SERMON SEEDS F25 FOR SEPTEMBER 9, 2002
Posted by: jpeters <jpeters@...>
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2 Chronicles 7:14
HELP FOR AMERICA
I probably don't have to tell you that America is a moral and spiritual mess! Just look at the deterioration in American television, radio and movies. Things are said and allowed on them that were considered inappropriate and lewd in the past.
Consider also the drastic increase of unmarried couples living together, and the lack of respect and discipline in the schools.
And what about all the perverted crimes against children and the astronomical number of abortions performed in a year?
So, what is the solution to this problem? Can we see any change? Is there a way of seeing America reverse itself and once again become a God-fearing nation? I believe the answer is "yes". But I also believe that for America to turn around, the change must begin here and in every church that truly preaches and practices the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
2 Chronicles 7:14 -
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.I want us to see three things from this verse;
GOD'S PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE
GOD'S PEOPLE ARE TO REPENT
GOD'S PEOPLE WILL BE REWARDED
GOD'S PEOPLE ARE RESPONSIBLE
If my people, which are called by my name,
When these words were originally written, God's people were the Children of Israel. And although Israel is still special in God's eyes, and will someday serve God through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is another people today that are the people of God.
John 3:16
- For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.John 1:12-13
- But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: [13] Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.Not only are we God's people but, as the text says, we are called by God's name. Actually we are called by the name of God's Son. We are called Christians.
When things are morally and spiritually rotten, God's people are responsible.
If my people, which are called by my name,
You might be thinking, "How can you blame all of this on us Christians?"
I believe that the problem is, at least in part, our fault for a few reasons:
1. We have failed to live Godly lives. 1 Peter 1:15-16
2. We have failed to be the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world" to those around
us.
Matthew 5:13, Matthew 5:14-16
3. We have failed to witness to others.
4. We have failed to really care about the conditions around us,
and failing to care, we have,
- Failed to pray!
So, like it or not, we are responsible for part of the problem, because we have not been part of the solution.
GOD'S PEOPLE ARE TO REPENT
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves,
When a person repents, he or she has a change in heart and a change in direction. He is headed in the wrong direction and turns around to go in the right direction. The first part of repentance is humility.
Humility is a quality that God requires of those who would be saved. In order to have God's forgiveness we have to admit that we are sinners and can't save ourselves.
Humility is a quality that God requires of Christians.
I believe that we as Christians need to humble ourselves in two ways. First of all, we try too hard in our own strength.
We fail to admit what Jesus told us in John 15:5. With out Him we can do nothing.
The sooner we realize that we are helpless without God, the better off we will be. What stops us? Our pride keeps us from humbling ourselves before God and admitting that we need His help.
Also our pride and our lusts keep us from admitting that we have sin in our lives that needs to be dealt with. We don't like admitting our sin or allowing God to take the sin away from us.
Need an idea of what sort of things comprise sin? Proverbs 6:19-20, Revelation 21:7-8
Amos 3:3
- Can two walk together, except they be agreed?Sin is anything that God does not agree with!
We can't walk with God unless we agree with Him!
If my people, which are called by my name,shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face,
The next step in repentance is seeking God's face through prayer.
We fail to live holy lives because we fail to pray.
Oh we pray when people are seriously ill.
But we don't pray seeking God's strength for Godly living.
And we don't pray seeking God's forgiveness for our sins.
And we don't pray bringing the need of our nation before the Lord.
There was once a man named Nehemiah who was concerned because the city of Jerusalem was defenseless. Before he did anything else he beseeched God in repentance and prayer.
Nehemiah 1:4-11
Nehemiah knew how to seek the face of God in prayer. How about you?
Psalm 66:18
- If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:Psalm 32:5
- I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.1 John 1:9
- If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.And with confession of sin comes turning from sin.
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways;
Turning away from sin means I've truly repented of sin.
Turning from sin, requires personal submission to God and reliance of on Him. Romans 6:1-14
GOD'S PEOPLE WILL BE REWARDED
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Notice the word "then".
Don't expect God to hear, forgive or heal until you have humbly repented.
God promises to hear when we cry out to him in humble confession and forsaking of sin. When God hears, He is attentive and ready to act in our behalf.
God also promises to forgive our sin. We've already seen that.
