The Price of Freedom

 A number of years ago, I had an interaction with a man at the Carpenter’s Coffee Bar, where I was an English teacher.  China had been rattling the saber about taking Taiwan, again.  This man was angry at the United States Government, because of the sale of fighter planes to Taiwan.  His argument was that Japan got United States’ fighters for free, but those planes are on an American base in Okinawa.  Those planes will protect Japan, but they’re actually there defending US interests in Asia.  Those same planes would protect Taiwan as well.  At supersonic speeds, Taiwan is only about twenty minutes from Okinawa.

I thought that it was interesting that he wanted freedom, but wasn’t willing for his nation invest in it financially.  When you stop to think about it the cost of freedoms isn’t just financial, the cost of freedom is always blood.  Young men must fight and die to guarantee freedom.  Ten million allied troops died during World War Two.

Freedom comes at a price.  Today, I want to post on freedom from sin, the price that was paid, and our responsibility to that freedom.

Galatians 5:1 (NKJV)
^5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

Sin is a Trap

Our text tells us to stand fast, which means to be immovable in the liberty by which Christ made us free. Be immovable in our freedom from sin.  Do not become entangled again with a yoke of bondage.  In other words, do not be ensnared again with a yoke – slavery.  Ensnared means trapped; sin is a trap.  Sin is slavery.

John 8:34 (NKJV)
^8:34 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

Sin is a Trap – we have a mindset about sin that’s wrong.  We often think that sin is freedom or liberty.  We look at obedience to the commands of God as limiting, as if God has taken away our liberty through commandment.  Living out the commandments, though, is liberating.

Think about this for a moment. Think about common sins.  Drinking creates alcoholics; a dependence on Alcohol.  Drug use creates addicts; a dependence on drugs.  How many sins are there that trap you into dependence.  An addict is someone who’s dependent on getting a particular drug.  Their whole life becomes consumed with that drug.  They’ll lie, steal, and prostitute themselves to satisfy their addiction.  It’s a trap.  We think it’ll free us, instead it traps us.

David Crosby, of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young (a 1970s musical group), experimented with drugs and alcohol as a young man.  After a number of years, he suffered with liver disease and needed a liver transplant.  He received a new liver, but never stopped the behavior.  Eventually, he found himself in that same position; his new liver destroyed by drugs and alcohol.  He was a slave to sin!

So, the Bible tells us to stand fast in our liberty.  Ourr freedom from sin that was purchased by Jesus.  The reason we must be encouraged to stand fast is because sin comes very, very easy to us.  It’s a part of our nature.  It’s a part of whom we are.

Buddhists will say that “”men are basically good,” but the Bible tells us that our heatrs are desperately wicked and deceitful.

Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV

"The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Genesis 6:5

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

According to the Bible this is the state of man’s heart. Do you know the story of Doctor Jekyll and Mister Hyde?  Doctor Jekyll was a rich, upper class doctor who seemed to be thoughtful and kind, but when he became Mister Hyde he could not control himself and was a brutal murderer.  Doctor Jekyll was a man with an evil nature that he couldn’t control.  It is a picture of the human condition.

Think about yourself for a moment, do you think of yourself as a good person; a nice person?  We all do, but let me ask you a question do you sometimes do bad things?  Do you sometimes act hatefully?  Do you sometimes lie or gossip or slander.  The answer to that is yes, you do!  There's a Mister Hyde in all of us.

Adam was created in the Image of God.  He was given a place that met every human need.  God walked with him.  God sheltered him under his wing.  The Bible talks about the hand of God, God’s blessing and care, and His working in our lives.  Even though he was blessed and cared for, Adam sinned.  The Bible tells us that Eve was deceived, tricked into sin, but Adam chose sin.  He violated God’s command.  He wasn’t deceived; he wasn’t tricked, he made a choice.  Sin is a choice and Adam suffered because of that.  We also suffer for our choice to not obey God.

It's our nature; it’s part of our makeup to sin.  You can see it in babies, think about this, we don’t have to teach babies to be selfish, they just are.  We don’t have to teach children to lie, they just do.  What do we have to do?  We have to teach them not to be selfish.  We have to teach them not to lie, or cheat, or steal...

Proverbs 22:15 (NKJV)
^22:15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him.

The rod of correction drives the foolishness far from them.  Children have to be taught nto to sin.  Sin is a part of human nature; it takes effort to avoid it.  It doesn’t just happen.  We have to work at it.  If we want to keep from being trapped by sin we have to take steps to avoid it.  We have to train our minds to dwell on what’s right.  To stand fast implies that there are forces trying to move you away from that liberty.  That force in the Bible is called your flesh; your sinful nature.  You have to push back against those forces.

Our Freedom Was Bought at a Price

In Biblical times when you owed a debt, you and your family would be sold into slavery to pay that debt.  In order to be released from slavery, you had to be redeemed.  Redeemed means to be bought back.  You had to pay the price of the owner for your freedom.  Adam sold himself and his descendants into slavery.  They were taken from the home that God gave them and forced into separation from God, slaves to their sin.  

We were doomed to that slavery until that time when we could be bought back or redeemed; that time when the price could be paid. 

Our text tells us that Jesus paid that price.  We remained in separation and slavery until that day that Jesus died and paid the price of our bondage.  We were purchased at a price.  The price was the blood that Jesus spilled on the cross. 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV)
^6:19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

This scripture says that you were bought at a price, but it also says this, “You are not your own.”  You were bought back from slavery.  He paid the price for you to return to the relationship that we had with God before Adam’s sin.

