SERMON SEEDS I5 FOR APRIL 18, 2005
Posted by: jpeters <jpeters@...>
SERMON SEEDS FOR APRIL 18, 2005
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Joshua 6
ACCOMPLISHING THE IMPOSSIBLE
I have seen God do the impossible. He has saved souls that were hardened against the Gospel.
He has provided for needs when there seemed to be no way they could be provided. He has changed attitudes in people that no human could have changed. He has healed when there was no human explanation for the healing.
There are times when we will be in what appears to be impossible situations.
There will seem to be no way out. There will seem to be no logical reason for expecting victory or deliverance. It is at these times that we need to remember Joshua's victory at Jericho. There are some principles found here for accomplishing the impossible.
INTRODUCTION
When we face impossible situations we must remember that the most important thing of all is that God's will be done! (Matthew 6:10, Luke 22:39-42)
Joshua and Israel had entered the Promised Land at God's command.
God's plan was for them to have victory over the enemy.
CONSIDER IT DONE - Vss. 1-2
Jericho was a formidable city.
Jericho had shut its doors to Israel.
Jericho looked like an impossible enemy, but God said to Joshua, "I have given unto thine hand, Jericho".
When God makes a promise He keeps it.
When God makes a promise to you, He will keep that promise.
Some of the promises that we can consider done are Luke 1:37, Philippians 1:6, Philippians 4:13, Philippians 4:19, and 1 John 5:4.
CIRCLE IT WITH PRAYER - Vss. 3-11
Here were some unusual orders.
This was a test of Joshua's faith.
Humanly speaking what God asked Joshua to do did not make sense.
Joshua and the people were to circle the city once a day for six days.
On the seventh day they were to circle the city seven times.
This reminds me that God wants us to circle our problems with prayer!
Before we do anything else, problems should be prayed about. 1 John 5:14-15, James 1:5-8, Jeremiah 33:3, Mark 11:22-24, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Luke 18:1
Some of our "Jerichos" never fall simply because we do not circle the problem enough with prayer!
Some problems will be solved after one season of prayer, while others will require several seasons of prayer. We must continue to pray until God gives victory!
CLAIM IT BY FAITH - Vss. 15-16
After the children of Israel had circled Jericho 13 times, the Israelites were told to shout because the Lord had given them the city. There was still no outward evidence that the city would fall, but they were to claim the victory by taking action! The action was the shout of faith.
I see the shout as the final claim to a conquered Jericho.
I see the shout as an outward expression of an inward confidence.
As we pray the Lord may ask us to give a "shout" by taking some sort of action.
He may ask us to talk to someone.
He may ask us to do something.
He may ask us just to have total confidence that He is about to work and to praise Him for it.
CONCLUSION - Vss. 20-27
God conquered Jericho!
Sermon Seeds C22
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Psalm 73
A CLASSIC PROBLEM
Wicked people prosper. Righteous people suffer. Its not fair, we cry, and yet the problem has existed for thousands of years. Asaph tells of his personal struggle with the issue in this Psalm.
A CLOSE CALL Vss. 1-3
Asaph almost slipped in spite of Gods goodness when he became envious at the prosperity of the wicked.
A CLEAR PROBLEM Vss. 4-14
Asaph describes the condition of the ungodly who prosper in the world.
A CORRECTED UNDERSTANDING Vss. 15-20
It was not until Asaph consulted with God in His sanctuary that he began to understand the actual plight of the ungodly.
A CONTRITE HEART Vss. 21-22
He was convicted of his own foolish perspective before he consulted with God.
A CONFIDENT CONCLUSION Vss. 23-28
Asaph shows how good the righteous actually have it.
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Amos 7:10-17
WHEN GOD'S WORD IS NOT APPRECIATED
Not everyone appreciates the preaching of God's Word. Many times, the people for whom the message is intended, reject it!
THE PROPHET'S WORDS REPORTED Vss. 10-11
THE PROPHET'S REJECTION Vss. 12-13
THE PROPHET'S RESPONSE Vss. 14-17
Sermon Seeds B18
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Matthew 9:1-13
SINNERS ALL!
Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
In Matthew 9 we find different kinds of sinners who reacted to the sinless Christ.
THE SINNER WHO WAS FORGIVEN Vss. 1-8
THE SINNER WHO FOLLOWED Vs. 9
THE SINNERS WHO FELLOWSHIPPED Vs. 10
THE SINNERS WHO FOUND FAULT Vss. 11-13
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Mark 10:17-27
THE WISE FOOL
The rich young ruler was:
WISE TO SEEK JESUS Vss. 12-17
WISE TO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS Vss. 18-20
WISE TO KNOW HIS NEED Vs. 20, Matthew 19:20
FOOLISH TO LOVE MONEY Vss, 21-22
FOOLISH TO WALK AWAY Vss. 23-27
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1 John 5:14-17
INTELLIGENT PRAYING
REAL CHRISTIANITY (1 John) #18
We laugh at some of the unintelligent things people do.
But there are times when a lack of intelligence is wasteful, hurtful or downright dangerous.
