Signs of Judgment Part II
Over the last several weeks we have faithfully studied the prophet Ezekiel, a prophet whose chapters are dark and disturbing.
While there are plenty of hopeful and joyous chapters and passages in the Bible, it is important that we balance them out with those passages that make us flinch and squirm in discomfort.
There are times in our own lives and in the life of our nation that we should be discomforted about the sinfulness of our society.
Last week we began a series of chapters in which there are signs of judgment.
God had given Ezekiel the singular and difficult task of playing out a charade of coming doom and destruction for the nation of Israel.
In this prophetic play Ezekiel pointed out specific sinful conditions and then he laid out specific coming judgments.
In Chapter 4 it began with:
I. A Model of Judgment (Verse 1,2)
> In which the people of God's affection are the objects of God's wrath.
> In which the fall of the judged is inevitable.
II. A Wall of Separation (Verse 3)
> Which effectively separates the people from the presence of God.
> Which effectively separates the people from the protection of God.
III. A Bed of Iniquity (Verse 4-8)
> Which God has mercifully endured for an extended period of time.
> Which in later years had spread and incurred the imminent judgment of God.
IV. A Feast of Corruption (Verse 9-17)
> Which can never satisfy the hunger of a man.
> Which is disgusting and filthy instead of pure and holy.
The horrific pictures that Ezekiel has painted in the preceding chapter are not without a singular purpose.
God wants this nation, whose purpose was to show forth His glory to see the degradation and shame into which they have fallen.
They have abandoned the greatest purpose of all to embrace the basest of all.
Now we can move on to Chapter 5, where God speaks of Measured Judgment.
READ TEXT 5:1-9
PRAY
V. A Measured Judgment (Chapter 5)
> Which is to shame and humiliate the judged. (1)
God would shear away all of which Israel boasted to prove it was nothing without Him.
> Which is well-thought-out and balanced to fit the sin. (2)
1/3 part would be destroyed in the conquering of the city.
1/3 part would be destroyed in the wars to follow.
1/3 part would be scattered to the four corners of the earth where they would be persecuted by the nations around the world.
> Which spares a scant few from judgment. (3,4)
A very small remnant would be preserved, and even they would suffer in this judgment.
> Which will show God's holiness to the surrounding nations. (5-9)
Israel's place was to be an example of God's blessing to the nations.
Israel would, by obedience or by judgment, show God's holiness to the nations.
> Which is exactly what God has promised in His covenant. (10-17)
The text of these horrific judgments is familiar because it is word for word what God had promised would happen in Leviticus 26 if Israel fell away from him.
Our God is not unjust, nor does He fly into uncontrolled reactions that do not match the sin He is judging.
Every move is exactly what He has promised should a nation for which He has affection fall away from Him.
VI. A Proclamation of Lordship Chapter 6 & 7
> In which the high places are torn down to prove that God is Lord alone. Verses 1-7
> In which God fulfills His promises of judgment to prove that He is a Lord Who keeps his word. Verses 8-10
> In which the delivery of the message is passionate and animated to prove that He is the Lord Who cares deeply about justice. Verse 11-13a
> In which the landscape becomes desolate to prove that He is the Lord they need. Verse 13b-14
> In which the sin itself brings its own judgment to prove that He is The Lord. Verse 1-4
> In which final judgment is come to prove that He is the Lord that smiteth. Verses 5-9
> In which complete national disaster shall be fulfilled to prove that God is the LORD. Verses 10-27
Pride has grown into utter rebellion and senseless violence. verse 10,11
Military strength fails completely. Verse 14
Shame and reproach is widespread. Verse 18
Financial ruin makes money worthless. Verse 19
Foreigners and heathen tramp through the streets as conquerors. Verse 24
The Word of God is scarce. Verse 26
Leadership will be helpless. Verse 27
The preceding chapters should bring us to our knees in repentance before all this befalls our own nation, for indeed she was a land of great glory for God and has become a land of wickedness and compromise.
Let us pray for our country and repent of our sins that God might bless us again.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
The Call of God (Part 2)
The Call of God (Part 2)
Ezekiel 3
We have seen over the last two weeks the prophet Ezekiel be drafted into God's ministry.
It began with visions of God in chapter one in which we recognized God to be a God of Judgment, Whose competence and expedience is unparalleled, Whose providential plan is complex beyond comprehension and is also universally inclusive, Whose throne is in Heaven, a place of unreachable holiness an purity, finally we saw Jesus, whose faithfulness and mercy was emphasized by the rainbow around His throne.
Then Last week we saw Ezekiel called to a higher purpose in life, called of God to carry out God's plan.
Several aspects of the call of God stand out to us in chapter 2:
I.) The Posture of the Called (Verse 1)
God brought Ezekiel from his face to his feet.
II.) The Empowerment of the Called (Verse 2)
It is only in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit that we can accomplish the work of God.
III.) The Responsibility of the Called (Verse 3-7)
We are responsible to deliver the message in love - we are not responsible for the response of others to the truth.
IV.) The Purity of the Called (Verse 8)
If we are called of God to do His work we are called to purity. We must be different than the world.
V.) The Preparation of the Called (Verse 9-10)
God especially prepared Ezekiel for his ministry by giving him the Word of God to speak to Israel.
This brings us to part two of The Call of God as we get into chapter 3
READ TEXT (Ezekiel 2:9,10 - 3:1-4)
PRAY
The clear mandate for this chapter is:
Every Christian must answer the call of God on their life.
We saw different aspects of the call in chapter two, but now we are faced with a repeated command and a clear challenge, an imperative from God.
We must answer the call.
To aid in our obedience God has laid out the exact response that He expected from Ezekiel.
This should be our response to the call of God on our life as well.
How can we answer God's call on our life?
I.) By preparing for the mission (Verse 1-4)
Ezekiel is shown here doing something strange and extreme, and it certainly won't be the last time we see that.
He eats the scroll that God places before him.
Obviously, this is a picture of how we are to prepare for ministry.
By consuming it in its entirety, Ezekiel shows us that we must ingest the word of God in such a way that it becomes a part of us.
This takes special discipline and many long hard hours of study, but if it means one person comes to Christ as a result of your life-long ministry, it is worth it all.
Have you prepared for the ministry to which God has called you?
If not, perhaps this is why He has not given you further direction.
If you have any inkling that God may be calling you to full time ministry, it only makes sense that you might enroll in a regimented training program like Bible college.
The Biblical precedent for this is clear in both Old and New Testaments.
If you feel that God has called you to minister right here within your church, you should seek to study faithfully that word with which you will minister.
Start a Bible study with another church member.
Ingest the word so that you might be prepared to minister.
The first step to answering the call of God is to prepare for the mission.
II.) By Standing firm in the face of discouragement. (Verse 5-9)
If you begin to prepare for ministry, you will paint a target on yourself that the devil can see for miles.
He will come after you with every form of discouragement allowed him.
Ezekiel is told here by God that he would be rejected by his own people in his ministry.
God even told him that in other fields he would have more converts, but he was to stay with the people of Israel.
Ezekiel had to decide ahead of time that he would stand firm in the face of discouragement.
These decisions must be made now, because discouragement will come.
The great encouragement that Ezekiel had and we can share, is that God would give him the special ability to stand firm in the face of discouragement.
Know this: If you are answering God's call you will face discouragement, but God has prepared you for this, and you do not have to succumb to it.
III.) By Going to where God calls you (Verse 10-15)
Now we get to the hard part: GO!
Ezekiel was told to leave his place of preparation and go to his field.
It is with mixed feelings that I encourage you to entertain the idea of leaving.
It seems I spend much of my time praying and preaching to the end that you might stay.
However, it is not by staying in Jerusalem that the church turned the world upside down.
It is by going.
This is the command that Jesus left His church and the command that God has always given His servants.
God wants every Christian to be willing to go where ever He might lead.
Have you opened yourself up to this possibility?
On the other hand, many have surrendered to missions and have never gone to their neighbor!
Know this: Answering God's call means going. It may mean going around the world. It may mean walking across the room or across town, but it always means going.
IV.) By warning the lost (Verse 16-27)
Lastly we get to the nitty gritty of the call.
It is about warning the lost.
The clear message that God sends through His conversation with Ezekiel is this:
If you do not warn the wicked of judgment, you share in the responsibility of their sin.
Our part in God's plan to saved the world is absolutely clear:
If we don't warn them, they won't be saved.
Ro 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
God enlarges on Ezekiel's responsibility to warn people in verse 20.
We must also warn the righteous when they fall.
We have a responsibility to warn each other and to maintain purity with in the body.
That is not merely the Pastor's responsibility but yours as well.
It is part of answering the call of God on your life.
_____________________________________________________________
What have you done in response to God's call on your life?
Won't you answer His call today?
Ezekiel 3
We have seen over the last two weeks the prophet Ezekiel be drafted into God's ministry.
It began with visions of God in chapter one in which we recognized God to be a God of Judgment, Whose competence and expedience is unparalleled, Whose providential plan is complex beyond comprehension and is also universally inclusive, Whose throne is in Heaven, a place of unreachable holiness an purity, finally we saw Jesus, whose faithfulness and mercy was emphasized by the rainbow around His throne.
Then Last week we saw Ezekiel called to a higher purpose in life, called of God to carry out God's plan.
Several aspects of the call of God stand out to us in chapter 2:
I.) The Posture of the Called (Verse 1)
God brought Ezekiel from his face to his feet.
II.) The Empowerment of the Called (Verse 2)
It is only in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit that we can accomplish the work of God.
III.) The Responsibility of the Called (Verse 3-7)
We are responsible to deliver the message in love - we are not responsible for the response of others to the truth.
IV.) The Purity of the Called (Verse 8)
If we are called of God to do His work we are called to purity. We must be different than the world.
V.) The Preparation of the Called (Verse 9-10)
God especially prepared Ezekiel for his ministry by giving him the Word of God to speak to Israel.
This brings us to part two of The Call of God as we get into chapter 3
READ TEXT (Ezekiel 2:9,10 - 3:1-4)
PRAY
The clear mandate for this chapter is:
Every Christian must answer the call of God on their life.
We saw different aspects of the call in chapter two, but now we are faced with a repeated command and a clear challenge, an imperative from God.
We must answer the call.
To aid in our obedience God has laid out the exact response that He expected from Ezekiel.
This should be our response to the call of God on our life as well.
How can we answer God's call on our life?
I.) By preparing for the mission (Verse 1-4)
Ezekiel is shown here doing something strange and extreme, and it certainly won't be the last time we see that.
He eats the scroll that God places before him.
Obviously, this is a picture of how we are to prepare for ministry.
By consuming it in its entirety, Ezekiel shows us that we must ingest the word of God in such a way that it becomes a part of us.
This takes special discipline and many long hard hours of study, but if it means one person comes to Christ as a result of your life-long ministry, it is worth it all.
Have you prepared for the ministry to which God has called you?
If not, perhaps this is why He has not given you further direction.
If you have any inkling that God may be calling you to full time ministry, it only makes sense that you might enroll in a regimented training program like Bible college.
The Biblical precedent for this is clear in both Old and New Testaments.
If you feel that God has called you to minister right here within your church, you should seek to study faithfully that word with which you will minister.
Start a Bible study with another church member.
Ingest the word so that you might be prepared to minister.
The first step to answering the call of God is to prepare for the mission.
II.) By Standing firm in the face of discouragement. (Verse 5-9)
If you begin to prepare for ministry, you will paint a target on yourself that the devil can see for miles.
He will come after you with every form of discouragement allowed him.
Ezekiel is told here by God that he would be rejected by his own people in his ministry.
God even told him that in other fields he would have more converts, but he was to stay with the people of Israel.
Ezekiel had to decide ahead of time that he would stand firm in the face of discouragement.
These decisions must be made now, because discouragement will come.
The great encouragement that Ezekiel had and we can share, is that God would give him the special ability to stand firm in the face of discouragement.
Know this: If you are answering God's call you will face discouragement, but God has prepared you for this, and you do not have to succumb to it.
III.) By Going to where God calls you (Verse 10-15)
Now we get to the hard part: GO!
Ezekiel was told to leave his place of preparation and go to his field.
It is with mixed feelings that I encourage you to entertain the idea of leaving.
It seems I spend much of my time praying and preaching to the end that you might stay.
However, it is not by staying in Jerusalem that the church turned the world upside down.
It is by going.
This is the command that Jesus left His church and the command that God has always given His servants.
God wants every Christian to be willing to go where ever He might lead.
Have you opened yourself up to this possibility?
On the other hand, many have surrendered to missions and have never gone to their neighbor!
Know this: Answering God's call means going. It may mean going around the world. It may mean walking across the room or across town, but it always means going.
IV.) By warning the lost (Verse 16-27)
Lastly we get to the nitty gritty of the call.
It is about warning the lost.
The clear message that God sends through His conversation with Ezekiel is this:
If you do not warn the wicked of judgment, you share in the responsibility of their sin.
Our part in God's plan to saved the world is absolutely clear:
If we don't warn them, they won't be saved.
Ro 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
God enlarges on Ezekiel's responsibility to warn people in verse 20.
We must also warn the righteous when they fall.
We have a responsibility to warn each other and to maintain purity with in the body.
That is not merely the Pastor's responsibility but yours as well.
It is part of answering the call of God on your life.
_____________________________________________________________
What have you done in response to God's call on your life?
Won't you answer His call today?
Monday, October 15, 2007
Visions of God
Visions of God
Ezekiel 1
It has been said that the book of Ezekiel is the most difficult of all the prophets, and that the first chapter is the most difficult to understand of all.
After reading through it, it is easy to see how it gets this reputation.
I have been praying about preaching from Ezekiel for some time now and have never preached from this chapter before.
However, I recently heard the popular, although heretical, Harold Camping answer a question about Ezekiel 1.
His answer about the meaning of this chapter was vague and unhelpful, but it got me to thinking more about what God might want to convey about Himself in the chapter.
When the vision recorded herein takes place, Israel is at a crucial turning point in the history of the Jewish nation.
Israel had been under the false delusion that God would never let them dissolve as a politically viable nation.
