's passing through the Red 84 00:07:59.939 --> 00:08:05.740 Sea, an event which the Apostle Paul calls a baptism as well. After 85 00:08:05.779 --> 00:08:09.300 his baptism, Jesus went into the wilderness where he was tested like Moses, 86 00:08:09.379 --> 00:08:15.209 like Israel, and as Moses ascended Synai to receive the law of God, 87 00:08:16.449 --> 00:08:22.769 how Jesus ascends another mountain in order to speak God's Word to God's people. 88 00:08:24.850 --> 00:08:31.480 And yet the similarities we see are given to highlight their differences. The point 89 00:08:31.559 --> 00:08:35.240 is not to view Jesus is just another Moses or a new Moses, but 90 00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:43.149 as the fulfillment of what Moses himself was looking forward to. Back in Deuteronomy, 91 00:08:43.149 --> 00:08:46.269 Chapter Eighteen, the Lord told Moses that I will raise up for them 92 00:08:46.350 --> 00:08:50.269 a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put my words 93 00:08:50.029 --> 00:08:54.980 in his mouth and he shall speak to them. All that I command him. 94 00:08:58.740 --> 00:09:01.059 What we see in Christ is one like Moses, but one greater, 95 00:09:03.100 --> 00:09:07.500 one, so much greater than Moses. I mean Moses ascended Mount Sinai in 96 00:09:07.580 --> 00:09:13.090 order to first receive God's word before he could then speak to God's people. 97 00:09:13.649 --> 00:09:22.450 What does Jesus do? He goes up, opens his mouth and speaks on 98 00:09:22.529 --> 00:09:26.720 Mount Sinai. Moses had to go up alone, and if any other person 99 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:31.080 or animal came too close to the mountain, it was to be stoned. 100 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:37.120 At that mountain, the people stood in fear before the holiness of their God. 101 00:09:37.830 --> 00:09:43.710 The crowd was told to stay back, to stay away. But what 102 00:09:43.789 --> 00:09:50.230 does Jesus do? He goes up the mountain and he brings he brings his 103 00:09:50.350 --> 00:09:54.620 disciples, he brings the crowds with him. This mountain is not a place 104 00:09:54.659 --> 00:10:01.100 of terror, it's a place of peace. And though Jesus will preach the 105 00:10:01.220 --> 00:10:09.370 law with all its perfections, it's not in the context of judgment but of 106 00:10:09.490 --> 00:10:16.370 grace. For Moses would also speak to God's people of blessings, but he 107 00:10:16.409 --> 00:10:20.970 would also speak to them of curses. And for Moses, the blessings and 108 00:10:20.049 --> 00:10:24.799 the curses come after the reading of the law, as we hear in Deuteronomy 109 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:30.360 seven. You shall therefore be careful to do the commandments and the statutes and 110 00:10:30.440 --> 00:10:35.279 the rules that I command you today. And because you listen to these rules 111 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:37.149 and kept them and do them, the Lord Will God, your God, 112 00:10:37.190 --> 00:10:43.070 will keep you, will keep with you the Covenant and steadfast love he swore 113 00:10:43.110 --> 00:10:48.629 to your father's he will love you, bless you and multiply you. I 114 00:10:48.750 --> 00:10:52.820 mean, this makes sense, doesn't it? Of course God should bless perfect 115 00:10:52.940 --> 00:10:58.980 obedience, shouldn't he? Isn't this what his own righteous justice would require? 116 00:11:01.379 --> 00:11:05.490 And yet the problem is none of us are righteous, and the history of 117 00:11:05.610 --> 00:11:13.250 Israel showed they deserved God's curse, not his blessing, because the law given 118 00:11:13.289 --> 00:11:16.450 by Moses does not give us a process for saving ourselves. Rather, it 119 00:11:16.690 --> 00:11:24.559 shows to us our inability. Law reminds us that we are not under God's 120 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:28.480 blessing, but because of our sin, we deserve his justice, we deserve 121 00:11:28.240 --> 00:11:35.389 his curse. And yet what is the first word out of Jesus's mouth? 122 00:11:39.750 --> 00:11:46.340 The first word out of Jesus's mouth is a word of blessing. May I'll 123 00:11:46.340 --> 00:11:50.379 admit, as a young Christian reading my Bible, I was continually confused by 124 00:11:50.419 --> 00:11:56.980 what Jesus was saying here. So I'm happy to share, after years of 125 00:11:56.100 --> 00:12:03.570 study, after seminary education, sorry, after what all the training right that 126 00:12:03.730 --> 00:12:09.929 we receive has taught me. And if you don't remember anything else about this 127 00:12:09.049 --> 00:12:13.570 sermon, I want you to remember this. I'll say it twice. Even 128 00:12:15.250 --> 00:12:24.080 when Jesus announces these blessings, here's what Jesus is doing. Jesus is blessing. 