Transcription downloaded from https://sermons.probap.church/sermons/84886/matthew-51-3/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] 5 verses 17 through 20, right, where Jesus says, I came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill the law. And so I thought, well, what if rather than starting in on Exodus 20 this morning, we start in on the Sermon on the Mount.

[0:18] It's been quite some time as a church since we've done that. I think it's been 10 years since we looked at the Sermon on the Mount together. And to do instead a series through the Sermon on the Mount, which will get us to Matthew chapter 5 verses 17 through 20 and force the issue once again at that point.

[0:35] So essentially, I bought myself eight or nine weeks to sort through it all. However, there's a massive richness at the beginning of chapter 5.

[0:49] So I don't want you to feel like we're just biding time, but rather let's dive in together into the Sermon on the Mount and then we'll get to that place.

[1:00] I believe you'll find that Exodus 20 and Matthew 5 and on into 6 are intrinsically interwoven, but we'll see when we get to that point.

[1:12] So we're going to begin working on that. If you are a college student and you were really, really hoping to do Exodus 20 before the semester was out, I'm just sorry. We probably won't get into it until this summer, but we'll see how the pace goes and hopefully this will serve you well.

[1:29] So our text for today is Matthew chapter 5 verses 1 through 3. Before I read that, let me remind you, beloved, that this is God's word to us.

[1:40] It is written for his glory and for our good. And so we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.

[1:50] Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 and following. Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain and when he had sat down, his disciples came to him.

[2:01] And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. In Matthew's account, this sermon comes very quickly at the beginning of Jesus' ministry.

[2:18] So as introduction, let's take a quick look back into chapter 4 at Jesus' ministry to this point. Matthew 4, 12 through 17.

[2:32] John the Baptist has just been arrested. And Matthew writes for us, verse 12 and following. Now when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali.

[2:48] In verses 14 through 16, Matthew tells us this was to fulfill an Old Testament prophecy. And then in verse 17, he writes, From that time, Jesus began to preach, saying, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[3:06] So this is the very beginning in Matthew's account of Jesus' earthly ministry. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

[3:16] Then we see in chapter 4, verses 18 through 22, Jesus calls some of the first disciples, four of them, two sets of brothers. And then in verses 23 through 25, Jesus proclaims the gospel of the kingdom, this good news of the coming kingdom of God.

[3:34] He performs many miracles as signs to this coming kingdom, verifying the things that he's teaching. And as a result, gathers crowds.

[3:45] People begin to follow him around. And so in chapter 5, verses 1 and 2, Matthew sets the stage for this most famous of Jesus' sermons.

[3:58] It was not his only sermon, but it was certainly the most famous of Jesus' sermons. And Matthew tells us that there is a crowd.

[4:09] Seeing the crowds, Jesus goes away from the crowds and goes up onto the mountain. He tells us that Jesus ascends an unnamed mountain.

[4:20] We're not entirely sure there's some long-standing tradition which mountain it is, but we're not exactly sure which mountain. It's not significant really. He goes away from the crowd in order to teach.

[4:34] And Matthew tells us that his primary audience is not the crowd. So note verse 1, Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain. And when he sat down, who came to him?

[4:47] His disciples. His disciples came to him. So he's called some, right? So far we've seen in Matthew's text 4. There may have been some others at this point.

[5:00] Some of this crowd may have been considered disciples at this point. But the thing I want you to hear very clearly is that Jesus preaches this sermon not to unbelievers, but to believers.

[5:15] Much like many of the New Testament epistles, right, are written as letters to churches. And so we do well to keep that in mind as we're going to walk our way through the text of the Sermon on the Mount.

[5:27] The Sermon on the Mount is understood to be a declaration of the kingdom of God. The kingdom has come because the king has come.

[5:41] Jesus here is teaching what those who are citizens of his kingdom will look like. Remember, he is teaching his disciples.

[5:52] And as we study across these three chapters, we're going to see two major themes emerge, which we'll consider at length in the coming months.

[6:04] The first major theme that I'm going to talk about anyway is whole person righteousness.

[6:14] Whole person righteousness. Jesus in this sermon corrects the misunderstanding that God is only concerned with action and the outward appearance of righteousness.

