Vindicating His Holiness: Glorified in You

Vindicating His Holiness: Glorified in You

Ezekiel 36: 16-27, 31-32

I. Introduction
-Never let the sacred become common.
-Your life is a reflection of who God is.
-Does it reflect the true nature of God.
-New Christians base their lives on the "Christian" lives they see modeled before them.
-Don't let God's holiness become watered down or common in your life.

II. Scripture

III. Profaning of God's Name
-The church has faltered in the proclamation of the truth.
1. She has replaced the power of the Holy Spirit with charisma, programs, & human talents.
2. Being a holy people just didn't seem very practical (or appealing).
-Sermons being preached all over the nation today are being used to justify/ excuse sin rather than solve the problem of sin.
1. Ppl have perverted the love of God to approve of their sins.
2. Ppl have disgraced the blood of Jesus/forgiveness b/c of their wickedness.
-Problem of self - love
-The greatest abomination in the church is the gross infatuation w/ self.
-Know why Christians won't forgive Christians? B/c pride won't allow it.
-Know why there is division in church? B/c...
1. I can't understand why you don't love me just as much as I love me!
2. I think my way is the best way!
3. We don't work that way... we're looking for God's way!
-We are all consumed w/ our needs, wants, schedules, etc... and if the church doesn't support that (meet me needs) then I'll leave!
-Point: You may have seen nasty church splits, scandalous church fights, self-centered & ego-driven agendas, hateful board members, two-faced hypocritical members, divisive/ gossiping/ back-biting/ slanderous church goers...
1. ...but don't accept that as the work of the Spirit.
2. ...that is the failing of the flesh!
-Billy Graham said: "The church has almost lost her moral authority to speak to the world."
-If you are lost/in sin then you are profaning His Holy name.
1. Why? B/c you are part of His creation.
2. He intends for his creation to be holy.
-v. 21 "But I had a concern for my holy name which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came."

IV. Ideal of the Lord
-When the disciples finally moved past self-love... then came Pentecost!
-Idea of not shaming Christ as Christian standard.
1. No, standard is glorifying Christ.
2. Not just abstain from sin, but do good!
-Paul said: "I die daily."
-"Crucified with Christ."
-Live beyond yourself.
1. Live with some inconvenience for the sake of others.
2. Be willing to put your comforts behind God's Will!
3. "The Cost of Discipleship"
-In the church we want God to be glorified/ make His name Holy!
1. You may have heard sermons saying otherwise (testimonies, ‘Bible' studies, lessons, etc.)
2. We preach the humanely impossible.
3. What is impossible w/ man is possible with God!
-Psalm 94:14 "For the Lord will not forsake his people; He will not abandon his heritage."

V. The Lord's Plan to Vindicate His Name
-vv. 22-23, 25-27
-The plan involves God working in your life!
-Every once in a while there is an individual who's very life brings glory to God.
1. Not a defect or error that the church produces (the defect is the shallow weak Christian we produce)
2. Seeking to glorify God (and actually doing it) in our lives is suppose to be the normal Christian experience!
3. Occasionally some seeking soul breaks through the form, programs, false/weak/shallow preaching, complacency , etc. and finds the Christ who formed the world!
4. Some push through the crowds of religious patrons, false doctrines, & sinful hypocrites to the cross of Jesus that has been tucked away in a corner!
-You must die on that cross!
1. You must die to self, to live for Him!
2. Live for His glory, not your earthly desires!
-v. 36b "I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it."

VI. Real Examples...
-Our singers (Mike & Tonia Ward)...
-Larry P. & family
-David H. & family
-Richard & Linda T.
-Sammy L. & family
-Ernest D. & family
-Regena J.
-Ill. Return to Maysville
1. Friday went to Camp meeting.
2. Saw grandparents.
3. Went into the tabernacle.
4. This is where I made a decision to glorify God with all my life!
-The world will know that God reigns b/c of what He is doing in His people!

VII. Conclusion
-Will you glorify God in all your life?
-Your decision to live for the Lord, is your own; but it is not made in a vacuum. It affects everyone around you!
-God wants to use you to show who He is to your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, & church family.

Response: Lord, Be Glorified

Dramatic Intervention: Evangelism

Dramatic Intervention: Evangelism

Luke 5:17-26

I. Introduction
- Title is Dramatic Intervention
1. Could also be extreme measures
2. Or even desperate measures
- "Desperate times call for desperate measures."
1. People will do amazing/ crazy things in intense/ stressful situations.
2. Adrenaline, shock,
-What situations would lead you to dramatic intervention?
-Ill. TV show of a dramatic intervention
1. Family was worried about their loved one's drug addiction.
2. Gathered the family and talked to the family member about the addiction.
3. My family often had "family talks."
-What about a spiritual dramatic intervention?