They saw the prophecies of a continued Davidic line as assurance that God would never allow Jerusalem to fall.
They had taken God's presence and protection for granted.
They falsely assumed that God would tolerate their sin and their many false gods.
They were wrong.
God loved them too much.
As our text begins, we see that the Babylonians have taken the masses of Israelites into captivity to be used as slaves in foreign countries.
Our prophet Ezekiel is among the captives by the river Chebar in the land of the Chaldeans.
We are now going to read the first chapter of Ezekiel in its entirety.
You will see right away how unique Ezekiel's vision is.
READ TEXT
PRAY
In order to grasp God's clear message to us this morning we have to remember the historical context.
Israel has become complacent in her religion as a nation.
Israel has begun to take God and His protection for granted.
They have defined God into a neat little corner of their lives so that He doesn't interrupt their way of life.
While all of these points could easily apply to our own nation and, to some extent our own lives, it is Ezekiel’s presentation of God's glory that we need to wake us up and help us to realize who God is and what place He insists upon having in our lives.
The chapter we have just read can be divided into six distinct sections.
First we have the Introduction in Verses 1-3
The background which we have already discussed is here briefly glimpsed as we see Israel in captivity.
The man Ezekiel is also briefly introduced as a priest, a prisoner and a prophet, whose vision of God follows.
The rest of the chapter is made up of Ezekiel's Vision's of God.
Secondly we have the Whirlwind in Verse 4
As this first part of our vision of God, we see the proper order our journey back into the truth must take.
A whirlwind speaks of judgment.
Indeed, Israel's primary enemy came like a whirlwind from the north to destroy Jerusalem.
This was clearly the hand of God.
What do we learn about God from this whirlwind that rips violently into our lives and reveals a burning determination from within to execute judgment?
Our God is a God of judgment.
If we sin in our lives, He will bring the whirlwind of judgment.
This is our first glimpse of God and it is a grim picture that reminds us of our shortcomings and His perfect standard of righteousness.
Often our first glimpse of God as we draw closer to Him is the Whirlwind of Judgment.
Thirdly, in Ezekiel Chapter 1 we see the four creatures in Verses 5-14
These four creatures are angels, of this we are sure as Ezekiel mentions them in 10:20.
These angels are the great and terrible cherubim, whose task it is to guard and worship at the throne of God.
Herein is our first glimpse of the greater picture of God ruling from His throne.
The Cherubim are angels, God's messengers, sent for to minister to the saints and to execute God's justice on earth.
They are indescribable in their appearance and Ezekiel’s attempt to paint us a mental picture falls short of completing the task.
Nevertheless, there is something to learn about God from this vision of four creatures: They speak to His ability and efficiency with which He operates.
The modern picture of God is One Who bumbles through with a long, drawn out creation and finally perfects man.
He struggles to maintain peace in various areas of the earth and every now and then actually manages to answer a prayer or two.
These Cherubim show God to be:
absolutely understanding of the condition of man V5
able to see and understand all things V6
determined and consistent in His steps V7
versatile and competent in all His ways V8
Intelligent as represented by the face of a man
Fierce and courageous as represented by the face of a lion
Powerful and determined as represented by the face of the ox
Intuitive and observing as represented by the face of an eagle
completely in agreement in all His persons V12
as determined as fire in his mission V13,
as quick as lightning in His movements V14,
Our God is competent and expedient in all he does.
He will not overlook my sin, but will speedily and efficiently come to me and deal with it.
As I draw closer to the Lord I recognize more than a whirlwind of Judgment. God’s messengers reveal His efficiency and His competency in all things.
Fourthly we see the Wheels within Wheels in Verses 15-21
This portion of the text is perhaps the most difficult of all and certainly hard to imagine.
Some have read this section and envisioned flying saucers and aliens.
The natural understanding of these wheels is much more realistic.
For many centuries, wheels have represented providence.
They are how things get done.
Since this vision is a revelation of God we can only assume that they speak of the efficiency and the intricacy of the eternal plan of providence.
The complicated series of wheels serve to represent what we cannot fathom in God's provision and His overall plan for us.
I cannot tell how all the gears and the intricate details of God's plan works, but I do know this, that He has it all figured out.
He has provided for every eventuality and has planned how I might glorify him with every area and facet of my life.
It is His plan that moves his messengers and his messengers at times that bring his judgment.
Now, as we move closer to the throne, from his judgment to his messengers to his providential plan and ultimately his sovereign will, I want to see more of Him and learn more of His surroundings.
Fifthly we see the firmament upon the heads of the Cherubim in verses 22-25
This firmament speaks of the actual place or ground upon which the throne of God sets.
It is Heaven and the Holiness of it is terrible to our sinful eyes.
However, as we draw closer to the throne we recognize that God can only dwell in a place of holiness, and the only purpose for His Angels is to lift Him up before the world.
From this I take a challenge to be more heavenly minded that I might be some earthly good.
Now we have envisioned God as he comes in the whirlwind of Judgment awaking us from our sinful slumber.
This vision of God became clearer as we noticed the individual messengers that God has sent to represent him to us and the effectiveness with which He works.
Then the wheels of providence reminded us of God’s ultimate plan and intricate details that He knows and we cannot understand.
Then we are brought in this vision to Heaven where the foundation of terrible crystal reminds us of the requirement of holiness to draw closer still.
Lastly we arrive at the throne in verses 26-28
Remember, we do not study God so that we might know how to fit Him into our lives in a more comfortable fashion.
We want to know Him, and the beauty of it is that He also wants us to draw closer.
He is already speaking from his throne when we step onto the portals of the firmament.
He desires that we come to Him and learn of Him.
A few characteristics stand out in this last portion of these visions of God:
1) The appearance of a man can be none other than Jesus Christ.
2) The appearance of flame can be none other than His absolute holiness.
3) The bow behind Him speaks loudly of His faithfulness and mercy.
Let us seek to know this God Whose voice shakes the heavens and Whose unfathomable glory makes these small worlds of ours turn.
We may come to him through the same journey as Ezekiel's vision.
His judgment convicts me.
His messengers constrain me.
His providence upholds me in my quest.
His Heaven leads me closer to Him until I am finally in His presence, where I can like Ezekiel fall to my face when He speaks to me.
Have you put God in a box?
Have you managed to fit him into your life in a way that makes you comfortable?
This chapter is meant to shake you from your comfort zone and cause you and me to see Him as he is.
Ezekiel 1
It has been said that the book of Ezekiel is the most difficult of all the prophets, and that the first chapter is the most difficult to understand of all.
After reading through it, it is easy to see how it gets this reputation.
I have been praying about preaching from Ezekiel for some time now and have never preached from this chapter before.
However, I recently heard the popular, although heretical, Harold Camping answer a question about Ezekiel 1.
His answer about the meaning of this chapter was vague and unhelpful, but it got me to thinking more about what God might want to convey about Himself in the chapter.
When the vision recorded herein takes place, Israel is at a crucial turning point in the history of the Jewish nation.
Israel had been under the false delusion that God would never let them dissolve as a politically viable nation.
They saw the prophecies of a continued Davidic line as assurance that God would never allow Jerusalem to fall.
They had taken God's presence and protection for granted.
They falsely assumed that God would tolerate their sin and their many false gods.
They were wrong.
God loved them too much.
As our text begins, we see that the Babylonians have taken the masses of Israelites into captivity to be used as slaves in foreign countries.
Our prophet Ezekiel is among the captives by the river Chebar in the land of the Chaldeans.
We are now going to read the first chapter of Ezekiel in its entirety.
You will see right away how unique Ezekiel's vision is.
READ TEXT
PRAY
In order to grasp God's clear message to us this morning we have to remember the historical context.
Israel has become complacent in her religion as a nation.
Israel has begun to take God and His protection for granted.
They have defined God into a neat little corner of their lives so that He doesn't interrupt their way of life.
While all of these points could easily apply to our own nation and, to some extent our own lives, it is Ezekiel’s presentation of God's glory that we need to wake us up and help us to realize who God is and what place He insists upon having in our lives.
The chapter we have just read can be divided into six distinct sections.
First we have the Introduction in Verses 1-3
The background which we have already discussed is here briefly glimpsed as we see Israel in captivity.
The man Ezekiel is also briefly introduced as a priest, a prisoner and a prophet, whose vision of God follows.
The rest of the chapter is made up of Ezekiel's Vision's of God.
Secondly we have the Whirlwind in Verse 4
As this first part of our vision of God, we see the proper order our journey back into the truth must take.
A whirlwind speaks of judgment.
Indeed, Israel's primary enemy came like a whirlwind from the north to destroy Jerusalem.
This was clearly the hand of God.
What do we learn about God from this whirlwind that rips violently into our lives and reveals a burning determination from within to execute judgment?
Our God is a God of judgment.
If we sin in our lives, He will bring the whirlwind of judgment.
This is our first glimpse of God and it is a grim picture that reminds us of our shortcomings and His perfect standard of righteousness.
Often our first glimpse of God as we draw closer to Him is the Whirlwind of Judgment.
Thirdly, in Ezekiel Chapter 1 we see the four creatures in Verses 5-14
These four creatures are angels, of this we are sure as Ezekiel mentions them in 10:20.
These angels are the great and terrible cherubim, whose task it is to guard and worship at the throne of God.
Herein is our first glimpse of the greater picture of God ruling from His throne.
The Cherubim are angels, God's messengers, sent for to minister to the saints and to execute God's justice on earth.
They are indescribable in their appearance and Ezekiel’s attempt to paint us a mental picture falls short of completing the task.
Nevertheless, there is something to learn about God from this vision of four creatures: They speak to His ability and efficiency with which He operates.
The modern picture of God is One Who bumbles through with a long, drawn out creation and finally perfects man.
He struggles to maintain peace in various areas of the earth and every now and then actually manages to answer a prayer or two.
These Cherubim show God to be:
absolutely understanding of the condition of man V5
able to see and understand all things V6
determined and consistent in His steps V7
versatile and competent in all His ways V8
Intelligent as represented by the face of a man
Fierce and courageous as represented by the face of a lion
Powerful and determined as represented by the face of the ox
Intuitive and observing as represented by the face of an eagle
completely in agreement in all His persons V12
as determined as fire in his mission V13,
as quick as lightning in His movements V14,
Our God is competent and expedient in all he does.
He will not overlook my sin, but will speedily and efficiently come to me and deal with it.
As I draw closer to the Lord I recognize more than a whirlwind of Judgment. God’s messengers reveal His efficiency and His competency in all things.
Fourthly we see the Wheels within Wheels in Verses 15-21
This portion of the text is perhaps the most difficult of all and certainly hard to imagine.
Some have read this section and envisioned flying saucers and aliens.
The natural understanding of these wheels is much more realistic.
For many centuries, wheels have represented providence.
They are how things get done.
Since this vision is a revelation of God we can only assume that they speak of the efficiency and the intricacy of the eternal plan of providence.
The complicated series of wheels serve to represent what we cannot fathom in God's provision and His overall plan for us.
I cannot tell how all the gears and the intricate details of God's plan works, but I do know this, that He has it all figured out.
He has provided for every eventuality and has planned how I might glorify him with every area and facet of my life.
It is His plan that moves his messengers and his messengers at times that bring his judgment.
Now, as we move closer to the throne, from his judgment to his messengers to his providential plan and ultimately his sovereign will, I want to see more of Him and learn more of His surroundings.
Fifthly we see the firmament upon the heads of the Cherubim in verses 22-25
This firmament speaks of the actual place or ground upon which the throne of God sets.
It is Heaven and the Holiness of it is terrible to our sinful eyes.
However, as we draw closer to the throne we recognize that God can only dwell in a place of holiness, and the only purpose for His Angels is to lift Him up before the world.
From this I take a challenge to be more heavenly minded that I might be some earthly good.
Now we have envisioned God as he comes in the whirlwind of Judgment awaking us from our sinful slumber.
This vision of God became clearer as we noticed the individual messengers that God has sent to represent him to us and the effectiveness with which He works.
Then the wheels of providence reminded us of God’s ultimate plan and intricate details that He knows and we cannot understand.
Then we are brought in this vision to Heaven where the foundation of terrible crystal reminds us of the requirement of holiness to draw closer still.
Lastly we arrive at the throne in verses 26-28
Remember, we do not study God so that we might know how to fit Him into our lives in a more comfortable fashion.
We want to know Him, and the beauty of it is that He also wants us to draw closer.
He is already speaking from his throne when we step onto the portals of the firmament.
He desires that we come to Him and learn of Him.
A few characteristics stand out in this last portion of these visions of God:
1) The appearance of a man can be none other than Jesus Christ.
2) The appearance of flame can be none other than His absolute holiness.
3) The bow behind Him speaks loudly of His faithfulness and mercy.
Let us seek to know this God Whose voice shakes the heavens and Whose unfathomable glory makes these small worlds of ours turn.
We may come to him through the same journey as Ezekiel's vision.
His judgment convicts me.
His messengers constrain me.
His providence upholds me in my quest.
His Heaven leads me closer to Him until I am finally in His presence, where I can like Ezekiel fall to my face when He speaks to me.
Have you put God in a box?
Have you managed to fit him into your life in a way that makes you comfortable?
This chapter is meant to shake you from your comfort zone and cause you and me to see Him as he is.
Monday, October 8, 2007
Expedition of Faith
Expedition of Faith
Hebrews 11:1-16
Tomorrow is Columbus Day.
For me, this day has become more interesting over the last few years as I have noticed the flurry of controversy around the characterization of Christopher Columbus.
It seems he has been painted by many a different brush as viewed from the various perspectives of time and political or religious bent.
Some have painted him as some sort of evangelical missionary, whose passion for souls drove him to take the gospel to lands yet undiscovered.
Others, more recently have insisted that he was more of an imperialist tyrant, whose passion for personal glory drove him to conquer peace-loving peoples and subject them to the horrors of slavery.
Having studied him and his quest in some depth recently, I am convinced that neither of these charicatures are true.
However, his story is a fantastic one.
As a real historical character, Columbus is undeniably important, and his accomplishments were impressive.
