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Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000679S
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00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:05 Sermon #B679 - Living Your Blessed Life_Part 1 00:20 Today, we want to go to the Book of Matthew, chapter five. 00:23 Matthew chapter five, very familiar passage to us. Matthew chapter five, verse number one. 00:30 Matthew chapter five, and we are going to verse number one. 00:34 The word of God says, "And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain. 00:41 And when he was set, his disciples came unto him and he opened his mouth 00:46 and he taught them saying, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, 00:50 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'" 00:53 But he continues and says, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. 00:58 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 01:03 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. 01:08 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 01:12 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 01:16 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. 01:21 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, 01:25 for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, 01:30 and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my namesake. 01:35 Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. 01:42 For so persecuted, they the prophets, which were before you." 01:47 Dr. Byrd: Today, I want to preach on the subject, living your blessed life. 01:53 Living your blessed life. Let us pray. God, we thank you. We thank you for the word. 01:59 We thank you for prayer. We thank you for offering. We thank you for Oaktown. 02:03 We thank you for the music. But God, we thank you now that we come to the time 02:07 in our worship experience that you can speak to us. So speak Lord, your servants heareth. 02:14 We promise we will give you the praise down on the glory. We thank you, oh Lord. 02:18 Now forgive us of our sins. Penetrate and move through the airwaves, 02:23 computer internet waves, today. May Jesus be seen, may he be heard, 02:30 and may he be glorified today. It is in his name, we pray. 02:35 Let everyone say amen, and amen. Praise God. Living your blessed life. 02:46 Living your blessed life. Now, everybody wants to live life to the fullest. 02:54 Everyone wants to get the best out of life. You hear people all the time. 03:00 Books have been written about it, sermons preached about it, live your best life. 03:07 Travel the world, buy the house you want, buy the car you want, go to football games, 03:17 play basketball, play golf, eat in the finest restaurants, play video games if you want. 03:26 Enjoy your life and live your best life. But today, 03:34 I want to propose that you live your blessed life. 03:38 Because there is a difference between your best life and your blessed life. 03:44 Because your best life might not be your blessed life. 03:49 Best means excellent. Best means your most enjoyable type of life, 03:57 but blessed means happy, holy, and consecrated. And so a blessed life is a happy life, 04:07 a holy life, and a consecrated life, which means you can live your best life and be lost. 04:16 But you can live your blessed life and be saved. I do not know about you, 04:21 but I would rather be blessed and saved than best and lost. 04:27 Are you hearing what I am saying today? In our text, it is a familiar text. 04:32 Jesus is preaching his most famous sermon. It is called the sermon on the Mount. 04:39 Jesus is not preaching from a stadium. He is not preaching from an arena. 04:44 Jesus is not even preaching from a church. 04:47 But he is preaching the Bible teaches from the Mountainside. 04:51 Now, there is no name given to the mountain on which Jesus is preaching from, 04:56 but many have called this mountain the Mount Sinai of the New Testament, 05:01 because it holds the same relationship to the Christian church as Mount Sinai 05:06 did to the Jewish nation. You will remember, 05:09 it was on Mount Sinai that God proclaimed his Divine Law. 05:14 But it was on this unknown mountain of Galilee that Jesus not only reaffirmed the Divine Law, 05:20 but Jesus also explained its true meaning in greater detail, 05:25 and applied its teachings to the practical problems of life. 05:30 The text says, "Jesus is preaching to his disciples on the sermon on the Mount," 05:38 Now, some people debate as to who Jesus' is disciples are in this text. 05:46 Is it just the twelve apostles or does it include all of his followers at the time? 05:54 The answer to that question is it includes both. It includes, yes, the twelve disciples, 06:01 but it also includes the many others who follow Jesus and listens to his teachings. 