II. Scripture

III. Barriers
-Some friends were bringing their paralyzed friend to Jesus.
-Note: Oh that we might have friends like these!
-But the problem was that there were some barriers to getting to Jesus.
1. The crowd was too large.
2. Jesus was in a home teaching.
3. Couldn't just walk up to Him.
-Note: How many of us would have given up at that point?
-Point: Persistence pays off!
1. Barriers, deterrent, discouragement will not quench our resolve.
2. We are a people who have been commissioned by God himself!
-Scripture...
1. Galatians 6:9 "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up."
2. 1 Corinthians 15:58 "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."
3. 2 Thessalonians 3:13 "As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good."
4. God commending the church in Ephesus...
Revelation 2:3 "I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary."
-Pray without ceasing, but don't stop witnessing either!
1. Don't stop talking about Jesus.
2. You just keep sowing the seed!
3. Don't grow weary or discouraged!
-2 Corinthians 9:6 "The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully."

IV. Regardless of Costs
-It took the paralyzed man's friends a long time to do all this.
1. They risked rejection by Jesus, lawsuit for a damaged roof, social embarrassment, etc.
2. Don't put a price on the human soul!
-Calling of Saul/Paul
1. Acts 9:15 [to Ananias] "Go, for he [Paul] is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel."
2. Paul was stoned, ridiculed, beaten, imprisoned, chained up, shipwrecked, snake bit, hated, etc. 3. But they couldn't stop him or silence him or keep him from carrying people to Jesus.
-v. 20a "when He [Jesus] saw their faith"
1. The faith of the friends made the difference.
2. It led to the paralyzed man's forgiveness.
-Query: Could your faith be holding back your spouse/ child/friend/neighbor?
-Ill. It's easy to tell when something is on fire.
1. If you put it close to something flammable it too will catch ablaze!
2. Any fire that does not spread will go out!
-Point: We are not the church, if the fire of the Spirit doesn't catch other hearts ablaze!

V. How Extreme is the Need?
-This is not some suggestion God has made to us.
1. It is not a hobby or past-time we do ‘on the side.'
2. It is not a secondary objective or a optional goal.
3. It is the primary thrust of who we are in Christ!
-Jesus said to Nicodemus that His mission/purpose was to seek and to save the lost.
1. So if we're Christian...
2. We adopt that mission/purpose!
-The greatest act of worship is ‘carrying' someone to Jesus!
-We're talking about eternity here!
1. The difference between Heaven & Hell.
2. The difference between being lost in sin and redeemed by the blood!
-Jesus' call to the disciples was: "Come with me and I'll make you fishers of men."
-Point: Some people are.... they need someone to...
1. ...so lost, they need more than directions to Jesus... escort them back to Him.
2. ...so blind...take them by the hand!
3. ...so weak...lean on all the way to Jesus.
4. ...so much pain....help them focus on the Savior.
5. ...wandering in the wilderness & ... lead them into the promised land.
6. ...tossed to & fro in the storms of life &... be the lighthouse that they might find Christ.
7. ...so busy...stop them and point to Christ!
8. ...living in so much hypocrisy... show them the truth of Christ.
9. ...so disoriented by worldly things... help them re-order life around Christ!
10. ...so paralyzed by sin... carry them to Jesus.
-These ppl might articulate it like this...
-Psalm 69:1-3, 13-15, 29
"Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. [2] I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. [3] I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. [13] But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness. [14] Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. [15] Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me. [29] But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high!"
-There are some ppl in need of a dramatic intervention.
1. Something extreme.
2. B/c if it doesn't happen they may end up in Hell.

