WEBVTT 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:05.360 Welcome to the podcast of Christ Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. 00:00:05.519 --> 00:00:10.320 Join us as we dive into this week's sermon that challenges our hearts and minds to grow closer to Christ. 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:14.560 We pray that your heart is inspired and transformed by God's Word. 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:20.079 And if you will, let hear God's word together. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:25.679 We start a new teaching series this morning, and it's on the Sermon on the Mount. 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:32.560 Obviously, we begin with the Beatitudes, so we just invite you to remain standing for a reading out of the gospel. 00:00:34.640 --> 00:00:47.920 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him, and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:49.359 You may be seated. 00:00:50.320 --> 00:01:06.799 So, Jesus, we pray that you would intensify, amplify the ministry of the Holy Spirit, illuminating your word in these emerging moments as acts of worship. 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:08.959 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:14.959 Now it's rare for me to stand in the pulpit and say words like this. 00:01:16.159 --> 00:01:26.000 What we're about to step into today and in the coming months is truly revolutionary. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:31.120 And I want to submit to you on the front end that is not hyperbole. 00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:40.159 We're going to begin today with Jesus presenting the possibility of your being genuinely happy. 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:44.400 In fact, John Wesley talked a lot about this, a lot. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:50.560 Wesley said, true religion implies happiness as well as holiness. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:01:56.319 Many of you know he linked those two together, and happiness is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:01.760 Wesley said, the more holy we are, and I'm going to inject properly understood. 00:02:01.920 --> 00:02:13.599 A lot of us when we hear the word holy, it just sounds so, and this won't sound very pastoral, stinking religious that we don't realize the gift that it is. 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:17.759 The Sermon on the Mount, we're going to learn that together. 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:26.319 But Wesley said the more holy we are upon earth, the more happy we must be, seeing there's an inseparable connection between holiness and happiness. 00:02:26.479 --> 00:02:29.520 Thus, the more good we do, the happier we be. 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:42.560 Wesley also said, when he noticed people who had dry religion, in other words, very anemic and lethargic in their relationship with Christ, Wesley said the people are not happy because the people are not holy. 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:46.240 And again, holiness needs to be properly understood. 00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:50.960 And we're going to journey in that through the Sermon on the Mount in the coming months. 00:02:51.280 --> 00:03:06.000 But when I make a statement that the Bible, that Jesus specifically talks about pathways of knowing happiness, many people, including many Christians, find that hard to believe. 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:08.960 And so want you to notice something. 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:19.360 If you've got your Bible open, you might have noticed Jesus repeatedly, and I only read one of the Beatitudes, Jesus repeatedly talks about blessing. 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:28.000 In fact, that Greek word used there is makarios, and it actually translates blessing, but all its cousins. 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:35.520 It translates blessing, happy, fortunate, blissful, flourishing. 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:41.039 And none of that is like pushing it out to the edge, trying to make it say something it doesn't. 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:43.919 That's how the word translates. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:04:06.159 And so Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount understanding human need and describes the potential for life to be experienced in a way here on earth, let alone heaven, here on earth, by an inward-centeredness in Christ that is not affected by outward circumstances. 00:04:06.400 --> 00:04:15.680 And so when we talk about blessedness in this way, and all that it means, it's fundamentally an element in the character of God. 00:04:15.919 --> 00:04:25.759 And Peter teaches us in 1st and 2 Peter that you, believer, as you follow Jesus, you have the opportunity to partake of the divine nature of Jesus. 00:04:25.920 --> 00:04:40.160 It's almost like Peter is using a parallel, like you partake of a meal and it gives you nourishment, that Jesus himself nourishes your heart, your spirit in a life where you partake of his blessedness. 00:04:40.560 --> 00:05:03.680 So to be blessed is not a superficial feeling of well-being being that is based upon your circumstance, but it's rather a deep supernatural experience that emanates out of the centeredness of Jesus in your own life and emanating out of your relationship with him and being in alignment with his heart and life. 00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:08.720 Now, you know I like to say to you from time to time, let's pause and keep it real. 