The LORD's Day, June 28, 2009

The Worth of a Person, A Living Soul, in God’s Eyes

Matthew 12.1-13

Jesus spoke about the value of a human being in this passage.

He states, "How much more valuable is a man than a sheep." He was speaking as we just read to the Pharisees about the Sabbath Day and told them that if one of their sheep fell into a pit on the Sabbath then they would go and get it. They were challenging Jesus on whether it was right to heal on the Sabbath. They actually had come with all kinds of laws that made the Sabbath so restrictive no one could enjoy it! They had said concerning injury that you could sustain life but not do more than that or it was work! Stop the bleeding but not dress the wound until the sun went down and the Sabbath was over.

Jesus pointed them back to God’s original intention for the Sabbath.

As with all of the Bible there is the main point and then there are nuggets of truth along the way. We see one here.

Jesus makes this strong statement about the value of a person, a living soul.
*Valuable= importance, excel, surpass, make a difference.

There is a plant kingdom, an animal kingdom and then there is the human race. With no apologies to the scientific community, we are not part of the animal kingdom. We did not evolve. We are created in the image of God. We were formed out of the dust of the ground by the LORD God. He breathed the breath of life into our nostrils and man became a living soul. Genesis 2.6-7
This is not the first time the value of a human being , a living soul has been spoken of in Matthew. Here Jesus is comparing it to a sheep. In Matthew 6, He contrasts it with

1. The Birds of the Air Matthew 6.26

Look at the birds of the air; they do sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

It is sad that it is a federal offense for you to steal an eagle’s egg from its nest but that it is perfectly legal in our nation to rip a unborn baby from its mother’s womb and kill it. This has had an effect on the conscience of our nation. It has affected our thinking about the value of human souls! Yet God in His grace forgives and heals those whonhave sinned if they call upon Him.

We are much more valuable than the birds because they have no eternal spirit within them. God has set eternity in the hearts of men. Ecclesiastes 3.11 We live on forever.

We are much more valuable than the birds as beautiful and lovely as they are. Do you see how God is distinguishing us from the animal life? He created us in His image. He breathed into our nostrils. He died on the cross for us.

Yet the LORD loves the birds. He feeds them!

Psalm 145.15-16 The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your Hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.

The LORD loves us in a different way. He does the same for us as the birds but so much more. He gives us both food but for us He died! He loves all His creation. He saw that is was good - very good.

We are much more valuable then the birds!
importance, excel, surpass, make a difference

A bird has never built a hospital or taught children to read.

A bird does not have the ability to make a difference like man does. Through His people God works wonders. He displays His love. Dr Aileen Coleman, missionary medical doctor to the Bedouins in Jordan... quite a story!

Jesus spoke of the value of the soul over the plant life. In Luke 12.27-31. The phrase How much more is there again. We are more valuable than

2. The Lilies of the Field. Luke 12.27-31

You guys know I love the birds in my yard as well as the lilies that have begun to bloom. God created them and He loves them too. I enjoy them.

But these flowers are literally here today and gone tomorrow. We have eternity in our beings. God will take care of us.

The lilies are beautiful but they are not worth comparing with the value of a human being, a soul.
God does clothe them but how much more He will see that you are clothed! We hear a lot about Global Warming today. I am all in favor of taking care of the planet. Paul said he thanked God he spoke in tongues more than all the Corinthians. I thank God I am greener in my life than most Americans. I have been composting for over 23 years, no leaves or grass clippings leave this property (Bob Pawson can vouch for that). Yet how I wish we would hear more much more about the value of the soul God has created. Heaven and earth will pass away and souls will go into eternity!

Finally we end where we began... How much more valuable are we than
3. The Sheep of the Pasture. Matthew 12.12

Why rescue a sheep and reject a man who needs to be healed?
Again nothing wrong with rescuing a sheep that falls into a pit (yes even on the Sabbath Day!) But the man is much more valuable than the animal.

How much more valuable is a man than a sheep!
C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity
Man 70 years
The combined Dynasties of China 5,000 years the conclusion is that the combined dynasties of China are far greater than a single human being.
Suppose that man is an eternal soul. You would have conclude that he is infinitely more important than all the combined dynasties of China and every other government which ever existed on the earth!

