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Series Code: BOL
Program Code: BOL000680S
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00:01 (Breath of Life Theme Music)
00:06 Sermon #B680 - Living Your Blessed Life_Part 2 00:20 Dr. Byrd: We are going to go right into the word of God. 00:22 If you have your Bibles, take them and turn to the Book of Matthew. Matthew, chapter five, 00:27 and we are going to verse number six. Matthew, chapter five, verse number six. 00:32 We are going to read verses six, seven, and eight. Matthew, chapter five, verses six, seven, 00:39 and eight, just three simple verses. Matthew, chapter five, verses six, seven, and eight. 00:45 The word of God is clear. It says ─ And I am reading from the King James Version of the Bible, 00:50 "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. 00:57 Blessed are they, the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 01:04 And blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." 01:10 "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. 01:13 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy, and blessed are the pure in heart, 01:19 for they shall see God." Living Your Blessed Life Part 2. Living Your Blessed Life Part 2. 01:26 Father, bless us now as we go into your word, send your Holy Ghost. 01:30 Your spirit is already here, we offer you praise today. We thank you for your grace. 01:35 We thank you for your mercy. God, as we preach this word today to your people, 01:39 I pray that you would speak to them. That, God, they not see me but see you working 01:45 and living through me. That your Holy Spirit will permeate through the internet, 01:49 permeate through the television. And may your people be changed and convicted by your word. 01:54 Forgive us of our sins. And when the appeal time comes, oh God, move in a mighty way. 02:00 Move by your mercy and sprinkle out your grace. In the name of Jesus, we pray, 02:06 begging for forgiveness of sin, amen, and amen. 02:10 Living Your Blessed Life Part 2. So, Living Your Blessed Life 102. Today, we continue our series. 02:19 Now, remember, living your blessed life is different from living your best life. 02:27 Because your best life might not be a blessed life. I wish I had a witness in this place. 02:34 You see, your best life means your most desirable type of life. 02:40 But your blessed life means a holy, happy, and consecrated life. 02:46 So, you can live your best life and travel the world, eat in the finest restaurants, 02:53 buy the house you want, buy the car you want, go to football games, go and play basketball, 03:01 play golf, and you can still be lost. But when you live a blessed life ─ 03:08 I wish I had a church in this place. You will be saved. And I would rather be blessed 03:14 and saved than best and lost. 03:18 Jesus tells us how to live a blessed life through his famous Sermon on the Mount. 03:24 And in this Sermon on the Mount, he is preaching 03:27 and teaching and begins with the section that we have come to know as the beatitudes. 03:33 Now, remember, the beatitudes, quickly, are divided into three sections. 03:39 The first three beatitudes, found in verses three through five, 03:43 reveal blessings that come from lowliness. The next set of beatitudes, three more, 03:50 in verses six through nine, reveal that blessings come from holiness. 03:56 And then, the last two beatitudes are found in verses ten and eleven 04:02 and they reveal that blessings come from persecution. So, first set, blessings come from lowliness. 04:09 The second set, blessings come from holiness. And the third set, 04:13 blessings come even in persecution. And then, in verse number twelve, Jesus tells us, 04:20 "Rejoice, it is celebration time." 04:23 Now, last week, we dealt with the first set of beatitudes, the beatitudes of lowliness. 04:28 The first beatitude, remember, it said: "Blessed are the poor in spirit." 04:33 To be poor in spirit simply means to be humble. And when you are humble, 04:37 you realize that everything you are and everything you have comes from God. 04:42 Do I have a witness in this place? The next beatitude says: "Blessed are they that mourn, 04:48 for they shall be comforted." And what Jesus really is saying here in this beatitude is, 04:54 "Blessed is the man, blessed is the individual who mourns over the sin that is running rampant in 05:00 the world." You see when you think about the fact that we were made in the image of God, 05:05 the likeness of God, and our fore-parents, Adam and Eve, used to reside in Paradise, 05:10 used to reside in the Garden of Eden. 05:12 And then, you compare that to the present state of our world in which we live today. 05:16 You can only mourn over our present condition. 05:19 Because we have hurt the one who has been so good to us. The gifts have hurt the giver. 05:26 Creation has fallen from the creator. 