The modern
Church has a twisted idea about what is means to be blessed and what a blessing
is. This is manifested in the works it does in seeking to help others, and the
manner of spirit in which it seeks to do good works. It thinks that it is by
doing works that makes it blessed, rather than being what Jesus told the Church
to be, the salt and light of the Earth.
The modern Church has made this out to
mean that Jesus was telling the Church to do certain works, rather than to be
what it means to be blessed in the eyes of God. Such an
unbiblical view of what blessings are has made the whole Church ignorant about what
Jesus called the Church to be. This explains the manifestations of good works
done in a hypocritical manner by the modern Church. It seeks to do good works
for God, but out of one’s own human strength, doing such works in the way it
sees fit, as opposed to as God sees fit.
It is all
too easy to think that as long as one is doing good works for God, one is right
with God. The question is not whether one is doing good works for God. Rather,
it is whether one is doing good works for God according to His will. It is all
too easy for one to do good works for God according to one’s will as one thinks
it should be done. Doing good works for
God and claiming to serve Him, in a manner of spirit that is self-serving is
perverse. God is angry at who do good works for Him, but according to their own
way. God being angry at Moses for striking the rock in the Wilderness, as
opposed to speaking to it clearly demonstrates this:
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly
together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak
ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water
out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts
drink.
And Moses took the rod from
before the Lord, as he
commanded him. And Moses and Aaron
gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, Hear
now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock?
And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice:
and the water came out abundantly,
and the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the Lord spake unto
Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the
children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the
land which I have given them (Number 20:7-12).
The outcome
of doing a ‘good work’, that is, to obtain water for God’s people, the
Israelites was achieved by doing so in a way that is not according to what God
told Moses to do. Many in the modern Church would regard a work which achieves
what is good according to human standards, such as Moses striking the rock, as
good, because of the outcome of that work. They would praise such works and
criticise works that are done to serve God, in a manner of spirit that opposes their
carnal sensitivities which they have not yet suppressed. Such is a
manifestation of respect for persons, that which is against God who is no
respecter of persons (Romans 2:11; Acts 10:34).
One example
of such a manifestation is the praise that people in the modern Church have for
those who preach the Gospel, according to “culturally sensitive” ways,
pandering to the carnal sensitivities of a God-hating world. This is opposed to
being Biblically sensitive, sensitive to how God wants preaching the Gospel to
be done, and the manner of spirit in which He wants it to be done. No one can serve both the flesh and God. Yet,
this is exactly what many in the modern
Church are trying to do, thinking that serving the flesh can be done to serve
God where done to achieve a ‘good work’. How deluded are many in the modern
Church! How tragic!
Many in the
modern Church, as such, think that is good works, followed by material
provision from God that are blessings from God. Doing good works does not make
one blessed, nor is it a blessing. Rather, blessings are not gained or earned
by works. To think that one’s blessings are done through good works or
actualised by good works is to treat God’s gift as though they can be earned
and merited. This would be to think as Simon the Sorceror did when he believed
that a price can be given to Salvation, the ultimate blessing:
And when Simon saw that through
laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them
money, Saying, Give me also this
power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
But Peter said unto him, Thy
money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be
purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor
lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps
the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I
perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity (Acts 8:18-23).
A blessing is
a favour given from God which shows that one is at peace with God. It is to be
distinguished from favour from God shown to people to draw them to Him, not
because they are at peace with Him: Or
despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering;
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance (Romans
2:4)?
To even
think that one can give or do something in return for it by one’s works, which
are all of the flesh, is to blaspheme God. It is in itself to claim that one
must return to God the blessings His has given because one earned it in the
first place. God is concerned with one being
conformed to the person of Christ, not doing
things for God. It is being conformed to the character of Christ that will
reap God’s works being done through a person, not that person’s works on any
account whatsoever. O, how often do we love to do works to claim that they are
good, and our own!
Blessings received
from God are spiritual, eternal and godly. They are not unspiritual, earthly,
temporal and worldly. They are only
given by God to those are at peace with Him, not given to draw people to
repentance. Thus, the unsaved do not nor cannot receive God’s blessings. The
Bible makes it clear that “Blessed are they whose iniquities are
forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (Psalm 32:1; Romans 4:7). To have
one’s iniquities forgiven and sins covered is a blessing because it gives one
peace with God. Jesus said in Matthew 5:3-16:
Blessed are the poor in spirit:
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they that mourn: for
they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek: for they
shall inherit the earth.
Blessed are they which do hunger
and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful: for
they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are
the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for
they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are
they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
Blessed are ye, when men shall
revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you
falsely, for my sake.
Rejoice, and be exceeding glad:
for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which
were before you.
Ye are the salt of the earth: but
if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is
thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot
of men. Ye are the light of the
world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither
do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it
giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your
light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father which is in heaven.
Each of the Beatitudes
lists a good fruit, followed by the reward. Each good fruit is a state of heart
which pleases God. Each reward is a spiritual one, not an earthly one, such as receiving
the Kingdom of God, or receiving God’s mercy. It must be noted that Jesus never
said “blessed are those who are rich”, “blessed are those who have all their material
basic needs met”, or even “blessed are those who God provides for”.
God’s
provision for the saved is His kindness and grace. Blessings are rewards God
gives to people which are stored up in Heaven for their humility, mourning over
sin, meekness, mercy, purity in heart, peacemaking and persecution for
righteousness’ sake. The blessings are stored up in Heaven, not stored up on
earth. Whether the person’s material needs are given by God to him is not the
issue here. The issue is that blessings are not earthly and given now in this
life. Thus, the idea that God gives
material blessings is a lie for blessings are not material, temporal and
earthly.
Any professing Christian who says that “God
has blessed me with a car” or “God has blessed me with a house” is a mammonised
Christian who thinks in his heart that he is “entitled” to what God gives to
him, or rather, allows him to have. Such Christians are those who one must be
careful of, all the more because of their profession of faith in Christ.
The doctrine
of blessings has been very subtly perverted in the modern Church. Equating God’s
blessings to God’s provision for the righteous to do His will has lead to the
deception that blessings from God are or can be temporal and earthly. This is
an erroneous doctrine. Rather, blessings are rewards for true righteousness in
the sight of God which can never be taken away by anything. They are eternal,
heavenly and never rust. Absolutely none
of the Beatitudes Jesus spoke of ever claims that a person is rewarded with that
which is earthly and temporal.
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