First Beatitude

" Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven " ( Matthew 5:3 ). Jesus began His sermon with this statement because it's the key to all the others. For centuries the Jewish people had relied on their own spiritual integrity to fulfill the law of Moses. The problem is after sin entered the world that feat became impossible. The laws were given by God through Moses to bring mankind to the understanding that humans possess no inherent goodness of their own, and they have no ability to draw close to a Holy God apart from perfection ( Romans 7 ). Jesus gives His listeners the keys to the kingdom with this first statement, by prescribing the only means by which the spirit of man can be revived. To be "poor in spirit " one must admit their own utter spiritual destitution. They must be broken and contrite over the realization that they possess absolutely nothing to commend themselves to the Father and have no right to His kingdom. The poor in spirit feel a deep sense of spiritual destitution and comprehend their nothingness before God. The kingdom of heaven is theirs because they seek it and, therefore, find and abide in it. This virtue is opposed to the pride of the Pharisee, which caused him to thank God that he was not like other men and to despise and reject the kingdom of heaven. There must be emptiness before there can be fullness, so poverty of spirit precedes riches and grace in the kingdom of God. What is Poverty of Spirit? It is a sense of powerlessness in ourselves. It is a sense of spiritual bankruptcy and helplessness before God. It is a sense of moral uncleanness before God. It is a sense of personal unworthiness before God. It is a sense that if there is to be any life or joy or usefulness, it will have to be all of God and all of grace. The reason I say it is a sense of powerlessness and a sense of bankruptcy and a sense of uncleanness and a sense of unworthiness is that, objectively speaking, everybody, whether they accept it or not, everyone is poor in spirit. The question then becomes will they depend on the forgiveness and grace of our God and Father or their own self-righteousness. King David in Psalms 51:17 said " The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit and a contrite heart, O God thou wilt not despise." David did not yield to the impulses of self esteem. Instead, he was carried away by the impulses of sovereign grace. The biblical antidote to low self esteem is not high self esteem ; it is sovereign grace ! The only people who will ever come to Jesus Christ are those who know they are spiritually and morally crippled. And so we must all understand just who we really are. We are dreadful sinners with no hope apart from the grace and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ! Only when we accept our helplessness and hopelessness and filthyness before a Holy God can we realize that we truly are poor in spirit. My brothers and sisters I pray that we all will begin to see ourselves as we truly are, and put a new face on our humility and our desperate need for our God and Savior Jesus Christ ! I love you all, and will not fail to mention you in my prayers. May God bless you and lead you in all truth and wisdom.