05:30 But Jesus teaches us in this beatitude that mourning is actually a blessing. 05:35 Because when we mourn over our fallen nature, it creates within us a desire to live right, 05:43 to do right, to talk right, and to walk right. But then, we go to the next beatitude. 05:49 beatitude number three, and it says: "Blessed are the meek, for the meek shall inherit the Earth. 05:55 " Now, meekness is very similar to humility. 05:59 Humility and meekness put the needs of others ahead of your own needs. "Blessed are the meek, 06:05 for they shall inherit the Earth." When you are meek, that is a good thing, 06:11 because you are able to get your inheritance. What is your inheritance? Earth is your inheritance. 06:17 And so now, we come to the second set of beatitudes, the beatitudes of holiness. 06:23 Now, there are nine beatitudes. I am going to preach them in couplets of three. 06:30 Today, I am just going to deal with beatitudes four, five, and six. 06:35 Next week, I will pick up the last beatitude of holiness. 06:39 And then, the two beatitudes that promise that blessings come from persecution. 06:44 So, week one is three beatitudes. Week two is three beatitudes. 06:48 And then week three is three beatitudes. Today, the second set, the fourth beatitude says, 06:54 in verse six: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, 06:59 for they shall be filled." 07:04 Now, if there is one thing we all love to do, we love to eat. We do not smoke. 07:13 We do not drink, nor do we chew. But, we love to eat. Come on, say amen. 07:21 We feel blessed when we eat. 07:25 God is good. I have never missed a meal, hallelujah. It may not be steak and potatoes, 07:33 or should I say grillers and potatoes. It may be beans and rice, or rice and beans, 07:38 or peas and rice, or rice and peas. But, we have never missed a meal, hallelujah. 07:45 God has been good to us. Because true hunger and true thirst are not things most of us have 07:51 experienced. But, in this text, Jesus is not talking about hunger and thirst in the physical sense. 07:59 Jesus is not talking about human appetite. Jesus is talking about hunger 08:05 and thirst in the spiritual sense. Our hearts are hungry and thirsty for meaning, significance, 08:14 relationship, and purpose. But instead of seeking those things in God, 08:21 too many of us are seeking those things from somewhere else. Some seek it in a man. 08:28 Some seek it in a woman. Some seek it in a house. Some seek it in a car. 08:35 Some seek it in their job. But Jesus said in Matthew 6:33: "But seek ye first the Kingdom of God 08:43 and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." 08:48 The beatitude says: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness' sake, 08:54 for they shall be filled." 08:57 The only way you are going to satisfy your spiritual hunger 08:59 and thirst is to seek God's righteousness. But not only that, in this text, 09:04 the Greek tense of the words 'hunger' and 'thirst' are in the present tense. 09:10 And when a verb is in the present tense in the Bible, it means to do something and keep on doing it. 09:18 In other words, the present tense implies continuous persistent action. 09:26 Somebody is going to get this in a minute. What Jesus is saying in this text is, 09:31 "Blessed are those who not only hunger and thirst. But blessed are those who keep hungering, 09:40 keep thirsting but not after power, not after possessions, not after prestige, 09:48 not after popularity, but hunger and thirst after righteousness, 09:55 which can be interpreted holiness." 09:58 Be careful because everything that walks like holy is not holy. 10:02 Everything that talks like holy are not holy. Everything that dresses like holy is not holy. 10:10 Everything that acts like holy is not holy. Everything that shouts like holy is not holy. 10:17 Because holiness is not about how high you jump when you shout. 10:22 But how straight you walk when you come back down. Holiness or righteousness is a 'churchy' 10:28 term that is not used very much in our culture today. 10:33 In fact, the word righteousness is used only one other time in the Gospels. 10:37 But yet Matthew uses it seven times, and five out of these seven times are in the Sermon in the 10:44 Mount. And so, what Jesus is saying in this sermon is that righteousness is something that ought 10:50 to be hungered and thirsted for. 10:53 Today, what are you hungry and thirsty for? Because what we hunger for and what we are thirsty for, 11:03 reveals the character in our hearts. And I have come to remind somebody today that only 11:10 Jesus can satisfy your deepest longings. It does not mean that you will not have other longings. 