The Poor in Spirit

[00:00:00] This audio sermon is provided by AnabaptistSermons.com and may be freely copied and distributed. You may not sell or edit this sermon. Our prayer is that you would be blessed by this ministry. Good morning. Let's turn to Matthew chapter 5. [00:00:50] Let's pause for a word of prayer first. The Lord, we thank you for being here today so far, and I pray that you would continue to be here with us. Lord, may your Holy Spirit take these words and push them into our hearts. Lord, help us to have our hearts open. I pray that you would speak and that you would speak to our hearts. [00:01:26] Not just to our heads, but to our hearts. And help us to learn more about you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. Last week I started talking about the Beatitudes and about the Sermon on the Mount. A couple of things I wanted to bring up again was that these Beatitudes, these eight, [00:02:05] We need to be our foundation stones that we build on. Remember the story about the two houses that they built along this nice flowing little creek? And hard times come. And are you going to stand or are you going to fall? If we don't have these Beatitudes as our foundation stones, they're not built on the rock. And they will crash. Our house will fall. [00:02:39] I had to look at, it's interesting throughout the New Testament how a lot of times Jesus will see this multitude of people and seeing the opportunity, you know, it doesn't really say that, but, you know, here's my chance. I've got all these people. And seeing the multitudes, he went up on a mountain, and when he was seated, his disciples came to him. Then he opened his mouth and taught them. I looked at these Beatitudes a couple of different ways. [00:03:15] One is maybe these Beatitudes are the keys to our ministry. Or it was the keys to Jesus' ministry. This was the beginning of his ministry. Back in chapter 4, verse 17, he began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. I don't know, I'm thinking that according to the Bible, this would maybe be his first sermon. So he begins with the Beatitudes, something that he is already doing. [00:03:51] This is him. You know, if you look at the first one, poor in spirit. He was poor in spirit. He was humble. You look at all of them. He was already them. And these were the keys to His whole ministry. And if we look at them in that way, these are the keys to our ministry. This is the only way we can minister. If we're not poor in spirit, we're not going to be able to minister. If we don't mourn, if we're not meek, [00:04:21] and if we don't hunger, go on down the list. We won't be able to minister. and so keep that in mind. What is humility? I want to look at the first one. Blessed are the poor in spirit. My first thought, what's poor in spirit? You know, those that are sad? I don't think so. I think that to be humble we can be sad sometimes. But, boy, I just about went off on a limb there. [00:04:55] Went off on a rabbit trail. I better not. Humility. What's another word for humility? Selfless, unlike the world. I want to read a verse in Psalms chapter 34, verse 18. The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and saves such as have a contrite spirit. [00:05:29] I don't know if you've ever looked at humility, the subject of humility, before. There is so much to know, to learn about humility. I was going to read the Beatitudes again, but I think let's turn to Isaiah chapter 57 and look at a couple things here Isaiah 57 verse 15 for thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity whose name is holy I dwell in the high and holy place [00:06:21] Oh my word. Can you see it? Look at what Isaiah, just try and think about what Isaiah is looking at or what he sees. He's high and lofty, who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. Now let's go to chapter 66, verse 2. I think. I'll read verses 1 and 2. Chapter 66. Thus says the Lord, Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool. [00:06:54] Where is the house that you will build me? And where is the place of my rest? For all those things my hand has made, and all those things exist, says the Lord. But on this one will I look, of him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word. Let's go up to verse 1. Heaven is my throne, though he sits in heaven. That's how big he is. Do you know how big he is? Do you know how powerful he is? He sits in heaven. On heaven. [00:07:28] And, oh, I'm going to put my feet up. You ever put your feet up on your recliner or on a little footstool or something? He puts his feet on the earth to rest. Sit back and drop a muscle. You know, and I think Isaiah in these 57 and 66, he sees that. I dwell in the high and holy place and then if you go back to chapter 57 I dwell in the high and holy place with Him who has a contrite and humble spirit. [00:08:01] Now, I always looked at that as we'll be in heaven too and He's going to dwell with us in heaven. But think of it this way. Think of how God humbles Himself down to earth and he dwells in us. Takes himself. This is God. We're not talking about Jesus yet. God takes himself down out of heaven. He's sitting on heaven. He's got his feet on the earth and he comes down and dwells in us. [00:08:38] But only those who have a contrite and humble spirit. And why does he do that? Why would he do that? It says it right here. To revive the heart, to revive the spirit of the humble. And to revive the heart of the contrite ones. What a promise. The only way to go up is to go where? Down. [00:09:09] It doesn't make a whole lot of sense, does it? It's the only way to go up. That's the only way to be revived. That's the only way to get strength. It's the only way to be truly happy. It's to be humble. And then these Beatitudes, we go back to Matthew 5. If you don't feel like skipping around so much, you don't have to. I'm going to be skipping around big time. So if you go back to these Beatitudes, [00:09:46] Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. The Beatitudes, the reality, this blessing is the reality of the living God and it's yours. [00:10:20] Last time I talked about this gold mine that we have, that we can have, but it all starts in verse 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit. I had to think, this humility thing, I don't even know why I would be up here trying to explain humility and what it is and how to be humble. You know, it seems so, so big, so way far out there. [00:10:54] It's such an awesome thing to know nothing about. I had to think, you know, here's this awesome thing and what do we know about it? Some of you would know more than what I do, but I do know that we cannot prosper without it. So we need to be a student. I'll talk more about that later, but I had to think about, well, I will talk about that later. [00:11:25] So in the Old Testament, humility was more to bring low, to bow down, bend your knee, be lowly in mind. Well, I shouldn't say just Old Testament, New Testament also. Be lowly in mind, seeing our ignorance and our unworthiness. We're unworthy. 