29 OCTOBER 2006: WONDER OF WONDERS – Awe and Mystery In God’s Presence

TOPIC: Wonder (of God) [Awe; Majesty; Mystery]; Christmas
TITLE: WONDER OF WONDERS – Awe and Mystery In God’s Presence [Adaption of Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening, “Evening,” January 26]
TEXT: Luke 2:18

“All who heard it wondered (marveled; were astonished)
at the things which were told them.”

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: Where does holy awe and wonder lead us?
CONCISE OUTLINE:
I.
TRUTH/CONTEXT: Every Sunday is a time when believers should feel, personally and powerfully, the awe and mystery of their God’s presence.

I will continue our focus on Matthew 6:33 and Romans 14:17 and so today we re-flect on the King of the Kingdom!

[BABIES] In the early days of the nineteenth century, men were following with bated breath the march of Napoleon and waiting with feverish impatience for the latest news of the wars. And all the while, in their homes, babies were being born. Just think of some of those babies.

In one year, lying midway between Trafalgar and Waterloo, there stole into the world a host of well-known men! During that year, 1809, Mr. Gladstone was born at Liverpool; Al-fred Tennyson drew his first breath at the Somersby rectory; and Oliver Wendell Holmes made his initial appearance in Massachusetts. On the very self-same day of that self-same year, Abraham Lincoln made his debut in Old Kentucky. Music was enriched by the advent of Frederick Chopin at Warsaw and Felix Mendelssohn at Hamburg.

But, nobody thought of babies. Everybody was thinking of battles. Yet, viewing that age in the truer perspective which the years enable us to command, we may well ask ourselves which of the battles of 1809 mat-tered more than the babies of 1809.

When a wrong wants righting, or a work wants doing, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants opening, God sends a baby into the world to do it. This is why, long, long ago, a Babe was born at Bethlehem.

The context for this morning’s message is the angelic proclamation to the lowly shepherds “keeping watch over their flock by night” [8], the specific scene – the stable where those attending their newborn King heard “the things … told them by the shepherds.” [18]

We must never cease to be in awe and wonder at the great marvels of our God … the prophecies which pointed to Him, the history which pointed to Him, His Incarnation, His life, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, and His soon Second Coming!

Over the crib falls the blinding shadow of the cross.

In the same way that it is impossible to detach godly fear from genuine reverence of God, it is impossible to separate HOLY WONDER and authentic worship.

To wonder is used approximately 42 times in the New Testament; 13 times in Luke alone (the most). Its most often used to describe Jesus’ miraculous works: e.g., His raising of Lazarus, his purging of Legion from the Gerasene Demoniac, His cursing of the fig tree, His healing of the dumb man, the blind man, and the lame man, or His quieting of the wind and the waves.

It has not all been seen

When God interacts with man, the soul is overwhelmed with His presence and His majesty in HOLY WONDER … His person and our salvation experience.

Though the soul may not always express itself in open and spontaneous song or in an impromptu dance or in brokenness and contriteness … still, though, it quietly adores and worships its newborn King.

But be reminded of what has been seen

Recall Isaiah’s words, John the Baptist leaping with joy in His mother’s womb, and later saying he is unworthy to untie Jesus’ sandals; remember the burning hearts of the men on the road to Emmaus, the exclamation of “doubting” Thomas … “my Lord and my God,” and John’s quiet awe at beholding the Lord’s glorified beauty in Revelation chapter one!

But these are simply the first drops of rain in the deluge of His glory yet to be poured out!

We have His concern rather than His disdain

That God …

• should take notice of us in our fallen condition, what wonder!
• should undertake to be our Redeemer; rather than sweeping us up as a gardener would fall leaves, what glory!
• and should then pay our debt while we were yet in our sins … what words can express?

This, and infinitely more, is indeed astonishing – full of wonder, awe, reverence, and amazement!

Our experience of His wonder is yet uniquely personal

For each of us, redemption is most wonder-filled when viewed in relation to our self. Is it not an infinite miracle of His grace that Jesus left His royal home, and refused all power and privilege here on earth to suffer the shame of the cross for you?

Lose yourself in the awe and mystery of the incarnation

Now, allow your soul (your subconscious spirit) to lose itself in the awe and mystery of the Incarnation of the Pauper King, the Baby Savior. And then look ahead and let your spiritual emotions be fuel with wonder and astonishment at what is yet to come.

INQUIRY: Where does holy awe and wonder take us?
EXPANDED OUTLINE

I. HOLY WONDER will lead you to

A. Grateful worship … Glory to God in the highest!
B. Sincere thanksgiving … O thanks be to the One True God!

II. HOLY WONDER will create within you

A. Godly watchfulness … seek first His righteousness!
B. Awesome reverence … fear to sin against a love such as this.

III. HOLY WONDER will cause you

A. To feel the presence of Almighty God … in the gift of his “only begotten Son” …
B. To be humbly circumspect … “Woe is me a man of unclean lips amongst a people of unclean lips” [Isaiah 6:5].
C. To behave fearfully … “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground” [Exodus 3:5].

