Chardon church of Christ

A Man Just Like Us

A Man Just Like Us
Hebrews 11: 1 – 5

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good report. 3 Through faith we 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. 4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. 5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
James 5:17. It says this: "Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, & it did not rain on the land for 3 1/2 years."
You remember Elijah. He was one of the greatest prophets of the OT. He is the one who stood before wicked King Ahab & looked him eyeball to eyeball & said, "Ahab, if you don’t straighten up the heavens will be sealed & there will be no more rain on our land."

Someone described Elijah as a "blood & guts" prophet. Elijah is the one who climbed to the top of Mt. Carmel for a "call down fire from heaven" showdown with the priests of Baal, & who said to the people of Israel, "Who are you going to worship, Baal or Jehovah? Let’s settle it once & for all."
You remember Elijah. When his life’s work was over he was the one who was caught up in the whirlwind & a chariot of fire sent by God.

And when Jesus was on the earth, Elijah & Moses were the ones whom God chose to meet & talk with Jesus on the Mt. of Transfiguration.

Listen again as God speaks in Malachi 4:5-6: "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great & dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, & the hearts of the children to their fathers...."
When John the Baptist started preaching, the crowds said, "Elijah has come back." And when Jesus hung on the cross & cried out, "Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabachthani?" the crowds said, "He is crying for Elijah to come."

In every Orthodox Jewish home at Passover time even today when they put the chairs around the table & spread all the emblems of Passover, there is always one empty chair because they are waiting for Elijah to come.
Elijah, the OT prophet of God, was a very special person indeed! And yet, there is this amazing statement in James 5:17that says, "Elijah was a man just like us." And that phrase, "just like us," is only used one other time in all the Bible.

The 14th chapter of Acts tells about Paul & Barnabas in the city of Lystra. They healed a crippled man & the miracle was so amazing that the citizens of Lystra decided that Paul & Barnabas were gods. They called Paul "Mercury" & Barnabas "Zeus" & began to worship & offer sacrifices to them. But as the crowd surrounded them, Paul cried out, "Wait. We’re not gods. We’re men, just like you."

What does James mean when he says, "Elijah was a man just like us?" To be honest with you, I’m having a little trouble with that also. Can you picture Elijah driving up & down the roads of Chardon? Can you see him in line at McDonald’s, ordering a Big Mac & french fries? or shopping at Walmart? Rather hard to imagine, isn’t it? Yet, James says that "Elijah was a man just like us."

If James had said that Peter was "a man just like us," I wouldn’t have as much trouble believing that because Peter was often saying the wrong thing, talking when he should have kept quiet & making mistakes.
So if James had said, "Peter was a man just like us." I would say, "Yes, I can somewhat relate to that."

Or if James had said, "David was a man just like us," I could say, "I can see that, too." David writes in his Psalms of his frustrations, & searching for God’s will, & of wondering who he can trust. David sinned. David had trouble with his kids. Indeed, David was a man that was more like us.

But James doesn’t mention them. He says, "Elijah was a man just like us." And the rest of the passage says that when Elijah prayed earnestly that it would not rain, God held back the rain. Then 3 1/2 years later Elijah prayed that it would rain, & the rains came.
As a prophet from God, Elijah did some very extraordinary things. But James’ message is that Elijah was just an ordinary person, & that God can take ordinary people & accomplish extraordinary things. So, let’s take a closer look at Elijah to see what we can learn from his example.

First of all, we learn from Elijah that someone committed to God will not compromise his faith. Elijah has an interesting name. It comes from two words, "el" & "jah." Put them together & his name means, "Jehovah is God." Now that may sound redundant, but his name was very important, & it reflected Elijah’s conviction.

Elijah believed with all his heart that "Jehovah is God, & there is no other God." And that brought him into a direct confrontation with King Ahab. You remember King Ahab, don’t you? Maybe you remember his wife better. Her name was Jezebel.

Now King Ahab also believed that Jehovah was God. The problem was that he married a woman who believed that Baal was God. And Ahab was a politician who didn’t want to offend anybody, especially Jezebel. Therefore he decided, "If worshiping one god is good, then worshiping two gods is even better."
So he built altars to Jehovah & also to Baal. Into his palace he brought priests of Jehovah & also priests of Baal, & he told the people, "You can worship whichever God you choose, or you can worship both of them if you want."

B. But Elijah confronted Ahab & condemned his idolatry. As a result of Ahab’s example, many of the Israelites were now worshiping Baal, while others were worshiping Baal one day & Jehovah the next. They couldn’t make up their minds.
Finally Elijah calls for a climactic contest on top of Mt. Carmel & in 1 Kings 18:21 he utters these words to the people of Israel, "How long are you going to waver between two opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him; but if Baal is God, follow him."
Elijah was saying, "You cannot serve both Jehovah & Baal at the same time. So make up your minds which one you’re going to worship."
And he challenged the priests of Baal to a contest to see which one is God & actually able to answer prayer.
The priests of Baal built an altar & called on Baal to send down fire from heaven. But nothing happened. They shouted out to Baal almost all day long until they were hoarse. They tore their clothing, & even cut themselves, but nothing happened.
Finally, when it was obvious that they had completely failed to get any response from Baal, Elijah said, "Now it is my turn." It was time to prove once & for all who is the one true God.

In 1 Kings 18:30 we read, "Then Elijah said to all the people, ’Come here to me.’ They came to him, & he repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in ruins."

Elijah rebuilds the long neglected altar of God & offers his sacrifice upon it. Then when Elijah prays, God dramatically responds with fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice. “Jehovah is God." That is the proclamation of the life of Elijah.

C. Is there a message there for the church today? It seems to me that there is. Elijah said, "I will not be contaminated by my surroundings. I will keep my life pure, my testimony untarnished. I will keep on standing up for the fact that God is who He is, & there is no other god."

Do we need to hear & proclaim that message today? You see the world will tolerate us as Christians as long as we don’t get too serious about it. It is perfectly acceptable to the world for us to believe that Jesus is the Christ as long as we conform to its standards & values & attitudes.

Several years ago an article appeared in the Wall Street Journal about a woman who called herself Reverend Terry & her new-age religion. She called it "The New Christianity" & here is what it said that she teaches.

"Happiness is limitless, & people don’t need to change for the better, but simply to realize that they are already perfect." As you look at the world around us, do you believe that? Somehow, she seems to have a very strange perception of this world.

She doesn’t believe in sin or hell. "Sin is simply self hatred," she says, "& hell is what some of us build for ourselves right here on earth."
The article described her audiences as young & suntanned, driving Mercedes & BMW’s. She teaches prosperity & happiness & says, "You should never feel guilty for anything that you do, but rejoice in your own perfection." Now isn’t that comforting?
"Do what you want to do & never feel guilty."
Her conclusion is that since there isn’t any such thing as sin, there is no need or room for Jesus Christ to come & save us from our sins.

Somehow it all sounds like the 18th chapter of I Kings, doesn’t it - where they compromised & diluted the worship of God to the place where they were no longer paying any attention to the word or will of God.

Is that what is happening today? People say, "Your god is as good as mine. You worship yours & I’ll worship mine & I might even worship yours once in a while because it really doesn’t make much difference." OR, you worship the way you want to worship and I will worship the way I want to do.

But Elijah’s message for us today is, "Separate yourselves from the world’s values... not isolate yourselves but separate yourselves." We must never be contaminated by what “the world” teaches. The PRODICAL SON’s story in the New Testament illustrates this point.

Now let’s look at Romans 12:1 2. We’ve heard it so often that I am not sure we really listen to it. Paul says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy & pleasing to God which is your spiritual worship."

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test & approve what God’s will is His good, pleasing & perfect will."

There are two words in this passage that I have underlined: "conform" & "transform."
And as you study the Bible & read about the impact made by lives of the people mentioned in its pages you’ll find that they can fit into one of two categories: those who conformed to their world, & those who transformed their world.

Ananias & Sapphira conformed. Yes, they went to church, & they said their prayers. They joined in the life of the church. They were respected in the church. But they desired to be praised, & they ended up lying to the Holy Spirit.

Judas conformed. He had the privilege of listening to the teachings of Jesus of learning straight from the lips of Jesus Himself. But he conformed & sold out to the world.

Joseph in the OT didn’t conform. He was sold into slavery. He found himself tempted to commit adultery with Potiphar’s wife. But he didn’t conform to the world, & in time he transformed the world in which he lived.

Daniel did not conform. He wouldn’t conform to the pleasures of the palace. He wouldn’t bow down to their golden idols. He kept on believing & praying & he transformed the world that was around him.

The same is true of Peter, James, John, & all the other great saints who followed God. The pressures were there, but they would not conform & finally they turned the world upside down - or right side up.

Jesus said, "You cannot serve both God & mammon. You will end up loving one & hating the other." And that’s where it is today in our society. There are other altars, & other gods beckoning for our attention & our worship.

Society says, "That’s all right. You can still go to church & be a respectable Christian. Just go ahead & serve the other gods too."
But from Elijah comes this message, "Don’t conform, but be transformed." And here is how, "First of all, offer your bodies as living sacrifices. Give yourself to God."

Secondly, "Renew your mind." Let God’s Word teach you & shape your thinking, your attitudes, & your values in a new & wonderful way.

Thirdly, "Then you will be able to test & prove God’s good & pleasing & perfect will" for your life.

CONCL. That’s God’s message for us today. We dare not compromise it. We dare not dilute it. Like Elijah, we must stand strong on it & proclaim it to the world today.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His one & only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him" [John 3:16-17].

During the war in Vietnam, a young West Point graduate was assigned to lead a group of new recruits into battle. Despite difficult circumstances he did his job well, leading them to accomplish their assigned objectives. But one night they met stiff enemy resistance. And as they were making their way to the helicopters that would evacuate them to safety one of his men fell, severely wounded.

The young lieutenant & his men who had reached the helicopters knew that any attempt to save him would almost certainly mean death for the would-be rescuer. But the young lieutenant rushed back anyway.
He was able to save the soldier, but in the process was mortally wounded & died before the helicopter reached the base.

After the rescued soldier had recovered & returned to the States, the lieutenant’s parents heard that he was in their vicinity. Wanting to know this young man whose life was saved at such a great cost to them, they invited him to dinner. When their guest arrived, he was obviously drunk. He was rowdy & obnoxious. He used foul language & showed no sensitivity or gratitude for the sacrifice of their son who died to save him.

The grieving parents did the best they could to make the man’s visit a positive one, but their efforts went unrewarded. Their guest finally left. As the dad closed the door behind him, the mother collapsed in tears & cried, "To think that our son had to die for somebody like that."

Yet, that’s what Jesus did, isn’t it? He SUFFERED and DIED on the CROSS for EACH and EVERY ONE of US!!!!! Even those who were mocking and beating him! We hear him say on the cross as he hung there in ALL that pain, “Forgive them for they know not what they do”.

Contributing Sermon
Melvin Newland

Failure Is Not Fatal

Failure Isn’t Fatal
Mark 14:27-31, 66-72

Steven Spielberg, His cinematic output has grossed more than $9 billion and brought him three Academy Awards, but the master of the blockbuster was rejected TWICE by the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.
Thomas Edison
In what might be at once the most discouraging statement and worst teaching practice of all time, Thomas Edison was told by his teachers he was ‘too stupid to learn anything’.
Edison went on to hold more than 1,000 patents, including the phonograph and practical electric lamp. Death most likely spared his teachers the ignominy of their incorrect assessment.
Albert Einstein
His name is synonymous with intelligence yet it wasn’t always that way for Albert Einstein. As a child he didn’t start speaking until he was four, reading until he was seven, and was thought to be mentally handicapped.
He went on to win a Nobel Prize and altered the world’s approach to physics. I guess he was just thinking of the right thing to say for those first four years...
Theodor Seuss Geisel
Known to generations as Dr Seuss, the much-loved children’s author had his first book rejected by 27 different publishers.
His books that weren’t good enough for these publishers went on to sell more than 600 million copies worldwide.