Believe it or not, one of the times that a lack of intelligence can hurt us is when we pray. If we dont know what to pray for and how when we pray, we will be wasting our own time and Gods time. Gods work and Gods will are accomplished in response to our prayers. God has ordained that Christians should pray and that He will accomplish His purposes in answer to our prayers.
1 John 5:14-15 - And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: [15] And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
Notice that we can come confidently or boldly to God.
We dont need to be wimpy in the way we ask our requests.
Notice that our confidence is in Him, I believe it is referring to God the Son here, the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed Jesus promised that He would answer our prayers. John 14:13-14
When we ask something in Jesus name, we have to believe that it is, as it says in 1 John 5:14, according to his will.
If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
When God hears us, it is with the intent of answering our request. He will answer it.
Thats great. But it gets even better!
And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
When we pray according to Gods will, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him. Its already accomplished before we see the answer!
This promise behooves us to pray two ways, obediently and intelligently.
We must first pray obediently, doing what God tells us to do, confessing sin, and serving Him.
1 John 3:22
We must also pray intelligently according to his will.
Every one of our requests must be yielded to Gods will instead of being our own selfish ambition.
Jesus taught us to pray thy kingdom come, thy will be done.
Although I am to yield myself in prayer to Gods will being done, I must realize that in many, many, cases, I already know what Gods will is, so I can ask for it confidently in the name of the Lord Jesus.
I would like to share with you six areas in which you can pray and mostly know what the will of God is before you ask.
When you pray intelligently, you should pray for:
SELF
If you know Jesus as your Savior, youre a saved sinner, but youre still a sinner! You have a new nature and a new want to serve God, but you still have a tendency to sin and to have spiritual difficulties.
So how do you pray for yourself?
Praying for yourself is easy when you remember that you cant do anything without Gods help!
You cant think right without Gods help.
You cant live righteously without Gods help.
You cant speak or teach about God without Gods help.
You cant witness without Gods help.
You cant successfully raise a family without Gods help.
You cant assist others without Gods help.
You cant resist temptation and Satan without Gods help.
John 15:5 - I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
God has provided you with a wonderful gift that you can ask for at anytime. Whenever you need it, you can ask for it. It is the same gift that helped save you. That gift in his grace!
You were saved by grace, his unmerited enabling favor! Ephesians 2:8-9
You can obey any command by His grace.
You can forgive by His grace.
You can witness by His grace.
You can endure hardship by His grace.
You can flee temptation by His grace.
You can live righteously by His grace.
You can witness by His grace.
2 Corinthians 12:9 - And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
Hebrews 12:28 - Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Whatever it is that you know that God wants you to do, you should consistently ask God for the grace to accomplish it.
If you read Scripture and are convicted that youre doing something wrong or need to do something right, ask Him for the grace to do it.
Another thing that you should ask for continually is the filling of the Holy Spirit. Ask God to control you through His Spirit. It is His will that you be filled with the Spirit, ask Him! Ephesians 5:18,
Luke 11:13
We fail so miserably in our Christian lives because we fail to pray for ourselves in total helplessness to a God who will enable us if we only ask!
SOVEREIGNS
1 Timothy 2:1-2 - I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; [2] For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
Romans 13:1 - Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Prayers need to be made for all, but governmental leaders especially need our prayers. We should pray for them, starting with the heads of state like presidents, prime ministers, and kings, and praying for all in authority over us. They have great responsibilities and need our prayers.
The goal of our prayers is that we might lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and honesty. When we are able to live in peace with others it is easier to spread the Gospel in peace.
SOULS
We are to pray for all men according to verse 1.
The great majority of those men are unsaved people who need to hear the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In 1 Timothy 2:3-4 Paul tells us Gods opinion of prayer for all men, especially rulers.
1 Timothy 2:3-4 - For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; [4] Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
· I believe that this means we should be praying for those we know who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.
· I believe that this means we should pray in general for those in our neighborhood, city, state and country who dont know Christ as Savior
· I believe this means that we should pray asking God to send missionaries to all areas of the world, especially those we know to be in need.
Luke 10:2 - Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
· I believe this means that we should be praying for our missionaries that their outreach will be effective.
God is burdened for the souls of men and women.
As His children, we should have the same burden.
That burden is first reflected in prayer, then giving to missions, and then going ourselves.
We should pray for:
SELF
SOVEREIGNS
SOULS
SAINTS
One of the great responsibilities we have as Christians is to pray for each other.
Ephesians 6:18 - Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Most of the time all we know to pray for is those who are sick. This, of course, is an important prayer and Biblical.
However, there is more to prayer and the Bible shows us several ways we should pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ. One way to do this is to pray a blessing upon fellow believers.
Numbers 6:24-26 - The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: [25] The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: [26] The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
Another way to pray for the saints is to pray the way Paul prayed for them in Ephesians 1:17-21, Ephesians 3:16-21, Philippians 1:-11, and Colossians 1:9-14.
There is another way to pray for the saints found right here in 1 John.
1 John 5:16 - If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
This is a very controversial verse, and there are many opinions out there as to what it means. This is how I understand it.
