"Blessed Is The Man."
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I. Introduction.
I. Introduction.
The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich,
And he addeth no sorrow with it.
I asked a question yesterday: What does it mean to be blessed?
How do you know if you are a blessed person?
Are there degrees of blessing, like a scale of 1-10?
And if so, what determines the level of blessing in a person’s life?
Please don’t think me greedy or anything, I just want to know!
Well folks, the best place to find answers to the questions of life is this Bible book right here.
So I began to travel though it’s pages and here is what I found:
This word “Blessed.”
“Makarios” Is the origional Greek word.
It means to be favored by God.
Blessed!
It’s when someone is treated gently and carefully.
Some of you men here today will know how I feel when I talk about my sweet little girl.
She turns 7 next month!
Last week she informed her mother and I that she is not a “little one” any more. (I often call her that.)
Now, she has requested that we call her “Medium one.”
Baby girl is growing up!
6 years old, going on 30!
Now here is a fact: She will always be my little girl!
I will always have favor in my heart toward her! 6 years old or 50 years old, don’t matter!
Regardless of her level of maturity, I will protect her and provide for her to the very best of my ability.
Yet that’s just a whisper of a shadow of the love that God has for you and me!
He has favor in His heart towards his children!
He cares for you! Your spirtual safety, emotional, physical, all round! He favors you!
As I looked into the way this word is used in your New Testament, I learned that blessing is favor and it is when you are partial towards a certain person over all others.
It is being kind to someone even when you don’t have to.
Thursday, as we spoke about the Tabernacle, and the types and shadows of Christ. We spoke about Jesus’ Substitutionary death.
The Scriptures tell us that the wages of sin is death.
And we know that all men have sinned and fallen short of the glory!
Makes a body nervous!
Cause we knew:
There is coming a payday someday!
That means that God could not simply do away with judgement for sin.
He obeys His own laws!
He coudn’t just forgive the debt and call it good, somebody had to pay and the currency was blood!
And since nobody else could live a perfect life and become a perfect sacrifice, He did it Himself!
Praise God!
He died in our place!
He suffered in our stead!
He was kind to us when nobody made him!
There was no external pressure to love us and save us and keep us!
He is God alone! He does not wait for instruction or outsde input! He is accountable only to Himself!
But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Blessing, favor, is being kind to someone when you don’t have to!
The writer of Hebrews nails it in chapter 2, vs nine when He says:
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Now if that’s not favor, if that’s not blessing, I don’t know what is!
I look around today and I see that this room is full of intelligent people.
You know that know earthly government is not perfect.
But some are waaaay better than others!
We live in a constitutional democracy. It’s actually a fairly new model.
For a long time and throughout most of history, people lived under monarchies.
A king, a royal bloodline.
For those who have lived under a monarchy, it is good news to find out that you have won favor with the king!
Mordechai was one such.
He was a man with integrity! (That means He was willing to do the right thing, even when nobody was looking.)
One night, he heard of a plot to kill the king and so he warned the palace guard!
Eventually, the king found out about what he’d done and promoted Mordechai beyond his wildest dreams!
From a humble position to that of Prime minister of the Empire!
Lifetimes of hard work would have never won for Mordechai the wealth, influence and power that came to him through just a few words from the king!
He found favor with the king!
Daniel found favor with successive kings!
Joseph was elevated from the dungeon to the second highest post in all Egypt!
All at the word of a king!
You wonderful people here today, I wonder if you know just how important you are?
Do you realize how blessed we are?
God has been good to you and me!
He has favored us with His righteousness!
He has favored us with His love!
He favors us with provision and power!
When you pray and speak the Name of Jesus, devils obey. Strongholds are torn down!
The blessings of Almighty God are yours!!!
I’ve got book for that!!!
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Your presence here today is proof that you have found favor with Almighty God, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords!
But now I’ve wondered, I’ll be honest: Just how does this blessing thing work?
If I want more, can I get more?
As a business manager some years ago, corporate would come up with special spiffs and bonus programes to give us general managers added incentive.
I never really got into them too much, because there was always a whole lot of fine print!
Exceptions and exclusions and I knew I had to focus on the basics to surive anyway!
But the thing that I honestly disliked about their spiff programs was that the bonus amount one could earn was always capped.
“There’s a ceiling here.”
It wouldn’t do to earn more than the regional mananger!!!
Thank God, He’s not like that!!!!
He has actually designed a system, a path for you that can bring unlimited favor into your life!
There are some simple actions that you can take, that will ensure the blessing and the favor of God on your life!!!
Would you like to know what they are?
“How To Be Blessed!”
“How To Be Blessed!”
Let’s start our journey in Psalm 1!
Let’s start our journey in Psalm 1!
Blessed is the man
That walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor standeth in the way of sinners,
Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord;
And in his law doth he meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
That bringeth forth his fruit in his season;
His leaf also shall not wither;
And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
The ungodly are not so:
But are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous:
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
If you want to be blessed, make sure you’re not taking the advice of ungodly people.