Simon Peter was a leader among the twelve disciples. He was one of the first disciples Jesus called, and after Jesus ascended back into heaven, he was one of the leaders of the early church. However, I want you to imagine that night when Peter was sitting around the fire at the house of Caiaphas. He was brave enough to follow the mob that arrested Jesus, but he was too afraid to identify himself as a companion of Jesus. While the illegal Jewish trial of Jesus was being conducted Peter was asked three times if he knew Jesus. And three times, he denied Jesus. When we look at Peter’s life, we can see there were at least three steps on the downward path of failure. Simon says there are three steps that lead to failure. We need to know these steps, because they are the same steps to denial followers of Jesus take today.
A. His first downward step was disagreement with God’s Word
When Jesus took the disciples on a retreat to Caesarea Philippi, He asked them what people were saying. They said, “Some say you are John the Baptist, Jeremiah, Elijah, or one of the prophets.” Then Jesus said, “But who do YOU say that I am?” There was probably silence for a moment or two when Peter said, “You are the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus complimented Peter on his good understanding. Then Jesus began to tell them He would be going to Jerusalem where He would be put to death. That was God’s perfect revelation.
But Peter disagreed with God’s word. The Bible says, “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’ Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me.’” (Matthew 16:22-23)
Peter heard God’s plan straight from the mouth of Jesus, but he thought he knew better. He said, “None of this business about dying!”
In the same way, you are headed for failure when you start disagreeing with this book. When a person no longer consults this book for personal morality, then that person is heading for a fall. So I challenge you personally to read and obey God’s Word.
There was a time when our national morality was based upon the morality of the Bible, but we have long since forsaken God’s Word as a source of right and wrong—and that’s one reason we are in the mess we’re in.
B. Peter’s second step toward failure was overconfidence
When Jesus predicted that all the disciples would leave him, Peter bragged that he would stick with Jesus. He said, “All these other turkeys may fly away, but I’ll stand by you whatever happens!”
But Jesus said, “Peter, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” Peter said, “Never! Not me, Lord!”
The Bible has a strong warning against overconfidence. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18) I’m not a Catholic priest, so I don’t hear confession. But through the years, I’ve had hundreds of people come and confess sins to me. Of course, I will carry all these confessions in confidence to the grave. As you can imagine, I’ve heard plenty of sins over the past forty years. But I’ve never had a single person come to me and confess the sin of pride. Pride is a condition that blinds the person who has it.
Pride is an attitude that causes you to think you are incapable of sin. But we need to understand that any of us are capable of denying the Lord at any time.
C. The third step on the pathway to failure was peer pressure from the wrong crowd
Peter sat and warmed himself at the fire with those who were hostile toward Jesus and anyone associated with Jesus. It’s hard to stand up and confess Jesus when you are with people who don’t share your beliefs. We read in Mark 14:54that Peter followed Jesus at a distance to the courtyard of Caiaphas’ house. That’s an indication that we find ourselves in trouble when we don’t follow the Lord closely. Some of you may have at one time followed the Lord closely, but you have hung back and now you follow the Lord at a distance. And before long you find yourself hanging out with the wrong crowd. Soon you find yourself doing the wrong thing.
Falling away from the Lord doesn’t happen overnight. It happens gradually over a period of time. I’ve always loved the words on the first psalm that talk about the characteristics of a righteous person. It starts by revealing what a righteous person doesn’t do. Notice the progression. “Blessed is the one who does not WALK in step with the wicked or STAND in the way that sinners take or SIT in the company of mockers...” (Psalm 1:1) Peter found himself walking with the wrong crowd. Then he stood with them, and then he sat down by the fire with them. If you find yourself walking with the wrong crowd, turn around. Don’t stand, and then for sure, don’t sit down with them.
Peter took those three steps: disagreement with God’s word, overconfidence and he submitted to peer pressure until he denied the Lord.
A little servant girl said, “I’ve seen you with Jesus; you’re one of His disciples!” Peter said, “I am NOT!” A second person said, “Yes you are, you are one of the disciples of Jesus.” The second time, Peter said, “You are wrong, I don’t know Jesus.” Then one of them recognized his accent. Galileans were the rednecks, the hillbillies of the Jews. One man said, “I can tell by the way you talk, you’re from Galilee. You are with Jesus.”
At that moment Peter lost it. It was still a long time before dawn, but God reached down and plucked the tail feathers of a nearby rooster and it let out a cock-a-doodle do to end all cock-a-doodle do’s! Then it crowed again, just to make sure Peter had heard it.
Then Peter remembered the words of the Lord. The very thing Peter said would never happen had happened.
Peter had denied his Lord. He was at rock bottom. Maybe that’s where you’ve been before. Maybe it’s where you are now. Or you may find yourself there soon. Never say never. Rock bottom is a bad place to be, but it’s a good place to meet the Lord, because there’s only one direction you can go from there.
II. THE PATHWAY TO PERSONAL RESTORATION
If you are a human creature, you’re going to fail and make mistakes.
When we have sinned, we must recognize it and repent. God’s forgiveness doesn’t save us from the consequences of our conduct, but if we’ve abandoned the behavior and are willing to accept the consequences, God will still use us.
The thing that reveals the strength of your character is what you do AFTER you fall. If you stay down, then you wallow in your failure. But if you get up and keep trying to follow God, He can still use you. We looked at the steps that lead to failure. Now let’s consider how to move toward restoration. Simon says there are three steps on the pathway to restoration.
A. The first step is to admit your failure
As soon as the rooster crowed, Peter realized he had failed the Lord. The Danish artist, Carl Bloch, captured a scene from the night when Peter denied Jesus. Luke tells us as Jesus was being led out of the courtroom, he looked across the courtyard and stared into the eyes of Peter. If you could see Jesus would see His face was already beaten, his eyes swollen, and blood caked in his beard. That look must have made Peter’s blood freeze. But I don’t think it was a look of anger or disappointment. I think it was a look of love. It was as if Jesus was saying, “I told you what would happen, now what are you going to do?” In this moment you see the rooster crowing as Peter turns his head away from the gaze of Jesus.
When it comes to failure and sin in your life, you have two options. You can try to hide it, or you can admit it. The Bible says, “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13)
Someone said, “To err is human; and to cover it up is too.” Once we have made a mistake one of the hardest things to do is to come clean and admit it. Is there an area of your life where you have failed the Lord, and you are in denial? When I was a youth pastor I used to tell students to remember these three phrases do deal with sin. Admit it. Quit it, then Forget it. Admit it: confess it to God. Quit it: stop sinning; then forget it: accept God’s cleansing. Admit it. Quit it, Forget it—it still works.
B. The second step is to repent of your sin
The Bible says Peter went out and wept bitterly. The word “repent” means to have a change of heart that leads to a change of behavior. When the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, it is often a painful experience. That’s why Peter wept. He was ashamed of his behavior. When was the last time you wept over your sins?
Sorrow and repentance often go together. The Bible says, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10)
C. The third step is to return to serve with God’s people
Do you know the difference between Judas Iscariot and Simon Peter? Judas was sorry for what he did. He had regret, but there was no repentance. He went out and hung himself. After Peter went out and wept, he repented and then he joined the disciples.
Jesus not only predicted Peter would deny Him, but He also predicted Peter would get back on track and would be the one to strengthen the other disciples. Jesus said, “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31-32)
Peter failed the Lord when he denied Jesus, but his faith didn’t fail. Jesus wasn’t finished with Peter.
In John 21 Peter and the disciples were out on the lake in Galilee fishing. They had fished all night and caught nothing. They saw a man standing on the shore who called out, “Caught any fish?” They grumbled, “Nope.” The man said, “Throw your net on the other side of the boat.” That should have rung a bell. Sure enough they toss the net and it is so full of fish that they have to drag it to shore. John said, “It’s the Lord!” Peter, who had denied Jesus a few nights earlier couldn’t wait for the boat to get to shore. When the disciples arrived, Jesus already had a fire going with fish cooking. So once again, Peter is looking at Jesus across a fire. Jesus asks Peter a question three times.
Peter do you love me more than these?
John 21:15-17
15 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”
16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?”
He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you [g]love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”
And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”
Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.

And four weeks later, we see Peter filled with the Holy Spirit standing up and preaching the Gospel on the Day of Pentecost. He was a failure, but it wasn’t fatal. He went on to become one of the leaders of the early church.
CONCLUSION
John Maxwell wrote, “Failing doesn’t mean I’m a failure; it just means I have not yet succeeded. It doesn’t mean I’ve accomplished nothing; it just means I’ve learned something. It doesn’t mean I’ll never make it; it just means I have a reason to start over again. It doesn’t mean God has abandoned me; it just means He has a better idea!”
The Bible is full of stories of people who loved God and failed Him on a grand scale, but they returned to God and God used them in a mighty way. Remember, failure isn’t fatal!

Contributor : David Dykes

The Most Important Question

Life’s Most Important Question
Mark 15:1-20

There are three terminal punctuation marks. A period marks the end of a stated declarative statement. An exclamation point marks the end of a statement of strong emotion. A question mark is used at the end of an interrogative statement. In written Spanish, they place the inverted exclamation point and question mark at the beginning of a sentence, which I think is a good thing. In English you may be reading along and only at the end you know to raise the tone of your voice for a question?
If you have an iPhone you can ask Siri questions. She’s pretty smart at math. You can ask her to find the square root of any number and she can give you the answer in seconds. But some of her answers can be funny. Try asking Siri, “Why did the chicken cross the road?” She will give you different answers. You can even ask her, “Where is Elvis?” But my favorite is when you ask Siri, “What is zero divided by zero.” Her answer is, “Imagine that you have zero cookies and you divide them between zero friends. See it makes no sense. And Cookie Monster is sad that there are no cookies, and you are sad because you have no friends.”
The Bible contains many questions. In fact the first recorded word of Satan in Genesis 3 was a question to Eve about God’s character. He asked, “Did God really say you must not eat from any tree in the Garden?” That wasn’t what God said at all, but the devil is still trying to get people to question God’s character.
In the same chapter, God’s first question in the Bible was when He asked Adam, “Where are you?” Of course, He knew where Adam was; He just wanted Adam to admit it. God said to man, “Where are you?” And the first question of the New Testament is man asking where God is. In Matthew 2, the Magi asked Herod, “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews?”
There are many other important questions in the Bible. Job asked, “If a man dies, shall he live again?” Jesus asked, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Paul asked, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The writer of Hebrews asks, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation.”
But of all the questions in the Bible, I believe the most important question is the one we are going to hear Pontius Pilate ask. I believe this is Life’s Most Important Question. In Matthew’s account, Pilate asks, “What then shall I do with Jesus?” (Matthew 27:22) I have to answer that question. You have to answer that question. In fact, that is a question that every person who has ever lived must answer.
Mark 15:1-20. Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, made their plans. So they bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate. “Are you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate. “You have said so,” Jesus replied. The chief priests accused him of many things. So again Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.” But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed. Now it was the custom at the festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising. The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did. “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” asked Pilate, knowing it was out of self-interest that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead. “What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked them. “Crucify him!” they shouted. “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!” Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified. The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
I’m going to have you each answer Pilate’s question: “What will I do with Jesus?” It’s a personal question; it’s not “What will WE do with Jesus?” It’s a pressing question, because it’s one you must answer before you die and stand before God.
Life is full of choices. There have never been more choices. When I grew up, we had NBC, CBS, and ABC, and we had to move the antennae to pick up those different stations. Today, with cable, satellite, and streaming services you have thousands of viewing choices. We used to have vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate ice cream, and today there are thousands of different flavors including horseradish ice cream, lobster ice cream, and bacon and beets ice cream. But those are relatively insignificant choices. Life is full of important choices. Will you get married? Who will you marry? Where will you go to college? What career will you choose? Those are big decisions. But the biggest choice you’ll ever make is, “What will I do with Jesus?”
The good news is that God gives you a choice about what you will do with Jesus. God is too much of a gentleman to force anyone to accept His love. If it didn’t have a bad connotation in today’s debate about abortion, I would say God is pro-choice. He gave Adam and Eve a choice in the Garden of Eden and they made the wrong choice. In Deuteronomy 30 when Moses was poised with the second generation of Israelites ready to enter the Promised Land, he said, “God has placed before you life and death, blessings and curses, now CHOOSE LIFE!”
As Joshua faced the nation after they had taken much of the Promised Land he said, “Choose you this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!” (Joshua 24:15). When Elijah faced a nation devoted to Baal worship, He declared a God contest on Mt. Carmel. He said, “No more sitting on the fence. If Baal is God, then choose to worship him. If Yahweh is God, choose to worship Him!”
In this message I want to present five different choices you can make about how you answer the question, “What Shall I do with Jesus?”
1. PILATE: You may choose to reject Him
After Pilate interviewed Jesus, the Bible says, “He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.” (Mark 15:15) Pilate was the ultimate Roman authority on this case. He had the power to release Jesus or to have Him crucified. Luke tells us Pilate went back to the Jewish leaders three times and said, “This man has done nothing wrong. He doesn’t deserve the death penalty.” It seems clear that Pilate wanted to pardon Jesus and set Him free. But He gave into the mob mentality. In John’s account the Jewish leaders find Pilate’s soft spot. They said, “If you let Him go, you are no friend of Caesar. We heard Him claim to be a king and anyone who claims to be a king is no friend of Caesar.” Pilate only had one boss, Caesar, and he didn’t want these pesky Jews to threaten his job. So he gave into the political pressure and he chose his career over Christ.
There are people in our culture who seem interested in Jesus. They are fascinated by His claims. But it is not politically correct to say Jesus is the only way to heaven. And some people think if they followed Jesus, it would cost them their momentum on their career track. So like, Pilate, many people reject Jesus and choose their careers over Christ.
2. HEROD: You may choose to admire Him
When Pilate learned Jesus was from Galilee, he wanted to shift some of the responsibility, so he had Jesus sent to Herod Antipas, who was the governor of Galilee. This was the same Herod Antipas who beheaded John the Baptist. The Bible says in Luke 23:8, “When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see him. From what he had heard about him, he hoped to see him perform a sign of some sort.” Herod asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus just stood there silently. This frustrated Herod, so he started mocking Jesus and put an elegant robe on Him and sent Him back to Pilate.
Herod represents those people who simply admire Jesus as a great moral teacher, like Socrates or Confucius. Richard Dawkins is a leading spokesman for atheism today. He is an Oxford University professor who wrote a book called The God Delusion. In a newspaper interview he said Jesus was a great moral teacher. He went on to say Jesus was such a radical thinker that if he lived today, he would be an atheist.
To simply admire Jesus as a great teacher isn’t a viable option. To quote another Oxford University professor : “You must make your choice: either this man was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let you not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
3. THE MOB: You may choose to replace Him
Pilate was still trying to figure out a way to release Jesus. Since there was a custom to pardon a prisoner at Passover, Pilate suggested they allow him to release Jesus. But the crowd would have none of it. The Bible says, “But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.” (Matthew 27:20)
We’re told in the text that Barabbas had committed murder. So the crowd was faced with setting free a miracle worker, or a murderer. And they chose Barabbas.
By this time, Jesus’ approval rating among the Jewish elite was so low, that they preferred a hardened criminal to a teacher who preached love and forgiveness.
Today, millions choose a replacement for Jesus.
Even non-religious people have replaced Christ. Many atheists have replaced Christ with human reason and worship at the altar of science. Many greedy American consumers have replaced Christ with their ongoing passion to have more and more and the newest and the best. If Jesus isn’t #1 on a list of 1 in your life, you have replaced Him with someone or something else.
4. THE SOLDIERS: You may choose to mock Him
The Bible says, “They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand. Then they knelt in front of him and mocked him. ‘Hail, king of the Jews!’ they said. They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again.” (Matthew 27:28-30)
Christ and Christianity are being mocked today like never before. On one hand we are seeing some Christian movies like God’s Not Dead, War Room, Captive, and Risen.
But at the same time, we live in culture that is becoming more and more hostile toward Jesus and Christians. There has been a rise in television shows that make a mockery of our faith. Not long ago Saturday Night Live presented a vulgar spoof of the movie, “God’s Not Dead.”
There are many people who will join the Roman soldiers and continue to make a mockery of Jesus and His followers. That’s their choice.
5. GOD: You may choose to crown Him as Lord
So the most important question you’ll ever answer in your life is this: What will I do with Jesus? You have to answer that question. If you say, “I just won’t answer it, I won’t do anything with Jesus.” That is doing something with Jesus.
Basically all of the responses fall into two categories: Rejecting Christ or Receiving Christ; Crucifying Jesus or Crowning Jesus as Lord. Turning your back on Him, or Trusting Him. God gives us the only correct answer. The only choice that will lead to eternal life is to crown Him as Lord. Have you chosen to do that?
The Bible says in Ephesians 1 that “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight.” (Ephesians 1:4)
God made a choice about what to do with His Son. And it’s the choice we should make. All around the world, there are people who are bowing down. Some are bowing beside their beds looking to heaven. Some are bowing down facing Mecca. Some are bowing down and praying to a statue of Buddha. But God makes it clear that one day every knee will bow to Jesus.
The Bible says, “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11).