1 Peter 5 says to be clothed with humility [00:11:58] I'm sure that you all know somebody who is humble truly humble they don't know it but you know it you can see it and just how beautiful they are being clothed with humility Humility. Humility is the beauty of being nothing so God can be all. It's a place where you are totally dependent on God, which reminds me, I think it's Hebrews chapter 1. [00:12:48] I just thought of a verse there. I think it's verse 3. Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person and upholding all things by the word of His power when He had by Himself purged out sins sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. I want to go back to and upholding all things by the word of his power. [00:13:22] I want to think he upholds everything by the word of his power. He holds everything together. You know, we've heard people say, you know, the plants would fly off, but that's for real. And, you know, he even with a thought could make so that we all just disappear and vanish and explode. Anabaptist, Anabaptist, Anabaptist, Anabaptist [00:14:13] And as we see that, it humbles us. Isaiah also said in chapter 6 verse 5, Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips. And Job in chapter 2 verse 46, Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes. And there's many more examples. We could go on and on. There's like 15 or 16 that I thought about sharing these examples of humility. [00:14:50] But they had a glimpse of God. And if we go back to when we were saved, the only reason that we came to God is because we had to see our own unworthiness. Humility is the response of God's redeeming love If we can't humble ourselves If we can't humble ourselves, how can we come to Christ? [00:15:22] We're not going to come to Christ That's what coming to Christ is all about We humble ourselves and confess our sins So how can we ever pray? Let's go to Luke 18, verses 9 to 14. Also he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. [00:15:54] Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you that I am not like other men. extortioners, unjust, adulterers or even as this tax collector I fast twice a week I give tithes of all that I possess and the tax collector standing afar off would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast saying God be merciful to me a sinner that there is a true picture of humility he wouldn't even look up to heaven [00:16:35] I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other for anyone, everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Lord teach us the wisdom of humility. Teach us the wisdom of humility. What is wisdom? Wisdom is insight. Just help us to know what humility is and what God is trying to speak to us. [00:17:12] Let's sing that song, Humble Thyself in the Sight of the Lord. Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord. Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord. and he will lift you up and he will lift you up throughout the whole Bible humility is a huge must [00:18:01] It's a characteristic that's essential for a man that is living right with God. And you know, God sometimes humbles men in order to bring them to Him. In Deuteronomy chapter 8, He says, And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness to humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. [00:18:34] He tests us. We learned about that in Sunday school this morning, didn't we girls? About testing to see what's in our hearts. Verse 3, So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. Did you ever look at hard times that way? Not me. [00:19:06] Well, I'm starting to. The hard times is life. Why does it got to be so tough? And you know, especially right now, you know, factories getting laid off and prices are going up and on and on. I could just complain. But what is God trying to do in me? What's He trying to do in you by bringing on a test? What's He trying to do? What's He trying to teach us? Is He trying to humble us? [00:19:44] And then it's only when men humble themselves before God that God will accept them. In 1 Kings chapter 21, we read about Ahab. See how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son, I will bring the calamity on his house. So, when we humble ourselves is when we are accepted by God. [00:20:18] 2 Chronicles chapter 7 If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. I had to think, before I preached the message on seeking God, we forgot one important thing before we can seek God. I mean, I don't know. Maybe we can seek God and God will humble us in that way. [00:20:49] But it first of all says, Humble thyselves, who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray. We need to humble ourselves first. Then not only humbling ourselves, but we walk humbly with our God. A couple more verses to see how God humbles himself. [00:21:22] Let's go to Psalms chapter 113. I think I'll read all nine verses. Praise the Lord. Praise, O servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore From the rising of the sun to its going down The Lord's name is to be praised [00:21:52] The Lord is high above all nations His glory above the heavens Who is like the Lord our God who dwells on high Who humbles himself Now who is humbling himself? God is humbling himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth How can God, God's in heaven, notice that he humbles himself to look at the things in heaven. I just thought that was the neatest thing. What's in heaven? Well, there's angels, I don't know what's all in heaven, but he humbles himself to behold the things that are in the heavens. [00:22:29] We can understand how he humbles himself to even look at earth, let alone come down to dwell in our hearts. That is just the neatest thing. He raises the poor out of the dust and lifts the needy out of the ash heap that He may sit