Joy Unspeakable – sermon added

Every human being is engaged in a war of the soul. It is said that in the fight for souls, there is no demilitarized zone. The Believer must recognize that he/she is vastly underpowered in his/her own strength to win this fight. However, God has provided the implements of an absolutely guaranteed victory, IF we will put them into place.

What are you up against today? Is it anxiety? Worry? Uncertainty? God has promised us a peace which surpasses even understanding (Philippians 4:7). What about depression? Anger? Hopelessness? God has provided for us “joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Peter 1:8).” Fear? Loneliness? He has promised to never leave us (Heb 13:5)! Despair? Death? He said that from those who believed would flow streams of Living Water (John 7:38)!

But the enemy knows where our victory lies also. The strategy of the enemy is to undermine our fight of faith and draw us away from God’s Word (away from hearing ir, reading it, believing it, declaring it, obeying it), and our strategy must be to continue in the fight of faith and draw ever nearer to God’s Word so that as we face trials, temptations, and demonic attack, we will be prepared to overcome.

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This is only a summary.  Download the entire sermon or listen online here by clicking ‘Launch Jukebox’.

Don’t know what I’m talking about?  Check out the sermons page.

Focus

“…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith…” -Hebrews 12:1-2

This is the fundamental problem with any mixed priorities the Church has.  I have often concluded that all outward problems lead back to the heart.  If we have our priorities mixed up, it is an indication that our vision is shifting.

A few months back there was a discussion at the ROCK about pursuing God’s vision.  We talked about some of the characteristics of a Godly vision (and in this context we spoke of ‘vision’ as basically synonymous with ‘calling’ i.e. having a vision for the future, having a vision for your life, etc.), and we talked about some of the ways the enemy attempts to derail our efforts to follow God in His way.  As we discussed many different hindrances to pursuing God’s will I was struck by the common thread amongst them.  Here are a few ways the devil might dissuade us from pursuing a God-given vision for our lives:

1. Convincing us that it is not possible
2. Harassing us about a past or present failure (without regard to repentance)
3. Using others to oppose our progress
4. Enticing us to blatant sin
5. Distracting us with ‘neutral’ or even ‘positive’ activities
6. Perverting the vision so that we are pursuing a counterfeit version of God’s actual will
7. Discouraging us about the obstacles that come in the way

What is similar?  Where is the common thread running through it?  If I sound similar to the post about sins of the tongue, it is because I have a similar conclusion.  The similarity is that the root purpose of every single one is to draw our attention away from Jesus.  If the enemy can get us to take our eyes off of Jesus, he has won.  Even if the vision (our calling) becomes so important to us that it is our primary passion, we are defeated.  Only that which flows from our relationship with Christ can truly be considered success.

You can only serve one master.  In my opinion, that is how the church can be drawn to an overemphasis on power rather than righteousness or the gifts of the Holy Spirit over the Lordship of Jesus Christ (see post here).  If there is one take-away from all of the imbalances within the Church right now, it should be a challenge to evaluate our affections and our allegiences.

Paul exhorted us to check ourselves to see if we are in The Faith (2 Corinthians 13:5).  There is a lot out there right now that, whatever it is, it is most assuredly not The Faith.  It is not Christ centered, and when it pretends to be it does not take Him “as He is.”  We cannot allow ourselves to get off-track on this one.  “When your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light, but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness (Luke 11:34).”

Personally, I am convinced that much of the darkness in the church is because of the condition of our spiritual eyes.

Again, I will ask you: Is your eye pure?  Have you laid down all other pursuits in order to pursue Christ?  Have you surrendered all other ambition that you might know Him?  Do you have your eyes fixed on the Author and Perfector of your faith, or are they wandering?  It is only in having pure eyes will we as the body regain any sense of equilibrium in our Spiritual walk.

Let your eye be single: let it be fixed on Jesus.

Resurrection Power-Sermon Added

“..they overcame [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto death.” -Revelation 12:11

In the book of Genesis, God gave dominion over the earth to mankind.  However, that authority was given to the devil in the garden when man chose rebellion against his Maker.  The devil has used that power to rob, kill, and destroy everything that he possibly can, but there is hope!  Through His sinless life and propitiatory death, Jesus has destroyed the works of darkness.  The devil has been defeated utterly.

As Christians, we need to overcome the devil by the Word of our Testimony and the blood of the Lamb.  His blood was spilled for our redemption.  Our victory is found in submitting to Him and laying down our own lives for His life in us.  Romans tells us that when we become united with Him in the likeness of His death, we will also be in the likeness of His resurrection.  His power, which defeated death, sin, and it’s destruction, is available to all of us who believe and surrender to Him.  We must understand that Jesus’ victory over the grave was not merely a resurrection, but the demonstration of His complete and total dominion in the earth and in heaven.  On the Cross He destroyed the authority of the evil one, and in the resurrection He demonstrates the promise that we also can receive everlasting Life in Him.

