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Barriers that Stop the Blessings of God

 January 24, 2007

 Bob Bradley

Mark 2:4

 

4 And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay.

 

Sunday night we talked about the kingdom of heaven and how that it was like a mustard seed.  The fellow takes it and sows it in the ground and it grows up and becomes the greatest of all herbs.  The Bible said that the birds of the air came and found lodging or nests in it. 

 

As we talked on that Sunday night, we talked about so many times in our Christian life as we start in our Christian life we all start small; everyone us does.  There is not a one of us that starts real spiritual or smart, but we all start on the same level.  I know that we all grow differently.  I know that we all have different statures in our Christian life.  As we grow there are things that we forget about a lot of times.  The bigger we get in our Christian life sometimes there's more area there for the enemy to get into.  Sometimes we allow him to get into our lives.  Sometimes we think that we are not vulnerable.  Sometimes we think that those things could never happen to us.  Sometimes we think a lot of different things, but we mentioned Sunday night that we need to take the gospel and run the birds out of our tree.  We need to get the enemy out of our life so that he doesn't eat and steal the fruit that you and I need to live and to be successful in our Christian lives.

 

Here's a fellow who has got the palsy.  You are going to find out as you read this lesson that Jesus in a house at Capernaum.  It is probably a feeder’s house.  We know that Jesus came there some time after He started His public ministry and this is his residence.  He calls the city of Capernaum His city.  His headquarters was out of here. 

 

As He is preaching, there are people everywhere.  He is on the inside of the house.  If we would have been there on that night there would have been people standing on the outside of the house looking through the windows and looking through the doors.  There would have been no way for anyone else to get in.  As you read this story, you are going to find out that there is this fellow here that was very sick.  He had the palsy.  He needed to get to where Jesus was at, but there were some obstacles, there were some road blocks, and there were some barriers that were keeping him from getting to where Jesus was at. 

 

The barriers were there, the crowd was there they couldn't get in because of the crowd.  Every way to get to where Jesus was at; was stopped.  Even though there were some great barriers here, he had some friends that cared about him.  We know that they went to the top of the roof and they tore up the roof.  They let him down in the midst where Jesus is at and we know that Jesus Christ healed him. 

 

I want to talk about some barriers in our life that is keeping us and that is stopping the blessing of God in our life; just like the crowd was separating this particular fellow from the blessing that he needed.  There are some things in my life and in your life that it’s just like we build a wall or we allow a barricade to be built and it stops the blessing of God.  The blessing of God comes up there then stops and we are behind the wall where we are not being blessed. 

 

You might say, “Why is that important?”  If we are not being blessed, there are a lot of things that happens in our life.  When we are not being blessed, we lose hope.  When we are not being blessed, we get very unhappy.  When we are not being blessed, we think that no one loves us, no one cares about us.  Above all; when we are not being blessed, if we are not very careful we will start blaming God. 

 

The Bible says that God is a spirit.  They that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.  Since the Bible says that, then that tells me that if I'm going to worship God then I'm going to have to have a right spirit.  The Bible says that there are many spirits gone into the world.  We know that there is.  We know that there are all kinds of spirits out there.  But there is only One Holy Spirit of God and if we are going to worship God and do things that are going to bring glory to God then we must worship Him with our spirits and I know that when I worship Him with my spirit then these members of this body, they do things that brings glory to Him.  We must worship Him and we must have a right spirit within us if we are going to worship God.  As we worship God when I have a right spirit within me and you have a right spirit within you; then God blesses us.

 

I want to talk about some simple barriers that separate us from the blessing of God.  In other words it stops the blessing of God in my life.

 

A Spirit of Covetness

 

We don't think much about that.  The word covetness is a great word.  The Webster's Dictionary says covetness means:  “having an urgent or often unscrupulous desire for possessions.”  That's what the word covetness means and the word unscrupulous means that we have no conscious doing anything to get those things that we want.  In others words, there is no conscious within us.  We don't care who we run over.  We don't care who it may hurt.  We don't think too much about it, we just want something.  If I have the spirit of covetness in me, that builds a great big barrier between me and the blessings of God.  It stops the blessing of God in my life.  I cannot have that kind of spirit in me and expect God to bless me.  It just will not happen.

