Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Day of week and date:   Sunday,  April 21, 2013,

Subject:  Happy is he who depends on Christ Jesus

Scripture:  

Matthew 5:3 (NKJV)

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,

   For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Keywords:

Blessed.  

(1) In the beatitudes,  the Lord indicates that not only the character is blessed but the nature which is the highest good.  (Vines)   

(2)The word is an adjective suggesting happy, supremely blessed, a condition in which congratulations are in order.  It is a grace word that expresses the special joys and satisfaction granted the person who experiences salvation.  (Hayford)

(3) Supremely blessed by extension and well off.  Happy, fortunate, blessed, spoken in the beatitudes of Gods favor regardless of what circumstances may be.  (Zodhiates)

Poor in spirit.  See below in commentary.

Commentary:

What this tells me is that to be poor in spirit means to be totally dependent upon God.  A person who is poor in spirit realizes that he needs God’s grace and that apart from God, he is nothing.  

To be poor in spirit is to have a humble opinion of ourselves; to be sensible that we are sinners, and have no righteousness of our own; to be willing to be saved only by the rich grace and mercy of God; to be willing to be where God places us, to bear what he lays on us, to go where he bids us, and to die when he commands; to be willing to be in his hands, and to feel that we deserve no favor from him. It is opposed to pride, and vanity, and ambition.  (Barnes)

Just because a person is a pastor of a local church,  and is considered the spiritual authority and is so called responsible for the flock in regards to their spirituality with Christ, there is this danger of  spiritual pride: the abuse of power and authority.  If the pastor is not accountable, and have regular fellowship, breaking of bread, apostle of doctrine and prayers with one another, he would consider himself as the sole authority and become like a god.  

Therefore, when Christ Jesus wrote the beatitudes, He made a declaration.  Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they will be happy and prosperous.  They know their position in Christ and know that they have been given this authority by God and they must not abuse this authority.  They cannot take any glory for themselves.  They cannot lord things over others, and they shouldn't say that you are not welcome in this fellowship.  It is not your church.  It is the church of Jesus Christ.  It is the inward condition of the heart.  The beatitudes is a description of how to be like Jesus Christ.  So if we are not consistently  living out the  beatitude, we must do some serious introspection before we get judged by the Lord Himself.   It would be a very fearful thing to fall into the hands of God.

I propose that every pastor have a core group to keep himself in check . He is to have regular breaking of bread, fellowship, prayer and apostles doctrines with other spiritual authority to minimize this self-exaltation.

What this means is that true humility and dependence on God brings about true happiness.  People who rely on themselves, their own intellect, their own riches, their own position tend to be unhappy.  They soon realize their limitations and if they have relied on themselves their whole lives, they will reach a point of utter disappointment.

What I do is keep relying and depending on the Lord Jesus for everything.  He knows all things and He knows my needs.  I must run every decision by the Lord Jesus because He knows best.  I, myself, am limited in what I can see.  The Lord can see the past, present and future.  Therefore, He has the bigger picture to every situation.  And when I am totally dependent on Jesus Christ, I shall be happy.

Conclusion:  

True happiness is when we relinquish complete control to the Lord Jesus Christ.   If we let Jesus Christ call the shots with every decision, we will be happy because we will win every time.  

Prayer

Father God in heaven, in the name of Jesus the Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, I pray to give You complete control of my spirit, mind, body, heart and soul.  I need You and am completely dependent on You.  I seek You first regarding all matters and all decisions that I have to make.  I sit under Your counsel, Father God, because Your wisdom surpasses all others.  I pray to be guided by the Holy Spirit every moment of every day.  I pray to be holy and righteous in Your eyes.  I pray to conform to the image and likeness of Jesus Christ.  I am totally dependent on You.  You are my one and only God.  I give You all praise and thanksgiving.   For Yours is the kingdom that I choose, the power and the glory forever.  amen.

Poem

To be dependent on Christ is my desire today

To be holy and humble in every way

For true happiness is not found in riches or gold

But in relinquishing to Jesus my self-will and control

Byword:

To be happy in Christ, give up all of it to Him.  

Work cited

Barnes, Barnes’ notes on the Bible, http://bible.cc/matthew/5-3.htm

Hayford, Jack W., Spirit filled Life Bible NKJV, Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991.

Vine, W.E, Vines expository dictionary of new old testament words and new testament words,  United  kingdom by Marshall, Morgan and Scot, Publication, ltd.  Grand rapids, 1981.

Zodhiates, Spiros, Hebrew Greek key word study bible,  Chattanooga: ANG publishers, 2008.



Aldwin and Wendy Naruse
The Body of Christ Jesus Fellowship
Makaha, HI USA