Route 90: Poor in Spirit

Route 90
3ci is on our third week of a ninety day reading plan through the New Testament. It has been exciting to open my Bible and know that what I'm going to read is the same thing everyone else in the church is reading that day. We are together listening to God, getting deeper into a knowledge of Him through the power that is His word.

The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces

Psalm 119:72

We are learning to value, enjoy and absorb the things He has said to us!

The Sermon on the Mount
Today we read Matthew chapters 5 - 7 - known as Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. (Holla at my Red Point peeps who are doing a whole series through the Sermon on the Mount.)
When Mahatma Gandhi was asked what text he would carry with him if he could only carry one written piece, out of all of literature Gandhi replied, the Sermon on the Mount. I would like to reflect on one verse out of these very potent 3 chapters.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, minister of Westminster Chapel, taught through the Sermon on the Mount and these preaches were transcribed into a book of 600 pages. One of my favourite chapters was on Matthew 5:2:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for their's is the kingdom of heaven.

Two things first:
1. The word "blessed" in the Amplified version of the Bible is expounded like this:

"happy, to be envied, spiritually prosperous, with life-giving joy and satisfaction in God's favour and salvation regardless of their outward conditions."

and this may be read the same for all of the Beatitudes (verse 2 - 11 beginning with 'blessed').
2.Sometimes when reading through the Beatitudes, it's easy to ascribe them to someone else - ag shame, that one mourning, she will be comforted. Actually, the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus' painting of the ideal Christian, with the Beatitudes being 8 descriptions that should always and increasingly apply to us. (This is such a good thing; I would like the meaning of 'blessed' to apply to me!)

Poor in Spirit
Poor in spirit in the Amplified version of the Bible is expounded as:

the humble, who rate themselves as insignificant.

I'm not sure why this picture is here.
 But it is cool like you.

The following are quotes from Martyn Lloyd-Jones about this verse:

• it at once condemns every idea of the Sermon on the Mount which thinks of it in terms of something that you and I can do ourselves. It condemns at the very outset the view which regards the Sermon on the Mount as a program for man to put into operation immediately, just as he is.

• What are Lord is concerned about here is the spirit: in other words, it is ultimately a man's attitude towards himself.

• If one feels anything in the presence of God saw an utter poverty of spirit, it ultimately means you have never faced Him.

• to be 'poor in spirit' does not mean you were born like that.

• The man who is poor in spirit need not worry so much about his personal appearance and the impression he makes, he always gives the right impression.

• Jesus became a man, He took upon Him, 'the likeness of sinful flesh.' Though He was equal to god, He did not clutch at the prerogatives of His Godhead. He decided that while He was here on earth He would live as a man, though He was still God, and this was the result. He said, "I can do nothing of myself." It is the God-man speaking. "I can do nothing of myself." He said also, "The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does His works." i.e."I can do do nothing, I am utterly dependent upon Him. That is it. And look at His prayer life. It is as you watch Him praying and realize the hours spent in prayer that you see His poverty of Spirit and His reliance upon God. ...

• That then is what is meant by being poor in Spirit. It means a complete absence of pride, a complete absence of self-assurance,of self-reliance. It means a consciousness that we are nothing in the presence of God.

• If we are truly Christian, we shall not rely upon our natural birth...we shall not believe in and rely upon our natural position in life... we shall not rely on our own morality and conduct and good behaviour. We shall not bank to the slightest extent on the life we have lived or are trying to live,

• How does one become poor in spirit? The answer is that you do not look at yourself or begin by trying to do things yourself.

• The way to become poor in spirit is to look at God...read His law ... contemplate standing before Him.

In light of what God is wanting to do with 3ci, for us to wait and receive the Holy Spirit, I would ask us to go on our knees and let Him make us poor in spirit.

Please add your thoughts!