March 9, 2008
Getting Your Priorities Right
One of the major problems I’ve had in my life that continues to be, the basis of most of my troubles was having my priorities out of order. It’s the basis of most of the problems with mankind and all of society. There is no college course or lesson manual written, that I know of, that will tell you what order your priorities should be in. They are not spelled out in the Bible, one, two, three, but they are there! When you want to know how things should be, study the order in which God set them up.
Genesis 1:26 - 28 (NKJV) 26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
ILL: Notice that God created “Man” in his own image, “male and female He created them” inside of every man is the female genes. The feminine was not created lesser then the masculine, but both were inside “Man” God said “let us” – “Our” who? Father, Son and Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit is the Mothering part of the Godhead.
Genesis 1:1 - 2 (NKJV) 1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The Earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Other translations say the Spirit of God was “brooding”
Job 33:4 (NKJV) 4 The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
I. Our first priority in life is relationship with God
John 17:20 - 23 (NKJV) 20“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
ILL:
Westminster Confession
Question 1. What is the chief end of man?
Answer. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.
Question 1: What is the chief and highest end of man?
Answer: Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and to fully enjoy Him forever.
Sin Breaks Relationships
Genesis 3:7 - 10 (NKJV) 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 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?” 10So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
The New Birth Allows Relationships
John 3:3 - 21 (NKJV) 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.” 9Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” 10Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
Fellowship
1 John 1:1 - 4 (NKJV) 1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
Fellowship is not worship, prayer, church, or having a church supper – it’s just enjoying the presence!
Genesis 3:8 (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.
Genesis 5:21 - 24 (NKJV) 21Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. 22After he begot Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. 23So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. 24And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.
ILL Enoch was not in church services – he was just walking with God and the Lord said, “Enoch we are closer to my home than yours why don’t you come on in for supper?”
I have a notebook in which I keep my thoughts from when I am in fellowship. I have never done this before but I felt that He would have me read one note from many years ago to you.
The splash on the pond interrupted me. Sunlight had just started streaming through the tall trees that towered above the study. Let’s take a walk. He said. A ripple was crossing the water where the fish had jumped. The trees were moving in the fresh morning breeze. The wind passing through the leaves sounded like a soft refrain of music. A rabbit, undisturbed by our presence, was feeding on the lawn.
“On Sunday morning,” He reminded me, “the song of praise will fill the empty walls of the Cathedral and people will feed on the Word I gave you. Which do you think gives me the most joy, to hear the praise from the Cathedral, to hear the hymn of the trees, to see the people studying My Word, or to watch the rabbit and a fish feeding in peace and perfect faith?”
I waited to think through my answer as we continued our walk.
“Both equally, My Lord!”
I only felt His smile as He dropped the conversation and we continued on.
II. Our second priority is to our mate
Genesis 2:21 - 25 (NKJV) 21And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. 23And Adam said: “This is now bone of my bones And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” 24Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Matthew 19:3 - 9 (NKJV) 3The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” 4And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” 8He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”
ILL: Who were Adam’s “Father and Mother?” He came from the earth and Jesus is saying “your wife, or husband, has a higher priority than any thing or any one on earth”
Husband and wife are joined by covenant with God!
Malachi 2:14 - 16 (NKJV) 14 Yet you say, “For what reason?” Because the Lord has been witness Between you and the wife of your youth, With whom you have dealt treacherously; Yet she is your companion And your wife by covenant. 15 But did He not make them one, Having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring. Therefore take heed to your spirit, And let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. 16 “For the Lord God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the Lord of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously.”
The marriage covenant
Genesis 6:18 - 20 (NKJV) 18But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. 20Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.
ILL: Who – You & your wife and a male and a female of every sort!
Genesis 15:4 - 18 (NKJV) 4And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” 5Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. 7Then He said to him, “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it.” 8And he said, “Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?” 9So He said to him, “Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13Then He said to Abram: “Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” 17And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. 18On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—
ILL: The covenant with Abraham was only through Sarah his wife – Abraham had to pass through the blood of the animals. In the marriage:
The Bride passed through the midst of the family – passing through the blood
A ring is given – symbol of the covenant
For the purpose of producing a “Godly seed!”
Everything else has to be “cut off”
III. The Third Priority is the Children
Genesis 1:27 - 28 (NKJV) 27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 8:15 - 17 (NKJV) 15Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16“Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.”
Children have to be told to obey: - why?
Ephesians 6:1 - 3 (NKJV) 1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2“Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: 3“that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”
ILL: If the priority is out of order everyone will try to push to the higher level. Eve will try to take Adam’s place and the children will attempt to take Eve’s.
If discipline needs to be administered and the husband is not there or will not take the headship – Mother you had better administer that discipline now or you will have major rebellion later on!
And wife your priority is your husband – not the children!
IV. The fourth Priority is the Church
Genesis 4:1 - 9 (NKJV) 1Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” 2Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. 4Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, 5but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. 6So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 7If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” 8Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. 9Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
The first murder took place because:
Adam was not in proper priority with God
Eve was not in proper priority with Adam
There was a religious jealousy – over the worship and the offering!
ILL: People will kill you over religion – and they have all through history! They crucified Jesus for religious blasphemy!
Ill. Joan of Arc – Sir Thomas Moore!
V. The fifth priority is your work!
First time work is mentioned by name in the Bible
Genesis 5:28 - 29 (NKJV) 28Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. 29And he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.”
The first anointed work
Exodus 28:1 - 15 (NKJV) 1“Now take Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to Me as priest, Aaron and Aaron’s sons: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 2And you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty. 3So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron’s garments, to consecrate him, that he may minister to Me as priest
ILL: The Church – thus religion – is my work
1 Corinthians 9:1 - 14 (NKJV) 1Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. 3My defense to those who examine me is this: 4Do we have no right to eat and drink? 5Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas? 6Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? 7Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? 8Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? 9For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about? 10Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. 11If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? 12If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. 13Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? 14Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.
ILL: Your work should support all your higher priorities. Since my work is the gospel, I got my priorities all out of order. I was preaching, building a church, and getting my education –all (I thought) for the Lord. My wife and I started having major problems in our marriage, my son attempted to kill himself and the church went into rebellion. –
King David got his priorities out of line and his son, Absalom ended up dead!
There was an article last month in a major church magazine about the high profile divorces in the ministry. There was also another article about suicide amongst the clergy. In both, the explanation was that their successes had been their downfall.
Revelation 3:14-21 (NKJV) 14“And to the angel of the church £of the Laodiceans write,
‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither £cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—18I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
22“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’”
