Thursday, July 27, 2006
The Newcastle Baptist Tabernacle
Matthew 6:1-8, 16-18 The Academy Awards
θεαθναι To be beheld.. Theatre
Hypocrites : actors who wore masks
Arthur Miller wrote about that. He called his famous drama "Death of a Salesman." It's the story of Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, who hits a mid-life crisis. He begins to feel the wear and tear of the years. And then he finds out that all he's lived for, all he's spent his life doing, is a sham, a hypocrisy, a foolish lie. He's pretended to be something he never was. He's pretended to believe in things that were never real. And when he looks at his children, he knows that they can see right through him. And in the end, that's more than he can bear. And what does he do about it? He kills himself. He commits suicide. His children found him out. They rejected his hypocrisy. And now he has nothing more to live for. That's the way it is sometimes. (3)
Daniel Defoe [Robinson Crusoe] wrote:
Wherever God erects a house of prayer, The devil always builds a chapel there;
And 'twill be found upon examination, The latter has the largest congregation.
A rather pompous-looking deacon was endeavoring to impress upon a class of boys the importance of living the Christian life. “Why do people call me a Christian?” the man asked. After a moment's pause, one youngster said, “Maybe it's because they don't know you.”
1. The Shameful Display Of Hypocrisy
We live in a phoney world. We are surrounded by makebelieve. TV , average teenager has seen 15,000 hours of make believe. And you and I?
Cardboard Christians, pseudo saints, plastic preachers, playing the game of Christianity.
The Lord reserved His most severe words for these: In biting language He called them,
Wolves in sheeps clothing, whitewashed graves, clean and bright on the uitside but filled with dead men’s bones.
They had everything in the showcase, but nothing in the warehouse.
A. You May Be Dealing With Hypocrisy In Your Deeds
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
Psalm 41:1 Happy is one who cares for the poor; the Lord will save him in a day of adversity. Matt 5:42 Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
The Lord calls us to consider the motive behind our giving.
Small silver trumpet of Pharisees was to notify the poor that alms were available.
It also served to get attention for the giver. Give in an uncalculating, gracious way.
B. You May Be Dealing With Hypocrisy In Your Devotion
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. Not against public praying or giving.
Don’t Pray To Impress God. Its not the logic or the language or the Length
Moody, while a long prayer prayed for all to hear, “While our brother catches up on his prayer life, lets stand together and sing a hymn.”
Don’t Pray To Inform God. We pray to Invite Him and enjoy Him.
He can do it without us, but we can’t do it without Him. He teaches us dependency and offers us fellowship.
Helping fly the simulators at Qantas. Geoff could have done it on his own, but he wanted me to help, to be part of his life.
C. You May Be Dealing With Hypocrisy In Your Discipline
16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
It has been said that each church has its symbols... The Roman Catholic church ahs its statues. the Greek Orthordox church has its ccrystal chandelliers, the Presbyterian church has its robes, the Baptist church has its fried chicken! Fasting may be very unusual to us Baptists!
i. The Purpose Of Fasting To bring our hearts and minds into submission to the Lord.
James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
ii. The Practise of Fasting
If you are diabetic.. its not a good diea to fast.
iii. The Profitableness of Fasting when ye fast The Lord expects you to fast.
2. The Sinister Danger Of Hypocrisy
a. Hypocrisy Deceives Matt 23:9 Do not call anyone on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called masters either, because you have one Master, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You lock up the kingdom of heaven from people. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in. 14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and make long prayers just for show. This is why you will receive a harsher punishment.15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell as you are!
b. Hypocrisy Defrauds “rewards” They have their reward here on earth. None in heaven!
c. Hypocrisy Destroys Matt 7: 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but [only]the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’
3. The Suspicious Discernment Of Hypocrisy
Matt 6:1 “Be careful”, “Take heed” Searching: “Is there some Pharisee in me?” “Have I failed to obey God, fearful of what others might think?”
The Queen Mary was the largest ship to cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936. Through four decades and a World War she served until she was retired, anchored as a floating hotel and museum in Long Beach, California.
During the conversion, her three massive smokestacks were taken off to be scraped down and repainted. But on the dock they crumbled. Nothing was left of the 3/4 inch steel plate from which the stacks had been formed. All that remained were more than thirty coats of paint that had been applied over the years. The steel had rusted away.
When Jesus called the Pharisees "whitewashed tombs," he meant they had no substance, only an exterior appearance.
Address it! How does that new life in Christ begin? IT BEGINS WITH THE RECOGNITION OF WHO WE ARE. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a poem shortly before his execution by the Nazis. "Who am I?" he begins. Then he recounts the perceptions of others: "They tell me I bore the days of misfortune equably, smilingly, proudly..." But his following verses describe the person he knows within: "Restless and longing and sick," he describes himself, "...faint, and ready to say farewell to it all." "Am I one person today and tomorrow another?" Bonhoeffer closes, "Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others, and before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling? Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine."(1) We are faced with the same haunting question. Who am I, really? Some of us don't know.
Confess it! 1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Replace It!
Hypocrites : actors who wore masks
Arthur Miller wrote about that. He called his famous drama "Death of a Salesman." It's the story of Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, who hits a mid-life crisis. He begins to feel the wear and tear of the years. And then he finds out that all he's lived for, all he's spent his life doing, is a sham, a hypocrisy, a foolish lie. He's pretended to be something he never was. He's pretended to believe in things that were never real. And when he looks at his children, he knows that they can see right through him. And in the end, that's more than he can bear. And what does he do about it? He kills himself. He commits suicide. His children found him out. They rejected his hypocrisy. And now he has nothing more to live for. That's the way it is sometimes. (3)
Daniel Defoe [Robinson Crusoe] wrote:
Wherever God erects a house of prayer, The devil always builds a chapel there;
And 'twill be found upon examination, The latter has the largest congregation.
A rather pompous-looking deacon was endeavoring to impress upon a class of boys the importance of living the Christian life. “Why do people call me a Christian?” the man asked. After a moment's pause, one youngster said, “Maybe it's because they don't know you.”
1. The Shameful Display Of Hypocrisy
We live in a phoney world. We are surrounded by makebelieve. TV , average teenager has seen 15,000 hours of make believe. And you and I?
Cardboard Christians, pseudo saints, plastic preachers, playing the game of Christianity.
The Lord reserved His most severe words for these: In biting language He called them,
Wolves in sheeps clothing, whitewashed graves, clean and bright on the uitside but filled with dead men’s bones.
They had everything in the showcase, but nothing in the warehouse.
A. You May Be Dealing With Hypocrisy In Your Deeds
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
Psalm 41:1 Happy is one who cares for the poor; the Lord will save him in a day of adversity. Matt 5:42 Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
The Lord calls us to consider the motive behind our giving.
Small silver trumpet of Pharisees was to notify the poor that alms were available.
It also served to get attention for the giver. Give in an uncalculating, gracious way.
B. You May Be Dealing With Hypocrisy In Your Devotion
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. Not against public praying or giving.
Don’t Pray To Impress God. Its not the logic or the language or the Length
Moody, while a long prayer prayed for all to hear, “While our brother catches up on his prayer life, lets stand together and sing a hymn.”
Don’t Pray To Inform God. We pray to Invite Him and enjoy Him.
He can do it without us, but we can’t do it without Him. He teaches us dependency and offers us fellowship.
Helping fly the simulators at Qantas. Geoff could have done it on his own, but he wanted me to help, to be part of his life.
C. You May Be Dealing With Hypocrisy In Your Discipline
16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
It has been said that each church has its symbols... The Roman Catholic church ahs its statues. the Greek Orthordox church has its ccrystal chandelliers, the Presbyterian church has its robes, the Baptist church has its fried chicken! Fasting may be very unusual to us Baptists!
i. The Purpose Of Fasting To bring our hearts and minds into submission to the Lord.
James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
ii. The Practise of Fasting
If you are diabetic.. its not a good diea to fast.
iii. The Profitableness of Fasting when ye fast The Lord expects you to fast.
2. The Sinister Danger Of Hypocrisy
a. Hypocrisy Deceives Matt 23:9 Do not call anyone on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called masters either, because you have one Master, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You lock up the kingdom of heaven from people. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in. 14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and make long prayers just for show. This is why you will receive a harsher punishment.15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell as you are!
b. Hypocrisy Defrauds “rewards” They have their reward here on earth. None in heaven!
c. Hypocrisy Destroys Matt 7: 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but [only]the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’
3. The Suspicious Discernment Of Hypocrisy
Matt 6:1 “Be careful”, “Take heed” Searching: “Is there some Pharisee in me?” “Have I failed to obey God, fearful of what others might think?”
The Queen Mary was the largest ship to cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936. Through four decades and a World War she served until she was retired, anchored as a floating hotel and museum in Long Beach, California.
During the conversion, her three massive smokestacks were taken off to be scraped down and repainted. But on the dock they crumbled. Nothing was left of the 3/4 inch steel plate from which the stacks had been formed. All that remained were more than thirty coats of paint that had been applied over the years. The steel had rusted away.
When Jesus called the Pharisees "whitewashed tombs," he meant they had no substance, only an exterior appearance.
Address it! How does that new life in Christ begin? IT BEGINS WITH THE RECOGNITION OF WHO WE ARE. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a poem shortly before his execution by the Nazis. "Who am I?" he begins. Then he recounts the perceptions of others: "They tell me I bore the days of misfortune equably, smilingly, proudly..." But his following verses describe the person he knows within: "Restless and longing and sick," he describes himself, "...faint, and ready to say farewell to it all." "Am I one person today and tomorrow another?" Bonhoeffer closes, "Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others, and before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling? Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine."(1) We are faced with the same haunting question. Who am I, really? Some of us don't know.
Confess it! 1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Replace It!
# posted by Groseys messages @ 9:24 AM
Matthew 6:1-8, 16-18 The Academy Awards
θεαθναι To be beheld.. Theatre
Hypocrites : actors who wore masks
Arthur Miller wrote about that. He called his famous drama "Death of a Salesman." It's the story of Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, who hits a mid-life crisis. He begins to feel the wear and tear of the years. And then he finds out that all he's lived for, all he's spent his life doing, is a sham, a hypocrisy, a foolish lie. He's pretended to be something he never was. He's pretended to believe in things that were never real. And when he looks at his children, he knows that they can see right through him. And in the end, that's more than he can bear. And what does he do about it? He kills himself. He commits suicide. His children found him out. They rejected his hypocrisy. And now he has nothing more to live for. That's the way it is sometimes. (3)
Daniel Defoe [Robinson Crusoe] wrote:
Wherever God erects a house of prayer, The devil always builds a chapel there;
And 'twill be found upon examination, The latter has the largest congregation.
A rather pompous-looking deacon was endeavoring to impress upon a class of boys the importance of living the Christian life. “Why do people call me a Christian?” the man asked. After a moment's pause, one youngster said, “Maybe it's because they don't know you.”
1. The Shameful Display Of Hypocrisy
We live in a phoney world. We are surrounded by makebelieve. TV , average teenager has seen 15,000 hours of make believe. And you and I?
Cardboard Christians, pseudo saints, plastic preachers, playing the game of Christianity.
The Lord reserved His most severe words for these: In biting language He called them,
Wolves in sheeps clothing, whitewashed graves, clean and bright on the uitside but filled with dead men’s bones.
They had everything in the showcase, but nothing in the warehouse.
A. You May Be Dealing With Hypocrisy In Your Deeds
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
Psalm 41:1 Happy is one who cares for the poor; the Lord will save him in a day of adversity. Matt 5:42 Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
The Lord calls us to consider the motive behind our giving.
Small silver trumpet of Pharisees was to notify the poor that alms were available.
It also served to get attention for the giver. Give in an uncalculating, gracious way.
B. You May Be Dealing With Hypocrisy In Your Devotion
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. Not against public praying or giving.
Don’t Pray To Impress God. Its not the logic or the language or the Length
Moody, while a long prayer prayed for all to hear, “While our brother catches up on his prayer life, lets stand together and sing a hymn.”
Don’t Pray To Inform God. We pray to Invite Him and enjoy Him.
He can do it without us, but we can’t do it without Him. He teaches us dependency and offers us fellowship.
Helping fly the simulators at Qantas. Geoff could have done it on his own, but he wanted me to help, to be part of his life.
