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Job 42:10-17 Job Series #16 S-1599 Explain Job series . All these painful days, now Job broken and friends restored because of mercy. READ Job 42:10-17. Restored twofold. So – boils blown away. Gets health and home and finally gets family back. Prayer We were fascinated from childhood by the stories that seemed larger than life. They all began with the same four words:  “Once upon a time…” The time really didn’t matter. All referred to kings and queens, prices, might and fight and love and war and romance and usually marriage and they all finished with the same six words,  “…and they lived happily ever after.” Oh, that that were true. We grow up with the same hope in our hearts. Build “dream” house and it’s not…roof leaks, toilets stop up…. Dream job, it’s not, unfortunately, we bring ourselves with us to the new job and the people we work with are a lot like the old people we left. Dream baby – wonderful. Then with the baby comes sights, sounds, and smells that weren’t there before. New car – nothing smells like a new car – soon, looks just like old car. Reminds me of little four year old girl who said to mom after she’d spent the day at day school. “Mom! I just heard the greatest story. There was this wonderful princess and she fell into a deep trance and along came a charming prince and he kissed her and she came back to life and then, do you know what?” “Sure,” said mother, “they lived happily ever after.” Child said, “No, they got married.” Truth is no one really lives happily ever after – even in Bible Stories Noah – great things, flood, naked and ashamed. David’s life has a dark side – murder, hypocrisy and jealousy marking his life. King Saul – born to be a king, dies a suicide. John the Baptist – beheaded. Peter crucified upside down Now before you get too depressed. Some do live happily ever after. Daniel Joseph and Job Well, maybe on this earth, no one lives “happily ever after.” That will come in the hereafter. But how about fulfilled and satisfied? How about growing and learning? How about contented and with few regrets. Yes, Daniel, Joseph and Job all had that. Look at how he died: READ Job 42:17:  “old and full of years.”  Old and full of years are not the same. “Full of years” refers more to fullness of life: contented, satisfied, few regrets. The Message – “Then he died, an old man, a full life.” The Living Bible – Then at last he died, an old man, after living a long good life. Read about Abraham’s death. Genesis 15:15; 25:8. “He breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man, and he was satisfied with age and he was gathered to his people.” Probably a reference to joining ancestors in afterlife – Heaven. One day we will all die. Death will come. I want us all to die under the patriarchal formula. A new consultant breezed into the Human Resources Office and asked, How many of the company’s employees were approaching retirement age. “All of them. Not one of them is going the other way.” Thomas Cole (1801-1848) “Stages of Life: Childhood“ Safe and secure for many. Great start. Gus Bess, “I feel like I was born at 9. Sister born at 7. Remember flashes of memory. Mom going through screen door. Me too. Something bad happened, we don’t know what. Never too late to have rich full life, old and full of years. ▓SLIDE #17: “Stages of Life: Youth“ ▓SLIDE #18: Focus on dreams. Not all dreams come true. One of keys to successful life is how you handle it when your dreams are not going to come true. Pastors hit this in 40s. Hard youth. Never to late to have a rich, full life, old and full of years. ▓SLIDE #19: “Stages of Life: Adulthood“ ▓SLIDE #20: Rough waters ahead. God is watching, we are praying. We all live through this. READ Job 23:10 gives a helpful perspective throughout the stages of life. In the midst of his sufferings Job proclaimed: “But He knows the way I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” And so he did. I wonder if Job remembers saying this to Eliphaz. Back when sores were still with him, friends against him, family gone away, children had died, he was bankrupt. Sitting in garbage dump on the outskirts of the city. Job says, “It will be worth it.” It would be a great gift if we could be in Job’s position at the end of the book without going through that he went through throughout the book. The knowledge without the suffering. But realistically, it can’t happen. It takes fire to refine gold. ▓SLIDE #21: “Stages of Life: Old Age“ ▓SLIDE #22: Ready to die: angels beckoning. The roman scholar, Cato, began to study Greek when he was over eighty. Some one asked why he tackled such a difficult task at his age. Cato said, “It is the earliest age I have left. JOB REceived four gold-like blessings from the hand of God. Your rewards might be different because your trials are different. The blessings that come to you are not necessarily the same as Job’s. But take heart. They will come. ▓SLIDE #23: 1. Job’s possessions are doubled (Job 42:10, 12). READ Job 42:10 – All doubled over the passing of time. Job 1:2-3 is exactly one half of these figures. Plenty of land and animals and food. 6000 camels. Freight trucks. On occasion the Lord chooses to bless certain individuals with more than is enough. Let it be. Let it be. Guard yourself from envy. God’s children who are blessed with more than enough are often the first to say that it all came from His grace. If you are not financially blessed like some others, applaud their good fortune rather than resent it. ▓SLIDE #24: 2. His relatives and friends supported him (Job 42:11). READ Job 42:11. Where were they before he won the lottery? Someone said, “You always know who your friends are if you win the lottery or own a pick-up truck. Weren’t around in his sufferings. See Job 6:14-15. They all deserted him. In a fast paced world like ours it’s easy to lose our roots and live just for ourselves. One person stood by his side through it all: For better or worse. You have to hand it to Mrs. Job. She stuck it out. She’s not painted in a good light, I’m sorry to say. She had great qualities. Standing beside ten fresh graves on a windy hill, his wife heaving in sobs beside him, having lost all Job says in faith, “The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” His wife bitterly whispered, “Just curse God and die.” Those were her children, too. Stayed with him all the way – as confused as he was, watching her husband dwindle to a shell of what he’d once been must have been terribly difficult. She was there! Hey, stick it out, stay together. This is your best friend. Hang in there. They had a lot to talk about as they went to bed alone and all was quiet. I love that when the family finally came around, they comforted and consoled him. Maybe he told them about the night he lost all hope. Maybe he had a few scars remaining. These are the kind of stories that make a family reunion deeper and more meaningful. All gave him pieces of silver and ring of gold. Maybe this was early after he lost it all and they put him back on his feet. Sold all the rings to live on in early days. Remember, no one ever said on their deathbed, “I wish I’d spent more time at the office.” ▓SLIDE #25: 3. Job’s children are all replaced (Job 42:13-15). READ Job 42:13-15. Let’s say “they did.” She’s up in years. Let’s just say they’re 70. “You won’t believe this but I think I’m pregnant!” “What?!” Not one pregnancy or even 2. 10 pregnancies. In West Virginia there is the story of the couple who called for a doctor late one night as the wife was about to deliver a baby. The country physician turned the rustic farmhouse into a makeshift delivery room. The husband was told to hold the lantern where the doctor could see. After a healthy boy was born, the man lowered the lantern. The doctor shouted for the new father to get the lantern back up because there was another baby on the way, this time a girl. Dad lowered the lantern to look at the second child. Dad was shocked when the doctor told him to lift up the lantern again. Another one was on the way. The shaky father asked the doctor, ‘Do you think it’s the light that’s attracting them?” Mr. and Mrs. Job had 10 more children. Thank God it wasn’t 20! They are raising children again! That will keep you young! They got to enjoy the blessing of parenting with the wisdom of grandparents. “I wish I knew then what I know now. I’d have been such a better parent.” Well, they got that second chance. They don’t make the mistakes of the first time. Some of you are raising little children. I remember the precocious ten-year-old who asked her grandmother, “How old are you?”  “Well, honey, when you are my age you don’t share your age with just anybody.” “Please, I won’t tell.” “No, it’s my secret.” Twenty minutes later the little girl bounced in and said, “You’re 62 and you weigh 140 pounds.” The astonished grandmother said, “How in the world did you know that?” “Easy. I looked at your driver’s license. I also saw you got an F in sex.” READ Job 42:14 Not much significance to names. “Karen” means “darkness at corner of eyes”. Like mascara. They named her “Karen”. That’s better than “Mascara”. READ Job 42:15 They’re beautiful = “fair” means more than outside beauty. They had the inner beauty of character and personhood. Why? Mom and dad knew what they were doing. They gained knowledge from wise parents that was ahead of their years. ▓SLIDE #26: 4. Job received the Patriarchal Blessings of a long and satisfying life (Job 42:16-17). READ Job 42:16-17. Add 140 to 70 and get 210 years of life. Great for him! And then he died, “old and full of years” I—a completely fulfilled life. Job did not dying a struggling, broken, cranky old codger who every one tried to avoid. He enjoyed his children, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren. He relived much of life and passed on so much of what he has learned. ▓SLIDE #27: Jewish proverb: “For the ignorant old age is as winter. For the learned it is a harvest.” It’s wonderful to be around an enthusiastic person who is older than you. Great to see them have goals and visions and dreams that excite them from the time they awaken until bedtime. Wonderful to have mentors when you are young who are still walking with God. It’s wonderful to see people into their 70’s, 80s, and 90’s who still are loving Jesus. Let me say to you who have older parents and family members – remember them. Take care of them. Love them. If they’re away write to them. Continue to nurture that relationship. It is tough to get old. You know you are getting older when: You sit down in a rocking chair and you can’t get it started. All the names in your little black book end in “M.D.” You get winded playing chess You watch a pretty girl go by and your pacemaker opens the garage door. The female flight attendant offers Coffee, Tea, or Milk of Magnesia You try to straighten the wrinkles in your socks and you realize you aren’t wearing any. You sink your teeth into a juicy steak and they stay there. Let’s learn from this passage the value of helping those who are aging enjoy a more satisfied life. They are worth it. Some wag has said, “Older folks are worth a lot more. They have silver in their hair, gold in their teeth, stones in their kidneys, lead in their feet, and natural gas in their intestines.” ▓SLIDE #28: HOW CAN WE LIVE TO RECEIVE THE PATRIARCHAL BLESSING FOR A LONG AND FULFILLED LIFE? What do I learn from Job’s model? If I were Richard’s age, what would I be worried about? ▓SLIDE #29: Find Forgiveness And A Right Standing With God At The Foot Of The Cross. Found right standing with God by sacrifice Job 1:5; and 42:8-9. Confessed sin to keep relationship with God close and intact Tape or CD find Justice and Mercy meet at the foot of the cross. ▓SLIDE #30: Stay Committed To God And To Your Relationship With Him At Any Price Refused to turn his back on God (curse God) Job 1:11 Job 23:11-12 Stay with God even when life seems unfair. Book of Job ends—Was this really fair? No, to us it would have been fair if all this never happened. ▓SLIDE # 31: God is not under the law of fairness. But He is always just. ▓SLIDE #32: Wrong view: There is a law of fairness or justice that is higher and more absolute than God. It is binding even for God. God must act according to this law in order to be fair. We appeal to this law for fairness. ▓SLIDE #33: Upon accepting an award, the late Jack Benny once remarked: ▓SLIDE #34: “I really don’t deserve this. But, I have arthritis, and I don’t deserve that either. ▓SLIDE #35: Correct view: God Himself is the standard of justice. He always acts according to His own moral perfection. Thus whatever He does is fair, even if we don’t understand it. We appeal directly to God. By the way, God never reveals to Job about the deal between Him and Satan. He leaves Job in the mystery of it. And Job simply acknowledges his inability to understand why. That is just. Doggedly stay with God no matter what happens in life. Hebrews 12:4-12 Mike Kollin, former linebacker for the Miami Dolphins was asked by his coach to do some scouting: “Sure coach, what kind of player are you looking for?” “Well, Mike, do you know the kind of player who gets knocked down and stays down?” Mike said, “We don’t want him, do we?” “No, we don’t want him. Then there is the kind of player who gets knocked down and gets up and gets knocked down again and then stays down?” “We don’t want him either, do we?” “No. And then there is the player who gets knocked down, gets back up, gets knocked down again, and gets back up again and again.” Mike said, “That’s the guy we want. Right?” “No, Mike, we don’t want him either. I want you to find the guy who’s knocking everybody down. That’s the guy we want. “Polycarp 86 years have I served him….” ▓SLIDE #37: Process Properly The Hurts And Pains Of Life. He was honest with God; told God the truth about his feelings (psalms) Job 16:1-5: aren’t any of you going to comfort me? Job 42:11 Clara Null relates, “It was one of the worst days of my life. The washing machine broke down. The telephone kept ringing. I had more bills than I had money to pay. My head ached. Almost to the breaking point I lifted my 1-year-old into his highchair, leaned my head against the tray and began to cry. Without a word, my son took his pacifier out of his mouth and stuck it in mine. Tapes and CDs on comfort. ▓SLIDE #38: Maintain Your Integrity Job 2:3,9; and 6:29 Consistency of character. Bob barber, my core values. Gus Bess came to town. Heard: “Casas is always the same in reputation and character.” Teenagers multiple masks: Self Choose Who I am Get person hood and values intact. STORY of calling myself out in men’s softball game: Mr. Fox, “what did you expect?” I wish for all of us a full life that is marked not by living happily ever after – impossible – but satisfied, fulfilled, challenged, useful, godly, balanced, reasonably sweet.

FILLING A MOTHER'S EMPTINESS SUGGESTED PASSAGE:  2 Kings 4:1-7 (NASB) 1 Now a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the proph ets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord; and the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” 2 Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” 3 Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels at large for yourself from all your neighbors, even empty vessels; do not get a few. 4 And you shall go in and shut the door behind you and your sons, and pour out into all these vessels, and you shall set aside what is full.” 5 So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons; they were bringing the vessels to her and she poured. 6 When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another ves sel.” And he said to her, “There is not one vessel more.” And the oil stopped. 7 Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt, and you and your sons can live on the rest.” MESSAGE GOAL: The goal of this message on Filling a Mother's Emptiness is to remind us that God wants to take our pain and teach us to depend on His comfort and provision. INTRODUCITON: A woman once told a friend of hers, “I’ve got so many prob lems in my life right now that if anything else goes wrong, it’ll take me two weeks before I can get around to worrying about it.” Sometimes life gets that way, doesn’t it? It’s just one thing on top of another thing, on top of another thing, on top of another thing and it just goes on and on. And sometimes you want to throw in the towel. That’s a problem because sometimes you throw in the towel and the ref still won’t call off the fight, it just keeps coming. If your car breaks down, well you know where to go to find a mechanic. If your clothes are torn, you know to go to find a tailor. If the grades are failing, you get a tutor. But where do you turn when your life falls apart? Today’s passage tells us about a woman, a mother in crisis. Her world was falling apart. First of all, this mother was in emotional pain because her husband had died. Now we know she was hurting because 2 Kings 4:1 says, “she cried out.” And there are people here today who are in emotional pain. Perhaps somebody in your world has died. Or maybe you have lost someone relationally or emotionally, perhaps through a divorce, or some other problem that has created heartache. Not only did this woman have emotional pain, but she had f inancial pain. Second Kings 4:1 says, “the creditors are at the door.” Now everybody here can identify with that. The bills just keep on coming and we can’t pay them. The cost of gasoline has put all of us in this category. But not only was she in financial pain, she was in maternal pain because she says in 2 Kings 4:1, “they’ve come to take my two children to be slaves.” During the time of the proph ets, it was lawful for the children to work off the debts of the parents. So as you can see, no money, no husband, and she’s losing her kids. This is too much for anyone to handle. But not only was she in maternal pain, she was in physical pain—she was hungry. She said in 2 Kings 4:2, “all I have is a small jar of oil.” She couldn’t pay her bills and she couldn’t go to the grocery store. Her stomach was churning. You know how it feels to want to get something to eat and for whatever reason not be able to get to it. It’s much worse when you’re out of food and there’s no money to buy anything. But then it got really bad. Not only was she in emotional, physi cal, financial, and maternal pain, but she was in spiritual pain. In 2 Kings 4:1 she says, “You know your servant, my husband feared the Lord.” Nothing is worse than fearing God and not being able to locate Him when you need Him. That’s spiritual pain. She told the prophet that her husband feared the Lord and led his family to do the same. But God took her husband away, allowed her resources to run out, and she was about to lose her children. I’m sure she wondered, Where is the payoff for fearing God? TEACHING POINTS: 1. GOD’S WAY IS THE BEST WAY TO FIX LIFE’S PROBLEMS Seek God’s Word for your dilemma • Human opinion won’t solve your problems • The Holy Spirit will give you guidance Present your emptiness, not your fullness, to God • Pride, depending on our self-sufficiency, prevents God from working in our lives (James 4:6) • Humility, recognizing our insufficiency, opens the door for God’s solution to your problems (1 Peter 5:5 2. GOD IS OUR SOURCE AND PROVIDER Give to others what you yourself need from God (Luke 6:38) • It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35) • By hording we cut off God’s blessing Step out in faith and believe that God will provide • Give to others when you feel empty (2 Kings 4:3) • God will refill what you give away (2 Kings 4:6) 3. GOD’S WAY IS TRUSTWORTHY Trust God enough to act on what He says • Walking by faith means acting like what God said is actually true (2 Corinthians 5:7) • Faith is measured by our feet, not our feelings Listen to God’s Word and obey it • The poor widow listened to Elijah’s prophetic word (2 Chronicles 20:20) • God’s ways are higher than our ways, even though they sometimes defy logic (Isaiah 55:8) 4. GOD IS MORE GENEROUS THAN WE THINK (2 Kings 4:7; Ephesians 3:20) Trust that God rewards obedience • God provided more than the poor widow needed • The poor widow had enough oil to pay off her creditors Trust that God moves in His timing • When God gets ready to move, He moves fast! • In six verses God provided enough for the poor widow to retire 5. GOD WILL POWERFULLY MULTIPLY OUR RESOURCES Search Scripture for examples of God’s power to work through meager means • In the Old Testament, Moses used a stick to part the Red Sea (Exodus 7:10); David used a sling shot to kill Goliath (1 Samuel 17:45); and Samson used the jawbone of a donkey to kill 1,000 Philistines (Judges 5:15-16) • In the New Testament, Jesus multiplied a few loaves and fish to feed 5,000 people (John 6:9-13) Give God everything you have, even if it’s not much • God will take what Christians give Him in faith and multiply it for His glory • God wants our faith and our poverty, not our wealth and self-sufficiency TEACHING ILLUSTRATIONS: GOD’S WAY IS TRUSTWORTHY: Human solutions to our problems are like junk food. The problem with junk food is that when the real stuff (God’s solution) comes along, you don’t have room to receive it. Because junk food has a way of curb ing your appetite for the real thing when it’s time to get as much of that as you can take. You know what we do? We settle for donuts when it comes to life’s issues. So there’s no room for God’s answer when it comes. WALKING BY FAITH : Faith must be obedience in motion, not in discussion. If there is no motion there is no faith, no matter how faithish you feel. We must exercise faith. Exercise means to work out, right? Do you know how many people talk about working out? Many people discuss it for years. How many people in this congregation this morning have been talking about joining the gym for several years? You just feel like it, but you never actually make it to the gym. Many people feel workoutish. But unless you get on the treadmill, it’s meaning less chatter. Faith requires action. LIVE OUT YOUR FAITH : I was over at the gym one time and this lady came in and she was decked out for a workout. She was impeccably dressed. And you know that someone is serious about working when they have wrist bands and a band around their head. She had a towel over her shoulder. She started off by warming up on the treadmill for 5 minutes. Then she went over to the bench press and did seven reps. She did five minutes on the treadmill and seven reps on the bench press, then dabbed her head with a towel, and left. She was there for all of eight minutes. But don’t get me wrong, if you would’ve looked at her, you would’ve said that lady is serious. I mean she dressed the part. She had all the paraphernalia of it. It’s like coming on Sunday mornings. We dress the part, we’ve got the Bible under our arm. We’ve got all the paraphernalia of Christianity. But are we really serious about the life of faith? If so, our obedience is the proof of our faith. Faith has to be demonstrated in order to be authentically declared. BACKGROUND BIBLICAL HISTORY AND CULTURE: CHILD SLAVERY IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST : In the ancient Near East at the time of Elisha and the poor widow, creditors often took the children of debtors who couldn’t pay their bills as slaves. In Exodus 21:2-4, the Mosaic Law permitted Hebrews to take other Hebrews as slaves for six years, but they had to be released during the Year of Jubilee. HUMILITY: The Hebrew word for humility (הָֽוָנֲע) indicates meekness and insufficiency. One who is humble is bowed down and poor. A humble person, like the poor widow in 2 Kings 4, recognizes his or her own insufficiency and depends on the Lord to provide. PRIDE : The Hebrew word for pride (ןֹודָז) indicates insolence, presumptuous, godlessness, and disobedience. One who is proud depends on his or her own self-sufficiency. God hates pride and resists those who refuse to admit their need for Him. TEACHING LINES: This sermon will help you trust God when your life seems to crumble around you. This sermon will outline five aspects of God's generous provision when we come to Him with humble faith. QUOTES ATTRIBUTED TO DR. TONY EVANS: “You will never discover that God is all you need until you get to the place where God is all you have.” “One of the reasons why we’re not seeing God break through is we come to Him with our fullness, not with our emptiness. We present to God our fullness, in fact, we’re so full there’s no room, there’s nothing left for God to do. It’s easy to do that. The Bible has a word for that, it’s called pride.” “The Bible has a word for emptiness. It’s called humility. Humility, is a recognition of your own insufficiency." “Faith is tied to feet, walking, movement. You know you have faith by what you do.” “Faith has to be demonstrated in order to be authentically declared.” “God doesn’t need a lot to do a lot.” “It is your emptiness, not your fullness that God responds to.” “When you get too proud to beg, when you get so sufficient and your pride keeps you from needing Him, you won’t hear from Him.

