Who Else Wants to Get Real State in The Kingdom of Heaven?

Christ?s first preaching seems to have been summarized in one short but crucial sentence, like that of John the Baptist before Him: ?Repent ye: for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand? ( Matthew 3:2; 4:17).

It is not appropriate in a brief study such as this to discuss that most interesting topic, the Kingdom of heaven?what it is and what the various periods of its development are?but these Beatitudes teach us much about those who belong to that Kingdom, and upon whom Christ pronounced its highest forms of benediction.

Christ came once in the flesh, and He is coming yet again. Each advent has a special object as connected with the Kingdom of heaven. The first advent of our Lord was for the purpose of establishing an empire among men and over men, by laying the foundations of that empire within individual souls.

His second coming will be for the purpose of setting up that empire in glory. It is therefore vitally important that we understand what the character of the subjects in that Kingdom is, so that we may know whether we belong to the Kingdom ourselves, and whether its privileges, immunities, and future rewards are a part of our present and future inheritance.

Thus one may grasp the importance of a devout and careful study of these Beatitudes. We must examine them as a whole; we cannot take one alone without losing a part of the lesson they jointly teach.

These Beatitudes form one portrait. When an artist draws a picture, each line may be graceful and masterful, but it is the union of the lines that reveals their mutual relation; it is the combination of the various artistic delineations and minute touches that gives us the complete portrait. So here, though each separate aspect has its own peculiar beauty and grace and shows the hand of a master, it is only when we take all the lines in combination that we get the full portrait of a true subject and citizen in the Kingdom of God.

?Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven? (Matthew 5:3).

It is indeed blessed to mark how this sermon opens. Christ began not by pronouncing maledictions on the wicked, but by pronouncing benedictions on His people. How like Him was this, to whom judgment is a strange work ( Isaiah 28:21,22; cf. John 1:17).

But how strange is the next word: ?blessed? or ?happy? are the poor? ?the poor in spirit.? Who, previously, had ever regarded them as the blessed ones of earth? And who, outside believers, does so today? And how these opening words strike the keynote of all Christ?s subsequent teaching: it is not what a man does but what he is that is most important.

?Blessed are the poor in spirit.? What is poverty of spirit? It is the opposite of that haughty, self-assertive, and self-sufficient disposition that the world so much admires and praises. It is the very reverse of that independent and defiant attitude that refuses to bow to God, that determines to brave things out, and that says with Pharaoh, ?Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice?? (Exodus 5:2).

To be poor in spirit is to realize that I have nothing, am nothing, and can do nothing, and have need of all things. Poverty of spirit is evident in a person when he is brought into the dust before God to acknowledge his utter helplessness.

It is the first experiential evidence of a Divine work of grace within the soul, and corresponds to the initial awakening of the prodigal in the far country when he ?began to be in want ? ( Luke 15:14).


------

This article is presented by Pablo Perez and Spiritual Fuel. The words of the article were written by A.W. Pink (One of the most influential evangelical authors in the second half of the twentieth century). Access more inspiring Christian articles on Spiritual Fuel - a Free Devotional Newsletter.