C. You May Be Dealing With Hypocrisy In Your Discipline
16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
It has been said that each church has its symbols... The Roman Catholic church ahs its statues. the Greek Orthordox church has its ccrystal chandelliers, the Presbyterian church has its robes, the Baptist church has its fried chicken! Fasting may be very unusual to us Baptists!
i. The Purpose Of Fasting To bring our hearts and minds into submission to the Lord.
James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
ii. The Practise of Fasting
If you are diabetic.. its not a good diea to fast.
iii. The Profitableness of Fasting when ye fast The Lord expects you to fast.
2. The Sinister Danger Of Hypocrisy
a. Hypocrisy Deceives Matt 23:9 Do not call anyone on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called masters either, because you have one Master, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You lock up the kingdom of heaven from people. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in. 14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and make long prayers just for show. This is why you will receive a harsher punishment.15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell as you are!
b. Hypocrisy Defrauds “rewards” They have their reward here on earth. None in heaven!
c. Hypocrisy Destroys Matt 7: 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but [only]the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’
3. The Suspicious Discernment Of Hypocrisy
Matt 6:1 “Be careful”, “Take heed” Searching: “Is there some Pharisee in me?” “Have I failed to obey God, fearful of what others might think?”
The Queen Mary was the largest ship to cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936. Through four decades and a World War she served until she was retired, anchored as a floating hotel and museum in Long Beach, California.
During the conversion, her three massive smokestacks were taken off to be scraped down and repainted. But on the dock they crumbled. Nothing was left of the 3/4 inch steel plate from which the stacks had been formed. All that remained were more than thirty coats of paint that had been applied over the years. The steel had rusted away.
When Jesus called the Pharisees "whitewashed tombs," he meant they had no substance, only an exterior appearance.
Address it! How does that new life in Christ begin? IT BEGINS WITH THE RECOGNITION OF WHO WE ARE. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a poem shortly before his execution by the Nazis. "Who am I?" he begins. Then he recounts the perceptions of others: "They tell me I bore the days of misfortune equably, smilingly, proudly..." But his following verses describe the person he knows within: "Restless and longing and sick," he describes himself, "...faint, and ready to say farewell to it all." "Am I one person today and tomorrow another?" Bonhoeffer closes, "Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others, and before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling? Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine."(1) We are faced with the same haunting question. Who am I, really? Some of us don't know.
Confess it! 1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Replace It!
Hypocrites : actors who wore masks
Arthur Miller wrote about that. He called his famous drama "Death of a Salesman." It's the story of Willy Loman, a traveling salesman, who hits a mid-life crisis. He begins to feel the wear and tear of the years. And then he finds out that all he's lived for, all he's spent his life doing, is a sham, a hypocrisy, a foolish lie. He's pretended to be something he never was. He's pretended to believe in things that were never real. And when he looks at his children, he knows that they can see right through him. And in the end, that's more than he can bear. And what does he do about it? He kills himself. He commits suicide. His children found him out. They rejected his hypocrisy. And now he has nothing more to live for. That's the way it is sometimes. (3)
Daniel Defoe [Robinson Crusoe] wrote:
Wherever God erects a house of prayer, The devil always builds a chapel there;
And 'twill be found upon examination, The latter has the largest congregation.
A rather pompous-looking deacon was endeavoring to impress upon a class of boys the importance of living the Christian life. “Why do people call me a Christian?” the man asked. After a moment's pause, one youngster said, “Maybe it's because they don't know you.”
1. The Shameful Display Of Hypocrisy
We live in a phoney world. We are surrounded by makebelieve. TV , average teenager has seen 15,000 hours of make believe. And you and I?
Cardboard Christians, pseudo saints, plastic preachers, playing the game of Christianity.
The Lord reserved His most severe words for these: In biting language He called them,
Wolves in sheeps clothing, whitewashed graves, clean and bright on the uitside but filled with dead men’s bones.
They had everything in the showcase, but nothing in the warehouse.
A. You May Be Dealing With Hypocrisy In Your Deeds
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: 4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
Psalm 41:1 Happy is one who cares for the poor; the Lord will save him in a day of adversity. Matt 5:42 Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
The Lord calls us to consider the motive behind our giving.
Small silver trumpet of Pharisees was to notify the poor that alms were available.
It also served to get attention for the giver. Give in an uncalculating, gracious way.
B. You May Be Dealing With Hypocrisy In Your Devotion
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. 7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. Not against public praying or giving.
Don’t Pray To Impress God. Its not the logic or the language or the Length
Moody, while a long prayer prayed for all to hear, “While our brother catches up on his prayer life, lets stand together and sing a hymn.”
Don’t Pray To Inform God. We pray to Invite Him and enjoy Him.
He can do it without us, but we can’t do it without Him. He teaches us dependency and offers us fellowship.
Helping fly the simulators at Qantas. Geoff could have done it on his own, but he wanted me to help, to be part of his life.
C. You May Be Dealing With Hypocrisy In Your Discipline
16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; 18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
It has been said that each church has its symbols... The Roman Catholic church ahs its statues. the Greek Orthordox church has its ccrystal chandelliers, the Presbyterian church has its robes, the Baptist church has its fried chicken! Fasting may be very unusual to us Baptists!
i. The Purpose Of Fasting To bring our hearts and minds into submission to the Lord.
James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
ii. The Practise of Fasting
If you are diabetic.. its not a good diea to fast.
iii. The Profitableness of Fasting when ye fast The Lord expects you to fast.
2. The Sinister Danger Of Hypocrisy
a. Hypocrisy Deceives Matt 23:9 Do not call anyone on earth your father, because you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 And do not be called masters either, because you have one Master, the Messiah. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. 13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You lock up the kingdom of heaven from people. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in. 14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and make long prayers just for show. This is why you will receive a harsher punishment.15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell as you are!
b. Hypocrisy Defrauds “rewards” They have their reward here on earth. None in heaven!
c. Hypocrisy Destroys Matt 7: 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but [only]the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’
3. The Suspicious Discernment Of Hypocrisy
Matt 6:1 “Be careful”, “Take heed” Searching: “Is there some Pharisee in me?” “Have I failed to obey God, fearful of what others might think?”
The Queen Mary was the largest ship to cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936. Through four decades and a World War she served until she was retired, anchored as a floating hotel and museum in Long Beach, California.
During the conversion, her three massive smokestacks were taken off to be scraped down and repainted. But on the dock they crumbled. Nothing was left of the 3/4 inch steel plate from which the stacks had been formed. All that remained were more than thirty coats of paint that had been applied over the years. The steel had rusted away.
When Jesus called the Pharisees "whitewashed tombs," he meant they had no substance, only an exterior appearance.
Address it! How does that new life in Christ begin? IT BEGINS WITH THE RECOGNITION OF WHO WE ARE. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote a poem shortly before his execution by the Nazis. "Who am I?" he begins. Then he recounts the perceptions of others: "They tell me I bore the days of misfortune equably, smilingly, proudly..." But his following verses describe the person he knows within: "Restless and longing and sick," he describes himself, "...faint, and ready to say farewell to it all." "Am I one person today and tomorrow another?" Bonhoeffer closes, "Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others, and before myself a contemptible woebegone weakling? Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine."(1) We are faced with the same haunting question. Who am I, really? Some of us don't know.
Confess it! 1John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Replace It!
# posted by Groseys messages @ 9:24 AM
Sunday, July 16, 2006
"Make my Day" or The Miracle Mile Matthew 5
"make my day" or The Miracle Mile Matthew 5
38 “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 39 But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 As for the one who wants to sue you and take away your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. 43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Revenge has been much in the news recently. From the Today show this morning came an invitation for folks to email in and tell them what they have done to take revenge on ex partners.
One said, corncobs in the curtain rods. Another said, cut off the right sleeve of all his suits.
And then this morning an act of Revenge, the fighting between Israel and Hezbolah in Lebanon.
Revenge is something driven deep into the human soul. This passage of scripture is not hard to exposit, but it sure is hard to live.
1. The Principle Of The Second Mile
Life Is Lived at three levels
Hellish level :Render evil for good
Human Level : Render evil for evil
Holy Level : render good For Evil
There was the farmer who had had a poor deal from the used car salesman. When he went to collect the car, he discovered all sorts of hidden added costs, like: Dealer delivery, on road costs, and other costs.
Then the used car salesman came to the farmer to buy a cow. He sold it to him for $600. But when the Salesman came with his truck to take delivery, the farmer handed him a bill for several extra costs:
Duo tone leather trim : $400
Greased nipples ; 4 of, $40 each.
Twin air horns: $50
LPG facility: $500
The Lord Demands More Than A Minimum Morality.
38 “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 39 But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer.
Lex Talionis:: judicial law versus personal morality!
Ex 21:23 If there is an injury, then you must give life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound.
Lev 24:19 If any man inflicts a permanent injury on his neighbor, whatever he has done is to be done to him: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Whatever injury he inflicted on the person, the same is to be inflicted on him.[
Now this was a judicial law, not a personal law. Some, the Pharisees particularly it seems, too k advantage of this law to take personal vendettas. But this was forbidden in the law.
Lev 19:18 Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
"If someone forces you to go one mile…" This expression came out of old Persia and refers to the authority given by the king to those sent to do his bidding. If a courier or soldier needed assistance in fulfilling the king’s mission, he could commandeer any man or horse or wagon with no questions asked. Later the armies of the Greeks and the Romans adopted the practice.
In Jesus’ day any Jew could be forced away from his own concerns to help a legionnaire who may or may not have really needed him. In much the same way Simon of Cyrene was "compelled," (forced) to bear the cross of Jesus (Matthew 27:32).
The Jews of Jesus’ day, of course, deeply resented this humiliating law and saw it as a symbol of foreign domination. You can imagine, then, their surprise when Jesus said, "go with him two miles."
Our concept of "justice" is built on the principle of "reciprocity." It seeks to insure that those who violate rights and deny justice are appropriately punished.
"An eye for an eye," is the way the Bible puts it. Rather than inviting retaliation, the real goal of this law was to insure justice by guaranteeing proportional compensation to the victim. It was designed to keep the rich and powerful from literally "getting away with murder."
Such justice is sanctioned by God Himself as a means of constraining the human tendency toward exploitation and manipulation of the defenseless.
Understanding this, we are even more surprised at these words of Jesus.
Rather than calling upon them (and us) to resist this unjust law or, at best, to comply with it only minimally, he calls upon his followers to respond to evil with good and to domination with voluntary subordination.
Those words of the Lord Jesus stir up a powerful conflict in me. "Yes, yes - Evil cannot be defeated with its own cruel tactics." I recognize that truth.... But there is a second response of irritation even anger, saying,
"Sure, go ahead and turn the other cheek. What will that get you except a second black eye?"
There are people who seem to be masters of evil. Every generation knows a few of these monsters....
Hitler whose dreams of power led to the murder of millions and suffering for most of the known world;
Idi Amin, who crazed lusts led to the slaughter of 100's of thousands in Uganda;
Stalin who it is estimated killed as many as 20 million Soviet citizens in the early days of his dictatorship in Russia;
Pol Pot whose demonic policies brought 1-2 million Cambodians to their death and destroyed that country's structure pushing it back in time 50-100 years!
Next to these kinds of monsters, it is easy to forget the rather ordinary kind of evil person that lives in our neighborhood, who works in our shop, or who attends our church. Most evil does not jump out in our face and announce its presence. That smiling person might be hiding a cruel heart, a deceitful intent, or a malevolent desire. The fact : "All of us are capable of doing evil things, but evil people are driven by a self-interest that
is so heartless, conscious, and cruel that it delights in stealing from others the lifeblood of their soul.... evil is present when there is a profound absence of empathy, shame, and goodness. An evil person is unmoved by the inner world of the other person (and consequently has no empathy). An evil person is unaffected by exposure so is consequently shameless. An evil person delights in stripping away purpose and vitality (consequently he is not good)."
The Lord Demands More Than A Loveless Legalism
Lev 19:18 Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord. There are supervisors at work who refuses to think of you as a person, who treats you solely as an machine to produce for the company. There are spouses who cruelly manipulate and use their wives/husbands for their own selfish needs without a thought for the needs of the other person. There are those ego-centric people who cruelly and viciously attack others, pointing out flaws, sins, and failures with a sick joy. There are those who use their power to prey on the weak... exploiting the ones over whom they have power for their own needs. Jesus tells us to love these evil people. As Christians we are taught that love will overcome.
