The Jewel of Poverty

By Ron v. Leerdam

Brothers & sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ,
This morning we consider the first of the ‘Beatitudes’.

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.

He said:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
    for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:1-12

The preacher of the perfect sermon on the nature of the kingdom of God is the Son who is seated on the throne of David. Jesus Christ sent by the Father to build the everlasting kingdom that will never be destroyed. Those who would be citizens of this eternal kingdom and most glorious kingdom ‘that no ear has heard nor eye has seen’. Those would share in the blessing of almighty God are first of all ‘poor in spirit.’ This is the spring from which all the other graces of the kingdom of God flow. If we are not first of all ‘poor in spirit’, we shall never mourn or be meek, nor hunger and thirst for righteousness.

What does it mean to be blessed?
It is to receive a gift that is freely and graciously given.

Who is the one who blesses with the richest, most
precious gift that can possibly be given?
Is it not our creator God?
He is the giver of life and the fount of every blessing.

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you. Psalm 139:1-18

The opposite of being blessed is to be cursed.
In the beginning Adam & Eve were blessed by God. They lived in the garden of Eden – enjoying paradise and fellowship with their creator. It was paradise – no sorrows or grief, just perfect bliss living in fellowship with their Maker. But with their rebellion and sin against their maker came the curse. Death entered into the world and they were alienated from the source of life, happiness and the fount of every blessing. So the question arises, how can that which has been lost be regained?

How can sinners be reconciled to a holy, just and righteous God? Only if God graciously, freely and mercifully pardons the sinner and restores the relationship that He created mankind to enjoy.
To live apart from God is death!
Unless the Lord would bless us we have no good thing. The things of this world so quickly pass away, the things that are seen disappear like the morning mist, like the
flower of the field, we flourish for a short time and then its place is remembered no more. God has created a thirst for eternity in our hearts. When that we love is taken away our hearts are broken, our dreams are dashed to pieces and sorrow and grief
overwhelms us. My friends, the curse rests upon all humanity for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Who can rescue us from this burden, who can deliver us from death and decay, who is able to grant hope and life in the face of the ‘meaningless of this brief earthly life where happiness is fleeting and riches do not satisfy. Jesus is the Savior sent by Father God, anointed by the Holy Spirit to establish the everlasting of God. He is the One who taught his disciples to pray to their heavenly Father, ‘Your kingdom come.’ How can we become citizens of this this eternal kingdom that is ‘out of this world’, beyond compare? True blessing is only found by having a personal relationship with the creator God. Blessing is found in the serving of the ultimate good – that is God.
Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away. Genesis 5:24
Happy or blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.

Do you know what is the greatest blessing?
“Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you”
“As for me it is good to be near unto God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds. Psalm. 73:25,28
Eternal blessedness comes from walking with Him who is higher and greater than us. In the sermon of the Mount Jesus preaches the paradox of the Gospel – the good news of the only true and ONE God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The paradox of the kingdom of heaven!
The way to riches is to be poor in spirit.
The world says if you want to be rich, you must be self assured, assertive, stand up for your rights and put yourself first.
Not so says Jesus.
Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Let us consider what Jesus means. What is the nature of poverty?
What it is not.
Jesus does not say, “Blessed are the poor.”
He is not referring to having no money. There are some who would make this verse say that Jesus is teaching – ‘Blessed are those who take the vow of ‘poverty’ and
separate themselves from the things of this world.
Those who are proud of their poverty are not poor in spirit.
The Bible no-where teaches that poverty as such is a good thing.
Poverty does not guarantee spirituality.
What our Lord is concerned with is our spirit, our attitude towards ourselves and God. Jesus does not teach that we ought to be timid, weak, retiring, lacking in courage or a door-mat for everyone to walk over.
The qualities mentioned in these verses are not what we might call – natural qualities – qualities one is born with.
What is it?
The best way to describe what it means to be poor in spirit is to use some examples from Scripture.

Isaiah 57:15
For this is what the high and lofty One says–he who
lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high
and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and
lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to
revive the heart of the contrite.

