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We are continuing our study into the book of Matthew and we arrive at Matthew chapter 5. If you have your Bibles it will be good for you to just have a quick glance where it is, Matthew chapter 5. As we begin a new series within a series and we call this “The King's Speech”. Jesus is the King of kings, the Lord of lords and now He's going to give us His speech which we will know it as The Sermon on the Mount.

Not too long ago, Donald Trump was inaugurated as the president of the United States of America. And in that inauguration he gave a speech, a speech about his dreams, his goals, his challenges, it's a speech about America. Jesus Christ is the King of kings in the kingdom of heaven. And He's going to speak to us about the kingdom of heaven. This is all part of Matthew's desire to present to us Jesus as King. The book of Matthew is about Jesus Christ the King. And in the first 10 chapters we see the revelation of the King. And in the revelation of the King we've looked at several things about Jesus' life. For one we saw His ancestry, and then later on we saw His arrival, and then we looked at His adoration, how He was adored by the men from the east and then we looked at… anybody remembers what's number 4? Excellent, you guys are not bad. Is it because it's shown? Alright, it's because it's shown. It's the same as the first service. We saw the ambassador of the King, that's John the Baptist. And then we looked at number 5, the King's anointing, He was anointed by the Spirit. Now don't show this yet. You know what's the next one? After He was anointed, He went into the wilderness to be tempted, and there He proved He had victory over the devil, there He proved His ascendancy, alright? His ascendancy over the devil and then number 7 last week we looked at the King's appointment. He chose a few good men who would do the work of the great commission after He should leave. So today as number 8, it'll be the King's …also “A” one lah. The King's address, alright? We're going to look at the King's address or the next slide we will show you is about The King's Speech. This speech is on a mountain, it's not on a platform like this, and this sermon is going to be something rather long. It's from chapter 5 to chapter 7. I tell you in advance it's going to take us months to cover these 3 chapters. And ah, some of you, huh why so long? I hope you start to realize it at the end of the sermon, this, the sermon today, that this is an extremely rich and beautiful passage of scriptures, it's one of the classics for preachers. One of the great text anyone would look at if you want to understand what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be in the kingdom of heaven. So this will be a long journey but don't worry we won't camp there in the mount unnecessarily long, we will do what is appropriate and necessary and I hope it will be a blessing to all your hearts, alright?

With that we'll go straight into the sermon today and we're going to look at the very first statement in that sermon. The first thing that Jesus said in the sermon of the mount is in verse 3, “Blessed are the poor in the spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat 5:3) What does this mean? What is he saying? Let's break it down. First of all, let's look at the word “blessed”. The word “blessed” in the Greek means to be supremely happy, satisfied, secure, sufficient. It's a state of blissfulness. But this is not a happiness that is dependent on circumstance, alright? This is a deep joy. It is not the kind of happiness that you have only when things are going well for you. This is a blissfulness that you experience even when things are difficult around you. See, the Greek word here is the word makarios. And the word makarios in the Greek, is used by the people in time past to refer to Greek mythological gods. So they have Greek gods and they will use the word makarios to describe the gods. Because the gods up there in heavens, according to them, are unaffected by poverty, weakness, death, suffering in life like humanity will. The gods up there are so secure and satisfied and blissful in and of themselves and that's the Greek word makarios. And Jesus is saying, makarios the poor in spirit. The first thing I'd like us to know is that the kingdom of heaven is about makarios. The kingdom of God is about this deep joy and blissfulness and satisfaction. For most people when you tell them I'm a Christian, you know what's their idea of a Christian? Boring. Or it's very stifling, it's very restrictive, it's no joy. It's a killjoy to tell people you follow Jesus. Let me say this, it is true that following Jesus would mean you will go through pain and suffering and difficulties. That's true. But if you follow Jesus if you are part of the kingdom of heaven, there is that makarios, that deep joy in us, and it's a beautiful thing when you know Jesus in your life. The world today is looking for this makarios. Everybody on earth is searching for deep satisfaction, deep joy. But this satisfaction cannot be found anywhere else but in the kingdom of heaven. So people look for makarios in things. They buy things, they earn money, they, they want to achieve something. They hope that when they get there or grab that, they will be makarios. But no, makarios belong to those who are in the kingdom of heaven. You don't get makarios from your BMW car or from a Gucci bag. You get that in God and in His kingdom. And that's why Jesus came. Jesus came to bring to man this deep joy in God. That's why He came, that's why He said, He preached, you've got to repent. If you don't repent of your sins, if you don't come to believe in God's son, or the salvation that God has given in Jesus, then you will face unquenchable fire in hell. That's really, really bad because that's suffering and torment forever. But if you repent and believe in Jesus Christ the Bible tells us you come into makarios. Wow, to me that's big deal.

