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Blessed are the Poor in Spirit
Beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, when we are young, our parents and schoolteachers try to impress upon us the importance of maintaining good posture. When we sit down at the kitchen table or in the pew at church, we’re told: “Sit up straight. Don’t slouch.”
When we walk, we should refrain from rounding off our shoulders and leaning over. We should keep our back and shoulders upright and straight. Doctors say that there are physical benefits from good posture: it improves breathing, provides better circulation and it reduces back and back pain.
There's a spiritual equivalent to this. While physical posture is of some value, spiritual posture is of value in every way. Think of our spiritual posture as how we present ourselves to God inwardly -- in our heat and soul. That’s what Jesus is teaching about in this first beatitude of Matthew 5.
While each of these beatitudes are important, and each describes a unique virtue that we are to possess as children of God, it all begins with this: our spiritual posture before the Lord. This morning we’re going to consider what Jesus meant when he declared: The Kingdom of God belongs to the Poor in Spirit. We’re going to look at our text in these three points:
1. What is Meant by this Beatitude?
2. What is Promised in this Beatitude?
3. What is an Illustration/Example of this Beatitude?
1. What is Meant by this Beatitude?
Jesus begins his sermon by stating the most basic, foundational truth of the Gospel and of the kingdom of God: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Before we look at this verse as a whole, let’s break it down into its component parts.
Verse 2 begins with the word “blessed”. We looked at this word ‘blessed’ on the first Lord’s Day of 2025 when we considered Psalm 1. We read: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.
To be blessed (Biblically speaking) means something much more substantial than human happiness, or possessing material wealth, or enjoying good health or ease of life. Yes, it’s true that God also gives such things, and we can say that we are truly blessed to have them, but at the end of the day, the blessedness described by the Psalmist in Psalm 1 and by Jesus in Matthew 5 gets at something much more profound and permanent than any material blessing known to man.
It refers to a spiritual blessing, a divine joy, an inner satisfaction, a perfect happiness that no one can threaten or steal away, that no one and nothing can diminish or reduce. In fact, this blessedness is not at all dependent upon our outward circumstances. It is the blessedness of knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. It is the blessedness of being a child of God, saved by grace.
In Barclay’s commentary on this verse, he writes: “human happiness is something which is dependent on the chances and the changes of life, something which life may give and which life may also destroy…”Barclay goes on to say: “The world can win its joys, and the world can equally well lose its joys. A change in fortune, a collapse in health, the failure of a plan, the disappointment of an ambition, even a change in the weather, can take away the fickle joy the world can give. But the Christian has the serene and untouchable joy which comes from walking forever in the company and in the presence of Jesus Christ.”
That is what the word blessed means. But now what about the words or phrase: “poor in spirit?”
The word poor means poverty; scarcity; insufficiency. Normally, we associate being poor with our material possessions. If we’re poor it usually means that we don’t have a lot of money. We struggle to pay the bills, to buy food, to pay the mortgage.
And I think it’s fair to say that being poor or living in poverty is something that no one aspires to. Being poor is undesirable. So, what exactly is Jesus talking about here? The people must have wondered. And what exactly did Jesus mean about being poor in spirit?
The word spirit is a bit more difficult to define, but the way Jesus uses that word here, it refers to the attitude or the disposition of our heart and soul before God and others. If I could put it this way, Jesus is talking about the way we view ourselves, our own self-estimation of ourselves.
There used to be an expression for someone who was proud of themselves and always eager to tell everyone about all that they had done. We say: that person is full of themselves. They have a bloated ego, an inflated sense of self-importance. Simply put: they’re proud, cocky, and arrogant.
Now, if we can put that into a spiritual context, we see exactly what Jesus is saying. To be full of oneself is the opposite of being “poor in spirit”. To be full of oneself (as we’ll see from the example of the Pharisee in Luke 18) is to think highly of oneself. It is to have an elevated view of ourselves, to see ourselves as being better than others, more deserving of God’s favor, blessing or grace.