IV. HOLY WONDER will fill you with a glorious and eternal hope

“Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we ex-ult in hope of the glory of God.”

Romans 5:1

V. And then HOLY WONDER will move you to the altar of sacrifice and find you presenting

your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

Romans 12:1

APPLICATION/CHALLENGE: And so we see where HOLY WONDER leads us.

Oh, for understanding of and discernment into these “things,” that HOLY WONDER would be a continuous state not a random condition.

Consider your expectations

Will you be disappointed when one day you realize they were wholly insufficient?

If Jesus did indeed do such marvelous/wonderful/astonishing “things” on our be-half, perhaps we, like those in the stable, should not consider golden streets too great an expectation.

Who among you is now astonished by anything

If indeed you’ve truly been astonished by the manger and the cross? Subsequent to witnessing the birth of the King of kings and being sustained by the Prince of Peace, what is left that is as wonderful or as astonishing?

Concluding his message on this same verse, Spurgeon said:

“it may be that from the quietness and solitariness of your life, you are scarcely able to imitate the shepherds of Bethlehem, who told (others) what they had seen and heard, but you can, at (the) least, fill up the circle of the worshippers before the throne, (in astonishment) at what God has done.”

[IMCOMPARABLE] Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50, Aristotle for 40 and Jesus for only 3 1/2 years. Yet the influence of Christ's ministry infinitely transcends the impact left by the combined years of teaching from these greatest of philosophers.

Jesus painted no pictures, yet some of the finest artists such as Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci received their inspiration from Him.

Jesus wrote no poetry, but Dante, Milton and scores of the world's greatest poets were inspired by Him.

Jesus composed no music; still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection of melody in the music they composed in His praise.
Every sphere of human greatness has been enriched by this humble Carpenter of Nazareth.

If you then, upon personal examination, find you have never been at the manger’s side and seen the King’s birth or blinded by the shadow of His cross, maybe, just maybe, this morning is the morning you will fill the void and end the drought of His wonder and majesty?

RELATED LINKS: The SHEEP'S CRIB

SPECIFIC TAGS: Luke, Wonder, Worship

GENERAL TAGS: Homiletics, Preaching, Sermons

22 October 2006: UNHOLY THINGS & RENT HEARTS – God’s Perspective on Worship!

TOPIC: Worship; Atonement, Holiness, Humility, Iniquity
TITLE: UNHOLY THINGS & RENT HEARTS – God’s Perspective on Worship! [Adaptation of Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening, both “Morning” (December 18) and “Morning” (January 8)]
TEXT: Exodus 28:38 and Joel 2:13

“Aaron shall take away the iniquity of the holy things.”
“Rend your heart, and not your garments.”

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What is God’s perspective on Worship?

CONCISE OUTLINE:

I. GOD'S PERSPECTIVE OF WORSHIP IS A DESIRE FOR HOLINESS!
II. GOD'S PERSPECTIVE OF WORSHIP IS A DESIRE FOR BROKENNESS!

TRUTH/CONTEXT: Glory to God for saints like the sister who wrote the following. [Lynn Clayton; first published Feb. 2, 1995, Louisiana Baptist Message and reprinted with permission in the December 2002 issue of the California Southern Baptist] I consider it so well done I use it whenever able.

[READING] [Dietrich] Bonhoeffer, a brilliant German theologian and preacher, [author of the Christian classic “The Cost of Discipleship”] said modern people are so removed from God that their focus is almost completely upon themselves.

Before he was hanged by the Nazis in the last days of the war, Bonhoeffer reasoned the only way people would be able to understand sermons would be through their own self-centeredness. He predicted that preaching would, therefore, center more and more upon people and their needs. [His prediction was only sixty years ago.]

People-centered worship is planning the time of worship, thinking more about the needs and wants of people than about glorifying and praising God. It is thinking more in terms of people being [an] audience, rather than God being the audience. [I am often guilty of this] It is participating in worship more for a good feeling than a focus upon sacrificial living for God. It is evaluating the worship by asking, "What did I get from that?" rather than asking, "What will I do in service of God because I [am] here?” [Young people are the greatest victims here! If we don’t cater to them they are bored!]

But worship, as presented in the Bible, is focused not upon people but upon God. Certainly, worship meets one of [man’s] basic needs, but meeting that need is secondary to the act of worshiping God simply because He [alone] is worthy of worship.

In God-centered worship, worship planners [stage] worship with God in mind; everything is done as an offering to God. Every congregational song is offered to God as praise. Every prayer is an offering of worship [from] participants to God. The giving of money is an offering to God … symbolic of giving all one has to God. The sermon, while it may focus upon practical matters of Christian living, is offered to God [focusing the worshiper’s mind] upon God.