[6:29] Citizens of God's kingdom will not only honor God with their actions, but also with their thoughts, intentions, motivations, emotions.

[6:41] God cares about our hearts, not merely the exterior. So whole person righteousness is going to emerge as a prominent theme throughout this text.

[6:54] And I believe as a result of this whole person righteousness, the second theme that emerges is human flourishing.

[7:04] The well-being of God's disciples, those citizens of God's kingdom will flourish. They will have joy and comfort and peace and satisfaction.

[7:20] We will see in the sermon that the flourishing of God's kingdom often runs in direct contradiction to the world's concept of flourishing.

[7:34] But nonetheless, we'll flourish in the kingdom of God. And in verse 3, Jesus begins his sermon and leads out with this second theme of human flourishing in making the declaration, blessed are the poor in spirit.

[7:55] Now, I'll get into some of this in the coming weeks. We'll talk more about this word that's translated blessed here. We know, if you're familiar with your scripture, that this is often called the Beatitudes, which is a translation of a transliteration from Latin into English.

[8:13] It's very complex why we end up arriving at this spot of beatitude. These blessings, these declarations of blessing on particular quality of citizens of the kingdom.

[8:29] The Greek word here translated blessed is makarios. And there's a lot of translation dilemma here. Some words translated from Greek into English are very simple translations.

[8:45] Often when we're looking at New Testament texts, we want to go on the deeper dive and go see what the original language means. And you go, oh yeah, yeah, it means what it means in English. Well done, translators.

[8:57] But there are some Greek words that are very difficult to apply an equivalent English word to. And that's when it's helpful that we are students of the original language and we do our best to try to wrap our minds around what this word means.

[9:14] So often we see it, and here in this case, in the ESV, we see it blessed. Some will say happy. Some will say joyful, like an abiding, intrinsic happiness.

[9:29] But the challenge to some of those things is that God's people aren't always happy, are we? It's acceptable as God's people to mourn. The very next blessed is about mourning.

[9:40] It's about sadness over something in particular. So it becomes a little bit difficult then. What does it mean exactly? Are we meant to be bubbly? Is that what Jesus is suggesting to us here?

[9:50] And it's not. Fortunate could be another English word put in this place. But my favorite is flourishing.

[10:02] And we will, in the coming weeks, unpack what that flourishing looks like. But you could think of it as well-being. Doing well are the poor in spirit.

[10:16] Jesus here is making a declaration, right? That those who are poor in spirit are blessed. It's as if he is observing a person poor in spirit.

[10:28] And he's saying to them, he's saying to the disciples, look at the poor in spirit. They are blessed. He's declaring this. He's putting a label on to this person. Look at the way they are.

[10:41] They are blessed. They're doing well. They're flourishing. All goes well with them because they're poor in spirit.

[10:53] An example of this, just to make the point of the way this is a declaration made. Matthew 16, 17, after Peter declares that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus asked Peter, who do you say that I am?

[11:04] And Peter responds, you are the Christ. Verse 17 says, Jesus answered him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona, right? Blessed. He puts this label on to him.

[11:16] You are blessed. Why? For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven, right? You've had this truth of who I am revealed to you by my Father.

[11:29] And therefore, you are doing well. You are flourishing because you're recognizing me as the Christ. And so, Jesus says, declares, blessed are those who are poor in spirit.

[11:45] So, what does it mean to be poor in spirit? Jesus here is not talking about those who are financially poor.

[11:56] He does not say, blessed are the poor. He says, blessed are the poor in spirit. Now, the financially poor may have one less obstacle to recognizing their spiritual poverty.

[12:10] But that is not the criteria that Jesus is teaching here. He declares, blessed are those who are poor in spirit. In order to grasp the meaning of this phrase, I want to take you on a brief survey of Bible characters.

[12:25] I want to show you men throughout biblical history who were poor in spirit to help us wrap our mind around what this means, beginning with Abraham and ending with Paul.

[12:40] And my prayer is that we'll witness these individuals' recognition of their spiritual poverty. So, hang with me. I don't think you actually need to turn, maybe write references so you can test me later that I'm actually reading to you the scripture.

[12:55] But let's start with Abraham. In dealing with the Lord about Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham said in Genesis 18, 27, Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord.