VI. Urgency
-Ill. A missionary coming home from a journey of about three days.
1. His son, John, comes running to meet him across a field with tall prairie grass.
2. As he ran, he suddenly fell out of sight.
3. At first the missionary thought it was a game, but then remembered there was an abandoned well in the field.
4. In a panic he ran to the spot and pulled his son out of the well.
5. His son's first words as he hugged his father were: "O Papa, why didn't you hurry?"
-Ill. When Jacob or Hannah fall & hurt themselves they will cry.
1. You'll never see a parent run faster than when their baby is in danger or hurting.
2. It is instinctual!
-Point: The ‘paralyzed' won't cry out in the same way a baby does, but they are hurting in a much deeper way!
1. Suicide... on the rise.
2. Depression... on the rise.
3. Addiction (alcohol/ drugs/etc.)... on the rise.
4. Despair, defeat, spiritual depravity, etc.... on the rise.
-Ill. Gen William Booth (founder of Salvation Army) was walking through London w/ his son, Bramwell.
1. His son was 12 or 13 and was surprised by his father when he took him by the hand and took him into a saloon.
2. The place was crowded w/ men & women participating in all kinds of evil.
3. Some were passed out, some were making passes at ppl other than their spouses, some were gambling, etc.
4. Gen. Booth said: "Willie, these are our people. These are the ppl I want you to live for and bring to Christ."
-May I suggest that some of the celebrity gossip shows wouldn't be so entertaining if you viewed them in light of eternity?
1. Maybe some of the worldly music you listen to wouldn't be so entertaining in light of a message echoed in Hell.
2. Maybe your heart would be broken if you measured your success not by worldly standards but by the measure of a soul!
-There are some ppl in need of a dramatic intervention.
-It's urgent that something be done!

VII. Whom Shall I Send?
-Query: What if God calls you?
1. What if you're the one to intervene in a dramatic way in someone's life?
2. What if you are the one with the call?
-Ill. Maybe today will be to you what Isaiah experience in Isaiah 6.
1. He experienced the glory of God!
2. Isaiah 6:8 "And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I [Isaiah] said, "Here am I! Send me.""
-Ill. Maybe your call to work for the Lord has been coming for some time.
1. Maybe you're like Samuel.
2. Samuel was lying in bed and heard God call to him three times.
3. Each time he ran into Eli.
4. Finally Eli realized what was happening...
5. 1 Samuel 3:9-11 "Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, 'Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.' " So Samuel went and lay down in his place. [10] And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" And Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant hears." [11] Then the Lord said to Samuel, "Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.""
-Let me ask again: Could your faith be the ‘lynch-pin' for revival?
-This paralyzed man went home "glorifying God."
-v. 26 "And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, ‘We have seen extraordinary things today.'"
-Sounds like something I want to be a part of.
-A dramatic intervention.

Response: "Here I Am, Lord"

A Living Stone: The Living Church

A Living Stone: The Living Church

1 Peter 2:4-12

I. Introduction
-What the church should be vs. what it is!
1. It falls far short of the NT church.
2. In power!
3. Maybe we have derived our power from human sources.
-Personality, charisma, talents have driven the church.
1. We tend to look for talented ppl to recruit.
2. I think we should look for Holy ppl to recruit.
-The church in our society has become mediocre.
1. Complacent & weak!
2. Sickly & shallow.
-The church doesn't stand for anything or proclaim anything worth hearing.
-Pardon my pessimism.
-Let me get to the Good News...

II. Scripture

III. The Rejected Stone
-Let me talk about some of the different stones mentioned in the scripture.
-First a stone that the builder's rejected.
1. Your life is built on something.
2. Some philosophy directs your life.
3. It determines your actions, your values, even your thinking.
-Most often we debate that w/ the nature vs. nurture idea
1. Nature: You are born pre-disposed to be a certain way.
2. Nurture: Your raisin' determines the way you will be.
-But we don't always consider what Christ is able to do...
1. Transform your personality.
2. Some things are A-spiritual.
-We often reject what God wants to do!
-A rejected stone becomes a stumbling block.
1. v. 8
2. To oppose God is a poor decision.
-Ill. "I Don't Believe in Holiness!"
1. Perfect holiness w/out which no man shall see Christ!

IV. The Cornerstone
-v. 6
-Ill. Cornerstone as a starting point for building.
1. Everything is set to the cornerstone.
2. Everything is measured back to the cornerstone.
3. Most important piece.
4. Standard-setter.
-C.S. Lewis: "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
-Christ informs all the rest of life.

VII. The Living Stone
-v. 4
-Each generation of the church is a fragile thing.
-Could the church breathe it's last in our generation?
-AW Tozer from Keys to the Deeper Life: "‘The deeper life' is deeper only b/c the average Christian life is tragically shallow."
-The viability of the church is dependant upon the Spirit!
1. Not programs, money,
2. Attendance, preacher, etc.
3. (All those can influence the life of the church.)
-Necessity of the Spirit.
-Living things grow.
1. Individually & corporately!
2. Numerically & Spiritually

VIII. The Remnant
-vv 9-10 "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. [10]Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."
-In the darkest generation there is always a remnant! (Difficult place to be!)
-At some point, God will cut away all the dead, diseased, & decaying!
-He will breathe on his true disciples again.
-If God be for us who could be against us?
-The remnant are the building blocks of the true church. (v. 5)

IX. Conclusion
-The Church
1. A Rejected Stone
2. A Cornerstone
3. A Living Stone
4. The Remnant
-God's People, the called out, the body of Christ, the church, etc.
-What a task we have!

