Simple Faith

Announcer (Male): Here's Pastor Bill Henry to remind us today that when we approach God in weakness, he will supply the strength we need.

Bill Henry: Have you come to that place where you've come before God and just said, "Lord, I am completely helpless. I am completely broken. I am a sinner. I am just so wicked." Have you come to that place? Because if you haven't, you have to go there. You have to go there to be saved. Do you understand this?

Announcer (Male): Hello, and welcome to Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry, coming to you each day from Simple Faith Calvary Chapel in Vancouver, Washington. Visit us online at simplefaith.org. People go to great lengths to be happy. American families spent over 220 billion dollars on summer vacations last year. We see all around us the lengths people will go to to try to find true happiness.

Today on Simple Faith, we see what the road to happiness actually is, and it's paved by Jesus Christ. Pastor Bill will have us consider the beatitude, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," found in Matthew chapter five, verse three. Turn there now and join us as we find out where true happiness is really found.

Bill Henry: So as we come once again into what we call the Sermon on the Mount in chapters five, six, and seven of Matthew's Gospel, where it records this sermon of Jesus, you'll remember that last week in the introduction that it was the disciples of Jesus that came to him, and he began to teach them.

This is most important because the Sermon on the Mount, we need to understand, is for the teaching of the disciples of Jesus. It is for those who have been born again of the Spirit of God, who then empowers us by that same Spirit to be able to walk in the manner that Jesus teaches us here today.

Now, it's interesting because a lot of times as Christians, we'll read through the Gospels and we'll say, "Oh, Jesus was talking to unbelievers or this and that." No, no, this is for us here today. One of the blessed things that I love about the Word of God is God is continually warning all of us, even as Christians.

There's a place where we're told to test yourselves to make sure you're in the faith. Anybody like tests? I've always hated tests. I used to, for some reason, I'd always get sick the morning of a test and say, "Mom, I'm not feeling too good today." Well, we're so blessed. How many people here are alive? If you don't mind raising your hands if you're alive? Okay, a few of us aren't, but that's okay. We love you. We'll pray for you after.

But if you're alive, here's the blessed truth: that we can test ourselves. And we can come to places like the Sermon on the Mount and say, "Lord, am I walking in this manner? Lord, am I living and speaking and acting in these ways that you describe here? Does this describe my heart?" And if it doesn't, again, since you're on this side of eternity, praise God because you can still repent. You can still be changed by the Spirit of God.

I'll remind you what one commentator said about the Sermon on the Mount. He said, "The Sermon on the Mount did not give a constitution for the kingdom, nor does it present the way of salvation. The sermon shows how a person who is in right relationship with God should conduct his life." This sermon does teach us how to live the Christian life. It is not saying that if you live in this manner, you will be saved. It is saying that if you are saved, you will live in this manner. Huge difference.

So we need to understand if we are saved, we can test ourselves. And if we say, "Hey, this isn't my heart, this isn't how I'm reacting," then you need to get born again of the Spirit of God. It's that simple. It's that straightforward. Now again, we've come to the portion in these first verses here, we call them the Beatitudes. I like to say it's "this is how our attitudes ought to be" as Christians, as disciples of Jesus. Notice it says again, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

So a beatitude will start with the beginning saying "blessed" or "oh, how blessed." Psalm 1, we read, "Oh, how blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night." So that would be a beatitude.

When we were studying in the book of Revelation, several beatitudes there. Revelation 1:3, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near." Revelation 19:9, "Then he said to me, 'Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" Revelation 22:14, "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city."

So a beatitude would be a statement that starts with "blessed" or "blessed are," "oh, how blessed." In the Greek, it's *makarios*, and it literally means "oh, how happy" or "blessed," possessing the favor of God. I love this. One of the Greek scholars, Spiros Zodhiates, said this about this Greek word *makarios*. He said, "The state of being marked by fullness from God, said of one who becomes a partaker of God's nature through faith in Christ."

The believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit because of Christ and as the result should be fully satisfied no matter the circumstances. Did you hear that? Because Jesus is living within us, we should all be satisfied no matter what our circumstances in life are. That's how a Christian is.

He goes on to say, "*Makarios* differs from the word 'happy' in that the person is happy who has good luck from the root of 'hap' meaning luck as favorable circumstance. But to be *makarios* is blessed is equivalent to having God's kingdom within one's heart." You see, those who are happy, those who are blessed here, those who are so happy are those who understand that they have the kingdom of God because they've been born again of the Spirit of God. They now have the kingdom of God living in their hearts, and that makes them joyful and happy. Amen?

Look, this isn't simply a happiness, as Mr. Zodhiates has pointed out, that comes from having a good day. Ever had a good day and just like, "It's a good day, I'm just a happy boy. This is a happy, happy boy," and you're going around, you had a good morning? Even people cutting you off, you don't care. "Oh, God bless you, brother." And you're in a good mood. You're having a good day. You got a raise. You got good news from the doctor. Something great happened.

