POOR IN SPIRIT by H. A. St. John

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 10, 1890

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 16, No. 10.

POOR IN SPIRIT.

By H. A. St. John

"BLESSED are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5:3. Jesus here pronounces a blessing upon a certain kind of poverty. If it was poverty in earthly goods, most of us could confidently claim the blessing. If the blessing was pronounced upon those who have poor memories, or poor education, or poor health, then how many more could readily lay claim to the promised blessing. But none of this kind of poverty is meant.

It is poverty of spirit. Can it be possible that Jesus here pronounces a blessing upon all those who have but little, or are entirely destitute, of the Spirit of God? If this were so, then what multitudes would come in as claimants for this blessing. The word of God presents a richness or fullness of the Spirit of God as attainable by all, and of the greatest value. Blessed indeed are those who are rich toward God in this respect.

Then what kind of spirit poverty is it which Jesus announces as blessed? It must be the spirit of the world, the spirit of Satan, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. It is that spirit which has for its fruit "adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like." They that possess the spirit that leads to such manifestations, "shall not inherit the kingdom."

Nature abhors a vacuum, and so does grace. If a human soul will pour out all this evil, worldly, selfish, proud, Satanic spirit, by true repentance, the only way in which it can be poured out, then exercise faith in the Lord Jesus for pardon and cleansing, then God, according to his good-pleasure, will fill all the emptiness of that soul with the fullness of his Holy Spirit. Then the spirit of pride, self-sufficiency, boasting, and self-conceit, are gone, and a humble, lowly, trusting, loving, meek, and quiet spirit comes in. This, in the sight of God, is of great price. Such are rich indeed, rich toward God.

Let us all seek more diligently for this kind of riches, so precious and valuable even in this world, so highly esteemed in heaven, and which will never be taken away from us, but will increase by the rule of compound interest in the ages to come. H. A. ST. JOHN.