Response

Hard or Blood Washed: What's Your Heart Condition?

Hard or Blood Washed?: What's Your Heart Condition?

Zechariah 7:4-14

I. Introduction
-What is good preaching?
1. Presentation of truth
2. Application of truth (partly my job, but partly yours)
3. The "rubber has to meet the road."
4. James 1:22 "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves."
-Point: Christian truth is designed to lead us to God, not serve as a substitute for God.
-Point: Live by the Word!
1. Christian= Christ like
2. What is Christ like? We only know from the Word!
3. You can't be sure of a lot of things, but you can be sure of the Word!
-Live the Word no matter what!
1. Regardless of personal cost.
2. ...who tells you otherwise.
3. ...what the world is advising
-Stay true to Christ & His Word!

II. Scripture Background
-We will be in Zechariah today.
-Israelites have just come out of Babylonian captivity.
-Haggai calls the ppl of God to rebuild the temple.
-Zechariah's call is to rebuild the covenant w/ God.

III. Scripture

IV. Back to Right
-For the ppl of Israel things were returning to the way they should be.
-B/c of previous sin they had been taken into captivity under the Babylonians (and others).
1. Ezekiel, Daniel, and others during this time.
2. But that was drawing to a close.
-They were in a ‘rebuilding' time in their lives.
-One thing they had neglected was God.
1. In difficulty God gets moved to the back burner.
2. Too busy? Skip church, devotions, etc.
-Haggai the prophet came to encourage them to rebuild the temple.
1. It was the center of worship.
2. Where God's name dwelt.
-Note: Restoring religious imagery does not restore relationship.
1. Wearing a cross around your neck does not mean you know Christ.
2. Having Christian decor around your home does not mean you know Christ.
-Note: Neither does going to back to church.
1. It had been a long time since they had been in church.
2. But re-building/ going back wasn't going to change them spiritually.
-But it was a step in the right direction.
1. Looking to get right?
2. Seek the presence of God.
3. You won't find Him in your sinfulness or same ways!

VII. Full Restoration
-But a full restoration needed to take place!
-A restoration that went beyond religious practice!
1. ...beyond habit & even actions.
2. ...beyond surface.
-A restoration of the heart.
-No one comes to God through an automatic or unconscious process.
-Being born-again is an intentional, purposeful step you take.
1. Ppl are not accidently born-again.
2. They do become Christians by mistake or chance.
3. There is a drawing of the Holy Spirit and our response of obedience.
-Point: If you don't seek Christ with all your heart, you won't find Him.
-The path of least resistance does not lead to God!
1. Loving enemies, denying self, fasting, crucifying the flesh, etc.
2. The way of Christ is taking up your cross.
-God's desire was to restore not only a proper lifestyle to His ppl, but also a right heart/desires/etc!

VIII. The Problem
-The Heart!
-God had sought to direct their path, but they had rejected it.
1. They had "stopped up their ears" (lit- ears grown heavy)
2. They had "pulled away their shoulder" (stubbornness)
-v. 10 says God warned them against devising "evil in their heart[s]"
-v. 12a "They made their hearts {diamond hard}, lest they should hear the law and the words that the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets."
1. Hearts were...
2. ESV- diamond hard
3. KJV- as adamant stone
4. NIV- hard as flint
5. HCSB- like a rock
-You can leave here the same as you arrived this morning by hardening your heart.
1. You can pray, read Scripture, go to church, sing praise, etc. and never change by hardening your heart.
2. What a tragedy that would be
-What are you going to do?
-Side Note: A Good worship= when someone softens their heart and is obedient to Him.

IX. Something More
-Innate w/in us is the need to kneel in reverence before something bigger than ourselves.
1. ...to live for/worship something beyond ourselves.
2. ...seek to understand what more there is.
-Note: People do not walk away from God b/c they do not want God– but b/c they have found something they want more than God.
1. No one wants to go to Hell!
2. Few would say they hate God!
3. Few would actually work against God.
4. But many have found something they value more than God.
-You can harden your heart, but hear this: Until you love him w/ your heart... you will never know Him in all His fullness!
-Not love enough to go to church, but to be the church.
1. Not... seem Christian, but to be Christian.
2. Not... do good, but be good
3. Not... portray holiness, but to live out holiness.
-A heart that loves God invites cleansing!
1. Of habits, of sins, of desires, of things contrary to the Word & His Spirit!
2. A Cleansing from Him!

