Title:
The Poor Get a Kingdom
Liturgy
Reading – Matthew 4:12-5:3
Hymn 4:1,2,3,4
Psalm 1:1,2,3
Psalm 84:1,3,6
Psalm 73:1,7,8,9
Psalm 56:
1,4,5
Brothers
and Sisters of the Lord Jesus Christ
This
morning our theme and points are as follows:
The king declares
that the poor get his kingdom
1. The King
3. His kingdom
The
so-called Sermon on the Mount—Matthew 5-7—is one of the best known and yet
least understood passages of scripture. We know the beatitudes: those 8 or 9
proverbs that we find at the beginning of this body of teaching of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Then follow the radical, difficult sayings about turning the
other cheek, giving up ones coat, of love for enemies, about fasting, or
worrying, and narrow and wide gates. There is so much here. Passages we know
and love. But often, many of these sayings of the Lord are a mystery, an
enigma, a riddle. They are not always clear to us. These are the words of the
king to his people. But his kingdom is not of this world. His is the kingdom of
heaven. The kingdom of God… and we so often are of the world.
The
Lord Jesus Christ stands in the middle of the world, the middle of history, and
contradicts the ideas, the mentality of the world. He rejects popular opinion.
He speaks differently. And so when he claimed to be the fulfillment of
prophecy, his own hometown scorned him and cast him out. He was rejected by his
own people. By his own family. His own brothers. They could not stand it that
this local carpenter claimed to preach and teach with authority from heaven.
And he came teaching and preaching of the kingdom of God.
When
the leaders of the community, the Pharisees and the scribes, came walking on to
the scene, and when the common people stood back, impressed by these wealthy,
well-dressed, knowledgeable, influential men, then Jesus said to them: “You are
white-washed graves.” When he had an opportunity to eat and drink with the rich
and famous, the powerful, the important, he rather turned away and sought out
the hated tax-collector, the prostitute, the sinner, and spoke to them the
words of salvation and of free grace. When he walked into the temple and saw
the wealthy wheeler-dealers selling livestock for the sacrifices and exchanging
foreign coin for temple currency, he was not impressed. He made a whip out of a
piece of rope. He chased everyone out. He said: “You are thieves, robbers! Get
out of my Father’s house! Get out now!”
The
Lord Jesus often spoke and acted in startling ways. He often took an unexpected
approach to people and situations. We find the same in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew
5-7). Here too he contradicted common opinion. He rejected popular practice. He
contrasted his teaching with that of the theology profs. He criticized the
behaviour of the smug and wealthy. He disagreed with the opinions and values of
the world. And he taught with authority. When a Jewish Rabbi or teacher read
the scripture, he stood. But when he taught he sat down. You can find that as
well in Luke 4. The Lord reads from Isaiah and then he sits down to teach.
So
also the Lord went up a mountain and sat down to teach. The crowds were there
as were his disciples. In the previous chapter, we read how the Lord had
performed many miracles. Great crowds followed him. They were coming from all
over. They poured in from every direction to experience healing or to witness
this great wonder. Matthew watches as they stream in from all over. Judea and
Jerusalem in the south. From Galilee in the north. From the Decapolis, a Greek
province to the North East. From across the Jordan. From all over they come.
They came, drawn to this new teacher in Israel. From all the lands that God had
given to his people through Moses and Joshua. From North and South and from
across the Jordan. All sorts of people. All Israel. And many people.
It is
as if he pulls the crowds along. They are anticipating something. He leads them
to a mountain. And here we have allusions to a second Moses. Moses had led the
people out of Egypt, with mighty signs and wonders, through the water, through
the wilderness, to the Promised Land. And here too the Lord Jesus has been
called from Egypt (Matt 2:14), been through the water at baptism (Matt 3:16),
through the wilderness tempted by the devil (4:1), and now the people from all
over the promised land come to him to hear him (4:25), to see his mighty signs
and wonders. The Lord Jesus Christ came to some unnamed mountain. The Scribes
and teachers of the Law sat in Moses seat. The Lord has his own. He speaks with
authority. And his disciples come to him for instruction.