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Jesus determines hell and eternal joy for us. That's why I think it's important to know who Jesus is and to believe upon Him. It's very interesting when you read the Old Testament. You know, the Old Testament, the Bible is divided into the Old and New Testaments. Everybody knows the first verse of the Old Testament is “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”. Right, we all know that. But anybody knows what's the last verse of the Old Testament? Where is the old, where's the last verse of the Old Testament? It's found in Malachi 4:6. And in the very last statement of the Old Testament there is a curse. The Old Testament ends with a curse. But when Jesus began His King's address, He begins with a blessing. Say, how? Why is that possible? Well, because the Bible will go on to tell us, Jesus came to be a curse for us. He came to suffer and to die for us. He came to bear the curse we deserve for our sins. And because He became a curse for us, we can be blessed. This is the most outrageous, unfair exchange of all universe and that is the amazing grace of God in Jesus Christ.

So the sermon of the mount, introduces us to this beautiful declaration of blessing for God's people. That's the first thing I think we can note. Now, the second thing I think we can note in this, is this phrase “poor in spirit.”  And in this part, Jesus is teaching us some of the characteristics of the people in the kingdom of heaven. In fact this is one of eight characteristics of the people in the kingdom of heaven. We would call these today The Beatitudes. I hope you will remember, it's The Beatitudes. Don't say Beat-titudes ah. Doesn't sound quite nice. it's the Be-at-tidues. It's the eight pronouncement of blessings. In this eight pronouncements, we see the eight characteristics of the people of the kingdom of heaven. In Chinese we call this “八福“ (ba fu). “八“ as in eight, “福”is blessing. The eight blessednesses if you may have it. So in this eight characteristics we see what a child of God, a Christian should be like. If you go overseas, and many Singaporeans go overseas. You go to a popular tourist spot and you hear someone “wah lau eh”. You know what is it? You know that person is from Singapore. Why? Because that is very characteristic of Singaporeans. How do you know you are a child of God? How do you know you are really born again? How do you know you are a Christian? Because over the course of your life, now not immediately and not completely or perfectly but progressively over the course of your life you see these characteristics in you. That I'm growing in, what it means to be poor in spirit, I'm growing in mourning, I'm growing in being meek. What are all these all about? I don't quite get it. That's why you need to come every Sunday, at least for the next 8 weeks, alright? To understand what these mean. Because when you see these characteristics and understand what they are, you check that against your own soul. That's what it means to examine yourself, to see if you are in the faith. Whether you are really a Christian. It's not because, “Oh I said a prayer 10 years ago." or "I was baptised 5 years ago.” No. I see these marks, I know I'm a child of God. You see when God saves a man, He does not just give him a passport. God gives him a new heart. That's why we say you are a new creation. You are born again, you have eternal life. It's a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. And these qualities would show forth. And these qualities by the way come as a set, alright? They come as a set. Erm, you cant' say, "I'm growing in poor in spirit, but I'm never grown in being merciful." That's not quite right. This is not, this is a set menu. You can't do ala carte here. It comes as a package deal, alright? How do you know it's a package? Because this is the literary device that Jesus uses. He says in verse 3, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. And then you see in verse 10, right in the end, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. It begins with the kingdom of heaven, it ends with the kingdom of heaven. This is one complete set. This is the description of the people of God. And the people of God are such a unique breed in this world because these values are not what the world today values. But you will be shown, you will be so obvious if you live these things out and you see these things in your lives.

