Don't Leave Before The Benediction

Don’t Leave Before The Benediction

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. Number 6:22-27

My brothers and sisters, the text calls our attention to an important fact, one that is relevant to us today. For we have gathered together in the house of worship. And since we’ve been here we have heard the Deacons pray. We have sang praises. We testified of God’s goodness. We have given in tithes and offerings. Now we are about to share in the shared word. But wouldn’t it be strange after the sermon is ended and we would stand and go home without the benediction. Wouldn’t it be strange at the close of the singing, praying, testifying, the giving, preaching and there was no benediction. Our father tried to impress upon us, the significance of the benediction. Our fathers of old stressed the thought to the people the importance of receiving the benediction. They tried to tell us that there’s a blessing staying for the benediction. They tried to tell us that the benediction is not just a formality, it is not a gesture of show or showmanship, but there is a distinct and uniqueness in the benediction, a blessing come from the benediction, and that we are in fact bless by the benediction. Can I get a witness?

Now I don’t mean to worry you, but come a little closer and lets look at this benediction. The words I’ve read in your hearing, were the words of a benediction. It was here that the Lord comes to Moses and instructs Moses to tell Aaron, to call the children of Israel together and say these words to them. The Lord bless them and keep them, the Lord make His face shine upon them. And be gracious unto them. The Lord lifts up His countenance upon them and give thee peace. Now every benediction will have a three fold prayer. In this benediction there is also a three fold prayer. The first prayer is for protection. The second prayer is for divine providence and the third prayer is for peace. Now come a little closer and lets look closely at this benediction. These were the words of the Lord instructed to give Moses. Moses in turn was to tell Aaron.

Now the Lord told Moses to tell Aaron, to bless my people, Aaron was the priest, and the priest must come, and they had to come in those days from the tribe of Levi, for the tribe of Levi was the priestly tribe out of which the Levites came. The Bible says the Lord tells Moses, tell Aaron to bless the people and he told Aaron because Aaron was a priest, bless the people. The first part in the benediction was the prayer of protection. Listen at him. May the Lord bless thee and keep thee. That was protection. Am I right? Notice here the emphasis that is put on the Lord. Everyone of these prayers began with the Lord. That the Lord’s blessing and keeping. Then the Lord makes His face shine upon thee. And thirdly, the Lord be gracious unto thee, and give thee peace. It seems here that Moses is aware of the petition of the Lord. The Lord is the one who gives the blessings. If you want to be blessed, you’ve got to come through by way of the Lord. Can I get a witness?

Now there are two kinds of blessings that I’ve discovered in my study of the word of God. One is found over there in Matthew when Jesus went upon the mountain and said, “Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are the peacemakers.” Oh brothers and sisters that blessed has been interpreted to mean happy. Another blessing is broken down to mean spiritual enrichment or spiritually endowed, meaning blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. You are endowed with a blessing when you are humble before the Lord. You’re endowed with a blessing when you thirst for righteousness. You may be amazed but there are folk who thirst after everything but the Lord. They want more of everything but the Lord. They want an increase on their job. They want to increase this and increase that, but very few want more of Jesus. And that blessing is the only kind God can give. Blessings come to you all the time that only come from God. Can I get a witness?