The Key to Blessing — Joshua Daniel

The Lord Jesus gave to us certain important keys, basic keys to blessing. You know, when people are told there is blessing here or blessing there, you will always see people who say, yes, I want blessing.

The Beatitude of Poverty of Spirit

I want blessing. Everybody wants blessing without paying the basic price or putting yourself in alignment with the blessing. Now, what did the Lord Jesus teach? Matthew 5, verses 2 and 3,. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. See, folks, how wide a blessing this is. It's not limited. The unsearchable riches of Christ and of heaven are open. To whom? To whom belongs this blessedness?

Blessed are the poor in spirit. Our attitudes today, you know, our whole manner today, is based on an arrogant spirit. When Moses went to Pharaoh and said, let my people go, he said, who is the Lord that I should obey him?

The Consequences of Arrogance Before God

Mark you, when you have that measure of arrogance, you're headed to disaster. There's no question about that. He that cometh to God must believe that he is. Now, did anybody ask ever, I don't presume I was born of any mother?

I have no mother. Nobody ever had such a thought. But today, where is God? Why should I obey him? I'll keep to my own ways. All right? Whatever you sow, you reap. You're not going to sow oats and reap a harvest of wheat.

No. What you sow, you will reap. And today, the measure of people's pride has exceeded all boundaries. But friends, we come to an honest appraisal. If you turn to Psalm 8 chapter, you will find a very honest, thoughtful appraisal.

And the fourth words, you know, three and four. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man? What is man? That you are mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him.

Look at that. You know, I never got as far as in mathematics as to study astronomy. Now, as one scientist said, the perfect mathematics involved in planetary movements and so on, the world should have been created by a mathematician par excellence.

Yes. And the psalmist says, when I consider the heavens, what is man? What am I? Why should you have to look at me at all? All my righteousnesses are as filthy rags before you. Why should you look at me at all?

You see, folks, you can be humble. You know, you can teach yourself. Well, I'm just one of over six billion inhabitants of this planet. Who am I? What am I? There are millions of people better than me.

You see, you can have a very humble opinion about yourself. Then your attitudes will put you in alignment with the blessings of God. You see, you have all kinds of pride. I only mentioned one yesterday.

The Pride of Education and Knowledge

High education. There are not too many who overcome the temptation to pride, which comes from being way ahead of others. You see, you're way ahead of others and you feel superior. Perhaps in a sense that is but natural.

When we think of wisdom and when we think of the expanse of knowledge today, what the most knowledgeable person really knows is a mere fraction. A mere fraction. So we can say, hey, I know my subject to an extent, but there are a lot of other subjects which I hardly know anything about.

You know, some of the branches of study today in universities, I ask them, what is the research you are doing? Oh, this is the research I'm doing. Never heard of that. Would you please tell me what exactly is that about?

They try to explain it to me, but let me tell you, my profound ignorance is always readily revealed to me. See, you can be arrogant. Oh, fine, I know all about it. That's not true. That's just a facade.

And after all, today nobody can say, I know my own subject perfectly through and through. No. Then why can't we be humble? Why can't we be learners? I tell people straight away when I don't know their particular subject, please tell me, I'm profoundly ignorant.

Please tell me. And they begin to tell me things which I never knew. What's wrong about learning? What's wrong about being humble? You see, one has to be very careful. Am I really right with God? Which means, have I a broken spirit?

I want to tell you that's the key to the blessing. And I find that most people have no such humility. Well, of course, you know the other kinds of pride, national pride. Every nation is trying to boost the pride of being a member of their nation.

National, Personal, and Cultural Pride

You see? Now, I don't know all that is taking place in Europe, but there is this tremendous competition. We don't want this unipolar world. Well, a new word coined to specify America. You know, an American told me that walking in the West End, a very godly man told me, he just asked direction of a passing Englishman in London.

And he looked at her, are you American? I hate America. And walked away. What for? What for? Is it the war of independence, which they won? What for? Well, we live in a world of intense competition. That's there.