If worship fails to be God-centered, it misses the point of our relationship with God and is something less than worship.

Churches would be foolish to go about their work oblivious to their cultures. Churches are wise to reach out to people in their area of awareness, attitude and needs, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer suggested. But to reach people simply to leave them where they are and give them only a small dose of people-centered religiosity does no favor.

If we forsake the one distinct thing the church has — a gospel of surrender to the God of grace and glory — we have nothing unique to give them once we reach them. [Edited for use in this message]

If you were looking for a synopsis of my recent ministry years, this is about as good as it gets.

[TUNED] A sheep rancher in the remote mountains of Idaho found that his fiddle was out of tune and, try as he would, he was unable to make the instrument sound the way it should. A frequent listener to a radio station in California, he wrote the station concerning his problem, asking these good people at a certain hour and minute on a certain day to strike the right note for him.

Though the author of this intended it to be illustrative of worship, it is NOT like this! We may be out of tune but the worship of our God is not about us! Yet we can be assured if we worship Him as He wants to be worshipped we will leave in tune!

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What is God’s perspective on Worship?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:

I. GOD'S PERSPECTIVE OF WORSHIP IS A DESIRE FOR HOLINESS!

“Aaron shall take away the iniquity of the holy things.”

Exodus 28:38

A. TRUTH CLAIM: On God’s glorious Day of Atonement, the High Priest in Israel cleansed himself and the tabernacle/temple before he entered into the Holy Place and then the Holy of Holies;

1. Inside he performed a ritual and took “away the sins of the holy things” … O God, Thou art great indeed to do this!
2. Before taking away the sins of the people … thank you Jesus!
3. I could demonstrate that we are holy things but you should know from this ...

But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light

1 Peter 2:9

B. NOTICE: the things called “holy” have “iniquities” = sins, God has a provision to take these sins away; for what purpose? To make atonement for the people of Israel that which God truly wants to be “holy things”. Hallelujah!

[SPURGEON] “A friend (a Dr. Payson) wrote to his brother concerning his complicity in this sin:

“My parish, as well as my heart, very much resembles the garden of the sluggard; and what is worse, I find that very many of my desires for the melioration of both, proceed ei-ther from pride or vanity or indolence. (a) I look at the weeds that overspread my garden, and breathe out an earnest wish that they were eradicated. But why? What prompts the wish? It may be that I may walk out and say to myself, 'In what fine order is my garden kept!’ This is pride. (b) Or, it may be that my neighbors may look over the wall and say, 'How finely your garden flourishes!’ This is vanity. (c) Or I may wish for the destruction of the weeds, because I am weary of pulling them up. This is indolence.”

C. He says “DESIRING holiness, even a sincere saint (aka: without sin), can be polluted by wrong motive; more worms reside beneath green turf than brown; we needn’t dig too deep to discover them.”

F. It is CONVICTING/ENCOURAGING “to remember that when the High Priest bore the iniquity of the holy things the words, 'HOLINESS TO THE LORD' were emblazed upon his mitre.”

Consider that as Jesus bore our sin, removed the veil, and entered the eternal Holy of Holies, He did not present our holiness before his Father's face, but his own.

II. GOD'S PERSPECTIVE OF WORSHIP IS A DESIRE FOR BROKENNESS!

“Rend your heart, and not your garments.”

Joel 2:13

A. TRUTH CLAIM: The teaching here is self-evident; God only covets outward expressions of our faith in Him which are supported by an inward reality of heart, soul, and spirit.

B. We should know GARMENT-RENDING and outward signs of religious emotion are easily manifested and are frequently motivated by guile ...

1. “THE FLESH: Men will attend to the most multiplied and minute ceremonial regulations and observable rituals - for such things are pleasing to the flesh – [for authentic worship] is …

a) too humbling,
b) too heart-searching,
c) too thorough for the tastes of carnal men.”

Our [reason] prefers something better reasonable, showy, and acceptable.

2. “FOR SHOW: Outward observance is temporarily comforting: eyes and ears pleased; self-conceit fed, and self-righteousness puffed up. But they are ultimately delusive, for in death, and at the Day of Judgment, the soul needs something more sub-stantial than ceremony and ritual to lean upon.

Apart from vital godliness, all religion is utterly vain; offered without a sincer[ity] of heart, every form of worship is a sham and a mockery of the majesty of God and heaven.”

C. We are shown that HEART-RENDING worship is a divine work and solemnly felt ...

1. “It is a secret grief that is personally experienced, not in form only, but as a deep, soul-moving work of the Holy Spirit ….
2. “It is … a matter to be … keenly and sensitively felt in every … child of the living God.
3. “It is powerfully humiliating and … purifying. [“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God!”]
4. “[Likewise,] it prepares [us] for the grace and peace [our] proud, unbroken spirits cannot receive.
5. “And it is distinctly discriminating, for it belongs to the elect of God and to them alone.”