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:09.839 Here it is. 00:05:10.160 --> 00:05:24.879 To the natural person who doesn't know Jesus yet, or perhaps even for an immature or carnal Christian, please understand that's not said like pointing a finger at anybody, but these are definitions the Bible uses. 00:05:26.560 --> 00:05:34.800 For a carnal Christian, it's possible when we describe this that happiness sounds like misery with another name. 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:36.160 Why do I say that? 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:44.800 Because phrases like poor in spirit are often held at arm's length when we read them on the surface. 00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:49.839 But and we operate in a way where we're blind to what Jesus was driving at. 00:05:50.079 --> 00:06:04.319 And therefore, an immature or carnal Christian misses the mark and is left with an anemic or, shall we say, a malnourished understanding and experience of everything that Jesus is offering to the believer. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:12.720 And so what's happened as we read a text like this, Jesus changes the price tags of what really brings happiness. 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:16.639 Now, let's contrast this because we all live in a fallen world. 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:22.079 And the fallen world we live in, the world says, happy are the rich. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:25.759 Happy are the successful in the world's eyes. 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:28.079 Happy are the glamorous. 00:06:28.319 --> 00:06:30.399 Happy are the famous. 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:41.360 And when we read the Gospels, we recognize that if we were to really word it succinctly, that there's a lie that accompanies every one of those phrases. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:46.160 And the lie is simply this things satisfy. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:49.279 Things satisfy your deepest longing. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:51.600 Acquiring things brings happiness. 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:54.959 Achieving things brings happiness. 00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:58.240 Doing things brings satisfaction. 00:06:58.480 --> 00:07:05.600 Now there's a great example out of the Bible that reinforces what Jesus is saying in Matthew 5.3. 00:07:06.240 --> 00:07:11.680 And many of you, if not all of you, are familiar with an Old Testament character named Solomon. 00:07:12.000 --> 00:07:17.519 Solomon was exceedingly successful in the world's eyes. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:21.199 He was the wisest and the most magnificent of kings. 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:24.399 He had the royal blood of his father. 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:29.759 He had amassed vast amounts of gold, precious metals, jewels. 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:40.720 In fact, the Bible tells us that Solomon had utilized so much silver in his kingdom that it was as prevalent as rocks in the kingdom. 00:07:40.879 --> 00:07:42.079 Rocks in Jerusalem. 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:47.439 He had a fleet of ships and stables filled with the finest of thoroughbreds. 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:55.120 He had hundreds of wives gathering the most beautiful women from many lands across that region of the world. 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:57.519 He ate the most sumptuous of foods. 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:00.639 He dined in the most beautiful palaces. 00:08:00.879 --> 00:08:03.199 He had the most fine dinnerware. 00:08:03.360 --> 00:08:07.920 He had the most distinguished guest that he interacted with. 00:08:08.079 --> 00:08:12.800 He was acclaimed throughout the world for his wisdom and his power and his wealth. 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:22.079 And based upon all of those things in the world's eyes, Solomon should have been exceedingly happy. 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:25.920 I mean, like hap, hap happy off the chart. 00:08:26.319 --> 00:08:36.639 But yet he writes in his journal in Ecclesiastes that his life lacked purpose, and that his life was desperately empty. 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:40.399 Many of you know the verse, Ecclesiastes 1, 2, and 3. 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.039 Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. 00:08:43.200 --> 00:08:52.960 Some of your Bibles translate that after Solomon had achieved all of these things and he reflects on it and goes, This is meaningless. 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:56.720 It doesn't mean anything. 00:08:57.200 --> 00:09:03.840 I have shared with you before that when I was a young man, my mom remarried. 00:09:04.399 --> 00:09:09.200 And she remarried a man that had done really well. 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:28.399 Suddenly I went from the kid who lived in a nice three, two bedroom home, and suddenly I get as my mom remarries, this person he marries, whom was so good to my brother and I we're getting out of church, and he says things like, Where do you want to eat lunch? 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:32.960 And I'm like, back in that day, I'm like, okay, there's a Shawnee's up the road. 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:34.480 Let's go to Shawnee's. 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:38.159 And we he would go, no, where do you want to eat? 00:09:38.399 --> 00:09:40.399 Anywhere in the Southeast. 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:45.039 And we would get on his private plane and we would go eat in Atlanta. 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:48.320 We would go eat in other cities in the Southeast. 00:09:48.720 --> 00:09:52.639 And I thought, wow, this is it. 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:02.240 I learned a very valuable lesson early in life. 00:10:02.799 --> 00:10:04.000 It's not it. 