06:07 They too were known as disciples because remember, a disciple is merely a follower. 06:14 Now, when you read Ellen White in Desire of Ages, she says not only were disciples present, 06:21 but she says spies were present. Let that be a lesson to somebody today. 06:27 Everybody always will have a Judas in the midst. Yes, you will have Peter, James, and John. 06:34 But Judas will also be in the midst. Everybody talking about Jesus is not serving Jesus. 06:41 Everybody talking about heaven is not going to heaven, and all skin folk are kinfolk, 06:47 which can be interpreted by everybody kin is not your kind. 06:51 Are you hearing what I am saying? Sometimes there are spies among us. 06:57 Sometimes there are moles among us. Sometimes there are infiltrators. 07:02 There are plants and double agents among us. But when Jesus gets to this mountain to preach, 07:09 the Bible says he preaches to all. He preaches to disciples, 07:13 but he also preaches to the spies, and maybe the spies will be converted, too. 07:19 Are you hearing what I am saying? Now, when Jesus preaches, 07:22 there is no music when he preaches. There is no children's story when he preaches. 07:28 There is no collection of an offering when he preaches. Jesus is just given the word. 07:34 There is nothing wrong with music. We need it. 07:36 There is nothing wrong with the children's story. 07:38 I love Oaktown. We need it. There is nothing wrong with taking an offering. 07:42 We definitely need an offering, because salvation is free, 07:46 but somebody knows ministry takes money. But every now and then, I do not know about you, 07:52 but I just need the word. Give me the word of God. In this text, Jesus is giving the word. 08:02 The word, it is quick, it is powerful, it is sharper than any two-edged sword. 08:08 The word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. 08:13 Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. 08:18 Give me the word. Jesus begins this most famous sermon by preaching and teaching the word, 08:27 on a section in the word, known to us as the Beatitudes. Now quickly, what is a beatitude? 08:36 A beatitude tells us how to live a blessed life. That is what a beatitude is. 08:42 If you want to know how to live a blessed life then you got to read and understand the 08:45 Beatitudes. In fact, the word beatitude comes from the Latin translation of the word 08:50 blessing. So then if you want a blessed life, you have got to follow the Beatitudes, 08:56 because the Beatitudes show us that the Christian life is just that it is a life, 09:04 not an activity. Everybody wants to be blessed. We want to be blessed in our relationships, 09:11 blessed on our jobs, blessed in our families, blessed in our businesses, 09:17 blessed in our churches. We want to be blessed in our lives. 09:21 Everybody wants to be blessed because the opposite of being blessed is being cursed, 09:26 and nobody wants to be cursed. But if we want to bless life, we better listen to Jesus, 09:33 the source of all of our blessings. 09:35 It is in these Beatitudes when Jesus speaks about blessings that he reveals to us what it 09:41 means to live a life that is pleasing to God. When you do, blessings will follow. 09:49 Now before we get into the Beatitudes, 09:51 there are three general rules that I want to share today about the Beatitudes 09:57 before we talk about their specific meaning. 09:59 Number one, notice that each beatitude begins with the word blessed. 10:06 "Blessed", that word begins every beatitude. Blessed can be translated into happy. 10:14 Being happy is a good thing. But let me remind you that being happy 10:20 and having joy are two different things. Happiness and joy are not the same thing. 10:26 Every beatitude begins with the word blessed, which means happy, 10:31 but do not confuse that with joy. When we talk about happiness, 10:36 happiness is motivated by an external reality. 10:39 But joy is something that is based on an internal revelation. 10:44 When I know who God is, when I know what God has done for me in my life, 10:50 it does not make a difference to me what happens on the outside, 10:54 but It is all based on who I know on the inside. 10:58 You see, externally, when somebody gives me flowers, someone may give you flowers, 11:04 you are happy. When someone tells you that you sing well, you are happy. 11:07 When someone tells you that you preach well, you are happy. 11:11 When you are single and somebody invites you out on a date, you are happy. 11:15 When somebody gives you so much money, you are happy. 11:19 Because somebody has done something for you on the outside. 11:24 But joy is what is on the inside. Joy is not based on an external stimuli. 11:31 Joy is based on what is going on in the inside. 11:35 Yes, we find happiness when we follow the Beatitudes, 11:39 but do not you forget that joy is only found in Jesus, the author of the Beatitudes. 