PROVERBS SERIES THIRTEEN THE TOOL IN EVERYONE’S MOUTH Dr. Roger Barrier Proverbs 10:11,32;12:25;15:28;;18:6,7,21;25:15;26:24 Jorge Rodriguez was the meanest bandit on the Texas-Mexico border. He often slipped across the border to raid the banks of South Texas. Stealing them blind. Finally the Texans decided to put the toughest Texas Ranger they had on the case. After only a few days of searching, the Ranger found the bandit in a dingy, dusty saloon south of the border. He bolted into the bar, pulled both guns, and yelled, “Okay, stick ‘em up, Jorge; you’re under arrest! I know you’ve got the money.” Suddenly a little guy over in the corner butted in. “Wait, wait… just a moment, senor,” he said. “Jorge does not speak English. He’s my amigo, so I’ll translate for you.” The Ranger explained, “Look, we know he’s the bandit we’ve been looking for. We know he’s stolen over $50,000 US dollars. We want it back NOW. Either he pays up or I’ll fill him full of holes. You tell him that!” “Okay, okay! I’ll tell him.” So the fellow turned to Jorge and repeated in Spanish everything the Ranger had said. Jorge listened, frowned, then responded in Spanish. “Okay, I give up. Tell him to go down to the well just south of town, count four stones down from the top of the well, then pull out the one loose stone. All the money I have stolen I’ve hidden behind the stone.” The translator turned to the Texas Ranger and said, “Jorge says, ‘Go ahead, you big mouth; go ahead and shoot. I’ll never tell where the money is.” Applicable proverbs ☻SLIDE : Prov 18:21: The tongue has the power of life and death, ☻SLIDE : Prov 25:15: A gentle tongue can break a bone. ☻SLIDE : Prov 10:11: The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked. ☻SLIDE : Prov 26:24: A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but in his heart he harbors deceit. TONGUE PROP: Proverbs has more to say about the use of the tongue than any other theme or topic. ☻SLIDE : It is a marvelous instrument: Good for eating, tasting, rolling, talking, praising, worshipping, gossiping, telling jokes, teaching, hollering—and when you can’t think of anything else to say, you can even stick it out at some one. It can do all that—and it only weighs 2 ounces! The tongue is a slippery master. Can get a grip on a finger or a toe—but it is most difficult to get a good grip on the tongue. Besides, it is messy and sticky. ☻SLIDE : Whenever I go to the doctor he says, “Stick out your tongue.” “But it is my stomach that hurts—not my tongue.” “That doesn’t really matter. Stick out your tongue.” The tongue is indicative of our physical health. It is usually pink. But when our digestive system isn’t working right, it can have a yellowish, brown covering. With some diseases it is bright red. If you want to know how what a person’s life and character is really like, listen to their tongue. ☻SLIDE : Prov 18:4: The words of a man's mouth are deep waters, Words come out of the depth of our being. ☻SLIDE : Prov 15:28: The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil. What might this verse look like in practice. ☻SLIDE : THE TONGUE HAS EXPLOSIVE POWER. Have you ever considered the awesome power of the spoken word? For instance: Waiter: What’ll you have for dessert? First diner: Nothing for me. Second diner: I’m stuffed. Third diner: I couldn’t eat another bite. Waiter: Dessert comes with the dinner. First diner: Ice cream. Second diner: Pecan pie. Third diner: Chocolate layer cake. One sentence can change everything. A judge speaks some words and a guilty prisoner is taken to a cell on death row. Dave Bury: Federal Judge: “To see people quiver at the words of a federal judge who is sentencing them to federal prison for committing a federal crime. A gossip makes a phone call and a reputation is blemished or perhaps ruined. Seize a man in violence and maim him for life, perhaps even kill him, and his children and his community may raise a monument to him. But ruin a man’s reputation so that his children despise him, and you deprive him of far more than just his life. A cynical professor makes a snide remark in a lecture and a student's faith is destroyed. ☻SLIDE : For every word in Adolph Hitler’s book, Mein Kampf, 125 people died in World War II. ☻SLIDE : “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Isn't that the stupidest thing you ever heard? Story: Elementary school: Acnes and Mrs. Horne. Wounds can wound the heart to the deepest level: Probably a wounding worse than a physical blow is the statement, ☻SLIDE : “I’m sorry I ever married you.” ☻SLIDE : How many of you can ever forget that a parent said to you in a fit of rage, “I wish you had never been born.” ☻SLIDE : Prov 12:18: Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Heart in atrial flutter. In emergency room. Frightened. Outcome in doubt. Doris Wanslee: “I have prayed about this. God made it very clear to me that everything is going to be well. Be at peace.” I trust Doris. She knows God. Six months struggle. Calm peace all would be well. I remembered Doris’ words. I want to use the wise words which soothe and heal; which comfort and encourage; which try to put the best interpretation on any action. ☻SLIDE : THE TONGUE CAN GET US AND OTHERS INTO A LOT OF TROUBLE. I don’t think I need to spend much time here. We all understand this. How many would be willing to admit that your tongue has gotten you in trouble? Raise hands. ☻SLIDE : Prov 18:7: A fool's mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul. ☻SLIDE : Prov 18:6: A fool's lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating. ☻SLIDE : Prov 6:2-3: if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, 3 then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor! ☻SLIDE : Prov 11:9: With his mouth the godless destroys his neighbor, but through knowledge the righteous escape. Perhaps like me you’ve received a phone call from someone who says, “I want to tell you about so-and-so.” And I’ll say, “Wait a minute. May I quote you?” There’s usually a long pause. And then they’ll say, “Well, I’m not sure that would be a good idea.” “If you’re not interested in putting your name on it, if you’re not interested in being there when we confront the individual, I’m not interested in listening to what you’ve got to say.” ☻SLIDE : THE TONGUE CAN BRING US AND OTHERS A LOT OF BLESSING AND DELIGHT. Spend most time here. I want to use my tongue for health and healing. ☻SLIDE : Prov 25:11: A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. Jake Ellis bible teacher: Youth Sunday. Assigned to teach Jake’s men’s class. R’s: roger really runs well. R’s sounded like w’s. Talked too fast: “We can’t understand you.” Studied. Applied: Jake: “I think you have the spiritual gift of teaching. This may be your calling from God for life.” Speech lessons for two years after I came to Tucson. ☻SLIDE : Prov 10:32: The lips of the righteous know what is fitting, Little boy reciting Patrick Henry’s famous statement: “Give me puberty or give me death.” Tact is one of the lost arts of our day, isn’t it? I heard about a man who lacked tact. He just couldn’t say things graciously. He and his wife owned a poodle. They loved this dog. It was the object of their affection. The wife was to take a trip abroad and the first day away she made it to New York. She called home and asked her husband, “How are things?” He said, “The dog’s dead!” She was devastated. After collecting her thoughts, she asked, “Why do you do that? Why can’t you be more tactful?” He said, “Well, what do you want me to say? The dog died.” She said, “Well, you can give it to me in stages. For example, you could say when I call you from New York, ‘The dog’s on the roof.’ And when I get to London and call, you could tell me, ‘Honey, the dog fell off the roof.’ When I call you from Paris, you could add, ‘Honey, the dog had to be taken to the vet. In fact, he’s in the hospital, not doing well.’ Finally, when I call you from Rome, you might say, ‘Honey, brace yourself. Our dog died.’ I could handle that.” The husband paused and said, “Oh, I see. I understand. I’ll do better.” Then she asked, “By the way, how’s mother?” He said, “She’s on the roof.” We are talking about what is fitting. When a woman asks, “Do I look fat?” The immediate response is, “No.” That is automatic. When she asks, “How do I look in my new outfit?” Never say, “Who let the dogs out?” That would not be fitting. But what if she does look fat? What if the outfit is awful? What do you say? ☻SLIDE : Robert Brault: “Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true.” ☻SLIDE : Prov 12:25: An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up. In a country church in a small village an altar boy serving the priest at Sunday mass accidentally dropped the cruet of wine (anxious moment!). The village priest struck the altar boy sharply on the cheek and in a gruff voice said, “Leave the altar and don’t ever come back.” That boy grew up to become Marshall Tito, the communist dictator of Yugoslavia throughout the years of the cold war. In the cathedral of a large city an altar boy serving the priest at Sunday mass accidentally dropped the cruet of wine. With a warm twinkle in his eye, the Bishop gently whispered, “Some day you will be a priest.” That boy grew up to become Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Many proverbs giving advice on how to use the tongue wisely and well. ☻SLIDE : Prov 15:1: A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. is like a kiss on the lips. ☻SLIDE : Prov 28:23: He who rebukes a man will in the end gain more favor than he who has a flattering tongue. ☻SLIDE : Prov 15:4: The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life. A few months after moving to a small town, a woman complained to her neighbor about the poor service at the drug store. Hoped that the neighbors would tell the owner of the drug store. Next time the woman was in the store, the druggist greeted her with a smile. How happy he was to see her. Hoped she liked the town. Please tell him if there is anything that he could do to help her and her husband get settled. Then promptly filled her order. Later told her neighbor, “I suppose you told the druggist how poor I thought his service was.” “Well, no,” she replied. “I hope you don’t mind, but I told him that you were amazed at how he’d built up his little store and that you thought it was one of the best drug stores that you had ever seen.” ☻SLIDE : One reason a dog has so many friends is that it spends more time wagging its tail than wagging its tongue. ☻SLIDE : USE THE TONGUE WISELY. CONTROL IT WELL. The reason God gave us two ears and one mouth is to remind us to listen twice as much as we talk. ☻SLIDE : Usually the first screw that gets loose in a person’s head is the one that controls the tongue. “I seldom feel sorry for the things I do not say.” ☻SLIDE : Prov 17:28: Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps his mouth shut, and discerning if he holds his tongue. ☻SLIDE : Prov 13:3: He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin. ☻SLIDE : Prov 10:19: When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. ☻SLIDE : There are two kinds of people who don’t say much: those who are quiet and those who talk a lot. ☻SLIDE : “Empty trucks make the most noise.” The night Jessie was born I was sitting torn by grief. Someone came and talked to me of God’s dealings and why it happened, of hope beyond the grave. He talked constantly, he said things I knew were true. I was unmoved, except to wish he would go away. He finally did. Another came and sat beside me. He didn’t talk. He didn’t ask leading questions. He just sat beside me for over an hour, listened when I said something, answered briefly, prayed simply and left. I was moved. I was comforted. I hated to see him go. ☻SLIDE : Ephesians 4:29: 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. Explain Ephesians 4:29. Sums up the proverbs. ☻SLIDE : Prov 10:13: Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, Some years ago Alexander Woolcott described a scene in a New York City hospital where a grief-stricken mother sat in a hospital lounge in stunned silence, tears streaming down her cheeks. She had just lost her only child and she was gazing blindly into space as the chief nurse tried to talk to her. “Did you notice, Mrs. Norris, the shabby little boy sitting in the hall just next to your daughter’s room?” No, she hadn’t noticed. “There’s a case. That little boy’s mother is a French woman who was brought in one week ago by ambulance from their shabby one-room apartment where they lived since they immigrated to this country less than three weeks ago. They lost all their people in the old country and knew nobody here. “The two only had each other. Every day that lad has come here and sat there from sun up to sun down in the vain hope that his mother would awaken and speak to him. Now he has no home at all.” Mrs. Norris was listening now. So, the nurse went on. “Fifteen minutes ago his mother died, dropped like a pebble off into the boundless ocean, and now it is my duty to go out and tell that little seven-year-old fellow that he is all alone in the world.” The head nurse paused and then said to Mrs. Norris, “I don’t suppose,” she said, hesitantly, “I don’t suppose that you would go out and tell him for me.” Woolcott said that what happened in the next few moments was something that he would remember forever. Mrs. Norris stood up, dried her tears, went out and put her arms around the boy and took that homeless child to her childless home—and in the darkness, they became lights for each other. "Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning."