Flannel Heroes: A Study in the Book of Judges Gideon, Unlikely Hero Jeff Jones, Senior Pastor Judges 6-8 Today we continue our series in the Old Testament book of Judges, this incredible book that displays this cycle that is common to us as well. 12 cycles and 12 judges, or leaders that God raises up, as they start out serving God faithfully, then fall into sin and idolatry, God allows neighboring armies to come in and subjugate them, causing incredible pain, and then they cry out to God and God raises up a judge to defeat the enemy and then they are all about serving God again—for a while. Today’s hero is an unlikely hero, a man named Gideon, that no one would have chosen if the nation had a vote. Gideon wouldn’t even have voted for himself. It’s a little like the bedtime stories I told my kids when they were growing up. My dog when I grew up was named Mitzi, and I made up all these stories about Mitzi the Wonder Dog who sprung into action and saved the day. So, there might be some invading army, or some thief breaking in the house, or some natural disaster, and just when all seemed lost, Mitzi the Wonder Dog would spring into action, and in one incredible display of canine power and prowess would save the day somehow. Now, in my boy’s minds, I’m sure they pictured some ferocious breed of dog. I never told them until much later… Slide: _______________________ ) (Picture of dog standing still) …that Mitzi was actually a miniature schnauzer. Even if she did spring into action… Slide: _______________________ ) (Picture of dog jumping) …I’m not sure how much would have happened. She was an unlikely hero. And so was Gideon, and Gideon starts out knowing that. He is a man with a major inferiority complex, as we learn right away. We see early in the story that he considers himself a loser of all losers. He tells God that he is the least of his family, which is the least of all the families of Israel. But God chooses him, because he wants Israel to learn a lesson. A lesson about what it means to depend on God for strength and success, rather than ourselves. It’s easy for us to use those words, about depending on God, but I think it is hard to live that way. Either we live in fear and insecurity and live small, rather than depend on God to live bigger, or we feel pretty big ourselves and live independently, on our own strength, thinking we are living big while we are in fact living pitifully small. Whatever our tendency, insecurity or self-confidence, each of us has a lot to learn about what it means to live a God-dependent life, and that’s the theme of our story today. So, turn with me to Judges 6, for what is quite a story. As you are turning there, the nation is once again in deep trouble. The enemy this time is a coalition of all these armies to the East, the biggest named Midian, and they have combined forces to form this huge army that has defeated Israel and is now treating them horribly. Once again, they are afraid to leave their homes, and those farmers who manage to grow crops find the armies raiding and burning them as soon as they grow up. That brings us to Gideon, a farmer, who is threshing wheat, where you’d throw the grain up into the air to allow the wind to separate the wheat from the ;alskjd (chaff?). In this case, he is so scared he’s trying to do it inside a building, this wine press. That’s pretty comical, because you need wind and there is no wind inside. So, I guess he’s trying to blow on it (poof), and at that ridiculous point, God shows up, 6:12: Slide: _______________________) Judges 6:12 (NIV) When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, "The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." Now, we’ll learn later that this angel is no ordinary angel. It’s actually God himself appearing as an angel; it’s Jesus, a pre-incarnate appearance of God the Son. And Jesus looks at him and says, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” I’m sure Gideon looked over his shoulder, because he was not mighty, and he was no warrior. He was so scared he was trying to thresh wheat indoors. But that’s not what Gideon objects to at first. He has a problem with the idea about God being with them, and in the next few verses complains about that, basically saying, “Hey, if God was with us, then our enemies wouldn’t be holding us down like this. Our lives wouldn’t be like this.” But God doesn’t even respond to that complaint; instead, he just gives him the marching orders in verse 14: Slide: _______________________) Judges 6:14-15 (NIV) The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” (Basically, I’m no mighty warrior, I am a weakling, a loser of losers…but God doesn’t see him that way.) Slide: _______________________) Judges 6:16 (NIV) The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.” God basically says, “It’s not about you. I will be with you. I’m sending you. And I will give you the power to do what I’m asking you to do.” Now, that should have been enough for Gideon. But it’s not. Gideon needs some proof. So, he asks God for a sign, a little miracle to show that this is indeed God. This is going to be a repeated request, and God does a miracle for him in the next verses, and Gideon realizes that this really is God. He builds an altar, worships him, and says, “Ok, I’ll go.” God gives him a quick job to do, to tear down the altars to the false Gods that his family has built, and Gideon does that. Now, it’s time for the big show, to defeat this impossible to defeat enemy. God tells Gideon to muster up and with God’s help, he is able to raise a very large army for Israel, 32,000 troops. Pretty good. 32,000. But Gideon is still not convinced. Gideon is a person who has trouble with this whole going boldly thing, going big or going home is not his motto. Just going home is his motto, and he needs some more convincing. So he asks God for another sign. Slide: _______________________) Judges 6:36 (NIV) Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised--- Stop there. Gideon had God’s promise, and that should have been enough. No “if.” But Gideon needs more proof to believe God, so he asks God for a sign. He puts out this wool fleece on the ground that night, and in the morning when the dew comes out, if the fleece is wet and all the ground is dry, then he’ll know. That happens, and then Gideon remembers what he slept through in science class, that this is what would happen anyway, the fleece would naturally soak up the dew. So, he asks God to reverse it, for the opposite to happen the next morning, and it happens. Now, Gideon, the so-called mighty warrior, is ready for battle—maybe. On the other side of the valley, the eastern coalition has all come together with all their armies. Israel has 32,000 but we learn in chapter 8 that the other army was much bigger, 135,000. Those odds aren’t too great: 4:1. The other army not only has 4 times the soldiers, but these are much better equipped and trained soldiers. Gideon looks over at the army on the other side, and once again is feeling incredibly insecure. The numbers are not looking good. So God talks to him in chapter 7, and says, “Gideon, we have a numbers problem here. 135,000 to 32,000.” And Gideon is thinking, “Whew, I’m glad you see what I see. You are right, we’ve got to fix this. Ok, so what are you going to do to improve the numbers?” But God’s number problem is very different, as we read in 7:2: Slide: _______________________) Judges 7:2-3 (NIV) The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.’” Now, that’s not what Gideon was thinking. He’s freaking out, but God has his reasons. Remember, this story is about learning what it means to depend on God and not on our own smarts and strength. So, we read: Slide: _______________________) Judges 7:3 (NIV) ...So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. Oops! Only 10,000 remained. All the rest went home. Now the odds are 14:1. Really not good! But once again, God speaks to Gideon, and says, “Yep, now we have a real numbers problem. Still too many men.” And Gideon has to be thinking, “Ok, you are just killing me here. You’re killing me.” God says there are still too many men, and he tells him to go down to this particular spring, away from the valley and the opposing troops, to sift out the forces a little. They go down to this spring, with a small river coming out of it. Slide: _______________________) Judges 7:5-7 (NIV) So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. The LORD said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands… So, God tells him to keep the 300 dog lappers, and the 9700 are to stay back from the main battle. Why does God keep the dog lappers and send the ones who got down on their knees out of the battle? We don’t really know, though it is entertaining to me to read some commentaries who give their theories. They say these are the elite troops, the best of the 10,000, because they keep their heads up as they drink so they can stay aware and keep their eyes on the enemy. Two big problems with that. First, the enemy is 5-6 miles away, way out of sight, so if they are trying to keep their eyes on the enemy, these guys aren’t elite soldiers, they are just stupid people. Second, dogs are never good in the Bible. Sorry to all pet lovers out there, but dogs are just never associated with greatness. I’m still pretty sure the Bible thinks they are better than cats, but still it is no complement to be compared to a dog in the Bible. These were not the Navy Seals or Army Green Berets. It was just a way for God to get the numbers down some more, because again—this is a story about dependence on God and his strength, not our own. So, now the odds are ridiculous. 300 against 135,000. That’s now 450:1. Gideon is really freaking out now, and God knows that. So, before the battle he tells Gideon, “Look, if you need one more miracle from me to help you out, I’ll do it for you.” And Gideon takes him up on it. God tells him to go eavesdrop, under the cover of darkness, near the enemy camp at night. When he does, he hears these enemy soldiers talk about a dream they had about this gigantic loaf of barley that rolls right into their camp, and mows them all over. The guys say, “That’s the army of Gideon, and they are going to win!” Now, this is an interesting detail, because a loaf of barley is not that scary. The dream wasn’t about a bolt of lightning, or a forest fire, or a huge soldier, but a barley loaf. In that day, only animals and the poorest of the poor ate barley. This was the humblest of food, a barley loaf. But again, this is a story about dependence on God, and God can use anything or anyone to do his work. It’s just not about us. Gideon hears their fear, and that bolsters his courage. Now, he’s ready for the battle. God gives the battle plan, and tells Gideon that they are going to do a surprise attack in the middle of the night against the enemy camp. He has him divide the 300 into three groups of 100, and gives them each 4 weapons: A trumpet, a clay pitcher, a torch, and their own voice. That’s it. Not swords and spears, but trumpets and clay pitchers. But Gideon does so, and then God tells him the plan. That at Gideon’s signal, after the 300 have snuck up on the enemy camp, every soldier is to light the torches, smash the pitchers, and blow the trumpets all at once. They do so, and the sleepy enemy is totally confused. They know they are being attacked, and the noise is so great and so many signal trumpets are blowing, they assume the whole big Israelite army has come into the camp. They wake up, still confused, and they start swinging swords in the darkness. Remember, these are a coalition of forces, so they speak different languages, have different types of armor, and verse 22 lets us know that God makes them even more confused. They start fighting each other. The 300 are still around the camp, not even in the fight. But the enemy army assumes every one moving is an Israelite soldier, and they start killing each other. So many men fall that the rest get scared and run home. Gideon then sends the 9700 in reserve to mop up enemy troops that are left, and they score this huge victory. God delivers the nation from the tyranny of the enemy, and once again God saves the day. An incredible story of how God can use anybody to do his greatest works. In fact, God loves to use nobodies to do his greatest work. He’s consistent throughout the Bible with that. One of my favorite quotes comes from Lily Tomlin, who said, “I’ve always wanted to be somebody, but I see now I should have been more specific.” Can you relate to that? Do you feel like a relative nobody? If you feel that way, like you have so little to offer, and you have all these disqualifications in your head for God to use you in a big way, realize this: your so-called disqualifications are your greatest qualifications in God’s eyes. You may feel relatively ungifted. Great! That’s not really true. God has gifted you, but if you feel untalented in comparison with others, well, you are perfect for God to use in a big way. You may feel like you have failed God in big ways, but God loves to redeem failure and sin to do his greatest work. He gets a kick out of doing that. If you feel weak, God loves to use the weak. If you feel foolish, God loves to use the foolish. If you feel like a failure, God loves to turn our biggest failures into our biggest ministry contributions. So, you are perfect for him. And God is so patient with Gideon. He just meets Gideon where he is, and keeps doing these little signs and miracles to help him. God is gracious, and he understands our feelings of weakness. He just wants us to understand that our weaknesses don’t matter, because the story is one about dependence on God, not ourselves. But this isn’t the end of the Gideon story. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t end well for Gideon. In the first part of the story, he struggles with insecurity, but at the end of his life, he struggles with the opposite problem. He becomes arrogant and independent from God. They gain this huge victory, done in a way that makes it obvious that this was all about God and not about them. But they still find a way, like we all do, to make it all about them, and about their fearless leader, Gideon. After the victory, the nation gives credit to Gideon, and he gladly takes the credit. They want to make him not just a judge, but their King. But Gideon says, “No, God is our King. I’m not worthy of that honor.” That sounds very pious and humble, but it was false humility. Because then he lets them know what he does want, and basically he sets himself up to be King. He asks for each of them to give him gold and wealth, he amasses for himself a harem of women as the other area kings had, and has 70 sons through them to build a dynasty, and his next son he names “Abimelech,” which literally means, “My father is the King.” That’s not subtle. But worse than all of this, he builds an ephod, a symbol of connection to God, but he sets it up as an idol to be worshipped as they come to Gideon’s compound, to fall down and worship this ephod as an idol rather than God. 8:27 says: Slide: _______________________) Judges 8:27 (NIV) … All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family. That’s quite an amazing shift…from insecurity to arrogance. He has a big success, and the once insecure self-proclaimed loser is now an arrogant winner. And I am very convinced that success is a much bigger challenge to following God than insecurity and failure are. God wants us to live our lives dependent on him, but it seems like we vacillate between the two other options (use flannel board), self-doubt or self-dependence. We’ve talked a little about self-doubt, or insecurity, that can make us fearful to step out and serve God, but let’s talk about self-dependence for a few minutes. I believe this is a far bigger problem for us in American culture than the other, because we live in a culture that has relatively few needs. We are so well supplied, we have so much, that we can easily live independent lives from God. God becomes relevant occasionally when we get into some rare trouble with our health or with our finances or with a relationship—but by and large, most of the time, we can comfortably live life without God. Our wealth has given us that option, which is why Jesus told his disciples it is so rare for a wealthy person to live a God-dependent, God-focused life. When we travel to spend time with our church partners overseas, such as in Ethiopia, Cuba, Haiti, or Guatemala, we find the opposite. These people depend on God for their existence every day. They know that; they feel that. As a result, they are people of big faith and big dependence on God, because they need God in an everyday way that we can fool ourselves into thinking we don’t. A couple of years ago at the Leadership Summit we host every year in August, I was really convicted by this when I heard a fellow American speak. His name is Gary Haugen, and he is the director of the International Justice Mission, a global organization that serves as an advocate to the poorest of the poor around the world who are routinely denied justice. They have employed highly educated lawyers and other staffers who are very sharp, dedicated people. What convicted me was when he said, “As a staff, we start every day with prayer, sometimes 30 minutes, sometimes an hour, because we know that we have to. What we are involved in is so over our heads, we know how much we need God to show up.” That really convicted me personally, because I can go through many days with only token prayers for myself. I may pray for others, but I don’t often pray for my own day with the same intensity. After that talk, Jack Warren, our Executive Pastor, who directs our staff, talked to me, convicted as well, and said, “Man, we’ve got to pray together more as a staff than we do right now.” And we do. Each week, we begin on our knees and pray throughout the week, because we realize how much we need God to show up in all the needs and challenges and opportunities God has put in front of our church. As elders, half the time we meet, we spend in the Word and prayer, because we need God to work if this community and world are going to be transformed. Along these same lines, a few weeks ago I visited Christ Church, a really great church here in Plano, to hear a guest speaker, pastor and author Tim Keller, speak. As it turned out, he was talking about times of revival, which he defined as an intensification of the ordinary work of the Spirit (God, the Holy Spirit) in a church or a region or nation in a way that spills over into the community. He described it as a time where sleepy Christians wake up, nominal Christians are converted, and secular people are attracted to Christ. Legalism and self-righteousness disappear, as the gospel of grace takes over in a highly transformational way. Such times are beyond normal, and happen only occasionally. As I heard him speak, I was praying, talking with God in my own heart and mind, and said, “God, this is what you’ve been doing around Chase Oaks these last few years, and I’m taking that for granted. What’s been happening in people’s lives, as hundreds of people come to know Christ, as many sleepy Christians are now living the mission, and our community is being transformed in various pockets, this is not normal—and I’ve been acting like it is. I’ve just taken it for granted that you are always going to work this way, that you are going to blow the wind of your spirit continually in the life of our church forever, and I am so sorry to take it for granted.” From some significant study, Tim looked at times of revival throughout history to find what they all have in common, and he could only find one element in common. Each historical time of revival was so unique, but they all share this one element. And that one element? Extraordinary prayer. God responds to the prayers of his people with intensification of his work in and through the church in an extraordinary way. I don’t want to take God’s work for granted, and know that we need a dose of extraordinary prayer. So, here’s what I’m going to ask of each Chase Oaker. I’m going to ask all of us to enter into a season of extraordinary prayer, asking God to intensify his work in and through our church. One way I’d like us to do that is this: The week leading up to Easter, I’m calling us to a time of prayer. Give details. We need God to show up in our own lives and in the life of our church, am I right about that? The posture of a God-dependent person is a posture of prayer. We want increasingly to be a church of prayer, and let’s enter into a season of extraordinary prayer. We need to do so not only because the mission demands it, but also because God has put some significant challenges and opportunities in front of us. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I needed you to pray for wisdom as we were making decisions about how to move forward with Go Boldly. Go Boldly is this season that we are in, where many of us at Chase Oaks are giving above and beyond our regular giving to the church to be able to add a campus at Fairview and to expand this Legacy campus to continue to reach our community. God has placed us here, surrounded by 720,000 people, most of whom do not yet know Christ, and we’ve got a long way to go to reach them. With that mission, in Go Boldly, Chase Oakers committed 12 million dollars over the next three years above and beyond our regular giving to the church to expand in these ways. If you remember, though, our goal was 16 million, which we knew was a very high goal. When the commitment number was 12 million, last time I shared about Go Boldly, I mentioned that the 12 million is a very interesting number, for a number of reasons. But the 12 million was our go or no go line number. To move forward with the project, the 12 million was that number that we had to have to move forward. I also mentioned how moving forward was going to take a lot of wisdom, and how it means that this journey over these next few years is going to be a faith journey, and will get interesting. In that way, it really is better than the 16, because that wouldn’t have been a faith journey, but a slam dunk. With the 12, we are completely dependent on God for each step and each decision. The other reality with the 12 million dollar number is that every single dollars counts. To move forward with the core of the project, when I say every dollar of the 12 million counts, as I said a few months ago, I really mean every single dollar. So, in light of that, as we’ve prayed and gotten wisdom from various people, here’s how we believe God wants us to move forward. Typically, what you expect to get from a commitment process like go boldly is about 85% to actually come in. In this case, that’s not good enough. Again, every dollar counts. So, what we need and what we are praying for is 100% of that to come in. We can’t do the entire core of the project, which is expanding this worship space, parking, and Kidzone building expansion without every dollar. We could go and get more significant debt, but as we’ve prayed about that, we just don’t feel that’s the way to go for a number of reasons. So, we are going to build according to what comes in. What this means is that we will phase the project in two phases. The first phase we will add the Fairview campus, which we’ve already done. And at Legacy we will expand the worship center, add some of the projected parking, and put off the full Kidzone building expansion until we know we’ve raised the full 12 million. In that interim we will repurpose parts of our current building for KidZone use, because we remain highly committed to keeping KidZone programming excellent. That will buy us some time until phase two, when we will finish out the KidZone building. How will we raise the full 12 million or more? As we did with Imagine, we will keep the Commitment process open. Some of you may find that God will bless you more financially in these years than you expected when you made your commitment last November, and you will be able to expand your pledge. A number of people in our Imagine campaign did just that, which is important, because some number of others may find surprises to the negative, that make it difficult or impossible to fulfill the full commitment. Also, as God leads new people into the life of our church, they too have the opportunity to participate. In Imagine, we had a good number of people do just that, wanting to not miss out on what God is doing and on the blessing of participating financially. With that in mind, we believe it is very realistic to get to the 100%, though it will certainly be a faith journey, a God-dependent one. When we get to the 100%, we’ll begin phase two. Make sense? So, as we are entering into a period of extraordinary prayer, let’s include in that this whole Go Boldly process. We will likely begin actual construction of phase one at the end of this year. You’ve also seen the offices going up, and that whole story is a great story to encourage us that God is a God who can provide. From a purely human perspective, we should not be able to be building those offices, but God provided in such a God-could-only-have-done-this kind of way, that it’s a huge encouragement as we continue to move forward with Go Boldly. So, we’ve talked a while about where we are as a church, and how dependent on God we are, and I do hope you’ll jump in. But where does this leave us as individuals? As we close in prayer, I want you to look at the flannel board again. On this whole dependence on God theme, which of the two alternatives might best describe you right now? Self-doubt and insecurity or self-reliance? On the one side, self-doubt, that can easily keep you from taking big steps that you know God is wanting you to take. As we spend time with God, ask him to help you trust him for courage, and to help you understand that he loves to use the weak to do his greatest work. Those of you who feel least qualified are actually the most qualified. Like with Gideon and Mitzi the Wonder Dog, he loves to choose unlikely heroes to do his most heroic work. On the other side is self-reliance, and be honest if that’s where you are at. A major symptom of self-reliance is prayerlessness. Parents, how much are you praying for your kids, or are you just plugging away on your own? In your job, how much are you praying for God’s wisdom and energy to do your work well to the glory of God, to be a powerful witness to others of God’s love for them? However you may be involved in ministry within the church or outside the church, how prayerful or prayerless are you at this point? How much do you really sense a need for God? Either way, let’s go to God now, and ask him to guide us toward more God dependent lives. Prayer. Gideon doubted God's charge to deliver Israel, but we learn how God made him into a judge, a warrior, and a man of faith. Preached at Chase Oak Church. Plano, Texas

1 Corinthians 12:1-11 1195 Always be prepared when you want to take a road trip! Don't embark on your spiritual journey without your tools! Illustration for the journey.  Get picture of jeep outfitted for the journey As we look back over the distance we have come on our royal route to heaven, we see some of the pitfalls from which we have been delivered. Then we look at what lies ahead, and ask ourselves whether or not we really have the equipment that will see us through to the end of the road. I WOULD NOT HAVE YOU IGNORANT ABOUT SPIRITUAL GIFTS (12:1) READ I Corinthians 12:1. The church at Corinth seemed to be plagued with about every problem known to any church. The question of spiritual gifts was no exception.. This chapter is important because there are many in our day who seem to be as confused as the Corinthians were in regard to the gifts of the Spirit. Paul said, "I don't want you to be ignorant I don't want you to be agnostics. I want you to understand this subject." Why? 1. The church can't mature or function without the operation of spiritual gifts.       (1) Strengthen the local church fellowship (1 Cor 12:25-26)       (2) Extend the church's witness and ministry (1 Cor 14:20-25; Eph 4) 2. In addition, Satan is counterfeiting it- to confuse, cause chaos, and split the church.       In addition, Satan has people afraid of gifts.  One lady this week called to tell me of her prayers because she was so afraid of this subject.  Another related that she couldn't come to church and hear the sermons because she was so nervous about all this subject. 3. And Christians today are fighting over the gifts.  Instead of unifying the Body, they were splitting the Body. SPIRITUAL COUNTERFIETS ABOUND: TRUE BELEIVERS ARE SPIRIT INDWELT AND PROVE IT BY THEIR LIFESTYLES (12:2-3) READ 1 Corinthians 12:2-3. Let me tell you what was happening in their worship service. Verse 2: Recently saved out of the pagan Greek mystery religions.  Modeled their worship accordingly.       This is perhaps how the scene would look: Everyone would be doing something at the same time -    someone singing, someone speaking ecstatic speech, someone giving a prophecy, someone shouting out a word of wisdom, and someone in the middle of it all shouting "Jesus is    anathema ." Verse 3: The Tests The negative (v. 3a): "No man speaking buy the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed." They had heard the term "Jesus be cursed" before.       1. Jesus was cursed in the synagogue: "Cursed be anyone who hangs on a tree."       2. Christian proselytes to Judiasm were reguired to curse Jesus.       3. Roman persecution required obedience to the emperor: "Caesar is Lord."  Christians were already beginning to have dificulty with that. Now, in that hysterical atmosphere anything might happen and might be claimed to be the work of the Spirit. Paul lays it down that no man can say a word against Christ and sttribute that word to the influence of the Spirit. The positive (v 3b): "And that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit." Here is the Christian battle cry, "Jesus is Lord." In so far as the early church had a creed at all, that simple phrase was its creed. When a man could say "Jesus is Lord" it means that he gave to Jesus the supreme loyalty of his life and the supreme worship of his heart. The man who speaks by the Spirit will put the Lord Jesus in His rightful place, on the throne. I can speak the words, "Jesus is Lord," and so can you. Anybody can say it, because no one can check our vocabulary. But no man can say with authority and absolute certainty that Jesus Christis Lord, and back it up by the evidence of his life, but by the Holy Spirit. The true believer indwelt by the Holy Spirit will never speak disrespectfully or disparagingly of Christ. Speaking of the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus said, "He shall glorify Me" (John 16:14). This provides a clear-cut test for faith. Does one truly believe in Christ? If he does, his life will prove it. The indwelling Spirit will glorify Christ in a holy life. It is blasphemy for one to say he believes whole continuing on in a life of sin. A well-known Scottish university professor was once asked to give a religious address at a fashionable and select club in the west end of London. This is how he began: "Gentlemen, the entrance fee into the kingdom of Heaven is nothing; the yearly subscription is everything ." The test of anyone's gift or of the use of that gift is an accurate doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit always leads men to ascribe deity, lordship, and all-sufficiency to Christ. The Thrust of verses 4-11 is unity. UNITY DOESN'T MEAN UNIFORMITY; THEREFORE THE CHURCH HAS DIFFERING GIFTS AND FUNCTIONS (12:4-6) READ 1 Corinthians 12:4-5. Unity in the Trinity. Holy Spirit gives the gifts, Jesus assigns the place of service, God the father turns on the power. In the midst of all the diversity, there is unity - different gifts, services or workings, but the same God in all. GOD NEVER DESIGNED US ALL TO BE ALIKE! UNFORTUNATELY MANY CHRISTIANS ACT JUST LIKE CHILDREN.  THEY ARE FIGHTING OVER THE PRESENTS. STORY OF CHILDREN FIGHTING at Christmas over the presents Some Christians are arguing over who has what gift.       No one has all the gifts. Because you have one of them, you are not entitled to become a spiritual aristocrat because somebody else does not have your gift. Don't demand that, in order for another person to be spiritual, he must heal, or he must speak in an unknown tongue. Be careful when you criticize those who may not have your gift - he has his own.  God gives to each of His children one or more, not that we may have spiritual pride, but for the benefit of others. Some Christians want to take the presents away so no one can have them. THE BRIDE It is no surprise to me that there is a fight in America over Spiritual gifts. A quick survey of the major times of spiritual renewal in church history indicates that with each of these great movements there was a proliferation of small groups, and a high degree of participation of lay individuals utilizing their basic talents, abilities, or gifts. By recognizing and using our gifts we may see a great spiritual renewal in our day. THE STUDY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS CAN BE CONTROVERSIAL. Two Extremes Should Be Avoided. 1. Neglect of the whole subject because of problems and disagreements. 2. Overemphasis on spiritual gifts as a cure-all for the church. Four Problems To Recognize. 1. Disagreement - there's disagreement  as to the definitions of the gifts and even the existence of certain gifts. 2. Neglect and Ignorance-(Dr. Lott used to read this passage and skip over tongues. 3. Confusion between supernatural and natural - there's confusion concerning the relationship between spiritual gifts and natural abilities. 4. Abuse of gifts - certain spiritual gifts are emphasized by some as signs of a necessary work of the Holy Spirit. This emphasis at best causes spiritual pride and at worst can be divisive. Six Principles To Remember. 1. Disagreements usually indicate the lack of conclusive Biblical evidence upon which to resolve the question. Hence be tolerant and allow others their views without dogmatically insisting upon your particular view. 2. Go slowly. Model the gifts. (Four intercessor groups provide natural check and balance) (electrical balance, sin among the leaders. I need all the help I can get.) 3. Don't worry about distinction between gifts and natural abilities. God will clarify the distinctions if it will make your ministry more effective. 4. Beware of stressing one gift above another 5. Encourage the exercise of gifts.  I want you to know your gift and to use it well. 6. Trust the Holy Spirit to give whatever clarity is needed concerning gifts in order to make our church more functional as a New Testament church and bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. We are each different in temperament, personality, race,. culture and social background. What a very precious thing it makes of Christian fellowship when we recognize that whatever we contribute to the service of the King of kings, we must all get from the same source! We are not alone on the road; there are many other travelers - in fact, all who have been washed in His precious blood, and all who are sharing the gift of life in Jesus Christ. SPIRITUAL GIFTS ARE FOR THE COMMON GOOD. VICTORY COMES IN A GROUP AND NOT IN ISOLATION (12:7). READ 1 Corinthians 12:7 Unity of purpose - Purpose of spiritual gifts is to edify the church. "The common good" (see 12:25). They are to edify the church - for body ministry - not self-edification. Observe closely that victory if in the group and not in isolation. One of the most damaging things done today is to grieve the Holy Spirit and divide the body. For victory, the body must work together in harmony and fellowship and love, under the Authority of the Holy Spirit. I need your gift to see me through and you need mine: all of us need each of us, for we have mutual dependence as a body. God forbid that any of us should do one thing, or say one thing, that would harm the Lord's body, the church, by ruining another's gift or destroying the fellowship. By the way this speaks forever to the person who wants to go out on the hillside all alone and worship God all by himself as the basis for his religion. THE NINE SPIRITUAL GIFTS ARE REPRESENTATIVE (12:8-10). READ 1 Corinthians 12:8-10. There is a diversity of existing gifts. Paul just lists a cross-section here. These are not all the gifts. At least three different lists in the Bible.       1. Here       2. 1 Corinthians 12:28-30       3. Romans 12:4-8 I cannot help bring impressed by the significance of the order in which Paul lists some of these gifts of the Spirit. The one that comes first is wisdom, and the last is the gift of tongues. Spiritual gifts have a spiritual dimension.  They are not easily explained in human terms. If they can be easily explained in human terms, there is not much spiritual about them. Are spiritual gifts for today? THE HOLY SPIRIT DISTRIBUTES GIFTS FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH AS HE SEES FIT (12:11). EVERYBODY GETS A GIFT. READ Revelation 12:11. What a precious thing is Christian fellowship in the body of Christ! If you are walking today in the company of God's people, you find strength and comfort from gifts they have that you do not possess. The secret of reality is a blessed submission all along the road to the authority of the Holy Spirit, who will give you all you need to be a blessing to others. 10% do all of work. Say at CABC, 25% do all work. Most of us don't notice. But how many would notice if your 8-cylinder car ran on only 2! We have absolutely nothing for the road except we receive it from Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In other words, we are saved by grace, and by grace alone, and we are kept and equipped for the rest of the journey by grace alone. It is not man's natural gifts that God uses, but the gifts of the Spirit which He imparts. SALVATION IS BY GRACE AS WELL.

