MATTHEW 5:3
FIRST THINGS FIRST
#2 - SERMON ON THE MOUNT
Fill in the blanks:
· Before a baby can walk he has to____________ (crawl).
· Before you can work on a computer you must____________ (turn it on).
· To paint an old house properly, a person must ____________ (scrape) before painting.
· Before a person can drive anywhere in the car, a person must __________________ (start the car).
· Before a person can effectively live the Christian life he must be ___________________ (born again).
What's the point of these questions?
There are things that must be done first before other things can be done. There are basics that must be done first before more elaborate things can be accomplished.
The best pianists had to first learn the notes and then the scales.
The fastest typist had to first learn the keyboard.
The very artistic skaters didn't start with fancy routines. She first had to learn how to skate.
There is an expression that goes "first things first".
Last week we, in a general way, introduced to you The Sermon on the Mount. We shared with you what I would call the theme verse for the Sermon.
Matthew 5:20 - For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
We shared with you:
THE PROBLEM WITH RIGHTEOUSNESS
None of us are naturally righteous.
We were certainly not righteous before we are saved, and for most Christians, our level of righteousness certainly needs improvement. God expects us as Christians to live righteous lives.
1 Peter 1:15-16 - But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
THE PROVISION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
Christ died on the cross to pay for our sins.
Because Christ died for our sins, those who trust Christ as Savior are declared righteous by God and are ready for Heaven.
Romans 5:1 - Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Just as Christ provides us with salvation, He also provides us with the strength to live righteously now.
Romans 5:17 - For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
We reign in this life through the "abundance of grace" and "the gift of righteousness". As we allow Christ to live His life through us, yielding to Him, and trusting Him for victory, we can live righteously.
THE PRACTICE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
To live righteously requires practice. To live righteously requires desire. Matthew 5:6 - Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
If we are going to hunger and thirst after righteousness, we must hunger and thirst after the Word of God. It is the Word of God that teaches us practical righteousness.
To help us live righteously in 2003 we are turning to the great discourse on practical righteousness, the Sermon on the Mount.
The Sermon on the Mount shows Christians the perfect standard of righteousness that we should try to attain.
I realize that no one will live a perfectly righteous life, but all Christians should strive to do so with God's help.
So this morning we begin with the first verse of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus begins by putting "first things first".
He says in Matthew 5:3 - Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
This is the verse upon which the whole Sermon on the Mount builds. This is the first step to becoming a Christian. This is the first step in living the Christian Life.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
As you probably know this verse is the first of a series of verses all beginning with the word "blessed". We know them as "The Beatitudes."
The word blessed usually means to be happy.
The kind of happiness that is being offered to us here is a happiness that comes from doing what's right, and thus having the approval of God on our lives. If you do what pleases God, and you know that you are pleasing God, you will be happy.
John MacArthur - "To be blessed is not a superficial feeling of well-being based on circumstance, but a deep supernatural experience of contentedness based on the fact that one's life is right with God. Blessedness is based on objective reality, realized in the miracle of transformation to a new and divine nature." John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament - Matthew 1-7 (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1985), p. 142
In our text, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, Jesus is telling us that the secret to living righteously and to be being truly "happy is by being poor in spirit".
As you can well guess, being poor in spirit does not mean to be poor spirited. Jesus isn't encouraging a bad attitude.
And Jesus isn't talking about physical poverty.
Our spirit would be our attitude.
The word translated for poor here is the word used for someone who is so poor he has to beg. I have known poor people who didn't have much, but were able to survive. The person described here by Jesus is so poor that he has to continually ask for help.
D. A. Carson said 'Poverty of Spirit then, is the personal acknowledgement of spiritual bankruptcy.' D. A. Carson, The Sermon on the Mount (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker, 1978) p. 16 quoted by R. Kent Hughes, The Sermon on the Mount - The Message of the Kingdom (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2001) p. 19
You realize that you have no righteousness good enough for God. You realize that you do not have the resources to live righteously within yourself. Your only hope is to cry out to God for help. This, my friend, is true humility.
The spiritual beggar:
Knows that he is nothing
Knows that he has nothing
Knows that he has to ask God for everything
There are at least three areas that are affected by being poor in spirit. They are:
SALVATION
SUBMISSION
SERVICE
SALVATION
Who did Jesus come to save?
He didn't come to save righteous people.