Think of it for a moment, Clint Eastwood as Dirty harry has the perpetrator's head in his sites, and his gun next to the baddies ear, and he whispers "Make My Day!" We are excited about that. the evil doer has been seen to be an evil doer, and we would be real glad if Harry would take that mangum gun and finish him off. We're excited , and we inwardly hope he will. Now Harry is the Law, and he's allowed to do that. But he has to take him in oif he surrenders. And we don't want him to surrender. We want more than justice. We want revenge!
But instead of a loveless legalism, the Lord jesus calls us to love our enemies!
Now here is the shopkeeper in old Jersalem. You can imagine him saying this, Love your neighbours, but hate your enemies. Now that statement isn't biblical. its nowhere in the Bible. In fact we are called to love all. But you can imagine the common way of saying it, "The Bible says 'love your neighbour' but that means you can hate your enemies!" (say it with a Pirate voice) But the Lord cuts straight across that. Nope you gotta love your enemies!
The Lord Demands You Pray for Your Persecutors (Matthew 5:44)
Charles Spurgeon said, "Prayer is the forerunner of mercy. " I like that - the forerunner of mercy. I'm sure you have found that when you start to pray for someone you don't get on with, God begins to answer your prayer by softening your attitude toward them. We must love them because of who they are-sinners fallen from the image of God and in need of God's forgiveness and grace, just as we were and do. We must pray for them that they will, as we have done, seek His forgiveness and grace.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the pastor who suffered and eventually was killed in Nazi Germany, wrote of Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5:44, "This is the supreme demand. Through the medium of prayer we go to our enemy, stand by his side, and plead for him to God. For if we pray for them, we are taking their distress and poverty, their guilt and perdition upon ourselves and pleading to God for them."
Love our enemies and pray for them.
Do I love that evil person enough to pay the price of boldly loving them with the hope of change?
Do you believe Romans 8: 28? We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.
These all things include the persecutions and hatreds of others. They are part of God’s purposes for us. They refine us. Sometimes we need the crucible to refine the product. To refine that which is within us!
2. The Practice Of The Second Mile
Consider the costs of genuine love....
We must be willing to endure loss. Genuine love of evil person will cause us to lose sleep, comfort, and even relationships. Most of the time it is much easier to simply go along with an evil person in a pseudo-loving way, than it is to genuinely love them. Hopefully this will become clearer in a few moments.
We must be willing to face shame and hatred.
The smiting blow of the fist on the right cheek would be a backhanded blow by a right handed person. it would be a sign of dismal hatred and desite.
An evil person knows where you can be shamed and will not hesitate to use shame to gain your compliance with their schemes. They may use a relatively harmless phrase calling you something like "chicken," or they may call into question your manhood, your intelligence, or your integrity. If you and I do not have a firm grasp on the gracious forgiveness of God and His great love for us despite our weaknesses and failures, we will not be able to withstand the assault of shaming. We will turn from the evil person in self-preservation.
We must be willing to help towards repentance. An evil person will not respond to a simple discussion of good and right. Unlike the fool who can be changed by education, the evil person must be caught in the act and called to account.
That is an example of genuine love. Many mistaken believe that love would mean that the abused spouse would just meekly submit to such cruelty. Is that love? Is the abuser made a better person by the submission of that spouse? Is he forced to face his need to change?
Allender says it like this.... "we need to catch evil in the act and smile, calmly and confidently stating what we are willing and unwilling to endure- then we must stand back and watch hell rise out of the fury and explode. When we are prepared for the assault we can re-state the boundaries even as we shake inside. Inform an evil person that you will leave his office, hang up the phone, or call the police. Then do it with deliberation, without apology, and without vindictiveness."
Withholding relationship is one of the ways of showing genuine love! It takes away the support of the person who is evil and hopefully allows him or her to experience the kind of loneliness that they cause others to feel. Be careful! Don't withhold relationship simply to protect yourself from pain. That is wrong. Don't withhold relationship without taking many steps of prayer and counsel. But realize that even as a Christian, you may love a person by refusing to be a part of their evilness.
The church is instructed in the use of this tool of love. We have come to call the process- excommunication. Many who misunderstand it, think that excommunication is a method of eliminating evil persons from the church. No so, at all. It is an attempt to cause that evil person to see the depth of their sin, so that they will change. It is an attempt to cause ultimate good.
3. The Power Of The Second Mile 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Our choice is between escalation of the conflict or elimination of it. Retaliation is a dead end. The sooner we realize this the easier it will be for us to begin down the road Jesus asks us to walk. Then we will begin to see and experience the secret power of the second mile. Then we will learn the lessons that going the second mile will teach us.
Lesson One: Going the second mile will break the hostility cycle. By responding in a loving and calm way to hostility we can lower the temperature a few degrees. In Proverbs 15:1 we are told that "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." As we respond by turning the other cheek, giving more than is required -- our coat as well as our shirt, and going the extra mile, we deal an unexpected blow to the hostility cycle that is expected. This principle really works in a variety of situations we all face regularly. It works when someone cuts you off in traffic. It works when you are in a line and someone cuts in front of you. It works when you are interrupted. It works when someone gives you a harsh word. You see, if you lash out in anger when you are in any of these situations you only escalate the conflict. If you respond by being kind and generous, which is the unexpected response, then you catch your antagonist off guard and they, not knowing quite how to respond, calm down a bit.
This works in a marriage relationship. When you see the tensions beginning to rise because someone is irritable, you have a strategic decision to make. You can become irritable yourself. We have all done this and know where this leads. Or you can respond in kindness and gentleness. Which works better? Kindness and gentleness. And when the conflict has already started and you have impulsively shot your mouth off and said the wrong thing, if you will immediately stop and admit you are wrong, you can get a handle on the situation. It is hard to do that. There is something within us that hates to admit we are wrong, even when everyone, including us, knows we are. But if we will be big enough to make the first move, we will experience the secret, positive power of the second mile.
This works in the workplace when unreasonable bosses are flexing their irritating muscle. It works in the school situation when demanding and implacable teachers, who think their class is the only one that counts, give you unreasonable assignments. You can become bitter or better by how you respond. So, lesson one is that going the second mile will break the hostility cycle.
Going the second mile will touch others with the true gospel of Christ.
What is the real mark of a Christian? Is it a lapel pin that says "Jesus First"? Is it a bumper sticker that says "Honk if you love Jesus"? Is it a glib "Praise the Lord" when anything goes wrong? No, it is none of these things. The real mark of a Christian is love. Jesus said that the world would know we were Christians by our love. In John 13:34-35 we read, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
The real mark of true Christianity is unselfish love and a laying down of our lives for others. This is what Jesus did. And to lay down one's life is to lay down one's rights. When Jesus hung on the Cross, He was not there simply because Rome had capitulated to the unruly Jewish mob. This was not something outside of Jesus control. It has been rightly said that He could have called 10,000 angels to His aid. After all, He was the Lord of the universe.
If anyone had a right to rights, it was Jesus. But He chose to lay down His divine rights. In fact, He chose to do that when He left heaven to be born a man. When it says in Philippians that He "emptied" Himself to become a man, it means that He divested Himself of His divine prerogatives. He reaffirmed this laying aside of rights to Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane when He said to the Father, "Thy will be done." This is how Jesus loved us and how we are to love one another.
The soldier at the foot of the Cross began to see who Jesus was he said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"
Think anout it. He had possibly accompanied Judas to the garden to take the Lord. He may have seen Peter draw his sword and cut off Malchus’ ear. He may have been there as the Lord Jesus stood before Annas and Caiaphas. He undoubtedly was there in the courtyard as Jesus stood before Pilate. He would have been involved in the savage beating. Perhaps it was he who bought down the rod on Jesus’ head, or punched him in the face, or pushed down that crown of thorns on his brow. Perhaps he bartered for Jesus’ clothing! And there below that cross, the love and mercy of the Saviour breaks his heart and he says, “Truly this one was the Son of God!”
This is the kind of love that lays down rights for the sake of others. It is this kind of love that causes missionaries to reach out to the very tribes that killed their co-workers and friends. It is a powerful acknowledgement of a love that is not of this world. It will bring people into contact with the true gospel.
Have you considered that the crucible of pain that you endure, may well be the vessel by which the Lord reaches many with the gospel.
Consider JG Patton. He gave himself sacrificially. His wife and children died, and he had to sit on their graves for several days to stop the natives digging them up and eating them. And all Vanuatu was saved.
Or consider Hudson Taylor of China, and the abuse he suffered so that he might willingly lead these people to the Lord.
Consider your persecutions. Perhaps this is the way that the Lord will use to change people’s lives, and bring them to the Saviour!
Will you trust the Lord to do His work? Will you trust yourself to the Lord in these matters?
38 “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 39 But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 As for the one who wants to sue you and take away your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. 43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? Don’t even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing out of the ordinary? Don’t even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Revenge has been much in the news recently. From the Today show this morning came an invitation for folks to email in and tell them what they have done to take revenge on ex partners.
One said, corncobs in the curtain rods. Another said, cut off the right sleeve of all his suits.
And then this morning an act of Revenge, the fighting between Israel and Hezbolah in Lebanon.
Revenge is something driven deep into the human soul. This passage of scripture is not hard to exposit, but it sure is hard to live.
1. The Principle Of The Second Mile
Life Is Lived at three levels
Hellish level :Render evil for good
Human Level : Render evil for evil
Holy Level : render good For Evil
There was the farmer who had had a poor deal from the used car salesman. When he went to collect the car, he discovered all sorts of hidden added costs, like: Dealer delivery, on road costs, and other costs.
Then the used car salesman came to the farmer to buy a cow. He sold it to him for $600. But when the Salesman came with his truck to take delivery, the farmer handed him a bill for several extra costs:
Duo tone leather trim : $400
Greased nipples ; 4 of, $40 each.
Twin air horns: $50
LPG facility: $500
The Lord Demands More Than A Minimum Morality.
38 “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 39 But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer.
Lex Talionis:: judicial law versus personal morality!
Ex 21:23 If there is an injury, then you must give life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound.
Lev 24:19 If any man inflicts a permanent injury on his neighbor, whatever he has done is to be done to him: 20 fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. Whatever injury he inflicted on the person, the same is to be inflicted on him.[
Now this was a judicial law, not a personal law. Some, the Pharisees particularly it seems, too k advantage of this law to take personal vendettas. But this was forbidden in the law.
Lev 19:18 Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord.
"If someone forces you to go one mile…" This expression came out of old Persia and refers to the authority given by the king to those sent to do his bidding. If a courier or soldier needed assistance in fulfilling the king’s mission, he could commandeer any man or horse or wagon with no questions asked. Later the armies of the Greeks and the Romans adopted the practice.
In Jesus’ day any Jew could be forced away from his own concerns to help a legionnaire who may or may not have really needed him. In much the same way Simon of Cyrene was "compelled," (forced) to bear the cross of Jesus (Matthew 27:32).
The Jews of Jesus’ day, of course, deeply resented this humiliating law and saw it as a symbol of foreign domination. You can imagine, then, their surprise when Jesus said, "go with him two miles."
Our concept of "justice" is built on the principle of "reciprocity." It seeks to insure that those who violate rights and deny justice are appropriately punished.
"An eye for an eye," is the way the Bible puts it. Rather than inviting retaliation, the real goal of this law was to insure justice by guaranteeing proportional compensation to the victim. It was designed to keep the rich and powerful from literally "getting away with murder."
Such justice is sanctioned by God Himself as a means of constraining the human tendency toward exploitation and manipulation of the defenseless.
Understanding this, we are even more surprised at these words of Jesus.
Rather than calling upon them (and us) to resist this unjust law or, at best, to comply with it only minimally, he calls upon his followers to respond to evil with good and to domination with voluntary subordination.
Those words of the Lord Jesus stir up a powerful conflict in me. "Yes, yes - Evil cannot be defeated with its own cruel tactics." I recognize that truth.... But there is a second response of irritation even anger, saying,
"Sure, go ahead and turn the other cheek. What will that get you except a second black eye?"
There are people who seem to be masters of evil. Every generation knows a few of these monsters....
Hitler whose dreams of power led to the murder of millions and suffering for most of the known world;
Idi Amin, who crazed lusts led to the slaughter of 100's of thousands in Uganda;
Stalin who it is estimated killed as many as 20 million Soviet citizens in the early days of his dictatorship in Russia;
Pol Pot whose demonic policies brought 1-2 million Cambodians to their death and destroyed that country's structure pushing it back in time 50-100 years!