If you’re a Christian have you experienced what it’s like to have a relationship with God?  Have you experienced God’s hand on your life?  Have you experienced the liberty of being set free from sin?

In my own life I vividly remember the hopelessness of slavery.  I was an addict, I was a slave to alcohol.  I thought I couldn’t change.  I hated myself.  I hated my life.  I know I did things that ruined relationships.  I know that I did things that hurt people.  I was a part of that slavery; I needed escape and relief.  I’m thankful for the price that was paid and I willingly submit myself to Him.  I am not my own!  Christians often say, “I gave my life to Jesus,” but that’s not really true, He bought us with a price.  What we really do is submit to Him.  “Here’s my life Jesus – It’s Yours.”

That’s where liberty is found in submission to Him.  I’m free because I submitted.  At first, it was difficult, I was still drawn to alcohol, but I stood fast in that liberty.  The desire eventually disappeared – It really does get easier, that bondage was over.  (It’s been thirty-three years since I had a drink of alcohol.)  Does that mean that I’ve lost my sinful nature?  No, I’m still human, but I can resist because I am submitted.

James 4:7 (NKJV)
^4:7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

In my opening illustration, I talked about the cost of freedom.  The cost is spilled blood and death, but I have to tell you something.  There is also a responsibility for those who have been given freedom at the cost of other’s lives.  We have a responsibility to remain free. 

I believe that the freedoms we have given up in twenty-first century America is a betrayal of those who died for it.  We make their sacrifice worthless.  They died for nothing if we give up the freedoms that they paid for!

Jesus paid a huge price to free you from sin.  You have a responsibility to remain free of it.  You have a responsibility to stand fast in that liberty, or you make his death worthless; of little value.  His death counts for nothing if you remain in sin.

Freedom isn’t the absence of laws – that’s anarchy.  You can’t remain in sin and say that because of grace you’re free to continue to sin.  I’m sorry but change is required.  We think that repentance means we’re sorry.  “Sorry Jesus – oops!” It’s much more than that.  Being sorry is a part of it; regret that you violated God’s laws is part of it, but real repentance is change.  “I’m not going to live that way any longer,”  and standing fast, being different. 

This liberty, this life that you have as a Christian was paid for on the cross.  Why take the old sin and addictions into a new life.  If you remain in sin the bondage is the same.  You are still a slave to sin!

Where the Spirit of the Lord is There is Freedom

2 Corinthians 3:17 (NKJV)
^3:17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. –

When Moses returned from the mountain where he met with God his face held the Glory of God.  It shone from his face.  The people were frightened to look at him, so he wore a veil, so that they wouldn’t be able to see it. 

When were In sin that veil was on our hearts, we were spiritually blinded.  When we turned to Jesus that veil was taken away.

2 Corinthians 3:13-16 (NKJV)
^3:13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. ¹⁴ But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. ¹⁵ But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. ¹⁶ Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

We were not able to see the lawlessness and sin in our lives.  As sinners we don’t see the sin.  What did Jesus say on the cross, “Father forgive them they don’t know what they’re doing!” 

As sinners we don’t understand that what we’re doing is sin.  We don’t realize that we put Him on the cross.  We don’t even realize that we’re slaves to it. It isn’t until we receive the Spirit of God in our hearts that we see it.  The veil is taken away.  That’s when we see the freedom in submission to Christ.  It’s the Spirit of God who lifts the veil and we can see and know freedom.  Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Freedom!

Even If!

 When I had left Taiwan in August 2020, it was because I had become sick.  I had been in the hospital for a long time; Thirty-five days, actually.  Churches all over the world had been praying for me, at the time, but I continued to get sicker.  I started out with one thing, but it developed into Covid and then into pneumonia.   I had tubes down my throat and all kinds of IVs.  I was in intensive care and my doctors were telling my family, to have my daughter come back; even they thought I would die. 

All of my friends in Taiwan thought I would die; everyone but me.  I just kept thinking, “When I get out of here…”  I had other plans, and death didn’t really fit into them.  I don’t know that I had great faith, maybe it was just the lack of oxygen to my brain.  It was a huge trial for me, but somehow, I managed to stay optimistic.  One Friend told me: 

“You were dying!  You won’t admit it, but I saw it with my own eyes.”

Yet, here I am…still alive.  It’s an actual miracle, I’m sure of it.  God delivered me, just like Meshach, Shadrack and Abed-Nego.  That’s what I want to post about today – God’s deliverance from trials.

Daniel 3:15-25 NKJV

Now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, in symphony with all kinds of music, and you fall down and worship the image which I have made, good! But if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?" Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up." Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. He spoke and commanded that they heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated. And he commanded certain mighty men of valor who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, and cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered and said to the king, "True, O king." "Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."

People Have Always Struggled

How many times in your ife have you faced things that you thought were insurmountable?  How many times have you faced circumstances that seemed impossible?  When lie throws things at us we try to solve those problems in our own ways, don’t we?  We think we have to find a solution by our own intellect.  The Bible calls it our own understanding, but is that what God is thinking?  Is that what God is looking for from us?  Look at what the Bible says:

Proverbs 3:5 NKJV

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

Trust in God, lean not on your own understanding.  Some things are beyond our ability to figure out.  Look at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, how could they figure out a way to escape their circumstances?  They’re tied up; they’re being tossed into a fiery furnace.  There’s no way they can solve this dilemma with their intellect.  They have to trust in God.

What about you?  Maybe you’re facing fiery trials in your marriage, in your finances, maybe even in your health.  Where are you looking for deliverance?  Is it in the world?   

“The government will save me!”

