Lord willing, tonight, I'll be
speaking from the last of Acts chapter four, where Joseph was
surnamed Barnabas. There was something about this
man that the apostles wanted to give him a different name.
And that's what I'm going to preach on, surnamed by the apostles. I've entitled this message, Blessed. There is not a week that goes
by, almost not a day that goes by when I'm out in public that
somebody says, have a blessed day. You hear that? Have a blessed
day. And I realize they mean well
when they say that. I guess it's the same thing as
saying, have a good day. I say that to people all the
time. I don't know what it means, but I say it all the time. But
being blessed is having the favor of God. No son or daughter of Adam can
confer that. Only God can. To be blessed of
God. And right now, as I'm speaking,
everybody in this room, We are either under God's blessing or
we are under God's curse. There's no in between. We either
have God's blessing or we're under his curse. Turn to Matthew
25 for just a moment. Verse 31, when the son of man shall come
in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then shall he
sit upon the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered
all nations and he shall separate them one from another. as a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the king
say unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father. Verse 41, Then shall he say also unto them
on the left hand, depart from me ye cursed. Now here we have it. The sheep,
blessing. The goats, cursed. Now, if I have God's blessing,
what that means is the infinite, omnipotent God of glory is for
me. If God be for us, who can be
against us? To be blessed of God is to have
God for you. And what power he has to bless. And to be under the curse of
God is to have God against you. It's true. If God be for us,
who can be against us? But if God be against us, who
can be for us? If I'm under God's curse, that
means in the end, I will be cursed. And when I'm sent to hell because
of my sin, if I'm under God's curse, and I'm sent to hell because
of my sin, all of God's creation will clap their hands, magnifying
his justice for sending such a one to hell. God's blessing
and God's curse. And let me also say this about
God's blessing, outward appearance and outward circumstance do not
have anything to do with one having God's blessing or one
having God's curse. You can't tell by outward circumstance. Now we have so many examples
of this in scripture, the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man
fared sumptuously every day. He had a maid, had a good life. Lazarus sat at the rich man's
door, full of sores. The dogs come licking his sores,
depended upon any crumbs the rich man would send his way. Who would the world say is blessed?
They'd say the rich man, wouldn't they? He's blessed of God. Who
would they say is not blessed? Well, Lazarus is not, yet who
was blessed? Lazarus was. Who was under God's
curse? The rich man. I think of Job
and his three friends. Job scraping his boils with potsherds. He was sick. He lost everything. And his three buddies were saying,
what did you do that brought this all on you? You've committed
some kind of sin to cause all this. And Job defending himself. Which one was under God's blessing?
Job, who had everything stripped away, who was under God's curse. These men making these accusations
against Job. Now to have the divine favor,
to have God's blessing, I think of Jacob when he's wrestling
with that angel and the angel defeats him. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ he was wrestling with. He put his hip out of joint and
he walked with a limp the rest of his life. That's an example
of God's blessing. But you know what he said to
that angel that he could not possibly defeat, who brought
him down? I will not let thee go except
thou bless me. I must have. his blessing. Oh, I must have
your blessing. I won't let you go except you
bless me. That's when God changed his name
from Jacob to Israel, a prince with God. And what about his
brother? Esau, he would trade the birthright
the blessing for a bowl of soup. That's how meaningful it was
to him. It just was not really critical for him to have God's
blessing. Oh, I think of our Lord lifting
up his hands and blessing him. Don't you want God to bless you?
Oh, I want him to bless me. Listen to these scriptures. Blessed
is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute iniquity and in whose spirit there is
no guile. Listen to this from Psalm 65, David glory in election. Blessed is he whom thou choosest
and causes to approach unto thee. Oh, what blessedness And then we read of those of
whom it said, surely thou did set them in slippery places. In due time, their foot shall
slide. Thou shalt despise their image. Here we have people under God's
blessing. And here we have people under
God's curse. Now when we read of the Lord
blessing His disciples in our text, He led them out. I was thinking I want to be somebody
He leads out, don't you? I want Him to just lead me. He led them
out as far as Bethany. Bethany is where Martha and Mary
and Lazarus lived. It's the place where Simon the
leper lived and just a couple of miles from Jerusalem. But
the name Bethany means house of affliction and the Lord has
left the house of affliction being raised from the dead. and
He leads them out, and this is where He's going to ascend. They're
going to watch Him rise up into heaven. We're going to think
about that, Lord willing, next week, the ascension of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But they watched Him rise up
to heaven, but while He was with them, He lifted up His hands
and He blessed them. Now, I've talked about blessing
and curse. The only way that you and I can be blessed is if
there is no reason for a curse. And let me repeat that. The only
way you and I can be blessed is if there is no reason for
a curse. And that is precisely what the
Lord Jesus Christ did on Calvary's tree. He removed the reason for
the curse. My sin was removed. Now, you
see, if I go to hell, if I'm under God's curse, there's one
reason. My sin. My sin. And it's all my fault.