Jude 20-23 [MUSIC PLAYING] Are you making any predictions? I'll take on the campaign. You're backing the champion? Yeah. You better believe it. Good morning. Hey, today's a very special day. It is my daughter in law's birthday. Jenny, I'm going to embarrass you again. You got to come out. Got to come out again. Look, she's working back on the platform. 35 years ago she was born. I shouldn't tell-- Yeah. You shouldn't be telling me. This-- I shouldn't be telling your age. Yeah. But I did. I can't I can't take that back. I like to believe I stopped aging at 30. Oh, you look fabulous. Are you kidding? You look great. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Jenay. Happy birthday to you. Thank you. Thank you for marrying my son. Thank you for those two great grandkids that are awesome. Would you turn in your Bibles please. Thank you for indulging me on that. We turn in to your Bibles to the book of Jude. Jude is a short little book right before the Book of Revelation. Has one chapter. We've been working our way through that book in this series called fight for the house. Falling down is a part of life. Every human being does it when they're learning how to walk. But falling down can be dangerous. You can get injured. You could become disabled. And believe it or not, a good number of people have died in just falling. According to the World Health Organization falling is the second leading cause of unintentional injury deaths worldwide. According to their estimations, 600 and 84,000 people die every year from falling. That's mostly in low income and middle income countries. Age is a factor. Unattended children is another factor. Poor working conditions is another one. And lack of regulation, safety regulations in place. Old age is especially, dangerous. One out of four, elderly people fall down every year. And less than half of them, ever tell their doctor that they did. Now, a number of these people become hospitalized. It's estimated that 800,000 people a year are hospitalized from injuries like a hip, fracture or a head injury, due to a fall. Several years ago I went to go visit my mom. She was in her 80s at the time. I drove up to her house in California. Get out. I'm walking toward the front door and I hear a voice above me calling from above. I knew it's not an angel. I know it was not God because it sounded an awful lot like my mother. But I was astonished that I would hear my mom's voice from above. So I look up and on top of the roof, is my mom. And I said, "Mom first of all, you're a nurse. So you know better. This is not something you should be doing." She goes, "Oh, I know. But something broke with the air conditioner." and I'm thinking what, and you are suddenly an air conditioning repair person? In your 80s you've become that? I mean, how does that work? So I said you come down. And I made her promise me, you will never do that again. That's dangerous. Now just as certain conditions make falling down easier physically, I think that there are certain conditions that make falling away spiritually easier. And I would even say that the church today is more susceptible than ever before to people falling away. And I'll lay that at the feet of church leadership, pulpits pastors. I think that there is an enormous amount of biblical ignorance. Not just culturally, but I mean in the church, that there is a biblical illiteracy even. If you were to compare the average sermon today, with the average sermon say 100 years ago, you'd find it a massive difference. If you were to compare a Christian book written today by a Christian author, Christian pastor leader, with a book written hundreds years ago, you would see a huge difference for a lot of reasons. If you were to compare a Christian seminar or conference to one that was done a century ago again, you would see a marked difference. What has happened is Bible teaching has been dumbed down. And it has been made shallow. It has become oversimplified. It has been reduced to slogans. And why is that? Well, for a number of reasons, and I'm not here to tell you all those reasons. But I think Christian leaders think that people just don't have it in them to understand the depth of doctrine and what the Bible really has to say. So since they have a short attention span, let me just pander to that short attention span. Or maybe my audience doesn't truly believe or they're just not as interested. So I will dumb it down. And then the subject of so many sermons is anemic. It's often about successful living, or self-esteem, or a number of felt needs, or cultural fads. In fact, let's be honest, sermons have become sermonettes. And last time I checked, sermonettes are for a Christian acts. We need the real deal. We need the Bible truth full strength holding nothing back. But today, discernment isn't really important depth. Really is an important doctrine really is an important. What's important is dazzle. So sometime ago, one of my associate pastors was driving me to the airport. Brian, you were the pastor. Thank you for taking me that day to the airport. So I had to catch a flight to go to Canada to speak. And Brian asked me a question which goes, how many pastors under the age of 40 Or he put it this way "can you name five pastors under the age of 40 who are Bible expositor." And I got to admit I was flummoxed. I just like that word. I was flummoxed. And I did know how to answer. I uttered and I named one and then two. And I said, "That's an interesting question. Why do you ask that" because well, actually, it's a question that was asked by one of our School of ministry students. She said "Can you name five pastors under the age of 40, because I'm a millennial. Can you name five pastors under the age of 40 who are Bible expositor." And she had written that on her Facebook page. And she wrote this, "we're done with Glam Rock liturgy, and preaching for pizzazz that masks the lack of biblical preaching. We want our souls fed, not our emotions tickled. And I thought bravo, for her. That's such a great sentiment to say. What she is saying is, we don't want the show. We want to know. There's things we want to know about, teach us that. Well, that takes us to the book of Jude and in verse 20, Jude says, "but you, beloved, building yourselves up on the most holy faith. Praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God. Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And on some, have compassion making a distinction. But others save with fear pulling them out of the fire. Hating even the garment defiled by the flesh." You will note how verse 20 begins. It begins with a shift. He's been talking about them, about these people, those guys, those spots, in your love face. Those water-less clouds. Those false teachers. Those apostates. The whole book. This short little book has been filled with Jude's description of them. But in verse 20 he pivots and he says "but you beloved." So he turns away from them and he turns to us. They may be falling, you should be standing. And saw what he does in these short verses. And Jude was a master at using the economy of words to give us a bulwark of strong principles. We have some ingredients of how to stand when others are falling. When you see people falling from the faith, falling around you, how do you stand? Well, there are a few ingredients I want to draw your attention to them. First, is keep building your faith. If people are destroying the faith of others, if people are falling from the faith, then the solution for us is to be building up our own faith. That's what the beginning of verse 20 is all about, "But you beloved, building yourselves up and your most holy faith." Now, remember how Jude begins this letter. He sat down and he wanted to write a sweet little note of encouragement. He said, "I wanted to write to you about our common salvation. But I found it necessary to exhort you to contend earnestly for the faith, once for all delivered to the Saints." Conten means, put up a good fight for the faith. And he calls it, that faith. And that term is not referring to your personal faith. It's not your believing subjectively. It's that faith. Objectively, it's the bulk of Christian doctrine, Christian belief. It's what's called in Acts 2:42, the Apostles' doctrine. So the faith are all those basic principles that we hold as truth. That's the faith. So with that in mind, he says, "building yourselves up on your most holy faith" The faith has become your personal faith. And that is because, so many people were abandoning the faith. They were leaving the faith. We told you how Paul wrote to Timothy and said, "The spirit expressly says, that in the latter times, some will depart from the faith. Giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines taught by demons." So if people are leaving the faith, then you should be loving the faith. If people are deserting the faith, and you should be determined in your faith. If people are going to be forsaking the faith in you then I need to be fortifying our faith. In other words, if they're going to tear theirs down, we need to be building ours up. That's the antidote to their falling. I like this. Anything left to itself just goes to ruin. It's like part of life. It's the second law of thermodynamics. Things tend toward disintegration, deterioration. Take your house for instance, you buy a house, Oh, goody. Yeah. Oh, goody. But you're going to have to patch the roof, eventually. Or put a new one on, eventually. You're going to have to address stuccoed deterioration on the outside, eventually. You're going to have to deal with that heater or air conditioning, eventually. Right? There's a number of things that take regular maintenance. So to with our spiritual life. Our spiritual life requires maintenance. Any life left to itself, will fall apart. So we need to be building it up. There's a parallel passage to this found in the book of Peter, second Peter. In fact, second Peter and Jude some of the wording of both of those letters, is almost identical. But even where it's not identical, some of the principles are the same. And this idea of building up your faith is part of second Peter. Second Peter chapter one Peter says, "also for this very reason giving all diligence listen add to your faith virtue to virtue knowledge. In to knowledge self-control. And to self-control perseverance. And to perseverance godliness. brotherly kindness. And the brotherly kindness love." And then he says, "If these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." So that's an interesting way of putting it. Giving all diligence means, exerting yourself. Do you realize that Christian growth is not Automatic? It has to be intentional. If you think you can fall back on that little saying, that just sounds so good, but it happens to be poor advice. Let go. And let God. It's not going to work. You don't let go. You build up. You add to your faith. Exerting all effort, add to your faith, virtue, et cetera. The Chinese church the church used to have a saying very, very simple but profound saying. And the saying was this, "No Bible. No breakfast." What, no Bible, no breakfast. What do you mean? How am I going to live? Read your Bible. Then eat breakfast. No Bible no breakfast. I just thought that's interesting. I think what they're doing is summing up what