He did take an incredible risk with sketchy navigational information to prove what he believed to be true.
He was convinced that he could sail to India from the Western shores of the Europian continent.
He was so convinced of this, that he embarked on a journey from which many thought he would never return.
Even when he stumbled across the islands that bordered the Caribean, he rejoiced at having finally reached India.
What did transpire as a result of his several journeys changed the face of the world.
I sometimes regret that there are no continents left to discover.
What a life of excitement, to find unmapped areas, and explore lands about which nothing has been written!
Our text this morning is about the greatest expedition of all.
The discoveries of this expedition have change the world more than any map change.
The discoveries of this great expedition will even today, change your life.
This morning I want to challenge you to leave your known world behind to embark on the greatest expedition of all, the expedition of faith.
READ TEXT
PRAY
This portion of Scripture is all about faith.
It is definitive of faith.
It exemplifies faith.
It even shows the great reward of faith.
Faith is the essence of the Christian life.
It is what motivates and sustains us.
It is what God requires of us.
It is also what often lacks the most in our lives.
Many Christians will never enjoy the discoveries of new lands, I speak figuratively of life accomplishments and personal and spiritual achievements.
They have professed a faith in their goal, that God has for them something better than what this world has to offer.
However, they have sailed along the known shores of their former life without ever embarking on the great expedition that God offers.
In doing so, they surely miss some of the storms and the difficulties, but they also miss out on the beauty of really knowing God, because they have never launched out into the deep.
Many non-Christians have strolled along the shores of familiar territory, even walked out onto the dock of religious interest, but have never stepped onto the ship that would take them to a new life.
Today I want to challenge you to step off the shore.
If you are already a Christian, know this, God has bigger things planned for your life than just sailing along the shore.
Strike out into the deep water and see what God will show you.
Our text begins with a definition of faith. Verse 1
It is substance of things for which we hope.
We hope for a relatiosnhip with God and we chose to believe in the way He has provided.
We hope for eternal life so we believe and that belief is substantial, in that it produces works in our lives.
It is also the evidence of things not seen.
I can not show you my God, but my faith is evidence of Him.
I cannot show you creation, which the Bible presents as a one time event, anymore than an evolutionist can show you evolution, which, by the way, they claim is a constant process.
However, by faith, I understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Verse 3
It is by faith that the people of the Old Testament pleased God and received of Him a good report. Verse 2
Some of the people who have taken the journey of faith are next mentioned in our text.
They made the great expedition of faith and they discovered a life worth living.
They made discoveries that even today are challenging us to live better lives and to grow closer to God.
The first explorer in our text is Able. Verse 4
It is said here that he offered God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.
Able left the shores of self-sufficiency and sacrificed a new lamb as God had required.
The second explorer is Enoch. Verse 5
Enoch was willing to be different than the rest.
He was more interested in walking with God than walking with men.
He knew that God would reward him if he shoved away from shore in search of knowing God.
Indeed, God blessed Enoch, in that, He translated Enoch directly into His own presence.
What if Enoch had been afraid of leaving the shoreline of normal life and had not been driven to sea by a desire to know God?
The third explorer is Noah. Verse 7
Here is a man that literally sailed on faith.
He would have been much more comfortable living like everyone else, but for 120 years, he built a boat, in which God saved his whole family.
He was willing to strike out into the ocean of separation from the world in order to follow His Lord's direction.
Following the most documented event in all of natural history, the worldwide flood, Noah and his family were chosen of God to repopulate the earth.
Given common reproductive rates, and calculating from Noah's time we now have exactly the population on earth today that supports this Biblical fact.
The fourth explorer is Abraham. Verse 8
He left his home and family to find a promised land.
Verse 10 tells us that Abraham was not interest in just any new place.
It had to be a place that God had prepared for him.
Today, Abraham is in the city for which he sought, because he was willing to make the expedition of faith.
The Fifth explorer is Sarah. Verse 11
She put her trust in God and God blessed her with bearing Isaac, whose son, Jacob would be known as Israel.
All of these explorers died without ever quite reaching their goal. Verse 13
They did, however, enjoy the blessings of the greatest expedition of all.
They lived for the horizon, always seeking to know God more, always seeking to obey the Lord.
Verse 14 tells us that by their lifestyle they declared plainly that they were seeking a country.
What does your life declare?
How different are you now that you have a relationship with Christ?
I am challenging you to take the journey.
Embark on the greatest expedition.
Live a life of faith.
Hebrews 11:1-16
Tomorrow is Columbus Day.
For me, this day has become more interesting over the last few years as I have noticed the flurry of controversy around the characterization of Christopher Columbus.
It seems he has been painted by many a different brush as viewed from the various perspectives of time and political or religious bent.
Some have painted him as some sort of evangelical missionary, whose passion for souls drove him to take the gospel to lands yet undiscovered.
Others, more recently have insisted that he was more of an imperialist tyrant, whose passion for personal glory drove him to conquer peace-loving peoples and subject them to the horrors of slavery.
Having studied him and his quest in some depth recently, I am convinced that neither of these charicatures are true.
However, his story is a fantastic one.
As a real historical character, Columbus is undeniably important, and his accomplishments were impressive.
He did take an incredible risk with sketchy navigational information to prove what he believed to be true.
He was convinced that he could sail to India from the Western shores of the Europian continent.
He was so convinced of this, that he embarked on a journey from which many thought he would never return.
Even when he stumbled across the islands that bordered the Caribean, he rejoiced at having finally reached India.
What did transpire as a result of his several journeys changed the face of the world.
I sometimes regret that there are no continents left to discover.
What a life of excitement, to find unmapped areas, and explore lands about which nothing has been written!
Our text this morning is about the greatest expedition of all.
The discoveries of this expedition have change the world more than any map change.
The discoveries of this great expedition will even today, change your life.
This morning I want to challenge you to leave your known world behind to embark on the greatest expedition of all, the expedition of faith.
READ TEXT
PRAY
This portion of Scripture is all about faith.
It is definitive of faith.
It exemplifies faith.
It even shows the great reward of faith.
Faith is the essence of the Christian life.
It is what motivates and sustains us.
It is what God requires of us.
It is also what often lacks the most in our lives.
Many Christians will never enjoy the discoveries of new lands, I speak figuratively of life accomplishments and personal and spiritual achievements.
They have professed a faith in their goal, that God has for them something better than what this world has to offer.
However, they have sailed along the known shores of their former life without ever embarking on the great expedition that God offers.
In doing so, they surely miss some of the storms and the difficulties, but they also miss out on the beauty of really knowing God, because they have never launched out into the deep.
Many non-Christians have strolled along the shores of familiar territory, even walked out onto the dock of religious interest, but have never stepped onto the ship that would take them to a new life.
Today I want to challenge you to step off the shore.
If you are already a Christian, know this, God has bigger things planned for your life than just sailing along the shore.
Strike out into the deep water and see what God will show you.
Our text begins with a definition of faith. Verse 1
It is substance of things for which we hope.
We hope for a relatiosnhip with God and we chose to believe in the way He has provided.
We hope for eternal life so we believe and that belief is substantial, in that it produces works in our lives.
It is also the evidence of things not seen.
I can not show you my God, but my faith is evidence of Him.
I cannot show you creation, which the Bible presents as a one time event, anymore than an evolutionist can show you evolution, which, by the way, they claim is a constant process.
However, by faith, I understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Verse 3
It is by faith that the people of the Old Testament pleased God and received of Him a good report. Verse 2
Some of the people who have taken the journey of faith are next mentioned in our text.
They made the great expedition of faith and they discovered a life worth living.
They made discoveries that even today are challenging us to live better lives and to grow closer to God.
The first explorer in our text is Able. Verse 4
It is said here that he offered God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.
Able left the shores of self-sufficiency and sacrificed a new lamb as God had required.
The second explorer is Enoch. Verse 5
Enoch was willing to be different than the rest.
He was more interested in walking with God than walking with men.
He knew that God would reward him if he shoved away from shore in search of knowing God.
Indeed, God blessed Enoch, in that, He translated Enoch directly into His own presence.
What if Enoch had been afraid of leaving the shoreline of normal life and had not been driven to sea by a desire to know God?
The third explorer is Noah. Verse 7
Here is a man that literally sailed on faith.
He would have been much more comfortable living like everyone else, but for 120 years, he built a boat, in which God saved his whole family.
He was willing to strike out into the ocean of separation from the world in order to follow His Lord's direction.
Following the most documented event in all of natural history, the worldwide flood, Noah and his family were chosen of God to repopulate the earth.
Given common reproductive rates, and calculating from Noah's time we now have exactly the population on earth today that supports this Biblical fact.
The fourth explorer is Abraham. Verse 8
He left his home and family to find a promised land.
Verse 10 tells us that Abraham was not interest in just any new place.
It had to be a place that God had prepared for him.
Today, Abraham is in the city for which he sought, because he was willing to make the expedition of faith.
The Fifth explorer is Sarah. Verse 11
She put her trust in God and God blessed her with bearing Isaac, whose son, Jacob would be known as Israel.
All of these explorers died without ever quite reaching their goal. Verse 13
They did, however, enjoy the blessings of the greatest expedition of all.
They lived for the horizon, always seeking to know God more, always seeking to obey the Lord.
Verse 14 tells us that by their lifestyle they declared plainly that they were seeking a country.
What does your life declare?
How different are you now that you have a relationship with Christ?
I am challenging you to take the journey.
Embark on the greatest expedition.
Live a life of faith.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Where are you putting the "IF"
Where are you putting the "IF"
Mark 9:17-29
Over the last few weeks we have listened to Jesus' advice to His disciples before they began their ministries as recorded by Luke in chapter six of his Gospel.
The challenges regarding relationships and our attitude toward ministry in general were convicting.
Today we will see Mark's record of one of my favorite stories in the New Testament.
It is a story that three of the Gospel writers recorded, but Mark includes an aspect of it that the others left out.
It was just this last week that I noticed this important lesson and have looked forward to sharing it with you.
The passage is the Holy Spirit's record of a father bringing his child to Jesus for healing.
Specifically, the child is possessed by a devil, something that is very real and very terrifying.
What made this instance of exorcism especially intruiging is that Jesus disciples had attempted to cast out the devil and had failed.
The text tells the story, se let's read it, and pay special attention to the way the Father asks for help and how Jesus corrects his dilema.
READ TEXT
PRAY
There is so much sadness and tragedy in this story at the beginning, I have wept as I read it and thought of this poor man's desparation to have his son freed from this bondage and pain.
I do not believe that it is improper to apply such turmoil and suffering to our own struggles in life and our utter helplessness to deal with them.
We too have issues that seem to be completely out of our control, situations and temptations that we seemingly cannot avoid.
Perhaps you, like the father in the text, have sought help from another follower of Christ, only to find that they could not solve your problem.
Perhaps they prayed with you.
Perhaps they gave you advice.
Perhaps they even guided you to Scriptures that showed the error of your ways or the proper path for you to take.
Did you, like the father in our text, find that you still were bound to your situation, still unable to overcome the obstacle in your life?
Perhaps you found that you were still lost, without a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Today I want to challenge you to go directly to Jesus.
That is what the disciples did.
They could not solve this poor man's problem, so they sent him to Jesus.
Jesus was able, immediately, to ascertain what the real issue was.
It was not that the demon was exceptionally strong.
It was not that the disciples were exceptionally weak.
The real problem was where the father was putting the "IF."
It is very clear from the text that there was an "IF."
1.) The problem with this man's child was long-standing. V21
Is your problem longstanding?
If so, there is some doubt, an "IF," as to whether your problem is going to be solved.
You may have become so used to it that you think that it is just something that you have to live with.
That is not an assumption that you should readily make unless God expressly leads you to that conclusion.
2.) The problem could not be solved easily. V18
Is your problem difficult?
If you have tried and failed to solve your problem, there is an, "IF."
Perhaps you have tried and failed, others have tried to help and failed.
Perhaps you have reached the conclusion that this one is too difficult to overcome.
Jesus would dissagree.
3.) The problem was serious. V22a
Is your problem serious?
I would challenge you to see the seriousness of it.
Maybe it has brought you to the brink of taking your own life.
Maybe it has taken you to the edge of leaving the faith, falling away.
Maybe you don't know Christ.
If so, your problem is serious, and the very shortness and fragility of life lends an, "IF," to the equation. You may never be free of it.
The father in our text saw a definite, "IF," in his situation.
He had lived with it for some length of time, he had seen failure in attempts to resolve it and he knew that one day this demon might destroy his child and he would never see his request answered.
So he clearly expressed his doubt in the "IF" that he uses in verse 22:
"if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us."
So often we, like this man, see the "IF" and, like him, we put it in the wrong place.
I. VERSE 22 SHOWS THE "IF" IN THE WRONG PLACE
Let me show you first where the "IF" does not belong:
1.) The "IF" does not belong before God's ability to help you.
V22: "if thou canst do any thing"
In the very next verse, Jesus makes it clear, "all things are possible."
God CAN solve your problem.
It is not bigger than His ability.
This is that God who spoke these worlds into existance.
This is that same God who stood on the boat in the midst of the storm and said "peace be still." and the seas were calm.
This is that same God whose powerful hand has brought emperors to their knees and kingdoms to ashes.
Your problem is not more than He can handle.
The "IF" does not belong before God's ability to help you.
2.) The "IF" does not belong before God's willingness to help you.
V22: "have compassion on us, and help us."
We serve a God whose mighty arm is offered to us to command.
Isa 45:11 ¶ Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.
We serve a God whose provision for escape always matches the temptation we face.
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
We serve a God whose willingness to save is promised from before time began.
2Pe 3:9 ¶ The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Our God wants to help and save us.
It is not for lack of God's desire that we go unsaved or unhelped.
The "IF" does not belong before God's willingness to help us.
Now let us see how Jesus corrects the placement of the "IF" in Verse 23
II. VERSE 23 SHOWS THE "IF" IN THE RIGHT PLACE.
The "IF" belongs before our faith and our willingness to believe.
Notice that there is a powerful promise with this verse.
