Trust God for an Outcome August 17, 2006
Posted by sermonblog in August 2006.comments closed
Sunday: August 13,2006
Psalm 32:8-10 & SS
Psalms 32:8-10 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. 9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. 10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the man who trusts in him.
This psalm [32] of David is linked to Psalm 51 where David reveals his repentant heart over his sin with Bathsheba and the death [murder] of her husband [Uriah the Hittite]. There David speaks …
Psalm 51:12-13 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will turn back to You.
Psalm 32 is one of instruction as David is teaching the transgressors. We are his students this morning in the class of “Transgressors 101.” Prof David (Davi’) teaches us that we all are sinful, disobedient, and self destructive when left to ourselves.
In all of our lives, every road we take, every move we make there is the instruction and counsel of the Lord at hand to help direct us. How well have we learned this lesson?
Are we students who are “stubborn” in our thinking to think we do not need direction? If we fail to take God’s directive and apply it our lives be like the horse and mule who are led away in the “bit” of bondage.
David instructs … [1] ungodly have waves of woes [troubles, sorrows] with no direction from the Lord, but [2] the godly, those who trust in God for direction though they may face troubled times; they are surrounded by God’s unfailing love.
Trusts … a confidence; to take cover [refuge]; a sure hope
David having walked the woeful path warns and instructs us, his students, to trust God for an outcome. We are all walking various paths in this life some more dangerous and difficult than others and there comes a point we each have to make the decision who are we going to trust in … and if it is God that we put our trust in, then let it be bold confidence to stay within the covering of God as our only hope in this matter.
Two examples of trusting God for an outcome:
1. Trust God for an Outcome by Listening
The days of “judges” were oppressive days. The people of God were not listening and thus no walking with God. But God is faithful, and when they would cry out in the midst of their woeful sorrows, He would raise up a deliverer [a judge].
Gideon was one God used to break the bondage of the Midianites. Though this morning we do not have the time for the full story of Gideon we will look at a few godly highlights.
· The Lord told Gideon to tear down the altar to Baal and then build a proper altar to the Lord [6:25-26]
· To trust God for an outcome requires we get rid of the “false” things that are an affront to God.
1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
“How we live is a testimony about we believe about God.” – Henry Blackaby
God had told Gideon He was going to set free His people from the oppression of the day. God was telling Gideon how He was going to do that … use him.
· Gideon didn’t lack “information”. [neither do we]
· Gideon lacked “confidence” to act on the information he had.
· Gideon puts a “fleece” out before the Lord [6:36-40]
This is not the best way to discover God’s will for your life. From the study of “Discovering God’s Will” [Andy Stanley] one will learn … the more you know the providential will of God and obey the moral will of God the better you will discover God’s personal will for you life.
Matthew 12:39 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign …”
2 Corinthians 5:7 We live by faith, not by sight.
· Read God’s Word
· Believe God’s Word
· Act on God’s Word
· Midianites numbers were vast … overwhelming
Judges 7:12 The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.
Because of the vast numbers of the opposition, God decides to decrease the numbers to go up against them. What? Why?
Judges 7:2 The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her,
· God reduction: 32,000 to 10,000 to 300
· God removes and reduces your strength in order for you to trust Him, not yourself.
2 Corinthians 12:10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
When we are feeling weak and overwhelmed in the circumstances of our lives, what we need to do is start listening to God for the outcome.
Listen to God and trust Him for an outcome.
2. Trust God for an Outcome by Obeying
Joshua by-line was “trust and obey.” He like Gideon and all the rest of us had to come to this through the “thrill of victory” and the “agony of defeat.” But from such developing days trust would be established in God for an outcome.
· Moses (revered in the eyes of the people) was Joshua’s predecessor.
· Joshua was the “under-study” … a bit unsure, scared, and maybe a bit discouraged [not as good a leader as Moses, or so he thought]
Joshua 1:5-7 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.
