INTRO: Out topic is the beatitudes of Matthew chapter 5. We have introduced the Sermon on the Mount, which is Matthew chapters 5-7. And we have introduced the beatitudes and you will remember that as I view it, when it says, 'blessed' it means, 'to be envied.' To be envied is the person described in these beatitudes. We have looked at the first beatitude, which is, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
The poor in spirit, as I see it, are those who have come to see themselves in light of who Jesus Christ is. When it comes to righteousness and godliness, the poor in spirit have seen themselves as falling short of the mark of Christ-likeness. We considered last time the Apostle Peter. Jesus was in the boat with him and He said to Peter, "Let's go do some fishing." Well, they had fished at night, and caught nothing and Peter said, "The fishing's no good. We fished all night and we got nothing." Now you can imagine that Peter is tired and, now that the best fishing time is past, he has no interest in going fishing. But he said to Jesus, "Nevertheless, at Your word, we'll go." Well, they now caught so many fish that Peter called over to their partners boat, and they were both filled. And when Peter saw this, he said, "Depart from me O Lord, for I am a sinful man." He had become poor in spirit. |
