Let me invite you to take a copy of God's word this morning and open up to the Gospel of Matthew. This morning we'll be considering the Gospel of Matthew, chapter five, verses one through three. And even though we're not in Exodus 12, I am excited to see how the Lord is going to use the songs and the reflections this morning as we come before him and hear from his word. The Gospel of Matthew, chapter five, verses one through three. Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of our God endures forever. To the praise of his glorious grace, let us pray. Speak, O Lord. Your servants are listening. Amen. I want you to imagine a hypothetical situation with me. Imagine for a second that a scenario that all of us really wish secretly would happen actually came true. And all of the people in the entire world came to you, and with one voice they said, we have had it. We are tired of our bad governments. We are tired of our bad leaders who make bad choices. And we've been reading your Facebook page. And we see that you are the smartest person in the entire world. And you have everything figured out, including how to run our governments, our nations, and our towns. Here you go. Take the keys of the kingdom of the world. They're yours. Just please fix this world and tell us how we should live our lives. Now after you pinch yourself for a moment and maybe rejoice that someone is finally listening to reason, what would you do? How would you fix this sinful and broken world? Well, for some of you, maybe you're immediately going to make changes for things that should have been addressed a long time ago. Maybe for some of you, there's this speed limit sign on your way to work that really should have been lowered a long time ago or raised if you want to get there quicker. Or maybe you'd use this newfound power to settle an HOA dispute, some law that was passed that really should not have been considered at all. And after settling those personal affairs, your attention would probably turn to address greater matters in the world, such as taxes, and tariffs, and wars, and conflicts, and how to organize governments, fights over limited resources, labor laws, and all the more. But at some point, if you want to bring peace and harmony to your new world, you would have to address a very important question. How are the people in my kingdom going to live? What rules should be in place? What are man's freedoms? What are man's boundaries? What actions in your new kingdom are right or wrong? And most importantly, if people break these laws, what should be the consequences? You know, the question of how people should live together has been one of the oldest questions in human history. If you go all the way back to the times of the Greeks, the Greeks were debating the issue of politics. which comes from the Greek word for city, or polis. And in politics, they were trying to answer the question, how should we arrange these social relationships between people? And friends, if human history is any indicator, then we human beings really need laws, and we really need order to keep society from collapsing into anarchy. I mean, just consider for a second the French Revolution. where chants of things such as liberty and equality and fraternity, great things, right? Liberty for all, equality, brotherhood among people, no governments, desires for freedom from past church and crown, these supposed human ideals and rights devolved into moral chaos, immorality, and death. As the French revolutionaries kept their peace through the terror of the guillotine, So if you are going to have peace in your new kingdom, how are your citizens going to live? Now thankfully for all of us, this is a hypothetical question. I do not want to have to deal with this. But I think if we're honest with scripture for a moment, this was not a hypothetical question for Jesus. In the gospel of Matthew, very early on in the gospel, we see that this announcement, this preaching ministry of Jesus in the early chapters of this gospel, include an announcement that a new kingdom is coming. Before our passage this morning in Matthew 4, 17, we see Jesus preparing to lay the groundwork for his future ministry. And the first thing that comes out of his mouth is repent. Turn away from your sin. Turn away from everything that is against God. Why? For the kingdom of heaven is at hand. In other words, if people, people like you and me, want to prepare for Jesus's kingdom, this kingdom of God that's invading this present world, over which Jesus is both Lord and King, what must people do? They must repent. They must turn away from their sins and prepare themselves to be citizens fit for the kingdom of God. And so the Sermon on the Mount, where our passage is the introduction for, it answers many questions such as, what is the kingdom of heaven like? And very importantly, if I am invited into this kingdom, what is expected of me? How are God's people supposed to live in God's new kingdom? And so this morning in our sermon, we're going to consider the first three verses of the Sermon on the Mount. In our passage today, I think that the Apostle Matthew draws us to two very important truths that help us to