Blessings in Disguise- Lesson 1

Overview

Blessings in Disguise: Poor in Spirit and Those Who Mourn

The Beatitudes Matthew 5:1-12 confront us with a striking paradox: Jesus pronounces "blessed" upon conditions the world considers anything but. Poverty, mourning, meekness, persecution—how can these be sources of being "more than happy"? The answer is that the blessings God gives often come in disguise, hidden inside experiences we would never have chosen.

Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit

Scripture identifies several reasons people may be poor materially: calamity or sickness (Luke 18:35; Mark 5:25-26), oppression by others James 5:1-4, one's own choices Proverbs 23:21, or faithfulness for righteousness' sake. But Jesus is not addressing economic poverty here. He speaks of poverty in spirit—the honest awareness of our spiritual condition before God.

The prodigal son embodies this posture. Having hit rock bottom, he resolves, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son" Luke 15:18. To be poor in spirit is to recognize four realities: our bondage to sin 1 John 1:8, the massive debt of our sin in thought, word, and deed, our unworthiness in God's sight, and that we have no confidence in our own righteousness. As the hymn puts it, "Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the cross I cling." This is the opposite of the world's gospel of self-care and self-exaltation, where the inward turn becomes the very definition of sin.

Yet here is the disguised blessing: "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." When we come to the end of ourselves, we discover Christ has borne our debt, His perfect righteousness is reckoned to us, and through baptism we are clothed in His righteous garment and incorporated into His kingdom. This is why worship begins with confession—not to wallow, but to receive. Acknowledging our spiritual poverty opens the door to the riches of grace.

Blessed Are Those Who Mourn

Jesus likewise pronounces blessing on those who mourn. While grief over loss is itself a gift that brings healing, He is pointing to something deeper: godly sorrow over sin. The world chases happiness through entertainment, possessions, status, and pleasure, while desperately denying, redefining, or excusing sin. Society increasingly substitutes a "statistical morality"—whatever the polls accept—for the standard of God's Word, growing desensitized to what Scripture calls evil.

Paul models the mourning Jesus commends when he cries, "Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Romans 7:21-24. James similarly calls sinners to draw near to God with cleansed hands and purified hearts James 4:8. Paul distinguishes this from worldly grief: "Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret, but worldly grief produces death" 2 Corinthians 7:10. Worldly grief mourns getting caught or suffering consequences; godly grief mourns the offense against God Himself.

The blessing is not in the mourning but in the comfort that follows. Where there is mourning over sin, there is repentance; where repentance, forgiveness; and where forgiveness, joy. Luther rightly insisted the Christian life is one of continual repentance and forgiveness. The lasting word that sustains us is not "you are a wonderful person" but "in the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven."

Pastoral Application

When events don't unfold as we hoped, when doors close, when we are confronted by our own sinfulness, these may be the very means by which God draws us to Himself. Our identity is not in profession, accomplishment, or bank account, but in Christ. The Sermon on the Mount teaches us to expect the pattern Paul names: all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. The blessings often come in disguise—and they are worth far more than the comforts we would have chosen.

Transcript

Good morning. 4s

Let's pray please. 6s

Grace is Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for the opportunity to study your Word and 8s

we give you thanks. 13s

For the sermon on the Mount, as we walk through this section of Scripture in these weeks ahead, 15s

we ask that you would bless our study and that indeed we might, in new ways, appreciate 22s

the blessings that you shower upon us in Jesus' name. 29s

Amen. 33s

Well, welcome to a new class, a little four week class. 34s

I've entitled the blessings in disguise and we're going to take a look at the next four 38s

weeks at the sermon on the Mount. 43s

So let's begin there, please. 47s

Let's go to Matthew the fifth chapter, Matthew chapter five. 49s

And we'll start right with verse one, Matthew chapter five, verse one. 57s

We're going to focus on what are called the beeditudes section of the sermon on the Mount. 72s

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain and after he sat down, his disciples 78s

came to him. 85s

Then he began to speak and taught them, saying, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs 87s

is the kingdom of heaven. 94s

Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. 97s

Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. 101s

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled. 106s

Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy. 113s

Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. 118s

Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God. 123s

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 128s

Blessed are you and people revile you and persecute you and other all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 135s

Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven. 143s

For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 147s

Each of these beeditudes begins with the word blessed. 154s

And so that force is a question upon us, doesn't it? 159s

Poor and being blessed, mourning and being blessed, being meek and being blessed, persecuted and being blessed. 162s