11:48 Yes, I want to be happy, but I also want joy. 11:55 Number two, the Beatitudes are divided into three sections. 12:00 The first section is verses three through five, 12:03 and they reveal that blessings come from lowliness. 12:07 The second set of Beatitudes are found in verses six through nine, 12:12 and they reveal that blessings come from holiness. 12:16 The third set of Beatitudes are found in verses ten and eleven, 12:21 and they reveal that blessings come from persecution. 12:25 And then when we get to verse number twelve, hallelujah, 12:29 Jesus tells us to rejoice that it is celebration time. 12:34 So we discover the Beatitudes are divided into three sets. 12:38 Then the third general rule that we need to understand about the Beatitudes, 12:42 it is important, number three, to recognize that the understanding of one beatitude 12:47 leads to the understanding of the next beatitude. 12:50 In other words, the sequential order of the Beatitudes show us how to continually progress 12:58 in the Christian life. So that means if you want blessings from Holiness, 13:03 you have to first understand that blessings come from lowliness. 13:07 Just like children in first grade, I had known because my daughter is one of them, 13:12 just like they have to understand addition before they are able to understand subtraction, 13:17 you have to understand the first set of Beatitudes in order to understand the second set of 13:22 Beatitudes. And then you have to understand the second set of Beatitudes 13:26 before you understand the third set of Beatitudes. 13:29 Now today, we are not going to be here all day 13:33 and I am not going to preach all three sets of the Beatitudes. 13:36 I am just going to preach the first set of Beatitudes. Somebody at home is saying amen. 13:40 Do not say it too loud. We are going to begin with the first set, verses three through five. 13:47 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. 13:52 Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. 13:57 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 14:01 Now quickly, in this first set of Beatitudes, the first one says, 14:04 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. 14:09 Blessed or happy are the poor in spirit." What does that mean? 14:14 To be poor in spirit means to be humble. And when you are humble, 14:19 you realize that all of your gifts, all of your blessings, come from the Lord. 14:25 Everything you are and everything you have comes from the Lord. 14:29 Are you hearing what I am saying? To be poor in spirit does not mean you are poor 14:34 in finances. Because there are some people who are poor and finances 14:37 but are not poor in spirit, and then there are some people who are rich in finances, 14:42 but yet they are poor in spirit. To be poor in spirit means to be humble in spirit, 14:48 and to be completely open to the word of God. Poor in spirit is not I, but you, Christ, 14:54 that lives inside. Poor in spirit is not spiritually proud or self-sufficient, 15:00 because when we are self-sufficient, we rely on ourselves instead of God. 15:06 But when we are poor in spirit, we rely on God. 15:09 Are you hearing what I am saying? Poor in spirit is obedience 15:13 and yielding to the authority of God. Poor in spirit is obedience 15:18 and yielding to the teachings of Jesus. Poor in spirit is obedient 15:22 and yielding to the voice of the Holy Spirit. 15:25 Poor in spirit is the opposite of comparing ourselves to others. 15:30 Poor in spirit is the opposite of measuring our spirituality to others. 15:34 Poor in spirit is the opposite of pride. Pride goeth before destruction, 15:40 and a haughty spirit before a fall. If it weren't for the grace of God, 15:46 where would any of us be today? Let me say that again. 15:51 I do not care how much you think you got it going on. 15:54 If it were not for the grace of God, where would you be today? 16:00 Do not get the big head. Do not think you are better than somebody else. 16:06 Do not think you are all that and then some. 16:09 You are just as lost as that man drinking Jack Daniels, 16:13 just as lost as that substance abuser, just as lost as that lady of the night. 16:20 Just as lost as that liar, that cheater, that deceiver, that heart breaker. 16:26 Just as lost. 16:29 There is no room in the kingdom of Heaven for proud, 16:32 self-satisfied or self-righteous folk. If you want to live a blessed life on this Earth 16:38 and then enter the kingdom of Heaven, you got to be poor in spirit. 16:42 Are you hearing what I am saying? The kingdom of Heaven is not earned, friends of mine, 16:46 but it is given to those who are humble. Just because you are nice, 16:50 it will not get you there. Just because you are a good person, it will not get you there. 