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Episode 847: In this episode, Chris and Jeff unpack the first Beatitude—“Blessed are the poor in spirit”—and what it means to live in humble dependence on God. They explore how true righteousness goes beyond outward religion, pointing to Jesus’ call for a deeper, grace-filled relationship with Him. Drawing connections to the Lord’s Prayer, the conversation highlights spiritual poverty, humility, and the danger of pride. Join us as we continue walking through the Sermon on the Mount and discovering how Jesus’ teachings shape authentic faith.
Whether you’ve been following Jesus for years or you’re just starting to ask questions, there’s a seat for you here.
Join Jeff and Chris for honest conversations about Scripture, faith, and the everyday stuff we all navigate. With humor, personal stories, and plenty of back-and-forth, The Bible Guys explore what the Bible says and how it connects to your life.
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You're listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun, in practical ways. Hey, everybody, welcome to the Bible Guys. I'm Chris and I'm Jeff. And we're here together as Chris and Jeff. And man, it's great to be here. It is. It is all. It's it's great to be anywhere, anywhere, to be alive and healthy. It is, it is. It's always an adventure, you know. It's it's the older you get, the more you run into people your own age where you say, hey, how's it going today, and they're like, well, I'm above. The earth, above ground. Yeah. That's that's how you know you're getting old. Yeah, that's how you know you get Hey, we are in. The middle to sit up right and take sustenance. Right right, although I go to Canada from our pharmaceuticals. Hey, we are in the middle of a series that we're unpacking on the Sermon on the Mount and we're actually talking about the beatitudes. But before we dive into that, we have our version of taboo. Good and those are always fun. Des recalls it. Guess the word I have not even looked at these except for a minute before we. Started saying I'm the one trying to get you to guess yes, yes, and. So this is different. So hopefully if you're watching on video, we'll put on the screen the words that I am not allowed to say. And the goal of this game is for you at home to race and to say out loud and maybe to beat Jeff. Yeah, I'm quite certain people will beat me at this. Okay, are you ready? Yes? Okay? Oh gee, whiz? How did I do this one? Okay? Confused? Uncertain? Ten eighty HP is the definition of a. Ten eight HP of a monitor. Yeah, but it refers to it refers to the crispness of the picture, yes, or the jeez, that's a bad way to go. Okay. To make to make a decision, to make a decision in your mind, give me another word for decision, decision, to have a to have a what oh man, I don't. Know, dude. Uh okay, To make a decision, to come to a conclusion yes, the end, yes, yes, the end in mind. Okay, Okay, how about this one, man? You make a New Year's resolution? Oh my word, HP, I was trying to get you. Oh there, that's a good one. Why didn't I just think of New Year's because because I wasn't allowed to say goal, promised, Jim died or quit. But I guess said years. I can said New Year's immediately, Okay. I was thinking, it's so complicated, you know what I was thinking. I was thinking, like people were screaming, to make. A resolve in your mind, to make a decision. People were screaming, Well, i'll tell you what. You are obviously much better because that was bad for me. Okay, I'm so sorry. I apologize to the world. Well that was exciting, though the exciting it was tense. Okay, okay, ready, yes, gee whiz, here we go. The time that starts a new day sunrise, the actual time midnight? Yes, correct. I wasn't allowed to say twelve clock countdown night or kiss oh. Okay, okay, there seems to be a theme here. Oh god it okay, I got this theme down now. Okay, ready for this one. I got this one. This is a good one. Ready, Yes, it's the final countdown countdown. I wasn't allowed to say ten numbers, clock, seconds or timer. Very good, but I got away with that one final countdown. Yes, Oh, I got a good one for this one. Okay you ready? Yes? Okay, last podcast we said either sweat glitter or cry confetti confetti? Yes see they were They weren't counting on that man, Des was not thinking that. So our listener, our listeners, if they were listening. Goodness, I wasn't allowed to say glitter. Maybe she did? Oh you blew it? I did, blue I did. I was gonna say paper mess, glitter, clean or tiny? What were you gonna say to our listeners? Okay? I was just gonna say if they were listening yesterday, had they had a leg up on all the rest? I thought for sure I was off script, yes, but I shouldn't have say. Glitter, no Gladkay? Well, all right, my bad, okay, okay, here it goes. Ready. The job of a mirror is to reflect. Yes, I nailed that one, nailed it, okay. I wasn't gonna say think past year memories or look okay, okay, so I nailed it. So I I messed up on number four. I took forever on number one, and you got number two and three immediately excellent, and number five excellent. So three of five were good. It's very fulfilling, yes, very fulfilling. Well, at there's a lot of pressure on this side of that game. Yes, there is. There is. Wow, to be honest, I almost think there's more pressure