TEXT: Matthew 5:3-10

SUBJECT: Watson on the Beatitudes #1

Tonight, with the Lord’s help, we’ll commence a new Puritan study called Thomas Watson on the Beatitudes. There are nine beatitudes in Matthew’s Gospel and they describe the person who belongs to God’s Kingdom. He’s not worthy of it, of course, but he fits in. He feels at home in God’s Kingdom now—and will be there forever.

The Beatitudes don’t tell us to do something; they tell us to be something. Life in God’s Kingdom, therefore, is not a matter of keeping the rules or of trying harder, but of being born again by God’s Spirit. If you are saved, you’ll be the kind of person described here—to some degree. If you’re not this kind of person—to some degree—you’re not saved. You may go to church, pray at the dinner table, and never miss a day of Bible reading. But unless God has changed your character—not just some of your activities—you’re not in the Kingdom now—and you never will be until your heart is renewed by grace.

Honestly read, the Beatitudes shatter self-confidence. How in the world can we make ourselves into the kind of person the Lord tells us we have to be? What formula can do it? What book? What seminar? What discipline? To ask the question is to answer it—no formula, no book, no seminar, no discipline can make us into what we must be. Thus, God’s got to do it. Or it won’t be done.

The Beatitudes also increase our faith in God’s power, wisdom, and goodness. Some people are going to heaven. That means the Lord has changed their lives. And if theirs, why not yours? When discouraged about my own failures, I love to read the hymn by Mr. Cole,

The Lord can do it! He can make the proudest woman "poor in spirit"; He can make the meanest kid "merciful"; He can make the dirtiest man "pure in heart".

Looking at their staggering demands, some have said the Beatitudes apply only to people alive in the Millennium. They’re wrong. The Lord wants His people to be like this right here and right now. John MacArthur—I think—wrote a book on the Beatitudes with an apt title,

The first Beatitude is also the best known,

What does it mean to be "poor in spirit"? According to Thomas Watson, poverty of spirit is not the same as having no money. He says,

If "Poor in spirit" doesn’t mean poor, what does it mean? The Puritan says,

Note carefully what he doesn’t say. He doesn’t say they constantly talk about how wicked and unworthy they are. I suspect this kind of wallowing is more often the fruit of pride than of humility. We say how bad we are so that others will notice. We go on and on with our horror stories to keep the conversation focused on ourselves.

No, the poor in spirit don’t talk about their wickedness so much as they feel it. They remember what they were before they were converted—"Foolish, disobedient, hateful and hating others".

They also remember that—even now—their resources are in Christ alone. The good they do doesn’t spring from themselves, but from Christ who lives in them.

Poverty of Spirit, therefore, is the opposite of two things: Pride and unbelief. We feel really, really bad about ourselves and really, really good about Jesus Christ.

That’s what it means to be poor in spirit.

Having explained what poverty of spirit is, Watson goes on to underline its importance. He makes three points.

1. Unless you are poor in spirit, you cannot receive God’s grace.

"Just as a glass full of water can receive no wine and hands full

of pebbles can receive no gold, so a man who is full

of self-sufficiency and a sense of excellence

cannot receive Christ."

He has used some striking word-pictures here—full hands cannot receive gold, full glasses cannot receive wine. They’ve got too much in them to receive something better. Drop the pebbles and you’ll get the gold; pour out the water and you’ll get the wine!

This is exactly what the Bible teaches. The Pharisees were not too bad for Christ, but too good. If they didn’t think so highly of themselves, they would have received the grace He offered them in the Gospel. Our Lord did not come to

"Call the righteous, but

sinners to repentance".

Were the scribes and Pharisees sinners? Of course they were; they were as bad as the publicans and harlots who flocked to the Lord. What kept the religious men away from Christ? Nothing in Christ; He offered them the same grace as anyone else. No, it was something in them. Like Esau, they said,

"I have enough".

You need Christ more than anything else—more than everything else put together, multiplied by infinity. But until you’re poor in spirit, you’ll never feel that need. Or receive what He so freely gives those who want it. Poverty of spirit is supremely important because, without it, you cannot receive God’s grace.

