Background on the last two weeks Sins of O and Co and resolve, we talked about how God was with Joseph, he was content didn’t covet, resisted temptation, respected his authorities but something bad still happened to him he was put in jail.
Genesis 40 Now Joseph was in jail and the chief butler and baker of Pharaoh were both put in jail also. They both had dreams and were troubled by them.
Joseph being in charge at the jail house asked why are you so sad?
The interpretation of the butlers dream was good, he would be restored and Joseph said remember me and the bakers dream was bad, he would be killed.
Both of those things came to pass and of course the butler did not mention Joseph.
Chapter 41 2 years pass and Joseph was still in jail and Pharaoh had a dream.
Vrs 1-8 Pharaoh’s dream 7 cows and 7 stalks of wheat. He called all the wise men for interpretation.
Vrs 9-13 The Butlers memory was jogged, oh yeah Joseph
Vrs 14-16 Pharaoh called for Joseph and Joseph said it was God
Vrs 17-24 restates the dreams don’t read
Vrs 25-33 Joseph interprets seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine
Vrs 33-36 Then Joseph gives the advice of saving one fifth for the famine years
Vrs 37-45 Pharaoh is pleased and elevates Joseph to second in charge of Pharaoh.
Vrs 46-57 then talks about how Joseph did his Job, and had two children named Ephraim and Manasseh.
Things we can learn from this time in Joseph’s life.
Joseph allowed himself to be “Used” by God
1. 40:38 Has God’s Spirit- We have God’s spirit so we are equipped to serve Him
Gospel
1 Cor. 12:7 “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all”:
Some of the gifts are evangelism, helps, teaching, wisdom, encouragement, faith and leadership.
At the moment you trust is Jesus God gives you at least one spiritual gift to use for Him.
We also have natural talents and abilities in which can also use. Drama, music, good with children, maybe good at a sport or excel in a certain career or field. God wants us to use those things for Him as well.
We all have God’s Spirit in us when we trust in Jesus the question is, are we going to heed to the Spirit and use our gifts and abilities for service?
God was with Joseph and he allowed Him to use him
2. 40:8 & 41:16 In God’s hands- all service belongs to God
We are just joining on the work that He is doing
John 15:1-8 Vine and branches. This passage is really saying without Jesus we are useless but with a abiding relationship with Him we can be useful.
Vrs 6 to some seems to be a problem, some may say “if I don’t abide or follow Jesus gets rid of me” no
Breakdown of verse 6
“He is cast out” loss of fellowship with Jesus and others, if you are not following God and serving Him you are not obeying which is sin, sin mars fellowship with Jesus. It also mars fellowship with other believers, the best way to have fellowship with others is to serve them and serve along side them.
“and withered” not vital, a growing Christian is one who serves, I don’t think you can show me a vital, effective growing Christian that does not have a ministry.
“thrown into the fire and burned” loss of rewards, remember we talked about being rewarded for service, at the day of judgment you will suffer loss if you do not allow yourself to be used.
3. 41:39-45 God will lift you up when you are used by Him- The more we serve God, He will lift you up.
Being “used” is humbling
Humble yourself in His sight James 4:10.
Romans 12:3-6a not think to highly of ourselves and 14:18-19 this will edify others. When God uses you, you should be thankful that He did
We will not truly be used unless we humble ourselves
Look what happened to Joseph God made him second in charge in all of Egypt and the distributor of the food.
4. 40:51-52 He named his children after what the Lord has done in his life. Forget your troubles and God will bless even in a land that he was afflicted.
Being used gets your mind off your own problems and focuses them on the tasks and the fact that there are people around you who need the Lord and need to be ministered to.
“when life gives you lemons…make lemonade” make the best out of a bad situation
-Notice in 40:7 “Why are you sad?” The thing we see here with Joseph is that he cared and had compassion for the needs of others even though he was in jail. We need to have the attitude of caring for others when we get involved in ministry. No one desires to put themselves second but when we do God blesses us.
3 Catagories of being used
1. Over extend yourself. You’re a door mat
2. Don’t do anything and maybe think you do, you bless us with your presence and call it ministry
3. Allowing yourself to be used in a healthy Biblical way which means having a ministry and doing it well and being committed to it.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Hey Joe Series: "Resolve"
Vrs 1-6a Joseph was sold into Potiphar’s house and Potiphar realized that there was something different about Joseph “the Lord was with him” and “the Lord made all that he did prosper”
Potiphar trusted him so much that he did not even know the affairs of his own business
Vrs 6b-10 Potphar’s wife advances toward Joseph and his resolve is not to “sin against God” and she kept trying
Vrs 11-18 The wife tried to seduce him again and then made up a story to tell her husband because Joseph left his coat behind.
Vrs 19-23 So Potiphar threw him into prison and again God raised him up and the highest ranking guard put everything under his control.
What can we learn from this?
1. Vrs 2,5 and 21 The Lord was with Joseph.
-If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior the bible says in Acts 17:26-27 that He has placed you where you are so that you will seek God and perhaps find Him. 2 Peter 3:9 God desires all to come to know Him. If you are here today and wondering is God real and if so what does it mean to my life. God loves you and wants to forgive you of your sin the bible tells us that we have to trust that Jesus’ death on the cross was enough to forgive us of our sins 3 days later he rose again to prove that He was God and has victory of sin and death.
-If you trusted in Jesus as your Savior no matter where you are or what situation you are in, God is with you. At your job or school, with friends or in your family He is there with you. Jesus says He “will never leave us or forsake us.”
Hebrew 13:5 Joseph is an illustration of this passage.
2. Lets look at the other things that passage says
“Let your conduct be without covetousness;”
Joseph did not covet what Potiphar had Vrs 6-9 we see that Joseph was in charge of and had access to everything in Potiphar’s house except his wife. Instead of coveting what Potiphar had, his wife, he refused to sin with Potiphar’s wife.
Many times in life we have so much but we still covet after more, we are unhappy with or jobs or our possessions and we feel that we need better or we need more. Maybe you are not content with your relationships in life and you covet others around you because they have a girlfriend or a boyfriend or they have children you and don’t. But God is saying don’t covet be content.
3. Contentment,” be content with such things as you have.” Joseph was content event though he was sold into slavery and was no longer with his father in his own land he was still content Vrs 4 Because Joseph was content he was able to serve. And with that service found favor in the eyes of Potiphar.
Are you content with where God has placed you, your job, school and relationships. If you are not content it will show and eventually you will have a bad testimony among the people around you. When we are content in any and every situation we are a good testimony to those around us.
Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor."
Benjamin Franklin
When you are content you have a good testimony among unbelievers and God will elevate your positions in life.
Paul writes from jail in Philippians 2:11“for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content"
1 Tim 6:6-9 Because Joseph was content he was able to resist temptation
4. Joseph resisted Temptation. Last summer I had a message about Temptation and the focus was Jesus’ temptation. Lets take a quick look at Josephs temptation. Potiphar’s wife was aggressively pursuing him but he did not give in. Vrs 9b “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”
Maybe you are constantly in situations where you are tempted to do something wrong, sexual sins, drunkinness, gossiping, dishonest gain.
Christian Author John Piper Said “The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier."
Whatever the temptation may be there is some advice and comfort from the Bible
-1 Cor 10:13 There is a way out
-Luke 22:40 Jesus says pray that you will not enter into temptation.
-James 1:12 says we are blessed if we endure under temptation
-2 Peter 2:9 “The Lord knows how to deliver the Godly out of temptation.
5. Joseph had respect for the authority Romans 13:1-3 Potiphar was over Joseph and Joseph was his slave. But he still respected him Vrs 8-9a This would have been a good way to mock his master “your wife wanted me”
We all have authority over us, our bosses, teachers parents, do you respect that and heed to there direction? Or do you look for and take opportunities to mock them? If you want to be a good testimony for the Lord you will respect them.
