The Miracle of Life Change Bible Study will begin Sunday, Nov 16th at 9:15AM before service. Bring your Bible. You can get the study book at the first meeting.

This will be a video series where we watch some lessons on DVD and then discuss study guide questions. For more information on this study, go to
Miracle of Life Change by Chip Ingram .

There will be a Potluck immediately following the service. Bring a dish, pop, dessert, or chips. Following the potluck will be a kickoff The Truth Project, which is a video series. After Sunday, The Truth Project Study will be done on Sunday afternoons and Wednesday evenings at the Schiefelbeins.  To learn about what The Truth Project is all about, go to thetruthproject.org. For more information on meeting times and places call Al or Liz Schiefelbein at 372-5550.

Micah Jasperson will be getting Baptized on Sunday, Oct 26 at 2PM at the mouth of the Brule River. Please share in this special time.

There will be a fire going to gather around after the Baptism.

A bunch of us will be helping to cut and stack firewood at Cathy McGovern’s house on Saturday, Oct 4, at 9AM.  Bring a chainsaw if you have one, gloves, and a strong back! You can help for as little as an hour, or stay for the expected 3 hours it will take. Call 372-8593 for directions.

There will be a volleyball night at the Sells on Friday, Sept 26th, beginning at 5:30 PM with a pot luck picnic style dinner. Bring a dish to pass around and maybe a bottle of pop.

Kids invited too - lots of playground stuff for them.

The Sells live right next to the Oulu Glass Gallery.

Matthew 5:1-12 Read
someone to ask you- what does it mean to live as a Christian?
What’s the Christian life all about?
the sermon on the mount would make for a good starting place…

Because in it Jesus teaches in direct ways…and with authority… saying “This is how God wants you to live.” & “These are the characteristics of people who are in the place of God’s favor.”

Sometimes Jesus uses comparisons….
“You’ve heard this…but this is really how God sees it.”
Or “You’ve seen some people doing this, but don’t be that way-
this is really how you should be..”
And Jesus often made promises that if you do things God’s way…
He’ll reward you…or He’ll bless You.

We’re in the place where Jesus began, the beatitudes-
where Jesus names some inward quality, or outward practice,
& says…If you do this or possess this……you’re bless-ed,
meaning you’re in the place of God’s special favor.
———————————————————–
Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the mount has been called counter-cultural
meaning it goes against the mind-set of world we live in…
if that’s true, we should see & hear a whole different school-of- thought..
that teaches basically the opposite of what Jesus teaches in sermon on the mount.
what Jesus says is good, others would say, “That’s what you should avoid”
what Jesus calls not-so-good, others would take offense at His criticism.

Jesus begins with the word- bless-ed-
• abcould argue not a word, or idea our world is comfortable with.
Bless-ed suggests the good you’re enjoying comes from someone else, ultimately God.
When that God is the God of the Bible who is merciful to us, & will ultimately hold us accountable for the lives we’ve been given some don’t agree with the idea of being bless-ed….

Began… bless-ed are the poor in spirit.
I don’t think the world genuinely agrees with that.
Idea of being morally bankrupt before God-
Romans 7:18 apostle Paul saying…
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;

Good self﷓esteem is important because it helps you to hold your head high and feel proud of yourself and what you can do. It gives you the courage to try new things and the power to believe in yourself. It lets you respect yourself, even when you make mistakes.
Self-respect is the Opposite of poor in spirit.
poor in spirit is about saying: God some of my mistakes have been pretty ugly morally-
and Poor in spirit means we believe Jesus when He said-
“I am the vine you are the branches, he who abides in Me & I in him bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.”
So saying it’s good to be poor in spirit goes against what the world buys into
———————————-
Jesus said we’re bless-ed if we Mourn-
argue, the world doesn’t genuinely agree with that.
Sure life has it’s times of sorrow, but it’s better to always have a positive outlook on things..
Because if you think positively,…
you will feel more confident, happy, motivated, you’ll have more energy and you’ll be unstoppable.

