Blessed Is The Man

INTRO.- Blessed is the man. Don’t you want to be blessed in life? Don’t you want to be blessed by God? Psalm 1:1 “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.” It is God’s wish to bless mankind and most certainly those who walk in His ways and delight in His Word.

ILL.- I was walking down the hall at the Craighead Nursing Center one day and I said to one of the ladies who works there, “How are you?” She quickly responded, “I’m blessed!” What an unusual response, but also an unusually pleasant response.

People who are not in Christ don’t exactly get the idea of being blessed by God. Some people may use that term without really understanding the meaning of being blessed by God.

ILL.- 49 year old actor Johnny Depp is from Owensboro, KY, and he’s done quite well for himself in Hollywood in making movies. I read that his annual income is $92 million dollars. But from what I read, Johnny Depp had no religious upbringing at all. He is either an agnostic or an atheist. He may think he is blessed merely because of who he is and how well he’s done in the acting arena. More people in Hollywood probably feel the same.

Warren Buffett at $46 billion may feel similarly. He was raised as a Presbyterian but now says he’s an agnostic. He said, “The nice thing about being an agnostic is you don’t think anybody is wrong.” But that doesn’t mean he’s right either. An agnostic just doesn’t know if God exists. To me, however, that’s still denying the existence of God. Buffett probably believes he’s wealthy because he’s a shrewd investor and God doesn’t have anything to do with it. And he’s probably right that God doesn’t have anything to do with it, but the devil might!

Some people may have a lot of money and material things because the devil gave it to them, but the Christian believes that if he or she has anything good, money, etc. then it’s a gift of God, which means we are blessed by God.

Blessed is the person who fears the Lord. How do we fear the Lord? We worship Him daily. We hold Him in great reverence and awe. We never cease to be amazed by His glorious grace. And if we fear Him what will happen? WE WILL BE BLESSED.

PROP.- Blessed is the person who fears the Lord. How blessed?

1- His children will be mighty

2- His life will be blessed with good

3- His spirit will never be shaken

I. HIS CHILDREN WILL BE MIGHTY

2 His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. New Century Version: “Their descendants will be powerful in the land; the children of honest people will be blessed.”

We all know that the way children are raised makes a difference in how they do as adults in life.

ILL.- A mother was talking to her three year-old daughter about animals.

The mother asked, "How does the cow sound?"

The three year old said, "Moo!"

The mother asked, "How does a duck sound?"

The three year old answered,"Quack!"

The mother asked, "How does a frog sound?"

The three year old said, "Bud!!!"

(Bud as in a Budweiser from a 1995 Superbowl commercial.) Too much TV is not always good for our children and especially, certain TV programs. TV can affect a child’s life. Children who will be mighty in the land and blessed will have spiritual-minded parents who are concerned about their child’s education and training.

Ephesians 6:1-4 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—“so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”

The training of children will consider all aspects and areas of life: home, church, school, society, friendships, etc.

ILL.- When the 10-year-olds in Mrs. Imogene Frost's class at the Brookside, N.J. Community Sunday School expressed their views of "What's wrong with grownups?" they came up with these complaints:

1. Grownups make promises, then they forget all about them, or else they say it wasn't really a promise, just a maybe.

2. Grownups don't do the things they're always telling the children to do--like pick up their things, or be neat, or always tell the truth.

3. Grownups never really listen to what children have to say. They always decide ahead of time what they're going to answer.

4. Grownups make mistakes, but they won't admit them. They always pretend that they weren't mistakes at all--or that somebody else made them.