THE SPIRIT OF POORNESS
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SPIRIT OF POORNESS
"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,” (Matthew 5:3).
✤ When we keep the testimonies of Christ we are actually entering into a binding covenant and agreement with Him.
✤ The seven spirits or testimonies of Christ begin with the word "blessed" and end with a promise that God will give us if we obey.
SPIRIT OF POORNESS
The word blessed should not be taken lightly as it so often is in this world.
✤ To be blessed is to be made holy, sanctified and consecrated.
✤ Therefore, by keeping the testimonies, we become holy unto God and are worthy to receive the promise that will one day be fulfilled.
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SPIRIT OF POORNESS
The spirit of poorness is the very first testimony that God stated during His sermon on the mount. This is not coincidental but instead has a purpose, which can fully be understood as we further depict what this testimony means.
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SPIRIT OF POORNESS
In simple terms, we describe the spirit of poorness as the ability to share.
✤ This is true and important to understand.
✤ This is how we first teach our children about this testimony.
✤ They can understand that it pleases God to share food or toys for example.
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SPIRIT OF POORNESS
As adults, we learn that the spirit of poorness is not only sharing of material items but also of our time and our love.
✤ Consider our church.
✤ We give alms unto various organizations in the form of clothing, food or money but we also volunteer our time to work at the food bank.
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SPIRIT OF POORNESS
✤ Christ does not want us to be selfish or self-centered.
✤ He does not possess these traits. It goes against the spirit.
✤ The world teaches us the opposite.
✤ The ideology is every man for himself and get what's yours.
✤ The poor are hated and looked down upon. Their circumstances are of their own doing so why should we help them?
SPIRIT OF POORNESS
✤ Christ instructs us very plainly in scriptures. Let's read in Matthew 25: 34-46. When we share we are in fact obeying the second part of the Royal Law, that of brotherly love.
✤ To review the royal law it is found in Matthew 22: 37-40, “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
SPIRIT OF POORNESS
✤ This royal law summarizes the commandments, testimonies and all that is the law.
✤ In fact, the testimonies and commandments are closely interrelated.
✤ You can't have one without the other or keep one and not the other. James said it best in James 2: 10, "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”
SPIRIT OF POORNESS
✤ Sharing, however, does not provide the entire scope of what this testimony is.
✤ Indeed, there is a larger component that pertains to divine love as with all of the testimonies.
✤ A person who possesses the spirit of poorness is willing to give their entire life over to God, withholding nothing from Him. In other words, your life is not just your own.
✤ In this case, you don’t merely share or give a portion as you would with the poor. But you give your whole heart to God.
✤ We can then see that being poor in spirit towards God is a much taller order in comparison to being poor in spirit towards your neighbor.
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SPIRIT OF POORNESS
So what is the first step to this testimony? You have to sacrifice your desires of the flesh so that your desires are towards God.
✤ It is a sacrifice so it won’t always be easy. It comes with practice, the Spirit and daily study of the word because our minds and bodies are corrupted with sin.
✤ But we must overcome what appeases the flesh because this is temporary vanity.
SPIRIT OF POORNESS
✤ We have to kill and bury the old man and be reborn anew in Christ, (Romans 6: 1-4).
✤ To be born again in Christ is to make Him number 1 in our lives.
✤ This means God comes before our spouses, our children, our family, our friend, our jobs, our money and even our very own bodies.
✤ Let us review: Matthew 10: 37, Matthew 19: 16 & 21-24 & John 12: 25.
SPIRIT OF POORNESS
✤ Now let’s take it a step further to show how the testimonies and commandments connect.
✤ When we are poor in spirit, nothing in our lives comes before God. This means we are able to obey the 1st commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me,” (Exodus 20: 3)
✤ Why? A god is an idol that can be described as anything that you place above the Lord.
✤ So the very the first testimony and the very first commandment go hand in hand. Got it? Good. Let’s move on.
SPIRIT OF POORNESS
Now an opposing force of poor in spirit is covetousness, which my Brother John will discuss.
✤ The Lord warns us against this evil spirit in the 10th commandment, “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s,” (Exodus 20: 17).
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SPIRIT OF POORNESS
✤ God would not expect us to do something that He has not showcased Himself.
✤ God the Father and Christ embody the spirit of poorness.
✤ Christ is the Father’s only begotten Son.
✤ They are one, (John 14: 10-11). Their love for each is great and something we can’t fully comprehend, (Matthew 3: 17).
SPIRIT OF POORNESS
✤ However, their love for us is also great.
✤ The Father did not withhold His Son from us.
✤ Instead, He sent His Son to the earth to die for us, (John 3: 16).
SPIRIT OF POORNESS
✤ Christ, who is King of Kings, was made in the flesh as we are and subjected to the same struggles, (John 1: 14).
✤ He felt pain, sorrow, anger and fear just as we do, yet He did not sin, leaving an example for us all, (I Peter 2: 21-22).
SPIRIT OF POORNESS
✤ Christ suffered a horrific and miserable death and before He died He said, “My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me,” (Matthew 27: 46)
✤ He said these words in pain and in suffering.
✤ The Father, knowing all, was a witness to all of this.
✤ Yet the Father did this great work for us, sparing not even Christ’s life so that we could be saved.
SPIRIT OF POORNESS
✤ The entire Throne of God gives so much to us.
✤ Everything we have in life we owe to God.
✤ Therefore we must give our all unto them.
SPIRIT OF POORNESS
✤ Now recall at the beginning of this class, I stated that God spoke of this testimony first.
✤ This was not a coincidence.
✤ Why is that?
SPIRIT OF POORNESS
✤ Being willing to give your entire life to God is the very first step you have to make before picking up your cross to walk.
✤ If you you are not able to give your all to God, how can you show mercy, peace or meekness?
✤ You won’t hunger and thirst for the word and you certainly won’t be pure in heart because your priorities are elsewhere.
SPIRIT OF POORNESS
✤ If you cannot make that first initial commitment, everything will fall to pieces and you will not be successful in the law.
✤ Remember that each testimony is a binding agreement between us and God.
✤ Christ has promised us the kingdom of heaven, that of eternal life and joy, if we obey Him.
✤ We cannot merely read the testimonies or recite them. They must be written upon our hearts.
✤ Let us put the spirit of poorness on display in our lives that God may be our first priority day in and day out. Amen.