There was a huge hurricane that just recently made landfall in North Carolina.  Western North Carolina was destroyed by the hurricane and then flooding that followed.  People were waiting for the government, but it took a week before the government showed up. Meanwhile, people had no food, no electricity, no communications.  Hundreds, maybe even thousands died waiting for the government to save them.  Former President Ronald Reagan once said: 

“The nine most terrifying words in the English language are: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help!”

That’s kind of a funny thing for a president to say, but it points out that if you’re looking for help from the government to help, they can let you down.

Are you looking for deliverance from inside yourself?  If you are, then let me ask you a question.  Have you ever been wrong before?

Are you looking for answers from science?  You know they used to think all the planets orbited the earth. But not now…Science can also be wrong.

The only one who’s never wrong  is Jesus.  He’s the creator of everything.

John 1:1-3 NKJV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

If He created everything, then He understands how it works, and He can solve any problem you’re facing. 

God is With Us!

In Exodus 33, God is telling Moses that He wants him to lead His people to the Promised Land.  Moses is nervous, though, and He demands of God, “Who will you send with me?” 

Exodus 33:12-13 NKJV

Then Moses said to the LORD, "See, You say to me, 'Bring up this people.' But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.' Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people."

He doesn’t want to face this all alone.  He knows that he’s not up to it, but look at God’s answer:

Exodus 33:14-15 NKJV

And He said, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." Then he said to Him, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.

God said, “I will be with you!”  Moses said, “If you don’t go, I don’t want to go either!  That should be our prayer when we’re faced with some daunting circumstance.  “I can’t do this without you God…I need You to help me through this!”  God says He will be with us through trials!

Look at this example in Acts Chapter12:

Acts 12:5-10 NKJV

Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, "Arise quickly!" And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, "Gird yourself and tie on your sandals"; and so he did. And he said to him, "Put on your garment and follow me." So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.

Peter was in prison.  Herod planned to kill him.  Peter was chained between two guards.  There were two others standing outside the doors.  It would have been impossible for Peter to escape by himself.  Even if he was able to escape the chains, he would still have to get by the guards at the door.  This was an impossible situation, but God was with him.  God moved supernaturally and sent an angel to help him escape.  God used the angel to cause the chains to fall off.  He helped him to pass by the guards at the door unseen and brought him to the place where the others were praying for him.  God did all of this for Peter and He will do it for you, as well. 

There’s one more thing that I think is important to see.  God delivered all of these people.  All of them were in the will of God; all of them had faith that God would deliver them. 

Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego said to Nebuchadnezzar, “God will deliver us!”

Moses said, “If you’re not coming with me, then I don’t want to go!”

Peter, even though, he thought it might not be real, got up and followed the angel!

All of these are expressions of faith, but did God solve all of their problems immediately? No, even though they had faith in God, they still had to go through the trial. 

Meshach, Shadrach and Abed-Nego still had to face the fire!

Moses still had to stand in front of Pharaoh and say, “Let my people go!”

Peter still had to go to prison!

In the end God brought them through it.  We sometimes have to face difficult circumstances, but we are not alone.

Daniel 3:24-25 NKJV

Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, "Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?" They answered and said to the king, "True, O king." "Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."

The three men weren’t alone in the furnace, Jesus was there with them.  I think that’s extremely encouraging.  We think we’re all alone when things go wrong.  We think no one else is going through what I’m going through.  “I’m out here in this wilderness all by myself,” but we’re not.  We are never alone.  Jesus said, “I will not leave you nor forsake you.”  Don’t you think that’s comforting?  When I have to face something uncomfortable, I’m always glad when my wife is with me.  She can give me the confidence to face things, sometimes. 

When I have to face impossible situations, I’m glad that Jesus is with me, like He’s promised.  He gives me strength and confidence. 

Philippians 4:13 NKJV

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Jesus has the strength, and He can loan it to me!  We can have faith in Him. 

Prayer is Key!

James 5:16b NKJV

The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

Prayer is the key to deliverance from all of our trials.  This is why in our church services we pray for our fellow believers.  We pray for those who are sick.  We pray for those who have needs.  We pray for our leadership.  We’re calling on God to help us.  We’re calling on Him to be a part of our lives.   We’re looking for His blessing, leadership and guidance.  We need him in our lives and circumstances. 

When I got sick, it was during CFM Prescott Bible Conference.  Someone mentioned it to our fellowship leader Pastor Greg Mitchell, and he made an announcement during the prayer requests that I needed urgent prayer! Remember, everyone thought I was dying. 

People all over the world watch that conference on the internet.  So, everyone joined in that prayer.  I got a text from a friend in Panama that said, “The whole world was praying for you last night!”

I really believe that all of that prayer was key to me surviving that sickness, because I know that God answers prayer.  When Peter was in prison all the saints in Jerusalem were praying for him.

Acts 12:5a NKJV

Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. (emphasis mine)

Look at what the Bible says about prayer:

Matthew 21:22 NKJV

And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."

It doesn’t say that Some of the stuff you ask in prayer, I might do for you. It says, “Whatever you ask in prayer, believing you will receive.”  It may not be immediate.  Peter was rescued from the prison just before Herod had him killed.  The Hebrew men were in the furnace before being rescued. 

God was faithful to deliver them and answer their prayers.  God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  That means He is still faithful to answer prayer  We can believe God to deliver us because God is faithful still!

Slavery to Dominion

In 1865, The US Civil War ended, and the slaves were freed. Many of those that were freed were stuck in a “slavery mindset.”  They didn’t know what to do after their emancipation.  They missed the opportunity that their newfound freedom afforded them. 