6. Even though he did everything right something bad still happened to him. He was wrongly accused and was thrown in jail. But God was still with him Hebrew 13:6 Joseph can boldly say…
You may have been struggling because you seem to have your relationship with God on track but things still seem to go wrong.
Well join the club 2 Tim 3:12 “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution”. When we suffer for doing what is right it is just a reminder that this world is not our home and we need to look toward heaven and not be to comfortable in this life on earth.
Potiphar trusted him so much that he did not even know the affairs of his own business
Vrs 6b-10 Potphar’s wife advances toward Joseph and his resolve is not to “sin against God” and she kept trying
Vrs 11-18 The wife tried to seduce him again and then made up a story to tell her husband because Joseph left his coat behind.
Vrs 19-23 So Potiphar threw him into prison and again God raised him up and the highest ranking guard put everything under his control.
What can we learn from this?
1. Vrs 2,5 and 21 The Lord was with Joseph.
-If you don’t know Jesus as your Savior the bible says in Acts 17:26-27 that He has placed you where you are so that you will seek God and perhaps find Him. 2 Peter 3:9 God desires all to come to know Him. If you are here today and wondering is God real and if so what does it mean to my life. God loves you and wants to forgive you of your sin the bible tells us that we have to trust that Jesus’ death on the cross was enough to forgive us of our sins 3 days later he rose again to prove that He was God and has victory of sin and death.
-If you trusted in Jesus as your Savior no matter where you are or what situation you are in, God is with you. At your job or school, with friends or in your family He is there with you. Jesus says He “will never leave us or forsake us.”
Hebrew 13:5 Joseph is an illustration of this passage.
2. Lets look at the other things that passage says
“Let your conduct be without covetousness;”
Joseph did not covet what Potiphar had Vrs 6-9 we see that Joseph was in charge of and had access to everything in Potiphar’s house except his wife. Instead of coveting what Potiphar had, his wife, he refused to sin with Potiphar’s wife.
Many times in life we have so much but we still covet after more, we are unhappy with or jobs or our possessions and we feel that we need better or we need more. Maybe you are not content with your relationships in life and you covet others around you because they have a girlfriend or a boyfriend or they have children you and don’t. But God is saying don’t covet be content.
3. Contentment,” be content with such things as you have.” Joseph was content event though he was sold into slavery and was no longer with his father in his own land he was still content Vrs 4 Because Joseph was content he was able to serve. And with that service found favor in the eyes of Potiphar.
Are you content with where God has placed you, your job, school and relationships. If you are not content it will show and eventually you will have a bad testimony among the people around you. When we are content in any and every situation we are a good testimony to those around us.
Content makes poor men rich; discontent makes rich men poor."
Benjamin Franklin
When you are content you have a good testimony among unbelievers and God will elevate your positions in life.
Paul writes from jail in Philippians 2:11“for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content"
1 Tim 6:6-9 Because Joseph was content he was able to resist temptation
4. Joseph resisted Temptation. Last summer I had a message about Temptation and the focus was Jesus’ temptation. Lets take a quick look at Josephs temptation. Potiphar’s wife was aggressively pursuing him but he did not give in. Vrs 9b “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?”
Maybe you are constantly in situations where you are tempted to do something wrong, sexual sins, drunkinness, gossiping, dishonest gain.
Christian Author John Piper Said “The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier."
Whatever the temptation may be there is some advice and comfort from the Bible
-1 Cor 10:13 There is a way out
-Luke 22:40 Jesus says pray that you will not enter into temptation.
-James 1:12 says we are blessed if we endure under temptation
-2 Peter 2:9 “The Lord knows how to deliver the Godly out of temptation.
5. Joseph had respect for the authority Romans 13:1-3 Potiphar was over Joseph and Joseph was his slave. But he still respected him Vrs 8-9a This would have been a good way to mock his master “your wife wanted me”
We all have authority over us, our bosses, teachers parents, do you respect that and heed to there direction? Or do you look for and take opportunities to mock them? If you want to be a good testimony for the Lord you will respect them.
6. Even though he did everything right something bad still happened to him. He was wrongly accused and was thrown in jail. But God was still with him Hebrew 13:6 Joseph can boldly say…
You may have been struggling because you seem to have your relationship with God on track but things still seem to go wrong.
Well join the club 2 Tim 3:12 “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution”. When we suffer for doing what is right it is just a reminder that this world is not our home and we need to look toward heaven and not be to comfortable in this life on earth.
Hey Joe Series: "O or Co?"
Chapter 37:1-11 Background
Jacob who is also known as Israel had 12 sons and v3 states that Jacob had a special place in his heart for Joseph and he gave him an expensive coat.
V4 his brothers hated him v11 and envied him.
Vrs 5-10Now Joseph had two dreams in which can be taken as his brothers and his father and mother will eventually bow down to him. This made his bothers hate him even more.
V18-20n Joseph’s brothers plot to kill him.
V 21-22 Reuben stood up for Joseph and wanted to get him back to Jacob so he came up with a plan, just throw him into a well.
V23-28 So the brothers decide to sell him into slavery.
V29-30 Reuben was upset and mourned the loss of his brother
V 31-32 They wanted to cover up what they did so they lied to their father. Sin leads to more sin
V33-35 Jacob was saying he would never get over the death of his son.
Today I want to talk about sin
There are two categories of sin…sins of commission and omission
Commission - Acting or doing that which was decided upon
The brothers planned out their sin. They hated and were jealous of Joseph so they decided to get rid of him.
What does God say about that.
Proverbs 6:16-19 God hates when people make wicked plans
Isaiah 30:1 Like they brothers then lied to the father in life when we Sin leads to more sin
So are you planning out your sin or helping others sin?
In my time in ministry I have seen some interesting things, a Christian family putting their daughter on birth control just in case she has sex. “hey if she is going to sin she is going to do it responsibly”
-maybe you are in a dating relationship and you are planning your evening around how you can get into a temping situation and then blame your falling into sin because the temptation was to strong, meanwhile you planned your night so that you would wind up in the situation.
-Maybe you are making money in a dishonest way and you have planned this out.
-Maybe you are planning the rude and nasty things you are going to say to your co-worked, friend or family member because they wronged you and you want to retaliate.
-Maybe you ask people just the right questions so they will gossip about someone and so you can start gossiping about someone.
When we plan out our sin God is not pleased
Sins of commission usually involve regret for what was done because we start to realize our intention was to sin.
Maybe you are saying to yourself “I don’t plan out my sin, I’m good I catch myself in the early stages.
There is another group of sins called
Sins of Omission - Neglect or failure to do that which should have been done. Omitting that which should be done.
When in life do you have an opportunity to do the right thing and you pass it up?
James 4:17
In the story of Joseph, Reuben was an example of someone who did not commit a sin of omission. He did not agree with his brothers and he tried to stop the effort. Some sit back and don’t do anything.
Luke 10:30-37 The priest and the levite did nothing. Many of us see others in need and have the resources to meet them and do nothing about it.
Some sins of omission that are common among believers. Not praying, not giving Mal 3:8, not going to church Heb 10:24-25, not serving, not helping others in need Matt 25, not exposing wrongdoing Eph 5:8-12, not stopping others from doing wrong. James 5:20
What are the results of the sins of omission and commission?
It separates you from God. Gospel
Look what sin does…consequences
It affects the others around us, look at what the sins of Joseph’s brothers did to Jacob.
Hitler planning out the Holocaust and when the US came in we stopped what was going on, but what if we didn’t it would have been a huge sin of omission. The consequences were catastrophic and could have been worse if we ignored it.
