Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Wednesday, January 28, Matthew 5:3

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (KJV)

Last weekend this verse from the Beatitudes came to mind after I was going through Psalm 51. And it was the 17thverse from that Psalm that really struck me:

"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."

This was the first message recorded in Matthew's Gospel, and it drew me to the first message recorded in Luke's Gospel:

"And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (4:17-19)

And many know as well, that Jesus stopped there, deliberately not reading the rest of it: "and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, etc."

For the day of vengeance was not to be at this time. What seemed as one event in the prophetic statement was a "day as a thousand years" prophecy. Now, many thought that possibly it could have been accomplished then, had Christ not be rejected by His people.

Though it was possible, it was not to be, and Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount showed us the depths of our sin and the need of some remedy, for, if we honestly read the requirements of being right before God through this message, we find that we simply cannot accomplish it.

Which brings me to John 1:10-13: "He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."

And the path to that new birth is repentance. The broken and contrite heart. When the Holy Spirit reveals our condition, which we see quite well in this Sermon, we should, if looking honestly, be in abject despair.

Every one of us will be standing face to face before the living, perfect God. And when we stand before Him, we will be "poor in spirit" indeed. Completely helpless, without hope if left to ourselves and our own natures.

But wait, there is the good news! We see it in the parable from Luke 18:9-14, where Christ compares the man who based his life on his works, and the other who "would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

We must take heed. "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."

When one truly sees himself before the standard of God, he understands how impoverished his soul really is. And, glory to God, there is hope! Jesus says: "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

Memory Helps

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (KJV)

I suggest you make a word picture out of each beatitude. Use your imagination. For me, the word picture for "blessed" will be the large "hand" (five fingers to remember Matthew 5) of God placed upon the particular character.

For "poor", I usually show a guy who has his pants pockets turned out, showing that he has no money in them. I could use a little ghost for "spirit", so two little "spirits" fly out of the pockets when he turns them.

Finally, the "Hand of God" picks up this poor guy and places him up to a kingdom in the clouds, which I'll use for "the kingdom of heaven". Add what you want to remember verse 3, maybe hear a voice saying 1,2,3! and suddenly he is in the kingdom of heaven.

I use this picture, but replace the person with my "Ma", who is my "memory character" for verses 3. And the kingdom is on a large green "Mat" on a cloud to remind me of "Matthew". That way I have Matthew 5:3 linked to the verse.