understand something about the kingdom of God, and then what God calls us to as his people. And so here are two points for this morning. First in our passage, I think that Matthew wants us to see a new Moses, and second, a new people. If you're taking notes, we're gonna see this morning a new Moses and then a new people. So our first point, a new Moses. Now up to this point in the sermon, The word, the name Moses coming out probably seems like it's a little bit coming out of left field. But thinking about our passage in a new Moses makes a lot of sense if you understand the gospel of Matthew and its original intended audience. You see, Matthew wrote this gospel specifically to a direct audience. Every gospel has an audience in mind and a particular message about Jesus that the gospel writer is trying to make to its audience. Matthew is specifically writing to Jewish people and to Jewish Christians. And he wrote this gospel with a very intentional purpose. He wrote this gospel to convince Jewish men and women that Jesus, this man born of Nazareth, who did miracles that many people knew about in Judea and Galilee, and then just Jesus who went to the cross, he was no ordinary man. But he was the promised Savior and Messiah that the Jewish people had been waiting for. And if you know the Gospel of Matthew, he doesn't really waste much time to go ahead and make this point. You can flip over to Matthew chapter 1, verse 1. And in verse 1, Matthew writes very clearly the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. The son of David, the son of Abraham. Friends, in this one verse, Matthew literally grabs all of the major Jewish prophecies about the Messiah, takes them together, wraps them in a very nice bow, and says, yep, they all point to Jesus. Matthew chapter 1, the son of Abraham. Yep, that promise that one born of Abraham would bless all the nations, that one son, that's Jesus. Yep, that son of David who God promised would forever sit on David's throne to rule over God's people in righteousness and justice. Yep, that's Jesus. If you want to know more about those promises, you can read more about the promises made to Abraham in Genesis 12. And the promises made to David in 2 Samuel 7. And you can see how those things are fulfilled in Jesus. So not only does Matthew just come out and say, yes, everything's about Jesus, he's the son of David, he's the son of Abraham, but you have to remember that the name and the title Jesus is not a last name. It is a title, a very important title. So when Matthew says the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, he's making a very bold statement that Jesus is the Messiah, since Christ is the Greek word translated for the Messiah. Friends, at the beginning of the Gospel of Matthew, it's almost as if Matthew has a giant neon sign and on it is listed all the major promises of God to his people. And the sign is pointing straight at Jesus and saying everything is about him. So Matthew comes out and clearly says to his Jewish audience that Jesus is the Messiah and the fulfillment of all of God's promises. But he also does this in a very interesting way within his Gospel. Because not only does Matthew make arguments, but one of the things that Matthew does too is that he points to similarities between the life of Jesus and the life of important people in the history of Israel. So one of the things that Matthew will do, he'll put Jesus in situations where you honestly hear echoes of other people in the Old Testament and how Jesus has come to fulfill this. And I think the clearest person who Jesus, who Matthew is trying to show us that Jesus' life mirrors in the early chapters of this gospel is Moses. So in the first few chapters of this gospel, Jesus, Matthew is trying to show us that Jesus basically walks the life of Moses. And in doing so shows that Jesus is the fulfillment of Moses. Now remember, Moses is probably the most important person in the entire history of the Jewish people. Just think about all of Moses' accomplishments. It was Moses who led God's people out of Egypt. It was Moses who brought God's people to Mount Sinai. It was Moses who established God's covenant relationship with his people. And without Moses, he would not have the first five books of your Bible. But in Deuteronomy 18, and this is important, Deuteronomy 18, at the end of Moses' life, he foresees that there's something unique about what he did. and that not every prophet after him would have a ministry just like his. Rather, there's going to be another prophet like me that's different, doing things like what I did, and leading God's people out of Egypt, and in bringing a new law. There's a new me coming. And so Moses writes about it in Deuteronomy 18, so that God's people would be prepared. Deuteronomy 18, 18 and 19. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth. And he shall speak to them all that I command him, and whoever will not listen to my words, that he shall speak in my name. I myself will require it of him." Clearly, Moses writes, a prophet like me will come again. But friends, for hundreds of years, God's people waited for another prophet like Moses. One of the main arguments that Matthew is making is that in Jesus, this prophet that we're looking for has finally come. So how does Matthew make this argument in the gospel? Well, it's interesting. The gospels are selective in what stories they put in to show us about the life of Jesus. But if you go back to Matthew chapter two, Where does the life of Jesus begin? You probably know from the Christmas stories that he's born in Bethlehem, but Jesus begins his life in danger, being hunted down by King Herod because of the claims of Jesus to the throne. If you go to Exodus 1 and 2, you will see that Moses also found himself in quite some danger in the early years of his life, his life being threatened by another king. In Matthew 2, Matthew even reminds us, as its readers, that Jesus fled to Egypt in his early years. So think about it. Both Moses and Jesus spent their early lives growing up in Egypt, protected from men who wanted to kill them. And then as Moses is growing up, he eventually leads God's people out of Egypt and then brings them through the Red Sea. Paul in 1 Corinthians 10, 1 through 2. He actually refers to this, this event of Moses and God's people going through the Red Sea as a baptism. And flipping over to Matthew 3, what happens to Jesus at the beginning of this chapter and in this chapter? Jesus himself is baptized. Not because he needs to repent, but in order to fulfill all righteousness. And after Moses and God's people are baptized through the Red Sea, they're led into the wilderness. for 40 years of temptation and trial. And what happens? They fail, and an entire generation is cut off. And yet, while Moses and God's people fail in the wilderness 40 years, in Matthew chapter four, Jesus himself is tempted, led into the wilderness, tempted for 40 days. And where Moses, and where God's people, and where even our first father Adam failed, Jesus did not. It's even interesting in Matthew chapter four, where does Jesus go to get spiritual weapon to fight against his temptation? He goes to the words of Moses. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of our God. You shall worship the Lord, our God, alone. Basically showing us that Jesus got the message in his life that Moses failed to get. So it's almost as if, if you're reading the gospel of Matthew carefully, and you're going through the stories, you'll hear this faint echo in the back of your mind. And what Matthew's trying to show us is it's Moses, Moses, Moses. And then we also see in the book of Exodus, in some of the songs we just sang. In the wilderness, Moses then ascends the mountain of God in order to give the law of God to his people. And what does Matthew record for us in Matthew chapter five, verse one? Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain. And when he sat down, his disciples came to him. Friends, I hope you see the significance of verse one. So I think it's easy for us to come to our text and feel like these are just some, you know, incidental details. It's like Jesus just happened to be walking and then a bunch of people just happened to follow him. And so Jesus thought it'd be a great idea to do some teaching. Then when he was looking around, it's like, well, where's the best place for this? And he finds a mountain and says, well, I'm going to go up there. No. Friends, in these words, Matthew wants us to see that the Sermon on the Mount is the new Moses, the new prophet, giving God's people a new law. And the similarities between Moses and Jesus are quite clear from two details in the passage. Well, first, like I've said, Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount on a mountain. Now, why is that important? Well, if you know anything about Israel's history, mountains were very important places. Important things happened on mountains. Now, it's kind of like in America. If you want to do something patriotic and get people's attention, just go throw some tea in a harbor, or go launch some fireworks. Or, because it's Reformation Sunday, you know, go take a document and just go find a church door and nail it. But please don't do this one or do Cornerstone. And I'm not promoting vandalism, but you get the idea. That there's events that in our mind call back to us things that are important in the past. And mountains had this kind of effect on people. In Exodus 19, we see that Moses went on top of a mountain and received God's law for God's people. Also, both Moses and Isaiah had very dramatic encounters with God on a mountain. And so if you wanna do something to get the attention of God's people, go do something very important on a mountain, like going up and sitting on a mountain and preaching. But also I think that Matthew gives us another indicator that Jesus is the new Moses. Look back down at verse two. And he opened his mouth. and taught them, saying. You may look at this and say, you know, Matthew needs an editor. If he's gonna talk, of course he needs to open his mouth, right? So we could maybe cut that out. But Matthew's doing something important. This is not inconsequential. What did God say concerning the new prophet in Deuteronomy 18, 18? And I will put my words in his mouth. and he shall speak to him all that I command