 

Achan

 

One example is Achan.  Everybody remembers the story of Achan.  Everybody knows who Achan was.  He was a fellow that--if you read the book of Joshua--he was in the army.  He was one of them leading Egypt.  They come across the red sea and they come over into the land of Israel and he goes to Jericho with them.  He fights in the battle at Jericho.  He saw the miracles that happened at the red sea.  He saw the miracles that happened at Egypt.  He saw all these things and he saw the blessing of God.  He saw what God can do for him.  Yet, when he comes over into a place where God says that everything in here is accursed just save Rahab, the gold, and the silver.  Take those things and put them into the treasury of the Lord.  The Lord said to burn everything else up.  We know when Achan gets here, he sees gold, silver and clothes.  He takes those things back to his tent and buries them in his tent.

 

The next little battle that Joshua goes to is in a little city called Ai.  We know that the children of Israel are defeated up there.  Thirty-six men die up there.  They come back defeated.  Do you know why they are defeated?  There was a fellow here that had a spirit of covetness in him. 

 

There are results and a reaction to the things that you and I do.  It stopped the blessing of God.  There was a barrier built there because Achan had a spirit of covetness.  There was a barrier built here.  It stopped the blessing of God.  The army of Joshua defeated.  People died up there.  Not only that, Achan and his family also died because he had a spirit of covetness that was within him. 

 

There is nothing wrong with wanting things.  There is nothing wrong in life by wanting to work and desiring to have a better home or a better car.  That's all got to be put in the right place though.  The Lord Jesus Christ has got to be first in our life.  I cannot have a spirit of covetness within me.  I cannot go through life just running over people and doing anything to get what I want.  I can't live like that and expect the blessing of God to be upon my life.  There's a wall, a barrier when I have that kind of spirit within me and the blessing of God stops. 

 

Malachi

 

If we read the book of Malachi, we will find out that the spirit of covetness dries up the blessing of God in our lives.  God asks the people in the book of Malachi 3:8; he says “will a man rob God.”  God begins to tell them that they have robbed Him.  He told them, “You have not given the tithes and the offerings that I have commanded you to give.  You have not given those things.  You have coveted them.  You used them for your own benefit and for your own personal use.  Those things which belongs to me (God); you have taken and used it for your own personal use.”  Do you know what God did?  God just quit sending the rain.  There was no blessing there.  Everything just dried up because fierce people here had a spirit of covetness within them. 

 

Do you know what God tells you and me?  If we will just honor Him with what we have and if we will honor Him with what belongs to Him; just what belongs to Him; then God will bless us in a way that He'll open the windows of heaven and He'll pour us out a blessing that we can't even contain.  Because God loves us and God honors His Word.

 

These people here at Malachi were not necessarily dying.  They were not very sick.  They were not completely and totally destitute.  Instead of being able to enjoy the blessings of God and go through life being filled with joy and happiness, because they had a spirit of covetness here, they were just being beat from pillar to post.  They were living from day to day.  They didn't know what was going to happen because they had a spirit of covetness.  Let’s tear down the walls that we build up with our covetness spirit.  Let's get rid of it.  Let's take a dozer and push it over.  That will be one area that we will not have to worry about stopping the blessing of God in our lives. 

 

A Rebellious Spirit

 

A rebellious spirit is someone that will not take and listen to the authority of Almighty God.  In the context that we are talking about tonight, it’s someone that will absolutely not come under the authority and leadership of Almighty God.  When I am rebellious, then I build a large wall and the blessings of God stops in my life and it stops in your life.  When we take the attitude that I don't have to listen to God, I hear what God's Word says, I read what God's Word says, I hear God's Word preached, I hear all that, I know what it says; but I am not going to do that.  Then we build a large barrier between us and the blessings of God and we are not being blessed.  It's because we are rejecting, and resisting the Will of God.  There are so many folks in the Bible that we could look at.

 

Jonah

 

One real simple character is Jonah.  God said one word to Jonah.  He simply said one little word to Jonah.  He said, “Jonah, you need to go.”  God wanted to bless Jonah and wanted Jonah to be a blessing to the people of Nineveh.  That's what God wanted.  God said one word and it was a little word.  It meant “go.”  Jonah said “no.”  It got him in a world of trouble.  He resisted the authority of Almighty God.  He was rebellious.  He said, “I know what God said.  I know that God wants me to go.” but he says, “I'm not going.”  He builds this big wall.  He builds this huge wall between him and the blessings of God. 