Job said in his book, where job said, "I've esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food" But I read that, no Bible no breakfast, and I thought, boy, if we followed that in America. How many of us would go hungry or at least lose a lot of weight? So the question is this, are you growing up? Are you growing strong? Or are you just growing old? Because spiritual growth is not always proportional to physical age. I wish I could say it was. I wish I could say that a person once they're a Christian, give it enough time, they're going to become mature. But you know you can be an old baby. Charles Spurgeon said, "in the Church of God, there are children who are 70 years old. Yes, little children displaying all the infirmities of declining years. One would not like to say, of a man of 80 that he is scarcely cut his wisdom teeth. And yet there are such. On the other hand, there are fathers in the church wives, stable, instructed, who are comparatively young men. The Lord can cause his people to grow rapidly and far outstrip their years." So build yourselves up. Don't settle for junk food. Don't allow yourself to be starved to death spiritually. And I'm just going to recommend this to you but-- I'm going to recommend that you start coming to our Wednesday night Bible study. I mean, it's great to come to Sunday morning or Saturday or whatever. But on Wednesday night, we're able to go through every verse, of every chapter, of every book, of the Bible. Now eventually, it won't happen all at once, obviously. But we do that. We'll go through a chapter or two. And we have a longer time. And we can go deeper. And we can go longer. And give a person what Paul called the whole counsel of God. Not just a snippet of a Bible verse here and there. But the whole counsel of God. So keep that in mind. But that's the first ingredient. Keep building your faith. The second ingredient is keep praying with fervor. Back to verse 20, "but you beloved, building yourselves up on the most holy faith, your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit." You probably by now know that the word of God, reading the word building yourselves up in the most holy faith and prayer, go together because it completes the cycle of communication in this relationship we have with God. When you read the Bible, that is God speaking to you. When you pray, that is you speaking to God. And you need both to balance out your spiritual life. So if all I do is read and not pray, I'll have a lot of light but no heat. If all I do is pray but not read, I'll have a lot of heat but no light. So to get both light and heat, I need to read the word and pray. Now I'm going to bring up a question because it's not often asked but these are questions I have asked, why pray? I mean if God already knows my needs any way, in advance he knows everything I need. I believe he does. And he's a good Father. Why has he set this relationship with him up where it requires prayer? It's almost like he's waiting or going, I haven't heard a prayer yet. So what's up with that? Why prayer? Why is it so important? Why make a big deal out of it? I'll give you one word to answer that question, dependence. God likes dependence. God loves dependence. God loves trust. God loves to be asked. In fact, I'll go a step further, God is attracted to need. I'll even go a step further, God is attracted to weakness. Oh, I feel so week. God's attracted to that. The Bible says, God has chosen the foolish things of this world. He's chosen the weak things of this world. And then Paul the apostle when he asked God to heal them of something he said, "I prayed three times. And the Lord said, my grace is enough for you." But then he said, my strength is made perfect in your weakness. God is attracted to weakness. I remember hearing a story from an old play that became a stage play, that became a movie. I think it was called The Barretts of Wimple Street. I don't ever expect you to remember that or even know what that is. But it's about Robert Browning the author, and his wife, and the relationship they had. And she was growing weaker over time. And she felt so embarrassed by that. And finally, the husband said to the wife, "Sweetheart, don't you realize that my strength needs your weakness just as much as your weakness needs my strength." And I thought, boy that captures the heart of God when it comes to prayer. God loves our dependence. He loves our need. He loves and is attracted to our weakness. And so he says, ask, pray. By the way, I need to say that God is not attracted to self-sufficiency. He is not attracted to, no I can do this. God has not attracted the pride. In fact, do you know God resists the proud. But he gives grace to the humble. So build yourselves up on your most holy faith and pray. Read the word. Here from God. And talk to God. You've heard me talk over the years about Billy Sunday. He was an evangelist in fact, he was a revivalist in the classic sense of the word. He was also before that a professional baseball player in America. He became a believer and one of his early mentors. A friend said to him, William, that's what he called Billy Sunday, "William there are three simple rules that you should practice. If you do no one will ever be able to write the word backslider after your name." He said, "take 15 minutes a day to let God talk to you. Take 15 minutes for you to talk to him. And spend 15 minutes a day, telling others about the Savior." Said, "If you do that, you will never be a backslider." Billy Sunday made that the practice of his life. Every day, he's going to hear from God. Every day, he's going to talk to God in prayer. And every day, he would tell somebody about the Savior. He became an incredible evangelist, with that in mind. So he says, "building yourselves up in the most holy faith. Praying in the Holy Spirit. By the way, what does that mean, praying in the Holy Spirit. Some will say, well, it must mean praying with tongues. Well, maybe. But I don't think so. I think it's just simpler than that. And that would not be the understood meaning. I'll tell you what I think it means. Go back to verse 19. The verse right before that, speaking about apostates falling away, false teachers. "These are sensual persons, who caused divisions, not having what? They don't have the Holy Spirit. They're unsaved. They're unregenerate. The Holy Spirit is not in them. But you beloved building yourselves up on your most holy faith praying in the Holy Spirit" that the Holy Spirit lives in you. And it's simply a way of saying, let the Holy Spirit direct you when you talk to him. He'll guide you. He'll direct you. It'll be in accordance with his will. A lot of times people say, well Skip, how can I pray for you? And I think I probably frustrate them when I say, praise the Lord leads you. And they don't want to hear that. They want to hear some specific thing that I'm dealing with. But I just say you know what the Lord will speak to you. Maybe something I need to be prayed for. But I don't know what that is so just as the Lord leads do that. Now why am that general? Here's why. The purpose of prayer is not to get my will done in heaven. The purpose of prayer is to get God's will done on Earth. That's why Jesus said, when you pray, say our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom coming. Your will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven. So pray. Praying in the Holy Spirit. Let me give you a third ingredient. And that is keep living in favor. Keep living in favor. Go to verse 21. "Keep yourselves in the love of God." This happens to be one of my favorite verses in all of the New Testament. And probably, my favorite verse in the book of Jude. "Keep yourselves in the love of God." What does that mean. How do I keep myself in the love of God? I'll tell you what it doesn't mean he's not saying that your salvation depends on your effort. He is not saying keep yourself saved, because you cant. You didn't save you. And you don't keep yourself that way. God gives. Right? It's his sovereign work. That's what a lot of the scripture, re-contradict a lot of the Book of Jude. Verse one says we are preserved by Jesus Christ. Verse 24, "now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and present you faultless". So he's not saying keep yourself saved. Nor is he saying keep yourself in a place where God can love you. I have people all the time saying, I don't know how God can love me. And I'm thinking, I don't know how he can love you either, because I don't know how he can love me. But I've gotten past that so long ago. I've discovered that God loves the unlovable. It's not like, well, I got to do something so God can love me. He is not saying keep yourself in a place where God can love you, because he loved us when we were at our worst. Paul said, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. So what does it mean keep yourself in the love of God? Simply this, keep yourself in a place where you are experiencing the love of God. Keep yourself in a place where you are enjoying the love of God. That's what it means. The living Bible renders this verse, stay always within the boundaries where the love of God can reach and bless you. If you were to go out in the sun, and I was just out in the sun with some of you before the service enjoying the sunshine, it's a beautiful sunny day out. It's not like yesterday, with the wind and crazy. And it's just it's gorgeous. And if you go outside and the sun is shining, and you are keeping yourself in the sunshine, right? Do you know that you can be in the sun, but not experience or enjoy the sun? He said come on, once you step outside, you're in the sunlight. How do you keep yourself from enjoying it? Well, I'm glad you asked. You could, if you wanted to carry one of these with you. Right? I don't know why you would on a day like this, but the sun's out. And you could do this. Come on, you need to get a new one. Oh, there you go. OK. So I'm in the sun but I'm not feeling it. In fact, that breeze feels a little cold. OK. Well, take your umbrella down, stupid. OK. Oh, Yeah. There it is. That's good. But I don't feel it right now. All right. So I'm in the sun but I'm not keeping myself in the sun. There's an impediment called an umbrella. So it is possible to have God love you but you're not enjoying. You're not experiencing it because something's in the way. I'll give you an example in the scriptures in the upper room when Jesus had, I'll give you this example. Are twirling my umbrella because it's just so fun to do. This is just fun. I've seen this in the movies. And the upper room, there were a couple of disciples. There were 12 of them. But there were two of them right next to Jesus. One on either side of him one was named John, one was named Judas. Jesus love John. And Jesus love Judas. John was keeping himself in that love of Jesus. Judas was not. John next to Jesus, leaned in leaned his head on the bosom on the breast of Jesus, to be close to his heart. He was keeping himself in the love. Judas was in that room next to Jesus with an umbrella. He was not keeping himself. In fact, he was plotting how he was going to leave and lay his hand on Jesus, to betray him to the Roman government. Jesus loved them both. One was keeping himself in the love of God. One was not keeping himself