That's not what we're talking about here because guess what? The next day you can be grumpy. Amen? You woke up, you didn't sleep very good or something happened. "Oh, that guy cut me off. This time, you're not praying for him." See, this blessedness is a deep happiness or abiding joy that comes not from the shallow conditions of our life, but from much deeper within us, from knowing that we have been forgiven of our sins and that we are now in a right relationship with God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

It's so weird how so many of us, that's not enough. "That's good, Lord. I'm glad I'm finally in a right relationship with you. I'm glad I'm forgiven. I'm glad I'm covered. But that's not enough, Lord. That's not enough to make me happy." I feel like one of those cartoons, where the jaw drops down to the floor and the eyes pop out. What? But we kind of become used to saying that's not enough. Are we kidding? Are we crazy?

Maybe we've just gotten so caught up in what Christianity isn't. It's funny. Go back and read any, most of your pastors before 1900, those that finished well, I should say: Moody, Spurgeon, Matthew Henry, others. They preached a completely different Gospel. They preached a Gospel that was Christ-centered, that was centered on the blood of Jesus Christ. It wasn't about our happiness. It wasn't about, "Oh, how you doing today? You having a good day or bad day?"

Doesn't mean we can't pray for each other and care about it. I don't mean that. But you see, we need to be those who go deeper. As we've been born again of His blessed Holy Spirit, we now too stand forgiven at the cross of Jesus Christ by the grace of God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. And now we should find a deep and abiding blessing and joy in these facts every day.

Oh, how blessed. Oh, how happy I am. How you doing today? I'm happy. I've got that joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Why? Because we are forgiven at the cross of Jesus Christ. Oh, how happy. I like how the New Living translates it. It says, "God blesses those." The Amplified says, "Blessed, happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous with life, joy, and satisfaction in God's favor and salvation, regardless of their outward conditions."

You're going to heaven forever. We're going to go through some rugged times, but if we keep our eyes on that divine truth, oh, beloved in Christ, there's just a well that has no depth that brings joy and peace to our lives. When is it we get all messed up? When is it we get all worried and stressed? It's when we start looking at the things of the world, those things we want, those things we desire, those things we don't have.

So again, as we go through these Beatitudes, we now see a bit more clarity that these should be our attitudes as Christians. So blessed, the first one here, notice: "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Blessed, oh, how happy are the poor in spirit. Now, it's interesting because in Luke's Gospel, we see Jesus giving another version of this sermon. It's a lot shorter in Luke chapter six.

And Jesus says there, "Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God." And some people will just focus, "Well, he's just talking about the poor, that blessed are the poor, theirs is the kingdom of God." No, no, no. Even there in Luke, he is still speaking about the poorness of spirit.

You see, when Jesus would go, remember as he would go from town to town, he would give these sermons over and over. He didn't go, "Hey, you can go grab a CD at the table or here's a link to the YouTube channel. We just did this over in Bethany. Man, it was pretty good. It was good stuff. You gotta check it out." No, they had to go like a circuit preacher and over and over. So this is another time that Jesus gave this sermon, but at the same time, if you look at the entirety of the sermon, he's talking about the same thing.

We always go straight to money. We go to what we have, what we don't have. "Blessed are the poor." When even back in Luke, I believe he's again talking about the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God. So again, he's not talking about being physically poor, but spiritually poor. Now, some of the other translations bring it home a little bit more for understanding from the Greek. New Living says it: "Those who are poor and realize their need for him."

The Amplified says: "Are poor in spirit, the humble who rate themselves insignificant." Anybody remember the Good News Bible? It says, "Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor." And another paraphrase says, "You are blessed when you're at the end of your rope." To be poor in spirit is to realize our sinful and pitiable state before the Lord God spiritually. Understanding that we are spiritually poor.

Do you know there's two words in the Greek for poor? The first one means that you're poor but you have enough clothing and you have food. You don't have a lot of food in the closet, you don't have a lot of money, you don't have any money in the bank, but you're surviving. But this second word here is *ptochos*, and it literally means to reduce to begging, begging, asking for money, completely destitute of wealth, poor, helpless, someone in abject poverty, utterly helpless, complete destitution.

Now I find it interesting that Jesus starts this whole sermon and even the Beatitudes by telling his disciples that you must realize something first and foremost: that before God, all are spiritual beggars and in complete poverty. Can I ask you this morning, have you come to that place where you've come before God and just said, "Lord, I am completely helpless. I am completely broken. I am a sinner. I am just so wicked." Have you come to that place? Because if you haven't, you have to go there. You have to go there to be saved. Do you understand this?

Blessed are the poor in spirit. We have to be poor in spirit to get saved. We have to be broken of our sin. Jesus said, "I'm going to send the Spirit, the Helper, and when he comes, he will convict the world of sin and of righteousness and judgment." As we're convicted of our sin and we soften our hearts and the Lord, man, he just breaks us and we come to that place: "Lord, I'm a buzzard." Have you come to that place?

There's a lot of people that come to church that haven't come to that place. "Oh, I don't need to come to that place. I heard the Gospel. It's like God loves you. Come to God, come to his grace, come to his joyful life and all these things. And don't you hear Jesus knocking at the door? He begs you, 'Let him in, let him in.'" And, "All right, Lord, I'll give you a break. Come on, I'll let you into my heart now and just let's see you work here. Let's see what you're going to do."