Next to these kinds of monsters, it is easy to forget the rather ordinary kind of evil person that lives in our neighborhood, who works in our shop, or who attends our church. Most evil does not jump out in our face and announce its presence. That smiling person might be hiding a cruel heart, a deceitful intent, or a malevolent desire. The fact : "All of us are capable of doing evil things, but evil people are driven by a self-interest that
is so heartless, conscious, and cruel that it delights in stealing from others the lifeblood of their soul.... evil is present when there is a profound absence of empathy, shame, and goodness. An evil person is unmoved by the inner world of the other person (and consequently has no empathy). An evil person is unaffected by exposure so is consequently shameless. An evil person delights in stripping away purpose and vitality (consequently he is not good)."
The Lord Demands More Than A Loveless Legalism
Lev 19:18 Do not take revenge or bear a grudge against members of your community, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the Lord. There are supervisors at work who refuses to think of you as a person, who treats you solely as an machine to produce for the company. There are spouses who cruelly manipulate and use their wives/husbands for their own selfish needs without a thought for the needs of the other person. There are those ego-centric people who cruelly and viciously attack others, pointing out flaws, sins, and failures with a sick joy. There are those who use their power to prey on the weak... exploiting the ones over whom they have power for their own needs. Jesus tells us to love these evil people. As Christians we are taught that love will overcome.
Think of it for a moment, Clint Eastwood as Dirty harry has the perpetrator's head in his sites, and his gun next to the baddies ear, and he whispers "Make My Day!" We are excited about that. the evil doer has been seen to be an evil doer, and we would be real glad if Harry would take that mangum gun and finish him off. We're excited , and we inwardly hope he will. Now Harry is the Law, and he's allowed to do that. But he has to take him in oif he surrenders. And we don't want him to surrender. We want more than justice. We want revenge!
But instead of a loveless legalism, the Lord jesus calls us to love our enemies!
Now here is the shopkeeper in old Jersalem. You can imagine him saying this, Love your neighbours, but hate your enemies. Now that statement isn't biblical. its nowhere in the Bible. In fact we are called to love all. But you can imagine the common way of saying it, "The Bible says 'love your neighbour' but that means you can hate your enemies!" (say it with a Pirate voice) But the Lord cuts straight across that. Nope you gotta love your enemies!
The Lord Demands You Pray for Your Persecutors (Matthew 5:44)
Charles Spurgeon said, "Prayer is the forerunner of mercy. " I like that - the forerunner of mercy. I'm sure you have found that when you start to pray for someone you don't get on with, God begins to answer your prayer by softening your attitude toward them. We must love them because of who they are-sinners fallen from the image of God and in need of God's forgiveness and grace, just as we were and do. We must pray for them that they will, as we have done, seek His forgiveness and grace.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the pastor who suffered and eventually was killed in Nazi Germany, wrote of Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5:44, "This is the supreme demand. Through the medium of prayer we go to our enemy, stand by his side, and plead for him to God. For if we pray for them, we are taking their distress and poverty, their guilt and perdition upon ourselves and pleading to God for them."
Love our enemies and pray for them.
Do I love that evil person enough to pay the price of boldly loving them with the hope of change?
Do you believe Romans 8: 28? We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.
These all things include the persecutions and hatreds of others. They are part of God’s purposes for us. They refine us. Sometimes we need the crucible to refine the product. To refine that which is within us!
2. The Practice Of The Second Mile
Consider the costs of genuine love....
We must be willing to endure loss. Genuine love of evil person will cause us to lose sleep, comfort, and even relationships. Most of the time it is much easier to simply go along with an evil person in a pseudo-loving way, than it is to genuinely love them. Hopefully this will become clearer in a few moments.
We must be willing to face shame and hatred.
The smiting blow of the fist on the right cheek would be a backhanded blow by a right handed person. it would be a sign of dismal hatred and desite.
An evil person knows where you can be shamed and will not hesitate to use shame to gain your compliance with their schemes. They may use a relatively harmless phrase calling you something like "chicken," or they may call into question your manhood, your intelligence, or your integrity. If you and I do not have a firm grasp on the gracious forgiveness of God and His great love for us despite our weaknesses and failures, we will not be able to withstand the assault of shaming. We will turn from the evil person in self-preservation.
We must be willing to help towards repentance. An evil person will not respond to a simple discussion of good and right. Unlike the fool who can be changed by education, the evil person must be caught in the act and called to account.
That is an example of genuine love. Many mistaken believe that love would mean that the abused spouse would just meekly submit to such cruelty. Is that love? Is the abuser made a better person by the submission of that spouse? Is he forced to face his need to change?
Allender says it like this.... "we need to catch evil in the act and smile, calmly and confidently stating what we are willing and unwilling to endure- then we must stand back and watch hell rise out of the fury and explode. When we are prepared for the assault we can re-state the boundaries even as we shake inside. Inform an evil person that you will leave his office, hang up the phone, or call the police. Then do it with deliberation, without apology, and without vindictiveness."
Withholding relationship is one of the ways of showing genuine love! It takes away the support of the person who is evil and hopefully allows him or her to experience the kind of loneliness that they cause others to feel. Be careful! Don't withhold relationship simply to protect yourself from pain. That is wrong. Don't withhold relationship without taking many steps of prayer and counsel. But realize that even as a Christian, you may love a person by refusing to be a part of their evilness.
The church is instructed in the use of this tool of love. We have come to call the process- excommunication. Many who misunderstand it, think that excommunication is a method of eliminating evil persons from the church. No so, at all. It is an attempt to cause that evil person to see the depth of their sin, so that they will change. It is an attempt to cause ultimate good.
3. The Power Of The Second Mile 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Our choice is between escalation of the conflict or elimination of it. Retaliation is a dead end. The sooner we realize this the easier it will be for us to begin down the road Jesus asks us to walk. Then we will begin to see and experience the secret power of the second mile. Then we will learn the lessons that going the second mile will teach us.
Lesson One: Going the second mile will break the hostility cycle. By responding in a loving and calm way to hostility we can lower the temperature a few degrees. In Proverbs 15:1 we are told that "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." As we respond by turning the other cheek, giving more than is required -- our coat as well as our shirt, and going the extra mile, we deal an unexpected blow to the hostility cycle that is expected. This principle really works in a variety of situations we all face regularly. It works when someone cuts you off in traffic. It works when you are in a line and someone cuts in front of you. It works when you are interrupted. It works when someone gives you a harsh word. You see, if you lash out in anger when you are in any of these situations you only escalate the conflict. If you respond by being kind and generous, which is the unexpected response, then you catch your antagonist off guard and they, not knowing quite how to respond, calm down a bit.
This works in a marriage relationship. When you see the tensions beginning to rise because someone is irritable, you have a strategic decision to make. You can become irritable yourself. We have all done this and know where this leads. Or you can respond in kindness and gentleness. Which works better? Kindness and gentleness. And when the conflict has already started and you have impulsively shot your mouth off and said the wrong thing, if you will immediately stop and admit you are wrong, you can get a handle on the situation. It is hard to do that. There is something within us that hates to admit we are wrong, even when everyone, including us, knows we are. But if we will be big enough to make the first move, we will experience the secret, positive power of the second mile.
This works in the workplace when unreasonable bosses are flexing their irritating muscle. It works in the school situation when demanding and implacable teachers, who think their class is the only one that counts, give you unreasonable assignments. You can become bitter or better by how you respond. So, lesson one is that going the second mile will break the hostility cycle.
Going the second mile will touch others with the true gospel of Christ.
What is the real mark of a Christian? Is it a lapel pin that says "Jesus First"? Is it a bumper sticker that says "Honk if you love Jesus"? Is it a glib "Praise the Lord" when anything goes wrong? No, it is none of these things. The real mark of a Christian is love. Jesus said that the world would know we were Christians by our love. In John 13:34-35 we read, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
The real mark of true Christianity is unselfish love and a laying down of our lives for others. This is what Jesus did. And to lay down one's life is to lay down one's rights. When Jesus hung on the Cross, He was not there simply because Rome had capitulated to the unruly Jewish mob. This was not something outside of Jesus control. It has been rightly said that He could have called 10,000 angels to His aid. After all, He was the Lord of the universe.
If anyone had a right to rights, it was Jesus. But He chose to lay down His divine rights. In fact, He chose to do that when He left heaven to be born a man. When it says in Philippians that He "emptied" Himself to become a man, it means that He divested Himself of His divine prerogatives. He reaffirmed this laying aside of rights to Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane when He said to the Father, "Thy will be done." This is how Jesus loved us and how we are to love one another.
The soldier at the foot of the Cross began to see who Jesus was he said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"
Think anout it. He had possibly accompanied Judas to the garden to take the Lord. He may have seen Peter draw his sword and cut off Malchus’ ear. He may have been there as the Lord Jesus stood before Annas and Caiaphas. He undoubtedly was there in the courtyard as Jesus stood before Pilate. He would have been involved in the savage beating. Perhaps it was he who bought down the rod on Jesus’ head, or punched him in the face, or pushed down that crown of thorns on his brow. Perhaps he bartered for Jesus’ clothing! And there below that cross, the love and mercy of the Saviour breaks his heart and he says, “Truly this one was the Son of God!”
This is the kind of love that lays down rights for the sake of others. It is this kind of love that causes missionaries to reach out to the very tribes that killed their co-workers and friends. It is a powerful acknowledgement of a love that is not of this world. It will bring people into contact with the true gospel.
Have you considered that the crucible of pain that you endure, may well be the vessel by which the Lord reaches many with the gospel.
Consider JG Patton. He gave himself sacrificially. His wife and children died, and he had to sit on their graves for several days to stop the natives digging them up and eating them. And all Vanuatu was saved.
Or consider Hudson Taylor of China, and the abuse he suffered so that he might willingly lead these people to the Lord.
Consider your persecutions. Perhaps this is the way that the Lord will use to change people’s lives, and bring them to the Saviour!
Will you trust the Lord to do His work? Will you trust yourself to the Lord in these matters?
# posted by Groseys messages @ 2:13 PM
Sunday, July 09, 2006
1 Samuel 28 Spiritism: Ghosts, Angels and the Demonic
There has been an increase in the number of folk professing to be spiritualists over the last 30 years.
there is a Spiritualist church just around the corner. Witches and shops for the occult are everywhere these days. Television shows and movies, such as Angel, The Others, The sixth Sense: “I see dead people!” have propogated myths about ghosts and the occult.
This passage before us tonight puts us right in the middle of this stuff.
The background?
1 At that time, the Philistines brought their military units together into one army to fight against Israel. So Achish said to David, “You know, of course, that you and your men must march out in the army with me.” 2 David replied to Achish, “Good, you will find out what your servant can do.” So Achish said to David, “Very well, I will appoint you as my permanent bodyguard.” 3 By this time Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his city, and Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land. 4 The Philistines came together and camped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel, and they camped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine camp, he was afraid and trembled violently.
The Philistines waged war and thought they were going to win because
A. Samuel was dead.
B. They thought David was on their side.
C. Saul’s popularity had declined, and
D. the morale of Israel was at an all time low.
6. “And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not.” It is awful to be left to ourselves.
Saul panics and seeks help: a. from Samuel? But he's Dead! From prophets? Saul killed them. The Lord? No he didn’t answer him. From demonised seers?
Now let me say to you that anytime you have a desire to traffic with the devil, the devil will always provide you an agent with which to deal. When you have turned your back on God and you choose to do business with the devil, I promise you, the devil is always ready to do business with you.
And understand now, Saul never sees anything or anyone but the witch of Endor. All he sees is the woman. He does not see any spirit or other person. All he sees is the woman. All he hears is the voice of the woman. The woman tells him everything she is supposedly seeing.
This was a divinely condemned experience,
Deut 18: 9 “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable customs of those nations. 10 No one among you is to make his son or daughter pass through the fire, practice • divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery, 11 cast spells, consult a medium or a familiar spirit, or inquire of the dead. 12 Everyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and the Lord your God is driving out the nations before you because of these detestable things. 13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God. 14 Though these nations you are about to drive out listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do this. 15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.
Leviticus 20:6 “Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists and prostitutes himself with them, I will turn against that person and cut him off from his people. 7 Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 Keep My statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sets you apart.
This was a very discouraging experience, Saul was told he was going to die! That Day!
