The Doorway to the Kingdom

Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . —Matthew 5:3

Beware of thinking of our Lord as only a teacher. If Jesus Christ is only a teacher, then all He can do is frustrate me by setting a standard before me I cannot attain. What is the point of presenting me with such a lofty ideal if I cannot possibly come close to reaching it? I would be happier if I never knew it. What good is there in telling me to be what I can never be— to be “pure in heart” (Matthew 5:8), to do more than my duty, or to be completely devoted to God? I must know Jesus Christ as my Savior before His teaching has any meaning for me other than that of a lofty ideal which only leads to despair. But when I am born again by the Spirit of God, I know that Jesus Christ did not come only to teach— He came to make me what He teaches I should be. The redemption means that Jesus Christ can place within anyone the same nature that ruled His own life, and all the standards God gives us are based on that nature.

The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount produces a sense of despair in the natural man— exactly what Jesus means for it to do. As long as we have some self-righteous idea that we can carry out our Lord’s teaching, God will allow us to continue until we expose our own ignorance by stumbling over some obstacle in our way. Only then are we willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him. “Blessed are the poor in spirit . . . .” This is the first principle in the kingdom of God. The underlying foundation of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is poverty, not possessions; not making decisions for Jesus, but having such a sense of absolute futility that we finally admit, “Lord, I cannot even begin to do it.” Then Jesus says, “Blessed are you . . .” (Matthew 5:11). This is the doorway to the kingdom, and yet it takes us so long to believe that we are actually poor! The knowledge of our own poverty is what brings us to the proper place where Jesus Christ accomplishes His work.

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進天國的門

虛心的人有福了。 （太五3）

當心不要把主教師的身分放在第一位。耶穌基督若光是一位教師，他所作的無非是設立了一些我無法達到的標準來戲弄我。若根本是無法達到的理想，介紹給我有何用？我不知道反更妙。要我清心，要我連非分內的事也作，要我完全歸向神，可是我卻無力達到，告訴我這些有何益處？若要基督的教訓對我真有意義，而不是引志絕望的空理想，我就必須以耶穌基督為救主。我在神的靈裡重生活，就曉得耶穌基督來不是單為教導；他更要使我成為他所教導的。救恩是主耶穌把他的性情，放進任何人裡面。而神一切的標準，都是根據主耶穌的性情而定。

對一個未有新生命的人，登山寶訓只會帶來絕望，這正是主耶穌的用意。因為我們若仍然自以為義，自高自傲，以為自己可以實踐主的教訓，神就會任由我們，讓難處揭露我們的無知，叫我們像叫化子一般來親就他，接受他的施予。 [心靈貧乏的人有福了。 ]這是天國的第一原則。主耶穌國度的基石是貧窮，不是產業；不是決志接受耶穌基督，而是完全無能為力的：[我不知從何著手。 ]那時耶穌說：[你有福了。 ]這就是門，我們往往要走好運的路，才相信自己真的貧窮！若知道自己貧窮，就是已經來到作工的道德前線。