What we discover is that sometimes blessings come in disguise. 186s

So let's get to work. 193s

Let's start and focus on verse 3 to begin. 195s

Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 199s

When one looks at the poor in scripture, God gives some reasons why people are poor. 207s

One of the reasons why is a result of calamity or disaster sickness or catastrophe can cause someone to be poor. 214s

Calamity, disaster, sickness or catastrophe. 226s

For example, let's go to Luke the 18th chapter, please. 228s

Matthew, Mark, then Luke. 233s

Luke chapter 18 verse 35. 235s

There we read as he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 249s

So what's associated then with the blind man being poor is the sense that he is blind. 259s

And so that has given rise then to him begging. 267s

Or we see in Matthew, Mark the 5th chapter, let's go there, please. 272s

Matthew and then Mark, Mark chapter 5 verse 25. 277s

Now there was a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for 12 years. 291s

She had endured much under many physicians and had spent all that she had and she was no better, 298s

but rather grew worse. 306s

So here's someone that had faced sickness and had expended the resources in trying to deal with 309s

that issue and had given rise to her being poor. 317s

So Bible says that one of the reasons why a person can be poor is the result of calamity, 322s

disaster, sickness, catastrophe. 329s

Bible also says that a reason for someone to be poor is they can be a victim of oppression. 333s

They can be a victim of oppression. 338s

Let's go to the book of James, please. 341s

Good way to find James is go to Revelation, the last book, Turn Left. 344s

You'll cross over the Johns and the Peters. 350s

Then you hit James. 354s

James chapter 5 verses 1 to 4. 358s

Come now, you rich people, weep and wail for the miseries that are coming to you. 371s

Your riches have rotted and your clothes are moth eaten. 379s

Your gold and silver have rusted and their rust will be evidence against you, 384s

and it will eat your flesh like fire. 389s

You have laid up treasure for the last days. 393s

Listen, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept backed by fraud, 397s

cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 405s

You see, there is a cause for one being poor. 413s

Brent, did you have a question? 417s

You're ahead of me. 423s

I'm setting up a misdirection. 426s

So please, act surprised when you find out the misdirection. 429s

My goodness, these people that read their Bibles, I tell you, it just misses up your 436s

study. That's good. 442s

Okay, thanks, Brent for that. 448s

Okay, well, we'll continue. 453s

So we see then that a reason for poverty, then, is that one can be a victim of oppression. 455s

Let's look at another one. 463s

Let's go to Proverbs chapter 23, and we can see where one can be poor because of their own 464s

choice. Proverbs chapter 23, Job, Psalms, and then Proverbs. 472s

Proverbs 23, 21. 479s

For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe 494s

them with rags. So the Bible says it can be a result of 501s

calamity, disaster, sickness, catastrophe. 505s

It can be the result of oppression. 507s

It can be a result of one's own choices. 509s

It can be the result of being poor for righteousness, 512s

sake. You think of the story of Ruth, her husband dies. 516s

She's given the opportunity to go back to her family, but she chooses to stay 521s

with her mother-in-law Naomi. That is an act of service, that she does that, and the Bible 526s

tells us that they were gleaning in the fields, that they were poor. 533s

Jesus teaches us that caring for the poor is the same as caring for himself. 540s

And so to be poor and blessed, but you see, 547s

in the text we're not talking about poverty of riches, are we? 555s

It is blessed are the poor in spirit, Jesus says. 561s

Poor in spirit has to do with the, an example of it would be the spirit of the 568s

prodigal son. Let's go to Luke chapter 15, Matthew, Mark, and then Luke. 573s

Luke chapter 15 verse 18. 580s

And here's the story about the son who demands his inheritance. 589s

He goes off, he squanders it in loose living, and then he comes to his senses. 592s

He's hit rock bottom. And here's a picture of one who understands the poverty of their own 600s

spirit. So Luke chapter 15, and we'll pick up in verse 18. 609s

I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, 616s

father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 621s

I'm no longer worthy to be called your son, treat me like one of your hired hands. 626s

There's one who understands the poverty of his own spirit. 635s

It's one who understands the attitude and the condition of the heart and the mind and the soul 638s

before God. So when Jesus is talking in the sermon and the mount, he's not talking about those 646s

that are poor economically. He's talking about blessed are those who are poor in spirit, 651s

who have the understanding of the condition of their heart. It's one who understands then 657s

the bondage of their own sinfulness, their bondage to sin. Let's go to 1 John chapter 1, 663s

go to Revelation, and then turn left, quickly bump into 1 John, 1 John chapter 1, 671s