Folks, they will not steer you right!
“Misery loves company,” the saying goes! And sometimes ungodly people issue ungodly advice so that you can be just as miserable as they are!
But if you turn to Jesus and His Word and the leadership He has placed in your life, you don’t have to be miserable!
You can be blessed!
I am going to show you today, exactly how to gain the favor of God on your life!!!
1) Invest Your Trust In God!
1) Invest Your Trust In God!
Ps 40:4 says:
Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust,
And respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
Some trust in chariots, some trust in horses, some trust in legal counsel or a fat nest egg, but we will trust in the Lord our God!!!
Listen, there are times when all you can do is simply trust God!
When no amount of fancy maneuvering and hard work can get the job done, you need to trust God!!!
But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings as eagles;
They shall run, and not be weary;
And they shall walk, and not faint.
Tell Him! “Today, I place my trust in thee!”
“Your ways are higher than mine! You always know what’s best!”
I told you one time about the this guy who wrote to a mail-order house: “Please send me the engine you show on page 878 of the catalogue and if it’s any good, I’ll send you a check.”
A week later he got a reply:
“Please send the check. If it’s any good, we’ll send you the engine.”
Ha! Trust is a hard thing to find these days!
Nobody wants to be disappointed or let down.
And so we shut ourselves off
But today I challenge you to trust God more than you ever have before!
If you would trust Him more, He could do more with you!
“Draw nigh unto me and I will draw nigh unto you!!!
A great woman once said:
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”
She’s right!
Something wonderful happens in your life, when you realize that God ruled the universe before you were born.
He will rule it once we are gone.
Why don’t you just trust him to rule the present also!
Go ahead: Trust God and you will be blessed!
Here’s another sure path to the favor of God:
#2 Approach unto God. (Move closer to Him!)
#2 Approach unto God. (Move closer to Him!)
Blessed is the man whom thou choosest,
And causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts:
We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house,
Even of thy holy temple.
“Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee!”
May I just remind you of something here today?
He told those disciples: “You didn’t choose me, I have chosen you and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain!”
I believe friend, that just as Jesus chose Peter, James, John and all the others for their time, God has chosen you for such a time as this!
If God was to raise the Gospel writers from the grave this very day, and send them to reach this world, those fellas would find it pretty hard to relate to people living in the here and now!
I mean, society today is as far removed from the first century as the planet mars!
That’s why God has raised you up to minister to your neighborhood!
He’s selected and enlisted you to share his Love with Sonoma County and anywhere else you’ll ever go!
Jesus has chosen you! He has confidence in you!
And He challenges us from time to time, to move closer to him.
“Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee.”
How else can I draw to me, the favor of Almighty God?
Check this verse out:
#3 Source Your Strength from Jesus!
#3 Source Your Strength from Jesus!
Psalm 84:5 (KJV 1900)
Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee...
Brothers and sisters: Do not look to the arm of flesh for your strength.
Power, wealth and influence come and go.
But if you find your strength in God, you are going to make it!
The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:
But the word of our God shall stand for ever.
If you will look to Jesus for strength when you need it most, He will be your strength, but even more than that, He will pour favor into your life!
Blessings! Unsearchable riches!
It’s when you have nowhere to turn, and you finally realize that all you needed to do was to turn to Him!
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
#4. Let God Correct you.
#4. Let God Correct you.
Ps. 94:12 Blessed is the man whom thou chasten
Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;
Heb 12:1 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
To be chastened is to be corrected.
Perhaps you would say that there are only one or two people who you will recieve correction from.
Maybe a parent or your spouse.
Your pastor should be on that list.
But of all those people who you care for and who care about you, number one, numer uno, should be Jesus Christ!
He maketh no mistake!
He knows what’s best!
Don’t try to justify yourself when he corrects you, just recieve it with a good attitude.
I promise, It is productive!
It is motivated by love!
He wants the best for us!
He is our heavenly father, after all!
And if you will bend yourself to it His instruction, if you submit yourself to HIs correction, you will never be sorry!
Keep your attitude right, and you will never be sorry!
Now hear is another stream of blessing that is availiable to you:
#5 Fear God and delight yourself in His Law!
#5 Fear God and delight yourself in His Law!
Praise ye the Lord.
Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord,
That delighteth greatly in his commandments.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom!
And finding delight in the Word of God will change you and make you better!
It washes your thinking process.
It removes the carnal clogs of prejudice and pride!
Conclusion
Conclusion
I have outlined five ways, five methods, five streams of blessing today, and that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface!
Your Bible is full!
And your task is to find them all!
It make take you a few years, but oh how wonderful those years might be!
I challeng you to find them!
One by one, spend your life proving the goodness of God!
Open your life to Divine favor!
Now let me give you one more passage to meditate on and prove:
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
All morning, we have talked about God blessing us.
But here’s how I want to end this service today:
Let us bless Him!!!!
Bring a sacrifice of praise to the altar today!!!!!