· God sized tasks calls for trusting God is with you.
· God prepares and instructs His own … obey Me … no right or left turns [this is pivotal in trusting and obeying God]
Trusting God for an outcome allows you the believer to “prepare to possess” what God is giving them. [1:11]
Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
We as believers lack nothing to possess what God has called us and given us through Christ Jesus.
From the crossing over and occupying to possess the land God was bringing about an outcome.
· Jericho was the first victory
· Instructions given … 6 days of walking around the city and on the 7th day blow the trumpets and shout and watch the walls falls down.
Joshua 6:10 But Joshua had commanded the people, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!”
· Quit talking about [shut up] the outcome you want and start living in the outcome God has given to you to possess by faith.
Phillip Keller [author] says of outcome of Jericho … a straightforward story of simply setting down one foot after another in quiet compliance with the commands of God.”
1 John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world; our faith.
Listen to and obey God as you trust Him for an outcome.
Conclusion:
The lessons are vivid and rich to remind us that the outcome we seek is in the Lord and not ourselves. Trust in the Lord.
David gives a lasting word of instruction to help us …
Psalms 32:7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
Amen!
Casts & Castings August 17, 2006
Posted by sermonblog in August 2006.comments closed
August 6, 2006
In this life we live as Christians there is always a tug and pull between belief and unbelief. Like a game of “tug-a-war” we watch the flag in the middle go from one side to the other.
But perhaps I should speak for myself as there never seems to be that level of belief where faith and trust are automatic rather than having to be contrived.
I find myself at times struggling with issues, situations, circumstances, crisis, with a measure of belief, but also contending with my unbelief.
I sometimes feel like the father in the gospel of Mark …
Mark 9:24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” [NIV = help me overcome my unbelief]
Sometimes it is emotional issues, physical circumstances, and spiritual crisis … that come cascading upon us tugging and pulling us between belief and unbelief.
Today I want us to consider these words of Peter …
1 Peter 5:5-7 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble. 6 “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
We at times say in a nonchalant tone … cast your care upon Him for He cares for you. It’s become one of our Christian clichés.
But did you take note that prior to the cast and castings … Peter speak of pride and humility … “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” [v.5]
There’s a reason for this reminder …
· Pride hinders belief in God.
· Humility fosters belief in God
· Pride is an attitude of “self-help” … meaning I don’t need the help of anyone else.
· Humility is an attitude of “God help me!”
· Pride diminishes trusting God
· Humility enlarges trusting God
The father [Mark 9:24] had a belief … but his unbelief would not allow him to believe God would do anything about his issue, circumstance, crisis … his son.
It’s not that I don’t believe God can, but I don’t believe I can believe and trust God with my … issue, circumstance, situation, or crisis.
I dare say we all have a form of belief in God …
· We believe God is … positional belief & trust … He is trustworthy and He works in our behalf.
But do we allow our belief to move us into the realm of believing God “will”?
· To believe God will … practical belief & trust
It is with this “practical” belief based upon the “positional” that leads us to cast our care upon God.
· Cast = roll off and onto … not once but to keep on casting [fly fishing … long line casts and casts again and again]
· Care = anxieties … cares of this world can choke out God’s Word and care for us (Mk 4:19)
To cast and keep on casting your care/anxieties onto God also says you are to cast belief onto God to know He is and He will.
God says … cast [unload] your cares [distractions] His way because He cares [takes interest in].
John Piper says … “Anxieties are to be cast not carried.”
God says … cast [unload] your cares [distractions] His way because He cares [takes interest in].
Do you believe that? If so, when you leave this morning we should all be carrying out except our belief and trust in God … Who is and Who will.
Psalms 55:22 Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.
Amen!
The Paramount & Tantamount of Purity August 17, 2006
Posted by sermonblog in July 2006.comments closed
July 16, 2006
Years ago when a young an aspiring “would-be-preacher” in college at SBU [Southwest Baptist University] my professor said concerning the Sermon on the Mount [Matthew 5-6-7], “You should come away changed each time you read the sermon on the mount.”