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:06.879 It doesn't fulfill. 00:10:07.600 --> 00:10:14.159 And some of you, when we hear Solomon's story, we go, Oh, that's ancient literature. 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:17.440 I don't know that that's relevant today. 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:20.960 But I'm gonna take a moment and just do an experiment with you. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:25.279 I'm gonna name a lot of names that you've heard. 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:27.440 And I'm asking you a question this morning. 00:10:27.679 --> 00:10:29.200 What do they have in common? 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:30.240 Here we go. 00:10:30.720 --> 00:10:39.840 Judy Garland, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin, Keith Moon, Sid Vicious. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:43.039 Some of you are going, Pastor, why do you know about Sid Vicious? 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:43.919 Let's keep going. 00:10:44.159 --> 00:10:54.080 Kurt Cobain, Lane Staley, Ike Turner, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, Prince. 00:10:54.559 --> 00:10:56.399 What do they all have in common? 00:10:56.799 --> 00:10:58.720 Well, yeah. 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:00.639 They're each famous. 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:08.799 They were each exceedingly wealthy, they each accomplished great things in the eyes of the world. 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:12.960 But they all died from a drug overdose. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:26.240 If wealth and accomplishment and fame were the answer, then God help us, why did they need to numb their souls with drugs, the very drugs that killed them? 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:30.080 This is why, and I've quoted him before, but is too relevant to lay off. 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:40.480 That's why theologian Jim Carey once said, I wish everybody could be rich and famous so everyone would know it's not the answer. 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:43.519 So what's the lesson for us? 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:48.559 Physical things, accomplishments, fame. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:56.240 Simply cannot fill the deep part of your soul. 00:11:56.879 --> 00:12:06.080 This is why Blaise Pascal says things like, There is a God-shaped hole in you that only God can fill. 00:12:06.399 --> 00:12:19.279 This is why Jesus stood in the middle of a religious gathering, realizing that people were going through the outward motions, but yet he says this, he asked a question right in the middle of the gathering. 00:12:19.519 --> 00:12:21.440 Is anybody here thirsty? 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:24.240 He wasn't talking about physical thirst. 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:28.480 Is anybody here, does anybody here have an empty soul? 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:38.559 Is anybody here hungry for meaning and purpose and why you're on this planet and to fill that void and the deepest part of you? 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:42.879 And he asked the question, Is anyone among you thirsty? 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:51.200 And then he replies rhetorically, if so, if anybody's thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:13:00.639 This is why author Richard Simmons once wrote, So many people spend their lives looking for some other stream to finally and forever quench the thirst of their souls. 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:04.000 However, Jesus says there is no other stream. 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:13.120 And he's very clear about the fact that if we do not drink from this spring the fountain of living water, we will die. 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:16.559 Wages of sins, death. 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:17.840 We will die. 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:23.039 You were dead in your trespasses and sins, Ephesians teaches us. 00:13:23.360 --> 00:13:30.960 So Jesus is offering us a completely new way of living, a completely new way of thinking. 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:34.159 Really, it's a it's a new way of being. 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:52.159 And the Bible describes that. 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:59.840 The Bible describes that apart from Jesus, remember, God's judgment falls on us rather than Jesus. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:06.879 Apart from Jesus' atoning work on the cross, remember, we're not birthed into eternally with God. 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:11.600 We're living under a curse, but Jesus Christ came to break the curse. 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:23.919 He loves you and he came for you to break the curse so that you could enter into the kingdom now, not just when you die, but you enter into the operation of the kingdom of God now. 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:34.480 And so he says in verse three that a part of this pathway goes like this: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:39.039 Present tense, the kingdom is now operative for you as a believer. 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:49.279 When we were praying for these children, we were not just taking up space, praying for school administrators and captones, capstone school and their lives. 00:14:49.440 --> 00:14:51.279 No, we're a part of the kingdom of God. 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:54.240 We have access to the reality of the kingdom. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:59.919 But notice what Jesus says: Blessed are the poor in spirit. 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:02.639 Let me tell you about this word poor in the Greek. 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:04.000 It's the Greek word tokas. 00:15:04.720 --> 00:15:10.399 It literally means to shrink, to cower, or to cringe. 00:15:10.960 --> 00:15:12.879 That's counterintuitive. 00:15:13.120 --> 00:15:14.159 But that's what it means. 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:24.080 In fact, if we were to look at this word in classical and Hellenistic Greek, in other words, how's this word used outside the Bible in biblical times? 00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:27.440 Just to kind of enhance, what does that really mean, tokas? 00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:41.679 Well, in classical Greek, the word is used to refer to a person who is reduced to total destitution, or a person who is crouched in a corner begging. 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:42.799 Picture that. 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:45.919 This term did not mean simply poor. 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:49.519 This term meant begging poor. 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:56.080 Many of you know for many decades, Missy and I have served in India. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:06.559 And our my first trip into India, I'd spent a couple of weeks there sharing the gospel and doing some discipleship and planting churches. 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:13.600 My very first trip in India, toward the end of the trip, our host said, I want to take you to a restaurant. 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:15.840 And it's a really special place. 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:24.960 And he began to tell us a little bit about colonialism under British rule and some of the things the British had built in the nation of India. 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:32.159 And he said, We're going to go to an old British hotel in Calcutta called Hotel Oberoy. 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:37.360 And he went on to say, now it's really close to where Mother, at that time, Mother Teresa was still alive. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:44.559 It's really close to where Mother Teresa shares in ministry among uh lepers and among the broken. 00:16:44.720 --> 00:16:48.159 And uh you'll see some of that uh while we're in the area. 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:52.399 So we arrive at Hotel Oberoi for uh a dinner. 00:16:52.559 --> 00:17:02.240 Now, I want you to picture this with me for just a moment because uh let's pretend this is an Indian street right here near where Mother Teresa's work is going on. 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:05.839 And loved ones, Hotel Oberoy sits on that street. 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:19.200 And on this street, men and women and children leaning against Hotel Oberoy, some of them do not have hands, some of them do not have feet or legs because leprosy has taken it. 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:24.400 Poor, poor, dirt poor, begging poor. 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:45.759 So as you're going into the hotel, you literally have adults who are in tattered clothing hanging on them, skin and bones, emaciated, looking at you, going, motioning because they're hungry, they're begging. 00:17:46.240 --> 00:18:00.880 And I can step one foot right here, marble floors, beautiful marble floors, beautiful mahany woods, all kinds of exotic woods that have been carved by craftsmen. 00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:11.519 There's a grand piano in the lobby playing elegantly, these beautiful plants that just adorn everything, just in the right kind of symmetry. 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:19.680 For those who like architecture, it's captivating and the buffet is incredible, but just picture it. 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:22.079 One step right here. 00:18:27.599 --> 00:18:29.279 One step right here. 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:31.519 Incredible luxury. 00:18:34.559 --> 00:18:38.960 The picture I want you to see is what Jesus is describing here. 00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:41.759 Blessed are the poor in spirit. 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:48.559 The term does not mean simply poor, it's begging the poor. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:53.839 No, we need to clean something up. 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:59.359 And what I mean by that, some people have misinterpreted this verse. 00:18:59.920 --> 00:19:07.680 Some people have rendered this verse thinking that Jesus is encouraging material poverty. 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:13.359 And I want to let you know, loved ones, that that is not a correct interpretation of this verse. 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:30.079 If Jesus were advocating material poverty, he would have contradicted other parts of Scripture, and he also would have contradicted what he's about to say in Matthew 5.42, which is where he's teaching us to give alms to the poor. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:43.119 If Jesus was teaching the innate blessedness of material poverty, then the task of every Christian would be to help make everybody penniless, including ourselves. 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:45.839 So let's just validate a bottom line. 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:52.319 Jesus did not teach that material poverty is the pathway to spiritual prosperity. 