CONCLUSION:
Let’s come back to our punctuation marks. There are some important questions that need answers, and God provides the answer. And when God speaks truth, that settles the issue. That’s why sometimes we’ll make a statement and then say the word, “period.” Like, “And that’s the end of that, period.” That means that there’s nothing else that can be added to what has been said.
In Acts 16 the Philippian jailer asked Paul, “What must I do to be saved?” That’s a good question. Paul said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. PERIOD.” Everybody wants to know, “How can I go to heaven?” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, the life, no one comes to the Father except through me. PERIOD.” The Bible says, “There is no other name except Jesus under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved.” PERIOD “For God so love the world that he gave His one and only son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” PERIOD.
Mark 16:15-16 “15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. PERIOD.
Acts 2:37-38 37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. PERIOD
There’s nothing to add. And today, Satan is still trying to put question marks where God puts a period. So don’t you ever put a question mark where God puts a period.
I believe there are many statements in the Bible that deserve the strong emotion of an exclamation point. When John the Baptist saw Jesus, I don’t think he said, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” I believe he said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
John wrote, “Behold what manner of love the father has shown us that we should be called children of God!” On that morning after Jesus appeared to Mary in the Garden she ran back to the disciples. Do you think she said, “I have seen the Lord.”? No, I believe she said, “I have seen the Lord!!!!!!!”
As Christians, we should be living in the exclamation points of the Bible.!”
One day, the question, “What DID I do with Jesus?” will have an eternal impact on your life.

 

 

 

Contributor: David Dykes

Learning to Trust God

LEARNING TO TRUST GOD
TEXT: Judges 6:1- 7:25

Chuck Swindoll, in his book, "Living Above the Level of Mediocrity," tells about a church in the Soviet Union during the days of the Iron Curtain that was forced to meet secretly because house church services were illegal.
They tried to be as inconspicuous as possible as they gathered on Sunday to worship the Lord, so they came at different times & casually entered the house until all had arrived. Then they would lock the doors, pull the curtains, & quietly worship the Lord.
But one Lord's Day, right in the midst of their worship, two soldiers broke into the house, & at gunpoint commanded the Christians to raise their hands & line up against the wall. Then they told them that they had a choice, either to renounce Christ & leave, or to stay & suffer the consequences.
Several hurriedly left. They waited a few moments, which seemed like an eternity to those still lined up against the wall, & then the soldiers said, "This is your last chance. You may either renounce your faith in Jesus Christ & leave, or stay & suffer the consequences."
Another left, & then another, almost hiding their faces in shame as they left. But the rest remained, children standing beside their parents, trembling in fear, some even crying.
After all had left who chose to leave, the soldiers closed the doors, turned to those remaining & said, "Now keep your hands up, but this time in praise to our Lord."
The soldiers explained that some time earlier they had been sent to another house church to arrest the Christians there. But in the process, they had heard the gospel & had accepted Jesus as their Lord & Savior, too.
But as they explained to these Christians who had stayed behind, "We have learned that you can't trust anybody who is afraid to be true to his faith."
The HS Cross Country team goes through a team building exercise at the Outdoor YMCA as part of their summer camp.The goal is for your group to move through a series of obstacles as you build trust and a spirit of teamwork. For me the most challenging obstacle is the "trust" platform. At this obstacle, each person must take turns climbing up to a platform that is located 5 or 6 feet above ground level. Once you get on the platform, you are to fold your arms, turn your back, and fall from the platform into the waiting arms of your friends. That requires a great deal of trust. That is what occurs in healthy relationships. We trust the other persons with our lives.
PROP. The story of Gideon, found in Judges 6 & 7, is a great example of just an ordinary man who faced fear & overcame it with God's help. He learned to trust God, & became a man of impressive courage.
I. A TASK FROM GOD
A. The story begins with an angel appearing to Gideon to give him the fearful task of leading Israel into battle against the Midianites. The Midianites were ruthless raiders who came in swarms to terrorize the Israelites, invading their land, stealing their crops & cattle, & burning their homes.
Judges 6:5 says, "These enemy hordes ... stayed until the land was stripped bare." And Gideon was afraid, for vs. 11 tells us he "was threshing wheat at the bottom of a winepress to hide the grain from the Midianites."
Wheat was usually threshed above ground where the wind could blow away the chaff. But Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress, a large cistern or hole in the ground, to keep the Midianites from seeing him & stealing his grain.
While Gideon was down there Judges 6:12-15 says, "The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, 'Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!' 'Sir,' Gideon replied, 'if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us?'
'And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? 'But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.'
The angel replied, 'Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!' 'But Lord,' Gideon replied, 'how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!'”
APPL. Sometimes we, like Gideon, think our feelings of inadequacy exempt us from involvement. In fact, we like to think that our lack of confidence impresses God because we're so humble.
But humility is not low self-image. Humility is discovering the gift God has given you & using it for His glory - not for your own.
Then the angel answered Gideon, "I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites ..."
SUM. It's been said, "God plus one equals a majority." That's true even if the one on God's side is weak & uncertain. God was going to use one man - Gideon - to save His people.
II. A TEST FOR GOD
A. But Gideon wasn't convinced, so in vs. 17 he asks, "If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the Lord speaking to me." And God did.
When Gideon placed his offering of meat & bread on the rock before the angel, the angel took the tip of his staff & touched the sacrifice & fire flared from the rock & consumed it all. Then the angel disappeared & Gideon exclaimed, "I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!" (Judges 6:22).
B. Then God told Gideon to prepare another offering, "Pull down your father’s altar to Baal, and cut down the Asherah pole standing beside it. Then build an altar to the LORD your God here on this hilltop sanctuary...
"Sacrifice the bull as a burnt offering on the altar, using as fuel the wood of the Asherah pole you cut down.” (Judges 6:25-26).
When an Asherah pole stood next to an altar of Baal it indicated that this was a place of pagan prostitution. So God was instructing Gideon to destroy the symbols of idolatry & immorality & to burn the Asherah wood as a message that a time for repentance had come.
Vs. 27 says, "So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD had commanded. But he did it at night because he was afraid of the other members of his father’s household and the people of the town.
The next morning, when the townspeople found out what had been done, they were upset & demanded of his father, "Where is Gideon? We've come to kill him."
C. Joash, Gideon's father, was courageous. Although it had been his own altar & Asherah pole that Gideon had destroyed, Joash seems to have been the first to repent & turn back to the Lord.
Judges 6:31 tells us, "Joash shouted to the mob that confronted him, “Why are you defending Baal? ... If Baal truly is a god, let him defend himself and destroy the one who broke down his altar!”
You see, courage can be contagious. One person standing up against evil can inspire others to do the same. And they needed to be inspired because vs. 33 says, "Soon afterward the armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east formed an alliance against Israel and crossed the Jordan, camping in the valley of Jezreel."
Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, & he sent messengers all over northern Israel calling them to arms. To his amazement, 32,000 men responded. They were ready to fight! All they needed was a leader to lead them.
APPL. It's a sobering day in the life of a young leader when he or she realizes, "People are following me. People are listening to what I say. They are doing what I ask them to do. I'm making a difference!"
D. But Gideon was still afraid, & he asked God for another sign. Vs's 36-37 says, "Then Gideon said to God, “If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight.
"If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised."
The next morning, God had dramatically answered his request. Gideon wrung out a bowl full of water from the fleece! But then he had second thoughts.
Vs. 39 says, "Then Gideon said to God, 'Please don’t be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew.”
In other words, "Reverse the process, just to prove it really was a miracle."
Vs. 40 says, "So that night God did as Gideon asked. The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew." There was no mistake. God truly was with Gideon!
III. A TRUST IN GOD
A. So now it was time for Gideon to demonstrate his trust in God.
Judges 7:1-2 says that Gideon & his army got up early & went as far as the spring of Harod. There the Lord said to Gideon, "You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength.'
Now let me condense the rest of the story for you. God told Gideon, "You don't need a powerful military; you need a confident spirit. So let's begin to trim down your troops. Tell them that anyone trembling with fear may go home."
So Gideon did, & 22,000 went home, & Gideon's heart must have sunk! Big numbers almost always represent strength to us. A loss of more than 2/3rds of your army would be devastating. But God said to Gideon, "There are still too many. Take them down to the water & I will sift them out there."
"When they get to the water, watch how they drink, & send back those who kneel down at the water to drink. The ones who lift the water to their mouths & lap it from their hands you keep." Only 300 men lapped the water from their hands.
"The Lord told Gideon, 'With these 300 men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home." (Judges 7:7).
Only 300 were left out of the original 32,000. But Gideon did as God said. He sent the others home, but he kept all their ram's horn trumpets.
B. Now let's notice 2 things Gideon did that helped conquer his fear.
1. First, he trusted God completely. He'd seen enough to be convinced God was with Him. That's what God asks of us, too. Jesus tells us, "Don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ (Matthew 6:31 (NLT)
How many years must God provide for us before we're convinced that He will supply our needs?
2. Secondly, Gideon was obedient. When God instructed him to go, he went - even though he was afraid. Courage is not the absence of fear; courage is being afraid but proceeding anyway!
C. Judges 7:9-10 tells us, "That night the LORD said, 'Get up! Go down into the Midianite camp, for I have given you victory over them!
"But if you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah. Listen to what the Midianites are saying, and you will be greatly encouraged. Then you will be eager to attack."
Gideon didn't say, "Oh, no, that won't be necessary, Lord." Instead, that night, he & his servant sneaked down to the edge of the enemy camp, where they overheard two enemy soldiers discussing a weird dream.
One soldier said, "I had this dream, and in my dream a loaf of barley bread came tumbling down into the Midianite camp. It hit a tent, turned it over, and knocked it flat!"
"His companion answered, 'Your dream can mean only one thing - God has given Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite, victory over Midian and all its allies!' (7:13-14)
D. Judges 7:15 says, "When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship before the Lord."
Now it was time for boldness. When he returned to the camp, he awakened the troops. “Get up! For the LORD has given you victory over the Midianite hordes!” (Judges 7:16)
He gave every man a torch, with instructions to put the torch inside a clay jar. Every man was also given a ram's horn trumpet. Then Gideon told them, "Keep your eyes on me. When I come to the edge of the camp, do just as I do." (7:17)
IV. THREE QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE LEADER
Now notice, 3 essentials of an effective leader stand out in Gideon. First is a reassuring confidence - "We're going to do it!"
Second, there is a clear communication - "This is what you are to do."
Finally, there is a positive example - "Do as I do." Gideon had now become a mighty warrior!
The Israelites silently surrounded the Midianite camp. At a given signal, all 300 men smashed their clay jars, waved their flaming torches, & shouted "A sword for the Lord & for Gideon!" (vs. 20), instantly awakening the sleeping enemy. Then they blew their trumpets, making the loudest racket they could make.
When the suddenly startled Midianites saw the torches & heard the awful racket, they panicked. They thought they were surrounded by a powerful army.
Vs. 22 says, "When the 300 Israelites blew their rams’ horns, the Lord caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords."
Those who survived fled for their lives. Gideon & his mighty 300 were victorious, & God was once again honored in Israel.
ILL. Years ago, when many other young men were enlisting or being drafted, Roy Coop was a student in a Bible College preparing to be a preacher.
Some of his former high school classmates were critical of him for not enlisting. They accused him of "ducking his duty" & "taking the coward's way out."
One day, Roy approached a group of his former classmates, & one said, "Here comes chicken Roy! He went off to Bible College because he's afraid to fight for his country!"
Roy Coop straightened his 6'2" frame that supported a muscular 200-pound body & replied, "I joined an army that the rest of you don't have the guts to join!"
It takes courage to enlist in the Lord's army. It takes courage to live counter to the popular trends of this world today. But many are doing it!
What enemies are you facing? What has made you feel defeated & discouraged? Perhaps today is the time to take a stand. God is coming to you in this moment & saying, “The Lord is with you, Mighty Hero!”
“Who me?” you might answer. “If you are with me then why am I going through all this?”
But God is calling you to victory. He is calling you to leave your doubt & walk in faith. He is calling you to be a doer, not a complainer.
We keep wanting God to do something without our help. We keep wanting somebody else to do it. But God wants to use you & me. He always works through people.
God called Gideon a mighty warrior, but that was not who he was at first. It was who he would become - with God’s help. God looked at his potential rather than his weaknesses.
That is what God is doing now if you will walk in faith & do what He is calling you to do. The Lord challenges us, “Go with the strength you have...for I am sending you!”
INVITATION

The Danger of Drifting

The Danger Of Drifting
Hebrews 2:1-4

When you hear the word “drift,” what comes to your mind? If you grew up in the Snowbelt, you may think about snowdrifts. If you’re into motorsports you might think about racecars intentionally skidding to navigate a tight turn, that’s called drifting. If you’re a pilot you might be thinking about wind drift, the effect the wind direction has on your intended heading. And if you didn’t sleep much last night in a few minutes you might be drifting off to sleep. The word drift can mean many things—if you catch my drift.

Drifting away can be a good thing. In 1973 Dobie Gray sang, “Give me the beat boys and free my soul, I wanna’ get lost in your rock and roll and drift away. “If you’ve ever been at one of those nice resorts that has a lazy river, it’s nice to lay back and just drift along with the current.

But there is a kind of drifting that is dangerous. There are all kinds of warning signs on the Niagara River warning boaters of the danger of drifting too close to the falls. There is a dangerous kind of spiritual drifting that this passage addresses as well.
Hebrews 2:1-4. Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.
2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward;
3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;
4 God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?

The American Standard version says in verse 2 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard, lest haply we drift away from them.
The writer is addressing this letter to believers. There is the real possibility that a believer can drift away from God and His word.

I’ve always enjoyed Tom Hanks’ acting. One of my favorite movies was “Cast Away. “Tom plays a FedEx employee named Chuck who is stranded on a deserted island. Chuck is so lonely he makes friends with a volleyball he names Wilson. Wilson is his constant companion. When he is on a raft a huge wave crashed over the raft and washes Wilson off. Chuck sees Wilson bobbing in the waves and the current is taking him away. Without thinking Chuck dives into the shark-infested waters to rescue Wilson, but the current causes him to drift away. Chuck is constantly screaming “Wilson! Wilson! I’m sorry, Wilson. “And he breaks down weeping. Tom Hanks is a pretty good actor when he can make grownups cry over a volleyball drifting away.

But there are thousands of Christians who are like Wilson. They have been slowly drifting away from a place of great joy, peace, and service for the Lord. We all know people who at one time were faithful servants of the Lord who have just drifted away from the Lord.

