When Jesus took His disciples to the mountain, He taught them about eight blessings. The first is found in Matthew 5:3 and says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
What does it mean to be poor in the spirit? In Luke 18:11-14, Jesus taught about two men who came to the temple to pray. One was poor in the spirit; the other was “rich” in his own righteousness. The Pharisee was filled with pride and self-righteousness. God will not hear that kind of prayer.
We must be like the tax collector–empty and humble before God. He was contrite, broken before God. God will hear this kind of prayer.
In Isaiah 6:5, the prophet spoke and said, “Woe is me, for I am undone!” This is the attitude of someone who is poor in the spirit. Isaiah prayed for God to cleanse his lips. Why? Our lips, our words, can destroy our lives and the lives of others around us.
The tax collector did not lean on his own righteousness, but on the righteousness of God. God is with those who believe that they can do nothing without Him. When we believe this, then we can come boldly before God, as it says in Hebrews 4:16. When we believe that we can’t do anything without God, then He will be with us, He will work through us, He will give us the mind of Christ, and the wisdom of God will overflow through us.
Being poor in the spirit means that we surrender our lives to God. We also separate from this world. You might think that this means you will be giving up too much, but being poor in the spirit is actually the road to freedom which leads us to our ultimate destination, the Kingdom of Heaven.
When we are poor in the spirit, Our spiritual fruit will be the other seven blessings found in Matthew 5. We will mourn for our sin, become meek and kind, hunger for righteousness, become merciful, have a pure heart, become peacemakers, and endure persecution (all those who are godly will suffer persecution).
The eight blessings in Matthew 5 start and end with “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. There are 3 different places where the “kingdom of heaven” resides.
First, the kingdom of heaven is in our hearts.
When we repent of our sin, our hearts become clean and pure. When we acknowledge that we are weak and hopeless without God, the Holy Spirit begins building the kingdom of God in our hearts. When the kingdom of God is in our hearts, we will have unity with our brothers and sisters in the Lord. We will be satisfied with what God has given us. We will be filled with the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, long suffering, faithfulness, self-control, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness).
Second, the kingdom of heaven is found in the church.
The church should not be a dating place, a place of gossip and strife, or a place to build our own kingdoms. The church should be a place where we are filled with His Spirit, encourage one another, teach and receive the Word of God, and show compassion to others.
Third, the kingdom of heaven is the place where God’s throne is found.
To be poor in the spirit is to surrender your life to God. The kingdom of heaven starts in your heart, is manifest in the church, and will lead you to God’s throne. Being poor in the spirit is the foundation of Christianity!
God bless you,
Pastor Sun East
Thank you Pastor Sun Hui East, this is the first time I actually understood what the Lord was saying about being “poor in the spirit”… I’ve never understood that before!
I want the eight blessings. I will be forwarding this blog to my friends… good words Pastor Sun Hui East.
I know my prayers need to change, I need to be humble and not demanding.
My daughter told me about this blog because she is a fan of your recent films. I want to support this ministry, and you, Pastor Sun Hui East because of all you do for God’s Kingdom. Thanks again for the Godly influence you have had on my family.
I understand how Isaiah felt! Every time I start getting closer to the Lord, I start seeing how worldly and selfish I am. I see that my heart, words and mind are not in submission to Him… help me Lord to walk “uprightly” with you. Bless you, Pastor Sun Hui East for being a great example of a surrendered life!
I do find myself leaning on my own “works/goodness” (I know that’s pride) as I’m the only Christian at my office. I am always the one who has self control and helps others out… but, recently, the Lord humbled me. I realized that I am only “good” because of Christ. This blog from Pastor Sun East “hits the nail on the head”!
Pastor Sun East- I appreciate the consistent good teaching and insight that you provide here on you blog. I look forward to future posts!
The church needs to be a place of healing for a sick world; great word!
I agree that the integrity of what the church actually “should be” needs to be preserved. I like being able to draw young people into the services, but I think we need to be careful about compromise! Thank you Pastor Sun Hui East for bringing up this subject.
Your last paragraph is what grabbed me Pastor Sun Hui East. The fact that the Lord starts in our hearts, moves through us inside His church, and THEN leads us to His throne… to heaven. (great mindframe for the week – focus on eternity)