There was one man, though, that was determined t do something with his freedom.  He made a decision to move forward.  He was going to break away from that mindset of slavery, he decided to, “buy property and a gun.” He did just that!  He was able to buy and keep enough property to set up his children and grandchildren in their own homes before he passed away.  He made the best of what he’d been given – His Freedom!

Many of those set free did not possess their freedom and remained as employees on the land where they’d been enslaved.[i]

Today, I want to post about making the most of our deliverance and salvation.

Joshua 3:14-17 (NKJV)
^3:14 So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, ¹⁵ and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the whole time of harvest), ¹⁶ that the waters which came down from upstream stood still, and rose in a heap very far away at Adam, the city that is beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off; and the people crossed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷ Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the people had crossed completely over the Jordan.

The Slave Mindset

In our text we see Israel crossing into the Promised Land.  This is a very happy time in Israel’s history.  They’re about to receive all that God has promised them, but remember this has taken place forty years after Israel’s first arrival there.  It has taken place after the loss of an entire generation in the wilderness. 

Israel had been slaves in Egypt.  They were suddenly emancipated; suddenly set free.  God had delivered them through the Red Sea, and destroyed the pursuing Egyptians.  Israel was free! 

That deliverance was an event…it happened and it was over.  Once they passed through the Red Sea, they were free, but they hadn’t received their destiny.  There was still a walk in their newfound freedom and a fight possess the Promised Land.  Their destiny was still at a distance. 

Their old slave mentality had to be transformed.  Their institutionalized thinking had to be overcome.  They were much like those slaves of 1865; they didn’t yet know how to process that freedom into destiny.  It has often been said, “It was easier to get the Children of Israel out of Egypt, than to get Egypt out of Them.”[ii]

Even though they were free, they lived with the cultural norms and slave mindsets of the past.  Every obstacle they faced was met with murmuring and complaining against Moses and God.  How many times did they ask, “Why did you bring us out here to die” (Exodus 14:11)?  They demanded water and provision.  “What shall we drink (Exodus 15:23)?  We had it made in Egypt and you brought us out here to kill us with hunger (Exodus 16:3)!  They wanted everything provided for them just like they had in Egypt in slaves.

It carried over into their arrival at the Promised Land when the spies looked over the land and saw obstacles.  God had promised them the land.  God had done powerful miracles to release them from bondage, but they couldn’t see the possibility of doing anything to gain their destiny.  They had been delivered, but they didn’t have dominion.

There’s a transition that’s necessary to go from slavery to destiny.  You cannot continue in the same patterns of thought and behaviors of the past and expect a different outcome.

There is the story of Mickey Mantle – He played for New York Yankees.  He was a great player!  But he had one problem – he was a very heavy drinker!  He developed cirrhosis of the liver.  His liver was destroyed, he was going to die!  Then he received a liver transplant!  He had a new lease on life; a second chance.  He’d been delivered, but he continued to drink, eventually he died of liver cancer.  In the 1990s he stopped drinking finally, but it was too late.  He was a slave to alcohol and when he was delivered (through the liver transplant) he didn’t transition from the old patterns of life until it was too late.  He stayed on the same plantation where he was enslaved.  That deliverance was wasted. 

God had a destiny for Israel.  He had done His part.  He had brought them out of slavery and bondage, but those that had been delivered couldn’t change their old patterns of thought and that entire generation died in the desert, never seeing their destiny come to pass.  It was those that were born in the wilderness; those that had no slavery experience that made it!  Only Joshua and Caleb, two out of hundreds of thousands could change their mindsets and see the Promise. 

Numbers 14:30 (NKJV)
^14:30 Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in.

Only those two saw the possibility of a future destiny.  Only those two transformed their thinking into possibility.

We Were Slaves

Think about this carefully, we have all been delivered.  There is a transformation that has taken place in us.  We’ve been delivered from our own sinful lifestyle:

John 8:34 (NKJV)
^8:34 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

We were slaves to sin, but I have to ask, “What is your thinking like, now?”  Hundreds of thousands of people were delivered by a move of God, but they died in the wilderness.  They were set free but hey died in the wilderness because they still thought like slaves. 

Have you ever known backsliders?  They always go back to the sin they were involved in before they got saved, because that’s what they know.  The slaves in 1865 stayed at their old plantations because that’s what they knew.  That’s where their comfort zone was.  If you want a different destiny, you need a different pattern.

I was talking to someone recently about destiny!   There are multiple destinies for each of us.  Think about this.  If you had remained in sin, you would be on a path to one destiny, but salvation opened a different path – It took you in a different direction.  There is a different destiny awaiting you! (See Directional Decisions[iii])

It’s a different path.  There are different obstacles.  There are different pitfalls and dangers.  You have to think and react differently on this path than on the other.  If there’s no adjustment to your thinking and behaviors, then it’s very likely that you will never get where you’re going.  You’ll turn back to the “safer” path; the more “comfortable” path.

God delivers us and lays before us a potential destiny.  There’s a promised land that is for us, and there’s a path that we have to walk in order to get there.  There are battles we will have to fight and obstacles to overcome as we walk that path. They are there to help you to change your thinking from “slave” thinking to dominion thinking.  Deliverance is the event that frees you, but it is dominion that brings you to the promise. 

Think again about Israel.  They saw what God did to deliver them.  They saw the miracles and they thought God must be with us, but they broke down at every obstacle.

At every obstacle they tested to see if God was still there.  They constantly put Him to the test.  That’s why they said, “What are we going to drink?”  “Where will we get food?”  The complaining and murmuring were tests to see if God was going to deliver them again.