Whereas being “poor in spirit,” means having a humility of spirit, a lowliness of spirit. It means having an accurate and Biblical view or estimate of ourselves – a Biblical estimate of our character, our natural inclinations, our achievements, as well as an honest recognition of our needs, our weaknesses and sins.
For example, how do we present ourselves before the Lord this morning? How do we see ourselves? Do we have a prideful spirit or a spirit of humility? Are we full of ourselves, or do we see ourselves as empty vessels needing to be filled? (Think of what Paul writes in Philippians 2: 3-4 where he calls us to have the same mind and attitude of Jesus Christ: Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.)
AW Pink said this: “To be “poor in spirit” is to realize that I have nothing, am nothing, and can do nothing and have need of all things. Poverty of spirit is a consciousness (awareness) of my emptiness, the result of the Spirit’s work within…Poverty of spirit evidences itself by its bringing the individual into the dust before God, acknowledging his utter helplessness and deservingness of hell.” A bit later he wrote: “It is the Spirit emptying the heart of self that Christ may fill it.”
At the end of the parable in Luke 18, Jesus says: “For everyone who exalt himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” With that definition firmly set before us, I ask, how do you see yourself? How do you present yourself to God – not just this morning when you come to church, but how do you present yourself in your prayer life before God? How do you approach the throne of grace?
Yes, it’s true, we are commanded to come before God with boldness and confidence, but what is the basis for that confidence? What is the basis of our boldness? If it is anything else but Christ Himself, if it is anything else but His finished work, and His precious blood poured out for us -- then we are in very real danger of being cast out and cast down in our sinful pride and arrogance.
2. What is Promised in this Beatitude?
So that is the first point: the meaning of this beatitude. Secondly, we want to briefly consider What is promised in this beatitude? Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. As it ties in most specifically with this verse, the kingdom of heaven can be thought of as the great prize and reward and inheritance of all of God’s people down through all the ages.
It is the land of promise; it is the heavenly Canaan; the glorious city and kingdom that waits those who love the Lord and who have put their hope and faith and trust in God and in His Son Jesus Christ. The kingdom of heaven is where God and His people dwell together in perfect peace and bliss – a world, a reality, an eternity without the curse and presence of sin and evil and darkness and pain and suffering and death. As 1 Corinthians 2:9 says “…no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”.
So, when Jesus declares: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven he means that this is the blessed prize that waits those who have emptied themselves of all self-worth, of all pride and piety and self-righteousness. The kingdom of heaven awaits those who come to Jesus as he commands in Matthew 11: 28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
The fact that this is the first beatitude is no accident or nothing random. Martin Lloyd Jones made this observation as well saying: there is what we may describe as a spiritual logical sequence to be found here. This, of necessity, is the one which must come at the beginning for the good reason that there is no entry into the kingdom of heaven, or the kingdom of God, apart from it.
There is no one in the kingdom of God who is not poor in spirit. It is the fundamental characteristic of the Christian and of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven, and all the other characteristics are in a sense the result of this one…
Lloyd Jones went on to say that this first beatitude is a “test” for every one of us as we go on to read the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. “The Sermon on the Mount comes to us and says, 'There is the mountain that you have to scale, the heights you have to climb; and the first thing you must realize, as you look at that mountain which you are told you must ascend, is that you cannot do it, that you are utterly incapable in and of yourself, and that any attempt to do it in your own strength is proof positive that you have not understood it.' It condemns at the very outset the view which regards it as a program for man to put into operation immediately, just as he is.
In other words, as we reflect on all that Jesus says here, on all the high and lofty things to which that Jesus calls us to attain -- it is this beatitude that grounds us; that reminds us of who we are; that reminds us how much we need to rely wholly and completely upon Christ and His righteousness.
That’s what Jesus gets at later in verse 20 by the way: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” By that, Jesus was not telling the people that they should just try harder. No. He was actually telling them that those who regarded themselves, and those who were regarded by the people as the most holy, as the most pious, as those voted most likely to attain to the kingdom of heaven – they fell short.