 

I cannot and you cannot and we cannot resist the authority of Almighty God and expect God to bless us.  It's just not going to happen.  We just can't live that way.  We just can't think that we can do whatever we want to and rebel against God then think that God is going to bless us.  It's just not going to happen.  God was able to bring Jonah's will through a bunch of trouble and problems in his life.  Even after Jonah goes to Nineveh and preaches there, Jonah is still yet not happy.  If you read the end of the story, he still yet wasn't happy. 

 

When we rebel against the Will of God, the blessings stop.  Tragedy happens to all of us.  Everyone on planet earth at sometime in life, we are going to have some very difficult times.  Sometimes in life we are going to lose family members.  Every one of us will.  Sometimes in life, we are going to get deathly ill.  The reason that I'm saying this is because sometimes when these things come along; we blame God.  “God, you shouldn't have let my child die.”  “God, you shouldn't have let my husband die.”  Sometimes we blame God and we resist the Will of God, we resist the authority of God and we build a big wall.  The blessing of God stops. 

 

I don't understand death and you don't either.  I don’t understand why God allows people to die and allows wicked people live on and on.  I don't understand that.  I don't understand why little innocent babies die and some of the most murderous people that has ever been on planet earth are still alive today.  I'm not going to try to explain that because I don't understand that and you don't either.  I do know one thing. 

 

I know that there is a God that is sitting a throne in heaven and He knows exactly what He is doing.  When His will is carried out in my life, I need to accept His Will for my life.  If I'm living in the Will of God and I know that I'm living right then I need to accept that, praise Him and go on.  If I do that then God will continue to bless me.  If I don't do that there will be a big wall built there and the blessing of God will stop.  I know that there is a God in heaven that is in control.  When we listen to Him and reverence Him, when we do what He asks us to do and don't build this big wall of rebellion then things will do well.  God will make better people out of us when we get through it.  That's what I want to be.

 

Worldly Spirit

 

Demas

 

If you read about a fellow named Demas, he was one of the fellows that were with the Apostle Paul.  If you read some of things about what Paul said about Demas here in Colossians 4:14:

 

14 Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you.

 

Paul is sending greetings from him to the Colossian church.  If you will go over and read in the book Philemon in verse 24:

 

24 Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my fellowlabourers.

 

Paul calls him a fellow laborer/a fellow servant.  We really don't know a whole lot about this fellow, but as you look at him and the things that were happening during this time; there is no doubt that this man heard Paul preach one time and he responded by faith and became a great warrior for Paul.  He had become a great laborer, a fellow servant with Paul.  Listen to what the Bible says about him.

 

The Apostle Paul in II Tim 4:10 states:

 

10 For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

 

I don't know what happened.  I do know that this fellow knew the Apostle Paul and heard him preach.  Also, Paul when he was writing some of the letters to the church, sent greetings from him.  I know Paul said that he was a fellow laborer.  I know that but there came a time that the world came calling.  I don't know whether he saw all the luxury and all the pleasure of Rome.  I don't know what it was, but there came a time that he threw away his friendship.  He threw away his friends and he followed the world.  Friend I can't and you can't; when we follow the world there is a barrier built there and the blessings of God stop.  The Bible says that.  That is serious stuff.

 

So many times we heard great people preach.  So many times we sat at great people's feet and they have taught us.  So many times we went to church, went to different meetings, and done great things, but the world comes calling; and if we are not very careful we will follow that call. 

 

The sad words that Paul said here: “Demas has forsaken me.”  Paul is about ready to die, about ready to be beheaded here and says that Demas has forsaken me; loving this present world.  That's horrible to say when you think about where Paul is at and how he needed help and how he needed people's support.  For him to write to Timothy and say Timothy, “Do you remember Demas?  He has forsaken me.  He's no longer around.  He was our laborer.  He worked with us and he worked beside of us, but the world came calling and he loved it.  Now he's left us.” 

