Matthew 11:5

And the poor have the gospel preached to them.

The right of the poor

I. Let us state the sentiment of the text. We understand it to intend the poor in condition, and not the poor in spirit.

1. The gospel is not preached to the poor in order to mix itself with the questions of civil distinctions.

2. It is not that the gospel regards social distinctions as chiefly important.

3. It is not that the gospel takes the same view of these respective classifications which we are accustomed to entertain.

4. It is not that the gospel is merely adapted to the humble spheres and employments of life.

5. It is not that the gospel is unworthy the attention of the most educated minds.

6. This announcement is not only declarative but predictive.

II. Why is the gospel especially preached to the poor?

1. To demonstrate the Divine independence,

2. To explain the apparent inequalities of Providence. If the poor are denied worldly wealth; they can have durable riches.

3. To establish the necessity of a Divine revelation. The poor show the perplexity of other systems; Christianity commenced where they failed.

4. To exhibit the true importance of man.

6. To relieve the heaviest severity of present trouble. The gospel is “ the tender mercy of our God.”

6. To unfold the true genius of the Christian faith.

7. To intimate the spirituality of Christian blessings and rewards.

8. To place before us the value of predispositions in the reception of Christianity.

9. To bind the institutions of the gospel with the perpetuity of an inevitable human condition-“The poor ye have always with you.”

III. The demonstration of the truth of christianity, arising out of this fact, remains to be established.

1. It was the accomplishment of prophecy.

2. It distinguished it from all other systems of philosophy and religion.

3. It took a survey of human nature profound as it was new.

4. It reflects most amiably on the character of the Christian Founder.

5. Its Divine efficacy is proved to be complete.

6. The truth of Christianity borrows new evidence from its operations on the poor, when we remember the nature of the principles which it has inculcated.

7. In this progress of the gospel we must seek an adequate cause. (R. W. Hamilton, D. D.)

The gospel of the poor

We shall more clearly see how it is that Christ’s gospel is for the poor, if we contrast it with some of the many human schemes which we are assured are an excellent substitute for the gospel of Christ.

1. There is that parody of the gospel of Christ which I will call the gospel of philanthropy. This gospel says educate the poor, refine their tastes, open your museums on the Sunday. These things have softening and humanising influence, so long as they are not made substitutes for religion. But there is a refined sensuousness as well as a brutal. These things will not save man.

2. There is the gospel of science. This gospel says to the poor man, “Your condition is the result of inevitable laws. It is the rule of nature that in the struggle for existence the weakest shall go to the wall. If therefore you are weak you must submit to the common lot.” This gospel gives no comfort.

3. There is the gospel of socialism. This says “All men have equal rights. The rich are your oppressors your poverty is the result of cruel laws made by the rich for their benefit.” Wreck these and you will soon correct the inequality. This is a gospel of hate. But the gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of power, for it is the gospel of good tidings; of Him who was poor. And what makes this gospel so strong and attractive is that it is a gospel of sympathy. It is also a gospel of hope, because it is the gospel of the resurrection. It is a gospel of brotherhood. (Dean Perowne, D. D.)

Poverty and the gospel

Christ’s gospel was one of mercy to the poor. His conduct fortified His words. His earliest life was of poverty. His miracles were not philosophical enigmas; but of mercy to helpless sufferers. Thus Christ represented the best spirit of the Old Testament. The genius of the Jewish Scriptures is that of mercy to the poor; the prophets denounced avarice. This view of the gospel also fits in with the order of the unfolding of human life and human society. It takes sides with the poor, and so the universal tendency of Providence and of history, slowly unfolded, is, nevertheless, on the whole, going from low to high, from worse to better, and from good toward the perfect. When we consider, we tee that man begins as a helpless thing, a baby zero without a figure before it; and every step in life adds a figure to it and gives it more and more worth. On the whole, the law of unfolding throughout the world is from lower to higher, and though, when applied to the population of the globe, it is almost inconceivable; still, with many back-sets and reactions, the tendency of the universe is thus from lower to higher. Why? Let any man consider whether there is not of necessity a benevolent intelligence somewhere, that is drawing up from the crude toward the ripe, from the rough toward the smooth, from bad to good, and from good through better toward best; and the tendency upward runs like a golden thread through the history of the whole world, both in the unfolding of human life and in the unfolding of the race itself. Thus the tendency of nature is in accordance with the tendency of the gospel as declared by Jesus Christ-namely, that it is a ministry of mercy to the needy. The causes of poverty are worthy consideration.

1. Climate and soil have much to do with it. Men whose winters last nine months, as in extreme north, cannot be rich. Some live on borders of deserts.

2. Bad government is a public source of poverty. Property is insecure.

3. Ignorance or undevelopedness of mind is a great cause of poverty. All property is matter that has been shaped to uses by intelligent skill. It is the husbandman who thinks, foresees, and calls on natural laws to serve Him whose farm brings forth one hundred fold.

