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“Trials & Temptations” James 1:12-18

by • on 10:11 AM • in James, Sermon Notes

 

 

Introduction

 

A. Trials are from WITHOUT – CIRCUMSTANCES in LIFE

1. And we are to ENDURE PATIENTLY & GROW through our TRIALS

 

B. TEMPTATIONS on the other hand are FROM WITHIN our own HEARTS;

1. Our temptations arise out of our LUST

2. And we are to FLEE from the LUSTS of our FLESH ——-2 TIMOTHY 2:22

3. We are not to ENDURE CIRCUMSTANCES that cause us to LUST;

a. WE are to AVOID/RUN from lustful desires

 

Avoid: ENVIRONMENTS that could cause us to fall into: IMMORALITY; drinking ; drugs

 

“WE ENDURE TRIALS —– WE FLEE TEMPTATION”

 

C. I think of one of the most BEAUTIFUL BIBLICAL EXAMPLES of FEELING – LUST

1. Was JOSEPH

 

D. When Potiphar’s wife attempted to SEDUCE HIM;

1. He FLED FROM HER!

 

E. He didn’t HANG AROUND her BEDROOM trying to TALK her OUT OF ADULTERY;

1. He just LEFT HIS outer CLOAK and RAN!!!

 

* One of the KEY WORDS that we are going to FOCUS on today is the word:

1. ‘TEMPTATION’ —– literally in v 12 means ——-‘TO TEST”

 

“TRIALS TEST A PERSONS HEART—–TRIALS PROVE TO US WHO WE REALLY ARE”

 

G. Now in the GREEK the word means: “TO TEST”

1. And it LITERALLY means “TO PROVE”

2. As “TO PROVE what is WITHIN A MAN’S HEART”

 

“Testing will cause its recipients to appear as what they always have been.”

 

I. TRIALS don’t make a person a bad person,

1. It just PROVES what is already w/in their heart”

 

J. We think of JUDAS ISCARIOT;

1. On the NIGHT that he betrayed Christ,

a. He DIDN’T JUST COME up with that idea that NIGHT

 

K. Judas had been HARBORING those feelings towards Christ for a while

1. And the opportunity to BETRAY CHRIST simply proved his heart!

 

L. You see, BEING TEMPTED or going through a time of TEMPTATION only proves a heart

1. A THIEF steals because he IS A THIEF

a. He’s not a thief because he steals, he steals because he is a THIEF

 

2. An ADULTEROUS person commits ADULTERY because they are an ADULTERER

 

Jesus said in -

Luke 6:43-45 (NKJV)

43 “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush.

45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

 

THE TIME TO DECIDE HOW FAR YOU WILL GO ON A DATE—ISN’T DECIDED IN THE BACK SEAT OF A CAR AT 11PM ON A FRIDAY NIGHT. IT’S DECIDED WELL BEFORE THAT. YOU DECIDE WELL BEFORE THE DATE EVER TAKES PLACE HOW FAR YOU WILL GO. Friday night just reveals what is already in the heart.

 

Testing does not make us who we are, it merely PROVES who we are

 

O. That’s why JAMES says in JAMES 1:12 -

James 1:12 (NASB)

12a Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial;

ESV “Blessed is the man who remains STEADFAST under trial”

“Blessed” (Supremely Blessed) or “Supremely HAPPY” is the believer who PRESERVERS under trial!

 

A. Now we may not EXPERIENCE SUPREME HAPPINESS –

1. While IN our TRIALS

2. But we will experience SUPREME HAPPINESS after our trial ends –

a. IF we ENDURE THROUGH our trials

 

B. This word ‘BLESSED’, is the SAME WORD Jesus used –

1. In the BEATITUDES on the Sermon on the MT

 

Matthew 5:10-12 (NASB)

10 “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. 12 “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

 

C. How SUPREMELY BLESSED is the BELIEVER who PERSEVERES under TRIALS!

 

D. Anybody can RUN from TRIAL

1. It takes no BACKBONE whatsoever to RUN away from PROBLEMS

2. But the man/woman who is TRULY BLESSED is the ONE WHO ENDURES

 

“PERSEVERE/ ENDURE” = (Greek ‘hupomeno’)

• “To stay under” “To Remain” “Bear—trials” “Take Patiently”

• “To bear up courageously under suffering”

 

E. The HAPPIEST CHRISTIANS are those who-

0. PATIENTLY ENDURE under their TRIALS!

 

“How SUPREMELY BLESSED are those Christians who…”

• Patiently ENDURE the TRIALS of MARRIAGE

• Patiently PERSEVERE the difficulties of LIFE

• “Bear up courageously under SUFFERING!”

 

“Oh how HAPPY will that man/woman be who patiently PERSEVERES under trials!”

 

F. Back in V. 2, James said:

“count it all JOY when you fall (become surrounded) by various trials!”

 

G. JOY is NOT predicated upon the EXTERNAL

1. JOY is predicated upon our INTERNAL relationship we have with CHRIST!

 

H. While HAPPINESS is predicated upon the EXTERNAL

1. One day in ETERNITY for all who PATIENTLY ENDURE;

2. They will be SUPREMELY BLESSED with HAPPINESS!

 

I. That’s what James’ is talking about in 12b

12b for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

 

A. The ‘Crown of Life’ has to do with ETERNAL LIFE

1. And for ALL BELIEVERS who PERSEVERE under TRIALS now:

2. One day in Heaven, they will be SUPREMELY HAPPY!!!!

 

B. I believe that not only NOW can and DO we experience:

1. OVERWHELMING happiness

2. But ALSO – for ALL of ETERNITY to COME!!!!

 

MANY PEOPLE ARE FOCUSED ON THE TEMPORARY, but Jesus said to focus on the eternal

 

Matthew 6:19-20 (NKJV)

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.

 

“the GREATEST TREASURES that we can LAY UP for ourselves in heaven is WHEN we PATIENTLY ENDURE the TRIALS of LIFE!”

 

D. What God accomplishes in our lives as we go through trials

1. Is of ETERNAL BENEFIT!!!!

 

E. Somebody may ROB ME of my EARTHLY TREASURES;

1. But NOBODY, not even the DEVIL will be able to:

a. ROB US of our ETERNAL TREASURES.

 

F. And HOW do we STORE AWAY these TREASURES?

1. By PATIENTLY ENDURING our trials!

 

G. We can COUNT IT ALL JOY when we FALL into various TRIALS now;

1. But for ALL who PATIENTLY ENDURE…

a. They will be ETERNALLY BLESSED!

 

13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.

 

A. Now here’s the thing:

1. We are all SINNERS by BIRTH, and SINNERS by CHOICE

 

B. There are a lot of people who are going through life saying:

1. “WELL, GOD MADE ME THIS WAY”

 

C. And so RATHER than taking FULL RESPONSIBILITY for their ACTIONS;

1. Many people seek to DENY the TRUTH

 

D. Many people seek to BLAME OTHERS for who they are

1. Or they seek to BLAME some IN-ANIMATE OBJECT

a. Skin your knee on cabinet door — stupid CABINET!!!!!

 

E. And rather than CALLING it SIN,

1. They refer to it as a “ DISEASE”

 

F. Back in the ‘70’s FLIP WILSON used to say:

1. “the DEVIL made me do it”

2. But the REALITY is that SATAN has NO POWER whatsoever over ANY believer

 

IF YOU GO THROUGH LIFE BLAMING OTHERS – family/parent/friend; GOD; CIRCUMSTANCE…rather Than your flesh…you will always live DEFEATED!!!

 

“God can & does TEST our FAITH, but He does NOT & can’t TEMPT us”

 

The idea of being TEMPTED is like a FISH that is being LURED out of HIDING — Drawn away to TAKE the BAIT

 

 

WE ALL HAVE DIFFERENT LURES/BAITS THAT tempt us to sin

 

We all have certain weaknesses that TEMPT US. Mine may not be yours or yours mine, but -

Satan STUDIES US to use the right BAIT/TEMPTATIONS

 

Satan is constantly digging through his BAIT BOX looking for lures to lure your heart away from GOD

* drugs

* alcohol

* sex

* covetousness / wealth / greed

* power

* popularity

* unforgiveness

* And so many others…

 

H. Now notice what James says about TEMPTATION here in Verse 14-

 

14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

A. It’s our OWN LUSTS that DRAW us into SITUATIONS that cause us to be TEMPTED;

 

B. Nobody can BLAME GOD; or their NATIONALITY; or a DISEASE for their SIN;

1. It’s really our OWN HEARTS that lead us into TEMPTATION

2. It’s really the LUSTS of our FLESH that DRAW us away

 

It’s the SECRET DESIRES of our FLESH hidden within us that LEAD US ASTRAY

 

“DESIRES” = “LONGING for; To LUST after”

 

D. It’s not the GLANCE that KILLS you

1. It’s the TEMPTATION that comes ACROSS you VISION

2. And it’s WHAT YOU DO with that TEMPTATION that determines your OUTCOME

 

E. If SOMETHING passes you line of vision and you LOOK AWAY;

1. You have NOT SINNED

 

F. But if you LOOK, and CONTINUE TO LOOK;

1. Or MAYBE you secretly SEEK to PUT YOURSELF in a POSITION to see something…

 

G. That is what JAMES’ is talking about –

1. A man is DRAWN AWAY by his own LUST when he CONTINUES to look/meditate on it

 

14a – But each one

 

A. Every one of us; none of us are EXEMPT from LUST

1. ANYONE who continues to ALLOW themselves to DWELL in the place of Temptation -

 

14b – is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has conceived,

 

A. You know when that is…you’ve been thinking about something for so long,

1. And then ONE DAY; you just DECIDE…

2. “I’M GOING to FOLLOW THROUGH on my lust”

3. “I’m going to give in…I’ve been lusting for so long now…

” I really can’t’ control myself any longer”

a. AND THEN the DESIRE/LUST takes over

PURCHASE — ACTION. — DRINK. — DRUGS — TOBACCO

 

C. A man may CONTEMPLATE—ADULTERY for many YEARS;

1. But the bible says that the DAY WILL COME when he will GIVE INTO IT

 

D. There just comes a time, when YOUR LUST overrules LOGIC;

1. A time when you have so ANTICIPATED an AFFAIR,

a. That it NO LONG is TABOO

 

JAMES’ says that there is a POINT when LUST – CONCEIVES

1. And you’ve really just come to a point in your mind where it’s JUSTIFIABLE;

2. “what’s one DRINK?”

3. ” my wife doesn’t really love me anyways”

4. ” my husband doesn’t pay attention to me like I need ”

5. ” what’s one hit?”

a. And so it TAKES OVER and you GIVE IN and then, JAMES SAYS

 

14c – it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

 

F. It’s interesting the picture James gives us here;

1. A picture of a MOTHER and a FATHER coming together to have a CHILD

 

G. BUT IN THIS CASE…the MOTHER and FATHER are:

1. TEMPTATION and LUST that COME TOGETHER and they CONCEIVE

a. And GIVE BIRTH to a CHILD named —-“SIN”

 

H. And the END of LUST brings DEATH

 

TYPES OF DEATH as the result of SIN:

1. SPIRITUAL – Eternal damnation

2. PHYSICAL – Can be direct result of LUST, giving into fleshly passions

a. O.D. on drugs; Alcohol poisoning; killed in car wreck; HIV; Murdered by jealous spouse

3. FELLOWSHIP – Broken fellowship w/ GOD and OTHER BELIEVERS

4. Conscience – Numbness to the voice of God

 

I. When I think about a PERFECT biblical EXAMPLE of this;

1. I think of KING DAVID and BATHSHEBA

 

2 SAMUEL 11

1. Failed to be where he should – in battle

2. Excessive free time

3. Led away by his desires

4. SAW Bathsheba bathing on the rooftop

a. Makes me WONDER…Did he previously know that Bathsheba was bathing?

b. Was he Drawn to go look?

c. Sort of like certain WEB SITES….if you go there…

i. You KNOW it’s POSSIBLE you could be TEMPTED

5. Toyed with lust, became a fantasy

6. ACTED upon his desires

7. Brought forth SIN

8. Sin brought for DEATH

a. Death KILLS the SOUL

b. Death KILLS our FELLOWSHIP with GOD

c. Death KILLS our Fellowship with other BELIEVERS!