This was a deadly experience because over in the Book of I Chronicles 10:13, “So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit.”
This was a demonic experience.
Who was this person that the witch of Endor supposedly saw and who supposedly spoke through her to Saul? Who was this person? Well basically there are three interpretations as to who it was.
a. That It Was Samuel’s Spirit
There are some who believe that this witch of Endor, this woman who trafficked in demons that she actually herself in her own power infiltrated the place of the righteous dead and called out of that resting place of the saints of God this man Samuel. And that Samuel responded to the demonic possessed woman and was aroused out of his spiritual rest and came at her beckoning command. I want to tell you I don’t believe that for one second. I don’t believe any demonic possessed person has any authority over the spirit of a child of God. And I want you to know, beloved, when I leave this world and go to be with Jesus, there’s not anybody, not some demon possessed heretic or not even a Spirit filled child of God, that’s gonna call me back from heaven. Samuel had already gone to be with the Lord, and the idea that a pagan, ungodly, wicked, demonic woman could call him back is absolutely absurd.
B. That It Was God who called up the Spirit Of Samuel
The second interpretation is that it was not the witch of Endor that called up the spirit of Samuel, but that it was God who called up the spirit of Samuel. That God over rode this situation and God sent Samuel back and it was really Samuel sent by God to speak to Saul through the witch of Endor. Well let me tell you I have some real problems with that. First of all because verse 6 makes it absolutely clear that God was through speaking to Saul. The Bible very clearly says that God would not answer him not by dreams, not by Urim, and not by prophets. Samuel was a prophet of God. And I do not believe that this is the real Samuel. It is not in my understanding Samuel. And I’ll tell you another reason why I believe it’s not really Samuel, because there was one underlying characteristic of all Old Testament prophets. Do you know what it was? For a man to be a real prophet of God, demanded 100 percent accuracy on every prophecy that he made. And if a man missed even one percent of a prophecy, he was not a real prophet of God. This personality says through the witch of Endor to Saul, “Tomorrow you are going to be with me.” That means dead. But if you study the Word of God very carefully, you’ll find that it was almost a week later when Saul really died. You say, “Well, that’s a minor point.” It disqualified whoever this was from being a prophet because God’s requirement for a prophet was 100 percent accuracy. If Psychic’s work? Why don’t they pick the winning horses at the races? If psychics work, why do they need your money?
3. That It Was A Demonic Spirit
There’s a third view and it’s the view I hold. The witch did not contact Samuel. God did not produce Samuel. I believe we find here a demonic experience. And this personality is impersonating Samuel. You’ll note very carefully that nowhere in the scripture does this person who speaks identify himself as Samuel. The Bible says that Saul perceived him to be Samuel, but Saul did not see him. He said to this witch, “What does he look like?” “An old man with a shawl.” Well that could have described any prophet that had ever lived. I do not believe it was Samuel. I believe it was a demon.
Thousands of young people are attending movies about ghosts. This ghost story is titled "The Others," and it stars Nicole Kidman, the former wife of Tom Cruise. maybe we should believe in ghosts?
Do I believe that this actually happened? Yes, I do. Do I believe that Saul experienced something supernatural and weird? Yes, I do. Do I believe that it was a ghost? No, I do not!
The Bible teaches that there are no such things as ghosts. Human spirits do not roam the earth after death according to the Bible.
The Bible has a great deal to say about the Devil and demons, and the Bible teaches that demons are very real. Dr. Merrill F. Unger, of Dallas Theological Seminary, said:
There is not a hint that Jesus or any of the New Testament writers had the slightest doubt as to the real existence of either Satan or demons. They believed in their reality quite as much as in the existence of God, or the good angels (Merrill F. Unger, Biblical Demonology , Scripture Press, 1952, p. 36).
To the materialist, who denies the reality of demons and angels, Shakespeare said:
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Yes, the Bible teaches that demons are very real.
The Nature of Angels
They are created beings
Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! …Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created. Psalm 148:2,5
They are spiritual beings For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12
They are incredibly numerous
They are very powerful
And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every mighty warrior, commander and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria… 2 Chronicles 32:21
They have great knowledge …but not omniscient
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look. 1 Peter 1:12
There are multiple types: •Archangel Jude 9, 1 Thess 4:16 •Cherubim Ezekiel 1, 28
•Seraphim Isaiah 6
The Activity of Angels
1.Worship God Job 38:7; Rev 5
2.Serve God
•Deliver divine messages
•Interact with Nations - protect and judge
•Ministered to Jesus Christ
•Minister to believers
The Nature of Demons
•Were created "good" - Gen 1:31
•Simply good angels turned bad through sin
•Identical to angels in nature and powers
The Fall of Demons
•When? –After Genesis 1:31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
–Before Genesis 3
How? Ezekiel 28:12-15 Thus says the Lord God, "You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering…. You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you."
Ezekiel 28:17 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor."
Result? "….Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels" Matthew 25:41
The Activity of Demons
Satan's chief goal is to establish his own counterfeit kingdom in opposition to God's kingdom
•Enslave the human race
•Attack God's people –Through deception
You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:44
Yes, the Bible teaches that demons are very real.
And one of the things demons do is to try to trick people. Jesus told us that the Devil is a liar in John 8:44. The Devil and his demons lie to people, so they can tempt them to sin, and lead them to destruction. And the demons pretend to be ghosts to trick people into believing that "ghosts" are the spirits of the departed dead.
Dr. Kurt Koch, the German preacher, gave this account: When I was preaching in Edmonton, (Alberta) Canada, a twenty-one-year-old girl came to me for counselling. She said that at night the doors in her house would open. The radio turned on by itself. She could hear footsteps, scratching and knocking noises, see gleams of light and faces, hear voices and (see) transparent people walking back and forth, even though all the doors were locked. She was not suffering from a mental disorder. I told her that there were spiritists either in the house or among her ancestors. She admitted this. Her grandmother had been a charmer and a spiritist and had died in terrible circumstances (Kurt Koch, Th.D., Occult ABC , Literature Mission, Germany, 1983, pp. 230-231). And Dr. Koch pointed out that demons pretend to be the "ghosts" of dead people.
Now, why would demons do that? Why would they pretend to be ghosts?
I. First, demons pretend to be ghosts to make people think there is no Hell.
The Devil is a liar and the father of it (cf. John 8:44). The Devil and his demons know perfectly well that Hell is real. In fact, they know that Hell was originally prepared for them (cf. Matthew 25:41).
Yes, the Devil and his demons know there is a Hell. They are not in Hell now, but they know that God will send them to Hell in the future. But the demons do not want you to believe in Hell. That's one of the main reasons that demons pretend to be ghosts. You see, if human spirits roam the world, and haunt houses, then the Bible isn't true, and there is no Hell.
The Devil has accomplished his purpose. Many people believe in ghosts - but not in Hell.
But God tells us clearly that human spirits do not wander the earth as ghosts. The Bible says:
"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).
That verse plainly tells us that you die, and then you go to the judgment - you don't stay on earth as a ghost. When you're dead, you go to the judgment! And Jesus told us that the place of judgment is Hell. Jesus said: "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment…" (Matthew 25:46).
"Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt 25:41).
Luke 16 Jesus said: "The rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments…" (Luke 16:22-23). He died. His body was buried. And his soul went directly to Hell! And that is where you are going to go unless you experience conversion. You will die. Your body will be buried. And your soul will go directly to Hell!
The Bible says, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" (Hebrews 2:3). How are you going to escape from the judgment of God for your sins? How are you going to escape from Hell?
You will be everlastingly punished for your sins unless you are converted. Jesus said:
"Except ye be converted….ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3).
The Devil and the demons want to keep you in the dark about Hell. They don't want you to believe in Hell. That's the first reason they pretend to be ghosts.
II. Secondly, demons pretend to be ghosts to make you think there is no Heaven to be gained.
You see, if human souls and human spirits wander around on earth, then there is no place called Heaven that you can go to - if you are prepared - if you are converted. Remember that Jesus said:
"Except ye be converted….ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3).
The demons want to keep you from being converted - so they don't want you to think about Heaven. They don't want you to even think about how to get to Heaven. That's the second reason they pretend to be ghosts. They don't want you to think about Heaven. Now the Bible tells us that a converted person goes directly to Heaven when he dies. The Bible says: "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (II Corinthians 5:8).
That verse makes it real simple: "Absent from the body - present with the Lord." There is no period in between where you walk around on earth as a ghost. No! If you are a real Christian: "Absent from the body - present with the Lord" up in Heaven! Simple!
Can we be sure of that? You bet. In the sixteenth chapter of Luke Jesus told about a beggar, who was a real Christian. Jesus said: "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom [which is another name for Heaven]" (Luke 16:22).
This man was a real Christian. He died and was immediately carried into Heaven by angels! "Absent from the body - present with the Lord" (cf. II Corinthians 5:8).
Now the demons don't want you to think about Heaven. And the Devil and his demons do not want you to think about Heaven. They want you to keep your mind only on this life. They want you to think only about this world. That's why they tell you that you're going to come back to this world - as a ghost!
But remember that the demons are liars - and they want to destroy you. That's why they want you to think about ghosts. That's why they want you to think that your soul will come back to haunt the earth - or to be reincarnated. Yes, the demons also teach reincarnation - for the same reasons - to keep you from thinking about Heaven or Hell!
III. Thirdly, demons pretending to be ghosts have nothing to say that will help you.
I have known people who went to seances. They had "mediums" tell them what the "ghosts" of dead relatives said. There is a séance like that near the end of the current ghost movie, "The Others," I am told. But the ghosts that speak in these seances are really demons. And they have nothing to say that will do you, or anyone else, any good.
The Bible says: "Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:31).
If you want to know the truth, you have to read the Bible!
"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple…More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold…" (Psalm 19:7,10).
Isa 8:19-22 When they say to you, “Consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,” shouldn’t a people consult their God? [Should they consult]the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them. 21 They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22 They will look toward the earth and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.
Only the Bible can lead you to a real Christian conversion. Only the Bible can give you the wisdom to know how to be a real Christian. That's why the Bible is more valuable than a heap of gold! Only the Bible can show you how to get saved! You can't find out any other way!
Now, the Bible teaches that Christ died to pay for your sins. The Bible teaches that He rose from the dead physically - and ascended up to Heaven - where He is now seated on the right hand of God. The Bible teaches that you must come to Christ - and trust completely in Him - so that your sins can be washed away by His Blood - and you can go to Heaven when you die. And that's our message to you! Come to Christ! Get saved! Be here in church every Sunday and learn the Bible!
You don't need to meddle with Ghosts or those who meddle with the Occult. God Himself has spoken to you in His Word. And you can hear Him every day of your life, if you'll read His Word.
there is a Spiritualist church just around the corner. Witches and shops for the occult are everywhere these days. Television shows and movies, such as Angel, The Others, The sixth Sense: “I see dead people!” have propogated myths about ghosts and the occult.
This passage before us tonight puts us right in the middle of this stuff.
The background?
1 At that time, the Philistines brought their military units together into one army to fight against Israel. So Achish said to David, “You know, of course, that you and your men must march out in the army with me.” 2 David replied to Achish, “Good, you will find out what your servant can do.” So Achish said to David, “Very well, I will appoint you as my permanent bodyguard.” 3 By this time Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him and buried him in Ramah, his city, and Saul had removed the mediums and spiritists from the land. 4 The Philistines came together and camped at Shunem. So Saul gathered all Israel, and they camped at Gilboa. 5 When Saul saw the Philistine camp, he was afraid and trembled violently.
The Philistines waged war and thought they were going to win because
A. Samuel was dead.
B. They thought David was on their side.
C. Saul’s popularity had declined, and
D. the morale of Israel was at an all time low.
6. “And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not.” It is awful to be left to ourselves.
Saul panics and seeks help: a. from Samuel? But he's Dead! From prophets? Saul killed them. The Lord? No he didn’t answer him. From demonised seers?
Now let me say to you that anytime you have a desire to traffic with the devil, the devil will always provide you an agent with which to deal. When you have turned your back on God and you choose to do business with the devil, I promise you, the devil is always ready to do business with you.
And understand now, Saul never sees anything or anyone but the witch of Endor. All he sees is the woman. He does not see any spirit or other person. All he sees is the woman. All he hears is the voice of the woman. The woman tells him everything she is supposedly seeing.
