The Blessed Within

A couple of weeks ago, we started a new series of messages entitled “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at Hand”.

The kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, can sometimes in the New Testament refer to all of God’s sovereignty. It refers sometimes to the way he reigns over all. He never relinquishes his authority.

More frequently,

it refers to his authority coming through to save men.

It refers to his saving authority.

It refers to the exercise of his reign, which goes after men.

So sometimes there is really no difference in the pages of the New Testament between kingdom of God and eternal life.

If you enter the kingdom of God, you enter eternal life.

The kingdom idea nevertheless has with it notions of both authority from God’s perspective and obedience from ours. Therefore, the drumming note of obedience and dependence to the God whose is the kingdom comes out again and again in these pages.

That’s at the very end of the Sermon on the Mount. You come out with these very stern words.

Matthew 7:21 KJV 1900

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

There is a sense in which, furthermore, The kingdom is both present and future, and it is necessary to appreciate this to understand what Jesus says in these three chapters.

There is a sense in which God’s saving authority was exercised through Jesus when Jesus came. Jesus came, and with him the kingdom has come. It is already here. There is a sense in which Christians are already in the kingdom, but there is a sense in which the fullness of that authority will be displayed only when Jesus comes again.

So there is a sense in which the kingdom is coming and is not here yet.

There is an already aspect to the kingdom, and there is a not yet aspect to the kingdom.

Therefore, sometimes when Jesus promises certain blessings from the kingdom on the people described in these chapters, there is a sense of fulfillment now. They get some of these things promised now, but some of them are still to come in that aspect of the kingdom which is still due.

So, Jesus stops the multitude that is gathering for rewards and blessings and pulls his disciples aside and begins to teach them with authority about the blessings of the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 5:1–6 KJV 1900

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. 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

The things promised in these beatitudes are not arbitrary rewards, but they grow naturally (or perhaps I should say supernaturally) out of the character described.

Last week we discovered 2 Beatitudes.

These Beatitudes begin with that same word, Makarios—“Blessed.” And that gives you some idea what the word blessing means. “Blessed” means more than “happy.” Some translate this “happy,” but it means more than “happy.”

“Blessed” has more of a connotation of being approved by God and therefore means “having everything that you need.” to meet that requirement.

Having everything that you need spiritually: that is being blessed.

Last week we discovered the first 2 attitudes we must begin with in order to gain the blessings to not only enter the Kingdom but to be equipped with everything we need to be fulfilled and “blessed”.

Poverty of spirit inherit the Kingdom of Heaven is the conscious acknowledgement of un-worth before God. It is the deepest form of repentance.

Inherits the Kingdom of Heaven = have submitted to the kingdom’s obligations, namely the total reign of God, and therefore, they enjoy its privileges.

Mourners will be Comforted

Mourning is the deepest word for sorrow. It’s the word for the grief that you feel at the graveside of a loved one. It’s a strong word, a word for lament. Mourn is used in 2 different senses.

Mourning over Personal Sin.

Mourning over Populations Sins.

Comforted - com-, meaning “with,” - fort means “strength”

= “with strength.”

Think of the word fortress, fortification or fortify. God supplies the strength to overcome sin when we repent and mourn.

Meek Inherit the Earth

Matthew 5:5 KJV 1900

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

How does this meekness differ from the poverty of spirit?

In this way, I think, poverty of spirit has more to do with what a person is in himself.

Meekness has more to do with his relationship to others, first toward God and secondly toward his people.

Again, it is apparent that meekness is not considered an ideal by the world.

Meekness is simply not one of the world’s ideas of strength, yet every Christian ought to be characterized by this beatitude, by this meek spirit.

Meekness, therefore, is certainly not to be confused with weakness.

Meekness means “yielded.” It literally has the idea of strength under control.

Notice the flow of Blessedness.

We start with a Condition that leads to Contrition which leads to Control.

The world’s philosophy is “do unto others before they do unto you.”

The world is only interested in their self.

Meekness is with respect to God the conscious acknowledgement that he is Lord, and with respect to my fellow men that I desire to see their interests and their attitudes precede my own.

Paul, therefore, could affirm,

Philippians 4:11 KJV 1900

11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

The materialist is never truly content, no matter how much he owns. “All things are yours,”

Paul insists. “You may not have them right now, but they’re yours. They’re yours in principle. Look at the long-range view. They’re all Christ’s, and you’re Christ’s, and therefore they’re all yours.”

Now, let me give you a verse for your margin. It’s Romans chapter 6 and verse 19.

Romans 6:19 (KJV 1900)

19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.

Listen to it: “For as ye have yielded your members …”—talking about your hands, your eyes, your feet, your tongue—“as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity;”—that is, “as you used to be yielded to Satan”; listen to it—“even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.” (Romans 6:19) That’s it. You yield.

