20 AUGUST 2006: 2Oth CENTURY IDOLATRY - A Subject We Must Talk About!

PASTOR'S NOTE:

Many of the messages presented on this site had considerable impromtu content at the time of delivery; spiritual imagination is a plus while reading them.

TOPIC: Worldliness; candlestick, church, denial, greed, idolatry, materialism

TITLE: 20th CENTURY IDOLATRY – A Subject We Must Talk About!

TEXT: Revelation 2:1-7

To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: The One who holds the seven stars in His right hand, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands, says this: 'I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you can-not tolerate evil men, and you put to the test those who call them-selves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; and you have perseverance and have endured for My name's sake, and have not grown weary.

‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

‘Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place--unless you repent.

‘Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.'

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What things stand out in this passage?
CONCISE OUTLINE:

THE THINGS THE LORD ...

I. FOUND AMONG THE EPHESIANS STAND OUT!
II. DID NOT FIND AMONG THE EPHESIANS STAND OUT!
III. PROMISES GIVEN TO EPHESIANS (if they don't repent) STAND OUT!

TRUTH/CONTEXT: I’ve already mentioned several times that the Bride of Christ in the West seems to be taking a siesta.

Today I want to speak prophetically to the members of the Bride of Christ assembled here.

As the prophet said, “Come; let us reason together” about this ... materialism is not where I’m going today … though it is one of the 20th Century’s worst idolatries and does play a part.

No, I will address the substitution of secular fulfillment for godly fulfillment, man’s fulfillment for God’s fulfillment, human fulfillment for divine fulfillment.

The apostle John warned us long ago …

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

1 John 2:15-16

Some might say that doesn’t apply to me, I don’t have anything. Others might say, I give a huge percentage of my income to the church. A few more may say, we live very humbly, we don’t covet anything and give most of what we gain to Christian causes around the world.

James says,

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

James 4:4

Let’s look at this together. The quickest and most certain way to identify what a man (and I’m talking primarily to you men) loves more than God is to deliberately and intentionally begin to separate the things of the world he covets from him (note: not the other way around).

I might start with the fishermen and their boats. I might suggest to some that we meet at the houses they’ve built or the houses they are building. Others we might travel to their main homes in the states. Still others we might just go over to their liquor cabinets or their Lazy Boy and check out what they read or what they watch.

With me I’d start with my computer or my library or the refrigerator.

And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceit-fulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Matthew 13:22

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

Matthew 6:19

The church is imitating secular society at an alarming rate. Increasingly we are adopting secular views that seem good and feel good; gleaning, as it were, here and there, as the world’s spirit moves us, ignoring the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth!

The church is pointing fingers everywhere for the cause of her powerlessness, everywhere but at herself.

[SNOWFLAKE] Remember, in an avalanche, one snowflake can not say to another snowflake, “I’m not a part of this as they both roar down upon their victims.”

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Matthew 6:24-25

[ERASER WORD] An Internet friend recently told me of an eraser word: the word “but.” He says, rightly, that we can heap wheelbarrows of praise upon someone and then erase it all by continuing with the word “but.” The word “but,” he said, when used in discourse erases everything which precedes it.

Notice what God does in our text. "I know your deeds and your toil …" then notice the Lord erases it all with one word, "but." Ouch!

"But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 'Therefore remember …"

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What things stand out in this passage?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:

I. THINGS THE LORD FOUND AMONG THE EPHESIANS STAND OUT!

A. Re Their Industry

1. “your deeds” (i.e., works)
2. “your toil” (i.e., earnest & difficult works)
3. “your perseverance” (i.e., works in face of opposition)

B. Re Their Integrity

1. “cannot tolerate evil men” (i.e., they openly oppose them)
2. “put to the test” false apostles (i.e., they check to see if they agree that Christ came in the flesh, if He was raised from the dead, can they say He is Lord)
3. “you have”

a) “perseverance” (for My name’s sake)
b) “endured for My name’s sake”
c) “not grown weary”

