Miskin dihadapan Allah

Blessed are the poor in front of GOD
MATHEW 5:3

by. Ev. Beni Samuel Regoh

Dear friends, during these few months we will discuss about the Sermon on the Mount in particular beatitude. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount can be considered as the core of all teaching of the Lord Jesus. Sermons on the hill is a great sermon, great, TTP is also a controversial sermon. There are people who say that this is an ideal teaching something that can not be done by humans.
Because of what Jesus said in the face of very difficult to do by men, and in contrast to real human conditions such as in the beatitude, blessed are the poor, how could the poor are blessed, blessed are the persecuted, how could people who were persecuted happy. If you give your left cheek slap your right cheek, our understanding, if someone slaps us then we should return at least slap on the cheek.
What does it say Jesus is not only confusing us at the moment, but for Jews at that time. Because the law says that law an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, life changing lives. But Jesus says the opposite. That is not to repay evil with evil, love your enemies and pray for them to hate you.
But the brother of a beautiful and regal this is the teaching of Jesus, this is what distinguishes between the teachings of other religions with the teachings of Christianity. Sermon on the Mount is not something that is difficult to apply, but in applying the Mount sermon, we need the help and grace of God, so we are enabled to apply it. Without God we are not able to apply the Sermon on the Mount is in our lives.
Brother today we discuss the first beatitude is blessed are the poor before God for theirs is the kingdom of surge.
There are some keywords that we learned from this section;
First: The word "happy" is derived from the word Makarios, which means Blessed, or "joy." It is interesting here that Jesus correlate between happiness and poverty. We understand happiness is synonymous with wealth, with all its needs fulfilled, happiness was synonymous with safety, but Jesus said that a person's happiness or joy, thanks to the presence of God when people are poor.
What is meant by the Lord Jesus with this? The word happy is more menujuk to joy in one's life. For Jesus, true happiness lies not in something that comes out of ourselves dai or outward, but because of the work of God in Christ is given to him.
Why did Jesus talk about happiness or blessing in his teaching?
Because, basically, that happiness is a fundamental or essential rights of every person. Every man in this world miss what is called happiness. Everyone was trying to reach or find happiness. But if we're honest, not everyone can feel and enjoy the happiness in her life. There are many rich people in this world, there are many smart people in this world, there are many families who seem happier outside but next to it suffered. Why? Because they do not have true happiness. So anything they try to create happiness in their lives they still can not find happiness.
Happiness is in fact only those who truly live in God. So that poverty is no excuse to not be able to enjoy happiness. Precisely in poverty, Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit."

Said the second: the word "Poor"
There were two words "poor" in the Greek New Testament, namely: "πενης - penês" and "πτωχος - ptôkhos".
πενης - penês mean poor so that the daily income to eat out daily. As though poor people but not too poor, (used on poor widows) because he was still there and still eat income. Poor people like this a lot and I included, which discharged a month salary a month, sometimes have to eat some of the savings or term partner (MANTAB = ate savings in the Indonesian language)
While word-ptôkhoi πτωχοι, plural of "πτωχος - ptôkhos" means those who live by begging alms. A so-called ptokhos, then that person is not just poor but very, very poor. Even poorer than beggars at traffic lights in Pontianak. If a beggar in Pontianak, I've seen with this there is still a gold necklace, the food is still ok, even still able to buy cigarettes or could still say he's poor "penes". That means their income is still enough for a meal a day, but is a ptokhos is to eat only once a day is difficult. The person who called pthokos is very poor and if not then he will mati.Atau helped in other words life is very dependent on others. His life depends on the mercy of others.
The word used by Jesus in the Sermon the Mount, but this is not Penes Ptokhos; is a very, very poor.
The Lord Jesus said blessed are those who very, very poor for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Did Jesus want to say here that in order to obtain the kingdom of surge person must be poor first? Or whether Jesus would katakana that to get happiness one must be poor first? Not as such, although in other parts of the Lord Jesus who said that the rich always difficult to enter the kingdom of surge, but Jesus did not intend that to have penah surge seseornag kingdom must be a materially poor ..