129 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:35.509 When Jesus announces these blessings, Jesus is blessing. I don't know why 130 00:12:35.509 --> 00:12:41.429 that took me so long. To See, and it's a blessing that's not 131 00:12:41.509 --> 00:12:46.500 held out to you in the future to one day, hopefully grasp and receive. 132 00:12:48.500 --> 00:12:54.379 The blessing is for you to day. As we see, then, 133 00:12:54.419 --> 00:12:58.460 that Jesus is more than just a prophet speaking God's word to his people. 134 00:12:58.500 --> 00:13:03.210 He is the Prophet who speaks not just God's word but with God's own authority. 135 00:13:03.769 --> 00:13:11.490 This is the final prophet who is also the king, the perfect king, 136 00:13:11.879 --> 00:13:18.600 the perfect king who embodies the perfect wisdom of the Lord. I think 137 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:24.559 there's a reference to salt, to proverbs thirty one here and in proverbs thirty 138 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:28.549 one, and King Lemuel is given this wisdom, saying first of all, 139 00:13:28.590 --> 00:13:33.230 it's not for Kings, Oh Lemuel, it's not for kings to drink wine, 140 00:13:33.830 --> 00:13:35.909 for rulers to take strong drink, lest they drink and forget what's been 141 00:13:37.350 --> 00:13:41.340 decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted. Starts with saying what kings 142 00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:45.820 are not to do. They're not to act out of selfish greed drinking strong 143 00:13:45.899 --> 00:13:48.980 wine. They're not to open their mouths for that sort of thing. Rather, 144 00:13:50.059 --> 00:13:56.450 later in proverbs thirty one, open your mouth for the mute, for 145 00:13:56.529 --> 00:14:01.490 the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously defend 146 00:14:01.529 --> 00:14:07.610 the rights of the poor and the needy. Jesus goes up to this mountain 147 00:14:07.649 --> 00:14:13.159 to open his mouth, to judge on behalf of the poor and the needy 148 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:20.159 and to bless them. The day has finally arrived that the Prophet Isaiah looks 149 00:14:20.200 --> 00:14:24.000 forward to, and Isaiah Sixty one, the spirit of the Lord God is 150 00:14:24.039 --> 00:14:26.909 upon me, because the Lord has appointed me to bring good news to the 151 00:14:26.990 --> 00:14:31.230 poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim 152 00:14:31.269 --> 00:14:35.909 liberty to the captives and the opening of prison to those who are bound, 153 00:14:35.870 --> 00:14:41.299 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor, to comfort all who mourn. 154 00:14:43.100 --> 00:14:48.659 This is how Jesus will later verify to John the Baptist that he is indeed 155 00:14:48.379 --> 00:14:54.450 the Promised Messiah, because these things are being fulfilled through his men, stry. 156 00:14:54.769 --> 00:15:00.409 Good news is being proclaimed to the poor, captives are being set free, 157 00:15:00.730 --> 00:15:05.570 those who mourn are being comforted. We hear that from these very words 158 00:15:07.049 --> 00:15:11.480 of blessing this morning. We're just going to look at verse three. Blessed 159 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:18.919 are the poor in spirit, for there's is the Kingdom of Heaven. Now 160 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.309 Jesus has been announcing the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven throughout his ministry. 161 00:15:24.350 --> 00:15:31.389 He's already declared repent. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and he 162 00:15:31.470 --> 00:15:37.139 can declare that as the king of that kingdom, and as the king of 163 00:15:37.220 --> 00:15:43.860 that kingdom, he is now dispensing, handing out the blessings of his kingdom. 164 00:15:45.179 --> 00:15:48.460 He says blessed are the poor in spirit, for the Kingdom of Heaven 165 00:15:48.539 --> 00:15:56.490 belongs to them. I don't want you to miss how shocking these words are. 166 00:15:58.370 --> 00:16:04.559 Blessed are the poor. Is there a time when you looked at someone 167 00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:12.799 in absolute poverty and said, boy, they sure look blessed? I mean, 168 00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:17.759 to our ears it almost sounds sarcastic and almost sounds uncaring. What do 169 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:22.389 you mean? The poor are blessed? They can't put food on the table. 170 00:16:22.110 --> 00:16:29.789 You're telling me their blessed. That's astonishing. But Jesus says blessed are 171 00:16:29.830 --> 00:16:33.580 the poor in spirit. So what does it mean to be poor in spirit? 