1 John chapter 1, 1 John chapter 1, 1 verse 8. 681s

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say that 690s

we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. See, that's at the heart where we 698s

confess on Sunday morning, we are in bondage to sin, and we cannot free ourselves. That is 705s

an acknowledgement before God of our sinfulness, and then of course the totality of our sinfulness, 713s

in thoughtward indeed what we've done and by what we've left undone. That is an all-encompassing 719s

picture of the reality of our sinfulness and our bondage to it. Secondly, understanding the 725s

poverty of our own spirit understands first our bondage to it, second the debt of sin, the debt of 733s

sin. When we ponder our own sinfulness, we understand the massive debt of sinfulness that we 741s

gather up in the course of our life. When one simply reflects today in terms of our own sinfulness, 752s

the thoughts that will go through our mind, the words that will come out where we say that wasn't a 761s

kind word, that wasn't a kind thing to say, gossip. I mean, you can start going on down the list, 769s

the things that we should have done today, but we prefer to do something else. 777s

I take Fridays off and I had the TV on and Oprah was on. 786s

I turned it in East and I said she is a walking sermon example. She's a walking sermon example. 796s

The stuff that was coming out of her that was so unbiblical was amazing and people were just 803s

grabbing it and standing up like they were in a religious revival. I'm just pulling it all in. 809s

You know, and at the heart of one of the things being said, maybe it wasn't Oprah, maybe it was 816s

another guest, but the person was saying, you have to make sure you care for yourself. 824s

And they said, that's my thing that I'm doing this year. I am going to care for me. 833s

That's what sin is, isn't it? It's the inward turn where we say the world revolves around me. 844s

Is there anything that matters with self-care? No. Is there any matter with eating right? No. 851s

Is there anything that matters with exercising? No. But when your purpose in life is to look inward 854s

to yourself and not outward in service, there's the manifestation of sin, right? Manifestation of sin. 860s

When we, when we simply reflect on our own sinfulness, a thought word indeed, what we do and what we 868s

don't do, we see this incredible, massive sin that we accumulate in the course of our lives. 875s

One who is poor in spirit gets that, gets that. And we are continually reminded of that, aren't we? 883s

As God comes to us in the law, as God comes to us and reveals who it is that we are. 890s

And we see our sinfulness. Third, we recognize our own unworthiness in God's sight. 898s

Fourth, we recognize we have no confidence in our own righteousness, that we cannot stand before 905s

God on judgment. They clothed in the garment of our good works. What we have done, we cannot stand 910s

and substantiate our case that we can come into heaven because of our goodness. I think of the old 917s

hymn, rock of ages. The phrase, nothing in my hand I bring simply to the cross, I cling, helpless 926s

look to the for grace. That's poverty of spirit. It's poverty of spirit. When we understand the 936s

poverty of our spirit, that's a blessing in disguise. It's a blessing in disguise. 945s

Because when we reflect on ourselves, we say then what Paul said, O wretched man, O wretched person 952s

that I am, who will save me from this body of death. That's the opposite, the opposite message of 962s

what the world wants to say. It's the opposite message of the crystal cathedral that Robert Schuhler 970s

built. It's the opposite message, you see, which by the way that theology has crumbled now. It is 977s

absolutely crumbled around because it's the poverty of theology. Poverty of spirit understands 986s

our sinfulness and we come then to the end of ourselves. When we understand, we're in bondage to 997s

sin, the debt of our sin, our unworthiness in God's sight, that we don't have any confidence in our 1004s

own righteousness, that indeed simply to the cross we cling. The blessing in coming to the poverty 1010s

of spirit, the blessing in disguise is that we come to an amazing discovery. Let's go back, please. 1018s

To Matthew 5, verse 3. 1026s

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Here comes the discovery. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 1040s