4. We are the Sheep of His Pasture Psalm 95.6-11

Bow down in worship
Kneel before the LORD our Maker

Offer yourself vs.6-7
He has made us- give yourself back to Him, fully.

Every soul on earth this morning has within it a longing for God. True satisfaction, lasting peace only comes when that soul is brought into fellowship with its Maker, the LORD.
God is calling vs.8-11

Today, He is calling people, let’s be looking for those He is speaking to so that we can join Him as He deploys us. One of daughter’s brother-in-laws is heading back to the Middle East. They haven’t told him if it will be Iraq or Afghanistan only that he is going. They are going to see him next month before he goes.

We as believers are to be like him, ready to be sent or nudged by the LORD to speak to a soul that is hearing God’s voice to return to their God. This is all important. This is an excellent work. This is eternal.

How much more valuable is a man than a sheep, the birds or the lilies of the field!

June 21, 2009 Father's Day

Our Father In Heaven

Matthew 11.20-30

Today is Father’s Day.

God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

God is a Father.

I love getting Father’s Day gifts... a few years ago I got a Father’s Journal. It is filled with questions and pages to fill them out on. It is a legacy so they will have my written record for generations to come. For instance it has recipes from my grandmother and all kinds of life experiences in it. It is about me, my life and the connection to my kids.

I love being with all my children and grandchildren - in fact that is all I could ask for on this day.

It is significant that God is a Father. Jesus spoke of this often.
John 20.17 Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "

What does this scripture tell us about our Father in Heaven?

1. He is LORD of Heaven and Earth. v.25

He is supreme. He rules everywhere.

Jesus taught us to pray that the will of the Father would be done on earth as it is in heaven.

It is perfectly done in heaven.

It will be ultimately done on earth.
Romans 8.28 God’s sovereignty.

He is to be praised. We need to watch ourselves because unconsciously we can grumble against the Father. We have to ask the LORD to put a guard over our mouths and we need to guard our hearts- out of it comes the issues of life and out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1.17
All the good in your life is from the Father, our Father, your Father in heaven.

Praise Him in your heart and let that come out to your lips. Psalm 95.1-7

Praise the LORD, our Father for the blessings!


2. He takes pleasure in hiding spiritual truths from the "wise" and the learned and revealing them to "little children". v.25-26

If you want to get spiritual insight- hang out with little children! They can teach you a lot!
Reveal=
to uncover, lay open what has been veiled or covered up, disclose, make bare, to make known, make manifest, disclose what before was unknown
God the Father chose the ones to do this to and you and I are among them! Therefore remain as little children in faith and obedience!

How horrible- there are people who think they have God all figured out... they lost their way! Trust in God like a child does his parent: Be completely dependent upon Him, look to Him for life’s needs, rest in His love.

Remember last week we spoke about how the wise and the learned viewed the disciples as "ordinary men"- this is what they were seeing- a bunch of nobodies who knew nothing (except Jesus Christ and Him crucified).

Those who see themselves as wise and righteous are out of the kingdom. They are not following the LORD who humbled Himself and became obedient to death. They are trusting in themselves.

God takes pleasure in the humble. I Peter 5.5
God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

3. The way to know the Father is through the Son. v.27

I have never shaken hands with George Beverly Shea but I know him very well. He has a son named Ron. Ron has been to our church a number of times. He has stayed in my home. We have had lunch together a bunch of times. He has become a friend of my family. I know the father through the son. He is a lot like him. He speaks of him.

Jesus is the Way to God. No one can come to the Father except through Him. There must be repentance (v.20)

Knowing is both being acquainted and understanding. Apart from Jesus there is no true understanding of God the Father. If you just have the Old Testament you do not have a lot of grace, yet we need the Old Testament to point out sin. It points it out but how can we be delivered?.. through Jesus Christ.

Jesus, as we read a few weeks ago, showed us the key to understanding the whole Old Testament. Love the LORD your God (your Father in Heaven) with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself. On these two hang all the law and the prophets. Loving God with your whole spirit, soul and body and loving your neighbor as yourself. Knowing the Father through the Son and having the Spirit lead us.

4. What great benefits in truly being children of God vs.28-30

Children not born of natural descent but of God- eternal life!

