One of the great sins of Israel was a lack of dependence on God. Time and again you can see Israel leaning toward foreign countries for aid instead of depending on the Lord. Jeremiah 17:5 echo’s the sentiment. “Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord.” Depending on God is a big Bible issue. Jesus addressed it. Let’s look at what He said about it.

John 5:30 (KJV)
³⁰ I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

• Would Jesus be an authority on the matter of dependance?
• There is no better example of dependence than Jesus.
• Didn’t Jesus model this for us during His life?
• Your own personal day of independence comes when you realize you can do nothing apart from Him.

John 15:5 (KJV)
⁵ I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Depending on God and the Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5:1–3 (KJV)
¹ And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: ² And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, ³ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

• The nine Beatitudes found in the Sermon on the Mount should be looked at in light of Matthew 6:21.

Matthew 6:21 (KJV)
²¹ For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

• Our treasure should be ‘poor in spirit’.
• Our treasure should be ‘mourning’.
• Our treasure should be ‘hungering and thirsting after righteousness’.
• Our treasure should be ‘meekness’.
• Our treasure should be ‘being pure in heart’.
• The nine beatitudes are part of the Jesus value system.
• They are the value system of the kingdom of heaven.
• They are the Jesus kind of life.

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

Matthew 5:3 (KJV )
³ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

DEFINITION: poor/πτωχός/ptōchos – this word does not just mean being behind on your bills or being short of funds. The root of the word means ‘beggarly poor’. It means to be totally and completely bankrupt.

• Plugging this definition back into Matthew 5:3 we have, ‘Blessed are you when you are totally bankrupt’.
• The important qualifier is the phrase ‘in spirit’.
• If Jesus had not added this qualifier, if Matthew under the leadership had not recorded these two words, then some room would be open for debate.
• Was Jesus in any way referring to physical poverty?
• Was He saying being physically poor is a blessing?
• Because Matthew inserted the qualifier ‘in spirit’, we can be certain and sure that Jesus was not referring to a physical something but to a spiritual something.
• This is an important distinction since the majority of people in the first century were economically impoverished.
• What then does this spiritual ‘bankruptcy’ refer to?
• What does it mean to be poor in spirit?
  • If you are bankrupt, you are unable to pull anything off.
  • You have no resources.
  • You have no ability to get something done.
  • Bankrupt means ‘insufficient assets’
  • You do not have what it takes to put yourself over.
  • You do not have what it takes to get the job done.
• All of which makes you a ‘dependent’ person rather than an independent one.
• We are to be dependent on God just as Jesus was dependent on His Father.
• Dependence is an eternal truth mirrored in the Old Testament.

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Deuteronomy 8:3 (KJV)
³ And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

• You could use this last part of Deuteronomy 8:3 as the standard of dependence.
• Dependence means not living by bread alone.
• It means not engaging life by what your independence can produce.
• It means living by every word which comes from God’s mouth.
• Our everyday Christianity should reflect the meaning of ‘poor in spirit’, it should reflect dependence.
• It should mirror a leaning upon God’s Word.
• To the degree you live independent of God, to that degree your Christian life is unsuccessful.
• Lack of dependence is an early warning sign of a failing Christian life.

Dependence or ‘Poor in Spirit’ is a Place of Realization for Salvation

• ‘Poor in spirit’ speaks loudly of dependence’ for salvation.
• Jesus is simply saying, ‘you need to come to a place of realization that you do not have the resources to save yourself.’
• So, quit with the ‘doing good works to try to get to heaven’ bit.
  • You are bankrupt.
  • You do not have the necessary wherewith-all to make heaven your home.
  • You have ‘insufficient assets’ to purchase the necessary righteousness that God requires.
  • You have to come to the place of understanding you are dependent on God’s merciful plan unveiled in sending Jesus as your substitute.
• Jesus is saying, when you come to this realization, ‘You are blessed’ because of it.
• When you try to make heaven through your own efforts, you are saying to God, ‘I have the resources.’
• The truth is you don’t. You are not even close.

Dependence or ‘Poor in Spirit’ is a Place of Realization for Life after Salvation

• ‘Poor in spirit’ speaks loudly of dependence’ for lifestyle Christianity.
• You do not start out ‘poor in the spirit’ in the new birth by acknowledging you are bankrupt and then become ‘rich in the flesh’ by your own abilities.
• If you don’t have the resources to start this Christian life, you certainly don’t have the resources to walk any part of it.
• Paul put it this way.