Drifting is something that happens slowly and gradually. But here’s the truth about spiritual drifting: You never drift toward holiness, you drift toward ungodliness. You never drift into faithfulness, you drift toward faithlessness; you never drift toward goodness, you drift toward wickedness.

It has been said that: “Most of us are not in danger of plunging into the sea of carnality. This week or next week most of us are not going to be murderers or drug addicts. The danger is not plunging into the ocean of perversity, but rather drifting away from goodness almost imperceptibly. “
Are you drifting away from God? Do you know someone who is drifting away? Let me give you four danger signs of drifting away.

1. I drift away when I listen to God’s Word but my life doesn’t change
Spiritual drift occurs when we stop paying attention to what we hear. Verse one says, “We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”

This letter was written to Jewish believers who had heard the Gospel and had turned from all the rules and rituals of Judaism to place their faith in Jesus. But they were slipping back into their old comfortable religious rituals and rules. The first time they heard the Gospel, it was revolutionary. But the more they heard it, the less amazing it seemed. It became old hat.

That can happen to Christians today. It’s like the first time you fly on an airline the flight attendants go through the pre-flight briefing, and you are listening to every word. But after you’ve flown hundreds of times, you no longer pay attention to their briefing.

James warns about the danger of being hearers of the Word, but not doers of the Word. And Jesus asked, And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46 )

When you stop obeying God’s Word, you face the danger of drifting away. Any one of us can drift away.

You probably recognize the hymn “Come Thou Fount,” but there’s an interesting story behind it. The words say: “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing; Tune my heart to sing thy grace; Streams of mercy never ceasing; call for songs of loudest praise...” The third verse says, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. “

When someone asks, “How many members does the Church of Christ have?
“A standard answer could be, “We have thousands of members, but the FBI couldn’t find half of them. “That usually gets a laugh, but it’s really not true. We know where those non-attending members are. They are sitting at home right now, or hanging out at the lake or shopping right now.
We need to lovingly remind them that there’s an eternity of different between having your name written on a church directory and having your name written in the Lamb’s Book of Life in heaven.

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25)

It has been said that going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you a car. If you love the Lord, you will want to gather with God’s people on a regular basis.

3. I drift away when complacency about sin replaces confession
Let me ask a question. What are the three areas of sin in your life that you struggle with the most? Can you answer that question? How aware are you of the presence of sin in your life? Are you daily going before the Lord and asking Him to reveal any wicked thought, attitude, or deed in your life? And then are you regularly seeking ways to overcome these temptations and weaknesses?

Once you become a Christian, sin is still present in your life. It doesn’t reign over you, but the potential to sin is still there. The Apostle John was writing to Christians when he addressed this subject: 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
(1 John 1:8-10)

I heard a dairy farmer say once that the hardest thing about milking cows is they don’t stay milked. One of the hardest things about walking with the Lord is that we must continually come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit and confess our sin before the Lord.

4. I drift away when I forget that ending well is more important than a good start
The spiritual landscape is littered with the remains of men and women who started well, but somewhere along the track, they gave up. They left the race. They have drifted away.

The Apostle Paul had a laser focus toward finishing strong for the Lord. He wrote, However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me— to testify the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24)
Paul wanted to keep his eyes on the prize of finishing well for the Lord.

A great story is told about an event that took place in the 2016 Rio Olympics. The race was the women’s 5000 meter run (3.1 miles). As the runners were bunched up in the turn, New Zealand runner, Nikki Hamblin, lost her balance and fell to the track. American runner Abby D’Agostino tripped over her and fell to the track, injuring her knee. Hamblin was devastated, and momentarily thought about quitting. But she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Abby saying, “Get up! Get up! We have to finish this race. It is the Olympics!” Then leaning on each other, they limped their way to the finish line. Neither won a medal, but they are winners in other ways because they realized the importance of finishing the race.

Here’s the reality: none of us have finished yet. But if you finished your race today or tomorrow would you be finishing well? Those followers of Jesus Christ who pace themselves in the race of life and still have enough gas in the tank to sprint across the finish line will have their eyes on Jesus and will hear the Master say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

ILL.- In the course of their conversation at a dinner party, Albert Einstein’s young neighbor asked the white-haired scientist, "What are you actually by profession?" "I devote myself to the study of physics," Einstein replied. The girl looked at him in astonishment. "You mean to say you study physics at your age?" she exclaimed. "I finished mine a year ago."

Einstein never stopped working at what he did. The same must be true of us in the spiritual realm. We all must continue to work at our salvation, maintaining, keeping at it, etc.
Ps. 139:13-14 “For you (God) created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

The human body is a wonderful creation of God.
- The average human heart pumps over 1,000 gallons a day, over 55 million gallons in a lifetime. This is enough to fill 13 super tankers. The heart never sleeps, beating 2.5 billion times in a lifetime.
- The human body contains enough DNA that if it were stretched out, it would circle the sun 260 times.
- The human body uses energy very efficiently. If an average adult rides a bike for 1 hour at 10 mph, the body uses the amount of energy contained in 3 ounces of carbohydrate. If a car were this efficient with gasoline, guess what kind of gas mileage it would get? 900 MILES TO THE GALLON. Amazing body! No, awesome Creator!

I Cor. 6:19-20 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”

ILL.- Many dads have their names on the title of the car that their child drives. The child may be 16 or 18 or even 20, but dad’s name is on the title. And I’ve known of some dads to say to their child, “If you don’t take care of that car. Or if I find you doing something that you shouldn’t be doing, I’m going to take your car away from you, like it or not. And there is nothing you can do about it.”

Right on, Dads! Sometimes that’s the only way to get some kids to straighten up. THREATEN TO TAKE THEIR WHEELS AWAY FROM THEM. Most teens today would die without their wheels.
Brothers and sisters, whether you realize it or not, God has the legal title to your body! He paid the price for your body on Calvary! And you have no legal right to do with it whatever you want!

God wants us to enjoy our bodies and at the same time He wants us to use them to honor Him and serve Him. We need to take care of our bodies as best we can!

James 2:26 “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.”

II Pet. 3:18 “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ....”

It is obvious that we are challenged in Scripture to maintain our faith
Robertson McQuilkin wrote a poem about finishing well. It’s entitled “Let Me Get Home Before Dark.”
I fear the Dark Spectre may come too soon— Or do I mean, too late?
That I should end before I finish; or finish, but not well.
That I should, stain your honor, shame your name, Grieve your loving heart.
Few, they tell me, finish well... Lord, let me get home before dark.

The pages of the Bible are full of great servants who didn’t finish well. Samson provides a sad example of how you can drift away from God’s power and blessing without ever realizing it. He made a sacred vow to the Lord to stay pure, and God gave him great strength. His strength was not in his hair, but in his faith in God.

But Samson was a he-man with a she-problem. He gradually turned from God’s people and got involved with a Philistine woman named Delilah. He ended up getting his hair cut in the devil’s barbershop. When the Philistine soldiers attacked him Samson jumped up to repel them as he always had. Then we see a really sad verse in Judges 16:20 Samson said, “‘I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him.”

CONCLUSION
So, what is the solution for spiritual drifting? You need to link your life to something and someone strong and secure. You need a solid anchor. I’ve been told that the heaviest anchors ever made are the ones used on U.S. Aircraft Carriers. Each carrier has two and each one weighs. 60,000 pounds. When the navy drops those two anchors, that huge ship won’t drift in the harshest seas. We have an anchor even more powerful than that. His name is Jesus. The best way to prevent spiritual drift to stay firmly anchored to the hope we have in Jesus. The Bible says, “Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.” (Hebrews 6:18-19)

Be aware of the danger of drifting away from God. There is a powerful question posed in this passage that you can’t ignore. You could call it the big question, or the unavoidable question, or the million dollar question. But it is a personal question that everyone who drifts away must answer seriously:
how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation? which having at the first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard; (Hebrews 2:3)

So how can you escape if you ignore it? You can’t. No way. It’s hopeless without Jesus. So bind your life to the solid anchor of hope in Jesus Christ and keep from drifting away.
OUTLINE
I DRIFT AWAY WHEN:
1. I listen to God’s Word but my life doesn’t change
2. Indifference replaces a desire to gather with believers
3. Complacency about sin replaces confession
4. I forget that ending well is more important than a good start

God Wants Us to Be Sure

God Wants Us to Be Sure
John 10: 14-28

What do we know for sure?
ILL. A great preacher once said, “When I was young I was sure of everything. But after a few years, having been mistaken a thousand times, I was not half so sure of most things as I was before.
"And at present, I am hardly sure of anything except what God has revealed to me.”
ILL. We seem to live in a world filled with unclear messages. And the undisputed champion of muddled messages was Yogi Berra, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame & former manager of the NY Yankees. Here are a few of his better-known “Yogi-isms.”
“Baseball is 90% mental. The other half is physical.”
"When you come to a fork in the road, take it!"
"You better cut the pizza in 4 pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat 6."
"Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded."
“You got to be careful - if you don’t know where you’re going, you might wind up someplace else.”
"You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise they won't come to yours."
And there’s the time a lady said to him, “Good afternoon, Mr. Berra. You look mighty cool today.” “Thank you, ma’am,” Yogi replied. “You don’t look so hot yourself.”
Sometimes things are rather confusing. But our confusion doesn’t always stem from muddled messages. Sometimes the words are clear, but the message is simply untrue or has been twisted to fit the speaker's agenda.
We're seeing plenty of evidence of this today in reporters & celebrities who rush to judgment without first determining the facts, & in politicians who are quick to speak but evidently slow to listen.
PROP. As a result, sometimes it is difficult to know what is true & what is false. But surely, there are some things we can count on, some things we can know for sure. Just what do we know for sure?
I. THE BIBLE SPEAKS WITH CERTAINTY
First of all, we can be sure when God has spoken. The Bible never speaks with timidity.
The Bible never says, "It could be this or "It could be that." In His Word, God speaks with certainty. Just think how the Bible answers these basic questions:
A. "How did life begin?" The world says, "Well, maybe there was a big bang 200 million years or so ago, & somehow that started an evolutionary chain. And they go on to add, “Of course, we haven't found the missing links yet, but we're sure we'll find them some day." Now that's a rather uncertain answer.
But the Bible says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) God created all forms of life ? in the sea, in the sky, & on the earth.
Then when He reached down & fashioned man, God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, & the man became a living soul.” (Genesis 2:7)
You see, that answer is a certain one. God’s Word simply says, "This is the way it happened."
B. Another question, "How did we get into all the mess in which we find ourselves today?"
"Why has mankind become so violent? How did we become so immoral? Why is there so much poverty? Why are there wars? Why can't we live in peace?"
The world gives all kinds of answers. But the Bible gives only one answer. The Bible says that we got where we are because of sin.
Go back to the Garden of Eden & to the fall of Adam & Eve, & you'll realize that is the reason we have weeds in our gardens. That's the reason there is pain in childbirth. That's the reason there is disease & sickness & death in our world - all because of sin.
C. "And how can we get out of our mess?" "What can we do to solve these problems?" The world has many suggestions but no solutions.
But the Bible says, "Nothing is going to change for the better until we have been changed inside ? not until our hearts & minds are changed, not until our wills & emotions are changed & refashioned into the image of Christ."
D. Again, "What is going to happen to us after this life is over?” The world has many answers, all the way from reincarnation to "Nirvana" - eternal nothingness.
ILL. A preacher tells about conducting a rap session with high school teenagers. In it one girl asked, “The Bible says that God loves everybody. Then we're told that God sends people to Hell. How can a loving God do that?”
The preacher said, “I gave her my answer, & she came back at me with arguments. I answered her arguments, & she responded to my answers. I did not convince her, nor did she convince me. Soon the session was over.
“Afterwards I approached her & said, ‘I owe you an apology. I really should not have allowed our discussion to become so argumentative.’
”Then I asked, ‘May I share something with you?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ So I took her through a basic presentation of the gospel.
“When I got to Romans 3:23 & suggested that all of us were sinners she began to cry. It was then that this high school senior told me she was having an affair with a married man.
“The reason she refused to believe in hell was because in her heart she knew she was sinning. Her conscience condemned her, but rather than face her guilt, she simply denied any future judgment or future hell.”
Despite what the world says, the Bible says that when we finish this life, if we have but our faith in Jesus, we have the promise of heaven & life with Him for all eternity.
But if you refuse Him, if you turn your back upon Jesus & go your own way, then there is no promise of heaven, but a certainty of hell, of an eternity without God & His presence.
SUM. There is no middle ground in the Bible - no multiple choices. The Bible speaks with absolute certainty & says, "This is the way it is."
II. THE WORLD SPEAKS WITH UNCERTAINTY
And yet we look at our world & find uncertainty with many voices clamoring for our attention.
A. There is the voice of doubt that says, "If there is a God, how could He permit all these things that happen? It seems to me that God's people ought to have preferential treatment. God's people ought to have a better life than anyone else."
Yet, some of God's people find themselves victims of disease, poverty, & loss of their jobs. So those speaking words of doubt say, "If there really is a God, surely He would not permit this to happen." So they decide that there is no God.
B. There are also voices of knowledge. We have computer banks full of information. All we have to do is just push the right buttons to get all the information we want. But you go through the maze of all that knowledge & ask, "What is the truth?” And there is no answer.
ILL. As someone has said, "If you educate your children without God, all you do is make clever devils of them."
C. There are even some uncertain voices of religion. The Bible says the church is to be the pillar & support of truth.
Yet, go to some churches & you'll hear uncertain sounds – messages denying the basics of our faith: the virgin birth, the resurrection, whether Jesus Christ is really God's Son, & whether He did die on the cross for our sins. And at the same time you see others using religion to rip people off.
Too many people prefer religious leaders who say, "I don't want to lay a guilt trip on you. Just do it your own way, as long as you're sincere. It is all up to you."
III. GOD WANTS US TO BE SURE
A. And yet, God wants us to be confident, to be sure, & that's the reason His Word speaks with such certainty. Uncertainty leads to destruction, but certainty leads to confidence & courage.
Go back & study the martyrs who died for their Christian faith. Why did they die? Because they believed with all their heart that the message was true. There was no uncertainty there. They were ready to stand up for God & even face death rather than deny Him.
B. Let me read some of the confident messages in God’s Word.
1. In the Gospel of John 10:14. Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep & my sheep know me...”
Here is something we can know for sure. Jesus said, "You can know that I am your shepherd. I know every thought you're thinking. I know every worry, every concern of your life."
And then in vs’s 27-28 He says, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, & they follow me. I give them eternal life, & they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand."
2. In Romans 8:31-32, Paul says, "What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
“He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?"
Paul is saying, "If God was willing to give His only begotten Son for us, then He will surely give us everything we really need."
3. Vs. 35 says, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?"
Vs’s 38-39 say, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Do you hear the confidence there? Paul is saying, "Here is something you can know ? nothing in this world, nothing in heaven or on earth will ever be able to separate you from the love of God.”
4. Then, in 1 John 5:11-13, we read these wonderful words of assurance, "God has given us eternal life, & this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life."
SUM. Here is something more we can know for sure. If you have the Son, you have eternal life. If you don't have the Son, you don't have life. And you make the decision!
Is Jesus Christ your Lord & Savior? Do you have the promise of everlasting life?
ILL. Tony Campolo recalls a deeply moving incident that happened during Jr. High week at a Christian camp.
Even though this was a Christian camp, many of the campers were not Christians, & they treated one of the other campers, a boy with spastic palsy, with heartless ridicule. Whenever he had to say anything, the boys would mock him, making fun of the difficulty he had in speaking.
One night some of these boys managed to have him chosen to lead the devotions for the camp. It was one more attempt on their part to have some “fun” at his expense.
Unashamedly the spastic boy slowly stood, & in his strained, slurred manner - each word coming with enormous effort - he said simply, “Jesus loves me - & I love Jesus!”
That was all he was able to say, but no one laughed. There was absolute silence, broken only by the sound of some of the boys beginning to cry.
Something wonderful happened in the hearts of the campers that week, & it was all because of his simple testimony, “Jesus loves me - & I love Jesus!”
Are you obedient to God’s word and what he expects from us? Can you say with assurance, “Jesus loves me - & I love Jesus”?
If that’s not yet true for you this evening, then we offer the invitation of Jesus Himself. He stands ready to receive you, to welcome you, to hold you in His arms as a shepherd would his sheep & to forgive you of all your sins.
INVITATION: So if that is your need we invite you to come & make your profession of faith, & to follow His example & command in Christian baptism.
Or maybe you have already taken that step & are looking for a church home, a place where you can fellowship & serve. We invite you to come & join with us here, to share in the ministry that God has laid before us. Will you come as we stand & as we sing?

