Matthew 5:1-5
"1 And seeing the multitudes, He
went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened
His mouth and taught them, saying:
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth."
There is nothing like God's Word! No mine of gold or
diamonds can compare with it. The time alone with God is most precious! God wants us to
live close to Him and be spiritually vibrant.
In our text we see Jesus went up a mountain and His
disciples came to Him, they drew near unto Him. Even spiritually they drew near unto God,
and so it must be with us. We must regularly draw near to Him and live in close fellowship
with Him on the mount.
We also see here that Jesus revealed the way of God
and He started with His own disciples. When God works He starts to work in His own
disciples. Jesus here gives us the secret of living successfully spiritually - to
overcome. Jesus here tells us who are truly blessed, the poor in spirit, the meek, and
those who mourn. Blessed means to be envied, to be fortunate, and to be happy and joyful.
What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Jesus told
the parable about the rich man whose harvest was great and so he tore down his barns and
built them bigger, and he said to himself that he has a long time to enjoy life and be
happy. But God called him a fool. He was rich in himself and the things of this world but
poor towards God and spiritual things.
The poor in spirit realises their spiritual poverty and come to God empty handed for His
riches. To be poor in spirit implies humility of spirit. A proud person laughs and is
merry and doesn't see anything wrong in his life.
A person who is poor in spirit is small in his own
eyes and regards himself as insignificant, and therefore he truly trusts in the Lord, for
Jesus said, "without Me you can do nothing". The poor in spirit are dependent
upon God and realise it.
We read that God said to Paul, "My
grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness" (2Cor 12:9).
If you want to experience revival, pray that God will
make you nothing and that you realise it. God made the earth out of nothing. When you are
nothing He can start to use you.
"Blessed are those who mourn" - There are
different types of crying. Some cry because their sin has found them out. Others cry
because of self-pity. Some cry because their earthly wealth is stolen or they go through
financial difficulty etc. There is no blessing in such crying.
But, blessed are those who mourn and cry because of their sin. Godly sorrow leads to
repentance, but not the sorrow of this world. You need to go through your life and conduct
in the light of God and mourn as you see the great gulf between yourself and God; and the
great gulf between who you are and what God expects from you. Such mourning will be
accepted of God, like the prodigal son, "Father I am not worthy to be called your
son; make me as one of the servants. For I have sinned against heaven and against
you."
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth" - Meekness also speaks of humility. It refers to those who can humble
themselves and go down. A meek person is patient, mild, longsuffering. Meekness doesn't
only refer to outward behaviour but inner grace of the soul. You must not only appear to
be meek and mild, but boil inwardly. No, be meek and mild in the depths of your heart.
Those who lack this meekness always fight with people and even find fault with God.
Jesus spoke these words to his disciples, the closest
people to Him. If you want to be truly blessed, study this at the feet of Jesus and seek
after it.