II. THINGS THE LORD DID NOT FIND AMONG THE EPHESIANS STAND OUT!

A. Christ’s Reaction …

1. “But” the Lord is not impressed. [V. 4]
2. The word “alla”; “but” or “yet” -- an eraser word.
3. Clearly these were not what the Lord wanted to find

B. Christ’s Suggestion …

1. “Remember from where you have fallen”
2. “repent”
3. “do the deeds you did at first”

C. Christ’s Limitation …

1. “unless you repent”
2. expect to have “your lampstand removed …"

III. THE THINGS THE LORD PROMISES TO EPHESIANS (if they don't repent) STAND OUT!

A. Christ will come
B. And remove your lampstand out of its place

APPLICATION/CHALLENGE: I see the lampstand removed from most of what is called the American church and the Canadian church is in even worse shape … pew people are hungry for something that “works” as long as it doesn’t come with commitment, responsibility, or accountability.

What is it that Jesus has against this fine church? He says, because “you have left your first love.”

I posted the following to the RedBlueChristian blog yesterday …

In the midst of suffering, pain, poverty and HIV/AIDS, there is joy unspeakable. Nothing can hold it down; it spills out in hours of worship, in the daily grind of life, and while driving along roads with potholes the locals call “Hippo ponds” they are so deep…but there is always joy.

The East African Revival is alive and well; millions are coming to Christ in the midst of grinding poverty. Evangelists fan out across Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania with barely enough money to survive, bringing the Good News of Jesus to tribal groups, Islamic communities and to anyone who will listen.

That - the Good News of Jesus - my friend, is what heals the sick, gives sight to the blind, feeds the poor, and sets the captives free!

There’s been a lot of talk around the church this past year, talk about poverty and other social issues, war and how to resolve them … that’s all well and good, when what you want is to reverse the order of the two Great Commands [Matthew 22:37-40]:

The New Great Command is “you shall love your neighbors with all our heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind; and the new second is like it, you shall love your God as yourself.” [The New Good News]

We will not solve sin’s problems through the programs or the institutions of man! We will only solve those problems when we heal the man … we must learn to do what our East African brothers and sisters have learned - “apart from Me you can do nothing” [John 15:5c].

Heal the man and you’ll heal his leaders, heal his leaders and you’ll heal his land. My apology to Rick Warren, but this is already a purpose driven world, one purposefully intent on defying God and His kingdom.

I have said this before …

[CHOICE] A thermometer reflects the temperature of the room; a thermostat adjusts the temperature for the room.

God has too many children who are more like thermometers than thermostats; what he needs is a house full of the latter.

Like Rip Van Winkle, the church is asleep … when or if it awakens the world will be so hostile to her that she will find herself an impo-tent representative of an omnipotent God.

Michael Spenser said …

Our culture reflects a nation running so hot on relativism, material-ism, voyeurism, and depravity that it’s screaming for those who have the courage to march on the wall of opposition. We need those with guts enough to adjust our nation’s temperature, rather than giving in to the pressure to reflect it.

He said elsewhere …

[Christians] should come to terms with this: they are in every way vir-tually identical to suburban, white, upper middle class American cul-ture. They are not as bad as the worst of that culture, but they are in-creasingly like the mainstream of that culture and are blown about by every wind of that consumerized and materially addicted culture.

[so] In fact, go to many evangelical churches and the culture is so present, so affirmed,preached and [so] taught that one would assume that there is nothing whatsoever counter cultural about the affirmation that Jesus is Lord.

[…]

The DNA of our religion can be passed on in books and other forms of written communication, but how do we live the life of a Christian?

This is the question of “Spiritual formation”…. How do we “form” our children into disciples? How do we bring them to the place of choosing Christian identities? How can we influence them toward the forms of Christian life, practice and worship that bring authentic Christianity into this generation, and prepare to move it on into the next?