Scripture says there’s a spiritual blessing that comes in seeing the world as God does, that something’s been lost in our world because of sin-
& loss in our own lives because of sin.
& a sense of loss knowing God’s told us the answer to the sin problem is repentance: a change of mind that leads to a change in actions.
And there are people who flat out say “no”
and there’s times sin gets the better of us.
And that should cause us to mourn- and God’s promise is to comfort us..
———————————–
Then we come to the blessed of verse 5-
blessed are the Meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Maybe the best cliched examples of the world looking-down-on meekness come from Hollywood-
a common storyline has some meek withdrawn nerd, with tape on his glasses, who’s afraid to take risks in life, and has the meaningless life to prove it.
& then the music starts & he begins to come out of his shell, & takes risks and takes on adventures & finally arrives in living a life worth living.
The dad in back to the future

meek people miss out on life because they don’t make their own opportunities.
They don’t take what’s theirs, and they don’t guard their turf.
being meek means you don’t mind being the nice guy who finishes last.
& being Meek means you don’t have the courage to take risks in life.

From what I understand scripture to say..
Being Meek is foremost about being subject to God.
that’s a good way of isolating what true meekness is. Or wether a person is genuinely meek or not. Are they subject to God?

Some people naturally seem more withdrawn or reflective or gentle or shy…
That isn’t the kind of meekness Jesus is talking about.

All the beatitudes including meekness don’t become a part of our character because we will to do them…
They become a part of our character as the Holy Spirit changes us from within.

“To preach the sermon on the mount apart from the cross is to preach an impossibility.” Oswald Chambers.

these qualities Jesus lists are qualities we should understand as coming from the Holy Spirit.
Quality of Meekness is foremost about being subject to God.
The opposite of meekness is selfishness in an aggressive way-
typified by guys like Nimrod or Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar much of his life-
the Anti-christ.

being meek means you believe Psalm 119:68 when it says of God…
You are good & You do good…
& because you know God is good you don’t challenge Him, or resist Him.
Meekness means you’re willing & able to trust God to defend you in His timing.
& that He’s the One who can right any injustice you might have to endure.

Daniel 3 Shadrach Meshach Abed-nego, trusted God to deliver them.
Matthew 5:38﷓44 some of the details of meekness in action
38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
The standard of equality in the law.-
39 “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
Read Romans 13:4 understand Not a standard for governments & their law enforcement agencies-
but our attitude when someone comes after us, not a first reaction of retaliation,
David with Saul-
40 “If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.
41 “And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.
42 “Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
44 “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,
a meek person does these things because he or she trusts God.

Good defn meekness is: strength under control.
Like A lion that’s been tamed.

There is the mistake in thinking Christianity is about always being a nice guy Never disagreeable, always smiling-
& in reaction to the Christian nice-guy mentality, probably always been a voice in the church, that says…
Christianity isn’t about always being a nice guy-
it’s about Jesus calling us to radically follow God.

John Eldridge : Wild at heart
says “yes we need to be tamed or meek, but don’t forget God made us with a strength to live in. And an adventure that God calls us to that goes with being in His kingdom.”

Erwin McMannus wrote a more recent book- encourage us in same kind of boldness.
The title doesn’t sound very meek… The Barbarian way. Unleash the untamed faith within.
The Barbarian Way is a call to escape “civilized” Christianity and become original, powerful, untamed Christians﷓just as Christ intended.
He says…
“I want to destroy the influence of the Christian cliché ‘the safest place to be is in the center of the will of God,’”
I think I know what he means-
that doing God’s will isn’t necessarily going to mean being safe & secure.
It didn’t mean that for Jesus or the apostles,
Careful in how we take some of what’s said:
‘When an opponent beheads one barbarian, he better be prepared, for we will return in force….We need to move together as God’s people, a barbarian tribe …. There’s a future to be created.’”
• absounds like the stuff Christian militia’s are made of-
Barbarian: one belonging to a people of relatively uncivilized culture and typically destructive tendencies.
barbarism: an act trait or custom characterized by brutality or coarseness.

“Somewhere along the way the movement of Jesus Christ became civilized as Christianity,” he writes. “We created a religion using the name of Jesus Christ and convinced ourselves that God’s optimal desire for our lives was to insulate us in a spiritual bubble where we risk nothing, sacrifice nothing, lose nothing, worry about nothing.