00:19:52.559 --> 00:20:00.559 The poor in spirit are those who recognize their spiritual poverty apart from God. 00:20:01.279 --> 00:20:12.160 Jesus is speaking of a spiritual poverty that corresponds to the material poverty of those who are tokas, beggars, desperate. 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:44.880 In other words, what Jesus is aiming at for all of us, for me and for you, all of us, is that it is a blessing to see oneself in light of the holiness and grandness and the beauty and the glory of God as one who is lost apart from God, one who is hopeless apart from God, one who is helpless apart from God, one who is empty apart from God, one who is in need of mercy and grace apart from God. 00:20:45.119 --> 00:21:00.640 And apart from Jesus Christ, every person is spiritually destitute, no matter what his or her education, wealth, social status, accomplishments, or religious knowledge. 00:21:00.880 --> 00:21:10.960 The poor in spirit are those who recognize their total spiritual destitution and their complete dependence upon God. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:25.039 They recognize that there are no saving resources in themselves, and their only hope is to ask for mercy and grace in light of what God has done in the person of Jesus Christ. 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:33.359 They know they have no spiritual merit, and they know they can earn no spiritual reward on their own. 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:41.279 Their pride is gone, their self-assurance is gone, they stand empty handed before Almighty God. 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:44.640 They are the personification of these words. 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:52.240 Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. 00:21:53.119 --> 00:21:57.279 This is the point of the first beatitude. 00:21:57.759 --> 00:21:59.759 Church family, this thing permeates me. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.119 All of Scripture. 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:03.119 We don't have time to unpack all that. 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:07.599 Let me just name just a little quick flyover, real quick, Isaiah 66. 00:22:07.759 --> 00:22:10.640 But this is the one upon whom I will look. 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:14.160 He who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:16.160 There's a picture of poverty of spirit. 00:22:16.319 --> 00:22:17.599 Psalm 34, 18. 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:21.200 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, saves the crushed in spirit. 00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:25.759 Again, there's a picture of humility before a holy and loving God. 00:22:26.000 --> 00:22:31.440 Psalm 51, 17, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart. 00:22:31.519 --> 00:22:34.000 Oh God, you will not despise. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:36.160 It's all over the Bible. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:40.079 Loved ones, you may remember one of the parables that Jesus told. 00:22:40.240 --> 00:22:43.200 You remember the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector? 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:44.720 Remember what the Pharisee said? 00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:48.960 I'm going to transliterate it, but you can check the scriptures to see if I'm being faithful or not. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:54.799 The Pharisee says, Lord, I am in church every Sunday, and I tithe. 00:22:55.599 --> 00:22:58.559 And I give alms to the poor. 00:22:58.799 --> 00:23:01.680 You hear the I, I, I in that? 00:23:02.160 --> 00:23:15.039 And then you may remember the other person who's a tax collector who stands before Jesus and says, Oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner. 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:31.119 And Jesus says, there's a contrast between these two, that this man, the tax collector, who's often despised in the world's eyes, walked away right with God, rather than the Pharisee who did all the outward things correctly. 00:23:31.279 --> 00:23:39.519 In other words, what we recognize is the Pharisee was proud in spirit, and the tax collector was poor in spirit. 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:48.480 I have an extended family member that I got into a conversation around some of the dynamics that we're talking about this morning years ago. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:55.359 And when we began talking about what all this means, he responded defensively and he said these words. 00:23:55.519 --> 00:23:57.599 He says, I am a good person. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:00.960 My God's a loving God, and I'm a good person. 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:04.720 Do you realize what he was saying by default? 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:10.319 I don't need God's mercy because I'm a good person. 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:14.799 I don't need God's grace because I'm a good person. 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:20.000 I don't need to be forgiven because I'm a good person. 00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:32.240 Loved ones, that person might check the box when they go in the hospital that their religious preference is Christian, but that is not Christian belief. 00:24:32.720 --> 00:24:39.359 That is the belief of what we would call vague deism, a vague notion of God. 00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:45.279 In other words, what characterizes this person that Jesus is describing? 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:54.000 He a person that knows the blessing from God, flourishing from God, is a person who is poor in spirit. 00:24:54.160 --> 00:24:55.920 By the way, how do you know you're poor in spirit? 