on this side. Well, I this was hard for me, So let's go back to the old way. Okay, Okay, were you were? You read and I just guess yeah, all right, Wow, Well that was fun. It was fun, okay, And it was a rather kind of had a New Year's theme because. We're in the new year. We are in the new year according to when this airs. Yeah, and though it's a days before our Christmas. Services, and as it being a new year, let's make some some new decisions. And one of those is to act like Jesus. How about that for twenty twenty six. That's a good one. Yeah, how do we do that? Does that? Does that mean Jesus powers? Yeah, yeah, that's exactly what you're thinking. That's exactly what I was saying. You're the one that says Jesus powers are attainable through the spirit. Through the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, everything I can I did, You'll be able to do great You'll be able to do greater things than these. So I'm gonna act like Jesus and I have Jesus powers, and. I don't think that's what I meant. How about start acting like Jesus first, and then maybe he'll give you oh. Star, I see, I see what you did there. So the only way we can know how to act like Jesus is to find out what he says about. It is that the transition. Yes, okay, good, good job? Are you good? Yeah? I'm good with that. Okay, I prove so I will allow that, so he says, And we're gonna what we're gonna do is our premise is all the things Jesus talks about in the Beatitudes, those eight or nine things, each of those statements now he speaks about or talks about. He has topics. Throughout the whole rest of the Sermon on the Mount that reflect those ideas, and so each of those we're gonna take two or three days to kind of unpack different angles of what he's talking about. You know what my main question is about the series? How many attitudes can it be have? Okay, it's beatitudes? How many? H yeah? A lot? Well? Is he even angry? Being one way? Two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Nine nine attitude? Yes, yeah, yeah, okay, are all right? My wife loves bees, okay? Or ten if you take verse twelve is its own okay. So here's what it says. In Matthew chapter five, verse three, he said, God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. Another way that that's often translated is blessed. Are the poor in spirit. God blesses those who are poor in spirit realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. Now this word poor, does it mean humble, poor in spirit? Yes? Yeah, I think that's one of them. Yes, because because later on in verse five, which we're going to cover in a few days, it also says bless blessed are those who are humble. That's right, that's right. So are these are those close cousins these beatitudes? I think that this first one really is all about dependency on God as opposed to just pure humility. First of all, before I'm humble in the world, I got to get understand who I am in front of God. Right, So it's I'm not God, God's God, and so I'm dependent on him rather than just using him as a good luck charm. So because it does say poor in spirit, in spirit, that's right, meaning I'm deficient for all things, that's right. And then it says and it says, and realize their need for Him. That's right. So the poor in spirit idea is more about our need for God the humble in what verse five six, whatever it is. Verse five is talking about how we interact with others. Right, So anyways, and I think you'll see that and how it gets unpacked. But one of the passages where Jesus references this idea is in Matthew five seventeen through twenty. He says, don't misunderstand why I've come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth. Until heaven and earth disappeared, not even the smallest detail of God's law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others do the same, you'll be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God's laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven. But I warn you, unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of the religious Law and the Pharisees, you will never. Enter the Kingdom of heaven. Don't what Wow, that's hardcore. What verse was that again, Matthew five seventeen through twenty? Yeah, yeah, you started reading and then I realized I didn't flip there. But then I realized I didn't have to flip. It's only right there. Listen. The thing that stands out to me, obviously, is the very last thing you read. Unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, you'll never enter the Kingdom of heaven. And that is perhaps a reference to a group of people believing that this is a sermon about being more righteous to get to heaven, right to have good deeds. But Jesus wasn't saying here's the requirements to get to heaven, be more righteous. What he was saying is you have to be perfect in your righteousness in order to even get to heaven. And he isn't meaning most of the time, and he isn't meaning even in this reference. He's not meaning you know, ninety nine point nine nine nine percent of the time he's meaning always, he's meaning perfection. If you're trying to earn your way to heaven, if you're trying to earn your way, and you're gonna have to be even more righteous than the most righteous people you know, right, right, So pick one who's most righteous person? You know? Is that Some people say the