in the love of God. So simple thought be occupied. Or even preoccupied with the thought that God loves you. Let that thought dominate your life. Remind yourself of that frequently, God loves me. I'm his beloved. I'm his treasure. He loves me. Keep yourself in the love of God. One way to do that is to respond in obedience to what he said, to obey him. You'll find that when you live to please God. You are more pleased with yourself, and when you live to please yourself. In that upper room Jesus said a number of things. But one of the things he said was this, "As the Father loved me, I also have loved you. Here it is abide in my love. Continue to stay plugged in to my love. Biden my love, if you keep my commandments. You will abide in my love just as I have kept my father's commandments. And Biden his love". So an easy way to keep yourself. And the love of God isn't just to remind yourself, God loves me. God loves me. God loves me. But you know what, when God tells me to do something when I find a principle in the scripture, I'm going to do it. I'm going to obey it. I'm going to make that a quick response. That's one good way to keep yourself in the love of God. Let me give you a fourth ingredient, I keep expecting the future. Keep expecting. Or keep anticipating the future. Now look in verse 21 again "keep yourself in the love of God." Here, it is "Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life." Almost every commentator, every Bible scholar that treats this verse says, without a doubt, Judas referring to the coming of Jesus Christ, for his Saints for his believers. We are told to look forward to his coming, which by the way, is one of the great themes in the New Testament. So many of the books of the New Testament have that as its theme. The word looking for, means to look earnestly for or to live with expectation for. And it describes an eager anticipation for the coming of Jesus Christ. We are looking for Jesus to come. Now when you hear that, when somebody says to you Jesus is coming soon, I wonder how you hear that. I wonder what you think about that. I wonder if you are a little bit fearful. And somebody says Jesus is coming and you think, he is? Why? What do I do wrong? Like when I was a kid, my mom would say, your dad will be home soon. It's like Woo. It's like, I'll straighten up. Right? Because that meant something to me. It meant I'm going to face judgment for what I did with my mom. If on the other hand you hear Jesus is coming in you go, Oh, Yeah. I can't wait. That's a good indication that you're keeping yourself in the love of God. And part of that is an eager anticipation, an eager expectation for him to come. Sadly the teaching on Jesus return is also silent in many churches today. It used to be taught a lot more. Second coming rapture, millennial kingdom, a lot of these eschatological themes are frequently taught in churches. But it seems that more and more today, churches are either confused about eschatology. Or pastors can't even pronounce the word eschatology. Or they just decide to remain silent on this subject that is spoken about so often in scripture. I was invited to speak at a church back East. And one of the assistant pastors ministry leaders said that I should talk about something related to end time events. I said, I'd love to do that. So much of the Bible is about that. It would be a great word of encouragement. So I was preparing to do that. That day I got a call from the pastor who said don't talk on that. He said my church is not ready to hear that. I said, wait a minute, you've been doing this 11 years. They're not ready yet after 11 years? I mean Paul the apostle was talking about that three weeks in after he planted the Thessalonians church. And he thought they were ready to hear it. But OK. I mean, this is your gig. This is due before the Lord. I won't talk. There's a number of other subjects I can talk about that are biblical subjects. But I found that interesting. Don't talk on that. Be silent on that. Do you realize that all the historical church creeds, the Orthodox Church creeds that talk about what the church believes in. All of the creeds include an emphasis on the second coming. We're waiting for him to come back. We're looking for him to return. And the reason for that is the church fathers understood that is an emphasis that is a biblical emphasis. They understood that roughly 1,845 times, that's a lot of times in the Bible, it talks about, predicts, or alludes to the second coming of Jesus. So naturally, you would think Jude would say, listen, you want to stay strong? You want to keep from falling? You stay in the world. You stay praying. You keep yourself in a place where you're enjoying God's love. And you are living in anticipation and expectation for him to return. Listen to the words of Alexander McLaren, one of my favorite Scottish preachers. He said, "The primitive church thought more about the second coming of Jesus Christ and about death or about heaven. They were not looking for a cleft in the ground called a grave. But for a cleavage in the sky called glory. They were not watching for the Undertaker but for the upper taker." He nailed it. That's right. Now what I want you to notice in verse 21 is how he talks about waiting for the return of Christ. He calls it a mercy. Did you notice that? Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. So waiting for Jesus to return is waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why does he call it that? Well, think about it. The rapture of the church is one of the most merciful things God could do. To say I'm going to snatch believers up before a time of judgment on the Earth, the great tribulation period. That is like the pinnacle, the apotheosis, the consummating expression of mercy. By the way, just in case you wonder this, because I get unbelievers who say, why do you Christians always look for signs? You're always looking at signs? COVID-19 happens, you go, is this a sign for Jesus coming back? Or what's happening in Israel in the Middle East? This must be a sign. It's because the Bible conditions us to look at life that way, because he said he's coming. And he said, there's a whole list of signs that are going to happen. So naturally, we're going to start interpreting all the headlines that happen around us as, well, does that fit the biblical narrative? Is that a sign of his coming? That's part of the eager anticipation. We want to know what time it is and see if that fits in. By the way, something else. To live this way is one of the most purifying ways to live. You see, if you consider the possibility that Jesus Christ could come before I say Amen at the end of this sermon, you're going to live a different way. You're going to be pure. John said whoever has this hope, the hope of his coming, keeps himself pure just as he is pure. Though it is like my mom saying, your dad will be home soon. OK. I'll smile. I'll be good. I'll do it. I mean, there's something to be said for living in the fear of the Lord, because Jesus is going to come into very, very purifying motivation. So keep building your faith. Keep praying with fervor. Keep living in favor. Keep expecting the future. I want to close on a final ingredient, keep reaching the faithless. I'll try to make this quick. Look at the last two verses "And on some have compassion making a difference. But others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh." You know what he's talking about here? The people he's been talking about the whole book, the apostates. People who have fallen away. The defectors. The detractors. The backsliders. The people who don't want anything to do with it or perhaps are still part of the congregation. But are dug in. He's talking about them. And he's saying by these two verses, don't completely write them off. It's the easiest thing to do, shake your hands up and wipe the dust off your feet and say, they're goners. Forget them. Let them go. And he's saying not so fast. Don't dismiss them. Those who pose the greatest menace to the church can often become the greatest mission of the church. Let's think about how to rescue them back. Bring them back. Listen to James chapter five "Brethren if anyone among you wanders from the truth and somebody turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from error, the error of his way will save his soul from death. And cover a multitude of sins." So we don't write them off. We do something with. And what do we do with them? Well, it depends on the condition of their heart. Are they weak, and failing, and doubtful. Or are they just their heels are dug in. And they're obstinate. And they're just rebellious. It depends. And he seems to be talking about both kinds in these two verses. So verse 22 he's referring to the wavering, the doubting. Verse 22 "on some, have compassion making a difference or a distinction." These are people who are saved but not secure. They're converted but they're not confident. They are what Peter calls in second Peter chapter two, unstable souls. They are filled with doubt. They're filled with confusion. And the reason that they're even waffling, and wavering, and doubting, is because they've been attacked by wolves. And wolves attack sheep just like false teachers attack weak Christians, weak vacillating. Doubtful Christians are easy prey. So what do we do with those people who are unstable? Well, we don't antagonize them. We don't criticize them. We evangelize them. We don't say come on you wimp. Quit being a wimp. Men up. Follow Jesus. Now you want to have compassion on them because your compassion will make the Jesus you proclaim that much more attractive. And the false teachers will lose that attraction. So in some have compassion making a distinction. And a good example of this Jesus. Jesus on one hand, stood up and denounced the Pharisees. Woe unto you scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites. I mean, he just unloaded on them. Next chapter he's eating dinner with the Pharisee. The next chapter he's eating lunch with another Pharisee. Another time he's having an evening conversation with another Pharisee. Well, why? Why denounce them as heretical, and wrong, and arrogant, and apostate in Judaism. And yet go hang out with them? For this very reason, and it paid off. Nicodemus was a Pharisee who came to believe in Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea was a Pharisee who came to believe in Jesus, because of the compassion shown to them by Jesus himself. But then, there's verse 23. And this isn't the wavering. This speaks of the wandering one. This is a person who's left the fellowship and are a part of that apostate group already, says, "but others say with fear pulling them, or yanking them, seizing them out of the fire. Hating even the garment defiled by the flesh." You remember what the angels did in Sodom and Gomorrah with lot, remember said, get out of town. He's lingering. He's going to OK. See you guys. God bless you guys. And so an angel took him by the hand and led him out of town before that fire fell. And so was some people, you're a compassionate. With other people, you're confronting. To some people you are soft. With others who are more severe. It's like dude your house is burning, you are like, get out. And the rebuke is stronger. So