 

J. Sin killed David’s ability to REMAIN in fellowship with URIAH!

1. His SECRET SIN was MANIFESTED by an EXTERNAL broken fellowship w/ URIAH

 

K. HOW OFTEN when someone FALLS into SIN that it SEEMS so SHOCKING?!

1. But in REALITY, it’s a SIN that had BEEN FESTERING for YEARS?

 

A man doesn’t wake up one morning a decide to COMMIT ADULTERY/ MURDER.  To US it may LOOK like this, when in REALITY, it’s a SECRET DESIRE that has EXISTED for a LONG TIME

 

M. It’s a SAD DAY when a MAN’S CONSCIENCE becomes to CALLOUSED to his evil desires;

1. That he ACTS on THEM

 

N. This is what JAMES is WARNING us ABOUT:

1. We must GUARD our EYES and HEARTS and our MINDS

 

O. We MUST GUARD what we LOOK AT

1. We must GUARD the THOUGHTS that we MEDITATE ON

 

P. And we must GUARD the DESIRES of our HEARTS

1. Because you many NOT think that it’s ANY BIG DEAL to CONTEMPLATE a sinful act;

2. But the LONGER you ALLOW yourself to DWELL on that IDEA;

a. That CLOSER YOU will DRAW to FULFILLING that DESIRE / reality

 

“LOOK—LUST—SIN—DIE”

 

Q. it’s NOT ROCKET SCIENCE! -  it’s SIMPLE MORAL LAW

 

R. If you want to AVOID the CONSEQUENCES of SIN;

1. GUARD your DESIRES

2. That is where it ALL BEGINS!

 

S. Do you want to GUARD your LIFE against ADULTERY? MURDER? THIEF

1. Then you MUST GUARD your DESIRES…

 

T. If you DON’T GUARD your DESIRES/ LUSTS;

1. You WILL FALL

2. IT’S just a matter of WHEN and how FAR

 

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

 

A. Who’s the WORST PERSON in the world for YOU to DECEIVE?

1. Point to that person…(Yourself)

 

B. The WORST person in the world that we can DECEIVE is OURSELVES!

1. Some people WILLFULLY LIVE A LIE

2. They WILLFULLY seek to DECEIVE themselves

 

C. They PROCLAIM lies about themselves long enough that –

1. They begin to believe that that is who they are!

 

D. Some people not only DECEIVE THEMSELVES about WHO THEY ARE;

1. They ALSO deceive themselves about WHO OTHERS are

 

E. I’ve seen some people live such a WICKED LIFE and HURT so many people;

1. And REFUSE TO REPENT

2. That the ONLY WAY they can FALL ASLEEP at night is to

a. LIE TO THEMSELVES about others!

 

F. “Well, they deserve it”

1. “What did they expect”

2. “They knew that’s the way it would turn out”

3. “That’s their own problem for allowing me to DECEIVE THEM – need to be discerning”

 

16. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren.

 

A. I love what Paul said in – Galatians 6:7-9

7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

 

B. Because ALL SIN beings with a THOUGHT;

1. Therefore it’s important to GUARD the MIND, as Paul said in –

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things.

 

E. What you THINK ABOUT will determine WHO you BECOME;

1. And WHERE you END UP in life…

2. And possibly where you spend ETERNITY!

 

F. I CAN’T control your mind and what you THINK ABOUT;

1. Your PARENTS can’t control your mind

2. Your SPOUSE can’t control your mind

3. ONLY YOU can GUARD your DESIRES

 

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

A. God can ONLY GIVE good GIFTS!

1. He didn’t make us all the same, PRAISE GOD!

2. But He has CREATED and GIFTED each one of us UNIQUELY!

 

B. He’s created some HANDS, FEET, ELBOWS, MOUTHS, EARS

1. But NONE of us are EXACTLY the SAME

2. None of us have exactly the SAME CALLING

 

C. Whatever GIFTS’ He’s given YOU, they are PERFECT GIFTS

1. And they BELONG to HIM

 

D. With God there is NO VARIATION; or SHADOW of TURNING;

1. God NEVER CHANGES

2. He’s consistent, everlasting

3. And He brought us forth by the WORD of TRUTH

 

E. You were CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS ——–FOR GOOD WORKS

1. And WHERE does it all begin?

 

12 – “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him!”

 

CONCLUSION

A. Hallelujah! Are you READY?

1. Are living in such a way that you are GUARDING your MIND

2. Guarding what you MEDITATE on?

3. Guarding the DESIRES of your HEART?

 

B. ONLY YOU can determine the OUTCOME of YOUR RACE!

1. I will run my race and DETERMINE my FUTURE based on my CHOICES

2. Just as YOU will run your OWN RACE, and determine YOUR FUTURE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“Black & White” 1 John 3

by • on 11:20 PM • in Sermon Notes

 

John now begins 1 John 3 saying:

1a Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!

A. What an awesome privilege that God has given to each of us as believers –

            1. That we should be called the ‘children of God!’

B. I don’t think that anyone of us can fully appreciate how blessed that we are in this sense

            1. The alternative is to be called the children of the devil

C. That is in fact what Christ said to the Pharisees in –

John 8:30-44
30 As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will be made free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. 37 “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. 38 I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.” 39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham. 40 But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. 41 You do the deeds of your father.” Then they said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father–God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.

44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

D. What a great privilege to know JESUS CHRIST as Personal Lord and Savior

            1. This is the message of the Gospel!

John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

E. Jesus Christ is God’s ONLY BEGOTTEN SON;

            1. But as God’s ADOPTED CHILDREN-

                        a. We are called the children of God!

1b Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

A. Not everyone is a child of God

            1. Sometimes I hear people say that “We’re all the children of God” – but that’s not true

B. Only those who have repented of their sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ have become

            1. “The CHILDREN of God”

C. The world can’t identify with us

            1. They don’t know us, or understand us

            2. They CAN’T because they DON’T KNOW GOD

D. The world can’t understand how you and I can get up on a perfectly good Sunday morning

            1. And GO TO CHURCH!

            2. To the world, they can’t identify with that

E. “The sun is out, the day is beautiful, why waste it in church around other people?”

            1. John says the WORLD DOES NOT KNOW US…because they don’t know God

            2. They don’t have a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with Jesus Christ

F. Many people have an INTELLECTUAL RELATIONSHIP with the Lord;

            1. They know OF HIM, but they are not IN HIM

G. And only those of us who have been given this privilege of being called the children of God

            1. Can identify with one another
2 Beloved, now we are children of God;

A. I love how TENDER  John is!

            1. His maturity in the Lord over all the years of walking with Christ have matured him

            2. He loves those whom he is writing & he is writing those whom he loves

                        a. There is no struggle in John’s heart to IDENTIFY himself w/ the family of God

                        b. In fact he sort of DELIGHTS in it!

B. “Beloved of God”

            1. NOW — we are the children of God

C. We don’t have to wait until the end to find out how the story ends;

            1. NOW – TODAY we know HOW the story ENDS because

2. WE ARE the children of God!

Romans 8:35-39    Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

D. For all of us who have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ;

            1. We already KNOW the END of the story

            2. We can SLEEP TIGHT and not let the BED BUGS BITE

                        a. Because no matter what happens…

                                    i. We ARE NOW called the CHILDREN OF GOD!

2b and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

A. As CHILDREN OF GOD…

            1. We are all WORKS of PROGRESS

            2. NONE of us are COMPLETE

            3. None of us are at the point where God is finished with us

                        a. If we were, God would take us home

B. But because God’s not done with us, we are all WORKS IN PROGRESS

            1. And God has commanded us to be PATIENT with one another

            2. We can’t hurry that process in OUR OWN LIVES

            3. And neither can we hurry that process in the LIVES of another FAMILY MEMBER

                        a. And I’m ok with that!

C. I think that one of our greatest struggles as Christians, is to get in a HURRY to MATURE

            1. Or to think that we can HURRY the PROCESS of God’s timing in others

D. Maybe it’s even for the PROCESS of SALVATION

            1. “I’m anxious to see my husband or wife or children come to know the Lord”

            2. But John says here that we can’t hurry that process

E. God is working on each of us individually- in HIS TIME, according to HIS PLANS

            1. We have not yet experience FULL MATURITY…

            2. But we know that when Christ appears, we will be LIKE HIM

                        a. We will each be completed at that moment & receive our glorified bodies

F. A lot of people are confused over 1 Cor 13:9-13, let’s look at that passage:

1 Corinthians 13:9-13
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. 13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

G. Many people doctrinally believe that verse 10 has already been fulfilled in the coming of Christ

            1. Yet as Paul states here, it hasn’t been fulfilled yet

H. Right now, you and I see in a mirror dimly, but at the BEMA SEAT we shall then see the Lord

            1. FACE TO FACE

I. We only know IN PART TODAY;

            1. We don’t have a full understanding

            2. We are not yet fully mature in Christ

            3. As God’s children, we are all WORKS IN PROGRESS

J. And one of God’s great promises to each of His children is found in –

Philippians 1:6    being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

K. God began it and He will complete it, and ONE DAY in the FUTURE;

            1. When CHRIST IS REVEALED

            2. We shall be LIKE HIM

            3. For we shall SEE HIM as He is!!!
3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

A. Isn’t that wonderful that God has given us the incredible PRIVILEGE of BEING PURE?!

            1. We no longer need to be CONTROLLED by the PASSIONS of our FLESH

            2. God has BROKEN THAT BONDAGE that our flesh had over us

B. As children of the world, we were DOMINATED and MASTERED by our FLESH;

            1. But as CHILDREN of God, we have been SET FREE

John 8:36       If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

C. We’ve been set free and given the privilege of DAILY CHOOSING to live

1. A SANCTIFIED life in Christ

D. All of God’s true children have this hope of one day seeing Him FACE TO FACE

            1. And it is through this FUTURE HOPE that we LIVE a PURIFIED LIFE

E. I’m going to DAILY SEEK to cleanse my life from everything that does not glorify God

            1. “Lord what else in my life should not be a part of my life?”

            2. “Is there anything in my life that needs to go?”

F. So all who ‘have this hope’, PURIFIES HIMSELF, even AS CHRIST IS PURE
4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.

A. Paul says in –

Romans 6:1-7
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

B. God has freed us from sin, and as children of God

1. We can no longer allow sin to master us

C. We may and WILL WRESTLE with sin,

            1. But as God’s children, we can no longer allow it to ABIDE IN US

            2. When we sin, we are CONVICTED and REPENT and RESTORED

            3. We may FALL, but we get back up and seek restoration in CHRIST
5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.