If we’re truly meek, subject to God..God will bring us into risky things:
Proverbs 28:1
….. the righteous are bold as a lion.
Meekness means we’re willing to do what God says & trust Him to defend us.

The keynote speaker at some recent prayer breakfast, was Hollywood producer Mark Joseph,
quoted a recent cover article in Christianity Today …that said:
“In premodern times, the courage of a leader often had to be physical. In the last 500 years it is more often moral. Moral courage is the ability to do what’s right even when it is deeply unpopular, even dangerous. Courage is only found where there is the genuine possibility of loss – loss of friends, reputation, status, power, possessions or, at the extremes, freedom or life.”
Meekness means you have a strength that’s being controlled, willing to stand up for God & trust Him to defend you, & work out His good plans for you without you having to help Him out in making it happen.
ex: Abraham with Lot,
Genesis 13 account of Abraham separating from Lot.
The trouble was they were both too prosperous, & too many animals wanting to graze on the same land, & their herdsman were getting irritated by it.

God had told Abraham, I’m giving you the land that you’re on.
Lot was a tag-a-long. Lot was also Abraham’s younger relative.
Son of his brother.
Abraham was also pretty rich, & he could have matter of fact-ly put Lot in his place. But he didn’t…
Gensis 13:8﷓9
8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren.
9 “Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”

Another example: David with Saul,
David definitely wasn’t a geek with tape on his glasses.
He had been Anointed as king by the important prophet Samuel. People knew him as the warrior who killed Goliath, & was courageous on the battle field.
if know the story, know king Saul was jealous of David, & tried to kill him.
But David proved he was subject to God by refusing to retaliate against Saul even when he had the chance.

One time David & his men on the run, hid in the public bathroom in the wilderness, back then they were called caves.
When Saul came in to use the cave…
1 Samuel 24:4
4 Then the men of David said to him, “This is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.’” And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.
& then David was bothered by what he did, & went out & spoke with Saul…
David was meek in not killing Saul, but he also confronted Saul by bring God into the conversation…..
1 Samuel 24:12
12 “Let the LORD judge between you and me, and let the LORD avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you.
13 “As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.’ But my hand shall not be against you.
14 “After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea?
15 “Therefore let the LORD be judge, and judge between you and me, and see and plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand.”

1 Samuel 26 happened again with Saul & David.
Numbers 11 another example of meekness with Moses & Eldad & Medad.

We know Jesus is our greatest example of what it means to be meek, & subject to God…
Matt 11:28﷓30
28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
The world says press ahead now, anything you expect to get you’d better take it if you want it.
That isn’t what we’re told to do-
and that isn’t the promise we’re given.

The meek shall inherit the earth.
Literally.
Meekness of Jesus
Matt 21:5
5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, lowly, and sitting on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

not what the future holds…

Matthew 5:1-12 Read

yesterday was a big day over at Luke & Mara’s,

a lot of the neighborhood guys were over helping to pour the foundation for their house.

Margie came over, make sure we were doing things right & asked, as we were floating the surface…….

“Why’s it so important to make sure it’s flat?”

“What you’ve done looks good to me… why put much more time into what already pretty good”

“Why’s it so important to make sure it’s flat?”

“Because everything else is built on the foundation, if the foundation is off, everything else will be off.”

As Jesus said, “bless-ed are those who mourn”

important to understand the mourning He’s talking about is foundational in the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ.

If you haven’t come to the place of this morning and repentance, you likely aren’t a true disciple of Christ.

But if you know this place of mourning that Jesus is talking about. You also know His promise of comforting us in a way that only He can.

—————————————————————-

The scenes of mourning that usually get the national spotlight are the scenes of people gathering after some kind of tragedy:

A candle light-vigil….

People leaving flowers & being there to express their grief & sorrow & sympathy over what’s happened.

There with those who are grieving in the same way.

Jesus isn’t saying it’s in these passing times of mourning some loss that God is there with a special blessing of comfort.

I think most directly Jesus is talking about a continual heart condition…

A sober-minded outlook on life that comes from seeing the world as God does.

A foundational component in our relationship with God.