Pope. Some people say, you know, Billy Graham, mother t Ye whatever. Right, So Jesus say it is saying, hey, if you're going to earn your way to heaven, then you you're gonna have to be better than the best human being you've ever heard of. Right, And he's saying this to multitudes, Yeah, to the whole crowd, to the whole crowd. Because they thought, you know, their religious system was keep these six hundred seventeen laws, do these sacrifices. Don't be like the rest of the pagans around you. Watch out what you eat, watch out how you cut your hair, watch out you know, how you behave and all these things. And if you do that, they thought, well, then you get to go to heaven or whatever, and that you're right with God. God's gonna bless you, Jesus saying, hey, I'm here to tell you about my kingdom, and it's nothing like what you thought. He's, first of all, I didn't come to get rid of the law, which is because he you know, we begin to find out that it's salvation is by grace through faith, so I find out. So you start to kind of think, well, then the law wasn't important. But Jesus doesn't say I came to get rid of the law, or I came to forget the law. I came to readjust the law, Jesus, and I came to fulfill it. I came to accomplish all of its purpose. And then he said, but if you're going to accomplish its purpose, you're gonna have to keep it perfectly. He's comparing his ability to keep the law perfectly to your inability to keep the law perfectly. And he's it's much like when he said, he who is without sin cast the first. Stone, right, only Jesus could have cast the first jone. That's right, Jesus was the only one qualified to cast the first stone. And he's saying the same thing here. He's saying, like, I can fulfill the law, but you can't right. So there's a really good note. You know, we love the life application study Bible. And he says Jesus was saying that his listeners needed a different kind of righteousness altogether out of love for God, not just a more intense version of the Pharisees obedience. Isn't that great, which was mere legal compliance. Our righteousness must first of all come from what God does in us, not what we can do by ourselves. And two be God centered, not self centered. Three it must be based on reverence for God, not approval from people. And fourth, it must go beyond keeping the law to living by the principles behind the law. We should be just as concerned about our attitudes that people don't see as about our actions that are seen by all. So Jesus is saying, here, if you combine the two ideas, blessed to those who are poor in spirit, they realize their need for him. And then Jesus said, hey, you can't get to heaven unless you can keep the law perfectly. Oh wait a minute, I did. I came. I didn't come to get rid of the law. I came to fulfill the law. Now you also have to do that, or you can just trust me, right, And that's why he's starting that way, starting off his message with this idea. Who's got two thumbs and it's perfect. This this guy so great. Yeah, yeah, that's so good. So so blessed of the poor in spirit and realize their need for him. Also reminds me of when Jesus taught us how to pray. So he says, you know, the first part is you know how it would be your name, which is declare God's greatness. And then when you do that, then you move into the different sections of the lord's prayer. They acknowledge our dependency. Right, give us our daily bread, you know, your kingdom come, you know, lead us not into temptation. It's our deficiency of not being able to do much without God's help or God's power, God's strength. And I think that that's a great reminder for all of us, blessed the poor in spirit, who acknowledge that you need God. You know, there are times in our lives where we think we've got this right. There's all these different kinds of times where some problem comes along and we think that like, hey, you know, God has given me the experience and the resources and the wisdom I'm going to handle this on my own. And so we don't take time to pray for God's wisdom, we don't take time to seek godly counsel, and we think we think we know better. We just sort of take over and we try to solve things in our own strength. But Jesus is saying, hey, you'll be happy the rest of your life if you just develop the attitude of understanding that in every and any situation, you have to depend on your heavenly Father for everything, for wisdom, for guidance, for encourage, meant for strength, for you know, everything. And I think that that falls in line with every other thing. It reminds me of Psalm twenty three, you know where we're reminded of. David talks about how the Lord is are shepherd and sheep are the most dependable animal that exists on the planet. Right They they are dependent I'm sorry dependent. Dependent. Yeah, they're the most depend you can you can count on him. Hey if he if he says he's doing something, you better take that. You better take that. No, I've met dependent. They're the most dependent animal that exists. So, you know, like they depend on their shepherd for everything, for protection, for you know, to provide meals so they don't harm themselves. They don't, you know, They for medicine, for for guidance, for even for emotional support, I mean, goodness, gracious, even for digesting their food. Everything that a sheep does is pretty much