it depends on the heart. But here's the bottom line. It's not falling into water that drowns a person. It's lying in it. It's staying in it. It's not falling into sin but lying in sin that will destroy the soul. So if you have fallen, you can get up. And the antidote to your falling, weather you just sort of weak and vacillating falling a little bit and doubting, that's OK. Or you've taken several steps away from God. I don't know about this. I don't know if I believe in this. I'll keep coming. But I don't-- The solution to falling is following. I challenge you today to turn around, the Bible calls that repentance, and follow the Savior. Bring to him your doubts. Bring to him your fears. Bring to him your rebellion. Confess that to him. Let him deal with it. He can handle it. He's handled a lot of people like you and I, before. Give him your life. Commit your life to Him today. Or recommits your life to Him today. Father thank you for Jude's candor, his honesty. And how he with just a few words could say, so much. And have such great meaning. What a timely letter this was to the church that read it, 2000 years ago. And what a timely message it is for us today. For we find that conditions for falling away, were never better than they are today. Lord, I pray that you would raise up faithful men and women, who proclaim, and teach, and instruct, and disciple. But Father, I pray that you would send your Holy Spirit to do that work of convicting, and drawing, and convincing, and showing your compassionate love and plan, for those who have dug their heels in. For others who have just walked away a little bit, because they're doubting, and struggling, and fearful Lord, I pray that they would feel all of them. Would feel compelled by your great love for them. We never want to dismiss anyone out of hand as being beyond reach or beyond salvation. No matter what their condition, only the true depth of the heart no matter what that person is saying to us. Or what that person is posting that we read. We don't know the heart. You do. More than that, you created the heart. More than that, you can work in a heart. More than that, you can save a soul. And we pray that you would save the souls of people whose names are already coming to mind sons, and daughters, and neighbors, and parents, friends, colleagues. Do your work in their lives. Lord, we pray for them now. And we pray for anybody who is in this room, who has taken a step away from you or maybe never has even come to you in honesty, or in legitimacy, and authenticity. They've never made a personal commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, I pray that you would do a work today. Bringing some into your kingdom. As we are about to close a service, in the last couple of minutes, if you've never given your life to Jesus, notice how I phrased that. I didn't say if you've never come to church before. You may have come to church your whole life. If you've never given your life to Jesus. If you've never personally surrendered your life to the Lord Jesus Christ control. If you are willing to do that today. If you're willing to believe that he died for your sins. That he can empower you to live a life for him. Or if you've fallen away and taken steps, whether in doubt or in rebellion. But you are willing today, to turn back to him. And to recommit to him. If any of that describes you at all and you are willing to make a decision to follow Jesus now, with our heads bowed, I want you to raise your hand up. Raise it up in the air so I can see your hand. Keep it up for just a moment. God bless you in the back and in the front. A couple of you in the middle. Raise your hand up. Over here to my right, on the side, right in the middle in the ail. Way in the back on my right. Anybody else? Raise that hand up. Raise it up high. If you're outside, raise your hand up. There's a pastor out there who will give you a shout out. Father, for all these lives, I pray special strength, special fortitude, to do what is right. To live what is right. I pray, Lord, that you would break through the barrier of whatever emotional baggage they might have. Let them feel, let them know in the depth of their being that you love them. That they are so precious to you. If they have felt separated or felt anxiety, I pray that peace would flood over their heart. In Jesus' name Amen. I'm going to ask all the stand we're going to sing a final song. And if you raise your hand, no matter where you were sitting, now standing, I'm going to ask as we sing this final song for you. Get up and find the nearest aisle. And come walk that aisle. And stand right up here. I'm going to lead you in a prayer, to make Jesus, your Lord and Savior. This is the best part of the service. We get to see Byrd. We get to celebrate God's work in you. You raise your hand, come on down and just make this public. Make it public. Make it real. Make it yours. Some of you away in the back, on the sides, come to the doors of the family room. Come down the balcony steps. Just come on all the way up to the front. Follow the courageous steps of this young man. How are you doing? What's your name? Jacob Jacob. God bless you. Come on up. Let's get around these folks. Come on. Yeah. Congratulations. So good. We like to party here. And all the angels in heaven party when one person says, yes to Jesus. When a sinner says yes to Jesus. I realize that's a free flowing translation, don't actually say they party down. But that's how I read it. They rejoice. And that's what we're doing. So-- Listen, real quickly. This is going to take long. Anyone else, if you know you need to do this. There's a spot here for you. That's great. That's good. Come on now. OK. Now those of you who have come forward, I'm going to lead you now in a prayer. I'm going to pray out loud. I'm going to ask you to pray out loud, after me. Say these words. But say them from your heart. Mean them as you say them to God. OK. Say Lord, I give you my life. I know that I'm a sinner. Please forgive me. I believe in Jesus. I believe he died on a cross. I believe he rose from the dead. And I believe he's coming again. I turn from my sin. I turn to Jesus as my Savior. I want to follow him as my Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen. Congratulations. This is Pastor Antonio. What a good looking guy he is, right Tamara? That's his wife. So would you follow pastor Antonio, right over here with some of our team members. We just want to spend a couple of minutes, give you some stuff. God bless you guys. We hope you enjoyed this special service from Calvary Church. We'd love to know how this message impacted you. Email us at mystory@CalvaryNM.church . And just a reminder, you can support this ministry with a financial gift at Calvary.churchNM.church/give . Thank you for joining us for this teaching from Calvary Church

MESSAGE SUMMARY Hiram Johnson said, "The first casualty in war is truth." God’s people have been in a cosmic battle since the fall. Satan’s first allegation against truth was in Genesis 3:1: "Has God indeed said...?" Deception regarding truth is Satan's primary occupation. We now live in what might be dubbed a post-truth culture wherein the very idea of absolute truth is considered archaic and even offensive. In this series, we will look to the "Scripture of Truth" (Daniel 10:21) to reinforce our foundation and engender biblical literacy. Here at the end of Paul's life, he could foresee the abandonment of truth, and he gave Timothy this antidote: "Preach the Word!" STUDY GUIDE Connect Recap Notes: June 14, 2020 Speaker: Skip Heitzig Teaching: "Seeing Truth Clearly" Text: 2 Timothy 4:1-8 PATH Hiram Johnson said, "The first casualty in war is truth." God's people have been in a cosmic battle since the fall. Satan's first allegation against truth was in Genesis 3:1: "Has God indeed said...?" Deception regarding truth is Satan's primary occupation. We now live in what might be dubbed a post-truth culture wherein the very idea of absolute truth is considered archaic and even offensive. In this series, Pastor Skip looks to the "Scripture of Truth" (Daniel 10:21) to reinforce our foundation and engender biblical literacy. Here at the end of Paul's life, he could foresee the abandonment of truth, and he gave Timothy this antidote: "Preach the Word!" I. Be Concerned about Knowing the Truth (vv. 1-2) II. Be Cautious about Neglecting the Truth (vv. 3-4) III. Be Careful about Nurturing the Truth (vv. 5-8) Points Be Concerned about Knowing the Truth (vv. 1-2) • The measurement doctors use to indicate normal vision is 20/20, but as we age, our vision typically changes. Spiritual vision can also change due to several factors which produce hazy vision and even blindness (see 2 Peter 1:8-9, NLT; John 9:39-41). • Spiritual blindness is a metaphor for the unwillingness or inability to see spiritual truth; spiritual acuity belongs to those that go to Jesus for help. Our culture is in crisis as cynical people question truth, as Pilate did (see John 18:38). • Paul directed Timothy on how to combat apostasy in the church. Satan has always used non truth as a tactic (see Genesis 3:1). • The first criterion for spiritual vision is a concern for knowing spiritual truth. Paul mentioned "the word" (v. 2), "teaching" (v. 2), "sound doctrine" (v. 3), and "the truth" (v. 4). Paul was calling Timothy to teach the Word—sound doctrine and the truth. • Paul mentioned truth eleven times throughout 1 and 2 Timothy. Christians are people of the truth, because Jesus is "the truth" (John 14:6). Truth is tied to doctrine—which in its simplest form means strong biblical teaching. As Christians we are accountable for our knowledge of biblical truth (see Hosea 4:6; Acts 2:42; 1 Timothy 4:13; Titus 2:1). Be Cautious about Neglecting the Truth (vv. 3-4) • Our culture has largely rejected truth for several reasons: o Sensationalism is more important than fact (e.g., modern journalism). o Truth is considered personal and is therefore variable; personal truth can shift depending on each situation. • However, we know that something is not true when it doesn't correspond to reality or human experience, and when it isn't verifiable. • If someone says, "there's no absolute truth," they are making an absolute statement, which is a self-contradictory and self-defeating declaration. We might expect this from our culture, but the passage in Timothy was not a warning for unbelievers, but for believers who were turning from the truth. • Christianity is always one generation from extinction, which starts in the pulpit when pastors who don't believe in God (research says that may be up to fifty percent of Protestant ministers) don't preach the full truth of God's Word. In a recent Gallop poll, only twenty-four percent of people believe the Bible is the literal Word of God—the lowest in a forty-year downward trend. • This problem leads to "itching ears" (v. 3) as preachers feed the desire for novelty over a need for truth. God's people are starving because pastors are pandering to itching ears. Be Careful about Nurturing the Truth (vv. 5-8) • Notice the phrase "But you..." (v. 5). Paul was calling Timothy to hold to truth and doctrine, feeding on it for himself then sharing it. • Paul directed Timothy to "preach the word" (v. 2). Preach means "to publicly proclaim." The idea