These words of Jesus on the outset known as the beatitudes set the stage for the rest of the words of instruction for living. From poor in spirit to peacemakers they build one upon the other in a crescendo effect upon the believer’s life.
Of these God-called crescendo-ing characteristics … I want us to consider purity … the paramount and tantamount of it in the believer’s life. Let me give in brief definitions to paramount and tantamount.
Paramount: supreme in rank, power and authority
Tantamount: equivalent in value or effect
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Here is the beatitude which demands that every man who reads it should stop, and think, and examine himself.” – William Barclay Commentary
In simple we have to examine the purity of God, making it paramount [supreme in rank, power, authority] that it becomes tantamount … that is equivalent in value or effect in our lives.
1. The Paramount of Purity
· How you see God and His purity? is “paramount”
· You need to know that God as pure.
1 John 1:5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
· Purity is the essence of God … all that He is and all that He does.
· God is righteously pure … no impure motives does He act from.
· There is NO impurity to be found in God … from His word to works
Psalms 12:6 The words of the LORD are pure words, Like silver tried in a furnace of earth, Purified seven times.
· To the “utmost” God is pure and purified.
In the OT we see the gold in tabernacle & temple was to be pure, the oil that burned in lamp stands in the temple was to be pure, and the incense that continually burned in the temple was to be pure … all signifying the purity of God to His people.
Psalms 18:26a With the pure You will show Yourself pure;
God is pure and therefore His works of love, mercy, grace and even His discipline and judgments are pure.
2. The Tantamount of Purity
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
It’s when we begin to see God as pure … and His working in our hearts do we begin to be pure. It is “tantamount” that we allow God’s purity to become ours in value and effect.
The purity of God is “fundamental” … whereas man’s purity is “applied” and “practical.”
· God’s purity is applied to us at salvation … because there is nothing pure in man.
Job 4:17 ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?
· God’s purity is practical in that if affects our everyday thinking and living.
Practical purity is where man gets into trouble. We are constantly confronted with an “impure” world.
Purity is being free from dirt, defilement; containing nothing inappropriate.
Rather than living secure in the purity of God, we tend to make up our own measures of purity.
Proverbs 16:2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the spirits [motives].
This week as our youth prepared their heart, mind, soul and suitcases for the mission trip they were given a list of “what to wear and what not to wear.” Shouldn’t that say something to us?
Proverbs 30:12 There is a generation that is pure in its own eyes, Yet is not washed from its filthiness.
1 Timothy 5:22 Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure.
Illustration … pudding sprinkled with manure
Who would eat this now? How about if we just scrap the topping off? The pudding underneath is okay isn’t it?
We tend to live our lives like this manure topped pudding … we sprinkle our lives with “impurities” [thought, speech, sight action] … thinking what is underneath [the heart] is okay.
Jesus has other words to say …
Mark 7:20-23 He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ 21 For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’”
It is not a matter of just stop thinking that way, stop talking that way, stop looking that way, and stop acting that way. Jesus points to the heart where all the thinking, saying, seeing and doing comes from.
From our thoughts, words, and actions we deal with the “impurities” of this world that desire to lead our hearts away [our choice] from the purity of God before us and in us.
So what are we to do with such impurities sprinkled in our lives?
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Psalms 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
From confession to crying out to God … The paramount purity of God must be tantamount in our lives.
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Amen!
Take Your Pick August 17, 2006
Posted by sermonblog in July 2006.comments closed
Sunday, July 23,2006
1 Corinthians 9:16-27
Today the title of the sermon is … “take your pick” … that is of these three choices …
Title #1: Do As I Say and Do
It is a misnomer to say … Do As I Say, Not As I Do.