We only need three things:

1. We must understand the work of the Cross (the blood of the Lamb)
2. We must understand and apply the Word of our testimony (and by that I mean not only the testimony of what God has done in your life, but the Word of our testimony-the Word of God!)
3. We must lay down our own lives to live for Him

~*~

The above is only a summary.  Download the sermon here or listen online here by clicking “launch jukebox.”

Don’t know what I’m talking about?  Check out the sermon page.

Pure Affection

“The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness.” – Luke 11:34

The word clear above is haplous (Strong’s 573).  It means simple, single, sincere.  Another rendering might be “when your eye is single, your whole body also is full of light.”  In other words: pure.

In the parallel passage from the book of Matthew (6:22) the next verse follows: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other (v23).”  Jesus is saying, “Let your eye be pure.“  Let it be “free from mixture…free from contamination…clean, spotless, or unsullied.”  Let it be singular.

Let me say it this way: your eye must be without division.  Your purpose in life must be free from mixture.  If we say that we love God but we harbor our own ambitions, we have double-vision.  You cannot serve two masters.  Last time I said temptation comes as a mistress to our affections to change our alliance.  Today I want to urge you to let your affection be pure.  Let nothing distract you from the One who is worthy of all your devotion.  Do not allow yourself to be divided by the devil, the flesh, and the world.  Follow the Spirit.  Keep yourself pure.

Is it not interesting that Jesus immediately follows up on his statement about clear eyes with the statement about two masters?  Where your affections are is where your allegience is.

Can I ask you a pointed question?  You don’t have to tell me the answer.  What have you been looking at?  Not just physically.  Where is your vision?  What is your purpose?  What have you been living for?  Is your eye clear, or is your heart divided?

Look, it’s really simple.  No one can serve two masters.  So I want to encourage you: let your eye be single.  Set your heart like David did:

“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to meditate in His temple.” -Psalm 27:4

Then your footing will be sure and your path straight.

->proceed to the next installment: Focus<-

The progression of temptation

“Each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust.” -James 1:14

A few quick examples of this in action:

Eve. Often, the first mention of a thing in Scripture is very important.  The first mention of temptation is found in Genesis 3, with Eve.  This is the serpent’s attempt to entice Eve: “God knows that the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened (v5).”  And again, this is what the Scripture says about Eve’s temptation: “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that it was desirable to make one wise, she took fruit from it and ate…(v6).”  Do you remember the definition of lust?  It is a turning away of the eyes from Christ.  Here lust grips Eve as she turns her eyes on the temptation, “then lust, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished it brings forth death (James 1:15).”

David.  David’s problem was that he put down his sword.  Soon enough, he found himself walking on the rooftop with a wandering eye.  The scripture frames his temptation this way: “…from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful in appearance.  So David sent and inquired about the woman (v2-3, italics mine).”  He is carried away and enticed by the lust in his heart over what he has seen.  It is important to note that David’s lust was not merely a physical inclination, but indicated that his focus had shifted from God’s calling to his own gratification.

That is the essence of temptation.  I don’t want to only strike at the one aspect of sexual temptation here.  The point I am trying to make is that the temptation to sin always involves a shift from a Godly focus to a carnal one.  When the moment of temptation arrives, we are tempted not only to an action which defies God’s law, but a change of spiritual direction.   It has been noted many times that pruning the fruit from a tree will not stop the tree from producing that fruit.  The roots must be dealt with.  So here I want to encourage you to recognize that your temptation is not merely physical.  The sin that entices you, no matter what sin it is, involves a spiritual war between two Kingdoms.  The point is not to get you to commit one sin, but to change your alliance.

Do you see where the definition of purity comes in?  One definition of pure is ceremonial cleanness, but the importance of purity is much deeper than ceremony.  Being pure means keeping oneself undivided, untainted, free from mixture.  Pure gold is gold that has no impurities.  Pure Truth is the authentic, undiluted reflection of the One who claimed to be Truth.  Purity should not be considered merely modesty, but being of a singular mind and passion–being united with Christ.

Temptation, then, comes as a mistress to our affections.  Temptation comes to make us double-minded and unstable (James 1:8).  Temptation comes to dilute our purity and dim our Light.  Temptation comes to “carry us away” so that we may be destroyed.

It’s always tomorrow, isn’t it?