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So in the weeks to come, hear the message with a regard for your own soul. Examine yourselves, pray in your own heart that God will help you grow in such graces. You will be a beautiful follower of Jesus, you will be a wonderful guy, wonderful lady, when these qualities are expressed in your lives. When you understand what they mean. So today we're just going to spend time looking at the first beatitude. The first one, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”. That's all we're going to look at, so relax, we are on time, alright? “Blessed are the poor in spirit”, what does that mean? The first question people would have, is does it mean that Christians must be poor? Christians cannot be rich? Because “blessed are the poor in spirit”. Now I don't think so. There are many Christians who are rich in the Bible. You have Abraham, you have Job, you have Solomon. Nothing wrong with riches. It's not about money. Money is not evil. The Bible does not say money is evil. The love of money is evil. The obsession with money is evil. But having money in and of itself is not evil. So it's not saying that only poor people can be Christians, or only poor financially people can be in the kingdom of heaven. That's not what Jesus is saying. This is not about material financial poverty. This is about spiritual poverty. This is about someone who knows that he's spiritually poor. In spirit means in mindset, in thinking, in attitude. So Jesus is saying, blessed are those who are conscious, blessed are those who are aware, blessed are those who know that they are spiritually poor. They are spiritually paupers, they are spiritually destitute before God. Blessed are those who know that they are sinners before the Holy God. That's what I think Jesus means. They know that there is no merit, no credit, no strength, no powers spiritually when they stand before God. They know that all their works are like filthy rags that are not acceptable before God. In fact, the word poor here is a very extreme word. The word poor in the Greek comes from a root word that means to cower or to crouch. You bend over all the time. This is the posture of a beggar. So the word here is, blessed are the beggars or the beggar-lies. The, the..those who are desperate and destitute and have absolutely nothing. That's the word. Because there's another Greek word that means you are so poor you got to work very hard. This is the word that says you are so poor you can't even work, they are so desperate. And the posture is that of a beggar. See, no one comes , no one, no one begs with this attitude right? You don't walk around arrogant, but you cower, you crouch. That's the word here. So Jesus says, blessed are those who know they are beggars. Blessed are those who know they are destitute, and impoverished spiritually before God. You say, why? Why are the beggars, why are those who will recognize their own emptiness and futility, blessed? Well, because it's only when you are reduced, when you know just how weak and beggar-ly you are that you will then cry for help and for mercy. And that's why you are blessed. You have learnt not to trust in yourself, because there's nothing to trust in, but you have learnt to trust and to cry out to God.

The story is told of sheep in the Scottish highlands. And sheep there tend to wander as sheep normally do and they get into places where they cannot save themselves. So oftentimes, the sheep will be on a high point and sometimes they will jump down some 2-3 meters because they see grass there. They only think about getting the grass but they never think about getting back up. So after they have grazed, they realized they are stuck and they, they will cry in distress. So they bleat, and as they bleat as they cry the shepherd will hear them, and the shepherd come and see this sheep stuck, not able to get itself out. But the amazing thing is that the shepherd generally doesn't do anything, he just watches the sheep. He watches the sheep jump and jump and cry and cry until the sheep is so exhausted that it cannot stand that he will then go down tie a rope around the sheep and pull the sheep up. So you ask, why doesn't the shepherd go down earlier? Why must you wait until the sheep is so tired? Because if you go down any earlier, the sheep will be so foolish that he will run and jump off the edge of the cliff to its death. It's very much like us. You know, we won't come to God until we are totally exhausted. Until we know that we are absolutely desperate and empty before God. So blessed are those who would come to God like a beggar. Do you know what's the greatest enemy to the gospel? You say, what's the gospel? The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ dying and saving us from our sins. This is the message of God's amazing love.