11:17 But, I am here to tell somebody that Jesus is stronger than your other longings 11:22 because - "Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world." I do not know about you, 11:30 friends of mine, but some days I have a craving for a specific food. 11:34 I have a yearning for my favorite dish. What is my favorite dish? I will tell you. 11:41 Vegetable steaks, or the vegetarian steaks in onion, pepper, and mushroom gravy, 11:48 on top of a baked potato, with color greens, cornbread, and corn. 11:54 Are you hearing what I am saying? My wife cooks this, and when she cooks this, I get excited. 12:00 I wish I had a witness in this place. 12:02 But, in this text, Jesus is not asking for my favorite food. In this text, 12:07 Jesus is calling us to hunger for Him, His word, His righteousness. 12:12 That is why David said in Psalm 34: "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good." 12:19 But it is not just our hunger that Jesus satisfies. It is also our thirst. 12:25 Some things just do not satisfy our thirst. 12:29 But I know somebody, who when you drink from his fountain, you will never thirst again. 12:37 If you do not believe me, ask the woman at the well. If you do not believe me, 12:42 ask the people who were at the wedding at Cana. If you do not believe me, 12:45 ask the five thousand men plus women and children who were on that New Testament countryside that 12:50 Jesus fed with two fish and five rolls of bread. Blessed are those who hunger 12:56 and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. 13:00 Filled means satisfied. When you are filled, you feel well-fed. Filled means stuffed, hallelujah. 13:09 When you hunger and thirst for Jesus, and when Jesus fills you somebody knows you are satisfied. 13:17 Somebody knows you are well-fed. Somebody knows you are stuffed. Today, are you hungry for Jesus? 13:25 Today, are you thirsty for Jesus? Because if you are, I am a witness that Jesus will fill you. 13:31 Fill my cup, Lord. Let it overflow, oh Lord. And do not forget that when you hunger 13:37 and your thirst for Jesus and His righteousness, do not stop hungering, do not stop thirsting. 13:41 Because anybody will tell you that when you go on a food fast ─ let us say you go on a food fast 13:46 for twenty-one days, three weeks. Your worst hunger and your worst anxiety for food will occur 13:52 and happen in the first week. Somebody knows what I am talking about. 13:56 When you go on a twenty-one day fast, your real hunger comes in those first seven days. 14:01 But, you will notice that in weeks two and three your body grows ambivalent to food. 14:08 You get numb to food. And spiritually, the same thing happens. If you do not daily hunger 14:16 and thirst after God's righteousness, you will grow numb to spiritual food. 14:22 It will not mean that much to you. It will not be a priority for you. You can take it or leave it. 14:30 Are you hearing what I am saying? 14:32 But, let us go to the next beatitude quickly. The Bible says, in verse number seven: 14:35 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Now, we are to show mercy to others 14:45 because God has shown mercy to us. Mercy, by definition, 14:51 is the compassion or forgiveness shown to somebody else when it is within one's power to punish 14:56 or harm that someone. If someone wants to know what the biblical definition of mercy is, 15:01 mercy is God not giving us what we deserve. Let me say that again. 15:08 Mercy is God not giving us what we deserve like death. God could punish us with death. 15:19 We deserve it. But God does not give it to us. 15:22 But rather, he has forgiven us and given us eternal life - For the wages of sin is death 15:30 but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And if God can forgive us, 15:37 if God can give us what we do not deserve, surely, we can do the same for others. 15:44 In other words, how are you going to want mercy from God, 15:47 but yet you can not give mercy to somebody else? Blessed are the merciful, 15:53 for they shall obtain mercy. The mercies of God. That is what Jeremiah said are new every morning. 16:01 That is what apostle Paul said when he said: "I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, 16:07 that ye present your bodies in living sacrifice." The mercies of God. 16:13 Mercy is what God gives you when you do not deserve it. Today, I do not know about you, 16:18 but I thanked God for his mercy. Mercy woke me up this morning. Mercy started me on my way. 16:27 Mercy let me have something to eat this morning. 16:31 Mercy kept my heart beating while I was sleeping in the night. 16:35 Mercy kept me from getting in a car wreck on the way to church today. 16:39 I wish somebody were here with me so they can say 'mercy'. 16:42 We are living in a day and age when people act like they do not need mercy. 16:46 But somebody knows, you would not be alive right now if it were not for the mercies of God. 16:52 Sitting up in your house, looking all cute-wise and otherwise. You ought to thank God for his mercy. 16:57 But what I like about Jeremiah, he does not reduce it to one mercy. 17:01 What I like about Paul, he does not reduce it to one mercy. But they mention mercy in plurality. 