Based on a Sermon Given
by Melvin Newland

Switching the Price Tags

Switching the Price Tags
James 3:13-4:13

Years ago, Tony Campolo wrote a book about Christianity called “Who Switched The Price Tags”
He told about the time he and his best friend decided to break into the basement of the local five-and-dime store. They didn’t plan to rob the place they viewed themselves as “Sunday School boys after all”; instead, they planned to do something that was far worse for the owner. Their plan was to break in and change the price tags on everything. I don’t think they actually got beyond the planning stages... but they imagined customers arriving and discovered that radios were selling for a quarter and bobby pins were priced at five dollars each.
Campolo wrote: “With diabolical glee, we wondered what it would be like when... nobody could figure out what the prices of things really should be.”
In a store the price tags tell us the value of what we want to buy. But if someone switches the price tags, it’s hard to know how valuable something is.
In the book of James, God rebukes Christians who seemingly can’t read the price tags. They’ve lost the understanding of how valuable things should be. But now... how does God know they’ve misread the price tags?
James writes: 1 Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not comefrom your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. James 4:1-2
You see, when Christians get into quarrels and fights, something is wrong! And God tells is that THIS is what’s wrong: “You adulterous people!
Do you not know that FRIENDSHIP WITH THE WORLD is enmity (“becoming an enemy”) with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:3-4
In other words, when Christians fight and quarrel it shows that they’ve put a higher value on the world THAN they have put on God. In fact, Christians who fight and quarrel are called “adulterous” because they’ve apparently abandoned their commitment to God... for a commitment to the world.
So... what’s going on here? Well, the root of the problem James is talking about here is that some Christians have fallen in love with worldly possessions. And that IS an issue for many Christians. The lure of possessions and the promise of happiness is everywhere. People build their lives around how much money they have in 401K, and how many possessions they have in their homes and garages.
ILLUS: For example, say a man owned a business here in Chardon. He was always struggling financially and he came to you and asked advice. You noticed he always leased a brand new Trans Am car every couple years and suggested that maybe he should “downsize.” He was shocked and replied: “But God wants me to be happy, doesn’t He?”
This man’s problem was that he was hooked on the idea that happiness could be found IN his possessions.
ILLUS: Out West there is a General Store in the middle of nowhere. When travelers stop in - they see a sign that says "If you can't find it in this store, just ask us about the item, and we'll tell you how to get along without it."
Jesus said: “(You can’t) serve two masters, (you’ll) either hate the one and love the other, or (you’ll) be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Matthew 6:24
It’s a repeated theme throughout Scripture: Only a fool clings to things of this world
One writer explained it this way:
• Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit... and they weren’t even hungry! As a result they ended up losing all they had in exchange for shame, suffering, and death.
• Lot's wife, fled from Sodom as God destroyed it BUT then looked back at the home she couldn't keep, and became a pillar of salt.
• Achan stole a garment of gold from Jericho that he couldn’t wear, and silver and gold he couldn’t spend, and ended up losing all that he had... including his life.
• Judas, for 30 pieces of silver which he had no occasion or conscience to use, took his own life in shame and despair.
• Demas, a companion of Paul’s - loved this world more than Jesus, walked away from Christ and brought upon himself the wrath of God.
Jesus said: “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? Matthew 16:26
Trying to GAIN the world at the expense of walking with God... is DANGEROUS!!!
As a kid, did your parents ever put soap in your mouth? I can admit that it once happened to me. It is one of the earliest memories that I have. I can still remember sitting on the bathroom counter of our house, with a bitter, unpleasant, ivory colored bar of soap in my mouth that completely filled my mouth.
My Mom was “cleaning” my mouth from the bad thing that I must have said. The sad part is that I cannot remember what I said, but it certainly must not have been good. Mom wanted me to use my mouth better.
God has plans and uses for our bodies and members other than what we may choose. He has given us our reason, senses, eyes, ears, minds, and all our members, mouths included. God didn’t give us a mouth to have both blessings and curses to flow from it. In fact, God gives us our eyes, ears, mouths, minds, and members to receive gifts from Him. In James 1:17, the Apostle says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” As James finishes his teachings on the tongue, he tells us about a gift that comes from above, wisdom. Wisdom is what proceeds from the tongue and the heart. God’s wisdom produces right speaking. But what is the wisdom from above, this gift of God, that James tells us about?
James starts by telling us what it is not. Once when I was looking around in a book store I noticed a strange arrangement. Next to the theology books and Bibles was the...self help section. It was an interesting interpretation and placement. In the mind of the organizer, it seemed to be a logical placement. They thought they went hand-in-hand, and were not that different. But this couldn’t be any farther from the truth.
The wisdom that James is going to tell us about is not some sort of self-help advice. It isn’t wisdom about how Christians should behave or act. It is not a wisdom about how to make friends and keep them, or how to get ahead at business and to make some money. It is a wisdom completely different from the self-centered wisdom of the world.
What James means by wisdom is the understanding of the Gospel, made possible only by the Holy Spirit. But wisdom doesn’t just involve the acknowledgment that the Gospel is true, but also the expression of that Gospel in the life of a Christian. It is putting that truth into action.
Worldly wisdom, according to James, is often marked by jealousy and selfish ambition. It is not meek or humble. It goes against the truth. It is thoughts and actions that focus on me, and what is best for me. It is self seeking and self serving. It focuses on how to increase my influence and standing, even at the cost of others. It is about how to exert my will and influence to get what I want. The world calls this wise.
James describes and calls this wisdom for what it really is, though. He says it is earthly, that is, having no living awareness of God and lets its thoughts and behaviors be governed by the world. We hear it with phrases, “This is the new norm” or “everybody does that now.” He calls it unspiritual, that is, it directs all concerns of one’s soul and life to things this side of Heaven. It is an obsession with the self that has no regard for the spiritual. James also calls it demonic, that is, under Satan’s control and influence. We can see this with the great deception of our age: “It doesn’t matter what you do or who you are, what matters is that you are happy! Do what makes you happy!” It is often the logic to do whatever you want!
So, the root of quarreling & fighting that James is talking here is BASED on the fact that too many Christians fall in love with their worldly possessions. And when they cling to those possessions - they ultimately abandon God.
But there was something else that caught my attention here. It was that phrase where James 4:1 asks “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?” James tell us this often happens because we WANT something we can’t seem to get.
Now, sometimes folks argue over possessions (it happens a lot when families battle over inheritances). But other times, those conflicts arise because I want MY WAY. I want something MY WAY and you won’t let me have it! I can’t GET what I WANT (my way)... so I’ll argue with you.
Then, by contrast, James tells us “the WISDOM FROM ABOVE is first pure, then PEACEABLE, GENTLE, OPEN TO REASON, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” James 3:17-18
Thus, every time you or I get UPSET and argue and quarrel with someone we tend to reflect a WORLDLY wisdom... a wisdom filled with disorder and vile practices.
What’s that mean? It means that many Christians operate under the assumption that if I can insult someone enough, or curse at them enough or (and this is the most common practice) INCREASE THE VOLUME OF MY VOICE!!!! I can intimidate the other person into submission and surrender by the force of my anger and indignation.
John 15:19 “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
But, why do people get angry at us if we glorify Jesus? Mostly because – when we say Jesus saved us – we’re saying Jesus is the only way to heaven. “Jesus said ... ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6) That’s pretty definite!
ILLUS: In ancient Rome, this commitment by Christians to Christ led the Romans to hate Christianity. They even called Christians atheists. Atheists? Why would the Romans call Christians “atheists?” Because early Christians refused to worship THEIR gods. That made the Romans mad!
And that hasn’t changed for centuries. There are people TODAY who get mad at Christians because we refuse to accept homosexuality/transgenderism/abortion, and other life choices. Why? Because they think folks ought to have the right to do as they please. But, we know that the Bible tells us these things are sin and there are consequences to those sins. And so we reject those life choices as valid. And that makes them mad.
Ephesians 5:5-11 declares: 5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
So, we’re ALWAYS going to be at odds with the world. And we are going to be in conflict with the world because of our love and commitment to Christ. But we’ve got to be careful how we respond to worldly people. We’ve got to be careful NOT to get into arguments and quarrels because - when we do get into those quarrels - we become like the world. We imitate their style of conflict!
ILLUS: There’s old saying that says “You never want to wrestle with a pig. You just get dirty and the pig enjoys it.”
Now that’s a lighthearted jab at what happens too often to too many Christians. We get upset, we say things we shouldn’t say, and we even insult people who are non-Christians
But too often, we ALSO do it to people who are brothers/sisters in Christ. Christians get mad at each other because they can’t get THEIR WAY. They’ll insult and threaten and manipulate. And God says “Don’t do that!”
Why? My point is simple. We don’t accomplish the will of God using the wisdom of this world. We can’t argue or shame people into faith.
We must reflect the wisdom of God to accomplish God’s will.
James 1: 5-6 tells us 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7).
In summary, to tap into God’s wisdom, we must diligently study God’s Word
(2 Timothy 2:15), 15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
meditate on the Word, pray for wisdom, seek it with all our
hearts, and walk in the Spirit. God desires to give His wisdom to His children. Are we willing to be led by that wisdom?

Based on a sermon given
by Jeff Strite

The Great Banquet

The Great Banquet

Luke 14:15-24

 

INTRO:

Good evening.   About this time of year, it seems to me that summer barely arrived and now it is winding down.   Perhaps the week of cooler temperatures after the last hot spell made me think that.   For whatever reason I started to think of the things we have to look forward to in the latter part of the year.

 

For example; I appreciate the month of November for two days that remind us to be thankful of where we are and what we have, and to be thankful of the sacrifice made by those that serve. Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving Day.

 

I heard a story about little Johnny I’d like to tell you. One Sunday morning the preacher noticed little Johnny was standing staring up at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. It was covered with names and small American flags mounted on either side of it.   The young man of six had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the preacher walked up and stood beside him and gazing up at the plaque he said quietly, "Good morning son."

"Good morning sir " replied little Johnny not taking his eyes off the plaque.

"Sir, what is this?" Johnny asked.

"Well son, this is in memorial to all of our young men and women who have died in the service," replied the preacher.

Soberly, they stood together staring up at the large plaque.

Little Johnny's voice barely broke the silence when he asked quietly, "Which one sir, the 11:00am or the 6:00pm?"

 

I can easily understand little Johnny’s confusion and perhaps you can as well.   Fortunately, when it comes to telling us of the kingdom of heaven, Jesus does not confuse, though His audience may sometimes be uncomfortable. Please turn in your Bibles to Luke 14 which will be our reference for this evening’s lesson. One of the great qualities, which dominated the life of Jesus, was His unselfishness. While He was eating dinner in the presence of the Pharisees, Jesus’ thoughts turned to the many people who hadn’t been invited.

 

He spoke to His host in the plainest of terms and said in Luke 14:12-14 – “Then He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor your rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.   "But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.   "And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just.''”[NKJ]

 

Make no mistake about this, these were hard words, I would imagine the host staring at Jesus with anger in his eyes, but that didn’t deter Jesus.

 

1. Have you ever been in a conversation about a subject that you just don’t want to talk about or that makes you uncomfortable?  When that happens to me, I usually try to change the subject or say something that will make my thinking a little easier.  
   1. I suspect something like that is what happens next because out of nowhere one of the other guests tries to break the spell and dismiss the statement by saying in Luke 14:15 – “… Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!” Jesus then responds with a parable that compares God’s kingdom to a banquet furnished by God.
   2. Luke 14:16-24 – “Then He said to him, "A certain man (God) gave a great supper (God’s Kingdom) and invited many (these being the Jews),   "and sent his servant (God’s messengers) at supper time (the coming of the Messiah) to say to those who were invited, `Come, for all things are now ready (We sing about this – so the fullness of time has come).'   "But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, `I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.'   "And another said, `I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.'   "Still another said, `I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'   "So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, `Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'   "And the servant said, `Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'   "Then the master said to the servant, `Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.   `For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.' ''”[NKJ]
   3. Before we get into the parable, I need to mention Matthew’s account. In Matthew 22:1-14 we find a similar parable by Jesus about a feast like the one we have just read.  I suspect the two parables are independent of each other, but the obvious similarities are due to their common origin, Jesus Christ.
   4. What Jesus does here, is compare the kingdom of heaven to a wonderful banquet. It’s significant that in most of Luke 14 Jesus talks about feasts and banquets. In this atmosphere Jesus compares entering the kingdom of heaven to coming to a feast.
2. During the days of Jesus there was a rumor that went around which the Jews believed as fact, even today many Jews still believe it.
   1. It was a common belief at that time that in a literal sense when the Messiah came, in the golden age of His reign, all the Jews would be invited to sit at His table in a great feast. With that in mind Jesus may have used this popular notion and compared the kingdom to a banquet. It’s not a long dreary funeral procession; it’s a festive occasion of warm fellowship and unheard of delight. Our meal that we enjoy at our potluck is like that. A meal with loving brothers and sisters.
   2. Remember that Jesus didn’t come to darken an already gloomy world. His mission was to bring good news.  I wish the world would recognize that. Jesus’ message of good news has been distorted almost beyond the point of recognition. Multitudes of people have come to believe that people cannot enjoy themselves and still be a Christian.
   3. People have misconceptions about Christianity because they have a distorted view of Jesus. Yes, it’s true that Isaiah 53:3 describes Him as a “Man of sorrows”, but this point has been magnified out of all proportion.  Look with me at how scripture, Isaiah 53:2-3, describes the messiah; “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 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.”