16:55 Just because your moral, it will not get you there. Just because you are a church member, 17:00 it will not get you there. There will be a lot of nice, good, moral, church members in hell. 17:06 But those who have heard the gospel, Hallelujah, and responded with a humble heart 17:11 and are truly poor in spirit, those are the ones who enter the kingdom of Heaven. 17:14 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. 17:20 If you want to live a blessed life, you got to be poor in spirit. But not only that. 17:26 The next beatitude says, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." 17:31 What Jesus is really saying in this text is blessed is the one who mourns over the sin that 17:36 is running rampant in the world. 17:39 Now, when you think about the fact that we were made in the image and likeness of God, 17:45 and our foreparents, Adam and Eve, they resided in paradise. 17:50 They lived in the Garden of Eden. 17:53 And then you compare that to our present state today after the fall, 17:58 you can only mourn over our current condition. Our world is a mess. 18:04 The coronavirus, racial inequality, hurricane approaching the United States, 18:10 the Postal Service in trouble, voter suppression, crime on every hand. 18:16 Our world is in trouble and the state of our world can only produce mourning 18:21 and regret over our sins and the sins of this world. 18:23 Why? We have hurt the one who has been so good to us. 18:28 The gift, that is us, has hurt the giver. Creation has fallen from the creator. 18:39 But in this text, Jesus is saying that mourning is a blessing. 18:45 Because when we mourn over our fallen nature, it creates a desire in us to do what is right. 18:52 Mourning makes us want to act right. Mourning makes us want to talk right. 18:59 Mourning makes us want to live right. Mourning comes from those who truly follow Christ, 19:04 because the ways of this world are not the ways of God. So we mourn 19:09 because we have not lived right. We mourn because we see the foolishness in our lives. 19:14 We mourn because we see the mess in our lives. We mourn because sin was not God's desire for us. 19:22 The text says, "Blessed are they that mourn." But the text does not stop there, Hallelujah. 19:29 The text says, "Blessed are they that mourn" but it also says that they shall be comforted. 19:36 So number two, if you want to live a blessed life, you have to mourn over 19:41 and be sorrowful for sin. Beatitude number three, the first set, 19:50 these three are ones of lowliness. The Bible says, "Blessed are the meek, 19:58 for they shall inherit the Earth." Now, beatitude number one, 20:05 blessed are the poor in spirit. And beatitude number three, blessed are the meek, 20:10 have a lot of similarities. Beatitude number one is humility. 20:15 Beatitude number three is meekness. Meekness is very similar to humility. 20:21 Now, humility, let me remind you, refers to thinking of oneself less. 20:28 Notice that I said thinking of oneself less. 20:32 I did not say that humility was thinking less of yourself. 20:37 I said humility is thinking of yourself less. Somebody is going to get that in a minute. 20:41 Humility and meekness put the needs of others ahead of yourself. 20:46 They put the needs of others ahead of your own needs. 20:49 The poor in spirit are to receive the riches of the kingdom in Heaven, 20:54 and the meek are to inherit the Earth. The meek does not inherit the Earth right now, 21:01 but it does seem sometimes that the proud do, the arrogant do, 21:06 the fat cats and the slick mamas do. But I am so glad today that in due time, 21:13 when it is all over, at God's time, 21:16 the kingdom of this world is going to be given to the saints of God. 21:21 To those who have learned the grace of humility. 21:24 Because my Bible says that if you humble yourself unto the mighty hand of God, 21:30 he will exalt you in due time. Do not get weary in well-doing. 21:35 If we faint not, we are going to receive our just reward. 21:39 They that wait upon the Lord God shall renew their strength. 21:44 God will exalt you in due time through self out exaltation. 21:48 Adam and Eve lost the kingdom entrusted to them. 21:53 The world is calling us to a best life. 21:55 But God is calling us to a blessed life. Best says popularity. Blessed says humility. 22:05 Best says to stay on top of the world. Blessed says meekness. Best says notoriety. 22:14 Blessed says knowing Jesus. 22:17 A best life is nice, but a blessed life is better. 22:22 Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth. 22:28 Jesus said that even though someone who is weak may go without a lot of things in his life. 22:33 One day, they will inherit the Earth. Friends of mine, that is pretty good inheritance. 22:41 That is a son of the most high God. One day, if I live a blessed life, 22:49 one day if I am humble, one day, because I have mourned sin. 22:55 One day if I am meek, one day I am going to inherit the Earth. 