What do we have to do?
-Repent, some people think that this word means we turn from sin and never do it again and if you do you have not truly repented
Greek word in the NT is Meta noia is primarily an after-thought, different from the former thought; a "change of mind and heart",
Biblical repentance is a change of mind basically it is looking at our lives through the eyes of God and His Word. When it comes to sin it is saying this action that I commit or fail to do is wrong. Even though you may fall back into it at times you still realize it is something that is wrong and unacceptable to God.
If you leave here today and have a sinful pattern or a sin in your life and you say to yourself it is ok or it is not so bad you have not repented meaning not changed your mind
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
You have to change your mind first about what you are doing or in some cases not doing. That is why I am up here every Sunday to bring the Word so our minds can be changed.
Jacob who is also known as Israel had 12 sons and v3 states that Jacob had a special place in his heart for Joseph and he gave him an expensive coat.
V4 his brothers hated him v11 and envied him.
Vrs 5-10Now Joseph had two dreams in which can be taken as his brothers and his father and mother will eventually bow down to him. This made his bothers hate him even more.
V18-20n Joseph’s brothers plot to kill him.
V 21-22 Reuben stood up for Joseph and wanted to get him back to Jacob so he came up with a plan, just throw him into a well.
V23-28 So the brothers decide to sell him into slavery.
V29-30 Reuben was upset and mourned the loss of his brother
V 31-32 They wanted to cover up what they did so they lied to their father. Sin leads to more sin
V33-35 Jacob was saying he would never get over the death of his son.
Today I want to talk about sin
There are two categories of sin…sins of commission and omission
Commission - Acting or doing that which was decided upon
The brothers planned out their sin. They hated and were jealous of Joseph so they decided to get rid of him.
What does God say about that.
Proverbs 6:16-19 God hates when people make wicked plans
Isaiah 30:1 Like they brothers then lied to the father in life when we Sin leads to more sin
So are you planning out your sin or helping others sin?
In my time in ministry I have seen some interesting things, a Christian family putting their daughter on birth control just in case she has sex. “hey if she is going to sin she is going to do it responsibly”
-maybe you are in a dating relationship and you are planning your evening around how you can get into a temping situation and then blame your falling into sin because the temptation was to strong, meanwhile you planned your night so that you would wind up in the situation.
-Maybe you are making money in a dishonest way and you have planned this out.
-Maybe you are planning the rude and nasty things you are going to say to your co-worked, friend or family member because they wronged you and you want to retaliate.
-Maybe you ask people just the right questions so they will gossip about someone and so you can start gossiping about someone.
When we plan out our sin God is not pleased
Sins of commission usually involve regret for what was done because we start to realize our intention was to sin.
Maybe you are saying to yourself “I don’t plan out my sin, I’m good I catch myself in the early stages.
There is another group of sins called
Sins of Omission - Neglect or failure to do that which should have been done. Omitting that which should be done.
When in life do you have an opportunity to do the right thing and you pass it up?
James 4:17
In the story of Joseph, Reuben was an example of someone who did not commit a sin of omission. He did not agree with his brothers and he tried to stop the effort. Some sit back and don’t do anything.
Luke 10:30-37 The priest and the levite did nothing. Many of us see others in need and have the resources to meet them and do nothing about it.
Some sins of omission that are common among believers. Not praying, not giving Mal 3:8, not going to church Heb 10:24-25, not serving, not helping others in need Matt 25, not exposing wrongdoing Eph 5:8-12, not stopping others from doing wrong. James 5:20
What are the results of the sins of omission and commission?
It separates you from God. Gospel
Look what sin does…consequences
It affects the others around us, look at what the sins of Joseph’s brothers did to Jacob.
Hitler planning out the Holocaust and when the US came in we stopped what was going on, but what if we didn’t it would have been a huge sin of omission. The consequences were catastrophic and could have been worse if we ignored it.
What do we have to do?
-Repent, some people think that this word means we turn from sin and never do it again and if you do you have not truly repented
Greek word in the NT is Meta noia is primarily an after-thought, different from the former thought; a "change of mind and heart",
Biblical repentance is a change of mind basically it is looking at our lives through the eyes of God and His Word. When it comes to sin it is saying this action that I commit or fail to do is wrong. Even though you may fall back into it at times you still realize it is something that is wrong and unacceptable to God.
If you leave here today and have a sinful pattern or a sin in your life and you say to yourself it is ok or it is not so bad you have not repented meaning not changed your mind
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.
You have to change your mind first about what you are doing or in some cases not doing. That is why I am up here every Sunday to bring the Word so our minds can be changed.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
"Matters of the heart" Part 4: Integrity
Matthew 5:33-37
Lev. 19:12 God was saying if you use My name in an oath or a promise you better not lie or not keep up your end of the oath. .
The Pharisees and religious leaders at the time would swear and not use God’s name but instead things like heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or themselves, then when they broke the promise, lied or did not follow through they would say they did not sin because they did not swear by God’s name
Jesus raises the bar “do not lie at all” and keep your promises in other words have integrity.
Lets look what Jesus says
-First your loop hole is not that bright. Vrs 34-36 these things all belong to God because He is the creator.
They were looking for loop holes in order to benefit themselves.
-The second thing Jesus is saying here is Yes be yes and No be no
Yes - follow through with commitments
No- don’t be afraid to stand up and say no
Jesus is saying as followers of Him we need to be people who have integrity.
Tonight I want to talk about integrity because our personal integrity reveals our heart.
Integrity is- adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
the state of being whole
in simplest form “Who you are when no one is around” Your beliefs are solidified and real when you do the same in private as you would in public.
A questions you can ask yourself is “would I do this if no one would ever find out?” What ever the answer to that is, that is a reflection of your heart and what God sees and that is your integrity.
In biblical times people had a way to find out the integrity of a pot, if it has cracks then it is not whole, is it a cracked pot, the merchants were trying to get rid of the cracked pots so it was not a waste to them so they would glaze over the cracks, in order to find out the integrity of the pot (if it was whole and good) the buyer would hold the pot up to the sunlight to see if they could tell if there were any cracks.
Well God holds us up to the light of His son to see if we are cracked pots, and when He sees the cracks He wants to work on the integrity of our hearts. The first step in having personal integrity is trusting in the truth of God’s word- Gospel
Unfortunately as believers in Jesus our personal integrity is constantly under attack.
In the 60s something crept into our society by way of a man in ministry an Episcopal priest named Joseph Fletcher, it was not a new idea but He wrote a book called Situation Ethics The basic premise or idea of the book is that as long as the greater good of love is achieved wrong and right are only based on the situation. For example Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor, Fletcher would say the rich had a lot of money the poor had none Robin Hood was displaying love to the poor by giving them the riches money. This seems loving unless your rich but Fletcher would say the greater love was achieved based on situation.
What Fletcher is proposing is that there is no absolute wrong or right it depends on the situation. As long as the outcome promotes love it is right. “The end justifies the means”
So in this book he came up with situations such as a women seducing and sleeping with a person from another government to get secrets to stop a war that would kill thousands. Moral compromise so the greater good is achieved.
There are several problems with this but the biggest one is that it is saying that you can’t rely on God. As believers we have to realize that God cares about our hearts and wants us to do the right thing and He will take care of the details.
George Muller in the 1800’s was a preacher, evangelist and philanthropist. He opened several orphanages and in his life saw 23,000 orphans educated. A man of great faith and integrity relied on God to provide his needs and for the needs of the orphans. One morning they did not have breakfast for the a rather large group or orphans and he sat down at the table and thanked the Lord for the food that He would provide, and no sooner did he say amen there was a knock at the door of a bakery delivery wagon that had a broken wheel and not be able to complete the deliveries and the food would go bad so he wanted to give the food to the orphans.