The same members; the same eyes; the same ears; the same tongue: but now, rather than using my tongue to blaspheme, I use my tongue to praise. I still have ambition. Now my ambition is to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m still a fighter. But now I’m fighting the devil. I’m fighting that crowd. It’s the same strength. God doesn’t hobble the horse; He energizes it. But He puts the bit on. He puts the bridle on. He put’s the saddle on. He says, “Blessed are those who have yielded.” Have you ever yielded?

You’ll never have your full inheritance, without meekness. Now a man who cannot control himself, or be controlled by the Spirit of God, is never satisfied.

3 Disciplines of Yielding

You must be Filled with the Comforting of Spirit.

Galatians 5:22–23 KJV 1900

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

You must Submitted to Authority of Jesus Christ.

You must be Responsive to Word of God.

1 Corinthians 3:21–23 (KJV 1900)

21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours;

22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours;

23 And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.

2 Corinthians 6:10 KJV 1900

10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

I don’t care what you have. If you don’t have blessedness, you can’t enjoy it, because blessedness does not come in things.

And I don’t care what you don’t have. If you have blessedness, you have everything. It’s so strange. What can the devil do to a person like this? He says here in these verses that “all things are your’s”—“as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”

Only when we have accepted our King in the Kingdom of God can we begin to inherit the Blessings of Earth.

Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness Filled

Matthew 5:6 KJV 1900

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

The word here used for righteousness simply means conformity to the will of God.

Meaning it could have the meaning of Paul’s teachings in his epistles of the unconverted man standing in need of the imputed righteousness of Christ. Christ’s righteousness is reckoned to the sinner, and the sinner’s sin is reckoned to Christ. Jesus was condemned, and the sinner goes free.

Or it could mean for the Christian there ought to be a growing experiential righteousness in his own life, a personal holiness, righteousness of speech and conduct and secret thought and hidden motive.

Jesus, through Matthew, really doesn’t distinguish.

Therefore,

Righteousness means, “Blessed is the person who hungers and thirsts to be conformed to the will of God, for he shall be filled.”

Ultimately righteousness is not a what but a who.

1 Corinthians 1:30 (KJV 1900)

30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

You see, when Jesus was talking about hungering and thirsting he wasn’t talking about mere appetite, he was talking about a person who needed food.

Hunger and Thirst = Need for Jesus.

A man who is really hungry and thirsty for righteousness concentrates more and more time to knowing God’s will and doing it.

He learns to obey when some new instruction or responsibility is shown him from the Word of God, and he fears disobedience more than anything else. He makes it a point to learn to pray. He asks God for ways in which he may practice righteousness and for grace that the righteousness he practices will be welling up from within and not merely the mechanical actions of his body.

You see, without righteousness there’s the judgment of God, the wrath of God that is upon you. You must say, I must have this righteousness.

In the spiritual realm you have but one need and I can give you the name of that need because it’s also the name of a person, J E S U S, Jesus said blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness. Christ is made to us righteousness. Now, if you are unsaved person, God help you to see that your great need today is Jesus

The focus of a starving man is food and the food of a spiritual man is Jesus

There is, as it were, a built-in cycle here. The more you know of the Lord, the more you want to know of the Lord.

The more you taste, the more you want.

God’s not going to let you just feast on Jesus one time and that’s all. There is a beginning feast where you come to him for salvation but then you continually feed on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why? Oh, thank God for appetites.

You thank God for food, have you thanked God for appetites?

If you don’t have an appetite, one or two things wrong, either you’re sick or dead, huh? Or just ate, see, you’re sick or dead. I mean, listen folks, if you don’t have an appetite for our Lord spiritually you’re sick or spiritually you’re dead or else you’re just filled up with him.

Our Lord allows us to have a perpetual hunger that we might have a perpetual feast that we might have a perpetual satisfaction and that’s the way we go on and on in the Christian life as we continue to feast upon the Lord Jesus.

Now, this verse therefore doesn’t mean that you won’t get hungry again but it means that you can keep on being satisfied. Isn’t that wonderful? Because he’s always there, always there that you can feast upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

The beatitudes just like the Ten Commandments begin with our relationship toward God, then our relationship is directed toward others.

So, when I see that I’m a lost sinner, and when I repent of my sin, and when I yield my heart to God, and when I hunger and thirst for Jesus, then God does something in my heart; I am born again. And then, I begin to act like a born-again person.

I begin to mourn over my wickedness and the wickedness of the world.

Therefore, I then begin to submit myself to the authority of Jesus Christ in order to show the world that He alone is God and good.

That causes me to want to know Him more and experience Him more and more and be conformed into His image.

Are you hungry and thirsty for Jesus Christ?

If not, you may need to take another look at yourself, see yourself as God sees you and submit to the authority of Jesus Christ.