Blessed

Chapter 2 – “Upside-down blessings”

Matthew 5:3-11

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
“Blessed are those who mourn,
    for they will be comforted.”
“Blessed are the meek,
    for they will inherit the earth.”
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
“Blessed are the merciful,
    for they will be shown mercy.”
“Blessed are the pure in heart,
    for they will see God.”
“Blessed are the peacemakers,
    for they will be called 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.”

    Perhaps the most famous use of the word “blessed” is found in the Sermon on the Mount. Right at the start of the sermon, we learn that Jesus went and sat down. Was the equivalent of walking up to the pulpit all “mic-ed” up. Expectations were high, everyone was hanging on his every word,,, and the key note speech begins… “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”…“Blessed are those who mourn…Wait … What?”

    Billy Graham wrote a book about this and called them “The Be-attitudes”. It may be a good way to remember them, but what this is not is a list of people whom God blesses. What they are is “good news” in fact, they were and are wonderful news! Jesus comes announcing that the worlds values have been turned upside down! With His coming things have changed. “The first shall be last” (Matthew 20:16); “Whoever wants to be great must become a servant.” (Matthew 20:26) Does Jesus not understand that to attract followers and boost numbers, you need star status? Surely the wealthy are blessed! The beautiful are blessed! The powerful are blessed! Not so, says Jesus.

    New Testament scholars point out that the beatitudes consist of two groups. The first four describe not personal qualities but oppressive situations of distress that are “blessed” because they will be reversed in God’s Kingdom. When Jesus says they are blessed, he is not saying that they should put on a smile and whistle a tune. He is saying that God cares deeply for them and they should find comfort and hope in that fact. While some may not know what it is to know poverty, we can all relate to what it means to have a depressed spirit because of certain circumstances at times. We all know what it is to mourn, or what it is like to feel meek or incompetent. He was refuting the popular notion that those who suffer in some way are being punished by God, and those who were living the “good” life were being blessed. That just is not true.

Blessed

“Lord fill my quiver!”

Psalm 127:3-5

“Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.”

    You can tell a lot about a society by the way it treats children. In the Old Testament while the pagans sacrificed their children to pagan gods, the Jews taught their children these words: “Hear, O Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5). They took God seriously when he said to impress these truths upon your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up (vv. 7-9). 

    Our children are gifts from God. We should treasure them and not take them for granted. Jesus declared that “whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me” (Mathew 18:5). Then he offered this solemn warning, “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea“ (Matthew 18:6). Because Jesus loves children, those who harm children will answer to him.

    There is no joy in life that can equal the pleasure of seeing your own children grow up (except for grandchildren). So much like you, made in your image, a miniature of you, yet so very different. They walk like you, they talk like you, they laugh like you, and yet they definitely have a mind of their own. You love them, you get angry with them, you discipline them. You try to spare them harm by teaching them the dangers in life, but sometimes they learn the hard way. No one can be said to have lived in vain who leaves behind children who love the Lord and follow in  his steps. 

    Children bring God’s love to us. When you look into the face of your child, or if you are really blessed a grandchild, you will know that only God could have done this. Your doubts will vanish like the morning mist in summertime. Time and eternity meet in the heart of a child. Each one comes bearing the fingerprint of God.

    An arrow is small but powerful. Like arrows that are shot into the future, think what our children can do. An arrow must be sharpened well; so must we shape our children. An arrow can travel far. Who knows how far our children will go? An arrow must be aimed in order to hit the target. What are kind of future are you aiming at?

    Archers spend countless hours preparing their arrows. They carefully choose the right piece of wood, cut it precisely to size, then spend hours polishing, shaping, and fitting the feathers and the arrowhead. They carefully aim their arrows because an errant arrow can do great harm.

    Most Christian parents are playing defense with their children when they ought to be playing offense. Playing defense means hoping your children won’t smoke, won’t drink, won’t do drugs, won’t sleep around, and won’t get in trouble. As good as that is, that’s too low a goal for Christian parents. We ought to raise our children to play offense, to learn how to change the world for Jesus Christ. We ought to pray that God would make our children “impact players” for Jesus Christ.

    Sometimes our dreams for our children are too small. We want them to get an education, find a career, settle down, marry a good person, and move out of the house. That’s not enough. Do you want your children to serve the Lord? It won’t happen by accident. You must sharpen them like arrows and aim them in the right direction.

    God doesn’t mandate how many children a couple should have. Quivers are like shoes, they come in many sizes. Age and health considerations play into the decision, but motive is also important. Having fewer children may be convenient, but it may not always be the best decision. My wife Judy and I decided that three was enough for us, but I have always also said that I wanted a quiver full of grandchildren.

