“We are so used to the sayings of Jesus that they slip past us; they sound sweet and pious and wonderfully simple, but they are in reality like spiritual torpedoes that burst and explode in the subconscious mind.” (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Chambers, 12)

1. Blessed.

“Since this is God’s universe there can be no higher “blessing” than to be approved by God.” (Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount and His confrontation with the World, D. A. Carson, 20).

. “…Jesus is not declaring how people feel; rather, he is making an objective statement about what God thinks of them.” (The Sermon on the Mount, Hughes, 16)

2. Blessed are the poor.

“The bedrock of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is poverty, not possession….It takes a long while to believe we are poor, but that is the entrance.” (Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Chambers, 10)

3. Blessed are the poor in spirit.

…“a full, honest, factual, conscious, and conscientious recognition before God of personal moral unworthy.” (Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount and His confrontation with the World, D. A. Carson, 22).

“It is not a man’s confession that he is ontologically insignificant. Or personally without value, for such would be untrue; it is, rather a confession that he is sinful and rebellious and utterly without moral virtues adequate to commend him to God. (Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount and His confrontation with the World, D. A. Carson, 21).

4. The Kingdom of Heaven.

Rock of Ages by Augustus Toplady

Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee;
Let the water and the blood, From Thy riven side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure, Save me from its guilt and power.

Not the labor of my hands Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;
Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow,
All could never sin erase, Thou must save, and save by grace.

Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling;
Naked, come to Thee for dress, Helpless, look to Thee for grace:
Foul, I to the fountain fly, Wash me, Savior, or I die.

While I draw this fleeting breath, When mine eyes shall close in death, When I soar to worlds unknown, See Thee on Thy judgment throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee.

Sermon Discussion Questions

1. List ten ways that you are blessed spiritually.

2. Why do you think Jesus begins with this Beatitude? How does this one affect us?

3. Have you realized that you must be poor? When did you realize your spiritual poverty?

4. How can we maintain to be spiritually poor?

5. What does it mean that we will receive the Kingdom of Heaven?

6. What can you do this week to be poor in spirit?