We are involved in a spiritual war with the Evil one. We need all the advice we can get. SLIDE #: “When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is no longer our friend” (US Marine Corps Journal). SLIDE #: “If the enemy is in range, so are you” (US Army Infantry Journal). SLIDE #: “A slipping fear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you very unpopular with what’s left of your unit” (US Army Magazine of Preventive Maintenance). SLIDE #: “It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you’ve just bombed” (US Air Force Manual). SLIDE #: Try to look unimportant. The enemy may be low on ammo” (US Army Infantry Manual). SLIDE #: Series on closing the gap: think you Slide #: You Can Do It Alone And Isolated From Others Slide #: Right Doctrine And Right Living Is Enough Slide #: You Know What It Is When You Don’t Slide #: You Can Keep The Streams Of Living Water All To Yourself Slide #: You Are Living Like An Owner Instead Of Like A Manager Slide #: You Can Find Intimacy With God Without Following The Principles Of Spiritual Growth Slide #: Satan Is Not Deliberately Sabotaging Your Christian Life Slide #: Corporate Worship Is Optional SLIDE #: YOU CAN’T CLOSE THE GAP IF YOU THINK THAT: SATAN IS NOT DELIBERATELY SABOTAGING YOUR CHRISTIAN LIFE SLIDE #: Spiritual war on: A.W. Tozer: “That this world is a playground instead of a battle ground has now been accepted in practice by the vast majority of fundamentalist Christians.” SLIDE #: STRATEGY SLIDE #: Satan’s Strategic objective is to keep us from closing the gap to the abundant life God intends for us to enjoy. He utilizes numerous tactics; but his over all strategy is always the same. SLIDE #: John 10:10: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. SLIDE #: Satan is dedicated to blinding people from seeing life in the first place. SLIDE #: 2 Corinthians 4:4: The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. John 1: Fish in Carlsbad caverns—light of life has come into the world and they are so blind they can’t see the light. Carlsbad caverns: Where’s the light. SLIDE #: Satan’s strategy is to kill, steal and destroy the Life after we find it. SLIDE #: OVERHEAD: DRAW PICTURE OF WHAT TIME LOOKS LIKE. Really only three tenses of time: Past, Present, Future. That is all to time there is. I want to put this together with John 10:10. Christ came to give us Christ’s abundance. Where do you experience that? Past? Present? or Future? In the present. We experience the abundance of God in the present. You may have experienced it in the past, but when you experienced it, it was in the present. He promises more in the future. But when you get it, it is in the present. Remember what the first part of the verses says? “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.” Now what if the Evil One can keep you bound up in Hurt, Anger, Bitterness, Guilt, about the past— or Worry, Anxiety, And Fear about future, He will have robbed you from experiencing present what? Present joy and abundance. How does thief steal God’s abundance? All he has to do is keep you locked up in the past with Hurt, Anger, Bitterness, Guilt, or keep you bound up in the future with Worry, Fear, and Anxiety. I believe Jesus Christ was the only person who ever lived every day in the present. He never woke up and said, “I can’t believe I did that yesterday!” or “There is no way I am going to get everything done today.” Living in the present makes us sensitive how to minister to the needs of others. How many are here now in the present? Or did we come in this morning with pain of past? Or anxious about the future? This is part of the Satanic Lockup. I’d like to invent a Holy Spirit infrared camera with which to measure what is in your cup today. What if people in church could see how much was in your cup today? Why are there not more 30 fold, 60 fold and 100 fold Christians today? Could it be because there are hearts out there filled up with bitterness, anxiety, fear, worry, hurt and anger? When we counsel, we need to be free enough of our own stuff so that when people walk into the room their stuff is the only stuff in the room. SLIDE #: WARNING SLIDE #: John 17:15: My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. SLIDE #: 1 Peter 5:8: Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Possible for a Christian to be trapped; divisions and stirring up strife. SLIDE #: 1 Timothy 3:7: Elders must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap. SLIDE #: DECEPTION SLIDE #: 2 Corinthians 2:10-11: If you forgive anyone, I also forgive him. And what I have forgiven-if there was anything to forgive-I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes. Several men in the locker room of a private exercise club were talking when a cell phone lying on the bench rang. One man picked it up without hesitation, and the following conversation ensued: “Hello?” “Honey, it’s me.” “Sugar!” “I’m at the mall two blocks from the club. I saw a beautiful mink coat. It is absolutely gorgeous. Can I buy it? It’s only $1500.” “Well, okay, if you like it that much.” “Thanks! Oh, and I also stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the new models. I saw one I really liked. I spoke with the salesman, and he gave me a great price!” “How much?” “Only $60,000!” “Okay, but for that price, I want it with all the options.” “Great! Before we hang up, there’s something else. It might seem like a lot, but, well, I stopped by to see the real estate agent this morning, and I saw the house we had looked at last year. It’s on sale! Remember? The beachfront property with the pool and the English garden?” “How much are they asking?” “Only $450,000, a magnificent price, and we have that much in the bank to cover it.” “Well, then, go ahead and buy it, but put in a bid for only $420,000, okay?” “Okay, sweetie. Thanks! I’ll see you later! I love you!” “I love you, too.” The man hung up, closed the phone’s flap, and raised it aloft, asking, “Does anyone know who this cell phone belongs to?” SLIDE #: 2 Corinthians 11:3-4: But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. If Adam and Eve were deceived, we had best be careful. “Be like God?” Contest between God and Satan. Satan: “Job only serves you because you have done so much for you— SLIDE #: Job 1:12: The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." SLIDE #: Job 1:20-21: At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." Job was deceived about the Satanic work in his life. Never figured it all out until the end of the book. Paul was not deceived: Knew thorn was a “messenger from Satan” SLIDE #: 2 Corinthians 12:7-9: To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." SLIDE #: POSSESSION Possessed or Oppressed? SLIDE #: Temple Chart Spirit is the dwelling place of God Struggle is for control of the mind. SLIDE #: Acts 5:3: Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Eve was deceived. Satan captured her mind (knowledge, emotions and will). SLIDE #: OVERHEAD: Line model: Body Soul /Spirit ` attacks here SLIDE #: DOORS God’s glossary of the occult SLIDE #: Deuteronomy 18:10-13: Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, Inviting Spirits in – spirit guides spiritualist meetings Perpetual sin – Eph. 4:27 – “Do not give the devil a foothold.” Drugs and Alcohol Transference Dabbling in the Occult – séances, ouija boards – Believing lies (Rev 12: Accuser of the brethren) Sexual abuse or early childhood trauma SLIDE #: VICTORY SLIDE #: First, Submit To God SLIDE #: James 4:7: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Romans 6 SLIDE #: Second, Resist The Devil God’s strength – Jude 9 – Michael said, “The Lord rebuke you!” SLIDE #: Third, Take Control Of Every Thought. Believe Only The Truth. Refuse To Believe Or Accept Any Lies. Telling Yourself the Truth SLIDE #: John 8:44: “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Satan is the father of lies (Ananias and Sapphira – Acts) SLIDE #: 2 Corinthians 10:4-5: The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Nobody loves me. I am no good. God will never forgive me for what I did. SLIDE #: Fourth, Use The Ephesians Six Spiritual Armor Effectively. SLIDE #: Ephesians 6:10-12: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. SLIDE #: Ephesians 6:13-15: Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. SLIDE #: Ephesians 6:16-18: In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. SLIDE #: Essentials so as not to be naked Belt of truth Breastplate of righteousness Shoes of Gospel of Peace Battle Armor Shield of faith Helmet of Salvation Sword of Spirit – Word of God SLIDE #: Finally, Every Demonic Attack Is A Prayer Project. Ephesians 6:10-18: Praying always SLIDE #: Romans 16:20: “The God of Peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” AFFIRMATIONS Slide #: I Am God’s Child. I Am Christ’s Friend. I Have Been Bought With A Price. I Have Been Adopted As God’s Child. I Belong To God. Slide #: I Have Direct Access To God Through The Holy Spirit. I Have Been Redeemed And Forgiven Of All My Sins. I Am Complete In Christ. Slide #: I Am Free From Condemnation. I Cannot Be Separated From The Love Of God. I Am A Citizen Of Heaven. Slide #: I Have Not Been Given A Spirit Of Fear. I Have Been Given A Spirit Of Power, Love And Discipline. Slide #: I Am Seated With Christ In The Heavenly Realm. I May Approach God With Freedom And Confidence. I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me.

The Darkness of a Broken Family - 1 Samuel 24 - Skip Heitzig Good morning. How are you today? This just makes me miss film photography every time I see this Darkroom setup. I'm glad you're with us today. Would you turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel, chapter 24. That's in the Old Testament, 1 Samuel. Easy to find, it's right before 2 Samuel. If you have trouble finding it somebody next to you could point the way. But it's important you turn to 1 Samuel chapter 24. And just a little word about Israel. 1 Samuel, chapter 24. Let's pray together. Lord, thank you for the body of Christ gathering together to put you first, to tell you that you are worthy, to honor your name. That in and of itself gives us strength. It re-prioritizes our lives. It centers us the way it should be. And now, Father, we invite your Spirit to speak to us through the word on a very, very important issue that we find here in the text about families. We pray, Lord, that you will bless, that you will sanctify, that you will heal the families represented here. We ask it in Jesus's name. Amen. So there's a family called the Smith family. They were very proud of their heritage because they could trace their ancestry all the way back to coming over to the States on the Mayflower. So they were pretty proud of that. And many important people came from their family, senators, clergymen, Wall Street wizards all came from the Smith family. Well, the family wanted to get a history together. They wanted to hire a researcher, historian to compile a family history. They could pass that history on down as a legacy to their children. And so they hired somebody to do that. The only problem was, what are we going to say about Uncle George? Uncle George was a member of the family who was convicted for some pretty severe murder charges and was put in the electric chair. And through capital punishment his life was taken. Well that was a blot in the family history. So they didn't know what they were going to do with that. The historians said don't worry. There's a tactful way for me to retell that story. So the book was written. It was published. And the family immediately turned to the section to find out what they said about Uncle George. And so the historian, with a lot of ingenuity, said this, George Smith occupied a chair of applied electronics at an important government institution. He was attached to his position by the strongest of ties and his death came as a real shock. You might say. You know, everyone's family is a bit wacky. Now all of us have somebody in the family that will cause us to roll our eyes over. It could be a weird uncle or a crazy aunt or a creepy grandpa. I read about one girl who said, I thought every family was like my family. She said she had an uncle, who every time they went to a restaurant, took a piece of silverware home from the restaurant, like a fork or a knife or a spoon. And she said it wasn't until I had grown up and went to a friend's house and noticed that all their silverware matched that I had the weird uncle. Remember the show on TV, The Addams Family? So that whole idea was taken to an extreme. You've got Uncle Fester who can put a light bulb in his mouth and it lights up because he has an electrical charge, or Grandmama who makes potions and flies around on a broom, or Pugsley who hangs from tree limbs with his teeth. I mean, it was a weird family. Well that takes us to what I want to show you in 1 Samuel chapter 24. This is a message I'm calling, the Darkness of a Broken Family. We're in a series. We call it Darkroom. And by now you understand the idea behind it is how God takes the negatives of our lives and develops us and does some pretty positive things through our lives, even though we have had some pretty bad experiences. We began by looking at the life of Joseph. And we saw the dark room that he was in, a dark room of jealousy and hatred by his brothers, a dark room of misunderstanding, false accusation, a dark room of imprisonment, but how the Lord developed his life into him being second in command over the world, the prime minister of Egypt, and came up with an ingenious plan to save the world from famine. God developed the negative into a positive. Then we look at the life of Moses and we saw that Moses chose his dark room. That's what the Bible says. He chose, rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. He refused to be called the son of pharaoh's daughter and rather he identified with the people of God in suffering, but how God developed him into that great deliverer of the children of Israel out of bondage. Today I want to draw your attention to David in the Bible. Everybody knows about David. This is the dark room of a broken family. David had a broken family. And I want you to see that. And I want you to see how he handled a very difficult situation, a life threatening situation. Now you might be wondering, why is it that we have chosen to do a series where we examine people in the Bible at the lowest moment of their life, the most difficult season of their life. Why do we do that? Well I'll put it to you in the words of a proverb, and old woodsman's proverb, that says a tree is best measured when it's down. A tree is best measured when it's down. You want to see who a person really is? Examine their life when they're down, when things fall out from underneath them, when they are in a period of darkness. Examine that life and you will see how shallow or how great that person is. Moreover, you will see how great their God is at those times and how God can rise up like a hero and take the worst situation and make something great out of it. Well David, David is one of the heroes in the Bible. He's an a-lister. He's on the a-team. When people talk about people they know in the Bible that are famous, who are great in what they accomplish, David comes to mind. David and David alone is called a man after God's own heart. David was anointed from his youth. He was the guy who goes out and kills a giant of the Philistines named Goliath. Perhaps that's what he's most famous for. He becomes the commander of Saul's armies. He becomes the subject of a national song. He becomes the sweet psalmist of Israel and eventually the second King of that nation. A city was named after him, the city of Jerusalem. And to this day, the flag in Israel still bears the sign of the Star of David. The Star of David, they still pay tribute to that man to this day, even though David was far from perfect. In fact, he was highly imperfect. In fact, boy did he make a lot of dumb choices. In fact, I would say that David later on went into the dark room of bad choice. We don't have time to look at that today. But he committed adultery then he committed murder, then he was a passive father and his own family fell apart. But that's later. Now I want to show you an episode in David's life in this chapter, 1 Samuel 24, a season of David's life where David is a fugitive. He's running from the King, who also happens to be his father-in-law. His father-in-law is trying to kill him in this chapter. I'm so glad I have a good relationship with my father-in-law. What I want to show you in this chapter briefly are four principles for resolving family conflict. I'm not a therapist and I'm not going to give you all the ways to do it. There are so many approaches to that. But I want to show you from scripture, because I am a Bible teacher, four principles of resolving conflicts in the family. I'm going to do that by making four comparisons-- four comparisons, that one thing is better than something else. So I'll begin with the first. Blemished is better than broken. Blemished is better than broken. Everybody has a blemished family. Not everybody has a broken family. And so if you have a blemished family, do everything you can to stop short of it being a broken family. So in chapter 24 1 Samuel, we begin where it says in verse 1. "Now it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, "Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi." That's down by the Dead Sea, one of the places we'll visit if you come to Israel. You'll see the very caves where this took place. "Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats." This is a period in David's life, it's about 10 to 14 years where he is fleeing from King Saul. King Saul, who at this point his own father-in-law. So just think about that. They are in-laws who have become outlaws. Unfortunately in families that sometimes happens. In-laws can become outlaws. Somebody once said, you know the difference between in-laws and outlaws, right? And the answer is, it's because outlaws are wanted. That's the difference between in-laws and outlaws. Outlaws are wanted. I heard about a man who so hated his mother-in-law he didn't know what to do. One day he's walking on the beach. He finds a bottle. He rubs it, out comes a genie, grants him three wishes. And so he's thinking, what could I have? Now the genie then says, now I want to warn you. Whatever you ask for I'm going to give double to your mother-in-law. So he goes, well, I wish for a billion dollars. Genie says, OK here. Gives him a billion dollars. But I'm giving your mother-in-law $2 billion. So he continues, he goes, well for my second wish I'd like an island off the coast of Greece. Genie says, fair enough, but your mother-in-law gets two islands off the coast of Greece next to your one island. So he goes, oh boy. So he thinks about it, thinks about it. And finally he says, I'd like you to beat me half to death. There's a guy who really didn't like his mother-in-law. And again, I'm so glad I have a good relationship with mine. David was the poster child of a broken family. He goes from one bad family into another bad family. It's my belief that David's original family that he was raised in was relationally-cold-- relationally-cold. You may not read this when you read the Bible. But if you look at it closely you will see it. You remember the story, how the prophet Samuel comes to Bethlehem to select the next King. He goes to the House of Jesse. Jesse has eight sons. The prophet says, line up all your boys. One of them is going to be the next King of Israel. He lines them all up except one. Who's that? David, David's out watching the sheep. Dad didn't even think David was important enough to be numbered as one of his own children in the lineup. Well he's the one that gets picked. But Jesse doesn't put him in that room. I think that the brokenness of David's family is hinted at in Psalm 27 when David says, "when my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me," I think he knew he had a family that was pretty busted up, pretty blemished, pretty dysfunctional. And he knew that father and mother had somehow forsaken him. But he knew that the Lord was in charge of his life. And I just want to say, your own family may have overlooked you. Your Heavenly Father will not. God knows you. God sees you. The Bible says the eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the entire Earth, that he might show himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are loyal toward him. God's got you. He sees you and he wants to use you. Well David goes from that family, Jesse's family, into this family, Saul's family. From a relationally-cold family to now a relationally-callused family. Now, how does he get into Saul's family? Because he marries Saul's daughter. Saul the King said whoever beats the Philistines, this big giant guy named Goliath, whoever beats that guy gets my daughter. Now there's a little bit of insight into a dad. A dad is willing to give away his daughter to whatever soldier wins a battle. And you might say, well, that was always done in ancient times. Maybe so, but not in Israel. This is-- this is God's people. These are people that are devoted to God. And the Torah, the law of God, was to govern the kings of Israel. But Saul is willing to give away his daughter. And he does, to David. That's how David gets in the family. Something else about Saul. We read in the scripture that when Saul's own son by the name of Jonathan is in a battle, that because Jonathan gets a bit of honey-- not the candy bit of honey, a handful of honey, and revives himself during a battle, when Saul finds out about it, when dad finds out he goes, I'm going to kill him. I'm going to kill my son for having honey in a battle. Because I said nobody should eat anything till we win this war, which is dumb anyway. He finds out his son did that because he didn't hear the order. But he won the war. But that's OK. Dad didn't care if he won or not. I'm just going to kill my son. Then David, who worked for King Saul, was playing music for him. And on two occasions Saul tried to play pin the spear on the musician. He chucked a spear twice in David's direction to pin him to the wall. And so David flees. He runs. And that takes us to this period. For a decade he is running from his father-in-law, who pursues him to kill him. Now when he runs away, two people help him. Number one, Saul's daughter, now David's wife. Number two, Jonathan, Saul's son. Both kids helped David escape because they know their dad is a wingnut. He was a wingnut. Because when Saul finds out that his two kids have helped David, here's his words to his daughter in chapter 19 verse 17. "Why have you deceived me like this and sent my enemy away so that he has escaped?" And then he says to his son, Jonathan, in chapter 20 verse 30, "You son of a perverse, rebellious woman." That's a father speaking to his son? "You son of a perverse, rebellious woman." If you have the New Living translation it's even more crass. "You stupid son of a whore." That's the family David is now in. Welcome to the family, son. He said again to Jonathan, "You son of a perverse, rebellious woman. Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness?" So here's what I want you to see. David goes from one family where he is marginalized to another family where he is terrorized. This is a broken family. You may have a blemished family. This is a broken family. One author said there's three marks of a broken family. Number one, broken families do not trust. Trust has been broken. They don't trust each other. They don't trust anybody. Broken families do not trust. Number two is broken families refuse to talk about their brokenness. They don't admit it. Nothing to see here, nothing wrong here. Number three, broken families do not express their feelings. Very low when it comes to emotional intelligence. They don't talk about how they feel. So whatever dysfunction or baggage or shortcomings or blemishes your family might have, don't let it get to the point where it is broken. Broken meaning spirits are crushed and relationships are severed. That's broken. We are all humans thus we are all sinners. Thus we all manifest imperfect behavior. But let me say, blemished is far better than broken. And if you have a blemished husband, an imperfect blemished husband, do everything in your power, wives, to keep that husband from being a broken man. Refrain from overly criticizing him and put-downs that make him feel lower and lower and lower. Or husbands, if you have a blemished wife and she drives you crazy with those antics of hers, do everything you can to make sure she doesn't end up broken. Try to manage the conflict. Now, I'm not here to give you all the ins and outs of that, except to say there's a few ways that will help you do that. Number one, it's called forgiveness-- forgiveness. Be big on forgiveness. Be ready to forgive. Jesus taught us the Lord's Prayer, "forgive us our debts as we forgive those who are debtors against us." But then he said this, "If you refuse to forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father in heaven forgive you yours." Forgive. Another added thing to that, I would say, is learn to look for good traits. If they're driving you crazy and all you can see is the flaws in your mate or your relationships, learn to spot the good traits. 