[13:08] I who am but dust and ashes. Jacob, when he returned to the promised land after spending 20 years in exile, he wrestled with God in prayer and said in Genesis 32, 10, I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant.

[13:35] Abraham, I am but dust and ashes. Jacob, I am not worthy of the goodness that you've shown me. Moses, when God came to him and gave him this mission to go back to Egypt to set his people free, Abraham said in Exodus 3, 11, and then in chapter 4, 10, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?

[14:05] Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either heretofore or since thou hast spoken to thy servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.

[14:16] Why send me? Is what Moses says to God. We know that God gets angry at him, but not because of his understanding of himself, but because he fails to believe that God will deliver his people.

[14:32] David, King David, after he is an adulterous murderer, he says in Psalm 51, verse 17, The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart.

[14:49] Oh, God, you will not despise. And it's easy to agree that this is the spirit that pleases God after you are adulterous and murderous.

[14:59] But what about the times when you're doing well, when you're doing what you ought to be doing? When a collection for the temple was being taken, when David and his people were performing an act of virtue, David prayed, and it's recorded for us in 1 Chronicles 29, 14, But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly?

[15:28] Even when we're doing good, who are we that we're allowed to do good? And then he says, For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you.

[15:40] King Solomon, 1 Kings 3, verse 7. You will learn about me if you don't already know. I like beating points.

[15:53] It's recorded, he said, And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but a little child.

[16:04] I do not know how to go out or come in. There's a lot of debate about when Solomon became king, and it ranges between 12 and 20.

[16:15] But either way you look at it, I'm pretty sure at 12 he knew how to get out in and out of a room. So he's magnifying his smallness as he prays this to God.

[16:27] Why me? Look at me. I'm just so ignorant of the things that a king should know. Job. Here's a great one.

[16:37] Job 42, 5, and 6. God speaks to him out of the cloud, and he says, I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.

[16:48] Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. Isaiah, another man that encountered God. In Isaiah 6, 5, Isaiah says, Woe is me, for I am lost.

[17:04] For I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Let's go to the New Testament.

[17:17] John the Baptist. John 1, verse 27, and then chapter 3, verse 30. John says, I baptize with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know.

[17:30] He's speaking of Christ. Even he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie. And in 3.30, he says, He must increase.

[17:42] I must decrease. We see in a parable, a tax collector, and Jesus tells this parable of a Pharisee, and a tax collector who went up to the temple to pray.

[17:54] And concerning the tax collector, Jesus said in Luke chapter 18, verse 13 and 14, But the tax collector standing far off would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

[18:12] 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. We have a story in Luke chapter 7 of a centurion.

[18:27] Verses 6-9 say, When Jesus was not far off from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.

[18:41] Therefore, I do not presume to come to you, but say the word and let my servant be healed. When Jesus heard this, he marveled at him and turned and said to the multitude, I tell you, not ever in Israel have I found such faith.

[18:56] As he emptied himself for his Lord. Peter. When Peter saw the power of Jesus on the lake of Gennesaret, in Luke 5-8, he fell down at Jesus' knees saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.

[19:17] Then finally, Paul. Romans chapter 7, verse 18, he wrote, Lord, I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.

[19:29] 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 6-7, Paul says, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

[19:45] And finally, last reference, 1 Timothy chapter 1, verses 15 and 16. Paul writes, The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

[20:01] But I receive mercy for this reason, that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who are to believe in him for eternal life.

[20:13] So, a lot of examples, right, of what it looks like to be poor in spirit, but are we wrapping our brains around it? What does it mean?

[20:24] What does it mean to be poor in spirit? I'll give you a few things. It's a recognition of spiritual bankruptcy and helplessness before God.

[20:36] We have nothing to bring to him, right? Dead in our trespasses and in our sins. We have no ounce of good to offer God apart from Christ.

[20:47] So, it's this recognition of spiritual bankruptcy and helplessness before God. It is a recognition of powerlessness in and of ourselves. It is a recognition of moral uncleanliness before God, that our sin against a most holy, infinite God is of infinite offense.

[21:10] It is a recognition of personal unworthiness before God. Why would God show grace to me? It is a recognition that if there is to be any life or joy or usefulness whatsoever, it would have to be all of God and all of His grace.