D. The brokenness of David in Psalm 51:16-17.

APPLICATION/CHALLENGE: If we were to exegete these verses we would probably see little relationship between them apart from much work in the flesh.

but when God explains Exodus 28:38 (“Aaron shall take away the iniquity of the holy things.”) and Joel 2:13 (“Rend your heart, and not your garments.”) to us in our spirits, we more clearly see their blessed relationship. For we now see with unveiled eyes – unless the iniquities of us all are taken away we cannot “worship in spirit.”

Nor can we “in truth” for we remain in our sins and rend the outer man in ritual and in the traditions of man.

“Those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

John 4:24

For how are we to worship in truth if there is “no truth in us” [1 John 1:8]? And if we rend only our outer garment (flesh) and not our hearts, how will we enter into His rest?

[WIND?] A small boy asked an aged sailor, "What is the wind?" The old man replied, "I don't know, son; I can't tell you what the wind is, but I can tell you how to hoist a sail." It is not really necessary to know all about the wind if we know how to set our sails.

I cannot tell you with precision how to please God except that it is by faith in spirit and in truth but I can tell you how to fill your sails with the Spirit of God.

O God let us go to Calvary and present our hearts and all that they house.

Our dying Savior’s voice broke the rocks of Calvary 2000 years ago; that voice is as powerful now as it was then. Let’s bring our hearts again to that place of sacrifice and hear Jesus’ voice crying out to the Father for us now, that our hearts might be torn even as men of old tore their garments in the day of lamentation.

RELATED LINKS: The SHEEP'S CRIB - Sermons

SPECIFIC TAGS: Atonement, Brokenness, Exodus, Holiness,
Humility, Joel, Iniquity, Inner Man, Worship

GENERAL TAGS: Homoletics, Preaching, Sermons

15 October 2006: OIL FOR THE LAMP – How to Keep Your Light Burning Continually!

TOPIC: Holy Spirit; enthusiasm, fire, light, oil (of sacrifice), service
TITLE: OIL FOR THE LAMP - How to Keep Your Light Burning Continually! [Adapted from Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening devotional for 28 August “Morning”]
TEXT: Leviticus 24:1-4

“Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Command the sons of Israel that they bring to you clear oil from beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually. Outside the veil of testimony in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morn-ing before the LORD continually; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations. He shall keep the lamps in order on the pure gold lampstand before the LORD continually.’”

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What are the key aspects of the Tabernacle’s continual flame?
CONCISE OUTLINE

I. THE OIL BROUGHT IS BY A PARTICULAR PEOPLE!
II. THE OIL BROUGHT IS OF A PARTICULAR KIND!
III. THE OIL BROUGHT IS FOR A PARTICULAR PLACE!
IV. THE OIL BURNT IS AT A PARTICULAR TIME!
V. THE OIL BURNT IS IN A PARTICULAR WAY!

TRUTH CLAIM/CONTEXT: It is Aaron and his High Priestly descendents that are mentioned here. Christ, the bible says, is our High Priest! [Hebrews 6:19; 9:1-7; 10:20]

Oil is seen as a condiment (something used to give a special flavor to food) for Scripture by most readers of the Scriptures. It is far more important than that (199x)!

[SPURGEON QUOTE] My soul, how much thou needest this, for thy lamp will not long continue to burn without it. Thy snuff will smoke and become an offence if light be gone, and gone it will be if oil be absent. Thou hast no oil well springing up in thy human nature, and therefore thou must go to them that sell and buy for thyself, or like the foolish virgins, thou wilt have to cry, “My lamp is gone out.”

Even the consecrated lamps could not give light without oil; though they shone in the tabernacle they needed to be fed, though no rough winds blew upon them they required to be trimmed, and thy need is equally as great. Under the most happy circumstances thou canst not give light for another hour unless fresh oil of grace be given thee.

Spurgeon reflects the common understanding of oil as a type of the Holy Spirit and His anointing of His people.

Referring to Bez-al-el the Tabernacle craftsman in Exodus 31:3, God said …

"… I have filled him with the Spirit of God [oil], in wisdom, in un-derstanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship ...."

Jesus Himself specifically pointed out the Holy Spirit would be “in” them [John 14:17].

[Graham] “A friend ... said, ‘I used Jesus for my eternal life, and the Holy Spirit ... for my internal life.’”

[SERVICE] If I had a glove on my hand, I would be able to show you that the glove can’t do anything by itself, but when my hand is in it, the glove can do many things. It is not the glove, but my hand in the glove that acts.

The Christian is a glove. It is the Holy Spirit in us, the hand, who does the work. We have to make room for the hand so that every fin-ger in the glove is filled.

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What are the key aspects of the Tabernacle’s continual flame?
EXPANDED OUTLINE

I. THE OIL BROUGHT IS BY A PARTICULAR PEOPLE! [2]

A. “Command the sons of Israel that they bring”
B. We are the children of God the spiritual Israel.
C. Combined, we are the Temple of God; he’s given us the Holy Spirit [and so the church] to be “lights in the world.” [1 Peter 2]

“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what … fellowship has light with darkness?”