"All things are possible."
However, no victory, no salvation, no freedom, no deliverance will take place until we put the "IF" in the right place.
It is not because God is unable or unwilling to help us that we suffer under the weight of our sin or our situation, but rather because we do not believe.
Allow me to demonstrate how this is so in your own life:
Think of that one thing that you know should change yet you are powerless to stop.
Think of that one situation with which you know God is displeased and yet you are convinced that it cannot change now.
Think of that one sin to which you are enslaved hopelessly.
Why has it not changed?
Why have you stalled?
Why are you not free?
Is it not true that if you wholly believed that God would provide, you would change?
Is it not true that if you were convinced of God's support you would remove yourself from the situation?
Is it not true that if you knew that God would grant you victory over your sin, you would leave it today?
So it is due to a lack of faith that we remain in need.
The "IF" belongs firmly before our faith.
It is faith we lack.
The works are lacking because the faith is not there.
In the next verse we see this poor father break down and weep at the lack of faith in his own heart.
He stopped blaming God for his need and accepted the responsibility to exercise faith.
How did he do this?
How did this father find the faith that he needed to heal his son?
III. VERSE 24 SHOWS THE "IF" REMOVED FROM THE EQUATION
The words, "I believe," show that the "IF" is gone.
What made the difference?
How does faith come?
Ro 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
This father heard the word of God from the mouth of God when Jesus said, "all things are possible to him that believeth."
First, we must listen to the word of God.
We must purposefully place ourselves under its preaching, read it for ourselves, listen to its instruction.
It will produce faith in our hearts.
Secondly, we must surrender to Him as Lord.
This father had called Jesus master, didskalos, which implies teacher.
Now he calls Jesus, Lord, Kurios, which implies supreme leader.
A man or a woman lacks the faith needed to be delivered because that person is still lord of their own life.
How can we say we believe Him when we refuse to obey Him?
This step of complete surrender is made with utter abandon.
Often this step of surrender to the lordship of Christ is characterized as a foolish leap off of a cliff.
Know this: Making Jesus Lord of your life is not the leap of a fool but the resting of a child in the arms of a father.
Won't you stop fighting him and let Him hold you?
Obey his prompting, He will never fail you.
Third, Start with a little faith.
Did the father in our story suddenly feel a heart so full of faith that he realized he need no longer fear for his son?
Clearly not, He still saw a need for more faith and asked Jesus to make up the difference.
Jesus does not require a heart full of faith for deliverance.
Mt 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
He simply requires a little.
Don't wait until you are sure.
You will never leave your sin if you wait.
You will never overcome your obstacle if you wait.
You will never be saved if you wait.
Faith is not about knowing, it is about trusting.
Won't you take that step today?
God is weary of our lack of faith.
Let us trust him and obey His prompting this morning.
Mark 9:17-29
Over the last few weeks we have listened to Jesus' advice to His disciples before they began their ministries as recorded by Luke in chapter six of his Gospel.
The challenges regarding relationships and our attitude toward ministry in general were convicting.
Today we will see Mark's record of one of my favorite stories in the New Testament.
It is a story that three of the Gospel writers recorded, but Mark includes an aspect of it that the others left out.
It was just this last week that I noticed this important lesson and have looked forward to sharing it with you.
The passage is the Holy Spirit's record of a father bringing his child to Jesus for healing.
Specifically, the child is possessed by a devil, something that is very real and very terrifying.
What made this instance of exorcism especially intruiging is that Jesus disciples had attempted to cast out the devil and had failed.
The text tells the story, se let's read it, and pay special attention to the way the Father asks for help and how Jesus corrects his dilema.
READ TEXT
PRAY
There is so much sadness and tragedy in this story at the beginning, I have wept as I read it and thought of this poor man's desparation to have his son freed from this bondage and pain.
I do not believe that it is improper to apply such turmoil and suffering to our own struggles in life and our utter helplessness to deal with them.
We too have issues that seem to be completely out of our control, situations and temptations that we seemingly cannot avoid.
Perhaps you, like the father in the text, have sought help from another follower of Christ, only to find that they could not solve your problem.
Perhaps they prayed with you.
Perhaps they gave you advice.
Perhaps they even guided you to Scriptures that showed the error of your ways or the proper path for you to take.
Did you, like the father in our text, find that you still were bound to your situation, still unable to overcome the obstacle in your life?
Perhaps you found that you were still lost, without a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Today I want to challenge you to go directly to Jesus.
That is what the disciples did.
They could not solve this poor man's problem, so they sent him to Jesus.
Jesus was able, immediately, to ascertain what the real issue was.
It was not that the demon was exceptionally strong.
It was not that the disciples were exceptionally weak.
The real problem was where the father was putting the "IF."
It is very clear from the text that there was an "IF."
1.) The problem with this man's child was long-standing. V21
Is your problem longstanding?
If so, there is some doubt, an "IF," as to whether your problem is going to be solved.
You may have become so used to it that you think that it is just something that you have to live with.
That is not an assumption that you should readily make unless God expressly leads you to that conclusion.
2.) The problem could not be solved easily. V18
Is your problem difficult?
If you have tried and failed to solve your problem, there is an, "IF."
Perhaps you have tried and failed, others have tried to help and failed.
Perhaps you have reached the conclusion that this one is too difficult to overcome.
Jesus would dissagree.
3.) The problem was serious. V22a
Is your problem serious?
I would challenge you to see the seriousness of it.
Maybe it has brought you to the brink of taking your own life.
Maybe it has taken you to the edge of leaving the faith, falling away.
Maybe you don't know Christ.
If so, your problem is serious, and the very shortness and fragility of life lends an, "IF," to the equation. You may never be free of it.
The father in our text saw a definite, "IF," in his situation.
He had lived with it for some length of time, he had seen failure in attempts to resolve it and he knew that one day this demon might destroy his child and he would never see his request answered.
So he clearly expressed his doubt in the "IF" that he uses in verse 22:
"if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us."
So often we, like this man, see the "IF" and, like him, we put it in the wrong place.
I. VERSE 22 SHOWS THE "IF" IN THE WRONG PLACE
Let me show you first where the "IF" does not belong:
1.) The "IF" does not belong before God's ability to help you.
V22: "if thou canst do any thing"
In the very next verse, Jesus makes it clear, "all things are possible."
God CAN solve your problem.
It is not bigger than His ability.
This is that God who spoke these worlds into existance.
This is that same God who stood on the boat in the midst of the storm and said "peace be still." and the seas were calm.
This is that same God whose powerful hand has brought emperors to their knees and kingdoms to ashes.
Your problem is not more than He can handle.
The "IF" does not belong before God's ability to help you.
2.) The "IF" does not belong before God's willingness to help you.
V22: "have compassion on us, and help us."
We serve a God whose mighty arm is offered to us to command.
Isa 45:11 ¶ Thus saith the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me.
We serve a God whose provision for escape always matches the temptation we face.
1Co 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
We serve a God whose willingness to save is promised from before time began.
2Pe 3:9 ¶ The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Our God wants to help and save us.
It is not for lack of God's desire that we go unsaved or unhelped.
The "IF" does not belong before God's willingness to help us.
Now let us see how Jesus corrects the placement of the "IF" in Verse 23
II. VERSE 23 SHOWS THE "IF" IN THE RIGHT PLACE.
The "IF" belongs before our faith and our willingness to believe.
Notice that there is a powerful promise with this verse.
"All things are possible."
However, no victory, no salvation, no freedom, no deliverance will take place until we put the "IF" in the right place.
It is not because God is unable or unwilling to help us that we suffer under the weight of our sin or our situation, but rather because we do not believe.
Allow me to demonstrate how this is so in your own life:
Think of that one thing that you know should change yet you are powerless to stop.
Think of that one situation with which you know God is displeased and yet you are convinced that it cannot change now.
Think of that one sin to which you are enslaved hopelessly.
Why has it not changed?
Why have you stalled?
Why are you not free?
Is it not true that if you wholly believed that God would provide, you would change?
Is it not true that if you were convinced of God's support you would remove yourself from the situation?
Is it not true that if you knew that God would grant you victory over your sin, you would leave it today?
So it is due to a lack of faith that we remain in need.
The "IF" belongs firmly before our faith.
It is faith we lack.
The works are lacking because the faith is not there.
In the next verse we see this poor father break down and weep at the lack of faith in his own heart.
He stopped blaming God for his need and accepted the responsibility to exercise faith.
How did he do this?
How did this father find the faith that he needed to heal his son?
III. VERSE 24 SHOWS THE "IF" REMOVED FROM THE EQUATION
The words, "I believe," show that the "IF" is gone.
What made the difference?
How does faith come?
Ro 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
This father heard the word of God from the mouth of God when Jesus said, "all things are possible to him that believeth."
First, we must listen to the word of God.
We must purposefully place ourselves under its preaching, read it for ourselves, listen to its instruction.
It will produce faith in our hearts.
Secondly, we must surrender to Him as Lord.
This father had called Jesus master, didskalos, which implies teacher.
Now he calls Jesus, Lord, Kurios, which implies supreme leader.
A man or a woman lacks the faith needed to be delivered because that person is still lord of their own life.
How can we say we believe Him when we refuse to obey Him?
This step of complete surrender is made with utter abandon.
Often this step of surrender to the lordship of Christ is characterized as a foolish leap off of a cliff.
Know this: Making Jesus Lord of your life is not the leap of a fool but the resting of a child in the arms of a father.
Won't you stop fighting him and let Him hold you?
Obey his prompting, He will never fail you.
Third, Start with a little faith.
Did the father in our story suddenly feel a heart so full of faith that he realized he need no longer fear for his son?
Clearly not, He still saw a need for more faith and asked Jesus to make up the difference.
Jesus does not require a heart full of faith for deliverance.
Mt 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
He simply requires a little.
Don't wait until you are sure.
You will never leave your sin if you wait.
You will never overcome your obstacle if you wait.
You will never be saved if you wait.
Faith is not about knowing, it is about trusting.
Won't you take that step today?
God is weary of our lack of faith.
Let us trust him and obey His prompting this morning.
Monday, September 10, 2007
The Work of the Cross
The Work of the Cross
Ephesians 2:1-22
This is Labor Day weekend.
Labor Day is set aside as a day of celebration of American Labor.
Late in the 1800's the average workday was 12 hrs and it was not uncommon for the average American to work 7 days.
As the Industrial Revolution got underway many workers, with the support and impetus of workers' unions, rioted in the streets in protest of the labor conditions.
Some states began to hold parades one day per year in honor of American labor.
After about twelve years the Congress legalized the holiday and we now celebrate Labor Day once a year.
I enjoy the celebration of labor; I am a hardworking person.
Besides the work of the Church, which I love with all my heart, and to which I am able to dedicate some 20 hours per week, I put in about 50 hours per week in a secular work place.
I don't begrudge the fact that I must work to support my family.
It is a privilege to have the energy to fulfill the responsibilities God has given me.
I believe that Christians should be the hardest working people on earth.
However, there is, in many religious circles, a very wrong idea about work.
Many people are convinced that they must work for the salvation of their soul.
It is the common belief that good people go to Heaven and bad people go to Hell.
This idea of a works-based salvation is a dangerous and blatantly unBiblical belief.
I have often questioned people whose belief is that they must do good works to earn their way into Heaven.
After an honest conversation and some clear Bible reasoning, they will usually admit that they are not good enough.
It is quite simple to see from Scripture, that God's standard of righteousness is higher than we can reach in a lifetime.
As a matter of fact, over the course of a lifetime we are actually incurring more and more sin debt with no way of paying it off, because our own righteousness is worthless to pay our sin debt.
Isa 64:6 ¶ But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
I recently read an article about Teresa of Calcutta, known by many as Mother Teresa.
It seems that this dear sweet lady had all her life tried to work her way into good graces with God.
In truth, she probably sacrificed more than I ever will, and her life should be admired for that.
However, as she discovered, a life of self sacrifice and good works is not enough to reconcile a person to God.
Theresea wrote about God in a confession to a priest,
"The more I want him — the less I am wanted,"
In 1955 She wrote,
"Such deep longing for God — and ... repulsed — empty — no faith — no love — no zeal. — [The saving of] Souls holds no attraction — Heaven means nothing — pray for me please that I keep smiling at Him in spite of everything."
After receiving an award in the Philippines in the 1960s she wrote,
"This means nothing to me, because I don't have Him."
In her writings throughout the 1980's she referred to her lack of fellowship with God as "my darkness," as if she recognized a personal darkness.
She referred just as commonly to Jesus as "the absent one."
I use this lady as an illustration, because no one here has done the work that she did.
If her work was not enough to earn fellowship with God, then certainly we need something greater than our own work.
As a matter of fact, for a man or a woman to insist upon doing the work of salvation themselves is to disrespect the work of the cross and offer in its stead filthy rags of our own righteousness.
Our text reveals the real work of salvation and that work which reached past our condition to reconcile us to a sinless Holy God.
It was the work of the Cross.
READ TEXT
PRAY
There are revealed in this text two great accomplishments that we can see in the work of the cross.
The first and the greatest is the reconciliation of man to God.
1.) The Cross Reconciled Man To God.
- You will notice where we started by our own sinful nature.
Verse 1, We were dead in sin. (spiritually, there was no living entity that could fellowship with God)
Verse 2, We walked according to the ways of the devil. (as followers of the will of Satan rather than God, we were children of disobedience.)
Verse 3, We committed sins that incurred the wrath of God. (as we were created for His glory and given distinct commands to that end, our selfish living was an act of rebellion)
- You will then notice where we are as a result of the work of the cross.
Verse 5, We have been made alive.
Verse 6, Our relationship has been established in Heaven.
Verse 7, We have an eternal future with God.
Verse 10, We have the ability to now do good works.
Verse 16, We are no longer God's enemy.
Verse 18, We have instant and constant access to God.
The second accomplishment of the work of the cross is the reconciliation of man to man.
2.) The Cross Reconciled Man to Man
- You will notice the particular difference of Jews and Gentiles.
Verse 11, The Gentiles were separated fromt the Jews by religious rituals.
