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"And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
(Luke 18:13-14)
We are truly blessed as God's kingdom is advanced in and through us. The kingdoms of this world are cheap imitations and cannot satisfy the heart of man. If it were so, then Solomon should have been the happiest and most blessed man who ever lived. But listen to what the man who had everything said in Ecclesiastes 1:2: "All is vanity." It is all havel: empty, vapor, breath. The kingdoms of this world are vanity, vapor passing away, but the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ lasts forever.
Thomas Watson the Puritan said, "Things of this world will no more keep out trouble of spirit than a piece of paper will stop a bullet. Worldly delights are winged." (Source: MacArthur, The Beatitudes, p. 40) Lloyd-Jones writes on page 31 of Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, "Wherever the reign of Christ is being manifested, the kingdom of God is there. . . . The kingdom of God is present . . . in the hearts of those who have submitted to Christ and in whom and among whom He reigns."
How do we become poor in spirit? A picture is worth a thousand words. Jesus, the Master Teacher, told the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, in which both went to the temple. It is a very moving and graphic story. It is very clear that the humble tax collector was poor in spirit and blessed, while the religious Pharisee was proud in spirit and rebuked by our Lord.
To be poor in spirit does not mean you are ignorant or ineffective. One of the men whom I had the privilege of serving as pastor is Ken Brentner, truly one of the brightest men I have ever met. He has a degree in engineering from Purdue and a PhD from Cambridge. I met with him for four years in my small group while he worked at NASA in Langley, Virginia. I still look back on that time and have to laugh because I was meeting with three NASA engineers (literally rocket scientists) and a medical doctor for those four years. But math and science were never my strong points! Ken moved to Pennsylvania to become associate professor of aeronautical engineering at Penn State University. He and his wife are poor in spirit people: very successful, but genuinely humble.
How do you become poor in spirit? Give your life to Jesus Christ, and receive the Holy Spirit. He will replace your proud, arrogant, entitled heart with a heart of peace and service. Come to Jesus as you are, admit your sin, and say with the songwriter, "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling."
Lloyd-Jones gives some great practical advice on page 42 of Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. Hear him carefully: "The way to become poor in spirit is to look at God. Read this Book about Him, read His law and what He expects from us, contemplate standing before Him. It is also to look at the Lord Jesus Christ and to view Him as we see Him in the Gospels. Look at Him. Keep looking at Him. Look at the saints, look at the men who have been most filled with the Spirit and used. But above all, look again at Him, and then you will have nothing to do yourself. It will be done. You cannot truly look at Him without feeling your absolute poverty and emptiness."
May the Lord richly bless you as you pursue Him and live a life that is poor in spirit.
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