Muller could have went out before breakfast and stole, or manipulated, after all there are starving orphans. But he trusted God. Unfortunately we normally don’t live life like this and we lack the trust is God.
The situational line of thinking has penetrated our society and caused people to lack integrity because there are no absolutes therefore there is nothing to judge the purity of integrity so now we cannot even recognize integrity and sometimes we even call integrity stupidity. Football player illustration.
Goodness is the only investment that never fails. ~Henry David Thoreau
What are some things that compromise our integrity?
-Tragic situations should not compromise our integrity
Job 2:9 his wife,4:6 friend encourages him your integrity is your hope, Then in 25:4-5 Bildad asks Job the question how can a man be righteous before God? Job’s reply 27:5 says he will not put off his integrity or as we can say what is pure in his heart which is his trust in God Like us today if we trust in Christ in our heart we are righteous before Him. Then Job wants God to know his integrity 31:6 the real test of a person is how they respond when things do not go their way. So lets see where Job’s integrity comes from. 42:1-6 I reject myself and the idea I had that the Lord always rewards the righteous in this life. His integrity is that trusts God no matter what happens.
-Facing adversity or obstacles should not compromise our integrity Another OT example is found in Dan 3:16-18 Situational ethics
“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the keys to living your life with integrity.”
“One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.”
-Other people should not make us compromise our integrity
1 Thess 2:4 Here Paul was saying we preach the Gospel not to please people but to please God. The Gospel is an unpopular message 2 Cor 2:16 says we are offensive to those who are dying because we are the aroma of Jesus.
Why would we listen to the world after all we learned in the last month and half that the world thinks we are crazy
So what does having integrity do for us?
Titus 2:6-8 others will not be able to say anything evil against us.
-Integrity provides security, we don’t have to worry about where we stand before God and others if we have integrity.
Pro 10:9 Romans 13:3 no reason to fear authorities if you have integrity
-You always know the right thing to do because you are resolved to do the right thing Proverbs 11:3
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval. ~Mark Twain
Bottom line Proverbs 20:7 The righteous person walks in his integrity.
We see our integrity “who we are when no one is around” really sums up all the Matters of hearts”
Lev. 19:12 God was saying if you use My name in an oath or a promise you better not lie or not keep up your end of the oath. .
The Pharisees and religious leaders at the time would swear and not use God’s name but instead things like heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or themselves, then when they broke the promise, lied or did not follow through they would say they did not sin because they did not swear by God’s name
Jesus raises the bar “do not lie at all” and keep your promises in other words have integrity.
Lets look what Jesus says
-First your loop hole is not that bright. Vrs 34-36 these things all belong to God because He is the creator.
They were looking for loop holes in order to benefit themselves.
-The second thing Jesus is saying here is Yes be yes and No be no
Yes - follow through with commitments
No- don’t be afraid to stand up and say no
Jesus is saying as followers of Him we need to be people who have integrity.
Tonight I want to talk about integrity because our personal integrity reveals our heart.
Integrity is- adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
the state of being whole
in simplest form “Who you are when no one is around” Your beliefs are solidified and real when you do the same in private as you would in public.
A questions you can ask yourself is “would I do this if no one would ever find out?” What ever the answer to that is, that is a reflection of your heart and what God sees and that is your integrity.
In biblical times people had a way to find out the integrity of a pot, if it has cracks then it is not whole, is it a cracked pot, the merchants were trying to get rid of the cracked pots so it was not a waste to them so they would glaze over the cracks, in order to find out the integrity of the pot (if it was whole and good) the buyer would hold the pot up to the sunlight to see if they could tell if there were any cracks.
Well God holds us up to the light of His son to see if we are cracked pots, and when He sees the cracks He wants to work on the integrity of our hearts. The first step in having personal integrity is trusting in the truth of God’s word- Gospel
Unfortunately as believers in Jesus our personal integrity is constantly under attack.
In the 60s something crept into our society by way of a man in ministry an Episcopal priest named Joseph Fletcher, it was not a new idea but He wrote a book called Situation Ethics The basic premise or idea of the book is that as long as the greater good of love is achieved wrong and right are only based on the situation. For example Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor, Fletcher would say the rich had a lot of money the poor had none Robin Hood was displaying love to the poor by giving them the riches money. This seems loving unless your rich but Fletcher would say the greater love was achieved based on situation.
What Fletcher is proposing is that there is no absolute wrong or right it depends on the situation. As long as the outcome promotes love it is right. “The end justifies the means”
So in this book he came up with situations such as a women seducing and sleeping with a person from another government to get secrets to stop a war that would kill thousands. Moral compromise so the greater good is achieved.
There are several problems with this but the biggest one is that it is saying that you can’t rely on God. As believers we have to realize that God cares about our hearts and wants us to do the right thing and He will take care of the details.
George Muller in the 1800’s was a preacher, evangelist and philanthropist. He opened several orphanages and in his life saw 23,000 orphans educated. A man of great faith and integrity relied on God to provide his needs and for the needs of the orphans. One morning they did not have breakfast for the a rather large group or orphans and he sat down at the table and thanked the Lord for the food that He would provide, and no sooner did he say amen there was a knock at the door of a bakery delivery wagon that had a broken wheel and not be able to complete the deliveries and the food would go bad so he wanted to give the food to the orphans.
Muller could have went out before breakfast and stole, or manipulated, after all there are starving orphans. But he trusted God. Unfortunately we normally don’t live life like this and we lack the trust is God.
The situational line of thinking has penetrated our society and caused people to lack integrity because there are no absolutes therefore there is nothing to judge the purity of integrity so now we cannot even recognize integrity and sometimes we even call integrity stupidity. Football player illustration.
Goodness is the only investment that never fails. ~Henry David Thoreau
What are some things that compromise our integrity?
-Tragic situations should not compromise our integrity
Job 2:9 his wife,4:6 friend encourages him your integrity is your hope, Then in 25:4-5 Bildad asks Job the question how can a man be righteous before God? Job’s reply 27:5 says he will not put off his integrity or as we can say what is pure in his heart which is his trust in God Like us today if we trust in Christ in our heart we are righteous before Him. Then Job wants God to know his integrity 31:6 the real test of a person is how they respond when things do not go their way. So lets see where Job’s integrity comes from. 42:1-6 I reject myself and the idea I had that the Lord always rewards the righteous in this life. His integrity is that trusts God no matter what happens.
-Facing adversity or obstacles should not compromise our integrity Another OT example is found in Dan 3:16-18 Situational ethics
“Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the keys to living your life with integrity.”
“One of the truest tests of integrity is its blunt refusal to be compromised.”
-Other people should not make us compromise our integrity
1 Thess 2:4 Here Paul was saying we preach the Gospel not to please people but to please God. The Gospel is an unpopular message 2 Cor 2:16 says we are offensive to those who are dying because we are the aroma of Jesus.
Why would we listen to the world after all we learned in the last month and half that the world thinks we are crazy
So what does having integrity do for us?
Titus 2:6-8 others will not be able to say anything evil against us.
-Integrity provides security, we don’t have to worry about where we stand before God and others if we have integrity.
Pro 10:9 Romans 13:3 no reason to fear authorities if you have integrity
-You always know the right thing to do because you are resolved to do the right thing Proverbs 11:3
A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval. ~Mark Twain
Bottom line Proverbs 20:7 The righteous person walks in his integrity.