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You know what's the greatest enemy to the gospel? I believe the greatest enemy to the gospel is self-righteousness. Meaning, you believe you have what it takes to earn your way to acceptance with God. This is a major issue Jesus addressed in the Bible. Jesus gave us a story. A story of two men. One is a Pharisee, he's a religious leader in Jesus' times. The other is a tax collector. A tax collector is not someone who works for IRAS like Singapore where they are clean and so on. These tax collectors in those days are terrible guys. They extort their own people, line their own pockets and give money to the Roman empire. So they are hated people, they are deceitful people, they are despised people, alright? So they are the bad guys of society. So Jesus tells us these two men, the Pharisee and the tax collector goes to the temple together. And the Pharisee goes into the temple and, I love this drawing, he walks like that..yaya papaya, we call it. So he yaya papaya into the temple and he says “Oh thank you God I'm not like these terrible guys. I'm not like that tax collector, I, I, I'm not an extortioner, I'm not an adulterer, I'm not filthy like them. In fact God, not only do I don't do these bad things, I do good things, I fast twice a week." Can't quite tell from his shape but, "I fast twice a week and I give tithes of all that I have." And the interesting thing about this story is that this Pharisee came into the temple supposedly to pray but he asks for nothing. He didn't ask for anything. All he said is “Look at me, I'm so great, I'm the hero.” Then you shift your lens, your camera to the guy at the back. He's somewhat hiding in the shadows, he doesn't go right up front, he doesn't look up because he's so ashamed of his sins. He smites his own chest in grief and contrition. And all he says is this: “God, have mercy on me a sinner”. He doesn't mention anything he did for God, he doesn't mention anything he is better than others in, he doesn't mention any of his works, he's absolutely clear he's a sinner, he's a beggar. “God, have mercy!”, like a beggar. Beggar don't ask, "Give me money because I deserve it." Beggar say, "I've nothing that deserves anything but in your mercy would you give?" That's how he came. What is the verdict on these 2 men? Jesus puts it very clearly. “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified,” (Luke 18:14a) This man returned home forgiven, given righteousness, not to be judged by God anymore. You say, why? Shouldn't it be the Pharisee who fasted and gave and didn't do those bad things? No. Because the Pharisee was full of himself. He was full of self-righteousness. He thought his self-righteousness would cut it with God, but God says he doesn't know how bankrupt he is and therefore he didn't come to God for forgiveness. But the tax-collector, he knows how needy he is, and because he begs of God he receives that forgiveness. See, there is no good man versus bad man in the Bible. All are bad. The difference is one doesn't see his bad-ness, the other sees his bad-ness. One will not come to God for mercy, the other will come to God for mercy. And those who are poor in spirit, those who will beg are those who will blessed and those will be justified. So Jesus says everyone who exhorts himself will be humbled. Everyone who thinks of himself as somebody will one day know that they are nobody and those who humble himself will be exhorted, they will be richly blessed.