him. Friends, every word of scripture matters. Friends, Moses says in Deuteronomy 18, 18 that God will put his words into the mouth of his new prophet. And what do we see Jesus doing in Matthew 5, 2? Opening his mouth and teaching the people. Now I know that this is probably not the most application heavy part of a sermon that you've heard. But I think it's important for us to remember that all of scripture has been written down for our profit and for our edification in the Christian life. And sometimes the main point of a passage and the main application is for us just to understand what the Bible teaches us about Jesus. Friends, I know that many Christians can struggle with reading the Old Testament. And you can sometimes struggle with trying to figure out how do these strange stories sometimes apply to my own life. But there's a very important reason why our Bibles do not begin in the New Testament. Or that our Bibles are not just limited to the practical teachings of Paul, even though that's where we often go. Friends, one of the main things that the Old Testament does for us, is that it prepares God's people for Jesus. So that when the Messiah comes, God's people would clearly know who he is and what he has come to do. In one way, the Old Testament is kind of like parents taking their boy to the biggest birthday party in the world. And everything is for this child. And on the way, the parents are talking with the child about all of the amazing things happening at this party, right? At the party, there's going to be people, there's going to be decorations, there's going to be inflatables, there's going to be a mountain of presents. And then as the parents continue to talk and talk and talk, the child's eyes continue to fill with excitement until they're almost popping out of his head. I know this happens from experience because I have a seven-year-old son. That's what happens to him. He gets excited. He's bursting with energy, so ready to be there. And when the car finally arrives at the party, the door flies off the car and the child speeds in like a flash of lightning, enjoying a day he'll remember for the rest of his life. But even as that child runs off, the parents know that they had the joy of playing a very important role in getting that boy ready for the party. Friends, that's what the Old Testament does for us. As we live our lives under the burden of this present life, and as we're confronted by the sin in our hearts, and the misery in our lives, as we're confronted with suffering, friends, our Heavenly Father builds our excitement and anticipation. for the fulfillment of all of God's promises that find their yes and amen in Jesus through the stories of the Old Testament. The Old Testament is one of the main ways that God uses the word so that we would be excited and anticipate what's to come in the fulfillment of all God's promises. Friends, the Old Testament foretells of a king who rescues his bride from the grips of a dragon. of a priest who atones for the sins of his people, a warrior who vanquishes his enemy, and of a prophet who gives God's word to his people. And then the Old Testament helps us so that when we come to see Jesus in the New Testament, we say, yes, he has come, and the Savior has come, and will one day come again to finish what he started. Friend, if you are a Christian, you are part of God's people. That means that you are also part of the story of the Bible. And if you're part of God's people, then the story of God's work among his people is also your story. Do you read God's word this way? Do you see yourself in this story? Do you see Jesus as your prophet, who as the catechism says, fully revealed to us the secret counsel and the will of God concerning our redemption. We're not gonna be studying the Sermon on the Mount later. I'm continuing the Sermon on the Mount at Cornerstone. But let me just make this question for you. If you're interested in more study here, just ask this question for those who are doing their Bible reading. Maybe you're in the Gospel of Matthew. So how does seeing Jesus as our new Moses and new prophet change how we apply the Sermon on the Mount to our lives? Maybe that's a question you can talk about with your family this week, or with a friend from church. That's our first point, a new Moses. Here's our second point as we continue this morning. Matthew wants to see not only a new Moses, but also a new people. If you think about it, understanding Jesus as the new Moses, and the Sermon on the Mount as Jesus proclaiming a new law to Israel, I think that this can help us to explain why the ministry of Jesus was so disruptive in his day. You know, hot shot teachers come and go, but Jesus' ministry was something that no one had ever seen before. Here's a man, no training. The Pharisees ask him, where did you come from? And yet he's outsmarting and confounding the leading scholars of his day. He is drawing crowds to himself of regular men and women that they had never seen before. Now at one point, the religious leaders will say concerning this ministry, this following of Jesus, you know, if this is from God, this will end. This is not from God, this will end. If this is from