The word "πτωχος - ptôkhos" was used by Matthew has a spiritual meaning to those who are spiritually poor. Why are not people who are spiritually rich who have the kingdom of heaven?
Why are the poor (spiritually) before God called the people happy and have the kingdom of God?
1. Hungry and Thirsty for the truth of God's Word
Brothers in the book of Psalms, the psalmist always correlate between happiness with life in the light of God's word. A person who is happy is a man who is always there in light of the psalmist says God told my heart hunger for your Word, like a deer longing for water my heart so long for the word of God.
Happy people are those who always feel thirsty for the Word of God in his life. So he must continue to seek and obtain God's Word. This is the people who are poor before God.
Brother, someone will not grow in faith in God if he did not have a heart thirsty for God's word. But a growing is a man who would seek and continue to want to learn the word of God.
Brothers, said ptokhos is poor or poor people who always expect petolongan others to life, so with the poor in spirit, he feels that he can not live and walk in a world without the guidance of the word God in this world.
Therefore, he continued to feel hungry for the word of God, he felt that he could not live without the word of God. He always felt hungry and thirsty to be filled by the word of God.
Have you felt very, very hungry or thirsty? Of course, we never feel hungry and thirsty, but feeling hungry and thirsty we probably because there are many who work will be done, therefore we postpone the time we eat, but the food is there if not at home, we can buy. But the brothers ever feel hungry, but nobody wants to eat, and also no money to buy food ... this is an extraordinary suffering. This is a picture of someone who called ptochos ...
Therefore, first; people bagaiamana called the poor man before God? Poor people before God are those who hunger and thirst for the word of God.
Thus, the word poor here will emphasize the spiritual aspects of human needs.
Humans are not just made up things carnal but spiritual. Humans do not just take things that are physical but also the things that are spiritual or spiritual. Man can only be physically healthy but it may be spiritually sick. Spiritually sick would be more harmful than physically ill. If people feel that physical pain is only yourself, but people who are spiritually ill will affect his relationship with God and also with sesame.
Brother. We may not experience bodily satisfaction but not to the spiritual needs not being met because if the spiritual needs not met then he will have trouble in his life. People who are spiritually satisfied with himself he will experience an carnal satisfaction.
How to meet our spiritual needs? There is no other way than we have to live in the light of Your Word.
The second is how the people who called the poor man before God?
2. Hoping and relying entirely only to God
Brothers, said poor (ptokhos) is very poor, so that his whole life at the mercy of others. He will die, if not helped others. Contemporary Bahasa Indonesia it is written: "Who Depend on Him only."
Said poor (ptokhos) was also used to Lazarus in Luke Luk.16: 22, which states how poor Lazarus itself, so for her life depends on the food that fell from the tables of the rich. But one thing happened after the two-contrast two dead Lazarus, the poor enjoy the happiness, while the rich have suffered.
Dear friends, This is a picture of poverty before God? Poor people who before God are those who always depend on God. Therefore, people who are poor before God, to those who always hoped to God, he will feel that he can not do anything without God's help himself. So he's always hope and rely on God.
Application: If the story is still depend on ourselves, or our wealth, then we are not poor dihadapn someone that God is still there that we rely on in our lives, someone that we are not poor before God.
A poor before God, just like a small child can not live without the help of their parents or someone else, so it was Jesus illustrates that the true faith as the faith of a child, other than innocence and honesty, but also dependence on others.
People who are poor before God is a person who has a dependency with God, just like the twigs of the vine (John 15) can not be separated by a branch of the vine, he would die if separated as well as the poor man before God. There are a lot of people are physically but his life is fulfilled spiritual needs are not fulfilled,
Allah willed the poor man before him, rather than poor in humans. Poor in spirit we will be actually directed to the needs and our dependence on God. Both in terms of physical and spiritual matters.
