THEME: UNDERSTANDING THE BEATITUDES
TOPIC: POOR IN THE SPIRIT
TEXT: MATTHEW 5:3
SPEEKER: Onuigwe Chidi Sirnoel
Introduction:
This is one of the series of things Jesus Christ taught on
that day at the mount Olives. Today the sermon He preached which started from Chapter
5 of the book of Matthew to chapter 7 is popularly known as the SERMON ON THE
MOUTH.
But the first 11 verses of Matthew 5 starting from verse 3
are known as the Beatitudes. Beatitude which simply means condition or
statement of blessedness.
The word Blessed used in this place is the Greek word makarios (mak-ar-ee-os) which is the same as the Hebrew word esher
(eh-sher) which is used in Psalm 1: 1 and it means something like happy. This
esher or makarios can only be used for a human being. It is different from barak (baw-rak) in Genesis 24:27 which mean to praise or kneel. And this can only be
used for God Almighty.
I went this way so that you understand the difference
between what Jesus was saying to humans and when someone like David says
“blessed (barak) be the Lord.
Jesus Christ spoke to the multitudes that gathered to hear
him “blessed are the poor in the spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
WHAT POOR IN SPIRIT DOES NOT MEAN:
The poor in spirit here does not mean someone who is
financially or materially poor. It does not also stand for someone that has
poor self image. Like the children of Israel in Numbers 13:33 that came back
from spying the land of Jericho and declare that they were like grasshoppers
“in their own eyes.” Not in the eyes of their enemies but in their own eyes. It
is funny but this is how most of us feel. The devil always wants us to belittle
ourselves and our ‘abilities’. He wants us to believe we are nobody and if you
are not careful he will quote this portion of the scripture to you just to
convince you, you are on the right track. This is not God’s way and style.
Do you remember the man Gideon in Judges Chapter 6? He had a
poor self image issue which was borne out of bad condition which he found
himself just because he was from Israel. When God’s angel visited him on that
day when he was threshing corn at a wine press because of the fear of the Midianites.
Imagine someone threshing rice inside room. If you have not been to rice mills
you won’t understand how this man was suffering by threshing corn inside wine
press which is a kind of room. The first thing the angel did was to boost his
morale by building up his self image. Gideon himself was not able to comprehend
what the angel meant when he called him “mighty man of valour.” I am sure you
know how Gideon ended and if you don’t know, read Judges starting from chapter
6.
The God we serve is a promoter of self-love. God believes it
is only when a person has been able to love himself before he could love
another person. Therefore Jesus was not talking about poor self image here.
Poor self image is anti God’s plan for mankind. God wants man to love his
fellow man just the way he loves himself (Matthew 22:39).
It is a known fact that nobody can give what he does not
have; therefore it is only those who have been able to overcome poor self image
and have love for themselves that can transfer such to others or their
neighbours.
TO BE POOR IN SPIRIT MEANS:
1.
To trust God and depend on him both in good and
bad times. King David who was a great King will always talk about God as his
shield. He would always tell people how God was the one who gave him victory
over his enemies (Psalm 18: 2).
2.
To go to God knowing that all you have and will
ever have come from Him.
3.
To show God that without Him you can do nothing (John
15:5). Someone who is poor in spirit counts himself as nothing before God. He
knows the source of everything he has been able to achieve or hope to achieve
is God.
4.
To go to God forgetting whatever you have done
or are doing for the kingdom. Your righteousness, your holiness, your
perfection or whatever. Even your being able to give, pay your tithe, help the
poor, pray, serve or do any other thing as recommended by the scripture must
mean nothing to you but the act of God in your life.
Remember a story Jesus Christ told in the
book Luke 18:9-14. In that story you will see two men who went to God with
their needs, one was busy telling God how righteous he was while the other was
busy telling God how he was nothing before Him (God). The one who told God how
he was nothing before Him went home fulfilled and satisfied while the swank went
home more wretched than he came.
The other man, who told God I am nothing
without you, is the man who did what Jesus is telling us to do today. To be
poor in spirit.
5.
To know that our imperfection is made perfect by
God alone. To always show Him we are at His mercy. To be poor in spirit is to
stick to God for direction and guidance.
6.
To realize we need God more than He needs us especially
when we offend Him or go astray. The prodigal son was a typical example of
this. In Luke 15:18-24, this guy who went away from his father traced his way
back to his father. Though his father needed him too but the decision to go
back came from him (the prodigal son). This is what God needs from us too.
To be poor in spirit is for us to be able
to realize it when we have gone over board. To realize it is by grace God have
saved us and go back into “gracefold.” It is not to arrogantly sit somewhere
and claim that as a father, God must be the one to look for us and take us back
and we don’t need to go back to Him by ourselves. Most of us do not know God
concluded the act of chasing after us the day we got born again. The day you
asked Jesus Christ to come into your heart, that day God completed the circle
of being the one to always come searching. From that day any day you sin or go
astray it is your duty to come back to Him. It is your duty to ask Him to take
you back.
7.
To always come back to God by confessing our
sins. We should not hide any of our wrong doing from Him because if we do we
won’t be able to make progress in life and our relationship with Him or even
with our fellow human being will be hampered. Proverbs 28:13; James 5:16a.
I think it is important to know that “the act
of not confessing ones sins to God and asking for forgiveness anytime one
sinned is an act of arrogance.” Just imagine your child offending you and
without remorse comes to you to ask you for something or even to play with you.
Okay; imagine this scenario, where you know you have done something your
father, I mean your mother’s husband told you not do. Will you be bold enough
to walk up to him to ask for anything or even to lend him a helping hand
without first of all making sure you have been forgiven? To be poor in spirit
is to always recognize your position of right or wrong with God.
Finally in conclusion: God’s kingdom is not made for men and
women who think high of themselves. Men and women who can not humble themselves
before God and even before human beings too. People who think they owe God
nothing to the extend when they sin or make mistake they just ignore it and
walk up to God without remorse. The kingdom of heaven is a place made for
people who have been able to kill self and enthroned God’s spirit in their
life.
Kingdom of heaven is for men and women who are always humble
enough to know their capacity as humans and how far they can go spiritually.
Kingdom of heaven is not made for people whose lives are filled with arrogance
James 4:10 tells us “Humble yourselves in the
sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up”. Friend let us be poor in spirit so that He
(GOD) can lift us up to the kingdom of heaven.
God bless you opulently.