A. Jesus Christ was and is SINLESS and He came for ONE PURPOSE

            1. To TAKE AWAY our SINS

            2. He didn’t die for HIS OWN SINS but for the sins of the world

                        a. So John says –

6a Whoever abides in Him does not sin.

A. The ONLY WAY to REMAIN FREE from the bondage of SIN is to ABIDE in Christ

            1. Because Christ is SINLESS…

            2. As we ABIDE IN HIM… we will live sinless lives

B. When a person falls in sin, it may not necessarily be because a person isn’t saved;

            1. But rather, as a CHILD OF GOD,

            2. SIN will overtake us when we FAIL to ABIDE in CHRIST

                        a. He is PURE and we too are MADE PURE as we ABIDE in Him!

6b Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

A. The word ‘sins’ here is PRESENT TENSE – LIFE STYLE

1. Those who live in sin are not really saved

B. The true child of God, cannot abide in a sinful life

            1. A TRUE CHRISTIAN may be a PRODIGAL SON for a SEASON;

            2. But eventually, he/she will come back to their senses and RETURN to the Lord
7a Little children, let no one deceive you.

A. Many false gospels going out today declaring that you can live in sin and still be a Christian

            1. But John is saying ‘don’t let anyone deceive you’

7b He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.

A. The evidence of salvation is a righteous lifestyle

            1. If I say that I am a CHRISTIAN – CHRIST-LIKE,

            2. Then I will PRACTICE RIGHTEOUSNESS

B. Again if God is PURE and I am IN GOD;

            1. Then I WILL BE PURE

C. “Don’t let anyone deceive you into thinking that –

1. You can claim to be IN GOD if you are IN SIN
8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

A. Everyone who LIVES/ABIDES in sin is demonstrating WHO CHILD they really are

            1. He who LIVES IN SIN belongs to their father the DEVIL

B. Everyone who is IN CHRIST has been given the POWER OVER SIN

            1. Christ has DESTROYED the power of SATAN over the CHILDREN OF GOD

9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

A. If I go out and plant a pumpkin seed this spring,

            1. That pumpkin seed doesn’t have to TRY to GROW INTO A PUMPKIN

            2. Neither does it NEED TO FEAR becoming a WATERMELON, squash or a bean

B. When you plant a PUMPKIN SEED, it will NATURALLY BECOME WHAT IT IS

            1. Whoever has been truly BORN AGAIN, will grow in CHRISTLIKENESS
10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, 12 not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

A. The difference between the children of God and the devil are seen in two specific areas:

            1. Righteousness & Love

B. Those who live RIGHTEOUS and LOVE his BROTHER is of God

            1. Those who LIVE IN SIN & are BOUND BY HATRED

a. Belong to their father the devil

C. “Let know one deceive you”

            1. Not even your own mind

            2. These are the measurements of TRUE SALVATION

“In this we know that we are the children of God, in that we love one another”
13 Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.

A. They hate each other, why shouldn’t they hate you too?!

            1. Hate is just a natural emotion from the unbeliever

B. Jesus said “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”

            1. A person doesn’t hate you because you are such a TERRIBLE PERSON

C. Rather the world hates you because they are FULL OF HATE, like their father the devil

            1. And out of the abundance of their hearts, their mouths speak

D. Out of the abundance of LOVE the CHILDREN of God speak;

            1. As out of the abundance of the heart of HATE, the children of God speak

E. The true evidence of salvation is demonstrated in RIGHTEOUSNESS & LOVE;

            1. Or LACK thereof
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. 15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

A. Satan so oftentimes will beat us up trying to convience us of our lack of salvation;

            1. But here Jesus says, you can be assured that you are saved in your love for the breather

B. If you DON’T LOVE your brethren;

            1. Then you really don’t have ANY ASSURANCE of being God’s child

C. Is God love? YES!!!

            1. Then if we ABIDE IN CHRIST, we will be ABIDING IN LOVE!

D. How do we know that we are IN CHRIST?

            1. “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, that you LOVE one another!”

E. HATRED for another Christian, a desire for their HARM or DESTRUCTION is satanic

            1. And those who have such feeling ABIDES IN DEATH
17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

A. The Apostle James puts it this way –

James 2:14-17  What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

B. True salvation is not only meted out in RIGHTEOUSNESS and LOVE, but ACTION

            1. TRUE LOVE ALWAYS produces WORKS

“My deeds don’t save me, they simply reveal my salvation.”

C. This too is what John is saying

            1. “Don’t just say you LOVE SOMEONE, SHOW THEM!”

D. If your brother whom you say you love has a need, and you have the MEANS;

            1. Then don’t just talk about LOVING HIM;

            2. SERVE HIM

            3. Give to Him from that which God has given you

E. Does it mean more to have someone tell you that they love you, or to have them show it?

            1. Like the greeting card once a year….

                        a. “Well I rarely tell you how much I love you, but you know I do…”

                        b. Yeah, WHATEVER!

F. If you REALLY LOVE ME, then SHOW ME!!!

            1. Don’t just have someone write it out in a card once a year & think that’s good enough

            2. “Ok, now I can justify my DEAD EMOTIONS for another 12 months, got the card!”

G. John says “if you see your brother in need, and you shut up your heart towards him…”

            1. Then how does the love of God abide in him?

            2. The truth is, it doesn’t

            3. God’s love REALLY DOESN’T ABIDE in that person’s heart

H. If you see your WIFE EMOTIONALLY DISTRAUGHT –

1. And you shut up your heart towards her,

2. How can you say ‘the love of God abides in you’ – it really doesn’t!

18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. 20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.

A. Also in, 1 John 4:18, John says:

1 John 4:18    There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

B. As we abide in Christ, in His RIGHTEOUSNESS, LOVE and DEEDS

            1. PERFECT LOVE casts out all fear

            2. How often our hearts condemn us, only to find that we’re not abiding as we should be

21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.

A. Abiding in Christ produces total assurance or confidence in our walk with Christ

            1. My EMOTIONS may run ALL OVER THE MAP

            2. But as I abide in Christ, my CONFIDENCE is established!

22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

A. How do we abide in Christ?

            1. Simply by keeping His commandments

B. We are SAVED BY GRACE through FAITH;

            1. But we ABIDE in Christ by keeping His commandments

C. As we keep His commandments, we abide in Him, and He in us

Conclusion:

 

John 15:1-8
1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

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“Stewardship Sunday” CC Buffalo 2.27.11

by • on 9:48 PM • in Sermon Notes, Topical Sermons

“Stewardship Sunday”

CCB – Feb. 27, 2011

 

Introduction:

A man was walking home from work one day. He was weary from a long day, and so he decided

to take a shortcut through a neighbor’s field, and that was a normal thing to do in those days,

people wouldn’t have been offended by that. As he was taking the shortcut through the field, all

of a sudden he got to a certain place and, when his walking stick hit the ground in that certain

place, there was kind of a hollow thud that happened underneath it. It was an unusual thing to

happen for this man, and so he thought, “I’m going to check and see what’s underneath it”. So

he went into the ground and he began to wipe away the dust, to clear away the dirt that was there,

to find what was underneath. He found first a wood plank and then, as he dug deeper, he found

what looked like a treasure chest. He pulled out the treasure chest and opened it up and inside he

had never seen anything like it before. It was full of gold and silver and jewels of every color.

He had never seen anything like that, unimaginable wealth! He thought quickly and he thought,

“If I take this right now that would be stealing.” So he put it back into the ground and he

covered it up again. Then an idea hit him. He got up from that place and instead of being

exhausted from a long days’ work, a skip started to enter into his stride. He began to think of

ways that he could possibly get that treasure legitimately. He thought, “If I buy the field then the

treasure would be mine.” The treasure wasn’t close to where anybody lived that he knew of, so

he figured the owner probably didn’t even know that it was there. He thought, “If I sell

everything maybe I can get it. Ok, if I do this . . . .if I sell my house . . .I’ll have to sell that for

sure. I’ll probably have to give up my prize pair of oxen. The iPod definitely has to go. The

children . . . .no, we’re going to keep the children.” He figured, “If I sell out on all of my

material goods then maybe, just maybe, I can have enough money to buy that field, and if I

bought the field then I would be able to have the treasure.”

 

A. This story about the treasure is actually a story that comes from the book of Matt 13:44

            1. So, if you’ve got your Bibles, go ahead and turn in there

2. And we are going to be looking at principles related to treasure

3. That God has for us, or that we can store up for ourselves in eternity

 

B. This morning. Matt 13:44 is a single verse parable which says this:

 

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

 

 

E. He sold it “in his joy” because he realized, even if he sold everything that he had,

1. It would cost him everything,

2. But what it would gain him is so much more!

 

F. This is an unbelievable find, a find that would change his whole life

1. This is not a man in the parable that we’re thought of to pity,

2. Instead, this is a man who is to be envied

3. Because he scored the biggest score of his life

 

G. Was he smart to cash it all in for the treasure?

1. You bet he was, because with that treasure –

2. It would be so much better than life as it was normally

 

 

H. Today I’m going to be teaching on the subject of STEWARDSHIP

            1. Stewardship includes EVERY AREA of our lives

                        a. FINANCES

                        b. TIME

                        c. GIFTS & TALENTS and so on -

            2. And we are going to be looking at many different passages of Scripture

 

A. Jesus said,

 

“the kingdom of heaven is like this kind of treasure that’s hidden in a field. It’s worth selling out everything for.”

 

B. God owns everything and I am and everything that I have;

            1. I am merely His investor, or a manager, of HIS resources

 

C. Now, in church, often times, people are afraid to talk about money

1. Or they are uncomfortable with it for a variety of different reasons,

2. And understandably so

3. There have been many scandals around financial items

 

D. There has been discomfort among people talking about giving away their resources

1. Towards other causes

 

E. Money is one of those things that is measurable as well,

1. So you can go back and actually look at how well you’re doing in the giving category

2. For all these reasons it sometimes makes people feel uncomfortable

 

F. Who remembers that last time I preached a sermon on giving?

            1. I sure don’t

            2. In fact, I don’t know that I ever have, other than when it’s come up in our text

 

G. But this morning we’re going to talk about money, tithing & Stewardship for several reasons

 

 

 

#1. Christ taught on MONEY more than even HEAVEN or HELL

 

A. In the bible there are over 450 verses on FAITH

            1. Over 500 verses on PRAYER

            2. But over 2100 verses on GIVING

 

B. 1 in every 10 verses in the N.T. deals with:

            1. GIVING, MONEY, or POSSESSIONS

 

C. Of the 38 Parables Jesus taught:

            1. 16 deal directly with GIVING/MONEY/POSSESSIONS

 

D. Why was JESUS so emphatic about this?

            1. Because Jesus said –

 

Luke 12:34       For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

I. He wants us to GIVE to HIM;

            1. Not because He NEEDS our money;

            2. But because He wants our HEARTS

 

 

#2. I need to let you know how we are doing as a church financially

 

A. At CC we don’t normally talk about money;

            1. And if you are a visitor today, the regulars can avow to that

 

B. Generally, the only time I’m going to teach on money is when we come across the text;

            1. Yet, the Lord has put it upon my heart today to TEACH on GIVING

            2. We all need to be faithful & I need to bring you all up to date w/ where we’re at

 

C. Because of our FORM of CHURCH government;

            1. We don’t really have ‘BUSINESS MEETINGS’

            2. Rather we have a board of directors who meets QUARTERLY

                        a. And all 5 of us PRAYERFULLY CONSIDER how to budget God’s money

 

D. Now I have no idea who gives what, or if you give at all

            1. It’s NOT that our BOARD wont allow me to KNOW

            2. It’s that I CHOOSE NOT TO KNOW;

                        a. Because I don’t want to DEVELOP a CHIP on my shoulder towards those who

                           do NOT GIVE; nor do I want to develop FAVORITISM towards the GIVERS

            3. It’s all GOD’S DEAL

                        a. Either you FAITHFULLY TITHE unto the LORD

                        b. Or you are STEALING FROM HIM

 

 

E. Now you might say to me “Where does it say that in the bible?”

            1. GLAD YOU ASKED!

            2. The LORD Himself said in -

 

Malachi 3:8-10
“Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.

 

*The nation of Israel had been w/holding their tithes and the result was:

            1. GOD’S HOUSE was in DISREPAIR while they homes TENDED to

            2. And the Priests could no longer afford to serve at the TEMPLE

            3. So they WENT BACK TO WORK – farming; agricultural industry

            4. And the WORK of God was NEGLECTED as the people fell away from the Lord

 

A. The Prophet Malachi had carried a rather severe message as he told the people of God that-

            1. They had GROWN LUKEWARM in their LOVE towards God

 

B. And here in 3:8, the Lord says “How shall you return to Me?”

            1. “Consider this: You’ve been robbing Me”

 

C. You see, the HEARTS of the people were HELD BACK to the SAME DEGREE

            1. Their TITHES and OFFERINGS were

 

D. The word TITHE simply means “TENTH”

            1. The 1st 10% of EVERY DOLLAR I receive is the Lord’s

 

E. Therefore if I DON’T TITHE;

            1. I’m actually ROBBING GOD

 

F. In giving my TITHE, on the other hand

            1. I’m sanctifying the REMAINING 90%

                        a. (Which still belongs to God, I’m just His STEWART over the 90%)

 

G. Tithing acknowledges in a very real way, what James said:

James 1:17

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

 

“It’s amazing how SMALL a dollar LOOKS at the GROCERY STORE; but how BIG it looks when I’m about to put it in the OFFERING PLATE!”         – James McDonald

 

H. The bible tells us in Leviticus 27:30 that the TITHE is the LORD’S

            1. To which some people OBJECT ——–‘LEGALISM’!

            2. ‘As N.T. believers, we are FREE from the LAW’

                        a. And YES we are

                        b. But TITHING began well before the LAW was ever given

 

I. In Genesis 14;

            1. Abraham gave a TITHE to MELCHIZEDEK;

            2. A picture or TYPE of the LORD JESUS CHRIST

 

J. In O.T. times, TITHING was actually about 23%

            1. 10% tithe to the Levites

            2. 10% tithe to the LORD directly

            3. 10% tithe every 3 years to the POOL

            4. In addition, 1/6th of ALL crops were to be given to the LORD

 

Matthew 23:23
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone.

 

K. The Scribes and Pharisees were METICULOUS about TITHING

            1. And Jesus CONFIRMED that they SHOULD TITHE (1/10)

            2. Not only did it PRECEDE the LAW, but it was CONFIRMED by Christ

 

 

‘BRING ALL THE TITHES into the STOREHOUSE’ Mal. 3:10

 

A. Notice that ALL the TITHES were to be bought

            1. Someone once said, “well it really doesn’t matter HOW MUCH you give”

            2. “You know, all God is really looking at is your HEART”

            3. “It doesn’t matter if you give 3% or 20%, it’s your heart”

 

B. But that’ NOT what God said is it?

            1. God said BRING ALL THE TITHES in – ALL 10%

 

C. Someone one said, well is that 10% off the GROSS or NET of my pay check?

            1. For most people because they don’t tithe at all;

            2. If they’d tithe 10% off the NET that be 100% more than they were giving

 

D. Notice also God DIRECTS that the WHOLE TITHE should be brought –

            1. Into the STOREHOUSE

 

E. That is, we are to TITHE to the LOCAL CHURCH where we are being shepherded & FED

            1. If CCB is your CHURCH—- Then your STOREHOUSE is to be CCB

            2. If you attend somewhere else, then YOUR TITHE BELONGS to that ministry

F. It’d be like going down to PIZZA HUT for LUNCH;

            1. And when you’re done, getting up and walking over to SUBWAY to pay

            2. Your TITHE belongs in your LOCAL CHURCH where you are being FED

 

F. You may give an OFFERING ELSEWHERE (anything above your 10% tithe = offerings)

            1. But your FULL 10% TITHE belongs @ your LOCAL STOREHOUSE           

            2. Isn’t that what Malachi 3:10 says?

                        a. God says is you want to be BLESSED, here’s how you do it

 

G. The TITHE is NOT to be GIVEN RANDOMLY

            1. For example if you have a HURTING NEIGHBOR;

            2. You can’t take your TITHE & give it to them to help them out – belongs in storehouse

 

H. You CAN’T take your tithe and GIVE it to KSLW or one of the TEACHERS on RADIO;

            1. You CAN give an OFFERING to OUTSIDE MINISTRIES

            2. Or to HELP YOUR NEIGHBOR

            3. But the 1st FULL 10% BELONGS to God & is to be given to your LOCAL CHURCH

 

I. Another area I’ve seen people MISAPPROPRIATE their TITHE is by;

            1. PURCHASING various items for the CHURCH

            2. God does not give you the AUTHORITY to do that

 

J. At other times, I’ve seen people give away their GARBAGE to the local CHURCH

            1. For say a GARAGE SALE, and call that their TITHE

            2. Again, God doesn’t want our GARBAGE anymore than we want it;

                        a. And we can’t justify our SPRING CLEANING as our TITHE

 

K. I truly believe that the LOCAL CHURCH has been greatly restricted because –

            1. So many people today have been given to ALL SORTS of CAUSES…

                        a. RATHER than to their LOCAL CHURCH

 

L. In the book of ACTS, we see the local church HELPING the POOR;

            1. Sending out missionaries, and PLANTING new churches

            2. Those who were sent out were SUBMITTED & ACCOUNTABLE to the church

 

M. Another aspect of OUR STEWARDSHIP that God requires of us is that it’s our 1st FRUITS

            1. God REQUIRES us to WRITE out our 10% TITHE CHECK right off the TOP

 

N. Now the temptation is to PAY ALL OF OUR BILLS 1st;

            1. THEN IF anything is LEFT OVER, decide HOW MUCH / if anything to TITHE

            2. BUT….NOTICE what God says in –

 

Malachi 3:10   Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.

 

A. THROUGHOUT the Word, GOD SAYS:

            1. “TRUST ME!”

 

B. BUT…in the area of GIVING, He says:

            1. “PROVE ME!!!!”

 

“Bring Me your tithes and offerings and see if I won’t bless you in such a way that you can’t even contain it! – Prove me in this!”

 

C. One of the GREATEST PROBLEMS in the lives of so many believers today is;

            1. Their LACK of FAITH that GOD WILL PROVIDE

 

D. And the RESULT is PEOPLE get nervous and STOP TITHING

            1. In fact for some people their ECONOMIC status doesn’t even change;

            2. But just in the PROSPECT that they may not have ENOUGH if they tithe;

                        a. They STOP GIVING

 

E. But again, remember if we STOP TITHING we are ROBBING from God

            1. Just so you know WE TITHE TOO!!!

            2. This is just as much my RESPONSIBILITY as YOURS

 

F. DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS when you STOP TITHING?

            1. Your money doesn’t GO AS FAR as it used to

            2. YOU NEVER HAVE ENOUGH

 

HAGGAI 1

 

A. In the book Haggai, the people of Israel had been freed from Babylon approximately -

1. 16 years earlier by their political leader, Zerubbabel & Joshua  the high priest

 

B. These people has traveled several hundred miles back to Jerusalem

1. And immediately set about doing what the Lord had commissioned them to do:

a. They began to build the TEMPLE

b. The place where God’s name could be PRAISED

c. The place they could assemble to HONOR HIS NAME

 

C. They began to LAY the FOUNDATION;

            1. But became intimidated by their enemies and divided by internal contention

 

D. So for 16 years, the WORK SAT IDLE

            1. Weeds began to grow on the FOUNDATION as the people gave up on the project,

            2. And INSTEAD TURNED to the construction of THEIR OWN HOMES

 

E. Haggai’s basic message is:

           

“Maybe you were once excited about the things of God, excited about serving the Lord but have since grown weary by the squabbling of God’s people or the attacks of the enemy. So you have decided to concentrate on your own life instead, tending to your own little world. This message is for you! For no matter how long it’s been, Haggai states that it’s never too late to get going again!”

 

 

Haggai 1:2-6
2 “Thus speaks the Lord of hosts, saying: ‘This people says, “The time has not come, the time that the Lord’s house should be built.” ‘ ”

 

A. Notice that the people WEREN’T SAYING: that the Lord’s temple shouldn’t be built

            1. They were simply saying that, due to the ENEMIES & CONTENTION –

                        a. “We’ll get to it LATER”

                        b. “We’ll do it sometime, maybe even soon, but not RIGHT NOW”

 

B. That’s one of the ENEMY’S favorite tactics –

            1. “I’m NOT saying NO, I’m just saying ‘LATER’

            2. Next MONTH, next YEAR,

 

C. AFTER you buy YOUR NEW HOME

            1. Develop your CAREER

            2. Have your FAMILY

            3. PAY OFF all your DEBTS….

 

“THEN YOU CAN REALLY ENGAGE YOURSELF IN DOING AND GIVING WHAT THE LORD HAS CALLED YOU TO DO.”

 

D. It’s never the WRONG TIME to do the WRITE THING

            1. What has God called YOU TO DO?

            2. Where has GOD called YOU to SERVE and GIVE of YOURSELF?

 

E. Procrastination is what the ENEMY will use to hinder you from doing it

            1. He WONT SAY: “IT’S NOT WORTH IT”

            2. He’ll just say: “DO IT LATER”

 

 

3 Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?”

 

A. How is it that you have time to PANEL your own houses;

            1. But NOT to DO what I have CALLED YOU TO DO?

 

B. Some of your homes are in PERFECT ORDER

            1. All the walls are painted the right colors, closets in perfect order

            2 . And YET you are NOT DOING what God has CALLED you to do

C. We’ll LORD, it’s not that I’m saying “NO”, I’m just saying “LATER”

            1. “As soon as I get my FENCE PAINTED”

            2. “As soon as I FINISH MY BASEMENT”

            3. “As soon as I get the KITCHEN REMODELED, then I’ll be right there to SERVE”

 

D. PROCRASTINATION is the PRIMARY tool that the ENEMY will use

            1. To KEEP YOU from DOING what God has CALLED you to do

 
5 Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways!

 

A. “Consider” is a COMMAND the LORD – stated 5 times throughout Haggai

            1. Consider your ways- what you SPEND your MONEY on and TIME doing

            2. SEARCH YOUR HEART

 

B. Now here’s the RESULT of a SELF-CENTERED, DISOBEDIENT LIFE:

            1. GOD says:
6 “You have sown much (you’re always working- not enough hours in a week), and bring in little (your paycheck is never enough to cover your bills); You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink (you’re never satisfied); You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”

 

A. When you DON’T TITHE,

            1. You CAN’T WORK enough hours to stay ahead of your CREDITORS

 

B. When you DON’T SERVE the LORD;

            1. There is NEVER enough TIME in the WEEK to get all YOUR projects done

 

C. It’s like after all that HARD WORK, you’ve just put your money in pockets full of HOLES

            1. IT’S NOT THE MORE YOU KEEP THE MORE YOU SAVE

            2. It’s not: the MORE STINGY you can be the MORE that YOU WILL HAVE

 

D. God has NEVER PROMISED TO BLESS the GREEDY MAN

            1. God has ALWAYS PROMISED TO BLESS the GENEROUS MAN!

 

 

ILLUSTRATION:

 One of the most amazing ‘rags to riches’ stories is the life of RG LeTourneau, as told in his biography “Mover of Mountains and Men”.  LeTourneau began his career in obscurity in Stockton, California, where his first job was transporting earth to level out farmland.  His frustrations with moving dirt drove him to find a better, more efficient way.  In 1922 he constructed the first all-welded scraper that was lighter, stronger and less expensive than any other machines.

As a multi-millionaire, LeTourneau gave 90% of his profit to God’s work and kept only 10% for himself. A special friend of Billy Graham, in his early days, LeTourneau designed a portable dome building intended for Graham crusades. He also founded a university that is thriving to this day.

LeTourneau said that the money came in faster than he could give it away.  LeTourneau was convinced that he could not out-give God.  ”I shovel it out,” he would say, “and God shovels it back, but God has a bigger shovel.”

Many people see Letourneau as one of the most influential people of the past hundred years. As the father of the modern earthmoving industry, he was responsible for 299 inventions.  These inventions included the bulldozer, scrapers of all sorts, dredgers, portable cranes, rollers, dump wagons, bridge spans, logging equipment, mobile sea platforms for oil exploration, the electric wheel and many others.  He introduced into the earthmoving and material handling industry the rubber tire, which today is almost universally accepted. He invented and developed the Electric Wheel. His life’s verse was –

 

Matthew 6:33: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.”

 

CONCLUSION:

 

A. Let me ask you this morning –

            1. What are you SEEKING FIRST?

 

B. Are you seeking the KINGDOM of God

            1. Are you HONORING the LORD with the 1st FRUITS of your POSSESSIONS?

 

C. Are you BRING IN ALL THE TITHE to the STOREHOUSE?

            1. Or are you ROBBING GOD?

 

D. What about in your SERVICE?

            1. Are you serving the LORD?

            2. Or are you CONSUMED with FIXING up your OWN HOUSE?

 

Only one life to live; twill soon shall past; only what’s done for Christ will last.

 

E. Well, I’ve done my part;

            1. I’ve delivered to you the message God has put on my heart

 

F. Now it’s YOUR TURN

            1. Will you RESPOND in OBEDIENCE to the LORD who SAVED YOU?

            2. I pray that WE will

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“20/20/20″ (320) – Exodus 16:1-31

by • on 9:05 PM • in 320, Sermon Notes

“20/20/20” (320)

Exodus 16:1-31

 

Introduction

A. During last month’s sabbatical,

1. One of our Drs had us read through several really good books on burnout

a. And we really learned a lot

C. But then Pastor Wayne gave me this book called ‘DIVINE MENTOR’

1. Which really caught my attention, because as of recent;

a. I have had several people ask me to mentor them

b. I thought, “I’d love to, but I’M SO BUSY, I don’t know where I’ll find the time”

D. So I read this book by Pastor Wayne Cordeiro called ‘Divine Mentor’ and I couldn’t put it down!

1. This is easily in the top 3 books I’ve ever read!

E. It’s NOT about how to do church, or be a better Christian, or how to develop more programs;

1. It’s a simple book about being MENTORED BY GOD’S WORD!!!

2. EVERY DAY OF OUR LIVES

F. Statistically speaking, Christians spend an average of

1. 4 hours / day or 28 hours / week watching TV

2. And typically less than 30 minuets / day in DAILY DEVOTIONS

3. And sadly, many Christians don’t even open their bibles all week, until Sunday

a. And some people don’t even do that

G. They have determined that the human mind will only retain about 10 % of what it takes in

1. That means if you spend 10 minutes / day reading your bible;

a. You will only retain about 60 seconds, and for many, not even that much

H. Unfortunately what’s happening for most American Christians;

1. Is they are relying too heavily on Sunday morning church for their spiritual feeding

2. Which if the sermon was 30 minutes;

a. You’d be attempting to live on about 3 minutes of bible teaching/ week

b. Or about 26 SECONDS/ DAY

I. Can you imagine what would happen if you only ate one meal / week?

1. You’d die

2. In a matter of less than 1 ½ months, you’d be dead

J. Think of eating ONCE/ WEEK and only retaining 10% of the NUTRITION that you ate;

1. You’d be in big trouble, really fast;

2. Yet, that’s exactly what MOST CHRISTIANS today are doing with their spiritual lives;

a. And they are DYING on the VINE

K. Marriages are falling apart at alarming rates;

1. There are more Christians getting divorced than unbelievers

2. Suicide is up at an unprecedented rate

3. Teen pregnancy, drug addiction, alcoholism is common place today –

4. DEPRESSION, and depression medication for Christians is at the highest rate in history

L. All of these things are happening today in the lives of Christians all across America

1. The lives of Christians, just like you and I!

2. MAYBE YOU’RE ONE OF THESE STATISTICS?

M. For the past 12 years, I have been on a DAILY-READ THRU THE BIBLE PROGRAM;

1. And over the past year, I didn’t even finish because it became so LEGALISTIC

a. I’d read the daily appointed portion of scripture

b. Put a check in the little box, and then be off to my day

c. And I wasn’t really hearing from God

N. Even less likely to hear from God are those who rely on reading daily ‘Devotionals’ for sustenance

1. Only God’s Word is Divinely inspired

2. As good and helpful as daily devotionals can be, they are not necessary INSPIRED of God

O. Just think, if every day, God wanted to personally speak to your heart;

1. And He wanted to personally MENTOR YOU and give you WISDOM and TELL you what to do;

a. Would you want to hear from Him?

P. How many days we all get out of bed and are facing tremendous challenges in life?

1. Marital

2. Financial

3. Relational

4. Health

Q. Wouldn’t it be GREAT IF GOD SHOWED UP AND TOLD US WHAT TO DO?

1. How many of us would like to learn how to have GOD HIMSELF FEED US & mentor us daily?

2. HE WILL!

3. And HE WANTS TO

R. Do you realize that God is ALWAYS SPEAKING?

1. It’s just that we’re not always listening

S. And what we NEED is NOT another DEVOTIONAL written by the latest popular preacher;

1. Nor do we need to come to church every day

2. Nor do we necessarily need to buy an easier to read bible

So what is the answer?

EXODUS 16:1-31

A. So how do we do this in practical terms?

1. How can we daily be mentored by the Lord through His Word?

B. God wants to mentor you and I,

1. And WHO does God want to use to MENTOR YOU?

C. MOSES, DAVID, JOSHUA, JEREMIAH, PAUL, PETER, MATTHEW, SOLOMON, RUTH, BOAZ….

1. You get the idea!

D. Can you imagine getting up every morning knowing that God WANTS TO SPEAK to YOUR HEART?!

1. Can you imagine that the VERY THING that you need an ANSWER ON…

a. God WANTS to TELL you what to do?

E. You don’t need to go to your pastor, spouse or another believer;

1. But you can boldly go directly to the THRONE of HEAVEN —EVERY MORNING;

a. And hear directly from the heart of God!

F. “Lord, we’re facing bankruptcy…what should we do?!”

1. “Lord, my marriage is falling apart, I need wisdom, what should I do?”

a. Let God mentor you through King Solomon

2. “Lord my health is failing, and I’m afraid, what should I do?”

a. Go sit at the feet of Jesus, and be mentored by all who were sick

G. You and I can even be mentored by those who made terrible choices!

1. Judas Iscariot; Isabel; Demas; Absalom

H. Well, how do we put this into a PRACTICAL FORMAT?

1. Here’s what we do:

I. Journal our Daily Devotions

A. We begin to hear the voice of God through journaling our DAILY DEVOTIONS

1. And it’s critical that we journal for a number of reasons

2. It’s critical that we WRITE DOWN the specific WORD the Lord gives us each morning

3. And then meditate upon it throughout the day

II. Must have a daily reading program

 A. Everyone in our church should be on the same daily reading program

1. The reason for this is that this BUILDS UNITY

B. The most important reason that we are all reading and journaling on the same scriptures is because;

1. One of the big benefits of this system is that it will draw us together corporately

C. Again, one of the biggest problems with so many Christians today is their desire to be autonomous

1. Autonomy creates division and really keeps us from being in fellowship w/ each other

D. If we are all daily reading from the same passages of scripture -

1. Then when we share with one another what the Lord is speaking;

2. We will all be able to relate with one another!

E. And when we get together, either inside or outside the church;

1. We can share w/ one another, what God ‘gave us for the day’

F. One of the big questions we will begin to ask each other is:

1. “WHAT DID THE LORD SHOW YOU TODAY?!”

G. and it really builds excitement upon the word of God!

1. And we begin to EDIFY ONE ANOTHER as we SHARE the Word of God w/ each other!

H. This system incorporates a read through the bible program reading, in one year

1. It actually includes reading the O.T. once; and the N.T. twice

I. I have ordering forms on the back table for the various JOURNALING BOOKS

1. There is the FULL VERSION called ‘LIFE JOURNAL’

2. A REDUCED reading version called ‘LIFE JOURNAL – 1ST STEPS’ – same reading, but less

3. CHILDREN’S LIFE JOURNAL – kids all read the same portions of scripture, but much less

J. We’ll put in an order this week, and we’ll sell you these journals at whatever the cost is – 7-8$???

1. Sign up for them on the back table if you’re interested,

2. They also include this bible reading program

III. “320” method, or system

A. This is sort of the heart of journaling and your daily devotions

1. 20 minutes reading

2. 20 minutes journaling

3. 20 minutes sharing with others and prayer time

B. You can journal alone in the morning or afternoon, whenever is best for you

1. Whatever time of the day that you are at your best

C. We can also journal in groups and just meet in public places or our homes

1. And I pray that we even see many ‘LIFE GROUPS’ formed from this

2. Christians getting together, in HOME FELLOWSHIP SETTINGS, and just JOURNALING

D. Many Christians meet at places like Starbucks, or whatever and journal in PUBLIC – witness

1. The 1st 40 minutes are YOU ALONE WITH GOD

2. The last 20 minutes you are simply sharing with the others what God gave you!

E. It’s just fantastic, and it’ll make you EXCITED AGAIN ABOUT THE WORD OF GOD

1. And you’ll even get excited about getting up in the morning to HEAR FROM GOD!!!!

F. God promises that HE WILL SPEAK TO YOU PERSONALLY if you will daily get your manna

What you need to journal:

• Bible

• Journal

• Pen

• Day planner or a note pad

On our journaling page, we will use the acronym “S.O.A.P.”, which stands for -

 

S – for Scripture

Open your Bible to the reading found under today’s date of your Bible bookmark.

Take time reading and allow God to speak to you. When you are done, look for a verse that

particularly spoke to you that day, and write it in your journal.

O for Observation

What do you think God is saying to you in this scripture? Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and

reveal Jesus to you. Paraphrase and write this scripture down in your own works, in your

journal.

A for Application

Personalize what you have read, by asking yourself how it applies to your life right now. Perhaps

it is instruction, encouragement, revelation of a new promise, or corrections for a particular

area of your life. Write how this scripture can apply to you today.

P for Prayer

This can be as simple as asking God to help you use this scripture, or it may be a greater insight

on what He may be revealing to you. Remember, prayer is a two way conversation, so be sure to

listen to what God has to say! Now, write it out.

My Example from Exodus 20:4

S – Scripture

Exodus 16:4  “Then the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in MY law or not.”

A. So that’s the very specific verse that God gave us this morning,

1. And that’s the verse I’m going to mediate on all day

2. You may even chose to write it down on a 3×5 index card and carry in your pocket-meditate

O – Observation

“It was God who spoke to Moses. God took the initiative to meet His children’s needs. God didn’t put the weight on Moses’ shoulders to daily feed the people. God made the provision, but He also required that His people come out and partake of His manna. God also gave them each a certain quota, He knew what they needed and how much they needed and God provided exactly what each person needed.

A – Application

A. Here’s where we apply the verse to our own lives

1. “OK, I know that God is speaking to my heart…

2. “What’s He wanting me to hear, see, do, change?”

B. How does this verse APPLY TO MY LIFE?

“God has already taken the initiative to provide for all that I have need of. God does not expect me to be sustained by being fed once a week. He personally desires to feed me every day. He has made the provision and has the answers to all my needs. All I need to do is to respond to Him, open His word, and feast on His daily manna. Some days will be harder than other days, and on those days, God will have just the right amount of manna to cause me to live in victory.”

P – PRAYER

“Father teach me to daily come with boldness to Your throne. Teach to me come to You first. Teach me to daily feast on Your Word. Teach me how to be mentored by Thy Word, through Thy Spirit, so that I might live the life of victory that you have provided for me. I love You! Amen.”

A. You can also end your prayer time by covering all your prayer requests

After you have journaled and prayed, then find someone to share what God has given you.

A. The last thing we need to do is to find someone to SHARE what the Lord has shown you

1. Spouse

2. Friend

3. Call me

4. Parent – anyone, especially another person who is also JOURNALING

B. You share with them,

1. And then they will share back with you

C. I can’t think of any other greater way to MEND MARRIAGES & FIX FAMILIES that by

1. Sharing the WORD of God together!

D. Pastor Wayne has couples who were on the virge of divorce 2 weeks ago;

1. And GOD has RADICALLY HEALED their marriage!!!

2. Imagine that?!

E. THE POWER OF GOD’S WORD!

1. It’s there!

2. All we must do is DAILY PARTAKE!

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“The Battle For My Heart” 1 John 2:15-17

by • on 7:03 PM • in 1 John, Sermon Notes

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

A. John now beings with this statement:

            1. “Do not love the World or the things in the world.”

 

B. In the N.T., the word ‘WORLD’ has at least 3 different meanings:

‘World’

  • Physical World: the earth, Cosmos (Acts 17:24)
    • God, who made the world and everything in it… 
  • Human world: mankind (John 3:16)
    • For God so loved the world
  • World’s system (1 John 2:15)
    • “Do not love the world…”

1 “The word ‘world’ here is not the planet on which we live, or the natural creation about us. Rather it is the system which man has built up in an effort to make himself happy without Christ. It may include the world of culture, the world of opera, art, education; in short, any sphere in which the Lord Jesus is not loved & welcomed. Someone has defined it as ‘human society insofar as it is organized on wrong principles, & characterized by base desire, false values, & egoism.’”

B. We often use the word ‘WORLD’ in the sense of system in our daily conversation

            1. “The Wide World of Sports”

                        a. Which is obviously not another planet or universe

“World of Sports”

  • It’s an organized system
    • Constructed of ideas, people, activities, purposes, etc.

 

“World of Finance”

  • Again, it’s an ‘organized system’
    • Constructed of investors, principles, laws, regulations, rules, etc.

 

“World of Politics”

  • ‘The Political World’

C. Behind each of these ‘Worlds’ are rules, regulations and laws that we cannot see

            1. There is a SYSTEM or a STRUCTURE that CONTROLS each ‘World’

            2. Like the FRAMEWORK of a building – can’t see it, but holds it all together

2 “The ‘world’ is Satan’s system for opposing the work of Christ on earth. It is the very opposite of what is godly and holy and spiritual.”

1 John 5:19
We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

D. In Ephesians 6:10, Paul teaches us that -

1. Satan has an organization of evil spirits

Ephesians 6:12     .
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

E. This is an ORGANIZED WORLD SYSTEM –

            1. Constructed, organized and run by Satan, whom the Bible calls

                        a. “The prince of the power of the air”

I. It is a ‘World system’ that attempts to take the place of God

            1. It is really everything in life that becomes an idol…

                        a. Something that is substituted for God in our hearts;

                        b. In search of happiness

J. Just as the Holy Spirit uses people to accomplish God’s will on earth;

            1. So too Stan uses people to fulfill his evil purposes

L. As God is working out His plans;

            1. Satan is working out his plans, seeking to thwart the will of God

M. Unsaved people belong to “this world.” (Eph. 2:1-2)

1. In Luke 16:8, Jesus calls them “the children of this world”

N. As Christians, we are a part of this PHYSICAL WORLD;

            1. Yet we are NOT a part of the WORLD SPIRITUALLY

“This World is Not My Home”

This world is not my home, I’m just passing through.
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.
The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.

Chorus
O Lord you know I have no friend like you; If Heaven’s not my home, then Lord what will I do?
The angels beckon me from Heaven’s open door; And I can’t feel at home in this world anymore.

(15b) If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

2 “Worldliness is not so much a matter of activity as of: attitude OR focus.”

  •  I can be living w/ the appearance of a real godly life
    • But yet have a very WORLDLY HEART

 

‘Worldliness’ – “Materialistic; much more interested in everyday materialistic concerns than in the spiritual side of life.”

 

  • This does not necessarily mean that a person is consumed with what they want to buy;
    • Gucci hand bag; Armani Suit; Million dollar home; Job on Wall Street
  • Worldliness can simply be, being worried about paying bills, eating, shelter, work, etc…
    • “My mind is so consumed by the temporal, I’ve lost focus on the eternal
      • This is a Trap of the Devil
        • “As soon as I get caught up on my bills Lord, I’ll be back”

 

Matthew 6:19-21; 24-34
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also….24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

 

 

A. If you notice there in V17:

            1. Worldliness will not only affect your response to the LOVE of God;

          2; It will also affect your response to the WILL of God

C. If we are in love with God, it will be a joy to do His Will

            1. But if we love the World, we will find it hard to obey God’s will

D. Ultimately, a love for the world, and the things in the world will develop:

1. Worldliness

E. Worldliness is anything that draws our hearts away from God;

            1. And keeps us from doing His will

F. Anything that keeps us from:

            1. Our daily devotions

            2. Our prayer closets

            3. Keeps us out of church, especially on Sunday mornings

H. It’s this WORLD SYSTEM that draws our hearts away from Christ

            1. Whatever we allow to come between us and our LOVE FOR GOD

                        a. Is of the WORLD SYSTEM

“Sometimes if we are not careful, even a good thing may rob us of our enjoyment of God’s love and his desire to do God’s will.”

ILLUSTRATION:

A senior student in a Christian college was known for his excellent grades and his effective Christian service. He was out preaching each weekend and God was using him to win the souls and challenge Christians.

Then something happened: his testimony was no longer effective, his grades began to drop, and even his personality seemed to change. The president called him in.

“There’s been a change in your life and your work,” the president said, “and I wish you’d tell me what’s wrong.”

The student was evasive for a time, but then he told the story. He was engaged to a lovely Christian girl and was planning to get married after graduation. He had been called to a fine church and was anxious to move his new bride into the parsonage and get started in the pastorate.

“I’ve been so excited about it that I’ve even come to the place where I don’t want the Lord to come back!” he confessed. “And then the power dropped out of my life.”

His plans—good and beautiful as they were—came between him and the Father. He lost his enjoyment of the Father’s love. He was worldly!

ILLUSTRATION:

A. Today the MN Vikings are playing the NY Giants

          1. And let’s say that the GIANTS only had 3 plays

          2. And the VIKINGS knew all 3 PLAYS…

                    a. WHO do you think would WIN the game?

                              i. The VIKINGS, right?

 

B. This is really what JOHN is telling us here in V16:

          1. We’re the Vikings, and God is REVEALING to us –

                    a. ALL 3 OF SATAN’S plays, they are:

#1. The lust (desire) of the flesh

A. Refers to the debased, ignoble cravings of evil hearts

            1. Which includes, but is not limited to sexual immorality

B. God has given us all NORMAL / HEALTHY desires, such as:

            1. Hunger, thirst, weariness and sex

C. None of these things in and of themselves are bad or wrong;

            1. But when the old nature controls them, they become sinful “lusts”

D. Hunger is not wrong, but GLUTTONY is sinful

            1. THIRST is not evil, but DRUNKENNESS is a SIN

            2. SLEEP is a gift of God, but LAZINESS is shameful

            3. SEX is a wonderful gift from God WHEN USED RIGHTLY;

                        a. But when it is used UNLAWFULLY, it becomes IMMORALITY

3 “This sort of lust is usually called LUXURY.”

#2. The lust of the eyes

A. This is the lust of COVETOUSNESS

            1. We forget that our eyes have an appetite

B. This really has to do with-

1. SOPHISTICATED and INTELLECTUAL PLEASURES

C. Back in the days of the Apostle John, the Greeks & Romans lived for –

1. ENTERTAINMENTS & ACTIVITIES that excited the eyes

Psalms 119:37
Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way.

D. In Joshua 7, the soldier Achan brought defeat to Joshua’s army because of the lust of his eyes

            1. God had warned Israel NOT to TAKE any spoils from the condemned city of Jericho

                        a. But ACHAN did NOT obey

E. When his sin found him out and he was called before Joshua, this is what he said:

Joshua 7:21 (NKJV)
21 “When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold weighing fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them.”

F. THE LUST OF THE EYES led him into sin

            1. And his sin led the army into defeat

#3. The pride of life

A. This has to do with personal AMBITION

B. The Greek word for “pride” was used to describe a braggart who was –

1. Trying to impress people with his importance

C. People have always tried to OUTDO others in their SPENDING & their GETTING

            1. This has to do with the PRIDE OF LIFE

D. Why is it that so many people today BUY: 

            1. Houses, Cars, Clothing, Possession…

                        a. That they REALLY CANT AFFORD?

E. Why do so many people succumb to the ‘BUY NOW, PAY LATER’?

            1. In many cases it is because they want to IMPRESS OTHER PEOPLE-

                        a. Because of the PRIDE of LIFE

                        b. They want others to notice how AFFLUENT / SUCCESSFUL they are

F. Some people will even sacrifice honesty and integrity –

1. In return for notoriety and a feeling of importance

H. These are the 3 gates of appeal that Satan will always try to trip us into

            1. A LOVE FOR THE WORLD & the THINGS of the WORLD

I. If he can stumble us into a LOVE for the WORLD and its ways;

            1. He knows that will CROWD OUT our LOVE for our HEAVENLY FATHER!

J. If we FALL IN LOVE WITH THE WORLD & it’s SYSTEM;

            1. We will LOSE our enjoyment of our Father’s LOVE

            2. And our DESIRE to DO His will

SYMPTOMS of WORLDLY LOVE:

  • Bible becomes boring, hard to read
    • Prayer life becomes difficult, laborious
      • Church becomes empty and disappointing
        • SERMON’S TOO LONG; Worship needs more Hymns
        • Amazing how people can spend 3 hrs in a movie theater watching garbage, but they can’t endure 45-60 minute bible study – Carnality; Worldliness.
        • Easy to spend time doing the things we love; even after a full day, we wish the day wasn’t over!
        • Lose interest in Christian Fellowship
          • Rather be hanging out w/ non-believers, participating in worldly activities

 

K. It’s not that there is something wrong with others

1. What’s wrong is that our Christian hearts have become worldly;

2. And we’ve become carnal-calloused to the love of God and desire to do His will

L. It is also very important that we understand that –

1. No Christian becomes worldly all of a sudden

2. Worldliness creeps up on a believer; it is a gradual process

The Process of Worldliness:

  • First is the friendship of the world (James 4:4)
  • Second we become “spotted by the world” (James 1:27)
  • The world leaves its dirty marks on one or two areas of his life. This means that gradually the believer accepts and adopts the ways of the world
  • When this happens, the world ceases to hate the Christian and starts to love him! So John warns us, “Love not the world!”—but too often our friendship with the world leads to love.
  • Third, the believer becomes conformed to the world (Rom. 12:2) and you can hardly tell the two apart

 

Fleshing out Worldliness (what it looks like in many Christians)

  • Idolization of an athlete, TV / MOVIE star, Political leaders who profess to be Christians
    • News flash! “Even if Sarah Palin gets elected President, she can’t save USA!”
    • Only JESUS SAVES!
    • Many Christians today have fallen prey to trusting in the World’s system
  • Catering to the wealthy & influential person
    • “We need to figure out how to get more people to come to CCB! We’ve lost a bunch, and now God is concerned how we’ll pay our bills!
    • WORLDLINESS seeks to build a ministry, when only God is able to!
  • Many forms of worldliness do not involve:
    •  reading the wrong book, indulging in carnal amusements
      • Worldliness can simply be to love/trust anything more than God

 

 

17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

 

A. John gives another wonderful reason here, why NOT TO LOVE THE WORLD;

            1. It’s passing away!

B. The world is like a PARADE;

            1. And we’re the CHURCH standing on the CORNER –

                        a. Watching the PARADE as it is PASSING AWAY

“To put your trust in the world that is passing away, would be like arranging the lawn chairs on the deck of the Titanic!”     (Hopeless!)

C. The world is SIMPLY NOT PERMANENT;

            1. The only sure thing about the WORLD SYSTEM is that is PASSING AWAY

            2. One day, it’ll all be gone:

                        a. The World system and the things of this world

D. So what’ll last?

            1. Only he who does the will of God abides forever!

E. Although we are to live in this world;

            1. We are not to let this world LIVE IN US!

            2. We are to live LOOSELY ATTACHED to this world –

                        a. Our ETERNAL TREASURES are coming

F. John is contrasting 2 ways of life:

            1. A life lived for ETERNITY

            2. A life lived for TIME

2 “The WORLDLY PERSON lives for PLEASURES of the FLESH. But a DEDICATED Christian lives for the JOYS OF THE SPIRIT!”

G. Do you realize that there is a DIFFERENCE between being:

1. A CHRISTIAN; and being a DEDICATED CHRISTIAN?

H. A dedicated Christian does NOT love the World or the things in the world;

            1. And he is the one who LOVES GOD and is DEDICATED to DOING His will

I. Whereas the Worldly Christians LOVE THE WORLD,

            1. They are DRAWN AWAY from being DEDICATED to God because of:

                        a. The LUST of their flesh

                        b. The Lust of their eyes

                        c. The Pride of life

J. And they have little to no interest in –

1. Bible reading/prayer/fellowship/ doing God’s will

 

K. But a dedicated Christian lives for the joys of the Spirit

1. A spiritual believer lives for the unseen realities of God (2 Cor. 4:8–18)

2. A Christian who does the will of God lives for God’s approval, he “abideth forever”

 

Very Soon, the entire WORLD SYSTEM will be OVER:

  • Vaunted culture
    • Proud Philosophies
      • Egocentric intellectualism
        • godless materialism

 

Long after this world system has been forgotten & replace by the new heavens & the new earth:

  •  God’s faithful servants will remain forever
    • Sharing the glory of God for all eternity

 

2 “A Christian who loves the world will never have peace or security because he has linked his life with that which is in a state of flux.”

Jim Elliot once stated:

 “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”

L. The N. T. is full of scripture teaching on ‘The Will of God’

2 “The will of God is not something that we consult occasionally like an encyclopedia. It is something that completely controls our lives. The issue for a dedicated Christian is not simply, “Is it right or wrong?” or “Is it good or bad?” The key issue is, “Is this the will of God for me?”

M. God wants us to understand His will for our lives

            1. It is important that we understand God’s will for our lives

2. And see the purposes He is fulfilling

N. Once God reveals His will to us;

            1. Then we should DO IT from the HEART

O. We don’t fulfill God’s will by TALKING ABOUT IT;

            1. But by DOING what He TELLS us to do;

                        a. GOING where He sends

                        b. YIELDING to whatever CALL He puts upon our lives

P. The more we obey God

1. The more proficient we become in knowing what He wants us to do

2. God’s goal for us is that we will “stand … complete in all the will of God” (Col. 4:12)

Q. This means to be mature in God’s will

1. An immature Christian is always asking his friends what they think God’s will is for him

2. A mature Christian stands complete in the will of God

3. He knows what the Lord wants him to do

How to discover the will of God for my life:

  • Process begins with Surrender
    •  God’s will is not a “spiritual cafeteria” where a Christian takes what he wants and rejects the rest!
    • No, the will of God must be accepted in its entirety
    • This involves a personal surrender to God of one’s entire life
  • God reveals His will to us through His Word
    • “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119:105)
    •  A worldly believer has no appetite for the Bible
    • When he reads it, he gets little or nothing from it
    • But a spiritual believer, who spends time daily reading the Bible and meditating on it, finds God’s will there and applies it to his everyday life
  • We may also learn God’s will through circumstances
    • God moves in wonderful ways to open and close doors
    • We must test this kind of leading by the Word of God—and not test the Bible’s clear teaching by circumstances!
  • Finally God leads us into His will through prayer & the working of His Spirit in our hearts
    • As we pray about a decision, the Spirit speaks to us
    • An “inner voice” may agree with the leading of circumstances
    • We are never to follow this “inner voice” alone: we must always test it by the Bible, for it is possible for the flesh (or for Satan) to use circumstances—or “feelings”—to lead us completely astray.

 

CONCLUSION:    

A. We are in this world physically;

            1. But we are not of this world SPIRITUALLY

B. We can’t help being in this world;

            1. But we must guard our hearts from the World

C. HOW DOES THE WORLD get INTO the Christian?

1. Through his heart

a. “Love not the world!”

D. Anything that robs a Christian of his enjoyment of the Father’s love,

1. Or of his desire to do the Father’s will, is worldly and must be avoided

2. Every believer, on the basis of God’s Word, must identify those things for himself

E. Each of us have to decide for ourselves:

            1. “Will I live for the present only, or will I live for the will of God and abide forever?”

2 “Love for the world is the love God hates. It is the love a Christian must shun at all costs!”

 

1 The Believer’s Bible Commentary; William MacDonald

2 The Bible Exposition Commentary New Testament Vol. 2

3 The New Matthew Henry Commentary, 2010; Zondervan

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Introduction to Job

by • on 6:39 PM • in Job Study, Sermon Notes

“Introduction to Job”

  Job 1:1                                                  

Pain is the universal experience of all human beings. Everyone experiences pain at some point in their lives, and during that season of suffering, they often ask the same question: “Why? Why God? Why now? What did I do to deserve this?” These are haunting questions that echo within our minds and find no real answer.

            Life is difficult. That blunt, three-word statement is an accurate appraisal of our existence on this planet. No one could argue the point that life is punctuated with hardship, heartaches, and headaches. Most of us have learned to face the reality that life is difficult. But unfair? Something kicks in, deep within most of us, making it almost intolerable for us to accept and cope with what’s unfair. Our drive for justice overrides our patience with pain. Consider this example:

            You’re a single parent living 1200 miles from a job offer that comes to you from Houston. So you give serious thought to moving you and your three children (who are all under the age of fifteen) down south so that you might get a much better job working for a lot more money in a company that is really moving ahead. You make the move as you begin working for Enron. You find yourself fulfilled and stretched. Things are really looking up. You’re doing so well you decide to invest in the company’s stock. They money is good, your future is bright, and the news is out that this is the blue-chip company to be a part of. They’re even naming the new stadium in Houston after the Enron Corporation. Then one day you overhear some troubling comments at the water fountain.

            The scuttlebutt around the office isn’t encouraging. You doubt it, you question it, and in fact you put it out of your mind because, after all, your entire retirement funds are there, your health benefits are there, and your financial security is there. Suddenly, almost before you can blink, you get a pink slip, and it’s all over. You lose everything. It’s not your fault-you were doing a good job. You moved for all the right reasons, and now there’s the threat of losing your house. Life is difficult as you ponder telling the kids.

            A couple of days later you’re showering and you notice a small lump under your left breast. Your stomach turns. You can’t believe it. Two days later the biopsy reveals that you have an aggressive malignancy. Oh, I failed to mention, three years ago your husband ran off with his much younger and attractive assistant and, by the way, they’re doing great. Both of them have new cars, secure, well-paying jobs, and no kids. And you? You’re going to move in with your aging parents, neither of whom is all that healthy, and their little home has only three bedrooms. One day the full load hits you: Life is not just difficult, it’s downright unfair. Welcome to Job’s world.

Eugene Peterson, in his paraphrase of The Old Testament, says this in his introduction of Job:

                        It is not only because Job suffered that he is important to us. It is because he suffered in the same ways that we suffer-in the vital areas of family, personal health, and material things. Job is also important to us because he searchingly questioned and boldly protested his suffering. Indeed, he went “to the top” with his questions. It is not the suffering that troubles us. It is undeserved suffering. Almost all of us in our years of growing up have the experience of disobeying our parents and getting punished for it. When that discipline was connected with wrongdoing, it had a certain sense of justice to it: When we do wrong, we get punished.

                        One of the surprises as we get older, however, is that we come to see that there is no real correlation between the amount of wrong we commit and the amount of pain  we experience. An even larger surprise is that very often there is something quite  the opposite: We do right and get knocked down. We do the best we are capable of  doing, and just as we are reaching out to receive our reward we are hit from the  blind side and sent reeling.                              – Eugene Peterson, The Message

Those words describe precisely what happened with Job. Life was not simply difficult, it became absolutely unfair.

            Job was a man of unparalleled and genuine piety. He was also a man of well-deserved prosperity. He was a godly gentleman, extremely wealthy, a fine husband, and a faithful father. In a quick and brutal sweep of back-to-back calamities, Job was reduced to a twisted mass of brokenness and grief. The extraordinary accumulation of disasters that hit him would have been enough to finish off any one of us living today.

            Job is left bankrupt, homeless, helpless, and childless. He’s left standing beside the ten fresh graves of his now-dead children on a windswept hill. His wife is heaving deep sobs of grief as she kneels beside him, having just heard him say, “Whether our God gives to us or takes everything from us, we will follow Him.” She leans over and secretly whispers, “Just curse God and die.” Pause and ponder their grief-and remember the man had done nothing to deserve such unbearable pain.

            Misery and mystery are added to the insult and injury of Job’s real-life disasters. As he sits there covered with skin ulcers that have begun erupting with pus, swelling his body with fever and giving him a maddening itch that will not cease, he looks up into the faces of three friends who arrive on the scene. They sit and stare at the man for seven days and nights without uttering a word. Just imagine. First, they don’t recognize him, which tells you something of the extent of his swelling and the sores that covered his body. The sight causes them to be at a loss for words for a full week. Unfortunately, they didn’t remain silent. When they finally did speak, they had nothing to say but blame, accusation, and insult. “You’re getting what you deserve.” Though they shaped their cutting remarks in much more philosophical terms, they proved unmerciful. His pain only intensified.

            His misery turns to mystery with God’s silence. If the words of his so-called friends are hard to hear, the silence of God becomes downright intolerable. Not until the thirty-eighth chapter of the book does God finally break the silence, however long that took. If it were just a few months, try to imagine. You’ve become the object of your alleged friends’ accusations, and the heavens are brass as you plead for answers from the Almighty, who remains mysteriously mute. Nothing comes to you by way of comfort. It’s all so unfair; you’ve done nothing to deserve such anguish.

Job was human like the rest of us, and he was angry with God at times for allowing these tragic events to occur in his life. But his trust in God never wavered. The ability to trust God in the midst of suffering is a difficult task, yet one of the things that helps me is to remember God’s faithfulness to me in the past. Today I can look back at times of suffering in my own life that happened years ago and see God’s faithfulness throughout. I couldn’t see it as clearly at the time, but today I have a much better understanding of it all. This ability to see God’s faithfulness in the past has helped me wait patiently on God in present difficulties, knowing that He is faithful. I know He’s working in the midst of this current crisis just like He has in the past, and I need to trust Him. I like how Brennan Manning addresses this issue of trust:

                        Unwavering trust is a rare and precious thing because it often demands a degree of courage that borders on the heroic. When the shadow of Jesus’ cross falls across our lives in the form of failure, rejection, abandonment, betrayal, unemployment, loneliness, depression, the loss of a loved one; when we are deaf to everything but the shriek of our own pain; when the world around us suddenly seems a hostile, menacing place-at those times we may cry out in anguish, “How could a loving God permit this to happen?” At such moments the seeds of distrust are sown. It requires heroic courage to trust in the love of God no matter what happens to us.                                                                                                 -Ruthless Trust

            Times of intense pain and suffering remove all the shallow, superficial cliché’s of “Sure, I trust God.” To still love God and remain fully devoted to Him in the midst of suffering, to love Him even when you think He is unfair and callous is true love, true devotion, pure trust.

Hebrews 12:1-13 (NKJV)
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls. 4 You have not yet resisted to bloodshed, striving against sin. 5 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
6 For whom the Lord loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”  7 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? 8 But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather be healed.

Yes, God allows terrible things to happen in our lives, but during these times we must remember that we are not alone. Many have traveled the road of suffering before us like Job, like Jesus, and have been able to patiently endure.

One final thought. I believe that God allows seasons of suffering to occur in the life of every believer to test not only the reality of their faith but also the extent of their love for Him. You can’t fake your love while in pain. What I really believe in my heart and how I really feel about God and whether or not I really trust Him all become evident through season of suffering.  The ultimate proof of my love for God is demonstrated by absolute trust and surrender. These can only be proved true in the crucible of suffering. When you can say “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him”(Job 13:15 (NKJV), you know that your love for God is real.

Questions:

1. How does God describe Job? Did the Lord consider Job to be a godly man or an ungodly man?

2. What 2 aspects of Job’s character and action does God highlight in verse 1?

3. What does it mean to be “blameless / perfect”?

Psalms 37:37 (NKJV)
37 Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; For the future of that man is peace.

“Blameless does not mean perfect; it means he did not compromise with moral evil. He was a man whose business dealings were handled with integrity. He kept his word. He dealt fairly with others. As a result, he was respected by those around him, whether within or outside the family. He was upright. He was man of character”                                                                             – Chuck Swindoll

4. What does it mean to be “upright”?

Psalms 7:10 (NKJV)
10 My defense is of God, Who saves the upright in heart.

Psalms 11:2 (NKJV)
2 For look! The wicked bend their bow, They make ready their arrow on the string, That they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart.

5. What does it mean to “Fear the Lord”?

 

Job 28:28 (NKJV)
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”

“To ‘Fear the Lord’ means to ‘respect who He is, what He says, and what He does. It is not the cringing fear of a slave before a master but the loving reverence of a child before a father, a respect that leads to obedience.” Wiersbe

“The remarkable thing about fearing God, is that when you fear God you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God you fear everything else.”               – Oswald Chambers

“The Bible often speaks of the value of fearing God, especially in Proverbs and Psalms; and it is always in the sense of reverential respect. Fear in the sense of respect considers God a friend. Fear in the sense of dread considers God an enemy. Christens, as followers of Christ, should fear God as a friend, knowing that we should reverence Him.”                                        -David Jeremiah

6. What does it mean to “Shun evil”? Is that always easy?

Areas we are turn away from:

‘False gods’

Genesis 35:1-2  Then God said to Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there; and make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother.” 2 And Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.

‘Wine’

1 Samuel 1:12-14    And it happened, as she continued praying before the Lord, that Eli watched her mouth. 13 Now Hannah spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. 14 So Eli said to her, “How long will you be drunk? Put your wine away from you!”

‘False Ways’

Psalms 119:29  Remove from me the way of lying, And grant me Your law graciously.

‘All Types of Evil’

Isaiah 1:16  “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil

‘False Worship’

Amos 5:21-23   “I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies. 22 Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. 23 Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.

Matthew 15:7-9   Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: 8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ “

7. Why does God begin the book of Job by describing Job’s character?

Conclusion:

From the very first verse it is established that Job was a man of faith-he was a man of proven integrity who feared God and pushed evil away.

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“Getting the Most out of Job”

by • on 6:31 PM • in Job Study, Sermon Notes

“Getting the Most Out of Job”

One thing we can count on in this life is trouble! Becoming a Christian, contrary to what some say, does not so much deliver us from problems as deliver us in them. We still get sick, lose jobs, worry about our children and struggle with loneliness. On a deeper level a personal encounter with God brings, at the same time, exquisite joy and a new set of questions. Sometimes, like Job, we are led through a dark valley without seeing the path out, why we are suffering, whether God has a redeeming purpose in it all and how we are to respond. Are we to just patiently take it all?

            Mention the name Job and one immediately thinks of patience, partly because of one misunderstood New Testament reference to this Old Testament saint (James 5:11). Job did suffer, but not patiently. He rebelled. Jobs’ saintly friends tried to “explain” his problems by appealing to the logic of good orthodox theology. In the end, Job’s almost irreverent appeal to God for an explanation led to his justification and approval by God. While Job’s orthodox churchgoing friends were rejected (Job 42:7), he persevered; that is the real point of the New Testament reference. Perhaps, among other things, this surprising reversal can be explained by the fact that Job spoke to God about his suffering, while Job’s friends spoke about God to Job. But this is not the only mystery encompassed by this fascinating Old Testament book.

            Job raises as many questions as it answers. Indeed, when God finally speaks to Job in the whirlwind (chapters 38-41), God himself asks questions! Traditionally theology has wrestled with how a good and all powerful God could allow or even cause (as Job claims) suffering and evil in the world. Not only are the usual abstract arguments-spoken smoothly by Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar-rejected by God and his beloved Job, but they are not even the point of the book.

            This is not a book of rational, systematic theology. This is the story of one human being-one very human and very righteous being-who loses his possessions, his family and his health. But it is a story that takes place within the household of faith. And it is faith that rebels and a God who loves the rebel that is the surprise of the story.

            In a closed universe (the view assumed by the ancient Greeks and modern secularized people) human beings are tragic victims of fate. In a dualistic universe where God and Satan are equal opponents in the battle of good and evil, one can blame all adversity on the devil. But in the book of Job, as elsewhere in the Bible, God shares His ultimate sovereignty with no one, not even Satan.

            Job-and we –have problems with innocent suffering precisely because we have faith in God, whose goodness is known in the land of the living. There is no answer either in jettisoning belief in the goodness of God or in rejecting the hope that in this life there should be both satisfaction and justice. In the end, and only in the end, Job finds peace with God through his sufferings, and not in spite of them. Ultimately, Job’s passion points to the death, resurrection and vindication of Jesus as God’s final answer to the problem of the innocent suffering.

            The gospel-bearing quality of Job is all the more remarkable because the book may be very ancient. There is no mention of temple, monarchy or prophets. We do not know who wrote the book, when or where the author lived, though there is no adequate reason to deny the unity of the book.

            The book contains an astonishing mixture of riddles, hymns, curses, proverbs, and nature poems. The introduction (1:1-2:13) and conclusion (42:7-17) are in prose, while the speeches of Job, the three friends, the young man Elihu and God Himself (3:1-42-6) are in poetry. No wonder the Jewish rabbis were unsure where to place Job in Scripture. Though they eventually chose the “writings” section, this book fits just as well alongside the great exodus, David and Ruth.

            Like all biblical stories, this one catches us in its plot and invites us in its mysterious and ironic way to find God, not in talking about God, but in talking to Him; not in the familiar rhythms of safe theological discussion but at the point of our deepest questions about the meaning of life and God himself; not in leisure-time spirituality but in the middle of life where it is hardest. “The book takes its place in the testimony of the ages that there is a blank in the human heart which Jesus alone can fill.                      (Paul Stevens; ‘Job, Wrestling with God’; IVP 1995; 2003)

Our Goals as we study the book of Job together

  • As you begin each study, pray that God will speak to you through His Word.
  • Come to the study prepared. You will find that careful preparation will greatly enrich your time spent in group discussion. Write you answers in the space provided. Writing can bring clarity and deeper understanding of yourself & of God’s Word.
  • This is an inductive Bible Study, designed to help you discover for yourself what Scripture is saying. The study includes three types of questions.
    • Observation questions ask about the basic facts: who, what, when, where and how
    • Interpretation questions delve into the meaning of the passage.
    • Application questions help you discover the implications of the text for growing in Christ. These three keys unlock the treasures of Scripture
  • Be willing to participate in the discussion
    • This is not a lecture, but rather a time of discussion
    • Stick to the topic being discussed
    • Our responses should be based on the verses which are the focus of the discussion, not on outside authorities such as commentaries or speakers
    • These studies focus on a particular passage of Scripture
  • Be sensitive to the other members in our study
    • Listen attentively when others share what they have learned, you may be surprised by their insights!
    • Each question assumes a variety of answers. Many questions do not have “right” answers, particularly questions that aim at meaning or application
    • Instead, questions push us to explore the passage more thoroughly
    • When possible, link what you say to the comments of others. Also be affirming whenever you can. This will encourage one another to share.
  • Be careful not to dominate the discussion
    • We are sometimes so eager to express our thoughts that we lave too little opportunity for others to respond.
    • By all means participate, but allow others to also
  • Expect God to teach you through the passage being discussed and through the other members of the group. Pray that you will have an enjoyable and profitable time together, but that as a result of the study you will find ways to take action individually, or as a group
  • Remember that anything said in the group is considered confidential and should not be discussed outside the group unless specific permission is given to you to do so
  • Pray for the other members of our Job study
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