We run into the beautiful discovery of the gospel that Jesus Christ has borne our debt, 1051s

that He has paid the price for us, that His perfect life is reckoned to us as righteousness, 1057s

that God in His grace has given all of that in the sacrament of holy baptism. We are clothed in 1064s

the righteous garment of Christ. We are incorporated into His kingdom. And so we realize the poverty 1071s

of our own spirit and we realize the enormous grace of God and blessed we are. And remember what 1079s

blessed means. It means to be more than happy. More than happy. We are more than happy. When we come 1088s

by God's grace to the understanding of the poverty of our own spirit, because then comes this gracious 1097s

word of being incorporated into the kingdom by the graciousness of God. Denying our sinfulness, 1104s

denying our poverty of spirit is the opposite direction that God desires, isn't it? That's why we 1116s

begin the worship services with confession. Right off the top. This is who we are, God. 1126s

We come to you and it is only to the cross that we cling. We are acknowledging the poverty of 1133s

the spirit and we receive the gracious word of comfort of how rich we are in Christ, Jesus. How rich 1141s

we are in Christ. Well as we go on, we discover another blessing in disguise. Let's go on and 1153s

do verse 4. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are those who mourn, 1162s

for they will be comforted. There are nine Greek words in the New Testament that are used to 1173s

communicate grief and sadness. Nine Greek words. Let's go to 2 Timothy chapter 1, Matthew, Mark, 1181s

Luke, John, Acts, and Romans. First and second Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, 1191s

Philippians, Colossians, and you hit the teabooks. First and second Thessalonians, 1199s

and then first and second Timothy, Titus is too far. Second Timothy chapter 1, 1205s

verse 3. I'm grateful to God who my worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did, 1217s

when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day, recalling your tears 1228s

I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. I'm reminded of your sincere faith, 1236s

a faith that lived first in your grandmother, Lois, in your mother, Eunice, and now I am sure 1242s

lives in you. But notice what the reference is, recalling your tears. The ability to mourn 1247s

is a gift. The ability to mourn, it gives release to pain. It is part of the healing that occurs. 1258s

Our society pushes against mourning. In ancient day, they would have professional mourners 1270s

that would be higher. Now, in respect, we look at that and we think that that seems quite 1279s

odd to us. But these were people that were quite literally were hired and they would come to 1284s

a funeral, etc., and they would express grief. So there would be oftentimes a wailing that would 1291s

occur from the professional mourners. But it was a way to give voice to feeling. In our society, 1297s

we can run away from mourning. We can shorten grief. We can care for those times right around 1306s

the event and then forget this is a process that the person is going through that we need to keep 1317s

walking with them through the process of grief. But when Jesus says, blessed are those who mourn, 1323s

he is not talking about that type of mourning. Even though mourning is part of the healing. 1334s

So what is he talking about? The world desperately looks for things to make them happy. 1346s

Desperately looks. World looks for entertainment, world looks for things, world looks for position, 1356s

it looks for status, it looks for pleasure. In a desperate, never-ending thirst to make themselves 1364s

happy. Jesus says, more than happy are those who mourn, who are first sad. Well, what are you 1375s

sad about? When Jesus said, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are those who are sad. What's he 1388s

talking about being sad about? He's talking about being sad about our sin, our sinfulness. Because of 1396s

our sin, we're tempted to do several things. We're tempted to deny it. We're tempted to redefine it. 1404s

We see that all over the place in today's world, right? You simply redefine sin. 1414s

And then what we've talked about this in the past, what's called statistical morality? You 1422s

matter with that. Society then accepts it because the poll has adopted it. So it's what's called 1434s

statistical morality. Well, statistical morality is simply based upon the whims of the people in that 1441s

given society. It's not based upon the standard of God's word, right? So you take the poll, society 1447s

says, yeah, this is fine then. It is then portrayed as fine. And then society becomes desensitized to it, 1457s

becomes desensitized to what it is they are seeing, what it is that they are hearing. And so instead of 1468s

turning to the word of God and saying, does God define this as sin, society will turn, not to the word 1476s

of God, but to their own thoughts, their own beliefs. This is what I think it will turn to the 1485s

poll's statistical morality. And then the immorality becomes more rampant to when it no longer has 1494s

shock value in the society because it has been normalized and it has been then encased in the 1501s

society. Because a sin we're tempted to deny it, redefine it. We're tempted to try and fix ourselves 1510s

as if all we need is a tweak. We're tempted to despair. So how then can being sad first of all be 1519s

the blessing in disguise? In Luther's 95 feces, he said that our lives should be one of continual 1531s

repentance, continual repentance and forgiveness. Literally in the Greek, if it translated it literally, 1542s

you would translate it this way. Blessed are those who mourn for they alone or only they shall be 1552s

comforted. That's the literal Greek translation. It gets a little smoothed over when it comes into 1558s