When they hit the Promised Land, they couldn’t see any possibility to defeat the inhabitants. They wanted to know if God would deliver them again.  “Are you still with us God?  They were still caught up in the deliverance mindset, but what they needed was a dominion mindset.  Where does that come from?  It comes from faith.  Dominion flows from faith.

Dominion Thinking

We can find “dominion thinking” in our Bibles in Hebrews Chapter 11.

Hebrews 11:4 (NKJV)
^11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

Abel was called righteous by his faith.  Cain who had none became a fugitive and vagabond.  A vagabond is a wanderer.  He never found the promise, while Abel entered into his promise.

Hebrews 11:5-6 (NKJV)
^11:5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Enoch was taken and did not taste death.  His testimony was that he pleased God.  “Without faith it is impossible to please Him.”  Enoch entered into His promise.

Hebrews 11:11 (NKJV)
^11:11 By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised.

Sarah received strength to conceive at ninety years of age, after years of barrenness.  By faith she became the mother of the nation of Israel.  She entered into her promise.

Hebrews 11:24-29 (NKJV)
^11:24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. ²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. ²⁸ By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them. ²⁹ By faith they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land, whereas the Egyptians, attempting to do so, were drowned.

All of these are examples of “dominion thinking.”  All of these entered into the destiny that God had placed before them.  What do they all have in common?  Faith.  Dominion flows from faith.

---

[i] Star Parker, Uncle Sam’s Plantation (Paraphrased)

[ii] John Gooding, Joseph Campbell, Deliverance to Dominion, 2019

[iii] Chris Banducci, Standing Stones Sermon Blog, March 3, 2014

Join the Hall of Fame of Faith

 I recently noticed something in Hebrews Chapter 11 that I hadn’t noticed before.  Hebrews 11, called the “Hall of Fame of Faith,” demonstrates a progression of faith.  Our salvation is a process that we work through until we get to Heaven.  This time; our lives is the time that God is perfecting or completing us.  In Heaven we will be completed.

In this post, I want to look at Hebrews 11 and study the progression from sinner to saint, beginning with this passage:

Hebrews 11:1-3 (NKJV)
^11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. ³ By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

The Steps to Pleasing God

Hebrews 11 is about the patriarchs and matriarchs of our faith, but there’s more here than meets the eye.  Because there are examples of their faith but there is also a pattern for the perfection (or completion) of our own faith.

It’s my intention with this post that we will learn how to “obtain a good testimony” like them.  These were people who pleased God.

Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
^11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

So, the question is this; Do you have faith that pleases God?  Let’s look at the steps to that kind of faith:

Step One – Giving

Hebrews 11:4 (NKJV)
^11:4 By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

Why is giving the first step to faith?  Because our giving speaks about whether or not we have the basics of faith.  It’s about trusting God for His promises.  There are a number of promises about giving - (Malachi 3:10)   These are promises you can see - (Matthew 6:25-34)!  You can see whether God provides or not, but there are other promises that you can’t see, like salvation.  We are promised Eternal Life if we believe.  But if we don’t trust God for provision, which we can see, how can we trust Him for salvation, which we can’t see.

Giving isn’t just God’s method to provide for His church.  It’s also His method of teaching you to trust Him.

Step Two – Agreeing with God

Hebrews 11:5 (NKJV)
^11:5 By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

Enoch pleased God.  What was it that pleased God?  His faith, but his faith was shown in his agreement with God – He walked with God (Genesis 5:22).  In order to walk with together in the same direction you have to be in agreement.  Enoch was in agreement with God and walked in His ways.  He applied God’s will to his life, so God took him.  This is a picture of the Rapture.  If we agree with Jesus and walk in His ways; if we live His will for our lives, we will be called up with Him (1 Thessalonica 4:16-17).  Are you ready to be called up into Heaven?

Step Three – Answering God’s Call

Hebrews 11:7 (NKJV)
^11:7 By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

God called on Noah to build an ark to preserve mankind.  God had a plan for all of mankind, man’s redemption, so he called on Noah to preserve mankind in preparation for the redeemer to come. Noah answered that call and built an ark.  In faith!  It had never rained until then (Genesis 6:5-22)!

Step Four – Following God’s Will

Hebrews 11:8 (NKJV)
^11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

God had a plan for Abraham’s life (Genesis 12:1-4), and he called him to leave his father’s house and his nation and follow God to a place that God would show him.  Abraham followed because of His faith.  He believed God for the promise that God had given him and followed.  God has a promise for you.  He has a plan for your life.  

Step Five – Believing God for the Promise, No Matter What

Hebrews 11:17-19 (NKJV)
^11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, ¹⁸ of whom it was said, "In Isaac your seed shall be called," ¹⁹ concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

Not only did Abraham follow God, not sure of where He was going, he was sure of the promise.  He knew that God would deliver the promise, even if God had to do a miracle to complete it.  When he was tested, he offered up Isaac, the son that was the beginning of the promise God made to Abraham, because he was sure that God would keep His word even if He had to raise Isaac from the dead (Genesis 22:3-19).  

Hebrews 11:13 (NKJV)
^11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

All of these people had the kind of faith that pleases God.  You can see the progression.  You start by trusting God for the things you can see and progress to the kind of faith that makes God proud.  Hebrews 11:6 say “God is not ashamed to be called their God!”

Faith in Action

 James 2:20 tells us that “Faith without works is dead.”  It’s not just about believing God, it also about taking the actions of your faith.  All of these not only believed but demonstrated their faith in their actions.  I want to look at some others who acted out their faith.