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:56.640 Here it is. 00:24:56.880 --> 00:25:04.720 Standing before God, you have nothing to offer, and you know you have nothing to offer. 00:25:05.119 --> 00:25:10.319 You know that it's all on what Jesus Christ did at the cross. 00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:18.480 In his confessions, Augustine makes clear that pride was his great barrier to receiving the gospel. 00:25:18.640 --> 00:25:24.400 He was proud of his intellect, he was proud of his wealth, he was proud of his prestige. 00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:28.720 Until he recognized that those things really were less than nothing. 00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:31.279 Christ could do nothing for him. 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:39.440 This is why Jesus put this as the first beatitude, because humility is the foundation of all of it. 00:25:39.519 --> 00:25:47.119 It's the foundation of every grace you'll experience from God, including saving grace and sanctifying grace. 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:51.599 It is the basic element of becoming a Christian. 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:54.880 Pride has no part in the kingdom of God. 00:25:55.039 --> 00:26:11.599 And until a man or woman surrenders their pride, he or she can't enter the kingdom of God, Jesus said, unless you become like a child, not childish, but unless you become like a child, you can't enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:26:11.759 --> 00:26:17.839 And what that tells us, loved ones, is we cannot be filled until we're empty of ourselves. 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:22.880 We cannot be made worthy until we recognize our own unworthiness. 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:27.119 We can't live until we admit that we are dead. 00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:30.640 Which is what Paul writes about us in Ephesians. 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:35.119 Before you knew Christ, you were dead in your trespasses and sins. 00:26:35.279 --> 00:26:38.000 Spiritual realities, you were indifferent to that. 00:26:38.160 --> 00:26:40.319 You weren't alive in Christ. 00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:44.480 We cannot begin the Christian life without humility. 00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:47.920 We cannot live the Christian life with pride. 00:26:48.160 --> 00:27:03.279 And so until a soul is humbled, until an inner person comes to a place where we reconcile that I am poor in spirit, Christ can never become dear because he's obscured by self. 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:17.920 Until one knows how helpless, how worthless, and how sinful he or she really is, he or she can never see how mighty, how worthy, how glorious Christ is in himself. 00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:26.079 Until one sees how doomed he is, he cannot see what a beautiful redeemer that Jesus is. 00:27:26.240 --> 00:27:32.319 Until one sees his or her own poverty, he cannot see God's riches. 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:42.079 So being poor in spirit is the first beatitude because humility must precede everything else. 00:27:42.720 --> 00:27:44.880 Church, hear this quote from Tim Keller. 00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:58.160 The question this morning is not, are you successful? 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:00.960 The question isn't, are you religious? 00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:04.160 The question is not, are you respected? 00:28:04.559 --> 00:28:05.519 It is this. 00:28:06.480 --> 00:28:10.559 Have you become poor in spirit? 00:28:10.960 --> 00:28:15.119 Have you come to the end of yourself? 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:20.480 Have you stopped trying to justify yourself before God? 00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:30.960 Have you admitted your need for his mercy that he freely gives when a woman or man humbles themselves before God and asks? 00:28:31.279 --> 00:28:34.880 Because the doorway into the kingdom is low. 00:28:35.039 --> 00:28:40.640 It's a place where pride cannot enter, only humility. 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:45.839 This is why Jesus begins in this way Blessed are the poor in spirit. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:56.880 And here's an irony about the first beatitude, because the world says, fill your hands, but Jesus says, empty them, empty them before me. 00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:00.720 The world says to us, believe in yourself. 00:29:00.960 --> 00:29:05.759 But Jesus says, believe on me, depend upon me. 00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:14.319 The world says, Become somebody, but Jesus says, Become a beggar before God. 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:16.400 It's counterintuitive, right? 00:29:16.720 --> 00:29:18.319 So counterintuitive. 00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:28.799 But when you do, you discover that the poorest person in spirit becomes the richest person both now and into eternity. 00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:29.279 Why? 00:29:29.440 --> 00:29:32.400 Because the kingdom of heaven, you've now got act, you've got access. 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:34.960 The kingdom of heaven belongs to them. 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:39.039 You have access in prayer to Almighty God. 00:29:39.119 --> 00:29:43.920 You have access before the throne to the operation of the kingdom. 00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:51.599 You have access in a way that we can intercede for children and intercede for teachers and make a difference in our city. 00:29:51.759 --> 00:30:00.079 You have access to the living God in a way that the Bible declares he becomes your mediator between you and God. 00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:05.359 You have access in a way that you're no longer under judgment and condemnation. 