We see our integrity “who we are when no one is around” really sums up all the Matters of hearts”
Friday, June 27, 2008
"Matters of the Heart" Part 3: Lust
Matters of the Heart Part 3: Lust Matthew 5:27-30
In our culture sex sells, just about anything, billboards ads, magazines, TV commercials internet ads. Any product from milk to underwear, sex saturated images hit our eyes. In a Texas A&M University survey said that the average American is exposed to roughly 850 advertisements a day. Lets just say the only 25% of those are advertisements with sexual content. That is 212 ads a day. These are not considered pornographic this is culturally acceptable advertisements. Mainline stores are issuing catalogs that by standards of 40 years ago would be considered pornographic.
John Lahr Theater Critic for The New Yorker Mag
“Society drives people crazy with lust and calls it advertising.”
Why is there such a decline and what does it do to our spiritual lives. Is this a big deal or is this something that should concern us.
Romans 1:22-25 The more people turn from God the more God allows them to be turned over to the lusts of their heart.
Matthew 5:27-28 Jesus raises the bar. You think you have it all down because don’t commit adultery well I am saying to you if you lust after someone you have already committed that adultery in your heart. Unmarried can commit adultery
Jesus is talking about “Matters of our hearts” God does care about our actions but more then that He focuses in our heart motives. Just like if we do the right thing for the wrong motive He is unimpressed and we are unrewarded. He is concerned about our hearts because it reveals the person Matthew 15:18-19
You are sinning if the intention is in your heart “For as he thinks in his heart so he is” Proverbs 23:7a
You may say that is ridiculous a person cannot possible stay away from sin then. You are right and that is exactly why we need Jesus’ death and resurrection to pay for our sins. Gospel
Or some may say “I don’t act on the intention” and that is good to some degree, but it is still sin and if the heart is not made right and worked on eventually you will live it out
What is Lust?
Lust is looking at another person for the purpose of stimulating desire. It is also distorted thinking about love and sex, which leads to guilt, shame and broken marriages.
John Maxwell defines lust as "any thought that, if you actually carried it out, would be a sin."
If it's wrong to lust, it's wrong to deliberately create lust. John Stott points out to women that it is one thing to make yourself attractive. It is another thing to make yourself deliberately seductive. The Bible warns those who give drink to a drunkard that they will be held accountable. In the same way those who intentionally stimulate lust will be answerable for their contribution to sin.
Charles Spurgeon once made a parable. He said, "There was once a tyrant who summoned one of his subjects into his presence, and ordered him to make a chain. The poor blacksmith -- that was his occupation -- had to go to work and forge the chain. When it was done, he brought it into the presence of the tyrant, and was ordered to take it away and make it twice the length. He brought it again to the tyrant, and again he was ordered to double it. Back he came when he had obeyed the order, and the tyrant looked at it, and then commanded the servants to bind the man hand and foot with the chain he had made and cast him into prison.
We are fashioning our own chain of lust to be eventually bound by it with unrealistic expectations which lead to more sin and harsh consequences
We start the chain by loving the thoughts and idead of what the world says is attractive and acceptable “lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes.” 1 John 2:15-16
Maybe you are somewhere on that spectrum you are forging a chain that eventually you will be bound with, maybe your deeper then that your lust have found you addicted to internet porn or emotional relationships online or with a person in your life.
1 Peter 2:11 says that fleshly lusts wage war against our souls
Christian author and speaker Richard Exley,
Lust is not the result of an overactive sex drive; If it were, then it could be satisfied with a sexual experience, like a glass of water quenches thirst or a good meal satisfies appetite. But the more we attempt to appease our lust, the more demanding it becomes. When we deny our lustful obsessions, we are not repressing a legitimate drive. We are putting to death a sinful course. Lust is to the gift of sex what cancer is to a normal cell. Therefore, we deny it, not in order to become sexless saints, but in order to be fully alive to God, which includes the full and uninhibited expression of our sexual being within the God-given context of marriage.
Bottom line is that lust is a heart problem
I have good news, the Bible tells us that it does not have to be that way.
You don’t have to be bound by that chain or continue to form it God can and wants to break that chain in your life.
“Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” Galatians 5:16 “Put on the Lord Jesus and make no provisions for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” Romans 13:14
Walk and put on are action words so we have to take action.
Step 1 Confession 1 John 1:9 God will deal with your sin
Step 2 Matthew 5:29-30 Take drastic measures to rid your life of lust, you know what promotes lust in your life, you have to get rid of those things or steer clear of them. That means changing what you are doing now.
Step 3 1 Thess 4:3-5 learn to control yourself. Sanctification means being set apart. As believers we are going to be set apart from the world that means that what we look at and do will be different from the world. One of the fruits of the Spirit is self control. In the desire series I did a message on self control.
Step 4 Psalm 119:9-11 Strive for purity, living by the Word and memorizing the Word. Topical memory system, or take verses that help you in the struggle you are having with lust. Post them on computer, desk at work or where ever you are having lustful thoughts
Step 5 Prayer Matt 26:14 Our flesh is weak by God is willing to help us. We are in desperate need of help from the Lord and we cannot have victory over lust and break that chain which is binding you.
There must be a daily act of breaking the chain in order for us not to be bound by it.
In our culture sex sells, just about anything, billboards ads, magazines, TV commercials internet ads. Any product from milk to underwear, sex saturated images hit our eyes. In a Texas A&M University survey said that the average American is exposed to roughly 850 advertisements a day. Lets just say the only 25% of those are advertisements with sexual content. That is 212 ads a day. These are not considered pornographic this is culturally acceptable advertisements. Mainline stores are issuing catalogs that by standards of 40 years ago would be considered pornographic.
John Lahr Theater Critic for The New Yorker Mag
“Society drives people crazy with lust and calls it advertising.”
Why is there such a decline and what does it do to our spiritual lives. Is this a big deal or is this something that should concern us.
Romans 1:22-25 The more people turn from God the more God allows them to be turned over to the lusts of their heart.
Matthew 5:27-28 Jesus raises the bar. You think you have it all down because don’t commit adultery well I am saying to you if you lust after someone you have already committed that adultery in your heart. Unmarried can commit adultery
Jesus is talking about “Matters of our hearts” God does care about our actions but more then that He focuses in our heart motives. Just like if we do the right thing for the wrong motive He is unimpressed and we are unrewarded. He is concerned about our hearts because it reveals the person Matthew 15:18-19
You are sinning if the intention is in your heart “For as he thinks in his heart so he is” Proverbs 23:7a
You may say that is ridiculous a person cannot possible stay away from sin then. You are right and that is exactly why we need Jesus’ death and resurrection to pay for our sins. Gospel
Or some may say “I don’t act on the intention” and that is good to some degree, but it is still sin and if the heart is not made right and worked on eventually you will live it out
What is Lust?
Lust is looking at another person for the purpose of stimulating desire. It is also distorted thinking about love and sex, which leads to guilt, shame and broken marriages.
John Maxwell defines lust as "any thought that, if you actually carried it out, would be a sin."
If it's wrong to lust, it's wrong to deliberately create lust. John Stott points out to women that it is one thing to make yourself attractive. It is another thing to make yourself deliberately seductive. The Bible warns those who give drink to a drunkard that they will be held accountable. In the same way those who intentionally stimulate lust will be answerable for their contribution to sin.
Charles Spurgeon once made a parable. He said, "There was once a tyrant who summoned one of his subjects into his presence, and ordered him to make a chain. The poor blacksmith -- that was his occupation -- had to go to work and forge the chain. When it was done, he brought it into the presence of the tyrant, and was ordered to take it away and make it twice the length. He brought it again to the tyrant, and again he was ordered to double it. Back he came when he had obeyed the order, and the tyrant looked at it, and then commanded the servants to bind the man hand and foot with the chain he had made and cast him into prison.
