NORTH YORK CHURCH OF CHRIST

Pastor Roger C. Marcos
August 14, 2016

Introduction:

THINK ABOUT: It is God's Will that His children be blessed both physically and spiritually!

Being physically and heavenly blessed PEACE, PROSPERITY, HEALTH, FREEDOM, JOY, LOVE, SECURITY, GOODNESS, MERCY, and POWER, manifested in life. In order to understand about spiritual blessings in Christ we need to read the letter of the Apostle to Ephesus brethren.

EPHESIANS 1:1-3 NIV

¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus: ² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

Becoming God’s Child. First Blessing- They first and foremost include all the work that Christ has done for us. In other words, forgiveness of sin by Christ’s death on the cross would indeed be included as the spiritual blessing. There is no greater blessing in the sense that, without Christ, we would suffer hell’s eternal torment without it.

Being God’s Child. Second Blessing- There are, however, also a host of blessings that can be found in Christ. Once we are hidden in Christ, once we are saved and shield by the blood of Christ, we find that we are on the end of a long line of blessings.

In fact, and do notice with me, he says ‘every spiritual blessing.’ We can be safe to say that God has secured for us all the spiritual blessing there is for us. The Father has given all His best to His children. He has held nothing back. We who deserved nothing now have everything.

God’s blessings is for His people- every spiritual blessings goes to the chosen, beloved, heirs, saints, but why some never experience that heavenly blessing?

The Reason Behind for the Blockade for Spiritual Blessings Are:

1. Selfishness Is A Blockade To Spiritual Life.

SELFISH- concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself: seeking or concentrating on one's own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others.

BLOCKADE- an act or means of sealing off a place to prevent goods or people from entering or leaving. "there was a blockade of humanitarian aid"

A. Selfish People Think Only of Themselves.

Luke 12:17-20, NIV

¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ ¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. ¹⁹ And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
²⁰ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’

B. Selfish People Show A Lack of Love.

1 John 3:17, ¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. ¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
¹⁹ This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence:

II. Prayerlessness Is A Blockade To Spiritual Life. Prayerlessness is not fundamentally a discipline problem. At root it’s a faith problem.

What Prayer Is

Prayer is the native language of faith. John Calvin called prayer the “chief exercise of faith.” That’s why when faith is awake and surging in us, prayer doesn’t feel like a burden or an obligation. It feels natural. It’s how faith most instinctively speaks.

A. Prayer-less Christians Are Troubled Christians. In any church there is always be a problem, those who make troubled are a people that doesn’t value to commune with God so often.

Daniel 9:13, "As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth."

PRAYERLESS PEOPLE SAYS:

Ps. 53:1-4 NIV ¹ The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their ways are vile; there is no one who does good.
² God looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God.
³ Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
⁴ Do all these evildoers know nothing They devour my people as though eating bread; they never call on God.

B. Prayer-less Christian Shall Not Prosper. Jeremiah indicated that prayer-less people will not prosper.

Jeremiah 10:21, he shepherds are senseless and do not inquire of the Lord;

so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered.

III. Worldliness Is A Blockade To Spiritual Life.

A. Worldliness Reveals The Inward Life.

1 John 2:15, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

B. Worldliness does Not Please God.

Romans 8:5-8, "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. ⁷ Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. ⁸ So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

C. Worldliness Separates From God.

James 4:4, "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."

Isaiah 59:2, "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."

CONCLUSION:

A. If we desire these blessings, we must do what we can to remove in our life journey the blockade.

TEXT: 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.