X. Israel's Fate?
-In between chapters condensed version....
1. Hear the promise of a Messiah named Jesus.
2. Foreshadowing
-Ch. 8:13 "And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong."
-Ch. 9:9 "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."
-Ch. 10:9 "Though I scattered them [Israelites] among the nations, yet in far countries they shall remember me, and with their children they shall live and return."
-Ch. 11:17a "Woe to my worthless shepherd, who deserts the flock!" [to me the preacher; desert = does not care for the flock but for their own welfare]
-Ch. 12:10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn."
-And when the ppl finally come to a place of mourning [hearts softened & pliable]
1. Repentant hearts willing to obey Him!
2. Hearts inviting God to dwell in them!
-Ch. 13:1 "On that day there shall be a fountain [Jesus' blood] opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness."

VIII. Conclusion
-Ill. Spirit vs. GPS
1. "Make a U-turn." when you miss your road.
2. Eventually it will re-figure a new route from your current position to the original location.
-Maybe you have missed a number of turns you should have made.
1. The Spirit has been saying: "Make a U-turn."
2. But your heart was diamond hard; you stopped up your ears, you pulled away your shoulder.
-And at some point you realized you were lost.
-This morning, if you will be obedient, God can re-figure a path to wholeness from where you are at right now.

Response: "There is a Fountain"

Don't Look Back: Lingering in Destruction

Don't Look Back: Lingering in Destruction

Genesis 19:1-8, 11-29

I. Introduction
-The difficulty of the Christian life is the allurement w/ things of this world.
1. Call it distractions.
2. Call it temptations.
-A Worldly Allurement
1. insidious infection
2. Plague in the church today
-A cancerous growth w/ only one solution- cleansing of the Holy Spirit.
-Resist temptation
1. It will come.
2. It destroys.
-No victory w/out resistance.
-Learn from others, like Lot...

II. Scripture

III. Sodom
-Infamous city (w/ Gomorrah)
-A city wiped out of existence
-Root of our word: sodomite
1. Known for it's perverse sexual sin
2. known for it's intense wickedness
-Query: Why was Lot able to settle in Sodom?

IV. Our World
-Our world will be destroyed too.
-God's grace & mercy move/transition to His truth & judgement.
-Don't think God will ignore sin forever.
-There will be a day of judgement.
-This world is headed for destruction... don't be on that train!
-No one wants to, but some may find themselves on that path...

V. Appeasement
-It begins with a policy of appeasement.
-Ill. Lot's appeasement...
1. Men of Sodom surround house.
2. Lot offers daughters instead of rape of male visitors.
3. Appease sodomites & God!?
-A mixed morality
1. The world might accept some of God's morality.
2. As Christians we are to accept all of God's morality.
-You cannot be a Christian & practice appeasement.
1. Jesus says: You cannot serve two masters.
2. Elijah: "Choose this day whom you will serve."
-The church embraces God's Word... it is the standard for truth, morality, and living!
1. We accept nothing less.
2. We cannot choose a partial obedience.

VI. Lingering
-v. 16 "But he lingered."
-Too many Christians are lingering in destructive ways.
-God has provided a way out.
1. ...a way of redemption.
2. ...a way of salvation.
3. And all out of his mercy!
-Take God's way!
-Ill. Eve & Serpent
1. Her defeat came not when she bit into the fruit.
2. Defeat came when she debated w/ the devil.
-The angels grabbed Lot's hand and ran them out of the city.
-Problem of Lot wanting Zoar
1. Lot didn't want to leave!
2. There was still a love of Sodom in his heart!
-Zoar means ‘little' in Hebrew.
1. It's the little things that destroy us.
2. The little habits that the world encourages.
3. The little things we say, do, or think.
-Song of Solomon 2:15 "Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom."

VII. Our Defeat
-Too many Christians lead defeated lives today, not b/c they are murderers or rapists.
1. But b/c their hearts are still in love w/ this present age.
2. Their affections are tied up in the temporary.
-What is so valuable in this world that you are willing to pay w/ your soul?
-What worldly possession, attitude, or action has merit enough to equate to eternity?
-Some of you think b/c the preacher doesn't know about your sin that God doesn't know.
-Don't take my ignorance to be blindness on God's part.
1. He does know!
2. God is aware of your lingering in Sodom.
3. He is aware of your appeasement.