Spurgeon therefore says, "The greatest enemy to human souls is the self-righteous spirit which makes men look to themselves for salvation." Every, I say this again, every religion teaches this. You burn incense here, you pray there, you give here, you do good works there, you help a lady across the street. You know what are all these? These are all self-righteous works that people do with the hope that they will be worth something before the holy God. But they don't realize all our filth, all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags, they don't count, they don't matter, they have no merit, they are all filthy. But we are so proud, we think they are worth something. And that's why it's a great enemy to the human soul. If you share the gospel, you will find, that those who are full of self-righteous thoughts are very hard to reach. But those who know that they are sinful, humanly speaking, are easier to reach. Charles Allen, he says, "The hardest people to reach with the love of God are not the bad people. They know they are bad. They have no defense. The hardest ones to win for God are the self-righteous people." And you know what, Jesus regularly talks about self-righteousness when he was on earth, because the Jewish people by and large were depending on their self-righteous works. He's got to shatter all that. CS Lewis is even more explicit, he says “A cold, self-righteous prig”, you say what is this word? It means someone who is moralistic and who feels superior to others because of his moral behavior alright, “A cold, self-righteous prig who goes regularly to church may be far nearer to hell than a prostitute." This is a stunning statement. Some of you, I hope I'm not, you don't get offended but if this is to be believed, some of us may be self-righteous, moralistic men who think of ourselves superior to others. We come regularly to church and we think because we're coming to church, because we give some money in a bag, because we are about this church 'stuff' that I'm definitely saved. Lewis is saying you are nearer to hell than a prostitute, you know that? Because you are self-righteous, you are depending on yourself to be saved. You are not coming to God with a poverty in spirit and that is offensive to God. This is not a problem during Lewis' time alone, this is not a problem in Singapore today only, this has been a problem of church since the beginning. In fact, Jesus was so upset with a certain church that he says if you don't turn from your ways, I'm going to spit you out, vomit you out. You say when did he say that? He said that in the Book of Revelation. To the church at Laodicea, Jesus said about them, you say I'm rich, I've prospered I need nothing but you do not realize, you think that you're so great, you think you're so good, but you don't realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, naked. You're absolutely destitute but you don't want to see it, and you still trust in yourselves. And if you keep doing that, I'm going to puke you out. So he calls the church at Laodicea, "Be zealous and repent." (Revelation 3:19b) Turn from your sins, turn from your self-righteous ways. And learn to trust in Me. I'm there, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." (Revelation 3:20a) If you would just humble yourself and open the door, I will come in. But the greatest hindrance to you being saved is that you lock that door because of your self-righteous, you wouldn't want to come to Me in humility and to cry like a beggar. That's the problem, that's the problem of the church.

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Apostle Paul he did that, Apostle Paul repented from his self-righteousness. The Bible says in Philippians 3:8, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus”. This is a huge statement, because Paul had everything going for him humanly speaking. He was a Jew, he was from the tribe of Benjamin, he was a Pharisee, he was taught the scriptures, he was very zealous in serving God, at least in his own mind. He was persecuting the church because he thinks he's doing a favor for God. So he has every right to claim righteousness based on man's efforts. But when Paul realize that all these things are nothing but dung, he says “I realize that they are, I count everything as loss, I realize that they don't count before God. They are useless, they are refuse, they are rubbish. And now I rely only on Christ Jesus. Not to be found in my righteousness but to be found in His righteousness.” He repented of his self-righteousness and he would come in poverty of spirit to Jesus Christ to be saved. The greatest enemy today to you coming to God may be exactly what this passage is talking about. Eric Raymond, a pastor today he says, “The church is that unique organization where one must admit their own utter unworthiness to be a member prior to entry”. Every organization in the world you must prove your worthiness right? If someone from another country wants to be a citizen of Singapore, I think the requirements are quite high nowadays. You have to prove you are worthy. You have to prove maybe with your diploma, your certificates. You have to prove maybe with the amount of money you are willing to invest. You must prove with your business plan. You have to prove your worthiness to be in Singapore. But the kingdom of heaven is the opposite. You get to heaven, you get to know God when you say “I can't do it Lord, have mercy on me.” It's the opposite.