Well, it would be a long story to tell you why I haven’t been posting for the past few weeks.  The short version is that I have been away from my normal internet access.  Today I am back.   Tomorrow I hope to resume posting on a “regular” basis.  My apologies for the period of silence.

I was surprised this morning to open my dashboard and see that there are still some of you checking on the site.  I hope not to disappoint those few of you that there are.

In any case, I am going to go ahead and resubmit what I said in my last post, for the sake of continuity.  God bless!

~ * ~

Edit: Now that any new readers have had a chance to read the last post here, I am deleting the repetition.  If you somehow stumble upon this post at some point in the future, feel free to click the link above to find out what it said.

or click below to proceed to the next installment

->The Progression of Temptation<-

Pure

Well, after a brief hiatus last week I am back and I am going to start a series of posts spurred by the question I asked in my last post.  For the sake of readability, that question was: “How are your priorities?  Put another way, do you have your life in order?”

As I said, I am hoping to write some posts that are a little less involved (*read: shorter than 1000 words*), so today all you get is a definition.  Each post will hopefully bring a little more light to the message, so you’ll have to keep reading to get the full picture.

—

Here is the definition (from dictionary.com)

[pyoo r]-adjective, pur⋅er, pur⋅est.

1. free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind; free from extraneous matter: pure gold; pure water.
2. unmodified by an admixture; simple or homogeneous.
3. of unmixed descent or ancestry: a pure breed of dog.
4. free from foreign or inappropriate elements: pure Attic Greek.
5. clear; free from blemishes: pure skin.
6. (of literary style) straightforward; unaffected.
7. abstract or theoretical (opposed to APPLIED ): pure science.
8. without any discordant quality; clear and true: pure tones in music.
9. absolute; utter; sheer: to sing for pure joy.
10. being that and nothing else; mere: a pure accident.
11. clean, spotless, or unsullied: pure hands.
12. untainted with evil; innocent: pure in heart.
13. physically chaste; virgin.
14. ceremonially or ritually clean.
15. free of or without guilt; guiltless.

->Proceed to the next installment: The Progression of Temptation<

Priorities and Order

I have been listening to a series of messages delivered by David Ravenhill for the past few weeks and I wanted to post something that he read in one of them.  It is a prophecy originally delivered in 1906 at Azusa Street:

In the last days three things will happen to the great Pentecostal movement in America.

1. An overemphasis on power rather than righteousness.
2. An overemphasis on praise to a God they no longer pray to.
3. An overemphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit rather than the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

I think all three of those are dead-on accurate.  I’d like to take away a lot more than just saying, “yes, that seems about right,” but I don’t really have time at the moment.  I might try to flesh out some of my reactions in the future if it seems right.  For example, how do you think it happened?  How can this imbalance be prevented in your life (or your church)?  What can or should be done to come back into check?

I will leave you with one last question:  All three of these statements are about priority and order.   How are your priorities?  Put another way, do you have your life in order?

—

Also, I thought it might be appropriate for me to leave a note for the few of you who read this blog to let you know that I do intend to keep posting content.  I have been really busy lately, and I will be for the foreseeable future, so I hope to write some posts that are not as involved as my last series.

Have a wonderful day in the Holy Ghost.

Tears – sermon added

Summary: Philippians three contains a warning to believers about a group of people Paul calls “enemies of the cross (verse 18).” These “enemies” are those who profess to know Christ, but refuse to submit themselves to the Truth. Consequently, they preach, teach, and live a different gospel. This false gospel stands in direct opposition to the Truth, and it brings destruction to all who adhere to it. It causes the heart and mind to be set upon that which is earthly, fleshly, and sinful rather than the cross of Christ and His righteousness. Further, it hardens the heart so that there is no longer a willingness to receive the Truth, but a stubborn, wilfull rejection.

It is the duty of the Body of Christ to hold to what is Good, True, and Right–and to reject that which is false. In an age where every passing heresy seems to gather support, it is vitally important for Christians to understand that there are enemies of the Cross. We must refuse to set our minds on the things of the earth. We must set our minds on “heaven, fom which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory.”

Download the mp3 or listen online here by clicking “Launch Jukebox.”

Don’t know what I’m talking about?  Check the sermon page.

Speaking the Truth Pt 5 – The Way

“I show you a still more excellent way.” -I Corinthians 12:30

This is where it all comes back to.  Throughout my Christian life, I have found that wherever I see sin in my actions, the real issue is in the heart.  It is no different with the tongue.  What you say, how you say it, why you say it, and when you say it, all come from within.  Consider these words of our Lord:

“The mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.  The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.” -Matthew 12:35

Please hear me.  If you find difficulty in controlling your tongue, you must evaluate the state of your heart.  It is much easier to hear tips on positive thinking or psychological tools to help you control your tongue than to open your heart to the searching eye of the Holy Spirit.  However, Jesus said that the issue with the tongue is not in your mouth, but in your heart.  Your words are like the fruit of the heart.