Something essential when it comes to our being included in God’s kingdom.

It comes as we understand how much we’ve lost, & how far we’ve fallen, & in comparison to what Adam & Eve enjoyed in the garden on Eden.

Where we understand the effects of sin….

& we know the true cause of all the suffering & pain & hardship in the world.

We can look at the world, & see the effects of a people openly opposed to God, & who resist God, don’t honor God.

• abthere’s a sorrow in enduring the lifestyles of those Paul spoke of in Romans 1

knowing God’s will isn’t being done on earth as it is in heaven.

but we know we’re also counted among the guilty…we’ve all gone astray…

& We all have a place in the Son of God dying a painful death, & carrying an incredible burden.

The innocent dying that the guilty could go free.

I think Jesus was talking about this kind of mourning being the kind that causes us to be in the place of God’s favor, & the spiritual benefit for those who mourn in this way, is that we’ll be comforted by Him.

James 4:8‑9

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 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

—————–

and Jesus saying it’s good to mourn is a great example of how counter cultural He is in the Sermon on the mount.

The world doesn’t place a high value on mourning, most do what they can to stay away from it, & if mourning is something you can’t get away from…

The world would say “There’s a prescription you probably need to consider.”

For the most part….our culture, encourages us to keep life on a superficial level,

to keep things light-hearted.

& Where scripture calls us to be reflective & mindful, thoughtful & prayerful in what we do and thoughtful why we do it…

The world we live in more & more offers us ways to stay Amused.

& Not be too serious about anything of real meaning.

muse means to think on something. & Mourning comes from musing how things really are.

A-muse means the opposite, to not think.

& we’re very much a culture of amusement.

Neil Postman, One-time Professor, not a believer-

wrote a book in the mid 80’s called

Amusing Ourselves to Death

here’s a quote that focuses in on the impact of televison, could be said of much of what the flashing lights of the world offer us-

television has crippled our ability to think and reduced our aptitude for real communication. television has not made us the best informed and most literate generation in history. Instead it has flooded our minds with irrelevant and meaningless information. Television has conditioned us only to be entertained and has therefore rendered other critical forms of human interaction obsolete.

…. Even the news is a performance. Suave anchormen coolly present brief segments about war, murder, crime, and natural disaster. Those are punctuated by commercials that trivialize the news stories and isolate them from any context. ….He recounts a news broadcast in which a Marine Corps general declared that global nuclear war is inevitable. The next segment was a commercial for Burger King.

John McArthur writes of how the amusement mentality has made its way into the church:

A major Christian magazine once published an article by a well-known charismatic speaker. He mused for a full page about the futility of both preaching and listening to sermons that go beyond mere entertainment. His conclusion? People don’t remember what you say anyway, so most preaching is a waste of time. “I’m going to try to do better next year,” he wrote; “that means wasting less time listening to long sermons and spending much more time preparing short ones. People, I’ve discovered, will forgive even poor theology as long as they get out before noon.”

I understand Jesus to say truth is a pretty big deal-

John 8:32 …the truth shall make you free.”

Deuteronomy 32 Moses said something similar to God’s people…

V46 “Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe‑‑ all the words of this law.

47 “For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life,

1 Timothy 3:15 Paul tells us

the church of the living God is the pillar and ground (support) of the truth.

As the church we’re to be God’s messengers to the dead & the lost..

& To hear someone within the church say “God’s truth doesn’t matter, what matters is not having to muse too long on the things of God.”

• abwhy give God any more time than you have to, when there isn’t any real benefit in it?

I hear that kind of commentary & grieve over it-

That’s the kind of mourning Jesus said would be at the heart of those who are strangers in this world, and belong to His coming kingdom.

——————————-

so blessed are those who mourn…

But that doesn’t mean God intends for us to go around being miserable & joyless.

There was a school of thought in the Greek world called Asceticism.

The Ascetics took the view that everything in the material world was evil,

and only good in life came through spiritual pursuits, & that meant not taking any joy in earthly pleasures.

Some people seem to approach their faith in the Lord with that mind-set.

That there’s something not right about genuinely enjoying what God’s given us in this life-

that we should always have a sad face as believers.

