Thousand Oaks Baptist Church
How to Have Fullness of Blessing
(Sunday evening sermon for April 8, 2001)
Text: Matthew 5:6
Introduction:
Implanted deep within each human heart are three basic desires.
• First, there is the desire to be happy.
• Second, there is the desire to have all of our needs supplied.
• And third, there is the desire to be at peace, both with ourselves
and with God.
In other words, we want to be blessed.
In Matthew, chapter 5, Jesus taught us to expect to be blessed, as long as certain specified conditions are met.
Jesus said that those who are presently poor in spirit – that is, those who recognize their desperate need of spiritual help from the Lord – those who are poor in spirit shall inherit the kingdom of Heaven.
And Jesus also indicated that as they are presently poor in spirit, they shall also be blessed continually, right now.
Jesus said that those who are mourning – those who are in sorrow because of loss or other deep emotional distresses in this life – those who are mourning shall have comfort beyond words in that day when we all meet again around the throne of our Savior in Heaven.
And Jesus also indicated that as they are presently mourning, they shall also be blessed continually, right now.
Jesus said that those who walk in the meekness and humility of Jesus Christ – that is, those who don’t assert themselves, but instead let God work in and through them – these gentle and humble souls shall inherit the earth when Jesus comes again.
And Jesus also indicated that as they are presently humble themselves, they shall also be blessed continually, right now.
And the fulfillment of each condition is based upon our earthly experience. But each fulfillment results in both a heavenly reward and a present, continuous blessing right now, down here on earth.
The blessing and blessedness are for right now.
But what is it to be blessed?
As I may have mentioned in one of my past messages, the verb to bless in the New Testament has three basic meanings. And all three of these meanings are intermingled in the New Testament.
First, sometimes the word translated to bless means to cause to prosper.
For example, when Paul the Apostle tells us in Eph. 1:3 that God blesses His children with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, the meaning is that God causes us to prosper in the spiritual graces and gifts that are ours in Christ.
Second, sometimes the word translated to bless means to make happy.
For example, we read in 1 Tim. 1:11 of the glorious gospel of the blessed God. And in this verse, the Holy Spirit is telling us about the good news of the happy God Who rejoices to save Hell-bound sinners. This is the God Who is happy to make us over anew in the image of His dear Son.
This is why the angels in Heaven rejoice over one sinner who repents and receives Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
This is why the Spirit of God brings such overwhelming joy to our hearts when we see souls won to Jesus Christ.
Third, sometimes the word translated to bless means to praise, or to salute, or to congratulate.
And this was how the Psalmist used the equivalent Hebrew word when he cried out, “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” When he said this, he was praising God for His abundant goodness to the children of men. And we can do this, too.
But in Mat. 5:6, our Lord has promised to give us fullness of blessing. Jesus Christ has pledged Himself to cause us to prosper in all spiritual graces and gifts. He has guaranteed to give us His own joy, joy such as the world can neither give nor take away.
But we also discover that this spiritual prosperity and joy that He’s promised us is based upon a three-fold foundation.
And in this message, I want to share with you How to Have the Fullness of Blessing for your life. And so, the Lord willing, I’m going to share with you this three-fold foundation for spiritual prosperity.
I. Know the Lord.
The first foundation for spiritual prosperity is found in personally believing in, receiving, and knowing Jesus Christ as your own personal Savior and Lord. In other words, to have spiritual prosperity, you first must know the Lord.
1 Corinthians 3:11 says: “For other foundation can no man lay than that [which] is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
The concerted testimony of all of the writers of the Bible calls out to us that “in Him [in Jesus Christ] is life, and this life is the light of men.” (John 1:4)
The Gospel message is so simple:
• All men are sinners. (Romans 3:23)
• The wages of sin is eternal, spiritual death, which is separation from God in the fires of Hell. (Romans 6:23)
• But Jesus Christ, the holy and righteous Son of God, came to take our penalty of death upon Himself at the Cross. (1 Corinthians 15:3)
• And after He died in our place, for our sins, three days later, He rose literally and bodily from the dead, with the power of endless life. (1 Corinthians 15:4)
• And now, God offers to save us from Hell and to give us Heaven if we will turn from our sins and turn to Jesus Christ, believing that He died and rose again for us, personally. (Romans 10:9-13)
• And in the instant you trust God to save you, He does. (Acts 16:31)
• And He keeps us saved for all eternity by His own power. (1 Peter 3:1-5)
God Himself has borne record that through faith in Jesus Christ, He has freely offered three things to all men:
• Through faith in Christ, God offers us a full pardon and complete forgiveness from all of our sins. (Acts 13:38; Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14)
• Through faith in Christ, God offers us a perfect standing before Him in the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. (Romans 4:5; Hebrews 10:14)
• And through faith in Christ, God offers us eternal, everlasting, never-ending life with Him, in Heaven. (John 3:16; 3:36; 20:31; 1 John 5:11)
In 1 John 5:12, God says, “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”
Don’t reject God’s testimony! Don’t trample under foot God’s gift of love! Don’t effectively call God a liar by refusing to believe His plan of salvation.