• A man named Publius Lentulus supposedly wrote a letter to the Roman Senate. It is reported he was a Roman Counsel from 27 BC to 14 AD and Governor of Judea before Pontius Pilate. This letter is considered apocryphal for several reasons. But listen to the way he describes Jesus.
  1. “There has appeared in our times, and there still lives, a man of great power (virtue), called Jesus Christ. The people call him a prophet of truth; his disciples, son of God. He raises the dead and heals infirmities. He is a man of medium size (statura procerus, mediocris et spectabilis); he has a venerable aspect, and his beholders can both fear and love him. His hair is of the color of the ripe hazelnut, straight down to the ears, but below the ears wavy and curled, with a bluish and bright reflection, flowing over his shoulders. It is parted in two on the top of the head, after the pattern of the Nazarenes. His brow is smooth and very cheerful with a face without wrinkle or spot, embellished by a slightly reddish complexion. His nose and mouth are faultless. His beard is abundant, the color of his hair, not long, but divided at the chin. His aspect is simple and mature, his eyes are changeable and bright. He is terrible in his reprimands, sweet and amiable in his admonitions, cheerful without loss of gravity. He was never known to laugh, but often to weep. His stature is straight, his hands and arms beautiful to behold. His conversation is grave, infrequent, and modest. He is the most beautiful among the children of men.”
  2. This image of Jesus has had a lasting effect on the art of succeeding ages, and even today Jesus is seen as a man who never laughed. Is this what Jesus was like?
  3. I’m reminded of Romans 14:17 – “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Matthew tells us in chapter 25 that the faithful servant will enter the joy of his Lord.  John 15:11 says; “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
  4. We’re not expected in “Monk fashion” to withdraw from the world and punish ourselves. We’re not expected to be like the Pharisees and bind ourselves with a code so strict that even toys for children are condemned as “Works of the flesh.” Jesus said, “His kingdom is one of Joy”. Not a joy of bodily depravity and sensual living but a joy of what is spiritual and eternal.

1. Back to Luke 14:16-18 - "… A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, "and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’   But they all with one accord began to make excuses..”
   1. There are three excuses given, but they can be divided into two classes. The first two have to do with earthly possessions and the third concerns earthly ties. We are going to look at the excuses in more depth in a minute, but let me first say this; the word translated as “with one consent” or “with one accord” or “alike” in verse 18 is interesting because it doesn’t mean they couldn’t go or they simply said “No thank you”. What it points to is that they “didn’t want to go”. “from one motive they began to make excuse”.
   2. Let’s look at the first two excuses, the earthly possessions. Luke 14:18-19 - “The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.” “And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.”
   3. There is little difference between the two excuses. Both men are absorbed in their own interests. Both men were so tied up in their business affairs that they had no time for anything else. They were basically saying that, “They had too much to do, so they couldn’t come.”
   4. How many times have we heard that excuse over the years? I would love to come to worship, or I’d love to stay for the fellowship meal, or I’d come back this evening, - but my life is just so busy at the moment! It’s like focusing on “self” is everything and the “life that is now” gets the most attention. Their business is their “Bible” and making a living is their creed. They rarely seem to have time for other people… never mind time for God.
   5. God knew that all of mankind would struggle with this and so what He did to help us take our minds away from our earthly possessions, is institute what is called the Lord’s Day. It’s a special occasion with a special service of worship on the first day of every week. Sunday’s are the days when He gives us a spiritual call to put aside all our concerns of the previous week and give full attention to the concerns of God.
2. As we meet every week with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we encourage one another and each of us reflects upon the sacrifice of Jesus, as we are reminded again of the cost of sin. In Matthew 4:4 - Jesus tells us that, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
   1. Let me quote a passage of Scripture that some Christians don’t like. Hebrews 10:25 - “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” “the assembling of ourselves together” is a reference to the Lord's day worship of the assembly, the regular Sunday services of congregations of believers, as set in motion by the apostles, honored by disciples in all ages, and fully recognized as a sacred obligation for all Christians by the author of Hebrews who penned this formal commandment regarding attendance.
   2. The reason I said that some Christians don’t like this verse is because it is a direct command from the Holy Spirit, through the Hebrew writer, for us to continually come together.  The ones who don’t like this verse are those who are already in the habit of not meeting together. I don’t know about you but I need encouragement.   Maybe I’m not as strong as some other Christians but I need encouragement more than once a week.
   3. That’s why I am glad I’m not alone with my struggle.   That’s why I’m glad that others attend the “Wednesday night Bible study”.   I feel very privileged to have an opportunity to attend those classes. I thank God for our Sunday Bible study.
   4. I thank God for “Potluck meals”; because I need the encouragement from other Christians to help me through.
   5. How important is this attending of the assembly? First consider John 20:19-20 – “19. Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you.'' 20. Now when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
      1. The beginning of the church on Pentecost occurred on a first day of the week when the disciples were gathered together.
      2. Consider such references as "Let every one of you lay by him in store on the first day of the week" (1 Corinthians 16:2), and "When the disciples came together on the first day of the week to break bread" (Acts 20:7).
   6. We don’t want to end up like “Demas who loved this world, and deserted Paul and went away to Thessalonica” according to 2 Timothy 4:10. When James is talking about those who are rich and are oppressing other people, he says in James 5:5 - “You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.” You see it’s not just a matter of commitment; it’s a matter of encouragement.
3. Let’s look at the second excuse, the earthly ties. Luke 14:20 - "Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'” This man’s excuse is a little more difficult to understand because of one of the Laws written in the Book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 24:5 - says, “When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has married.”
   1. Perhaps the man was basing his excuse on this particular Law and maybe he felt that he had a perfectly good excuse. He placed the obligation of his family and his home first and he thought that everybody would understand, but when you think about it, it’s a paradox that something as lovely and sweet as home can stand between a man and God. After all Genesis 2:24 - says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” That doesn’t mean that he is to leave his Father in heaven.
   2. When we think about our homes, they are among our greatest blessings, but as we know many a blessing can turn into a disaster.  There are at least two ways in which we can use our homes wrongly.
      1. Our home and our family ties can occupy the chief spot in our hearts. The man said in Luke 14:20 - “'I just got married, so I can't come.'” It seems like a reasonable excuse but read on in verse 26, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple.” We are going to look more at this another time, but for now let me say that Jesus commands an exclusive affection from us. He wants the whole heart.
      2. Our homes can be used selfishly. We can come home after a hard day at work and want to do nothing but relax and enjoy ourselves. We can spend much time and effort making our homes so livable that we wrap ourselves up in comfort and shut others out.
   3. You see, folks, regardless of how our homes are constructed; the windows should always look out on the needs of others. This is the way they were in the first century church and it’s the way we should think about our homes today.
   4. In Romans 12:13 – we are told; “Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”[para] In Hebrews 13:2 - “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.”  Practicing this is one of the great glories of having a Christian home.  Ask yourself, when was the last time you invited someone to your home?

• Continue now in Luke 14:21-23 – “"So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, `Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.' "And the servant said, `Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'   "Then the master said to the servant, `Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”
  1. The flimsy excuses had made the host angry, especially by those whom He invited but who didn’t want to come. He sent His servant out into the city, He sent his servant onto the streets, and the alleys.  
  2. He wanted His house full. He sent his servant out into what we would call the slums. What’s Jesus point here? The point is that Jesus was saying to the Jews that if they reject the invitation they wouldn’t sit at God’s table. He’s telling them that those they consider the lower classes of people, the publicans, sinners and even the heathens are going to take their place at the table.
  3. He’s says in Luke 14:24 - “For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.” This is bad news for those who rejected His offer but great news for us. Isn’t that a wonderful truth – when you think about the applications here – that God wants His house to be full?
• Romans 5:17 – I paraphrase; “For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”
  1. He is abundant in mercy and desires the salvation of all. Once His invitation is refused, He goes to others in order for those others to feast at His banquet. Matthew 28:19 - “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,   "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…”
  2. This is a universal invitation to come and feast at the Lord’s Table. The gospel is for all; the love of God desires a multitude of guests. What a sight it must have been! The cripples, the downcasts, the poor with their heads bowed. The blind groping around for a place to sit, the lame leaning on their crutches.  You might think that is a miserable sight. No, no, no. It is not a miserable sight!
  3. What we need to remember is that it was a happy group of people on the happy occasion of this feast. I wish I could just leave the sermon on that happy note, but I can’t, because there are still the others, the ones who didn’t come in. They had closed themselves out, they had sent different excuses, yet there was only one reason why they didn’t come. The three excuses all plead something that pertains to self. They loved things too much, they rejected a generous Host and they rejected His grace.
  4. Imagine what it’s like. Some are filled with the bread of life and for others are dying of hunger! Some have living water at their feet and others are dying of thirst!

 

CONCLUSION:  

Matthew 5:6 - “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” What is Jesus doing through this parable? Jesus is giving those who aren’t Christians an invitation. He is generous. Yet people continue to reject His grace. When we converse with non-Christians, we need to try to get them to the point where they think about Jesus’ offer of salvation.   When they get to that point perhaps, we can encourage them to think about confessing His Name before people. Talk to them about repentance, talk to them about turning away from self and start turning to God.

 

If they start thinking about those things, they may come to the question the Jews asked Peter in Acts 2:37, “What must we do to be saved?” Every person needs to get to that point. It is not a case of saying - “God, this is what I’m going to do to be saved”. It is asking what God wants us to do. When people come to that conclusion, we can teach them that they can become a child of God by doing what Peter told them to do and what every other Christian who is here today has done. Acts 2:38 "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

 

If we get anything from this parable tonight it is this. Jesus’ invitation is open to all of us. Anyone and everyone. Keep in mind people are going to come up with excuses. We need to put in their minds that an excuse is simply that. It’s an excuse. We need to let them know there is a table here, and there is a space at that table for them. We have not prepared it, Jesus Himself has.

Luke 14:21-23 - "So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, `Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.' "And the servant said, `Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.' "Then the master said to the servant, `Go out into the highways and hedges, and urge them to come in, that my house may be filled. " [para]

 

 

 

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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

 

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

 

#607 “All Things Are Ready”

 

Reference Sermon

Mike Glover

The Fruit of The Spirit – Self-Control

The Fruit of The Spirit – Self-Control

Galatians 5:22-23

 

INTRO:

Good morning.   For the last several weeks I've been presenting lessons from Galatians 5:22-23.  The sermon this morning will be the last sermon in this group and we're going to be looking at the subject of self-control.

 

I want to encourage you to take out your Bibles and look at the scriptures I mention. If you have any questions about anything I say, I’ll be glad to talk to you about it. If I’m wrong, I will stand corrected.

 

We're going to again begin with Galatians 5:22-23 – “22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23. gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”  

 

Self-Control again is an expression that defines itself. Self-control is the controlling of our selves.   There are two things that are understood from the word self-control here.

 

The first is I have the ability to control myself, self-control.   The mere fact the word exists tells me I have the ability to control myself.

 

The second thing I’ve learned from this is God expects me to control myself.   We human beings are driven by our will and our desires.  In our lives as children of God we understand what the will of the Lord is, yet we struggle in doing it.

 

It is not so much that when we edify each other we have to convince each other of what the truth is, as it is encouraging us to do what we already believe and know the truth to be.   Self-control is living that belief and that truth.   It is one thing to know the commandments of God, to know what is within the Word of God but it’s quite another thing to do it, to live by it.

 

In our lives as Christians we will have various situations and trials and temptations, then with the knowledge of the Word of God, we are expected, by faith, to do the will of God.   Unfortunately though, there are times when there is a situation, a scenario, or a temptation where we know the will of God, yet we choose not to do what God says. This is where self-control is needed.  

If we are going to be Christians, we are expected to have self-control, so we do not just desire to do good, are not just willing to do good, but we carry it out in our lives.  We are keeping His commandments by faith.

 

A point we've made in the lessons so far about the fruit of the spirit is that we're talking about manifestations, the fruit, the product, which comes from our relationship with God.  

 

In examining faithfulness, we point out that faith comes by hearing the Word of God and faithfulness is the product, the fruit, of that faith.   We are keeping his commandments by faith.    Our relationship with God is directly tied to the Word of God where our faith comes from.

If we are going to live by faith, we need to go to the Word of God where faith comes from.   As faith grows, we will find its going get stronger and become hope and the highest level of faith is love.   Love for God, whom we've never seen and then we're walking, living, by love and keeping His commandments because we love Him.

