Matthew 5:1-3 Christian Character The Beatitudes

1:10Goliath was the largest, most rotund dachshund I or anyone I know has ever seen. The secret to his incredible girth was actually not found out. Until after his death. After his passing, the mother of this family that he lived in was appalled by the sheer amount of scraps left over after her family of nine, five of which were boys with an incredible appetite. What was left over after they finished eating, and they would have to scrape these incredible amounts of scraps up.

2:03For you see, their beloved Goliath had been feasting on these scraps, not crumbs, for over 10 years, and nobody knew about it. This story will make more sense as we move further into this sermon. But today's text is Matthew 5:1 through 3. We will learn that spiritual poverty is the fundamental characteristic of a believer. Spiritual poverty is the fundamental characteristic of a believer. To aid us in reaching this conclusion, we will answer: where is spiritual poverty found?

2:54What does spiritual poverty mean? And how does spiritual poverty mean mean? Apply to us? Where, what, and how? First, where is spiritual poverty found? Spiritual poverty is found in the first of five discourses recorded by Matthew. This discourse is known as the Sermon on the Mount, chapters 5 through 7. The primary focus of this discourse or sermon is the kingdom of God. Well, the kingdom of God is the rule or reign of God over all of the universe and the spiritual rule over the hearts and lives of those who willingly submit to God's authority.

3:52That's the primary focus of the sermon. The primary message of the sermon is: what does it mean to repent and belong to the kingdom of God? That is, our Lord, in the Sermon on the Mount, gives us a picture of kingdom life, the life of those who are members of his kingdom. That sermon tells us how to live, how to relate with individuals, how to have sexual integrity. How to respond to hostility, how to respond to the poor, how to the proper attitude towards money, circumstances, and those who are wrong, amongst many other lessons. In essence, it gives us a picture of what kingdom life looks like.

4:52Spiritual poverty is also found in the Beatitudes, which were read this morning, which are embedded within the Sermon on the Mount. So, let me provide you a quick overview of the Beatitudes by answering four questions: What are the Beatitudes? The Beatitudes describe eight characteristics of those who are citizens of the kingdom. Unlike gifts of the Spirit, teaching, mercy, administration, which God distributes as He wills to different members of His body to equip them for different kinds of service, the gifts of the Spirit, excuse me, the Beatitudes are the qualities all Christians are meant to manifest. The Beatitudes are qualities all Christians are meant to manifest. Just as every Christian should produce all nine fruits. Of the Spirit.

6:02So Christ's eight beatitudes describe his ideal of every citizen who is a member of the kingdom of God. These eight characteristics are not statements about general human virtue. In fact, most of them appear to be the opposite of what people think today is common or is wise. Rather, the eight characteristics describe the characteristics of authentic believers. Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones says these eight characteristics indicate the essential difference between a Christian and a non-Christian. What is the proper translation of blessed?

6:47We need to understand because this Greek word used by Matthew, Makarios, can also be translated as happy. Happy, however, is not the correct translation in this context. Did we just lose this? We will pause. If you've heard it all said, just drop. Okay. We are back. Thank you, Herman. So, back to this, I'll kind of read. We need to understand because the Greek word used by Matthew, Makarios, can also be translated as happy. But happy, however, is not the correct translation in this context. Happiness is subjective.

7:47The same things do not always make everyone happy. God's blessing is far broader and exceedingly more important than just being happy. Thus, you are blessed. So, who is the one blessed? In Jewish wisdom literature, macarisms declare the blessing of those in fortunate circumstances based on observation and experience and declare their present reward and happiness. That's not how we're using it in the New Testament. But in the prophets, macarisms declare the blessedness of those who are presently in dire circumstances, but who will be vindicated at the eschatological coming of God's kingdom.

8:35In Matthew, the Beatitudes are not practical advice for successful living, but prophetic declarations of the coming and already present kingdom of God. These declarations are an objective reality as a result of a divine gift and are not subjective. Feelings. These declarations are not something we earn, but it is something that is given to us. God declares not what they, members of the kingdom of God, feel like, but what He thinks of them. People with these qualities gain His approval because God thinks well of them, they are blessed.

9:27Are the promised blessings intended for the future or now? Both. God does not expect a Christian to have to wait until the future to be blessed. If you look at verse 3, Jesus says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Present tense. Then if you look down at verse 10, he says, Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Present tense. In between verses 4 through 9, they're all future tenses. As a result, most commentators conclude that there is a present and a future dimension to what Jesus is teaching. There are blessings that are yet to come, but there are foretastes or first fruits that we presently possess as well.