My sin. I can't blame God. I can't blame
providence. My sin is all my fault. And if God curses me,
I will be getting exactly, precisely what I deserve. And on judgment
day, the angels and all the church of God, if I'm cursed, they're
going to praise God for my destruction. Holy and righteous and just are
all His ways. I'll be getting exactly what
I deserve. And the only way I can be blessed is if the reason for
the curse has been removed. And that's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ did on Calvary's tree. He removed the reason for
me to be cursed because He took away my sin. He put it away. He caused it to not be. And there is now no reason to
curse me. There's nothing for me but blessing
because of what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished for me. Now, don't you want to be one
of those ones who He blesses? Oh, I want his blessing. I want
him to have a favor toward me. I want him to do something for
me. I want him to look in mercy on me. I want him to see Christ
and me in Christ. Now these blessings, or shall
I say this blessing? Because all blessings come from
the one blessing. This blessing that I'm talking
about, the Lord reached up his hand and he blessed them. This
blessing is eternal. Eternal. You know what that means?
God's blessing is not God's response to you. These blessings, this blessing
is eternal. Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. Every blessing I have was given
to me before time began. And that shows how this blessing
is not God's response to me. Well, if you do this, God will
bless you. Time, God will bless you. If you give, He'll give
to you. If you'd be nice to other people, He'd be nice to you.
He'll be kind to you. That whole kind of thinking.
Now, I'm not advocating, don't be kind, don't give. Of course. But if that's what you think
about God's blessing, you believe in salvation by works. You believe
the blessings you have is God's response to something you've
done. No, no. God's blessings are eternal. 2 Timothy 1.9, He saved us. And he called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began their purposed blessings, blessings given to
us before we had any works. good or bad to affect God's reason
for giving. I love the scripture Romans 9,
11 for the children talking about Jacob and Esau. God's elect those
who are not elect for the children being not yet born, neither having
done any good or evil. Your evil can't disqualify you. Your good can't recommend you.
Do you hear that? For the children being not yet
born. neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election, might
stand not of works. Not of works. Is that a blessing
to you? If you're nothing but a sinner, this is a blessing
to you. You're glad it's this way. If you're a self-righteous
person, you don't like this because it's taking away what you're
hoping in your works. But if you're a sinner, you love
this. The blessing of God is a blessing
of grace. That means nobody need despair
of having this blessing. You can be blessed by God. You
can have God's favor because his favor, his blessing is utterly
of grace. Now turn with me to Ephesians
chapter one. Ephesians chapter one. Paul says in verse three. Blessed. Be the God and father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who hath blessed us? With. All. Spiritual blessings. How many? All. In heavenly places in the heavenlies.
in Christ. Now, the blessing of God is complete. That means there's nothing that
can be added to it. If God has blessed you, you cannot
be any more blessed than you are. He's given us all spiritual
blessings. Now, I know the world just thinks
of temporal blessings. Oh, you're blessed if you have
plenty of money and you don't have any trouble. No, it could be
you're under the curse of God. Temporal blessings may be adversity. Maybe you don't have anything.
But what's more important, temporal blessings or spiritual blessings?
I mean, I don't know. Listen to me. I'm happy to be
able to pay my bills. I'm happy I have a car right now that I'm
not always worried is going to break down. I mean, there's I'm
thankful for that kind of stuff. I'm not discounting it. But what
is that in comparison to spiritual blessings? Having the love of
God, having the grace of God, having everything working together
for your good and his glory, having your sins put away, being
accepted in the beloved. Listen to these spiritual blessings.
Verse four. according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world. There's the first
spiritual blessing, election. Being chosen by God in him before
time began. Why me? Why would he choose me? "'Tis not that I did choose thee,
for the Lord that could not be. "'This heart would still refuse
thee, hadst thou not chosen me.'" What a blessing to be chosen
of God. For what? That we should be holy and without
blame before Him. Now, if God elected me and God
blessed me, you know what that means? That means I'm holy. You
mean you will be holy? No, I am holy. Right now, when
God sees me, he sees holiness because I'm in Christ. I am holy. Somebody says that's positionally.