VIII. Abraham & Lot
-Lot's uncle was Abraham
-There are some similarities between the two.
-But they are not the same!
-Note the difference...
-The promise, possibility, & lingering.
-Lot never had a direct encounter w/ God.
1. The blessings he enjoyed were only b/c of his association w/ Abraham.
-Many in the church today enjoy the blessings of being a part of a Spirit filled church... but have never known it personally.

IX. Looking Back
-v. 26
-Jesus said: "No man who puts His hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God."
-Revelation 2:4 "But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first."

-Sodom is calling.
1. You have left Sodom.
2. But there is something that still entices you about that place.
-And now you find yourself looking back.
-Ill. Ppl go to the altar.
1. First thing they do is tell God what they won't give him.
2. Get up and declare they've given everything to God, but...
-We expect a great revival & movement of the Holy Spirit w/out being fully committed to Him.
1. God won't work miracles in your life if you are lingering in Sodom.
2. You won't know all He could do if you are abiding in little sins.
3. You'll never see what God has in store for you if you are looking back!

X. Conclusion
-"Run and never look back."
1. Don't stop. Don't hesitate.
2. Don't look back!
-Make a decision today that your life is wholly dependant upon God's will.
-Commit all to Him.
-Resolve to bring all of your life under His Lordship.
-Determine to correct anything in your life that does not promote the Holiness of God to dwell in your richly!
-Will you make up your mind to serve Christ with all this morning?

Response: "I Am Resolved"

At the Gate: In or Out?

At the Gate: In or Out?


Acts 3:1-6

I. Introduction
-What do you expect here?
-What are you looking for here?
-Maybe what you seek, is all you will find?
1. How far you're willing to go is all the farthest you'll ever get!
2. You are the church!
-Different Question: What do you want to be spiritually?
1. What do you want God to make you?
2. Are you content where you are at?
3. What would you be willing to do to grow in the Lord? (Give up sin.)
-Ill. Song: "Somewhere between Jesus & John Wayne."
1. I hate that song (on Christian radio).
2. Is that all you have?
3. Is that all you ever will be?
4. If so, I'd say you were a spiritual lame beggar.

II. Scripture

III. Peter & John Together
-Unity
-The greatest battle of the church today is for unity.
1. I'm not talking about disagreement &/or difference of opinion.
2. I'm addressing unity.
-At the hour of prayer... there must be unity.
-The greatest battle of the church today is a unity of spirit.

IV. Background
-They took him to the gate to beg for alms.
-Never expected to go into the sanctuary.
1. I'd say he knew what went on in the sanctuary, but never really participated.
2. But he did beg for change from those coming & going.
-He hoped for a little ‘over flow' blessing.
1. Some left-overs.
2. Some scraps.
-Query: I wonder why we settle for left-overs?

V. New to Church
-Sinners/ Lost/ New to church kind of enjoy the gate.
-Sinners at the gate experience the leftovers/ crumbs and think it is wonderful.
-Compared to the world, the gate is a great place!
-Problem: But for many, years from now, if they settle for the gate, they'll be in the same place... a lame beggar living off crumbs.
1. And they'll still think its great.
2. And they'll think they great with God.
-Just b/c you get blessed at church doesn't make you a Christian.
1. That just means you have a soul!
2. That just means you still have a spirit w/in your body!
-You're living off the blessings of others.
1. You're living off the spirituality of the preacher.
2. You're living off the walk of your parents.
-Ill. Wedding clean up.
1. Rice, napkins, cake, confetti
2. You can tell what happened in the place, but that's much different than being in the wedding!
-Don't settle for crumbs at the gate, when our Savior has prepared a banquet table/ a feast!
-Ill. Prodigal Son
1. He was eating pig slop.
2. He was happy to come back and be a servant in his Father's house [at the gate].
3. But his Father was ready to make him a son again!
-Don't you dare...
1. ...stop at the gate!
2. ...settle for spare change!
3. ...be content with a good service!
4. ...adjust to spiritual begging
5. ...get use to God working around you!
-Not when God wants to work in you!