    Children were the Biblical version of Social Security. They provided for their parents in their old age. If parents have loving children, their future is more secure than if they had $1 million in the bank.

    Derek Kidner points out that “raising children can be tiresome and difficult” and that is certainly true. Children are both a burden and a blessing. It is likely that our children will be a handful before they become a quiverful.

    We can partner with the Lord Jesus Christ in the building of our homes. When we do, our families will be blessed, our children will prosper, our marriages will flourish, and Jesus Christ will be praised. I speak from personal experience. There is no greater reward, no better testimony, no higher goal for Christian parents. “May you live to see your grandchildren playing at your feet.”  

Nugget #7 – “When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

    Have you ever wondered why Jesus Christ had to leave the earth? Have you ever wished that He was still here, walking around, healing, teaching and training? Have you ever wished you could touch Him and eat with Him and talk with Him? I know I have. Some days I just long to sit at Jesus’ feet and have Him teach me about God as only He can. This is especially a longing of mine when I struggle with the meaning of God’s words in certain accounts in the Bible. I want to be able to go to Jesus and say, “Hey … what does this mean?”

    Jesus knows what is best for us, which is why He says in John 16:5-8;

“Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.”

    Do you see it? If Jesus had not left, the Holy Spirit would not have come. I don’t know why this is, but it is what Jesus said, and we need to trust it. When Jesus was here, it was wonderful. He could be seen and heard, and touched. But the drawback was that He could only be in one place at one time. But when Jesus left, He sent the Holy Spirit which He had promised, so that now, instead of Jesus being in only one place at a time so that those who wanted to hear or see Him would have to travel half-way across the world, we have the Holy Spirit, who is in every Christian, all the time, every moment of every day.

    So, I would still like to have Jesus here, but I think it is better that we have the Holy Spirit. This passage in John 16 tells us that He is at work in the world convicting the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. And the rest of John 16 tells us that the Spirit teaches Christians and guides us into truth. He can do this everywhere and all the time without growing weary or hungry as Jesus did. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would come, and in Acts chapter 2 He came, and has been with us ever since. That is the “promise” Paul refers to in verse 13.

    So, what is this sealing that verse 13 talks about? It says we have been “marked with a seal”. In Paul’s day seals were used in at least four ways. First, seals were sometimes put on letters to guarantee that it was genuine and that it was written by who it claimed to be written by. Kings might seal their letters with a signet ring. We do something similar when we get a document notarized.

    A seal was also sometimes placed on goods or merchandise that was traveling from one place to another to indicate who they belonged to and where they were going. It indicated ownership. Again, we do this with our possessions today all the time. We write our names in our books, or on our kid’s clothes when they go to camp. Ranchers brand their cattle. They are placing a mark on it to show ownership.

    The third way seals were used in Paul’s day was to show something was authentic and approved. Sometimes when we buy clothes, in one of the pockets will be a little piece of paper saying it has been inspected and approved by someone.

    The fourth type of seal was for protection or warning. Remember when Jesus was put in the tomb, Pilate told the soldiers to put his personal seal upon the tomb. This was to protect the tomb and warn everyone to stay away and keep out!

    So, Paul says here that God has placed a seal upon us as well. It is to guarantee that we are genuine, it shows ownership, who we belong to, it shows that we are approved, and it provides us with protection or security.

    Now, this mark is not visible to you and me. Neither is it revealed by some sort of spiritual manifestations like being slain in the spirit or speaking in tongues or laughing hysterically. The sealing of the Spirit is invisible to us in the physical realm. There are however, some signs that may show a person has the Holy Spirit in them. According to Galatians 5:22, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. So, if a person has some or all of these, it is a good indication that they also have the Holy Spirit. We cannot see the wind, but we can see what the wind does. It is the same with the Spirit. So, this sealing of the Spirit is an invisible mark.

    The Holy Spirit is a seal and a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. As great as the gift of the Holy Spirit is, He is only a deposit, a foretaste, a small glimpse of the beauty, glory, greatness, and majesty that awaits us in eternity with the redemption of our bodies and the life to come.

    The stability and power of the apostle Paul came from one great discovery: that God's desire for his people is that we feel secure in his love and in his power, even if everything else in the world is uncertain. That's what I want you to feel today as a child of God.

    And, once again, just in case we forgot, Paul tells us that this is to the praise of His glory. It is all for God’s glory. Not ours. It is for God’s glory alone that He is giving these wonderful riches to us. If Ephesians 1:1-14 were the only verses of the Bible we had…I would feel Blessed!  But there’s more…