Encouragements for our troubled times No. 66
COVID-19 Series | Date: 24 June 2021
The Elders and Deacons want to encourage the members and those who regularly meet with us through this weekly letter. If you have news which you would be happy to share with the fellowship or request for prayer, then please let us know.
A message from our Pastor
Matthew 5:3
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
The sermon on the mount is Christ’s message on the normal Christian life, establishing the basic standards of the Christian life for those who are newly converted. But they also have an important application to those who are not saved, revealing to them how far short they fall of the most basic standards that God requires of His people. And, if there are those who are reading this message who are not saved, let the words of the Saviour reveal to you your need of new life that can only be found in Christ.
The sermon starts with nine beatitudes, each one beginning with the word blessed. The word means happy in an elevated spiritual sense, fortunate and truly rich. And the expression means more than the English translation conveys; it means ‘Oh the blessedness.’ They are truly blessed. Who are they?
Firstly, the truly blessed of this world are the poor in spirit. This does not refer to the spirit of man, which is the spiritual life of man. It refers to a disposition of mind. Poor in spirit as opposed to being haughty and self-righteous in spirit. For those who are proud of the righteousness and think they are good enough for God there is no salvation; and therefore, place in God’s Kingdom. Jesus said, “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” Christ came to save those who know they are sinners, not those who think they are righteous and therefore need no repentance. Therefore, the truly blessed of this world are those who see their poverty of righteousness due to their sin and seek that righteousness that can only be found in Christ.
They are truly blessed because theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who stand before God covered in Christ’s righteousness are the citizens of Heaven. That is their home and their inheritance. They, and they alone, are those who are part of God’s glorious, everlasting Kingdom. God’s Kingdom that has no end, that has no sin in it and, therefore, no guilt, or shame, or pain, or suffering; but is full of peace and joy. God’s Kingdom that is so wonderful and glorious it is a fit place for God to dwell, with His people, for all eternity.
We who are the redeemed of the Lord are those who are the truly blessed of this world; because we are the citizens of Heaven. We may not have the riches of this world but the riches of God’s Heavenly Kingdom is ours. Therefore, let us live for that Kingdom.
Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”