2 Corinthians 6:14

But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light …

1 Peter 2:9

II. THE OIL BROUGHT IS OF A PARTICULAR KIND! [2]

A. Pure, clear!

1. “clear oil”
2. We are to be holy! [1 Peter 1:16] (without noticeable impurities)

B. But beaten, crushed!

1. “from beaten olives” (tried)
2. Trod upon!
3. Paul often spoke of his experiences here.

III. THE OIL BROUGHT IS FOR A PARTICULAR PLACE! [3]

A. In the tabernacle; “in the tent of meeting” (“new” sanctified nature)
B. “Outside the veil of testimony” (outside our future "glorified" nature)
C. Before the Lord!

IV. THE OIL BURNT IS AT A PARTICULAR TIME!

A. “From evening to morning” [Spurgeon named his devotions]
B. During the times of darkness

V. THE OIL BURNT IS IN A PARTICULAR WAY! [3,4]

A. It is to be ordered or maintained!

“Aaron shall keep it in order … He shall keep the lamps in order”

“For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowl-edge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

2 Corinthians 4:5-6

B. It is to burn continuously, perpetually!

1) Three times the passage says “continuously”!
2) Are our lamps full? Will they burn brightly from pure oil in the darkness?

APPLICATION/CHALLENGE:

God is the Father of lights …

“Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation, or shifting shadow.”

James 1:17

He is fixed, He moves not!

When the Holy Spirit gives spiritual light, He opens our eyes to behold God’s glory and to see the face of Jesus; we then see sin at its blackest.

Spiritual light [whether wisdom, insight, understanding, knowledge, joy, holiness, or peace] is priceless. So, if the light we’ve received is invaluable, what must the core of that light be; and how glorious must be the place where He reveals Himself.

The Lord sees “light” in our heart, He put it there … that is supposed to be our core. All the shadows of our soul can’t conceal it from Him [Hebrews 4:12-13] nor extinguish the wick. He not only sees it, but He preserves it. This light, preserved by His grace, He will one day display as the sun at high noon.

And it is not just any oil which is used in the Lord's service: not just crude oil which seeps from the earth, nor just the oil of a fish, nor just the oil of vegetables or nuts … none of these are acceptable; only one oil is anointed oil, and that of God’s own choosing … an olive’s oil [the Holy Spirit].

The pretended grace of the good man, the fancied grace of the minister, the imagined grace of religious rituals will never sustain the flame … the Lord wouldn’t be pleased with oceans of such oil. No, God goes to the olive-press of Calvary, and draws his supply from the One who was beaten and crushed for you and me.

And the oil of gospel grace is pure and clear; and so the flame is bright and clear. The Church is Christ’s golden lampstand, and if we are to be lights in this darkness. Yet we are too often like the lightning bug, showing little light except in the midst of darkness, and then only blinking on and off.

Satan makes a fierce attack on our perseverance; it is the bull’s-eye for all of his fiery darts. He strives to hinder us in service: he insinuates we are doing no good; and that we need rest. He endeavors to make us weary, he whispers, “Curse God, and die.”

He attacks our steadfastness: “What good is there in being enthusiastic? Sleep,” he says, “rest like the others, and let your lamp go dry of oil like the lazy virgins.”

"For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them,”

Matthew 25:3

But the powers of darkness are not to be feared, for the Lord is our light, He destroys them; and hell will not prevail, for the Lord is our salvation, He supplies the oil.

[LIGHT] Along our highways, well placed at appropriate locations, are official signs which give us direction and warn us of danger. Most of these are the reflector type; that is, they are designed to reflect the light of auto headlamps.

In darkness, they are invisible to anyone who travels without a light. But when our auto headlights are flashed upon these signs, they reflect back to us their message of guidance or caution. Their night-time aid to us depends upon the light we bring to them. They have no meaning for unlighted lamps.

God would like to guide us through the days and through the years of this life. His signs are out there-in all the appropriate places. But whether we see them will depend upon the light with which we approach them.

Darkness, by itself, is calm and quiet, but when the Lord sends in light, there’s conflict, for the one is in opposition to the other till the believer is all light in the Lord. If there’s conflict within a believer, there’s certainly conflict outside him.

As soon as the Lord gives light to any man, he proceeds to separate himself from the darkness; he quits outward ceremony, for nothing short of spiritual light will satisfy him; he withdraws from worldly pursuits, and seeks the company of saints.

Even the consecrated flames cannot give light without oil; though they shine in the tabernacle, they need to be fed; though no wind blows upon them, they require trimming … and OUR NEED IS JUST AS GREAT.