God, then you may find yourself opposing God if you stop this. They had never seen this before. Here is a man literally doing miracles rivaling the prophets of old. He is healing the sick. He is healing the blind, the lame, and the mute. It's like Elijah has come again. And then central to his preaching was a message that God was about to overturn the status quo. The kingdom of heaven is coming. And so the ministry of Jesus was by nature divisive. Because the ministry of Jesus confronted every person in Israel, in Judea, in Jerusalem, Samaria, Galilee. It confronted every person with the choice. Are you going to believe the message of Jesus or not? Friends, if Jesus truly is a new Moses, giving his people a new law, then one of the next logical steps is that Jesus is taking the beginning steps of forming a new people, a new Israel, a new church of people who gather around the confession of the Messiah, as we see beginning in Matthew 16 with Peter's confession. But if Jesus is calling together a new people for his kingdom, then I think we need to ask an important question. Who are the rightful citizens of the kingdom of God? How does one become a citizen in Jesus's new kingdom? That's an important question, isn't it? And that question is important, not just for the people of Israel. That question is important for every one of us. If you want to be a citizen of the kingdom of God, what must you do? What makes you qualified to be part of this kingdom? It's kind of like that old evangelism explosion question. If you were to die tonight, and you were to stand before God, and he was to ask you, why should I let you into my kingdom, into my heaven, what would you say? If you think about it, the entire Old Testament is one very convincing case for why the Israelites were not qualified to be part of the kingdom of God left to themselves. If you think about it, the Old Testament is one case that they already had their chance. Israel had their chance. God was merciful, God was gracious, but even from the beginning, God's people were rebellious and turning to false gods. And to the point where after years of patience and patience, God sending his prophets to cause people back to himself, God disowns his own people. He kicks them out of the land and sends them into exile. What about you? If you look at your life, Are you worthy to be a citizen of the kingdom of God? Like I said in our introduction, the most important question that any king or ruler could ask is, how shall my people live? And from the accounts of history and flashpoints like the French Revolution, to the sin and rebellion within our own culture, and friends to the story of your life, In my life, how can any of us claim to be worthy citizens of the kingdom of God? And that's why the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount is so revolutionary and radical. Because the Sermon on the Mount begins in a way that none of us would expect. Matthew 5, three. Blessed are the poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Friends, according to Matthew 5.3, who does Jesus say that the kingdom of heaven belongs to? Is it to the intellectually superior? Is it to those who have their lives together? Is it for those who'd be the perfect candidate for a new empire, a new civilization? The successful, the educated, the disciplined, the morally upright? You know, if you've had any conversations like I've had, maybe you had like, you know, doomsday scenario. Who'd be the people that you would use to go and start an enclave if everything really was turned upside down? Who'd those people be? Those successful? Those skilled? No. In Jesus's mind, his kingdom belongs to, and the kingdom of heaven and its gates are wide open to those who are poor in spirit. So what does Jesus mean by poor in spirit? Now I think all of us can imagine what it looks like if Jesus simply said, blessed are the poor, or those who lack material wealth. I think there are many people who try to interpret Jesus this way. Many people see Jesus as a defender of the poor against the upper middle class. Kind of like a messianic Robin Hood who wages war against the rich and defends the cause of the poor. But Jesus did not say blessed are the poor. He said blessed are the poor in spirit. And there are many people who are poor who are not poor in spirit. So what does Jesus mean by poor in spirit? I think we can define it this way. To be poor in spirit is to reach the point in your life where you truly realize that left to yourself, you are spiritually bankrupt. You tried to live your own way. You tried to live according to your own effort. You tried to improve your life by everything you know, but it never works. And you keep inflicting pain on yourself and others. And you've reached difficulties and challenges outside of your control. And you reach the point in life where you realize that a lot of the problems in your life are not from outside of you. The problem actually is you. And the difficulties in your life are more than you can bear. That you can't be your own savior, and so you just cast yourself at the feet of Jesus and say, God, help me. Friends, in the Gospel of Matthew, there are a lot of