Applications: How to test the dependency of a person to God? To know that we depend and beharap to God not when we are having difficulty, or challenge, but when our lives better ... If you have difficulties, we are automatically going to depend on God. But what if our life was safe berkecukapan, do we depend and beharap to God?
Mr. People who are poor before God are those relying entirely to God.
3. Before God humbly
Sdr.tidak there are arrogant people who are poor, there is no shortage of people or a beggar who arrogantly. Why? because they realize that they need the mercy of others. So we can conclude that the poor people is normally a low heart. In the old translations of the Bible translate the blessed are low heart ....
Why would people be happy and humbled to have the kingdom called surge? Because humility is the beginning of repentance someone. Someone who thinks he's great, decent people who really are not worthy before God. People who feel capable and powerful it would be difficult to admit that he is a sinner, repent and believe in God.
Paul, before he met Jesus he's a tough, one who will not humble himself, but he beat him, and finally with the humility he recognizes Jesus, and offered his life to God.
The Psalmist says; offerings that are pleasing to God is a broken heart, and crushed, hearts who feel unworthy before God, before God's propriety.
Brothers, at one time Jesus' disciples came to Jesus and asked about who the biggest adalam kingdom of heaven? He responded by placing a child in their midst and said, "Whoever wants to be big so he must humble himself and become like little children."
Jim Colins a best-selling business book author, he conducted research on companies-companies whose ordinary initially and eventually become a large company, he found that these enterprises can thrive due to company leaders in his company is using two characteristics that Humility personal and professional will. Combination of these two things is something that paradox. Because we often hear that it is very difficult to combine professionalism and humility. However, the study of Collins is an incredible combination of professionalism and humility to produce a remarkable result. Company-the company has developed amazingly.
What was stated Jim Collins, in his book to make us stunned .. Why not? Secular business leaders to adopt a humility that is the biblical ideas (though they do not realize that idea comes from the Bible), while Christian leaders / org instead meninggalkn christian biblical thing. So businesses increasingly biblical, God's people increasingly secular. Even if you're honest, many of the churches to apply and incorporate these things into the secular church of the biblical thing. Teaching can be biblical, but the application of secular. For example, the leadership in the church applied to such companies, emphasizing the professionalism of the work, mungin was good, but in running it is not accompanied by a personal Humility (depression personal care) but to the authoritarian system.
No longer apply the values of service in the church, the values of love even further away from the church. There are certain churches who treats his servants as employees, you are on a paid, then you should be submissive and obedient. Therefore, as God's servants so there began my reckoning on a paid just like this yes I serve as the pay. If the church like this is very dangerous. If a servant of God like this is very dangerous.
Mr. Monday ago we were on vacation to the beach, staying misconstrued one hotel, inn, I saw how their service to us, it's very unusual. That's the business world, in the church do? Is the concept still exists or not in church?
Pondering what Jim Collins said this, I thought about what was said by the Lord Jesus that became a major in the kingdom of heaven, it must be a condition of humility.
Why are the poor before God is a humble person, because only with humility enabled us can come to God, the Bible says God is very pleased with the humble people but God hates pride and arrogance.
What is humility? Humility is that we understand ourselves in a proper position before God. A humble is not a man who says that he does not have any skills and are unable to do anything (because it means insulting God the creator), but a man who says that all of his ability comes from God and he was able to do something because God enabled. Even without God, he was not nothing.
Therefore, God calls us to memilliki humility before Him, and acknowledge our powerlessness before God, and need God in our lives;
The things we need in our lives? First, we need God to free us from sin and saved us. Secondly, we are not able to live our lives without God's day.
Conclusion:
Dear friends, only people who truly realize that she is poor before God, who is entitled to the kingdom of heaven and obtain true happiness. Therefore we have to do things is that we must continue to feel poor before God, that we must always thirsty for the word of God, depending on the total life to God and to live humbly before God. Amen