We are fashioning our own chain of lust to be eventually bound by it with unrealistic expectations which lead to more sin and harsh consequences
We start the chain by loving the thoughts and idead of what the world says is attractive and acceptable “lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes.” 1 John 2:15-16
Maybe you are somewhere on that spectrum you are forging a chain that eventually you will be bound with, maybe your deeper then that your lust have found you addicted to internet porn or emotional relationships online or with a person in your life.
1 Peter 2:11 says that fleshly lusts wage war against our souls
Christian author and speaker Richard Exley,
Lust is not the result of an overactive sex drive; If it were, then it could be satisfied with a sexual experience, like a glass of water quenches thirst or a good meal satisfies appetite. But the more we attempt to appease our lust, the more demanding it becomes. When we deny our lustful obsessions, we are not repressing a legitimate drive. We are putting to death a sinful course. Lust is to the gift of sex what cancer is to a normal cell. Therefore, we deny it, not in order to become sexless saints, but in order to be fully alive to God, which includes the full and uninhibited expression of our sexual being within the God-given context of marriage.
Bottom line is that lust is a heart problem
I have good news, the Bible tells us that it does not have to be that way.
You don’t have to be bound by that chain or continue to form it God can and wants to break that chain in your life.
“Walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” Galatians 5:16 “Put on the Lord Jesus and make no provisions for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts” Romans 13:14
Walk and put on are action words so we have to take action.
Step 1 Confession 1 John 1:9 God will deal with your sin
Step 2 Matthew 5:29-30 Take drastic measures to rid your life of lust, you know what promotes lust in your life, you have to get rid of those things or steer clear of them. That means changing what you are doing now.
Step 3 1 Thess 4:3-5 learn to control yourself. Sanctification means being set apart. As believers we are going to be set apart from the world that means that what we look at and do will be different from the world. One of the fruits of the Spirit is self control. In the desire series I did a message on self control.
Step 4 Psalm 119:9-11 Strive for purity, living by the Word and memorizing the Word. Topical memory system, or take verses that help you in the struggle you are having with lust. Post them on computer, desk at work or where ever you are having lustful thoughts
Step 5 Prayer Matt 26:14 Our flesh is weak by God is willing to help us. We are in desperate need of help from the Lord and we cannot have victory over lust and break that chain which is binding you.
There must be a daily act of breaking the chain in order for us not to be bound by it.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Crazy Faith Series "I love you son but you got to go"
Background- God made a covenant or a promise in Gen 12 God made a promise to Abraham that He would make him into a great nation and bless all nations through him. And his descendants would be like the stars of the sky
Gen 15:17-18 God seals this covenant or promise by passing through the carcasses, it was customary for both parties to pass through and basically what you were saying was “may I become like this carcass if I do not keep up my end of the deal”
Abraham did not have to pass through this was a unilateral covenant, God is loyal to his promise. Now this may seem fine but Abraham had no offspring from his wife Sarah vrs 3
Then we find out several chapters later 18, God promises Abraham and Sarah and Sarah laughs because she is old. Chapter 21 records their sons birth and Abraham names him Isaac which means “He (God) is Laughing (now)” At this point Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90
So we pick up the story in Chapter 22
Genesis 22:1-19
22:1 As the story begins we see this comment “God Tested Abraham” Tested so he can show Abraham’s true character and prove to the generations to come that Abraham believed Him even though the request was crazy.
22:2 - Isaac was uniquely born John 1:18 and Hebrews 11:17 Isaac was unique because he was their only son and Sarah was 90 and Abraham was 100, so against the odds they had this boy and now God wants him to sacrifice him.
Burnt offering was giving the best of what you had in your herd or flocks. Isaac was truly that, Abraham did have other children but Isaac was the one that God laid His promise on.
This does not make sense. If God was promising a blessing through this boy why would He ask his dad to sacrifice him?
In life many times we come across things God wants us to that don’t make sense to us or the world around us at the time but we know that God wants us to do it. Like with our finances, it does not make sense to give money away to God but God Blesses when we do.
Maybe you are confronted with a new and better job opportunity but God wants you to stay where you are because you will be more effective there.
Maybe you thought a certain career path was right for you and God keeps pressing on your heart to take a career path that pays less or may be harder.
Maybe God is pressing on your heart to do a ministry that will take a good deal of time and it seems to crazy to do.
Maybe it is forgiving someone who has hurt you that is not sorry or expressing love to your enemies.
God asking this of Abraham was enormous because Isaac was the fulfillment of the promise and Abe’s descendents would be blessed through him. So what was up why did and why does God ask us or lead us to do things that seem to be harder, less appealing or down right crazy? He wants us to trust Him and see the great things He has in store for us. He wants us to realize “Father knows best” A simple truth that most of you dads teach your children “Listen to me” Proverbs 23:22
Remember God wants the best for you, He is not trying to hurt you.
I always say when I held Zane in my hands for the first time it changed who I am, as a dad I look at life with new eyes, I think about what would interest my children, what would make them happy, how I can help them succeed, and no matter how much they annoy me, disrespect me and don’t listen to me, I love them. The things I want to instill in them are don’t make the mistakes I made, listen to wise counsel
22:3-4
If I was ever asked to give them up my answer would be no, that’s where I can learn from this example of a man who was truly willing give up everything for God. As soon as he received the word he went and made preparations for the offering. Notice there was immediate obedience, that is what God desires. Kind of funny because that is what I desire from my kids
22:5 The Hebrew is actually better translated determined, we will go, we will worship, we will come back. Showing his trust in God. Do we trust God that much, I am going to give my money, I am going to give my time, I am going to forgive that person, I am going to love my enemy. I will do these things and not only trust God to provide but have an expectant trust that God will take care
22-6-7 The question “where is the lamb?” This question must have burned Abraham’s ears, how can I answer this?
22:8 God will provide, the right attitude when we worship God, letting go of everything for Him
Romans 12:1 Sacrifices of our God are a broken a contrite heart. Psalm 51:17
22:9-11 A Son’s trust of his father. He was probably about 116 and Isaac was around 16. He could have taken Him but He trusted that his dad was following God
22:12 For now I know you “Fear” God “Reverent Awe” “Because you have not withheld your only son”
Matthew Henry said “The best evidence of our fearing God is our being willing to serve and honor Him with what is dearest to us” “Not withheld your only son”
22:13-14 God provided, just like Abraham said in vrs 8, He believed God and God delivered
22:15-18 Before the covenant was sealed but now it was sworn with an oath. Notice God says by your “seed” all nations will be blessed
God is loyal to His covenant or promise
What is the deeper meaning of this story?
Isaac = Jesus the true “seed” willingly went to the cross for us all. All nations everyone is blessed because of Jesus death. Isaac is what we call a “Type” of Christ in the Old Testament. “Type” figures help us to understand God was always setting the stage. Isaac willing went to the alter and Jesus willing went to the cross for us.
Abraham = Father, willingness to give up his son. Many times when we think about God the Father we don’t always thin of Him as having feelings, but as a father or a mother we can understand the pain a turmoil the Father went through when He gave up His son. God wanted to show all of us that this was the biggest possible sacrifice for Him to make.
So what does it mean to us today on Fathers Day in 2008
1 John 3:1a Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!
God the Father in His grace love and compassion has given us the great opportunity to become His child through trusting in the sacrificial death of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead, if we trust that we will have life everlasting.
Gen 15:17-18 God seals this covenant or promise by passing through the carcasses, it was customary for both parties to pass through and basically what you were saying was “may I become like this carcass if I do not keep up my end of the deal”
Abraham did not have to pass through this was a unilateral covenant, God is loyal to his promise. Now this may seem fine but Abraham had no offspring from his wife Sarah vrs 3
Then we find out several chapters later 18, God promises Abraham and Sarah and Sarah laughs because she is old. Chapter 21 records their sons birth and Abraham names him Isaac which means “He (God) is Laughing (now)” At this point Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90
So we pick up the story in Chapter 22
Genesis 22:1-19
22:1 As the story begins we see this comment “God Tested Abraham” Tested so he can show Abraham’s true character and prove to the generations to come that Abraham believed Him even though the request was crazy.
