How to Receive Blessings
Matt 5:1-12
1 Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him,
2 and he began to teach them, saying:
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
(NIV)
We must remember that Christ was addressing His Disciples. He was telling them who would most likely accept their message concerning the good news and what their rewards would be if they do accept. I have found these scriptures to be very true today also.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
If you have done much witnessing, you probably know what poor in spirit means. When I talk with people, I try to discern the person’s emotional state. If they are depress or they tend to be a little on the shy side or humble, they will listen to what I have to say about Christ. If the person is very outgoing, loud or boastful, then they will probably not want to hear me tell them about Christ. Those who are down or “poor in spirit” are looking for hope and will welcome the good news concerning Christ. You have heard the saying “you must hit rock bottom, before you can change your life”. This isn’t true. A person must hear the good news and accept Christ as their Savior and Lord to be able to truly change their lives. Their reward will be great. Their reward for accepting Christ will be to live for eternality in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Those people who think that they have every thing that they need now and are full of pride for their accomplishments will learn at the judgment, that they are poor because their rewards will be eternity in hell. Even if you own the whole world, without Christ you are poor.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
There are several reasons why people might mourn. Our first thoughts are mourning over the lost of loved ones or even mourning over complete strangers as is in the case of the soldiers that we have lost in this war. This shows a heart of love and compassion for others. Jesus commanded us to love our neighbors and even our enemies. As Christians we should be mourning over the sins in our lives and the sins of our nation. All Christians should be in constant mourning of the 4000 unborn babies that are murdered everyday in this nation alone. We should be mourning over the lives and marriages that have been destroyed by the addiction of pornography. We should be mourning over the high divorce rate in this nation and in our churches. We should be mourning over the billions of people that have not accepted Christ as their Savior. We also should be mourning because we are not out reaching these people. This passage tells us if we do mourn over these things and work to overcome them, then we will be comforted. If we remove the sin in our lives and work to reach others for Christ, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will give us a peace inside that we have never known before. Without this peace of the Holy Spirit I wouldn’t want to live. With this peace I strive to reach others so that they too can have the comforter.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
The definition of the word meek is to be patient and gentle. This means that we should not repay violence with violence or anger with anger. When Jesus was being accused and beaten, He remained patient. I have seen so many Christians act differently outside the church than they act inside the church. There should be no difference. If we act in such a way in our homes or workplaces, but would never act that way in church, then we need to examine our walk with Christ. By being meek, we will inherit the earth as is shown in the following scripture.
Rom 12:19-21
19 Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord.
20 On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
(NIV)
Leave revenge to God and we will win over the earth. It is only by meekness and goodness that others will see Christ in us. President Bush says that we will win the war in Iraq. You as Christians need to remember that we already have the victory through the blood of Christ.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
In a world full of sin, we are to be different. We are to strive to be like Christ. We are to try our best to live a life without sin. Living a life without sin is not possible, but after accepting Christ as our Savior, we should be living a life that is significantly different than our old life. We should be striving to live the most righteous life possible. When you are hungry or thirsty, you want food and water more than anything in the world. Our desire for righteousness should be just as great as if we were extremely hungry or thirsty. By living this type of life, we will be filled by the Holy Spirit, which will convict us of our sins at the time that we are sinning. This gives us the power to turn from those sins and to ask for forgiveness.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.”
To be merciful is to treat those that are suffering with kindness and compassion. There are many people in the world today who are suffering for many reasons. We are fighting a war today against a tyrant who intentionally causes his people to suffer. There are thousands of children in third world countries that are starving. We are to treat all people of the world with kindness and compassion and by doing so we will receive mercy from God, both here on earth and at the judgment.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
By our outward appearance we can fool many people into thinking we are something that we are not. God not only sees our outward appearance, but He also sees our heart. We need to learn to think less with our minds and more with our hearts. When a person accepts Christ as their Savior, it must be with their heart. Let’s look at:
Rom 10:9-10
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
(NIV)
Because we believe in our hearts that Christ was raised from the dead, we will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”
We are not to be troublemakers or gossipers. We are not to argue nor get angry with others. We are to be makers of peace. Treat others with love. Forgive all those who have wrong you. Use you influence to prevent lawsuits and hostilities in families and neighborhoods. In showing peace we will be considered children of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Have you ever been made fun of because you refuse to participate in something that you knew was wrong in the eyes of God? If you are with a friend and he uses profanity, do say something or do you ignore it? There are thousands of Christians around the world that are enslaved or even killed because of their Christian beliefs. There are many Christians in this nation when outside of church; they cannot be identified as Christians because they live as the world lives.
2 Tim 3:12
12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,
(NIV)
To live a godly life in Christ, we will be persecuted. Not maybe, but we will be. If you are not being persecuted, then maybe you are not living a godly life that the world can see. Being persecuted because of righteousness and accepting Christ as our Savior, ensures us a place in the Kingdom of Heaven. We need to be rejoicing and praising God all the time. Even when we are being persecuted, rejoice in the Lord for our rewards are great.
Invitation:
