Chardon church of Christ

First Come First Served

First Come First Served

Matthew 20:1-16

INTRO:   Good evening.   Continuing our look at the parables of Jesus I would like you to recall we recently looked at the parable of the wicked tenants.   We saw that God has entrusted to man the care of His kingdom.   God had left His tenants in charge of His vineyard, and He gave them everything they needed to do to the work in that vineyard.

The text for today is Matthew chapter 20 verses 1 through 16.   In it we are going to see that everyone He calls upon is entitled to work in His vineyard, no matter where they are from or when they decided to listen to His call.    

This text is sometimes called the parable of “The workers in the vineyard” and we are going to learn that it’s not always a case of “First come, first served”.

In the world today everyone wants service now, and it seems there’s a real lack of humility. Maybe it is our fast passed society, or just that there are so many of us, but we are always in a rush. When you go to the market sometimes it can be a struggle to pay at the checkout because people are rushing, trying to be first in line.  

The attitude of the world is one of expectations, isn’t it?  People expect to be served first even though there were many there ahead of them.  People expect to be treated better than others, especially if they believe they are in a position of importance.    There are times you can understand this.   In England the queen, for example, would expect to be served first wherever she went.   But humility is counter to the way of our, me first, my rights, society. Humility is not just something that Christian’s practice; humility is the lifestyle of a Christian.  As far as society goes I think a recent advertisement by Grubhub sums it up quite well; “I want it all and I want it now.”

Before we begin to find out what Jesus was saying in this parable we first need to understand the background to it.  Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 19:16-25 where we find a rich young man who came to Jesus and asked Him what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him, “Obey the commandments."  The young man asks, “Which ones?”  Jesus said to him, “'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and 'love your neighbor as yourself.'" To which the young man replies, “I have kept them all. What do I lack?”

Jesus tells him.  He says, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." This was too much for the young man, so he went away sad, because he was rich.

Then Jesus talks to His disciples about how hard it is for rich people to enter the kingdom of God and then He goes on to talk about how people can be saved.  He says in Matthew 19:26-30 "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Peter answered him, "We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?"   Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.”

It is at this point that Jesus goes on to tell the parable of “The workers in the vineyard” in Matthew 20:1-16.  

Many years ago a young preacher met Dr. Adam Clarke, the great commentator who had produced a wealth of literary treasures. The young man, anxious to emulate the distinguished doctor, asked him how he managed it. "Do you pray about it?" he inquired. "No," the doctor quietly answered, "I get up and start working."

 

1. In this parable we find the issue is not how long the people worked in the Lord’s vineyard; the issue in this parable is the spirit in which the work was done.
   1. Notice that there are two types of workers in God’s vineyard.  The first lot are those who came to an agreement with the master.   Jesus said in Matthew 20:1-2 – “"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. "Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” [NKJV]
      1. These workers agreed to work for Him if they were given the right amount of money.    These first laborers were given a contract, a denarius for a days work.
      2. A second lot of workers came to work for Him later.  Matthew 20:3-7 – “And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said to them, `You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' And they went.” "Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. "And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, `Why have you been standing here idle all day?' "They said to him, `Because no one hired us.' He said to them, `You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.'”
   2. The difference between these latter workers and those who had an agreement is that they were glad just for the chance to work. To them their pay wasn’t an issue because Jesus said about the landowner, “He would pay them what was right.”
      1. As an aside; you know it’s sad when people think they will only work for God if they get paid enough to do it.  On the other hand, just because some get financial support to work with a congregation, doesn’t mean that they have to do all the work, just because they get paid for it.
      2. But that’s not the point of this parable.   In this parable the workers didn’t get their pay until the work was finished.  Jesus isn’t talking about actually receiving a denarius when we get to heaven.  He’s revealing a spiritual and moral truth to His disciples.   He’s saying that your reward will be the same as mine and that reward is eternal life.
   3. A Christian doesn’t work in God’s kingdom for the money.   A Christian works in God’s kingdom for the joy.  Proverbs 10:27-28- “ The fear of the Lord prolongs days, but the years of the wicked will be shortened. The hope of the righteous will be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.”
      1. 1 Peter 1:8-9 – “Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith the salvation of your souls.”
      2. It’s a joy to serve and work for the Lord; we all work for Him because of the joy we get out of serving our Lord in His kingdom.
      3. Years ago I heard a story about someone who stole some lug nuts from one of the wheels of a man’s car, a Studebaker.   The man went to a junk yard to get replacement lug nuts.  He asked the counter guy, "Could you give me two lug nuts for my Studebaker?"  "Sure," the salesman replied. "Sounds like a fair exchange."
      4. When it comes to inheriting eternal life; nobody is going to get ripped off, whether they’ve been a Christian for one day or 50 years.
   4. We all know that Jesus’ disciples were the first Christians in Jesus’ church and in Acts 2:41 we find that others were added and became a part of His church.
      1. In Acts 5:14 we find that even more people were added and became a part of the Lord’s church.
      2. Jesus’ disciples had to learn a hard lesson.  First come doesn’t mean first served!  Jesus explains what He meant when He said to His disciples about their position of honor in Matthew 19:26-30.
      3. Jesus is telling them that the disciples couldn’t claim any special place of honor just because they were Christians before anyone else.  He says in Matthew 20:16 “The last will be first, and the first will be last."
   5. There’s a big lesson for the church today here too, isn’t there?  Many people just because they have been members of the Lord’s church for many years, think that the church partially belongs to them.  They think they can dictate and control what goes on within the congregation.  
      1. Just because you’ve been a member of the Lord’s church for 40 years doesn’t give you any special privileges.  Just because your father was an elder of a church for 20 years doesn’t give you any special privileges. It is not about genealogy. We are to serve with humility.
      2. In the church, authority doesn’t necessarily mean honor.  Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying we should not honor those who have been in the Lord’s body for many years because the Bible teaches us that we should honor those who are older in the faith.
      3. I’m saying that just because you’ve been a part of the kingdom longer than some others, doesn’t make you more important than any other Christian.  No matter where you come from or when you became a Christian, you are of equal worth to God as any other Christian.
   6. We are to remember its God’s vineyard not mine, not yours. It’s God who is dishing out the wages. He’s the one doing the hiring.   It’s His work that’s being done.  We are all workers and He’s the owner.
      1. The point is that it doesn’t matter if you’ve been a Christian for one hour or 40 years, you are of equal worth to God in His kingdom.   Galatians 3:26-28 – “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.   For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.   There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
      2. Those who are young in the faith should learn from those who are older in the faith, who are more mature and whose knowledge is greater.
      3. This is also important.    It may well be that those who have been Christians for a long time have got things to learn from those who are younger in the faith as well.
   7. That was the problem the Jews had, they knew that they were God’s chosen people and they never forgot that.   They also never forgot to remind other people about it.    Because of this; they continually looked down on the Gentiles.  They hated and despised the Gentiles and hoped for nothing but their destruction.  Their genealogy was a stumbling block. To a Jew if the Gentiles were going to be allowed into God’s kingdom, they must come in as inferiors and on their terms.
      1. We know a couple of examples of that.   In Acts 15:1 we find some Jews saying to the Gentiles, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”  We also know that the apostle Peter stumbled with this didn’t he?   Paul had to rebuke him for that mindset.
      2. In Galatians 2:14 – “But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?”    In other words the Jews were willing to allow the Gentiles into God’s kingdom only if they were circumcised and followed their traditions.
      3. That particular spirit hasn’t changed much today in some religious circles, has it?  Even in the brotherhood some say you can only be a part of the church if you were baptized by a church of Christ minster!
         1. You are only a real Christian if you know and fully understand all the doctrine of the church of Christ before you were baptized!
         2. You will only get to heaven if you use this translation or this song book or use one cup during communion!

• There are people who think they are more favored in God’s eyes, because others don’t match up to their level of spirituality.

28. As someone once said, “In God’s economy, there is no such thing as a most favored nation clause.”    There is no master race in Christianity.  “you are all one in Christ Jesus,” as Paul reminded us in Galatians 3:28.  Instead of looking around at each other and wondering whose doing what in God’s kingdom, maybe we should be searching for those who are eager to work in the kingdom.

1. We realize these men that Jesus was talking about here were standing in the market place but they weren’t being lazy hanging around the street corners wasting their time.    They didn’t have job centers to go to like we have today.   The market place was the place to go to find work.    A man would go there first thing in the morning with his tools and he would wait until someone came along and hired him.
   1. Some of them would get hired first thing in the morning, but others would wait all day to get some work.   Some men worked only a few hours and some men worked all day.  When I say all day, I don’t mean a 9 to 5 job.  I mean these men started at 6:00 am and finished at 6:00 pm.  
      1. Even though work usually finished at 6:00 pm some of these men would still be waiting at 5:00 pm hoping to get a job.
      2. Jesus said the landowner went in the morning, then the third hour, and then the sixth hour and then the ninth hour and then finally he went again to the market place at the eleventh hour.  Apparently there was a lot of work to do and this also shows how desperate for work they were.   They were still there waiting in the market place when the day was nearly spent.
      3. We go out of our way to encourage people to read the Bible, so that one day they might become Christians.  Maybe we should consider continuing that encouragement in helping them find a job within the kingdom of God after they have become Christians.
   2. The point is that we should be working in His kingdom.   This parable also tells us about the generosity of God.
      1. Matthew 20:8-10 – “So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, `Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.' "And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. "But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius.”
      2. What is going on here?   These workers didn’t all do the same amount of work, putting in the same time, but they did receive the same pay.  
      3. The way the world works when it comes to pay is some people get more than others depending on the jobs they have.    Usually if people work in the same place and do the same job for the same length of time, they expect to get the same pay, but these workers didn’t all work the same number of hours.
      4. These workers were grape harvesters and the grapes in Palestine would always be ready for harvest around the end of September.   It was always a race against time to get the grapes in before the rains came.   Because of this, anyone who was willing to work was welcome to work at this time, even if they could only work for an hour or two.  Each man was given what amounted to a day’s wages for a man back then.
      5. Because a job was hard to come by, getting a job for a day’s wages sometimes meant the difference between living and starving.   God knew that a denarius was no great wage.   He knew that if the workmen went home with less than a denarius there would be worried wives and hungry children.  
      6. If this happened in today’s world, people would instantly go to a lawyer and say I want justice.  This parable tells us that God goes beyond justice.   He gives us more than we are due.   Justice says that we deserve to die in our sin.   God goes beyond justice and offers us eternal life through His Son Jesus Christ.
   3. Look at Ephesians 2:3-5 which I’m going to come back a little later. It says; “among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Notice what it says next But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),”

• When it comes to God’s justice and the way He gives His grace to us, there are two great lessons to be learned here.  The first one is this: All service ranks the same with God.    It’s not the length of service that counts but the love in which it is given.
  1. Matthew 20:11-12 – “And when they had received it, they murmured against the landowner, "saying, `These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.'”    You can always tell the people who think they deserve more from God than their fellow brothers or sisters in the kingdom.    You can tell them because they grumble a lot.   People have always been grumbling against God,  not only in today’s world but also in the Biblical world.
     1. Remember back in Exodus 16:2?   “Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.”  Who were they really complaining against?   It was God.
     2. Even after they received the Promised Land they grumbled.  Psalm 106:24-25 – “Then they despised the pleasant land; They did not believe His word, But murmured in their tents, And did not heed the voice of the Lord.”
     3. People have always been grumbling against the Lord.   Even to this day. James warns us in James 5:8-9 – “ You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.   Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!”  
     4. We need to be patient and grateful for the little work that anyone is doing in the kingdom.  God doesn’t look at the amount of work performed.   He looks at the heart of the worker.
  2. Think about this in terms we have seen, what’s worth more?  A millionaire giving you $100 or a grandchild giving you a card on your birthday that just cost little but they have saved up to get that card to give to you?  What’s worth more?   All service ranks the same with God.

1. The second thing we can learn from this is: What we receive is by God’s grace.   Matthew 20:13-16 – “But he answered one of them and said, `Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? `Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you.   `Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?'   "So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”  
   1. We cannot earn what God gives us.   We do not deserve it and we can not put God in our debt.
      1. People are always trying to put God in their debt, people are always trying to tell God who deserves to go to heaven and who doesn’t.  They even try to bargain with God.
      2. You know when you talk to non-Christians about the kind of people you find in church, they seem to think that we’ve always been in the church.  We’ve always been God-fearing people, but people aren’t born Christians, they are born again
      3. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3-8 that people need to be born again to enter the kingdom in the first place.  Peter says that you need to be born again to be purified.    
   2. 1 Peter 1:21-23 – “who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.   Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,   having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,”
      1. Purified from what?   Purified from our sin. All Christians have a history of sin, nobody comes to the cross sinless.
      2. What right does someone have to say to God, “Hey God that person is a criminal; they don’t deserve to get to heaven?”  “Hey God, that person is a liar, they don’t have any right in your kingdom.”
      3. When we look at others with that attitude, do you know what God is going to say?   He will just say to us what He said in the parable, “Don't I have the right to do what I want with My grace? Or are you envious because I am generous?'”
   3. Let me share with you the kind of people you will find in congregations and I’ll Paraphrase this.   Galatians 5:19-21 tells us that there are people who used to commit “sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery.”  There are people who used to commit “idolatry and people who used to practice witchcraft”.    There are people who used to be filled with “hatred, discord, jealousy, they had fits of rage, they were selfish in their ambition”.  They used to practice “dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, revelries, and the like”.
   4. Obviously, if you were to tell that to the average person on the street and they would say, “Well I’m not going to that congregation, they have allsorts in there”.
      1. The point is that the people in the congregation used to do things like that.   Past tense, they used to, because when they were born again they put off that old nature and put on a new nature.  Instead of following the ways of the world, they turned their back on the world and started following the ways of Christ.
      2. Why?  Galatians 5:21 concludes with; “… those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”  We understand why we needed saving, it was because of our sinful lives, and everyone can be born again.
   5. Romans 3:22-24 – “the righteousness of God which is through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe.  For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”
      1. I remember hearing a story about the British Evangelist G. Campbell Morgan.   He was walking home one night with his friend when they noticed an inebriated man staggering homeward.  His friend said, “What a sorrowful state to get in.”  Morgan replied, “But for the grace of God go I.”
      2. What God gives us is given out of the goodness of His heart, out of His grace. What He gives us is not pay, but a gift, not a reward but a grace.  This is something we all need to get a grasp on.
      3. I’m sure most of you have heard of a man named John Newtown. He knew all about grace.   If you do not know who he is, you should know one of the famous hymns he wrote and we still sing today.   It’s called “Amazing grace”.
      4. The first stanza says this, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see.”

 

CONCLUSION:

Let’s finish by looking at Ephesians 2:1-9. Paul says; “1. And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2. in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3. among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5. even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6. and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7. that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9. not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

That’s grace and that’s amazing.   It’s a gift of God so that no one can stand before God or other people and say, “Look how great I am, look what I do as a Christian.”    I haven’t missed a service in 13 years. I’ve never done this.   I’ve never done that.

 

Grace stops that from happening. It’s a gift, which cannot be earned so that no one can boast.  It’s available to everyone who is willing to obey the gospel call of Christ.  I don’t care who you are. I don’t care where you come from or how ugly your past has been, you’re in good company here.

 

God calls us through His word.   When we hear the gospel message, just like those we read about in Acts, we can make the choice to respond.   We can obey and accept God’s offer to be workers in His vineyard, His kingdom. Those that are faithful to do the work, no matter how long they have, will be faithfully rewarded for their service.

 

The landowner here is God.   The vineyard is his Kingdom, the church.   The laborers hired to do the work are Christians.   The payment stands for the eternal reward in heaven. The evening is the end of life and, in a sense the judgment. The generosity of the landowner represents the goodness of God.   The complainers represent the self-righteousness of those who consider themselves worth more than others.   The time sequence in hiring represents acceptance of the gospel call at early and later times in the life of Christians.   It is not always early in a person’s life that they are in the marketplace ready for work, receptive to the gospel. Sometimes the opportunity comes later and sometimes it is later in life, after the evils of the world have battered a person that they become receptive and enter the market place to receive the call. The work represents service Christians are expected to give God in His church. I would like to note that those who were in the marketplace at the eleventh hour had a great risk that the landowner would not come and offer them work before the day was done.

 

God wants you to inherit eternal life as much as the person sitting next to you today.

If you become a Christian then you too, will be able to work with us and come to understand why God’s grace is so amazing.    If there is anyone here evening who needs to respond to the gospel, or if you are in need of prayer or need to come before the church for one reason or another we encourage you to do so as we stand and sing this song of invitation.

 

Invitation song: ???

 

Reference sermon by: Mike Glover

 

 

The Lords Supper At The Lords Table On The Lords Day

The Lords Supper at The Lords Table On The Lords Day

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

 

INTRO: Good morning. It is nice to see everyone today. I would like to remind you that the scripture references I use will either be from the KJV or the NKJV unless I mention otherwise.   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.

For a number of lessons, we have looked at the subject of worship and saw that worship is actually a manifestation of our own personal relationship with God.   It is meant to be an expression of the love, awe, respect and honor that we have for our God from our hearts.

 

These lessons are about the kind of relationship we actually have with our creator, with God almighty.    This morning we will continue along the same line of thinking and we will be looking at the Lord’s Supper.

 

Our text for the lesson is found in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 however I want to start by giving some background reading from verses 17-20. “Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper.”   What Paul is dealing with here is an error that came into the assembly at Corinth.  

 

The purpose of the sermon this morning is to try to help us understand the great honor that you and I were just allowed when we partook of the Lord's Supper.   Sometimes I fear the members of the body of Christ do not understand the privilege that we are allowed when we take the Lord's Supper and what is actually involved with it.

 

Now look at verse 20 again. This is the only text that you find in the New Testament that uses the phrase Lord's Supper.  The phrase Lord's Supper is a possessive phrase showing a supper that belongs to the Lord.  It is His supper, it's not my supper.   It belongs to him.  That is an important distinction. We learn something else in this text.  The Lord's Supper was taken when the saints assembled together.   The Lord's Supper is not something you do out on a duck pond.   The Lord's Supper is not something you do while you're fishing.   The Lord's Supper is not something you do while you're hunting.

The Lord's Supper is what you do when you come to gather with the Saints on the Lord's Day at the Lord's Table.

 

The apostle Paul is trying to correct the Corinthians who had perverted the Lord's Supper.   They had turned it into a common feast rather than being a part worship directed to God.  

We're going to read something you're very familiar with because it is read quite often when we take the Lord's Supper.   The reason we read this text is to bring our mind back to the purpose of the Lord's Supper.   Thinking about that I wonder; How often in this last week did you actually think about Christ crucified?   Not often is probably going to be the answer.   We human beings tend to get caught up in the cares of this world.  We’ve got to take care of responsibilities at work and at home.   We've got all these tasks and all these problems that we're juggling and trying to deal with from day to day.   As we juggle all these responsibilities every day an amazing thing and an unfortunate thing happens, we lose focus of what's really important.

 

What is really important is our relationship with God and that God loved me so much He gave His son to die for me.   Christ loved me so much that He went through everything He went through for me.   The Lord's Supper is to bring us home, back to what's important, to bring our focus back to Christ, crucified.

 

23. Let’s read our text, I Corinthians 11:23-26 – “23. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24. and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of '' 25. In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.'' 26. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.”
    1. It is during the Passover that the Lord’s Supper is instituted.   Here he is taking the unleavened bread and when He breaks it, He is telling them that this is going to be representing something different in the future.  
       1. You're not going to be going back to Moses leading the children of Israel out of Egyptian slavery.   In the future when you partake of this feast and you break this bread you do it in remembrance of me.   In remembrance of His body which was broken for us.   When we partake of the bread as we just did a few moments ago it is imperative that we focus our mind on the body of Christ.
       2. As I said before, if you find yourself struggling with focusing your mind I would like to encourage you to take your Bible, find a text or two that goes to Christ crucified.
       3. Maybe Isaiah 53 or one of the gospels that is dealing with the crucifixion or His scourging or His beating and read these texts so you can focus your mind on Christ crucified bringing your mind back to what is really important… and remember. Remember the love of God for you.   Remember the sacrifice that was made for you.
    2. That same text continues in verse twenty-five; In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.''
       1. When we partake of the fruit of the vine, we need to focus our mind on the blood of Christ realizing that it is the blood of Christ that put the New Covenant in force between God and all mankind.  It was the blood of Christ that dedicated this new covenant under which we live.
       2. The beauty of this new covenant is that there is remission of sins.   How many times have you heard Acts 2:38?   If you’ve attended the church of Christ any length of time you probably have heard it a lot and you know it by heart.  Peter said unto them repent to be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ…for the remission of sins.
       3. For us to be able to say that phrase it took the blood of Christ on Calvary. How many times have you gone to God and said God be merciful to me a sinner?   How many times have you been motivated by Godly sorrow and gone to God in prayer and asked for forgiveness of sin?
       4. Every sin that is forgiven in your life is forgiven by the blood of Christ.   That is where remission of sins is—in the blood of Christ.  Without that sacrifice there is no remission of sin.   The purpose of the Lord's Supper is to bring our focus back to Christ crucified, the body that was beaten and nailed to the cross for us, the blood of Christ that was shed for us.  
    3. Recall what Paul talks about in the Galatians He says in 2:20 that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” What Paul is doing here is individualizing the love of Christ.    Yes, God so loved the world, but we need to realize God knows you personally.  Christ loves you individually and He sacrificed Himself, gave Himself for you personally.
       1. When we are partaking of the Lord's Supper, we need to bring our focus back to the love of God for us, that was manifest in Him giving His son to each of us.   Bring our mind back to the love of Christ.  
       2. Understand He did this so my sins could be forgiven.    It was my fault.   I'm the one that rebelled against God. I'm the one that wanted to go my own stubborn way. He did this because He loves me.
       3. You will find that when you partake of the Lord's Supper properly, your love for God is going to be strengthened.   The more your focus drifts away from God the more you are going to drift away from God.
       4. As I said before our mind gets caught up in the cares of the world.   Then we feel distant, not close to God.   The Lord's Supper is to bring you back.  When we draw near to God. God will draw near to us.
       5. When you focus your mind on the love of God an amazing thing is going to happen.   You'll love God in return and as you love God back your relationship with God is strengthened.   Worship is an expression of our relationship and when we worship it strengthens that relationship.  
    4. The last sentence here: for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the lord's death ‘til He comes. What are we proclaiming? The Lord's death.   The Lord rose from the dead on the first day of the week, but he died on Friday.   What we're focusing on is not the resurrection even though we're partaking on the day He rose from the dead.   What we're focusing on is the death.  
       1. Why do we attend funerals?   I knew the person.   They meant a lot to me and I'm going to pay my respects to them.  
       2. When we come together not only are we glorifying God for Christ dying for us, we're paying our respects for the death of the Son of God.   I’ll repeat that. You're coming to pay respect to the death of the Son of God.
       3. If I have no desire to partake of the Lord's Supper what does it say?   It says I don't care.   It doesn’t mean that much to me.  The New Covenant, the blood of the new covenant, is not really that important.   Christ crucified? Eh take it or leave it.
       4. The blood of Christ is the most precious thing in the universe, and Hebrews warns in chapter 10 of the punishment for those who count it a common thing.
    5. Worship is a privilege that you and I are allowed to do.   Don't think I gotta go to worship.    That mentality is completely wrong.
       1. The mentality should be I get to go to worship.  I am allowed to share in this privilege and express my relationship with God and worship my God.   I want to go pay my respects to Christ who loved me and gave Himself for me.
    6. There's another possessive we find, and that is the phrase, the Lord's Table. Luke 22:29-30 – “29. And I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, 30. that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” We notice in these verses Jesus is talking about a table—My table He says.
       1. Again, that is the idea of a table belonging to Him and it's in His kingdom.  We all understand that the kingdom is the church.   They are one and the same.
          1. You'll find this possessive used again over I Corinthians 10:21 – “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons.”
          2. We have the Lord's Supper which is a possessive, a supper belonging to the Lord.   We have “My table in My kingdom”. It is the Lord’s Table in the Lord’s Kingdom, the church.
       2. To help us understand the significance of this phrase, the Lord's Table, I am going to give you some background from the Old Testament.   It goes all the way back to II Samuel 9:11.  Actually there are many other texts in the Old Testament we could look at, but this is the one I selected.   II Samuel 9:11 – “As for Mephibosheth,'' said the king, "he shall eat at my table like one of the king's sons.” (Mef-hibo-sheth)
          1. Here is the king saying someone is to eat at the king’s table. In ancient times in a monarchy, one of the greatest honors that could be extended to you as a citizen of that kingdom was to be invited to come to the table of the king.
          2. To sit down at David's table with David eating there with you, to come to the table of the King, was a great honor.
       3. Matthew 22 records that Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a king who arranged a marriage for his son and has a wedding feast prepared then sent out a call to those invited but there are people that receive this invitation from the king and they basically thumb their nose at it.
          1. Or in Luke 14 Jesus tells of a certain man who gave a great supper and invited many but they all with one accord began to make excuses.
          2. We need to realize the Jews when they were hearing these parables about the great feast and the wedding supper, were thinking you’ve got to be kidding.
             1. Here is someone who was invited to come to the feast of the king, and they say I must go plow my oxen?   They all have these cares of the world that prevent them from going to the feast of the King.
             2. I guarantee the Jews who heard that thought man, those people aren't very intelligent.   They’re really not on the ball. I can’t believe that they would be so rude.

• A feast is one thing but a feast for the wedding of the king's son, wow what an honor.  I am being invited to go to the feast of the king for his son's wedding, it is overwhelming. I got an invitation from the King and I've been invited to the king's son’s wedding.  Touch me if you want.  I'm serious.

3. Folks, we need to understand getting that kind of invitation was an awesome honor.   When the Jews hear of people who get those invitations and say eh, I’ve got to work.   They would be thinking “you got to be kidding!”    

1. We have been given an invitation from the King and not just any king but the king of kings, the Lord of Lords, the king of the universe to come to His table and to partake of His supper at His table.  We must understand the honor that is being extended to us.

• Over in Matthew 18:20 – “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” We come together to partake of the Lord's Supper at the Lord's table and when two or three come together as we have done, please recognize, that when we take the Lord's Supper at the Lord's table, the Lord is with us.   He's with us in our midst. Folks, the King is here. He is with us.  
  16. I Corinthians 10:16-17 – “16. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? 17. For we, being many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread.”   This should help us understand what is involved in partaking of the Lord’s Supper.   It is something we do together, and we recognize that this common union, this communion, is not the communion of the Chardon church of Christ.   It is the communion of the body of Christ as a whole.
  17. This day, on the Lord's Day, those who are citizens in the kingdom of the Lord are coming together all around this planet, North America, South America, Africa, Asia, countries all around the world.
      1. Different nationalities, different tongues, different languages, we are coming together.   We're coming on the Lord's Day to the Lord's Table and we're taking the Lord's Supper.
      2. When we are doing this, it is a common union binding us all together in one body with the one blood.   What a privilege for us to share in that!   It is not a drudgery, it's an honor that’s being extended to us.
  18. Revelation 1:10 – “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,”
      1. Here again we have another possessive.   You have the Lord's Supper, that is the supper belonging to the Lord.  You have the Lord's Table. That is the table belonging to the Lord and we come to His table and partake of His supper, but there is a third possessive that we find pertaining to the Lord and that is the Lord's Day.
      2. When is the Lord's Day?   It’s a pretty good question, isn’t it?
         1. Luke 22:15-16 – “15. Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16. "for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.''”
         2. Thursday was the day the Lord's Supper was instituted. He died on Friday. He rose from the dead on the first day of the week.
         3. Why then don't we take the Lord's Supper on Thursday?   Why isn’t the Lord's Day Thursday?
      3. If you look at the text, He says I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.  This is before the kingdom is established.  He hasn't died yet.  He's telling them what He's going to do, how His body will be broken for them.   How His blood is going to be seeding this new covenant, how His blood is going to be shed for the remission of sins.
         1. It hadn't happened yet, and it is not until we come to the day of Pentecost (guess what day the day Pentecost is on) it's the first day of the week.  The kingdom was established on the first day of the week.
         2. After the kingdom was established, the first day of the week becomes a day that is special to Christians when they assemble together.
         3. In texts such as Acts 20:7 – “Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight.”  Scripture tells us they came together on the first day of the week to break bread and hear a message.
         4. We also see in I Corinthians 16:2 – “On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper,…” The first day of the week when they came together, they set aside their contribution.
         5. Mark tells us of the resurrection in 16:9 “Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.”   Then we read in Mathew 28:1-6 “1. Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. 2. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. 5. But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6. "He is not here; for He is risen… ”   Luke’s account is in Luke 24 starting at verse 1. “Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.”   We find John’s account in John chapter 20 “On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.”
         6. The resurrection of Christ is very important to us. It proves beyond all doubt that Jesus Christ is indeed the Son of God. It also gives us the assurance that we too will be raised to life again (see I Corinthians 15).
         7. Then in Acts 2:1-4 we read “1. Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”[NKJV]
         8. “Pentecost” actually means “fifty days.” Pentecost was a special feast of the Jews which was to be observed fifty days after their Passover feast. It is also called “the feast of harvest” or “first fruits.” Sometimes it is called “the feast of weeks” because it was seven weeks after Passover.
         9. The time from the Passover is found in Leviticus 23:15-16 – “15. `And you shall count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16. `Count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall offer a new grain offering to the Lord.”
         10. Since the Sabbath was Saturday, the seventh day of the week, the day after the Sabbath would be Sunday, the first day of the week.
         11. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ began on Pentecost day when the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles.  On that day, they preached the gospel. Men heard, believed, repented, and were baptized for the remission of sins. They were added by the Lord to His church, which is the church of Christ (Acts 2:36-47). Thus, the church had its beginning on Sunday, the first day of the week.
         12. The Lord rose from the dead on the first day of the week.   That is the Lord’s Day.  The day of Pentecost is the day the church, the kingdom, was established.   That is the day the Saints came together to remember the death of the Son of God, to sing praises to Him, to pray to Him, to give back to Him, and to study from his word.   The first day of the week is the Lord's Day not the Sabbath. Not Friday the day He was crucified. Not Thursday, the day that He instituted the Lord's Supper.
      4. Something else I want to mention about the Lord’s Supper.   In the ancient world the idea of a common meal at gatherings was a custom.   The early Church had such a custom, and all the Christians came, bringing what they could, the resources were pooled, and they sat down to a common meal.   It was a lovely custom; and it survives in part with our potluck meals.   It was a way of producing and nourishing real Christian fellowship.
         1. Early on, this custom began to be confused with the Lord’s Supper and it became a stumbling block.   In the church at Corinth things had gone sadly wrong with this fellowship meal in two ways.  
            1. In the Church there were rich and poor; there were those who could bring plenty, and there were slaves who could bring hardly anything at all.   In fact, for many poor slaves this meal may have been the only decent meal in the whole week, but in Corinth the art of sharing had gotten lost. The rich did not share their food but ate it in little exclusive groups by themselves, hurrying through it in case they had to share, while the poor had next to nothing.   The result was that the meal at which the social differences between members of the Church should have been obliterated only succeeded in aggravating these same differences.  
            2. This fellowship meal began to obscure the Lord’s Supper which was to be taken as a remembrance of Jesus Christ, His suffering, His sacrifice, and His atonement for our sins.  
            3. Unhesitatingly and unsparingly Paul rebukes this in I Corinthians 11:17-26 – “17. Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse. 18. For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 19. For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you. 20. Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord's Supper. 21. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 22. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and shame those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I do not praise you. 23. For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24. and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of '' 25. In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.'' 26. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death till He comes.”

 

CONCLUSION:

Our sermons on singing, on prayer, and on the Lord's Supper are to help us come to understand that God does not want us ritualistically going through the motions of an empty worship.   When we come together He is looking in our heart.

 

He wants you to worship Him in truth, but He's looking into your heart.  He wants to know how you actually feel about Him.  What is your relationship with Him?   Do you love Him?

 

Worship is an expression of our personal relationship with God.   As I told you earlier when you worship God in spirit and in truth it is from the heart. An amazing thing takes place as you draw near to God… He will draw near to you and your relationship with God will be strengthened and you will want to be here at the next appointed time.

 

The more you forsake the assembling of the Saints together the easier it's going to be for you to do it and the less guilt you're going to feel for not honoring the death of the Son of God by coming together at the Lord's table.   The less sorry you're going to feel.

 

The more we stay away from God and worshipping God together with the Saints, the further we drift from God.  You understand that. When we come together because we want to be together with the Saints on the Lord's day and we want to worship God, the opposite is true.

 

Our relationship with God grows stronger and stronger and our love for God grows stronger and stronger.   We want to honor His son and we want to worship Him.   As you draw near to God, He draws near to you.

 

That's what Christianity is all about—your relationship with God.    Do not think of your worship to God and your assembling with the saints as something you've got to do.   Recognize it for what it is, a wonderful, awesome, privilege that you and I are allowed.

 

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 the Christ, the Son of the living God and you’re willing to openly confess your faith and repent of your sins, then we would be glad to assist you and baptize you into the body of Christ for the remission of your sins.

If you're a child of God and you've gone into the world, I hope that you have godly sorrow enough to come home to the father.   As your brothers and sisters we will pray for you and with you and do the very best we can try to encourage you.

 

If you are subject to the Gospel call in any way, let us know while stand and sing the song selected.

 

Invitation song ???

 

Reference sermon by: Wayne Fancher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christianity a Religion of the Heart

Christianity a Religion of the Heart

Matthew 22:37-40

 

INTRO:

Good morning.   Nice to see everyone today. I would like to remind you that the scripture references I use will either be from the KJV or the NKJV unless I mention otherwise.   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.

For a number of lessons we have looked at the subject of worship and saw that worship is actually a manifestation of our own personal relationship with God.   Most recently you will recall this from the lesson on singing with the understanding.

 

These lessons are about the kind of relationship we actually have with our creator, with God almighty.    This morning we will continue along the same line of thinking to help us come to a fuller understanding about what Christianity is.   I want us to recognize that Christianity is a religion of the heart, with our relationship with God at the very core of it.

We're going to begin the sermon this morning by looking at Matthew 22:37-40.   These are familiar verses. In the text Jesus is being asked a question and the question is this: “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” In response to this question Jesus just says; “37. … " `You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38. "This is the first and great commandment. 39. "And the second is like it: `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' 40. "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.''”

 

We recognize as the very core of the Mosaic Covenant, these two commands—love God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as you love yourself.  We see that the religious leaders of Jesus time recognize this. Luke 10:25-28 says; “25. And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?'' 26. He said to him, "What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?'' 27. So he answered and said, " `You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and `your neighbor as yourself.' ''”

 

We also need to recognize this is at the very core of the new covenant under which we live, the covenant of Jesus Christ.   Between God and all mankind are the same two commands—to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbor as you love yourself.

 

I have a question.  What do we get from this command; “love God with all of your heart, all of your soul, and all of your mind”?   Do we get from this command a casual relationship with God that we might put this way;   He is up there, I like him, and He’s nice?    I hope I go to heaven.   I think about Him sometimes. Sometimes I do things that I hope He likes.

I don't get from this verse that God wants from me to be casual in my relationship with Him.   “I think highly of you.”   No, that isn’t it.   God wants me to give myself totally over to Him in my relationship to where I honestly and completely love him.

The degree of love He wants and deserves is - with all of my heart.

 

1. First let’s consider a Half Hearted Relationship. Look in the book of Matthew at what Jesus quotes from the Old Testament Book of Isaiah.

Matthew 15:8 – “`These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.”  This is the text we will be building this part of the sermon around.   What we see in this text, both from Isaiah in the Old Testament and Matthew in the New Testament is people that are acknowledging God, going through the activity of honoring God, and yet God says there's a problem.

1. The problem is the heart. The heart is far from God.   What God sees when He looks at these people is individuals just going through the motions of a relationship, going through the motions of praise, going through the motions of honor, but in reality there is no honor in their heart, because there is no love in their heart.    There is no relationship in their heart.  It's just external
2. I would like us to recognize two things from these verses.  
   1. First we need to see that what God wants from us-is a real relationship.   He really wants us to love Him as He loves us.
   2. Second we need to see a danger that we need to be very careful about.   That is the danger of having just a ritualistic religion, an external religion, putting on a front of religion.   Putting on the front of a relationship with God when in reality it is the heart where our relationship with God is to be.
3. Turn with me for a moment to the Old Testament, Jeremiah 3:10 – “And yet for all this, her treacherous sister Judah, has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but in pretense,'' says the Lord.” Jeremiah the prophet is trying to explain to Judah the sins they're involved in and why they're going to be taken into Babylonian captivity.  The problem is they have not turned to God.  Now notice this phrase “with her whole heart”.
   1. What they were doing was just a pretense.   What they were doing was going through the motions, going through the actions.
   2. They thought God, you want me to do this, God you want me to do that, okay.
   3. If you want me to do that, I'll do it. As far as doing it motivated out of love for God, of wanting to honor God because of how they felt about Him in their heart… that wasn't there.   It was just pretense.
4. In the New Testament Book of Revelation you find a similar circumstance.   Revelation 3:15-16 – “15. "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16. "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth.”  In this text we see the people in the church of the Laodiceans who had not left the Lord but they were not on fire for the Lord either.   What does the Lord say about a relationship like that?   It makes Him want to vomit.   That's not the kind of relationship God wants with us.   He doesn't want a relationship that's just surface, that is just pretense. He wants us to have a whole-hearted relationship with Him.
5. Look at this from James 4:8 – “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Do we understand what a double minded person is? Merriam-Webster on-line defines it 1): wavering in mind: undecided, vacillating, a double-minded man unstable in all his ways — James 1:8 (Revised Standard Version) 2): marked by hypocrisy.   Strong’s definition is: wavering, uncertain, doubting, and divided in interest.
   1. That's what we see described back there in Revelation 3. Someone that's; “Yes, I'm serious about God, but I really don't care”.  “Yes, I want to go to heaven”.  “You know I really don't care right now, because I've got other things to do”.  “Yes. I want to be pleasing to God, but I’ve got other things going on.
   2. Part of your heart is for God and part of your heart is for yourself. That's the reality of a double minded person. God is in there somewhere.  He's part of your life.  He's just not at the center of your life. You're not building all of your activities in your life around that relationship with God.
6. Listen real close to this, folks.   God does not want to be a part of anybody's life. He wants to be your life. He wants you to build your whole life around your love for him as your God.   He wants to be at the center of your life not just have a part in it.
   1. When we are double minded God is just a part of our life. What takes up the rest of our mind is self, what I want to do, how I want to use my time and have my activities and my things.   Please realize this, when we give our self as a living sacrifice to God everything connected to us goes with it.
   2. Do we get that? When we give our self as a living sacrifice to God everything connected to us, our family, and our time, all are part of that.   All of our finances, everything in our whole life goes with it. God doesn’t want half of anybody.   It's either all or nothing.  Matthew 19:21
7. I strongly suspect that sometimes people develop this mindset that I have to give God X, Y and Z and whenever I have fulfilled that duty, He's going to let me go to heaven.   I wonder how many people get baptized because they're afraid of going to hell rather than getting baptized because they want Jesus as their Lord and their King.
   1. Do we understand the difference?   Do we understand the difference between being baptized out of fear and being baptized out of faith?   Do we understand the difference between a relationship motivated by duty and one motivation by desire?
   2. When this relationship with God is entered into as a duty, then a person is thinking, okay God you want me to be at church on Sunday.  Okay, I'll be there on Sunday.  You want me to sing songs. Okay, I’ll sing. You want me to give. Okay, I’ll give.
   3. When I've done what you want me to do, then I can go do what I want to do.
   4. Listen, folks, what I just laid out for you is the basis of why I suspect many people don't come back whenever the assembly meets other than Sunday morning. There are those who have a duty oriented mindset about their relationship with God and are thinking “I've fulfilled my duty Sunday morning”.
   5. Having said that I DO realize there are some who have legitimate reasons from time to time for not being here on Sunday evening and Wednesday evening.
8. Being motivated solely by duty is not what God wants.   He wants us to have a desire that motivates us in our relationship with Him.  He wants it to be desire that motivates us in our worship of Him and not just doing x y z and then “I'll go to heaven”.
9. Whenever we think of a relationship with God as “I've got to do this” and “I've got to do that then I'll have fulfilled what I've got to do”, we must realize we're honoring God with our lips, but the heart is what He's looking at.
   1. He's here in our presence now and we know that. When two or three are gathered together in His name He's here in our midst.  We know He's looking into the heart of each and every one of us to see why;
   2. Why are you here?   Why are you singing these songs?   Why are you taking the Lord's Supper? Why are you praying to God?   Why are you doing what you are doing? Are you doing it out of duty? Or; are you doing it because you love Him and you actually desire to have a relationship with Him?
10. Go back to the first part of this verse—draw near to God.    I heard from a gospel preacher about something he has come across when working with brethren.   He said; Brothers will come to me and they'll say I feel so far from God.   I don't feel close to Him.   The preacher said James 4:8 is one verse he looks at with them and tells them if they are feeing far from God this verse is speaking to them and telling them what they need to do.
    1. You see, God does not leave us. We leave him. You draw near to God. That is how the verse begins. YOU draw near to God.
    2. It starts from your drawing near and He will draw near to you.   YOU work on YOUR heart, on your relationship with your God.   Make it a heart motivated relationship rather than just “I’ve got to do this”, because as soon as you think you've done what you've got to do, you're not going to do any more.
    3. Purify your hearts, you double minded. That means you give yourself over totally. Get consumed with Christianity. Get consumed with your relationship with God.  Let go and let God take over.
11. Next let’s consider a Whole Hearted Relationship. Go with me to Acts chapter eight. Here we read about an Ethiopian eunuch and Philip who has been preaching to him about Jesus. The eunuch sees some water.   He says in verse 36; “see here is water what hinders me or prevents me from being baptized?” I want us to see Philip's response, Philip said; “if you believe with ALL your heart you may”.
    1. This is an example of what motivates someone to be baptized, the heart, a faith, a trust, a confidence.  Jesus is the key. He is the Lord. And that is going to motivate us to want to be baptized and to live a life pleasing to the King.
    2. Certainly it is true fear may be a part of it, if its fear motivate by faith.  Please recognize that faith must be at the core of our obedience to God.  We need to have a real relationship, so that faith will eventually progress into love.
       1. When we are conscious and aware of the magnitude of God's love for us, when we recognize that God gave His only son for us because He loves us, then our response is love.
       2. Jesus went through everything that He went through because He loves us.  It is a consciousness of God's love for us that causes us to have a love for someone whom we have never laid eyes on. I haven’t seen God. I haven't seen Jesus.    How can I love One that I've never seen, to the point that I love them with all of my heart. It is through faith.
    3. Before I go any further there's something I need to do. If what I've described to you earlier, the feeling that you are distant from God that your relationship is not where you want it to be, I've got something I would like to encourage you to do. Go back to the word. Go back to the beginning.   Go back to square one, back to Matthew Mark Luke and John.
       1. Read again about the crucifixion of Jesus and don't just pass over it with your eyes.   Let it sink in.   Meditate on the love of God.   Our faith comes through reading the Word of God. Our love comes from our faith.
       2. If there is a problem with our relationship then we have to get back to the beginning where that relationship starts, it starts with faith which comes through the word.  If you want to draw near to God this is how you do it.
       3. Let Him speak to you.   Let Him communicate with your heart and tell you how much He loves you.  
       4. We need to be talking to God in prayer. We need to take our problems, fears, cares, concerns, and needs and give them to Him because He cares for us.   That's how we draw near to God, by letting Him speak to us through His Word, strengthening our faith, and by going to Him in prayer telling Him all that troubles us.  In that way we strengthen our relationship and draw nearer to God and then He will draw nearer to us.
       5. When a person refreshes themselves in the word and goes to God in prayer they will find themselves going through a transition in their relationship.   Faith will grow and their love for God will grow into a relationship motivated by desire.
    4. Next lets look at Jeremiah 29:13 – “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” There is a common phrase between Acts 8:37 and Jeremiah 29:13, that common denominator is the phrase all your heart.    Do we believe with all our heart?   Are we searching and seeking God with all our heart?   If we are seeking and searching with all our heart, we will find God.   If we believe with all our heart, we will eventually come to love God and because of that love, we will obey.   If you love Me… you know the rest of the verse, keep My commandments. This is describing an obedience motivated by a loving relationship.
    5. Here is another description of worship found in Malachi 1:13 – “You also say, `Oh, what a weariness!' and you sneer at it,'' says the Lord of hosts. "And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?'' says the Lord.”  What kind of attitude do we see in these individuals who are worshipping God?   This is about actual worship, folks.   These people in their mind think, “we're acknowledging God,   We're giving God something”—the left leftovers, “but hey we're honoring God and we're worshipping God”.
       1. What does God have to say about that?   First notice that the verse starts with God talking about their attitude. Before He even talked about their actions, He talked about their attitude, and their attitude about their worship to Him.  
       2. What is that attitude? Oh man, what a pain, ok, I'll go.   If that's a person’s attitude they might as well stay home because it won’t do them any good be here.
       3. That may sound cold blooded but we need to realize if our attitude toward God and our worship to Him is; “I would really rather not be here”, He sees that in our hearts right now.   It's not just enough to be here in the pew.   It's not enough to just fulfill what we think is our duty.   He looks in our hearts.
       4. The heart is where God starts and He sees why you are doing what you are doing.   These individuals in Malachi are offering Him something.   His question toward them is; should I accept this from your hand?  Answer the question.   I mean this is worship directed to God.   Should He accept this from their hand when it's weariness to them?   They really don't want to do it.   They're basically giving God leftovers.   We know the answer and the answer is He's not going to accept it even though a person has gone through the motions.
    6. That being stated let's go to the next verse.   I want us to look at Psalms 122:1 and see the attitude in this verse.   “I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go into the house of the Lord.''” What attitude do we see here? Let’s go! I have a desire to do that. I want to go worship God. Let's go to the house of the Lord.
       1. If we want to be here and we're here this morning out of desire to worship God—He knows that.
       2. Look at this verse, Revelation 2:23 “… all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.”  When two or three are gathered in His name He's here in our midst.   What is he doing?  He's searching and testing our hearts because that is where our relationship with Him actually begins.
    7. In John 4:24 the Word of God teaches us how God wants us to worship Him—in spirit and in truth.   It's very important that we obey the commands of God in worship to him.   Again, obeying those commands is motivated by our love for Him and our faith, but we need to recognize that worshipping according to truth is not enough.
       1. Just because we come together on the Lord's day and we're singing praises to God as best we can, even with understanding, and we're trying to do it according to the New Testament pattern, and we're taking the Lord's Supper with the fruit of the vine and unleavened bread, don't think that just because it's truth that that's pleasing to the Lord,
       2. God does indeed want it to be according to truth, but He also wants it to be real worship.   One of the dangers I fear is that sometimes in congregations of the body of Christ we get caught up into what I would call a ritualistic worship and we're going through the motions of fulfilling our duty and our obligation rather than actually worshipping God from the heart.
       3. He's testing our hearts.   He's seeing the attitude. He's looking at why we sing these songs.  What are we doing in our minds when we're taking the Lord's Supper?   Why are we praying? What is going through our minds when a prayer is being led?   Why are we here? That's the first thing He looks at, the heart.
       4. Yes, he wants truth but he also wants it to be in spirit as well.   Look at this from Psalms 111:1 - “Praise the Lord! I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, In the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.”
       5. Again in Psalms 100:2 – “Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.” Here again we're seeing singing in worship and it's motivated from the whole heart.  It's a praise motivated from the whole heart and it's actually worship to God in song.
    8. Think about Ephesians 5:19 – “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,”  Awhile ago we took a look at singing with the understanding.   In that lesson we saw how just mouthing the words, even though we may be singing the words in the exact melody and tone they are supposed to be sung in, if we don't know what the message is we can not sing from the heart to please the Lord.  Did you know that the same danger of not singing from the heart and pleasing the Lord exists if we know the song too well?
       1. Some hymns we learn very early and because we sing them so many times we know them.    There's a real danger that comes from that.   The danger is we sing from rote.   If you don't know what that means, we sing the song, we sing the words and we don't even really have to think about it.   We can go through the song and as soon as we finish the song and five seconds have passed if I turned to you and I say; “what was the name of that song”.   Well, ah…ah…
       2. What was the message in the song?   Message? What message?   Listen folks, that's an ever present danger that we've got to be careful about—just singing going through the motions.   If we really want to draw near to God when we're singing to God, sing to Him from your heart letting the words go through your mind and mean something to you.   That is real worship rather than just going through the motions of worship in song.
    9. Of course, this danger exists elsewhere as well. Let me ask you this: When prayer is offered have you ever closed your eyes and bowed your head then you hear amen you open your eyes and raise your head.   If someone would ask you what was the prayer about? What prayer?   Oh, yeah he said something, then amen. Is that worship? No, it's not.  Do you think that's pleasing to the Lord?
       1. How about the Lord’s Table?   When the prayer for the bread or for the fruit of the vine is offered are we listening to it?   Where are our thoughts when the bread and fruit of the vine are being passed?   Are our thoughts on Christ and what He did for us?   Are our thoughts on our shortcomings and how much we need His atonement? Or are they off on matters of the world?
       2. I almost hesitate to mention this, but where are our thoughts when the lesson is being given?   Are we listening, checking to see if what is being preached is accurate? Are we listening and learning, taking the lesson into our minds and hearts? Or are our minds elsewhere thinking about other things, or if the speaker not so dramatic, are we even awake?  
    10. The whole point of this sermon is there's a big difference between acceptable worship and the pretense of worshiping by going through the motions and honoring God with our lips.    Yes, we've said the words but our heart is far from Him.   For our worship to be acceptable to God it must be real worship, from the heart, motivated by love for Him.
        1. Look at Psalms 119:145 – “I cry out with my whole heart; Hear me, O Lord! I will keep Your statutes.”   We read earlier about singing with the whole heart. Now we're praying with the whole heart.   We realize whenever we're casting our cares upon the Lord and we're pouring our heart out to Him that will strengthen our relationship because we're drawing near to Him.   Prayer is an expression of a personal relationship from our heart to God.
        2. We understand the difference between that and just saying some words by rote, closing our eyes and bowing our head.
        3. I’ll say it again, one of the greatest dangers those in the body of Christ face in our worship of God, is just going through the motions and then we wonder why we might not feel close to God.   After all I do my duty, I bow my head, I close my eyes, I eat the bread, I drink the grape juice, I sit on the pew, I look at the preacher, I give money, I fulfill my duty.   I'm going to heaven.
        4. If anyone thinks that way I would suggest you really need to totally rethink your whole life as a Christian, and your relationship with God.
    11. Christianity is a religion of the heart, where we love God with our whole heart, and motivated by that love we have a desire to come together and to worship Him. It is not a duty, it's a privilege.   It's an honor that we get to do this and we should want to do it.

• First Corinthians 11:29 in dealing with the Lord's Supper says; “For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.” I want you to imagine this.   We have come together on the Lord's Day, the first day of the week.   You’ve got the Lord's Supper set up with the fruit of the vine and the unleavened bread. You're taking the Lord's Supper at the Lord's Table on the Lord's Day according to truth. Here comes time to take the Lord's Supper and the bread passes in front of you and you're thinking about “what am I going to cook today?” The fruit of the vine passes in front of you and you think about “what time is it?” “What time does the game start?” You just ate and drank judgment to yourself. You just called judgment on yourself in partaking of the Lord's Supper that you partook in truth.
  1. Again remember Malachi. Should He accept this from your hand? The answer is no.   He wants it to be real where we're focusing on the body of Christ, where we're focusing on the blood that was shed there on the cross of Calvary.   We are doing this in His memory.
  2. Every time each one of us partakes of the Lord's Supper the Lord is in our midst and the first place He's looking is not at the table but in our heart.  Yes, He wants it in truth but He wants it to be from the heart discerning the Lord's body and blood. Yes, according to truth because we love Him. All of it whether we realize it or not, is a heart-based relationship with God.
  3. Finally, even in giving it is a heart based relationship.   Have you ever wondered why under the new covenant God doesn't say to tithe, give ten percent?  If you want to give 10 percent that's fine, but why not the instruction to tithe?   Tithing in the O.T. had very practical uses.   Everyone contributed a portion of their resources so they could worship God together.   It was to support the priests, those that conducted the affairs of the temple, but it was also a way of providing for the vulnerable members of the community.  
     1. Why does the New Testament not talk about tithing?   I suspect it might have something to do with how we tend to look at specific instructions and what we should understand about the spirit of God’s commandments.
     2. First, what happened in Israel with tithing? Malachi tells us how they came to look at the tithing as a burden and so they offered the leftovers, the least of what they had.   In doing this they gave what could not fully supply the needs and they showed their contempt for God.  
     3. Israel started to think of tithing as fulfilling a check list.   When they started doing that they thought of it as duty.  I've given my 10 percent I've done what God wants me to do.   That is a lesson shown to us in the Old Testament.
  4. One of the big changes from the old covenant to the new covenant is going from a covenant of the law, one that was work oriented, to a covenant of the heart. The old covenant is rightly called our tutor in Galatians 3:24. It was our instructor of what to do, under the new covenant we are to do it from the heart.  
     1. Our worship, whether we realize or not, is all heart-based including our giving.   Second Corinthians 9:7 – “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, (notice the next words) not grudgingly or of necessity; (there is the attitude) for God loves a cheerful giver.”
     2. When it comes to giving back to God He's looking at the heart.   He sees the attitude of the giver. If when we're giving we think: I need the money right now. Keep it then.  Don’t think it will please God if you don't want to give it and give it in a grudging manner because you think it is your duty.
     3. Do you see the difference between a duty motivated mindset toward God and a desire motivated mindset?   If you have a duty oriented mindset you will do what you think you have to do and no more.   The Israelites had forgotten all that they had to be thankful for, they had forgotten the joy of having God looking over them. They only saw duty.

 

CONCLUSION:

Wrapping up, if it is desire that we have, it will be a desire to praise God, glorify God and give gladly back to God because He's showering us richly.   We'll want to give out of desire. When someone says: let’s go to the house of the Lord. Let’s sing praises to our God. Let's pray to God together.   Let's feed upon the word of God some more. Let's give back to God a part of that which He has showered upon us. We will not see our relationship with God as drudgery.

 

He will see our relationship with Him for what it really should be and is. He loves us and we love him. He loves us with the perfect love and what He desires back from us is that we love Him with all our heart.

 

Christianity if you do not understand from this sermon is a heart-based religion.   If there is a problem in our relationship with God we must first cleanse the inside of the cup.   We must first change the heart and with the changing of the heart we will eventually see the changing of the life.

 

We must all beware of just having an external relationship with God.   We may be able to fool one another. We may be able to fool everyone in the world around us but when Jesus is in our midst and God looks at us, when He searches and tests our hearts, He sees exactly where each and every one of us really is.

 

I would suggest we really need to ask this question on a regular basis and answer it honestly.   “What kind of relationship do I really have with God Almighty, our creator?

 

If you feel distant from Him, draw near starting today.   If there's sin separating you from God, deal with that sin.   That's what the blood of Christ is all about.

 

If you haven't obeyed the Gospel you can do so this morning if you believe with all your heart that Jesus really is the Christ, the Son of God.   It's not just enough to recognize Him as the King.   Are you willing now for him to be your King?   Are you willing to turn from your sins, motivated by your faith and your love for God, and repent of those sins? We would be glad to assist you as you, by your faith, are motivated to obey the command of God and be immersed in water for the remission of your sins.

 

If you're a child of God and sin is standing between you and your father, the grace of God is there for you. The mercy of God is there for you and the blood of Christ is there for you. Take this sin to your father. We'll pray for you. We'll pray with you as you turn from it. The blood of Christ will cleanse you. You can be reconciled to God.

 

If you feel distant because you feel that your heart is not right, you have the ability within you to grow in your relationship.   It starts with you drawing near. Go back to square one. Go back to the word. Go back to the Gospels. Read them again. Meditate on what God has done for you. Strengthen your faith.

As you come to know and believe the love that God has for you an amazing thing is going to happen.   You start loving God more and motivated by that love, you will see changes in your life.   The changes in your life are going to be because of a change in your relationship with God.

If there's anybody here this morning who is subject of the Gospel call in any way let it be made known while we stand and sing the song which has been selected.

 

Invitation song ???

Reference sermon by: Wayne Fancher

The Wicked Tenants

The Wicked Tenants

Mark 12:1-12

Intro:

Good evening.   I would like to continue with our look at the parables that Jesus taught, but first I would like to share with you some real quotes from notes which were sent by tenants to their landlords. Dear landlord:

 “I know the lease says “NO PETS”, but I’m just dog-sitting for a friend for 3 months.”

“I found a family of mice in my pile of empty pizza boxes. I want a discount on rent.”

“The smoke detector kept going off whenever we cooked, so I removed the batteries.”

“My rent check wouldn’t have been late if the Post Office had just delivered it on Sunday.”

“That hole in the wall totally falls under ‘normal wear and tear'”.

“They’re not subletters, they are just friends who are staying with us for a few months.”

“A five-day grace period means that rent is not really due until the 5th, right?”

This evening we’re going to look at the parable of “The wicked tenants” and we are going to try and understand what Jesus was saying about these tenants. Please turn your Bibles to Mark 12. Some people like to say that this parable is about “The wicked tenants” but by the time we have finished you’ll see that it is more like the parable of “The rejected Son”.

 We all know what the Pharisees and Sadducees were like. They hated Jesus and they were continually looking for a way to get rid of Him.  There were several reasons for this, but one of the main reasons they wanted Jesus out of the way was because they could not or would not accept who Jesus was.

They were always questioning Jesus’ authority. In Mark 1:21-22 Mark tells us that; “… on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.   And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Jesus taught as one who had authority, not the way the teachers of the law taught.

Mark describes in Mark 11:27-33 that Jesus was walking in the temple, and it’s there that the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders come to him and ask Him two questions. Mark 11:28 – “By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority to do these things?”  Jesus answers them by asking them a question. He asks them in Mark 11:30 – “The baptism of John was it from heaven or from men? Answer Me.” They wouldn’t answer Him because they feared the people.  It is with this rejection of the source of the Lord’s authority that Jesus goes on to tell them the parable.

Please read with me now; Mark 12:1-12 – “Then He began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a place for the wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country.   "Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers.   "And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.   "Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.   "And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.   "Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, `They will respect my son.'   "But those vinedressers said among themselves, `This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'   "And they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.   "Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others.   "Have you not read this Scripture: `The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.   This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?''   And they sought to lay hold of Him, but feared the multitude, for they knew He had spoken the parable against them. So they left Him and went away.”

This parable tells us a lot about our God, mankind and Jesus Himself.  First, let’s look at the four things about God told to us in this parable…

 

1. Our God is a gracious Jesus says in Matthew 20:1 – “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.”
   1. I heard a story about a father who was reading Bible stories to his young son. He read, "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt." His son was intrigued with this and then asked his father, "What happened to the flea?"
   2. Sometimes our attention is not where it should be. Here the Jewish leaders forgot to look back into their history and recognize just exactly who they were and where they came from. In Ezekiel 16 we find a very graphic picture of what the nation of Israel was like when God took them under His care. God says in Ezekiel 16:4-7 “As for your nativity, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you were not rubbed with salt nor swathed in swaddling cloths.   "No eye pitied you, to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown out into the open field, when you yourself were loathed on the day you were born.   "And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to you in your blood, `Live!' Yes, I said to you in your blood, `Live!'   "I made you thrive like a plant in the field; and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed, your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.”
   3. God describes how they grew up into something beautiful and how they were like a queen. What a pathetic, helpless and hopeless picture this is. These religious leaders had forgotten just who they were and where they came from. They were God’s people and God owned them. It was God who made them into the nation that they were. It was God who cared for them when they were lying in the field hopeless.
   4. When Mark tells us in Mark 12:1 that a man planted a vineyard, he’s telling us that, the man was God.   It was God who planted the vineyard.  Notice that the vineyard was given everything it needed to do its work. It was given a wall around it to mark out its boundaries, to keep out robbers and to defend it from wild animals. There was also a wine press in the vineyard where people would press the grapes. Underneath the winepress there was a wine vat and that’s where all the juice from the grapes would flow.
   5. There was a tower.  It’s in this tower that the wine would be stored and the people would watch from there.  It’s from there, that they could look out for robbers at harvest time. That’s why it’s called a watchtower. Isaiah 5:2 “He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well.”[para]
   6. The vineyard owner gave the vineyard everything it needed to make the work easy and profitable.  Notice that God didn’t just give them a task to do. He also gave them the means with which to do those tasks.
      1. Today there are Christians who say, “Well, I don’t have any talents.” Wrong, Christian. Every Christian has talents, the problem is often we don’t want to recognize them and use them. 1 Peter 4:10 “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”
      2. When Jesus is talking about those who were given talents, He said one had 5 talents another had 2 talents and yet another had one talent.  Jesus clearly tells us in Matthew 25 that all were given talents. Jesus says “you have a talent”.   The problem is that some people are just too lazy or too frightened to look for it and use it to serve God.
      3. God has given us an ability to serve Him whether it is preaching or teaching, whether it is giving help to the needy, comfort to those who need comfort or helping in the worship or giving encouragement to those who need lifting up. He says, we have a talent and we need to use and develop that talent the best we can because if we don’t, He will give it to someone else who will use it.
   7. Next our God trusts us to do the work at hand. Mark 12:1 tells us that the owner of the vineyard went away on a journey. He trusted the tenants to run the vineyard by themselves while He was away.
      1. I heard a story about when Jesus ascended up to heaven and all the angels met him and asked Jesus what He did with the gospel of salvation. Jesus said, “Oh it’s in good hands, I left it in the hands of men.”
      2. Imagine that! The creator and author of our faith leaving the gospel in the hands of men! He did, you know. We sing a song about it.   #90 “Into Our Hands”. Swiftly we’re turning life’s daily pages; Swiftly the hours are changing to years. The Chorus says; into our hands the gospel is given, into our hands is given the light. Starting with the 12 apostles, yes, but not ending there.   The responsibility of sharing the good news about Jesus Christ with others is in our hands. God trusts us enough to do that. He trusts us enough to give us freedom of choice about how we do it, and how we live our lives.
         1. If you were to look on the internet under the topic “Tenants from hell” you will find many stories from many places in the world where landlords are just pulling their hair out because their tenants are wrecking the property, or breaking the lease rules, but the landlord must tread carefully because the tenants have rights too.
         2. God has entrusted us to look after His work here on earth but unlike those tenants we don’t have any rights. We don’t have any right to abuse the word of God. We don’t have any right to compromise the word of God. We don’t have any right to abuse any of the gifts He has given us. Yet in our fallibility, God trusts us enough to allow us to make mistakes and do so much for ourselves.

• Our God is patient. Notice how the master sent servant after servant. Mark 12:2-5 – “Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that he might receive some of the fruit of the vineyard from the vinedressers.   "And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.   "Again he sent them another servant, and at him they threw stones, wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully treated.   "And again he sent another, and him they killed; and many others, beating some and killing some.” Who is He talking about here?   He is talking about the prophets.
  1. We know that Jeremiah was a prophet of God who was beaten up time and time again by the so-called leaders of God’s people. Jeremiah 37:15 – “Therefore the princes were angry with Jeremiah, and they struck him and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe. For they had made that the prison.”
     1. Urijah is another prophet that was killed by the so-called leaders. Jeremiah 26:23 – “And they brought Urijah from Egypt and brought him to Jehoiakim [ja-hoy-uh-kim] the king, who killed him with the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common people.”
     2. Zechariah was yet another prophet who was killed by the so-called leaders. 2 Chronicles 24:21 – “So they conspired against him, and at the commandment of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord.”
     3. Hebrews 11:37 tells us about many of God’s servants “They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented ”
  2. These servants of God were God’s holy prophets who were treated like this. Even after the first one was abused and ill treated, God still didn’t get angry with them and come after them with vengeance. Oh no! He gave those tenants chance after chance, after chance to respond to His appeals.
  3. God does the same with people today. God puts up with our continuous sinning and He doesn’t cast us away after we sin as Christians. He gives us chance after chance to repent and live holy lives and He gives those who aren’t Christians time to become Christians. 2 Peter 3:9 – “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

1. Our God is the righteous judge. In the very next verse we find the 4^th thing we learn about our God; 2 Peter 3:10 – “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”
   1. These tenants pushed their luck; they pushed God’s patience. Like this parable in Mark tells us, the world can push its luck with its disobedience and rebellion but there will come a time when justice will be done. Hebrews 9:27 – “… it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,”
   2. You see folks, people will either be born again or wish they hadn’t been born at all. Not politically correct and certainly it is unlike what the world believes, - our God has the right to judge the world. Our God is a patient God and He, as the owner of our souls, has the right to expect us to work in the field with the gifts He has given us, it is our duty.
   3. 2 Peter 1:3 – “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue”. We have everything we need to live the life that pleases God.
   4. This parable also tells us 2 things about mankind…
2. Mankind thinks it can get away with sin. Sometimes in the world’s judicial system people fall through the cracks and get away with their crimes, but God’s justice system doesn’t have any cracks. At the time of this parable God’s people hadn’t heard a word from God for 400 years.   They hadn’t heard a word from any prophet until John the baptizer came along.  Out of site, out of mind, is the phrase they might have used.
   1. They must have thought that God was too far away to do anything about the situation. Luke tells us in his account in Luke 20:9 that He was away for a “long time”.  Because of that silence, they may have thought that God was dead and out of the picture. Oh, but how wrong they were and how wrong people are today who think that there is no God or God is dead.
   2. People today think they can get away with their sinful behavior, but our God is very much alive. Acts 14:15 – “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these vain things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,” Jesus says in Revelation 1:18 – “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”
   3. We don’t come here every week to remember a dead God.   Our God is alive and well today and when He returns the whole world is going to know about it.  
   4. And the next thing we find out about mankind is;
3. You can lose your privileges. This parable has the story of what was still to come.
   1. The Jews had all the privileges of being God’s chosen people. They also had many responsibilities, which went along with those privileges.  These people enjoyed all the blessings from God. He looked after them. He provided their everyday needs. He provided wisdom and guidance, food and shelter. He took care of them.
   2. As soon as Jesus mentioned a vineyard, the Jews would know exactly what it meant. They would cast their minds back to Isaiah 5 where Isaiah is talking about the vineyard. This may not mean much to us today but to a Jew Isaiah 5:1-7 was a very important part of Israel’s history, which they could not ignore or forget.
   3. I’m going to paraphrase Isaiah 5:1-7 – “I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. “Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.” The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.” [para]   .
   4. Have you ever sat and listened to a sermon and thought to yourself is that preacher speaking about me? Is God speaking to me through the preacher? I know I have. Sometimes I think, maybe he’s not speaking about me, but there are times when it’s so much in my face that I know that God is speaking to me.  That’s what’s happening here, the religious leaders knew exactly what Jesus was talking about, because it was very much in their face and it was very much about them. These tenants or Jewish leaders knew Jesus was speaking about them but as usual - they failed to listen and do their job.
   5. In Matthew 23 we find Jesus talking about the so-called spiritual leaders of the Jewish nation and he says in Matthew 23:16 "Woe to you, blind guides!” He calls them “Blind fools!” in verse 17. In verse 19 He calls them “Blind men!” In verse 24 He says, " Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!”. And in verse 26 He says “Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish” Why does He call them blind? Because they have their eyes closed to what they need to see.
   6. The point is that the Jewish leaders were supposed to produce fruit, and they were supposed to protect the rest of the vineyard. They were supposed to watch out for robbers, but they didn’t.   They didn’t do their job, their duty. It’s because of their lack of faithfulness to God, that Jesus asks these leaders in Mark 12:9 – “Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others”
   7. In other words, all the privileges, all the responsibilities of being a child of God was going to be taken away from the Jews and given to a people who will be grateful for everything He has done and will do for them. The Jewish nation will be done away with and another nation will be raised.
   8. A nation of people who will obey His words and take their responsibilities seriously, a nation of Christians.  Those words would have hurt. They would have wanted to reject those words with all their being. Then we read in the letter to the Ephesians 3:4-6 – “by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ,   which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets:   that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,” All the privileges the Jews had with God were now going to be available to all who would be obedient to the gospel of Christ.

• That brings us to the final point… The coming of the Messiah. Mark 12:6-8 – “Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he also sent him to them last, saying, `They will respect my son.'  "But those vinedressers said among themselves, `This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'   "And they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.”
  1. Notice that Jesus doesn’t call Himself a servant here. He deliberately removes Himself from the succession of prophets. He says they were servants, but He is the Son. Because Jesus was always being questioned about His authority, He tells them right to their face, that He is the Messiah. They knew that He was the heir.   They knew they were trying to kill Him.
  2. It is then that Jesus quotes Psalm 118:22-23 - “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.” This stone, which was the cornerstone for the building, the most important stone of all, was being rejected. The Jewish leaders rejected the Christ, their long awaited Messiah.
  3. Because they knew that but didn’t want to accept Him, Mark 12:12 tells us that, “Then they looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.”[para] This was a “right in your face” parable.

 

CONCLUSION:  

 

When it comes to dying most of us don’t know how or when that is going to happen.  But Jesus knew when and how He was going to die. The cross of Christ didn’t come as a surprise to Jesus, but it was still a brutal and shameful way to die.

 

Hebrews 10 tells us that it had to be the cross; there was no other way. Hebrews 10:5-10 – “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.   In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you had no pleasure.   Then I said, `Behold, I have come in the volume of the book it is written of Me to do Your will, O God.' ''   Previously saying, "Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them'' (which are offered according to the law), then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.'' He takes away the first that He may establish the second.   By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

 

Jesus Christ was born to die.   That’s why He came to earth in the first place. He knew He was going to have to suffer and be mocked both physically and mentally. It is because of His willingness to go to the cross for our sake that we come together and worship Him every week. The stone the Jewish leaders rejected has now become the cornerstone of a new building, the kingdom, the church.

 

Acts 4:8-12 – “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders of Israel:   "If we this day are judged for a good deed done to the helpless man, by what means he has been made well,   "let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.   "This is the `stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.'   "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.''”

 

In other words, the life, death, burial and resurrection of Christ, the very words and teachings of Christ are the very foundation that Christianity is built upon.  What a privilege it is, to be a part of God’s kingdom! The question is, what are you going to do with Him? Are you going to reject Him as your savior or are you going to accept Him as your savior?

 

The Jews were awaiting their Messiah, He came and they missed it. If you’re not a Christian today, then like we said earlier, God is patient with you, not wanting you to perish. He offers you salvation today.   He wants to be your savior.  Don’t be like the Jews and miss out.

 

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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.

 

Reference Sermon - Mike Glover

God Who Makes the Broken Beautiful

God Who Makes the Broken Beautiful

Genesis 1

 

INTRO:

Our sermon this morning is going to begin in the Old Testament Book of Genesis.   This marvelous chapter is not just history, because it provides information concerning events that antedate all history. It is not myth, because it carries within it a credibility that never belonged to any myth. It is not science, because it deals with the beginning. It is INSPIRATION, a revelation from Almighty God Himself; and it is in this way that it is received and accepted.

 

Let’s start in Genesis chapter 1 and Verse 2. In the text we learn something about the way the world was before God began the process of creation.  Genesis 1:2 “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” This refers to the state of the earth in the first phase of its creation and the Hebrew words here indicate the primeval chaos. This is the way the world was at the very beginning.  Here the Spirit of God is introduced and the NKJV says “was hovering over the face of the waters” .   The Hebrew word we see as “hovering” or “moved” actually means to grow soft, to brood, to be moved or affected, especially with the feeling of tender love, hence to cherish.

 

You see the creative hand of God in the beginning; on the first day, the second day, the third day, the fourth day, the fifth day, and the sixth day.   By the time you get to the end of Genesis chapter one verse thirty-one it says; “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

 

In the very beginning of the Bible we learn something about the power of our God.

God has the power to take things and circumstances that are in complete chaos and with His hand, with His power; He can make things out of that chaos that are absolutely beautiful and wonderful.

 

For a moment, I would just like us to think about His creation.  Just think about it.

Think about the sunrises, the sun sets, the stars, and the moon. Think of the springtime when the flowers are coming out, and the autumn when leaves start changing. I don’t mind telling you, folks, it's a beautiful creation. That's something we can learn about the power of our God. He has the power to create things that are beautiful from a situation that's in utter chaos.

 

Let’s talk about the power of our God to take things that are broken, things that are in chaos, and with His hand make things that are beautiful. With that in mind, in this next example I would like to look at what we find in Matthew Chapter 1.

 

1. Matthew 1:1 says “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:”
   1. Here in Matthew Chapter One is the genealogy of Jesus Christ and what we are going to do is look at the particular individuals within it to see what we can learn about some of these people. The first one I would like to look at with you is in verse three where it says: “Judah begot Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram.”
      1. If you recall we read of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38. Now Judah had wed a Canaanite named Shua. They had three sons, Er, Onan and Shelah.  
      2. When Er had grown Judah selected an Israelite named Tamar to be Er’s wife.   God was displeased with the Israelites marrying the women of Canaan and the Lord prevented these three sons from receiving the birthright.  
      3. If you read the story of Judah and Tamar you find it was an incestuous relationship. The father-in-law has sexual relationships with his widowed daughter-in-law and they have twin sons. That’s pretty bad stuff, folks.
   2. Going over to verse five; “Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse,”.  We find Rahab in Joshua 2, she is described as the harlot that the spies Joshua sent out stayed with.  
      1. Rahab is the woman who sent the spies out safely and was allowed to live with her family as a consequence of that. Rahab was a Canaanite and she was a harlot.
      2. We read in Joshua 6:25 that Rahab was saved from the destruction of Jericho. “And Joshua spared Rahab the harlot, her father's household, and all that she had. So she dwells in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.”
   3. What about Ruth? Ruth was a Moabitess. The Moabites worshiped Temash as their god.   The Moabites were very idolatrous people, so were the Canaanites. Rahab was a Canaanite, a Gentile.  Ruth was a Moabite, a Gentile. Rahab was a prostitute. Tamar has an incestuous relationship with her father-in-law.
   4. Let’s see if it gets any better as we continue in Matthew 1:6 – “and Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife of Uriah.” Who is this who has been the wife of Uriah? We're talking about Bathsheba of course.
      1. We are familiar with the story of David and Bathsheba, David commits adultery with Bathsheba and in trying to hide the adultery when she conceives, David maneuvers to have Uriah the Hittite killed.
      2. The Bible is very straightforward in setting all this out. You have adultery, incest, prostitution, and idolatry.
   5. Let's look at some of the men involved.  Reading on in Matthew 1:7-10 – “7. Solomon begot Rehoboam, Rehoboam begot Abijah, and Abijah begot Asa. 8. Asa begot Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat begot Joram, and Joram begot Uzziah. 9. Uzziah begot Jotham, Jotham begot Ahaz, and Ahaz begot Hezekiah. 10. Hezekiah begot Manasseh, Manasseh begot Amon, and Amon begot Josiah.” Looking at verse 10 we may be wondering who are Manasseh and Amon?
      1. Manasseh was the most wicked of all the kings of Judah. He re-instituted idol worship and reversed the religious changes made by his father Hezekiah. It was because of his sin in leading the children of Israel into idolatry to worship Bael and Astorof, Temash and Molach, that they were taken away into Babylonian captivity.
      2. He is believed by just about all people who are familiar with the history of the Jews, to be the most wicked of all the kings.
   6. What do we see in all this? Have you ever seen someone and thought why did God bless that person with children? Look at that individual look how terrible they are. Look at the life those children are being raised up in.   Why is God allowing this situation to happen?    What good can come from this?   What good can come from an incestuous relationship?   What good can come from a prostitute?   What good can come from idolatry?   What good can come from evil?
      10. When you look at the genealogy of Jesus you're going to find a pretty bad group of people. A group of people that illustrates the world—but then the creative hand of God and the power of God shows in; Luke 2:10-14 – “10. Then the angel said to them, "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.'' 13. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14. "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!''”
      11. From all this mish mash of vulgarity and sin, when the power of the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary who is a descendant of all these people, at the end of it what you have is the Christ child.
      12. The point we see from all of this is that when the power of God comes into it He can take chaos, things that are broken, things that are ugly, and make things that are wonderful.

• What if we were asked this question: In the big broad history of mankind, what do you consider to be our darkest hour, the lowest point in the entire history of mankind?
  11. Certainly we can think of some pretty terrible things.   The Nazis and the Holocaust were pretty terrible. In my lifetime what happened in Cambodia with over 2 million people being killed was terrible. The communist did a lot of terrible things, and more recently 9/11.   But what do you consider to be the true lowest moment of mankind's history?
      1. I would say it was when people took the blameless, Holy Son of God and murdered Him in cold blood and loved every minute of it.
      2. I'm reading from Matthew 27:24-31 – “24. When Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, "I am innocent of the blood of this just Person. You see to it.'' 25. And all the people answered and said, "His blood be on us and on our children.'' 26. Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.
  12. I want to stop right there.  We know the trial of Jesus was an absolute mockery of justice.  He was found not guilty, not worthy of any punishment whatsoever time and time again. “I find no fault in this person”.   Finally Pilate delivers Him over to be scourged.  
      1. We have probably all heard something about scourging. The Romans could care less about the forty stripes save one.   They would beat you as close to death as they could, they would literally mutilate your legs and your back. Jesus was scourged.
      2. After He was scourged continuing the text here: “27. Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. 28. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29. When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!'' 30. Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. 31. Then when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.”
      3. At the crucifixion of Jesus you see how low human beings can go.   We're dealing with a man who is absolutely sinless and pure.   He loves all of these people who are crucifying Him. He loves them with a perfect love and when He's on the cross He's praying; “Father forgive them for they know not what they do”.
      4. When you look at the crowd surrounding the cross you see something almost like ravenous animals who love to torment, who love His pain, who love the torture and mocked Him saying; “let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.”
  13. Yes, I believe what we see here in the crucifixion of Christ is how low we human beings can go, how vile, how vulgar, and how evil we can actually be.
      1. The amazing thing is God has taken our darkest moment, the moment of our greatest shame as human beings, and turned it into the most wonderful, most beautiful, expression of love that has ever been.
      2. In Romans 5:8 we read – “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” That’s amazing!
         1. He has taken our ugliest moment and used it as a means of expressing His love for us because He allowed it to take place.
         2. He is using this moment as a sacrifice where Christ is allowing this to happen to Himself.

• He's allowing himself to be scourged.

1. He's allowing them to beat him.
2. He's allowing them to pound the nails in His hands and feet.
3. He's allowing them to torture Him on the cross – because He loves us.

1. There is no mistake, God Almighty is showing to all mankind in the loudest way possible, I love you, you are precious to Me and I want you to be with Me, to the point where I'm giving My Son to die for you.
   1. He has taken our vilest ugliest moment and turned it into the most beautiful expression of love there is.
   2. That's the power of our God.  He has the power to take things that are ugly, vile, nasty and make them beautiful.
2. The next example is found in First Timothy. In First Timothy we have a man named Saul of Tarsus talking about himself in verse 15.   I Timothy 1:15 – “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”  I want to stop right there. “He came into this world save sinners of who I am chief.”
   1. Do you think Paul is just saying this? Is he just saying this for the sake of saying it? I don't believe so.   I believe he's telling the truth. He's actually telling it the way it is.
   2. This, the first great persecution against Christianity, was led by the Jews. Saul is involved in this first persecution against Christianity was not a bystander just observing it, though he held the coats when Stephen was stoned.   When the primary persecution kicked in, in Acts Chapter 8 Saul was leading it.
      1. He was leading the first persecution against the kingdom of our God and our savior here on this earth. When he says he was the chief of sinners, folks, he was.
      2. When you think of this person, how do you think about him? How many of you think about him as Saul of Tarsus, as the chief of sinners?   Or how many of him as the apostle Paul?
      3. I know how I think about him as the apostle Paul.   I stand back and I read about this man and I look at him with absolute awe.   I think of him as being if not the most outstanding, certainly one of the most outstanding Christians that has ever lived upon the face of the earth.
      4. Whenever I think of him I feel so small and weak and yet this man who became the great apostle Paul calls himself the chief of sinners.
   3. He tells us why he obtained mercy.  Look at this in the next verse. “However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.”
      1. Look at this.   Paul explains here why he, the chief of sinners, received mercy. It’s because there were going to be people in the future who coming into this world were going to sin.
      2. I know there are people even today that say “I just can’t be a Christian, I can not live that way, I can not give up the sin I am in.
         1. You just don't understand.
         2. You don't know what I'm involved in.

• You don't know where I've been.

1. You don't know what I've done.
2. There's no way I can be a Christian.   There's no way I can go to heaven.

3. It is for that reason we have the example of Paul.   That's the reason God showed Paul, who was the chief of sinners, mercy.
4. For this reason I obtained mercy that in me first, Jesus Christ might show all long suffering.   Jesus Christ did not give up on Paul even though Paul was in his own words, chief of sinners.   You've hurt me but I'm putting up with you.   I'm not giving up on you and you will be a pattern of those who are going to believe on Me for everlasting life.
5. The point of this folks, is it doesn't matter how terrible your sins are, it doesn't matter how many times you've committed them , you can even be the chief of sinners, and still be forgiven.
   1. Though your sins be scarlet… you know the rest.
   2. They shall be as white as snow.

• They can be as red as crimson they shall be as wool.

1. You can be forgiven.

1. That is the beauty of Christianity.

9. The next text I would like to look at with you is in First Corinthians chapter 6 beginning in verse 9. I Corinthians 6:9-10 – “Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”[NKV]
   1. That sounds like a pretty unsavory list there to me, doesn’t it to you? The sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, those who practice homosexuality, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, verbal abusers, swindlers, and then he says these individuals are not going to inherit the kingdom of God.
   2. But notice the next verse. “And such were some of you.” Whoa, some of these who are now Christians practiced those things? “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
      1. Some of them were homosexuals.
      2. Some of them were idol worshipers.
      3. Some of them were adulterers.
      4. Some of them were drunkards.
      5. Some of them were swindlers.
   3. But when they obeyed the gospel, they were sanctified, they were washed of their sins, they were justified.   Listen, folks, that involves everyone.   Everyone can have that done for them.
      1. It does not matter how terrible your life may be now, you can be justified, you can be forgiven, and have your sins washed away.   You can be sanctified and set apart from the world.
      2. You can be a Christian, an adopted son of the Father.
   4. Let’s look now at II Corinthians 5:17 – “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

 

 

 

CONCLUSION:

To summarize what we've looked at.   In Genesis chapter one, in the beginning the earth was void without form, total, utter, chaos when the hand of God comes and turns it into what is very good.   Ah, it’s beautiful.

 

When we look at the genealogy of Jesus Christ, we have Tamar and her incestuous relationship, we have Rahab a prostitute, we have Bathsheba in adultery, we have Manasseh leading the children of Israel into sin and at the end of it, when the hand of God comes into it, we have the Christ child.

 

The lowest moment of the history of mankind was when they took the son of God and murdered him and loved it. God has taken this lowest moment of our history and turned it into the most beautiful expression of love.

 

Look at the life of the apostle Paul who was the chief of sinners and when he submitted himself under the hand of God, turned from his sins, repented of them and was baptized – even though he was the chief of sinners, he was forgiven of those sins and he became the apostle Paul.

 

There were individuals in Corinth who were involved in all kinds of immorality but when they became Christians their sins were washed away and forgotten.

 

That is the beauty of Christianity.   It doesn't matter what you were.   It is what you are, what you are now in your relationship with God. You can be washed this very day of your sins.   You can obey the gospel and be forgiven. You can be justified and sanctified.

 

In II Corinthians 5:17 “if anyone” (what do you get from that phrase “if anyone”?).    What I get from it is anyone and that includes you and me.   If anyone is to be in Christ you've got to leave the life of sin behind, repent of the life of sin, put off the old man, put on the new man, and be baptized into Christ.   When you are in Christ he says you are a new creation.

 

You go from being an enemy who is separated from God by your sin to being a child of God.    You go from someone who is alienated from God to being a Christian.  You go from someone who is lost to someone who is saved. That is the beauty of Christianity.

If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. All the past life, all the sins you were involved in, they are gone. You can start fresh and clean.

 

We have a song that we sing that has to do with the idea that God is the potter and we are the clay.   In that song we are asking Him to - mold me and make me after His will.   That's what Christianity is.    We recognize God as our Lord, and as our King.

We humble our self like a lump of clay under His hands and in obedient faith, allow Him, with His word, to mold us and to make us according to His will.

 

For any who are not yet a Christian, I would like to encourage you to quit being stubborn, quit fighting and resisting God and submit yourself like a lump of clay under the hand of God allowing Him to mold and make you according to His will. When He molds and makes you the end result is going to be beautiful.

 

The power of our God can take your broken life, He can take your life of chaos, your life of shame, your lowest moments, He can take all of that and be willing to forgive you of it and from then forward make you into a new creature, a new creation, a child of God.

 

There may be somebody here this morning who hasn’t obeyed the Gospel yet.   As we learned from the text we just read “if anyone” means you, if the sin in your life is standing between you and God, and if it is not dealt with while you are alive you'll be forever separated from God.

 

If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God even though your sins may be as scarlet they can be white as snow if you are in Christ.   The way you get in Christ is by openly confessing your faith, repenting of your sin, putting off the old man, putting on the new man, allowing the hand of God to mold and shape your heart and your life from now on and be baptized for the remission of your sins.   The blood of Christ will cleanse you of all unrighteousness and you will be that new creation.

 

If you're a child of God already and there's sin separating you from God I would hope you would recognize that that needs to be dealt with.  You cannot walk in darkness and expect to inherit eternal life. As we read earlier from Corinthians a long list of sins.  He says that individuals who do these things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.   That also applies to the children of God.

 

If you live in sin you will not inherit the kingdom of God.   Should that describe your life I would implore you and encourage you to repent of it.

Put it off.

Take it to God.

He is merciful.

He will forgive you.

We'll pray for you.

We'll pray with you.

We will do the best we can to encourage you.

If you're subject to the Gospel call in any way let it be made known while we stand and sing the song that has been selected.

 

Invitation song: ???

 

Reference sermon by: Wayne Fancher

 

The Shaping of Your Life

The Shaping Of Your Life
Proverbs 14:12

INTRO:
Good morning. Good to see everyone this morning. I guess it’s that time of the year when it just seems like the weather can't make its mind up, one day it'll be cold and the next day it'll be warm. When you go back and forth like that you're going to have a lot of people getting sick.

It is through God that we live, that we move, that we have our very being. It is God who gives us life. I believe in the providence of God I believe that the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. I believe when I pray as a Christian, there are other Christians that are praying for me as I pray for others.

I'm a firm believer that the hand of God is indeed shaping and molding my life; however, we are freewill beings with the power of choice. We need to recognize that it is the choices that we make in our life that quite often are going to affect the shaping of our life and how it turns out.

Sometimes I run across people or information about people that I have known since I was a child. At times I’m absolutely amazed that some of them have got their lives completely, totally, messed up. Then I turn around I see other individuals that seem to have so much joy, so much peace, and so much happiness in their life in spite of a rocky start, or difficulties, and heartaches.

I strongly suspect that it is not all providence that makes these people’s lives turn out as they have. To the contrary I think a great deal of the reason we see people at such different extremes, where some will be totally at peace and happy and joyful and others in complete desperation, is because of the choices that they made in their life.

The sermon today is on the subject of the shaping of your life. We need to recognize that a great deal of how our life turns out is in our own hands. Proverbs 14:12 says; “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” As we travel through our life we're going to come to various crossroads and decisions that we're going to have to make. Sometimes there may be a direction where we may think, you know this seems like a good direction for me to take, it seems like the right way for me to go. Yet, if we choose that direction it will lead to our destruction. It will lead to our death—physical sometimes and spiritual others.

These crossroads are points were we could use some guidance, some instruction. Young people are especially in need of instruction because they do not even have the wisdom gained from mistakes yet. It is so important that our young people receive grounding in the Lord and His word so they have some understanding of where they can go for guidance. Today I would like to take a look as some of these crossroads and what we might teach others about them.

I. The first thing I will look at with you this morning in our journey of life is our friends. When you get to that crossroad you're going to have to choose wisely about your friends. First Corinthians 15:33 – “Do not be deceived: "Evil company corrupts good habits.''” I want you to notice the beginning of the verse. Do not be deceived. From the beginning of this verse we get the idea that an individual sometimes may think to themselves, I can handle this. These people are not going to drag me down. They are not going to affect me, I'm stronger than that.
A. If you think that way about your companions and your friends, think that they are not going to affect you, you have deceived yourself. Evil company corrupts good habits and that is a reality of life. We recognize that the friends that we associate with, the companions we have, are going to play a major role in the shaping of our life.
B. Again in Proverbs, this time 22:24-25 – “24. Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, 25. lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul.” Look at the end of this. It tells us we're setting a snare for our soul because of who we chose to be our friends. If we chose someone that is an angry person, a furious person, by being around this angry, this furious person—we learn their bad habits. Then we start acting like them and we suffer the consequences for our actions. Don't you recall the old cliché birds of a feather flock together?
C. In our life we're going to have to make choices about who our friends are going to be. This is a continual process. It’s not just teenagers that have to choose their friends. As adults we have to choose who our friends are also. We need to recognize that these individuals are going to have an influence on us.
1. If they are walking in darkness and living in sin we need to recognize that our friendship with them will pull us into their world. Don't think it won't, even though you're an adult.
2. Who we choose to be our friends is going to impact how our life is going to be shaped and the ultimate nature of that life.
D. Look at this again. Proverbs 13:20 – “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.”
1. There are two possibilities for our life. We can have a life of wisdom and all the fruits and benefits and blessings that come from living a life of wisdom, because we walk with wise men and we learn from them. Or... we can be a companion to fools. Your friends can be fools and a consequence of that... will be your destruction.
2. Do we see the choice that we have? The choice is whether we're going to be destroyed or have a life of peace. The choice that is going to determine which direction we take may very well be who our friends are.
3. Think about it this way. People who use drugs like to be around others who use drugs. Everybody knows that people who like to drink want to be around others that like to drink. Drinking buddies they say. Homosexuals want to be around other homosexuals. People involved in any kind of sexual immorality want to be around others that will participate in the same activities.
4. Any kind of sin you can think of that someone is walking in—what is their lifestyle? They want to be around others who will participate in the same sin. When we think that we can be friends with someone that is walking in darkness and not get pulled into the darkness... we have deceived ourselves. By so doing we will set a snare for our soul.
II. Another major decision we make is in the choice, and this is a very big one, the choice of who we marry. Who is going to be your husband? Who is going to be your wife?
A. I am amazed sometimes with how little thought some people put into this choice. Who are they going to court? Who they're going to marry? Who is going to be their husband or their wife? If we think about this at all, what criteria do we apply?
B. Our society today gives us the wrong picture of what love is. It concentrates on lust and says that is love. It almost seems as though the criteria is; “you smiled at me”, you think I'm pretty, marry me, Ok? You like me? OK let's get married. If it doesn't work out we’ll just get a divorce.
C. That is not what love is and not what marriage is for. It is not just passing ships in the night. It is for the rest of your life. The individual who you choose to be your spouse is going to affect your life more than any other human being; you are going to become one with this person.
1. You do not want to become one with someone who is going to drag you down and ruin your life. There are people out there who have absolutely wonderful lives until they get married. The person they marry and choose to be their spouse totally ruins it.
2. Look at this in Proverbs 21:19 – “It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and angry woman.” If I were talking to young ladies and men who are not married I would say; if you fight like cats and dogs now, breakup. If you are being mistreated now, breakup. A lot of people think when we get married it'll get better. Really? No, it doesn't. If you cannot get along now, don't think getting married is going to solve the problem.
3. Do you know what a contentious and angry person is? I'll try to explain it to you. If you go right, you should have gone left, and you go left, you should have gone right. If you're moving you should be standing still and if you're standing still you should be moving. It really doesn't matter what you're doing - it's wrong. You can't do anything right and you stink.
4. Continual put down, put down, put down, nothing is done right, nothing is good. Life stinks.
5. OK, do you know what’s worse than the contentious and angry woman mentioned in Proverbs? A contentious and angry man who does the same thing. He puts down his wife, and everything she does is no good. She can't do anything right. She’s stupid, she stinks. Life stinks. He just continues to put down, put down, put down.
6. Let me give you another picture of how this affects you. Have you ever been lying in bed at night and the faucet in the bath starts to drip? All of a sudden you hear drip. You think OK it's not gonna do it again. – Drip. Maybe it'll stop now. – Drip. You think; oh I can handle this, I’ll just doze off. – Drip
7. After about 30 seconds of this you just scream and get out of bed and run in there and tighten the faucet. The Chinese call it water torture. It's for real. Drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, to where eventually it just drives you crazy. Contention is like a continual dripping on a very rainy day.
8. If you marry a person like this you are going to be driven mad because you can't turn it off. They will make your life miserable. There are people who exist that are just like this. They look at the world through black glasses and everything is terrible and everything is bad and nothing is good.
9. If you marry this person you're bound to them till death do you part. It's your life buddy. You made a bad choice. You better choose wisely and not marry a contentious and angry person.
D. Proverbs again chapter 23:29-30 – “29. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? 30. Those who linger long at the wine, those who go in search of mixed wine. 31. Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it swirls around smoothly; 32. at the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like a viper. 33. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart will utter perverse things. 34. Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying: 35. "They have struck me, but I was not hurt; They have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?''”
1. What we’re talking about here in the text is someone who likes to drink. If you court or date a man or a woman who likes to drink or use drugs—stop. Go the other way.
2. If you marry a man or a woman who likes to drink or use drugs the life you've got coming will be a life of sorrow, you're going to have a life of wounds, and you're going to have a life of contention. If you don't believe this it would be good for you to go and talk to the men and women at Al Anon. Do you know what Al Anon is? These are the spouses of alcoholics. Talk to them about their life. Talk to them about their spouse. Talk to them about their wounds.
3. You don't want to marry a person like this. You don't want this in your life. It's not something to be snickered at. Some people might think it's cool in high school or cool in college, but I'm telling you it's not cool in life. It's not cool in a real world of day to day living as husband and wife.
4. Choose your spouse wisely. If they like to use drugs or drink get away from them now before you’re married.
E. I’m going to read something from Ezekiel 16:44 – “Indeed everyone who quotes proverbs will use this proverb against you: 'Like mother, like daughter!'” The “proverb” used here is what we might call a cliché. We have this same cliché today though we usually hear it as – like father like son. We understand exactly what is being talked about. Generally speaking if you look at the mother and the father, the children quite often are going to be a great deal like them, but not always. We know there are times when children go the exact opposite way of their mother and father. They saw how their parent’s life was affected and they say to themselves “not me”, nope. I'm not going that way.
1. When you date someone look at their family. See how they talk to each other. See how they behave and how their family behaves as a unit because quite often your family is going to be a mirror image or very close to that.
2. If you see a father and mother that are honoring one another and the children honor and love one another, that's a pretty good indication that the person you date knows what a good environment is.
3. The cliché “as is the mother so is the daughter” as a general rule is true, but not always. It is not always true because you will find the people who have learned from the mistakes of their parents and have chosen to go in another direction.
F. Let’s look at Deuteronomy 7:3-4 – “3. "Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. 4. "For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly.” This text points out an important element to consider and one which our society rejects. When you look into the heart of the person that you consider marrying, a very important element is this: Does this person love the Lord?
1. We need to realize how a person views God is going to affect our relationship in life with them more than anything. If you marry a virtuous person their price is far above rubies. You ask any man who's married to a Christian woman, a God fearing woman; he'll tell you she's the greatest treasure of his life. The same applies to marrying a God fearing man.
2. This is important because whoever you marry is going to change. I know that is not conventional wisdom but it is true. I don't care who you marry they're going to change. The question is change into what. Christianity is about change, continual change.
3. Ask a marriage counselor and they will tell you one of the most frequent comments they hear is; “He’s changed” or “She’s changed”, they are not the person I married. A counselor will tell you that sometimes it is hard to tell if there was real change or if perception was what changed.
4. We realize that a person who is not grounded with the anchor of faith and hope and love in their relationship with God is going to be like the leaves in the wind. It will be difficult to know what to expect in ten years, what they're going to be like.
5. On the other hand, if what drew you to a person is their character and their love for the Lord, that person usually will only change for the better. Unfortunately, though a good yardstick, even that is not always true. Sometimes even a God fearing man or woman loses their love for the Lord and leaves, but generally speaking a God fearing person just grows stronger in their relationship with God.
6. What drew you to them in the first place just gets better. That's the beauty of a really good marriage. A lot of folks think it's really wonderful in the beginning when you're falling in love and that giddy stage. That's nice but I'm here to tell you that when you are with the right person it just gets better. It matures and the love grows deeper and deeper and deeper. The person that you marry is going to affect and shape your life.
III. Let’s continue in Genesis 13:10-12, and take a look at the influence of where you live. Here we see where a man has a choice. He has to make the choice of where he is going to live. Where are you going to move yourself and your family? It says; “10. And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. 11. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. 12. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom.”
A. Lot saw a land that was good for his flocks and he made his choice based on what the land could do for him. It was bountiful and would increase his wealth. The next verse tells us the condition of Sodom; “But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.” Yet, Lot seems to have ignored the reputation of this place.
1. I wonder if Lot’s decision would have been different if he had known what would happen.
2. What if you could have said to him; Lot do you want me to show you a preview of coming attractions, do you want me to tell you what's coming in your life? You're going to lose all of your herds. You're going to lose all your family and your wife and you're going to commit incest with your two daughters. Do you like that Lot?
3. Do you think Lot would have gone to Sodom if you could've told him what's at the end of his journey? I would say no, he wouldn't go that way. What man would choose a life like that?
B. There comes a time in your life when you have to make choices of what you're going to do for a living and where you're going live.
1. Consider the spiritual ramifications. Don't stick it down at the bottom of the list thinking we'll just make do, we'll just survive even though there's no congregation of the Lord’s church around. Don’t think even though it's a totally ungodly, immoral environment, we'll still go ahead and move there because it's a good job and I’ll make a lot of money.
2. Do not make choices based on wealth alone like Lot. Consider always the spiritual ramifications of any choice you make, the effects upon yourself and upon the future of your family. When you move to the new area hopefully there is a congregation there.
C. I also recommend you choose wisely where you're going to worship. Revelation 2:5 - says; “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.”
1. Here we're talking about the church in Ephesus. The church in Ephesus had left its first love. As a consequence of leaving their first love, their love for God and Jesus Christ, they had left the first works.
2. They are told very plainly unless they repent and go back and do the first works their lamp stand will be removed. How many of you would want to be a member in Ephesus if they refused to repent?
D. Revelation 3:15-16 - “15. "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16. "So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth.” How many of you would want to be a member of this congregation at Laodicea?
E. What about the congregation at Sardis? Revelation 3:1-2 – “1. "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, 'These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2. "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.”
F. The point is there are congregations that may have issues which could negatively impact you and your family’s walk with God. People do not always spend their life in one spot. Circumstances can create a need to move elsewhere. If and when that happens be picky, selective, about the congregation that you attend.
1. Do not automatically be drawn to numbers thinking the numbers indicate faithfulness.
2. Remember Laodicea. They thought that they didn’t need anything. They had plenty of money and everything was great. That’s the congregation the Lord said was wretched, miserable.
3. Whenever people move to this area, quite often they will come by and they'll say “we're looking around”. Good. Look.
4. Come back and examine this congregation and see whether or not we're teaching the truth and living the truth or whether we are a dead congregation spiritually or whether we've left the first love, the first works.
G. You need to examine the congregation that you consider attending.
1. Make sure they're teaching the truth and doing the best they can to live it. You don't want to join yourself to a congregation that’s dead in spirit or a congregation has left the first love or left the first works.
2. Who you choose as your friends; who you choose to marry; what you choose to do for a living; where you choose to live and where you choose to worship are all actions that are within your control.
3. You have the power within you to choose wisely every single one of these—to choose God fearing friends, to choose a God fearing spouse, to choose a place that's going to be good for you spiritually and your family spiritually and a congregation that is truly a God fearing congregation trying to serve the Lord faithfully.
4. You'll find when you make wise choices the outcome of your life will be greatly affected.

CONCLUSION:
Going back to the start of the message today, Proverbs 14:12 says; “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.”

This is guidance and a warning. Keep your relationship with God at the center of your life. Make all your decisions on the things that will shape your life with your relationship to God in mind. We have that power.

Romans 8:28 – “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”

Romans 8:31 – “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.

Ephesians 3:20 – “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,”.

I would hope and pray that everybody here this morning, and those that we teach have lives filled with joy, lives filled with peace, with the maximum happiness, fulfillment and contentment that a human being can experience in this life.
For that to be the case, you need to take control of your life and make it the way you want it to be. You have that power in your choices.

Maybe there is somebody here this morning who is not a member of the body of Christ.
If you believe in your heart that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and you're willing to confess your faith and repent of your sins, we’ll be glad to assist you and baptize you into the body of Christ.

If you're a child of God and you've sinned and gone into the world, our God is gracious, you know this, He is willing to forgive. Come home, come back to the Father. We'll pray for you and pray with you.

We will do the very best we can as your brothers and sisters to encourage you.
If you are subject to the Gospel call in any way let us know as we stand and sing the song selected.

Invitation song: ???

Reference sermon: Wayne Fancher

The Sower

The Sower

INTRO:    Good evening. I will begin by telling you a story about little Johnny when he was quite young, about 3 years old. Little Johnny went with his dad to see a litter of kittens. When he got home he told his mother that, "There were 2 boy kittens and 2 girl kittens."
His mother asked him, “how do you know?" Johnny said, "Well, daddy picked them up and looked underneath, so I think it's printed on the bottom."

This evening we are going to look at a parable of Jesus which is unique. Unique in that Jesus himself explains the meaning of it. The parable of the Sower is the one we are going to look at in Mark 4.

We’re going to read quite a lot but just little portions at a time.
Mark 4:1-2 – “1. And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea. 2. Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:” [NKJV]. Let me stop there a minute. What an amazing sight that must have been. I imagine being in a large number of people sitting along the water’s edge and listening to the Master teacher speaking from a boat. What a pulpit that must have been to use. Jesus says, “Listen” and then goes on to share the parable with them in verse three through nine.

Mark 4:3-9 – “3. "Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. 4. "And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. 5. "Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. 6. "But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. 7. "And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop. 8. "But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.'' 9. And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!''”
Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Interesting how Jesus starts the parable and how He ends the parable. He starts by saying, “Listen” and ends by saying, “He, who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Teachers understand this issue when giving a lesson. One of the frustrating things for a teacher is wondering if anyone is listening to what they’re trying to say. Come to think of it, that goes for parents too. Those of you who have had children will know exactly what I’m talking about. You tell your child not to do this or that because it might be harmful but they go ahead and do it anyway. You often wonder if they’re getting it or if they are even listening.

We reach the point where we say to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to do that? Am I just wasting my breath?” Then you get them to repeat what you have said. If you ask they may repeat what you said, but it’s pretty obvious that they didn’t really listen to you in the first place. They didn’t fully grasp it. I suspect that’s one of the reasons why Jesus’ catchphrase was, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear." He uses this several times as you will see as you study. It didn’t just mean listen to what I’ve just said. It means think about it, pay attention to what I’ve just said.

I. Now Jesus reveals something to His disciples in Mark 4:10-13 – “10. But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11. And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12. "so that 'seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.' '' 13. And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?”
A. Jesus said He speaks in parables so that He can reveal secrets about the kingdom of heaven. "Mystery" in the New Testament sense refers to a glorious truth long concealed but now revealed (Romans 16:25-26).
1. Jesus' statement here is that the parables were intentionally designed to leave some of his audience in the dark. The parable He just shared did exactly what the parable was designed to do. It split the people into two groups, those who were interested in truth and those who weren’t.
2. Verse 10 says; “But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable” There were only a few that asked Him what the parable was about. Only a few people who were really interested in these truths. What Jesus is saying here when He quotes from Isaiah 6:9-10 is that, and I will paraphrase ‘My people can see and perceive, My people can hear and understand but they just don’t want to’. They don’t want to turn to God and be forgiven because their hearts are so far away from Me. They have always seen, they’ve always heard, but My people don’t want to listen and understand, because they are too stubborn.
3. Then in Isaiah 29:13 – “... the Lord said: "Inasmuch as these people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me,” listen to these next words “and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,” A couple of chapters later in Mark 7:6-9 Jesus says; “6... "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 7. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' 8. "For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.'' 9. And He said to them, "All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.”
4. That brings to light more information about those who did not understand. Many just did not want to hear, they were too stubborn. Righteous in themselves... self-righteous. But there are others who had an agenda to keep things as they were. The religious leaders of the day. If Jesus had spoken plainly and unambiguously of being the Messiah and talked about the kingdom, the Pharisees could have accomplished His murder prematurely; therefore, it was of necessity that Jesus cloaked His teachings in those beautiful and humble parables, which in no sense hid His message from "ordinary people”," they being the very ones who fully understood him. The parables did, however, fully hide it from the proud, arrogant, unspiritual priesthood who organized against him.
B. Jesus asks those who are listening in Mark 4:13, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?” Jesus is saying this secret about the kingdom of heaven is so easy to understand. It’s so plain and obvious and yet do you understand it?
1. He’s telling them that they need to able to understand this parable so that they can go on and understand other parables He will teach them.
2. It’s much the same idea that Paul has when he says to the church in Corinth. 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 – “1... brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;”
3. Jesus is going to teach them about the parables. What He is doing is essentially teaching them how to listen, how to learn. These few around Him wanted to know but they were yet babes and so He begins to explain in verse 14.
II. Mark 4:14-20 – “14. "The sower sows the word. 15. "And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. And when they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. 16. "These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; 17. "and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. 18. "Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19. "and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20. "But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.''”
A. Jesus taught and explained the parable using an everyday life example. He uses the illustration of a farmer sowing his seed.
1. Let me plant something in your heads. Have you ever wondered why some people become Christians and then a little later they fall away? Or have you ever wondered why some people do not become Christians?
2. Every week the gospel is preached in the church. People attend every week and they hear the gospel of Christ being preached. They know what they need to do to become obedient to the Gospel, and yet it seems to happen so infrequently.
3. How come we don’t get people coming to Christ when the gospel is preached like they did during Biblical times? Maybe the best way to answer that question is by letting Jesus ask the question He was asking through this parable.
B. How could the scribes and Pharisees misrepresent God the way they did? How could the disciples and those listening not totally understand what Jesus was teaching? How could they not get it?
1. The way the word is being sown or being preached isn’t the problem. The problem lies with the way people receive the word. In other words those people who are honestly searching for the truth, it’s those people to whom the truth will become much clearer to.
2. Jesus said in Mark 4:3-8, "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, some fell on rocky places, other seed fell among thorns and other seed fell on good soil.”[para]
3. In His explanation people are like the place where the seed lands. He’s talking about 4 different soils, which represent 4 different reactions or responses when the gospel is preached.
III. In Mark 4:15 Jesus tells them and us; “Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.”[para]
A. Remember to whom the word of God is being preached. It’s being preached to sinners, people whose hearts have been hardened with sin over the years.
B. Jesus said that the birds are a picture of the devil himself, who comes down and takes the seed away. The reason the devil can so easily take it away is because the word of God makes no impression on these people at all.
C. They are so hardened in sin they don’t even understand the significance of the words being said. In other words, the path is hard and the seed has nowhere to plant its roots. They hear the gospel but don’t hang around long enough to find out what it means to them. When people are hardened with sin, they always think that whatever’s being said doesn’t apply to them.
D. Let me ask you this: What I’m saying today, does it apply to any of us? Remember in Acts 2 when Peter preached the 1st gospel meeting, 3000 souls asked, “Brothers what shall we do?” They wanted to hear more. Why? Because they understood that what Peter had just finished saying to them, applied to them. They killed the Messiah and they understood; they got it.
E. But remember, Peter also preached the gospel to thousands more on that day who didn’t want to know and his words landed on a hardened path. That’s what Jesus is talking about in the first part of the parable.
IV. Jesus says in Mark 4:16-17, “Other people, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away” [para].
A. I remember quite some years ago, the late Billy Graham would speak at big gospel meetings in football stadiums and thousands of people would turn up to hear what he had to say. At the end of the night he would always put an invitation out to people to come forward, ‘Confess Jesus as Lord and become Christians’. I don’t want to get into that because we know what’s right and what’s wrong about it, but what happened was many people would come forward and give their lives to Jesus on that night.
B. The problem was that a few days after all the excitement had gone, the troubles of life were remembered and they lost interest in Jesus. In other words, they heard the word of God, they accept it with gladness and joy but it gains no root within them.
C. Jesus says that they are OK for a while but as soon as any persecution or worry comes along from being a follower of God, they just give up. The word was planted in them and it tries to grow but the soil was lacking.
D. Mark 4:5 – “Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.” In Luke 8:6 we read; “Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.”
E. There are hearts out there that will receive the truth with great readiness and joy. Yet, when the heat gets turned up, these people fall away.
F. It is a concern when people become Christians without even studying the word of God first. I think people need to know and understand Who and what they are committing too. Whenever the heat of tribulation or persecution comes along because of the word of God, their delight in the truth just withers away and dries up.
1. With that in mind, let’s look at Luke 14:26-35 – “26. "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27. "And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28. "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it 29. "lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all who see it begin to mock him, 30. "saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' 31. "Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32. "Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. 33. "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. 34. "Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? 35. "It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!''”
2. Jesus is telling us; Listen, if we want to become a follower of Him, we need to think hard about it first. We are going to have to love Him more than we love our own family. We are going to have to carry our own cross and suffer like Jesus suffered. He says, we will need to put Him first, in front of everything else in our life.”
3. Again He says, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear." In other words think about it, think a lot about His words and after you have thought, think about it even more. Then He reminds us in John 16:33 – “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
V. Jesus goes on to describe another type of response to the gospel in Mark 4:18-19 – “18. "Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19. "and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.” In the case of the seed that fell among the thorns, there is nothing wrong with the soil.
A. It’s not too hard like the seed that fell along the path.
B. There’s enough soil for the seed to take root unlike the seed that fell on a rocky place.
C. It’s not the soil that’s the problem. It’s what is in the soil around it. It’s the environment in which it is living that is the problem. We know one of the ways that Satan likes to attack God’s people is with worry. Worry is the greatest joy stealer there is.
D. Jesus says there are 3 things that steal your joy in the gospel as a Christian. He tells of 3 things that can stop you from becoming a fruitful follower of the word.
1. First, "The cares of this world". People are so caught up in this life that they forget about the next. They worry about their jobs. They worry about their homes. They worry about having enough money to get by. I know people who worry all the time.
i. We all recall what Jesus says in Matthew 6:25-34 so I’ll paraphrase; “Listen; do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear, who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” The Greek word we translate as “worry” or “thought” has the aspect of “being anxious”. When you are anxious, worrying, your mind is focused on the object of that care and not on God.
ii. In Matthew 6:33 Jesus says; “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” He is saying, listen, you’re a Christian you don’t need to worry about these things, just leave the worrying to the unbelievers.
iii. Peter tells us 1 Peter 5:7 – “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” Cast all your anxiety (your worries, distractions) on Him because He cares for you. Do we believe these verses? We do not always act like it.
2. Jesus tells us the 2nd thing that can stop us from becoming a fruitful follower of the word, "The deceitfulness of riches." The world’s biggest con these days is this, ‘get rich fast and you’ll be happy’. People say if I get that new car, I’ll be happy or if I get a new home I’ll be happy. In 1971 the campaign to have a lottery in Ohio began and succeeded in creating the Ohio lottery in 1973. The last I knew most states now have lotteries with the exception of Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii and Utah.
i. What happened that has caused most states to introduce a form of gambling, a lottery? It happened because there’s a demand. The world that is so commercial, people are lusting after the quick fix answer to their problems. They want a “get rich fast” answer to their problems.
ii. Riches are the fruit of the world. People are being deceived into thinking that material goods are the answer to life. The fruit of the Spirit is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23).
iii. Material goods, wealth, are not the answer to life. John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The only answer to this life is Jesus Christ Himself. If you want answers about this life or the next then you need to look to Jesus, because He is the only one who has the answers.
3. The 3rd thing that stops us from becoming fruitful is, "The pleasures of this life." I believe we all like to have fun. There’s nothing wrong with that but the problem comes when the fun becomes more important than godly living. Also if the fun becomes sinful, then a problem comes in.
i. God has given us the gift of pleasure, which in itself can be innocent but we need to remember that the world’s idea of enjoyment can be totally opposite to God’s idea of enjoyment.
4. These 3 things or these 3 thorns that we have just mentioned are constantly in the environment that we live in everyday. What they do is smother and choke the word of God.
i. Jesus says, the reason that people don’t bear any fruit is because of these thorns. These things look promising. They look like they are going to bear fruit but they never do.
ii. Why? These thorns soak up all the moisture and nutrients that are in the soil. The world ends up with all our attention and God just gets the dregs or whatever is left. We become starved of the truth, which is found in the word of God, and that’s the point.
VI. Finally Jesus says in Mark 4:19-20 – “these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” Jesus says, “This is the soil I’m looking for, this is the kind of response to My words that I’m looking for.”
A. This soil is the total opposite to the 3 other soils mentioned. These are the people whose hearts are soft and tender. They received and cherished the seed, when it was planted. These people soak up the word of God. You’ll find them studying the Bible because they gain strength from it and go on to produce a crop of thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.
B. Jesus summarizes what was just said in Luke 8:15 “But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” [para] They can see the world’s riches for what they really are. They guard themselves against worldly pleasures.
C. These people realize that God loves us so much that God wants us to cast all our anxieties onto Him. He cares for us. These people produce much fruit. They are people who are long distance faith runners, who are faithful to the end.
D. It’s to those people who Jesus says about the others in Mark 4:11 – “so that 'seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them” In effect, “Do you want to know a secret?” Don’t be surprised when people don’t want to hear about Jesus. There’s a secret.
1. Don’t be surprised when people become Christians and only last a short time.
2. Don’t be surprised when people look like they are going to be great ambassador’s for Christ but they fall away.
3. The secret is this, don’t give up planting the seed, but persevere, we never know what kind of response we’re going to get. God’s word doesn’t vary but man’s heart does, the soil in which the word is planted does.
4. The nature of the response is dictated by the nature of the heart that receives it.

CONCLUSION:
I wonder how we see ourselves. How is your heart doing today? What will your response be?

If you’re not a Christian, are you going to let God’s word fall from your heart, or are you going to let God help you become a long distance faith runner because you want to know more truths from God’s word?

If you’re a Christian, are you going to continue to let the word of God dwell in you richly, so that you can let God produce much fruit through you, or are you going to go back to the crowd who are not interested in truth?

There’s no mistake folks, we control what does and doesn’t go into our heart. The biggest mistake we can make as Christians after studying His word is to look around us and say, “Yes, I know people who fall into one of those categories”. I know someone who didn’t last long as a Christian”. That’s not the point of the parable.

The point of the parable is to get us to look at ourselves—not around us. Is our heart-felt response to the gospel described in this parable? It’s about you. It’s not about the person sitting next to you. It’s not about the person who isn’t here today. It’s about you. How does it apply to you?

I pray the word fell on good soil. Yet, I know we must take our faith one day at a time because we do not know what tomorrow will bring. We are reminded in 1 Corinthians 10:12 – “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” We must run this race in a constant and deliberate manner. The cares of this world, like weeds in the springtime, will spring up unbidden.

Let’s not judge each other with this parable. Let’s continue to encourage each other to remain faithful to the end and trust in God to help us produce the fruit He requires.

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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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Taken from sermon by Mike Glover

The Master Teacher

The Master Teacher

INTRO:
Good evening. What I would like to do for a few lessons is take a look at the parables taught by Jesus. Why the parables? I want to try and understand what a parable is and why Jesus spoke in parables in the first place. Let’s keep that question in mind as we look at scripture today. Just as a reminder if you hear me say anything that is not according to scripture please let me know and we can look at it together. In general I will be using the New King James or the King James Version for reference.

We have all read the directions and the warning labels on things that we buy. Here are some I found interesting.
On a rain gauge: "Suitable for outdoor use.”
On a packet of airline peanuts: "Open and eat contents."
On a chainsaw: "Do not attempt to stop chain with hands."
On a can of air freshener: "For use by trained personnel only."
On a steering-wheel lock: "Remove lock before driving."
On a box of salt: “Warning: High in sodium.”

I guess the point is that even the simple things in life need some explaining at times.
I’ve shared a lot of stories with you all over the years, often to assist in making a point or bringing something to mind, but when it comes to parables and illustrations Jesus will always be the Master teacher.

I have heard it said about some of the things that Jesus spoke; “That is a parable” or “that is not a parable” and I wondered: What is a parable? Looking at Luke 18:1 we see “Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,”. Looking up the Greek for that verse I found the word we translate as “parable” is παραβολή parabolḗ, par-ab-ol-ay. Strong defines it as “a similitude”, a placing beside; a comparison; equivalent or something to compare, a likeness.

Some say that a parable is ‘An earthly story with a heavenly meaning’ but really a parable is more than that. One dictionary defines a parable as ‘A short figurative story, designed to convey some truth or moral lesson.’ Another dictionary says ‘A brief story using events or facts of everyday life to illustrate a moral or spiritual truth.’ The blue letter bible includes: “a pithy and instructive saying, involving some likeness or comparison and having perceptive or admonitory force, an aphorism, a maxim, a proverb.