This was a divinely condemned experience,
Deut 18: 9 “When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not imitate the detestable customs of those nations. 10 No one among you is to make his son or daughter pass through the fire, practice • divination, tell fortunes, interpret omens, practice sorcery, 11 cast spells, consult a medium or a familiar spirit, or inquire of the dead. 12 Everyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and the Lord your God is driving out the nations before you because of these detestable things. 13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God. 14 Though these nations you are about to drive out listen to fortune-tellers and diviners, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do this. 15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.
Leviticus 20:6 “Whoever turns to mediums or spiritists and prostitutes himself with them, I will turn against that person and cut him off from his people. 7 Consecrate yourselves and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. 8 Keep My statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sets you apart.
This was a very discouraging experience, Saul was told he was going to die! That Day!
This was a deadly experience because over in the Book of I Chronicles 10:13, “So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit.”
This was a demonic experience.
Who was this person that the witch of Endor supposedly saw and who supposedly spoke through her to Saul? Who was this person? Well basically there are three interpretations as to who it was.
a. That It Was Samuel’s Spirit
There are some who believe that this witch of Endor, this woman who trafficked in demons that she actually herself in her own power infiltrated the place of the righteous dead and called out of that resting place of the saints of God this man Samuel. And that Samuel responded to the demonic possessed woman and was aroused out of his spiritual rest and came at her beckoning command. I want to tell you I don’t believe that for one second. I don’t believe any demonic possessed person has any authority over the spirit of a child of God. And I want you to know, beloved, when I leave this world and go to be with Jesus, there’s not anybody, not some demon possessed heretic or not even a Spirit filled child of God, that’s gonna call me back from heaven. Samuel had already gone to be with the Lord, and the idea that a pagan, ungodly, wicked, demonic woman could call him back is absolutely absurd.
B. That It Was God who called up the Spirit Of Samuel
The second interpretation is that it was not the witch of Endor that called up the spirit of Samuel, but that it was God who called up the spirit of Samuel. That God over rode this situation and God sent Samuel back and it was really Samuel sent by God to speak to Saul through the witch of Endor. Well let me tell you I have some real problems with that. First of all because verse 6 makes it absolutely clear that God was through speaking to Saul. The Bible very clearly says that God would not answer him not by dreams, not by Urim, and not by prophets. Samuel was a prophet of God. And I do not believe that this is the real Samuel. It is not in my understanding Samuel. And I’ll tell you another reason why I believe it’s not really Samuel, because there was one underlying characteristic of all Old Testament prophets. Do you know what it was? For a man to be a real prophet of God, demanded 100 percent accuracy on every prophecy that he made. And if a man missed even one percent of a prophecy, he was not a real prophet of God. This personality says through the witch of Endor to Saul, “Tomorrow you are going to be with me.” That means dead. But if you study the Word of God very carefully, you’ll find that it was almost a week later when Saul really died. You say, “Well, that’s a minor point.” It disqualified whoever this was from being a prophet because God’s requirement for a prophet was 100 percent accuracy. If Psychic’s work? Why don’t they pick the winning horses at the races? If psychics work, why do they need your money?
3. That It Was A Demonic Spirit
There’s a third view and it’s the view I hold. The witch did not contact Samuel. God did not produce Samuel. I believe we find here a demonic experience. And this personality is impersonating Samuel. You’ll note very carefully that nowhere in the scripture does this person who speaks identify himself as Samuel. The Bible says that Saul perceived him to be Samuel, but Saul did not see him. He said to this witch, “What does he look like?” “An old man with a shawl.” Well that could have described any prophet that had ever lived. I do not believe it was Samuel. I believe it was a demon.
Thousands of young people are attending movies about ghosts. This ghost story is titled "The Others," and it stars Nicole Kidman, the former wife of Tom Cruise. maybe we should believe in ghosts?
Do I believe that this actually happened? Yes, I do. Do I believe that Saul experienced something supernatural and weird? Yes, I do. Do I believe that it was a ghost? No, I do not!
The Bible teaches that there are no such things as ghosts. Human spirits do not roam the earth after death according to the Bible.
The Bible has a great deal to say about the Devil and demons, and the Bible teaches that demons are very real. Dr. Merrill F. Unger, of Dallas Theological Seminary, said:
There is not a hint that Jesus or any of the New Testament writers had the slightest doubt as to the real existence of either Satan or demons. They believed in their reality quite as much as in the existence of God, or the good angels (Merrill F. Unger, Biblical Demonology , Scripture Press, 1952, p. 36).
To the materialist, who denies the reality of demons and angels, Shakespeare said:
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."
Yes, the Bible teaches that demons are very real.
The Nature of Angels
They are created beings
Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts! …Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created. Psalm 148:2,5
They are spiritual beings For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12
They are incredibly numerous
They are very powerful
And the Lord sent an angel who destroyed every mighty warrior, commander and officer in the camp of the king of Assyria… 2 Chronicles 32:21
They have great knowledge …but not omniscient
It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look. 1 Peter 1:12
There are multiple types: •Archangel Jude 9, 1 Thess 4:16 •Cherubim Ezekiel 1, 28
•Seraphim Isaiah 6
The Activity of Angels
1.Worship God Job 38:7; Rev 5
2.Serve God
•Deliver divine messages
•Interact with Nations - protect and judge
•Ministered to Jesus Christ
•Minister to believers
The Nature of Demons
•Were created "good" - Gen 1:31
•Simply good angels turned bad through sin
•Identical to angels in nature and powers
The Fall of Demons
•When? –After Genesis 1:31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
–Before Genesis 3
How? Ezekiel 28:12-15 Thus says the Lord God, "You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; Every precious stone was your covering…. You were the anointed cherub who covers, And I placed you there. You were on the holy mountain of God; You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways From the day you were created Until unrighteousness was found in you."
Ezekiel 28:17 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor."
Result? "….Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels" Matthew 25:41
The Activity of Demons
Satan's chief goal is to establish his own counterfeit kingdom in opposition to God's kingdom
•Enslave the human race
•Attack God's people –Through deception
You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies." John 8:44
Yes, the Bible teaches that demons are very real.
And one of the things demons do is to try to trick people. Jesus told us that the Devil is a liar in John 8:44. The Devil and his demons lie to people, so they can tempt them to sin, and lead them to destruction. And the demons pretend to be ghosts to trick people into believing that "ghosts" are the spirits of the departed dead.
Dr. Kurt Koch, the German preacher, gave this account: When I was preaching in Edmonton, (Alberta) Canada, a twenty-one-year-old girl came to me for counselling. She said that at night the doors in her house would open. The radio turned on by itself. She could hear footsteps, scratching and knocking noises, see gleams of light and faces, hear voices and (see) transparent people walking back and forth, even though all the doors were locked. She was not suffering from a mental disorder. I told her that there were spiritists either in the house or among her ancestors. She admitted this. Her grandmother had been a charmer and a spiritist and had died in terrible circumstances (Kurt Koch, Th.D., Occult ABC , Literature Mission, Germany, 1983, pp. 230-231). And Dr. Koch pointed out that demons pretend to be the "ghosts" of dead people.
Now, why would demons do that? Why would they pretend to be ghosts?
I. First, demons pretend to be ghosts to make people think there is no Hell.
The Devil is a liar and the father of it (cf. John 8:44). The Devil and his demons know perfectly well that Hell is real. In fact, they know that Hell was originally prepared for them (cf. Matthew 25:41).
Yes, the Devil and his demons know there is a Hell. They are not in Hell now, but they know that God will send them to Hell in the future. But the demons do not want you to believe in Hell. That's one of the main reasons that demons pretend to be ghosts. You see, if human spirits roam the world, and haunt houses, then the Bible isn't true, and there is no Hell.
The Devil has accomplished his purpose. Many people believe in ghosts - but not in Hell.
But God tells us clearly that human spirits do not wander the earth as ghosts. The Bible says:
"It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).
That verse plainly tells us that you die, and then you go to the judgment - you don't stay on earth as a ghost. When you're dead, you go to the judgment! And Jesus told us that the place of judgment is Hell. Jesus said: "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment…" (Matthew 25:46).
"Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matt 25:41).
Luke 16 Jesus said: "The rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments…" (Luke 16:22-23). He died. His body was buried. And his soul went directly to Hell! And that is where you are going to go unless you experience conversion. You will die. Your body will be buried. And your soul will go directly to Hell!
The Bible says, "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" (Hebrews 2:3). How are you going to escape from the judgment of God for your sins? How are you going to escape from Hell?
You will be everlastingly punished for your sins unless you are converted. Jesus said:
"Except ye be converted….ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3).
The Devil and the demons want to keep you in the dark about Hell. They don't want you to believe in Hell. That's the first reason they pretend to be ghosts.
II. Secondly, demons pretend to be ghosts to make you think there is no Heaven to be gained.
You see, if human souls and human spirits wander around on earth, then there is no place called Heaven that you can go to - if you are prepared - if you are converted. Remember that Jesus said:
"Except ye be converted….ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3).
The demons want to keep you from being converted - so they don't want you to think about Heaven. They don't want you to even think about how to get to Heaven. That's the second reason they pretend to be ghosts. They don't want you to think about Heaven. Now the Bible tells us that a converted person goes directly to Heaven when he dies. The Bible says: "We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (II Corinthians 5:8).
That verse makes it real simple: "Absent from the body - present with the Lord." There is no period in between where you walk around on earth as a ghost. No! If you are a real Christian: "Absent from the body - present with the Lord" up in Heaven! Simple!
Can we be sure of that? You bet. In the sixteenth chapter of Luke Jesus told about a beggar, who was a real Christian. Jesus said: "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom [which is another name for Heaven]" (Luke 16:22).
This man was a real Christian. He died and was immediately carried into Heaven by angels! "Absent from the body - present with the Lord" (cf. II Corinthians 5:8).
Now the demons don't want you to think about Heaven. And the Devil and his demons do not want you to think about Heaven. They want you to keep your mind only on this life. They want you to think only about this world. That's why they tell you that you're going to come back to this world - as a ghost!
But remember that the demons are liars - and they want to destroy you. That's why they want you to think about ghosts. That's why they want you to think that your soul will come back to haunt the earth - or to be reincarnated. Yes, the demons also teach reincarnation - for the same reasons - to keep you from thinking about Heaven or Hell!
III. Thirdly, demons pretending to be ghosts have nothing to say that will help you.
I have known people who went to seances. They had "mediums" tell them what the "ghosts" of dead relatives said. There is a séance like that near the end of the current ghost movie, "The Others," I am told. But the ghosts that speak in these seances are really demons. And they have nothing to say that will do you, or anyone else, any good.
The Bible says: "Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:31).
If you want to know the truth, you have to read the Bible!
"The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple…More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold…" (Psalm 19:7,10).
Isa 8:19-22 When they say to you, “Consult the spirits of the dead and the spiritists who chirp and mutter,” shouldn’t a people consult their God? [Should they consult]the dead on behalf of the living? 20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, there will be no dawn for them. 21 They will wander through the land, dejected and hungry. When they are famished, they will become enraged, and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God. 22 They will look toward the earth and see only distress, darkness, and the gloom of affliction, and they will be driven into thick darkness.
Only the Bible can lead you to a real Christian conversion. Only the Bible can give you the wisdom to know how to be a real Christian. That's why the Bible is more valuable than a heap of gold! Only the Bible can show you how to get saved! You can't find out any other way!
Now, the Bible teaches that Christ died to pay for your sins. The Bible teaches that He rose from the dead physically - and ascended up to Heaven - where He is now seated on the right hand of God. The Bible teaches that you must come to Christ - and trust completely in Him - so that your sins can be washed away by His Blood - and you can go to Heaven when you die. And that's our message to you! Come to Christ! Get saved! Be here in church every Sunday and learn the Bible!
You don't need to meddle with Ghosts or those who meddle with the Occult. God Himself has spoken to you in His Word. And you can hear Him every day of your life, if you'll read His Word.
# posted by Groseys messages @ 5:12 PM
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Matthew 5:31,32 A Foundation for the Family
31 “It was also said, Whoever divorces his wife must give her a written notice of divorce. 32 But I tell you, everyone who divorces his wife, except in a case of sexual immorality,causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
It has been amazing to see some areas change over the years. You’ve probably noticed it as well.