Some years ago, a woman in a church I was pastoring became very concerned about a certain judge in her district. This judge was not a Christian, and he had handed down a verdict that was entirely out of line with the Christian principles upon which our nation was founded.
This woman wrote to the judge, giving him the simple plan of salvation, and urging him to reverse his ungodly decision.
The judge refused to accept the Gospel, and he renewed and intensified his attack upon Christian principles.
The woman in our church began to pray for the judge, and she said in one of her prayers, “Lord, either save that man, or kill him!” You see, she was concerned both for the man’s soul and for the evil fruit that his decisions were beginning to bear.
Within two months, that judge was dead. One day, his heart simply stopped beating, and he could not be revived.
It’s a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
My unsaved friend, your life may hang right now by only a slender thread. The path you tread and the life you lead may bring you to the fearful gates of Hell far sooner than you had imagined possible.
Right now, right where you are:
• Turn to the Savior, Jesus Christ, by faith.
• Believe that He died in your place, to take your guilt and shame and punishment for sin upon Himself for you.
• Believe that God has raised Jesus Christ from the dead, so that in His resurrection you might have new, spiritual, eternal life.
• Receive Jesus Christ, by faith, as your Savior and Lord, believing that he will save you the moment you ask Him to.
Right now, begin to build your hopes and dreams, and to rest your soul and spirit upon Jesus Christ. And if you will do this, God promises that you will rest and abide securely with Him for all eternity.
The first foundation for fullness of blessing is knowing and trusting Jesus Christ as your own Lord and Savior.
II. Hear and Keep the Word of God.
The second foundation for fullness of blessing rests and builds upon the first. The second foundation for fullness of blessing, once you are truly saved, is to faithfully hear and keep the Word of God.
In Luke 6:47-48, Jesus said,
Luke 6:47 - Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like:
48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.
Hearing and doing (or keeping) the Word of God is the foundation for fullness of blessing in the life of the truly born-again Christian.
You see, as a Christian, as you allow Jesus Christ to live in and through you in this world, you’re building a spiritual house upon the solid Rock that is Jesus Christ.
As you spend time hearing, reading, studying, and memorizing the Bible, you are building on that Rock.
As you genuinely hear what the Bible says to your heart and soul, you are building on that Rock.
As you then faithfully put the Word of God into practice in your everyday life, you are building on that Rock.
Let me change my illustrations. I love a good smorgasbord. But for the born-again Christian, life is not a smorgasbord where we can pick and choose to partake of whatever looks and smells and tastes good.
God has a special spiritual diet for His children. And if we will stick to God’s spiritual diet, the result will be the best rewards of Heaven.
Psalm 119:2 says, “Blessed are they that keep [God’s] testimonies…” And that’s the number one item on our spiritual diet - God's testimonies - His Word, the Bible.
James 1:25 says, “…whosoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
Back in the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah warned that many people who call themselves believers would allow at least four problems to overtake them:
• First, they would allow their hearts to get fat in the things of the world.
• Second, they would allow their ears to be deafened by the constant din of
the diabolical kingdom of noise and confusion.
• Third, they would close their eyes to the truth of God’s Word.
• And fourth, they would become satisfied to:
- Live like the world,
- Smell like the world,
- Talk like the world,
- Act like the world,
- And love the things of this world.
Believers who allow themselves to get into this condition are willingly deaf. Believers who allow themselves to get into this condition have also allowed their hearts to become cold and hard. Believers who allow themselves to get into this condition are not opening their hearts to God.
And because they have willingly allowed this to happen, God cannot bless them. They have taken themselves out from under God’s umbrella of blessing and protection. And they become prime targets for the world, the flesh, and the devil.
But what a wonderfully and blessedly different picture Jesus gave us of those believers who do see and hear and desire to truly understand, because in Matthew 13:16-17, Jesus said,
Matthew 13:16 - But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
17 For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
In Luke 11:28, Jesus said again, “…blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.”
Dear Christian, the blessed Holy Spirit of God holds up this blessed book before our eyes, and He says,
Revelation 1:3 - Blessed is he who reads, and [blessed are] those who hear the words of this [Book], and [blessed are those who] keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.
All of the mind of God toward man is recorded in your Bible. And every duty of man to God is recorded in your Bible. Happy are you, if you read and keep these wonderful words of life.