1 Corinthians 13, "Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails." And then the third tip I would add to that is make the first move. If there's tension, make the first move. If there's a wall, make the first move. If there's coldness, make the first move. Matthew 18, "Our Lord said if your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you will win over your brother." So blemished is better than broken. David is now in a very broken family system. The second principle-- the second comparison is that respect is better than revenge. Respect is better than revenge. So get the scene. David is fleeing from Saul. Saul has 3,000 men. David has 600 men. He's outnumbered 5 to 1. Saul finds out he's down by the Dead Sea and Ein Gedi. Saul goes to chase him. Now the story gets a little bit humorous. Verse 3, "So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave" and it says, "Saul went in to attend to his needs." You know that is, right? I don't have to explain that to you? He went in to attend to his needs. He's using the restroom. David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave. So this is funny. Saul's there and he goes, excuse me. I got to go use the restroom. He goes in the restroom not knowing there are 600 soldiers in the restroom. Then David-- "Then the men of David said to him," remember, they're in the darkness of the cave. "This is the day of which the Lord said to you, Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as seems good to you." And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul's robe. Can you picture this? Saul's in the darkness on his haunches taking care of business staring out of the cave. David comes sneaking up, snip, cuts a little piece of the robe off. Verse 5, "Now it happened afterward that David's heart troubled him because he had cut Saul's robe." Now his men are saying, cut his throat, never mind his robe. But he feels guilty that he took a little piece of his robe off. "And he said to his men, "The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master" Watch this-- "the Lord's anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord. So David restrained his servants with these words and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went his way." This is David's golden opportunity to take revenge. And as he gets close to Saul maybe all of the feelings of the past start coming to the surface. Like he's remembering those two times when Saul threw a spear his way. And his blood starts to boil. And he thinks, now is the time to take revenge. I don't know what feelings he was struggling with or overcoming. But he didn't take revenge. Now, revenge is pretty easy to take. We feel justified when we do it. I'll guarantee you we feel justified. In fact, we feel good. Revenge is a lot of fun. When somebody cuts you off on the road because they don't like your driving and swerves in front of you and gives you the one way to heaven sign only with a different finger, you got to understand, they feel really good when they do that. They got something off their-- they told you. To them, it's satisfying. It's dumb but it's satisfying. And eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth brings a level of satisfaction with-- I heard a story about a gal who worked for a family. She was the maid for a long time. Took care of everything. Washed their dishes, took the kids to school. The family fired her and she didn't understand why. The job was everything to her and she was shaken by it. But the family said, don't want to talk about it. Just pack your bags and get out. So she's about to leave. The front door-- she opens the front door. And then she takes a $5 bill out of her purse and throws it to the family dog. And the family said, why are you giving our dog $5? She goes, I never forget a friend. That's for all the times your dog helped me clean your dishes. See, revenge. Just a little-- that dig, felt so good to say that. But David does not take revenge. Instead, David is very respectful, respect over revenge. Respect is better than revenge. The queen of soul, Aretha Franklin, sang it so well. R-e-s-p-e-c-t, find out what it means to me. What it meant to David is I don't touch the one God has raised up, the Lord's anointed. Soldiers are taught to salute their superior officer even if they hate their superior officer. And here's why. They will tell you, you salute the rank, not the man. You always salute the rank. Whatever you feel about that person is irrelevant. They are still at a higher rank. David is saluting the rank. This is the one the Lord has raised up. And can I just make a quick plea to all parents raising small children? Please teach your children respect. There is no excuse for being disrespectful. Please teach them that. Teach them to respect you, mom and dad. Because if they don't respect you they're not going to respect their teacher. They're not going to respect police officers. They're not going to respect authority. And you see it all over the place, not just on every filthy branch of social media, people mouthing off and spewing off to each other, but you're seeing it now in public. It begins at home. One man said, when I was a kid there was no respect for youth. Now that I'm old, there's no respect for age. He said, I missed it coming and going. Well the way to get it is to give it. Be the kind of person who is quick to give respect. Respect is better than revenge. Let me take you to a third principle. Light is better than darkness. Light is better than darkness. In verse 8, "David also arose afterward," now watch this. He went out of the cave. So now he's in the light, the sunlight, broad daylight. "and called out to Saul." Now Saul is now done with his business. He's outside of the cave. He's ready to move on. So they're both outside. He calls to Saul, saying, "My lord the King!" and when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed down." It might seem incidental to you, but to me it's not. David dealt with the problem between he and Saul in the daylight, in the light. David does nothing in the darkness of the cave for two reasons. Number one, he's not going to touch God's anointed. Number two, anything done in the dark cave would be less than optimal. Anything done in the darkness of that cave would be less than optimal. There's a lot of things David could have done. David could have killed Saul in that cave. David could have scared Saul, boo! David could have taken him by the neck and forced confession by putting a knife to his throat, forcing a resolution. All of that is less than optimal. None of that would have done any good. He waits till Saul leaves then he goes outside where you can see plainly and clearly, and deals with it face to face, eye to eye. In case you might be thinking I'm making too much out of this, I was reading this week a story of a man who, at one time in his life, frequented bars and clubs. And he was talking about that lifestyle. And he said, you know, I always noticed that bars are dark. Clubs are dark. And he said, I always wondered why that is. Why are these places always dark? They never turn up the lights. They turn down the lights. And he guesses it's because it makes people less aware of themselves, less self-conscious. Listen to his words. "Darkness hides things. One is more inclined to approach a woman at night in a jam-packed room with loud music than in broad daylight in a quiet coffee shop. It's because self-consciousness is low or absent completely. Darkness heightens anonymity. The mask of darkness allows one to act other than themselves." Did you know that when you communicate to another person, 55% of what you communicate is through facial expression? Facial expression. So in the package of communication, what people see in your face, 55% is communicated through facial expression. A full between 70% and 90% is body language. So facial expression, what you do with your hands, if you point with your fingers. All of that is conveyed. More is conveyed by what you see than the words you hear. So tightness around the mouth and the eyes, lowered eyebrows, frowning, scowling, glaring, sweating, crossed arms, all of that conveys anger and disapproval. Whereas relaxed muscles, gently closed mouth, slow breathing, arms uncrossed, low, steady tones of voice, all of that communicates reassurance and a desire to resolve. Now, you can't see that in the dark. You can't see that in a text. You can't see that in an email. You can't even see that on a phone call. All of those are sub-par levels of communication. The best way to communicate, especially to resolve a conflict, is bring it into a well-lit room where you can actually see that person eye to eye, body language, facial expression. Light is better than darkness. I'll take you to the fourth and final one. We'll close on this. Truth is better than triumph. Truth is better than triumph. So in verse 9, David said to Saul, another in the broad daylight, David said to Saul, "Why do you listen to the words of the men who say, Indeed David seeks your harm? Look, this day your eyes have seen--" That's very important, too, the last point. "Your eyes have seen that the Lord has delivered you today into my hand in the cave." Because he has that little piece of cloth. "And someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you and said, 'I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord's anointed. Moreover, my father, see! Yes, the corner of your robe in my hand!" That's what he is there to see, nonverbal communication. "For in that I cut off the corner of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you hunt my life to take it. Let the Lord judge between you and me. Let the Lord avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you." Down in verse 16. "So it was, when David finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, "Is this your voice, my son David?" And David lifted up his voice and wept. And then he said to David, "You are more righteous than I." True. "For you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil. And you have shown this day how you have dealt well with me. For when the Lord delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me, or if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day." That is what David wanted to hear. David was more interested in winning over Saul than he was in winning the argument. Truth to David was better than triumph. David didn't want to walk away and said yep, I got him. He wanted to win him over. He wanted to resolve the conflict. Now I want you to see this, when I say truth is better than triumph, David still believes he needs to confront Saul. And he does. He waits till they get outside. And though he respected Saul and though he had a sensitive conscience, he still confronts him with truth. He didn't kick back in the cave and stay in the cave and say, I'm going to wait until Saul leaves. And I'm just going to go my own way. He'll never know I was here. He goes out and has an honest confrontation-- an honest confrontation. Some of you hate the sound of that word, confrontation, even honest confrontation. But Jesus said, I remind you again, "If your brother sins against you go tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother." Psalm 27 or Proverbs 27 says, "Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful." Ever think about that? Faithful are the wounds of a friend. A friend will wound you the right way. Think of it this way. An enemy stabs you in the back. A friend stabs you in the front, carefully, lovingly, gingerly, respectfully. But he tells you the truth up front in your face. He confronts. Nathan will confront David later on. He will say, you're the man. Honest confrontation. Later on, Paul the Apostle will confront Peter for his hypocrisy before the Galatian Christians, honest confrontation. Some of you hate confrontation. In fact, I would say most people hate confrontation. In fact, I'd say you got to have a screw loose to actually love confrontation. There are some people who actually love it. But they have a screw loose. But most of us hate it. But conflict delayed is conflict multiplied. Conflict delayed is conflict multiplied. Confrontation will help you stop the conflict. You say, you know what? I hate conflict. But you know, let's have this out. Let's talk this out. Let's throw down right now and get this over with and resolve the issue. You know the name Corrie ten Boom. I've told you about her over the years. She was a Dutch girl raised in a home that was hiding Jews so the Nazis couldn't find them in their home. Family was arrested. The girls were thrown in a concentration camp, then another concentration camp, then another concentration-- for years, abused, starving. Eventually the war ended. They were let out of the concentration camp. Corrie ten Boom traveled around and spoke at different places. I heard her speak at my church years ago before she went to heaven. But she tells a story that after she was released, at some place she was speaking at, a man came up to her and put his hand out to shake her hand. And she recognized him as a prison guard in the Nazi concentration camp. And she saw that hand and saw that face and went, . She was repelled because he was the most cruel, little tyrant, made their life miserable. And she didn't want to shake that hand. She did not want to resolve that conflict. She didn't want to deal with that. Listen to her words. "I stood there with coldness, clutching at my heart. But I know that the will can function regardless of the temperature of the heart. I pray, Jesus, help me. Woodenly, mechanically, I thrust my hand into the one stretched out to me and I experienced an incredible thing. A warm reconciliation seem to flood my whole being. I forgive you. For a long moment we grasped each other's hands, the former guard, the former prisoner. I have never known the love of God so intensely as I did in that moment. To forgive is to set a prisoner free and to discover that the prisoner was you." Set the prisoner free. Set it free. Resolve the conflict. Talk it out. Decide to forgive. Mechanically, woodenly, go through the motions if you have to and watch God change your heart. Whatever blemish your family has does not have to be like this, broken. And if it is broken and if you feel broken today and you just, even, loathe the system of difficulty that you have in your family. Ah, then you are-- you're in the right place. Because that's God's territory. In fact, God's specialty, you might say, are broken things. It's like he takes special delight not in new things but in broken things. We, whenever we have something that's broken, we usually throw it away. It's broken. It's chipped. Throw it away, get something new. We do that with people. Throw them away. Get something new. We do it with relationships, marriages. Throw it away. Get something new. God does not. God takes that which is broken. The sacrifices of God are a broken Spirit, a broken and contrite heart he will not despise. You let God into that heart. Because you'll find that he'll take your brokenness, your family's brokenness. He'll work on it. And then he'll use you. And so you come as you are. You don't have to be fixed to be a follower. You don't have to be a fixed-- yeah, I'll get my act together and then I'll come to God. No, you come broken. You come broken. You come as you are. And you let him in. Let him superintend the process of the healing and the mending. Father, thank you for that sure promise that you have chosen the foolish, the broken. You are the mender. You are the restorer. You are the healer. All those things we say about you, all those things that are revealed about you and your word, all of those are true. We are wandering without you. We are hopeless and helpless without you. Left to our own devices, we self-destruct and we don't have the capacity to fix problems that are so much bigger than we ever anticipated. But you can. And I pray that some here would let you into their lives. Maybe their own personal life is broken and they realize they need a Savior who will forgive them and receive them and restore them. And I'm speaking to some of you who feel that way. You feel broken. You feel used. You feel shattered. You feel like you have no strength. But you're here and you're not here by accident. You're here by appointment. The Lord has an appointment with you. And He's calling you. And you know He is. You sense it in the depth of your Spirit right now. So if you have come to this auditorium this morning or you're watching online, I'm going to encourage you to give your life to Christ, to give your life away, to let him in. If you want to do that, if you are willing to give your life to Him or to come back to Him because you've wandered from him, I want you to raise your hand up in the air. Our heads are bowed. Our eyes are closed. But raise your hand up. Keep it up for just a moment. God bless you, and you, and you, and you. Around the auditorium, just raise that hand up. I'm going to pray for you in a moment. Anybody else, raise it up high. Balcony? Back row? God bless you. In the family room, anyone over there? Just raise that hand up. God bless you. Yup. If you're outside, there's a pastor out there. Raise your hand up. Let them see. If you're online there's instructions on your device or computer in that little chat room of what to do. Father, we want to thank you for the honesty of those who might feel broken right now, the honesty expressed in a raised hand. And Lord, we know what that feels like. We know what it feels like to have pain and anguish and brokenness and come to the one who can heal us and fix us, set us right, to forgive us. Give us the power to forgive others. So Father, I pray for those who have raised their hands and pray that they'll now walk with you and follow you in obedience. Fill them with your Spirit in Jesus's name. Amen.

1 Corinthians 6 - Skip Heitzig Calvary Church is dedicated to doctrine, and we want you to experience the life change that comes from knowing God's word and applying it to your life. So we explain the Bible verse by verse, every chapter, every book. This is Expound. You're my folks. I tell you this so often. I hope you have one of these. Did you bring one of these? It could be that you don't have one or you didn't bring one. I hope you do have one. If you don't, I think it's good to actually get a real Bible that has real pages and real words written on it. You'll never lose it in the cloud. You may lose it-- like, you might leave it somewhere, but somebody will find it and read it. But it's good to have it, because unlike an electronic Bible-- though, they're fine. And if you have one, it's fine. But when you have a Bible that you carry with you, you're able to visually remember where certain things are on certain pages, right. You know what that's like? I know it's on the left hand column right around there, and you have it marked. And it's like studying a map over time. You become very familiar with it, and it's important to know the Bible well enough that you can turn to it when you need to pull out certain truths to remind others of or to remind ourselves of. So if you don't have a Bible, we'd be happy to help out with that in some capacity. We have them in our bookstore next door, a good selection of Bibles. If there's a Bible close to you tonight, you could just maybe take your friends and just see if they're a good Christian and take it from them and see what they do. Or better yet, there's one probably in the seat in front of you. You could borrow that and follow along. We're in the book of 1 Corinthians, and we're in chapter 6. And as we begin, I'm mindful that we are still in a very uncertain period in the world, a world filled with chaos, a world filled with mental distress, people facing all sorts of uncertainty in their own future with their jobs, with their health, et cetera. It's a good time to remember those that we love, those in the church in our prayers as we begin tonight. Father, we come before you and present ourselves before you as living sacrifices. That's how Paul told us to do it. And so Father we give you us. We give you our bodies. We pray that as we live out our sacrifice for you in this world that you would use us for your purpose and your glory. And we pray that you will minister to us tonight giving us answers, helping us to get a grasp of this letter that Paul wrote not only to the Corinthian church but that the Holy Spirit has given to this church. And so Father, it is for us. It is very contemporary, and I pray that we would learn its lessons. Father, we want to pray for those that are loved of us, relatives or friends that are struggling in their health. They may be a part of our own family. They may be a part of our local church community. They may be outside this city and in various states or around the world, but we are remembering them just now before you're throne. And we pray that you will touch, and we pray that you will restore health. We pray that you will strengthen their physical body. We pray that you will speak to them in their very heart of hearts assuring them of your care and your love for them, reminding them of your great promise, promises in your word to keep them and to enact your plan perfectly in their lives. I pray you give them that confidence. And as we begin, not only remember them and pray for them, but we also say we trust you. That you are good and that no matter what we are seeing or feeling around us, you never change. And as we approach your word tonight, I pray that we would have that confidence, and that confidence would be bolstered. We ask in Jesus's name, amen. In chapter 6 of 1 Corinthians, in the first verse it begins with the question. Paul writes to his beloved believers in Corinth saying dare any of you having a matter against another go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints. Now I want to give you a little bit of context to what we're reading in case you weren't with us the last few weeks or you haven't been a part of this book. Even if you have, it's good to sort of get a running start into these texts. The book, the letter of 1 Corinthians is addressing various issues, problems that the church of Corinth was facing. It happens to be a favorite book of mine, because it was a church filled with problems. I don't say that because I like problem churches. I just know that every church is indeed a problem church. Every congregation has its own issues, and I am glad that-- and I've said this before many times that the New Testament portrays accurately just how lacking the New Testament church was. So when people say we need to get back to the New Testament church, I'm always wondering which one are you thinking of. Because Corinth was a New Testament church, and it's very contemporary and applicational to us. Chapters 1 and chapters 2, chapter 1 and 2 of 1 Corinthians is about congregational disunity. They were breaking up into various groups. They were playing favorites, one with another or one against another, some saying I'm of the group that loves the teachings of Paul or I'm of the group that loves the teachings of Apollos or I'm of the group that loves Cephas, Peter. And so they were-- there was disunity among this one congregation preferring certain emphases of Bible teachers, one against the other. That's chapter 1 and 2, organizational disunity. Chapters 2 and 3 addresses spiritual immaturity. They thought they were so wise being Corinthians, being of Greek origin. They had the Greek writers as part of their heritage. Paul says that they were immature. They were carnal. They were fleshly. And he talked about the difference between the spiritual man and the fleshly person, and he says that you are carnal. So that's chapters 1, 2, 3, and 4. Chapters 5 and 6-- and we looked at chapter 5 last week, thought we would make it a chapter 6. We didn't, so we will tonight-- is about sexual impurity. So we have organizational disunity, we have spiritual immaturity, and now we have sexual impurity. And it wasn't that they were just struggling with what every human being struggles with as they are living in a world that is very loose in their morality. They were dealing with an issue that they actually prided themselves in their toleration of, and that is a case of incest in the Church of Corinth. Chapter 5, verse 1 addresses this it is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you and such immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles that a man has his father's wife. So there is a man coming to church married to probably his stepmother and the church priding themselves and the fact that they were so filled with grace and love that they would just accept this person, no matter what his proclivity is or propensity might be or personal choice. Oh, he's so brave to make that personal choice and come to church. And Paul said, well, I'm not even there, and I can tell you what you should do. Next time you get together, kick him out. I gave-- he said, I'll give you that ruling from the Lord that you deliver him to Satan for the destruction of the flesh that his Spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. He's telling them to use some sanctified authority. Now with that in mind, we get into chapter 6, because he is continuing on this theme that the church needs to take its authority and make certain kinds of judgment calls. Because they were having a problem in trusting themselves as a local group, a body of Christ to make good judgments, they weren't even judging sin within the church when they should be judging sin within the church. Chapter 5, verse 12 says what have I to do with judging those who are outside. Do you not judge those who are inside? So we looked at that last week, and we noted that the church has a responsibility, indeed a mandate to make certain discriminations against character by those who claim to be of Christ, who name the name of Christ. That's just what a body does. A body, a human body, your body is marvelous. It's amazing, amazing how it responds to problems that it encounters. So if you get infected, you have blood cells that will surround the germ, sort of, just like mounting an attack against them, to glom onto them, to isolate the problem. If you cut yourself, red blood cells rush to an area and deposit a certain kind of a substance that will provide a sticky ability for new skin to grow on top of it later on. And then once the wound is fully developed, it will begin to shrink. It's just you're fearfully and wonderfully made. The body is created to purge itself of problems. God did that. The body of Christ should have the same ability. We are the body of Christ. When God wants to do something on the Earth, when Jesus wants to do something on the Earth, he does it through us. We are his hands. We're his feet. We're his mouthpieces. If he's going to work a work on the Earth, he does it through his body. Well, his body can sometimes get infected. The church can get infected. And the church at Corinth was infected with-- well, we noted three things it was infected with. And Paul said, you need to come in and do something about that. You need to extra extricate that person who calls himself a brother, put him into Satan's domain that he may learn not to sin the way he's sending so flagrantly. Do that. That's what the body of Christ should do. Now continuing with that thought, he now moves from immorality-- though, he's going to get back to it in chapter 6-- but he includes now legality, the courtroom scene. We just sang a minute ago a beautiful statement of faith, and I know you believe it, because I just heard you singing it. You said-- the words we all sang is I have the authority. Jesus has given me. Well, in Corinth, it's like they didn't believe they had as the church the authority that Jesus had given them. You see one of the problems in the Greek culture was litigation. The Greeks were a very litigious culture, by and large. In fact, they even made fun of themselves. There was a saying going on just 60 miles to the Northeast over in Athens that every Athenian is a lawyer, that everybody just-- and people loved law cases, lawsuits back then. They loved to follow legal proceedings. In fact, people wanted to be called for jury duty, very different than today. We do everything we can to get out of it even though it is a civic duty that we should all perform. But back in those days, people loved it. I mean, they were into Judge Judy before there was ever Judge Judy. It was like entertainment to them. And the juries in those days were enormous, sometimes over 100 people on a single jury. So in that culture if there was a problem, you would usually go to an arbiter, somebody who would arbitrate the case, who wouldn't be taken to court. You tried to settle that dispute through a private arbiter and then another private arbiter. They would try to get together and settle the deal. If you couldn't settle it, you would take it into the public Greek courts that had a typical jury of 40 people. Now the typical jury today is 12 people in our country, in those days, 40 people. Good luck trying to come up with a good outcome in that. And if by the time you reach 60 years of age, you had to give yourself to a period of time to be on a jury. And so you had to have maturity. You had to have lived a while. So in your 60th year, you would then sign up for jury duty. And people were just-- I don't know if they just had time on their hands but, they love to do it. Some juries were over 1,000, according to the ancient records. So they loved this. And here's the problem with the church. Instead of believing I have the authority-- we as the church have the authority to settle disputes between ourselves, they were taking the disputes of the church into the civic law courts before unbelievers to make an adjudication or a judgment. So in chapter-- chapter 6, verse 1, dare any of you or how dare that you do this as God's people. Having a matter against another-- and this is, in particular, a Christian brother against another Christian brother, because he'll go on to say in the following verses brother against brother. So we know it's talking about some internal dispute in the church between brothers and sisters or one party and another who are all part of that Christian group. Dare any of you having a matter against another go to law before the unrighteous and not before the Saints. Now Paul has two concerns. Concern number one, you are not respecting the ability of the church and the authority given you by Christ himself to settle a matter of dispute from one Christian and another Christian. That's one concern. The other concern is by going to the unbelievers law courts, taking this out into the secular courts, you are airing the dirty laundry of the church before unbelievers. You are providing a terrible testimony to the unbelieving world. You're showing them just how bad it is. You're telling them that they should get saved and come to Christ and all of hope and peace and joy and all these great things, and they're seeing you take your brother to court going I don't need to be a part of that. There's no difference between them and us. So that is a concern of Paul. What are you doing taking this dispute into the law courts? Verse 2, do you not know that the saints will judge the world? Now I just want that to fall on your hearts. This is your future we're talking about. Do you know that one day you, all of you, all of us as the Saints of God, as the children of God are going to judge the world? I just want you to hear that, because, again, like we said last week, some people say, the Bible says don't judge. Really? Do you know that one day we're going to actually judge the world. Now I'm going to describe what that means as we go on. And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge in the smallest matters? OK, Jesus left this Earth. He went away, and he said if I go I am coming to you again. Ever since he said that, we're waiting for Jesus to come again. When Jesus comes again, Revelation chapter 19, the Saints are going to come with him at that second coming. After that judgment at the second coming, Jesus is going to set up a kingdom on the Earth that will last 1,000 years, according to the book of Revelation. It is called also the Millennium or the kingdom age. It is a glorious international ruling and reigning of Jesus Christ on planet Earth for 1,000 years called the Kingdom age. Jesus in Matthew 19 said to his 12 disciples even, he said you know, fellas, you guys are going to sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. Now he said that speaking yet future. You're going to sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. So the apostles have an adjudicating position coming up. Also you and I, I think are going to help them. Don't you know that the Saints are going to judge the world. In Revelation chapter 2, Jesus addresses the church, one of the churches there, and he says to the over comers of the church, the true believers, he said, I have given you authority over all the nations. And you will rule with a rod of iron. Now we know that Jesus will have an iron rod rule in the Millennium. He will rule and reign with absolute authority for 1,000 years. It will be the only time there will be a perfect government on the Earth. Don't care who you voted for, you'll never get it on this Earth. We certainly don't have it now. It's far from perfect. But you say, oh, yeah, but if so-and-so runs, still not going to be perfect. Be better than what we have but still not going to be perfect, perhaps, perhaps not. Never know. One never knows. But one day when Jesus returns, he will set up his kingdom upon the Earth and give authority to the twelve