of preaching refers to an imperial messenger who would make a proclamation with authority. Timothy's mission was to preach the truth of the true King—Jesus. • The Greek word for sound is related to hygiene; it's healthy to hear good, biblical teaching. True teaching promotes healing and health. As Christians, this is our calling: believe the truth, love the truth, speak the truth, teach the truth, and live the truth. Practice Connect Up: If God is truth, then Jesus and the Holy Spirit are truth as well. Discuss how the tri unity of God is also a tri-unity of truth using the following verses: • God's Word is truth (see 2 Samuel 7:28); God is truth (see Psalm 31:5); God's works are truth (see Psalm 111:7-8); God's truth is everlasting (see Psalm 117:2); Jesus is "the truth" (John 14:6); the Holy Spirit is the truth (see John 14:17, 15:26, 16:13). Connect In: God is truth, and so is His Word. How are we to walk in the truth using Scripture? Here are some points to discuss: `• Worship: Christians are to worship the Lord in "spirit and truth" (John 4:23). • Love and obey : Christians are to love and obey the truth (Psalm 145:18; Daniel 9:13). • Walk : Christians are called to walk in the truth (2 John 1:4). Connect Out: How would you explain the truth of the Bible to an unbeliever? What makes the Bible trustworthy? Consider the following points: • History: Unlike many religious books, the Bible discusses real people, places, and events. • Geography : The Bible refers to real geographical locations that can be verified. • Archaeology: The trustworthiness of the Bible is solidified with each turn of the spade. • Fulfilled prophecy: God's foreknowledge acts as His stamp of approval on future events. OUTLINE I. Be Concerned about Knowing the Truth (vv. 1-2) II. Be Cautious about Neglecting the Truth (vv. 3-4) III. Be Careful about Nurturing the Truth (vv. 5-8)

Job knows how to handle suffering -- he mourns it and grieves it. Despair and depression are normal human experiences after times of loss and are not contradictory to our faith. Disappointment, disillusionment and discouragement are God-created emotions. Even the godly can be depressed.

R1-1623 ●SLIDE # : Today I want to talk to you about what to do when the storms of life are raging. When your spouse says, “I want a divorce.” When the policeman says to you, “You are under arrest.” When you open the white envelope at work and the pink slip says, “You are no longer needed. Pick up your check and clean out your desk.” When the doctor says, “This is serious. This is life threatening.” When you open the bedroom door in the morning and your teenager is gone—and three days later you still don’t know where they are. ●SLIDE #: And it is like the hurricane has struck with full force—and the boards are flying off the house, and you feel like the glass shards from the exploding window panes are plunging deep into your body; each one penetrating with a snip of pain that you feel will never go away. And when it is over, if it ever is over, you just know that you will be left cut and bleeding—with wounds you wonder will ever heal? How many of you have ever experienced what you might describe as hurricane force winds blowing against your life? I want you to look into the eye of the hurricane—and find peace. ●SLIDE #: In our passage this morning in Revelation 14 I think we would find God saying: “When the storms of live are raging, stand by Me.” The Book of Revelation is a book about the future. It is also a book about today. First , we will apply this passage to the current storms of life. Then , we will examine seven distinct pictures in Revelation 14. This is a stormy passage. I will summarize these seven vignettes with enough background so that we know what the Word of God says about the future. Finally , we will see how these future vignettes give us insight about surviving storms of the present. ●The Storms Of Life Are Raging. ●The Storms Of Life Will Rage In The Future (Revelation 14). ●When The Storms of Life Are Raging These Seven Vignettes Help Us Survive. ●SLIDE #: When you leave here this morning, I want you to have a solid grip on how to survive and even thrive for the storms you’re in—and for the storms you are going to face. Did you know that only one couple in twenty who lose a child are still married five year later? That is a gale-force hurricane. Larry and Nancy survived. Julie and I survived. Our daughter was also named Jessica. ●SLIDE #: In our passage this morning in Revelation 14 I think we would find God saying: “When the storms of live are raging, stand by Me.” The Book of Revelation is a book about the future. It is also a book about today. Glenn and I to revelation 14. Context if you are new to Casas or to Revelation: End Times struggle where Good triumphs over Evil. World-view: Jesus takes the world back again and brings justice and soon to see a time of peace and stability with Him in control. Last 7 years. 3.5 peace. 3.5 Great tribulation with seals, trumpets and bowls. We are in an interlude after trumpets and before bowls of God’s wrath poured and all come to a sudden conclusion at the Battle of Armageddon. Let me show you the storms of the text. There are seven distinct pictures. I will summarize them with enough background so that you and I know what the Word of God says about future days. Then we will bring them home to present days. ●SLIDE #: 144,000 are saved, secure and sold-out to the Lamb (Revelation 14:1-5). ●SLIDE #: REVELATION 14:1-3: Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. ●SLIDE #: REVELATION 14:4-5: These are those who did not defile themselves with women, for they kept themselves pure. They follow the Lamb wherever he goes. They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb. No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. Representative of Christians, God’s people who sold out to Christ. Picture of salvation: Begin to sing a new song: a whole new way to look at life that no one understands. Picture of full commitment to Christ—did not defile themselves with women=spiritual adultery Fully committed because they refused to take mark in the last chapter. ●SLIDE #: The gospel is proclaimed to all the earth (Revelation 14:6-7). ●SLIDE #: REVELATION 14:6-7: Then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth-- to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water." Become Christian and want to share the gospel with the whole world. ●SLIDE #: The Babylonian system of evil and false religion is declared destroyed (Revelation 14:8). ●SLIDE #: REVELATION 14:8: A second angel followed and said, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries." When the storms of life are raging: Evil and false religion have not yet fallen. We have to fight through them. One day they will be obliterated—but not in our present life-time. ●SLIDE #: The beast worshippers in the Kingdom of Evil are eternally doomed (Revelation 14:9-11). ●SLIDE #: REVELATION 14:9-11: A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: "If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name." Don’t question why or try to figure it all out to your satisfaction. Trust God for what He said.  He is telling us the way it is—not how we would imagine or like it to be, or what seems to make the most sense. Explain gematria—but don’t’ let laborers get hung up on the numbers. ●SLIDE #: Christ followers who die in the Lord are eternally blessed (Revelation 14:12-13) ●SLIDE #: REVELATION 14:12-13: This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, "Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them." Spiritual fathers stop asking why. Jessica Yancey funeral. Good to know she died in the Lord. ●SLIDE #: The harvesting the earth is revealed (Revelation 14:14-16). ●SLIDE #: REVELATION 14:14-16: I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one "like a son of man" with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, "Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe." So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested. ●SLIDE #: The Armageddon winepress of blood is revealed (Revelation 14:17-20). ●SLIDE #: REVELATION 14:17-18: Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle. Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, "Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine, because its grapes are ripe." ●SLIDE #: REVELATION 14:19-20: The angel swung his sickle on the earth, gathered its grapes and threw them into the great winepress of God's wrath. They were trampled in the winepress outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press, rising as high as the horses' bridles for a distance of 1,600 stadia. ● SLIDE #: Hiroshima Diary by John Hersy ● SLIDE #: Map of Palestine for 180 miles. ●Your Personal Armageddon is coming. Doesn’t matter if you die in battlefield with bullets or in hospital bed with cancer. It will be your Armageddon. ●SLIDE #: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO ME TODAY? We Cannot Stand Alone. We Make Connections Or We Won’t Make It At All. When We Receive Jesus Christ As Our Personal Savior We Begin A Process Of Spiritual Growth That Leads To Safety And Security. Selling Out To Christ, At Any Price, Enables Us To Respond Predictably And Without Wavering When the Winds Begin To Blow. Contrary Winds Usually Blow Us To Something Better. ●SLIDE #: You Cannot Stand Alone. Make Connections Or You Won’t Make It At All. ●SLIDE #: Get Tattooed By Jesus Christ. ●SLIDE #: Sell Out To Christ At Any Price So You Will Respond Predictably In Each Storm Of Life. ●SLIDE #: Contrary Winds Will Often Blow You To Something Better. Peace comes with the security. ●Join the 144,000. Make a warm-hearted decision (cold-blooded) to follow Christ at any price. ●Immediately commit yourself to a process spiritual growth to close the gap from where you are to a most intimate relationship with Christ: More intimately you have closed the gap to the spirit-filled the life the more you trust God in every situation. ●Sell out to Christ at any price—so God is on your side. (You are on his side.) Settle the issue so you are not wavering and asking all the Why questions as you try to navigate the hurricane winds. You have to stay focused to survive. ●Don’t’ stand against the gale force winds alone. ●Keep up your hope. Remember that contrary winds sometimes blow you to something better. Blessed to die in the Lord. Man on island with fire out of control. We saw your fire. 000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 When the storms of life are raging, stand by me. In the midst of tribulation, stand by me. When you feel so And your friends don’t understand, When the Stand by me When you’re crossing chilly Jordan, stand by me. Don’t go through alone: 144,000 Refuse to take Mark of beast. What is mark of beast? Story of girl in Holland: If I had it all to do over again, I’d do it again for Jesus. Blood up to horses’ bridals. What calamity are you facing. It is going to really get bloody. What is God’s heart here. He wants to save as many as possible. Not good to ask all the why questions. Take it as the way it is and “stand by Me.” 