22:2 - Isaac was uniquely born John 1:18 and Hebrews 11:17 Isaac was unique because he was their only son and Sarah was 90 and Abraham was 100, so against the odds they had this boy and now God wants him to sacrifice him.
Burnt offering was giving the best of what you had in your herd or flocks. Isaac was truly that, Abraham did have other children but Isaac was the one that God laid His promise on.
This does not make sense. If God was promising a blessing through this boy why would He ask his dad to sacrifice him?
In life many times we come across things God wants us to that don’t make sense to us or the world around us at the time but we know that God wants us to do it. Like with our finances, it does not make sense to give money away to God but God Blesses when we do.
Maybe you are confronted with a new and better job opportunity but God wants you to stay where you are because you will be more effective there.
Maybe you thought a certain career path was right for you and God keeps pressing on your heart to take a career path that pays less or may be harder.
Maybe God is pressing on your heart to do a ministry that will take a good deal of time and it seems to crazy to do.
Maybe it is forgiving someone who has hurt you that is not sorry or expressing love to your enemies.
God asking this of Abraham was enormous because Isaac was the fulfillment of the promise and Abe’s descendents would be blessed through him. So what was up why did and why does God ask us or lead us to do things that seem to be harder, less appealing or down right crazy? He wants us to trust Him and see the great things He has in store for us. He wants us to realize “Father knows best” A simple truth that most of you dads teach your children “Listen to me” Proverbs 23:22
Remember God wants the best for you, He is not trying to hurt you.
I always say when I held Zane in my hands for the first time it changed who I am, as a dad I look at life with new eyes, I think about what would interest my children, what would make them happy, how I can help them succeed, and no matter how much they annoy me, disrespect me and don’t listen to me, I love them. The things I want to instill in them are don’t make the mistakes I made, listen to wise counsel
22:3-4
If I was ever asked to give them up my answer would be no, that’s where I can learn from this example of a man who was truly willing give up everything for God. As soon as he received the word he went and made preparations for the offering. Notice there was immediate obedience, that is what God desires. Kind of funny because that is what I desire from my kids
22:5 The Hebrew is actually better translated determined, we will go, we will worship, we will come back. Showing his trust in God. Do we trust God that much, I am going to give my money, I am going to give my time, I am going to forgive that person, I am going to love my enemy. I will do these things and not only trust God to provide but have an expectant trust that God will take care
22-6-7 The question “where is the lamb?” This question must have burned Abraham’s ears, how can I answer this?
22:8 God will provide, the right attitude when we worship God, letting go of everything for Him
Romans 12:1 Sacrifices of our God are a broken a contrite heart. Psalm 51:17
22:9-11 A Son’s trust of his father. He was probably about 116 and Isaac was around 16. He could have taken Him but He trusted that his dad was following God
22:12 For now I know you “Fear” God “Reverent Awe” “Because you have not withheld your only son”
Matthew Henry said “The best evidence of our fearing God is our being willing to serve and honor Him with what is dearest to us” “Not withheld your only son”
22:13-14 God provided, just like Abraham said in vrs 8, He believed God and God delivered
22:15-18 Before the covenant was sealed but now it was sworn with an oath. Notice God says by your “seed” all nations will be blessed
God is loyal to His covenant or promise
What is the deeper meaning of this story?
Isaac = Jesus the true “seed” willingly went to the cross for us all. All nations everyone is blessed because of Jesus death. Isaac is what we call a “Type” of Christ in the Old Testament. “Type” figures help us to understand God was always setting the stage. Isaac willing went to the alter and Jesus willing went to the cross for us.
Abraham = Father, willingness to give up his son. Many times when we think about God the Father we don’t always thin of Him as having feelings, but as a father or a mother we can understand the pain a turmoil the Father went through when He gave up His son. God wanted to show all of us that this was the biggest possible sacrifice for Him to make.
So what does it mean to us today on Fathers Day in 2008
1 John 3:1a Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!
God the Father in His grace love and compassion has given us the great opportunity to become His child through trusting in the sacrificial death of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead, if we trust that we will have life everlasting.
Crazy Faith Series "Jesus cast out what?"
Matt 8:28-34
Crazy faith over the last three weeks we talked about things that some people may say are crazy to believe. Jesus can heal us, if we follow Jesus there will be suffering involved, He wants our help and last week we talked about how Jesus has control over nature and the storms of our lives. Today we are going to talk about spiritual warfare, demons, unclean spirits. Is it crazy to believe there is a dark side an evil force?
Keith Green wrote a song of how Satan’s great deception of today is he does not exist. Read lyrics
Where it all started. Lucifer’s Pride Isaiah 14:12-16, Ezekiel 28:11-19 and 1/3 of angels fallen=demons
This is where sin originated and pride is the root of that sin, Lucifer wanted to be like God. Adam and Eve sin was pride as well.
When we think about it much of the sin we commit in life has to do with pride. I can do it, I can handle it, I am better at it, I want my needs met, everything revolves around me, I make my own decisions, I am the boss of men, I am my own God. So we can understand how this could happen.
Lets look at the text Matt 8:28-34 and see what happens in the account of the two demon possessed men.
Vrs 28 Demon possessed men, taken over by demons
Vrs 29 Three things the demons say
1. “What do we have to do with you?” This is not a question as much as it is a statement, Light has nothing to do with darkness. 2 Corinthians 6:14 That is why as believers we should keep away from evil
Eph 5:8-12 Read and talk about.
That is why as believers we have to be careful what we take in, through movies and tv, internet and music.
Many times we fill our minds with evil, entertainment should not be stories about rape, murder and violence.
Comedy should not be sexual innuendos and casual sex, this cheapens what God has created for a man and women within the confines of marriage. Do you see the deception here, Satan and his demons edge their way into to our lives by making light and entertainment of things we should not even talk about sinful things. And then when we have vulgar language, impure thoughts and easily fall into sin we wonder why? We were letting all these evil things set up shop in our lives
Surrounding ourselves with people who are not believers will lead us into darkness. 2 Cor 4:4 tells us that unbelievers eyes are blinded by Satan. Now lets think about this you have a problem or issue in your life and ask advice from the world, where will it lead you?
My grandma in 1950 went to the doctor because she was nervous and do you know what he told her? Start smoking
The world’s advice leads to destruction. The Bibles counsel is pray when you are anxious. The counsel of the Lord stands forever Psalm 33:11. I am not dismissing chemical imbalances and mental disorders. But the point I am making is we listen to the world and the first part of 2 Cor. 4:4 calls Satan the god of this age or world, the unbelievers God is Satan whether they know it or not because the Word says you are either for God or against.
So the question for the believer is what should we have to do with demons and Satan. But the problem is that we are taught not to recognize the power and reality of Satan because it is crazy to believe that.
2. Notice they also call Him “Son of God” the demons know who He is. One writer wrote “demons have good doctrine” I would like to correct that to say “demons know good doctrine”
James says they believe and shudder, they know Jesus and what He did.
1Timothy 4:1-3 Doctrines of demons
What is bad or false doctrine? There is a bunch but here is how we recognize it and here is how demons do it.
-Adding rules and regulations to the Word, Galatians talks about that, man made rules are legalistic. Anytime a church or a person or a pastor is teaching something that is extra biblical and teaching it as truth, that is false doctrine, everyone has the liberty to teach as opinion.
