Another Mountain

Genesis 22:1-5

Another Mountain: Pass the Test?

I. Introduction
-How far along are you?
-Where are you spiritually?

II. Scripture

III. Background on Abraham
-v. 1a "After these things..."
-Abraham's journey from Ur to Haran.
1. Haran was halfway between Ur and his destination.
2. Half-way is a dangerous place to be, especially if it is comfortable.
3. Ill. People call out to the Lord until things get a little better.
4. Ill. Ppl passionate about following Christ, until shortly after revival.
5. Ill. Go to church when times are tough. (They aren't seeking God, they're seeking an easy fix.)
6. You have to finish the race!
7. Something to: perseverance!
8. See your faith through.
-Ill. God doesn't give details, just directions.
1. God does not run mapquest.com!
2. Details negate faith.
3. Simply walking in obedience is walking by faith.
-Don't settle for halfway.
-In Egypt Abraham lied about his relationship w/ his wife.
1. Egyptian ruler cursed though unaware.
2. He had to clean up that mess.
-Abraham tried to fulfill the promise of God himself.
1. Through Ishmael.
2. Don't try to "help" God.
3. No sense in defending Him.
4. Apologetics are for sincere believers benefit.

IV. In the Rearview Mirror
-v.1a "After these things..."
1. He had to deal with Ishmael.
2. He had to clean up the mess with the Pharaoh & his wife.
3. He had to rescue lot.
4. He had to submit to God's plan.
-And now, in Ch. 22, he finally ‘arrives.'
1. He finally feels like he is on top!
2. "I've reached the place where everything is all right."
-But God says there is one more mountain you have to climb.
-Ever felt like you've arrived and then God shows you one more mountain.
-Ill. Older saints still seeking the Lord.
1. Bro. Costa, 92 years old, used the altar.
2. Sis Whittaker, 88 years old, uses the altar.
3. Saints seek the Lord.
-God's not through with you.
1. We want to Plateau!
2. We get tired of being molded.
3. We grow weary in well doing.
4. Refining fire wants to get out the small blemishes and impurities.
5. Too spiritual for God?

IV. Time & Purpose
-v. 4 "On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar."
-Took three days to get where they were going.
1. Three days can seem like 1000 years!
2. Three days can seem like three seconds!
-v. 5a "Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey...'"
-There will be some times when you have to go on alone.
1. Some things you have to go through by yourself.
2. No one can accompany you.
3. It's not that you have been abandoned.
-Alone...
1. Ill. Interview @ Tasty Freeze in Nancy, KY.
2. Ill. Marriage vows.
3. Ill. Chronic Illness.
4. Ill. Deepest pit of loneliness
5. Ill. First day at college.
-But through any of those things, the Spirit of the Living God will be there with you!
-Point: Some need to be babied!
1. We care for people (& want to help).
2. But we can't carry you into heaven!
3. Preacher cannot hold your hand at the judgement.
4. You are going to have to rely on Christ.
5. Ill. Drop out of church b/c the pastor comes/goes.
6. You aren't serving the pastor!
-Note: Some people haven't made the journey up the last mountain b/c they aren't willing to go on by themselves!
1. New Parents: don't allow babies to hinder you spiritually.
2. Parents of teens: don't allow busy schedules to dictate your god.
3. Married couples: don't allow love for one another to eclipse love of God.
4. You cannot love your family until God is first!
-If something is holding you back, leave it at the base of the mountain.
1. Friend, job, hobby, sport...
2. Debt, reputation, etc...

V. Sacrifice or Worship?
-Let me get to the main point of my message today...
-Abraham is suppose to offer up his son, Isaac, as a burnt offering to the Lord.
-That sounds like a sacrifice to me!
-Look at v. 5 "Then Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.'"
-Christians today view a walk w/ God as a sacrifice.
1. Everything is a sacrifice.
2. I read a few verses from the Bible... what a sacrifice.
3. I prayed for ten minutes... what a sacrifice.
4. I went to church... what a sacrifice.
5. I loved my neighbor... what a sacrifice.
6. I gave a few bucks in the offering... what a sacrifice.
-Church, we need our view to change from sacrificing to worshiping.
-Ill. Cain & Abel & offerings.
1. Abel gave God what God wanted.
2. Cain gave God what Cain wanted God to have.
-Sometimes it is hard to do.
1. It's not what we want, but allowing God to have what He wants.
2. And loving Him enough to trust Him with that.
-Ill. Awarding saints of the Lord.
1. We talk about all their sacrifices.
2. They talk about
3. "Dog eat dog" world.
4. Death, despair, heartache.
-Personal struggle and trial...
1. I don't enjoy being attacked.
2. I don't like being slandered.
3. I don't get a thrill from being gossiped about around town.
4. I don't like being rejected.
5. I don't like going through hardship.
6. I don't like enduring sickness.
7. I don't like wading through the darkness of this world.
-BUT, I love the Lord enough to endure, by grace, everything the Devil could ever attack me with.
-You may see sacrifices, I only have worship to Him!
-Psalm 96

VI. Love for God
-Point: You can serve the Lord, but not love Him; but you cannot love the Lord, and not serve Him.
-You will never understand about giving to the Lord.
1. Tithing out of love & worship.
2. It ceases to be a sacrifice.
3. I've never regretted anything I've given to God... only that I haven't given more.
-Ill. My testimony.
1. All I could see were the sacrifices!
2. I was the son of a preacher!
3. I knew part of what it entailed!
4. I didn't want that for my life, my family, my spouse!
5. Sacrifice or Worship?
6. Surrender & Obedience are the most beautiful forms of worship.