In other words, what is it about the visible expression of our faith that will have the greatest ROI? A life lived without hypocrisy. A life that is simply what God wants it to be … totally devoted to Him. Consider Christ’s words …

And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRE-CEPTS OF MEN.' Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.”

Mark 7:6-8

When, not if, Christ visits SCCC I pray we never hear Him say “well done My good and faithful servants, but ….”

General TAGS: Homoletics,
Preaching, Sermons

Specific TAGS: Church, Denial,
Fulfillment, Materialism, Revelation, Worldliness

13 AUGUST 2006: THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST – Going Down to Our House Justified!

TOPIC: Righteousness; justification, humility, holiness, blamelessness

TITLE: THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST – Going Down to Our House Justified!

TEXT: Luke 18:9-14

And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt: "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!' I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

And a companion verse ...

"He has done mighty deeds with His arm; He has scattered those who were proud in the thoughts of their heart."

Luke 1:51

TRUTH/CONTEXT: There are three things we need to see about this person who "trusts in himself that he is righteous" ...

First, his righteousness is moral.
Second, his righteousness is religious.
Third, he believes his righteousness is the gift of God. [Source: John Piper]

Some other things we should notice ...

NOTICE THE REASON – Jesus gives the reason for this parable right up front: "some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt." [v. 9]
NOTICE THERE ARE TWO OF EVERYTHING - two men, two prayers, two sinners, two attitudes (one exalts self. other humbles self), and two end results
NOTICE THE LESSON - God's ways are not man's ways; God's observations are not like man's observations [Isaiah 55:7-9]

Consider man's age old problem:

[#1 BOOK] About 30 years ago there was a book that was all the rage in the business world among the shakers and the movers, Looking Out for Number One.

[VANITY PLATES] When personalized license plates were introduced in Illinois, the Department of Motor Vehicles received over 1,000 requests for the number "1". The state official whose job it was to approve requests said, "I am not about to assign it to someone and disappoint a thousand people." What was his solution? He assigned the number to himself.

[MORE ROOM] A little boy and a little girl were riding a mechanical horse in a shopping mall. The little boy, who was riding in front, turned to the little girl and said, "If one of us would get off, there would be more room for me."

Nowhere is man's creativity more apparent than in his ability to discover new and original ways to commit the original sin.

It all began in the Garden of Eden when the devil convinced Adam and Eve that he had found a way for them to move God over and become "Number 1."

Man looks for ways to be first on everyone else's priority list, first in line, first at the checkout counter, first on the highway, the first ones getting out of the parking lot. But these are mere symptoms of the real transgression. In the case of Christians, our creativity as original sinners is revealed most clearly when we look for ways to have the disciple’s gain but not the disciple’s pain.

More and more I am witnessing Christians with an identity crisis ... not only do they not seem to know if they are Christians but they don’t seem to understand the simplest of concepts about their new life in Christ. This passage is a key passage for our understanding of righteousness and justification.

You'll need to turn to Romans chapter 3 to follow my line of thinking this morning; join me there, won't you?

The fear of the Lord is actually where it all begins ... when Paul spoke of the "all" in "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" [Romans 3:23], Paul has just concluded an enormous condemnation [Romans 3:9-18] of "all" mankind with these words - "there is no fear of God before their eyes" [this is an OT quote - Psalms 36:1] ... just prior to this he had made clear that "there is neither Greek nor Jew" [v.9]. What does that mean?

It means a summation ... Paul has just finished this litany of condemnation of mankind and Psalms 36:1 comes to mind, and he adds it as an exclamation point.

When a sinner first realizes God's opinion of his condition, he is either left empty, destitute, bankrupt, broken, and all alone to deal with it or he is lifted up in pride and personal affront ... an honest man will turn to the heavens and cry out in the fear of the Lord; the ungodly will not, he will turn to his own god "self."

I am slowly beginning to believe there is little hope for the proud ... for recognizing his lack, he wastes no time with confession! Rather he immediately constructs an explanation for why he doesn’t really understand and rationalizes his responsibility and ignores the teaching of God.

