The Psalmist tells us in many areas:
Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints.
As for the saints who are on the earth, “They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.”
Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints! For the Lord preserves the faithful, And fully repays the proud person.
For the Lord loves justice, And does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.
“Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.
Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, And let Your saints shout for joy.
Friends as God’s Saints, we have a reason to be happy, be joyful, be ecstatic in all things we do for and with Christ
Now knowing just how good we got it in being Saints, we all should think and reflect on just how distant and close we want to be to our Savior. We think about those that has gone onto being with the Lord, in their lives as examples we should also reflect on. Not just those names written on paper, but those that you remember, those that you have in heart and memory. Every soul that walked this earth has a choice, and although Death is NOT an option, our Journey is! We must choose the journey we want to take, and how it is to live. When you look at a headstone, the dash that is between the two years, that is what our mark is.
One of the benefits I want you to reflect on today, starts in Gospel of Matthew on the ‘Beatitudes.’ These are to give us direction and even reflection on who and what God blesses in our Journey.
Being the inherited Children of God friends, we are established with so much in our lives by having the Living God as our savior, mentor, guide, threshold, and so on… So what does the children of God have? What does his Saints obtain?
Well lets start with the word ‘Blessed.’ So what does that really mean. In many commentaries there is a little controversy about the word, but they are in agreement towards the actual definition to ‘convey more the idea of happiness or favor.’
Poor in Spirit suggest one with out a hearty Spirit and even persecuted for their loyalty to God which they still remain stanch and true. These are whom God desires to be his followers as scripture states ‘when I am weak, he is strong.’ Then ‘Theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ Theirs is the sovereignty of Gods kingdom, solace and the manifestation of God’s power.
Those Mourn, here you immediately thought on the external signs of grief or loss. But it also gives us the understanding those that mourn who are particularly sensitive to sin in themselves and others. You grieve for those and even yourself that sin and feel deeply distressed cause by the greed and covetousness of selfish ambitions. Gods promise is those will be comforted.
The Meek, another way to see this is lowliness of heart, being gentle, humble. Gods reward is to Inherit the earth, here it conveys the thought of the Maaster that the world will be ultimately peopled by men and women who exemplify his Spirit in their lives. You become a Spiritual and good leader, boss, what ever it may be but putting Christ’s Spirit at work in your life.
Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness, you are longing for Spiritual fulfillment. You seek it regularly, you desire it constantly, to aim our lives to Christ, that is the all important thing in the sight of God. Gods reward is you will be filled, complete and not just satisfied.
Merciful, is two way street here. You will earnestly seek for mercy and God will reward you with mercy. Here men and women who banish all feelings of revenge for example and ill will out of their hearts seek to cultivate and attitude of love and symnpathy towards all mankind, especially towards the disfranchised and dispossessed.
Pure in Heart, or your personality, demonstrates integrity, singleness of purpose and absence of low aims but only driven to Christ centered reward. God’s reward you will see him in ways that goes way beyond us or what we are capable of doing.
Peacemakers, here you see the first seven are basically prerequisites of this beatitude. You portrait harmony and a will in the church body as an ambassador for Christ towards the perfection of God’s right in your life ‘perfection’ means ‘whole’ or ‘complete.’ God’s reward is we are to be called his child, every loving kin.
Persecuted for righteousness sake, and when people revile you and persecute you falsely.
What does God say in the end here ‘Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. This isn’t new to us today, but what was done before us.
Friends, don’t be fearful getting too close to God, and be very mindful when we are distant from him as well. Our destiny isn’t something to fear or regret, but to be rejoiced and be glad as its our inheritance we accept freely if we believe, and our names are written in the lambs book of life. The times when we feel distant from God, remember the promises of God and his reward for those that are faithful. When we fall, we get right back up and keep moving forward. Being a Saint isn’t being sinless, there is no such thing of that while on this earth, its being redeemed, forgiven, ever loved and our sin ever forgotten when we earnestly ask for forgiveness.
Listen to John describing an event in Revelation:
Then one of the elders addressed me saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, his Saints.”
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, let us pray.
Gracious Lord, thank you for giving us another wonderful day to serve you and your people. Help us Lord be reminded in being your servants, where we fall short, to always look to you. Remind us that our failures are only opportunities for you to shine even more in our lives. Let the beatitudes be a beacon of hope for all your Saints to strive for in a dark and fallen world in sin. As we remember our beloved Saints that has passed on, you have them in your bosom Lord, fulfilling your ever loving hope that once we lived the ‘Great Ordeal’ we have hope for tomorrow as it can only come from you. It is in Jesus Christ our Lord we pray, Amen.