You know, I don't like that language positionally. That just reeks
of, no, I'm not holy positionally, I'm holy. And without blame,
nothing to blame me for. You see all my sins been put
away and I am perfect in Christ Jesus without blame. Let's go
on reading. in love having predestinated
us. In love means God loves me. He
predestinated. You believe in predestination?
Of course I do. Of course I do. You can't believe
in the God of the Bible and not believe predestination. If you
don't believe in the God of predestination, like I said a couple of weeks
ago, the God you believe in does not exist. The God of predestination
is the God who is God. And really, predestination, you
can't separate it from the cross. You don't really understand the
cross if you don't understand the land slain from the foundation
of the world. Oh, how we love the God of predestination. What
a glorious thing it is to be predestined by God to be adopted. Look what it says. Verse five,
having predestinated us unto the adoption of children. I'm his, I'm his child by adoption.
He adopted me. He picked me out. That's what
that means. And I'm his child by birth. He birthed me into
the kingdom of heaven. according to, verse 5, the good
pleasure of His will. Why did God predestinate you
to be His adopted child? Because He willed to do it. No
other reason is needed. I love the way God's will is
just supreme. He has no law over His head. He has no one He answers to when
He wills it. It's absolutely supreme. Because
he willed it. Verse six, to the praise of the
glory of his grace. Now let me stop for just a moment.
Is your salvation to the praise of the glory of his grace? Or
is it to the praise of the glory of your will? One of the two. One of the two. Oh, it's to the praise of the
glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the
Beloved. In that word accepted, He has
graced us in the Beloved. In the Beloved, accepted am I. Ascended, risen, ascended, and
seated on high, saved from all sin through his infinite grace. With the redeemed ones accorded
a place. In the beloved, how safe my retreat. In the beloved, accounted complete. Who can condemn me? In him I
am free. Savior and keeper forever is
he. In the beloved I went to the
tree. There in his person by faith
I may see. Infinite wrath rolling over his
head. Infinite grace for he died in
my stead. In the Beloved, God's marvelous
grace calls me to dwell in this wonderful place. God sees my
Savior, then he sees me. In the Beloved, accepted and
free. Now, how accepted is Jesus Christ? How lovely is he to the father? That's how accepted every believer
is accepted in the beloved. Now, these are these spiritual
blessings. Look in verse seven in whom. We have. Redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein
he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having
made known unto us the mystery of His will, I know God's will. This is the will of Him that
sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should lose nothing
and raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, that everyone that seeth the Son and believeth on Him
should have everlasting life. Now, He's made known to us this
glorious mystery of His will. According to His good pleasure,
which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the
fullness of time he might gather together in one all things in
Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even
in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance." Now,
if you're poor and you know that shortly you're going to inherit
millions of dollars, it doesn't bother you too much, does it?
My poverty right now, it's not going to last. It's not going
to last. I've got an inheritance. I'm a joint heir with the Lord
Jesus Christ. And no matter what's going on
right now, it's not going to last. One of these days, I'm
going to enter into the fullness of this glorious inheritance. According, verse 11, to the purpose
of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own
will. that we should be to the praise
of his glory who first trusted in Christ. Who first trusted
in Christ? God did. He trusted Christ to bring me
to himself. In whom also you trusted after
that you heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation.
You know, when you're saved, you find out God saved you. That's
what you find out. You find out God saved you. Now
that's God's blessing. after that you believe you are
sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest
of our inheritance into the redemption of the purchased possession and
to the praise of His glory. Now, every believer has all of
these spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
And these blessings or this blessing is not only complete and eternal,
it's personal. What do you mean by that? The angel came to Mary and said,
Hail, thou art highly favored. That's the same word that's translated
and made accepted in Ephesians 1 6. And this is true of all
of God's people. Thou art highly favored among
women. Blessed art thou. The Lord is with thee. Now, these blessings are not
generic. They're to individuals. You see,
God doesn't throw out his blessings and it's up for us to take them
or reject them. No, if he blesses you, you're
blessed and you have it and it is personal. Now I can say to
every believer, you are part of his body. You are his bride. and heaven would not be complete
without you. Heaven would not be complete
without you. Christ is going to have his bride. Husbands, love your wives as
Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it that
he might perfect it and cleanse it with the washing of the water
by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious church
a glorious bride not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing
now this blessing makes every believer beautiful to Christ. I'm His beautiful bride that
He desires. You know somebody, I always hear
this thing of God's love being unconditional. No, it's not unconditional. The reason He loves you is because
in Christ you're altogether lovely to Him. He sees no spot in you. He sees no wrinkle. He sees no
blemish. He sees you as perfect. I know
you don't think of yourself that way. Neither do I. I like what
the woman said in the Song of Psalm. I'm black but comely. I'm ugly but beautiful. I'm ugly
myself but I'm beautiful in the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is
how every believer really is. What a blessing to be without When God sees you, he sees no
iniquity, no sin, only that which is beautiful. Now, how can I know if I've been
blessed by God? I want to know, don't you? To be blessed is to have His
eternal blessings. It's to have His complete blessings.