I. As I read all of that, and you will find more, it seems to me that parables come in many different styles and forms and shapes and formats.
A. Let me give you a couple of examples. You may not have thought of these as parables. In Luke 4 for example, after Jesus had been tempted by the devil, He went on the Sabbath Day to the synagogue. When the leaders heard Him read the prophet Isaiah from a scroll they asked in verse 22 “Is not this Joseph's son?” Jesus replied at verse 23, “Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.” Here we have an example of a parable in the form of a ‘proverb’.
B. Another example in Luke chapter 5 is where we find Jesus sharing a parable in the form of a ‘metaphor’ to the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law. Luke 5:36-39 – “36. Then He spoke a parable to them: "No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. 37. "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. 38. "But new wine must be put into new wineskins, and both are preserved. 39. "And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, 'The old is better.' ''”
C. There are many other forms of parables that Jesus used in His teaching. Jesus used parables as a form of teaching, a tool. It wasn’t the only form of teaching He used but it was definitely a form He used often. Throughout the gospels there are over 30 parables that Jesus spoke. Most people know the parables of Jesus, even non-Christians know some of the parables He used. All of them are “classics” in some form and like I said earlier Jesus was the Master teacher. There’s no getting away from that.
II. Let’s go ahead and let the Master teacher answer our first question. Jesus, why did you speak in parables? We find the answer in Mark 4:10-13 – “10. But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11. And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, 12. "so that 'seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.' '' 13. And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?”
A. He said you are given to understand but to those on the outside everything is said in parables. Why? So that, "'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'" Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?”
B. His parables were designed to test His hearers, not an intelligence test but a spiritual responsiveness test. That’s what they were designed to do. They were all designed to get a response. However, as Jesus says, if you can’t understand this parable, how will you understand any parable? Of course, here in Mark where we just read, Jesus is teaching the parable of ‘The Seed Sower’. We will look at that in more detail some day.
C. Turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 10. We will use this parable to help us understand some things about all the parables that Jesus taught. We are going to look at it for some foundations. I’ll start with some background.
III. There was a man who was an expert in the Law of Moses and he asked Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus, the Master teacher does what He usually does and swings it right back and asks the man what he thought the law said concerning eternal life. His answer to Jesus was, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" Jesus tells him that he had answered correctly and told him that if he does this he will live.
A. However, we are told this lawyer wanted to justify himself and so he asks Jesus another question, "And who is my neighbor?" The master teacher starts His parable in verse 30 of Luke 10. Luke 10:30 – “Then Jesus answered and said: "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. "Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. "Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion on him, "and went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. "On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.' "So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?''” [NKJV]
B. The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise." When Jesus taught, His parables were always spontaneous. He did not have to think about them first and say, “Listen, can you come back next week and I’ll explain what I’m talking about here. I certainly would have.
C. Jesus would give spontaneous answers to people’s questions, and we should too. We should always be truthful with people when they ask us a question. There are times when we honestly must say, “Listen I don’t know the answer to that question right now, but I will get back to you. Then we do need to get back to them.
D. There are some questions that all Christians should always have an answer to. Has anyone ever asked you why you are a Christian? Has anyone ever asked you, why do you believe in God and go to worship every week? I suspect many of us can answer ‘Yes’ to those questions, because as Christians those are the type of questions we should easily be able to answer, even if we don’t know the Scriptures that well. A person doesn’t need to be a Bible scholar to answer them. We don’t need to know all the books of the Bible and all the apostles’ names to answer those questions, but we do need to be able to answer them.
1. 2 Timothy 4:2 says; “Preach the word! Be ready (when are we to be ready?) in season and out of season (i.e. all the time) . Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” We are to correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
2. 1 Peter 3:15 – “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;” Peter doesn’t tell us to have an answer for every question that comes our way. We are to answer for the hope that we have.
3. Folks, whether we have been a Christian for one day or 40 years it makes no difference, we should know why we became a Christian in the first place. It is an important thing for us to keep in mind and I suspect forgetting is the main reason why people fall away from the Lord, why they suddenly stop. Ultimately people fall away because they have forgotten where they came from. They’ve forgotten why they became Christians in the first place. They have forgotten the hope that they had in the very beginning after coming up out of the waters of baptism. They’ve forgotten.
E. Here is something else about Jesus’ parables we need to remember. You see in Luke 10:25 when the law expert asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?"
1. Notice what Jesus does. Jesus swings it back around to him and asks him, “What do you think the Law says?” The lawyer answers in verse 27, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
2. Then the man asked Jesus another question in verse 29, “Who is my neighbor?” Jesus went on and told him the parable we call ‘The Good Samaritan’. I say “we call” it the ‘good Samaritan’ because the Bible never does. Please note, Jesus never calls the Samaritan good. Then Jesus asked the man this question in verse 36, "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?"
3. Every parable had a point or a purpose. That’s why the man answered in verse 37, "The one who had mercy on him." Parables were told to get the listeners to think for themselves. That’s why they’re there. In this scene it is the lawyer who both asks, and answers the questions.
4. Jesus gave parables that were always designed to get a response, a change in attitude or a change in action in those who heard them because they had to have a response. Jesus gets to the point in this parable, and He tells the man, "Go and do likewise."
5. Jesus is saying to that man, “I know you understand how to get eternal life because you answered the question correctly.” Then Jesus tells him the difficult part of the answer, Jesus said “You need to go and do it.” The doing part is the hard part. Jesus wants us to love all people, have mercy on all people, not just those in our family, not just those we like, but all people. Love even those Samaritan people that you can’t stand to be around.
F. Notice in this parable the Law expert never even mentioned the word ‘Samaritan’. Did you notice that? He answers correctly—but he says, “The one who had mercy on him.” We don’t comprehend just how much the Jews hated the Samaritans and this hatred is not to be underestimated. They considered them unclean people. This guy hated them so much he wouldn’t even use the word ‘Samaritan’, never mind call him a neighbor.
1. Remember in John 4 when Jesus is speaking to the woman at the well? After the disciples went away to buy some food, it says in verse 27, “And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?'' or, "Why are You talking with her?''” We might wonder why the disciples were surprised, and why did they marvel. Not just because Jesus was talking to a woman but because He was speaking to a Samaritan woman.
2. Even she was surprised when Jesus, a Jew, was willing to speak to her, a Samaritan. That’s why she said to Jesus in John 4:9 – “"How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?'' (then John is being polite here says) For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.” The Jews hated the Samaritans.
G. In some ways this dates back to the days of Jacob. Joseph was despised by his brothers and they attempted to do away with him. God intervened. Then before his death Jacob gave Joseph a blessing in which he calls him “a fruitful bough by a well” (Genesis 49:22). The tribes of Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh were allotted the fertile land that eventually became Samaria. In about 722 BC Assyria conquered Northern Israel and took many people into captivity, resettling the land with foreigners, Gentiles. Around 600 BC the southern kingdom fell to Babylon and about 70 years later the remnant were allowed to return to rebuild Jerusalem. The Samaritans, a combination of Gentiles and those of the Northern Kingdom, opposed this repatriation of the south and tried to undermine it while the southern repatriates detested the mixed marriages and corrupt worship of their northern cousins.
1. This man’s answer to Jesus must have hurt his Jewish pride so much that he couldn’t even say the word ‘Samaritan’. To get the full import of this it helps us to understand what the parable meant to those who first heard it.
2. We need to be careful because some people have become experts at making every little detail, every little verse mean something in a parable. People try to dig more out of it. For example people will say that the priest and the Levite couldn’t help the man because of religious reasons. They will try and find out who the robbers were and who the robbers stood for. It’s like the man who said to his friend, “Do you see that forest over there?” His friend said, “What forest? I can’t see anything but trees.” We understand people can get tangled up so much in the text that sometimes they fail to see the point. Sometimes we do try to get a point from every little detail; and in the end miss the main point.
H. We forget to ask the question, what did it mean to those who were listening? That should be our first approach.
1. When Jesus was telling this man the parable; does it say the man listened and then though to himself, who’s the man who was robbed? Who were the robbers? He didn’t do any of that. Why? He knew exactly what Jesus was talking about. The lawyer had lost clear sight the Law because of traditions. The lawyer was just like the Priests and the Levites. They paid lip service to the Law. They forgot what God said to Moses in Exodus 33:19 “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” [para] Mercy? To a Samaritan? That would have been the last thing in that Jewish man’s mind. By the time Jesus had finished, the expert in the law knew that Jesus was saying to him, “I don’t want lip service, I don’t want sacrifice.”
2. What did Jesus really want him to understand? Matthew 23:23 this is one of those verses that we all remember. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” That’s what the parable is about. It was about the Jews getting rid of their racist attitude towards the Samaritans, toward the Gentiles and instead of treating others like some piece of dirt, outcasts, they should treat everyone justly and with mercy.
3. It’s about loving your neighbor as you love the Lord and yourself. The Samaritan did exactly what the priest and the Levite should have done. The Samaritan did what the lawyer now needs to go and do. In other words he needs to practice what he preaches, what he just said in his answer.
IV. Not all parables seem to apply to us today but we can still learn many lessons from them. After all they are the very words of Jesus, written in scriptures and as we all know “All Scripture is God breathed”, 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that.
A. Now that we understand what the parable meant to that lawyer, we can now go on and see what we can learn from it ourselves. The lawyer only asked Jesus the question, “Who is my neighbor?” for one reason. Luke 10:29 “He wanted to justify himself.”
1. In other words, he wanted to make himself out to be blameless. He wanted people to look at him and see a good Jewish citizen doing what he should be doing. What Jesus did in the form of this parable was to get him to look at himself. That the lawyer could see his own sinfulness, and see just how far from the Law he really was.
2. I suspect we can become experts in justification, can’t we? When it comes to justifying ourselves of sin, justifying what we think or what we want to do, we have all become experts. We pick a position and then we justify that position. That’s because we tend to have different standards about what God’s Word says. In other words we can all give a good reason for doing something we shouldn’t be doing. Or in the case of the lawyer, not doing something he should have been doing.
B. Sin isn’t just about the things that you shouldn’t do like gossiping and drunkenness. Sin is also not doing the things that you should be doing.
1. Let’s look at that. James gives us an example in James 2:2-5 – “2. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, 3. and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, "You sit here in a good place,'' and say to the poor man, "You stand there,'' or, "Sit here at my footstool,'' 4. have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts? 5. Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?”
2. In other words if someone came into our meeting place who was dressed all scruffy, unshaven and probably lacked having a bath for a few weeks, are we going to love them or treat them any different from those who came in well dressed? Or as James asks, “Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?” They may be poor in the world’s eyes but they may be richer in faith than we are. You don’t know.
3. Poor people have as much right to enter the kingdom of heaven as anyone. Test yourself – when you see people, mentally ask; Do they deserve to hear the gospel?
C. If we ever answer ‘No’ to that question, then we need to take a good hard look at our self and see just how far we have come from the standard we find in God’s Word. Take it one step further now, and imagine the situation James puts forward. If two people came into our worship assembly and one of them was well dressed and the other one wasn’t, which one would you invite to your home for dinner? I’m certain we would all talk to both of them. We wouldn’t have a problem with that, but which one would you take home to get to know a little better?
1. The lawyer had to learn to treat all people the same, whether they were a Jew or Samaritan, Jew or Gentile, because the Gospel is not just about believing, is it? It’s about doing. It’s about doing for one what you would do for another. If you don’t do that, then that is sin in God’s eyes.
D. I’m going to give you another example from James. You probably know this in James 2:15-17 – “15. If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16. and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,'' but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17. Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” It’s all very well standing up here and talking about the needy. It’s all very well having our after worship chats about those in need. If we just talk the talk and don’t walk the walk, we’re sinning. We are not living as Christians, trying to follow the example Jesus gave us. Unfortunately we sometimes try and justify ourselves just like the lawyer did and say things like, “Well, I’m kind of busy to stop and help that person sitting homeless in the street.”
1. If you see a brother or sister in need “I can’t invite them in to eat today because I need to get to church on time, I’m reading or serving today.” Are we not justifying ourselves? That’s what the priest and the Levite did in the story. They were going somewhere, but guess what, so was the Samaritan. The only difference was that the Samaritan stopped to help.
2. We can stop and help people; we can stop and share the gospel with people because wherever we are going can wait. How long does it take to give a hungry person a couple of bucks to buy a sandwich? You may not be able to stay long with them but you can arrange to catch up with them again later. Even a few words can serve to hold the door open.
3. That’s what the Samaritan did. Luke 10:35 - “"On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'” He didn’t just help the man and then leave him. He went back to make sure he was OK.
E. Let’s not make excuses for not helping people and try to justify ourselves in the process. Let’s practice what we preach because we love our Lord and we do try to show our neighbors how much we love them.
V. Perhaps the real question the lawyer should have asked Jesus was this; “Master, how do I love my neighbor?” He didn’t ask that, he asked, “Who is my neighbor?” We too often say things to get an answer which will remove us from the necessity of doing anything. We should be asking the question that the lawyer should have asked. Jesus, how do we love our neighbors?
A. Paul tells us in Galatians 5:6 – “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.” The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Faith with legs attached. We love our neighbors by helping our neighbors with the love the Lord has shown to us.
B. Thinking about that, what about those who aren’t Christians today? Do they deserve to hear the gospel? Or are we going to say, “I wish you well; keep safe and best of luck for getting into heaven.” Is that what we’re going to do?

CONCLUSION:
If there are any of you who aren’t Christians today, there is good news. You are surrounded by a bunch of people who have heard that good news and have responded to that good news. We are ready to share with you why we became Christians in the first place and share our hope with you.

We have those answers and are ready to give you an answer to the hope that lies within us; all you have to do is ask any of them. When they tell you why they became Christians, they will tell you how you too can become a Christian by being obedient to the Gospel of Christ.

The parables of Christ separated people. Did you know that? Those who wanted to know the truth and those who didn’t want to know the truth. The truth is this, if you turn to God and believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and if you confess Jesus as Lord of your life and are immersed for the forgiveness of your sins then you will receive God’s promised Holy Spirit to dwell within you.

The Holy Spirit acts as a deposit, guaranteeing your entry into heaven, if you remain faithful to Him and His word for the rest of your life. He’s not looking for perfection as we understand perfection. What He is looking for is faithfulness.

We need to ask people today; what can I do for you? I hope and pray that we ask Jesus; how do we love our neighbor? That’s the right question that should have been asked here.

We are about to sing the song of invitation. If you are not a Christian, we with all our heart, plead with you to make a decision for Christ today. To decide to be His child, step out in faith and be baptized in water for the forgiveness of sin. That faith becomes access to the grace of God, made possible by the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We believe in that and we rest our hope in that blood.

We invite anyone who has that need or any other need to come forward while we stand and while we sing.

Invitation song: ???

Reference sermon: Mike Glover

Singing With The Understanding

Singing With The Understanding
1 Corinthians 14:15

INTRO:
Good morning. This morning let us begin by reading a passage from the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 2:1-13 – “1. My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, 2. so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; 3. yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, 4. If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; 5. then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. 6. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7. He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly; 8. He guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints. 9. Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path. 10. When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, 11. discretion will preserve you; Understanding will keep you, 12. to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, 13. from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness;”

As we have studied in the past, our worship to God is actually a manifestation of our personal relationship with God that comes from our heart. Worship is an expression of what is in our heart. A part of this worship and our relationship with God is singing to Him. Our sermon this morning is going to be on the subject of the importance of singing with the understanding.

Let’s look at First Corinthians 14:15 where it says; “What is the result then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.” We recognize that in our worship to God while we're singing praises to Him, He is looking into our hearts.
He wants it to be actual communication from our heart to His heart. It is not just making noise. Communication is expected to be with the understanding of what you say.

Would we feel that we were praised, honored or glorified if someone was saying something to us, and even though the words being said were kind, the person saying them didn't know what they were saying? In the same way, if we don't know what we're saying to someone is there really any meaning behind it? The Lord wants us to understand what we are saying and singing to Him because that is how we are involved. Can we really put our heart into singing something we do not understand?

In the letter to the Colossians 3:16 Paul says; “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.” You will note there are two aspects of our singing mentioned here.

One part of it is from our heart to the Lord, but another part of our singing is teaching and admonishing one another. That means there's a lesson in the songs that we are singing and we're supposed to be receiving and understanding the lesson in the song.
Folks, there is a danger that I sincerely believe we face when it comes to our worshipping God in song. That is we do not always understand the message of the song. Sometimes we understand only a part of it. Sometimes even if we read the words we might not understand what is being said. In addition to the poetic writing, misunderstandings might come from a number of other factors, figures of speech, archaic terms, words very seldom used, and even ignorance of a Bible teaching that may be alluded to in the song.

What I would like to do today is look at four songs which have a great deal of what I call poetic license within them. When we sing these songs if we do not understand what these poetic terms are referring to, then we're just saying words. Even though we may be singing the words in the exact melody and tone they are supposed to be sung in, if we don't know what the message is we can not sing from the heart to please the Lord.

I. Our God wants us to sing to Him, praise Him and glorify Him because we love Him for loving us and we want to express to Him, to communicate to Him, our thanksgiving, our love and our devotion. God also wants us to listen to each other and learn from our worship to Him.
A. To do that we need to understand what we're singing. We are to be taught by the lesson and not just go through the motions of singing a song. I admit I’m not very good with songs and I do not mean just the tune but I have difficulty with some songs just recognizing and saying the words especially if it is one we do not sing often. I suppose for that reason I like very simple songs, or at least familiar ones.
B. There are many beautiful songs that we sing which were written a 100 or 200 years ago. They used a different style of writing during then. Song writers used a great deal of poetic license at that time in history. As a consequence, some songs that were written about 100 or so years ago require some effort, some thought, to understand.
1. Let me try to give an example of that sort of difficulty. It's somewhat similar to reading from the King James translation. Unless you were raised with the King James translation as I was, sometimes you read that language and it throws you off.
2. The King James Bible was written using what we now call Early Modern English. Early Modern English is the stage of the English language from the transition out of Middle English, in the late 15th century, to the transition into Modern English, in the mid-to-late 17th century. The grammatical and orthographical conventions of literary Early Modern English are still very influential on Modern Standard English and most modern readers of English can understand texts such as the King James Bible though sometimes care is needed to get the full meaning.
3. Some words which originated in Middle English, survived through Early Modern English in their meaning but lost their meaning in Modern Standard English. An example is the use of the verb "suffer" in the sense of "to allow". It survived into Early Modern English, as in the phrase "suffer the little children" of the King James Bible, but that use of the verb has been lost in Modern Standard English.
4. I read the King James and the New King James because I'm used to them. Not everyone is and since I am uncertain of everyone’s understanding, I find myself spending some time in lessons discussing the meaning of some of the words involved. This is why I often ask for people to comment with a different version during Bible study.
C. Poetry adds another dimension to the issue. Sometimes we have problems with the style of the writing of poetry from the last century and 200 years ago. If you find yourself singing a song and after you go home and you think to yourself; I really don't know what that song was about, get your song book and study that song.
1. Let me give you a quick example in part of a song we sing, “Give Me The Bible”. In this hymn, we sing of “the glory gilding Jordan’s wave”. Something which is “gilded” is overlaid with gold. “Jordan’s wave” is a figurative expression for death. As Israel of old had to literally cross the Jordan River to enter the Promised Land, so all of God’s spiritual Israel (the church) must die to gain Heaven. Death generally holds men in fear, but the promises and comforts of God’s Word make even death attractive (as if it were gilded) for the faithful saint.
2. We need to find the message in the song so that we won't be just going through the motions of worship. If we just go through the motions of worship, if all it is, mouthing words, we need to recognize that is just as empty as not worshipping God according to truth.
II. Let’s look at some songs to gain an understanding of what lessons these songs provide. Probably the most commonly known song which is sung without understanding is Night with Ebon Pinion. It has an absolutely beautiful melody. Its use of poetic words, especially in the first stanza, makes it difficult to understand what it's talking about.
A. In our hymnal, Sacred Selections, this is number 293. This particular song is describing Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane on the night when He's praying to the Lord. You remember that text. I will quote from the Book of Mark 14:33-41. Jesus goes to the God three times and prays “"Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.''” [NKJV] The song is about Jesus before His crucifixion while He is praying in the garden of Gethsemane.
B. Look at the first stanza.
Night, with ebon pinion, brooded o’er the vale;
All around was silent, save the night wind’s wail,
When Christ, the Man of Sorrows,
In tears, and sweat, and blood,
Prostrate in the garden, raised His voice to God.
1. It says “Night with ebon pinion”. What is Ebon? Sometimes we use the word Ebony as in the keys of the piano, ebony and ivory and it means the color black. Night with black pinion. Blackness also imparts a feeling of doom, even death.
2. Then what is a pinion as used here? It is the outer part of a bird’s wing including the flight feathers. Poetically we are talking about night on black wings.
3. Brooding is a term used to describe what chickens and other birds to with their wings when they cover their young. The picture now includes dark wings completely covering and it says “o’er the vale”.
4. A veil is a poetic term for Valley a low lying tract of land. What is being described here in poetic terms is the darkness of night covering a valley like the dark wings a great black bird, bearing doom, and it casts its shadow over the Lord as He knelt to pray in the garden.
5. The second line tells that silence is all around save the night wind’s wail. The word wail is a mournful sound of the wind. This adds to the depiction of Jesus praying with great sorrow. The only thing you can hear in this dark night is the wind blowing because all His companions are sleeping.
6. The next line, “When Christ, the Man of Sorrows”, is quite easy for us to understand and connects back to prophesy of the messiah in Isaiah 53:3 – “He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”
7. The words “In tears, and sweat, and blood” in the next line is also easy to understand.
8. The word “Prostrate” in the last line is laying with the face to the ground. This is the position Christ prayed in and is a position of extreme honor to God. A person cannot lower their body anymore then this. When we pray quite often we bow our heads close our eyes, and sometime we stand in order to show respect. That's a common courtesy in our culture. “Prostrate in the garden, raised His voice to God.”
C. Now the second stanza.
Smitten for offenses which were not His own,
He, for our transgressions, had to weep alone;
No friend with words to comfort,
Nor hand to help was there,
When the Meek and Lowly humbly bowed in prayer.
1. This stanza is a clear reference to Isaiah 53. The word smitten means to strike with disaster. This is the idea of the disaster that's about to come upon Christ, but it's not because of anything that He's done wrong.
2. With His stripes we are healed. “He for our transgressions” that is right out of Isaiah 53. “Had to weep alone”. This is dealing with Christ weeping in the garden of Gethsemane, where His tears became as sweat and blood. He is weeping alone, “No friend with words to comfort”, everybody's asleep.
3. He was amazed that they couldn't even watch with him for one hour. “Nor hand to help was there, when the meek and lowly humbly bowed in prayer”.
4. This is beautiful poetry describing our Lord praying in the garden of Gethsemane.
D. Now look at the third stanza and we see the prayer;
“Abba, Father, Father, if indeed it may,
Let this cup of anguish pass from Me, I pray;
Yet, if it must be suffered, by Me, Thine only Son,
Abba, Father, Father, let Thy will be done.”
1. This is clearly from the record of the gospels.
2. I digress here to mention that many of these hymns being poetic in structure are written to bring to our minds a word picture. This one does it very well and we should be thinking on what it tells us, letting our hearts express to God our thoughts of what is shown to us. True we can take many of these poetic hymns to task on scriptural accuracy and some people do that. I’ll leave that with you to ponder.
III. Next I would like to look at number 545 in our hymnal, O’ Thou Font of Every Blessing. This song is again a song written in the same time period, uses terminology that you may not be familiar with, and is describing the blood of Christ.
A. Let's begin here in the first stanza seeing what God has done for us.
O, Thou Fount of every blessing
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace
Streams of mercy, never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise
Teach me, ever to adore Thee
May I still Thy goodness prove
While the hope of endless glory
Fills my heart with joy and love
1. In the very beginning we’re singing about the grace of God, mercy of God, what God has done for us. We’re conscious and mindful of the mercy of God. Fount is descriptive of a fountain which in this case delivers every blessing to us. God is that fountain.
2. “Tune” means to adjust. It moves our hearts to sing praises to Him. We implore that we may reflect His glory and goodness, in the living of our lives, while we are looking forward to the endless glory of being with Him.
B. In the second stanza the song continues in describing the grace of God and what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.
Here I raise my Ebenezer
Hither by Thy help I’ve come
And I hope by Thy Good pleasure
Safely to arrive at home
Jesus sought me when a stranger
Wandering from the fold of God
He to rescue me from danger
Interposed his precious blood
1. “Here I raise my Ebenezer” has to do with something Samuel did in First Samuel 7:12 – “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far the Lord has helped us.''” Breaking the word down, Eben is Hebrew for stone and Nezer is Hebrew for help. It's literally stone of help and Samuel set up a monument which means the Lord has helped us.
2. The idea of setting up this monument, this Ebenezer, is to recognize that God has helped us up to this point in time, “Hither by Thy help I’ve come”. Next it is looking forward, that through His help we're going to make it to heaven. “And I hope by Thy Good pleasure safely to arrive at home”. We have hope that God will lead us all the way.
3. The hymn tells us “Jesus sought me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God”. This is describing us as we were, strangers, enemies of God. We were separated from God wandering in the world—and in sin. In Christ we become the friends of God. We become the children of God.
4. Christ rescued us from the danger of this world by interposing His precious blood. Interposed is a word that’s not in our everyday vocabulary. It means to place or insert between one thing and another. It is the idea that the blood of Christ comes between, intervenes between us and the punishment we deserve.
C. Then the last stanza:
O, to Grace how great a debtor
Daily I am constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Never let me wander from Thee,
Never leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O, taken and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above."
1. We realize here again we're talking about the grace of God. Every day, being conscious of the grace of God, we recognize our debt to God.
2. Our desire is to be bound to Him through His grace. Unless you work with welding or animals the word “fetter” may be unfamiliar. A “fetter” is something used to restrain. Something which binds one thing to another. When we are conscious of the grace and the love of God, it draws us, binds us to Him and we will not leave Him.
3. “Here is my heart O take and seal it, Seal it for Thy courts above.” The closing is talking about our hope in looking to heaven and being with God. This song is about the grace of God and how it moves us to sing praises to God and be aware of the mercy that God has shown to us through the shedding of the blood of His son so that our sins may be forgiven. It moves us to glorify God, to love God, to be drawn to God and not to want to leave God, realizing that we've come this far in our relationship with God by His grace and by that same grace eventually will we be allowed to be with Him in heaven.
IV. The next song I want to look at is There Stands A Rock, number 122 in our hymnal. It’s a wonderful song with a great message. It goes back to the Sermon on the Mount and the close of the seventh chapter where Jesus is talking about a wise man who built his house upon the rock and the foolish man who built his house upon the sand. That's where this song is primarily coming from, yet it uses some words that I want to look at.
A. The first stanza:
There stands a Rock, on shores of time
That rears to heav'n its head sublime
That Rock is cleft, and they are blest
Who find within this cleft a rest
1. Let’s start with the second line, “That rears to heav'n its head sublime”. “Rear” as used here means to lift up, to elevate, like a horse when it rears up. In this case it is the idea of a rock elevating its head toward heaven. This also carries with it the aspect of not fully leaving one place and going to another.
2. Sublime is describing the highest degree, that is, majestic. Not hard to figure out that this is describing Christ as the Rock. Christ is depicted as the Rock that rears its majestic head to heaven. “On shores of time” indicates the border between time and eternity where the Rock stands.
3. “That Rock is cleft” – Cleft means to split, divide or to partially divide. A cleft is a narrow opening or crevice in rocks. We find this in the Old Testament in Exodus 33:21-23 – “And the Lord said, "Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. "So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. "Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.''” God is speaking with Moses telling him that God will show Moses His glory but Moses may not see His face and live. Therefore God will protect Moses in the cleft of a rock until He passes by. In this verse the idea being portrayed is that those protected in the cleft, protected by God, are blest.
4. I’ll put it this way. It's a firm rock, it's not going to move, but it's got a crevice in it. We get inside the crevice of this rock for protection. The idea is that Jesus Christ, the rock, is our protection from death. That's why it says that this rock is cleft and those are blessed who find within this cleft a rest. The aspect of a resting place from the storms of life. Christ is our strength (the rock) and shield (the cleft).
B. The second stanza makes it even clearer.
That Rock's a cross, its arms outspread
Celestial glory bathes its head
To its firm base my all I bring
And to the Cross of Ages cling
1. The idea of the cross with its arms outspread is a poetic description of Christ’s arms opening wide for you. It's an unusual picture. The description is that of a cross with arms outspread as though Christ arms are wide open waiting for you to come to Him.
2. Celestial glory is heavenly glory and this confirms we are talking about Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
3. The next two lines describe our actions. We come to the base of the cross bringing ourselves to the Lord realizing that it's through Christ crucified that we have any hope whatsoever of being with God. We bring all our sins to the cross. We bring all our problems to the cross. We bring everything to the Lord.
4. I like this idea—to the Cross of Ages cling. It is as if you can imagine you're out in the ocean and there's a life raft. You cling to that life raft because you know that without it you have no hope whatsoever.
5. The truth of the matter is, that is how a relationship with God is. We cling to the Lord in the storms of life. We cling to him because we realize without him we have no hope. It's a beautiful way to describe our relationship with God.
C. Stanza three says;
That Rock's a tow'r, whose lofty height
Illumed with heav'n's unclouded light
Opes wide its gates beneath the dome
Where saints find rest with Christ at home
1. Here the hymn writer uses another way to describe Christ as a tower, its lofty height is illuminated. Illuminated with heavenly, unclouded light.
2. Opes is an archaic or literary way of saying opening. Opening its gates beneath the dome. The descriptive picture that we go to Christ for refuge in a tower and ultimately where we will be at home with Christ.
3. In this hymn Christ is described as a rock that protects us in times of storm. He’s described as a cross with His arms out spread wanting us to come to Him in love. He’s described as a tower where we can go to gain comfort and for refuge.
4. That Rock stands for our foundation because there will be storms in life and the person who hears the word of God and does the word of God is the one who builds their house on the rock. They are the ones who go to Christ in times of storm, the ones who cling to Him because they are surrounded by the raging sea of this world. That's the lesson this song provides.