As a child, somebody decided to locate the regional rubbish site at a fairly isolated location. I remember going with my dad with a trailer on the back of the car, and wanting to pick around in other people’s rubbish. There were literally hills of rubbish. Then 20 years later, someone decided that it would be ok to build houses on that rubbish site. Now the council for that region has problems. They’ve discovered that all that rubbish they put there has rotted, and sent muck into the George’s River system. You dare not eat a fish from there. And the houses… well they don’t have a sufficient foundation! And they are cracking up! Today people are rejecting the morality of the bible and they try to build a society on what some social scientists who believe they've come up with a better plan. We are now starting to see the destruction caused by trying to build families on top of such garbage. The families have no foundations, and they are crumbling.
So often, as a pastor performing weddings, I have seen that The Perfect Wedding
That Was To Produce The perfect Marriage Has Resulted in The Perfect Storm
Our Societies values about marriage have cracked up! It ahs affected the church!
There are four reasons why divorce has become a predominant issue in the church:
1. Public opinion
2. Accommodating theology
3. Casualness towards marriage vows
4. An “anything goes” philosophy
The ages change, but the problem is still the same. We may think this is a new problem, but its not.
When the Lord Jesus spoke the words of the Sermon on the Mount, there sets of Jewish scholars.
There were those who followed rabbi Shammai, who were conservative in their views.
There were those who followed Rabbi Hillel, who were lax in their views.
In fact, later on in Jesus’ ministry, the Pharisees tried to trap the Lord Jesus between these two popular views Matthew 19:1 When Jesus had finished this instruction, He departed from Galilee and went to the region of Judea across the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. 3 Some Pharisees approached Him to test Him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife on any grounds?”
In Matthew 5:31-32, Jesus said, "It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery." Later in that same speech, Christ added, "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock" (Matthew 7:24). We are living in a time of national tragedy, with throw-away marriages and tossed-away kids. People get married looking for an ideal, but the ideal turns into an ordeal, so they look around for a new deal. They get a divorce and try to start all over, making the same mistakes the second time around. The hurts and heartaches of divorce have shaken the foundation of the family. Marriage is supposed to be a permanent relationship, not a temporary assignment that "we can quit if we don't like it. It's made in heaven and worked out on earth. Newsweek magazine recently referred to the landscape being littered with the victims of the divorce epidemic. Ex-wives raise their children alone, ex-husbands try to be good dads on specified days, and children are torn apart between two warring parents. A major study has found that only ten percent of divorced couples claim an improved life after divorce. Broken homes produce broken lives, and those broken lives go on to produce more broken homes. We need to return to God's Word to discover how we can break that cycle and create a new foundation for the family.
God Designed a Plan for Marriage
The Pharisees once asked Jesus if it was lawful for a man to put away his wife for any cause. There had been rabbis teaching all sorts of things—even one claiming that a man could divorce his wife if he didn't like her cooking! So when Jesus was approached with this question, He replied, "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (Matthew 19:4-6). Those verses contain God's plan for marriage. It describes how to build a home on a solid foundation.
There are three key words in that passage, all action words, that spell out God's plan. First is the word leave. When the Bible says that a man leaves his father and mother, that means he has a new priority: marriage. Marriage is the highest of human relationships. The husband and wife relationship ought to be closer than brothers, closer than sisters, and even closer than parent and child. As parents, we are to prepare our children to leave home. The Bible says that the eagle stirs her nest; that is, she teaches her eaglets to fly. If you are wise, you will give your children wings so that, when the time is right, they can fly away from the nest. Boys and girls don't need to become so comfortable at home, having mother and dad take care of them, that they are never prepared to leave. Sometimes a parent, in wanting to give his children what he didn't have, does his kids no favor.
My primary memories of my childhood are all the good times we had, rejoicing even though we had so little. Things don't make people happy. Don't be so interested in making your children comfortable that you don't build into them some character. Your job as a parent is to work yourself out of a job. Parents are most successful when the child no longer needs them. Maintain the relationship, but prepare them to live life without your help. Children need love, and adults need to offer that love to them. But after a while, the child outgrows the need for that sort of love; the parent's job is to prepare the child for that day.
One of the hardest thing for many parents is the day the child gets to be fifteen or sixteen, starts to stand alone and make his own decisions, and no longer needs the parent. For you see, the parent still has the need to be needed. Rebellion will start if the apron strings are too tight. Young people need to test their independence, so the parent has to teach the child to make good decisions. Parents, teach your children how to earn money, how to save money, how to face the world, how to make wise choices. Don't hold them too tight or they'll slip from your grasp. If you teach them to stand alone, they'll return to you as the best friends you ever had. You'll work your way out of a job, but not out of a relationship. In a marriage, the husband leaves the father and mother, prepared to start life anew. His priority is now his marriage, not his parents.
The second verb the Bible uses to describe marriage is cleave. He leaves his father and mother, and he cleaves to his wife. The word means to glue or weld together.
Marriage is not only a priority—it is preeminent. The Christian shouldn't consider divorce. In Malachi 2:16 we read that God hates divorce; it is not an option for the person who wants to please God. You are bound together and cannot be cut apart. Two people considering divorce are contemplating the disintegration of their home. You see, it's not just people who have problems that get divorced. All couples have problems. Most have the same problems. But the difference between couples is one of commitment. There are no problems too big to solve, only people too small to solve them. A person getting married is making a commitment to cleave to a mate.
The third verb that describes God's plan for marriage is the word be. First the man and woman are to leave, then they are to cleave, and third they are to be one flesh. That means more than sex. The whole person—physical, psychological, spiritual—becomes one with the mate. They become one physically for procreation and multiplication. Children are a heritage from the Lord, and the person who refuses to have kids because there are other things he wants to spend money on is unremittingly poor. He thinks he can save money by not having children and use it on a big house or a new car or a grand vacation. But in the end, he'll be poor. A rich man can't take his money to heaven, but I plan to take all my children to heaven! The Bible tells us that a man is blessed when he has a quiver full of children. He's rich, for children make us rich.
But becoming one is more than being physically one. The couple is also psychologically one. They are not only one for procreation but for communication. They enjoy one another. Their deepest emotional needs are met. The Lord is the one who decided it was not good for man to be alone, so He created a woman. Christian man, your wife is your friend, not just your lover. You are to be one psychologically, meeting each other's deepest needs.
A couple also becomes one spiritually, enjoying the sweet communion of loving God together. Last night my wife held hands and prayed for our children. We prayed for fellow ministers around the world. We prayed for each other. We prayed for those in our church. I thank God for that time of sweet communion, where the two of us are one spiritually, enjoying the things of God together. That is part of God's design for marriage. He wants us to leave, He wants us to cleave, and He wants us to be one.
God Desired Permanence for Marriage
God permitted divorce for only one reason: adultery. He didn't command divorce, but He permitted it. Divorce is never God's intent, but He allowed it in the case of sexual immorality. In talking about the subject in Matthew chapter nineteen, Jesus doesn't even commend divorce. Instead, He teaches that restoration and forgiveness are better alternatives. The classic example of that is Hosea, a prophet of God who was married to an immoral woman. Hosea's wife, Gomer, was not only immoral, she ended up as a prostitute. Yet Hosea went back to her, reclaimed her, forgave her, and restored his home. That is God's ideal. Of course, one cannot always make the partner agree to that. Hosea could have been refused by Gomer and been helpless to do anything about it. But thank God for the Hoseas of this world, who are willing to forgive even immorality in order to restore a marriage.
There are too many foolish excuses today for divorce. "I don't love you anymore," people say. And since the feeling of love is gone, they get a divorce. But that should never be a reason for splitting up a marriage. Love doesn't sustain your marriage, marriage sustains your love. Most people think of love as an emotion, but God isn't speaking of the emotion of love. He speaks of the commitment of love. We are commanded to love. Ephesians 5:25 commands husbands to love their wives. That's not a suggestion, nor is it an emotion. It's a commandment calling for a commitment. Titus 2:4 commands older women to teach younger women how to love their husbands. Love isn't something vague and ethereal; it's a commitment and an action that you put into practice. People think we fall in and out of love as helpless victims, but the Bible doesn't teach that. Of course, there is nothing wrong with romance and emotion. I certainly hope you keep a little "honey" in your honeymoon. But that's not the basis of a marriage. You fall in love with a beautiful girl, but you marry a complicated woman. Marriage doesn't get easier as you get older. It gets more complex. My wife and I have gone through hard times, we've raised three children, and we seem to find new things to adjust to each day. We love each other deeply, but it isn't romance that keeps our marriage together—it's commitment.
I heard a woman say that she was going to divorce her husband because the love had gone out other marriage. She felt it would be "better for the children" if they separated. But any study of broken homes would negate that. Divorce is never a positive factor for children. If you're thinking it might be better for the children, you'd do well to ask your children. The reasoning that the children shouldn't grow up around constant arguing presupposes that there are only two solutions: more arguing or divorce. There happens to be a third alternative, and that is to get right with God. Cut out the junk and make your marriage work.
Another person planning to divorce once said to me, "I owe it to myself to be happy." I asked him, "Where'd you ever get a silly notion like that?" God has plans for you to be holy, but there is no promise that you'll be completely happy. As a matter of fact, having happiness as the primary goal of your life is the ultimate selfishness. A person with that attitude can only end up unhappy, since we don't live in isolation. If our happiness is the supreme goal, then we better live on an island in isolation from other people whose supreme goal is their own personal happiness!
When you got married, you made a holy vow before God. You vowed to make the other person happy, not to make yourself happy! Your vow to God is more important than your happiness. You even took a vow upon yourself and your character. Your character is more important than your selfish desires. God's plan is for you to obey His Word and be holy.
I once had a man tell me that he had prayed about divorce "and God told me it was all right." I told him he must have been listening to somebody else. God can never act contrary to His Word. He would not contradict Himself, nor make an exception for this man. This man was guilty of self-deception, and he needed to spend more time reading his Bible. There is no bailing out of marriage. It's time we throw away that parachute. Marriages can be in bad shape, and they won't be healed overnight. If you make a decision to heal a bad marriage, it won't be wonderful right away. It might even be tortuous. But the direction of your marriage can be changed right now. You can simply decide to turn from divorce and embrace your commitment. You can surrender your selfish will and place yourself under the leadership of the Lord. Remember, you got married in the first place because you loved this person. If you were to sit down and think through all the positive things in your marriage, you'd find the positives outweigh the negatives. Why throw away the ninety percent positive because of the ten percent negative? Instead, choose to improve that ten percent.
God Declared a Pardon for Failed Marriage
Some Christians have already failed at marriage. They've been through a divorce. But we have a God of forgiveness. We have a God of grace. If you've failed and your marriage is broken, you can't go backward. You can't unscramble the eggs. But divorce is not the unpardonable sin. The church is not to treat the divorced like second-class citizens in the kingdom of heaven.
The permission to divorce
Adultery Matthew 19:7-9 Why then,” they asked Him, “did Moses command [us]to give divorce papers and to send her away?” 8 He told them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of the hardness of your hearts. But it was not like that from the beginning. 9 And I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
Abandonment 1Corinthians 7 I command the married—not I, but the Lord—a wife is not to leave her husband. 11 But if she does leave, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband—and a husband is not to leave his wife. 12 But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is willing to live with him, he must not leave her. 13 Also, if any woman has an unbelieving husband, and he is willing to live with her, she must not leave her husband. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the Christian husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. 15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to peace.
The possibility of remarriage
If a person had biblical permission for divorce, they have permission for remarriage
If you are divorced and have repented of your sin. God forgives you. You are not a second-class citizen. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus," Paul tells us in Romans 8:1. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow," the prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 1:18. You are not the only person to have made a mistake—I've made quite a few in my day. Keep in mind that the woman taken in the act of adultery was forgiven by the Lord Jesus. He encouraged the first stone to be tossed by an innocent man, but there weren't any innocent men in the crowd. Jesus didn't take a weak view of sin. He didn't condone the woman's sin. He simply forgave her and commanded her to sin no more. The Samaritan woman at the well had been married five times, but Jesus spoke to her because He recognized her need for love and acceptance. He gave her the water of life, which satisfied her thirsty soul. He didn't condemn a divorced woman; He saved her. I believe He would do the same thing today. Sure, divorce is wrong. But neglecting those in pain is also wrong.
It has been amazing to see some areas change over the years. You’ve probably noticed it as well.