 

1. Self-Control And The Mind – Self-control is the key, it is the very heart of all of this.   When we have self-control, we are carrying out in our body what we are willing in our heart and mind.  
   19. Let’s look first at the book of Matthew in Matthew 15:18-19.  Here it talks about the tie between the mind and our actions when it says; “18. "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19. "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”
       1. Notice that all our actions, all our words, originate in the mind.  If we're going to have self-control, we need to recognize where it starts.
       2. It starts with getting control of our mind, getting control of our thoughts.
   20. Next in Proverbs 4:23 and let me mention that if you ever want to memorize a verse memorize this one; “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Here we are dealing with the mind – as a person thinks in their heart, so he will be.   We're dealing here with our mind, keeping it with all diligence, gaining control of the process.
       1. You hear the words coming out of my mouth.   They start right here in my mind.  If I am flailing my hands around that starts here in my mind.
       2. Walking back and forth, everything I do, everything I say, originates in the mind.   If we're going to have self-control, we've got to keep our heart with all diligence.
       3. The idea is getting control of what is coming in and what is going out. From our heart spring all the issues of life. Everything we say, everything we do originates with thoughts in our mind.
   21. Now in Romans 8:5 – it says; “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” Have you ever heard a parent ask “where was your mind” when a child got into mischief?   Have you as a parent ever thought “where was their mind?”   I certainly have heard this expressed about the immature, including myself.
       1. Sometimes we think that about adults too.   The point here is the mind… It says someone who's in the world sets their mind on the things of the flesh but the person who’s a Christian sets their mind on the things of the spirit.
       2. The common denominator between these three versus that we just looked at in Matthew, Proverbs and Romans—is the mind. The mind is ultimately what controls the actions.  
       3. That makes the mind pretty important doesn’t it?
   22. The Spiritual War For You Mind – In thinking about this I’m sure we recognize there is a war that is taking place and that war is the war for our mind.   Our mind which controls our actions, is the spoils in this battle.   It is going to determine our soul’s eternal destiny.   Satan wants to fill our minds with filth, with temptations, with the desires of the flesh, so that our thoughts are going to be fleshly oriented and desire oriented.   Then our actions are going to be the actions of the flesh.  We will be creatures of the flesh. - There's a battle for our minds.
       1. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2:11 – “Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul,” One of the worst things we can do as Christians is just float through life.  Not keeping our heart with all diligence, not guarding our heart with all diligence, and just allow anything to come into our minds and come into our hearts.
          1. For example, when it comes to the holiday season, I've got some bad news for us.   We are what we eat. I know we joke about it but it is true.
          2. What we take into our mouth is going to make up our body whether we like that or not.   Think about that.   In like manner, what we take into our mind is what is going to make up our thought processes whether we like it or not.
          3. Have you ever heard someone say “oh I can watch that it doesn't bother me”.   Really?   I guess that would mean what I eat won’t become part of me.
          4. Just like what you consume with your mouth is making up your body, what you take into your mind through your eyes and ears is going to be making up the thoughts in your mind, and it is going to be coming out in the actions of your life.
          5. We need to recognize this is a war that is taking place.  Satan wants into our minds.   We are surrounded by Satan's attacks on our eyes and our ears, the goal of which is to get into our mind and to get into our life.
          6. The text says here abstain from fleshly lust.  What do you understand from the word abstain?  To see how close you can get to it?   No. You stay away from it because it's warring against your soul.
          7. There's a war going on and the worst thing that we can do is compromise, let down our defenses, not guard our heart with all diligence, just let Satan come in and just fill our mind and heart with all kinds of things we do not need.
          8. We need to develop our self-control, to get in control of what we're watching and listening to and reading.
       2. It says this in Psalm 101:3 – “I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not cling to me.” The way in which we take information into our mind is through our senses—taste, touch, smell, and the primary two senses of sight and hearing.
          1. How can something we see or hear cling to us? Have you have ever learned a song just by listening to it several times on the radio?   I have listened to a song four or five times and by the fifth time or so I know every word and every note.
          2. You see its going in there.   They call this “the information age” for a reason. Don’t we realize that what we watch on television, in the movies, read in magazines, listen to in music, and see on the computer, is information that is being taken into our mind?
          3. No wonder so many Christians struggle when it comes to questions of the spirit and the flesh.   How many are going down the broad way because of the information Satan has managed to get into their minds?
          4. How many become lost because they're sitting there watching filth and pornography, then come to assemble and sing, “Oh how I love Jesus”?    They are acting like; “Oh, I can watch that stuff and I can read about that stuff but it's not going to affect me”.
          5. If we think that, who are we kidding?   We must have control of what we put in our mind.   You don't have to be a Solomon to figure out that we are being bombarded with filth through all sorts of media.   Do not watch it, don’t listen to it, don’t read it… abstain.
          6. If you know it's going to be there before you go there, then don't go there.   Get control of what's coming into the mind.  Guard your heart with all diligence.
          7. Going back to It shall not cling to me. Have you ever got something on your hand, and you can’t seem to get it off?   Rubber cement comes to mind for me. That’s clinging.   We set something wicked before our eyes and it is clinging to our thought processes. People think, “That’s not affecting me.” Oh yes it is, it is clinging to you and it will come out in the things you think about.
          8. Go back and read from Matthew 15:18-19 again - “18. "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19. "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,”. You must get control of your self and through that control get control of what is coming into your mind.   Abstain from it.  It's warring against your soul.   It will cling to your mind.   You'll find yourself having thoughts that are fleshly oriented and they will come out in your actions.
          9. What can we do?
       3. Do we remember what it tells us in the twelfth chapter of Romans? Romans 12:2 – “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” We need to recognize it is in the mind where the battle is, if we're going to gain self-control.   What we are told in the text is renew your mind.   It is the idea of a changing of our heart, a changing of our mind which will ultimately manifest in a changing of our life, in a word—repentance.
          1. Notice the close of this verse in Romans, and perfect will of God.” That is what we need to be controlling our minds, not the things of this world.
          2. If we want to be spiritually minded, and be keeping our heart with all diligence, a major part of helping us carry that out in our life is letting our mind be filled with the word of God.
       4. Ephesians 5:18-19 – “18. And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, 19. speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,” That brings a question to my mind, what kind of music does God like?   I like many types, though not all types.   Some like rap affect me so negatively I don’t even want to hear it.
          1. Jazz is perhaps my favorite kind of music, yet I have never been spiritually minded by listening to jazz.   I like country, especially the old style that told a story, ballads, but it does not lift me spiritually. I really like classical music. I was raised on classical, but listening to Mozart has never really brought me closer to God.
          2. There's only one kind of music I have found that actually affects me spiritually,  which will even bring me to my knees in the privacy of my room, and that is psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
          3. In Ephesians again we find the idea of getting control of what's coming into us.   It says do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit. Then we are told a way of being filled with the Spirit. Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,  We're being filled with the spirit, becoming more and more spiritually minded by listening to psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.  If we want to become spiritually minded we take things of this nature into the mind through the ears and the eyes.
       5. I’d like to cross reference this with Colossians 3:15-16 – “15. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
          1. In Ephesians 5 it says be filled with the spirit.   In Colossians it says let the word of Christ dwell in your richly.   These verses are saying the same thing.
          2. Romans 10:17 tells us that; “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
          3. John says in John 20:30-31 – “many of the signs truly did Jesus in the presence of the disciples which were not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing you may have life to his name.” [para]  
             1. The reasons Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John were written was so that we could read and learn about Jesus. His birth, teaching, miracles, crucifixion, and resurrection.
             2. From this record we conclude that Jesus of Nazareth, a man whom we have never laid eyes on, really is the anointed one of God, the Christ.

• He really is the son of God.  He died for me because He loved me.    He rose from the dead and the resurrection is really going to happen.

1. Our faith comes from the Word of God.  If you are going have faithfulness you've got to have faith.

4. In like manner if we are going to be spiritually minded, we've got to have the word of God dwelling in us.   To get to that point we need to have self-control.
   1. I’ll put it to you this way. I have a glass and fill it with water to the very top then turn it sideways, what's going to come out? Water.
   2. If we develop self-control and diligently guard our mind so that what we are allowing into our mind is the Word of God then His word will dwell in us richly and we know what's going to come out in our life. - The word of God.  The perfect will of God.  

• We have changed our mind to where it is no longer fleshly minded, but is now spiritually minded, motivated by faith, hope, and love and our life will be changed.

• The Fruit of Self-Control – What are the manifestations of self-control?
  1. A good verse to look at is one we ended with last week 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 – “for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds casting down arguments in every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” [para] Let’s start with “the weapons of our warfare”.
     1. Again, please remember we are engaged in a war folks.   The battleground is your mind and your heart, and the spoils of this war is your soul’s eternal destiny.  If you just lollygag and lay around and are not engaged in the battle, guess what, you're going to lose the battle.   We had better be soldiers of Christ fighting the battle.
     2. What then do we fight this battle with? Spiritual perspectives.   We are fighting against a spiritual enemy. God has given us spiritual weapons. These weapons work.
     3. When Jesus was attacked by our enemy, Satan, in Matthew 4, do you recall how He defended Himself? When Satan said; ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’    What was Jesus response? IT IS WRITTEN `Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God'. To each attack of Satan Jesus response was “It is written”. What Jesus was doing in His defense was pulling the spiritual sword out of the sheath; and what is that sword?   The word of God.
  2. When we're going to be in battle against spiritual wickedness, we better learn our weapons and use them. Find the scriptures that fit that spiritual struggle.
     1. Everybody here, every one of us, have our own spiritual weaknesses. There are areas in our life that are strongholds.   Last time we briefly talked about these strongholds as something in our mind or the minds of others that prevents the word of God from entering.
     2. A stronghold is where Satan has come in times past into our life and he's tempted us.   We are thinking to our self I'm not going to do this again.   I'm not going to act that way again, I'm going to live a Christian life… and then here comes the same old temptation.
     3. It is not something new.   I’ve been down this road time and time and time again.  I’m sure you have too. Here comes the temptation and you give into that temptation.   You have let that temptation succeed and then you end up sitting there, mentally whipping yourself saying; what is wrong with me?
     4. I know I'm describing everyone including myself, because when we give into temptation, we feel godly sorrow.   We are struggling with a temptation and we are wondering what's wrong with me why am I giving in to this, it is then we realize the problem is self-control.  
     5. We're willing to do good. We want to do the will of God and yet we find our self giving into temptations.
        1. And they're not strangers to us. They are temptations that we're very familiar with.
        2. We can know ourselves and recognize where our spiritual weaknesses are.   But the enemy also knows them. Then what we need to do is find the scriptures that fit our spiritual struggle and put those scriptures in our mind.
     6. I have had and still do have a problem with my temper.   How about this one? Therefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; Or this one? "Be angry, and do not sin'': do not let the sun go down on your wrath, How about this one from James 1:20 “for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”
  3. These verses are spiritual weapons God has given us.  The point we need to recognize, folks, is that the weapons of our warfare are mighty.  They make it so we can pull down a stronghold.  The temptation is seen beating us down again and again and we think what's wrong with me.  
     1. You can have the victory.   You can say no. You can resist it and he will flee from you, but you've got to know your weapons.   And you have to use your weapons.
     2. Find the scriptures that fit where you are.  Put them to memory and the next time Satan comes back, and you know he's coming back, the next time he hits you pull the sword out and say it is written and quote scripture. Then let that sink in.   These weapons work but we need to have them at the ready and use them.
  4. Look at the next part of 2 Corinthians 10:4-5. “bringing every thought into captivity” That says every thought into captivity, every single thing I think is under control. Captive.
     1. That is the level we strive to get to.   Have we reached it? No. But that is where we are trying to get to and what does this bringing every thought into captivity ultimately end in?   “…the obedience of Christ”.
     2. If we're going to keep His commandments, we will need to have self-control to where we carry out in our body, our lives, what we are desiring and willing to do in our heart as Christians.
  5. From James 1:19-20 I was quoting this one to you earlier. We learned “let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;”. Notice it says first swift to hear.   That tells us, puts in our mind, to first listen, hear what is being said.   Then slow to speak, speaking is usually the first reaction to what someone says, or a situation isn’t it?
     1. I’ll paraphrase James 1:26 says; “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.” We should learn to let some time pass before we open our mouth and speak.
     2. It is a very difficult thing to do but if we are going to be Christians, true Christians, we are expected to get a bridle on our tongue and have control of what is coming out of our mouth.
     3. How many times have words come out of your mouth and you really wish they would come back?  Can't get them back.  We need to be slow to speak so the words coming out of our mouth are words we've thought about and are exactly what we want to say at the time.   The right words at the right time. That is using self-control.

 

 

CONCLUSION:

Then finally Paul said in First Corinthians 9:27 – “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” Disciplining the body—the idea is gaining control of the body, bringing it into subjection to where when we're willing to and desire to do the will of God guess what?  We carry it out.   We're actually doing the will of the Father in Heaven not just knowing what it is.  We understand it's not enough to recognize what the word of God is.  We're expected to do the will of the Father in heaven, by faith.

 

To do that and to be faithful, to be keeping the commandments of God is going to require discipline of the body, control of the temper, control the tongue and getting all the way down to the core of it—control of the thought, our mind.   Bringing every thought into captivity.

 

To get to that level we need to become more and more spiritually minded realizing that is where the battle is taking place.  That's the battleground, our mind.   We've got to keep our heart with all diligence, taking control of what we are bringing into our mind and into our heart through our eyes through our ears.   Do not allow the filth seen in this world to come into our thought processes because it will cling to us. Then it will come out in our thoughts and our actions.

 

Instead be filled with the spirit.  Listen to songs, hymns and spiritual songs. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.  Spend time reading the Scriptures. Listen to the Scriptures. Learn what they say.

 

I suggest that we learn specifically the Scriptures that fit our personal spiritual struggles and then bringing the sword out of the sheath when the battle is engaged.  By doing this we can experience the fruit of the spirit—self-control.

 

As I said at the very beginning there are two things that are understood by the word self-control.    First, we do have the power within ourselves to control ourselves and second God expects us to do it.

How can we do it?   By becoming more spiritually minded. By getting engaged in the battle and fight to strengthen our faith, to strengthen our relationship with God so that in our lives we are carrying out, doing the will of God.

 

There may be somebody here this morning who is not a member of the body of Christ.

If you believe in your heart that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the son of the living God and you're willing to openly confess your faith and repent of your sins we'd be glad to assist you as you are baptized into the body of Christ.

 

All that will be expected of you in your life as a Christian is to take up your cross daily and follow by faith.  You need to recognize just because you obey the Gospel doesn’t mean the battle’s over.   You’ve finally engaged in the battle.  You're finally fighting against the enemy; standing up to the enemy and not letting Satan just roll over you.   You have begun a race that if you run faithfully all the way to the end of your life, it will lead to the throne of your king.

 

If you are a child of God and you find that you are struggling with self-control and thus struggling with obedience to the will of the king I hope that you have the desire to deal with it.  The worst thing to do is recognize the problem is there and do nothing about it.

We have the ability to grow in these spiritual attributes, but we have to be willing to take those first steps.

 

If you are a subject of the Gospel call in any way let us know while we stand a sing the song that has been selected.

 

 

Invitation song: xxx

Reference sermon by: Wayne Fancher

 

The Little Things in Life

The Little Things in Life

Matthew 13:31-32

 

INTRO:

Good evening.   We continue our look at the parables.   Last Lord’s Day evening we looked at the parable of “The growing seed.”  We saw how the spiritual kingdom of God grows.

We saw that this kingdom growth was orderly, just like our physical growth.

We grow through infancy.

We grow through childhood.

We grow through youth and adulthood.

In other words, it takes time and we need to be patient.

 

We also saw that God Himself is the one who causes the growth.   We plant the seed. We water it when we get the chance, but it is God who causes the seed to grow. We don’t know how God makes the seed grow but we know He does because we are here today as Christians.