You don't like any of them. It's yours personally. How can
I know if I have been blessed of God? Well, turn with me to
Galatians chapter three. Verse nine. Galatians chapter three, verse
nine. So then, They which be of faith are blessed with faithful
Abraham. For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse. For it's written, cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things which are written in the book
of the law to do them. We read in those two verses of they which
are of faith and they which are of the works of the law. Now,
we have to understand what it means to be of the works of the
law and of faith. But if I'm of the works of the
law, I'm under God's curse. What is meant by being of the
works of the law? Does that mean you're trying
to live up to the Ten Commandments and if you fail, you're under
the curse? Yeah. Yeah. But it means more than
that. To be of the works of the law.
Turn to Galatians chapter four. You're already there. Verse 21. Tell me ye the desire to be under
the law. Do you not hear the law? For
it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid
the other of a free woman. This is talking about the story
of Abraham and Sarah and Hagar and Isaac and Ishmael. It's written that Abraham had
two sons, the one by bondmaid, the other by free woman. But
he who was of the bond woman was born after the flesh. But
he of the free woman was by promise, which things are an allegory. For these are the two covenants,
works and grace. The one from Mount Sinai, which
gendered the bondage is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai,
the place where the giving of the law was. Now here's the story.
God promised Abraham, you're going to have a son. 25 years later, it still hadn't
happened. Sarah said, obviously God's will is not going to come
to pass unless we do our part. Here's Hagar, this young Egyptian
woman. You go in under her and we'll
have a son through her. Abraham did that. Abraham did
his part. And Ishmael, who is never acknowledged
by God as a son, is born. And God says, this is not going
to be the heir. You're doing your part. Here is Grace, here
is faith. You're going to have a son because
I said you're going to have a son. That's the only reason. And it's
going to be a son who's supernaturally born. Sarah had already gone
through menopause and God miraculously caused her to be with child,
picturing the gospel. Now, here's the point. The works
of the law is you doing your part to make God's blessing complete. It won't happen unless you do
your part. You know, even if you take faith
and make faith the cause of salvation, and that's what most people do.
Faith, you won't be blessed by God. You won't be saved. You
won't be accepted unless you do your part. You need to believe.
You need to repent. And if that's not done, you'll
end up in hell. You know why it is salvation
by works? That whole way of thinking. It's contrary to what faith is.
You doing your part is law. If any, now listen to me, if
any part of your salvation is dependent upon you doing your
part or it won't take place. You believe in works? You're
of the works of the law and you're under the curse. Here's an example. Christ died for me. God wants
me to save, to be saved. But I won't be unless I believe. You're of the works of the law. I can become more holy, more
pleasing to God, more sanctified by my works. You're under the
works of the law. Well, I can at least earn a higher
reward in heaven by my works. you're of the works of the law.
And as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. Now, is that clear? If any aspect,
I don't care what it is, if any part of your salvation is dependent
upon you, you're of the works of the law and you're under the
curse. Those who are of faith are those
who are 100% reliant Jesus Christ alone. Paul put it this way in 2nd Timothy
1.12. I know I quote this a lot and I don't make any apologies
for that. 2nd Timothy 1.12, I know whom
I have believed. Not what, but whom. And what you believe is dependent
upon who you believe. I know whom I have believed and
I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've Anybody
know the next word? Committed. Committed to Him against
that day. What did you commit, Paul? Everything. My salvation is completely dependent
upon this. When He said, it is finished,
I was saved. That's faith. It's a complete
reliance on who he is and what he did as everything in your
salvation and you don't have anything else. All you have is
who he is and what he did only. You wouldn't dare add anything
to it. That is being of faith. And everybody who is of faith
has all of God's blessing. I'm not looking to my works in
any measure to any degree. I'm like David. David on his
dying bed said, although my house be not so with God, yet hath
he made with me. everlasting covenant ordered
in all things insure and the reason it's sure is because of
the blood of this everlasting covenant the Lord Jesus Christ
that's what makes it sure and David said this is all my salvation
and all my desire though he make it not to grow that's faith you
look to Christ only you don't look to your works you don't
look to your evidences you don't look to your experience or All
you have is Jesus Christ. That person has the blessing. One last scripture, Acts chapter
three. Verse 26. This is the last point. It's
not absolutely the last scripture. It's not going to take long,
so stay with me. I know it's hot in here. I'm watching everybody.