 

It's sad when people forsake their friends.  It's sad when people forsake those that they worked beside at churches for many years, but the world comes calling and they just simply abandon their work, abandon the truth because they love this present world.  When we do that we build a huge wall and the blessings of God stop.  We may still yet come to church.  We may still yet go through the motions.  If the world comes calling and I follow the world, I may sit in the pew but the blessing of God is not upon my life and it’s not upon your life either.  It's serious when we build the wall out of worldliness between us and the blessings of God.

 

Praying

 

James 4:2 made the statement:

 

2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

 

The reason that we don't have anything is because we don't ask.  When I am living in the Will of God--been born again--when we pray, that keeps a clear way.  That keeps all of the obstacles out of the way between me and the blessings of God.  That keeps all of the things that gets in the way, the clutter that gets in a lot of times; when we pray that moves all of that stuff out of the way and we have direct access  to the blessings of Almighty God.  However, the reason that we don't have; is because we don't pray. 

 

One of the great things that the church today in America is doing that's failing; they are failing to pray.   We use to have great prayer warriors. 

 

If you read about the history of James--and this is Bible history--they named James “camel knees.”  If you ever read much history, Bible history and Bible stories about different Apostles, you can read some of these things.  They nicknamed James “ole camel knees” because he had big calluses upon his knees from where he prayed all the time. 

 

If we need to do anything today; we need to pray.  When I don't pray, when you don't pray the big barrier that's built there stops us from the blessings of Almighty God.  We need to pray.  Not only that but we cannot have an unforgiving spirit about us. 

 

Spirit of Un-forgiveness

 

We absolutely cannot have a spirit of un-forgiveness in here. 

 

I have heard people say, “This guy did this and that did that. I just can't forgive them.”  You can forgive them if you are saved.  You may not want to forgive them.  You may not ever forgive them, but if you are saved--with the help of the Lord--you can forgive them. 

 

If I have a spirit of un-forgiveness in me then that is just like building a great wall between me and the blessings of God; when I do that the blessings of God stop. 

 

Look at Luke 23:34:

 

34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.

 

You will find out that Jesus is on the cross.  There are three crosses here.  Jesus is on the middle cross and He begins to pray, “...Father, forgive them for they know not what they do...”  Do you know who He is praying for?  He is praying for those who are killing Him, for those that spit in His face, for those that pulled His beard out, for those that are mocking and ridiculing Him; that's who He is praying for. 

 

We have to have that same kind of spirit if we want to receive and continue accept the blessings of God.  We have to get rid of the wall of un-forgiveness.  The unforgiving spirit that we have; we have to get rid of it if I want God to bless me and for His blessing to be upon my life.

 

Critical Spirit

 

Not only that, but a lot of times in our life we have a spirit that is critical.  A lot of times we don't come to church to see the good in what goes on; but so many times we come to church, then we leave church and we go home.  We see someone in a few days and we say, “Was you at church?”  We don't look at what good things have happened.  We don't look at what good things our people are doing.  We get very critical about things.  We get very critical about people.  It's easy to see the wrong in people.  It's easy to be critical about people.  It's very easy to see the wrong, the sin, and the mistakes in other people; it’s easy to do. 

 

When I have a spirit like that within me, and the only thing that I see is the wrong that people do, the only I see are the mistakes that people make; a spirit like that is a critical spirit and that spirit will separate me from the blessing of Almighty God.  If we would all be honest, when we are picking at someone else, that person is probably a whole lot closer to God than we are and we see that and know that.  We do that a lot of times to try to bring them down from this level up here.  We are way down here and they are way up here and we try to pick on them ridiculing them, being critical of them to bring them down to our level instead of us coming up to their level. 

 

If I have a critical spirit like that within me and about me; that builds a big wall and separates me from the blessing of God.  We need to shove that wall over.  None of us has a halo over our head.  There is not a one of us sitting here that has not committed some kind of a sin after we got saved; some greater than others, some more than others--sure.  I'm not condoning sin; I'm not patting your sin on the back.  I am telling you that it is time that we take the wall of criticism, wall of being critical and push it over.  Get it out of the way for the blessings to flow into our lives.

