Tuesday, June 29, 2010

844 – When Righteousness Rules

July 4, 2010

Sermon # 844 .

When Righteousness Rules

Introduction:

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration
of the thirteen United
States of America

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.


 

  1. The Christian Life and Character of the Signers

The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States. Pp146-170

  • Selected Quotes

II. The freedom we enjoy will remain only as long as men of character are elected and hold their offices.

ILL: The Defeats of the Jewish State.

A. Under David

2 Samuel 11:18 - 25 (NKJV) 18Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war, 
19and charged the messenger, saying, "When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king, 
20if it happens that the king's wrath rises, and he says to you: 'Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 
21Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?'—then you shall say, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.'"
22So the messenger went, and came and told David all that Joab had sent by him. 
23And the messenger said to David, "Surely the men prevailed against us and came out to us in the field; then we drove them back as far as the entrance of the gate. 
24The archers shot from the wall at your servants; and some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also."
25Then David said to the messenger, "Thus you shall say to Joab: 'Do not let this thing displease you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Strengthen your attack against the city, and overthrow it.' So encourage him."

  • The army of David is defeated
  • Leaders are dead
  • Why did Joab, the general, add, "Uriah the Hittite is dead also"?
  • Because David was committing adultery with Bathsheba, Uriah's wife, and the lust was all David cared about!

ILL: When Presidents or Congressmen are having affairs, sin clouds their judgment.

B. At Ai

Joshua 7:10 - 11 (NKJV) 10So the Lord said to Joshua: "Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? 
11Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff. 

ILL: Israel was defeated because of greed! So long as politicians can buy offices or get rich from government positions, America will be judged. (In today's advertising, one has to be rich or have great resources to be elected)

  • The fall of the American economy is a judgment of God because we have elected unethical men and kept them in office.
  • The destruction in the Gulf is a judgment because of the same thing. (Greed)


 

Character Counts!

2 Samuel 23:1 - 4 (NKJV) 1Now these are the last words of David.
 Thus says David the son of Jesse;
Thus says the man raised up on high,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel:
2 "The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me,
And His word was on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel said,
The Rock of Israel spoke to me:
'He who rules over men must be just,
Ruling in the fear of God.
4 And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
Like the tender grass springing out of the earth,
By clear shining after rain.'


 

Proverbs 29:2 (NKJV) 2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.

  1. We need to turn back to the "Declaration" and to the Constitution.

ILL: Rehoboam wanted to "change" Israel

2 Chronicles 10:8 - 16 (NKJV) 8But he rejected the advice which the elders had given him, and consulted the young men who had grown up with him, who stood before him. 
9And he said to them, "What advice do you give? How should we answer this people who have spoken to me, saying, 'Lighten the yoke which your father put on us'?"
10Then the young men who had grown up with him spoke to him, saying, "Thus you should speak to the people who have spoken to you, saying, 'Your father made our yoke heavy, but you make it lighter on us'—thus you shall say to them: 'My little finger shall be thicker than my father's waist! 
11And now, whereas my father put a heavy yoke on you, I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!'"
12So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king had directed, saying, "Come back to me the third day." 
13Then the king answered them roughly. King Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders, 
14and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, "My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!" 
15So the king did not listen to the people; for the turn of events was from God, that the Lord might fulfill His word, which He had spoken by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
16Now when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, saying:
"What share have we in David?
We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.
Every man to your tents, O Israel!
 Now see to your own house, O David!"
So all Israel departed to their tents. 

A. Rehoboam rejected the past because he was prejudiced against it.

B. Rehoboam rejected the past because of his pride.

("I know what's best for the people – they do not know – so I'll force it on them!"}

C. Rehoboam should have listened to the old way (old men) because their way had stood the test of time, had made Israel prosperous, and was the way of righteousness.

Conclusion: The result of Rehoboam was a divided Israel into Israel and Judah: a weakened nation, less prosperous nation.

America had better return to her roots - the framers of the Declaration and Constitution – "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

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Monday, June 21, 2010

843- When the gods fall

June 27, 2010

Sermon #843

When the gods fall

1 Samuel 5:1 - 5 (NKJV) 1Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.  2When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. 
3And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again. 
4And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon's torso was left of it. 
5Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.