My market share, my eminence in this field or the other field. Well, my dear friends, that's just the attitude that will make you a spiritual dwarf. Spiritual, moral, mental dwarf. What's wrong about learning the best from anywhere?

What's wrong about that? What's wrong in learning that you don't know? Because most people don't know that they don't know. That's their problem. I want to know that I don't know. That makes me humble.

That makes me ready to learn. Well, my dear friends, so you have national pride. You have facial pride. As I look around at you, some of you may need a facelift. Don't you think so, as some of your friends told you that?

Folks, I even heard of a founder of one of the great churches of today, who needed three facelifts. Man, with that three-fold vanity, I doubt if she is really in the living body of Christ. You know, so our pride extends these fields.

Humanity's Frailty and Dependence on God

Now, folks, what more do you see? Talking about pride, Isaiah's second chapter and the 22nd verse tells you, He's you from man, whose breath is in his nostrils. For wherein is he to be accounted of? Is he?

Wherein is he to be accounted of? You know, no wonder every day I make a point of saying to the Lord, You have given me another day, and I thank you. Sure, people than me have been called away, but you have given me another day.

My dear friends, we can be a humble, grateful people. Instead of putting ourselves in a confrontational position. Who am I confronting? God? Oh, that's a dangerous position to put yourself in. You're no match.

You should never put yourself in a confrontational position. Your breath is in your nostrils. Now, if you turn to Psalms 39 and the 4th and 5th verses, this is what the psalmist says. Psalm 39, 4 and 5.

Lord, make me to know my end and the measure of my days, what it is. That I may know how frail I am. On the other day, I got my cricket bat out of the corner. I said, let me go and play some, hit some balls as hard as I used to.

Across the boundary. Well, my dear friends, what did I discover? That in a very short time I was puffing and patting. I didn't have the same strength. You see, I did get my eye on the ball, but there wasn't the same force in my batting.

Know how frail I am. Folks, a man told me this. A very fine man who was the headmaster of a large school. He said I had TB cancer. Sorry, I had TB of the bone. And they removed some six to seven inches of the bone in my leg.

I was in hospital and I was praying. I said, Lord, I need the use of my legs. I need to walk. And the Lord touched me. The x-ray proved that the bone had grown in place. Now, the man used to walk with me, you know, and he told me this.

Now, what does that indicate? Here is a humble man looking to God with a humble spirit. We don't have that today. We have an arrogant mind. You know, folks, one young fellow fell off his, now, NASA engineer or weather predictor, whatever it is.

He was playing kites, you know, and he fell off the roof. I mean, the upper story. And then his leg. He was a little boy. And his mother brought him to me, saying, after the fall, his bone is not growing properly.

So there is a disparity of an inch or one and a half inches. Well, I prayed for him in the name of Jesus. Perfectly healed. The Lord healed him. Now, my dear folks, but I say, can man do that? Can I do that?

No. Obviously, I have nothing to do with it. It's the Lord. As a matter of fact, I don't believe in advertising these things. But I'm telling you these things so that we might have a humble heart and know that what Jesus says is true.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now, what do we see? When we go into the presence of God, there should be nothing between us and God. Why should there be? Fancy, I want to talk to my wife and I get behind the wall and begin to address her.

Does that sound nice? Does it look practical? No. We don't get on the other side of the wall to talk to a friend. No. But we keep a wall of pride or some hidden thing between us and the Lord. And then we get into a huff.

Say, hey, he didn't answer my prayer. Good reason he didn't answer your prayer. Good for you that he didn't answer your prayer. You need to be put in your place. See, God should bend over backwards and he should abrogate.

He should just get rid of all his principles. Just to please me? Does it make sense? Can he be God that way? Can he be a God of righteousness? No. If God begins to bend to my wishes, he will cease to be God.