Galatians 3:3 (KJV)
³ Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

• No, the way you started out is the way you are to continue.
• Have you ever heard of choleric personalities?
• Choleric personalities see issues as black and white.
• This verse in Galatians 3:3 is a black and white statement.
  • There is spirit.
  • There is flesh.
  • There is no in-between.
• The battle lies in coming to grips with the idea that there is no ‘in-between’.
• Our lives should be lives of ‘dependence’.
• We should trust God.
• We should depend on Him in our everyday Christianity.
• It all starts with realizing how bankrupt you are in and of yourself.
• Jesus said it best, “I can of my own self do nothing.’

The Danger of the ‘Self-Help’ Message

• The self-help phenomenon is a billion dollar industry.
• The church has inadvertently mixed the ‘self-help’ message with the gospel and in some cases just substituted it completely.
  • We can get help from Jesus.
  • We get help from Oprah and we get help from Dr. Phil.
• The Word of God is a standalone entity.
• The information coming through ‘self-help’ channels is not on the same level as the truth of God’s Word.
• God does not need help from the ‘self-help’ community in order to ‘fix’ His children.
• He can do it without the good doctor.
• In 2 Chronicles 12, the actions of Rehoboam mirrors this substitution of self-help for the Word.
• It is a picture of the mixture of ‘flesh and spirit’ often seen among believers.

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2 Chronicles 12:1–3 (KJV)
¹ And it came to pass, when Rehoboam had established the kingdom, and had strengthened himself, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. ² And it came to pass, that in the fifth year of king Rehoboam Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord, ³ With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians. ⁹ So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all: he carried away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made. ¹⁰ Instead of which king Rehoboam made shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the chief of the guard, that kept the entrance of the king’s house.

• Rehoboam substituted ‘brass’ for ‘gold’ and then tried to act like they were the same.
• Self-help information is brass. It is not ‘gold quality’ Spirit of God truth.
• It is flesh generated truth.
• Don’t substitute it.
• Don’t order your life according to Oprah.
• Self help information is the ‘best’ man has to offer.
• I am not implying you cannot learn some ‘natural things’ through this media but your heart should always start in ‘I am depending on God’ mode.
• Train yourself to ask, “What does God’s Word say about the information I’m hearing?”
• If you are trying to find some information on an area which is featured in one of these shows, ask yourself.
  • Have I prayed about this area; that is have I talked to the Lord about this area?
  • Have I searched God’s Word for the answer?
  • Have I applied myself to understanding?

Depending on God and Our Physical Health

• Shouldn’t we depend on God in the area of our physical health?
• Here is a Bible example of a person who by passed the Lord in this area.

2 Chronicles 16:12 (KJV)
¹² And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great: yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians.

• This is the negative independence piece seen in the life of Asa.
  • It speaks of a lack of dependence
  • It speaks of the flesh rising up and saying, I can do this myself.
• Get it straight. The Bible does NOT teach going to doctors is wrong.
• But, it is wrong to do it like Asa did it.
• Ignoring the Healer is wrong.
• It is again the issue of dependence.
• Prayer and medicine can work together.

What Is the Message of Dependence?

• ‘Faith in God’ is a primary expression of dependence.
• Remember the psalmist?
  • O my God, in you I trust (Psalm 7:1).
• Dependence on God is a spiritual attitude and one which must practice until it becomes a ‘holy habit’.
• You have to practice it because the world system teaches you the opposite.
• It teaches to depend on yourself, your education, your good looks or your communication skills.
• The message of it all is ‘I do not need God because I can do it all by myself.’
• Understand that the issue of dependence does not start with the mechanics of how to believe God for something.
• It starts with the spiritual attitude of knowing you are incapable of producing results on your own.
• If you by-pass the spiritual dependance attitude and go right to the mechanics of prayer, or the mechanics of how to receive something from God, you will end up off course.

A New Testament Bible Example of a Lack of Dependence

• The church of Laodecia

Revelation 3:14–17 (KJV)
¹⁴ And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; ¹⁵ I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. ¹⁶ So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. ¹⁷ Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

• Notice the word ‘knowing not’ in verse 17.
• Laodicean believers should have realized their state
• Can we say this gently? We should all realize our state.
• God chooses nobodies. God can achieve his purpose either through the absence of human power and resources, or the abandonment of reliance on them. All through history God has chosen and used nobodies, because their unusual dependence on him made possible the unique display of his power and grace. He chose and used somebodies only when they renounced dependence on their natural abilities and resources.¹

Call to Action:

What does this all mean to you? What about taking some of these thoughts you have heard today and overlaying them on your life? What do you come up with? Are you trusting in Him or relying on yourself? Do you bow your head and ask for help before you do an endeavor or do you go out on your own? Is it you with God getting it done or is it all you? If it’s just you, I am here to tell you that this is a sign of failing Christian life. That is a sign of a lack of dependence.

Question: In what area of your walk with Christ have you made a quality decision to always depend on God? Would you please share your thoughts in the comments section below?

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