He came to save unrighteous people and to make them righteous.
Luke 5:32 - I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
He came to save those who were lost in the degradation of sin.
Luke 19:10 - For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
If Jesus came to save sinners, you must admit that you are a sinner to be saved.
If Jesus came to save the lost, you must admit that you are lost.
To truly be saved you must begin by admitting that you are a poor lost, sinner! You have to be poor in spirit realizing that you have no hope of forgiveness in yourself.
As a poor lost sinner, you turn to the Savior, the Lord Jesus, the perfect Son of God, who died for your sins.
2 Corinthians 5:21 - For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
You turn to the Savior and place your faith and trust in Him for eternal life.
John 3:36 - He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Jesus told a story about two men
Luke 18:10-14 - Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. [11] The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. [12] I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. [13] And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. [14] I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
My friend it is the person who humbles himself towards God and turns to Christ by faith, poor in spirit, broken, knowing he deserves nothing, that is saved.
SALVATION
SUBMISSION
A Christian who is poor in spirit is submissive to God.
He realizes that he has done nothing to save himself.
He realizes that he can do nothing in his own power.
He realizes that apart from Christ he is nothing.
What causes us to fail to be submissive?
What causes us to not be poor in spirit?
It is our pride.
· It is our pride that makes us think that we are so important that we worry about
what others think of us.
· It is our pride that often causes our feelings to be hurt because we think that we
should have things our way.
· It is our pride that makes us worry about ourselves and our own wellbeing. We look
out for #1!
· It is our pride that causes us to make financial decisions that make us feel good.
· It is our pride that causes us to play with "toys" and to entertain ourselves instead of
pleasing God.
· It is our pride that causes us to be critical of others.
· It is our pride that makes us refuse to change what we know that we should change.
How do we become "poor in Spirit"?
1. Compare yourself to Jesus and nobody else.
When we compare ourselves favorably to others we usually end up feeling pretty good.
When we compare ourselves with the Lord Jesus we will come away humble.
James 4:10 - Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
2. Surrender your "rights" to God.
When you have no "rights" there's no reason to get upset with anything. Quote Romans 12:1
3. Live to please God.
Warren Wiersbe - "The person who is poor in spirit is not disturbed by the attitudes or criticisms of others, because he lives to please God." Warren Wiersbe, Live Like a King (Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1976), p. 37
Deuteronomy 10:20 - Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.
4. Look continually to God and not to yourself to fulfill every need. Be a humble beggar before God!
Realize that unless He provides it, your not getting it.
Psalm 123:2 - Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God, until that he have mercy upon us.
Warren Wiersbe - "Humility means that you look to God for everything you need. This sets you free from people, circumstances, and things. If you need nothing but God, then nothing-and no one-can be a threat to you. You are free!" Wiersbe, Live Like A King, p.37
Matthew 7:7-8 - Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: [8] For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Compare yourself to Jesus and nobody else.
Surrender your "rights" to God.
Live To Please God
Look continually to God and to nobody else to fulfill your need.
SALVATION
SUBMISSION
SERVICE
The person who is truly poor in spirit is available to God, even though he realizes that he in himself is nothing.
John MacArthur mentioned some men who were greatly used of God, and yet were poor in spirit.
Consider the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah 6:1-8 - In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. [2] Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. [3] And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. [4] And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
[5] Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. [6] Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: [7] And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. [8] Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
Listen to the words of the great King David:
2 Samuel 7:18 - Then went king David in, and sat before the Lord, and he said, Who am I, O Lord God? and what is my house, that thou hast brought me hitherto?
And remember what Peter said when Jesus gave him a miraculous catch of fish?
Luke 5:8 - When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
Luke 5:10 - …And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. John MacArthur, Kingdom Living Here and Now ( Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1980), p. 46-47
You know it's really easy to make excuses not to be used of God.
And most of the excuses we make can be traced back to our pride.
The great men of the Bible who were used by God were men who recognized their inability, but then allowed God to work through them.
Are you willing to do the same?
Are you ready to be used by God?
SALVATION
SUBMISSION
Compare yourself to Jesus and nobody else.
Surrender your "rights" to God.
Live To Please God
Look continually to God and to nobody else to fulfill your need. (Be a beggar)
SERVICE
And what is the reward for the person who puts "first things first" and humbles himself before God.
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,
Heaven is yours when you die.
You will know the joys and peace of Heaven now!