Verse 12, The Gentiles were without God.
- You will notice how the cross overcame the differences.
Verse 13, The blood of Jesus Christ brought them together. (thus all people bought by the blood of Jesus are brought together)
Verse 14, There is no wall that separates us while we worship the same God.
Verse 16, Both become one body of Christ.
Ephesians 2:1-22
This is Labor Day weekend.
Labor Day is set aside as a day of celebration of American Labor.
Late in the 1800's the average workday was 12 hrs and it was not uncommon for the average American to work 7 days.
As the Industrial Revolution got underway many workers, with the support and impetus of workers' unions, rioted in the streets in protest of the labor conditions.
Some states began to hold parades one day per year in honor of American labor.
After about twelve years the Congress legalized the holiday and we now celebrate Labor Day once a year.
I enjoy the celebration of labor; I am a hardworking person.
Besides the work of the Church, which I love with all my heart, and to which I am able to dedicate some 20 hours per week, I put in about 50 hours per week in a secular work place.
I don't begrudge the fact that I must work to support my family.
It is a privilege to have the energy to fulfill the responsibilities God has given me.
I believe that Christians should be the hardest working people on earth.
However, there is, in many religious circles, a very wrong idea about work.
Many people are convinced that they must work for the salvation of their soul.
It is the common belief that good people go to Heaven and bad people go to Hell.
This idea of a works-based salvation is a dangerous and blatantly unBiblical belief.
I have often questioned people whose belief is that they must do good works to earn their way into Heaven.
After an honest conversation and some clear Bible reasoning, they will usually admit that they are not good enough.
It is quite simple to see from Scripture, that God's standard of righteousness is higher than we can reach in a lifetime.
As a matter of fact, over the course of a lifetime we are actually incurring more and more sin debt with no way of paying it off, because our own righteousness is worthless to pay our sin debt.
Isa 64:6 ¶ But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
I recently read an article about Teresa of Calcutta, known by many as Mother Teresa.
It seems that this dear sweet lady had all her life tried to work her way into good graces with God.
In truth, she probably sacrificed more than I ever will, and her life should be admired for that.
However, as she discovered, a life of self sacrifice and good works is not enough to reconcile a person to God.
Theresea wrote about God in a confession to a priest,
"The more I want him — the less I am wanted,"
In 1955 She wrote,
"Such deep longing for God — and ... repulsed — empty — no faith — no love — no zeal. — [The saving of] Souls holds no attraction — Heaven means nothing — pray for me please that I keep smiling at Him in spite of everything."
After receiving an award in the Philippines in the 1960s she wrote,
"This means nothing to me, because I don't have Him."
In her writings throughout the 1980's she referred to her lack of fellowship with God as "my darkness," as if she recognized a personal darkness.
She referred just as commonly to Jesus as "the absent one."
I use this lady as an illustration, because no one here has done the work that she did.
If her work was not enough to earn fellowship with God, then certainly we need something greater than our own work.
As a matter of fact, for a man or a woman to insist upon doing the work of salvation themselves is to disrespect the work of the cross and offer in its stead filthy rags of our own righteousness.
Our text reveals the real work of salvation and that work which reached past our condition to reconcile us to a sinless Holy God.
It was the work of the Cross.
READ TEXT
PRAY
There are revealed in this text two great accomplishments that we can see in the work of the cross.
The first and the greatest is the reconciliation of man to God.
1.) The Cross Reconciled Man To God.
- You will notice where we started by our own sinful nature.
Verse 1, We were dead in sin. (spiritually, there was no living entity that could fellowship with God)
Verse 2, We walked according to the ways of the devil. (as followers of the will of Satan rather than God, we were children of disobedience.)
Verse 3, We committed sins that incurred the wrath of God. (as we were created for His glory and given distinct commands to that end, our selfish living was an act of rebellion)
- You will then notice where we are as a result of the work of the cross.
Verse 5, We have been made alive.
Verse 6, Our relationship has been established in Heaven.
Verse 7, We have an eternal future with God.
Verse 10, We have the ability to now do good works.
Verse 16, We are no longer God's enemy.
Verse 18, We have instant and constant access to God.
The second accomplishment of the work of the cross is the reconciliation of man to man.
2.) The Cross Reconciled Man to Man
- You will notice the particular difference of Jews and Gentiles.
Verse 11, The Gentiles were separated fromt the Jews by religious rituals.
Verse 12, The Gentiles were without God.
- You will notice how the cross overcame the differences.
Verse 13, The blood of Jesus Christ brought them together. (thus all people bought by the blood of Jesus are brought together)
Verse 14, There is no wall that separates us while we worship the same God.
Verse 16, Both become one body of Christ.
Monday, September 3, 2007
Some Relationship Advice
Some Relationship Advice
Luke 6:27-36
As we saw from the preceding verses last week, Sunday Morning, Jesus is here giving ministry advice to his disciples.
After encouraging them to recognize the blessings of ministry, He goes on to speak to them about that all-important aspect of ministry, relationships.
If we are unable to successfully navigate human relationships and if we retreat in the face of difficult relationships we will lose our effectiveness in ministry.
Jesus gives us in the following verses some poignant advice in dealing with difficult relationships.
Love, instead of hate, your enemies. Vs.27a
Ex 23:4 If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
Pr 25:21 ¶ If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
22 For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.
Do good, instead of evil, to them which hate you.Vs.27b
Ex 23: 5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
Bless, instead of curse, them that curse you.Vs.28a
1Co 4:12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
Pray for, instead of get bitter against, them which despitefully use you.Vs.28b
Lu 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
Ac 7:60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Forgive, instead of defend, when people hurt or wrong you. Vs.29
1Co 6:5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?
6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
Give, instead of withold, to those who are unwilling or unable to repay you. Vs.30
De 15:7 If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:
8 But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.
9 Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.
Pr 21:26 He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not.
Treat people as you would be treated. Vs.31
Mt 7:12 ¶ Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
The motivation for following the above advice is simple: Vs.36 Because that is what God has done for us.
Paul carries the argument further (vs.32-35) to remind us that the world has its own brand of relationship advice, and it doesn't meet God's standard.
Luke 6:27-36
As we saw from the preceding verses last week, Sunday Morning, Jesus is here giving ministry advice to his disciples.
After encouraging them to recognize the blessings of ministry, He goes on to speak to them about that all-important aspect of ministry, relationships.
If we are unable to successfully navigate human relationships and if we retreat in the face of difficult relationships we will lose our effectiveness in ministry.
Jesus gives us in the following verses some poignant advice in dealing with difficult relationships.
Love, instead of hate, your enemies. Vs.27a
Ex 23:4 If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again.
Pr 25:21 ¶ If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
22 For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.
Do good, instead of evil, to them which hate you.Vs.27b
Ex 23: 5 If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him.
Bless, instead of curse, them that curse you.Vs.28a
1Co 4:12 And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it:
Pray for, instead of get bitter against, them which despitefully use you.Vs.28b
Lu 23:34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
Ac 7:60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Forgive, instead of defend, when people hurt or wrong you. Vs.29
1Co 6:5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?
6 But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded?
Give, instead of withold, to those who are unwilling or unable to repay you. Vs.30
De 15:7 If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother:
8 But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth.
9 Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
10 Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.
Pr 21:26 He coveteth greedily all the day long: but the righteous giveth and spareth not.
Treat people as you would be treated. Vs.31
Mt 7:12 ¶ Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
The motivation for following the above advice is simple: Vs.36 Because that is what God has done for us.
Paul carries the argument further (vs.32-35) to remind us that the world has its own brand of relationship advice, and it doesn't meet God's standard.
Friday, August 31, 2007
The Power of Prayer
The Power of Prayer
The Prayer of The Church
Acts 1:12-14; 2:1-4
A Priority of Unity
The Old Testament commanded it. (Psalm133:1)
Jesus prayed for it. (John 17:1)
Jesus promised results in prayer with it. (Matthew 18:19)
A Prayer with Unity
They had one goal. Acts 2:1
They were in one place. Acts 2:2
They had one prayer. Acts 1:14
A Power Because of Unity
The Holy Spirit came and used every believer. Acts 2:2-4
They received special power to preach the gospel. Acts 2:8-11
They saw three thousand saved. Acts 2:41
The Church prayed, in one accord;
God sent His Spirit and changed the world!
The Prayer of The Church
Acts 1:12-14; 2:1-4
A Priority of Unity
The Old Testament commanded it. (Psalm133:1)
Jesus prayed for it. (John 17:1)
Jesus promised results in prayer with it. (Matthew 18:19)
A Prayer with Unity
They had one goal. Acts 2:1
They were in one place. Acts 2:2
They had one prayer. Acts 1:14
A Power Because of Unity
The Holy Spirit came and used every believer. Acts 2:2-4
They received special power to preach the gospel. Acts 2:8-11
They saw three thousand saved. Acts 2:41
The Church prayed, in one accord;
God sent His Spirit and changed the world!
Some Ministry Advice
Some Ministry Advice
LUKE 6:20-26
Last week we read the last portion of Paul's first letter to Timothy and saw some very real and practical back to school advice.
Today we will read the words of Jesus as He encourages His disciples before sending them forth to minister.
This passage is powerful and applicable to all of us because we have all been called to ministry.
The ministry is not just for pastors or people in leadership.
It is for all of us.
However, if you are determined to invest your life into other people and minister or serve as God has commanded us, then you will face many obstacles.
You will face sorrow and suffering, rejection and misunderstandings.
You may even reach a point of wanting to give up ministering to others and live for yourself for a while.
Because Jesus knew all too well the dangers and difficulties of ministering to people, He sat his disciples down and gave them some very practical advice.
In this first part of Jesus' words on the subject Jesus deals with the blessings of ministry.
Upon reading this advice it is easy to see how we sometimes do not recognize the blessings of ministry for what they are, and we get discouraged in our good work for the Lord and for the people He loves.
READ TEXT
PRAY
Realize the Blessings of the Ministry.
The Blessing of the poor: Verse 20
> The privilege of building The Kingdom of God
- With little to distract us in the way of material things, we can enjoy the much greater work of building His kingdom instead of our own.
> Remember, the riches of this world are temporary. Verse 24
The Blessing of the hungry: Verse 21a
> The fulfillment of doing God's will.
- John 4:32 finds Jesus, hungry and thirsty, but full and satisfied.
- This hunger can apply to any desire that we have that is not fulfilled - A man or woman enslaved to fulfilling his own passions and desires is an empty person.
- What a blessing and a fulfillment to know that we are doing God's will!
> Remember, natural fulfillment is fleeting. Verse 25a
The Blessing of the broken hearted: Verse 21b
> The joy of the Lord
- Sorrow makes us pliable and usable for Him and dependant on Him for strength.
- Nehemiah 8:10b …the joy of the LORD is your strength.
- Sadness is the deep colors woven into the tapestry of our lives. Without them we have little over which to rejoice.
- Psalm 126:6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
- Joy dearly paid for is long lasting and meaningful.
> Remember, cheap laughs are short-lived. Verse 25b
The Blessing of the rejected: Verse 22,23
> Good company
- Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
- Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
- Jesus was rejected and scorned, often misunderstood and lied about, but in his hour of greatest loneliness, when all had deserted him, he accomplished the greatest feat, He paid for the sins of the world.
> Remember, human affirmation is not an assurance of being right. Vs 26
Every minister must learn to appreciate the blessings of the ministry or suffer disillusionment.
Have you surrendered to a life of ministry?
Learn to recognize and appreciate the blessings.
It is the most meaningful, the most fulfilling, the most joyous of all occupations, and in the ministry of Christ you are following in the footprints of the greatest men on earth.
In truth, Jesus himself was poor as he walked this earth.
He was often hungry and we read of how he wept.
As his ministry progressed we see that he was hated by many and even betrayed by those closest to him.
Even one whom he loved especially, denied him to others.
Now He sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
He is above all and some day every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the Glory of God the Father.
Certainly I can suffer and even value the suffering of ministry as I grow to be more like Him.
LUKE 6:20-26
Last week we read the last portion of Paul's first letter to Timothy and saw some very real and practical back to school advice.
Today we will read the words of Jesus as He encourages His disciples before sending them forth to minister.
This passage is powerful and applicable to all of us because we have all been called to ministry.
The ministry is not just for pastors or people in leadership.
It is for all of us.
However, if you are determined to invest your life into other people and minister or serve as God has commanded us, then you will face many obstacles.
You will face sorrow and suffering, rejection and misunderstandings.
You may even reach a point of wanting to give up ministering to others and live for yourself for a while.
Because Jesus knew all too well the dangers and difficulties of ministering to people, He sat his disciples down and gave them some very practical advice.
In this first part of Jesus' words on the subject Jesus deals with the blessings of ministry.
Upon reading this advice it is easy to see how we sometimes do not recognize the blessings of ministry for what they are, and we get discouraged in our good work for the Lord and for the people He loves.
READ TEXT
PRAY
Realize the Blessings of the Ministry.
The Blessing of the poor: Verse 20
> The privilege of building The Kingdom of God
- With little to distract us in the way of material things, we can enjoy the much greater work of building His kingdom instead of our own.
> Remember, the riches of this world are temporary. Verse 24
The Blessing of the hungry: Verse 21a
> The fulfillment of doing God's will.
- John 4:32 finds Jesus, hungry and thirsty, but full and satisfied.
- This hunger can apply to any desire that we have that is not fulfilled - A man or woman enslaved to fulfilling his own passions and desires is an empty person.
- What a blessing and a fulfillment to know that we are doing God's will!
> Remember, natural fulfillment is fleeting. Verse 25a
The Blessing of the broken hearted: Verse 21b
> The joy of the Lord
- Sorrow makes us pliable and usable for Him and dependant on Him for strength.
- Nehemiah 8:10b …the joy of the LORD is your strength.
- Sadness is the deep colors woven into the tapestry of our lives. Without them we have little over which to rejoice.
- Psalm 126:6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
- Joy dearly paid for is long lasting and meaningful.