17:07 They say, "Mercies, morning by morning. New mercies I see. I beseech you, brethren, 17:14 by the mercies of God." It is not that God has not given you a second chance 17:20 but God is giving you chance, after chance, after chance, after chance, 17:27 and it is not the holiest people in the church that need to praise God. 17:31 But it is the people who have done all kinds of stuff that need to praise God. 17:35 Because you know that if God had dealt with you justly for your sins, 17:40 you would not be alive right now. And somebody ─ You ought not to care what anybody says, 17:45 you ought not to care what anybody thinks, but you ought to thank God for your mercies. 17:51 The mercies of God. Somebody ─ You got your car because of mercy. Your credit was jacked up. 17:57 You had no money. But God has mercy and God gave you a car anyway. 18:03 And every time you get in that car you ought to praise God. 18:07 You ought to drive down the road thanking God. Everybody else is honking their horn 18:11 and shouting expletives in traffic. But you ought to thank God for your mercy. 18:17 You ought to thank God and just drive down the road and say: "Thank you, Jesus. 18:21 Thank you, Jesus." Folk will look at you and think like you are talking to yourself in your car. 18:25 But you know that if it had not been for the Lord on your side if it had not been for God's mercies, 18:31 you would still be walking or catching Uber or a lift. But God gave you mercy. 18:37 Many of you should be in jail right now, 18:39 watching this service on the internet in jail if the warden lets you, but Hallelujah, 18:45 God gave you mercy. I do not understand folk who do not understand mercy. 18:49 You are living in mercy. You are driving in mercy. Your house is mercy. 18:54 The fact that you got in school is mercy. Your job is mercy. Your marriage is mercy. 19:00 Nothing but the mercies of God. You should be strung up somewhere. You should have had a nervous 19:06 breakdown by now. Anybody who has been through what you have been through should have 19:09 lost their minds. But when your mind was falling apart, and you were talking out of your head, 19:15 God's mercy came in rescue. You went to bed at night weeping 19:19 but God woke you up with joy in the morning. 19:22 Because God's mercy rocks you in the bed in the midst of your sleep. 19:26 Somebody ought to thank God for his mercy. Mercy gave you another chance, 19:31 mercy gave you health, and mercy gave you strength. I will bless the Lord at all times. 19:36 His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. 19:41 The humbles are here, they are up and be glad. O, come and magnify the Lord with me, 19:45 and let us exalt his name together. 19:47 And I have a right to praise him. I do not need everybody. 19:53 Because if there are only a few people in this church right now, 19:55 the pastors and the media team are in it right now, because of COVID-19. 19:59 But I just need a few folks who do not mind, who do not care what anybody thinks. 20:05 You do not care what you have on. You do not care who is looking at you. 20:09 You can be in your car, your house, you can be in the park. 20:12 But, you are just glad you are not in a hospital somewhere. 20:15 You are just glad needles are not coming out of your arms. 20:18 You are just glad that you are not on a ventilator breathing through a breathing machine. 20:22 I know people will call you crazy. But you are just thankful for God's Mercy, 20:27 and I have a right to praise Him. 20:29 Let me tell you all something. Sometimes I do not need a praise team. 20:32 Sometimes I do not need the other pastors. Sometimes I do not need the organist. 20:36 It is just me and Jesus, and I have to praise Him for His mercy. "Blessed are the merciful, 20:44 for they shall obtain mercy." I am almost done, I have one more beatitude for the day. 20:50 Verse eight says: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." 20:59 Now, this is the most central and the most significant out of all the beatitudes. 21:09 Because you can not be poor in spirit without having a pure heart. 21:14 You can not mourn for the things that displease God, without having a pure heart. 21:20 You can not be meek, you can not hunger and thirst after righteousness. You can not be merciful. 21:26 You can not be a peacemaker. 21:28 You can not be prepared to stand persecution for the name of Christ without having a pure heart. 21:34 Now, it is this beatitude which is one of the most central principles of Christian life in the 21:40 entire Bible. Because the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. 21:46 You see, it is easy as a Christian. It is easy to follow rules, spiritual rules, social rules, 21:57 cultural rules, and forget the matter of the heart. God wants us to love Him and obey Him not 22:05 because of rules. But He wants us to give Him our hearts. 