John 1:4 "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men."

John 8:32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

 John 14:6 "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." 

MONTHLY LESSONS DESIGNED TO CONVERT.

March, 2016 - NEW KING JAMES VERSION

“BLESSED ARE YOU ‘IF’!”

The Bible abounds in pictures of blessings – blessings sought, blessings promised, blessings conferred, and blessings received. The concept of blessings in the Bible presupposes a Benefactor and a recipient, and an illustration of a Mediator who pronounces and confers the prospect of blessings from God. The quest to attain a state of blessedness is a universal human longing, and the Bible differentiates the way that will lead to blessedness and the way that leads away from it! It is the concept of that which leads to blessedness that we wish to explore in this exercise. We want to look at patterns that precede the blessings of God. We want to note the character that is blessed to realize that the blessings of God are not random.

There was a great king in Judah named Jehoshaphat. He joined forces with his evil counterpart in Israel (Jehoram), to combat a common enemy; the Moabites. Because Jehoshaphat was a man of God, the prophet Elisha proclaimed a blessing on the combined armies of Judah and Israel – ‘IF’!

2 Kings 3:16-18 “And he said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Make this valley full of ditches.’ ¹⁷ For thus says the Lord: ‘You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.’ ¹⁸ And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand.”

Naaman was the commander of the army of Syria and he was a leper. After the completion of a successful raid into Israel, a slave girl told him that a man of God could heal him. He sought this healing and after finding the man of God, he was told that he could have this blessing – ‘IF’!

2 Kings 5:10 “And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you, and you shall be clean.””

A widow that had recently lost her husband and her means; she approached Elisha the man of God, seeking a blessing. The man of God told her that she could receive a blessing from God – ‘IF’!

2 Kings 4:2-4 “So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” ³ Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. ⁴ And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.””                                                                                       

Hosea was a prophet of God who came and prophesied to Israel prior to their captivity. Hosea’s message emphasizes the righteousness of God and that doom He has told them would come is inevitable (because of their idolatry). In all of this foretold tragedy, Hosea would tell Israel how they could receive a blessing of God and survive judgment – ‘IF’!

Hosea 10:12 “Sow for yourselves righteousness; Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the Lord, Till He comes and rains righteousness on you.”

Joel was a prophet of God who spoke on behalf of God to Judah. A dark cloud had fallen on Judah in the form of a plague of locusts. The locust army was a sign from God concerning their need to repent and come back to Him. Joel would tell the inhabitants of Judah that retraction and relief from the plague could be theirs – ‘IF’!

Joel 2:12-13 “Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” ¹³ So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.”

A man from Ethiopia of great responsibility under the queen of that country was traveling home from Jerusalem, where he had been worshipping God. As he traveled towards home, he was reading from a passage of scripture written by Isaiah the prophet. As he read, he was approached by a divinely led preacher. This preacher, Philip; would ask him, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The Ethiopian would respond, “Of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or some other man?”

At this point Philip preached to him; Jesus! At the completion of his sermon, we learn a great deal from the response of the Ethiopian:

First, he learned that there were blessings to be received from believing that this Jesus was the Savior of mankind!

Acts 8:36 “Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?””

Second, He learned that baptism was a necessary demonstration of submission in order to receive blessings in Crist Jesus.

Third, there could have been many reasons for this man to choose not to take advantage of the blessings that Christ offers to those who enter His body; however, none were more important than total submission and blessing!

Fourth, he learned that baptism is for true believers!

Acts 8:37 “Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.””

The power of the Gospel’s message is that Jesus Christ is the Mediator of blessings from God to man. The power of these blessings, which starts with the remission of our sins, is the power of baptism by the resurrection of Christ Himself.

1 Peter 3:21 “There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ”

In this exercise we learn that the man, who wishes to be blessed of God, must follow any and all conditions set down by the Benefactor! We also learn that those who received the blessing of God were men and women who trusted completely in God.

Are you ready to find blessing from God? Simply do as He instructs!