> Remember, cheap laughs are short-lived. Verse 25b
The Blessing of the rejected: Verse 22,23
> Good company
- Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
- Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
- Jesus was rejected and scorned, often misunderstood and lied about, but in his hour of greatest loneliness, when all had deserted him, he accomplished the greatest feat, He paid for the sins of the world.
> Remember, human affirmation is not an assurance of being right. Vs 26
Every minister must learn to appreciate the blessings of the ministry or suffer disillusionment.
Have you surrendered to a life of ministry?
Learn to recognize and appreciate the blessings.
It is the most meaningful, the most fulfilling, the most joyous of all occupations, and in the ministry of Christ you are following in the footprints of the greatest men on earth.
In truth, Jesus himself was poor as he walked this earth.
He was often hungry and we read of how he wept.
As his ministry progressed we see that he was hated by many and even betrayed by those closest to him.
Even one whom he loved especially, denied him to others.
Now He sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
He is above all and some day every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord to the Glory of God the Father.
Certainly I can suffer and even value the suffering of ministry as I grow to be more like Him.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Back to School Advice
Back to School Advice
I Timothy 6:20,21
Some things To REMEMBER:
"Keep that which is committed to thy trust."
You have been entrusted with…
> The Representation of the Gospel
Php 1:27 ¶ Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
-In how you appear,
-In how you company,
-In how you talk
> The Representation of Christ
Some things To AVOID:
I Timothy 6:20,21
Some things To REMEMBER:
"Keep that which is committed to thy trust."
You have been entrusted with…
> The Representation of the Gospel
Php 1:27 ¶ Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;
-In how you appear,
-In how you company,
-In how you talk
> The Representation of Christ
1Co 12:27 ¶ Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
> The Representation of Your Family
Pr 10:1 ¶ The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
> The Representation of Your Family
Pr 10:1 ¶ The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
Some things To AVOID:
Avoid Profane Babblings
> Cursing
> Cursing
Ex 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Ps 59:12 For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.
>Ungodly Conversation
Ps 59:12 For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak.
>Ungodly Conversation
1Pe 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Avoid Vain Babblings
> Prideful and/or degrading conversation
Eph 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
> unprofitable conversation
Tit 3:9 ¶ But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Avoid Vain Babblings
> Prideful and/or degrading conversation
Eph 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
> unprofitable conversation
Tit 3:9 ¶ But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain.
> Gossip
Pr 11:13 A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.
Pr 11:13 A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.
Pr 18:8 ¶ The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.
Pr 20:19 ¶ He that goeth about as a talebearer revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.
Pr 26:20 ¶ Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth.
Avoid Falsely named Science/Knowledge
> Evolution (an unproven theory)
Ro 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
> Tolerance (a counterfeit for love)
Jude 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
> False Doctrine (any contradiction to Scripture)
Ga 1:6 ¶ I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
> Evolution (an unproven theory)
Ro 1:22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
> Tolerance (a counterfeit for love)
Jude 1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
> False Doctrine (any contradiction to Scripture)
Ga 1:6 ¶ I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
Conclusion:
Whether you are going back to school tomorrow, going back to work or going back to your neighborhood, if you do not have a relationship with Christ you are destined for failure. It may not be a failure that the world recognizes but one in which you will suffer the consequences of your own sin for eternity.
Only with Christ as your Saviour and personal example will you succeed in following this Back to School Advice.
Rescue in the Wilderness
Rescue in the Wilderness
Luke 8:26-39
1.) An Urgent Situation
a. The man was demon possessed.
b. Society had tried and failed to help him.
c. He was isolated from people by his condition.
2.) A Skilful Intervention
a. Jesus’ concern was for the person.
i. He addressed the real problem.
ii. He sought to free the man.
b. Jesus’ methods were for the benefit of all.
i. He destroyed the unclean herd.
ii. He pointed out the sins of the society.
3.) A Successful Rescue
a. The man was devoted to Jesus.
b. The man was determined to follow Jesus.
c. The man was dutiful to proclaim Jesus.
Personal Application: There is no person whom Jesus does not love. He can and will rescue the impossibly lost. Are you willing to reach out to them?
Luke 8:26-39
1.) An Urgent Situation
a. The man was demon possessed.
b. Society had tried and failed to help him.
c. He was isolated from people by his condition.
2.) A Skilful Intervention
a. Jesus’ concern was for the person.
i. He addressed the real problem.
ii. He sought to free the man.
b. Jesus’ methods were for the benefit of all.
i. He destroyed the unclean herd.
ii. He pointed out the sins of the society.
3.) A Successful Rescue
a. The man was devoted to Jesus.
b. The man was determined to follow Jesus.
c. The man was dutiful to proclaim Jesus.
Personal Application: There is no person whom Jesus does not love. He can and will rescue the impossibly lost. Are you willing to reach out to them?
Sunday, August 5, 2007
The Power of Prayer
The Power of Prayer
Daniel’s Prayer
Daniel 6:1-28
A Testimony of Faithfulness
> An Excellent Spirit (Verse 3)
> A Reputation above Reproach (Verse 4)
> A Dependability in Spiritual Disciplines (Verse 5)
An Environment of Hostility
> Opposition in Personal Relationships
- His Fellow Servants and Subordinates
- His King and Superior
- Opposition from Legal Authorities (Vs.6-10)
A Prayer of Undeniable Faith
> Daniel could not deny his faith. (Verse 10)
> The King could not deny Daniel’s faith. (Verse16)
> God did not deny Daniel’s faith (Verse 22)
A Series of Consequences
> The opposition was removed. (Verse 24)
> The Lord was Glorified (Verse 25-27)
> Daniel Prospered (Verse 28)
Daniel prayed, when the outlook was grim;
God intervened and protected him.
Daniel’s Prayer
Daniel 6:1-28
A Testimony of Faithfulness
> An Excellent Spirit (Verse 3)
> A Reputation above Reproach (Verse 4)
> A Dependability in Spiritual Disciplines (Verse 5)
An Environment of Hostility
> Opposition in Personal Relationships
- His Fellow Servants and Subordinates
- His King and Superior
- Opposition from Legal Authorities (Vs.6-10)
A Prayer of Undeniable Faith
> Daniel could not deny his faith. (Verse 10)
> The King could not deny Daniel’s faith. (Verse16)
> God did not deny Daniel’s faith (Verse 22)
A Series of Consequences
> The opposition was removed. (Verse 24)
> The Lord was Glorified (Verse 25-27)
> Daniel Prospered (Verse 28)
Daniel prayed, when the outlook was grim;
God intervened and protected him.
MY GOD
MY GOD
Psalm 40:1-5
As we have focused over the last three weeks on the importance of Growing God’s Way we have seen that man does not naturally grow the way God intends.
Rather, we tend to drift away from God because we are sinners.
However, if we will follow His program for growth we will flourish, unobstructed by bitterness and sin, into the likeness of His son, Jesus Christ, Whose grace will flow through us to a lost and dying world.
Today, we will move back toward the theme for the year, relationships.
I was recently asked about what it was that inspires the sermon on Sunday.
Usually, it is the fruit of my own personal Bible study, but at times God uses some circumstance or crisis to bring to my mind some item of utmost importance.
When this happens, I am driven into the word with a passion to find God’s perspective on a particular matter.
Such is the case this morning.
I recently was searching a video sharing website with my wife when we found a set of debates between creationists and evolutionists.
Debates of this sort are generally rare because evolutionists typically decline to debate the science of creationism because they do not want to admit that the issue is still up for debate.
It is quite possible that they have seen the outcome of nearly all debates on the subject and decide to not become another statistic.
However, in watching a few of these intellectual jousts I was stricken by the hatred that the evolutionists and the self-proclaimed atheists have toward God.
On the one hand, they claim to be completely logical and scientific in their approach to the subject with an open mind to any outcome.
In the end, they invariably become emotionally irate and even vicious in their attacks against the person of a God they claim does not exist.
Something drives them with a fury that is hard to explain.
I personally do not believe in Aliens.
I do not, however, feel any hatred toward Aliens, because they do not exist!
If I were to express disdain or utter invectives against aliens, it would naturally follow that I could not shake the reality of their existence from my mind.
It might even indicate that, in my battle to not believe in them, I was losing, and my hatred was rather evidence of their existence.
In one instance, a self-proclaimed atheist lady, after mocking the poor deluded fools who insist on believing in the fantasy of God, said, with a voice shaking with rage, “I would rather go to hell than go to heaven and worship a megalomaniacal tyrant.”
As I often do, I inserted myself into the debate, speaking to the prerecorded image as if she could hear my question.
This question rose up in me with an urgency that only spontaneity can describe.
“Why do you hate Him so much?”
Before I could even finish, I knew the answer.
They don’t know MY GOD.
The more I thought of this the more I felt sympathy for these people who have dedicated their lives to disproving the existence of God.
They know information about God from some source, and they have filtered that information through their own sin-sick set of prejudices, but they do not know MY GOD.
This morning I want to introduce you to MY GOD.
If you are struggling with His reality I want you to experience Him this morning.
If you are one of His children, you should be longing to know Him better, and the more you engage in that search to know Him the less you will be distraught by the failures of people around you.
He is all you need.
He is the best part of this life, and He is the hope that I have for the next one.
READ TEXT
PRAY
There are several things from our text and from elsewhere in the Bible that I would like to point out to you about MY GOD.
1.) MY GOD is passionate about having a relationship with me.
a. Verse 5 – His thoughts toward me are innumerable.
b. Ps 139:17 ¶ How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:
c. His very act of creation proves his penchant for having a relationship with man.
2.) MY GOD is intent on revealing Himself to me.
a. Through creation – Ps 19:1 ¶ The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
b. Through messengers and then through his own Son. – Hebrews 1:1 ¶ God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son
c. He has purposefully shown us His perfections. They are not merely attributes, they are perfections.
3.) MY GOD is holy (separated from sin)
a. This is His primary attribute – Psalm 99:9 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.
b. Unlike the gods of others – Exodus 15:11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness,
c. The glimpse He has given us of Him in heaven – Isaiah 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4.) MY GOD loves me.
a. This is revealed in His works of creation. – Psalm 8:3 ¶ When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; 8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
b. This is revealed in His active work of making me worthy of His presence. – Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
c. This is revealed by His willingness to pay my sin debt – John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
I could say so much more about MY GOD, but time is short this morning.
I would only encourage you to get to know Him.
Have you noticed, brother or sister, that you have been distracted by the faults and failures of others and discouraged by your own shortcomings?
I would challenge you to change your focus.
Stop looking at and dwelling on everyone else’s problems.
Stop looking within to find a faultlessness that is not there.
Look to the One Who never disappoints.
Look to MY GOD.
Are you lost in your search for hope in life?
I can introduce you to One who loves you more than you can imagine.
MY GOD is looking for you.
Our text ends with a prayer we should all echo.
Ps 40:17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.
Psalm 40:1-5
As we have focused over the last three weeks on the importance of Growing God’s Way we have seen that man does not naturally grow the way God intends.
Rather, we tend to drift away from God because we are sinners.
However, if we will follow His program for growth we will flourish, unobstructed by bitterness and sin, into the likeness of His son, Jesus Christ, Whose grace will flow through us to a lost and dying world.
Today, we will move back toward the theme for the year, relationships.
I was recently asked about what it was that inspires the sermon on Sunday.
Usually, it is the fruit of my own personal Bible study, but at times God uses some circumstance or crisis to bring to my mind some item of utmost importance.
When this happens, I am driven into the word with a passion to find God’s perspective on a particular matter.
Such is the case this morning.
I recently was searching a video sharing website with my wife when we found a set of debates between creationists and evolutionists.
Debates of this sort are generally rare because evolutionists typically decline to debate the science of creationism because they do not want to admit that the issue is still up for debate.
It is quite possible that they have seen the outcome of nearly all debates on the subject and decide to not become another statistic.
However, in watching a few of these intellectual jousts I was stricken by the hatred that the evolutionists and the self-proclaimed atheists have toward God.
On the one hand, they claim to be completely logical and scientific in their approach to the subject with an open mind to any outcome.
In the end, they invariably become emotionally irate and even vicious in their attacks against the person of a God they claim does not exist.
Something drives them with a fury that is hard to explain.
I personally do not believe in Aliens.
I do not, however, feel any hatred toward Aliens, because they do not exist!
If I were to express disdain or utter invectives against aliens, it would naturally follow that I could not shake the reality of their existence from my mind.
It might even indicate that, in my battle to not believe in them, I was losing, and my hatred was rather evidence of their existence.
In one instance, a self-proclaimed atheist lady, after mocking the poor deluded fools who insist on believing in the fantasy of God, said, with a voice shaking with rage, “I would rather go to hell than go to heaven and worship a megalomaniacal tyrant.”
As I often do, I inserted myself into the debate, speaking to the prerecorded image as if she could hear my question.
This question rose up in me with an urgency that only spontaneity can describe.
“Why do you hate Him so much?”
Before I could even finish, I knew the answer.
They don’t know MY GOD.
The more I thought of this the more I felt sympathy for these people who have dedicated their lives to disproving the existence of God.
They know information about God from some source, and they have filtered that information through their own sin-sick set of prejudices, but they do not know MY GOD.
This morning I want to introduce you to MY GOD.
If you are struggling with His reality I want you to experience Him this morning.
If you are one of His children, you should be longing to know Him better, and the more you engage in that search to know Him the less you will be distraught by the failures of people around you.
He is all you need.
He is the best part of this life, and He is the hope that I have for the next one.
READ TEXT
PRAY
There are several things from our text and from elsewhere in the Bible that I would like to point out to you about MY GOD.
1.) MY GOD is passionate about having a relationship with me.
a. Verse 5 – His thoughts toward me are innumerable.
b. Ps 139:17 ¶ How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand:
c. His very act of creation proves his penchant for having a relationship with man.
2.) MY GOD is intent on revealing Himself to me.
a. Through creation – Ps 19:1 ¶ The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
b. Through messengers and then through his own Son. – Hebrews 1:1 ¶ God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son
c. He has purposefully shown us His perfections. They are not merely attributes, they are perfections.