They had not attained it – in fact, they had not made a single stride toward the kingdom; they had never managed to lay claim to even a tiny chunk of that heavenly Canaan because they never passed the test. They were not poor in spirit, and so they had no rightful claim on the kingdom. They were disqualified. They had no part of the kingdom of heaven because they had no part of Christ and His righteousness.
3. What is the Illustration of this Beatitude?
And that is what Jesus illustrates by the parable he told in Luke 18. Boys and girls, Jesus said two men went up into the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, a highly respected religious leader in the community. He possessed an unsurpassed zeal for the law of God. By every outward human standard and metric by which a man can be measured, he was a Godly, pious and holy man. He was all but guaranteed to inherit the kingdom of heaven.
But then there was the other man. He was a tax collector, a sinner. He had no outward piety, no record of righteousness. You couldn’t find two men who were more opposite – at opposite ends of the spiritual spectrum -- and that is exactly the point Jesus wants us to see (BTW Jesus often does this in the parables – puts two people side by side, the wise and foolish builders, or the parable of the Prodigal Son -- where we see the stark contrast between the older brother and the younger).
Here in this parable, these two very different men begin to pray in the temple. The Pharisee stands up and prays to God – and he thanks the Lord that he was not like other men: like extortioners, the unjust, the adulterers, or even like that guy standing over there, that sinner, that tax collector. He’s basically boasting before the Lord that he’s holy, he’s righteous, he’s not tainted with sin.
So let me ask you boys and girls: was this man “poor in spirit?” Does that man see his own sins, his own weaknesses and failings? Did he sense his desperate need for Jesus as his Savior? Did he see the need for the precious blood of Christ to wash away all his sins? No. By his own admission, he had no sins to speak of; therefore, he had no need for a Savior. He has no need for Jesus.
That’s the way it is for many people today who see themselves as “good people,” who genuinely think that they’re going to heaven -- or at the very least they know they’re not going to hell, because they’re not as bad as those other bad people who commit the horrible crimes and shameful sins. I have lived a good life; I’ve never cheated on my spouse; I’ve never stolen from my neighbor; I’ve tried my best to be kind and generous and give to those in need.
The problem with that thinking is this: we’re all sinners – every last one of us; every last human being on earth. Even the most morally righteous and honest and devout and pure among us – we all need Jesus because we’re all sinners. There is no one righteous, no, not one!
But now, let’s see how the other man prays. This lowly tax collector prayed before God with his head downcast, too ashamed of himself to lift his eyes toward heaven; his heart was rent by the reality of his own sin. And when he prayed, he cried out: God be merciful to me, a sinner.
Boys and girls, that’s what the prayer of someone who is “poor in spirit”. He comes to the Lord empty, broken, naked and in great need. As we sing: “Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the 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.”
And in the end, what does Jesus say? He says, “I tell you THIS man went to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” To be justified, is to be made right with God. To be justified is to be pronounced innocent, righteous, free from guilt!
Notice the irony: the self-proclaimed righteous man, the man who thought himself to be spiritually RICH, who had a long list of spiritual merits and accomplishments to show God and others, he went home poor. He stands condemned before the Lord. He is the unrighteous one. He is the guilty one. Without Jesus, he’s NOT going to inherit the kingdom of heaven. He’s going straight to hell.
Whereas the man who knew there was nothing about himself was righteous and good, the man who saw himself for who he was – as poor, bankrupt, empty and lost -- deserving of nothing but God’s judgment and condemnation -- he goes away RICH. The kingdom of heaven belongs to him!
Beloved, Christ calls each one of us to reflect on this parable. Examine your heart. What is the posture of your heart? Which of these two men are the more accurate reflection of your heart, of your spirit? Do you see your need for Jesus? Do you confess your need for His grace, mercy and forgiveness?
If you do not, then you must refrain from eating and drinking and pray to the Lord for His saving grace. But if you do see your need for Jesus, then come to His Table in humility and with confidence knowing that you have been justified – knowing that by God’s grace, through the atoning blood of His Son Jesus Christ, yours is the kingdom of heaven.
Amen.
* As a matter of courtesy please advise Pastor Keith Davis, if you plan to use this sermon in a worship service. Thank-you.
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