apostles and to the saints, the body of Christ, God's people to rule and reign with him to have some kind of co-rulership with him in the kingdom. He has given us authority over the nations to rule with him with a rod of iron. That Is something that was talked about even in the Old Testament. It is alluded to many times and spoken about in the New Testament, but way back in the Old Testament in chapter 7 of Daniel, Daniel has a vision of the Son of Man. And the Son of Man is given a kingdom, and it says in that chapter I was watching in the night visions and, behold, one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom. This is all on the Earth that all peoples, nations, and languages, all that context is earthly in scope should serve him. His Dominion is an everlasting Dominion, which shall not pass away, his kingdom the one which will not be destroyed. Same chapter, it says then the kingdom and Dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people, the saints of the most high. And his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. So in the future, there's some big stuff ahead for you. In the future in some role, you're going to help in the kingdom age with Jesus Christ as he rules and reigns. He's going to let you help him adjudicate that perfect government with a rod of iron. A lot could be said in describing that. Someday I'll preach a series just on the kingdom age. It would be a fun thing to study. But we're going to have some kind of rulership. So here's Paul's thinking, because he is thinking eschatological when he writes this in the ends times, don't you know you're going to judge the world. So if you're going to have that kind of a role in the future, if God is going to allow you to be on his Supreme Court in the kingdom age, why do you think you're unqualified to deal with issues between brother and brother in the church that you have to take it to a secular court to handle it? And he's writing that to their shame. They should be qualified. Now hear me out. When a Christian takes another Christian to court, nobody wins except the devil. You are saying, number one, I don't trust that this can be handled by God's people. It's a statement of faith against the church. And number two, it is allowing dirty laundry to be erred before the unbelieving world. Paul makes that point. Do you think you're unworthy to judge in the smallest matters? Verse 3 continues, chapter 6 1 Corinthians, do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more the things that pertain to this life? Now if I'm an angel and I look at that, I'm not stoked. I say wait, wait, wait, wait. Hold up, God. They're going to judge us, those guys, right. Remember the Angels are looking into things pertaining to salvation, Peter said. They marvel at the fact that God could extend such grace and love to us. They're blown away at God's grace toward mankind. And yet God says, yeah, my people, my Saints, the ones that aren't getting along there on the Earth, they're going to judge the Angels. Now what does that mean exactly? Well, I don't think it means that you're going to find your guardian angel when you get to heaven to go, hey, I have a couple of questions for you. Remember that time I got in a car crash, where were you? What's up with that? I don't think that's the idea. I don't think we're going to be judging good angels. I think we're going to have some kind of role in judging evil angels. You remember both in the book of 2 Peter and in the book of Jude, both of them right almost the identical truth that God did not spare the Angels that sinned but cast them into hell and has them in everlasting chains of darkness awaiting judgment. Some kind of judgment call will be made that you and I are going to help administrate. That's what I believe it's a reference to, not the good angels, but the evil angels, the fallen angels. He's going to let us help in some kind of a capacity. So again, if you're going to judge the world and if you're going to judge angels to some degree in the future, you can't handle a squabble between brother and sister in the church? Here's Paul's point. The most untrained believer, the least, the most untrained believer in legal matters but who believes and knows the word of God and is filled with the Holy Spirit is much better at handling a case like that than the most trained Harvard Law student or professor who doesn't have the word of God or the Spirit of God. So Greeks put that in your pipe and smoke it. Verse 4, if you then have judgments concerning things pertaining to this life, do you appoint those who are least esteemed by the church to judge? I say this to your shame. See he's getting-- he's getting very pointed here. It's like he's saying to the Corinthians, shame on you Corinthians. You should know better. I say this to your shame. Is it so that there is not a wise man among you, not even one who will be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goes to law against brother and that before unbelievers. Now, therefore, it is already an utter failure for you that you should go to law against one another. Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be defrauded? No, you yourselves do wrong and defraud, and you do these things to your brethren. The whole idea here is an idea of love. So you know that Jesus said you're to love one another. You're to love each other. You're to even love your enemies. Paul the apostle will say to the Corinthians, if you have great gifts but you don't have love, you're like a noisy gong. You're like a clanging symbol-- that the expression, especially brother to brother, sister to sister, brother and sister in the body of Christ. The chief expression ought to be the expression of love. So what do you do if somebody wrongs you? Well, that was the question Peter had for Jesus. He said, hey, Jesus, you talk a lot about forgiveness. So how many times am I supposed to forgive my brother? Like, I don't know, seven times? Because that'd be a lot. If somebody messed with Peter, like, seven times, for me to forgive him-- that's huge. So I'm going to go big here, God-- seven times? Jesus said, nope, not seven times-- 70 times 7. So we talked about that kind of love, that kind of forgiveness, that kind of willingness to be defrauded-- and even be wronged-- by people. Just forgive. Just move on. Don't hold a grudge. But in that same chapter, Jesus gives a context. He says this-- if your brother sins against you, go to him personally, privately. That's how you handle it-- one on one. Try to work it out. Go charge him with the wrong. And say, you know what? What you said was offensive to me. That really hurt. I took that as an offense. Oh, I'm so sorry. I'll never do it again-- or they say, I didn't do anything wrong. You know, you're the idiot. So if you go and your brother that has sinned against you will not receive your admonition, your rebuke, your reconciliation, Jesus said, then you take with you two or three others-- that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word would be established. Now you have arbitration. Now you have some impartial witnesses who can give their wisdom and help you settle the issue. Jesus said, if that doesn't work-- do you remember what He said? He said, tell it to the church. Tell it to the church. Bring it within the context of church, the church environment, and the authority of the body of Christ. And let the church make that decision. It seems that Paul has this in mind when he writes that. Take it to the church. Isn't there one wise person among you who can make this decision and help you out on these matters instead of going to the secular courts? Now, here's a question. Because we're sharing this tonight. Maybe right now, you're in the midst of a lawsuit. And you go, man, I didn't know that verse was in there. But now I've got a lawsuit against a-- well, once it's in the courts, you have to let it-- usually, you have to ride it out. Although when you hire a lawyer-- I've given this counsel before. And I won't get into the detail. But the guy said, what do I do? I've already hired the lawyer. I said, well, that's it. You hired the lawyer. You can fire the lawyer. You just call them up and say, I don't need your services anymore. Bill me for whatever you've done. And then call it quits. Handle it a different way. But if it's in the courts already, you have to ride it out. If it's not in the courts already, number one-- go to your brother. Try to handle it. Number two, bring people with you. If they don't want to listen, then bring it to the leadership of the church. And get elders and deacons and leaders involved in that. You know, fortunately, we live in a city that has seen great success with biblical reconciliation. In fact, a national group was started in New Mexico by Christian lawyers some years ago, all for the purpose of fulfilling this passage as a biblical mandate-- keeping things outside the courts, getting people who are skilled in law-- but more than that, Spirit-filled believers, people who believe the word of God, to settle the issues, to settle the disputes outside of the secular courts in the context of the church. And because of their work, now around the country, the idea of independent arbitration or reconciliation before it goes to a judge is widely accepted because, largely, of the work that was done with that Christian group in town some years ago. He says in verse 7-- "Why do you not rather accept wrong? Why do you not rather let yourselves be defrauded?" That's a novel concept. What am I going to do-- like, let them walk all over me? Well? Well? Well, what did Jesus say? Jesus said, turn the other cheek. If somebody slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other cheek. Instead of, "Yeah, what am I supposed to do, let him slap my cheek?" No, both cheeks. And He says, if he sues you to take away your tunic, give him your cloak also. What, well, just let them take my cloak? He has no right. Go buy another cloak. Let yourself be defrauded. Because yeah, you can go to court. And you can win the case and lose your brother and lose your testimony. It's not worth it. He says, "No, you yourselves do wrong and defraud. And you do these things to your brothers, your brethren. Do you not know--" verse 9-- "do you not know that the unrighteous--" see, you're bringing this before the unrighteous, the unbelieving world. You're settling these court cases instead of playing the role of the judge, the arbiter, making adjudications, making discriminations when people have these behaviors, whether it's for incest or whether it's for legal cases. He's kind of tying these things together. If you're willing to take it before the unrighteous-- but He says, "Don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God?" You're bringing kingdom matters before unrighteous judges. Don't you know that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? "Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators--" fornication is sexual sin. Usually, it is a sin described in the Bible before marriage, when a person is single. "Nor idolaters--" worshipping false gods, false religious systems-- "nor adulterers--" usually a sin talked about as once a person is married-- "nor homosexuals, nor sodomites--" it's an unfortunate translation. Because you don't really get the force of the Greek language. Those two words, that homosexuals are sodomites, the Greek language is much more precise. And incidentally, the old King James version happens to be a more accurate translation than the New King James, or for that matter, most of the other translations of this particular verse. The old King James translates those last two sins by saying this way-- "Nor the effeminate, nor the abusers of themselves with mankind." The effeminate-- that word translated here, homosexuals-- usually refers to in a homosexual relationship the person who takes the passive role. In a male homosexual relationship, it would be who would take the female role, the softer role. And then the second word, sodomites-- or abusers of themselves with mankind, in the King James-- is, in a homosexual relational context, somebody who takes the more dominant, aggressive role. And he's bringing that up because he's speaking to Greeks. And highborn Greeks saw homosexuality, a couple thousand years ago, as the purest form of all love. Well, William Barclay says that Socrates was a homosexual-- as was Plato. In fact, Plato's writings-- that famous writing, The Symposium of love was Plato writing about homosexual lovers. And in those days, it was an adult with an underaged male child. And that was accepted in that culture. I think I mentioned last week that 14 of the first 15 Roman emperors were also homosexuals. So it was very, very common in those days. And in those days, the older male usually took the aggressive, dominant role. And the young boy in that culture took the passive role. That's the reference of the word. Sorry to be so explicit. But I figured you should know that's what he's writing about. So He says, "Do you not know that fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, nor sodomites--" whichever role they take-- "nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the Kingdom of God." Now I know. You read that. Some of you go, man, that messes with me. It's not my problem. It doesn't mess with me. Well, that really bothers me. It's not my problem. My only duty is to declare to you what God has said through His word. And you either accept it or you don't. So in the book of Romans, chapter 1-- which we already covered. I'll just remind you of this. Paul writes about the gentile flow of sin throughout ancient culture-- throughout, actually, all time. "Therefore, God gave them up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts to dishonor their bodies among themselves who exchanged the truth of God for the lie and worshipped and serve the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever-- amen. For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions, for even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature"-- against nature. "Likewise, also, the men leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men, committing what is shameful and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due." Now you might say, well, you know, that was back then in that culture. But in today's culture, things are different. And you can't say those things. Because in this culture, that kind of stuff is acceptable. It was more acceptable in that culture. The reason it's becoming now acceptable after a long period of time is because of the rich Judeo-Christian heritage this country has had for so long to abate and stem the tide of that kind of stuff in modern history. It was the injection of Christianity in the world that put an end to that. Now you're seeing a resurgence back to an ancient culture. So understand when Paul wrote these things, it was like-- when people read this, like-- because if 14 of the 15 first Roman emperors were homosexuals and Paul is, like, talking smack pretty up-front, you know he got blowback for it. So here's what I want you to see. Paul says in Romans 1-- these things, they happen. They have happened. But it's against nature. And the word there in Greek is , And it means, "against God's natural created order"-- God's natural created order. God has set a created order from the beginning. And He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. God does not change. And His word does not change. So if you tell me, well, God made me this way, I'm going to say, no, he did not. You may be a product of your environment. You may be a product of some social conditioning. You may be a product of a lot of different messaging that is going on. You might even be the victim of some feelings that every human being has toward his or her own sexuality. But there is God's , and then there are those things that are against , against the natural creative order. And Paul says, "Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites." But let's not just stop with a few sins. Because you-- oh, yeah, that's right. Preach it, man. Well, keep going. "Nor thieves--" how are you doing on your income tax reporting? How are you doing with taking things home from the office that really don't belong to you? "Nor covetous--" that's just wanting something that you don't have and doing things you can to get what you don't have. "Nor drunkards nor revilers--" people who are in your face and talk negative, talk smack about other people-- "nor extortioners will inherit the Kingdom of God." See, those are part of that same list. So none of us can say, well, that sin is really bad. But these sins are OK. Why? Well, because I do them. Now look at verse 11. This is key. "And such were some of you." Notice it's past tense, not "and such are some of you." Such were some of you. Hey, Corinthians, some of you were extortioners. Some of you were sodomites. Some of you were revilers. Some of you were adulterers. But that's in your past. That's in your rear view mirror. You may struggle with those things. You may even fall into those things. But you don't live in them. You hate them. You want to move on from them. You want to serve Christ. That's your past tense. And if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5 says, "All things are passed away. All things become brand new." God is in the business of fixing people, fixing broken things, adding the glue of His grace to fix the sin in our lives. "Such were some of you. But you were washed, cleansed by the blood. You were sanctified, set apart. You belong to God. You are justified." God declared you forgiven. God declared you His son, His daughter in the name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God. "All things are lawful for me. But all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me. But I will not be brought under the power of any-- foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods. But God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body." It seems that Paul is using two slogans that were very popular around Corinth in those days, spoken by Corinthians or Corinthian Christians. Slogan number one-- "All things are lawful for me." In other words, I have complete liberty and freedom. Because I'm a Christian. I've been set free. I'm not under the law. "The law was the schoolmaster to lead me to Christ," Galatians says. Now that I belong to Christ, I'm not under that law any longer. I'm free. Paul said, "Indeed, all things are lawful for you." That seems to be a slogan that they used, that the Corinthians loved. Now it is true. You are not under the law. But it doesn't mean that you can act any way that you please. Because Paul then corrects that. And he says, "All things are lawful for me. But not all things are helpful." So if I do certain activities, if I drink certain things or smoke certain things, sure, I can do that. That's not the issue. Are they helpful? Do they benefit? Are they expedient? That's the old King James-- "expedient." Do they expedite me? Do they push me along my path, my journey, help me reach my goal? All things are lawful. But not everything's helpful. So keep that in mind. Look at the next. "All things are lawful for me. But I will not be brought under the power of any." Now I want you to keep a marker here. Turn a few pages to the right. Go to chapter 10. Because he writes something very similar. And I want to put all these together, all these three. 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 23-- "All things are lawful for me. But all things are not helpful"-- same thing he wrote back in chapter 6. But now he adds to that and changes something. "All things are lawful for me. But not all things edify." All things do not edify. So there's three principles. I want you to grab a hold of them tonight. If you are ever wondering what to do when it comes to the gray areas where the Bible is not very explicit about certain behavioral-- should I do this, can I do this, is it permissible for a Christian to do this or that-- apply these three principles. Number one-- is it helpful? If I do this, if I drink this, if I smoke this, if I get involved in this activity, if I go visit this person or do this thing, will it help me? Will it expedite me? Is it good for me spiritually? That's the first thing to sift it through. Second, all things are lawful for me. But I will not be brought under the power of any. So if I get involved in this right now, will later on it make me addicted to it? Will it bring me under its power? Oh, I have the power. I can do anything I want to now. But will I come to a point where I can't make that choice any longer? Right now I can. But if I keep drinking this, or smoking this, or doing that, maybe I'm going to be brought under its power. And I'll become a slave to it. Now it's not helpful, certainly. And now I've become a slave to it. Number three-- all things are lawful for me. But not all things edify. So if I do this thing, what will it-- what message will it say to other believers? Maybe it'll stumble a Christian. Maybe a Christian will look at that and go, uh, well what's he doing drinking that stuff? Or what are they doing smoking that? Well, I have the freedom. I have liberty. I'm a Christian. Right. Is it helpful? Could it become addictive, bring you under its power? Does it edify the body of Christ, others who are watching? That's the law of love-- love for yourself, the temple of the Holy Spirit, love for others, love for God, ultimately. So those three things are important. So they were-- that was slogan number one. All things are lawful. But Paul said they're not helpful. And those things may bring you under its power. And then later on, is it edifying? Second slogan-- verse 13. "Foods for the stomach and the stomach for foods." Now that seems to have been a slogan that was popular in Corinth in general-- sort of like, no, I don't eat to live. I live to eat. I'm a foodie, man. It's all about the taste, the cuisine. So foods for the body and the body for foods was a common way of saying sort of the same thing. The body was meant to enjoy the pleasures of cuisine that is around me. Paul corrects that by saying, "But God will destroy both it and them." So your body is temporary. One day you'll die. But notice this. "Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body." So just like they were saying the body for food and food for the body, they were saying, sex for the body and the body for sex-- just like I eat a meal. And that's just simply a physiological choice that I make to grab that cheeseburger and eat it-- no big deal. You got to eat, you got to eat. They were looking at sexuality the same way. Look at it. It's a natural proclivity. It's a natural desire that we all have. And Christians were saying, God gave that to us. So this is how I seek to fulfill that. Paul corrects that and says, "The body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not." Remember, there was that temple outside of Corinth-- temple of Aphrodite. They were prostitutes, priestesses who were coming down into town at night. Men were indulging themselves. That was very common practice. Maybe some in the church thought they had the ability to do that. So foods for the body, body for foods-- he's equating that with sexuality and that, no, Jesus died for you. You belong to him. He'll say He bought you with the price. So glorify God in your body. Sex is God given. It's a gift. It's a good idea. It's a great idea God gave us. But because it is God given, it must be God governed. Everything that is God given must also be God governed. God gives us things. But then He governs the use of those things. He didn't say, just have at it, man. You decide. No. God says, I've decided. And this is how I've made you. And this is how I've made them. And this is what I want. And this is my , my order. And you do it for the Lord, especially as members of the body of Christ. I remember having this conversation with a man who was struggling against my Christianity. He was a Cambridge graduate in advanced science. And I lived with him on a kibbutz in Israel. And I was sharing the gospel with him. And he goes, Skip, I will not become a Christian because of the sexual negatives that the New Testament pronounces. I mean, he was just up-front-- if I do that, I can't have all the fun that I'm used to having. And I remember him saying, you know, I don't know why God is so negative. I said, Tony, if you saw a sign that said "Keep Out," what would you do? He said, I'd open the door and go in. I said, but keep reading the sign. What if the sign said, "Keep Out-- Danger-- Explosives"? Oh, well, that's a different thing. Exactly. So when God says keep out, He does it because He doesn't want you to blow yourself to smithereens-- sexually, morally, relationally. The negative command has a positive rationale attached to the negative command. Just like the sign that says, "Keep Out-- Danger-- Explosives," all God's commandments that are in the negative have a positive rationale. It's because God loves you. And He made you. And that which has God given must be God governed. He goes, well, I never thought of it that way. And about six months later, he gave me a call. He had read a book that I had given him. And he was very humble on the other end of the phone. He said, I just want you to know I've given my life to Christ. And it's the best decision I've ever made. "Do you not know--" verse 15-- "your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not. Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For--" notice the quote from the Old Testament. "The two," he says, "shall become one flesh. But he who is joined with the Lord is one spirit with Him." What is he doing? He's quoting Genesis. He's going back to the creation account, when God put man and woman on the Earth. And He said, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother, be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." So God established separation, permanence, unity, and then intimacy. "The man and his wife were naked. And they were not ashamed." That's what he's quoting from. He's going all the way back to that. And he's saying, look, when two people get involved sexually, they are actually becoming one with each other. And when a person goes out and is loose with somebody other than his permanent mate, he is giving a piece of his soul away to others. He's diminishing himself. He's not gaining anything by it. So he says, verse 18-- "Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man commits is outside the body. But he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you?" By the way, if you're wondering, there's only one reason that the New Testament allows for divorce. And that is adultery. Because of this truth, the oneness bond is broken when a person has sexual relations with somebody other than husband or wife. When that happens, the oneness bond that was intended to be permanent is now broken. That person becomes one flesh with another person. And for that reason, that's such a profound disruption that that becomes the only allowable biblical rationale for divorce. "Do you not know--" verse 19-- "your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own." Here it is. "You were bought at a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are God's." Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The priestesses were from the temple of Aphrodite. They were coming down into town. Paul says, you join yourself to a harlot, you're becoming one with that person. Don't you know your body is a temple? And a temple is meant for worship. A temple is meant for the presentation of sacrifices. Romans 12:1-- "Present your body a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable under God"-- which is your reasonable service. You have a guest living inside of you. I hope He feels at home in your heart. It talks about God dwelling in us, settling down, and making Himself feel at home in our hearts. I hope He does. I hope He's in your life and not going, man, I don't-- I'm in this person. But boy, the trash this person looks at, and listens to, and gets involved in. You have a guest living inside of your body. You belong to Him. "Therefore, glorify God in your body and your spirit." How do you do that? By presenting yourself. By yielding yourself-- Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 6. We are to yield ourselves minute by minute to the Lord. Lord, I'm yours. Use me. Lord, I don't belong to myself. You purchased me. Help me to glorify You. Father, as we bring this chapter to a close and we consider this wide variety of truth that Paul the apostle addressed with his church, I pray that we who live in the age in which we live in-- the things that we shared tonight seem so narrow, and so negative, and so old-fashioned and non-progressive to outsiders. We're here, Lord, at the end of this message to say, we don't care what they think. We really care what You think. We want to honor You. We give You our bodies, our minds. We pray, Lord, that we would serve You and worship You in integrity, in purity. And Lord, then even in those other activities that we could get involved in, I pray that Your Spirit will bring this little grid back to our remembrance. Is it helpful, expedient, beneficial? Is it something that will get me in its grip, under its power? Could I become addicted to it? And is it something that builds other people up or tears them down? I pray, Father, that we will live to glorify You since You bought us in Jesus' name.