172 00:16:34.340 --> 00:16:40.059 What is it the categorizes the poor? Those who are in poverty have 173 00:16:40.379 --> 00:16:45.899 have nothing to offer. Those who are destitute are without the ability to purchase 174 00:16:45.019 --> 00:16:52.809 things for themselves. And truly this is the spiritual condition of everyone before our 175 00:16:52.850 --> 00:16:57.250 holy God. The Perfect Law of our God reveals our sin, it reveals 176 00:16:57.409 --> 00:17:03.640 our inability to earn or to achieve any sort of gain or blessing from our 177 00:17:03.839 --> 00:17:12.000 Lord. And yet here Jesus declares the poor in spirit to be blessed because 178 00:17:12.079 --> 00:17:21.950 to them belongs the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus announcing the blessings of the kingdom 179 00:17:22.349 --> 00:17:27.670 as they are being spread out to those who cannot earn them. The poor 180 00:17:27.750 --> 00:17:34.660 in spirit have nothing to offer. And yet what did they gain? Everything. 181 00:17:37.859 --> 00:17:41.779 Isn't this what the Gospel declares to us in Romans Five, for when 182 00:17:41.819 --> 00:17:48.609 we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly, 183 00:17:48.809 --> 00:17:52.609 for one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a 184 00:17:52.650 --> 00:17:55.930 good person one would dare even to die. But God shows his love to 185 00:17:56.009 --> 00:18:00.920 us and that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 186 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:07.359 And yet there's more here to being poor. There's more here to being poor 187 00:18:07.480 --> 00:18:15.190 in spirit. This condition does not just describe our spiritual state before the Lord 188 00:18:17.390 --> 00:18:22.430 on another level and also describes our condition in this world. Again and again, 189 00:18:22.910 --> 00:18:32.140 these beatitudes or these blessings of Jesus will describe and will confront us with 190 00:18:32.299 --> 00:18:34.579 our position and place, not just as those before God, but before others 191 00:18:36.140 --> 00:18:40.460 in the world. So what does it mean to be poor in spirit before 192 00:18:40.579 --> 00:18:45.650 our neighbors and before the world? Christ isn't making the point that it's more 193 00:18:45.690 --> 00:18:51.450 virtuous to be physically poor. Rather, he's describing how the world sees us. 194 00:18:52.809 --> 00:18:57.839 He's describing how the world treats us. The spiritual life that we're given 195 00:18:57.880 --> 00:19:04.640 in the Kingdom of Heaven looks like poverty to the world. What does the 196 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:11.230 world do to their poor? It looks down on them, pities them, 197 00:19:11.990 --> 00:19:17.069 the poorer helpless before their neighbors, the poorer subject to all kinds of abuse 198 00:19:17.230 --> 00:19:23.339 and neglect. For to be poor in spirit does didn't reflect your bank account. 199 00:19:25.619 --> 00:19:27.259 Just look at how often David is crying out in the psalms, acknowledging 200 00:19:27.299 --> 00:19:32.980 that he has nothing. To be poor in spirit is to be treated by 201 00:19:33.019 --> 00:19:40.289 the world as those who are despised, to be looked down upon because our 202 00:19:40.369 --> 00:19:45.970 investment is not in the things of this world. We look poor in the 203 00:19:45.049 --> 00:19:49.609 eyes of the world, and it is, Paul tells us, an effusions 204 00:19:49.690 --> 00:19:53.839 one. Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who 205 00:19:53.880 --> 00:20:02.359 has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. And 206 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:06.400 yet to the world it looks like foolishness, to the world that only cares 207 00:20:06.759 --> 00:20:15.470 for itself, spiritual blessings look like a bad investment, and it isn't this 208 00:20:15.549 --> 00:20:21.430 exactly what Christ himself faced, though, having a right to the very riches 209 00:20:21.500 --> 00:20:26.140 and blessings of Heaven, Christ laid those down to share in the sufferings, 210 00:20:26.740 --> 00:20:33.059 to share in the afflictions of the poor in spirit, as Paul says in 211 00:20:33.099 --> 00:20:37.650 Second Corinthians ate. For you know, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ 212 00:20:37.049 --> 00:20:41.410 that though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor so that 213 00:20:41.490 --> 00:20:48.210 by his poverty we might become rich. Christ was despised, Christ was hated, 214 00:20:48.289 --> 00:20:53.799 not because of his financial situation, but because he was dismissed as worthless. 