Churchwork
08-28-2006, 12:09 PM
Poor in Spirit
If we live after the spirit, God gets from us what He wants: worship. If, however, we live after the soul, Satan gets from us what he wants: which is also worship. Many Christians give advantage to Satan. "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matt. 5.3a). Those who walk in the spirit and nothing else shall find Satan under their feet. What, then, is worship? "God, I confess I am only a man. I am weak, but You are God."
Blessed are the poor in spirit. (Matt. 5.3)
The poor in spirit views himself as possessing nothing. A believer’s peril lies in his having too many things in his spirit. Only the poor in spirit can be humble. How often the experience, growth and progress of a Christian become such precious matters to him that he loses his lowliness. The most treacherous of all dangers for a saint is to meditate on what he appropriates and to pay attention to what he has experienced. Sometimes he engages in this unconsciously. What, then, is the meaning of being poor? Poor bespeaks having nothing. If one endlessly reflects upon the deep experience which he has passed through, it soon shall be debased to a commodity of his spirit and hence become a snare. An emptied spirit enables a person to lose himself in God whereas a wealthy spirit renders him self-centered. Full salvation delivers a believer out of himself and into God. Should a Christian retain something for himself his spirit immediately shall turn inward, unable to break out and be merged in God.
If we live after the spirit, God gets from us what He wants: worship. If, however, we live after the soul, Satan gets from us what he wants: which is also worship. Many Christians give advantage to Satan. "Blessed are the poor in spirit" (Matt. 5.3a). Those who walk in the spirit and nothing else shall find Satan under their feet. What, then, is worship? "God, I confess I am only a man. I am weak, but You are God."
Blessed are the poor in spirit. (Matt. 5.3)
The poor in spirit views himself as possessing nothing. A believer’s peril lies in his having too many things in his spirit. Only the poor in spirit can be humble. How often the experience, growth and progress of a Christian become such precious matters to him that he loses his lowliness. The most treacherous of all dangers for a saint is to meditate on what he appropriates and to pay attention to what he has experienced. Sometimes he engages in this unconsciously. What, then, is the meaning of being poor? Poor bespeaks having nothing. If one endlessly reflects upon the deep experience which he has passed through, it soon shall be debased to a commodity of his spirit and hence become a snare. An emptied spirit enables a person to lose himself in God whereas a wealthy spirit renders him self-centered. Full salvation delivers a believer out of himself and into God. Should a Christian retain something for himself his spirit immediately shall turn inward, unable to break out and be merged in God.