 

Introduction:

I have to set up the story:

  • The Philistines defeated the army of Israel.
  • The men of Israel asked the question as to why they were defeated.
  • The men of Israel decided it was because they had left the "Ark of God" behind.
  • They attack with the "Ark of God" but once more are defeated.
  • The Philistines capture the "Ark of God."
  • The Philistines decide to honor the God of Israel by placing Him with Dagon.
  • It is discovered that the statue of Dagon has fallen.
  • They replace Dagon.
  • The next morning Dagon has its head and hands cut off and has fallen before the "Ark of God."


     

    • The Church is the Ark of God – Philistines are still on the attack

  1. Intellectual knowledge has attacked the Church

    Colossians 2:8 - 10 (NKJV) 8Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  9For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 
    10and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.


     

    2 Corinthians 10:4 - 6 (NKJV) 4For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 
    5casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 
    6and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.


     

    B. Science has attacked the Church

    ILL:
    The Origin of Species
    in 1859 was a direct attack on the Bible.


     

  2. Social and Political form has attacked the Church

    ILL: You cannot make the world perfect by the "Great Society" The Government cannot be God!


 

1 Samuel 6:1 - 12 (NKJV) 1Now the ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months. 
2And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, "What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we should send it to its place."
3So they said, "If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but by all means return it to Him with a trespass offering. Then you will be healed, and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you."
4Then they said, "What is the trespass offering which we shall return to Him?"
They answered, "Five golden tumors and five golden rats, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines. For the same plague was on all of you and on your lords. 


 

5Therefore you shall make images of your tumors and images of your rats that ravage the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will lighten His hand from you, from your gods, and from your land. 
6Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He did mighty things among them, did they not let the people go, that they might depart? 
7Now therefore, make a new cart, take two milk cows which have never been yoked, and hitch the cows to the cart; and take their calves home, away from them. 
8Then take the ark of the Lord and set it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you are returning to Him as a trespass offering in a chest by its side. Then send it away, and let it go. 
9And watch: if it goes up the road to its own territory, to Beth Shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it is not His hand that struck us—it happened to us by chance."


 

10Then the men did so; they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. 
11And they set the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumors. 
12Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.

Conclusion: You cannot come to God any way you choose

1 Chronicles 13:7 - 10 (NKJV) 7So they carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart. 
8Then David and all Israel played music before God with all their might, with singing, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on cymbals, and with trumpets.
9And when they came to Chidon's threshing floor, Uzza put out his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen stumbled. 
10Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzza, and He struck him because he put his hand to the ark; and he died there before God. 


 

John 14:6 (NKJV) 6Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
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Thursday, June 10, 2010

841 – Meeting Him

June 20, 2010

Sermon #841

Meeting Him

Exodus 3:1 - 10 (NKJV) 1Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.  2And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 
3Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn."
4So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!"
And he said, "Here I am."
5Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." 


 

6Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.
7And the Lord said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 
8So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 
9Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 
10Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt."


 

Introduction: What a wonderful account of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! You ask the question, "How can this account from the Old Testament be an account of the New Testament?" I'm only too glad to answer that question.

  1. Something happens to arrest your attention.

ILL: Moses is going about the business of tending sheep. He has been doing the same thing for 40 years. Suddenly his attention is arrested by the unusual, a bush that continues to burn!

  • It can be an illness

    ILL: My mother, who had been a Mormon all her life, was told she had cancer. She came to a meeting at the Cathedral. The guest minister preached, "God wants you to live and not die." She gave her life to Christ.

  • It may be a change in your life

    My son, Dennis, was born. A local pastor came to visit and told me the message of salvation. The next morning I stopped the car on the way to work and asked Jesus into my life.

  • It can be a national or regional calamity

    ILL: Sergeant York, the most decorated solder of WWI, was riding a mule when hit by lightning. The shoes were knocked off the mule's hooves.

  • It can be a miracle from heaven

Acts 9:1 - 20 (NKJV) 1Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest  2and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
3As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 
4Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?"
5And he said, "Who are You, Lord?"
Then the Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads."
6So he, trembling and astonished, said, "Lord, what do You want me to do?"
Then the Lord said to him, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."