To hear with your heart, and to keep (to do) the Word of God is the second foundation for fullness of blessing.
III. Obey and Serve the Lord.
And finally, we come to the third foundation for fullness of blessing. The third foundation for fullness of blessing rests and builds upon the first two. And the third foundation for fullness of blessing is obeying and serving the God of the Bible, out of love and godly fear.
In John 14:15, Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
In John 14:23-24, Jesus said,
John 14: 23 - …If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings…
You see, keeping God’s Word shows the reality of our loving obedience to the Lord. Keeping God’s Word shows the reality of our willing service to the Lord.
When a woman truly loves a man, she takes the vows of marriage. And she promises to love, honor, and obey that miserable man all the days of their lives.
She promises, and she performs that promise, out of love. And if love is there, and if she knows she’s loved, she’ll put up with hardship, pain, loneliness, poverty, and privation for her husband’s sake, and you’ll never hear much of a complaint. It isn’t that the relatively few times of plenty make up for the prolonged times of want and need. It’s just that she loves her husband, and she knows that he loves her.
How much do we love Jesus? Jesus said that our love for Him is shown and seen by whom we obey and by how we serve.
Fullness of blessing in the Lord is based upon the degree of our loving and faithful obedience to the revealed will of God.
That’s important. Let me repeat that. Fullness of blessing in the Lord is based upon the degree of our loving and faithful obedience to the revealed will of God.
In John 14:26, Jesus said that our blessed Comforter, the Holy Spirit, shall teach us all things that Jesus had revealed. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would bring all things that Jesus had revealed to our remembrance.
Now of course, I realize that this was primarily given to the Apostles so that they could build the New Testament church on the authority of Christ’s teaching and so that they could write the New Testament with precise accuracy.
But the promise is to us, too, for two good reasons.
• First, the promise is to us, too, because God has revealed all of His will, for all to plainly see, right here in the Bible.
• Second, the promise is to us, too, because Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would teach us all of those things that are in the Bible for us.
And folks, if we don’t obey and serve the Lord, and if we claim we don’t know what God wants us to do, then don’t you think that 90% of the time it’s because we are willingly ignorant of what the Holy Spirit has already revealed to us from the Bible? Don’t you think that’s the case?
The best I can tell from the Word of God, God promises that, as each new day dawns, He will provide all of the mercy, all of the strength, all of the understanding, and all of the wisdom that we will need to obey and serve Him for that new day.
And He gives us all of this by His Spirit, through the Bible, as we receive them by faith.
And though our outward man may be perishing – going down in flames – nonetheless, our blessed Lord still gives inward, spiritual renewing, day by day. “As thy day, so shall thy strength be.” (Deuteronomy 33:25)
The third foundation for fullness of blessing is obeying and serving the God of the Bible, out of love and godly fear.
Conclusion:
In Deuteronomy 30:19-20, God sets before us a choice:
Deuteronomy 30:19 - I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and [those you influence] may live:
20 That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life…
We have a choice to make. The outcome of that choice affects our own lives, the lives of each of the members of our families, and the lives of all who now or ever will come to know us.
The choice we must make is to set our foundations for time and for eternity in the Lord and in His Word, rather than in the world, the flesh, and the devil.
We can’t have both. We can’t love both God and Satan. We can’t love both Heaven and this world. We can’t love both eternal blessings and temporal pleasures.
God has something far better for us than the world, the flesh, and the devil could ever hope to offer us. God wants to give us fullness of blessing, both now and forever.
Do you have the three foundations for fullness of blessing in your life?
Do you know the Lord? If you’re not a truly born-again Christian, then why not become one right now, by receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord? Trust Him now. Don’t wait. Don’t put Jesus off until some other time. God may not give you another time.
Do you hear and keep the Word of God? Isn’t it time to abandon your efforts to build on the shifting sands of this world’s values? Isn’t it time to start building on the Rock? Don’t wait. The flood may come and wash you away.
Do you obey and serve the Lord? How can you honestly say you love Jesus if you don’t do what he says? The biggest problem we’ll ever face is not that we don’t know what the Bible says about something. The biggest problem we’ll ever face is that we do know what the Bible says, but we just don’t want to do it. Isn’t it time for that to change?
You may need to make a decision as you come to the end of this message.
If you need to know the Lord, then make that decision, and contact us and let us help you and give you instruction from the Bible.
If you need to begin hearing and keeping the Word of God, then make that decision, and contact us and let us help you get started.
If you need to begin obeying and serving the Lord, then make that decision, and contact us and let us pray and counsel with you about it.
The invitation is open. The time to come is now.
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