In the corresponding passage from the gospel of Mark, Jesus prefaces this statement by saying that a tree is known by its fruit.  “Men do not gather figs from thorns,” He says.  “Nor do they gather grapes from a briar bush.”  If you were walking down the street and saw apples growing on a tree, you would know that you were looking at an apple tree.  If you wanted pears, you would have to find a pear tree.  In the same way, when our words are like barbs, it indicates that there is still some area of our heart that is not submitted to God.  You can trim a weed today, but tomorrow it will still be a weed.

I say all this because I am headed toward a goal: Godly speech.  However, I have one very important roadblock that must be dealt with before we can get there.  This issue is not an external issue.  It is internal.  It is a question of motive.  It is an issue of the heart, the will, the entire life.  All other effort is meaningless if you do not first answer one question.

Does your heart belong to God right now?  By that I mean, have you surrendered everything you are to Him, to serve Him and His purposes, and to please Him?  Have you given up your self in exchange for His life in you?

“Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ” – Ephesians 4:15

This is it; this is the capstone of controlling the tongue: speaking the Truth in Love.  If you have been reading up to this point saying to yourself, “that’s great, but how do I do it?” this is your answer.  You must give yourself to genuine, biblical Love.  Love is the “more excellent way.”  Love is the most excellent way!  You will have to open up your heart and let God take control so that when it overflows, what comes out is “good treasure.”  Love is not a product of any human activity; it flows from God to God.  “We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).”

This is the key to the Kingdom, right here:

One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, ”Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”  And He said to him, “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’  This is the great and foremost commandment.  The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’  On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”   -Matthew 22:35-40

Paul said that without Love, all other effort is meaningless (1 Corinthians 13).  You may have a scripture for everything and have a heart for nothing.  I applaud your familiarity with Truth, but it is not in you.  All the words may be right, but you may never progress past the point of lip service.  The whole of the law and the prophets rest upon Love.  So, too, must your speech.

To speak the Truth in Love, we must first love God.

“God is love (1 John 4:8).”  There is a great deception out there about the meaning of love.  People “love” sports.  They “love” to hate.  They fall in and out of “love.”  They “love” with every passing fancy, and they forget just as easily.  “Love” is an excuse for sins of passion.  “Love” experts give “love” advice in every gossip magazine.  It is no surprise that we do not know what genuine Love is.

Genuine Love is the outflow of the heart of God.  When we love with a genuine Biblical Love, it is by receiving that Love and allowing it to shape us into the likeness of Christ.  It is therefore imperative that we submit ourselves to God and His Love.

Jesus said “If you love me, you will keep my commands (John 14:15).”  Compromise is the language of the devil to draw you away from genuine Love for a counterfeit.  Do not think that any inclination of passion you have which draws you or another away from a Biblical standard is “love.”  True Love points us ever heavenward, and when we love others we will point them the same.  True Love always upholds, affirms, and celebrates God’s Truth as revealed in the Bible.  It is an absolute tragedy that Love has been replaced by such an empty, uncommitted, self-seeking counterfeit these days.  True Love starts with God.  It grows in direct proportion to our relationship with Him.

That is why I ask you where your heart is.  How can you govern your speech if your heart is given to that which will defile it?  There is simply no way.  You must surrender to God, who is Love.

To Speak the Truth in Love, we must love others.

I am struck reading the Gospel of Mark by the ministry of Jesus.  Seeing the five thousand in chapter six, he “felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and He began to teach them many things (v34).”  In chapter eight again He says “I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat,” and performs the miracle of the seven loaves to meet the need.  In chapter ten, He is approached by a rich young man seeking eternal life.  “Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him ‘One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me (v21).’”

All true ministry flows from the heart of God.  What do you want to do for Him?  If you would purpose to win souls, your first step should be to allow God to break your heart for them.  If you want to teach, you must allow Him to move your heart for your audience.  Do you seek to counsel?  Without the Love of God you will be like a clanging cymbal in the ears of your hearers.  People often know when someone doesn’t really care for them.  You may know everything about their situation and have exactly the right answer, but it will fall on deaf ears if they do not think you are for them.

Thus, our words depend greatly upon our hearts.  There is no way to control the tongue without dealing with the heart.  If you seek to be a “perfect man (James 3),” if you seek to be “mature (Ephesians 4:15),” if you seek to be saved by your confession (Romans 10:10), you must allow God to take your heart.

That is way.