3.) MY GOD is holy (separated from sin)
a. This is His primary attribute – Psalm 99:9 Exalt the LORD our God, and worship at his holy hill; for the LORD our God is holy.
b. Unlike the gods of others – Exodus 15:11 Who is like unto thee, O LORD, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness,
c. The glimpse He has given us of Him in heaven – Isaiah 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4.) MY GOD loves me.
a. This is revealed in His works of creation. – Psalm 8:3 ¶ When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; 8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.
b. This is revealed in His active work of making me worthy of His presence. – Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
c. This is revealed by His willingness to pay my sin debt – John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
I could say so much more about MY GOD, but time is short this morning.
I would only encourage you to get to know Him.
Have you noticed, brother or sister, that you have been distracted by the faults and failures of others and discouraged by your own shortcomings?
I would challenge you to change your focus.
Stop looking at and dwelling on everyone else’s problems.
Stop looking within to find a faultlessness that is not there.
Look to the One Who never disappoints.
Look to MY GOD.
Are you lost in your search for hope in life?
I can introduce you to One who loves you more than you can imagine.
MY GOD is looking for you.
Our text ends with a prayer we should all echo.
Ps 40:17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Rescue At Night
Rescue At Night
John 3:1-15
1.) An Urgent Situation
a. Nicodemus was a ruler and a religious leader.
b. Nicodemus did not know how to enter the Kingdom of God.
2.) A Skilful Intervention
a. Jesus immediately addressed the victim’s primary need.
b. Jesus overcame the victim’s ignorance.
c. Jesus simplified the process for Nicodemus.
3.) A Successful Rescue
a. Nicodemus Defended Jesus before the Sanhedrin. John 7:50,51
b. Nicodemus aided in the burial of Jesus. John 19:38-40
Personal Application: As a religious leader, even Nicodemus was in need of rescue. How about you?
John 3:1-15
1.) An Urgent Situation
a. Nicodemus was a ruler and a religious leader.
b. Nicodemus did not know how to enter the Kingdom of God.
2.) A Skilful Intervention
a. Jesus immediately addressed the victim’s primary need.
b. Jesus overcame the victim’s ignorance.
c. Jesus simplified the process for Nicodemus.
3.) A Successful Rescue
a. Nicodemus Defended Jesus before the Sanhedrin. John 7:50,51
b. Nicodemus aided in the burial of Jesus. John 19:38-40
Personal Application: As a religious leader, even Nicodemus was in need of rescue. How about you?Saturday, July 28, 2007
GROWING GOD’s WAY III
GROWING GOD’s WAY III
II Peter 3:18
Grow in Grace
Over the last few weeks we have focused on growing God's way.
It is not a natural nor easy way to grow.
Your flesh and mine would rather grow in our own timing and fashion.
However God has a much better and fuller plan for your life if you will surrender your will and grow His way.
Two weeks ago we saw that God is not just interested in us increasing our religious experience but is rather interested in us Flourishing.
We are to Flourish like the Palm and the Cedar trees.
When our lives take on the characteristics of the Cedar and the Palm we will be faithful in church and constant in our faith, with no wavering in whatever climate or circumstance we are in, because we have a greater interest in reflecting the faithfulness and the righteousness of God than the furtherance of our own agenda.
Last week we saw that before we can grow God's way we must first remove the obstacles that have come into our way.
We saw what can happen if a Christian is determined to leave these obstacles in place.
We end up scarred and disfigured and ill equipped to reflect the nature of God to the world.
Then, we must cultivate a desire for the Word of God.
This morning we will conclude the series with the challenge of our text:
READ TEXT
PRAY
The Epistles of Peter are extremely helpful to us, who, like the Christians of the 1st century church, need to be encouraged and equipped to simply grow in grace.
It is the simplicity of this command that stands out in this passage.
Peter had a knack for simplicity.
He didn't write much, nor did He assert himself nearly as much as the Apostle Paul did in the 1st century church.
It is quite clear that he considered himself to be nothing more than another man in the church and one of 12 to whom God had given Apostolic authority.
He even makes note of the deeper writings of Paul in the verses previous to our text, pointing out that some had taken Paul's words out of context and had twisted them to their own ends.
He encourages the reader to not be led away by the error of the wicked and fall from the steadfastness of a firm and constant faith.
Peter ends his second of only two letters that he penned to the church in general with this simple command.
GROW IN GRACE
Since it is in grace we must grow, let us focus on that word, grace, and see what it might mean to grow therein.
First, we notice that it is translated from the Greek word "karis" which is as near an identical word in usage and meaning as you will find in two languages.
Karis means an unmerited goodness, a gift, a benefit, a joy, a pleasure, but specifically one undeserved and thereby overwhelming in its goodness.
Our English word, "grace," is a perfect translation of God's intended thought as He uses this word throughout the New Testament.
The following are some of the definitions pulled from a dictionary of the English language:
MERRIAM-WEBSTER - unmerited divine assistance given humans, a virtue coming from God, an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency, a pleasing appearance or effect
I recently read one man's explanation of Grace and modified it to fit what we see reflected in the Bible:
When a person works an eight-hour day and receives a fair day's pay for his time, that is a wage.
When a person competes with an opponent and receives a trophy for his performance, that is a prize.
When a person receives appropriate recognition for his long service or high achievements, that is an award.
But when a person is not capable of or willing to earn a wage, has lost the race and thereby won no prize, and has done nothing to deserve a reward - yet receives such a gift anyway - that is grace.
I would challenge you this morning to analyze the level of grace in your life.
Are you growing in the among of grace you exhibit in your life?
Do your words minister grace to the hearers as commanded in
Eph 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the
If you were to die today, would there be evidence of grace that you bestowed upon others as there was when Tabitha/Dorcus passed away in
Ac 9:39 Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.
I am not asking if you give people what they deserve or what they are due.
I am asking if you are growing in grace.
I am not asking if you put up with people.
I am asking if you show them grace by your words and your actions.
It is high time that Christians began to see the need for showing grace in their day to day lives.
Let us look to our text for motivation and instruction on this.
Every Christian must grow in grace:
1.) Because of the judgment of the lost is coming. II Peter 3:11-12
> They will receive judgment on that day
> Today, they will be won by grace
> This is not an absence of truth Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
2.) Because of the reward of the saints is coming. II Peter 3:13-14
> We will receive grace on that day
> Today we must show grace to others
> This is only fitting when we focus on eternity
3.) Because of the great grace that has been shown us. II Peter 3:15
> Were it not for God's longsuffering we would not be saved.
> Jesus showed us grace so that we might share that same grace with others.
Mt 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
The practical instruction for growing in grace is simple:
1.) Learn of Jesus
2.) Meet Jesus
3.) Know Jesus
Ac 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
Are you growing in grace?
II Peter 3:18
Grow in Grace
Over the last few weeks we have focused on growing God's way.
It is not a natural nor easy way to grow.
Your flesh and mine would rather grow in our own timing and fashion.
However God has a much better and fuller plan for your life if you will surrender your will and grow His way.
Two weeks ago we saw that God is not just interested in us increasing our religious experience but is rather interested in us Flourishing.
We are to Flourish like the Palm and the Cedar trees.
When our lives take on the characteristics of the Cedar and the Palm we will be faithful in church and constant in our faith, with no wavering in whatever climate or circumstance we are in, because we have a greater interest in reflecting the faithfulness and the righteousness of God than the furtherance of our own agenda.
Last week we saw that before we can grow God's way we must first remove the obstacles that have come into our way.
We saw what can happen if a Christian is determined to leave these obstacles in place.
We end up scarred and disfigured and ill equipped to reflect the nature of God to the world.
Then, we must cultivate a desire for the Word of God.
This morning we will conclude the series with the challenge of our text:
READ TEXT
PRAY
The Epistles of Peter are extremely helpful to us, who, like the Christians of the 1st century church, need to be encouraged and equipped to simply grow in grace.
It is the simplicity of this command that stands out in this passage.
Peter had a knack for simplicity.
He didn't write much, nor did He assert himself nearly as much as the Apostle Paul did in the 1st century church.
It is quite clear that he considered himself to be nothing more than another man in the church and one of 12 to whom God had given Apostolic authority.
He even makes note of the deeper writings of Paul in the verses previous to our text, pointing out that some had taken Paul's words out of context and had twisted them to their own ends.
He encourages the reader to not be led away by the error of the wicked and fall from the steadfastness of a firm and constant faith.
Peter ends his second of only two letters that he penned to the church in general with this simple command.
GROW IN GRACE
Since it is in grace we must grow, let us focus on that word, grace, and see what it might mean to grow therein.
First, we notice that it is translated from the Greek word "karis" which is as near an identical word in usage and meaning as you will find in two languages.
Karis means an unmerited goodness, a gift, a benefit, a joy, a pleasure, but specifically one undeserved and thereby overwhelming in its goodness.
Our English word, "grace," is a perfect translation of God's intended thought as He uses this word throughout the New Testament.
The following are some of the definitions pulled from a dictionary of the English language:
MERRIAM-WEBSTER - unmerited divine assistance given humans, a virtue coming from God, an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency, a pleasing appearance or effect
I recently read one man's explanation of Grace and modified it to fit what we see reflected in the Bible:
When a person works an eight-hour day and receives a fair day's pay for his time, that is a wage.
When a person competes with an opponent and receives a trophy for his performance, that is a prize.
When a person receives appropriate recognition for his long service or high achievements, that is an award.
But when a person is not capable of or willing to earn a wage, has lost the race and thereby won no prize, and has done nothing to deserve a reward - yet receives such a gift anyway - that is grace.
I would challenge you this morning to analyze the level of grace in your life.
Are you growing in the among of grace you exhibit in your life?
Do your words minister grace to the hearers as commanded in
Eph 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the
If you were to die today, would there be evidence of grace that you bestowed upon others as there was when Tabitha/Dorcus passed away in
Ac 9:39 Then Peter arose and went with them. When he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber: and all the widows stood by him weeping, and shewing the coats and garments which Dorcas made, while she was with them.
I am not asking if you give people what they deserve or what they are due.
I am asking if you are growing in grace.
I am not asking if you put up with people.
I am asking if you show them grace by your words and your actions.
It is high time that Christians began to see the need for showing grace in their day to day lives.
Let us look to our text for motivation and instruction on this.
Every Christian must grow in grace:
1.) Because of the judgment of the lost is coming. II Peter 3:11-12
> They will receive judgment on that day
> Today, they will be won by grace
> This is not an absence of truth Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
2.) Because of the reward of the saints is coming. II Peter 3:13-14
> We will receive grace on that day
> Today we must show grace to others
> This is only fitting when we focus on eternity
3.) Because of the great grace that has been shown us. II Peter 3:15
> Were it not for God's longsuffering we would not be saved.
> Jesus showed us grace so that we might share that same grace with others.
Mt 10:8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
The practical instruction for growing in grace is simple:
1.) Learn of Jesus
2.) Meet Jesus
3.) Know Jesus
Ac 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
Are you growing in grace?
The Power of Prayer
The Power of Prayer
Nehemiah’s Prayer
Nehemiah 2:4
1.) Preceding Prayer
> A realization of need (1:1-3)
> A discipline of devotion (1:4)
> A prayer of repentance (1:5-11)
- An acknowledgement of God’s Glory
- An acknowledgement of sin
- An acknowledgement of promise
- An acknowledgement of mercy
2.) Present Prayer
> A testimony of joy (2:1-2)
> A testimony of truth (2:3)
> A prayer for courage and blessing (2:4)
> A testimony of boldness (2:5-8)
3.) Prevailing Prayer
> A great responsibility to fulfill (2:8-16)
> A great obstacle to overcome (2:17-20)
> A great victory to be won (6:15)
Nehemiah prayed, for a moment is all;
God gave Him courage, and he built the wall.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Psalm 50 When God Judges the World
When God Judges the World
Psalm 50
Introduction: The psalmist, Asaph, seems to be painting a picture of the coming judgment. He begins with the glorious entry of Jehovah into the Courtroom of final justice. Then we see the judgment of the saints, using Israel as a called out group. Finally, the judgment of the wicked takes place with a warning to those whose are not prepared for judgment day.
1.) God Enters the Courtroom Verse 1-6
> A call to all the earth V. 1
> A call for witnesses V. 4
> A call to gather the saints V. 5
> A call of righteous judgment V. 6
2.) The Saints are Judged Verse 7-15
> God will testify against the saints. V. 7
> He is not looking for more sacrifices. V. 8
> He does not need our offerings. V. 9-11
> He does not grow hungry for blood. V.12-13
> He desires thanksgiving. V. 14a
> He desires fulfilled commitments. V. 14b
> He desires to be called upon in need. V. 15a
> He desires to be glorified. V. 15b
3.) The Wicked are Judged Verse 16-21
> They have rejected His Word. V. 16-17
> They have joined the enemies of God. V. 18
> They have sinned with their mouths.V.19-20
> They have misjudged God. V21a
> God will set the record straight. V21b
4.) God Warns the Wicked of the Coming Judgment Verse 22-23
> Those who forget Him will be destroyed. V. 22
> Those who follow His ways will be saved. V.23
Conclusion: This psalm reminds us of the day toward which our life must be directed. This is judgment day. Will you be ready?
Psalm 50
Introduction: The psalmist, Asaph, seems to be painting a picture of the coming judgment. He begins with the glorious entry of Jehovah into the Courtroom of final justice. Then we see the judgment of the saints, using Israel as a called out group. Finally, the judgment of the wicked takes place with a warning to those whose are not prepared for judgment day.
1.) God Enters the Courtroom Verse 1-6
> A call to all the earth V. 1
> A call for witnesses V. 4
> A call to gather the saints V. 5
> A call of righteous judgment V. 6
2.) The Saints are Judged Verse 7-15
> God will testify against the saints. V. 7
> He is not looking for more sacrifices. V. 8
> He does not need our offerings. V. 9-11
> He does not grow hungry for blood. V.12-13
> He desires thanksgiving. V. 14a
> He desires fulfilled commitments. V. 14b
> He desires to be called upon in need. V. 15a
> He desires to be glorified. V. 15b
3.) The Wicked are Judged Verse 16-21
> They have rejected His Word. V. 16-17
> They have joined the enemies of God. V. 18
> They have sinned with their mouths.V.19-20
> They have misjudged God. V21a
> God will set the record straight. V21b
4.) God Warns the Wicked of the Coming Judgment Verse 22-23
> Those who forget Him will be destroyed. V. 22
> Those who follow His ways will be saved. V.23
Conclusion: This psalm reminds us of the day toward which our life must be directed. This is judgment day. Will you be ready?