10:24That is where spiritual poverty is found. Let us now consider the what. What does the first characteristic of those who are citizens of the kingdom of God, those who are poor in spirit, mean? What does this mean? Being poor in spirit does not refer to financial poverty. It does not refer to a depressive condition. It does not refer to low self-esteem. It does not refer to those who are weak or lacking in courage. So, if poor in spirit does not have those meanings, what does poor in spirit mean? Of the two Greek words that are used to describe poverty, the one that is used here, potochos, is the most dire and destitute. Literally, the root of potochos means to crouch or to cower.

11:32This type of poverty has been beaten into a person so that they're beaten to their knees. Isaiah spoke often of this type of poverty and promised this type of poor the salvation of the Lord. In this beatitude, our Lord is not commending financial poverty, but that spirit of humility which it often engenders. Those who will inherit the poor. Inherit the kingdom of heaven are those who are fully aware that they have nothing to commend them before God.

12:10They recognize that they are spiritually destitute, and they wait upon God for his deliverance and salvation. To aid you in giving you an example of spiritual poverty, I want you to consider the story of the Canaanite woman and the providential encounter designed by God so that God could reveal the work which he had done in the heart of this woman and display to the disciples the proper posture of faith which every believer ought to have. And that story is found in Matthew chapter 15, beginning in verse 21. So if you would turn with me to Matthew chapter 15, beginning in verse 21.

13:03Reading from verse 21. And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, son of David, my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon. I want you to notice her reverential attitude towards Jesus, but also her agony. As the Greek tense implies, she is crying out constantly or again and again. Verse 23. But he, Jesus, did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, Send her away, for she's crying out after us again and again. She's a nuisance.

14:11The disciples thought this woman who was crying out was an incredible nuisance, but Jesus is adamant in his refusal to heed the urgent request of the disciples and in his refusal to help this woman. Look at verse 24. He answered, I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. You know, at first this seems a little cruel, doesn't it? This woman with a broken heart comes to the one whom she knows can save her daughter and says, Lord, heal her.

14:55And Jesus says, I'm not sent to you, Canaanites. I'm sent first to the children of Israel who are lost in their own sins. Why? Jesus wishes to make it perfectly clear to all concerned that the wide opening of the door for the influx of the Gentiles into the kingdom of heaven is a matter that pertains to the future. Verse 25. But she came and knelt before him, saying, Lord, help me. And he answered, It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.

15:42Jesus finally addresses the woman. He explains that it would not be proper to give Israel's blessings, the blessings that belong to the children, to those who do not belong to Israel. After all, dogs, no matter how dear to the owner, are not children and have no right to be treated like children. Now, Christ's delay, if we may call it that, in granting this woman's request, is really not unique in the Bible. For example, God delayed in answering Abraham and Sarah's request for a child. For decades, David was dismissed, was dismayed at God's slow answer to his prayers for relief as he's running around hiding from Saul.

16:43Jairus had to wait for Jesus to heal a woman who was touching her, which results in his daughter dying. Mary and Martha had to wait over three days, long enough for Lazarus, their brother, to die, before Jesus finally answered their request to come to him. In several cases, the reason for the delay is either plainly stated or at least suggested in the text. This same reasoning should be applied in connection with this woman. Jesus delayed in answering her request in order to test her faith, to refine it as silver is refined, and to give her faith an opportunity for a more glorious expression. And that more glorious expression of the woman's faith is found in verse 27.

17:43She said, Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table. This woman did not flinch at Jesus not answering her request. She doesn't resent being compared with a house dog as contrasted with a child. Like Goliath, she's just happy to live on the scraps that fall underneath the table. She accepts her inferior position and her Christ-wrought spiritual poverty. She says, Lord, you're right. I deserve nothing from you. But even the dogs eat the crumbs from their master's table. In effect, she says, I am not a child.

18:42Crumbs are enough. I have no claim on you, but I ask you anyway, save my daughter. Verse 28. Then Jesus answered her, O woman, great is your faith. Be it done for you as you desire. And her daughter was healed instantly. Brothers and sisters, Jesus says something about this woman that he never said of his disciples. He said, This woman's faith is great because she had learned the lesson of. Spiritual poverty. Those who are poor in spirit know that apart from the grace of God, they are blind, deaf, lame, and destitute. Those who have spiritual poverty know they have nothing to offer to God. All they do is receive God's blessings in faith.