But stay awake. Acts chapter 3, verse 26, unto
you first, God, having raised up his son, Jesus, sent him to
bless you in turning away every one of you from his iniquities. Now here is God's blessing when
He turns you. When He turns you. Don't you want to be turned by
the Lord? I want to be turned by the Lord. I want to be turned
from mine iniquities to Him. Turn with me to Jeremiah 31.
I want to show you a couple of scriptures with regard to this
thing of being turned. You remember Psalm 80, turn us
again, O Lord, cause thy face to shine and we'll be saved. But look at this passage in Psalm
31, verse 18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning
himself. Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31 verse 18. I've surely
heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus. Thou hast chastised me
and I was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. I was
chastised, it didn't do me any good. I stayed the same, is what
he's saying. Turn now me and I shall be turned. For thou art the Lord my God.
Surely after that I was turned, I repented. And after I was instructed,
I smoked my thigh, I was ashamed, yea, even confounded because
I did bear the reproach of my youth. Now, Jeremiah says, turn
me. Can't you turn yourself? No. No. Well, you ought to. I know I
ought to, but I can't. Didn't the Lord say without me,
you can do No thing, nothing. You're trying to find an excuse
for sin. No, I'm not. I'm trying to find
deliverance from sin. Turn me. Turn me. This is part of God's
blessings, being turned. Turn with me to Psalm 119. This
is the last scripture we'll look at. Psalm 119. Blessed, verse one, Psalm 119,
blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of
the Lord. Blessed are they to keep his
testimonies that seek him with the whole heart. They also do
no iniquity. They walk in his way. Thou hast
commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently. Oh, that my ways
were directed to keep thy statutes. Look in verse 33 of this same
chapter. Teach me, O Lord, the way of
thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end. Give me understanding,
and I shall keep thy law. Yea, I observe it with my whole
heart. Make me to go in the path of thy commandments. Cause me
to, turn me, and force me to, is what he's asking. For therein
do I delight. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,
and not to covetousness. Can you see how he's asking the
Lord to turn him? Make my heart to be inclined to thy testimonies.
Verse 37, turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken
thou me in thy way. Establish thy word unto thy servant
who is devoted to thy fear. Turn away my reproach which I
fear, for thy judgments are good. Behold, I have longed after thy
precepts. Quicken me in thy righteousness.
Now in every one of these verses of Scripture, David is saying,
turn me. Turn me. Now, if You've been
blessed of God. I know this. You're gonna ask
him to turn you. This is gonna be your way
of thinking. Lord, turn me. Don't let me go
in the way that I would go. Turn me. Blessed of God, he lift
his hands up and blessed them. His blessings are eternal. They're complete, all spiritual
blessings. They're personal. The evidence
is faith. Being a faith in the works of
the law, that means you look to Christ only. You don't look
anywhere else. And when you have faith, this
is going to be your continual prayer. Turn me. And I will be
turned. Turn me to thyself. Turn me to
thy son. May God enable us to pray that
prayer so that we will look to Christ only. This is his blessing. Like old Jacob. I love to think
of Jacob. Jacob was a sinful man. He was
a weak man. He was a deceitful man. We could
go on and on talking about all the trouble he got himself into
because of the way he was. Yet God has called the God of
Jacob. And when Christ wrestles with Jacob and he brings him
down, Jacob didn't wrestle with him. Christ wrestled with him. He's the one who initiated this.
And he brought him down and put his hip out of joint. And he walked with a limp, the
scripture says, for the rest of his life. And if you ever
come into contact with the God of Jacob, you're going to realize
you walk with a limp. But what was Jacob's words? I will not let thee go except
thou bless me. May that be my prayer and your
prayer. Let's pray. Lord, how we desire your blessing,
your favor. And Lord, put it in our heart.
Lord, we won't have this prayer. I will not let thee go except
thou bless me unless you put it in our heart. We ask that
you would put in our heart. I will not let thee go except
thou bless me. Oh, Lord, how we need your blessing. And Lord, we know by your word
that all who need thy blessing have been blessed with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Lord, take this
word and bless it for your glory and for our good. In Christ's
name we pray, amen.