"Being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness." [Romans 10:3]

What will turn this tide? Today the church is full of Pharisees looking down their noses at others deemed less enlightened. People who construct rules and regulations, policies and programs, constitutions and creeds to hide their own prideful deficiencies ... all the while looking down on those who disagree; those who, they've been unable to recreate in their own image.

But ... "beating his breast" the humble man cries out, "Oh God, be merciful to me, the sinner." This one God will exalt and “he will go down to his house,” reckoned righteous with the righteousness of Christ Jesus!

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: How’re we to see Paul’s condemnation of man?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:

I. FIRST WE SHOULD SEE THE CONTEXT

Rom 3:9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin;

II. WE THEN SHOULD SEE THE FINAL SCORE

Rom 3:10, 11 as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;

The score is God infinitely good and righteous; man zero.

III. WE THEN SHOULD SEE OUR WORTH

Rom 3:12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.

IV. NEXT WE SHOULD SEE OUR PHYSICAL CONDITION

Rom 3:13, 14 THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING, THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS; WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS";

V. WE SHOULD ALSO SEE OUR WALK WITHOUT GOD

Rom 3:15-17 THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN.

VI. AND FINALLY WE SHOULD SEE THE REASON FOR THIS

Rom 3:18 "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES."

APPLICATION/CHALLENGE: The ungodly comes to "know of God" and, in the absence of understanding His Creator's plan for man, he creates a doctrine his ignorance can live with, and then looks down his nose at those who are not likewise enlightened.

God's program seems a perplexing conundrum, locked up in an unprovable enigma, yet it is to be accepted by trust alone.

Here again is something being turned on its head, that which is of God and toward God is demoted and replaced by something that is of man and toward man. Like the Great Command and the Second Great Command being reversed in this perverse thing we call church.

God gave the humble man the mercy he sought ... and he "went down to his house justified."

"Justification is the work of God where the righteousness of Jesus is reckoned to the sinner so the sinner is declared by God as being righteous under the Law (Romans 4:3; 5:1, 9; Galatians 2:16; 3:11)." - CARM

The tax collector was unlike the Pharisee: the one took Christ's righteousness as his own, not acknowledging his continued sinful human condition [Romans 7]; while the other knew he had no righteousness of his own, being steeped in sin, so he pled for God's continued mercy since he knew he could not avoid his evil ways [again Romans 7].

"[The parable] is not saying that he is trusting in himself to make himself righteous. No. He says explicitly he is thanking God for that. He is not trusting in himself to make himself righteous. He is trusting in himself that he is righteous with the righteousness that God has worked in him.

One thing is the issue: This man was morally upright. He was religiously devout. He believed God had made him so. He gave thanks for it. And that is what he looked to and trusted in for his righteousness before God - for his justification. And he was dead wrong." [Piper]

Like the singer who receives a beautiful voice as a gift from God, it is the ability to sing that is received, not the voice, the voice is hers; but the righteousness given to us by God is not ours, it was and is Jesus Christ's righteousness - it is His death, His burial, His resurrection, and it is His righteousness.

Christ alone, the faith He delivered to us alone, and the grace He delivered to us alone! Bottom-line, the Pharisee is as he is because there was and "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE HIS EYES!"

The religionist, and that is what the Pharisee is, commits at least three sins:

First, he's lost sight of the Giver, by reducing "life in Christ" to behavioral rule book.
Second, in reducing God's great claims upon us to manageable rules; he then loses sight of the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man.
Third, having lost sight of our holy God and his own unholiness, the selfrighteous religionist becomes judgmental of others. [paraphrase of Piper]

So, why do you wait for others to beat their breasts ... is your pride interfering with your humility? Why wait for revival to begin in others, start with yourself!