Him with the princes of His people. He grants the barren woman a home like a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord. And we already looked at Isaiah [00:23:01] to see how God humbles Himself. Our number one example of humility is what? Who? God. Who's the next one? Christ. And, you know, Christ is like, how would you say, the exact image. It's like seeing Christ as the visible image of the invisible God. Or how would you say that? That's God. And He was here on this earth and we can read about Him and look at His life. Look at the Sermon on the Mount. All the practical ways to... Just look at the New Testament and follow Christ and how He responded to people and the things that He made important And the things that he did, you know, no big deal. [00:24:02] The things that he, you know, I had to think about the things that we make a big deal. We think we're so important. In Matthew 11, verse 29, Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. It's a little different than in Galatians where it talks about the yoke of bondage. It's a different kind of yoke. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, [00:24:35] for I am meek and lowly in heart. Humility is the way to greatness, true greatness. Matthew 18, verse 4, Whoever shall humble himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 23 verse 12 Whoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. [00:25:05] We read that one already. Another one that I like was Luke 10 verse 21. I'm going to turn to that one. This is when the 70 returned and they said, [00:25:39] Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And he said unto them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Nothing. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. They weren't to rejoice that they can trample on these serpents. [00:26:11] You know, it's teaching them to be humble. But rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Then verse 21, In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for it seemed good in your sight. So, the humble will have understanding. He'll show the humble things that he doesn't show to the wise and the, what does it say, prudent. [00:26:49] I really like that verse. He reveals grace and truth, gives understanding to the humble. We could look at the humility of Christ and how He washed the disciples' feet in John 13. In Philippians 2, verse 7, But made Himself of no reputation and took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. You know, if you just think of that, think of God and how big He is. [00:27:27] He's sitting in heaven. He's using the earth as His footstool. He sends Himself down to earth. I like to use the example, and I know I've used it before, of a missionary who is rich and got a lot of money, and he gives of his time every day for years and years. He travels into Chicago and lives in this luxurious hotel and every single day he goes down to the slums and to the dirtiest, nastiest part of town, the ghettos, and he preaches the word and spends time with them and talks with them and he's just down there all day long. [00:28:03] And then the next morning, or that night he goes home, stays in his hotel. The next morning he comes and he's spending all this time and money to be there. But that's not even what Jesus did. Jesus came down. It would be different if that rich man would come down and live right in the ghettos and not even leave and even die in the ghettos. And if you look at that and look at the humility of Christ And what does that say to us? [00:28:35] How do we take that? What are we supposed to do? Well, Jesus said, follow me. Do as I do. It's not so easy, is it? I want to go to the love chapter a little bit and read one verse out of there. 1 Corinthians 13. It's talking about love, of course. [00:29:09] It says, verse 4, Love suffers long and is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up. So, if we're not humble, can we love the way that God intended us to love? We say that we love. But if we're not humble, okay, it's saying here, love does not parade itself. So if we're puffed up, if we puff ourselves up, if we lift ourselves up, if we think we're somebody, [00:29:47] can we love the way that God wants us to love? I think that my challenge, the challenge for myself is to be a student of humility. There's no way that you can learn what humility is from one little 30-minute introduction to humility. [00:30:19] It's the same way you can't, Dave was here, he knows what kind of training and studying it is, it takes to be an EMT. Do you have any doctors or nurses here? Accountants? Where's Dustin? Dustin's not here. Think of that kind of training and teaching. I was going to go into a bunch of practical ways, but we'll save that for next time. But my challenge to you is, study it. You know, don't just go from here. [00:30:51] I mean, I know you're all studying stuff. But, you know, a doctor has to go to years and years and years and years and then he finally knows a little bit about how to be a doctor and he can go practice to be a doctor, you know. But, you know, a doctor isn't going to get, he goes into this class for 30 minutes and then he can be a doctor. Well, we're not going to know how to be humble Just from this little introduction. Maybe we can take these few little... [00:31:29] I don't know, I just want us to think about... You know, even if we would study it for a month, day after day, find all the verses that we can on humility and what it means and look at Christ and how He humbled Himself in different ways. and follow after him and I trust that as we do we will be obedient and I think that's one of the hardest things next time I'll talk more some practical ways to be humble do we think that we're better than others or that certain things don't apply to us or we judge others thinking that we're better than they are so I trust that [00:32:16] prayer. Dear Lord, I thank you for your word. Lord, I pray that you would clothe us with humility. Lord, we know that you resist the proud, but Lord, you give grace to the humble, and I thank you for that promise. Lord, help us to know what humility is. Help us to understand it, embrace it. [00:32:51] Help us to look, keep our eyes focused on You and day after day as we read Your Word and as we seek Your face, Lord. I pray that You will continue to speak to us and I pray that You would give us strength to obey Your Word. In Jesus' name, Amen. Thank you for watching!