“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
TEXT — Matthew 5:3-11
Message
Although heaven is God’s abode, He has made provision for man to spend eternity with Him. Man can be in that Kingdom only if he meets the conditions of our Lord. What we know as the Sermon on the Mount (the Beatitudes) forms the essential teachings of Christ on how to respond to God’s love and make it to heaven ultimately.
The Beatitudes do not form a legal code meant for human carnal analysis and interpretations. They are imperatives to be obeyed by grace if we truly love our Creator and desire to enter His kingdom. The repeated opening with the word “blessed” is a reference to the unspeakable joy that awaits those who mindfully imbibe the teachings. They are attitudes to adopt for heaven-seeking pilgrims who are poor in spirit, meek, holiness-hungry and not proud in their relationship with God.
No one can tell us about heaven and what it takes to access it better than Jesus who came from there and is back there preparing a place for His faithful followers. The prerequisite for heaven, which He gave the huge crowd that attended His sermon session at that time is still relevant to us today. The standard is still complete purity, inward and outward, obtained by grace.
God will not shift ground to lower the standard and the criteria for righteousness, just because men are unwilling to change and obtain the required spiritual experience for making heaven. The canon is, “holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord”. The Lord adds that no unholy thing shall enter His abode. We start that journey to the Kingdom as we shed the garment of unrighteousness at salvation and abandon the world of sin for a lifetime of absolute surrender to God, His will and word.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
2 comments
Grace be unto you,
I first and foremost write to express my profound appreciation to writers of the daily manner. It has been helpful to a large extent to me and my family.
However, I wish to make a little comment which I believe will produce a more desired effect of righteousness in the readers. I can testify that truly the truth of the scripture is being revealed. However, only little efforts have been made so far by the writers to lead readers into real and pragmatic ways or means by which grace for obedience is obtained. This will only result in producing a mechanical kind of Christians. I urge writers to step up beyond mere declaration of scriptural truths to leading people to possess true holiness in a manner a practical manner to make it real. Statements like, “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord”, sinners shall end up in hell, No holiness no Heaven, and so on are scriptural true but in themselves cannot produce holiness experience in people. Those are declarative truth. Move on to positive and possessive truths that works the miracle of true purity in people. For example “the Lord circumcise your heart and the your seeds…” come unto me all ye that Labour.. I will give you rest, . I pray the Lord guide the writers and expound this little concern of mine in their heart.
Grace be unto you,
I first and foremost write to express my profound appreciation to writers of the daily manner. It has been helpful to a large extent to me and my family.
However, I wish to make a little comment which I believe will produce a more desired effect of righteousness in the readers. I can testify that truly the truth of the scripture is being revealed. However, only little efforts have been made so far by the writers to lead readers into real and pragmatic ways or means by which grace for obedience is obtained. This will only result in producing a mechanical kind of Christians. I urge writers to step up beyond mere declaration of scriptural truths to leading people to possess true holiness in a manner a practical manner to make it real. Statements like, “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord”, sinners shall end up in hell, No holiness no Heaven, and so on are scriptural true but in themselves cannot produce holiness experience in people. Those are declarative truth. Move on to positive and possessive truths that works the miracle of true purity in people. For example “the Lord circumcise your heart and the your seeds…” come unto me all ye that Labour.. I will give you rest, . I pray the Lord guide the writers and expound this little concern of mine in their heart.
Grace be unto you,
I first and foremost write to express my profound appreciation to writers of the daily manner. It has been helpful to a large extent to me and my family.
However, I wish to make a little comment which I believe will produce a more desired effect of righteousness in the readers. I can testify that truly the truth of the scripture is being revealed. However, only little efforts have been made so far by the writers to lead readers into real and pragmatic ways or means by which grace for obedience is obtained. This will only result in producing a mechanical kind of Christians. I urge writers to step up beyond mere declaration of scriptural truths to leading people to possess true holiness in a manner a practical manner to make it real. Statements like, “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord”, sinners shall end up in hell, No holiness no Heaven, and so on are scriptural true but in themselves cannot produce holiness experience in people. Those are declarative truth. Move on to positive and possessive truths that works the miracle of true purity in people. For example “the Lord circumcise your heart and the your seeds…” come unto me all ye that Labour.. I will give you rest, . I pray the Lord guide the writers and expound this little concern of mine in their heart.
Thank you and God bless you.
Grace be unto you,
I first and foremost write to express my profound appreciation to writers of the daily manner. It has been helpful to a large extent to me and my family.
However, I wish to make a little comment which I believe will produce a more desired effect of righteousness in the readers. I can testify that truly the truth of the scripture is being revealed. However, only little efforts have been made so far by the writers to lead readers into real and pragmatic ways or means by which grace for obedience is obtained. This will only result in producing a mechanical kind of Christians. I urge writers to step up beyond mere declaration of scriptural truths to leading people to possess true holiness in a manner a practical manner to make it real. Statements like, “Without holiness no man shall see the Lord”, sinners shall end up in hell, No holiness no Heaven, and so on are scriptural true but in themselves cannot produce holiness experience in people. Those are declarative truth. Move on to positive and possessive truths that works the miracle of true purity in people. For example “the Lord circumcise your heart and the your seeds…” come unto me all ye that Labour.. I will give you rest, . I pray the Lord guide the writers and expound this little concern of mine in their heart.
Thank you and God bless you.