Title #2: No Fortuitous Disciples
“Cultivating the inner life is an essential part of the Christian discipleship. It is not something that happens fortuitously; we have to work at it. The only way to grow spiritually is to feed daily on the living Bread of the soul. There is no substitute for daily communion and fellowship with God.” [Dr. Stephen Olford]
There are no accidental salvations … and there are to be no accidental disciples. There are rigors of discipline to go through in order to be.
Title #3: What About Francis … Assisi or A Sissy?
Francis of Assisi is to have said is some form … “Preach the Gospel. If necessary use words.”
While it might inspire someone to live the gospel … the NT promotes the “show & tell” … the use of life and words for the gospel.
So take your pick … in sermon title … as all three speak to what I want us to think about this morning … “Life Words & Actions for the Gospel”
Life Words to Preach the Gospel [1 Cor 9:16-23]
· Paul’s goal was to preach (tell) the Gospel
1 Corinthians 15:3-4 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance : that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
· Paul’s aim at preaching the Gospel was to … see others saved under the glorious truth of the Gospel (1 Cor 9:19,23)
· Paul’s task was not to be the one who “saves” but to be the one to “share” the Gospel
· Paul’s desire to share the Gospel caused him to want to identify with as many as possible. (see: 19-22)
The Gospel does not produce arrogance in the believer.
· Paul … wherever he went … the Gospel was on his mind, heart and in his words … whether he stood before pagans in Athens, Disciples in Jerusalem, or Kings in their court … the Gospel was paramount.
1 Corinthians 9:16b … Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
Life Actions to Live the Gospel [1 Cor 24-27]
Was it enough to just preach the Gospel with words? Can we just tell someone about the Gospel and not show them the Gospel through our living.
· Paul’s words spoke of the Gospel and his life showed the Gospel.
Jerry Bridges in his book, “The Discipline of Grace” speaks of how we have separated the Gospel to think it applies only to “unbelievers.”
We tend to treat the Gospel as only for those before salvation, and after the salvation the word of emphasis is “discipleship” [spiritual disciplines, holiness, service].
JERRY BRIDGES QUOTE … PAGE 46
The thought … Preach the Gospel to Yourself” … is outstanding … that is reminding ourselves of the “Good News” … Christ died for my sins, Christ was buried for my sins and Christ was raised to give me new life from my sins.
Discipleship void of the Gospel is weak and produces little in the believer’s life.
· Paul spoke of the disciplines of … running … fighting … beating … strict training (25) speaks to time in preparation, the study, the applying, in order to be fit to share the Gospel.
· Paul says … no aimless running … disciplined running, endurance and stamina.
· Paul says … no swinging wildly … smart fighting … punches that make contact
· Paul says … I beat myself up … not with guilt … but submission to Christ … disciplined thinking, speaking and living.
Paul runs, fights and beats … so that he would not be disqualified as a competitor for the Gospel.
In other words … he didn’t want the truth of the Gospel that filled his words to be diminished by undisciplined living.
Zinedine Zindane … MVP World Cup 2006 … disqualified for head butt … It was his last act as a professional player and one that was widely criticized in France and abroad. Does it really matter how good of a player he was?
Paul wanted his life actions to meet up with his life words for the sake of the Gospel.
· Have we become undisciplined to the Gospel?
· Have we become irresponsible with the Gospel?
· Have we become spiritual “couch potatoes” from the Gospel?
1 Corinthians 9:27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Preaching the Gospel to yourself everyday … [1] keeps you from being proud, [2] keeps you from feeling guilty.
Do we all possess the same giftedness of speech and sharing? No, but we should desire to be able to share in some fashion or form.
We don’t have this thing called the Christian life down to science, and we definitely do not have the market cornered on how to share it.
But we persist in running, fighting and beating ourselves into submission to Christ and His Gospel … for the purpose of sharing it with someone else.
So take your pick …
· Do As I Say & Do
· No Fortuitous Disciples
· What About Francis? (Live the Gospel and speak of the Gospel)
They all speak to the … gospel is the only essential message.
Amen!