But please realize that forgiveness means a removal of guilt. So many of us walk around feeling guilty about things that God wants us simply to confess and forsake.
Finally, God promises to heal our land.
What land?
America? Yes, as Christians pray for the healing of America individually and corporately, I believe we will experience healing. That's why we are encouraging you to gather together with other Christians on Wednesday Night at the Sloan Hill Church.
But God also promises to heal YOUR LAND.
Perhaps it's a behavioral problem that you have.
Perhaps it's a broken relationship.
Perhaps it's a financial need.
Perhaps it's a problem with your husband or wife, son or daughter, Mom or Dad.
Perhaps it's a need for friends or loved ones to be saved.
When we are right with God, we open the door for God to answer our prayers and to meet our needs. Jeremiah 33:3, 1 John 5:14-15
Jeremiah 33:3 -
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.(This is a greatly expanded presentation of a previously shared outline.)
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Psalm 47
OUR WONDERFUL GOD
THE POWER OF GOD - Vss. 1-3
THE PLAN OF GOD - Vs. 4
THE PRAISE OF GOD - Vss. 5-7
THE PREEMINENCE OF GOD - Vss. 8-9
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Isaiah 11
WHEN JESUS REIGNS
The reign of the Lord Jesus here on earth will be a glorious one. Isaiah 11 tells us some important things about it.
THE SPIRIT OF HIS REIGN - Vss. 1-2
God's Holy Spirit will rest on the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that He is the Spirit:
- Of the Lord
- Of wisdom
- Of understanding
- Of counsel
- Of might
- Of knowledge
- Of the fear of the Lord.
THE STANDARD OF HIS REIGN - Vss. 3-5
The standard of his reign is righteousness.
There will be nothing unrighteous about the reign of Jesus. All His decisions will be just.
THE SAFETY OF HIS REIGN - Vss. 6-10
Animals will docile.
Children will be safe.
His rest shall be glorious. Vs. 10
THE STRENGTH OF HIS REIGN - Vss. 11-16
The scattered Jewish remnant will return to Israel.
The enemies of Israel will be defeated.
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Luke 15
LOST AND FOUND
This 3-part parable shows us the work of the Trinity in salvation.
THE SINNER IS LOST AND DISTRESSED - Vss. 4-6
THE SINNER IS FOUND THROUGH THE WORK OF THE SON - Isaiah 53:6, Luke 19:10
THE SINNER IS LOST AND DEAD - Vss. 8-10
THE SINNER IS FOUND THROUGH THE WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT - John 16:8-10, Ephesians 2:1
THE SINNER IS LOST AND DEFILED - Vss. 11-32, Isaiah 64:6
THE SINNER IS FOUND UNDER THE WATCH OF THE FATHER - John 1:12
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John 3:16
GOD'S LOVE
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
THE EXTENT OF GOD'S LOVE -
For God so loved the world,He loved the whole world.
THE EXPRESSION OF GOD'S LOVE -
that he gave his only begotten Son,Jesus was sent to die on the cross for our sins. Romans 5:6-9, 2 Corinthians 5:21
THE ETERNALITY OF GOD'S LOVE -
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.The one who trusts Christ as Savior will live forever.
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Romans 6:15-23
WHOSE FOOL ARE YOU?
There was a very popular song many years ago that included the lines,
"Everybody is somebody's fool. There is no exception to the rule. Everybody
is somebody's fool." I think the intent of the song was to convey that when
in love one tends to do what that person expects them to do. Hence you
become their fool.
I remember reading about a man who carried one of those double placards with
messages on the front and the back. The front said, "I am a fool for
Christ's sake." The back asked, "Whose fool are you?" (I got this illustration from Warren Wiersbe, but I'm not sure which of his writings.)
When you are someone's fool, you are his or her servant or slave. You do
what that person wants you to do. In Romans 6:15-23 we discover that
whoever's leadership we follow, or yield to, we are their servant. There are
two choices. You will either be the servant of sin or you will be the
servant of righteousness. If you are the servant of sin, you are Satan's
fool. If you are the servant of righteousness, you are God's fool. When we
are God's fools we are in good company. Paul was a fool for Christ's sake (1
Corinthians 4:10)
So, whose fool are you? You might respond, "I'm a Christian, I guess that
makes me God's fool. If you are really a Christian, you are partially right.