00:30:05.519 --> 00:30:10.720 You have access in a way that your sins are forgiven and you're reconciled to a holy God. 00:30:10.880 --> 00:30:16.720 You have access in a way that even death doesn't have dominion over your life. 00:30:16.880 --> 00:30:23.599 You have access in a way that now, even if you die, you live because Jesus is risen from the dead. 00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:26.240 Loved ones, this is no small matter. 00:30:26.720 --> 00:30:30.400 This means everything. 00:30:30.960 --> 00:30:34.720 So let us come with empty hands. 00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:38.720 Nothing in my hands I bring. 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:42.559 Simply to thy cross I cling. 00:30:43.519 --> 00:30:46.880 Blessed are the poor in spirit. 00:30:47.680 --> 00:30:51.200 Flourishing are the poor in spirit. 00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:55.119 Blissful are the poor in spirit. 00:30:55.519 --> 00:30:58.880 Happy are the poor in spirit. 00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:00.480 In Jesus' name. 00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:01.440 Amen. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:04.000 Let's pray for just a moment. 00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:14.880 Jesus, there's no magic one. 00:31:16.880 --> 00:31:20.240 Suddenly it just a switch is flipped, and we become humble. 00:31:22.160 --> 00:31:24.480 Unless you move upon the heart. 00:31:25.759 --> 00:31:28.640 Unless you revelate over our lives. 00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:33.680 So we pray you take the seeds of your word this morning. 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:39.599 And I I pray Matthew 13 over this gathering. 00:31:40.400 --> 00:31:46.079 There's some hearts that are hard, and the seeds of your word just bounce off. 00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:51.119 And I pray for those hearts, God, that you do a work of softening. 00:31:51.839 --> 00:31:53.839 Soften hearts this morning, God. 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:56.160 Holy Spirit, we need your help. 00:31:57.119 --> 00:31:58.799 Soften hearts. 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:07.599 Pray you minister to places where people have come in today and they're living lives independent of you. 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:09.680 Soften hearts. 00:32:09.920 --> 00:32:18.960 I pray for the person who's become jaded and is questioning if if your way, who you are, and your way really work. 00:32:19.759 --> 00:32:26.400 I pray, God, revelate over that man's heart, over that woman's heart, God. 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:40.000 Lord, I pray for persons that battle worry and anxiety, and it chokes the work of your word in their life. 00:32:40.960 --> 00:32:44.559 And I pray, God, that they would lay anxieties at your feet. 00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:46.960 You said, Cast your anxiety upon me. 00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:48.240 I care for you. 00:32:49.200 --> 00:32:57.279 And I pray for those that battle fear and worry and anxiety this morning, that's choking your word. 00:32:58.160 --> 00:33:00.079 I pray you deliver them. 00:33:01.599 --> 00:33:16.559 Lord, there's some people that the scripture says are deceived by riches, that wealth, comfort has blinded them to their deepest need. 00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:23.039 And I pray, God, that you would lovingly convict the heart. 00:33:23.920 --> 00:33:28.400 Just show them the true riches, eternal riches. 00:33:29.680 --> 00:33:32.319 Cultivate a poverty of heart. 00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:47.839 And then God, I pray for the church that we would learn how to be beggars. 00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:52.400 That we would not be casual with you. 00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:55.200 Help us, Lord. 00:33:58.079 --> 00:34:03.279 Help us to see the poverty of our own spirit. 00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:06.319 Our need for you, God. 00:34:08.000 --> 00:34:16.719 God, I pray you would do this in children, teenagers, college students. 00:34:18.639 --> 00:34:21.039 I pray you do this in fathers. 00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:25.440 Pray you would do this in marriages. 00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:29.840 I pray you would do this in wives. 00:34:31.679 --> 00:34:34.239 Pray that you would do this in grandparents. 00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:37.840 Every generation, God. 00:34:39.679 --> 00:34:47.280 Lord, we pray that you help us not just to hear the word, but for the word to take root in us. 00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:52.000 For the word of God to produce fruit in us. 00:34:53.280 --> 00:35:03.519 So help us as a church, individually individually and collectively, to see our poverty and to beg for mercy. 00:35:03.920 --> 00:35:05.679 To beg for grace. 00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:09.360 In the name and power of Jesus, we pray. 00:35:09.599 --> 00:35:10.239 Amen. 00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:11.199 Amen. 00:35:16.079 --> 00:35:21.280 Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the podcast for Christ Methodist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. 00:35:21.519 --> 00:35:26.079 We pray that today's message has inspired and encouraged you in your walk with Christ. 00:35:26.320 --> 00:35:31.920 To stay connected with our church community, visit us online at ChristchurchMemphis.org. 00:35:32.079 --> 00:35:39.440 We hope to see you this upcoming Sunday for worship as we seek to glorify God and make disciples of Jesus Christ among all peoples.