And
then Matthew gives full weight to Jesus words. He could hardly express it in
more forceful words. Literally we could translate: “And he opened his mouth and
taught them, saying…” It is as if he
has sat down, the disciples and the crowd gathered round. Silence fell on the
hillside. And before he begins to speak, all is quiet. Important things are
going to be said. This is not just any beginning. This is not just any speech.
This is not just any sermon. Now, now is the time to listen. This is instruction
for all kinds of people. It is not instruction for just a few. “And he opened
his mouth and taught them, saying…”
And
nor is this just a take it or leave advice session. No. The Lord Jesus Christ
wants to be surrounded by disciples and followers. By all Israel. And every
listener must learn how to become a good disciple. But how does this work? How
can this happen? Then we hear the Sermon on the Mount. And before we begin to
work our way through it—for that is our plan for the next while—before we begin
to work through these chapters, we need to understand a few things about them.
We
cannot understand the parts without understanding the whole. We cannot
understand the part on turning the other cheek without understanding where it
fits in the whole. We cannot understand the part about forgiveness without
understanding the whole. And we must understand this about the whole. The Sermon
on the Mount is meant for all Christian people. For each one of us. It is a
perfect picture of the life in the kingdom of God. That kingdom that is
essentially in each one of Jesus disciples. Those who follow him. The kingdom,
the reign of the king, is primarily that which is within us. It is that which
governs the heart and controls the heart and mind and outlook of life. In Jesus
the kingdom of God had come. It is in our midst. For the kingdom of God is his
rule over our lives. It is not some place. It is God’s sovereignty over you. By
his Spirit and Word he rules over his people.
You
cannot say of the Sermon on the Mount, live like this and you will be a
Christian. Rather, it is like this, because by God’s grace you are a
Christian, live like this. This is how Christians are meant to live. This
is how we ought to live. Because of God’s grace. Because of his rule. Because
of his Word. The Sermon on the Mount is not just a set of rules or laws to
follow. It is a description of a way of life. It describes what Jesus Christ
wants his people to be like, as his Spirit and Word work renewal and
restoration. The Sermon on the Mount describes a man, a woman, a disciple of
the Lord Jesus who is being renewed and transformed by grace. The Sermon on the Mount is not some ethical
or moral code, some new law to obey. No, it is the description of those who
live under the gracious kingship of Christ. Who are blessed in his covenant.
Who know the Lord Jesus. Who are his disciples and who follow him closely, not
at a distance like Peter who denied his Lord.
And
then we begin to understand better why then should we try to live this way Why
we should study this sermon. The Lord Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior, died
so that you could. He died that we might live this way. The Apostle Paul writes
in Titus 2: He gave himself for us, to redeem us from all wickedness and to
purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. He
died that we might be eager to live the Sermon on the Mount.
We
must also understand that these words of the Lord Jesus show me the absolute
need for regeneration. For new birth. And then the opening verses of this sermon
of Jesus’ crush me to the ground. They confront me with the absolute need to be
born again. They expose my utter helplessness. These words, this teaching of
the Lord, exposes my need, gives me hope, grants me grace.
Another
reason to study this Sermon on the Mount is that those who learn it, and love
it, and then live it, are truly blessed. Face this sermon of Jesus’. Let its
demands confront you. Let its implications confound you. Let its simplicity
surround you. Let us all do that, as God’s new Israel. As his new people. Take
these words of Jesus seriously. They are life or death to us. But we need to
move on yet this morning. For what kind of things does this sermon of Jesus’
cover.