Would you turn in your Bibles, please, to First Kings 12 in your Old Testament. First Kings, find that book, First Kings 12. A few years ago, I was doing a series on the 10 Commandments. And it was the second week where I was speaking on the Second Commandment. And you know that commandment, it says, you will not have any graven images. You will not fashion for yourself any graven images. And it was interesting, because that was my birthday week. And a friend of mine sent me a present. And I opened it up and it was essentially a graven image of myself. It's a bobble head Skip, look. On a motorcycle even. So I just found it strange that the very week I'm speaking about idolatry and graven images I get this in the mail. You don't have to worry, no one worships it. Trust me. When it comes to the Bible, you know that God takes idolatry very seriously. In fact, God predicted, if you turn from me, I am the Lord, your God. You will have no other gods besides me. If you turn from me to other gods, to idols, it will bring the nation down. He predicted that would happen. A few years ago, for the last 15 years up until this year, one of the most popular shows on television was called American Idol. And it's produced some heavy hitters like Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood. But I read an article about American Idol that was called, "It Doesn't Always Pay to Win." And the article, essentially, was saying, it's not always the first place, but it's often second, third, and fourth runners up that go on to have successful careers. In fact, some serious stars like Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott never even made it past the audition on American Idol, but went on to see some great fame. Well, it certainly doesn't pay to win the idol contest in Israel, because Israel's God always had a problem with it. From beginning to the end of the scripture, we find that in the Old Testament, the word idol, idols, idolatry appears 111 times. But the one who won the contest, the idol contest, was a King by the name of Jeroboam. And Jeroboam is the one we're going to read about today. Of Jeroboam, it is said 20 times that he made Israel sin. He brought the nation down. He caused the nation to sin. In fact, a couple of chapters after this, in First Kings 14, God says, you have done more evil than all those who were before you. How would you like that on your tombstone? You have done more evil than all those who were before you. That is said of Jeroboam. So let's begin in Chapter 12, for our purpose today, Verse 25. We read then, "Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim. And he dwelt there. Also, he went out from there and built Penuai. And Jeroboam said in his heart, 'Now the Kingdom may return to the House of David. If these people go to offer sacrifice in the House of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their Lord Rehoboam the King of Judah. And they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam King of Judah.' Therefore, the King asked advice. He made two calves of gold, and said to the people, 'It is too much for you to go to Jerusalem. Here are your Gods, O, Israel. What's brought you up from the land of Egypt?' And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. He made shrines on the high places. He made priests from every class of people who were not of the Sons of Levi. Jeroboam ordained to feast on the 15th day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah. And he offered sacrifices on the altar, so he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel, he installed the priests of the high places, which he had made. So he made offerings on the altar, which he had made at Bethel on the 15th day of the eighth month and the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar, and burned incense." Now who is this guy, Jeroboam? Jeroboam is the son of a man by the name of Nebat. That's why when you read of him, it's almost always Jeroboam, the Son of Nebat. He was from a little town in the central part of the land in the tribe of Manasseh. He worked for King Solomon. And King Solomon saw him as a young, capable, industrious man with a lot of energy. So Solomon gave him a raise, and placed him in charge of his labor force, or at least part of his labor force. Later on, Jeroboam gets involved in politics. And at first, it's that he wants social reform and economic reform. But the reform turns to a rebellion, as we have just read. Now it's going to be helpful for me to tell you how Israel has worked up till this point. There have been three kings so far there. Has been King Saul, followed by King David, followed by his son, King Solomon. Those first three kings, for 120 years, the established a united monarchy. There was no division. There was no civil war. It was the united monarchy for 120 years until Solomon died. When Solomon died, his son Rehoboam, now I know this gets confusing because you got Jeroboam. You got Rehoboam. And you think, are they related? Are they the Boam brothers? You've got Jerry Boam and you've got Ray Boam. But no, they're different families all together. Rehoboam is the son of Solomon. Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, a whole different family. So when Solomon dies, Rehoboam, his son, is in charge of the Kingdom. He's young. He's inexperienced. And the people come to him, and they say, look, as the new King, we request that you would ease up on the tax burden a little bit. Your dad has been very oppressive to us. We'll serve you if you do that. Well, at that point, he decides to consult his ambassador. So he goes to an older group of men, people who knew the ropes. They were wiser. And the older group of men said, we agree with the people. We think you should ease up on the tax burden, not be so oppressive. The people will be loyal to you. After that, he goes to his contemporaries, young men, young bucks, lot of energy, not so much wisdom. And they give him the opposite counsel. They say, no, in fact, put your foot down. Show them who's boss. And don't ease up the burden. So it's Inauguration Day. The first State of the Union Message that the new King, King Rehoboam, gives, part of it is mentioned in First Kings 12, Verse 14. This is what he says, "My father made your yoke heavy. I'll make it even heavier. My father scourged you with whips. I will scourge you with scorpions." Well, the minute he said that, there's a turning point, a turning point in Israel's history, a civil war, a split in the Kingdom ensues. And 10 of the 12 tribes go north under Jeroboam, and two of the tribes, Judah and Benjamin, under Rehoboam. It is a civil war. And they really don't recover from it. The Northern Kingdom, under Jeroboam, as you have just read, gets involved in idolatry for the next, get this, 200 years, until they are taken captive in 722 BC by the Assyrians. That's Jeroboam. The question is, why? What causes Jeroboam, this Israelite, this one of the tribes of God's people, what causes him to get involved in idolatry, this great, heinous sin? It's because he made four mistakes. And I want you to see them. First mistake he made is he feared losing power. Look at Verse 26, "Jeroboam said in his heart, 'Now the Kingdom may return to the House of David. If these people go to offer sacrifices in the House of the Lord to Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn back to their Lord Rehoboam, the King of Judah. And they will kill me and go back to Rehoboam, the King of Judah.'" This guy has a lust for power, and it's always seen as a weakness, never a strength, a lust for power. Walter Youngquist noted that of all the human attributes responsible for more misery, death, hopelessness, war, and starvation than anything else in the world, one is the lust for personal power. And Jeroboam is an insecure leader. He goes into panic mode. Oh, no, when they're down in Jerusalem worshipping at the temple, their hearts are going to be drawn back to Rehoboam in the Southern Kingdom and I'm going to lose my Kingdom. Whenever you're afraid of losing power, you have forgotten that it was God who gave it to you to begin with. And he has forgotten that. Power comes from the Lord. Your sphere of power, your sphere of impact and influence, is all given to you by God. Romans 13, Verse 1, "There is no authority except from God." Psalm 62:11, "Power belongs to God." Remember that dream that Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon, had when Daniel came into interpretive form, that wild image that he saw? Daniel said, when he interpreted that dream, he said, "God changes the times and the seasons. He removes and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding." And because that's true, you know what that means? It means you never really had any power to begin with, none. The power you have is delegated power. The authority you have is assigned authority. And it's been delegated and assigned by God. But power intoxicates men and women. When somebody is drunk with alcohol, he can recover. When somebody is drunk on power, they seldom recover. It grips a person until death, fear of losing power. Now associated with that fear of losing power is the fear of losing control, the power to control situations. According to Psychology Today, the fear of losing control is one of the most prevalent fears that people have. This is the fear, that if you don't manage to control the outcome of future events, something terrible will happen. And this article said, the key to overcoming this is to let go of the demand for certainty. Easier said than done, the demand for certainty. Our culture even has a designation of controlling people. What do we call them? Control freaks. Says, she's a control freak. He's a control freak. Have you seen that commercial, National Car Rental commercial, where the guy's walking through the airport with this cup of coffee, very staid and very controlled. And he's walking through, and he says to the camera, I've been called a control freak. But I like to think of myself more of as a controlled enthusiast. Jeroboam was a control enthusiast. He liked to control situations. Here's the problem. There are so many things that are out of your control. You might like to control them, but you cannot. They're out of your control. There are some things you can't control. There are some things you can control. For example, you cannot control the length of your life. But you can control the depth of your life. You cannot control the weather, but you can control the moral and spiritual atmosphere that you allow yourself to have around you. You cannot control another person's fault. You can control your reaction in response to those faults. So here's the deal. Here's the best deal. You control the outlook and let God control the outcome. How's that for a deal? Isn't that a good one? You control your outlook. Lord, if this comes or doesn't come, if this happens or doesn't happen, I'm just going to control my outlook. You control the outcome. But this King, he feared losing power. That was his first mistake. Here's the second mistake. He failed trusting God. Go back to Verse 25, "Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim. And he lived there. Also, he went out from there and he built Penuai." Now most people read this verse, skip over it. It looks insignificant. I suggest it's very insightful, not insignificant. Jeroboam's first move as the new King of the North is to fortify the cities that control the caravan routes north and south. Why? According to CF Kyle, Old Testament scholar, he said, it's to defend his sovereignty over the North against hostile attacks. You say, what's wrong with that? That's what kings do. That's normal, kingly procedure, have strong defenses. I would agree with you, except what this really means for this King, for Jeroboam, is that he has failed to trust God. Why do I say that? Because God made this King a very specific promise, which we haven't read yet. Before the event of him becoming the King of the North, the 10 northern tribes, God personally gives a message to him with a promise in it. And I want you to see it. Go back one chapter, Chapter 11. Look at Verse 35. This is God speaking to Jeroboam by some means. God says to him, "But I will take the Kingdom out of his son's hands, that's Rehoboam, son of Solomon, and give it to you, 10 tribes." So God says, I'm going to give it to you as my gift to you. "And to his son, I will give one tribe." That's Judah, later on, becomes two tribes. "That my servant, David, may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for myself to put my name there. And so I will take you. And you shall reign over all your heart desires. You shall be King over Israel. Then it shall be, now watch this, if you heed all that I command you, if you listen and you do what I say, if you walk in my ways, do what is right in my sight. Keep my statutes and my commandments, as my servant David did. Then I will be with you and build for you an enduring house as I built for David. And I will give Israel to you." How's that for a promise? How's that for a blank check? Hey, I'm God. And I'm giving you a kingdom free. Here's the check. Go cash it. You know, it's funny. If you were to come up to me and ask me to write you a check for a million dollars, I'd do it. Your problem would be when you go to the bank. I'd be happy to write you a check. If you want one afterwards, I'll write you a check. But you go to the bank, they're going to laugh at that, and go, pft, there's nothing to back it up. Insufficient funds, that's what it'll read on the computer. Now I know people who could write you a check for a million dollars, and they have the money and more in the bank. God gives to Jeroboam a promise of an enduring kingdom. What was his failure? He didn't take it to the bank. He didn't cash the check. He didn't trust the promise that God gave him. You can always tell how mature or immature a Christian is by how they treat the promises of God. Ask a person, what do you do with God's promise in the Bible? And if their best answer is, I underline it in yellow, you know you've got a problem. If their answer is, I take them to the bank, then you know you've got something. A fearful, nervous believer filled with anxiety speaks volumes. They don't believe the promises of God. A person who is calm, and confident, that person also speaks volumes. I'm taking God's promise to the bank. Psalm 20, David writes, "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord, our God." Jeremiah 17, Verse 5, "Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes the flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord." Jeroboam's heart departed from the Lord. And it is shown by his failure to trust God's promise, which begs the question, if he failed to trust God's promise, what did he trust in? That takes us to his third mistake. He feared losing power. He failed trusting God. His third mistake, he followed his own heart. Look at Verse 26, "Then Jeroboam said, what? In his? You've got your Bible open, right? He said, "in his heart. Jeroboam said in his heart." Stop right there. Here's a guy mulling it over in his own heart, in his own mind, thinking about what he wants to do. It's all inward. So he said in his heart. Then go down to Verse 28, "Therefore the King asked advice." Before he made the two calves, he's asking people. So he takes it out of his head, out of the little heart. He's kind of thinking what to do. Now he takes it and he asks advice, not of the best people, because he makes two golden calves. So he takes it out to them. Go down to Verse 33, "So he made offerings on the altar, which he had made at Bethel. On the 15th day of the eighth month, in the month which he had, watch this, devised in his own heart." Listen, Jeroboam was doing whatever felt good to him instead of what God said was good for him. You see the difference? How many times have you heard people say, well, you got to follow your heart. You just got to do whatever is in your heart to do. Can I just say, that's bad advice. It's always bad advice. Why is it bad advice? Jeremiah 17:9 declares, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked who can know it." Doing what is in people's heart has caused all of the problems in this world. Everybody feels something different, does something different. There's clashes, and wars, and, I want this, and the other person wants that. It just means a person does what he wants to do. The human heart needs to be steered by the divine will. My heart needs His head, His headship, His direction. One of our favorite verses of scripture, you probably memorize it within the first month that you are a believer, Proverbs Chapter 3, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him. And He will direct your paths." Well, this is especially true in the area of worship. Because effectively, Jeroboam changed the whole system of worship for the nation of Israel. And one of the most insidious ideas in the world is that we can worship God as we see fit. Because the only worship God accepts is the worship that God directs. God has told us who he is. And God has told us how he is to be responded to. And God has told us how he is to be worshipped. That's why he said, "I am the Lord, your God. No other Gods before me. No images, et cetera." He spelled it all out. The worship that God accepts is the worship that God directs. So he made three mistakes so far. He feared losing power. He failed trusting God. He followed his own heart. And he did a fourth, which always must follow third. If you're already doing the third, you're going to do the fourth, and that is, he forsook God's word. That is, God laid out how to be responded to, and he forsook it. He goes from divine revelation to human imagination. He makes it all up. Notice, he changes the object of worship. Verse 28, "Therefore the King asked advice. Made two calves of gold, and said to the people, 'it's too much for you to go to Jerusalem.' Here are your Gods, O, Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt." Does that sound familiar? Have you heard that before? You know what that sounds like to me? Exodus 32, guy by the name of Aaron. When Moses was up on Mount Sinai getting the 10 Commandments and he comes down, there's this golden calf. And Aaron said, "This is the God, O, Israel that delivered you out of the land of Egypt." Same thing, does the same thing. He moves from worshipping the invisible God, changes the object of worship to two golden calves, one in the middle of the country, and one in the north of the country. Now here is always the problem with making an image of any kind in worship of God. There is no image that could ever be made that truly reflects the personality and glory of God. Can't do it. Can't be done. As soon as you cast some image to remind you of some capability, or some attribute of God, it only shows you that one, not the others. So why a calf? Why this? Well, in Egypt they had worshiped Apis the bull, the calf God, which was a symbol of strength. So when they did that in Exodus, and they did it again, the idea of a calf is that when you look at it, it would remind you of splendor and strength. You say, well, what's wrong with that? If when I look at an image and I'm reminded of God's strength, what's wrong with that? Here's what's wrong with it. It tells you nothing of God's love, God's forgiveness, God's forbearance, God's acceptance. All the other moral attributes are hidden by an image. So an image of any, there's no artist alive that can capture God. So God just says, don't do it. Isaiah 40, "To whom will you liken God?" It's a good question. What are you going to like him to? "Or what likeness will you compare to him?" Answer, none. So he changes the object of worship. Notice also he changes the place of worship. Verse 29, "He sets one up in Bethel and one in Dan." So the middle of the country way up north. Instead of going to Jerusalem, the temple, there's two new worship places. Why does he do it? It's convenient, that's all. It's just easier. It's just easier. You don't have to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. You can stay home right here, which is interesting, you know. Instead of asking, is it right? He asked, is it easy? I'll do what's easy instead of what's right. Well, Bethel is one place I do understand, because Bethel had already a rich spiritual history to it. Bethel was the place you will remember when Jacob was running from his house, and he laid down at night, and he slept, and he saw this dream, this vision, of a ladder going up to heaven, the angels of God coming down, and going back up. And he was so overtaken by it, the next day, he names the place Bethel, which means that the House of God. It's a great experience. So Jeroboam thinks, instead of going to the house of God down in Jerusalem, we have the house of God here. This is the original Beth-el House of God. We have our own heritage. So it changes the object and the place of worship. Notice also he changes the means of worship. Verse 31, "He made shrines on the high places, and he made priests from every class of people who are not of the sons of Levi." Well, that's for saying God's word, right? Because God's word said, there's only one tribe where the priest come from, and that's the tribe of Levi. But he goes, why? Why can't anybody be a priest? Why do you have to belong to the tribe of Levi? Why can't anyone who feels led to be a priest be a priest? Now the day he said, anybody can be a priest, you got to know that he made a lot of people happy, who were going, yeah, why should the Levites have all the fun? Why did they get to hang out in the tabernacle in the temple? Whenever you lower the standard for those who lead worship, for those who do ministry, for those who serve the Lord in any capacity, when you lower the standard, you will have all the unqualified ones pouring in. He changes the means of worship. And finally, he changes the time of worship. Did you notice, Verse 32, "He ordained a feast, watch this, on the 15th day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah. And he offered sacrifices on the altar, so he did a Bethel sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel, he installed a priest of the high places which he had made. So he made offerings on the altar, which he had made at Bethel on the 15th day of the eighth month in the month which he devised in his own heart." Why did he do this? Well, he's competing with the feast down south. The Feast of Tabernacles took place exactly one month prior, the seventh month. So he goes, well, I'll do the eighth month. Why? I feel led. It's in my heart. It's in my heart to do it. Now on the surface, we go, what's wrong? One month is the same as another month. Which is true, unless God said, I want that month. So if God says, I want you to get together in October, and you go, no, I'll do it in November, you've just disobeyed God, right? So if God says, meet every week on the first day of the week to worship me, and you go, no, Christmas and Easter is good enough, you've just disobeyed God. He changed the times of worship. The only worship God accepts is the worship God directs. Do you recall that Jesus Christ said, God, the Father, is actually looking for a certain kind of worshipper? Remember? He says, the Father is seeking those who worship him in spirit and in truth. So he wants spirited worshippers who put truth and the intensity of their own spirit into it, that's what it means, but also in truth. And the way we know truth is by the revealed word of God. Jeroboam forsook the word of God and followed his own heart. And one always requires the other. There's a phrase in the Bible. If you read the Bible at all very much, you've seen this phrase about 80 times all together. It's the phrase, "It is written." It's one of Jesus' favorite phrases. When somebody comes to him, or the devil attacks him with a temptation, he'll say, "It is written. It is written, 80 times, it is written." Now I can only think that when God repeats something 80 times, it's pretty important to him. And why is that one so important to him? He must believe that what is written, what he has superintended and preserved in this Book, that we ought to take our cues from that for everything in life. And always loved  Billy Graham , as you know. I came to faith by watching  Billy Graham . One of  Billy Graham 's most famous phrases in all of his sermons is, the Bible says. He said that a lot. All of his great messages and the Bible says, boom. And the Bible says, and he'll quote it. And that's because there was a time in his life where he struggled with what the Bible says. And he was a young man wondering, should I believe it all? Is it all God's truth and God's word? And when he finally came through that wrestling match, and said, I'm going to declare your word as being truth, that's when he saw thousands of lives changed. Jeroboam made these four mistakes. And it led the nation to idolatry. Let me ask you a question. Do you think idolatry is just an Old Testament problem? Certainly not. As I mentioned, First John Chapter 5, last verse of that book, John, in the New Testament, says, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." So the First Commandment, "I am the Lord, your God. You will have no other Gods besides me or before me." And John, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols." Shows that it's a problem in every generation. Well, what is it exactly? What does idolatry mean? That you have Skip bobble head, is that idolatry? No, I don't think so. Idolatry means you place something in the place of God. That's what it means. That's the easiest way to think of it. Idolatry is letting anyone or anything occupy the supreme rightful place that only God should occupy as the one in charge of your life. By the way, that can be inward, doesn't have to be outward. You can want something. You may not have, but you want it. You want a person, you want an object. Listen to Paul in Colossians Chapter 3, Verse 5. He said, "Put to death your members which are on the Earth like fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, listen to this, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Covetousness, which is idolatry." If you want a person or a thing more than you want God, it could be a girlfriend. It could be a boyfriend. It could be the approval of people. It could be a hobby. It could be a number of things. That can be idolatry. Always starts inwardly, but it always grows outwardly. So I wanted to close with two things. I want to ask you a personal question. I want you to ask yourself this question. Then I'm going to ask you to make a personal choice, personal question, personal choice. Here's the personal question. What do you think about in quiet moments? Mull that around. What do you think about in quiet moments? What is your mind naturally, when left alone, gravitate to when you're all alone? Because your mind is a lot like a compass. You can take a compass, and jostle it around, and move it around, but when you set it down on a desk, and you leave it to settle, that needle always points true north, one direction. And your mind can be occupied by a number of things during the day, like mine is, but when left to settle, what direction does it point to? Because the Bible says, in Proverbs 23, "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he." That's who you are. What do you think about in quiet moments? That's the personal question. Now for a personal choice. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters. He'll love one, and hate the other, hold to one, and repudiate the other." No man can serve two masters. Which one will it be, God, or something else? Joshua said to the people, "Choose this day whom you will serve. As for me in my house, we will serve the Lord." Some of you are thirsty. And I don't just mean physical thirst, like, hurry up, finish the sermon so I can get a drink of water. That may be true as well. But I'm talking about that inward, nagging, unfulfilled vacuum that nothing or no one, up to this point, has ever been able to satisfy and quench. Some of you are thirsty. There is nothing or no one who will satisfy you like the love of God, the sweet love of the living God. Are there any rivals in your heart? That's an idol. Is there a rival in your heart? That's why you're restless. Augustine said, "We are restless, Lord, until we find our rest in Thee." If there's a rival in your heart, that's what's causing the restlessness. We opened up speaking about American Idol. I suppose if there were ever on American idol, the quintessential American idol would be none other than Elvis Presley. I even had one person for a service say, Amen, to that. I was like, OK, we have an Elvis fan. Yeah, I'm Elvis. I'm the king. But do you know that Elvis was interviewed by a reporter six weeks before he died? And the reporter said, Elvis, when you began your career, you said there was three things that you wanted in life. Number one, you wanted to be rich. Then you said you wanted to be famous. Then you said you wanted to be happy, rich, famous, and happy. Elvis, are you happy? I know you're rich and famous, are you happy? Without any hesitation he said, no, I'm intensely lonely. The great Elvis Presley, the American idol, intensely lonely, not happy. In fact, those who knew him and were close to him would often say, that's the attribute that stuck out the most. He seemed so lonely. Are there rivals in your heart? Anyone competing for the love of God? Then choose this day whom you will serve. Because no one can serve two masters. Our Father, as we bring this short little series to a close, we have considered those who crashed and who have burned. They're living examples to us, people who have really lived on this Earth, of mistakes made, choices made. And we learn from those mistakes. We learn, by looking at those who have fallen, we learn how to fly. We have seen different reasons for the crash and burn, but here we've discovered a man who not only did so, but caused a nation to do so, brought down a nation because of it. And we think of those who have brought down corporations, or families, or marriages by making mistakes. And we think, when it really comes down to it, it's because there is a rival that occupies the throne of the heart that must be pushed off. And you must be allowed to be who you are. The incomparable living God, living in us, calling the shots, where we don't follow the dictates of our own heart, but we follow the dictates of Your word perfectly preserved, totally inerrant, absolutely authoritative for human life. Every word of God is pure. And we want to live by what the Bible says, by what You have said. I just pray for those who have gathered who are thirsty deep inside their soul, and they want that to end. That's the best news. It can end. And it can end in this life. It can end by a choice that we make to let You be You in our lives, the Lord, the Master, The King. We think of the promise you gave Jeroboam. Jeroboam, if you only heed me, if you only listen to me, I'll do this for you. And we think of the promise made to us, "If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink." I pray that some would. As our eyes are closed, and we're thinking about us, we're thinking about what we have heard. We're evaluating who we are, where we're going. My prayer is that you will consider the repeated offers made in scripture to you and I from the Divine to the human condition, the promise to change, the promise to have new light, new life, new hope, forgiveness of sin. And I pray that you would choose, this day, Christ as savior and Lord. Some of you, for the very first time, you have come to church. You've been religious. You have a spiritual side to you. But you've never said personally yes to Jesus Christ as Master, and Savior, and Lord of your life. Others of you maybe remember something that happened in your past, at an event, a concert, a crusade, a church service, where you felt something, and you maybe even did something. But today, right now, as it stands, you're not following Christ. So you need to come back to Him. So whether it's for the first time, or you need to come back home to him, if you're willing to receive him, and commit your life to Him, I'd love the opportunity to pray for you. But I need to know who I'm praying for. So as our heads are bowed, I'd like you to just raise your hand up in the air if you're willing to give your life to Christ, and end the fight with God, and the thirst that's in your soul. Raise it up, so I can see. God bless you and you. Right up here toward the front in the middle to my left. Just raise that hand up. Right there, in the middle. A couple of you right here on the right. Anyone else? Raise your hand up, please. Right there, awesome. Awesome. Anyone else? Right there, yes, thank you. Thank you. God bless you in the back. I see your hand. And over here to my left. If you're in the family room, I can see through the glass. Just raise your hand up. Say yes to Him. Awesome. Even in the balcony, just raise that hand up. Sat yes to Him. Father, we thank you for all these hands that have gone up. Thank you for these lives that You have touched by the revelation of your word and the power of the Holy Spirit. Only You can do that. Only You can do that. These hands going up it is a work of God, because it's a decision that is being made to say yes to the Lord of this universe and the King of hearts. I pray for each one. I pray, Lord, that you would just give them that settled, peaceful feeling that this is right, and this begins a whole new journey in their future. I pray you would change their lives. I pray you would fill them with hope. Our prayer for them, Lord, is they would grow in grace, grow in knowledge of you, that their view of God would be ever-expanding. They would become calm and confident believers, those who trust in Your promises. Strengthen their lives. Strengthen their families in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you please stand? We're going to sing our final song. And as we do, I'm going to ask those of you who raised your hands to find the nearest aisle and come walk up to the front and stand up here where I'm going to lead you in a prayer. Jesus called people publicly. And you're going to find a great show of support when you say, yes, and you come, and you stand up here. I want to lead you in that prayer to receive Christ. And I'm going to ask you to do it publicly like Jesus called people. And you're going to find, again, a lot of support, a round of applause, as you say yes to Him. We're going to cheer you on. I'm so glad that you're coming forward. And I would just hope that it wouldn't end with just a raised hand, and then you're out the door, but that you would come. You'd kind of step out of the shadows and into the light and, say, this is the day I gave my life to Jesus Christ. Some of you might be kind of waiting around thinking, well, how do I know this real? I've seen this stuff before. I'll tell you one thing, you'll never know if it's real by just doing nothing. Take Jesus at his word. See if he's not the Lord, and the King, of the world, and the King of the universe. And see if he can't change your heart, your life. Try him. Test and see. Give your life to Christ. I've seen so many people kind of wondering about it. And then they've had their lives dramatically changed by God. Be one of those people. So as we sing this through one more time, God is calling you. Respond to it. This is a holy moment. You respond to it. You say yes. You come out from where you're standing, and you join those who are up here. Those of you who have walked forward, I am so glad to see each and every one of you guys. This is better, right? No we're just way up here. So I'm going to lead you in a prayer. And I'm going to ask you to say this prayer out loud after me from your heart. And you say this to the Lord, OK. Let's pray. Say: Lord, I give you my life. I know that I'm a sinner. Please forgive me. I believe in Jesus. I trust him with my life. I believe Jesus died on a cross, that he shed his blood for my sin, and that he rose again from the dead. I believe he is alive today. I turn from my sin. I repent of it. I turn to Jesus as my Lord and my Master. It's in his name I pray. Amen. Comment Submit

ROMANS SERIES FIVE TOUGH LOVE: THE KINDNESS THAT LEADS TO REPENTANCE Dr. Roger Barrier Romans 1:18-23; Psalm 19:1-4 As we move now deeper into the Book of Romans, we begin to get a view of man from God’s perspective. This is not a pretty picture. Paul shows us that Mankind without Jesus Christ is misguided, wounded, hurting, marred by sin—and Lost. The good news is that God has opened His heart in Christ to redeem man and restore an intimate relationship with them. He takes a dirty slate and makes it clean. DRAMA: A Clean Slate: Key is the ending, not the beginning. The real God is in the business of restoring broken and hurting lives. Romans 1:18-23: The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them Romans 1:20: For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen ,being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. In the opening chapters of Romans Paul placed the whole world on trial. We have all sinned and forsaken God to one degree or another: The “Atheists and Agnostics” are without excuse (Romans 1). Good People are without excuse for their bad behaviors (Romans 2) Religious people are without excuse for their behaviors (Romans 3-4) The restoration occurs in Romans 5-8 with the saving glories of Jesus Christ. Romans 1:18-23 we see that action of God in unveiling Himself for the entire world to see. Then tragically, we see the horror of sinful man in forsaking God. Let’s begin with the beauty of GOD’S REVELATION. God uses two things to reveal Himself to everyone in the world—an external and an internal witness: Conscience – Romans 1:19 Nature – Romans 1:20 Romans 1:19-20: since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. General revelation is sufficient to know that God exists. Specific Revelation personally introduces us to God: His words, actions and Son. CONSCIENCE—the God spot within every man and woman 1. Tells us that there is a right and a wrong – not the specifics – only generally. “Don’t let your conscience be your guide – use the Word of God.” 2. Capacity for God-consciousness – innate knowledge that God exists. Have to be educated to be an atheist. All simple people just know that God exists. Inbuilt vacuum longing to be filled with God. Rita Carter: Mapping the mind: left temporal lobe NATURE—the Intelligent Designer Double rainbow here Wednesday night. It is a reminder that God flooded for man’s wickedness and saved man with an ark. Psalm 19:1-2: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. Psalm 19:3-4: There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. 4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Do they really sing? Yes! Strings singing and Multiverse Plates The more we study the universe in all its complexities, the more we see the Intelligent Design. Unmistakable evidence of God. Universe is the handiwork of God. Temperature of sun – 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Earth is 93 million miles away. +/- 50 degrees, and all life on Earth would cease. Why is the sun 12,000 degrees? Who not 24,000 or 2,000 or any number you pick? Why Earth 93 million miles away? Why not twice as far? Why is the axis of the earth at 23-1/2 degrees? Produces seasons. Air we breathe is 21% oxygen. If the Earth’s crust were ten feet thicker all the oxygen would be trapped in the crust as in most other planets. Why 21%? Why not 10% or 1% or 50%? Then if light a match the entire Earth would be ablaze! See stars – where there is a design, there must be a designer. Come across pocket watch on ground. What a marvelous product of chance! All the pieces came together and it runs properly! Ridiculous! There was a watchmaker. See a new building going up. All steel means and girders fell into place by chance. No – someone designed and built it. See this marvelous human body – beating heart, soul, fingers, toes, etc. By chance? No – human designer put it all together! God gives evidence – Conscience and nature – to show that He exists and that He is supreme being. Man who rejects or ignores God is without excuse. Man takes light he has and suppresses it! MANKIND’S SUPPRESSION Romans1:18: The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, Romans 1:21: For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Picture is that man takes the truth about God, puts it in a box with a lid, slams down the lid and then sits on the lid! Conspiracy of silence against God. Why we can’t sing carols in public places at Christmastime. Great resistance against Bible reading on public occasions. No one wants to give God glory or thanks or even admit that He exists. Man Has Rejected The Internal Witness Of His Conscience. One of the greatest contributions of Jews was to introduce to the world the concept that we are responsible for our actions. This is called our conscience. One of the most influential Jews in history is Sigmund Freud—the father of modern psychology. Freud was well aware that the Jews brought responsibility into the world with the Mosaic Law. Here’s what Freud said, “The Jews carry the burden for the historical super-ego.” Super-ego is Freud’s word for what we call conscience. Then he makes very profound statement (and this certainly explains the rest of Freud’s life). “Therefore the Jew alone can remove it.” Sigmund Freud considered himself to be messianically called to undo the work of his Jewish forefathers. Freud hated Moses – that’s why he wrote the book “Moses and Monotheism”. Moses is the one who made man aware of his conscience and his moral responsibility. Therefore Freud dedicated himself to undo and to reverse Moses. Moses and Freud are mutually exclusive. Moses, the Jew, brings responsibility into history. Freud says that the “super-ego” – the conscience – must be smashed and crushed – and if you have mental illness… hang-ups… it’s because of your conscience. The way to solve mental problems and hang ups is to crush your conscience. In other words, “It’s not my fault!” Psychoanalysis teaches us that the reason we act like we do is because of things which happen in the past which are not our fault – Therefore we are not responsible – We can reject our conscience. Folksong from Anna Russells: I went to my psychoanalyst to be psychoanalyzed To find out why I killed the cat and blacked my husband’s eyes He laid me on a downy couch to see what he could find And here is what he dredged up from my subconscious mind. When I was one my mommy hid my dolly in a trunk So naturally it follows that I am always drunk. When I was two I saw my father kiss the maid one day, And that is why I now suffer from kleptomania. At three I had a feeling of ambivalence towards my brothers, And so it follows naturally that I poison all my lovers. But I am happy. Now I have learned this lesson that is taught, That everything I do that’s wrong is someone else’s fault. We are doing everything in our culture to kill our collective conscience. Exodus 32: Don't blame me. Man Has Rejected The Witness Of Our Conscience and Of God's Revelation In Nature. Modern man says -- All by chance. God says, "No way it's an accident. I designed it all." The issue has never been God versus evolution. The issue is Intelligent Designer versus Chance. Evolution is a theory that fails to prove or even describe how we got here. Evolution works on the macro level. Evolution does not work on the molecular level. Charles Darwin could only observe animals and insects. He had no electron microscope to study the micro level. Things don’t evolve on the molecular level. Little motor that drives cell movement spins at 10,000 rpm. Made up of rotor and engine. 5 amino acids no one can explain by survival of the fittest or natural selection. Someone had to design this—and then make it happen. Many men have rejected the witness of nature. MAN’S IDOLATRY Romans 1:23: and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Four signs of idolatry: Man, birds, animals, reptiles: Note the downward progression. Study idolatry and discover that all four seem to take place in that order. Most base form of idolatry is honoring the snake. I do not believe that it is by any accident that we name our cars as we do. We once names them after men: Lincoln, Ford, Chrysler, Dodge, Studebaker, Edsel, Hudson. Next generation names after into birds: Studebaker Hawk, Ford Falcon & Eagle. Now we name them after animals: Cougar, Impala, Mustang, Pinto, Jaguar, Rabbit -- even a Greyhound bus. Then Ford came out with the cobra. Now we have the Dodge Viper. We even buy our insurance from a gecko! No one in the car industry read Romans 1. It just works out that way. It’s a sign of depravity. Starbucks logo is the Queen of Heaven. Simmerranus—who else but the queen of heaven could charge $5 for a cup of coffee? Oscars tonight. Give them an idol and deify them. The American entertainment industry looks a lot like the Roman pantheon in Paul's day: the gods and goddesses were capricious, immoral sexual perverts. Three of the top five movies are about homosexual cowboys (Brokeback Mountain), a transsexual (TransAmerica) and an arrogant gay author (Truman Capote). Gracing the tv and movie screens of our society are the gods and goddesses of our day. We accept their moral teachings: we listen to their politics: watch their fashion; imitate their addictions; and obsess over their marriage and divorces -- most of which never succeed. We say we have no idols; but, we have American Idol. We give them our time (sometimes all night) and our money (this is a multi-billion dollar industry). GOD'S TOUGH LOVE Romans 1:18-19: The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven Two Greek words for wrath. Thumos – uncontrolled, explosive rage; Orge – settled, consistent, rising indignation which finally bursts. Along with the tough love of God comes the patience of God. God is holding back much of His wrath— like water behind a dam. Water is released a little at a time. Sometimes the dam breaks. Waited 120 years before sending the flood. God doesn’t operate on man’s time-table. Some of His wrath is being revealed while much of it is being built up. At Calvary the tough love of God was fully revealed against sin. Note – is being revealed. This is present tense in Paul’s day. Look at the degenerating Roman culture. This whole passage is a most interesting social commentary. Wrath of God is functioning in our society right now. The wrath of God is visible in any society where men are suppressing their God- consciousness. So often Americans wring their hands and say, “If our country doesn’t reform and repent, we are going to experience the judgment of God.” In light of what Paul wrote here, what do you suppose Paul would say if you dropped that remark as you were drinking coffee in the living room? “If things don’t get better, Paul, America is going to experience the judgment of God.” Paul would probably calmly put down his coffee cup and say, “Friend, if you’ll look out the window, there is the wrath of God already.” See sky-rocketing divorce rates and crime rate and warped children – this is the wrath of God! – legalized gay “marriage” in several states, over three decades of legalized abortion, atheists and courts successfully declaring “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance to be “unconstitutional” and trying to get “In God We Trust” removed from our money, TV shows like “The Book of Daniel”, currently airing on NBC Friday nights which portrays a drug-addicted priest, his adulterous wife and children, his drug-selling daughter, his homosexual son, and his regular conversations with Jesus who actually appears to him and just sort of remains enigmatic about all of it. 50% of all 1st marriages end in divorce. 78% of all 2nd marriages. 2/3 of all children today will spend some time in a single parent home. If you were born after 1970 (35 years or younger) you will find statistically that you’ll have more spouses than you’ll have children! After the breakdown in the family, children and 4 times more likely to drop out of school, 11 times more likely to commit suicide, 30 times more likely to be sexually abused. Wrath is for discipline and punishment for sin. But it is also for a divine purpose. Read Revelation 16:9 and 11: They refused to repent. OUR "TAKE AWAYS" Parents, help your children find God in nature and in their inner consciences—then guide them into the special revelation of Jesus Christ. Remember that good parents often allow their children to suffer the consequences of their actions. If we don’t discipline our kids, the world will. We can protect them for awhile, but one day they will run a red light and discover that the law is not optional. Suppressing the truth invites the tough love of God; embracing the truth invites the full love and righteousness of God. The tough love of God is only understood when we have a deep relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Average dad spends 14 minutes per day with his children. Christian dads spend 17 minutes per day. We are three minutes better than the world. Tragedy is 10 of those minutes were spent in discipline. We are raising a nation of children whose concept of a father is someone who doesn’t know me and I don’t know him who enters into my life to discipline me. “Provoke not children to wrath.” Quickest way to wrath is to discipline child you don’t know. STORY: mom punishing me for using a curse word when relatives were at our house. OK because we had a good relationship. Every problem in our world— Every crisis, has one purpose. Every broken marriage Every etc, God did not cause them. Man chose them. Satan sent them. But God can use them. He is getting his world back. He is bringing us to repentance. He is preparing us for Heaven.

Condemnation engineering” usually goes hand in hand with another we often use to manage the lives of others. That is the practice of pushing or nuggets of wisdom and advice upon them whether they want them or not. Sunday Morning, March 2, 2008 Condemnation engineering Matthew 7:1-12 S-1747 The Sermon on the Mount lays out the life we all long to live—but think is just impossible. It is not. We can not live it on our own very well. But, we can live it rather well indwelt by the very life of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 7 we come to one of those Christ-like expressions of love that pictures for us what the empowered love-like of Christ is really like. ☻SLIDE #: Matthew 7:1: "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ☻SLIDE #: At a recent Comdex computer expo Bill Gates compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated: “If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1000 miles per gallon. In response to Bill’s comments, General Motors issued a press release. If General Motors built cars like computers: ☻SLIDE #: For no reason whatsoever your car would crash twice a day. ☻SLIDE #: Occasionally, your car would die on the freeway. You have to pull over, close all the windows, shut off the car, restart it and open the windows again before you could continue. ☻SLIDE #: Every time they repaint the lines in the road, you have to buy a new car. ☻SLIDE #: Mackintosh would make a reliable sun-powered car that was five times as fast and twice as easy to drive—but only runs on 5% of the roads. ☻SLIDE #: The alternator, oil pressure and water temperature gauges are replaced by a single warning light: “This car had performed an illegal operation.” Your car immediately shuts down. ☻SLIDE #: Occasionally, your car locks you out until you lift the door handle, turn on the ignition key and grab the back tire—all at the same time. ☻SLIDE #: You have to push the start button to turn it off. Jesus says, “If you decide to judge, you won’t like it so much when you are judged in return. In Matthew 7:1-6, Jesus deals with the deadly way in which we try to manage or control those closest to us by condemning them and by forcing upon them our “wonderful solutions. ☻SLIDE #: Matthew 7:1-2: 1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ☻SLIDE #: Matthew 7:3-5: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. ☻SLIDE #: Matthew 7:6: "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. In Matthew 7:7-12, Jesus shows us a truly effective way of helping the people we love—a way of drawing people into the kingdom rather than into the web of our devices and plans for them. ☻SLIDE #: Matthew 7:7-8: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. ☻SLIDE #: Matthew 7:9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! ☻SLIDE #: Matthew 7:12: So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. ☻SLIDE #: Jesus ENCOURAGES US TO REFRAIN FROM CONDEMNATION ENGINEERING. Story: So, Pastors has men going to retreat stand up and then scolds all the ones still sitting down. He condemned thirty guys into serving. We have great confidence in the power of condemnation, guilt, scolding or intimidation to “straighten others out.” But, it seldom works. How many of you have ever experienced someone trying to change your behavior by condemnation engineering? ☻SLIDE #: Matthew 7:1: "Do not judge…” ☻SLIDE #: When we judge others we are often saying: “You are wrong. you should stop Doing That!” Most families would be healthier and happier if their members treated one another with the respect they would give to a perfect stranger. ☻SLIDE #: Ephesians 4:29-30: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. If you cannot talk like that, keep your mouth shut. ☻SLIDE #: When we condemn others we communicate at least three things: —“I am better than you are.” —“you wrong and probably bad.” —You and your behavior ought to be rejected.” ☻SLIDE #: Condemnation engineering can wound deeply. Soon we are moving them into the realm of shame. First half of dog and mace story.” Explain heart flutter, Julie gone, decide to walk dogs, long walking leashes, goody charges, Feet and legs wrapped? Surely laying down in street. “You are the kind of person who ruins it for all the others of us. Isolated. Not just my actions were condemned—my personhood was attacked and declared wanting.” I was rejected—all over my ability to handle my dogs. “If I catch you out here with that little dog acting like that I am going to spray him with mace….then I will spray you with mace.” In essence he not only rejected my behavior, he rejected me—and shamed me. “Shame on you!” How many have been told that? How many of you felt better after they said it? How many of you got angry at the one who “shamed you”? ☻SLIDE #: Matthew 7:1-2: 1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Condemnation brings anger. In return anger will attack back. If an counterattack is unacceptable, as often it is in a family setting, anger may be shoved beneath the surface and then come out in a variety of improper behaviors: perfectionism, procrastination, rejection of authority, or passive/aggressive tendencies among others. If you try condemnation engineering you will get it back and you will get bitten. “Boycott Disneyland on gay day. Disneyland did not have a “Gay day.” A coalition of gays decided to make one. ☻SLIDE #: SBC decided to show displeasure by arranging an nation-wide boycott. Reverend Ken Whitten preaching annual sermon encouraging the boycott. “Is Peter Pan a boy or a girl? Or perhaps a cross-dresser? “Snow White running around with 7 dwarfs. Think about it. Is that strange, or what?” “Have you ever considered that Disneyland’s Main Street has no church! There is a church in every town in America. Was it effective? Took money out of their wallets by boycotting! That showed them God of the universe in his love and majesty!  No! They hate us. 78% of Americans identify the American evangelical church is the “most judgmental segment of American society.” This does not mean that we are never to look into the lives of others and offer guidance. Who Can “Correct” Others (Galatians 6:1-2)? ☻SLIDE #: Galatians 6:1-2: “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” ☻SLIDE #: First, we don’t undertake to correct unless we are absolutely sure of the sin. Here in the language of 1 Corinthians 13 comes into play: love “believes all things, hopes all things.” If there is any lack of clarity about whether the sin occurred, assume it did not. At least, don’t start correcting. ☻SLIDE #: Second, not just anyone is to correct them. Correction is reserved for those who live and work in the agape-love lifestyle of Christ. ☻SLIDE #: Third, Correction is not a matter of “straightening them out.”It is a matter of restoration into the Kingdom—to bring them back on the path of Jesus by a proper attitude of love. ☻SLIDE #: Fourth, those restoring others must minister with the knowledge that they could well do the exact same thing they are attempting to restore in others. Bill Weber Mentor and multiple other young men on staff, even John Wyatt Taught me, cross border into Arizona no longer a Texan Who is pastor? Benefit of slop. Married Julie and me: marriage counseling ☻SLIDE #: Bill Weber: Addicted to committing adultery with blonds. If you are going to assume the role of judging and evaluating others then you had better pay attention to what is going on beneath your surface. ☻SLIDE #: (young Gary) Gary Shrader behind the scenes. Probably the most respected person behind the scenes on our staff. Integrity and loyalty and spiritually and wisdom. ☻SLIDE #: (current Gary) When Gary speaks people listen. ☻SLIDE #: Matthew 7:3-5: "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. How does Jesus know there is a board in our eye? Is it just the let-him-who-is-without-sin-cast-the-first-stone routine? The mere fact that we are condemning someone shows our heart does not have the kingdom rightness he has been talking about. ☻SLIDE #: Condemnation is the board in our eye. We cannot “see clearly” how to assist our brother, because we cannot see our brother. ☻SLIDE #34: Let me describe this with a principle Julie and I try to follow in our marriage. My job is to minister to Julie’s needs. I can do that. It is the job or the Holy Spirit—not Julie—to convict me of my sins. Julie’s job is to minister to my needs. She can do that. It is the job or the Holy Spirit—not Roger—to convict her of her sins. Julie losing keys angered me greatly. Fallenness. Stop it. Now, she is helping me: Wearing sunglasses in the house. “I know if I take them off I will lose them.” ☻SLIDE #: I know how to fix it. Do it my way!” (Matthew 7:6). Condemnation engineering” usually goes hand in hand with another we often use to manage the lives of others. That is the practice of pushing or nuggets of wisdom and advice upon them whether they want them or not. ☻SLIDE #: Matthew 7:6: "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. The problem with pearls for pigs is not that pigs are unworthy. The problem is that pigs cannot digest pearls; and, dogs cannot eat Bible verses. The reason these animals finally “trample and tear us to pieces” is that they are so sick of hearing how we think it ought to be done that one day—since they can’t eat our pearls, they turn on us and eat us up. The real problems in their lives are seldom on the surface. We need to touch the heart. ☻SLIDE #: How do you fix up a pig? Bath, powder his little leg pits. Curl his tail. Trim the hair in his ears. Put moisturizer on his snout. Channel #5 perfume. Put him down—and what does he do? He makes a frantic run back to the slop. The issue is not the outside. We respect and never forget that the latch of the heart is within. Little pearls of wisdom seldom get to the heart. Jesus shows us a better way, to help the ones we care about. ☻SLIDE #: Jesus ENCOURAGES US TO draw people into the kingdom rather than into the web of our devices and plans for them (Matthew 7:7-12) ☻SLIDE #: Matthew 7:7-8: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Our approach to influencing others is simply to ask them to change, and to help them in any way they ask of us. Never again counsel with the words “should” or “ought.” “You might consider this…” Once I back away, maintaining a sensitive and non-manipulative presence, I am no longer their problem. As I listen, they do not have to protect themselves from me, and they begin to open up. We may quickly begin to appear to them as a possible ally and resource. STORY: Adult resources for children: Dr Poage and daughter in Chicago. And as long as we respect them before God, and are thoughtful and gracious, we can keep asking, in appropriate ways, keep seeking and keep knocking on the door of their lives. In humility we move into a position of trusted advisor—not another minister of condemnation. Asking, seeking and knocking are the natural extension of this dynamic when we turn to ask God to work in their lives and hearts to bring about changes. ☻SLIDE #: Matthew 7:9: "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! STORY: Ontario, CA dad giving gift of love, acceptance and mercy to his daughter “Daddy, is that you.” ☻SLIDE #: Matthew 7:12: So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. The “Golden Rule” perfectly captures the meaning of Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 7:1-12 (and, in fact, for the entire Sermon). Instead of harassing others with our judgments and treasures, we stand before them with our helpless requests, while simultaneously standing before God Almighty King with our requests for them. ☻SLIDE #: In the previous eleven verses agape love is concretely illustrated in three ways: Not condemning or blaming those around us (vv. 1-5) Not forcing our “wonderful things” upon them (v.6) Simply asking for what we want for them—and from God (vv. 7-11) In kingdom life we extend the respect to others that we would naturally hope others would extend to us. That is how love behaves. ☻SLIDE #: Now let’s return to Roger tied up, shamed and humiliated on the sidewalk. Review story. ☻SLIDE #: Wanted his help—not his condemnation—here is what I wish he would have done: I needed help. The issue of right or wrong was in no way the issue. I had made mistakes…. People are tied up all around us. They most often need a helping hand—not words of shame and condemnation. The Christ Follower living in the kingdom refuses to add more hurt and pain. Instead they respond in love. And help them onto a better path.