Action One – Stepping Out of the World

Hebrews 11:24-27 (NKJV)
^11:24 By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, ²⁵ choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, ²⁶ esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. ²⁷ By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

Moses was raised as the grandson of Pharaoh.  He was a future King of Egypt, but he gave it all up.  He stepped out of the world and into God’s will.  Egypt is the symbol of our lives before salvation, when we were still in slavery to sin and oppression.  It’s like living in the world and outside of God’s will.  Moses left all that behind to be in the will of God.

If we want to see Christ’s reward, then we also need to leave the world behind and live the life that will bring us the reward.

Action Two – Trusting God Through Trials and Afflictions

Hebrews 11:32-34 (NKJV)
^11:32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: ³³ who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, ³⁴ quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

The Christian life isn't all peaches and cream, as my mother would say.  There are going to be trials and afflictions; there will be attacks and assaults, but this scripture tells us that God can deliver us.  God can turn assaults and attacks into victories, but there has to be a step into action; believing God and stepping out knowing that God will bring you through.  It’s not about not being afraid, it’s about facing that fear and going forward trusting in God, anyway.  How often are we paralyzed by fear in assaults and not able to move forward because of it.

Action Three – Living Out God’s Will

Hebrews 11:38-40 (NKJV)
^11:38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. ³⁹ And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, ⁴⁰ God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

The problem is that we don’t always see what God is doing.  We don’t see all that God sees, or all that He’s doing in us.  That’s why we so often complain about circumstances, instead of looking for what God might be using those circumstances to bring about in us, through our response to those circumstances.  We need to learn to trust that what God is doing is to perfect or complete us.

1 Peter 5:10 (NKJV)
^5:10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

Suffering is how God works in us.  Where is character built?  In adversity or blessing?  God is preparing us for His promise.  He has to complete us according to that promise.  If people in Heaven are just the same as in the world, then what’s the difference?  Why all the suffering and struggle to remain the same.  Th fact is that life in the world is the way we are changed and made new for life in Heaven. 

A Recap

Steps to faith!

Step 1 – Giving:

Step 2 – Agreeing with God!

Step 3 – Answering God’s call!

Step 4 – Following God’s will!

Step 5 – Believing God for the Promise!

Faith in Action!

Action 1 – Stepping out of the world!

Action 2 – Trusting God through trials and afflictions –

Action 3 – Living out God’s will!

 

Don't Die in Haran

I talk a lot about finding the will of God for our lives.  I also talk about how we need to respond to God’s call.  God’s will and God’s call are intertwined.  It’s one thing to be called, but it’s another thing to complete the call.  That’s what God’s will is all about – Completing the call!  Today, I want to post on our response to that call.

Genesis 11:31-32 (NKJV)
^11:31 And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. ³² So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

Genesis 12:1-5 (NKJV)
^12:1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. ² I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." ⁴ So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan.

Stopping Short on the Way to the Will of God

We all know that God made a promise to Abraham and that he was called to God’s purpose.  God’s purpose was to bring about the redeemer that was promised in Genesis 3 – The one who would “bruise [Satan’s] head.”  God told him, “in you all the families of the world would be blessed.” 

The first part of God’s call was that he was called by God out of his father’s house.  Terah was a pagan.  He wasn’t a worshipper of the God of creation.  Actually, he was a part of Sumerian moon god worship.  That was the religion of the Chaldeans.  Ur was the home of that religion. 

Joshua 24:2NKJV

And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.

In order for Abram to be a part of God’s purpose he would have to leave the religion of his father.  This is why God told him, “Get out of your country, and from your father’s house!”  God needed him to be separated to His purpose.

This is always the beginning of our calling.  We are always called out of false religion Mormonism, Taoism, Buddhism, even atheism. Atheism is a religion – the worship of man’s intellect.  In order to be separated to God’s use you have to leave behind the false gods.

That’s only the beginning, though, God has a purpose for you, salvation is only the beginning of purpose.  You’re not saved for your purposes; just so you can go to heaven.  You’re saved for God’s purposes – He has a plan.  What happens all too often, though, is that people get saved and then stop.  They don’t continue on to God’s purpose, they stop short – just like Terah.

It’s interesting as we read in our text in verse 31.  Terah left Ur.  He was headed toward Canaan.  Canaan was the place he was called to, but he stopped in Haran.  That word Haran means delay.  Terah delayed the call of God. 

How many of us are like Terah?  How many know that there’s a call on our lives, but have become satisfied with where we are?

“The church is big enough.”

“At least I’m on my way to Heaven.”

“Now is the time for what I want out of life.”

Maybe God has called you to preach, are you learning how to do that?  Maybe you’re called to be a pastor’s wife, but none of the guys with a calling are good-looking enough.  “I’ll delay until the handsome ones get saved.”  Maybe you’re called to the mission field but you’re not financially prepared for that.  Are you taking steps to get ready, or is that just what you say to delay the call?

It doesn’t say why Terah stopped short and didn’t go all the way to Canaan.  It only says he died in Haran.  He died delaying the call.  How would it be to stand before God, knowing that He called you Canaan and you stopped in Haran? 

God called Abram and gave him the promise.  If we’re unwilling to follow through on the call, God will find someone else that will respond.

Look at Esther’s story.  In her time there was a plot in place to murder all the Jews.  God needed someone to intervene for them and the call went to Esther through her uncle.