But when rules are added truth decays
-Taking scriptures out of the context in which they were written,can produce false doctrine. Satan poses as an angel of light. I have heard people support abortion through the scriptures, start cults, kill others, you name it there has been a lunatic who read a short passage and put his own meaning to it and did not examine the context.
This includes being honest with the text when someone is teaching the Word they must study and prepare and make sure they are not putting their own meaning to it.
The word says 2 Timothy 2:15 Rightly dividing the word of truth, training is so important
Or base doctrines off of Christian clesheas Jesse “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” God loves dirty sinners. He hung out with unclean people and came for the sick
“Everyone has a God shaped hole in their heart”
Jeremiah 17:9-10a
-Works based salvation, a great deception is I can work my way to heaven.
3. “Have you come to torment us before the time” “Time” is reference to Revelation 19:20 and 20:10 in which Satan, demons and the antichrist will fall under judgment. Are you here as a harsh reminder of our demise?
Vrs 30-32 Demons begged to go into the pigs? This is a strange request, why? Two things
1.The demons still wanted to hurt the men around by destroying their possessions and further make Jesus a burden to them and thwart the efforts of God. IN a sense make them turn their back on God.
Maybe you are going through a crisis in your life right now and Satan and his demons are causing it in hopes that you will blow your testimony or doubt God. They will stop at nothing except Christ because they have to sidetrack you in your walk and service to God
In a book called Bondage Breaker. A High Priest in the Satanic church got saved
2.It illustrates that Jesus still has control and no matter how powerful demons or Satan is they are not allowed to move without permission
Vrs 33-34 The peoples response was they wanted Jesus to leave because all their pigs went over the cliff. This illustrates how people value their possessions more then they value God. They kept pigs and they just lost 2000 of their source of income. And they were ticked that Jesus cast the demons out of the men into the pigs.
So what do we do with all this? Ephesians says this is all going on around us, that our battle is not against flesh and blood but the spiritual powers. The Word has guidance and comfort.
1. Resist the devil and he will flee James 4:7
2. “He that is in you is greater then he that is in the world” 1 John 4:4
3. Get ready for battle Eph 6:10-20 Talks about the whole armor of God which consists of salvation, truth, righteousness, faith, preaching the true gospel, the Word of God and prayer
Crazy faith over the last three weeks we talked about things that some people may say are crazy to believe. Jesus can heal us, if we follow Jesus there will be suffering involved, He wants our help and last week we talked about how Jesus has control over nature and the storms of our lives. Today we are going to talk about spiritual warfare, demons, unclean spirits. Is it crazy to believe there is a dark side an evil force?
Keith Green wrote a song of how Satan’s great deception of today is he does not exist. Read lyrics
Where it all started. Lucifer’s Pride Isaiah 14:12-16, Ezekiel 28:11-19 and 1/3 of angels fallen=demons
This is where sin originated and pride is the root of that sin, Lucifer wanted to be like God. Adam and Eve sin was pride as well.
When we think about it much of the sin we commit in life has to do with pride. I can do it, I can handle it, I am better at it, I want my needs met, everything revolves around me, I make my own decisions, I am the boss of men, I am my own God. So we can understand how this could happen.
Lets look at the text Matt 8:28-34 and see what happens in the account of the two demon possessed men.
Vrs 28 Demon possessed men, taken over by demons
Vrs 29 Three things the demons say
1. “What do we have to do with you?” This is not a question as much as it is a statement, Light has nothing to do with darkness. 2 Corinthians 6:14 That is why as believers we should keep away from evil
Eph 5:8-12 Read and talk about.
That is why as believers we have to be careful what we take in, through movies and tv, internet and music.
Many times we fill our minds with evil, entertainment should not be stories about rape, murder and violence.
Comedy should not be sexual innuendos and casual sex, this cheapens what God has created for a man and women within the confines of marriage. Do you see the deception here, Satan and his demons edge their way into to our lives by making light and entertainment of things we should not even talk about sinful things. And then when we have vulgar language, impure thoughts and easily fall into sin we wonder why? We were letting all these evil things set up shop in our lives
Surrounding ourselves with people who are not believers will lead us into darkness. 2 Cor 4:4 tells us that unbelievers eyes are blinded by Satan. Now lets think about this you have a problem or issue in your life and ask advice from the world, where will it lead you?
My grandma in 1950 went to the doctor because she was nervous and do you know what he told her? Start smoking
The world’s advice leads to destruction. The Bibles counsel is pray when you are anxious. The counsel of the Lord stands forever Psalm 33:11. I am not dismissing chemical imbalances and mental disorders. But the point I am making is we listen to the world and the first part of 2 Cor. 4:4 calls Satan the god of this age or world, the unbelievers God is Satan whether they know it or not because the Word says you are either for God or against.
So the question for the believer is what should we have to do with demons and Satan. But the problem is that we are taught not to recognize the power and reality of Satan because it is crazy to believe that.
2. Notice they also call Him “Son of God” the demons know who He is. One writer wrote “demons have good doctrine” I would like to correct that to say “demons know good doctrine”
James says they believe and shudder, they know Jesus and what He did.
1Timothy 4:1-3 Doctrines of demons
What is bad or false doctrine? There is a bunch but here is how we recognize it and here is how demons do it.
-Adding rules and regulations to the Word, Galatians talks about that, man made rules are legalistic. Anytime a church or a person or a pastor is teaching something that is extra biblical and teaching it as truth, that is false doctrine, everyone has the liberty to teach as opinion.
But when rules are added truth decays
-Taking scriptures out of the context in which they were written,can produce false doctrine. Satan poses as an angel of light. I have heard people support abortion through the scriptures, start cults, kill others, you name it there has been a lunatic who read a short passage and put his own meaning to it and did not examine the context.
This includes being honest with the text when someone is teaching the Word they must study and prepare and make sure they are not putting their own meaning to it.
The word says 2 Timothy 2:15 Rightly dividing the word of truth, training is so important
Or base doctrines off of Christian clesheas Jesse “Cleanliness is next to Godliness” God loves dirty sinners. He hung out with unclean people and came for the sick
“Everyone has a God shaped hole in their heart”
Jeremiah 17:9-10a
-Works based salvation, a great deception is I can work my way to heaven.
3. “Have you come to torment us before the time” “Time” is reference to Revelation 19:20 and 20:10 in which Satan, demons and the antichrist will fall under judgment. Are you here as a harsh reminder of our demise?
Vrs 30-32 Demons begged to go into the pigs? This is a strange request, why? Two things
1.The demons still wanted to hurt the men around by destroying their possessions and further make Jesus a burden to them and thwart the efforts of God. IN a sense make them turn their back on God.
Maybe you are going through a crisis in your life right now and Satan and his demons are causing it in hopes that you will blow your testimony or doubt God. They will stop at nothing except Christ because they have to sidetrack you in your walk and service to God
In a book called Bondage Breaker. A High Priest in the Satanic church got saved
2.It illustrates that Jesus still has control and no matter how powerful demons or Satan is they are not allowed to move without permission
Vrs 33-34 The peoples response was they wanted Jesus to leave because all their pigs went over the cliff. This illustrates how people value their possessions more then they value God. They kept pigs and they just lost 2000 of their source of income. And they were ticked that Jesus cast the demons out of the men into the pigs.
So what do we do with all this? Ephesians says this is all going on around us, that our battle is not against flesh and blood but the spiritual powers. The Word has guidance and comfort.
1. Resist the devil and he will flee James 4:7
2. “He that is in you is greater then he that is in the world” 1 John 4:4
3. Get ready for battle Eph 6:10-20 Talks about the whole armor of God which consists of salvation, truth, righteousness, faith, preaching the true gospel, the Word of God and prayer
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