Blessed. We need to turn
our attention to the first word. The word: Blessed. Blessed are… Each of
the beatitudes opens with this word: Blessed. So it is essential for us to know
what this word means. We will return to it each time we take up one of the
beatitudes. Blessed. Often, in many commentaries, in Study Bible notes, in
translations this word is said to mean, “Happy”. Happy are the meek, the
mourners, the peacemakers, the persecuted etc. But happiness is an internal
subjective thing. It describes how we feel. Our own emotion. But to be blessed,
is to receive something from God. It means to receive approval from God. To
receive grace from God. This is covenantal language. The blessing of the
covenant come to God’s people. And God’s people, by his grace and Holy Spirit
are meek, poor, gentle, they are peacemakers, and often persecuted. So the Sermon
on the Mount begins with what we know as the beatitudes. The
blessings — that is what beatitude means, “blessing.” The people of God thus
described are blessed people: blessed citizens. A people to whom the Lord says,
“Good and faithful servants, enter into my rest.
The
world says: “Blessed are the go-getters. Blessed are those who grab every
opportunity that comes their way. They’ll get somewhere in life.” The Lord
says: “No. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” The world says: “You’ve got to be a little
ruthless. You’ve got to look out for yourself. Who cares about the next guy? Step
on him if you must. Who cares whose hands you trample as you climb the ladder
of success. Just look out for yourself.
Look out for number one.” The Lord says: “Blessed are the merciful, for
they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are those who look out for others.” The world
says: “Happy are the party animals. If you know how to have a good time in
life, to make the most of it, to party non-stop, you’ll be happy.” Jesus says: “Blessed are the pure - the pure
in heart, for they shall see God.”
The
Lord Jesus teaches us something different from the world’s wisdom and common
sense. We see this contrast already right in the opening words of his
sermon. Here the Lord says: “Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
But
whoever heard of that - poor people getting a kingdom? How can it be that poor people are blessed. And
notice that the Lord does not say, “The poor will be blessed later.” He does
not say, “The poor in spirit will be happy later.” He says, “Blessed are the
poor in spirit, now!” Why? “Because the theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Imagine that!
The
world says: “Blessed are the rich, the intelligent, the influential; they get
the kingdoms, the power and the glory.”
But God doesn’t work the way the world does. Jesus says: “The poor - the
poor in spirit - the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.” In the kingdom of
heaven, paupers become princely people. Beggars become kings and queens.
Whoever heard of that? But the wisdom of God is wiser than men. Even the foolishness
of God is wiser than men’s wisdom. For God grants good gifts to whom he will.
This
is the message that he Lord brought as he preached in the synagogues. His
program was to preach liberty to captives, sight to the blind He came to
announce the acceptable year of the Lord: the year of Jubilee. He came to
preach, to preach good news to the poor. The Lord Jesus said in Luke 4, quoting
from Isaiah, that he had come to preach good news to the poor. He came to
evangelize the poor. We have the same here today. Blessed are the poor, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The poor in spirit that is.
God
is the one who blesses. It is he who grants good things and goodness. And that
blessing comes in the message that the Lord Jesus brings. It comes with the
good news that he is preaching. And what is he preaching? Repent for the
kingdom of God is at hand! Turn your life around! The kingdom of God is coming!
So
what does it mean to be poor in spirit? When the Lord spoke of a poverty in
spirit, he was not speaking first of all of material poverty. He was not
speaking about not having any food, clothing, or a roof over your head. Poverty
in itself does not open up the way into the kingdom of heaven. Nowhere does the
Bible say that it is more spiritual to be poor than to be wealthy. Nowhere does
it say that God loves you more if you have less material possessions. Nowhere
does the Bible teach that the poor are closer to the kingdom of heaven than the
rich simply because they are poor. Yes, the Bible does warn the rich and
wealthy repeatedly not to place their trust in their earthly possessions which
are all going to be destroyed on the last day. We can learn that from some of
the parables of the Lord Jesus. We can
learn that from the Psalms. But scripture does not teach that there is a
spiritual advantage to being poor. Poverty does not guarantee spirituality.