[21:34] The reason that it's proper to say that to be poor in spirit is a recognition of bankruptcy and a recognition of powerlessness and uncleanliness and unworthiness is that objectively speaking, everybody is poor in spirit.

[21:53] It is part of the human condition. After the fall of mankind, everyone born since has been poor in spirit. Everybody, whether they recognize it or not, is utterly hopeless before God.

[22:10] But not everybody is declared blessed. Those declared blessed are those who recognize their spiritual poverty and turn to God by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

[22:29] Remember, Jesus is teaching His disciples. He's teaching those who are following Him from faith and they are declared blessed.

[22:39] They've recognized their need of Him. So, as we hold up the Sermon on the Mount and we consider it, we want to hold it up to ourselves.

[22:53] We want to look and say, if this is what the kingdom looks like, if this is how the citizens of God's kingdom look, do I find myself in here?

[23:03] Is this me? Am I poor in spirit? We must ask ourselves these questions because there's such a weighty answer to be had.

[23:15] We want to say, yes, this is me. Yes, I am blessed. Yes, the kingdom of God is mine. Because if we can't, our end is destruction and utter doom and retribution for our sin forever.

[23:33] It's a weighty thing that's before us to take a look at this and really consider, am I a citizen of God's kingdom? So, how can a person know if they are poor in spirit?

[23:48] We do not arrive at these things with perfection. Right? So, we're going to read through these as we're working through these blessings, these beatitudes. and none of us are doing this with perfection, but is it characterize who I am?

[24:03] So, recognizing that you are poor in spirit is the starting point of humility. These phrases, I believe, are too readily equated with one another.

[24:18] You have poor in spirit and humility used synonymously, but I think it's right to say that being poor in spirit produces humility. Right? Humility is the fruit of an impoverished spirit.

[24:31] You see how spiritually bankrupt you are and therefore you become humble and that humility works out. Right? We can see, we can observe both for our lives and for those around us.

[24:44] Humility. Thomas Watson, a Puritan pastor, wrote this. He said, I think poverty of spirit is the cause of humility for when a man sees his want of Christ, sees his want of Christ, and how he lives on the alms of free grace, this makes him humble.

[25:04] He that is sensible of his own vacuity and indigence, which means stupidity and poverty, hangs his head in humility with the violet.

[25:18] Humility is the sweet spice that grows from poverty of spirit. That's probably the only part of that I should have read. Humility is the sweet spice that grows from poverty of spirit.

[25:30] So let's take a look. Let's observe your own life, help others in talking about what's been presented to you today, to consider their life. Let's look at six measures of humility as our gauge of awareness of our spiritual poverty.

[25:48] Are you poor in spirit? So let's look at six measures of that. Number one, the humble are self-forgetful.

[26:00] The humble are self-forgetful, and by that I mean we are not occupied only with ourselves. All of our intention is not turned inward, but our intention turns outward.

[26:15] A humble person loses their self-preoccupation. They recognize that the world does not revolve around them, and they move outside themselves, first toward God, and then toward others.

[26:32] Paul wrote in Galatians 2.20, I have been crucified with Christ. This is no longer I who live. Life is a sacrifice, but Christ who lives in me.

[26:47] And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. So we turn this devotion from ourselves, outside of ourselves, to God.

[26:59] We forget so much about ourselves to our great benefit, and devote ourselves to him. And we love and serve others. Beloved, if you are truly humble, you will maximize the strengths and the virtues of others.

[27:16] If you find yourself to be a particularly nitpicky person, always drawing out the negative things, always showing somebody their fault, it's because you think too much of yourself.

[27:28] You think you're in a position to show them their faults. The humble look at others and go, way to go. You're doing a lot of things really well.

[27:39] Romans 12, 10, Paul writes, love one another with brotherly affection, outdo one another in showing honor. The humble person recognizes their spiritual poverty, the very depth of how atrocious they can be.

[27:54] So the humble are self-forgetful. Number two, the humble are enthralled with Christ and becoming like him. Enthralled with Christ and becoming like him.

[28:10] Is Jesus Christ the most precious thing you possess? And if you're in him, he is yours. You are his and he is yours.