Esther 4:14 (NKJV)
^4:14 For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

What he is telling her is that there’s a calling on her life and if she falters; if she fails live that calling the God will bring relief and deliverance from somewhere else but she will die delaying.  Who knows if she has come into the kingdom for such a time as this.  Who knows if you have come into the kingdom for such a time as this.

The Faith of the Calling

Do you know that your calling requires you to have faith?  Faith has two components. 

The first is believing God; trusting God at His word; knowing that God will bring you to complete His plan, in spite of whatever circumstances you may face. Joseph was sold into slavery, falsely imprisoned for rape, yet God still brought him through to His ultimate purpose.  Joseph never lost his faith.

The second component is the action of faith, doing the things that prove that you believe, trust and know that God will deliver.  It’s one thing to believe but it’s another thing to actually step out in faith.  Our calling will aways require both components.

Abram hears from God, the God of the Bible, while he was living in Ur, no doubt, worshipping the gods of his father.  It’s amazing that he recognized God as the true God.  He had the faith that God would bring him to the promised land; that he would make his descendants number like the stars in the sky.  That’s the first component of faith.  The he followed God to a place he didn’t know; “a land that I will show you.”  That’s the second component of faith. 

1) “I hear your calling, and I believe you.  

2) “I’ll follow you even though I don’t know where we’re going.”  

God did deliver him into that promise.  Abram’s descendants did number as the stars in the sky, and they did take possession of the promised land.

What happens when we lose faith to complete the call?

Numbers 13:1-3 (NKJV)
^13:1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them." ³ So Moses sent them from the Wilderness of Paran according to the command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel.

This is God using Moses to call these men.  He has a plan for them to spy out the land.  God wants to use them to encourage His people.  God wants to use the spies to inspire them.  It was going to take faith to win the promise.  They were going to be used to prepare the people for what they would face, but look at what happened:

Numbers 13:32-33 (NKJV)
^13:32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. ³³ There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

This isn’t a report of faith, is it? 

“This is the land that God had promised.  It’s a land of great abundance.  It’s all that God said it would be, but we couldn’t possibly beat the people that are already here.”

Numbers 14:4 (NKJV)
^14:4 So they said to one another, "Let us select a leader and return to Egypt."

God had called them to that place, but they didn’t enter in.  I’ve seen men whom I know we’re called fall apart at this same place.  They don’t have faith to move forward.  They can’t see how God can use them to complete His purpose. 

“Why will they listen to me?”

“How can I preach the Gospel there?”

“It’s a different culture…”, and they back away from the call.

In the case of our text, this lack of faith led directly to forty years in the desert.  The entire generation died delaying. Not a single one of those who lost faith set a foot into the promised land.

What happens to us if we step away from the calling on our lives?  Terah died in Haran.  Esther was told that she and her father’s house would perish, and the entire generation of Israel missed out on the promised land and perished in the wilderness.  If we back out on our calling, we may not miss out on heaven but we will miss out on the destiny that God has for us on earth.

The Blessing of Calling

 God called Abraham out of his country.  His calling was to begin the lineage of Jesus.

Luke 2:10-14 (NKJV)
^2:10 Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger." ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ¹⁴ "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!"

This is the outcome of Abraham’s obedience.  The birth of Jesus, the savior and redeemer of all men.  In Abraham’s obedience the entire world was blessed.  Just as God had promised it would be in Genesis 12:3. 

We don’t know what God wants to do through us.  We don’t know where God’s plan will end up, but there is a calling on our lives.  God does have a purpose for your salvation.  It is expected that you will live it out.

The final thing I want to tell you is that there’s a promise linked to your obedience to that calling.  God’s promise and God’s destiny for you are linked to how you respond to that calling.

 

 

The Forfeit of Intimacy with God

 As we come to salvation there is something that takes place in us.  We come to know God for whom He really is.  We begin to see God as a righteous God, a holy God and a loving father.  When we have an earthly father who loves us and blesses us, and there is an intimacy that springs up between us.  We can know and have an intimate relationship with God in much the same way.

God is also able to have an intimate relationship with us.  Look at the relationship he had with Adam.  They walked together in the garden in the “cool of the day.[i]” They knew each other; there’s understanding there.  God knows each one of us down to our smallest parts.

Luke 12:7 (NKJV)
^12:7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.

He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.  That’s a detail we don’t even know about ourselves, but God does.

We, as Christians can often begin with a deep intimate relationship with God, but can that intimacy be lost?  Can we forfeit our intimacy with God?  People forfeit intimate relationships with other people all the time.  Marriage relationships are broken because of infidelity, the breaking of vows.  Family relationships are broken because of domestic violence or other causes.  Parental relationships can be destroyed by abuse and alcohol and drug addiction. 

In many cases those relationships cannot be restored because a refusal to forgive or because the relational trust is broken.  We can forfeit intimacy with God also.  We violate His trust.  We bring deceit and intrigue into the relationship.  Today I want to post on the forfeiture of Intimacy:

Revelation 2:1-3 (NKJV)
^2:1 "To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 'These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: ² I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; ³ and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary.

Forfeiting Intimacy with God

In the Book of Revelation Jesus writes a letter to the Ephesians.  He commends them for their labor and patience in persecution.  They continue to labor for God and they despise evil but He also rebukes them.

Revelation 2:4-5 (NKJV)
^2:4 Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. ⁵ Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place--unless you repent.

Nevertheless, I have this against you; “You have left your first love.”  They’re no longer intimate with God.  They’re still laboring but, in their hearts, they’ve lost the desire for a real relationship with God.  They’re laboring for Jesus because that’s what they do, not because they have a real desire to serve Him.