people who saw Jesus' ministry. And there's a whole lot of people who heard his teaching and observed his miracles. But there are many people who missed the kingdom of God. But do you know the people who caught Jesus' attention? The people who caught Jesus' attention in the gospel are those who were poor and spirit. by those who got to the end of themselves and simply fell at Jesus' feet and said, Jesus, help me. Matthew 8, 2, the leper comes to Jesus and says, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. Matthew 8, 6, the centurion, Lord, My servant is suffering terribly, but I'm not worthy to have you come into my house. But if you say the word, he will be healed. Matthew 9, 18, the ruler. Jesus, my daughter, has just died. But if you, If you come and lay your hands on her, she will live. Matthew 9, 27. Two blind men go to Jesus and say, Jesus, have mercy on us, son of David. What do we see? You can keep going in the gospel of Matthew, but in each of these instances, we see someone who is poor in spirit. And friends, these are the types of people who Jesus is looking for to be part of his kingdom. People who have reached the end of themselves, who know their spiritual poverty and depravity, and literally just cast themselves at Jesus' feet and say with the hymn writer, nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling. I have some training in biblical counseling, and I was once counseling a young man. And he was sharing his story with me as we were getting to know one another, and he was describing his testimony. He said he grew up in an incredibly broken home. And because of that, he was introduced to all sorts of things that a young man should not be introduced to, including drugs. Thankfully, at one point in his life, He had extended family members, uncle and cousins, who started evangelizing him, knowing his situation. And he came to a crossroads in his life where he almost died from an overdose. And he woke up one morning and he made the decision right there and then, I need to go move in with these family members. And it was interesting, he was just describing in that moment his thoughts. But what led him to then go from there, to join the church, to enter into ministry, to go to seminary? What led to the radical change from where his life was going into where he was today as we were talking? He described his thought process in three beautifully simple steps. He said, one, I knew that God existed. Two, I knew that God was good. Three, I need to figure out why God is being so incredibly kind to me. And this man began his walk to the path of the kingdom of God because he was poor in spirit. In closing, each of us seem to ask ourselves a very important question. Am I poor in spirit? Because Jesus' words in our text include a blessing, but they also include a warning. Friends, if you are not poor in spirit, then the kingdom of heaven is not for you. Why? Because friends, being poor in spirit is the only posture that puts yourself on the path that leads to putting your faith in Christ for salvation. Friend, if you're not poor in spirit, why would you need anyone to save you? Why would you need God's help in your life? Why would you do that thing? Casting yourself at Jesus' feet, really? You'd do that? Why? Do you know the biggest obstacle for so many people entering the kingdom of God? Friends, it's just pride. There are too many people in this world who do not want to utter the words, I need God's help or God have mercy on me. But friends, the brutal irony is that all of us are poor in spirit. All of us are spiritually bankrupt. If life was monopoly, you're out of cash and you just landed on boardwalk. You're spiritually bankrupt. And yet all these things that we look to, the identity, the success, all these things that we try to cling to in order to hide this fact that we're spiritually bankrupt, friend, all of it is a facade. Every person in this room is spiritually poor. But there are some people who recognize that fact, and there are others who have not. So whether you've grown up in church for your whole life, or this is your first Sunday in church. I think the question of the hour is this, are you poor in spirit? If you are, then take comfort. For the kingdom of heaven is for people just like you. Let's pray. Father, we thank you this morning for your word. We thank you that your word clearly reveals to us who you are looking for in your kingdom. If we look at our lives, we are honest that we do not measure up the way that we should. We are not fit to be citizens of your kingdom. We do not fit the all that Christ demands of us. You're not looking for those who are puffed up, those who are gifted, but for those who are lowly. Father, I pray for people here who have been walking with you for a while, and then we've lost our way. We forgot that being poor in spirit is central to your kingdom. Father, we pray for those who maybe this is their first time in church, or one of their first times in church. They're trying to figure out what it means to follow you. May we be a people who are truly humbled, knowing our depravity, and look to Jesus. and are willing to say, Son of David, have mercy on me. Amen.