Surrendering Rather Than Fighting Against God

I have learned that when wisdom comes to me, I say, why should I fight against God? What do I gain by fighting against God? What am I doing? I'm wasting my time. I am destroying my talents. God, I will not fight against you.

See, friends, I did lose a lot of time that way. And let me tell you, it is perfectly worthless activity. It makes no sense. When God says, blessed are you, I want to bless you. And all that I ask is a broken spirit.

A humble spirit. And heaven is yours. The immeasurable blessings of heaven are yours. Folks, and we don't want any of that blessing? We want God at our own terms? No. That doesn't work. It will not work.

It does not work that way at all when it comes to revival. You know, the 20th century is behind us. Early in the 20th century, there was a revival in Wales. We are not far from Wales. But when I started preaching in England, one of the foremost preachers here, Dr. Eric Hutchings, said to me, Wales is the hardest place to preach today.

Well, I had to preach in Wales. I found, however, that many hearts were open to the gospel. And I saw a lot of blessing. But I did not speak much in Wales. I grieved over the fact that many of the chapels, which were open at the time of the revival, closed because there was nobody there.

Now you see that situation not just in Wales anymore, but all over the country. Passing through Glasgow, one of my friends said to me, oh, I said, what beautiful, massive church buildings. Oh, he said, they're no longer church buildings.

They are whiskey go downs. And as I passed through London, I grieved to see some of those buildings, where perhaps a lot of good worshipers worshiped once upon a time, turned into all kinds of heathen places, with idols installed probably.

Idolatry, Drought, and National Repentance

You know, the Bible says the idol is a doctrine of vanity. That's it, a doctrine of vanity. And yet, almost by the day, idols are being brought into this country. Well, you know, yesterday's newspaper, as I looked at it, it showed a very arid reservoir with cracked clay bottom.

Arabia? No. Some other place? No. Here in Britain, grey water shortage. I see people walking around London without umbrellas these days. That was not a gentleman's way at all. You know? Some crazy people walked around without umbrellas.

But people who knew their geographical position, they walked along with their stately umbrellas. No, really. You see, I preach in drought-ridden places. And in one place they said, we've not had rain here for such a long time, and we are suffering.

You know, folks? So they had put it into their schedule of meetings, schedule of meetings, that one meeting was confined to praying for rain. To leave town one day earlier, leaving my parents behind to finish the concluding meeting.

And this special meeting was for the concluding night. But I had to catch my train a little earlier than that meeting. Repentance and humbling had begun in that place. I don't know whether it was the High Anglicans or the Church Missionary Society that had worked there.

However, such an arid, drought-ridden place. You know, folks, it was difficult for me to get to the train station. The downpour was such. The water beat into the jeep that was taking me to the station.

And the water was flowing by the roads. And, of course, there was no need for that special meeting which had been announced. There was no need for that. And all that had taken place during those three days, the earlier three days, was the people began to humble themselves.

Yes, years of drought cancelled in one afternoon. You see, folks? We don't see Britain with an attitude at all of humbling itself. But shaking the fist, your fist in the face of God, does not pay you a dime, a penny.

You're going to be the worst for it. But this has become a national attitude of arrogance. The Bible says, He that humbleth himself, Jesus said, will be exalted. Folks, I attended some of those special days of prayer for Britain.

Humility as the Way to Restoration

Do you know there were special days when everyone of any importance in Britain went to church and prayed to turn the fortunes of war. I could see full churches, full of officers and servicemen. And the cabinet, the king, the queen, everyone would be there praying for Britain.

We've got a bunch of people today around the country who do not know the secret of bringing blessing back to Britain. We cannot humble ourselves? Well, God can humble us in a jiffy. It doesn't take that long for God.

Humble yourself, therefore, underneath the mighty hand of God, says the Bible, that in due season he may exalt you. God knows how to exalt us. But I tell God, I deserve no exaltation, whatever. You see, heaven is too good a place for a fellow like me.