22:10 Jesus said: "Blessed are the pure in heart." 22:15 You will remember that the scribes and the Pharisees followed rules, 22:19 and they followed the rules well. They thought of themselves as the purest people on the planet. 22:24 They were extremely careful to keep their outward appearance clean before men. 22:29 But they did not serve the Lord from their hearts. 22:32 And so, Jesus told them in Matthew chapter twenty-three, read it when you go home. 22:37 He said: "Pharisees, scribes, you are hopeless. You are frauds. You are vipers. 22:45 You are snakes. Outwardly, you appear righteous to men. 22:51 But inwardly, you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." 22:55 But Jesus said: "Blessed are the pure in heart. Man looketh at the outward appearance. 23:03 But God looks at the heart." Jesus is concerned about our hearts. 23:09 The Gospel is all about our hearts. Create in me a clean heart, oh God. 23:15 And renew the right spirit within me. 23:18 It is not enough to clean up our acts on the outside, but God wants our insides. 23:25 God wants our hearts. Blessed are the pure in heart. 23:30 Being pure means you are free from contamination and free from immorality. 23:35 Being pure in conduct means honesty and integrity in dealing with other people. 23:40 Jesus said: "Blessed are the pure in heart." But that is just the first part of the beatitude. 23:47 Do not forget the second part: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." 23:57 Hallelujah, somebody. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." 24:06 And so, the question begs asking: What are you living for? 24:12 And that is the most important question for any Christian. What are you living for? 24:20 To be threescore and ten, and then die? What are you living for? 24:28 That is the question that this beatitude answers in most explicit terms. 24:35 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. And that is the goal of the Christian life. 24:47 That is why we live this life. That is why we preach like we do, teach like we do. 24:53 That is why we live like we do. 24:55 That we may live our lives in such a way that one day we shall see God. 25:03 That we will have a blessed life. So, one day, we can see God, and oh, I want to see him, 25:13 look upon his face. Then, I could sing forever of his saving grace on the streets of glory. 25:22 I plan to lift my voice, cares all past. 25:28 Hallelujah, home, at last, ever to rejoice. I am living my life so that one day I shall see God. 25:41 For the Lord, Himself shall descend from heaven with the shout, 25:46 with the voice of the archangels and the trumpet of God, and the dead 25:49 in Christ are going to rise first. 25:51 Then we are allowed to remain shall be caught up together up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the 25:55 air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Behold, I show you a mystery, 26:00 that one day we shall not all sleep. But one day we shall be changed, in a moment, 26:04 and the twinkling of an eye. That this mortal will put on immortality. 26:09 That this corruptible will put on in corruption. And death is going to be swallowed up in victory. 26:15 Be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, 26:20 for you know that your labors are not in vain. And I saw a new Heaven, and I saw a new Earth, 26:27 for the former Heaven and former Earth were passed away. 26:30 And I saw the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. 26:36 And there will be no more crime, no more dying, no more sickness, no more pain, 26:42 no more house note, no more car note, no more cancer, no more Coronavirus, no more racism, 26:49 no more prejudice, and no more. If we want to see Jesus, we have to be pure in heart, 26:56 and that is the way to be blessed. 26:59 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are they that mourn, 27:06 for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth. 27:12 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. 27:17 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall attain mercy. And blessed are the pure in heart, 27:25 because one day, they shall see God. 27:33 Thank you very much for tuning in to this week's Breath of Life broadcast. 27:38 We hope and pray that you've been blessed by Dr. Byrd's inspirational message. 27:42 If you would like to hear this sermon in its entirety, 27:45 please feel free to visit us at www.breathoflife.tv. 27:51 Or, call us at (256) 929-6460. 28:04 When I was eight years old, I was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. 28:10 When I was fifthteen, I had my first surgery. When I think about the time that I lost 28:21 during my adolescent years, I just can't seem to put it togther. Even now I'm doing 28:31 treatment for my disease. Everyone experiences loss. It's not of matter of if but when. 28:45 www.breathoflife.tv 28:52 [END] |
Revised 2020-08-13