As a child, somebody decided to locate the regional rubbish site at a fairly isolated location. I remember going with my dad with a trailer on the back of the car, and wanting to pick around in other people’s rubbish. There were literally hills of rubbish. Then 20 years later, someone decided that it would be ok to build houses on that rubbish site. Now the council for that region has problems. They’ve discovered that all that rubbish they put there has rotted, and sent muck into the George’s River system. You dare not eat a fish from there. And the houses… well they don’t have a sufficient foundation! And they are cracking up! Today people are rejecting the morality of the bible and they try to build a society on what some social scientists who believe they've come up with a better plan. We are now starting to see the destruction caused by trying to build families on top of such garbage. The families have no foundations, and they are crumbling.
So often, as a pastor performing weddings, I have seen that The Perfect Wedding
That Was To Produce The perfect Marriage Has Resulted in The Perfect Storm
Our Societies values about marriage have cracked up! It ahs affected the church!
There are four reasons why divorce has become a predominant issue in the church:
1. Public opinion
2. Accommodating theology
3. Casualness towards marriage vows
4. An “anything goes” philosophy
The ages change, but the problem is still the same. We may think this is a new problem, but its not.
When the Lord Jesus spoke the words of the Sermon on the Mount, there sets of Jewish scholars.
There were those who followed rabbi Shammai, who were conservative in their views.
There were those who followed Rabbi Hillel, who were lax in their views.
In fact, later on in Jesus’ ministry, the Pharisees tried to trap the Lord Jesus between these two popular views Matthew 19:1 When Jesus had finished this instruction, He departed from Galilee and went to the region of Judea across the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. 3 Some Pharisees approached Him to test Him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife on any grounds?”
In Matthew 5:31-32, Jesus said, "It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery." Later in that same speech, Christ added, "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock" (Matthew 7:24). We are living in a time of national tragedy, with throw-away marriages and tossed-away kids. People get married looking for an ideal, but the ideal turns into an ordeal, so they look around for a new deal. They get a divorce and try to start all over, making the same mistakes the second time around. The hurts and heartaches of divorce have shaken the foundation of the family. Marriage is supposed to be a permanent relationship, not a temporary assignment that "we can quit if we don't like it. It's made in heaven and worked out on earth. Newsweek magazine recently referred to the landscape being littered with the victims of the divorce epidemic. Ex-wives raise their children alone, ex-husbands try to be good dads on specified days, and children are torn apart between two warring parents. A major study has found that only ten percent of divorced couples claim an improved life after divorce. Broken homes produce broken lives, and those broken lives go on to produce more broken homes. We need to return to God's Word to discover how we can break that cycle and create a new foundation for the family.
God Designed a Plan for Marriage
The Pharisees once asked Jesus if it was lawful for a man to put away his wife for any cause. There had been rabbis teaching all sorts of things—even one claiming that a man could divorce his wife if he didn't like her cooking! So when Jesus was approached with this question, He replied, "Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (Matthew 19:4-6). Those verses contain God's plan for marriage. It describes how to build a home on a solid foundation.
There are three key words in that passage, all action words, that spell out God's plan. First is the word leave. When the Bible says that a man leaves his father and mother, that means he has a new priority: marriage. Marriage is the highest of human relationships. The husband and wife relationship ought to be closer than brothers, closer than sisters, and even closer than parent and child. As parents, we are to prepare our children to leave home. The Bible says that the eagle stirs her nest; that is, she teaches her eaglets to fly. If you are wise, you will give your children wings so that, when the time is right, they can fly away from the nest. Boys and girls don't need to become so comfortable at home, having mother and dad take care of them, that they are never prepared to leave. Sometimes a parent, in wanting to give his children what he didn't have, does his kids no favor.
My primary memories of my childhood are all the good times we had, rejoicing even though we had so little. Things don't make people happy. Don't be so interested in making your children comfortable that you don't build into them some character. Your job as a parent is to work yourself out of a job. Parents are most successful when the child no longer needs them. Maintain the relationship, but prepare them to live life without your help. Children need love, and adults need to offer that love to them. But after a while, the child outgrows the need for that sort of love; the parent's job is to prepare the child for that day.
One of the hardest thing for many parents is the day the child gets to be fifteen or sixteen, starts to stand alone and make his own decisions, and no longer needs the parent. For you see, the parent still has the need to be needed. Rebellion will start if the apron strings are too tight. Young people need to test their independence, so the parent has to teach the child to make good decisions. Parents, teach your children how to earn money, how to save money, how to face the world, how to make wise choices. Don't hold them too tight or they'll slip from your grasp. If you teach them to stand alone, they'll return to you as the best friends you ever had. You'll work your way out of a job, but not out of a relationship. In a marriage, the husband leaves the father and mother, prepared to start life anew. His priority is now his marriage, not his parents.
The second verb the Bible uses to describe marriage is cleave. He leaves his father and mother, and he cleaves to his wife. The word means to glue or weld together.
Marriage is not only a priority—it is preeminent. The Christian shouldn't consider divorce. In Malachi 2:16 we read that God hates divorce; it is not an option for the person who wants to please God. You are bound together and cannot be cut apart. Two people considering divorce are contemplating the disintegration of their home. You see, it's not just people who have problems that get divorced. All couples have problems. Most have the same problems. But the difference between couples is one of commitment. There are no problems too big to solve, only people too small to solve them. A person getting married is making a commitment to cleave to a mate.
The third verb that describes God's plan for marriage is the word be. First the man and woman are to leave, then they are to cleave, and third they are to be one flesh. That means more than sex. The whole person—physical, psychological, spiritual—becomes one with the mate. They become one physically for procreation and multiplication. Children are a heritage from the Lord, and the person who refuses to have kids because there are other things he wants to spend money on is unremittingly poor. He thinks he can save money by not having children and use it on a big house or a new car or a grand vacation. But in the end, he'll be poor. A rich man can't take his money to heaven, but I plan to take all my children to heaven! The Bible tells us that a man is blessed when he has a quiver full of children. He's rich, for children make us rich.
But becoming one is more than being physically one. The couple is also psychologically one. They are not only one for procreation but for communication. They enjoy one another. Their deepest emotional needs are met. The Lord is the one who decided it was not good for man to be alone, so He created a woman. Christian man, your wife is your friend, not just your lover. You are to be one psychologically, meeting each other's deepest needs.
A couple also becomes one spiritually, enjoying the sweet communion of loving God together. Last night my wife held hands and prayed for our children. We prayed for fellow ministers around the world. We prayed for each other. We prayed for those in our church. I thank God for that time of sweet communion, where the two of us are one spiritually, enjoying the things of God together. That is part of God's design for marriage. He wants us to leave, He wants us to cleave, and He wants us to be one.
God Desired Permanence for Marriage
God permitted divorce for only one reason: adultery. He didn't command divorce, but He permitted it. Divorce is never God's intent, but He allowed it in the case of sexual immorality. In talking about the subject in Matthew chapter nineteen, Jesus doesn't even commend divorce. Instead, He teaches that restoration and forgiveness are better alternatives. The classic example of that is Hosea, a prophet of God who was married to an immoral woman. Hosea's wife, Gomer, was not only immoral, she ended up as a prostitute. Yet Hosea went back to her, reclaimed her, forgave her, and restored his home. That is God's ideal. Of course, one cannot always make the partner agree to that. Hosea could have been refused by Gomer and been helpless to do anything about it. But thank God for the Hoseas of this world, who are willing to forgive even immorality in order to restore a marriage.
There are too many foolish excuses today for divorce. "I don't love you anymore," people say. And since the feeling of love is gone, they get a divorce. But that should never be a reason for splitting up a marriage. Love doesn't sustain your marriage, marriage sustains your love. Most people think of love as an emotion, but God isn't speaking of the emotion of love. He speaks of the commitment of love. We are commanded to love. Ephesians 5:25 commands husbands to love their wives. That's not a suggestion, nor is it an emotion. It's a commandment calling for a commitment. Titus 2:4 commands older women to teach younger women how to love their husbands. Love isn't something vague and ethereal; it's a commitment and an action that you put into practice. People think we fall in and out of love as helpless victims, but the Bible doesn't teach that. Of course, there is nothing wrong with romance and emotion. I certainly hope you keep a little "honey" in your honeymoon. But that's not the basis of a marriage. You fall in love with a beautiful girl, but you marry a complicated woman. Marriage doesn't get easier as you get older. It gets more complex. My wife and I have gone through hard times, we've raised three children, and we seem to find new things to adjust to each day. We love each other deeply, but it isn't romance that keeps our marriage together—it's commitment.
I heard a woman say that she was going to divorce her husband because the love had gone out other marriage. She felt it would be "better for the children" if they separated. But any study of broken homes would negate that. Divorce is never a positive factor for children. If you're thinking it might be better for the children, you'd do well to ask your children. The reasoning that the children shouldn't grow up around constant arguing presupposes that there are only two solutions: more arguing or divorce. There happens to be a third alternative, and that is to get right with God. Cut out the junk and make your marriage work.
Another person planning to divorce once said to me, "I owe it to myself to be happy." I asked him, "Where'd you ever get a silly notion like that?" God has plans for you to be holy, but there is no promise that you'll be completely happy. As a matter of fact, having happiness as the primary goal of your life is the ultimate selfishness. A person with that attitude can only end up unhappy, since we don't live in isolation. If our happiness is the supreme goal, then we better live on an island in isolation from other people whose supreme goal is their own personal happiness!
When you got married, you made a holy vow before God. You vowed to make the other person happy, not to make yourself happy! Your vow to God is more important than your happiness. You even took a vow upon yourself and your character. Your character is more important than your selfish desires. God's plan is for you to obey His Word and be holy.
I once had a man tell me that he had prayed about divorce "and God told me it was all right." I told him he must have been listening to somebody else. God can never act contrary to His Word. He would not contradict Himself, nor make an exception for this man. This man was guilty of self-deception, and he needed to spend more time reading his Bible. There is no bailing out of marriage. It's time we throw away that parachute. Marriages can be in bad shape, and they won't be healed overnight. If you make a decision to heal a bad marriage, it won't be wonderful right away. It might even be tortuous. But the direction of your marriage can be changed right now. You can simply decide to turn from divorce and embrace your commitment. You can surrender your selfish will and place yourself under the leadership of the Lord. Remember, you got married in the first place because you loved this person. If you were to sit down and think through all the positive things in your marriage, you'd find the positives outweigh the negatives. Why throw away the ninety percent positive because of the ten percent negative? Instead, choose to improve that ten percent.
God Declared a Pardon for Failed Marriage
Some Christians have already failed at marriage. They've been through a divorce. But we have a God of forgiveness. We have a God of grace. If you've failed and your marriage is broken, you can't go backward. You can't unscramble the eggs. But divorce is not the unpardonable sin. The church is not to treat the divorced like second-class citizens in the kingdom of heaven.
The permission to divorce
Adultery Matthew 19:7-9 Why then,” they asked Him, “did Moses command [us]to give divorce papers and to send her away?” 8 He told them, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of the hardness of your hearts. But it was not like that from the beginning. 9 And I tell you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.”
Abandonment 1Corinthians 7 I command the married—not I, but the Lord—a wife is not to leave her husband. 11 But if she does leave, she must remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband—and a husband is not to leave his wife. 12 But to the rest I, not the Lord, say: If any brother has an unbelieving wife, and she is willing to live with him, he must not leave her. 13 Also, if any woman has an unbelieving husband, and he is willing to live with her, she must not leave her husband. 14 For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the Christian husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. 15 But if the unbeliever leaves, let him leave. A brother or a sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to peace.
The possibility of remarriage
If a person had biblical permission for divorce, they have permission for remarriage
If you are divorced and have repented of your sin. God forgives you. You are not a second-class citizen. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus," Paul tells us in Romans 8:1. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow," the prophet Isaiah says in Isaiah 1:18. You are not the only person to have made a mistake—I've made quite a few in my day. Keep in mind that the woman taken in the act of adultery was forgiven by the Lord Jesus. He encouraged the first stone to be tossed by an innocent man, but there weren't any innocent men in the crowd. Jesus didn't take a weak view of sin. He didn't condone the woman's sin. He simply forgave her and commanded her to sin no more. The Samaritan woman at the well had been married five times, but Jesus spoke to her because He recognized her need for love and acceptance. He gave her the water of life, which satisfied her thirsty soul. He didn't condemn a divorced woman; He saved her. I believe He would do the same thing today. Sure, divorce is wrong. But neglecting those in pain is also wrong.
# posted by Groseys messages @ 1:04 PM