CONCLUSION:
The hymns we sing talk about our total dependence upon God, His compassion for us and His grace toward us. We need to be conscious of our dependence upon His compassion and His grace. What we do in response – is to worship and praise God. It is this consciousness of what God has done for us, His love, His grace and His mercy, the fact that He is God, the fact that He hears our prayers, that He sent His Son to interpose His blood between us and our deserved fate, and that Jesus Christ stands as our help and our mediator – that moves us and motivates us to have a desire to worship and sing from our heart to the Lord.

That's what worship is all about folks. It is an expression of our personal relationship with God that comes from a consciousness of what God has done for us. Our hymns give us great teaching and edification. As we sing songs that we do not know as well and learn new ones, we should strive to learn from them. We need to know what they are saying to us so that we are not just mouthing words. When we understand the meaning we will be singing with the understanding from our heart to the Lord.

One more song I want us to consider and that is number 271, Wonderful Love of Jesus. This song starts out with the very poetic line;
“In Vain in High and Holy Lays”
The song goes on in verse 1 to talk about the Inexpressible love of Jesus. In verse 2 the Comforting love of Jesus and in verse 3 about the Forgiving love of Jesus. What about that first line?
The phrase “in vain” simply means worthless, such as “In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9). The word “lays” comes to us from the Germanic through middle English and means songs. The next line says; “My soul, her grateful voice would raise”. The grateful heart sings the most meaningful, heart-felt songs possible. The first line here describes our singing with our hearts, with truly grateful emotion, the most awe-inspiring melody and most honest and true words... and yet... there is that word “vain”.

The next line explains; “For who can sing the worthy praise of the wonderful love of Jesus?” Striving from our hearts to the utmost still wouldn’t come close to accurately describing the wonderful love of Jesus. It can’t come close to doing justice to the praise Christ deserves. Though we understand in part, there is no way for our human minds to fully express the love of Jesus Christ for us. Though we can try with all our might, there is no way we can adequately express our gratitude for the love of Jesus.

Yet, if we are His and if we love Him with every fiber of our being, we must try. Just know that the love of Jesus is so great, so wonderful, so overwhelming that we cannot ever adequately express it. Jesus loved us while we were yet sinners. He died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6). We show that love for Him through praise, worship, and obedience (Hebrews 5:9, John 14:15). The full extent of that love Christ has for us is truly inexpressible. It is through Christ’s love that we are saved, that we have hope, that we have comfort, and that we have forgiveness.

There may be somebody here this morning who is not a member of the body of Christ. Do you know you can change? You can change that situation. You can be a member of the body of Christ today. You can be saved and leave this building as a child of God in the body of Christ. You are a free-willed being with the power of choice.

I would like to encourage you to choose to obey the gospel. If you believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God openly confess that faith, repent of your sins, start living by faith and follow the teachings of Jesus Christ as you put off the old man and put on the new.
We’ll be glad to assist you, baptizing you for the remission of your sins and God adds you to His Kingdom.

You will be a child of God. You will be a Christian in the body of Christ. What is expected of you then is to take up your cross daily, to follow Him and live by faith.
If you are child of God already and there's sin in your life and you recognize that sin is separating you from God, I would like to encourage you to deal with it. You can change, yes you can. You don't have to do it. You don't have to sin. You can change.

Change motivated by godly sorrow, turning from your sin and coming home to the Father. We will pray for you. We will pray with you and do the very best we can to encourage you. If you're subject to the Gospel call in any way let it be made known while we stand and sing the song that has been selected.

Invitation song: ???

Reference sermon: Wayne Fancher

At The Tomb

At The Tomb
Matthew 27: 57 – 66

A man was driving along the highway when saw the Easter rabbit hopping across the middle of the road. He swerved to avoid hitting the rabbit but unfortunately the bunny jumped in front of the car and was struck by his car. The driver, being a sensitive man, as well as an animal lover, pulled over to the side of the road, and got out to check out the situation. Much to his dismay, the colourful rabbit was dead. The driver felt so awful, he began to cry.
A woman driving down the highway saw the man crying on the side of the road and pulled over. She stepped out of her car and asked the man what was wrong. 'I feel terrible', he explained, 'I accidentally hit the Easter rabbit and killed it. Children will be so disappointed. What should I do?'
The woman told the man not to worry. She knew what to do. She went to her car trunk, and pulled out a spray can. She walked over to the dead, limp rabbit, and sprayed the contents of the can onto the furry animal. Miraculously the rabbit came to life, jumped up, waved its paw at the two humans and hopped down the road. 50 metres away the rabbit stopped turned around, waved and hopped down the road. 50 metres further on, he turned again, waved and hopped another 50 metres, again he waved.
The man was astonished. He couldn't figure out what substance could be in the woman's spray can. He ran over to the woman and asked, 'What is in your spray can?
The woman turned the can around so that the man could read the label. It said: 'Hair spray. Restores life to dead hair. Adds permanent wave.'
This morning I would like to look at the 27th chapter of Matthew and a few lessons we can learn from the tomb of Jesus.
The disciples must have been devastated. They had been inspired by Jesus’ teachings. And they had decided to follow Him. It had not been an easy road, but they had willingly left families, homes, & jobs to follow Jesus.
As they walked with Him they had seen amazing things. They had seen Him multiply a few loaves & fishes & feed the multitudes. They saw Him walk on water, & calm an angry storm.
They saw Him straighten crooked limbs & give sight to the blind. He even raised the dead back to life again. Truly, He was the Messiah that God had promised would come!
And a week prior, when He entered Jerusalem, seemed to be a perfect climax to it all. To be in that crowded parade; to listen to their jubilant “Hosannas” & watch as they waved palm branches & threw flowers before Him. Everything confirmed that THEY had followed the RIGHT man.
B. But now He is dead. How could they have been SO WRONG? What would they do now?
What do you do when your heart is filled with despair?
What do you do when your world falls apart?
PROP. Well, what did happen? And what lessons can we apply to our lives today? Our scripture text this morning is Matthew 27:57-66.
I. THE SCENE AT THE TOMB
A. To begin with, the Bible tells us that Joseph of Arimathea buried Jesus.
Listen to vs’s 57-58. “As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus.
“Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate ordered that it be given to him.”
What do we know about this man named Joseph? We don’t know much, but we do know some things about him.
1. First of all, he was from Arimathea, a small town about 20 miles from Jerusalem. As towns go, Arimathea wasn’t very important, but Joseph himself evidently was.
In fact, Mark 15:43 tells us he was “...a prominent member of the Council...” (That’s the Sanhedrin, the supreme judicial authority of Israel who had illegally condemned Jesus to death).
But Luke 23:51 says that he was “...a good & upright man, who had not consented to their decision & action.”
2. Secondly, Matthew tells us that he was rich. I don’t know about you, but sometimes we act as if we think that Jesus came to minister only to those who are poor & down & out.
But Jesus Himself said, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to me.” (John 12:32) He came to minister not just to the poor but to the rich, also.
3. Thirdly, Joseph had an acquaintance named Nicodemus who helped him bury Jesus. Listen to John 19:39, “He was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh & aloes, about 75 pounds.”
Matthew 27:59-60 goes on to say, “Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, & placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb & went away.”
So Joseph & Nicodemus together buried Jesus. They shared the cost. Joseph paid for the tomb, & Nicodemus paid for the burial spices. Why did they do this?
4. The apostle John gives a reason when he writes in John 19:38,
“Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jews.”
ILL. That reminds me of the little boy who had adopted a stray dog. Someone asked, “What kind of dog is that?” He answered, “He’s a police dog.” The man said, “He doesn’t look like a police dog.” The boy answered, “That’s because he’s in the secret service.”
There are some Christians who seem to be in the secret service, following Jesus at a distance. They want to be His disciples, but like Joseph of Arimathea, they’re not sure they want everyone else to know. So they keep their faith secret.
Maybe now, when it was too late, Joseph & Nicodemus were trying to make amends, by doing the only thing left to do - bury the body of Jesus.
B. But Joseph & Nicodemus weren’t the only ones at the tomb. Vs. 61 says, “Mary Magdalene & the other Mary were sitting there opposite the tomb.”
Do you realize that Jesus acted differently toward women than the average Jewish man? He treated women with respect. He acknowledged the presence of women. He spoke to them in public. No rabbi or Pharisee would have done that!
So, two women were there. They had been with others at the cross, weeping as He died. And now they were there as He was being buried.
C. Enemies of Jesus came to the tomb also.
Vs’s 62-63 say, “The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests & the Pharisees went to Pilate. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we remember that while He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After 3 days I will rise again.’’
Now think about that. The enemies of Jesus remembered that He had predicted His resurrection. And because His enemies remembered, they said to Pilate in vs’s 64-66,
“So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, His disciples may come & steal the body & tell the people that He has been raised from the dead. The last deception will be worse than the first.”
“‘Take a guard,’ Pilate answered. ‘Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.’ So, they went & made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone & posting the guard.’”
ILL. James Stuart, the writer, says that the most pathetic sentence in human literature is that of Pilate to the priests, “Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.”
Stuart asks, “What would you say to a man who stands in the gray of dawn & says to the rising sun, ‘Stop! You cannot soar into the heavens today’?
“Or what would you say to a man who stands on the beach & draws a line in the sand & says to the tide, ‘Halt! You cannot cross this line’?
You would say to each of them, ‘You are mad!’
So what do you say to Roman soldiers who stand with spears in hand, guarding the tomb which holds the Lord of Life, trying to keep Him from rising from the dead?“
ILL. A hymn writer wrote:
See the tomb where death had laid Him, Empty now, its mouth declares; “Death & I could not contain Him, For the Throne of Life He shares.”
Come & worship, come & worship, Worship Christ, the Risen King!
II. FOUR LESSONS FROM THE TOMB
A. And as we worship, there are 4 lessons we should learn. The first one is: “Be realistic. The Christian life can be an emotional roller coaster.”
For the disciples it was exactly that. For them, Palm Sunday was a mountain-top experience. Then came Friday & the cross. And then Sunday & the resurrection. Up & down, up & down, & up again.
There are some who believe that once we become a Christian our troubles will be over, & everything will be wonderful from then on. But as we mature in the faith, as we learn to be realistic about our lives, we can say with the apostle Paul,
“I have learned the secret of being content in any & every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength” [Philippians 4:12-13].
B. Here’s a second lesson: “Be patient. Desperate circumstances sometimes can be quickly reversed.”
For the disciples it took only 3 days. On Friday they are in deep despair, but by Sunday night they’re on top of the mountain because of the resurrection. So sometimes things can be quickly reversed.
Sometimes we wonder: “Why does God allow us to find ourselves in desperate circumstances?” The answer ought to be clear: God allows us to experience desperate things in life so that we’ll turn to Him.
Oftentimes it is only when we’re desperate or in despair, that we really recognize our need of God.
ILL. Why did God allow Moses to reach the shore of the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army in hot pursuit? So that the people would turn to God for help. Then God parted the waters of the Red Sea & the children of Israel walked across on dry ground.
Why did God permit Joseph to spend 2 years in an Egyptian prison? So that he would depend completely on God. Then God gave him the meaning of Pharaoh’s dreams & soon he is the Prime Minister of Egypt.
Why did God allow Jonah to be thrown overboard into a stormy sea? So that He could send His special fish to rescue him & vomit him up on the shore nearest Nineveh. Then he could preach the message of God to the people of Nineveh.
C. Here is the third lesson: “Be faithful, even when God doesn’t change your circumstances.”
I think the ultimate test of faith is not “What do we do when the problems are taken away?” The ultimate test of faith in our lives is “What do we do if the problems are not taken away?”
ILL. Maybe you’re dealing with cancer, & there’s no cure. And every day you experience the pain & face the uncertainty of the future.
Maybe you have a spouse or parent with Alzheimer’s. You’ve been dealing with that now for months & it just goes on & on.
Maybe you have a home situation filled with stress & tension, & there seems to be no solution to it.
The Living Bible tells us in 1 Peter 1:6-7, “So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though the going is rough for a while down here. These trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong & pure.”
D. And the fourth lesson is: “God’s plan may be better than all of our plans.”
ILL. Becky Pepper tells the familiar children’s story: “Once Upon A Mountaintop.” It’s about 3 little trees growing on the top of a mountain.
These trees were talking together one day. (Remember that In children’s stories trees can talk with one another.) One tree said to the others, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
One answered, “Well, when I look up at the heavens & see the stars sparkling in the sky, I think to myself, ‘I’d like to be a treasure chest that holds diamonds & precious stones.’”
The other one said, “Well, when I grow up, I want to be part of a giant ship that sails across the sea carrying kings & queens to important destinations.”
Then the one who asked the question in the first place said, “When I grow up I just want to stay right here. I want to grow tall & straight, pointing to the heavens so that everyone who comes up on the mountain will look at me & think of God.”
Over the years the trees grew & grew. Finally, men came & cut the trees & took them down from the mountain.
The first one was delighted to find that he was being taken to a carpenter’s shop. But he was devastated when he discovered that he was not going to be made into a treasure chest, but rather, into a feeding trough.
And instead of holding precious stones, he would hold hay & feed for animals. And animals would come & slobber over him.
The second one was delighted to find that he was being taken to the seaside. But then he was devastated to discover that he was not going to be part of a giant ship, but just a tiny fishing boat. And his cargo would not be kings & queens taken to important places, but dead, smelly fish.
The third tree was disappointed that he was cut down. He had just wanted to stay on top of the mountain. He was even more disappointed when he was cut into beams that were placed in a stack of lumber & forgotten.
Years passed, & one day 2 people came into the stable where the young feeding trough had now grown old & worn through years of use.
The old feeding trough watched as the woman gave birth to a baby, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, & then laid him in the feeding trough. And he thought to himself, “I am a treasure chest, because now I hold the most precious thing that has ever come into this world.”
More years passed, & one day the second tree was sailing across the Sea of Galilee. On board were strangers, mostly fishermen.
Suddenly the winds came up & blew fiercely, & the waves began to beat against the little ship. Then one of the men stood up & said, “Peace, be still.” And the little ship suddenly realized that his task was not to carry kings, but the King of Kings & Lord of Lords.
A couple more years passed & one day the third tree was yanked from the lumber pile, & placed on the shoulders of a man who had to carry it through jeering crowds toward a hill called Calvary.
When they got there the beam was tossed to the ground, & the man was placed upon it. Then it felt the penetration of the nails driven through the man’s hands, & into its wood.
And as the people gathered around cursing & mocking the man, the poor tree felt ugly & hated, too.
But then the man was taken down & buried in a tomb, & on the third day raised from the dead. And the tree said, “Now I know that every time men look at ME they’ll think of God.”
INVITATION

Based on a sermon given
by Melvin Newland