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Make Us Gentle And Lowly In Heart

Sunday, September 15, 2024
Pastor Jojo Ma

 

1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”

Why do you admire this person? What is it about this person that is so admirable and worthy of your respect?

As we study the first three beatitudes, Jesus is not teaching how to be saved or how to enter the kingdom of heaven by possessing certain godly qualities.

I.  Be Poor in Spirit [vv1-3]
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

The Latin word ‘beatus’ means ‘blessed’. The Greek word is ‘makarios’, which is translated as ‘blessed’ or ‘happy’.

D.A. Carson: “To be ‘blessed’ means, fundamentally, to be approved, to find approval...When God blesses man, he is approving man; and that is always an act of condescension.”

John Stott: “It is seriously misleading to render ‘makarios’ as ‘happy’. For happiness is a subjective state, whereas Jesus is making an objective judgment about these people. He is declaring not what they may feel like (‘happy’), but what God thinks of them and what on that account they are: they are ‘blessed’.”

2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

But notice that Jesus says that blessedness doesn’t begin with what we have but with who we are. In other words, Jesus says that real blessedness, biblical happiness, comes from what’s inside (character), not from the outside (possessions or things).

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

So the “poor in spirit” is a person who recognizes his or her spiritual poverty and bankruptcy apart from God, his complete dependence upon God, her desperate need of God’s grace and mercy at all times.

“Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling; Naked, come to Thee for dress; Helpless, look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; Wash me, Savior, or I die.”

John Calvin: “He only who is reduced to nothing in himself, and relies on the mercy of God, is poor in spirit.”

D.A. Carson: “Poverty of spirit is a full, honest, factual, conscious, and conscientious recognition before God of personal moral unworth. It is the deepest form of repentance.”

Church, do you confess your need of God’s mercy and grace each day?

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

What is meant by “the kingdom”? Scripture uses this phrase in two ways: a general, universal sense and a specific, particular sense.

In the Sermon on the Mount, not everyone enters the kingdom of heaven, but only those who are born again, those poor in spirit, those persecuted for righteousness’ sake, those who have life in Christ. In other words, those who are followers of Jesus the Christ. The kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven in the Sermon on the Mount, is given to those who have the life of God in them.

John MacArthur: “Jesus puts this beatitude first because humility is the foundation of all other graces, a basic element in becoming a Christian. Pride has no part in Christ’s kingdom, and until a person surrenders pride he cannot enter the kingdom. The door into His kingdom is low, and no one who stands tall will ever go through it. We cannot be filled until we are empty, we cannot live until we admit we are dead...Until a soul is humbled, until the inner person is poor in spirit, Christ can never become dear, because He is obscured by self...until one sees his own poverty, He cannot see God’s riches.”

Tim Keller: “The essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less...A truly gospel-humble person is not a self-hating person or a self-loving person, but a self-forgetful person.”

II.  Be Mournful [v4]
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Jesus is speaking about a very particular kind of mourning. He isn’t talking about the sorrow of bereavement or loss of a loved one; rather, Jesus is commending the sorrow of repentance, one that flows from the ‘begging’ poor in spirit.

Is 6:1-5 1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 5 And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

Jam 4:8-10 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

But here’s the good news, here’s the encouragement for this kind of person who mourns over his sin and over humanity’s sin: he will be comforted. This blessed person knows his Savior. This approved person knows God’s forgiveness. And what comfort and joy that is.

Rev 21:4 [God] will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

III.  Be Meek [v5]
5 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

To be meek is to humbly fear God, to demonstrate strength under control, and to seek the good of others above oneself. The meek man is truly a “gentle-man”.

Joseph showed strength under control, and he used it for the good of others, not for himself. He showed love and forgiveness toward them, and he knew it was God who would judge, not him.

Gen 50:19-20 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

“The mark of meekness is not the absence of assertiveness. It is the absence of self-assertion and self-elevation...We must learn how to use our strength for others, not ourselves...that is the way of Christ.”