Beat your breast, cry out to God, proclaim your uselessness and your sinfulness, plea for His mercy each day, hang your head shame … but then walk from your prayer closet and proclaim the excellent mercies of God, "in His marvelous light," and walk with your head held high, knowing you are a child of the King.

RELATED LINKS: CRIB Sermons

GENERAL TAGS: Homoletics, Preaching, Sermons

SPECIFIC TAGS: Gospel, Holiness, Humility, Justification, Luke,
Pharisaism, Pride, Righteousness, Self-centeredness, Sinfullness

6 AUGUST 2006: THE KINGDOM OF GOD: Fighting For the Right Kingdom!

TOPIC: Kingdom of God; Christians, Position, World, Worldliness

TITLE: THE KINGDOM OF GOD - Fighting For the Right Kingdom!

TEXT: John 18:36 (see also 8:23)

Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm."

And He was saying to [the Jews], "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world."

John 8:23

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: If indeed we are in the world but not of it ... yet the world is going nuts ... in what way does this verse affect you and I?
CONCISE OUTLINE:

I. IF OUR KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD, THEN NEITHER IS OUR WAR, OUR BATTLE, OUR ENEMY, OR OUR PEACE!

II. IF OUR KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD, THEN NEITHER ARE OUR PRIORITIES OR OUR POSSESIONS!

III. IF OUR KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD, THEN NEITHER IS OUR VICTORY OR OUR REWARD!

TRUTH/CONTEXT: Two kinds of kingdoms are acknowledged here ... one of this world, and one of another "realm"! The two then are not the same. As long as the world exists, we will not defeat it.

[BIKE RACE] There's a bicycle race in India; its object is to go the shortest distance within a set time. At the start of the race, everyone cues up at the line; when the gun sounds the contestants try to stay put; racers are disqualified if they tipped over or a foot touches the ground. When time is up, the one closest to the starting line wins.

Imagine not understanding how the race works. When the race starts, you pedal as hard and fast as you possibly can, except you are unquestionably the loser; you misunderstood how the race is run.

God has given us His rule book for the race of life. Many of us have misunderstood how the race is run. The finish line is on the other side of death, right in front of His throne. There we'll be rewarded for our life in this world. [Wood, hay, stubble, gold, silver, and precious stones, 1 Corinthians 3:10-15]

The winning strategy is to care for others, not self. It's letting others go first, not pushing up front. It's giving without the expectation of getting in return. It's to be humble, like Jesus. [Leith Anderson, author and pastor of Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota; from sermon "The Height of Humility" (September 12, 1999); cited in Perfect Illustrations for Every Topic and Occasion © 2002 by Christianity Today International]

Those of you who are trying to build a Kingdom of God on earth are like the Jews who were looking for a military Messiah. You're fighting for the wrong Kingdom of God which means you are fighting for the wrong king.

Abortion, Israel, GWOT, school prayer, red or blue state elections, SCOTUS appointments, etc.; unless it's a ministry and/or a calling of the Lord, it's pure vanity ... "apart from Me you can do nothing"! [John 15:5]

[BARNES (araphrase)] Jesus was a king, only He wanted dominion over the eternal soul of man, not the land on which he stood; He wanted His subjects to subdue their passions and desires, and follow Him; and He wanted them to bring their hearts to a unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace, but not a peace of or in this world.

He was in the world but not of the world; and since we abide in Him we are likewise not of this world. [Romans 6]

We must, therefore, learn to understand this Kingdom of God, appropriate its reality, and work out our citizenship in the army of the Lord while remaining in but not of this world.

No matter what this world and its kingdoms do in war or in peace ... we are not to spend a great deal of time as a part of it!

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: If indeed we are in the world but not of it ... yet the world is going nuts ... in what way does this verse affect you and I?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:

I. IF OUR KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD, THEN NEITHER IS OUR WAR, OUR BATTLE, OUR ENEMY, OR OUR PEACE!

Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Matthew 10:34

In the garden ...