 

7And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. 
8Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 
9And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
10Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, "Ananias."
And he said, "Here I am, Lord."
11So the Lord said to him, "Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 
12And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight."


 

13Then Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 
14And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name."
15But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 
16For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake."
17And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 
18Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.
19So when he had received food, he was strengthened. Then Saul spent some days with the disciples at Damascus.
20Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.

  1. Being curious is not enough

2 Timothy 3:1 - 9 (NKJV) 1But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:  2For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 
3unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 
4traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 
5having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 
6For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 
7always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 
8Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; 
9but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.


 

ILL: Jannes and Jambres saw the miracles but resisted accepting the truth.


 

ILL: Some are always learning about Christ but never coming to Him.

  1. Turning aside by Moses was not enough

    Exodus 3:2 - 5 (NKJV) 2And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 
    3Then Moses said, "I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn."
    4So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!"
    And he said, "Here I am."
    5Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." 

    ILL: He had to change his attitude, forget the investigation, take his shoes off his feet, stay where he was, and submit!

  2. Nicodemus was curious but it was not enough

    John 3:1 - 8 (NKJV) 1There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  2This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him."
    3Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
    4Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
    5Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 
    6That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 
    7Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' 
    8The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."

  3. It is a revelation, not an investigation

Job 11:7 - 9 (NKJV) 7"Can you search out the deep things of God?  Can you find out the limits of the Almighty?
8They are higher than heaven—what can you do?
 Deeper than Sheol—what can you know?
9Their measure is longer than the earth
 And broader than the sea.

  • This is the story of the entire Bible

    • Adam

      Genesis 3:8 - 9 (NKJV) 8And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
      9Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"

    • Noah

      Genesis 6:13 - 14 (NKJV) 13And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 
      14Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. 

    • Abraham

      Genesis 12:1 - 3 (NKJV) 1Now the Lord had said to Abram:
       "Get out of your country,
       From your family
       And from your father's house,
       To a land that I will show you.
      2I will make you a great nation;
       I will bless you
       And make your name great;
       And you shall be a blessing.
      3I will bless those who bless you,
       And I will curse him who curses you;
       And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

    • Samuel

      1 Samuel 3:1 - 11 (NKJV) 1Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. 
      2And it came to pass at that time, while Eli was lying down in his place, and when his eyes had begun to grow so dim that he could not see, 
      3and before the lamp of God went out in the tabernacle of the Lord where the ark of God was, and while Samuel was lying down, 
      4that the Lord called Samuel. And he answered, "Here I am!" 
      5So he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am, for you called me."
      And he said, "I did not call; lie down again." And he went and lay down.


       

      6Then the Lord called yet again, "Samuel!"
      So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you called me." He answered, "I did not call, my son; lie down again." 
      7(Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.)
      8And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, "Here I am, for you did call me."
      Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy. 
      9Therefore Eli said to Samuel, "Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, 'Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
      10Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, "Samuel! Samuel!"
      And Samuel answered, "Speak, for Your servant hears."
      11Then the Lord said to Samuel: "Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. 

    B.     It is always a miracle; it is always supernatural

    ILL: It is not knowing things about God, it is knowing God

    • He is Holy!

      Exodus 24:17 - 18 (NKJV) 17The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel. 
      18So Moses went into the midst of the cloud and went up into the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.


       

      Hebrews 12:22 - 29 (NKJV) 22But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 
      23to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 
      24to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.


       

      25See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, 
      26whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." 
      27Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.
      28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. 
      29For our God is a consuming fire.

    • He is love, mercy, and compassion

      Exodus 3:7 (NKJV) 7And the Lord said: "I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 

Conclusion: The purpose of all revelation

Exodus 3:8 (NKJV) 8So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.

  • To deliver from the bondage of sin

To bring to a place of prosperity
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Tuesday, June 08, 2010

840 - The Mystery

June 13, 2010

Sermon #840

The Mystery

I love to read. I have always loved to read. I especially like mysteries. However, one thing I learned early was that if I read the end of the book first, it no longer was a mystery. A mystery is not written so that you would understand it but to keep you from figuring it out. Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is a mystery and that He did not tell them stories to make it simple and understandable, but to keep it a mystery.