VI. "Regular Attenders"
-People in the church, but not "in the sanctuary."
-Some here this morning are just barely surviving spiritually.
-It's hard to describe where you're at spiritually.
-When ppl talk about where you are at, what might they say?
-Might they say...
1. Out and out sinner.
2. Godly saint.
3. ...or maybe: I don't know.
-"Some are too saved to be lost, but too lost to be saved."
1. Who knows?... only God?
2. They've got it! They've not.
3. Maybe! Maybe not!
4. And if you're there, you're trying to figure out where you're at too!
-You don't have to set an alarm on Sunday morning, you just wake up, but your ears have dulled to the voice of the Spirit.
1. If God sat right next to you and screamed in your ear you wouldn't hear it.
2. You know when to sit, when to stand, & when to sing.
3. But you don't know how to get to the banquet table.
-You're barely surviving spiritually & you're content with that.
1. You've done just enough to feel like you'll make it.
2. Just enough to seem deep.
3. Just enough to appease the preacher.
-You're at the gate.
-You're keeping God at arm's length.
1. That tension is not normal, it's you fighting God trying to move you past the gate!
2. God never intended to be kept at arms length.
-The Bible only once tells you to go to church; but over & over again it commands us to be the church.
1. What if you stopped coming here and started belonging here; had a calling here?
2. The more spectators we have (ppl at the gate) the weaker we are as a church!
-Where are you at spiritually?
-You'll never know what you're missing if you never make it past the gate!
-When the lame man finally got into the sanctuary (praising God), the crowd saw him...
1. v. 10b "...And they were filled w/ wonder & amazement at what had happened to Him."
2. You "get in" and ppl will be amazed.

VII. Continued...
-"At the gate" ppl are the least ministered to.
1. You might come to church often, and b/c you do you fade into the background.
2. Regular attendance does not = heaven.
-You might be "regular" but you need to move beyond the gate.
1. Don't sit there Sunday after Sunday unresponsive.
2. Say "Yes, Lord" more than just when we sing.
-Ill. We talk a lot about "being fed" in a church.
1. What we don't talk about is helping prepare the food.
2. We treat this place like a restaurant... we want to be served.
-Ill. Evangelist & a "gate man"
1. "I didn't get anything out of your preaching."
2. "That's b/c you didn't put anything into my preaching."
-But that attitude will leave you begging at the gate.
1. It won't take you into the holy place!
2. It will leave you a spiritually lame beggar!
-But oh if you would move past the gate... into the presence of God!

VIII. Past the Gate
-Examples of people going past the gate.
-Ill. Geneva Penick, Larry P's mother.
1. Mother of 4 boys & 2 girls.
2. Gathered them every night around her feet and read from the Word.
3. Getting past the gate.
-Peter in the boat.
1. "Lord if it's you ask me to come to you on the water."
2. He stepped out of the boat and walked to Jesus. (He did risk a lot!)
-Ill. Edi Burton
1. Naomi Nazarene
2. Breast cancer, lived 4 weeks after moving there.
3. "Come morning we'll meet by the river."
4. They carried her into the sanctuary that morning, but only physically.
-Ill. Willard W. Metz
1. Kneeling around the couch.
2. I can still remember the smell.
3. They passed the gate every day, but never paused to beg for crumbs.
-You'll never know all God wants to do if you stand at the gate and look in.
-You'll never be in the middle of what God is doing... only catching the run-off.
1. You'll never be a 1st hand witness to the work of the Spirit... only through hear-say will you be privy to the work of the Lord.
2. You'll never experience Christian fullness... only scraps from off the floor.

VII. Conclusion
-I was asked one time if I went to a full Gospel church.
1. "No a half Gospel church."
2. "No a 2% Gospel church."
3. YES!?
-We teach the whole message of God's Word.
1. You've got to do more than like Jesus.
2. You've got to do more than love Jesus.
3. He must be everything to you.
4. He must be your Lord & Savior.
5. All your life must glorify Him!
-Ill. Eating at parishner's homes growing up.
1. For dessert... cherry pie!
2. Every time!
3. Meals included onions, peppers, etc.
4. #1 Rule: You have to try it.
5. "If you don't try it you'll never know if you like it."
-Problem: The Devil will make you believe that you're okay at the gate.
1. Are you okay with someone else's leftovers?
2. Are you content with spare change?
-Or are you looking for a healing?
-If you came seeking alms this morning, I hope you're disappointed.
-If you've grown comfortable at the gate; I hope you're uncomfortable this morning.
-I don't want you to stay at the gate.
-May I say to you like Peter said to this lame beggar: "Rise up, and walk [on into His presence]." -Come for a healing today, get past the gate.