This was the spirit of Moses who felt deeply unworthy of the task that was laid upon him and was conscious of his insufficiency and inadequacy. Yet endowed with the spirit of Christ, he was called by God to lead the stubborn and rebellious Israelite’s out of the land of slavery setting them free to worship and serve the God who graciously promised the patriarchs a country.

“Lord who am I that You would come to me?” 2 Samuel 7:18
Isaiah said it in a profound way when confronted with the holiness of God and cries out.
“Woe to me! I am ruined!
For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a
people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the
KING, the Lord Almighty.” Isaiah 6:5
From the altar, the angel takes a live coal and touches Isaiah’s lips and said,
“See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away
and your sin is atoned for.” Isaiah 6:7
That live coal is a picture of the blood of Jesus shed for the cleansing of ruined, wretched sinners. Peter when he truly saw Jesus said, “Depart from me, for
I am a sinful man O Lord.” Luke 5:8

Paul – a very capable man by anyone’s standards, who excelled in ‘works righteousness’ considered his self- righteousness as ‘dung’.
“That I might gain Christ and be found in Him, not
having a righteousness of my own that comes from the
law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the
righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.
I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of his
resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming
like him is his death, and so somehow, attaning to the
resurrection of the dead.” Philippians 3:9-1 Timothy 1:15
Paul confessed, “I am the chief of sinners.”
In the life of Jesus we see ‘poverty of spirit.’
Jesus became a man taking on the likeness of sinful flesh.
The sinless one suffered for our sins.
By His wounds we are healed.
Our punishment was laid on him.
And on the Mount of Olives, on the night He was to be betrayed Jesus knelt down and prayed,
“Father if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet
not my will, but Yours be done.”
An angel from heaven appeared to Him and
strengthened Him.
And being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and
His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the
ground. Luke 22:42-44
Jesus relied on God totally.

What is meant by ‘poor in spirit’?
Complete absence of pride.
Complete absence of self-reliance.

This is the attitude of the tax-collector in Luke 18:9-17
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not
even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. And not relying on our birthrights. Not relying on our race or nationality. Not relying on our education. Not relying on our status in society. Not relying on gifts, talents, abilities, money, morality, or even the church we belong to. Some are so proud that they are worthy to be members of a particular church or group. Jesus said, The Pharisee stood up and prayed about (or too) himself:

God, I thank you that I am not like other men–
robbers, evildoers, adulterers–or even like this tax
collector.
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he
who humbles himself will be exalted.”
To be poor in spirit is to know we have nothing to
offer God but our sinfulness.
With Childlike faith we look to God in utter submission to Him and in utter dependance on Him for grace and mercy.
This is the fundamental principle on which the succeeding beatitudes – blessings of God are built.

Unless one is poor in spirit, one will not mourn.
Unless one is poor in spirit, one will not be meek etc.
Those who are poor in spirit are not only blessed, but theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
For them there is the gift of life everlasting and reigning with Christ in the new heaven and the new earth.
As for me it is good to be near unto God.
That is to have my will enfolded in His.
To have my purpose contained within His purpose.
From where does this blessing come?
It comes by grace.
It is not earned nor deserved.
It is the gift of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have come to understand that the beginning of wisdom is to fear God, whilst the fool says in his heart that there is no God!
He does not understand that there is One to whom He will have to give an account for every word and deed. The source of every blessing is found in a personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ by the enabling of the Holy Spirit. The triune God graciously proclaims to His people,
“I am your God and you are my people.” Exodus 6:7
Hence we can say, Blessed are poor in spirit for God’s grace is sufficient for them.
Let us continually and constantly fix our eyes on Jesus. Contemplate the glory of God. Study the word of God. The more we would meditate on God, the more we
see how unworthy we stand in His presence. The more we marvel at His grace to us.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch
like me. I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I
see.
You cannot truly look at God through Jesus and not feel your own poverty, emptiness and unworthiness.
Blessed are those who humble themselves for they will be lifted up.

Amen.