[28:20] Is he the most precious thing to you? And you can measure this out by considering what you think about most and what you talk about most. It's a very simple thing to do.

[28:33] I wish somebody could walk around and record you and make one of those scatter things, make words bigger the more it's said in a paper. But many of us would find that we don't talk about Jesus Christ nearly as much as we think we do.

[28:49] The humble are enthralled with Christ and becoming like him. Paul writes Philippians 1.21 to me to live is Christ. To do his bidding, to know him more by being part of the growing of his kingdom.

[29:03] And to die is what? It's gain. Why? Put off the shackles of this world and my sinful flesh and be with him forever.

[29:15] He writes in other places, 2 Corinthians 3.18 And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed in the same image from one degree of glory to another.

[29:29] For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. So we long for that. We want to be made more like him. The humble are enthralled with Christ and becoming like him.

[29:42] Third, the humble are not complainers. the humble recognize what they actually deserve.

[29:58] You know what you actually deserve? Death and hell. So no matter the state that we find ourselves in, we really have no space for complaining.

[30:11] So much blessing, blessing upon blessing upon blessing when you recognize that what you really deserve is death and hell. And complaining comes from expecting more.

[30:23] What I do deserve is this. That's not fair. Beloved, we don't want what's fair. Paul writes in Romans chapter 8 verse 17 and 18, if children then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we what?

[30:41] We suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. Paul's saying that an evidence of a life lived for Christ, one who's poor in spirit, a citizen of this kingdom, is going to suffer.

[30:57] The conclusion of the beatitude says the very same thing, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. And so, we're going to suffer in this world, and Paul says in verse 18, for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing.

[31:14] And I like to reread that and say present time are not even worth comparing. Don't even take the time to compare it with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

[31:26] Such a glorious reality that awaits us, right? Having found ourselves poor in spirit, looking to this thing, recognizing what we actually deserve, which is death and hell.

[31:42] Fourth, the humble have Christ on his terms. I borrowed some of these from Thomas Watson, so that's why that language sounds very Puritan.

[31:57] The humble have Christ on his terms. The humble will not try to have Christ while hanging on to sinful vices.

[32:09] So, we'll have Christ and we'll walk in his ways. If he's going to be our savior, he must be our Lord. We will follow him.

[32:19] We won't try to manipulate him and his commands to meet our needs. We'll have Christ on his terms, right? Jesus says, you have me, now follow me.

[32:31] If you love Christ, you will love his word and make it the standard for your living. The scripture sets up as the pole position that we chase in this race of life.

[32:46] Again, Thomas Watson, I think you're going to hear a lot from him in the coming months. He wrote this. He wrote a wonderful commentary on the Beatitudes. He wrote, a castle that has long been besieged and is ready to be taken will deliver upon any terms to save their lives.

[33:04] He whose heart has been a garrison for the devil and has held out long in opposition against Christ, when once God has brought him to poverty of spirit and he sees himself damned without Christ, let God propound what articles he will.

[33:23] So, bring the treaty. It does not matter what the expectations of the treaty are. He will readily subscribe to them.

[33:34] Lord, what will you have me do? That's the response. When we recognize how spiritually impoverished we are, we recognize how desperately we need to be saved.

[33:46] What would you have me do? Thomas Watson in conclusion says, he that is poor in spirit will do anything that he may have Christ. So, the humble have Christ on his terms.

[34:00] And, beloved, that's a wonderful thing. It's for our good. Number five, the humble pray. The humble pray.

[34:11] Beloved, we are meant to be a praying people if we recognize how very spiritually impoverished we are. We know that we can do no good thing apart from God.

[34:23] We flail about trying to accomplish things for God, rather than in treating with him that he would work and use us in his working.

[34:36] I cannot tell you how many times, to my shame, in the past decade, that I have prepped a sermon within days of needing to deliver the sermon and not prayed.

[34:48] God, it's horrible. I go to my books and I rely on my intellect without first stopping and saying, I can do nothing apart from you.

[35:01] For a long time now, I've signed things, emails and things like that to come out to you. SDG, some of you have asked me what that means, lowercase s, uppercase d, lowercase g.

[35:11] That's the way Bach signed his pieces of music. And it means solely Deo Gloria. That's what it means. So he was concluding in that way. Men of the ministry, you may have noticed that the email that went out this past time had an uppercase j and a lowercase j at the very top of it.