And seriously, so many come and they haven't been broken over their sins. A lot of people raised up within the church, and praise God they have Christian homes, but a lot of those that have been raised up, they have no thankfulness or no even understanding that they still are living in their sin. Have you come to that place of complete brokenness before God? Utter desperation? "Lord, there's no way. I can't earn anything."

You know, it's an interesting note to think about when John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Jesus. What did he do? He came calling God's people to repentance. When Jesus came, he too started his ministry by calling his people to repentance. Peter in his first two sermons in Acts two and three, what did he do? Guess what? He called people to repentance. He pointed out their sins and then he called them to repentance.

Stephen, the first martyr of the church, he stood before the Jewish Sanhedrin in Acts six and seven. What did he do? He was pointing out their sin to call them to repentance. Why? Later, just one last other thing, Paul the apostle, when he was in Athens, did the same thing: called them to repentance. Why repentance? The Bible tells us why. You guys all know the scripture, right? Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

That's why we're called to repentance, to turn away from our sin and in the same action turn to Jesus Christ. You see, we're also told that there's a payment for our sin, and what's that payment? Death. How many people here have sinned? If you don't mind raising your hand? Okay, good, I'm glad you know. We've all sinned. We've all fallen short of the glory of God.

But do you know that for your sin, whether you've sinned one time or you've sinned a million times, do you know you owe God something now? Do you know what you owe God? You owe God a death. You and I owe God a death for our sins. Eternal separation from God in hell, then in the lake of fire for all eternity where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death."

Now, we may think we're good people or that we've done some really bad things, but then I did this many bad things, but you should see all the good things I've done: this much good, so I know that I've offset all the bad things that I've done. And so you feel you've made up for your bad things. This is not true.

Even for the drunkard who goes through and completes the 12-step program or the drug addict who's been freed from their drugs, the fornicator or adulterer who no longer does those sins, or the thief who gets caught and does their time, they may say, "Hey, my debt is paid." And perhaps it has been to society, but not to God. We still owe God something for all of this sin, again, even for just one sin, and that is death. For one sin or a million sins, the price is still the same: death.

Hey, even though we may not think that we've made ourselves clean, we've done nothing more than to take the stain of sin and spread it further and further. "Oh, I know that as I do these good works, I'm going to wash myself off." I saw this video a few weeks ago, we were laughing. And it was this lady... ever been to a restaurant and you get something on you and you wipe it off with your napkin? Well, she'd had a sandwich with some extra mayo and the mayo got on her thing, and so she took her napkin and wiped it off. And instead of wiping it off, there was more mayonnaise on the side of her cheek.

And then she went to wipe over here and all of a sudden there's mayonnaise over here. And then next thing you know, she's got mayonnaise all over her face. You see, that's what happens when we try to cleanse ourselves of our own sin. We take a dunk in crude oil and we think that if we get out, I can just wipe it all off. What? It just messes it all up.

You see, guys and gals, perhaps you're on the other side of that coin. You didn't do really any of those really bad things, and you're blessed enough to have been raised in a Christian home. Perhaps you think you're better than all those buzzard sinners sitting around you. I mean, take a minute, look around, look at these people here. Just kidding.

Some of you are like, "What? You talk about me?" You might say something like, "Well, at least I'm not like that fellow over here there. Look at him. Wow, he has tattoos. Look at that gal over there. Look at her. She has colored hair and earrings in her nose and oh, man, they're probably just wicked in their time." You see, and then you go on thinking you're fine with God. And yet without realizing it, you start to sound like somebody that Jesus spoke of.

In Luke 18, verse nine, we read, "He [Jesus] also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and treated others with contempt." Some here, some watching or listening, this is you right now. You're self-righteous. You've become self-righteous as a Christian. Maybe you started that way, maybe because you've been a Christian for 40-odd years, 50-odd years, 20-odd years. You got it all down.

You graduated from discipleship, you don't need to be discipled anymore. And you have a self-righteousness about you. And you trust now though in yourselves and in your goodness and your righteousness. "I don't need to read the Bible because I was born again by God's grace. I can go do whatever I want to do." And you look at others and say, "Oh, look at that person, look at this person. I'm so much better than them."

And again, you don't even feel that you need to listen to these words of Jesus. Only those... you look at other sinners here and say, "I'm just better than them. It doesn't matter." You know, if that's you here today or listening or watching, let me say this: no, this is especially for you. You see, there's no such thing or should be no such thing as pride in Christianity. You have nothing to be proud about.

"But you don't know me, Pastor Bill. I fast and I tithe and I give, and I haven't said really sinful many... I've done these little sins." Well, let's see what Jesus says. Verse 10, he goes on: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.'

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift his eyes up to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!'" Jesus said, "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

Announcer (Male): We've run out of time for today, but we'll be back next time with the second half of today's message, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," from Matthew chapter five, verse three. This has been Simple Faith with Pastor Bill Henry from Simple Faith Calvary Chapel in Vancouver, Washington. Today we brought you a message from Pastor Bill from his new series in the Sermon on the Mount. It is our sincere hope and prayer that you've been blessed by the words you've heard today from Pastor Bill.

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