all the good comes from the shepherd. They are so dependent, right, And that really is one of the strongest themes of honestly, the entire Bible, from the Old Testament all the way through to the New Testament. Jesus talks about you know, he's the shepherd, and his sheep know his voice, and the theme carries on all the way through the New Testament. And again, I just think all of that is, you know, it's probably a great one to start with. Jesus starts here. Yeah, you know, acknowledge your dependency, that's a great one. There's nothing you need more. You're so poor spiritually that your only hope is Him right, your greatest need is Him understanding. You know, if we take if we were to take pray quests from. Stage, wow, that'd be a long time. Eighty five percent of the praise quest will get is pray for my aunt's gallstones, pray for cancer, Pray for you know, heart problems, Pray for my you know, COVID, Pray for whatever, you know, my uncle, my. Aunt, my mom, my dad, my brother, lost his job. Yep, lost his job, financial things, whatever, yep. But Jesus says, the most important thing is Him in your relationship with Him, right, And so I think this should also form in form the way that we pray. And you'll find that when we get to the Lord's prayer that he also kind of prays through similar things. Is what he talks about in the in the Beatitudes. And so the most important thing is our is our need and nor dependency for Christ. Everything else will fall into place once we have Him in the right place. And this is why he says in six twenty three or six thirty three in the same message, he says, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these other things to be added to you. Right. So, Pali, So I think it's interesting. Blessed are those who are poor in spirit and realize their need for Him. I've done a lot of work around the world with religious freedom stuff and across religions, multi faith conversations, things like that, and I've noticed it's been pretty surprising to me when I get into some of the places, let's say, particularly in the Middle East. Some of the oldest groups of Christians in the world are in the Middle East, right, the Chaldeans, the Coptics, the Syrian Catholics, right, all these orthodox all these people that have their church has existed for thousands of years. And it's amazing to me if I get into what is considered a Christian village. Often times the things that are verbalized by shopkeepers and everyday Christians that are in their churches, and oftentimes they'll be in their church every evening, six seven days a week. The things that they talk about the Muslims are the others that aren't like them, is kind of denigrating and looking down on them. And they have this superiority in their belief they have this superiority. In their religion. They're rich in their cultural religion, and they then feel comfortable fighting or pushing down others. And it's interesting to me. Jesus doesn't invite us into a rich religion. He invites us into a relationship where we realize that we are desperately poor and desperately in need of Him. So I'm not saying we shouldn't take joy and pride and satisfaction culturally in where we come from and all those kinds of things. But our pride should not be in our religion. Our pride should not be driving us to look down on others instead. I just need to realize. And we gave a message, did we give it from stage? I remember you sent me an outline one time that I shared at another event where those guys, those lepers, they find food and everybody was inside the city. Yeah, yeah, it was a while back. Here you're talking about the lepers who go outside the city and they find the abandoned army. Yeah. Yeah, the Assyrian army had a bandon. God ran off this army that. Was surrounding Jerusalem and was going to starve them out, and then God scares them all away. And then these lepers come and they're just throwing a wild party for two days, and then they say it's not right for us that we would have full bellies and everybody inside the city is dying of hunger. We must go back and share this good news. Yeah, and so the main point in the message you wrote was I'm just a beggar showing all the other beggars where to find bread? Right, that there's a poverty and spirit on that that, hey, I don't have it all together. My belief system isn't perfect. I don't you know my theology. There's no such things as perfect theology. Within Christianity, there are groups of Christians who are angry at and fight with or even call other Christians heretics over nuanced views. And they're so proud of their theology that they're willing to castigate other Christians who name Jesus as their savior because their theology is slightly different. Right, And there's so much pride in that. And Jesus said, listen, you will not be blessed if you're proud of your religion. You need to be humble, and you need to realize that you're poor in spirit and that you're desperate from me. So our joy and our pride and our satisfactions should be in the person of Jesus and the fact that he saved us, regardless of where we come from. This is the whole book of Romans is we are not thing but centners, and we need God's grace. Right, that's great, Well, that looks like our time. That's a great place to end, so we would pick up tomorrow and we hope you join us on the babble gush h