Blessed are the poor in spirit. That's the only way you get into the kingdom. When you recognize your utter unworthiness. Now this is very difficult because we live in a culture where self-help is the main thing. You go to bookshops and get self-help books. It's self-help philosophy that tell you: “Think positive”, so you must never think yourself as a helpless sinner, think positive. They say “Unlock your potential” - there is everything in you to serve God, there's everything in you to be able to please Him. “Hey, you can do it!” Religion tells you this, you can do it, you can be good enough, you can obey enough, you can serve enough, so that you can do it. You have what it takes. I am my own hero. You know that's the self-help philosophy today - I can save myself. But the Bible says the exact opposite. When it comes to the kingdom of God those who say “I am my own hero” never get in, never. Only those who say “I am zero” then you get in. So, zeroes not heroes enter the kingdom of God. It's only when we are humbled to the ground, when we realize we can't do anything that we will now look to Jesus for our everything. So let me say this, many of you might be sharing the gospel with your friends and so on, and you wonder why is it when I tell him about Jesus, I tell him about joy, I tell him about reconciliation with God, I tell him it's all about grace but how come he still don't want to really believe, he doesn't quite want to get it? Maybe one of the reasons is because they don't know how helpless they really are. They still deep in their hearts, believe in their self-salvation project. That's why they wouldn't come to Christ. Only when a man is brought to this humility will he be able to receive. And I think that's the wisdom of God here. God, I tell you something about Him. God is not here to build your esteem. Self-help builds your self-esteem. God wants to bring us to the dust because Christian life is not “you can do it, I can do it”. The Christian life is “I can't do it, only God can do it”. The Christian life is not about personal power, it's about grace. And so God delights in humbling man so that man may find his all and all in Him. And that's the design of God in entire Old Testament sacrificial system.

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Say why do, why do the Israelites have to bring an animal to be sacrificed every year and indeed everyday? Because the author of Hebrews tells us, it's in these sacrifices that we are reminded of our sin year after year after year. You cannot save yourself, you cannot save yourself, you cannot save yourself. You are still in your sin, you're still in your sin, you cannot save yourself, you are still in sin, and this message is repeated year after year that man will say, “yes I can't save myself”. Properly understood, it's a remembrance of our own poverty of spirit. That's why God gave these sacrifices. Why did God give us the Ten Commandants, why did God give the law? Some people think the law is a bad thing, no, the law is a good thing, The law is a good thing to help us see our helplessness. "Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped," (Romans 3:19a) The law when it's properly preached and understood helps people see that they can't save themselves. They fall so short of God's standard that they now are forced to turn to nowhere else but Jesus Christ. So the Bible says in Galatians, the law is like a tutor, like a school master, teaches you the basics about your sin, your helplessness, about your inability to save yourselves. And the law then points you to Jesus: “Now look, look, look, look at this, Jesus, He saves”. Sharing the gospel requires this necessary journey of helping people see their utter inability to save themselves. That's what I do with my kids. Every time they, I think I've shared this many times, but every time they disobey and we have to discipline, we don't just cane and tell them change your behavior. But the cane is coupled with a statement that goes something like this, “Why did you disobey? Because my heart is sinful.” You say it's so repetitive, ya it's like the Old Testament sacrifices, year after year, stroke after stroke, day after day, it's a reminder, I'm sinful, I'm sinful, I'm sinful, I'm sinful. But Pastor, won't that make them very depressed? Won't that make your kids really, like insecure? Well, you go look at my 2 kids and see whether they are insecure. I don't think they are insecure. But that's because I don't just end there and say that you're sinful. I think that's terrible. It's terrible if you just tell them “you're sinful, you're sinful, you're sinful” and you stop there because he's done for, there's no hope. But this is the joy - I tell them, “You're sinful, you can't save yourself, Shawn, Matthias, your heart is wicked, is evil, you've got to have a new heart and when you repent and believe in Jesus, God gives you a new heart. God loves you, son. But be reminded you're sinner who can't gain acceptance with God, you've got to look to Jesus.” I think it's so important for kids who are growing up in church because I tell you your kids who are growing up in church, somehow in their minds would assume they must be fine because they are in church. And that's because they are not reminded from young, no one is saved by self-righteousness. Everyone is born a sinner. So that is a necessary journey but let me say this, this is what we delight, what we delight in the fact that Jesus paid it all. Now tell your kids they have sinned, but don't stop there, tell them that Jesus paid for all their sins. JESUS PAID IT ALL! That is good news for the beggar because the beggar says I have nothing to pay for my sins. Great, come to Jesus! He paid it all! And that's why we call this the good news, the amazing grace of God. This morning, would you come to Jesus like a beggar believing He has paid it all for you?

