When I was young in the faith, I had a deep hunger to find the truth of God because it was deeply satisfying. I was unsettled by the feeling I sometimes had that the Bible teaching I was hearing seemed only loosely linked with the biblical text, and it was peculiar, out of sync, and did not have the “ring of truth” I experienced when reading Scripture itself.
The Bible itself speaks of “false teaching.” There is a difference between truth and falsehood, and when it comes to Bible interpretation, there is a lot of teaching that is garbage. So how can we know if someone is giving false teaching from the Bible?
Watch out for opportunists. It is amazing how many people will follow someone who is manipulative, greedy, and dishonest. The book of Jude offers an analysis of this kind of false teaching:
These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. … These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. (Jude 12-13, 16)
Another kind of false teaching is speculation. Some people make a career out of spouting details of topics like spiritual life or prophesy which go way beyond what Scripture actually teaches. Sometimes the motive is manipulation. The last sentence of 1 Timothy is this plea:
O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. (1 Timothy 6:20-21)
A third kind of false teaching is legalism. Jesus confronted this distortion of the truth of God. This is why I will be spending the next few weeks going through what is commonly known as the Sermon on the Mount and I will go through each of the Beatitudes. I have heard these called the beautiful attitudes, and I agree. How is it then that there is so much false teaching in the world today and Scripture have become so perverted?
So completely has the devil mixed things up that people do not know the difference between what is earthly and what is truly heavenly. What the devil is aiming at is to pervert Scripture and especially takes aim at the fifth chapter of Matthew.
False teaching can come from naiveté, arrogance, or selfish gain. The problem we face today is that it isn’t hard to grab a microphone, create a webpage, or even self-publish a book. We must make careful choices about whom we listen to, and have the strength to turn away when a suspicious teacher is tickling our ears and offering false comfort. All of this is why we need to look closer at this chapter to find what is so worrisome to Satan and what is truly being said.
Now before we get into the red letters of Matthew 5, I want to take a moment here on the first two verses of this chapter. This is important, especially to those who present God’s word.
When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, (Matthew 5:1-2)
Notice the three things Jesus did. First Jesus took his place; secondly, he opened his mouth to say something; thirdly, he began to teach, not preach. These first two verses are for those who are given the responsibility of teaching God’s word. We are to take our place and we are to open our mouth and teach. If a preacher hears of wrong teachings, he is responsible to open his mouth and teach against the false word. He is not to keep silent. If a preacher will not do that, he should not be allowed behind a pulpit. That is what Jesus is about to do, the Pharisees have been perverting the Word of God.
Verse 3: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
This is a sweet and gentile beginning of his sermon. He is not coming with threatening demands, but in a friendly manner. As kindly and sweet as this sermon begins for Christians, disciples and followers of Jesus, this was also very annoying and intolerable for some of the Jews and their leaders. Jesus is actually hitting very hard in these beginning words. He is rejecting and condemning the current doctrine being taught. What was being taught was that if all is going well for you on earth, it means that God is happy with you. The Jews firmly believed this then and this still is true today, 2000 years later.
Jesus is now preaching an altogether new sermon for Christians, that if it does not go well, if you suffer poverty and have to do without riches, power, honor and a good time, they are to still be happy. Not to be concerned about the temporal things of the earth, but a different reward, the eternal reward of the kingdom of heaven.
Does this mean that if I do have money, power and honor, that I have to give this up? Would this not be the same as buying my way into heaven? Blessed are the poor…wait! Are there not more words, in spirit. Being spiritually poor has nothing to do with any accomplishments. For having money, property and employees is not wrong of itself but it is God’s gift and arrangement. It does not mean that if you are a beggar you are blessed either.
Jesus is also not speaking to the secular government and employers. There is a need for a disciple of Christ to be in these positions and at times these positions will have money, property, honor, power and employees. In America, many of us want a real Christian to be President of the United States. If this were to happen, this person is not going to be poor and without. He will have position and rank. The world could not exist if the entire world were beggars and have nothing. How could the head of a family maintain their family if he had nothing at all? To be bodily poor has nothing to do with this first Beatitude.
So what does it mean to be spiritually poor? This means to not place your confidence in temporal possessions. David was an excellent king and had indeed his wallet and chest full of money, barns full of grain, and the country full of all kinds of stores; but with all of this he had to be spiritually a poor beggar.
“Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; Do not be silent at my tears; For I am a stranger with You. A sojourner like all my fathers. (Psalms 39:12)
This is a heart that does not cling to property and riches. David also did not run away from his job, his wife and children, or his responsibilities as King so that he could sit in the temple all of his days and escape the secular world. King David was given his family from God; his responsibilities are that given from God and with these responsibilities came positions. David treated all of these as gifts from God, not something that can be just walked away from and discarded. If he did he would be discarding God’s gifts. With this example you can see that a rich man can still be spiritually poor, without throwing away his earthly positions. Will some have to give up positions? Yes. But it has to be done in the name of the Lord. Pastors do. But when positions are given up it has to be done in the name of God, not just to become a beggar.
Poor in spirit does not mean poor in possessions. Material poverty may open your heart to search for something better, but if that search does not find Jesus Christ, then that poverty is of no special value. On the other hand a materially rich person does not invoke the wrath of God.
Poor in spirit does not mean spiritually poor. Just because a person is spiritually poor does not mean God will bless them. This is not a condition to be proud of. Why are you spiritually poor? Is it because of disobedience, unbelief, hidden sin or an unforgiving spirit?
Poor in spirit must not be confused with self-denial. Some people believe that they can “improve” their poor in spirit through self-denial. A self-denier parts with the world for Jesus Christ, but the poor in spirit parts with himself for Jesus Christ. Self-denial is renouncing possessions, taking a vow of voluntary poverty, among other things. Self-denial is a necessary Christian grace if we desire to be all that God asks of us. God may ask a person to give up things, but never in order to be poor in spirit.
Poor in spirit must not be confused with low self-esteem. There are people who have low self-esteem, and because they make this a life style out of it, they think they are poor in spirit. False humility is not of God and has nothing to do with this Beatitude. Low self-esteem is characterized by the spirit of negative comparison with others that often leads to depression, withdrawal and a sense of inadequacy. The poor in spirit is where we realize that outside of Jesus Christ we are nothing.
Okay, we discussed being spiritually poor, but now the promise, “for theirs is the kingdom of God”. This is a great, excellent, glorious promise. We are to have a beautiful, great, eternal possession in heaven. This should be a great influence on us if we want to be Disciples of Christ! Something to look forward to in our future! Does everyone agree that this is a great future promise?
I hate to be captain obvious but…For theirs is the kingdom of God. This is not something that is in the future but is present tense. This is now. This is telling us that the kingdom had already arrived through the coming of Jesus but that the fulfillment of many of the kingdom promises will only occur in the future. That fulfillment awaits Jesus second coming.
Prior to this sermon in Matthew 4:17 Jesus said “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”.
Also notice the truth of salvation by grace is clearly stated in this verse. The kingdom is a gracious gift to those who sense their own poverty of spirit.
How many people do not know these words, and even more who do not care, they just lets these words pass through their ears in such a way that these words never enters their heart. The greedy will never be satisfied nor will they ever be happy. For the natural world there is no value for the things they cannot see and touch and will not take anything by faith. Therefore Jesus lets them go, He is not going to force anybody to Himself, but He gives counsel to all who are willing to be advised and hold out for this promise.
As Paul said to Timothy: (1 Tim 4:8b)
godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come