 

A Spirit of Indifference

 

The spirit of indifference means that I really don't care what happens.  I really don't have an opinion about this, I really don't have an opinion about that, and I really don't care what happens.  It doesn't bother me anymore.  I don't care.  That's really what indifference means.  If I've got that kind of an attitude about things and coming to church, if I have the spirit of indifference about me, then I just really don't care. 

 

That stops the blessing of God from coming in my life.  I cannot be indifferent to church services.  If I am indifferent to those things--so many times we show no interest in anything.  So many times we don't show any interest, we have no desire, we don't think anything about church activities, we don't think about coming to church as being an important thing, but the writer of the book of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 10:25:

 

25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

 

When I become indifferent to church activities, to come to worship, to the things of God; when I become indifferent to the things of God, when I am getting to the place that I don't think about the things of God any longer then that builds a wall between me and the blessings of God and the blessings of God stop.  That’s a wall that we need to get rid of; that's a wall that we need to push over.  Do you know what we need to be?  We need to be like the psalmist when he wrote in Psalm 122:1:

 

1 A Song of degrees of David. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD.

 

It excites me to come to church.  It's a great privilege for us to be able to come to church, to come and to offer our petitions of thanks and praise unto an Almighty God that saved us.  That's a great privilege to you and me.  Coming to church shouldn't be a burden.  Coming to church is a privilege.  Coming to church is a blessing. 

 

We make it a burden and I know that it’s a struggle for some of the folks to get ready because of their health.  I understand that and I'm not necessarily talking about that kind of a burden.  However, if it is just a struggle; I have heard people say, “I've got to go to church today or I've got to go to church tonight or it’s Sunday and I've got to get up and go to Sunday school--shame on you if you feel that way--Shame on you, if you have got that kind of spirit of indifference about you.  The blessing of God has stopped when we get that kind of an attitude because coming to church is a great thing and we don't need to be indifferent about that. 

 

Spirit of Self-Glorification

 

That means when I get to feeling in my own Christian life that I need to be patted on the back and I need everybody to praise me for the good things that happen.  Everybody needs to come and pat me on the back.  When I get that kind of a spirit within me, then the blessings of God stops.  Whatever is accomplished that is good, we need to praise God and not self. 

 

So many of our folks today, they want to do things, they want to be on committees and they want to participate in things as long as they can get the pats on the back and receive all the glory.  However, when the glory goes to God they want to pack up shop and go home because there's no one telling them what a great job that they are doing.  We need to appreciate people and thank people for the great jobs that they do, but if that's all you are looking for in life; the spirit of self-glory has already got you.  It's already built a big wall the between you and the blessings of God and the blessing of God will stop in your life.

 

Spirit of Disobedience

 

We build a big wall out of the spirit of disobedience.  One example is back in the history of the nation of Israel when they wanted a king. 

 

Israel Wanted a King

 

They said that they wanted a king and they wanted to be like everyone else and we know that God sent them Saul.   Saul was no doubt a very handsome guy, a great big strong rugged, looking fellow and for a long time Saul done fine.  However, there came a time in Saul's life that God simply told him to go, take the armies and kill the Amalekites and destroy everything that they have. 

 

When you read the book of Samuel you will find out that Saul did not do that.  The Bible will tell us that Saul was disobedient.  Saul and some of the people saved some of the cattle and saved Agag the king.  That was disobedience. 

 

That stopped the blessing of God.  Saul might have well built a great big wall between him and the blessings of God because when he was disobedient then the blessings of God stopped.  We know that because of his disobedience here that he was rejected king and Saul lived a miserable life and when he died he was still yet miserable. 

 

The blessings stop when disobedience starts.  That happened to Saul and that happens to you and me today.  When we are disobedient in whatever area of life it is; it doesn't have to be something huge, it doesn't have to be something big, but the very simply things of disobedience great or small stops us and builds a barrier between us and the blessing of God.

 

All the things that I mentioned here tonight and there are many more that we could talk about, but these things separate us from the blessings of God. 

 

The reason that we talked about these things and looked at these things is that I want you to be blessed.  I want us to be blessed.  I want us to be able to experience all the blessings that God has for us.  I want us to be able to receive the blessing and everything that God has got for us; I want it for us.  Some of these walls are in every one of our lives and we need to tear them down so that we can get back to where God can bless us.

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