HOW TO RECOGNIZE A FALSE PROPHET Matthew 7:15-20 S-1057 After giving the invitation to “enter by the narrow gate”, to come to God by the only way He has provided, Jesus warns that not everyone who claims to belong to God and to speak for Him actually does so. When we stand at the crossroads of decision, we should remember that the true way to God is narrow and that the false way is broad; the true is difficult and demanding, and the false way is easy and permissive. esus now says, in effect, “As you strive to enter that narrow gate and walk that narrow way that leads to life, beware of those who would mislead you.” “Just as there is a misleading gate and a misleading way, there are also misleading preachers and teachers who point to that gate and promote that way.” The false gate has false prophets standing in front of it who seek to lead people into the false way and hinder them from entering the true. READ Matthew 7:15-20 Jim Spackman Boston Story In Boston… lost… six streets come together, no street sign. Stopped twice, still lost. Prayed. Went to convenience store. “Are you lost?” “Yes, how did you know?” “Retired taxi driver. Follow me?” Drove for several miles, neighborhood worse and worse. Sally, “Do you think that he is leading us out into the boondocks to rob us?” Finally stopped. “Go across bridge there and make a hard left, or you’ll miss it.” Paige looked back. “There’s a cross hanging around his mirror!” Again and again He implores us to enter the straight gate. He again reminds us of these things by putting before us two special warnings. 1.Verses 15-20 – False prophets 2.Verses 21-33 – False Security Today we examine the first warning. Next week the second. THE BIBLE IS FILLED WITH WARNINGS OF FALSE PROPHETS As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives before the last Passover week, His disciples asked, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” He replied, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many… For false Christs and false prophets will arrive and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.” (Matthew 24:3-5, 24). Paul’s last words to the Ephesian elders, when he met with them for a farewell on the beach near Miletus, included a somber warning about inevitable false teachers. “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arrive, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert.” (Acts 20:29-31). There has always been a large market for false prophets, because most people do not want to hear the truth. They prefer to hear what is pleasant and flattering, even if it is false and dangerous, over what is unpleasant and unflattering, even if it is true and helpful. READ Jermiah 5:30-31 According to Jesus the danger is not so much in the fact that there are going to be wolves in the world, although that is perfectly true; but that there are going to be wolves who have disguised themselves as sheep. In other words, the danger lies in the fact that there are going to be agents of the devil in the Church. Someone will say, “Do you mean to tell me that God will allow men who are influenced by Satan to become church members?” The answer is, “Yes, indeed.” And not only that, He will also allow them to become ministers and speak from the pulpit. READ 2 Corinthians 11:13-15  “For Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works.” It is possible for real Christians to be taken in by false prophets. When believers are careless about study of and obedience to the Word, lazy about prayer, and uncritical about the things of God, it is easy for them to be deceived by someone who pretends to be orthodox – especially if he is pleasant, positive, and permissive. FALSE PROPHETS ARE IDENTIFIED BY THEIR FRUIT READ Matthew 7:16-20 – False prophets are identified by their fruit. Judging the fruit of false prophets, of course, is not nearly so easy as judging fruit in an orchard. But from Scripture we discover several primary tests we can apply in order to know. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FALSE TEACHERS WHO ARE INSIDE THE CHURCH (WOLVES IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING) AND THOSE WHO ARE OUTSIDE THE CHURCH (WOLVES IN WOLVES’ CLOTHING). WOLVES IN WOLVES’ CLOTHING If a man were to come into the pulpit and doubted the existence of God and denied the deity of Christ and the miracles, most of us could spot him as a heretic. But he’s not a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He’s a wolf in wolves’ clothing. What concerns me greatly is the seeming number of church people who succumb, not to the wolves in sheep’s clothing but to the wolves in wolves’ clothing. When the Mormons come along and teach that Jesus Christ was the son of Adam and Mary and that you and I can one day be just as much God as Jesus Christ is, I have no trouble seeing the damning heresy there. But some folks can’t see the wolf in wolves’ clothing. I have heard that one half of all converts to Mormonism came from a Baptist background. Here are some of the marks of wolves in wolves’ clothing. HERE’S HOW YOU CAN IDENTIFY CULTS AND FALSE RELIGIONS 1.THEIR FOUNDATION IS EXTRA-BIBLICAL REVELATION Every cult and false prophet gives token reverence to the Bible. Then they announce some subsequent revelation which effectively cancels the teaching of the Bible in favor of some new spiritual revelation. Example: When anyone says, “Your Bible is fine, but it’s not sufficient. You need the Book of Mormon or ‘Pearl of Great Price’ or ‘Science and Health: The Key to Scripture’, that’s not a wolf in sheep’s clothing, that’s a full-fledged wolf who’s chomping at the bit for your soul! Paul warns of this in Galatians 1:8-9 READ Revelation 22:18-19 2. THEY EMPHASIZE SALVATION BY WORKS Salvation by works teaches that eternal life depends upon some other basis than our faith in the work Christ on the cross. Eternal life is therefore dependent not upon the grace of God but upon human responsibility. The message of the gospel is that we’re saved by grace alone! Ephesians 2:8-9 When someone says that there are twelve to fourteen steps which must be done to reach the third heaven, then you know he teaches a works system and is not from God. Armstrong: “Salvation is like natural citizenship; it is a free gift, but it goes only to those who are willing to be law-abiding members of the Kingdom of God. Water baptism is the required part of the way of salvation. If we are to be saved by God’s grace, then we must keep the commandments.” Yes, he says, it’s a free gift if you earn it by obeying God’s commandments – all 613 of them. This is exactly what Galatians had done. Paul vehemently denounces them. READ Galatians 4:9-11 – Paul’s not proud of them depending on laws. He’s afraid of them. A good question to ask when one tries to win you to his group is “Is there any other way besides Jesus that you can get to God?” If they say, “Yes,” you know that they are deceived. 3.THERE IS DEFECTIVE CHRISTOLOGY The general truth of Christianity is related to the question, “What think ye of Christ?” A false teacher or a cult is readily identified by their statements and beliefs about Jesus Christ. Examples: Christian Science: “Jesus was a mere man who demonstrated the divine idea. It doesn’t matter whether Christ ever existed, and his blood doesn’t cleanse from sin.” Jehovah’s Witness: “Jesus Christ is not the son of God. He is Michael the Archangel.” Rev. Sun Myung Moon – test his Christology: “Salvation can only come through a Messiah who achieves perfection, marries and has perfect offspring. Christ was to do this but he failed because he died before he could marry. This redemption of man will be accomplished through a second Messiah who is to be born in Korea.” That Messiah is – guess who! None other than Moon himself. New Age: “We are all Christ.” 4.OFTEN THERE IS A PRESUMPTUOUS MESSIANIC LEADER This is the notion that a contemporary human being has been appointed by God to be some kind of saint or guru, or messiah, who represents divine authority that must not be violated. We find folks everywhere who are constantly quoting and following Father Divine, Prophet Jones, Mary Baker Patterson Glover Johnson Eddy, Herbert Armstrong, David (Moses David) Berg, Guru Maharaj Ji, Swami Rama, Witness Lee, Sun Moon, Maharishi Mehesh Yogi. Christians are warned about those pompous false Messiahs by Christ who said, “Take heed that you be not deceived; for many shall come in my name saying, ‘I am Christ’; and the time draweth near; go ye not therefore after them.” 5.THEIR TRUTH HINGES ON UNVERIFYABLE CLAIMS OF SPECIAL DISCOVERIES AND REVELATIONS. Beware of any man or cult which claims to have some secret discovery or revelation which has come to a single individual and which is otherwise unavailable except through that person. Mary Baker Eddy – “God has given to me the only keys to understanding the Bible.” Why the Mormons have invented out of thin air an entire American civilization for which there is no evidence whatsoever! All from special revelation to Joseph Smith! The fundamental of Christianity is that it is historical. It all centers around life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. READ Acts 26:25-26 – “This thing was not done in a corner.” Acts 1:3 – Christ showed himself to be alive by many infallible proofs. Hundreds and thousands of witnesses to the open and public facts of the Gospel. The Bible commits itself to literally hundreds of dates, places, peoples, cities, lakes, streams, mountains, and historical events. The truth of Christianity doesn’t depend on private knowledge and secret, unconformable relationship on the part of suspect individuals. Why do we reject such stories? Because they don’t conform to Biblical rules of evidence! Stories may be hallucination, outright lies, and even the result of indigestion or sleepless nights. We must have evidence! The rules of evidence are clearly stated in Scripture. READ 2 CORINTHIANS 13:1 – “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” In the Bible four writers used to confirm work and record of Jesus Christ. The doings of the apostles were not private séances but were seen and witnessed by thousands. The Coming of Christ and His message wasn’t a private affair. He was announced by a sky full of angels, a star visible to all; a sinless life lived in the presence of thousands, a public death and a public resurrection attested to by over five hundred living witnesses, all recorded in a composite of Holy Scripture that cannot be broken. WOLVES IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING Now the greatest danger to believers is not the wolf in wolves’ clothing. The greatest danger to Christians is the wolf in sheep’s clothing. We have no trouble standing face to face with a wolf. We get out our gun, so to speak, and protect ourselves. But an innocent-looking lamb comes along and we pet it and feed it and support it because we don’t recognize that it is a wolf who is disguised as a sheep. So these false prophets do not wave a red flag when they make their statements. They appear to be all right. HOW CAN WE RECOGNIZE THE WOLVES IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING?  Make this simple: Jude and 2 Peter are the New Testament books on false prophets. READ Jude 1:3-4, 8, 10-12, 16. 1.FALSE PROPHETS TEACH WITHOUT ANY “STRAIGHT GATE” OR “NARROW WAY” The false prophet is a man who has no “straight gate” or “narrow way” in his gospel. He has nothing to which is offensive to the natural man; he pleases all. READ Jeremiah 6:13-15: “They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly (or lightly) saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” The false prophet is always a very comforting preacher. As you listen to hm, he always gives you the impression that there is not very much wrong. He admits, of course, that there is a little; he is not fool enough to say that there is nothing wrong. But he says that all is well and will be well. 2.THEY MINIMIZE THE UTTER SINFULNESS OF SIN READ Jude 4b READ 2 Peter 2:2, 10, 14, 18-19 READ Galatians 5:19-21 Steve Garvey. Julie and I in Phoenix in February. Arizona Republic carried the story of Garvey’s three girlfriends. About to be married when one girlfriend claimed that she was pregnant with Garvey’s child. “Well, I don’t know if it is my child or not, but if it is, I will be my parental duties. After all I’m a Christian and I want to do what is right.” We don’t need that kind of publicity. Loose attitude in Christian circles regarding sex. 3.THEY DO NOT EMPHASIZE REPENTANCE IN ANY REAL SENSE It has a very wide gate leading to salvation and a very broad way leading to Heaven. You need not feel much of your own sinfulness; you need not be aware of the blackness of your own heart. You just decide for Christ and you rush in with the crowd, and your name is put down, and is one of the large number of decisions. Repentance means that you realize that you are a guilty, vile sinner in the presence of God, that you deserve the wrath and punishment of God, that you are Hell-bound. It means that you begin to realize that this thing called sin is in you, that you long to get rid of it, and that you turn your back on it in every shape and form. There does not seem to be much room for that today. The false prophet does not put it like that. He heals the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, simply saying that it is all right, and that you have but to come to Christ, follow Jesus, or become a Christian, They offer an easy salvation – an easy type of life. CAREFUL OF BIBLE TRACTS FOUR SPIRITUAL LAWS 4.THE WAY OF CAIN – Jude 12: THEY IMPLY THAT THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO GOD THE FATHER THAN THE SUBSTITUTIONARY DEATH OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Genesis 4:3-8 The false prophet talks about Jesus. He even delights to talk about the cross and the death of Jesus. But the vital question is – What is his view of that death? What is his view of that cross? Does he realize that Jesus Christ died on the cross to cover our sin with his blood? Does he really believe that Christ was there crucified as a substitute for men? Does he believe that it was only by the death of Christ that any man could be made fit for heaven and ready to approach God? He has never seen it as a tremendous, holy transaction between the Father and the Son in which the Father has made the Son to be sin for us, and has laid our iniquity upon Him. There is none of that in his preaching and teaching, and that is why it is false. 5.THEY DIMINISH FINAL JUDGMENT AND THE ETERNAL DESTINY OF THE LOST Paul preaches to Felix and Drusilla of “righteousness and temperance and judgment to come.” But you’ll never hear that from a false prophet. You’ll hear reincarnation from the New Age people who are creeping into the church. St. Francis’ church is into New Age. 6.THE WAY OF BALAAM – Jude 12: USING CHRIST FOR PERSONAL GAIN In The Didache, one of the earliest Christian writings after New Testament times, we find a section devoted to dealing with false prophets. The term used to describe them is Christemporos, which means “Christ merchants”. The Didache gives several means for distinguishing true prophets from false. One was that a true prophet would not remain as a house guest for more than two days, because he would need to be up and about his work. A false prophet, however, would willingly stay indefinitely, since he had no real mission to accomplish except serving his own interests. The second test was in regard to asking for money. The true prophet, said The Didache, would ask for bread and water, but nothing more – that is, only for necessities to keep himself going. A false prophet, on the other hand, is not the least averse to asking for or even demanding money. A third test was in the area of lifestyle. A person who does not lead a life that corresponds to the standard he teaches is clearly not a man of God. Still another test was in regard to willingness to work. If a person wanted to live off others and would not work for his own keep, he was a Christ-trafficker. A false prophet is always in church work for himself, to pad his own pockets, to satisfy his own greed, ego, and prestige and to gain power, influence, and recognition for himself. Our day has more than its share of Christ merchants. Through books, radio, television, recordings, in churches, conferences, seminars, crusades and by various other means they package and sell the gospel in much the same way that Madison Avenue sells cars and soap. They are insincere peddlers of the Word of God who corrupt it for their own ends (2 Corinthians 2:17). The golden cow Prosperity gospel 7.KORAH’S REBELLION – Jude 12 Numbers 16:1-3, 31-35 2 Peter 2:10 Jude 1:8 THEIR CHARACTER IS MORE SELF-CENTERED THAN GOD-CENTERED A person’s basic character – his inner motives, standards, loyalties, attitudes, and ambitions – will eventually show through in what he does and how he acts. John the Baptist told the hypocritical Pharisees and Sadducees who came to be baptized to first “bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance” (Luke 3:8). Their manner of living belied their claim that they lived and served God. When the multitude then asked John what good fruit was, he replied “Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise” (verse 11). To the tax-gatherers who asked what they should do, John said, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to” (verse 13). John was saying that the person who is genuinely repentant and who truly trusts and loves God will also love and help his fellow man (cf James  2:15-17; 1 John 3:17; 4:20). Peter tells us that the true and mature believer will be growing in faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. “If these qualities are yours and are increasing,” he says, “they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8). Unless those who claim to be God’s spokesmen give evidence that their deepest motives and life patterns are to honor, glorify, and magnify God, and to grow in humility, holiness, and obedience, we can be sure that God has not called or sent them. If they are oriented to money, prestige, recognition, popularity, power, sexual looseness, and selfishness, they do not belong to Jesus Christ. READ Jude 20-23

I try to have a regular prayer life, but I feel like my prayers hit the ceiling. I promise God I will change, and I end up doing the same things. How can I pray wisely and know that God will answer? Sincerely, Jaden Dear Jaden, Did you know that we can actually pray “foolish” prayers? Prayers that God will not take seriously? Prayers that are disrespectful to God? Prayers that He says He will not answer? I’m sure you’ve heard some of these “halfway” type prayers: “God, if you get me out of this situation, I’ll serve you forever!” “If you get Hayden to like me, I’ll go to church every week.” “God, if you give me an A on this test, I will never steal the answers from the smart kid’s paper again.” “I won’t have an affair, if you make my wife less irritating.” I didn’t expect that it was possible to pray a “foolish” prayer when I was a baby Christian. I knew—and still do—that God hears our every prayer. When He hears, He promises to RESPOND. But the response may be yes, maybe, not yet, or simply, no. Sometimes He may tell us the “why” behind His answers. And sometimes He already has … let’s take a look at Scripture to learn more. King Solomon explains that since God is speaking to us continually, we would do well to stop and listen to what He has to say before we pray. Solomon explains what a foolish prayer looks like in Ecclesiastes 5:1-7: Watch your step when you enter God’s house. Enter to learn. That’s far better than mindlessly offering a sacrifice Doing more harm than good. Don’t shoot off your mouth or speak before you think. Don’t be too quick to tell God what you think he wants to hear. God’s in charge, not you—the less you speak, the better. When you tell God you’ll do something, do it—now. God takes no pleasure in foolish drivel. Vow it, then do it. Far better not to vow in the first place than to vow and not pay up. Don’t let your mouth make a total sinner of you. When called to account, you won’t get by with                  “Sorry, I didn’t mean it.” Why risk provoking God to angry retaliation? But against all illusion and fantasy and empty talk There’s always this rock foundation: Fear God! (MSG) FIRST, WE DON’T WANT OUR PRAYERS TO OFFER THE “SACRIFICE OF FOOLS” TO GOD. The “sacrifice of fools” is living life or doing things that don’t please or impress God. The Bible mentions several types of the “sacrifice of fools.” Giving God our leftovers. (Malachi 1:10-15) Giving God lip service without a changed life. (Ezekiel 33:31-32) Making decisions without carefully involving God. (Judges 11:29-49; Matthew 14:1-12) Our prayers, no matter what we’re asking or why, become “foolish” when we’re living in any one of these ways. Can you imagine that God wouldn’t take us seriously if we’re praying with pious words and living sinful lives? Or that He won’t grant us our heart’s desires if those desires are of the world? Or if we march forward in our own will even as we’re asking Him to do His? NEXT, OUR PRAYERS MUST SHOW TOTAL COMMITMENT AND SACRIFICE. Everything we do in our bodies is a sacrifice offered to God. 1 Peter 2:5 teaches, “You also, like living stones are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” The author of Hebrews applies this principle to prayer; “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.  And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (13:15-16). Again, when we come before God in prayer, He looks at how we’re living before He answers. When we live as He calls us to live, He hears our prayers and responds. He delights in the sacrifice of His people … and He is “provoked” by the sacrifice of fools. SO, HOW CAN I BEGIN TO PRAY WISE PRAYERS? First, get your heart right before God. Read His Word. Chase after Jesus. Seek to grow spiritually. Fight against sin instead of conforming to it. Follow His calling for your life the best you can. Next, listen and receive what God has to say. God speaks in a variety of ways. His Word tells us that He speaks through the Bible, circumstances, signs and wonders, other people, preachers and prophets, the peace of God, the creation, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. Recognizing when God speaks takes practice. We have to be quiet in order to hear Him. That’s not easy to do in our busy, noisy lives. It also takes an awareness of spiritual things, which means staying in a spiritual mindset (Philippians 4:8). Third, process what you hear from God carefully, in accordance with your understanding of who God is and His priorities for your life. When you hear God speak to you in prayer, listen carefully. Be prepared to obey when you hear Him speak. That specific commitment has everything to do with whether or not God will hear and respond to your prayers. After all, what good is it to interact with someone if you know they’ll just ignore you? Finally, apply God’s words to your life. Hannah made a serious vow to God and kept it: “O Lord of heaven, if you will look down upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you, and he’ll be yours for his entire lifetime.” (1 Samuel 1:11 NLT) God knew she was serious. She fasted and prayed for months, never leaving the temple steps. Her actions showed her serious intentions. Her heart was open to hear Him speak … and she made a commitment to obey, no matter the cost. God answered her prayer, not only giving her a son, but a son who would be the spiritual leader of Israel. Well Jaden, I hope this is really helpful for you—not only to help you avoid foolish prayers but to pursue prayers that God will answer. Love, Brie