But if you are really God's fool as a Christian, you should be living a life
that serves God and not yourself, somebody else, and not something else.
Whose fool are you? There are:
TWO POSSIBILITIES - Vs. 16
Think of yourself as a slave. That's what the word "servant" means in this
verse. As a slave, you have a choice to make. You can chose to surrender
yourself as a slave to sin, or you can chose to surrender yourself to be a
slave of "obedience unto righteousness." When you surrender to sin you
surrender to Satan. When you surrender to obedience unto righteousness you
surrender to God.
TWO POSITIONS - Vss. 17-18
Paul is talking about standing or position in these verses. Before being
saved your position was servant to sin. Ephesians 2:1-3
If you are a true Christian, you have obeyed from the heart the doctrine of
salvation that has delivered you and changed your life. Your position in
God's eyes is "servant of righteousness."
TWO PRACTICES - Vs. 19
A person should practice a behavior in line with the position he or she
holds.
A schoolteacher should act like a schoolteacher.
A policeman should act like a policeman.
A pastor should act like a pastor.
It is possible for each of these to not act the way they should. And when a
policeman does not act like a policeman or a schoolteacher does not act like
a schoolteacher, or a pastor does not act like a pastor, there is sure to be
trouble. People get upset, and often the offenders lose their jobs.
Based on these illustrations, let me remind you that as Christians, we need
to act as "servants of righteousness" because that is our position. Vs. 19
tells us to yield ourselves as "servants to righteousness unto holiness."
See 1 Peter 1:15-16. In the past we yielded ourselves as slaves to
uncleanness and "iniquity unto iniquity".
TWO PROMISES - Vss. 20-22
Before being saved you were a free man. You were free from righteousness.
You had the sure promise of death. Vss. 20-21, Ezekiel 18:4
If you are a Christian you also have a promise. It is the promise of "fruit
unto holiness, and in the end everlasting life."
TWO PLACES - Vs. 23
"The wages of sin is death." Death is eternal separation from God in the
Lake of Fire. Revelation 20:11-15
"The gift of God is eternal life..." - Eternal life is in Heaven.
Everyone is going to one of those two places.
SO, WHOSE FOOL ARE YOU?
Sermon Seeds C31
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Ephesians 3:1-12
IT IS NO SECRET!
You might want to begin the message by reading the words to the song, "It Is No Secret" by Stuart Hamblen. He was a song writer and singer who came to know Christ as Savior. One night he was at a party, and Stuart made the comment "It is no secret what God can do". Upon leaving, his host suggested that he write a song about that statement. He went home and wrote the song in 17 minutes. The change in Hamblen's life when coming to Christ is an indication of just how true the words of the song are! Genesis 18:14, Jeremiah 32:17, Luke 1:37.
In this text we see four wonderful things that God did for Paul that He will also do for us through the mighty working of His power.
1. GOD CAN EMPOWER US TO LOVE OUR ENEMIES Vs. 1
Jews and Gentiles were enemies. How remarkable that Paul would end up loving his former enemies so much that he became a prisoner for their sakes. Acts 21:27-30, Acts 22:17-22.
God will also enable us to love our enemies. Ephesians 4:32, Matthew 22:36-40, John 14:34-35, Matthew 6:43-48
2. GOD CAN EMPOWER US TO UNDERSTAND HIS WORD Vss. 2-6
Paul and the other Apostles (See Acts 10:for Peter's story.) were given to understand a great mystery.
A "mystery" is a sacred secret. The mystery is that believing Gentiles would be fellow heirs of salvation with believing Jews.
Just as Paul was empowered to understand God's Word. Luke 8:10, 2 Timothy 2:15, Acts 17:11
3. GOD CAN EMPOWER US TO SERVE AS MINISTERS OF THE GOSPEL. Vss. 7-9
The word minister means "servant". Paul considered it a special privilege to share the riches of Christ with the Gentiles. We too have the privilege of sharing Christ with others. Acts 1:8, 1 Peter 3:15
4. GOD CAN EMPOWER US TO COMMUNICATE WITH HIMSELF. Vs. 12
We have bold access to the "Throne of Grace" through prayer.
1 John 5:14-15, James 5:16-18
Sermon Seeds A48
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