RELATED LINKS: The SHEEP'S CRIB - Sermons

SPECIFIC TAGS: Christianity, Consecration, High Priest, Holy Oil, Leviticus, Light,
Religion, Tabernacle, Temple, Worship

GENERAL TAGS: Homoletics, Preaching, Sermons

8 October 2006: THE GLORIOUS LIFE WE LIVE – How to appreciate the life we’re given!

TOPIC: Newness of life [Gospel; Grace, God’s, Life, Mercies]
TITLE: THE GLORIOUS LIFE WE LIVE – How to appreciate the life we’re given! [Suggested by Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening, “Evening,” July 7]
TEXT: Isaiah 55:3 (1-11)

Incline your ear and come to Me.
Listen, that you may live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
According to the faithful mercies shown to David.

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What may we say about the life we live?
CONDENSED OUTLINE:

I. WE MAY SAY THIS LIFE WE LIVE IS MERCIFULLY ORCHESTRATED!
II. WE MAY SAY THIS LIFE WE LIVE IS PERFECTLY MANIFESTED!
III. WE MAY SAY THIS LIFE WE LIVE IS IRRESISTIBLY PRESENTED!

TRUTH/CONTEXT: Paul suggests this prophetic verse in Acts 13:34 ...

“as for the fact that [God] raised Him up from the dead, no more to return to decay, He has spoken in this way: ‘I WILL GIVE YOU THE HOLY and SURE blessings OF DAVID.’’’

[FIRE] On being asked, “If your house were on fire and you could take only one thing with you, what would you take?” Jean Cocteau, an early 20th century French writer, responded, “I would take the fire.” [Paraphrase of “New Birth” by Mark Sutton, in Proclaim, nd; from Clifton Fadiman, The Little Brown Book of Anecdotes (Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1985)]

The writer, at the time, did not appreciate that God had responded in just that way in a much more serious situation.

After the fall, Satan came to God and demanded, “Now that their lives are mine, what will you do?” Without hesitation, God said, “I will take death!”

He gave them His Son; His Son gave them His life; they have in turn received newness of life. [Romans 6:4]

God gave us "new life" and we are being built up into the Temple of the Living God as Living Stones ... not dying stones!

It's understandable that Isaiah would turn to the covenant of Grace in chapter 55, since so much of the 53rd and 54th chapters focused on the Messiah and the church (Israel).

These faithful mercies or sure blessings of David and of Christ are now ours through His resurrection. [Romans 6]

• Here, in Isaiah 55, is the call of God … “Come to Me” … to those current and to those future to hear and respond to the Gospel of Grace.
• Here we hear God’s arguments supporting His invitation to salvation.
• Here a visible finger points to the Gentiles as participants as well.
• Here we hear the condition for pardon: repentance!
• Here we learn of God’s promise that His word is never vain ... ever!

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: What may we say about the life we live?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:

I. WE MAY SAY THIS LIFE WE LIVE IS MERCIFULLY ORCHESTRATED!

The whole of the gospel is mercy-full; and like a conductor with a philharmonic orchestra the mercy and its produce are orchestrated beginning to end ... that we might be Living Stones.

In this section of Isaiah, we sense a man of utter hopelessness (we know him to be dead in his sins), nothing but judgment and wrath ahead.

But the faithful (or sure) mercies (or blessings) shown to David reflect the regal nature of this life we live.

The infinite Lord approaches in His glory; He looks, and commands our grave-stone be removed and He takes away the fire; just as He did with Lazarus, He calls out our name, “John,” “Debbie,” etc.; commanding us, “Come forth!” [John 11ff]

Again, He calls to us! “Come! Live!” His voice reverberates. So the grave gives up its dead. He says, “Unbind them and let them go!” (Just as Daniel’s three companions were set free from the fiery furnace). [Daniel 3:25-27]

II. WE MAY SAY THIS LIFE WE LIVE IS PERFECTLY MANIFESTED!

All that is God is perfect, all that God does is perfect ... and so when life we lived was brought forth it was perfectly manifested; sin entered through the first Adam and we died ... and so when this new-life we now live was offered as "a gift of God" it was perfectly manifested ... that we might be Living Stones!

This is God speaking. Who but God might venture to deal with death in such a way, to dispense of it with a single exclamation, “Live!”?

Who but Jehovah could tell His prophet to proclaim to all mankind that He has glorified Himself in us! [SPURGEON paraphrased]

When God says “Live,” what does it include?

A. This is judicial or new life.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God [Romans 3:23] and deserve condemnation.

As sheep they are appointed for Sheol; Death shall be their shepherd …

Psalms 49:14a

Yet Almighty God says, “Live,” and these dead in Christ will rise … pardoned and reconciled.

… God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol; for He will receive me. Selah.

Psalms 49:15

Job said, “I know my Redeemer lives.”

B. This is spiritual or sanctified life.

We cannot and do not acknowledge Jesus on our own –

• our eyes are blinded to His image,
• our ears deaf to His voice,
• our tongue mute to His name - still the Lord says, “Live,” and we’re animated … becoming Living Stones.