Neither does poverty guarantee salvation. Many have denounced property and
material possessions thinking that then they were more deserving of God’s
blessings. But this is not the case. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s
blessings. For blessing from God is undeserved. God does not look around and
say, “Oh, there those poor people there, I will bless them with blessings, just
because they have so little.” This is what the modern liberation theology
teaches. God is on the side of the poor and oppressed. It is true that God
hates oppression. He hates inequity in the dealings of men. He desires mercy
and kindness and humility. But being poor or oppressed or persecuted does not
in itself open the way to heaven. Those things do not guarantee blessing or
happiness.
It is
only the blood of Jesus Christ—his sacrifice on the cross—that gains us
admission into the kingdom of heaven. It is only when we embrace Christ in true
faith that we find ourselves inside the kingdom. Jesus Christ said that the
kingdom of heaven belongs to those who are poor
in spirit. The poor in spirit are those who tremble when they stand before
God. They say with Isaiah, “I am undone.” The poor in spirit are those who
realize that their hands are empty when they come to God. That they have
nothing to offer God. People who are poor in spirit are the humble, the
downcast, those truly sorry for their sins.
A
person who is poor in spirit may be a very confident person. He might be a very
self-assured business man. There is nothing wrong with that. He might be a
skilled craftsman who applies his talents and abilities with confidence. That’s
good. Someone who is poor in spirit may be a wife, a mother who confidently and
with quiet pride prepares a wonderful meal for her family or is a hostess at a
gathering of friends. She may be a teacher or a nurse who is sure about her
training and her talents and does the job with full awareness of her abilities
and with great satisfaction. People who are poor in spirit may be fine
musicians, great athletes, and know that they are. They might be excellent
university students. And who do what they’re good at with vigor and joy. But they
also might be the quiet, the unassuming, the shy and awkward. The poor in
spirit may not have a prominent place in the church or community. They might be
withdrawn and quiet in the crowd. They may feel they have few gifts and talents
with which to work.
But
all of these people: the talented, gifted, competent, capable, skillful,
qualified, able, proficient, confident and self-assured; the shy, awkward,
unassuming, quiet… if they are poor in spirit, they tremble when they stand
before God. When they come into the presence of God, they look at their hands,
and they see that they are empty. When they come before God, they realize that
they are poor, that they are destitute beggars. Whether we are rich or poor,
talented or not, self-assured or lacking self-confidence, we are all poor
beggars in the presence of God.
When
we face God, our self-confidence dissolves. In the presence of the holy God, we
feel nothing but a sense of utter poverty of spirit. We recognize that we are
in deep trouble. Why? Because of our sins and sinfulness. We realize that we
have no excuses to make. We cannot save ourselves. We just look to God for
salvation. But at the same time we recognize that we have no lawful claim to
salvation. We realize that God owes us nothing. The word “poor” which the Lord
Jesus used here refers to the poorest of the poor. A completely destitute
beggar. That’s what we are. We must realize that. We must admit that we are
spiritually bankrupt. We must become conscious of our sin, our misery, our lack
of any natural redeeming qualities. We have nothing of ourselves to offer to
God. We can only stand before God, lift up our empty hands and say: “Lord, have
mercy; Lord, save us.” “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner!” How many of us have
this attitude? This deep sense of their poverty before God? Of our guilt and
our need for grace? Do we do that? Do you do that? Or do you look at so and so
and say, “What a sinner he is, I am glad I’m no so bad.” To you I say, “Read
the parable of the tax collector and the Pharisee in Luke 18.”
The
Lord Jesus came as a teacher. He sat down and taught his disciples and the
crowds. They too, were being called to be disciples. The blessedness of the
kingdom, the happiness of the kingdom is for those who come to the Lord, aware
of their poverty and plead on his promise of blessing.