VII. Conclusion
-You know the rest of the story...
1. Isaac was spared.
2. There was a sacrifice provided.
-Christ made the sacrifice... not you!
-Jesus paid it all for you.
-Wouldn't you rather worship the Lord from a heart of love?

Response

A Real Church Service #1

John 14:12-17

A Real Church Service #1: The Holy Spirit

I. Introduction
-What makes a good church service?
-It is debated in churches today.
-I do not want to wrangle about preferences.
-Biblical answers to this kind of a question...
-We’ll start with what Jesus promised, the foundation of a good church service.

II. Scripture

III. Truth, Truth
-v. 12 "Truly, truly, I say to you..."
1. Truly = amen
2. "Truth, truth" gets your attention!
-v. 12b "whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do..."
-Are we doing the works of Jesus?
1. Miracles, healings, etc.. No.
2. Gospel, Kingdom of Heaven, Salvation... Yes
-Are we doing greater works than Jesus?
1. At the end of Jesus’ physical life he had only 11 undedicated disciples
2. He would be a "failed pastor" by today’s standards.
-v. 14 "If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it."
-Jesus is talking to disciples.
1. This is not about a million $$, your favorite sports team winning, or your whims.
2. This is about being so in tune w/ God you ask for what He wants to give.

IV. Spirit & His Word
-v. 15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."
-Receiving God’s Spirit is linked to receiving God’s Word
-Sinners cannot receive His Spirit; they cannot understand His Spirit; they cannot realize the need for His Spirit!
-Listen to two passages of Scripture (1) talks about effects of Spirit (2) talks about effects of God’s Word.
1. Ephesians 5:18-20 "And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, [19] addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, [20] giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
2. Colosians 3:16-17 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. [17] And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
-Bible talks about the Holy Spirit continually!
1. Don’t quench the Spirit.
2. The Spirit came!
3. Blaspheming the Spirit.
4. Ananias and Saphira "test the Spirit of the Lord"
-All Jesus is promising is wrapped up in what the Spirit will do for them.
-It’s not about you doing greater works!
1. It’s the Holy Spirit doing through you!
2. Preaching= I shut-up, allow the Spirit to use me.
3. The difficulty of preaching is, and always will be getting out of the way of the Lord!

V. The Promise
-The Father will give you a helper.
1. Counselor/ Advocate
2. Someone to instruct you!
3. Not a back seat driver!
-Ill. Associated Press carried this dispatch sometime back: Glasgow, Ky.- L. Puckett, after struggling to start his car, lifted the hood and discovered that someone had stolen the motor."
-Too many churches are struggling to start the church w/ out the engine.
1. Things didn’t start for the church until Pentecost.
2. Things won’t start for you until your Pentecost!
-That is why ‘quenching the Spirit’ is so serious!
-The Spirit is the engine!

VI. A Consistent life
-The Spirit brings a consistent life.
-Lot’s of churches have a big production on Sunday morning and dead the rest of the week!
1. Ill. Church with curtains pulled back from "stage" and "performance."
2. That’s not a disciple!
3. That’s not a product of the Holy Spirit.
-Ill. Author Jamie Buckingham visited a dam on the Columbia River.
1. He always thought that the water spilling over the top provided the power, not realizing that it was just froth
2. Reality is that deep within the dam turbines and generators transformed the power of tons and tons of water to electricity-- quietly & without notice
-Don’t look for the ‘flash-in-the-pan,’ look for the long-term faithfulness of the Spirit.
1. Don’t look for the revival services, look for the lives changed.
2. Don’t look at the attendance, look at the disciples.

VII. The World Cannot Receive
-v. 17 "even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him."
-Non-Christians cannot receive the Spirit, believers must!
-J. S. Baxter: "What God chooses, He cleanses. What God cleanses, He molds. What God molds, He fills. What God fills, He uses."
-Ill. Don’t tell me about my wife! I know her better than you do!
1. I eat with her, sleep with her, live with her, fight with her, etc...
2. Sinners, don’t tell me about the Spirit/ God; you don’t know Him!
-Then who is it available to/ promised to? Answer: Those who know Him!
-v. 17b "You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you."

VIII. How Much of the Spirit?
-The question is not: How much of the Spirit do you have?
1. You either have it or you don’t.
2. Question is: How much of you does the Spirit have?
-Ill. DL Moody was going to have a revival in England.
1. One elderly pastor protested: "Why do we need this Mr. Moody? He’s uneducated, inexperienced, etc. Does he think he has a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?"
2. A younger pastor replied: "No, but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on Mr. Moody."
-Does the Spirit have a monopoly on your life?
-Paul was led by the Spirit.
-Acts 16:6-7 "And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. [7] And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them."

IX. Conclusion
-Ill. A lady was asked how she knew the voice of the Spirit,
1. She answered: "How do you know your husband's step and your child's cry from the step and the cry of all others? I can not tell you how I know the voice of the Spirit, but it is as real to me as the voice of any person I know."
2. How real to you is the still small voice of the Spirit?
-Has it been a while since you heard from God?
-Ill. You may believe you have grown in grace since you are not too emotional or tender hearted anymore.
1. Really you have just quenched the Spirit.
2. Really you are growing cold and distant from the Spirit of God.

-Why don't you just participate in a real church service and receive His Spirit afresh and anew!