In Ecclesiastes Solomon talked of God’s gift of being able to enjoy the pleasures of this life.

1 Timothy 4:4‑5

4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude;

5 for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.

I’d argue if we have the foundation of being poor in spirit & mourn over the consequences of sin, & our own sinfulness, & how we’re spiritually bankrupt before God, when we’re in this place & understand all we have by God’s grace through the cross, it allows us to more fully enjoy the good things of this life.

And to more consistently live lives of joy, because the foundation of our joy is Christ. And all we have in Him that we don’t deserve.

A joy that stays with us even in troubled times.

——————————

Jesus gives the promise, those who mourn will be comforted…

You could say “There are at times those who mourn aren’t comforted, why?

The reason is, they aren’t really sorry over their sin, they’re only sorry they were caught.

And are sorry having to face the consequences.

Or they aren’t genuinely poor in spirit before God, and are holding God responsible for the hard times and the mourning they’re going through because of it.

King Saul & king David make for a good comparison.

Scripture tells of how Both men sinned..

But bot reacted differently when they were confronted with their sin-

Saul always made excuses for the wrong things he did,

he justified his actions & he never repented.

David was different, when the accusations made against him were true, he agreed with them & he repented.

When Nathan confronted David, David answered, “I have sinned against the Lord”

when David was on the run from his son Absalom, he was Verbally attacked by one of king Saul’s relatives named Shimei….

2 Samuel 16

9 Then Abishai …. “Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Please, let me go over and take off his head!”

But David said “No”

If the Lord has told him to curse me, who am I to stop him?

David went on saying to Abishai & the other officers…

My own son is trying to kill me, shouldn’t this relative of Saul have even more reason to do so? Leave him alone and let him curse, for the Lord has told him to do it. And perhaps the Lord will see that I am being wronged and will bless me because of these curses.”

13 And as David and his men went along the road, Shimei went along the hillside opposite him and cursed as he went, threw stones at him and kicked up dust.

When we’re in the place of mourning before God, How does He comfort us?

He comforts us in knowing our sins are Forgiven,

comfort that we’re His beloved.

He comforts us with His presence-

John 16:7

Jesus told his disciples it was to their advantage that He went away, because He would send them the Helper or Comforter.

It wasn’t that we be… Morose, gloomy, dreary-

just serious & humble, & joyful in the things that are worthy of rejoicing in.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones,

The Christian way is a difficult way of life. It is too glorious to be easy. The Christian is sorrowful, but not morose; serious, but not solemn; sober-minded, but not sullen; grave, but never cold or prohibitive; his joy is a holy joy; his happiness a serious happiness.

The Lord’s Table about a serious happiness

Matthew 5: where Jesus teaches what’s known as the Sermon on the Mount-

setting: …..Jesus in new on the scene in Israel.

He’s been baptized by John, He spent time in the wilderness being tempted by the devil, He spent some time with His first disciples, & when John the Baptist is arrested, Jesus makes the area in Galilee His central location,

& He continues with the message of John-

that all who hear Him need to “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

begins to do incredible miracles of healing all who are sick-

great amount of excitement in hearing what Jesus has to say-

the expectation that He could be the One who brings in the Old Testament era promises of God’s kingdom.

They could be the ones who see it come to pass..

as people gathered to hear Jesus, many for the first time… it’s likely they heard some version of the sermon on the Mount.

It’s likely these are the topics Jesus taught on many times.

———–

Luke 4 tells of an occasion where Jesus taught in the local synagogue, & then that same evening healed all the sick who were brought to Him,

& in the morning the locals tried to keep Him from leaving..But He said…

Luke 4:43

“I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.”

In Luke 6 we hear a slightly different version of the beatitudes,

or the “blessed are’s” that Jesus taught.

& Luke tells us Jesus taught standing on a plain, or a level place,

where Matthew tells us He taught from a mountain.

Maybe it’s the same occasion, maybe it isn’t…

But it is likely He taught these same truths more than once..

Something to notice in the sermon on the mount is the way Jesus teaches.

He’s very direct & specific in the moral message & instructions that He gives.

Some months later…Jesus changed His teaching method with the crowds.