English sometimes. But blessed are those who mourn for they alone or only they shall be comforted. 1565s

Take a look with me please at James chapter 4, please. James chapter 4 verse 8, 1575s

James exhorts, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, 1602s

and purify your hearts, you double-minded or in Romans the seventh chapter, Matthew, 1609s

Mark, Luke, John, Acts and then Romans. Romans chapter 7 verse 21. 1618s

So I find it to be law that when I want to do what is good, evil lies close at hand, 1633s

I delight in the law of God in my inn most self, but I see in my members another law at war with 1637s

the law of my mind, making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 1643s

Wretched man that I am, who will rescue me from this body of death? You see there's one who's 1650s

mourning over the reality of their sin. It's not the mourning that gives rise to the being more than 1658s

happy. It's the comfort that comes associated with sin. Let's go to 2 Corinthians chapter 7. 1669s

The cover, excuse me, is the cover that comes in association with forgiveness. 2 Corinthians chapter 7, 1681s

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans and then 1st and 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 7, 1690s

verse 10. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation and brings no regret. 1703s

What worldly grief produces death. See what what is worldly grief? Worldly grief is I'm sorry I 1715s

got caught. Worldly grief is I can see what I did or what I said brought about this reality. 1724s

In hindsight I wish I didn't do that, but what they're grieving is the effects upon their own 1736s

self. They're not grieving their offense before God Almighty. Godly grief is a mourning of the 1743s

sinfulness. It's a mourning of who we are. In many respects it's close to being poor in spirit, 1754s

but it is that sense of mourning in terms of our sinfulness, not the mourning that brings happiness, 1765s

but what brings happiness but the comfort. Comfort. And so there is happiness then. When indeed we 1773s

receive the word of forgiveness, that word of joy, there is happiness when we receive that word of 1782s

absolution. There is happiness then. More than happiness when we see that God has not abandoned us, 1788s

but God has sent his son to die for us, that he has claimed us in the waters of baptism. 1797s

Where there is mourning for sin in godly sorrow, there's repentance. Where there's repentance, 1806s

there's forgiveness and where there is forgiveness, there is joy. You see where the church then approaches, 1811s

when the church moves biblically is to say, we are sinner in need of a Savior. And when that word 1823s

continues to go out, when the law on the gospel is continued to rightly be divided, 1833s

then the true word that brings us lasting joy, which is so much better than you're a wonderful person. 1837s

It is in the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven. That is the word that sustains us. 1845s

I heard a lady this week, she was talking and she said, my identity is in 1855s

Christ, spot on, spot on. You see it's not in her profession, it's not in what she does, 1868s

it's not in her awards, it's not in her bank account, it's not in her fill in the blank. Her identity is 1876s

in Christ, who she is in Christ. There is an identity that is rooted in the grace of God. 1885s

Sometimes there are things that you wouldn't think would be blessing, but they turn out to be 1898s

a blessing in disguise. Turns out that when we understand the depth of our sin, the poverty of our 1905s

spirit, what a blessing that is. Because then right amidst that understanding, we receive that 1915s

gracious word of being included in the kingdom. Nothing better, more than happy. 1924s

You would think that mourning would never be associated with being more than happy. 1933s

But that's precisely what happens. When we mourn the reality of our sinfulness and we understand 1943s

who it is that we are when we understand the depths of our sin and when we are sorry for that, 1951s

because ultimately we have transgressed Almighty God, every sin is against God. 1958s

When we understand in our sad about that, why there then is the more than happy? Why? Because 1965s

blessed are those who are sad about their sin because they will be comforted. 1975s

Blessed are the sad for they will be comforted and then one is more than happy because of the comfort. 1985s

So could it be that when the door closes, that may be a blessing in disguise, 1999s

could it be that when the events of the week turn out not to be how you thought they would turn out, 2012s

could it be that there might be a blessing in disguise? Certainly. Because the very principle that we get 2023s

in this sermon on a mount, we see manifest in our own lives. All things work together for good to those 2035s

who love the Lord, who are called according to His purpose. So where then is the blessing in disguise? 2046s

Well, we're going to continue on in the sermon on the mount as Jesus goes on and we're going to 2060s

see in some of those things where we say, how can this be a blessing? We'll see the blessing in 2065s

disguise. We'll continue next week. 2072s