4. The appetites and passions of men are the causes of poverty. The men of animalism are always at the bottom of society. All these causes indicate that the poor need moral and intellectual culture. To preach the gospel to the poor is to awaken the mind of the poor. It is a gospel of prosperity. Its primary result is to develop the man himself; to give him such qualities that he will not need relief. The gospel changed from a spirit of humanity into a philosophical system of doctrine, is perverted. Churches organized upon elective affinities are contrary to the spirit of the gospel. Art and intellectual communion right; but must not abandon humanity. The church needs poor men; it needs familiarity with universal human nature. (H. W. Beecher.)

Tendency of the gospel to “level up”

So, make the common people grow, and there is nobody tall enough to be much higher. When you cross the continent on the Union Pacific Railway and reach the Rocky Mountains, you do not know it. You have been running up at a rate that seemed as if you were in a valley almost. It simply was because the grade was so easy on this side that when you got up to the top of the mountains they do not seem any higher than the plains below, and it is rising so gradually that first made them seem so low. But when you begin to go on the other side, and plunge down the gorges and canons, the mountains seem very high from those low points. The general tendency of Christian democratic institutions is to raise the average of mankind, and as the average goes up it becomes harder and harder for single men to stand as much above the level of their fellow-men as they did formerly. (H. W. Beecher.)

Preaching for the Poor

1. That the gospel must be preached where the poor can come and hear it.

2. It must be preached attractively before the poor will come to hear it.

3. It must be preached simply. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The climax of wonders

1. That the tendency of the gospel is to raise society.

2. That the gospel dignifies man independently of his outward circumstances.

3. The great simplicity of the gospel.

4. The freeness of the gospel.

5. The inherent power of the gospel.

(1) The gospel is the only system adapted to man.

(2) It is the most favourable system to the working class.

(3) That it is by the influence of the gospel alone that the world can be reformed.

(4) That those only who believe the gospel can enjoy its blessings. (H. E. Thomas.)

The gospel preached to the poor

The law.

I. Its excellency. This provision of the gospel for the poor was a new thing; it was a charity unknown before. The excellency of its effects. What exaltation of hope and character it substitutes for cheerless poverty. It cultivates the moral wilderness.

II. The obligation it lays upon us. Iii. The means of fulfilling it. (N. Paterson.)

The gospel preached to the poor

I. The salvation of God as brought before us in the text-”the gospel.”

II. The mode of its announcement-“preached.”

1. Clearly.

2. Fully.

3. Affectionately.

4. Faithfully.

5. As the Word of God.

III. The objects which are especially brought before us in the text-“the poor.” The gospel knows no partiality. The poor in spirit also have the gospel preached to them. (H. Allen, M. A )

The gospel especially addressed to the poor

1. Because it is peculiarly adapted to their capacities.

2. Also to their means. It is not a costly purchase.

3. It is suited to their opportunities, It is not limited to time or place, but is a thing of the heart, and can be professed consistently with daily toil.

The gospel is glad tidings to the poor.

1. It elevates in rank.

2. It promotes the terrestrial happiness.

3. It lights up the hope of immortality. (H. Stowell, M. A.)

The gospel kindles noble principles within the heart of the poor

Let me here state a simple fact relative to Sunday School instruction by way of illustration. The earliest Sunday School which was instituted, as far as I have been able to collect, was in a valley in Gloucestershire, by a manufacturer, who, though not a man of piety himself, was moved by the state of ignorance of the little ones released on the day of rest from their labours in the factory, and from all restraint; he built a school, and employed a holy old man to bring them into this fold, where they were fostered in simplicity and security. Years rolled on, and that rich manufacturer was reduced by vicissitudes in trade to great distress; and as he was walking in the streets in the midst of his poverty, he was accosted by a man in the garb of soldier, who said, “How glad am I to see you.” The manufacturer replied, “I know you not.” The man rejoined, “Ah! but I know you, sir; it was in your school that I was taught to read the Word of God, which has been my comfort in all my wanderings.” “It cheers me,” said the man of sorrows, “changed as you see me; I was then rich, but am now poor.” “Say you so?” exclaimed the soldier, “I have just received a pension; you cannot work for your broad, but I can work for mine, and that pension shall be yours.” He pressed upon him his little all, for which he had toiled and bled in his country’s defence. “Never,” said the afflicted man, when relating this incident, “did I before comprehend the meaning of that promise, ‘Cast thy bread upon the waters, and it shall be found after many days.’” Oh, what a sublime description-or rather, what a sublime action! It is worth ten thousand sentiments. There was the magnificent character and majesty of soul, which nothing but Christian principle can give, and compared with which, all the deeds of ordinary philanthropy are but the glow-worm’s light to the splendour of the mid-day. That poor man had no learning but what he derived from the gospel; but see how it elevated his soul. (H. Stowell, M. A.)

The gospel for the poor

It is the high-born chiefly that approach the person of the sovereign, enjoy the honours of the palace, and fill the chief offices of the state. Royal favours seldom descend so low as humble life. The grace of our King, however, is like those blessed dews that, while the mountain tops remain dry, lie thick in the valleys; and, leaving the proud and stately trees to stand without a gem, hang the lowly bush with diamonds, and sow the sward broadcast with orient pearl. This is the kingdom for the mean, and the meek, and the poor, and the humble! (Dr. Guthrie.)