Mark 4 tells us in His public teaching He taught only with parables, but afterward when He was alone with His disciples, He explained the meaning to them.

———————-

Jesus begins teaching in a very direct way-

we could say the Sermon on the Mount is where Jesus gives us the…

Christian manifesto- His declaration in what we’re to be about as His followers

John Stott-

“the sermon on the mount portrays the repentance, (complete change of mind) and the righteousness which belong to the kingdom. That is it describes what human life and human community look like when they come under the gracious rule of God.”

The sermon on the mount is about being counter-cultural.

every paragraph presents a contrast between the world’s standard and the Christian standard.

This is where Jesus tells us we’re to be different from the world-

we’re to think & react differently because we’ve chosen to live by a different set of values.

If we call ourselves Christians, this is what should be important to us.

These should be our priorities. This is what our day to day character should demonstrate.

if there’s a genuine experience with God going on in our lives, we’ll be changed, we’ll be different.

Someone said of the sermon on the mount…

“All the components of the Christian life are here, and are to be in us”

and over & over again Jesus tells us in the sermon on the mount we’ll be blessed of God if we choose to live in a way that’s counter-cultural and in line with what He outlines.

Matthew 5- The first 12 verses are known as the beatitudes…

Where Jesus names some characteristic or character quality, & then tells of the beatitude or great blessing or spiritual benefit that comes in having that quality.

Matthew 5:1-12 Read

nine times Jesus begins a thought with the word bless-ed.

Some say you can replace “bless-ed” with “happy”

the Living Bible actually uses the word happy.

I guess that’s OK but it seems incomplete, and leaves something missing..

Happy is generally more about emotions..

& unsaved people can be happy when circumstances are right.

But to be bless-ed means to possess something deeper-

if you’re bless-ed you’re a person on whom God’s favor rests.

Romans 4:8 Paul quoting David in Ps 32 as he says…

Bless-ed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”

James 1:12

Bless-ed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Bless-ed speaks of being in that place of God’s favor.

The first bless-ed of the Sermon on the mount…

Jesus says….blessed are the poor in spirit.

Spirit here speaks of the rational soul of a person,

their mental disposition. the power by which we feel, think & decide.

a person who is poor in spirit realizes their poverty in the spiritual realm.

They understand their smallness in the sight of God.

& realize that their sin has left them spiritually bankrupt.

We don’t have the resources to repay our debt before God,

in our own abilities, we can’t earn God’s favor, or to make our lives right with Him.

In Luke 18: Jesus gave illustration of what poor is spirit looks like.

And he began with what poor is spirit doesn’t look like-

9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

11 “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men‑‑ extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.

12 ‘I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’

13 “And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’

It’s the idea of coming to God knowing we have no right to demand anything from Him,

we have nothing to bring before Him that suggests He owes us anything.

All we can do is remind Him of the good promises He’s made to us, & ask Him to show us mercy.

& Jesus said of the one who came to God this way…

14 “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

As we’re justified before God, we have a place in the blessing He promises us..

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

The Bible gives other examples of those who are poor in spirit.

Looked at Peter last week….where Peter didn’t feel like fishing at the Lord’s command, but when he let down the nets & brought in a huge catch, Peter was overcome with a sense of Jesus’ power & position…& he fell before Jesus saying…. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” Luke 5:8

read Paul’s letters, he’s consistently & genuinely poor in spirit.

Aware of his sin before God, & aware how much he relied on God’s grace.

In Isaiah 6, The prophet Isaiah was overcome with a sense of his own poverty as he saw & experienced the glory of God…& said..

5 “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because 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.”

The Bible gives these as examples of those who were blessed by God-

the Bible’s view of being blessed is different than the world’s view of being blessed.

The world tells us it’s the rich & famous who are in the place of favor.

It’s the powerful & influential.

The young & the attractive, the hip & the cool…

In the true sense of the word…they’re not blessed,

& in many cases they aren’t even happy.

Because the world’s view is wrong.

Being blessed isn’t about a better & better arrangement of external things.

Being blessed isn’t about overcoming the negative feelings of a poor self-image

I think of the advice of self-help guru’s like Anthony Robbins-

tell us to think on our goals & dreams & decide to make them a reality in our lives.