Notice that the one who is sinning is a brother.
We are talking about a fellow born-again Christian here.
So, the sin unto death can not be Spiritual death in hell, but physical death.
The sin unto death is evidently not a specific sin that causes physical death, but can be any sin. The sin unto death seems to be an ongoing sin habit or a great sin that causes shame to the cause of Christ. If the person refuses to repent, he or she could be removed and taken to Heaven prematurely.
Ananias and Sapphira are examples of this in Acts 5.
Another example are those found in 1 Corinthians 11:29-31.
Johns main concern however, is not for those who have gone to extremes in their rebellion against God.
John is talking about praying for those Christians we know and we see sin in their lives. It might be as simple as a lack of church attendance, or a bad attitude towards someone. It might be that they are being a poor testimony in some way.
All Christians will have times when sin is in our lives, simply because we are human.
1 John 1:8 - If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
John is saying that we should pray for these people. We should ask God to speak to them, to work in their lives to bring them to repentance. Their sins dont seem to be extreme, and God will give them life, as we pray.
We should pray for that brother or sister because we love them and want them to have abundant life that comes from getting right with God.
There are going to be times when God will use you as the answer to the prayer. Galatians 6:1-2
SITUATIONS
When there is a situation that concerns us, we can pray for it, believing God will work.
Philippians 4:6-7 - Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. [7] And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
SUPPLIES
Jesus taught us to pray, Give us this day out daily bread.
I believe that bread covers all our basic needs.
We have a legitimate need we should pray, believing that God will supply it.
The one who is living for the Lord and giving sacrificially himself can expect Gods provision.
Philippians 4:18-19
So lets pray intelligently for:
SELF
SOVEREIGNS
SOULS
SAINTS
SITUATIONS
SUPPLIES
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Hebrews 12:4-11
GODS DISCIPLINE
Hebrews Lesson #26 A complete lesson
· What methods of correction did your parents use on you?
· Did your parents only discipline you when you were bad? When else did they use discipline?
· According to John MacArthur, there are three kinds of discipline: John MacArthur, MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Hebrews (Chicago, Moody Press, 1983), pp. 385-389
1. CORRECTIVE 2 Samuel 12:7-12, 1 Corinthians 11:28-32, 1 John 5:16-17,
Psalm 89:30-34
2. PREVENTIVE 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
3. INSTRUCTIVE James 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-5, Job
· What are some normal reactions for people who are going through the disciplines of trials and chastisement?
In this passage of Hebrews I find at least 7 facts about Gods discipline that will help us understand what God is doing and why when He chastens us.
1. GOD PROMISES DISCIPLINE Vs. 5
ð Verses 5-6 are actually quotes from Proverbs 3:11-12.
ð The recipients of this letter were experiencing persecution because of the Lord Jesus Christ.
ð How does remembering Gods Word help us?
ð Why do we forget Gods Word, and how do we make it more likely that we will not forget it?
ð Why do we sometimes become faint during trials? How do we keep from becoming faint?
ð How does it help to know that God promises discipline for true believers?
2. GOD LOVES YOU WHEN YOU ARE DISCIPLINED Vs. 6
V How does a parents discipline indicate his or her love?
V What would God do if He didnt love you?
V He does not discipline us to grieve us, but to improve us. Ibid. p. 392
V Whatever the experience, we can be sure that His chastening hand is controlled by His loving heart. Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Expository Commentary, N.T. Volume 2, (Wheaton, Illinois, Victor Books, 1989), p. 324
3. WE ARE TO ENDURE CHASTENING Vss. 4, 7a
J What does it mean to resist unto blood in verse 4? Who are some that have?
J Why should resisting unto blood be a very viable option for Christians to take?
J What does it mean to endure in verse 7? Is it more than survival?
J What are the first things we should do when trials come our way if we want to more than just survive?
4. CHASTENING INDICATES OUR STANDING WITH GOD Vss. 7-8
Ú Whats the difference between dealing with your own children and the neighbors children when they misbehave?
Ú Why is our behavior different towards the neighbor kids?
Ú Why should we be concerned if God never disciplines us?
Ú What message are you giving a child that God gives to you when you correct him?
5. GODS DISCIPLINE IS PERFECT Vss. 9-10
? When growing up, I feared my Father. Did you fear yours? Why?
? Was your Father always right? Did that stop you from fearing Him?
? Psalm 18:30 - As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
? According to verse 9, what is the secret to abundant life? Why does it work?
Ephesians 5:18 - And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
Galatians 5:16 - This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Hebrews 12:28-29 - Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: [29] For our God is a consuming fire.
? Vs. 10 How was your parents discipline imperfect?
? What is the purpose of Gods discipline according to this verse? Why should we be encouraged?
6. GODS DISCIPLINE IS TEMPORARY Vs. 11a
v What piece of reality is found here?
v How do the words for the present and afterward encourage you?
v How long will every act of Gods discipline last?
7. GODS DISCIPLINE IS PROFITABLE Vs. 11b
o Consider the key words here. What do they mean?
o yieldeth
o peaceable
o fruit of righteousness
o exercised (trained)
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