Some children have things others do not have because of their fathers. My cousin’s family in New Jersey has a dad who can write prescriptions if his kids or grandchildren get an infection because he is a doctor. All the former United States President’s children have Secret Service protection because their dad was president.

But as believers we have a Father in heaven who provides benefits that are simply wonderful.

Rest The soul finds rest in God alone (Psalm 62.1) A peaceful settledness.
Amos speaks of the time coming when there would be a famine for hearing the Word of God and men would be
Amos 8.12 Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.

Learn... remain as little children taking in God’s Word.
A light burden and an easy yoke... no struggling because things don’t fit. No more staggering or wandering and endless searching.
There is no such thing as a perfect father on earth. We try to do the best we can (and we should continue to aim at perfection) and are thankful for forgiving children. But there is One in heaven Who is Perfect! God the Father, our God,
Our Father Who Art In Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. And lead us no into temptation but deliver from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the glory forever.

Amen!

The LORD's Day, June 14, 2009

Disciples of Jesus Christ

Matthew 10.1-4
Jesus had many disciples. The Apostles are a part of the greater groups of followers:
There were the crowds, the multitudes. (Matthew 9.36) It was a mixed multitude.
There were the disciples, people who followed Jesus all over. (Luke 6.13)
There were the 70. (Luke 10.1)
There were the twelve, those disciples Jesus designated apostles. (Matthew 10.2-4)
There was the inner circle. (Matthew 17.1)
There was Peter. (Matthew 16.13-20)
There was John. Not the leader but without doubt the closest of the disciples to Jesus. (John 13.23) He was at Jesus’ side when the others were doing other things. There was a similarity between John and Mary of Bethany.

1. The Disciples of Jesus Christ are Ordinary Men.

Most of them were fishermen.

They were blue collar workers, hard workers, they owned their own businesses but it was a laboring business that they worked in themselves.
Acts 4.13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
1) a private person as opposed to a magistrate, ruler, king
2) a common soldier, as opposed to a military officer
3) a writer of prose as opposed to a poet
4) unskilled in any art

That is so encouraging to me! The LORD is telling us here He uses the likes of you and me! He uses a bunch of nobodies. Jesus calls people to follow Him who will follow in His footsteps: God Almighty leaving heaven to be born in a stable through a virgin from a place that was looked down upon, to be born in a the smallest city in Judah. Then the LORD becoming a carpenter, working as a common man, calling men to follow Him who were also common workers. These are the people who follow Jesus... occasionally we have a doctor like Luke (and we thank the LORD for them!) But most of us fit the description of ordinary.
I Corinthians 1.26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
We are ordinary people who serve the LORD God Almighty!

2. The Disciples of Jesus Christ are a mixed group.

Not mixed up! On the contrary those who follow Jesus are not confused.
Mixed- diversity- Jesus had this right in the original group.

Let’s look at one. The Zealots were a wild group. They were kind of renegade warriors who rode the through towns and fought Roman soldiers and then disappeared into the mountains. The only ones they would have hated more than the Romans would have been the tax collectors, looked at to be a traitor of their own people. Jesus chose both a zealot and a tax collector to be part of the twelve! He puts people together that we would have never thought about putting together, on the contrary we may work at keeping them apart!
But this in part was to prove the point that...

3. The Disciples of Jesus Christ have a distinguishing mark- it is love!

John 13.34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Words to live by from the Master of Love.

We need it because we are so different. We have a church of different cultural backgrounds. We have many different ways of viewing things in life. We are an inter generational church which means we are made up of various ages.

We miss the mark. We fall short of God’s Glory. We fall short of perfect love at times. I Peter 4.8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. We need to keep ourselves in the love of God!

Keep short accounts with God and others.
Forgive people each day for their sins, trespasses and debts.
Refuse to dig up old sins against you.
Forgive as the LORD forgave you.
Love each other deeply.

4. The Disciples of Jesus Christ have a mission in this world.

Our purpose is to follow Jesus:
*in character
We are to become like the Master. More Like the Master as we make our way to heaven.
We are to bear fruit... fruit that will last. Jesus told ordained us to do that. (John 15.16)
He was speaking about both inner character and outward activity. Look at John 15 closely.