Those who are dead in trespass and sin are energized, they once more move; those dry bones take on life free from sin and death. Live!

C. Moreover, this is imperial or regal life.

The sinner is natural, a creature, but God the Creator lifts him up into heavenly places and establishes his rule over nations, to rule with the King of kings. This life is the perfection of spiritual life … to be glorified in due time ... oh, death, do you not see, we are Living Stones.

Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. [Revelation 20:6] [Spurgeon paraphrased]

D. What’s more, this is ever lasting or eternal life.

The reign we reign with the King is based on an everlasting covenant. We shall not know for certain till the end; yet by faith we now live and by faith we shall live forever more, without end ... by faith we are truly Living Stones.

III. WE MAY SAY THIS LIFE WE LIVE IS IRRESISTIBLY PRESENTED!

Man cannot resist that which is given without condition if he has the presence of mind to acknowledge it has been offered.

Like the bee to pollen, like the moth to the bare bulb, and like boys to girls ... He presents the Good News in such a way we are irresistibly woed to His side ... His precious bleeding side ... and we become Living Stones.

This is a mandate of free grace. When sinners are saved, it’s only and solely because God does it through His free, unbought, unsought grace ...

by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of your-selves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

We cannot earn it but those that call upon His name cannot resist it either; because …

“the sheep follow him because they know his voice.”

John 10:4

APPLICATION/CHALLENGE: God said, “Live” and that word thunders through the ages, till death comes … but even in the midst of that valley of death, God’s voice still echoes, “Live!” … so why do you live as though dead?

And we, on the morning of resurrection, on the wings of a dove, hear that same voice reverberate, “Live” … so why do you live as though in fear?

As the saints ascend to heaven, blest forever in the glory of their God, the power of the same throat shouts, therefore … “Live” - “Live” - “Live”!

Do you see your position, a debtor with out funds to pay your debts? Yet another has come and paid them for you and you are now in debt to grace?

Show your gratitude through a Christ-like life … live as Christ lived … live for others!

As God has called you to live, see to it you live [aka: persevere] earnestly [aka: ardently, eagerly, enthusiastically, fervently, passionately].

God took the fires of death and hell from your home and preserved for Himself a family.

It’s sadly strange so many of His children still warm themselves at Satan’s hearth after the fire has been taken captive ... what can they be thinking?

Let me list some examples: the absence of love for God and His word, the absence of a prayer life, an unwillingness to bear the cross daily, resistance to the altar of sacrifice, and little if any concern for others!

Oh, my friends, this is sitting at the hearth of Satan … where will you be when his demons come roaring out of his fiery furnace and take you alive? There are no Living Stones in Hades!

RELATED LINKS: The SHEEP'S CRIB - Sermons

SPECIFIC TAGS: Freedom, Gospel, Grace, Isaiah,
Liberty, Life, Mercy, New birth, Preaching, Rebirth

GENERAL TAGS: Homiletics, Preaching, Sermons

1 October 2006: ASKED OF GOD – For This I Prayed!

TOPIC: Prayer; Petition, Praise, Supplication, Thanksgiving, Worship
TITLE: ASKED OF GOD – For This I Prayed! [H/T: Charles Haddon Spurgeon; Morning & Evening, Evening September 19]
TEXT: 1 Samuel 1:27-28

"For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: How can we name our prayers Samuel?
CONCISE OUTLINE:

I. BY PRAYING WITH COMPARABLE CONCENTRATION?
II. BY PRAYING WITH COMPARABLE CONVICTION?
III. BY PRAYING WITH COMPARABLE CONSECRATION?
IV. BY PRAYING WITH COMPARABLE CONCLUSION?

TRUTH/CONTEXT: This is the second in my open-ended series on Spurgeon’s Morning & Evening devotionals. Today’s topic is prayer.

There is a danger of making prayer ritualistic and common … I want to avoid that if possible.

Prayer is worship … Jesus confronted us with “worship the Father in Spirit and truth” [John 4:23] but Paul confronts us with “pray without ceasing” [1 Thessalonians 5:17] also.

Now there’s a challenge … if prayer becomes common, the truth is not in that prayer; thus it isn’t genuine spirit worship either.

[HALEY’S COMET] Haley’s Comet comes but once every 75 years, people of every description go to great lengths to see her; some travel half way around the world to see her! What does Haley have to do with Samuel?

If Haley’s Comet came as often as Peninnah’s childbirth it would be-come common place … it would lose the aura of special and thrilling!

“Peninnah had many children, but they came as common blessings unsought in prayer; Hannah's one heaven-given child was dearer far, because he was the fruit of earnest pleadings.” [Spurgeon]

Humility and integrity, as in Hannah’s case, are essential to prayer a life … success in prayer is hinged upon my humility and my integrity before my God.

[WEARINESS] We do not read of Joshua's hand growing weary while wielding the sword; we do read, however, of Moses' hand growing weary in holding the rod.