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 INTRODUCTION Revelation 14 is a sort of prophetic cameo – a series of short scenes that will take place toward the end of the Tribulation. The theme that binds all the scenes together in Christ’s ultimate triumph over all the forces of evil that run rampant during the Tribulation. Revelation 12 gave us a picture of Satan’s fury toward the earth as he was cast down onto it from Heaven. The diabolical maneuverings of the two Antichrists was the theme of Chapter 13. But Chapter 14 presents a refreshing interlude in the outpouring of divine judgment upon fallen man. Here we have the adoration of the Lamb by His “sheep” on the pasture of Mount Zion; the pastoral calm of the scene provides welcome relief to the flashes of lightning and thunder which accompanied the angry judgments of God in prior chapters. I.THE LAMB AND THE 144,000 (Revelation 14:1-5) READ Revelation 14:1-5 Revelation 14 reminds us that there will be a large group of people who never gave in to the persuasions of the Beast. WHO ARE THEY? The identity of this group of 144,000 subjects has for some reason eluded many outstanding Bible scholars. Most commentators have a tendency to assume that they are identical with the 144,000 Jews for Jesus chosen from the twelve tribes described in Chapter 7. The differences between the two groups seem to limit our assuming that they are the same, particularly when one bears in mind that the scene in Chapter 14 is in heaven and that these are taken from among men, indicating they come from all nations, rather than just from among the Jews. The 144,000 found in Chapter 14 are probably the most outstanding 144,000 saints of the Church from the early days of the spread of the Gospel to the Rapture of the Church. For this consecrated and devoted service to our Master they will enjoy a special position before the throne of God from death until the glorious appearing of Christ, at which time all saints will come with Him. This position doubtless signifies that they will have great responsibility while reigning with Him during the millennial kingdom. WHAT ARE THE QUALIFICATIONS FOR THIS ELITE GROUP OF CHRISTIANS? 1.They are redeemed from the earth by faith in Christ, “having his name, and the name of his Father, written on their foreheads” (14:1b, ASV); “redeemed from the earth” (14:3b); “redeemed from among men” (14:4b). Obviously these men were first born again by receiving Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord. 2.They are morally pure. “These are they who were not defiled with women; for they are virgins” (14:4). In any case, there could well have been 144,000 in the last 1900 years plus of the Christian Church who have remained single for the Lord’s sake; having met the other qualifications they will share in that elite position with Paul, possibly John, and others. I would not insist on a literal interpretation of this expression for the following reason. Nowhere does the Bible teach that sexual intercourse in marriage is defiling. On the contrary, Hebrews 13:4 clearly announces, “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled, but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” Even the Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians 7, when encouraging consecrated young men to “abide even as I”, was doing so not for moral reasons, but that they might give themselves more completely to serving the Lord and not be encumbered with concerns for the desires and tastes of a wife. I do not find where a faithful married woman is considered any less virtuous in the Scriptures than an unmarried virgin. On the contrary, the Revelation text probably does not mean unmarried men, but men who are undefiled by women; that is, they have either kept the marriage contract or have never known a woman, and thus in the eyes of God are considered virgins. The Bible does not teach celibacy; in fact, no hint of it is found in Scripture. The Bible everywhere advocates that Christians by holy and virtuous, undefiled by the world. Misuse of sex has always been one of man’s greatest problems, infidelity and immorality one of man’s greatest temptations. Therefore the elite group of 144,000 who qualify to stand before the throne of God in Heaven are those who have kept themselves undefiled. That is, they kept their marriage vows or remained unmarried. Spiritual virgins. 3.They are obedient and available. “These are they who follow the lamb wherever he goeth” (14:4b). It is obvious that all of God’s children, in fact, all of His servants, are not completely yielded to His will. Some have known years of yieldedness and faithful service, only to go back and “walk no more with him”, whereas others have had on-again off-again periods of obedience. The elite group of 144,000 is unusually marked by obedience. Their attitude is epitomized by the statement of the Apostle Paul immediately upon recognizing Jesus, when he said, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” 4.They tell the truth. “And in their mouth was found no guile” (14:5). 5.They live blameless lives. “They are without fault” (14:5b). This does not indicate that they are perfect, for they too had to be redeemed from among men; they were lost sinners and had to be born again. It does not mean sinless perfection, that they have never sinned since their salvation, but reasserts what the Apostle Paul meant in 1 Thessalonians 2:10 when he said, “Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblamably we behaved ourselves among you that believe.” These are men who, in their desire to serve Jesus Christ and walk with Him, leaned on His power to live holy, consecrated lives. THE SONG They will sing a new song which no man can learn save the 144,000 (14:3). These two rewards suggest that they will enjoy a special relationship with God the Son and God the Father from the time of their death after a life of faithful, holy service until they come with Christ to the earth,. No one could learn that song but the 144,000 because it’s a joyous testimony of the miraculous and preserving grace of God through the horrors of the Tribulation. This song will be a hymn of praise to the mighty sustaining power of God for believers in times of great trial. I have talked with Christians in many parts of the world, but there’s something really different about a Christian who has gone through tremendous trials of life. A person like this is very grateful to God for holding him up during his testing, and radiates a joy that you just don’t find in most other Christians. These joyful believers are able to share a message which really encourages you! II.THE ANGEL PROCLAIMING THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL (Revelation 14:6-7) Toward the end of the Tribulation period this Jewish evangelization will be followed by a phenomenon never before seen in the history of the word – angels, preaching the gospel to men! The phenomenon is described in verses 6 through 11. God will proclaim one last all-out offer of grace before He buries the world under an avalanche of final judgment. Three angels will fly through the atmosphere above the earth proclaiming the “everlasting gospel”. Verse 6 introduces the first of five angels who convey a special message concerning the middle of the end time, or Tribulation Period. READ REVELATION 14:6-7 Now we find an angel flying in mid-heaven (explain) proclaiming this eternal gospel. It is astounding that an angel is commissioned to go forth preaching the everlasting Gospel, for the preaching of the Gospel has not been committed to angels but to men. This astounding state of affairs could only be an indication of the severity of the circumstances. (Or possibly the failure of man to fully carry out the will of God in this area as well, Roger?  -Tom) This should not take us by surprise, for when the Babylonian influence of the Church was greatest during the Dark Ages, millions of Christians were persecuted to death. This period of history is well named the “Inquisition”. An overwhelming majority of believers will be eliminated; this few will remain to propagate the Gospel after the middle of the Tribulation Period. Angels warned Lot in Sodom and rescued him there from doom. The law on Sinai was ministered by angels (Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19) and especially by one – possibly Michael (Exodus 23:20-23; 33:2). Jehovah distinctly declares of this angel “my name is in him,” although Moses was not permitted to know him (Exodus 33:12). He will declare this eternal gospel by the mouth of a mighty angel, who, flying “in mid heaven” all over the earth, will proclaim to every creature, in words understandable, and unmistakable, that the hour of God’s judgment has come; bidding men to turn quickly to the Creator of them, and of all things! We must remember that one of the signs which were to precede the end was that the Gospel of the kingdom would be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations (Matthew 24:14). Here is the fulfillment of that prophecy. The angel comes with the message of the gospel to all races and tribes and tongues and peoples. The earth is to be given a final opportunity to accept or to reject Jesus Christ. THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL What is the everlasting Gospel? Is this a different gospel than that preached today? On the basis of the Word of God, absolutely not! This is the same gospel that we preach, the same that was “once delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). In like manner, this angel will warn the people to fear God instead of Antichrist, to give glory to God instead of Antichrist, and he will instruct them how to do it. Otherwise, he would be proclaiming a message of doom instead of good tidings. The word “Gospel” means “good tidings”, and the only way we can offer men eternal good tidings is to show them how to receive the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. A message concerning the judgment of God is only a partial presentation of the Gospel of Christ. The complete story of the Gospel not only clarifies that man is a sinner, but according to 1 Corinthians 15:3,4 also includes God’s remedy for sin through Christ, who died for our sins “according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day.” III.THE FALL OF BABYLON (Revelation 14:8) READ Revelation 14:8 Verse 8 looks ahead to another scene near the end of the Tribulation period and speaks of Babylon falling twice. Babylon as used in the Bible represents both a false religious system and the capital city of the one-world government – Rome. Revelation 17 and 18 make both of these identifications. Future studies will reveal that the two Babylons begun by Nimrod in the city of Babylon, which have brought more misery and heartache on humanity than any other concepts, will be destroyed in the end times. More individuals have been ruined in the plan of God for their lives because of the two Babylons than for any other reason. These two Babylons begun by Nimrod are (1) false religion, which emphasizes idolatry and (2) commercialization, which causes men to become materialistically oriented. These concepts that are playing such havoc in the world today will be destroyed – one in the middle of the Tribulation Period by Antichrist, the other at the end by the supernatural hand of God. Chapter 17 – The false religious system is characterized by the ancient city of Babylon because it’s a religion based on the black