This isn’t intimacy with God.  It’s a behavior similar to schoolchildren memorizing a poem or a famous speech.  They can repeat them perfectly and still have no understanding of what the poem or speech means.  It’s behavior, there’s no intimacy with the writer, that comes from understanding. 

We can continue to do the things that are called “serving God,” like praying, but without intimacy.  We are just saying words - It’s habit.  We’ve lost the intimacy with God because we have drifted from the call of God on our lives.

David is the king of Israel.  God called him to lead the nation in 1 Samuel 16.  God even called him, “a man after my own heart.”[ii] By 2 Samuel 11, David has lost his desire for what God has called him to do.  He’s become bored and complacent with his calling, and he’s backed off. 

2 Samuel 11:1 NKJV

It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

In the springtime when the kings go to war David stays back.  He’s no longer striving for the will of God…he’s arrived!  He’s laying back on his laurels and past victories.  This is a huge contrast to the David whose psalms are filled with cries of worship and devotion.  What could have caused this man to fall from that level of intimacy into what he has become, which is an adulterer and murderer.  David should have led his generals into battle as is the duty of the king. 

In verse 2, David arises from bed one evening.  Not in the middle of the night but in the evening, when the sun is still out.  He sees Bathsheba bathing; lust is kindled and in one moment of sin and self-gratification he forfeits his relationship with God.

2 Samuel 11:2-4a NKJV

Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So, David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, "Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her…

Then to cover his sin he kills Bathsheba’s husband, his friend, Uriah the Hittite.  David makes a conscious choice here; he’s not stumbling around and falling into sin.  He understands the sin of adultery.  He recognizes that the sin is against God.  He understands what he has done.  Look at how many sins David broke, this “man after God’s own heart.”

He broke the tenth commandment, in coveting another man’s wife; the seventh in committing adultery; the eighth in stealing what did not belong to him; and the sixth in committing murder.  All because he had drifted out of the will of God and become complacent in what God had done for him.

I’m positive that he was sure that he couldn’t be led into sin like this. So, where did it start? It started when he stopped responding to the call of God and refused to lead his men into battle.  We are at no less risk than David when we also keep ourselves out of God’s will.   Where is intimacy with God found these days?  In prayer, hearing from God and responding to His call.  Not just saying words but engaging with God.  In the Bible studying and feeding on the word of God. An intimate relationship begins by knowing someone.  You learn whom God is by reading the Bible. In church, hearing the word of God preached.

How well do you know God?  Are you engaged in strengthening your relationship with God?  When we lay back out of those things we are complacent in the same way David was.  When we’re complacent and we’ve seen no consequences, we think that Go will understand, but there is a consequence and it’s subtle. Our mind is no longer trained on His will, our faith is no longer strengthened and we come to a point where we no longer know and understand God like we once did.

That’s when we’re susceptible to sin like David was.  The loss of intimacy isn’t a consequence of sin.  Sin is a consequence of the loss of intimacy.

What About Failure?

What can we do when we fail?  What can we do when we break ranks with God? What we do with our failure is an indicator of the strength of our relationship with God.  At some point we’ll fail, we all do.  It’s not If we fail but when we fail.

In Davd’s case he immediately confessed his sin, not that he sinned against Uriah the Hittite but against God. 

Psalms 51:4 (NKJV)
^51:4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight-- That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge.

David was a man after God’s own heart because of the quality of his repentance.  He longed for a return to that level of intimacy with God.  He realized that he violated that relationship.  His repentance opened the door for restoration.

That’s the key or us as well, it’s restoration we desire.  Failure is not meant to be an end point.  Men have failed many times and returned to success.  Donald Trump failed to win reelection in 2020, but in 2024 he has become the forty-seventh president of the United States.  It’s being called the greatest comeback in American politics.  He could have allowed that failure to destroy him but instead made a decision to move forward.

We can allow our personal failures to destroy us, or we can be like David and cry out to God saying, “I have failed, restore me and draw me back into a relationship with you, the joy of my salvation."

David Had a Right Heart with God

God sent the prophet Nathan to rebuke David for his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah the Hittite.  David had a right heart with God.  He didn’t react to Nathan’s rebuke with anger and hostility.  He recognized his sin, accepted what he had done and immediately turned to God for forgiveness.  He didn’t complain about how the devil had tricked him.  He didn’t blame his sin on Bathsheba for being seen naked.  He turned to Nathan and said, "I have sinned."  Because of the way he accepted his responsibility and repented before God, God put away his sin and didn’t kill him.

God has a history of restoring us back into relationship with Him.  He restored Jonah when he sinned and ran from God’s calling.

Jonah 3:1 (NKJV)
^3:1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying,

He had tried to hide from God’s command to go to the Ninevites, but after repenting God once more called on him and was able to use him, restoring the intimacy.  God spoke through Jonah once again.

The pot that was marred in the potter’s hand was made new once again.

Jeremiah 18:4 (NKJV)
^18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.

Because David cried out for restoration God did restore unto him the joy of his salvation.  He did restore the intimacy between them, and David continued to be a powerful leader of the people of God well into his old age.

Where is intimacy cultivated?  Where is the desire for friendship with God built?  It’s built in prayer, in the study of His word, and in the hearing the preaching of the word of God.  You’re not going to find intimacy with God by lazing around the palace but in diligent obedience to the call of God.

I always say, “Pray, read your Bible, go to church.”  Ninety percent of what I preach is just that, because it is in these things that intimacy with God is first found.

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[i] Genesis 3:8-9 NKJV

[ii] 1 Samuel 13:14 NKJV