23:01 Now, you know the rules of inheritance. 23:05 When a person dies, they pass on everything to their offspring. 23:10 They pass on their money, they pass on their property, they pass on their cars, 23:16 they pass on their house. They pass on their assets to their offspring. 23:22 Well, I am here to let you know that two thousand years ago, Jesus died, 23:28 but he left us an inheritance. He left us with the opportunity for eternal life. 23:35 How did Jesus do that? I am so glad you asked. Jesus shed his blood on Calvary for us, 23:44 and because he shed his blood for us, it covers all of our sins. 23:48 There is power in the blood of Jesus, and the power in the blood is not wrapped up in what 23:55 it is, but whose it is. You hear me say it all the time. When the Romans crucified Jesus, 24:02 they made a mistake. They shed his blood. They should have hung him. 24:07 They should have knocked him out. They should have beat him up. 24:13 They should have made him drink poison. They should have stoned him. 24:19 But when they shed his blood, his blood seeped down to Earth and had a revival over death, 24:30 hell, and the grave. And when you think about the mistakes you have made in this life trying 24:37 to live your best life instead of trying to live a blessed life, 24:42 and the fact that you are still here, 24:45 it ought to tell you that there is power in the blood of the Lamb. 24:50 Jesus left us an inheritance. Jesus shed his blood and because of his blood, 24:57 we have forgiveness from sin. And because we have forgiveness of sin, 25:01 we can inherit the Earth. We can inherit eternal life. 25:06 And the good news my friends is I get ready to sit down. 25:09 The good news about Jesus' blood is not only that it is powerful, 25:13 but the good news about Jesus' blood is it will never lose its power. 25:17 What am I talking about? The Red Cross is always making appeals for blood donors. 25:24 They are always running low on blood supply. 25:27 Now, for those that were living during nine-eleven however, it was a little different. 25:31 Because you will remember, after the destruction of the Twin Towers, 25:34 the Red Cross discouraged you and stopped you from donating blood. 25:38 Because they had so much blood, they needed us to stop for a while, 25:42 because they can keep blood, preserve blood, and they can use blood for a long time. 25:47 But any hematologist, any blood doctor, will tell you that they cannot keep blood forever. 25:57 Because the blood will eventually lose its power. I do not hear I have a church right now. 26:03 Two thousand years ago, Jesus left his blood for anybody who had an emergency. 26:11 And after two thousand years, Heaven has never had to have another blood drive. 26:17 Because the blood of Jesus has never lost its power. 26:22 It still reaches to the highest mountain. It still flows to the lowest valley. 26:27 The blood will never lose its power. It worked for my grandmother. 26:33 It worked for my grandfather. It works for my father. It works for my mother. 26:38 It works for my wife. It is going to work for my children. 26:41 The blood will never lose its power. Somebody ought to thank God for the blood today. 26:47 Somebody ought to thank God for the inheritance of the blood today, 26:51 and because of this inheritance, not only can you have a best life, 26:54 but you are going to have a blessed life. But you got to humble yourself. 26:58 You have got to mourn over sin. You have got to be meek, 27:01 and then yours is the kingdom of Heaven. You shall be comforted. 27:06 You shall inherit the Earth, and that is a blessed life. I do not want just a best life. 27:11 I want a blessed life. Does anybody else want a blessed life? 27:16 Does anybody else want a blessed life? I want to live a good life. 27:20 I want to live a fun life. I want to live a loving life. 27:24 I want to live a best life, 27:26 but I have got to live a blessed life so I can inherit the kingdom of Heaven. And so 27:32 today, the choice is yours. What kind of Life do you want to live? 27:40 A best life or a blessed life. Do not misunderstand 27:46 Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 27:50 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 27:55 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 27:57 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 28:03 Or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 28:16 When I was eight years old, I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. 28:22 When I was fifthteen, I had my first surgery. When I think about the time that I lost 28:33 during my adolescent years, I just can't seem to put it togther. Even now I'm doing 28:43 treatment for my disease. Everyone experiences loss. It's not of matter of if but when. 28:56 www.breathoflife.tv 29:03 [END] |
Revised 2020-08-06