Crowds gather around the base of a mountainside. Jesus ascends to the top, as his disciples follow. He turns to face the crowd, lifts his hands, maybe clears his throat, and begins to deliver the greatest sermon ever preached. An epic oratory that many have lived, and or tried to live out, for the last two thousand years. At the beginning of this message Jesus lays out 8 virtues as the prologue to the rest of his sermon:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

 Blessed are those who mourn,

For they shall be comforted.

 Blessed are the meek,

For they shall inherit the earth.

 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be filled.

 Blessed are the merciful,

For they shall obtain mercy.

 Blessed are the pure in heart,

For they shall see God.

 Blessed are the peacemakers,

For they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake,

For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

These 8 virtues are referred to by most as the “Beatitudes”. Everything Jesus mentions in this sermon can be put into one of these 8 categories. The first four attitudes have to do primarily with the inner-man, while the later four primarily have to do with external admonitions of the inner-man. My aim is to present my interpretation of these virtues, and how they correlate together, over the next couple of weeks. So let's start with by interpreting the first 'attitude'. 

            "Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." In God’s economy, only those who are poor can enter into his kingdom. Martin Lloyd-Jones puts it this way; “There is no one in the Kingdom of Heaven that is not poor in spirit.” Meaning that this virtue is not a choice that we make for a better Christian experience, although that is the result, but it’s a requirement for salvation. Unless we recognize our own depravity, we can’t receive what he has to give; Himself. Yes, He is our great reward. At the end of the day we will receive what we’ve been groping for all through humanity, and it’s Him! In fact to be theologically correct, at the end of the day we get him either way. It’s the flames of his wrath that burn for all eternity in the Lake of Fire. Those who dwell there will experience God forever, which is really what torments them. But that’s a subject for another day. My point is that in order to be saved from his wrath, we must be poor, it’s not an option. I do not we should lament incessantly like the desert fathers over our depravity, although as we see in the next beatitude some lament is necessary. No the point is to see that apart from him we have nothing, and in him we have everything. He is the potter and we are the clay, what right does the clay have to say to the potter ‘What are you making?’ Woe to him who quarrels with his maker. (Is45:9) God is in the heavens and whatever he pleases he does, He says “I will have mercy on whom I have Mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion” (Rom9:15) He is God, we are not. Being poor in spirit means we say with our hearts, He owes me nothing, and I owe him everything.  I like how Charles Wesley puts it, “Just and Holy is thy name, I am all unrighteousness; Vile and full of sin I am, Thou art full of truth and grace.” He has the right to do as He pleases, but He makes us a promise; " The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love... He does not treat us as our sins deserve, or repay us according to our iniquities. " (Ps103:8&10) He is good to us, because that is who he is, not because we have earned it, or deserve it.

Self-reliance, Self-Confidence, Self-expression are the opposite forms of being poor. Is 57:15 tells us that we are to be “of a humble and contrite heart”. It’s unthinkable to think that we as created beings have the audacity to even try to rely on anything else but the creator. “For in him the rests all the fullness.” (Col. 1) No friends, apart from him we are poor. Our strength is found in him, our righteousness is found in him. Paul says it so blatantly; "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing." This is why in order to be saved you must be poor, lest you be rich in anything else.

Send me your comments or thoughts!

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o be continued...

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