215 00:20:55.160 --> 00:21:03.279 He was unwelcome because he possessed nothing that this world truly values. He 216 00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:07.549 was afflicted, he was oppressed all the way to the cross, to the 217 00:21:07.630 --> 00:21:12.470 same cross, which is foolishness to the world, which is yet the very 218 00:21:12.509 --> 00:21:18.500 wisdom and power of God for your salvation. There Christ paid the penalty our 219 00:21:18.619 --> 00:21:25.700 sin deserved and in the Empty Tomb. Christ proved victorious over the sin and 220 00:21:25.819 --> 00:21:30.339 death that defines so much of this world. And if we are looking to 221 00:21:30.380 --> 00:21:34.089 Christ by faith, if we are placing our trust in him, then we've 222 00:21:34.130 --> 00:21:44.170 been united to him, both in his suffering and in his resurrection, as 223 00:21:44.210 --> 00:21:47.599 Paul says, and Second Corinthians, for though our outer nature is wasting away, 224 00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:52.279 our inner nature is being renewed day by day. And so on the 225 00:21:52.359 --> 00:21:56.960 top of this mountain, Christ is not handing out conditions that must be met, 226 00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:04.309 he's distributing his promises that, though there is nothing we can do to 227 00:22:04.349 --> 00:22:11.349 become wealthy, in the Kingdom of Heaven, Christ bestows His blessing on the 228 00:22:11.470 --> 00:22:15.390 poor in spirit, on those who mourn, on those who are meek, 229 00:22:15.630 --> 00:22:22.900 on those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Chris rice, blessings are unconditional 230 00:22:23.460 --> 00:22:30.450 and though they speak of unseen and eternal things, that is how Jesus says 231 00:22:30.490 --> 00:22:37.170 this. Doesn't say the poor in spirit will be blessed one day when they 232 00:22:37.250 --> 00:22:42.970 inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. Now what he says now, the fullness of 233 00:22:44.130 --> 00:22:48.079 the Kingdom of Heaven is indeed future, but the blessing that Jesus is giving 234 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:56.960 is here. The blessing is now blessed are the poor in spirit, because 235 00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:02.309 the blessings of Christ are for today. And so in Christ we are poor, 236 00:23:02.430 --> 00:23:03.990 we are weak, we are foolish in the eyes of the world, 237 00:23:06.390 --> 00:23:11.910 and yet we are already blessed by Christ, not because of what we will 238 00:23:11.950 --> 00:23:17.500 one day possess, but because of what you already possess here and now, 239 00:23:18.339 --> 00:23:23.380 for you've been given Christ himself and because Christ himself has claimed you. You 240 00:23:25.019 --> 00:23:33.170 who are poor in spirit. Christ purchased you with his own blood. You, 241 00:23:33.210 --> 00:23:36.049 who are despised in the eyes of the world, you who are looked 242 00:23:36.089 --> 00:23:40.490 down upon by a world too caught up in its own fleeting desires, which 243 00:23:40.569 --> 00:23:48.359 never satisfy, know that this world is not your home. You belong to 244 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:53.359 your savior, all the while suffering the slings and arrows of a world that 245 00:23:53.519 --> 00:23:59.630 is fading away, as Paul says in Colossians three. If, then, 246 00:23:59.670 --> 00:24:03.190 you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ 247 00:24:03.309 --> 00:24:07.549 is ceded at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that 248 00:24:07.630 --> 00:24:11.940 are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died 249 00:24:11.779 --> 00:24:19.220 and your life is hidden with Christ in God. So just as they look 250 00:24:19.299 --> 00:24:23.690 down on Christ. Just as they despised him and rejected him, the world 251 00:24:23.730 --> 00:24:29.369 will do the same to you. And Yet, knowing what an honor it 252 00:24:29.569 --> 00:24:36.410 is to be labeled poor in spirit along with our savior, the world doesn't 253 00:24:36.410 --> 00:24:41.720 value the blessings that Christ gives through his kingdom. And yet what greater honor 254 00:24:41.799 --> 00:24:47.400 is there and to claim this title of poor in Spirit along with Christ, 255 00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:53.630 from Christ's hands, to receive the very blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven which 256 00:24:53.670 --> 00:25:00.789 are yours now to live as citizens of that great and eternal and perfect city. 257 00:25:00.829 --> 00:25:04.869 All the While we see a world struggling, a world failing, a 258 00:25:07.380 --> 00:25:11.740 world which needs to hear the same message of blessing. Blessed are the poor 259 00:25:11.819 --> 00:25:18.940 in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Amen, let's pray. 260 -->