18-0610: Jesus comes to the spiritually helpless and hopeless to save and gives the abundant life of His Kingdom. The first value of living in God’s kingdom is poor in spirit. The one poor in spirit recognizes their complete lack of spiritual worth, in nature and ability, and lives in light of their own, deep spiritual poverty & bankruptcy. This person has reached the end of self and seeks only God as their refuge. Martin Lloyd-Jones says of this value, “You will never find a greater antithesis to the worldly spirit and outlook than that which you find in this verse.”[1] In this message, Pastor Lane highlights the impossibility to live out this value without divine help. Three spiritual exercises are provided to cultivate this Beatitude and experience a fuller sense of the abundant life in God’s Kingdom. May this message help and encourage you to follow Jesus more faithfully.
[1] D. Martin Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1976), 35.