BLESSED WITH NEITHER POVERTY NOR RICHES

Proclamation:

“Two things I ask of You, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.  Otherwise, I may have too much and disown You and say, ‘Who is The Lord?’  Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.”  Proverbs 30:7-9 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this proverb were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by Agur, the son of Jakeh, and not by King Solomon.  Here, Agur asked The Lord God for two things.  First, he wants lies, and the people who tell lies, to be kept far from him.  Second, he does not want to be rich or poor, but somewhere in the middle so that his wealth, or lack of it, does not dictate his behavior.  As stated in the model prayer which Jesus, The Christ, taught us, “… Give us this day our daily bread …” (Matthew 6:11)

Application:

While the rich have things their way now, they may have a problem trying to enter heaven when this life ends. (Matthew 19:24)  The poor have a problem now trying to do the right thing and abide by the law when their basic needs are not met.  It is not good for us to have so much that we rely upon our wealth instead of trusting in The Lord God. (Proverbs 11:28)  It is also not good for us to have so little that we cannot provide for our basic necessities and are tempted to engage in illegal activities.  It is better to be blessed with just enough, somewhere between rich and poor, so that we can live, and not merely exist, and know that if it had not been for The Lord God that we would be much worse off.  All that we are, and all that we have, are blessings from The Lord God.  We need to acknowledge that and be thankful.

WHO IS ABLE TO LIVE WITH THE LORD

Proclamation:

“Lord, who may dwell in Your sacred tent?  Who may live on Your holy mountain?  The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart;”  Psalm 15:1-2 (NIV)

Explanation:

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by King David.  In contrast to psalm 14 in which David describes the characteristics of the godless man, in this psalm he describes the characteristics of the godly man.  This man walk blamelessly, does what is righteous, speaks the truth, and does not slander or do wrong to his neighbor.  He honors those who obey The Lord and he keeps his word.  His financial dealings are fair and he does not take bribes.  He is steadfast in the ways of The Lord.

Application:

If we are honest with ourselves, we know that we do not possess all of these characteristics.  These are the traits which we should yearn to have and strive for.  While we know that we are not perfect, most of us think of ourselves as being good people.  “What kind of world would this be, if everybody in it were just like me?” (Author unknown)  We think that the world would be a better place if everyone behaved as we do.  While it is true that a lot of crimes probably would not occur, but it is also true that a lot of good that is currently being done by others would go undone.  We don’t help the homeless, or give to the poor, or donate to all of the charitable causes.  We do not always do that which is righteous or always obey The Word of God.  We do not always tell the truth, and we think slanderous thoughts.  As believers we will be in heaven because of the grace of God for it is by grace that we will be saved, not because of our works or deeds. (Ephesians 2:8-9)  Let us not think too highly of ourselves. (Romans 12:3)  None of us deserves to go to heaven on our own accord, nor have we earned the right to live with The Lord in His holy place. (Matthew 19:17)  We are to walk in His way, not to earn our way to heaven but to show Him that we love Him. (John 14:15)  We will reside with Him in eternity because Jesus, The Christ, died for our sins and we believed in Him. (John 3:16)  We should thank God for this every day.

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO KNOW THAT THEY ARE LOST WITHOUT CHRIST

Proclamation:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  Matthew 5:3 (NIV)

Explanation:

These are the words of Jesus, The Christ, which He spoke at the beginning of The Sermon on The Mount.  As recorded by the Apostle Matthew, Jesus spoke these words as He taught His disciples and the crowd which had gathered around them.  His first point was that those who are poor in spirit, "those who are acutely conscious of their own ‘lostness’ and hopelessness apart from divine grace," are blessed. (John MacArthur)  To them is given access to the kingdom of heaven.

Application:

Being blessed is a divinely bestowed sense of well-being.  This is the first of the beatitudes, "the eight characteristics of blessed people, which represent the principal graces of being a Christian." (Matthew Henry)  The poor in spirit are emptied of self and willing to be filled with Christ.  To be poor in spirit is to be humble and lowly in our own eyes.  It is to seek to glorify The Lord God, and not to glorify ourselves.  Self-denial is the first lesson Christ taught in the beatitudes.  The foundation of Christian principals is based upon belief and humility.  These are the people who will compose the kingdom of heaven.  The congregation of The Church of Christ is called the congregation of the poor in spirit. (Psalms 68:10 and 74:19)  Those who would be first, will be last, and those who would be last, shall be first in the sight of The Lord. (Matthew 19:30 and 20:16)  It is not good to think too highly of one’s self. (Romans 12:3)  For we would not be able to do anything, and we would be nothing without The Lord. (John 15:5)  Blessed are those of us who know that we are lost without Christ and who know that only He can show us the way.

The Last Blessing In The Bible

"Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have a right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."  Revelation 22:14 (KJV)

This is the last blessing mentioned in The Holy Bible.  It was recorded by the Apostle John, the disciple who referred to himself five times as the disciple whom Jesus loved. (John 13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, and 21:20)  He was inspired and directed to write this by The Holy Spirit of God.  Blessed are all those who believe, confess their sins, obey His Word, and have been forgiven of their sins because they will have been washed and cleansed by the blood of The Lamb of God.  They will have eternal life and continual blessings because they will have been granted entrance into heaven.  

The Bible basically come to a close saying that believers, those who follow Jesus, The Christ, will be allowed to enter heaven and be blessed with eternal life.  The Lord God said the He was the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. (Revelation 22:13)  He will reward every man according to their works. (Revelation 22:12)

Repent The Kingdom Of Heaven Is At Hand

"From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."  Matthew 4:17  (NIV)

As He began His earthly ministry, after being baptized by John the baptizer, but before He called His first disciple, Jesus preached.  His message was "Repent".  Repent because judgement day in coming.

Repentance from sin is very important.  It was the message of John, the baptizer.  (Matthew 3:1-2)  It was also the message in the first sermons of Jesus, The Christ.  We need to repent from our sins.  This is the gospel, the good news about the coming kingdom.  (Matthew 4:23)   We need to repent from our sins because judgement day in coming.  Not only do we need to confess our sins, but we need to turn away from them.  According to the disciple John, by repentance we give honor to God.  (Revelation 14:6-7)