The more spiritual the duty, the more apt we are to tire of it. I can stand and preach all day; but I can’t pray all day. I can go out to min-ister to the sick all day, but not stay in my prayer closet all day.

We’re in good company: Peter, James, and John on the Mount [Matthew 26:36-46] . Paul had the problem [Romans 7] … but having company is no excuse.

To spend a night with God in prayer is far more difficult than spending a night reading a good book. We must take care we don’t cease in our praying!

“Devout souls delight to look upon those mercies which they have obtained in answer to supplication, for they can see God's especial love in them.

When we can name our blessings ‘Samuel,’ that is, ‘asked of God,’ they will be as dear to us as her child was to Hannah.” [Spurgeon]

FOUNDATIONAL INQUIRY: How can we name our prayers Samuel?
EXPANDED OUTLINE:

I. BY PRAYING WITH COMPARABLE CONCENTRATION?

A. Samuel – “Asked of God” … a child not yet born!
B. Our children not yet born-again … fulfillment yet future!
C. Oh that we could say of our children – “asked of God”!
D. Better to rejoice over them as

1. The fruit of our pleadings than as
2. The fruit of our bodies.

E. Can you, pray with concentration as this woman did, for years?

II. BY PRAYING WITH COMPARABLE CONVICTION?

A. “It happened year after year” [v.7]
B. Seeing His answer as blessed no matter the answer
C. When it comes it’s wrapped in God’s gold cloth of

1. faithfulness
2. and truth,
3. [no matter His answer – yes, no, maybe, later]

D. And doubly precious compared to Peninnah’s common fruit

III. BY PRAYING WITH COMPARABLE CONSECRATION?

A. “She made a vow” to the Lord “if you will” [v.11]

1. “see my affliction”
2. “remember me,”
3. “forget me not”
4. “give me a son”

B. “then I will give him back to You”
C. “poured out [her] soul before the LORD” [v.15]
D. And she did not fail to fulfill her vow.

IV. BY PRAYING EXPECTING COMPARABLE CONCLUSION?

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”

Matthew 7:7-8 (9-11)

"And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

Matthew 21:22

So important are the prayers of His saints that they are canned in golden Mason jars and put in the royal pantry for use on the Day of His Wrath [Revelation 5:8].

APPLICATION/CHALLENGE: If this church or any church is not a church of prayer … it will go nowhere! We travel on our knees!

[PAPER WEIGHT] There is a story of a man who owned a little grocery store. It was the week before Christmas, shortly after World War I.

A young mother came in and asked for enough food to make a Christmas dinner for her children. The grocer asked her how much she had to spend.

"My husband didn’t come back; he was killed in the War. And I have nothing to offer but a small prayer," she answered.

The storekeeper was not religious, so he mocked, "Write prayer on a piece of paper, and I’ll weigh it." To his surprise, the woman took a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to the man, saying, "I wrote it during the night while watching over my sick baby."

The grocer took the paper prayer and, because other customers were watching, placed the unread prayer on the weight side of the old scales. Then he began to pile food on the other side as she handed it to him. To his amazement, the scale didn’t go down.

He became upset and flustered and said, "Well, that's all the scale will hold. Here's a bag; you will have to put it in yourself, I am busy."

The woman filled the bag, and through tear-filled eyes expressed her gratitude and departed.

After the store was empty, the grocer examined the scales. They were broken and had been broken just in time for God to answer the woman’s paper prayer.

As the years passed, the grocer wondered about the event. Why did the woman come at just the right time? Why had she already written the prayer in such a way as to confuse the grocer so that he did not examine the scales?

The paper-weight lingered with him in to his old age. He never saw the woman again. Yet he remembers her more than any customer.

And he treasures the slip of paper on which the woman's prayer had been written from a heart of faith, "Please, Lord, give us this day our daily bread."

How joyful is the result which comes flying on the wings of answered prayer!

“It is always best to get blessings into our house in the legitimate way, by the door of prayer [rather than over the wall; or through the transom]; then they are blessings indeed, and not temptations [to pride or to sin].”

“Even when prayer speeds not, the blessings grow all the richer for the de-lay. The child Jesus was all the more lovely in the eyes of Mary when she found him after having sought him sorrowing.”

“That which we win by prayer we should dedicate to God, as Hannah dedi-cated Samuel. The gift came from heaven, let it go to heaven. Prayer brought it, gratitude sang over it, let devotion consecrate it.”

Here is a special occasion for saying to God, "Of your own have I given to You." [Spurgeon]

Is prayer an element of your spiritual life or is weariness? Which?

RELATED LINKS: The SHEEP'S CRIB - Sermons

SPECIFIC TAGS: Humility, Integrity, Petitions, Prayer,
Samuel, Supplication, Thanksgiving, Worship
GENERAL TAGS: Homoletics, Preaching, Sermons