Response: "Rise & Be Healed"

Wait for the Vision

Wait for the Vision

Habbakuk 2:2-4

I. Introduction
-Franklin Field "Poor eyes limit your sight; poor vision limits your deeds."
-E. Paul Hovey "A blind man's world is bound by the limits of his touch; an ignorant man's world by the limits of his knowledge; a great man's world by the limits of his vision."
-Dictionary defines vision as...
1. The faculty of sight.
2. Something that is, or has been seen.
3. Discerning perception.
-Vision has to do more w/ seeing things from a spiritual angle.
1. Not about business acumen.
2. Not about sense of style.
3. Rather a sense for the Spirit.
-Can you perceive the movement of the Spirit in the most dire of situations?
-Habbakuk 1
1. The prophet's complaint...
2. God's response...
3. Spiritual intimacy of this conversation.
-Ill. "Can't see the forest for the trees."
-Ill. Chess game observer
-Habakkuk witnessed the collapse of the kingdom, rise of Babylon, reign of injustice/wickedness.
II. Scripture

III. God does have a purpose...
-He does want to use you.
-He does want to work in your situation/circumstance.
-He does want to sinners to come to repentance.
-He does want to move among us!
-God wants to work!
-God has a plan/a will/ an agenda!
-God has a plan that is unfolding.
1. From Genesis to Revelation.
2. From your conception to your last breath.
-Psalm 139:13-17 "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. [14] I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. [15] My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. [16] Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them. [17] How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!"
-Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."
-Proverbs 29:18a "Where there is no vision, the people perish."

IV. Do you Have Vision?
-I'm not asking if you can see.
-I'm asking if you have begun to see things as God sees things.
-I'm not gauging your spiritual maturity.
1. I'm not asking if you are more spiritual than others here.
2. I'm not asking if you are hyper spiritual.
-False distinction of super-Christians and ordinary Christians.
-What I'm talking about is something for the normal Christian.

V. Why No Vision?
-Some are not looking for it...
-We simply do not want to see things from God's perspective.
-Some are not looking in the right direction...
-Ill. Farming w/ grandpa Henry
1. Difficulty of making straight rows on the tractor.
2. Look behind? No.
3. Look to the side? No.
4. Fix your eyes on the destination.
-Luke 9:62 "Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
-We're looking to our job, our possessions, HollyWood, relationships, reputations, etc. to give us vision.
-It must be Christ centered.
-Query: Ask yourself if Christ is honored in these areas of your life...
1. Job... if not... quit it.
2. Possessions... if not get rid of them.
3. HollyWood/entertainment
4. Relationships... if not dissolve them.
5. Reputation... if not, then reject it.
6. Credit card statement... do the purchases glorify God?
7. Etc...
-Note: We often see things the way we want to see them.
-We have vision, but will not act on it.
-Ill. Rosebud going to the carrier to see the vet.
1. As soon as she sees the cat carrier she panics.
2. Even though it is what is best for her!
3. Did you get in a fight w/ a barb wire fence?

VI. The Vision
-Try this on...
-...a life in which God is working.
1. Growing closer to him everyday.
2. Becoming more like him.
3. Learning to delight in him more.
4. Trusting him more.
5. Committing all your ways to him.
-...a place where God is working.
1. The lost are being born-again.
2. People are being delivered from their sin (forgiven & delivered= salvation)
3. People are finding victory over despair, depression, addictions, attitudes, etc. in Christ Jesus!
4. Believers are being baptized in the Spirit.
5. Christians are being equipped by the Spirit!
6. People of God are going out of this place in power! (Spiritual weakness comes from sinfulness.) 7. Spirit-filled Christians are growing & maturing.
8. People are seeking God, crying out to God, and waiting on God.
-...a people in whom God is working.
1. What does it mean to be Christian?
2. What does it look like in your life?
-So much hypocrisy breeds more hypocrisy.
1. It also breeds a skepticism of what God is able to do in people.
2. Don't allow the sinfulness of other professing Christians to deter you from victory in your life!
3. Don't allow the hypocrisy of others to cause you to forfeit what you seek for in Christ!

VII. Conclusion
-I'm not talking about imagination.
1. You cannot imagine what you cannot conceive of.
2. You can only have a vision for that.
-I'm not asking you to be creative, I'm asking you to step into the holiness of God and catch His vision.
-I may not have been helpful this morning.
1. I haven't told you the ‘how-to'
2. I can tell you how to pray, how to witness, how to get to church, how to read your Bible...
-I cannot tell you how to receive a vision from God.
-Few ppl receive a vision from God.
-Around steps = no one else
-Around altar = others to pray with you.
-Only God can give you what I am talking about.

Response