Don’t think on weaknesses, or limitations, or past failures.

Set your mind on what it is your after…

And if you’ll stay up-beat & have a good outlook on things around you-

you’ll enjoy a life of success.

Jon Courson quotes a study that was done on school kids in the top 10 developed nations of the world, comparing how kids matched up against each other in test scores. The kids in the United States came in last in every academic category where they were compared to the kids in 10 other nations.

But, their was a category where the kids in the U.S. did come in first…

When asked, the kids of the US had the over-all highest opinion of the quality of their academic abilities and talents,

they had the highest self-esteem, the best self-image….

The top view of their abilities, when in truth they were the least.

Sort of like the people in the church of Laodicea…

Where the Lord said to them…

Revelation 3:15‑17

15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot.

16 “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.

17 “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’‑‑ and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked‑‑

the way of the world to say, things are fine, I’m not that bad.

& I don’t need to drag my life & my plans down with the complications of the Bible.

——

the Christian life has 2 extremes, 2 Sides, and 2 ends of the spectrum.

Before there’s a rise, there has to be a fall-

as Jesus said in the parable of the pharisee & the tax-collector.

for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Being poor in spirit is about being humble before God-

God, I know I am a sinner, & it drives me to come to you with a humble heart.

Being poor in spirit isn’t our normal tendency…

It’s a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives…

Question is how do we get to the place of being poor in spirit?

As a kid, I Used to sing a song in church….

“Bless us O Lord make us poor in spirit, bless us O Lord our God.”

there are times God brings things into our lives that can drive us to recognizing our spiritual poverty, & responding to God because of it.

That happened to Job.

God put Job through some really difficult times..

As well as Job did through his trials,

he did come to the place of questioning God’s reasons for doing what He did.

And God confronted Job…

V38-

then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind: “Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? Brace yourself , because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.”

• abQuestions he couldn’t answer…

V40 Then the Lord said to Job, “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers? “

Then Job replied to the Lord, “I am nothing, how could I ever find the answers? I will put my hand over my mouth in silence, I have said too much already, I have nothing more to say.”

Job responded to God’s correction by humbling himself-

God’ rebuke caused him to be poor in spirit. And God restored him.

But for some reason it doesn’t always go that way…

Prov 27:22

Though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his foolishness will not depart from him.

Some people refuse to change, no matter how difficult or bad things get.

No matter what God allows that they be broken before Him.

Revelation 16:10‑11

10 Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues because of the pain.

11 They blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and did not repent of their deeds.

Even in a time when things couldn’t get any worse as far as suffering goes.

When man is in a place of obvious bankruptcy before God,

there are those who will still refuse to come to Him in humility.

Refuse to acknowledge their spiritual poverty that they might be saved.

———-

we need to recognize our spiritual poverty, & own up to our spiritual poverty…because it’s the entry point in being blessed by God.

But if you understand what it means to be poor in spirit,

then you’re blessed.

The Bible tells us Jesus is the only person who isn’t spiritually bankrupt.

He’s the standard of righteousness before God-

& God’s gift of salvation ultimately comes to those who know they don’t deserve it.

Might look at poor in spirit and the rest of the beatitudes that Jesus lists,

& say “This sounds like the kind of person I wouldn’t want to spend a lot of time with-

sounds like they would be depressed & gloomy.”

but Jesus said the poor in spirit are blessed because theirs is the kingdom of God.

God’s kingdom is far better than anything else this world will ever have to offer.

The promise of being poor in spirit is that as we come to God broken & empty & depending on Him, we can by His grace, & our submission begin to enjoy the benefits of His kingdom now-

may not experience the healthy & wealthy promises of His kingdom..

But can experience the peace & joy & righteousness.

& Fellowship with God that we’re promised for eternity.

The payoff of being poor in spirit is that it the way of being….

the most joyful, fulfilled people on earth,

& we haven’t even started the real party yet.

The truth is we’re not home.

& there’s much to grieve over, & things to pray for.

And acknowledge before God, things aren’t as they should be-

God have mercy on us….

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