 

Matthew 13:10 - 17 (NKJV) 10And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"
11He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 
12For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 
13Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 


 

14And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
15For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
 And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
 Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
 So that I should heal them.'
16But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 
17for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.


 

Introduction: He told the disciples this after he had told the story, "the parable of the seeds." Jesus told them that it was not simple – it is a mystery.

  1. It is about a miracle, and a miracle by its nature would not be a miracle if it could be understood.

  2. It is not like man's ideas about religion or philosophy – it is different, unique.

    1 Corinthians 2:6 - 16 (NKJV) 6However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 
    7But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 
    8which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
    9But as it is written:
    "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
    Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."


     

    10But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 
    11For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 
    12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
    13These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 
    14But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 
    15But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 
    16For "who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

B.    It is not like a self-help message that one can teach: one, two, three.

ILL: Many pulpits in America are trying to make the message "relevant," "modern," and "agreeable to the scientific age."

C.     Hindrances to understanding.

  • Pride of intellect

    Matthew 13:13 - 14 (NKJV) 13Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 
    14And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
        'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
        And seeing you will see and not perceive;


     

    Matthew 11:25 - 26 (NKJV) 25At that time Jesus answered and said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. 
    26Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 

  • Prejudice

    Matthew 13:15 (NKJV) 15For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
     Their ears are hard of hearing,
    And their eyes they have closed,
    Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
    Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
    So that I should heal them.'


     

    ILL: People dismiss what the Bible says because they have heard something else – they have never even read the Scripture. One man told me that rich men could not get to heaven because a camel could not go through the eye of a "Cambridge" needle. I asked him to show it to me and he brought me a packages of needles made in Cambridge, Mass.

  • They have "fat hearts" (v. 15)

  1. Jesus, Himself, is the miracle.

  1. Born of a virgin

    Isaiah 7:13 - 14 (NKJV) 13Then he said, "Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? 
    14Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.


     

    "Christian, awake! Salute the happy morn,

    Whereon the Savior of mankind was born;

    Rise to adore the mystery of love

    Which hosts of angels chanted from above

    With them the joyful tidings first begun

    Of God Incarnate and the Virgin's Son"

                        John Byrom

  2. God in the flesh

    1 Timothy 3:16 (NKJV) 16And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
    God was manifested in the flesh,
     Justified in the Spirit,
    Seen by angels,
    Preached among the Gentiles,
     Believed on in the world,
    Received up in glory.

    C.     God on a cross

    1 Corinthians 1:20 - 25 (NKJV) 20Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 
    21For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 
    22For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; 
    23but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, 
    24but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 
    25Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

III.    I agree, it just does not make natural sense

Luke 9:23 - 25 (NKJV) 23Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  24For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.  25For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? 

  1. He who has will have more? (Matt: 13:12)

    Romans 14:17 (NKJV) 17for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 

  • Righteousness is added

    2 Corinthians 5:17 - 21 (NKJV) 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 
    18Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 
    19that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
    20Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. 
    21For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

    ILL: Religion can be the greatest enemy of Christianity.


     

  • Peace is added:
  • Joy in the Holy Spirit

    Christianity that does not make you happy is not worthy of the name.

    Acts 2:12 - 13 (NKJV) 12So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "Whatever could this mean?" 13Others mocking said, "They are full of new wine."


     

    Philippians 4:4 (NKJV) 4Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!

  1. He who does not have will lose? (Matt: 13:12)

    Luke 16:15 (NKJV) 15And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.


     

    ILL: What good will all your good works do you? When you face your death, or the death of a loved one, what good will all of your modern knowledge do you?


     

    ILL: Paul wanted to lose all to gain all:


     

    Philippians 3:7 - 11 (NKJV) 7But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.  8Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 
    9and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 
    10that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 
    11if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Conclusion: How do you come to know Him?

Matthew 18:2 - 5 (NKJV) 2Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 
3and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 
4Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 
5Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.


 

That is it! Like a little child accepting the wonder and the mystery!

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