Many years ago, I was not a Christian yet, I was wanting to believe in Jesus, I've come to realize that the Bible is true, that God is true, I'm a sinner and I need to be saved. But I didn't know how to, so I walked around in church in those days, in our church Gospel Light somewhere else in another building, and we have these tracts, gospel tracts lying around and I picked up one of them, it looks exactly like this. Except the paper is yellow kind, those old and dirty type, it's looks really bad. But what attracted me to it was the title and a picture of this guy. I mean..I thought that describes me pretty well, I'm asking myself, "Am I going to heaven?" I want to know God, I want to be saved and I'm wondering how. Who is going to help me? So I took this tract and I opened to the first page within and it starts off with questions. It asks, if you want to go heaven, do you think you need to obey God? I said, of course, I ticked. If you want to go heaven, do you think you need to go to church? I said, of course, that's what Christians do. If you want to go heaven, do you have to be a good person? I said, of course, I ticked. I ticked virtually everything except the one that says do you need to give money, I said no need. I think Gospel Light was very clear that it's not about money, alright? So I ticked everything, I think I know that was a trick question, I think I know that I'm going to heaven now. So I turned to the last page where the answer lies and it responded this way - if you have ticked yes to obeying, you are wrong, gives you a verse. If you ticked yes to going to church hoping that that will save you, you are wrong, it gives you the answer in another verse. If you ticked being a good person as a way to get yourself saved, you are wrong, it gives you another verse. And I, and I was looking, well, this is crazy, I first time in my life, exam fail. Fail miserably you know, zero or close to zero, I say what is this all about? And then at the end of it, of that tract, it says no man is saved by trusting in himself. A man is saved by trusting in Jesus. You see, obeying God, going to church, being a good guy, you know what these are? Self-righteous works. And if I do these things I may look at myself and say, I go to church, I fast twice in my lifetime, I give some money, I'm better than a lot of people. Surely God will say... that's what will happen. But the gospel message humbles me to the ground, humbles me to the dust and I realize today I'm not saved because of these things I do, I cannot trust myself, it is all about Jesus. Now, if you're willing to be a beggar and cry to God for mercy, you can be saved. I got it then. It's all about grace.

0:42:38

This is a great song we sing in our church by and by, Rock of Ages. There's this stanza that reads, “Nothing in my hand I bring”. I'm a beggar, I'm a spiritual zero, God. I, I don't pretend, and I'm not going to imagine that I have any merit or credit when I stand before you. “Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling; Naked come to Thee for dress, Helpless, fly to Thee for grace. Foul," smelly, dirty, "I to the fountain fly." I fly to the fountain drawn from the Saviour's veins, I'm washed in the blood. “Wash me Savior or I die”. That's what it means to come to Jesus. Where every trace of self-righteousness is stripped from us. And so this is the glorious gospel. Keller summarizes it as such, “We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” The self-righteous man says “I am not as sinful and flawed as I think I should be and God's love is not that great because I did work my way up there”. But the gospel is an extreme message - you are absolute sinful and undeserving but God is absolutely amazing in His grace and love. Beggars, come to Christ, be ye saved. And you know when you really believe in the gospel, if you really come to God in this way, I think your life will be changed. Like Apostle Paul you will say, “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 6:14) You will not boast in your accomplishment, you will not boast in your achievements, you will not even boast in your giftings. Paul is an amazing brilliant chap, absolutely gifted in many areas, but you know he says, “I'm not going to boast in anything but in the cross”. I pray Gospel Light will be a church where there is this deep sense of humility. This deep sense of humility that flows from the realization that we are beggars. We are given so much when we don't deserve anything. I pray that will characterize this church. I know the world today is all about boosting some guy, it's about esteeming one guy, it's about lifting people on pedestals. I think the Bible tells me it's lifting only Jesus Christ. We boast only in Jesus Christ. I pray this will be our church. I pray that as you grow in his humility, you will learn more and more what means to say that my power or Christ's power is made perfect in my weakness, that we will be able to say I meet with many challenges in life, marriage is difficult, work is difficult, ministry is difficult, but I have learnt to depend not on myself but on Christ. I'm a spiritual bankrupt. I've no power in and of myself, apart from You I can do nothing. But I've learnt when I come to You as a beggar when I pray, beggars pray, beggars ask, when I pray, “God, Your power is made perfect in my weakness, therefore I glory in my weakness”. I pray that will be your life. And I pray brothers and sisters you would be able to say if Jesus paid it all, then all to Him I owe. You will live a life for Jesus.