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Growing God's Way PART II
Growing God's Way PART II
Prerequisites for Growth
I Peter 2:1-3
READ TEXT
PRAY
The first item to which I would draw your attention is the imperative in the passage.
We must always look for the command first.
Then we can see how God would have us change our lives.
In verse two, we are commanded to "desire the sincere milk of the word."
The way we are to desire the sincere milk of the word is, "As newborn babes."
Illustration: I had little opportunity to feed our first two children. Tiffany had that well under control. I had only to bring them to the bedside. However, as Allyson was two months early, I sat up with her in the ICU and bottle fed her for the first days of her life. I learned a few things about how newborn babes desire their milk.
1.) They are not happy without it.
2.) They devour it when it is available.
3.) It is their primary concern in life.
This is how we must desire to study the Word of God.
Now, I want to direct you to the object of verse 2.
We are commanded to desire the sincere milk of the word for this purpose: THAT YE MAY GROW THEREBY
It is God's purpose that we grow.
He requires it of us.
He is glorified by our proper growth.
Let us recognize that God is intent upon our growing and specifically our growing his way.
This morning, I want to challenge you from Scripture, to see some mandatory prerequisites to growth.
It is verse 1 that gives us the 1st clear and practical instructions by which we can grow God's way.
We must:
1.) Lay aside the obstacles to growth.
Illustration: Recently, I had the opportunity to go to the local trash dump. I usually enjoy going to the dump. There is always some odd item that someone has thrown out that arouses my curiosity. This last Sunday afternoon was no exception. As we drove out I noticed a bicycle parked on the side of the road with a sign beside it. The sign read, "Organic kick stand." Upon further investigation, I discovered that there was a stump from a tree that had grown around the bicycle, which was holding it up at the moment. Evidently, this tree had grown around the obstacle until the bicycle had become a permanent part of the tree.
I believe many Christians are growing the same way that this tree did.
There is a substantial obstacle in their life: a sin, a habit, an attitude even a circumstance that compromises their testimony.
And yet they leave that obstacle in its place and grow around it until it has scarred and deformed their spiritual life to the extent that they cannot bear fruit and cannot fill out God's plan for their life.
The especially repugnant obstacles which God points out for us are:
> Malice - denoting extreme enmity of heart, ill-will, a disposition to injure others without cause, from mere personal gratification, or from a spirit of revenge.---Webster.
> Guile - Deceit of all kinds.
> Hypocrisies - feigning to be what we are not; assuming a false appearance of religion; cloaking a wicked purpose under the appearance of piety.
> Envies - A negative attitude toward someone because they have something that we don't
> All Evil Speaking - It would include all unkind or slanderous speaking against others.
Of course there are many other items that the Holy Spirit may be pointing out in your own heart, things that must be removed before you are allowed to grow freely and in a manner that glorifies God.
Realize this, if we grow our way we will end up scarred and deformed and of little use for the glorification of our God.
On the contrary, if we are determined to grow God's way, we will remove the obstacles that He signifies and we will indeed growth into an object of glory to God.
Now we see that if we are to grow God's way we must first lay aside the obstacles to growth.
Secondly:
2.) We must desire the Word of God.
As we noted earlier, this is the command in the passage and deserves special attention.
It is often said in the world that we cannot fight our feelings.
God's Word insists exactly the opposite.
We can and must shape our own desires.
Several times in Scripture we are commanded to desire this or that.
Never does God command us to do something that He does not empower us to do.
It is entirely possible and necessary to shape our desires.
> By immersing ourselves in the word.
> By disciplining ourselves to read the word.
> By praying for God to change our hearts.
Finally we see the concluding verse which serves to motivate us to obey the instructions in the previous verses.
It is the grace of God that drives us.
We tasted it when we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior.
If you have not tasted His grace you must make that decision today.
Then His grace can motivate you to grow God's way.
Prerequisites for Growth
I Peter 2:1-3
READ TEXT
PRAY
The first item to which I would draw your attention is the imperative in the passage.
We must always look for the command first.
Then we can see how God would have us change our lives.
In verse two, we are commanded to "desire the sincere milk of the word."
The way we are to desire the sincere milk of the word is, "As newborn babes."
Illustration: I had little opportunity to feed our first two children. Tiffany had that well under control. I had only to bring them to the bedside. However, as Allyson was two months early, I sat up with her in the ICU and bottle fed her for the first days of her life. I learned a few things about how newborn babes desire their milk.
1.) They are not happy without it.
2.) They devour it when it is available.
3.) It is their primary concern in life.
This is how we must desire to study the Word of God.
Now, I want to direct you to the object of verse 2.
We are commanded to desire the sincere milk of the word for this purpose: THAT YE MAY GROW THEREBY
It is God's purpose that we grow.
He requires it of us.
He is glorified by our proper growth.
Let us recognize that God is intent upon our growing and specifically our growing his way.
This morning, I want to challenge you from Scripture, to see some mandatory prerequisites to growth.
It is verse 1 that gives us the 1st clear and practical instructions by which we can grow God's way.
We must:
1.) Lay aside the obstacles to growth.
Illustration: Recently, I had the opportunity to go to the local trash dump. I usually enjoy going to the dump. There is always some odd item that someone has thrown out that arouses my curiosity. This last Sunday afternoon was no exception. As we drove out I noticed a bicycle parked on the side of the road with a sign beside it. The sign read, "Organic kick stand." Upon further investigation, I discovered that there was a stump from a tree that had grown around the bicycle, which was holding it up at the moment. Evidently, this tree had grown around the obstacle until the bicycle had become a permanent part of the tree.
I believe many Christians are growing the same way that this tree did.
There is a substantial obstacle in their life: a sin, a habit, an attitude even a circumstance that compromises their testimony.
And yet they leave that obstacle in its place and grow around it until it has scarred and deformed their spiritual life to the extent that they cannot bear fruit and cannot fill out God's plan for their life.
The especially repugnant obstacles which God points out for us are:
> Malice - denoting extreme enmity of heart, ill-will, a disposition to injure others without cause, from mere personal gratification, or from a spirit of revenge.---Webster.
> Guile - Deceit of all kinds.
> Hypocrisies - feigning to be what we are not; assuming a false appearance of religion; cloaking a wicked purpose under the appearance of piety.
> Envies - A negative attitude toward someone because they have something that we don't
> All Evil Speaking - It would include all unkind or slanderous speaking against others.
Of course there are many other items that the Holy Spirit may be pointing out in your own heart, things that must be removed before you are allowed to grow freely and in a manner that glorifies God.
Realize this, if we grow our way we will end up scarred and deformed and of little use for the glorification of our God.
On the contrary, if we are determined to grow God's way, we will remove the obstacles that He signifies and we will indeed growth into an object of glory to God.
Now we see that if we are to grow God's way we must first lay aside the obstacles to growth.
Secondly:
2.) We must desire the Word of God.
As we noted earlier, this is the command in the passage and deserves special attention.
It is often said in the world that we cannot fight our feelings.
God's Word insists exactly the opposite.
We can and must shape our own desires.
Several times in Scripture we are commanded to desire this or that.
Never does God command us to do something that He does not empower us to do.
It is entirely possible and necessary to shape our desires.
> By immersing ourselves in the word.
> By disciplining ourselves to read the word.
> By praying for God to change our hearts.
Finally we see the concluding verse which serves to motivate us to obey the instructions in the previous verses.
It is the grace of God that drives us.
We tasted it when we accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior.
If you have not tasted His grace you must make that decision today.
Then His grace can motivate you to grow God's way.
The Power of Prayer
The Power of Prayer
The Prayer of Solomon
(1 Kings 3:5-15; 10:1-24)
A Powerful Opportunity
1.) God was interested in Solomon's desires.
2.) Solomon was charged to ask for his desires.
A Prudent Prayer
1.) He acknowledged the blessings of the past.
2.) He recognized his personal shortcomings.
3.) He accepted the great responsibility.
4.) He requested the ability to fulfill his responsibility.
A Pleased Response
1.) God granted his request fully.
2.) God gave him much more than he requested.
3.) God glorified Himself in Solomon's life.
SOLOMON prayed for wisdom; then
God made him the wisest of mortal men.
The Prayer of Solomon
(1 Kings 3:5-15; 10:1-24)
A Powerful Opportunity
1.) God was interested in Solomon's desires.
2.) Solomon was charged to ask for his desires.
A Prudent Prayer
1.) He acknowledged the blessings of the past.
2.) He recognized his personal shortcomings.
3.) He accepted the great responsibility.
4.) He requested the ability to fulfill his responsibility.
A Pleased Response
1.) God granted his request fully.
2.) God gave him much more than he requested.
3.) God glorified Himself in Solomon's life.
SOLOMON prayed for wisdom; then
God made him the wisest of mortal men.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Growing God's Way PART I
Growing God's Way PART I
"Flourishing"
Psalm 92:12-15
The Righteous Must Flourish
This psalm gives a contrast between the righteous and the wicked.
Both are given symbols by which we can identify them.
The wicked are compared to the grass of the field. V7
Certainly the wicked do grow in knowledge and in wisdom after a fashion, but like the flower of the grass, they will wither and fade.
The object of today's sermon and those that will follow in this series is to challenge you to analyze your growth.
Are you growing spiritually?
Are you growing God's way?
Before you answer that with the first thoughts that come to mind, you should know that there are many that appear to be growing spiritually, who have God on their lips constantly, but they do not have Him in their hearts.
It has become a way of life, but never a motivation for life.
Jesus gave a parable about the wheat and the tares.
Tares are weeds that are very similar to wheat in appearance.
He said that it was very difficult to tell the difference between the two, but in the last day God would separate them.
Both are growing and appear similar, but only one is growing God's way.
Are you growing your way or God's way?
Our text gives us some powerful pointers on how the righteous must grow.
READ TEXT
PRAY
The key word that is repeated in our text is the word "flourish."
It means "to grow well or luxuriantly, to thrive."
The Hebrew word translated "flourish" is "parach."
It means "to bloom and spread."
God does not want you to just increase in the size of your spiritual schemata.
He wants you to bloom and spread, to thrive.
Out text gives us some beautiful pictures and likenesses of how, where, when, and why the righteous must flourish.
This morning I would challenge you to that end.
Don't just grow, Flourish!
See our text:
1.) How they Flourish V12
> Like the Palm Tree
- Which stands in both inclimate and favorable weather.
- Which grows slowly but steadily all of its life.
- Which bears useful fruit.
> Like the Cedar Tree
- Which is strong and useful.
- Which is an evergreen, always green.
- Which is long lasting and stable.
2.) Where they Flourish V13
> They are planted permanently in the House of the LORD.
- Church is not a temporary phase for them.
- Church is a place they place their roots and decide to stay.
> They Flourish in the courts of God.
- Their greatest show of fruit is around God's people.
- They understand the need to be around God's people.
3.) When they Flourish V14
> All of their lives.
- not taking "time out"
> Even in old age.
- Utilizing the benefits of maturity and wisdom.
> Overflowing with fruit.
- Being a blessing to all around them.
4.) Why they Flourish V15
> To show the righteousness of God.
- They recognize they are reflections of God on earth.
> To show the purity and consistency of God.
- They recognize that they reflect god's character to man.
"Flourishing"
Psalm 92:12-15
The Righteous Must Flourish
This psalm gives a contrast between the righteous and the wicked.
Both are given symbols by which we can identify them.
The wicked are compared to the grass of the field. V7
Certainly the wicked do grow in knowledge and in wisdom after a fashion, but like the flower of the grass, they will wither and fade.
The object of today's sermon and those that will follow in this series is to challenge you to analyze your growth.
Are you growing spiritually?
Are you growing God's way?
Before you answer that with the first thoughts that come to mind, you should know that there are many that appear to be growing spiritually, who have God on their lips constantly, but they do not have Him in their hearts.
It has become a way of life, but never a motivation for life.
Jesus gave a parable about the wheat and the tares.
Tares are weeds that are very similar to wheat in appearance.
He said that it was very difficult to tell the difference between the two, but in the last day God would separate them.
Both are growing and appear similar, but only one is growing God's way.
Are you growing your way or God's way?
Our text gives us some powerful pointers on how the righteous must grow.
READ TEXT
PRAY
The key word that is repeated in our text is the word "flourish."
It means "to grow well or luxuriantly, to thrive."
The Hebrew word translated "flourish" is "parach."
It means "to bloom and spread."
God does not want you to just increase in the size of your spiritual schemata.
He wants you to bloom and spread, to thrive.
Out text gives us some beautiful pictures and likenesses of how, where, when, and why the righteous must flourish.
This morning I would challenge you to that end.
Don't just grow, Flourish!
See our text:
1.) How they Flourish V12
> Like the Palm Tree
- Which stands in both inclimate and favorable weather.
- Which grows slowly but steadily all of its life.
- Which bears useful fruit.
> Like the Cedar Tree
- Which is strong and useful.
- Which is an evergreen, always green.
- Which is long lasting and stable.
2.) Where they Flourish V13
> They are planted permanently in the House of the LORD.
- Church is not a temporary phase for them.
- Church is a place they place their roots and decide to stay.
> They Flourish in the courts of God.
- Their greatest show of fruit is around God's people.
- They understand the need to be around God's people.
3.) When they Flourish V14
> All of their lives.
- not taking "time out"
> Even in old age.
- Utilizing the benefits of maturity and wisdom.
> Overflowing with fruit.
- Being a blessing to all around them.
4.) Why they Flourish V15
> To show the righteousness of God.
- They recognize they are reflections of God on earth.
> To show the purity and consistency of God.
- They recognize that they reflect god's character to man.
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