* in activity
We are do the works He commissioned the church to do... greater works... I believe He was talking about numbers here. The works of Jesus continue through the church.
We are to bring the gospel to people... the good news.
This is so entangled (for lack of a better word). Our lives are to be witnesses. We are to live a life of love and righteousness. Yet we are to be active in sharing our faith. Paul prayed that for Philemon (6) I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.

Sharing our faith brings joy.

Sharing our faith gives us a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ. We get to view salvation objectively.

Follow Jesus. Share your faith.

Be a disciple. Make disciples!

The LORD's Day, June 7, 2009

How Desperate Are You To Bring Your Friends To Jesus?

Matthew 9.1-8
Mark 2.1-12

News about Jesus was spreading. People were coming to Him. He was healing people who came.


1. Extreme Times Call for Extreme Measures. Mark 2.1-4

Jesus’ time and our time are similar.

It was/is a time of terrorism.
Roman Domination
Islamic Extremism- reminded of that Friday in the city- checking bags.

It was/is a time of great events connecting the world.
Roman Roads
Communications - we are in touch like never before. Cell phones, computers.

Jesus was there. He had returned. (v. 1)
They didn’t how long He would be there. He would no doubt leave again. He did.

The Spirit has been given- We don’t know how much time we have until eternity.
Whoever calls on the Name of the LORD will be saved. Acts 2.21

These men were going to stop at nothing to get their friend to Jesus. They were undeterred by human obstacles. They would not give up until they got this poor paralytic to Jesus. They knew He was then Only One Who could help him and they believed that if they got him there he would be healed... what they didn’t realize is that...

2. Jesus Deals With First Things First. Mark 2.5
Matthew 9.2 Take heart, son: your sins are forgiven.

The need to be forgiven of our sins.
Son, your sins are forgiven. Guilt, condemnation... destruction. Jesus Christ came to save sinners (I Timothy 1.15)

Only God can forgive sins. Only God.
Jesus is the Son of God.

The greatest need in the paralytic’s life was forgiveness. It is the greatest need in everyone’s life. Forgiveness from the Father , knowing that your name is written down in heaven, knowing that you have eternal life, knowing that the penalty for sins you have committed is canceled is the most wonderful thing in the world... knowing Jesus- there is no greater thing.
Do our prayers reflect that? I believe it is okay to pray for the healing of person who is an unbeliever as long as we are praying with the aim and stated goal of them coming to know Jesus as their Savior. What good is it if they are healed and they die without not knowing Jesus? Jesus was making this point with the paralytic.

We need to be reminded that God is not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance.

How desperate are you to get your friends and loved ones to Jesus? Prayer is a powerful weapon in the battle for souls. We ought always to pray and not give up.

3. Miracles Confirm the Word.

We are to obey it
We are to share it.

As wonderful as healing is and it is a gift from the LORD it is for this life only and one day we will all die, unless Jesus returns before we do.

As we share the Word of God He will confirm it. He is at work. He confirms His Word through miracles, signs and wonders. These are gifts with a purpose of letting people know the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. God will work in people’s lives, confirming His Word as we share Christ with them.

This chapter is loaded with the need of salvation. It began with Jesus telling about the His power on earth to forgive sins. He ends the chapter with the spiritual condition of His day. He saw the helplessness of the people. He tell us of their pitiful condition. They were like sheep without a shepherd. He also tells us the solution. It is in praying.

More and more our own country becomes like sheep without a shepherd. Christians no longer dominate the culture as they did when I grew up. Back then TV families prayed to the LORD. Today His Name is used- actually misused on TV, etc.

So often our prayers are limited to our own sphere. We are concerned about ourselves and our immediate families. But how desperate are we to see souls for whom Jesus died come to Him? How often do we pray this prayer? I know I need to pray it more: “LORD of the Harvest I ask You to send forth workers into your Harvest Field ”

It is easy to become discouraged today with the way things are. We can lose heart. We can lose hope. We do not need to. We are given the solution. I think some times the enemy gets us to focus on the culture rather than the greater spiritual battle for people’s souls. Here is where we need to focus our prayers as we see the confusion in people’s lives, “LORD send out workers into Your harvest field. LORD, use my life as a witness and help me to share the Good News with people in such great need.”