[35:30] Because I learned, I'm grateful to learn this, that many of his pieces of music started, I won't get the Latin phrase right off the top so I won't try, but with a Latin phrase that meant, Jesus help.

[35:44] help. So, starting this Sunday, my notes at the top say JJ, and at the bottom they say SDG as reminders to myself. Right? We are utterly helpless apart from him, and when we recognize that, we'll go to the one who can help.

[36:00] Right? Get the phrase in your mind. It's a Latin phrase. I hope this helps you. Sine qua non. Without which nothing.

[36:12] Psalm 145, 18, the Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Lord, we need you.

[36:24] Come and work. John MacArthur wrote in his commentary on this verse, just as the physical beggar begs for physical sustenance, the spiritual beggar begs for spiritual.

[36:37] We will knock often at heaven's gate because we are always in need. So the humble pray. And sixth and finally, the humble are thankful.

[36:52] The humble are thankful. Namely, the humble are thankful for God's grace to them. Recognizing our utter unworthiness to receive such favor, we exult in God's great goodness.

[37:08] grace to us. Why, O Lord, me, wretch that I am, why would you save my soul? Makes me his, restores me to him, calls me blessed, calls me his child, Jesus calls me his friend and brother.

[37:29] Why me? I was set against you in every way. What grace to us. So, why are the poor in spirit declared by Jesus to be blessed?

[37:46] Flourishing are you who recognize your utter dependence because theirs is the kingdom of heaven. They are citizens of the kingdom of God.

[37:59] God is their God and they are God's people. Is this true of you this morning? This first of the blessings is a succinct statement of the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

[38:20] It simply says we will not be found right before God, declared righteous before God of any merit of our own doing. We must first be humbled, be found spiritually impoverished that we might find our righteousness in Christ, that we would bank everything on his righteousness because we have none of our own.

[38:45] If we don't first recognize our spiritual poverty and then turn to God by faith in Jesus Christ, then we are not saved from the wrath due our sin. We are enemies of God and citizens of the world that will be destroyed.

[39:01] Praise be to God that the humble who flee to him in Christ are granted the right to be citizens of a heavenly kingdom. In closing, I want to read to you just a little bit from John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.

[39:15] I commend this book to you. If you stay here long enough, I will eventually read every part of it to you in preaching. Bunyan writes this allegory as a dream.

[39:28] So he has a dream, and I just want you to hear it's about a man by the name of Christian going on this process, being saved, and going on this process of following Christ.

[39:43] Bunyan writes, I dreamed and behold I saw a man clothed in rags standing in a certain place, this is Christian, with his face turned away from his own house, a book in his hand, and a great burden on his back.

[39:57] Burden is the weight of his sin, his recognition of his spiritual poverty. I looked and saw him open the book and read therein, and as he read, he wept and trembled.

[40:13] And not being able to contain himself any longer, he broke out with a lamentable cry saying, what shall I do? Later in the text, therefore, in this plight, he went home and strained himself as long as he could so that his wife and children would not notice his distress.

[40:34] But he could not be silent long for the reason that his trouble increased. Therefore, at length, he broke his mind to his wife and children and thus began to talk to them.

[40:45] Oh, my dear wife, he said, and you, the children of my deepest affections, I, your dear friend, am myself undone by reason of a burden that weighs heavily upon me.

[40:59] Moreover, I am certainly informed that this, our city, will be burned with fire from heaven in which fearful overthrow both myself with you, my wife, and sweet babes, shall come to a miserable ruin, except some way of escape can be found whereby we may be delivered.

[41:22] And he does go on a journey, and he is delivered from his burden, and he does arrive at the final destination, the celestial city, and his wife later comes and does the same.

[41:34] But this is where we find ourselves, poor in spirit, but knowing where to turn if we are blessed, finding ourselves in Christ, clothed in his righteousness.

[41:51] And if you can't say with the confidence that you have placed believing faith in Jesus Christ, then you are a pilgrim, not yet set out on that journey, living in the city of destruction, just waiting, for the doom that will come.

[42:09] Turn to faith in Christ. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Let's pray together.

[42:20]  Let's