What a simple verse, isn't it? It's very simple verse, "Blessed are the poor in spirit," Blessed are those who know they are beggars. But this is a major theme that runs all the way through the Bible. And that's why I think The Beatitudes so simple are yet at the same time are so profound. And I pray it will be life-changing for you. I end with a story of William Carey. William Carey is a missionary to India many years ago. 300, 200, 300 years ago. God used him in a wonderful way. He translated the Bible into many different languages. He's known today as the father of modern missions. Maybe not so modern anymore but anyway, he was called the father of modern missions. Well, he died. When a man dies, when a man like William Carey dies, what would you say about this man? And what would he want to be remembered by others? Well, you know it from the few words that were engraved on his tombstone. So, if you go to India today you will still find his tombstone. And the tombstone reads, in the very last 2 lines, “A wretched poor and helpless worm, on Thy kind arms I fall”. Wow! William Carey leh, the great missionary. No, no, no, please…, I'm just a wretched poor and helpless worm, I'm a beggar before God, and I fall on His kind arms. Not because I've done anything but because of God's grace. Isaac Watts echoed that, “Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?” Christianity, the way of Christ; to go up is to go down; to be blessed is to know you're empty. I  pray today in your life, in my life, in our lives, the first beatitude would be seen more and more to His glory. Let's bow for a word of prayer.

0:49:06

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This morning, coming to Jesus means you're willing to come as a beggar. Maybe you have thought yourself too high that you are not willing to bow before the King of kings, then I say to you an unimaginably terrible fate awaits you in the fires of hell. But here is the merciful call of God, the cry of Jesus is “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. It means that you recognize your sinfulness, and you recognize your helplessness, so that this morning you are willing to come as a beggar and ask God for mercy. You see that Jesus has died on the cross, you see that Jesus has paid it all and you say “Lord, nothing in my hands I bring but simply to Thy cross I cling.” Would you come as a beggar to God today? Would you repent and believe? To my brothers and sisters in Christ, if Jesus paid it all, would you say “all to Him I owe”? Is your life for Jesus? You say why is my life not for Jesus? I tell you why because you have not realized how sinful you are and how amazing His grace is. And that's why we need to grow, we need to grow in the gospel. To grow in the gospel is not to boost our self-esteem, but to grow in the gospel is a very humbling process, where I see myself so sinful and so flawed but I'm so comforted and assured when I realize that He loves me more than I can ever imagine. And when you go deep into the gospel and when it comes to your heart, it changes your life. You can't help but say I will live for Jesus, He gave himself for me. And daily in your life, you can experience His grace, as you say I can't but He can, I can't but He can, I'm weak but He is strong, I've no power but He has the power. And He tells me “Abide in me, and you'll bring forth much fruit." The way of the kingdom is the way of the beggar. Every day we beg from our King. But He's a loving King, He'll never cast you away. Would you come to your King today? Father, bless Your word this morning to each and every heart. It's a simple statement but what profound thoughts they are. I know there's much that has been shared, and I do pray that in the process of time these truths will come afresh and anew over and over again that we might be a people who are characterized by this first beatitude, the blessed ones who are poor in spirit. We thank You and we pray all this now in Jesus' Name. Amen.

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