Last Saturday, my wife and I were out in the yard raking leaves. Our neighbor lady came over and she began to talk with us. We talked for about half an hour, when our neighbor lady's husband began to approach us. As he walked toward us, I could tell something was not right. He got up to us, looked at his wife, our neighbor lady, and without any introduction said, "My brother just called. Ryan was killed in a car accident."

Ryan was the 25 year old nephew of our neighbors. When our neighbor lady heard that, she put her hands to her mouth, and she began to grieve. Some of the first words that came out of her mouth were, "Poor Mary." Mary was Ryan's mother. Our neighbor lady was so concerned with Ryan's mother. How would she be comforted, at the death of her son? How would she be comforted?

How would anybody be comforted,

at the death of a loved one?

To you young people, out there today, there is no more urgent thing that you could do, there is no greater blessing you could give to your parents, than in this life, to confess Jesus, as your only Savior from sin. What a comfort that is to your mother and father, your brothers and sisters, your aunts and uncles, and your grandparents.

And, to you adults, out there, how urgent it is, and there is nothing more comforting you could do for your family, for your children, for your brothers and sisters, for your loved ones, than to confess Jesus, as your only Savior from sin. To His people, who confess Him, what does Jesus say? He says,

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted."

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Who are the poor in spirit? Scripture defines who the poor in spirit are.

Scripture defines the poor in spirit as

➢ those who, in this life, recognize their own spiritual poverty,

➢ those who, in this life, recognize "I am a lost and condemned creature. I have nothing to stand on before God. I have nothing to boast of. I have no works to bring to God. All I have to bring to God is my sin - spiritual poverty. I cannot earn my salvation. I cannot win my own salvation. I can't deserve my own salvation. I am a sinner."

➢ The poor in spirit are those who, in this life, humbly confess their sin to God, confessing their sins, and iniquities with which they have ever offended Him and justly deserve His punishment, here in time and hereafter, in eternity. Those are the poor in spirit.

➢ The poor in spirit are those who, in this life, humbly before God, repent of their sin.

➢ The poor in spirit are those who, like the thief on the cross, finally turn to Christ. The thief knew he had nothing he could offer Christ, nothing. He was poor in spirit, and he turned to Jesus, and said, "Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom."

➢ The poor in spirit are those who recognize, in this life, "I am a lost and condemned creature and I need Jesus. I need Jesus."

As the author of the hymn said,

"Nothing in my hand I bring.

Simply to thy cross I cling.

Naked, come to thee for dress.

Helpless look to thee for grace.

Foul, I to the fountain fly.

Help me Savior, or I die."

➢ The poor in spirit, in this life, are those who repent of their sin and turn to Jesus, and to everything Jesus offers, and depend not on themselves, but on Christ.

Who are those in Heaven? St. John heard the angels say, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God, day and night, and serve Him in His temple."

Those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. The poor in spirit are those who cling not to themselves, not to their own riches, not to what they have done, but to Christ. The poor in spirit are those who cling to the blood of Christ, as full, complete, and total payment for all their sins. What does scripture say?

"You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

That though He was rich,

yet, for your sakes

He became poor,

so that you,

through His poverty,

might become rich."

Scripture defines the poor in spirit as those who, in this life, recognize, "My Savior left His riches in Heaven, and He became poor. He became poor. He took my sin. He took my guilt. He went to the cross. He took my punishment. He took my death. He took my Hell. And, He gives me that forgiveness - His riches - as a free gift, by grace. The poor in spirit – Blessed, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

What is Jesus' promise to all who believe in Him, to all who close their eyes for the last time, believing in Christ? The Bible says,

"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,

and you will be saved."

The Bible says,

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation

to those who are in Christ Jesus."

Those are the awesome promises, in scripture. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. And, on this All Saints' Day we rejoice! We rejoice that those who close their eyes for the last time, confessing Christ as their Savior, are safely in Heaven, with Christ our Savior. And, how that comforts those who mourn!

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they shall be comforted.

And, we would not wish our loved ones back from Heaven. We would not wish them back to this world of misery and sin.

Now that they have obtained the victory,

now that they live in eternal bliss with our Savior,

now that they have been freed from all sin,

now that they have been freed from all trouble,

now that they see God face to face,

now that they are in the Kingdom of Heaven,

we rejoice with them!

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted."

And we are comforted in Christ. Not only are we comforted that those who have gone before us, the faithful departed, are in Heaven, but we are also comforted that we are united with all the believers, living and departed, through Christ, our Savior. There is an indivisible union between all believers, whether they are in Heaven, or whether they are still here on Earth. There is a bond between us so strong that not even death itself can separate us, because we are united in Christ Jesus.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

If you are poor in spirit,

➔ if you recognize your own sin,

➔ if you repent of your sin,

➔ if you know that you need Jesus, as your Savior,

➔ if you cling to Jesus,

yours is the Kingdom of Heaven! You have the same Jesus. You have the same home.

The Lord's Supper is such an awesome picture of that. When you come up here to the Lord's Supper today, consider what is happening. Your loved ones, your faithful departed who are now in Heaven with Christ, this moment, as we speak, see Christ face to face. That is awesome! They see Christ face to face! They see Christ in the flesh and blood! When you come up here to the Lord's Supper, poor in spirit, hungering for the forgiveness of sins, who else will come here today in the flesh and blood? Your Savior! The same Savior, with the same flesh and blood that our loved ones see right now in Heaven, will come to you. He will give to you His body and His blood, and speak to you, "This is my body, my blood, given for the forgiveness of your sins." There our Savior bestows on you the very Kingdom of Heaven! He bestows on you the very forgiveness of sins, by which He purchased you at a great price - His body and blood.

And we are united. We are united in Christ, in the very presence of Christ, with all believers living and departed.

Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

And how comforted we are to know that we are united with our brothers and sisters, living and departed. Not only are we comforted in knowing that our loved ones are in Heaven, not only are we comforted in knowing that we are united with them through Christ in a union that even death cannot separate, but we are comforted in knowing that for believers, death is not good bye, but death is simply good night. "Good night. I will see you in the morning. I will see you on the Day of Resurrection!"

What does it say in the book of I Thessalonians? Listen to these awesome words! "We believe that God will bring, with Jesus, those who have fallen asleep in Him. For the LORD, Himself, will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with a voice of the Archangel, with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise. And after that, we who are still alive and are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the LORD in the air. And so, we will be with the LORD forever. Therefore, encourage each other with these words."

"Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted."

➢ The day is coming, when all mourning will be turned to joy.

➢ The day is coming, when all sadness will be turned to happiness.

➢ The day is coming, when our tears will be dried.

Tears will be turned to laughter, because we know from scripture that we will see our departed loved ones, and we will be united together, forever with Christ, in Heaven! And, we are comforted. To those who believe on Him, Jesus says, "Blessed, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted."

There is no greater gift, and no more urgent gift that you could give to your loved one, than to confess here on this earth, while you are still alive, while it is still day, while there is still time, that you believe in Jesus. Tell your loved ones. Tell them that you are a Christian. Tell them that you believe in Jesus. Tell your brothers and sisters, your parents, your cousins, your aunts, your uncles, your grandparents.

And, if you have someone in your family, for whom you are concerned spiritually, today is the day to go and talk to them. Talk to them about Jesus. Talk to them about forgiveness. Talk to them about free salvation by faith in Christ. Because, what is the awesome promise and comfort that we have as God's people, as believers in Jesus?

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn,

for they will be comforted."

Amen.