Gen 47:10, And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from his presence. 
This morning we will conclude our consideration of this passage as it relates to scriptures within the New Testament. We spent several weeks in the Old Testament with respect to the blessing that we are to be to those around us of the glory of God. It should be that others see a difference in our lives and want to know what makes it so that we consistently honor the Lord in all our dealings. 
As we have seen, this was in evidence in that even those, such as the Pharaoh desired to be blessed by the God of the nation of Israel. While they held to their own gods and idols, these outsiders still saw that there was a blessing to be received by those who held to the God of the Children of Israel. 
We also considered the fact that in blessing others, we bless God because we are a witness of Him in truth and reality in this realm. It is through His people that God blesses others and is blessed Himself in all that He has done. 
This brings us directly into our first scripture of the morning, Luke 2:25-35. Please open your Bibles to it as we will read it together. Luke 2:25-35, And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, "Now Lord, Thou dost let Thy bond-servant depart In peace, according to Thy word; For my eyes have seen Thy salvation, Which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, A light of revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Thy people Israel." And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed — and a sword will pierce even your own soul — to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." 
In this passage, we have a man of God who had been patiently awaiting the revelation of the Christ. He was advanced in years and had been told that he would see the Promised One. As he was going about his daily business, he was led into the temple by the Holy Spirit and he was brought before the Christ-child. Notice that the very first thing that he did was to take Jesus into his arms and bless God. In the fulfillment of his heart’s desire to see the One in whom the salvation of the all the ages was promised, Simeon held the boy and blessed God Almighty. Then, after declaring the truth of who the Child was, Simeon then blessed Jesus’ parents. 
Please note how the order of the blessing proceeded forth. First he blessed the Lord, then he proceeded to bless others. As the Lord is blessed, so is there the opportunity and the desire to express His blessings upon others. Simeon couldn’t help but to tell all that the Lord had shown him concerning this child in his arms. Everything in the history of humanity was enfolded into this precious child and Simeon was the instrument of God’s declaration that all humanity would come face-to-face with the expressed love of God in the giving of His Only Begotten Son. On that basis, Simeon declared the Lord’s blessing upon these parents who had given themselves to honor God in the manner in which they offered themselves to be the earthly parentage of the Son of God. 
In Christ, both Our Heavenly Father and man receive the full blessing of God. As the Son of God, Jesus did only that which pleased the Father, beginning with the fact that He humbled Himself to come into His Creation to die on the cross for our salvation. Phil 2:5-8, Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 
Not only did He give up His position, but He took upon Himself the placement as a servant. He could have been the greatest national ruler that the earth had ever witnessed. Instead, He came to earth in lowly estate as the suffering servant of all and by Whom every man, woman, and child could be saved. He lived His earthly life with the heart that wanted to serve and to be of service to both The Father and man. In that course, Jesus honored and blessed the Father in that all He did, He did by the guidance and the obedience of being a blessing to the One from Whom He was sent. John 5:30, "I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. In all His ways and dealings with people, Christ did only that which pleased and blessed the Father in the complete expression of the heart of God’s love to mankind. 
Jesus gave articulation to that heart of God in the manner in which He encouraged those who would listen to what He had to say to them. He told them just how blessed they were of God in the course of the life that was given them by the Lord God Almighty. Let us read together the great passage of just how blessed we are in the working manifestation of all that God has invested in the lives of His people. 
Please turn in your Bibles to the Sermon on the Mount as recorded in Matthew Chapter 5, verses 1-16. As we do so, keep in mind that countless books and sermons have been produced concerning this great proclamation of the heart of God toward humanity and the manner in which mankind should be viewing each interaction with one another. We are, however, focusing simply upon that which is before us in the blessing that is ours by the Hand of God in operation in our living relationship with Christ, Our Lord and Savior. 
Matt 5:1-16, And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. And opening His mouth He began to teach them, saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. "Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. "Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. 
	Each of the blessings expounded upon by Our Lord are an expression of the relationship that is found as man submits himself and his heart to God. It is in Him that these blessings flow forth in unrestricted and overabundant love and grace and mercy. Note that Christ highlighted that the ills and the sufferings and the tragedies of the present time will all find their resolution in the fact that we know that God is in control and that He is causing all things to work together for good in our lives as the Apostle Paul would later specifically reiterate. That only takes place as we look to God and count on Him and rely on His faithfulness and His lovingkindness to manifest Himself, through Jesus Christ, by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit in our hearts and in our minds. 
	This is something that many of us fail to consider. It isn’t just a matter of thinking that we are ok because we have been told that God will see us through each hardship and dilemma, which He will do. It is a matter of focusing our minds on the reality of Jesus Christ in our hearts in order to see past the circumstances and to view everything from the heavenly perspective that we are completely blessed in Him. We are so blessed in the overflowing and superabundant Omnipotent and Omniscient and Omnipresent plan and purpose of God being shown forth through the lives that we live on this earth before all those around us.   
It all comes back to the last verse that we just read, verse 16. "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. All that Christ did was for the sake of bringing glory to The Father by being a blessing to everyone whom His life touched. This fully included even you and me and all who will call upon His name for salvation and who believe upon Him for eternal life. Just as Christ did only that which pleased the Father, so is it to be our very heart to so bless God that we become a blessing to those in abject spiritual death who need the light of the Lord to illumine their lives on this earth. 
This is so very evident as we read in the gathering together of the disciples with Christ at what we call the Last Supper. Matt 26:26-28, And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. 
As Our Lord prepared to lay down His life for those He came to save, for you and for me, He did it with a blessing. This is an example of why we offer a blessing each time we partake of the bounty of the Lord on our tables and in our hearts and lives. Everything that comes to us comes through the grace and the mercy and the divine and awesome plan of God in our lives, and for that we are to bless Him with all our beings. This was the eve of the culmination of all that God intended in the giving of His Son. In that knowledge, The Son of God gave a blessing upon us all in the breaking of His body and the spilling of His blood as the only True and Holy sacrifice that brings eternal salvation.
Let us conclude this deliberation with the pronounced blessings of several of the Lord’s Apostles. In each of these blessings, there is the recognition that all that we are is because God so loved us that He gave His Only Begotten Son to die in our stead and to bring us into the only life that is of any value on earth, the life that blesses God.
The Apostle Paul proclaims the emphasis of this blessing directly upon God as he recounts how the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount is evidenced in the lives of those who are brought into this living relationship with God in Christ. 2 Cor 1:3-5, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 
He then encourages us with the manifested love of the Father in so bringing us unto Himself in mercy and in grace and in love. Eph 1:3-6, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 
	The Apostle Peter continues with the declaration of how we are to understand and to rejoice in the truth of all that Jesus accomplished as He demonstrated God’s blessing into us. 1 Peter 1:3-5, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 
    	Our last passages are from John as he recounts what he was shown in the glory of God’s blessing of mankind as it was revealed in the Person of Jesus Christ for all of eternity. Rev 19:7-9, "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." And it was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And he said to me, "Write, 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he said to me, "These are true words of God." And Rev 22:7, "And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book." 
	In the Word of God, we are blessed with all the truth and the faithfulness of God’s working on behalf of those who will accept and cherish the great love with which He has loved us. In all the blessedness of its revelation of the heart of God to us in Jesus Christ, not only are we blessed beyond all measure, but He is blessed as His Word is returned to Him in love and in joy and in obedient service to His glory alone. So be it!    
And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from his presence. Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Deut 31:8. And the Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear, or be dismayed." Amen.