19:58Brothers and sisters, do you have that kind of spiritual poverty? Isn't it amazing that it is right when we pronounce that we are bereft of any claim upon God, that the blessing of the kingdom comes? The minute the Canaanite woman says, Lord Jesus, I have no claim on your kingdom, he says, The kingdom is yours, my daughter. The minute we admit that we have no right to the blessings of God, we find ourselves bathed in the mercies of the Almighty.

20:46Now that we understand what spiritual poverty is, how does it apply to us? First, if any are going to be a body, To enter the kingdom of heaven, they must become poor in spirit. That is, spiritual poverty is the prerequisite for eternal life. Your hands have to be empty before they can be filled by God. We have nothing to bring to Him, we have nothing to lay claim to Him, we have nothing to cause God to act graciously on our behalf. Salvation is all of mercy, His mercy. It is all of grace, His grace.

21:48I would like you to ask yourself in the privacy of your own heart and mind: Does this spiritual poverty reside in you? Or do you find yourself angry with God because of the circumstances He's brought in your life? Lord, I deserve better. Lord, I don't deserve this. Or do you find yourself like the Canaanite woman saying, Lord, you are right. But even the dogs eat the crumbs from their master's table. I tell you that if you have that type of spiritual poverty, then you You today can testify of extravagant grace that Christ lavishes on those who are saved. Turn with me very quickly to Romans chapter 7.

22:44Romans chapter 7, beginning in verse 24. Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. I want you to notice the three elements in this example of spiritual poverty. First, spiritual poverty recognizes that one is wretched, that they are a sinner. Second, spiritual poverty recognizes that one is unable to save themselves. Who will deliver me from this body of death? And third, spiritual poverty recognizes that only Jesus can save. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

23:49There may be some here in the audience this morning who have never come to faith in Christ because you have never considered yourself. Wretched. You've never considered yourself a sinner. I plead with you to see that you are spiritually poor, that you cannot save yourself by church attendance or good works, and that only Jesus can save you. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. And this is because spiritual poverty is the prerequisite for eternal life.

24:39But it is also the fundamental characteristic of the believer. Believers do not simply humble themselves to get into the family of God, to the kingdom of God, and then become self-sufficient, though some of us try to do that. Believers are to live their lives in total dependence on God to supply their needs. This does not mean that we are not to strive for the vision that is cast in the Beatitudes, that is, the characteristics of those who are in the kingdom. But it does mean that redemption precedes living according to the beatitudes. It is in light of The gift of redemption that we are to be poor in spirit, to hunger and thirst after righteousness, to be pure in heart, to be meek, and so on. The Beatitudes are at once the blessings of the redeemed and the call for what the lives of the redeemed should look like.

25:54It is the ways in which the redeemed reflect the character of their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Believer, ask yourself this question: On what is your heart set? If you could list eight qualities this morning when no one was looking, eight qualities of character that you would desire to define you, what would they be? Would they be the eight qualities that are set before you by Christ in the Beatitudes? And would one of those eight characteristics, one of those eight qualities, include spiritual poverty?

26:48Because this is an important question, because spiritual poverty is the fundamental characteristic of a believer. Let us pray. Father, we know that you are holy. We know that you are pure. We know that you are gracious. You save us. You give us your Son, who died on the cross to secure our salvation. And you gave us the Holy Spirit to give us rebirth, to grant us faith, and to give us illumination into your word. Lord, we confess that we are a prideful people.

28:06We confess that we desire to earn works, to do works, in order to earn ourselves into your kingdom. And we confess that we do not approach you with spiritual poverty. We demand we are not humble. We thank you first and foremost for the example of humility demonstrated by Jesus Christ Himself. We thank you for the instruction that your word gives us into what spiritual poverty looked like with this incredible Canaanite woman. Lord, I pray this morning for someone in this building who does not know Jesus Christ because they have never approached you with their hands empty. They have come trying to earn their way into the kingdom by showing you what they have done when whatever they have done does not measure up to what is needed to be part of the kingdom of God.

29:36Lord, I pray for the saved in this room. I pray that each of us would model spiritual poverty, that we would value spiritual poverty, that we would consider ourselves supplicants. Of an incredibly loving and gracious Father who gives us all that we need despite all that we ask for. But may we be thankful for what you give, even if they are but crumbs, because that is still so much more than we deserve. We thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen.

30:38Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.