Simon Peter then, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's slave, and cut off his right ear; and the slave's name was Malchus. So Jesus said to Peter, "Put the sword into the sheath; the cup which the Father has given Me, shall I not drink it?"

John 18:10, 11

Jesus is saying to Peter He wants nothing to interfere with His destiny and besides He wants the apostles to take up "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." [Ephesians 6:17]

So when Paul says in Ephesians 6:12 ...

... our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

He means quite literally, our kingdom is not of this world.

I. IF OUR KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD THEN NEITHER ARE OUR PRIORITIES OR OUR POSSESIONS!

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

Matthew 6:33

Christ is teaching us to not fear from where or when the necessities of life will come but rather focus on first things first and let God supply our needs.

Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Romans 14:16-17

Paul is teaching the Romans they must set aside that which is of self and sustain that which is of others! [Philippians 2]

But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Revelation 2:4

What is your first love? "The Lord your God …[with all your being]!"

[FIRST SHAFT] A small company in the early days of gold mining in South Africa sank shaft after shaft in different locations, finding only a small amount of gold in each shaft. Ultimately, the prospectors discovered they only needed to go deeper in the first shaft. When they did, they found abundant gold oar.

Roy Hession writes that he has found this to be true in the spiritual life also: "I testify that although I have tried all sorts of different shafts, hoping for greater results in my life, Christ has now become the end of all my searching.

"Revival for me has meant coming back to the place where I first began, and I intend to stay there. Tell me not of any other way. I need to go deeper at His cross ... much deeper."

III. IF OUR KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD THEN NEITHER IS OUR VICTORY OR OUR REWARD!

"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

John 16:33

For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith. Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

1 John 5:4-5

"Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets."

Luke 6:23

[REAL SAVINGS] A man gave several thousand dollars to help build a church. Then the Stock Market crash of 1929 came; he lost everything. Someone said, "If you had that money you gave to the church, you’d have enough to set yourself up in business again."

He replied, "I would have lost that money, too, in the crash. As it is, it is the only money I saved. It is now in the bank of heaven, yielding interest which will accumulate until eternity."

Hundreds have come to Christ through the church he helped build. [NOTE: mention the true story of the man's heirs in Michigan, who sued his church to get his tithes back … they lost.]

APPLICATION/CHALLENGE: A theologically confused mega-church pastor (not that one) said something very profound ... I'd like to share it with you ...

"When the church wins the culture wars, it inevitably loses. When it conquers the world, it becomes the world. When you put your trust in the sword, you lose the cross." [NYTimes article: Church Shrinks from Controversial Pastor’s Focus on Things Above]

I would add, when we become Christ, the world may become Him too!

[RADIO] If you would like to see this really lived out, in truth, go see the movie Radio. His genuine selflessness inspired a whole town. Other people’s power, privilege, position, politics, or possessions meant nothing to Radio.

Likewise, when we reach the heavenly shores, the true kingdom of God, our achievements won’t matter. What God cares about is the substance of our lives: whether focused on things above or on things of this world.

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

Colossians 3:1-4

[iMonk: MICHAEL SPENCER] "The point at the end of it all is the expansion of the churches themselves and the ability of individual Christians to live in support of the church as the proper end of the earthly Christian life."

He explains what he means ...

"I am suggesting, therefore, that the increasing interest in the culture war among evangelicals is not an example of a reinvigorated evangelicalism remaking its culture. Instead, I believe the intense focus by evangelicals on political and cultural issues is evidence of a spiritually empty and unformed evangelicalism being led by short-sighted leaders toward a mistaken version of the Kingdom of God on earth."

And so we find today, upon close and honest examination, a church in the West so weakened by its worldliness that the believers who attend to it are powerless and want to know, "Why?"

In the words of Pogo, "We have met the enemy, and he is us!"

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GENERAL TAGS: Homoletics, Preaching, Sermons

SPECIFIC TAGS: Christianity, Culture decay, Culture war,
iMonk, Kingdom of God, Victory, World, Worldlimess