2. Unless you are poor in spirit, you cannot esteem Jesus Christ.

"Until we are poor in spirit, Christ is never precious.

Before we see our needs, we never see Christ’s worth.

When a man sees himself as almost dead, how precious

The Great Physician will be to him! When he sees himself

In debt to God, how glad he is to have a Surety!"

Let me tell you a little story. When I was a boy, my parents and I used to visit a family on the other side of town. They were always fussier than we liked, but one day the woman told me I couldn’t sit on the couch (although her dog was lying there!). I’ll never forget what happened: Nobody got mad, no loud or ugly words were spoken, but my dad said, "Let’s go home". We never went back! If I wasn’t welcome there, my dad wasn’t either.

Moral to the story: God loves His Son way more than my dad loves me. Therefore, if you despise Christ, God will despise you! If Jesus Christ is not precious to you, you won’t be precious to God.

But how can He be precious to you unless you’re poor in spirit? How can you love the Healer unless you know you’re sick? How can you love the Giver unless you know you’re in debt? How can you love the Savior unless you know you’re lost without Him?

Poverty of spirit is supremely important because without it, you cannot esteem Jesus Christ.

3. Unless you are poor in spirit, you cannot go to heaven.

Again, Watson uses the striking imagery of the Bible. If getting into heaven is like squeezing through a narrow gate and going through the eye of a needle, then people bulging with pride and puffed up with what they do or don’t do will never get in. To be poor in spirit means going to heaven. To not be poor in spirit means going to hell.

Poverty of spirit is that important. It’s not that the penthouses of heaven go to the poor in spirit and the rest of us live in the basement. No, all of heaven is a penthouse! And nobody moves in unless he’s poor in spirit.

And nobody else’s!

If being poor in spirit is that important, you need to know if you are or not. Is there any way of testing yourself? Sure there is. Remember, nobody’s perfect; the humblest man has more pride in him than he cares to admit. But still, there are ways of knowing if you’re poor in spirit or not. Watson has a lot to say on this point, but I have to summarize:

• Do you admire Christ? We’ve covered this already and I won’t say any more other than this: Do you admire Christ? Not, do you say nice things about Him, but do you see Him as absolutely essential to your life? Not someone who makes things a little better; someone who has a place in your life, and so on. But is He your All in all? If you’re poor in spirit, He is. The poor in spirit admire Christ.

• Do you feel inadequate—even when you’re at your best? Everyone feels that way when he has messed up or committed a big, embarrassing sin. But what about when you’re doing well? Do you even then feel that "Without Christ, you can do nothing?" If you’re poor in spirit, you do. The poor in spirit feel inadequate.

• How do you pray? Have you ever seen a rich man beg? No, because he doesn’t need to. It’s the poor who beg. Because they need to. In the same way, the man who feels pretty good about himself may go through the motions of prayer, but he doesn’t pray much or very earnestly. Because he doesn’t feel the need to. But if you’re poor in spirit, you do.

• Are you grateful? Watson says, "None so magnify mercy as the poor in spirit". Why? Because they know how dependent they are on it! One of the saddest stories in the Bible is the one about the Ten Lepers. Ten men were healed of an awful disease, but only one came back to say thank you. But what a thank you it was!

Are you poor in spirit? If you are, thank God for it! Poverty of spirit brings two blessings to everyone who has it.

The first is happiness in this life. Note, our Lord doesn’t say, "Blessed will be the poor in spirit", but "Blessed are the poor in spirit". They will be happy in the future, of course, infinitely happy. But some of that happiness is theirs right now! Even if they’re sick or have no money or have suffered a lot of bad things in life.

How can it be otherwise? Nothing makes you unhappier than ego! Because it’s always being bruised! People are stomping all over it all the time. But get rid of it, and voila, there’s your happiness on earth.

The second is happiness in the life to come. Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Do you have any idea of how great heaven must be? It’s a never-ending party that keeps getting better…forever. The poor in spirit will be there. Will you? God give you the answer of peace. For Christ’s sake. Amen.