 

Tonight we are going to look at another aspect of this kingdom growth but from a different angle. This evening we’re going to look at “The parable of the mustard seed” and we will do so from the garden or the field point of view.

 

Before we get started, I would like to share some things I read recently in Natural Wildlife.   Did you know the Praying Mantis only has one ear?   Praying Mantis have a single ear deep in the centers of their thoraxes, or chest segments. "The ear doesn’t look like any other ear," says the article. "They're the only animals known to have just one ear."   The other thing that is interesting about this ear, is that Mantis detect attacking bats by picking up the mammals' high-frequency or ultrasonic chirps. “When a flying mantis is trying to escape from a hungry bat, one of its primary nighttime enemies, it can suddenly pull up in midair, turn to the side and drop into a power dive similar to that of a military pilot avoiding an adversary”.

 

I guess if we get anything from that, we should spend more time in prayer and less time listening to all sorts of questionable things - yet keep an ear tuned to the wiles of the enemy.

 

Did you know that insects with stingers kill more people than snakes with fangs?

The lesson from that may be we need to control our stinging remarks as well as our biting gossip.  

 

Finally, did you know that if a beaver dam breaks, the beavers from several miles around will help rebuild it?  What an example that is to us when one of our own is in need.

 

The point is that everything God created has a purpose and we can learn many lessons from nature, and that includes the mustard seed.   During Biblical times it was very common practice to talk about the mustard seed as one of the smallest seeds.  Strictly speaking it wasn’t the smallest seed around at that time, but the tiny mustard seed is used to stand for anything minute.  

 

For example, Jesus spoke of faith as a grain of mustard seed.  In Matthew 17:20 He says to His disciples after they asked Him why they couldn’t drive out an evil spirit from a boy, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, `Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.”

 

Then in Luke 17:6 we find the apostles asking Jesus to increase their faith and Jesus says, “"If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, `Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.”

 

The Palestinian mustard plant, because of its size wasn’t set out in a garden but was usually found in an open field.   This plant could grow to between 10 and 12 feet in height.  When it comes to shrubs, this was a giant. Its branches were so large they would spread out like a tree.

 

I have read that because of its size, it would very often attract small birds to come and nest.  During the time of Jesus, birds would often be seen in the branches of the mustard plant and they fed on the small black seeds of the mustard pods.

 

31. Here again Jesus reveals a secret about how the kingdom of God grows from an every day event.    Let’s read the parable.   Matthew 13:31-32 – “31. Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32. "which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.''” I want to look at 3 points from this parable. The 1st one is this, just because something is little doesn’t mean it’s not important.
    1. When you look at the small mustard seed and you see how tiny it is, you might be forgiven for thinking it’s not worth much, but when you talk to someone who grows these plants you will find exactly how valuable it really is.
       1. As a spice, mustard is sold in seed or powder form and today you can buy it in paste form.  It can be used in biodiesel fuel and pesticides.   According to one report it can produce 2 tons of oil per acre of seed.
       2. In other words the little mustard seed by itself doesn’t look so important, but man’s experience teaches him not to minimize it.  The little things in life should never be discounted.
    2. Of course, when you look at the world today it is obsessed with bigness.
       1. The Great Wall of China is 1700 miles long.
       2. The Alaskan Pipeline runs for 800 miles.
       3. The Dubai Mall has 1200 shops, 13 million sq. ft. and 22 cinema screens.
       4. The largest cruse ship, the Symphony of the Seas, is 5 times the size of the Titanic and with a crew of 2000 it carries 6000 passengers.
       5. When you think about our farmers they are termed as successful by the size of their operations.  To a world obsessed with magnitude Jesus makes an example of the power of the small in saying; “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed”.
    3. Jesus says in Mark 9:41 – “For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.” A cup of cold water, a visit to the sick, a welcome to a stranger, a lost sheep, these are little things in our estimation, yet Jesus uses them in His teaching.
       1. In Matthew 25:35-36 when Jesus is talking about the great division which will happen on judgment day, he says to those on His right, “35. `for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36. `I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'”
       2. Notice Jesus does not want you to feed the world.   He doesn’t want you solve world poverty.  It’s not big things He wants from us, its little things.
          1. Give a hungry person something to eat.
          2. Give a thirsty person something to drink.

• Give someone who needs clothes, something to wear.

1. Look after and visit the lonely and sick.
2. These are not big tasks. They are little mission fields that we all can do. We can all be involved with them.

3. Think about all the things that happen here in our congregation.  There are many.
   1. For example, someone comes early in every Sunday morning and prepares the Lord’s Supper.
   2. That may not seem like a big task, but just think about it.

• We all enjoy partaking of the Lord’s Supper every week because of someone’s effort in preparing it for us. Someone takes the time to prepare it and we all enjoy the blessing. Just because a task seems small within God’s kingdom doesn’t mean that it isn’t important.

4. Take for example doing a good deed.   Doing a good deed for someone will make a lasting impression.
   1. Doing a good deed for someone can spread the Gospel faster than a 100 good sermons.
   2. That’s because just like a grain of mustard seed, it can increase in size beyond imaginable proportion.
5. That brings me to the 2nd What we may think of as small may have a bigger impact than we realize.
   1. However important little things may be, the parable focuses on the consequences of little beginnings.
      1. The Egyptians were famous and still are famous for their pyramids.   One of the greatest pyramids built is at Giza. It contained an inner chamber where the Pharaohs were buried. His servants were usually buried in there too along with some of his personal artifacts.
      2. The rest of the pyramid complex consisted of a large enclosure, an adjacent mortuary temple, and a walkway leading down to a pavilion. When you look at these magnificent structures, you can’t help but stand in awe.
      3. When you think about it though, these structures started with one brick.
         1. Vincent Van Gogh produced many famous paintings but each one started with a single stroke of the brush.
         2. The German composer Ludwig Van Beethoven started his great symphonies and concertos with a single note.

• In English literature every book ever written, every essay, every poem all comes from the 26 letters of the alphabet.

4. In fact, the world’s biggest things have generally had small beginnings.   Momentous deeds and earth-shaking revolutions can be traced back to a speck, just like the germ of the mustard seed.

10. In Luke 2:10-12 when the angels appeared to the shepherds, the angel said to them, “10. … "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11. "For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12. "And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.''”
    1. When you think about Christianity, the world’s greatest movement had its beginnings in a manger in Bethlehem.
    2. The busy Roman world didn’t take any notice of the day when Jesus was born.  It casually took notice of His life, and even when Jesus died the Roman world didn’t care much about His death. Why?
       1. Because Jesus was born in a manger.
       2. He was a carpenter from Nazareth and when He died, to them, He was gone.

• So much for a great leader!

3. Certainly, in outwardly appearances, Jesus looked less than the least of all great leaders.   His followers were counted by the dozens not by the thousands.
4. Yet, from only a handful of disciples, and in despite of their leader’s death on a cross there sprang into existence the universal church of the Lord Jesus Christ, which you and I are part of today.

1. Let’s look at the story of Jesus.
   1. He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman.
   2. He grew up in another obscure village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty.
   3. Then for three years He was a travelling preacher.
   4. He did not live in a big city.
   5. He never travelled more then two hundred miles from the place He was born.
   6. He never wrote a book or held an office.
   7. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness.
   8. While He was still a young man the tide of popular opinion turned against Him.    His friends deserted Him.
   9. He was turned over to His enemies and went through a mockery of a trial.
   10. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.
   11. While He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had, His garment.
   12. When He was dead, He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave.
   13. That’s Jesus. That’s our Lord and Savior. Twenty-one centuries have come and gone, and today He remains the central figure for much of the human race.
   14. Someone said, all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, and all the kings that ever reigned, put together have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as this "One Solitary Life."  Folks, we should learn the lesson from the mustard seed.   A thing maybe small, almost without hope but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to have an effect.
2. Why is that?   Jesus is saying that small beginnings can succeed because it is God who is behind it.   God makes the seed grow. Do we think that the first century disciples ever thought that their small faith would have had such an impact in the world today?   Probably not. Their faith began almost unnoticed, just like the tiny mustard seed but look at it now. It has gone all around the world.  Jesus said with faith like that, “You can move mountains; you can tell a tree to go and plant itself in the sea.”
   1. There is a story about a town in England had been bombed one night by the Germans. When workers were clearing away the debris, they found on top of a heap of rubbish a sailor's prayer book, open to Psalm 27 with the thirteenth verse marked: “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living.” The incident was widely commented upon in Great Britain, for it seemed to many that the verse noted in the open prayer book was the secret of Britain's endurance during the worst days of her trial. The victory was won, not by battleships and tanks and rifles and armed men alone, but by faith in God. Unless the Britons had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living, they would have given up in despair.
   2. That’s faith.   That’s leaving things in God’s hands because you know that God is in control.

• That brings me to my 3rd point which is; don’t miss the point of this parable. Let’s read the parable again, Matthew 13:31-32 – “31. Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32. "which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.''” Why do I say don’t miss the point of the parable?
  1. Many people adjust this parable to mean something else. Some people like to believe that the branches, which Jesus talks about here, are symbolic of modern-day denominations.  In other words, just as the birds come and sit in the branches of the tree, so it is said that people can come and enter the different braches or denominations of the church.  I see a few problems with this view.
     1. First, they fail to ask the questions we have been asking with every parable we look at.  Who was Jesus speaking to and what did it mean to them?
     2. To find the answer we need to go back to Matthew 13:10 - “The disciples came to him and asked, "Why do you speak to the people in parables?"
     3. Jesus was speaking to His disciples. Was denominationalism around in Jesus’ day?   No!
     4. Second, they neglect the context. Just prior to this, in explaining the parable of the sower, Jesus says the birds there represented the wicked one.
  2. Unfortunately, some people try to understand the parable by back-filling it into how they see Christianity today.
     1. What they need to do is look at Christianity as we find it in the first century.
     2. That’s the way to understand it.  It’s all too easy to make a verse mean something it never did by misunderstanding it to fit a viewpoint.
     3. It’s too easy to speak of branches of the church, but in the days of Christ and His apostles, these different so-called branches or divisions of Kingdom were unknown.  The Bible nowhere teaches that there are many churches. The Bible always talks about the church as singular.   How can you have a divided Kingdom with one king, one ruler?
     4. In Matthew 16:18 when Peter gives his wonderful confession to Jesus, Jesus says, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”  Jesus did not say, “On this rock I will build my churches.”  What was it He said? He said, “I will build my church, singular.”
  3. There are other people who like to say that this parable was a prophecy of Jesus.
     1. In other words, this parable remained unfulfilled until the recent rise of denominationalism.    Rubbish!  This takes their interpretation too far.
     2. The branches of the mustard plant are not in the focus of Jesus’ attention any more than the man who sowed the mustard seed or the nests that were made in the plants branches.
     3. The point of the parable is simply that the tiny mustard seed grows into a plant large enough for the birds to come and nest in it.   The man who sowed the seed, the field, the nests, the birds themselves, are all incidental to the one central truth of the parable.
     4. What is the one central truth of the parable?   The point is the kingdom of God, even with a small beginning, would prosper and prevail over all other kingdoms.  That’s what Jesus is getting at, that’s what He is teaching His disciples.
  4. Let’s look at Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, he says in Daniel 2:31-45, and bear with me because this is a long reading, but it is important to read it to help us understand about “The parable of the mustard seed.” – “31. "You, O king, were watching; and behold, a great image! This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you; and its form was awesome. 32. "This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33. "its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 34. "You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35. "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 36. "This is the dream. Now we will tell the interpretation of it before the king. 37. "You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory; 38. "and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all you are this head of gold. 39. "But after you shall arise another kingdom inferior to yours; then another, a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 40. "And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters all things; and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. 41. "Whereas you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; yet the strength of the iron shall be in it, just as you saw the iron mixed with ceramic clay. 42. "And as the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. 43. "As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, they will mingle with the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44. "And in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. 45. "Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure.''”
     1. Let me give you a quick run down of what this dream means.
        1. Verse 32 talks about “The head” as being made of fine gold; this is talking about The Babylonian Empire.
        2. Verse 32 also talks about “The chest and arms” as being made of silver. This is talking about The Medo-Persian Empire, another kingdom that will come after the Babylonians.
        3. Daniel also mentions “The belly and thighs” as being made of bronze. This is talking about Empire of Alexander and in verse 33 the legs of iron and the feet of iron and clay is talking about the Roman Empire.
        4. In verse 34 Daniel talks about “a stone” which he says it is not cut out by human hands.
        5. Look at verse 35 - "Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”
     2. The stone not cut by human hands struck the image down and became “A great mountain and filled the whole earth.”
        1. In other words, Daniel prophesied that God’s kingdom was destined to conquer all other kingdoms.
        2. All you need to do is read your history books and you will see how accurate this was.   You will read about how one kingdom after another fell.
        3. What can we learn from this parable?   Let’s mention a couple of things to think about as we close.

 

CONCLUSION:

Do we realize that we are a part of a kingdom that will never be destroyed and will last forever?

 

Don’t take my word for it, take God’s word.    Daniel 2:44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.”

 

You and I are in that kingdom today if we are Christians.   That kingdom came about in Acts chapter two. We looked at that last week.

 

Paul says in Philippians 3:17-20 “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven.”

Particularly notice that word is. It does not say will be, but it says; “is in heaven”, present tense.

In our lives we have thought to ourselves that we would like to become a part of this kingdom, but we haven’t got much to offer. Just remember what we’ve learned today.

Jesus says that it is the little things you have got to offer that can make all the difference.    You might not be able to preach or teach, but you can certainly write a letter of encouragement to other Christians in Jesus name.  You might not be able to lead songs, but you can come to worship and encourage everyone with your friendly smile in Jesus name.

In a world where people say that size matters, Jesus says, “Give me what you can, and I will do wonders with it.”  Look at what He did with a couple of fish and 5 loaves of bread. Look at what He did at the wedding in Canaan with six jugs after they have been filled with water.  Look what He does with tiny seeds. Imagine what He can do with you, if you would only give yourself to Him first.

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We learn from the New Testament how to be saved. We need to hear the word; believe in Jesus; repent of our sins; we must confess our belief that Jesus is the Son of God; and be baptized for the remission of our sins… If we follow these steps, the Lord adds us to His church.

 

Perhaps there is someone in the assembly today with the need to be buried with Christ in baptism. If you have never done these things, we urge you to do so today. If anyone has this need or desires the prayers of faithful Christians on their behalf, we encourage them to come forward while we stand and sing.

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Reference Sermon

Mike Glover