Such
an attitude pleases God. In Isaiah 57:15 we read how the prophet tells us what the
Lord God says. “For this is what the high and lofty One says- he who lives
forever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with
him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and
to revive the heart of the contrite.’” And then we resist. By nature we want to reject the idea that we
must admit absolute poverty. But we must not resist. Rather, think about the
poverty of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was poor in spirit. Humble and meek. But
his poverty was a self-imposed poverty. When he appeared in the likeness of
men, he had to empty himself of his glory and riches. He became poor for us. Our
poverty is natural. We are born with it. Mankind has been impoverished since he
fell into sin. But our Lord took poverty upon himself. He willingly embraced
it. He embraced poverty, humility, and total dependence upon someone else. He
was the eternal Son of God, God himself. But he did not clutch at the glory of
being God. He gave it up. He came to earth in the form of a man. He became a
man, one of us. And all the while that he was upon the earth, he depended upon
God his Father. In John 5:19 Jesus said: “Jesus gave them this answer: ‘I
tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he
sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.’” He was utterly dependent upon the Father.
That’s why he spent hours in prayer - because of his self-imposed poverty.
Because he had emptied himself. Why did he empty himself? Why did he become
poor and dependent? For the salvation
of man. As Paul wrote in 2 Cor. 8:9: “For you know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so
that you through his poverty might become rich.”
Those
who believe in Jesus Christ are rich. He makes his people a princess, a prince,
all because he became a pauper. He did it all. He emptied himself—he gave himself up—to the point where he died on the
cross. In humility. In weakness. In poverty. He went to the cross with empty
hands. And those hands were nailed to the cross. Look to Jesus Christ. You too
will receive the kingdom of heaven. We look only the cross of Christ.
Nothing in my hand I bring.
Simply to Thy cross I cling.
And
then with those hands that had been nailed to the cross he now blesses his
church and his people. And he says to those who come with broken contrite hearts, “Yours is the kingdom… You will inherit the
kingdom.” This is what we can read in Colossians 1. There Paul writes that we
are to thank the Father who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the
saints. We are not qualified in our selves. It is not what we bring. It is what
the father gives. And what has he done? He has delivered us from the dominion
of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his Beloved Son. Transferred
us to the kingdom! Even now already. Those who are poor in spirit… those who
are truly sorry for sins, they are already inheritors with the saints,
transferred into the kingdom of his Son.
This
is for the poor in spirit. The Heidelberg Catechism in Lord's Day 33 tells us
that repentance, true repentance, that repentance to which the Lord Jesus calls
his people consists of this. To grieve with heartfelt sorrow that we have
offended God by our sin. AND — note carefully — and more and more
to hate sin and flee from it.” But there is more.... It is also a heartfelt joy
in God through Christ. AND — note carefully — it is a love and delight
to live according to the will of God in all good works. That is the measure
of the poor in spirit. True sorrow for sins — but joy for what we have in
Christ. It is a resolve to hate sin and run away from it and a resolve and a
love for living according to God’s commandments. That is what it means to be
poor in spirit.
Examine
yourself, are you poor in spirit? Do you have this attitude? The attitude of
the man of Psalm 1? The man who does not walk with the wicked, nor stand with
sinners, nor sit with scoffers, but who delights to do the will of God? Strive
for that. Realize that you are no position to bring anything at all to God that
he should pay you back.
In
Rev 3:15 we can read the words of the Lord Jesus. He says to the church at
Laodicea, “I know your deeds, that
you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So,
because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of
my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.'
But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.”
Earlier
the Lord said to the church at Symrna — “I know your tribulation and your
poverty (but you are rich)...” Persecution
was coming for that church but the Lord encouraged them and said, “Be
faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
This
is what he counseled that lukewarm church also... Buy from me, he said, “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in
the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover
your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see…” He who
conquers, Christ will grant to sit with him on his throne, as he himself
conquered and sat upon his Father’s throne. This is the kingdom of God. This is
what Christ has obtained for his people. He did so with his precious blood. By
his death and resurrection. This is what he obtained for you and me. Not that
we should be rich in ourselves. With our own deeds, our own life. But that we
should be rich in him. And he will grant to his own the crown of life in his
kingdom. For there is the kingdom.
Amen.