magic, witchcraft, and astrology which originated in ancient Babylon. This religion will have its headquarters in Rome during the first half of the Tribulation period. As a religious system, Babylon will be destroyed about three and a half years before Christ returns to Earth. The Antichrist will get bugged with the system and destroy it because it rakes the world’s religious attentions off himself. That’s the first fall of Babylon. Chapter 18 – Then, during the great war that breaks out in the Middle East toward the end of the second half of the Tribulation, the city of Rome (which will be the capital city of the world and of Antichrist), will be completely blown to bits in a thermonuclear holocaust in one hour’s time. This is the second fall of Babylon and is the destruction of the greatest economic and commercial center of all time. IV.ETERNAL DOOM FOR BEAST WORSHIPPERS (Revelation 14:9-11) READ Revelation 9-11 We have already seen that during the Tribulation Period a man will be required to worship the Antichrist image and receive his mark (666) in his forehead or his hand. When a man does this, he will “drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation”; that is, he will have turned his back on God’s method of salvation and taken to himself man’s method. This will incur the displeasure of Almighty God and bring upon men judgment and destruction. This is only one of the many passages in the Bible that clearly teaches eternal suffering of the damned. I don’t enjoy teaching eternal damnation for lost men, but as a faithful teacher of the Word, I can do nothing else. Satan tries to discredit the Word of God and minimize the importance of turning from one’s sin to the Lord Jesus Christ, and he does not lack for false teachers to assist him in deceiving men. Many today attempt to teach a non-judgment concept, including the annihilationists. These heretics take many forms in the various cults and “isms” of our day. I wish I could report that the Bible teaches that Hell is a place when men will suffer for a little while and then be burned up, never to be remembered again, or where they will be given a second chance to get into heaven, but I could not be honest to the Word of God and make such a statement. Not the slightest suggestion of this is found in the Bible, nor does it hint of a second chance after death! The Bible presents no picture other than that the lake of fire is absolutely eternal and that the populace of the lake of fire will be “tormented day and night forever and ever.” The Angelic Warning of the Eternal Doom of the Beast-Worshippers He withdraws all mercy forever – the wine of His wrath that these shall drink will be “unmixed”, unmingled with any compassion whatsoever. It will be in “the cup of His anger” that His wrath will be served out to them. The impenitent daily and hourly “treasure up for themselves wrath in the day of wrath”: but God withholds His anger. He waits. He suffers long and is kind. But “why may stand in Thy sight when once thou art angry?” (Psalm 76:7).         The same verse that says “love is strong as death” declares “jealousy is cruel as Sheol”. The creature of this human race for whom His Son died who turns his back on God whose name is Love, and chooses His enemy, the old serpent and murderer – God plainly tells us what he will do with him! He shall have “indignation forever”! Consider the carefully described means of visitation upon such: “tormented with fire and brimstone”. Brimstone is the most terrible substance known in its action upon human flesh – in its torment when it touches the body. Combined with fire it is absolute agony, unutterable anguish! And it is meant to be so: for it will be the infliction of divine vengeance unlimited. Consider the onlookers. “In the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb”! Vast, “innumerable hosts” of those holy servants of God who watched the fearful choice of these now-doomed humans, for whom, to the angelic astonishment, the Son of God once tasted death, men that hated love and despised holiness: all the countless millions of angels are there, in deep, awful, and holy approval of the divine sentence – for their God has done this! And in the presence of the Lamb! Oh, where in the universe is such a sight? Mercy is gone forever if the Lamb stands there – and He will! Consider the duration: “The smoke of their torment (compare Genesis 19:24,28) goeth up for ever and ever.” And its unceasingness. V.A GLORIOUS ALTERNATIVE: THE BLESSED STATE OF TRIBULATION SAINTS (Revelation 14:12-13) READ Revelation 14:12-13 “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord” is the tremendous alternative of going to hell. Those who have received Jesus Christ into their lives need not fear death at all. For them death is just as entrance into the real destination of their lives on Earth – Heaven! One of the consistent chords of the Scripture is the concept that present-day sufferings are inconsequential in view of the eternal blessings prepared for them that love the Lord. The principle that “their works do follow them” is a blessed truth to the child of God. The Word clearly teaches that our investment of faithfulness to Jesus Christ today will earn eternal dividends. This conforms with the Savior’s challenge to “lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth or rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matthew 6:20). The Tribulation saints will be given special blessings for their faithfulness to Christ during that awful time of tribulation. Alistair Maclean somewhere tells of a Highland woman who through no fault of her own was reduced to living in the squalor of a city slum. One went to her and sympathized with her that life had treated her so unjustly. Her answer was, “God will make it up to me, and I will see the flowers again.” There can never be any doubt of the ultimate bliss and joy of those who come to the end still one with Christ, and the sterner the battle has been, and more heartbreaking the sorrow has been, and the more exhausting the toil has been, the dearer will be the joy and the sweeter the bliss at the end of it all. VI.THE VISION OF THE HARVEST OF THE EARTH (Revelation 14:14-16) READ Revelation 14:14-16 This is the Separation of Unbelievers from Believers. The first vision of a harvest (verses 14-16) uses terminology what would be applicable to the reaping of wheat. It’s personally superintended by the “Son, of man” who, as predicted in a parable by Jesus. Is careful to gather in all the wheat and keep it separate from the tares. The parable reads as follows: “The harvest is the end of the age: and the reapers are the angels. Therefore, just as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. The Son of man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His Kingdom things that cause stumbling, and those who practice lawlessness, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Fathers” (Matthew 13:49-43) (49-43? This is what the original said. Did you mean 39-43?  -Tom) This parable explains the first vision. Jesus does not do the dividing Himself but instead carefully supervises the separation of wheat and tares so that not one believer (wheat) is judged with the tares (unbelievers). This separating work is done by angels and happens just prior to the Lord’s triumphant reappearance back to the earth at the end of the Tribulation. The day of grace is ended at this point. Fates are forever sealed; there is no more chance for the unbelieving. VII.THE VISION OF THE VINE OF THE EARTH AND THE WINEPRESS OF BLOOD (Revelation 14:17-20) READ Revelation 14:17-20 “Let the nations bestir themselves, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat. There will I sit to judge all the nations round about. Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision” (Joel 3:12-14). The second vision which John the Apostle say (verses 17-20) is very different from the first. The Son of man doesn’t superintend this reaping. This harvest is done by an angel from the Temple of heaven. The symbol is that of a reaping for a vintage of wrath. All the clusters of grapes that are gathered in the harvest are cast into “the great winepress of the wrath of God”. This indicates that there’s no separation to be done here – all are unbelievers destined for Hell. The place of this great judgment helps identify the ones being judged. God’s great winepress of judgment is said to be “outside the city”. “The city” could only be Jerusalem. So “ground zero” of God’s most awful judgment is just outside Jerusalem. Zechariah gives us prophetic insight about this. As he predicts the last great war before the Second Coming of the Messiah, he gives us God’s words: “I will gather all nations against Jerusalem…” (Zech. 14:2). Then he adds, “The Lord shall go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle” (14:3). Messiah to Jerusalem’s Rescue The armies of all nations will be gathered together in the area of Israel, especially around Jerusalem. Think of it: at least 200 million soldiers from the Orient, with millions more from the forces of the West headed by the Antichrist of the Revived Roman Empire (Western Europe). Messiah Jesus will first strike those who have ravaged His city, Jerusalem. Then He will strike the armies amassed in the valley of Meggido, or Armageddon. No wonder blood will stand to the horses’ bridles for a distance of 200 miles from Jerusalem! (Revelation 14:20). It’s grisly to think about such a carnage. From the point where the Valley of Armageddon slopes down to the Jordan Valley southward down the Valley through the Dead Sea to the port of Elath of the Gulf of Aqabah measures approximately 200 miles. Apparently this whole valley will be filled with war materials, animals, bodies of men, and blood. Ah, such a fearful sight. Rivers of human blood “unto the bridles of the horses”! Yet it will be. If Josephus could say that when Jerusalem was taken by Titus, the Roman soldiers “obstructed the very lanes with dead bodies; and made the whole city run down with blood, to such a degree indeed that the fires of many of the houses was quenched with these men’s blood” (Wars: 6, 8) – what folly to doubt this word of God that a river of blood will run when the Son of God tramples the nations of all the earth in the Almighty’s anger! CONCLUSION In concluding this chapter, we must stress that the prediction that Christ will bring judgment on the earth comes only after three angelic warnings: (1) in the preaching of the everlasting gospel; (2) in the warning that the Babylonian religion will eventually be destroyed; and (3) in the assurance that the worshippers of the Antichrist will be judged in this life and the life to come. We can only conclude that those who are thus harvested and pressed into the winepress of the wrath of God are the incorrigibles who stumble over all kinds of divine warning against following Antichrist. This tragic picture of the culmination of all things is another indication of the depravity of the human heart. Wish such supernatural warnings one would think that ungodly men would fall down and worship Jesus Christ, but nothing could be further from the truth. This is another reminder to us that when men reject the Lord, their problem is one of the will. =   =   =   =   =

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.