I never deserve heaven. You know, some of us feel we have a kind of right and a lean on heaven. Not at all. It's by the sheer grace of God to a totally undeserving people that you and I are admitted into heaven.

It's entirely because of the cross. It's wholly because Jesus died in my place that I'm admitted to heaven. You know, this nonchalance of today. You know, the kind of atmosphere that we create in our churches.

Oh, let's have a jolly time here. That's all. Let's have a time when we will apply our hearts to wisdom. It's not there. Let us repent and give to God not lip service, but heart service. It's simply not there.

The Cost of Discipleship and Christian Service

You know, my dear friends, in the game of cricket, you find that you have to use a lot of concentration, like any other sport today. And sportsmen are ready to commit themselves to such a dedicated life.

They say, hey, do I want to excel in sprint? In long distance? In soccer? This is what I have to do. There's a price to be paid. And we want blessing. We want blessing for the whole of Britain. Well, there's a price to be paid.

You know, there are a lot of people here in Britain today who are only here for financial reasons. And I say this is missionaries in the reverse direction. A missionary is a man who says, how can I lift the people?

How can I bless the people? How can I give? That's what I say wherever I go. What shall I do for the people? Never mind the cost. But today, when I see reverse missionaries, I say, look, that's not the calling of a Christian.

You can't be a disciple and be a reverse missionary. You're fooling yourselves. You don't lift a nation. You don't plead for a people. And you're just happy you can get your little earnings. Now, let me tell you, my dear friends, that is not a Christian heart.

That is not a Christian attitude. That is the old heart of greed. It requires concentration. Now, I don't know how much you study the word of God, but I feel like a little child before the word of God.

There are promises here which I have never claimed. That is, I know of gold mines where I never bothered to dig. Is there anybody in history like that? No. You won't find any man in history who says, hey, there's a gold deposit here, and never bothered to even bring a shovel or a spade to dig it up.

You won't find such a person in history, but you'll find them in the church. They are the people who sing loudest. They are the people who shout hallelujahs, but they will not bend their knees and say, I'm going to mean business with God.

Seeking God's Promises Through Prayer and Diligence

I'm going to put an end to my talk-a-thons. You know talk-a-thons? Have you ever heard of talk-a-thons? Endless talking. Where does it begin? Christian retreats. That's what it's meant to be, you know.

Meeting friends, talking, and when people talk in the narrow corridors, one is forced to hear all that rubbish. Within the rooms. No, no, no, no, no, no. This will never do. There are promises in the scriptures, and some of them might be well-known to you, but you never had the diligence to say, let me explore.

Let me go deeper. Let me call on the Lord who has promised call on me, and I will answer you. You know, when people find a person like me, they think I'm a kind of cure-all, or a professor. No, I am neither.

I can't cure anybody's ills. No, but we should go to the Lord. We should humble ourselves before God's word. So, my dear friends, blessed are the poor and spilt, for theirs is the kingdom of God. Let us pray.

Prayer for a Broken and Repentant Heart

Let us tell God, Lord, I need to have my heart, my attitudes corrected. I have lost enough time, I dare not lose any more. Give me this broken spirit, this secret of blessing. Precious Lord, you know that we don't get into a spirit of brokenness that easily.

Justifying ourselves, being defensive, saying we are right, that's all very common with us, very easy for us. But to say I am wrong, my attitudes are negative, proud, and have produced no good at all, but much damage around me.

My dear friends, let us ask God, give me a broken spirit. Gracious Father, you have got abundant blessing for us, more than we can contain. We need your touch. We need that spirit of brokenness. Loving Father, I want a weeping heart for Britain before I preach in Britain.

I have no business to be lecturing around if I am not humbling myself for this sad day in Britain's history. When she has forsaken her God and thrown open her doors to every kind of vanity, O Lord our God, forgive us, we pray.

And put us, Lord, once again in the mainstream of blessing. We ask this humbly in Jesus' almighty name. Amen.