Guest Post: Jason Duran, Riverside, CA

Pastor Jason Duran

Editor's Note:  A While back I sent a email to a number of pastors, in our fellowship asking for guest posts for this blog.  Today I will add the first Guest Post.  Pastor Jason Duran, The Potter's House Christian Fellowship, Riverside, CA:  You can follow him on twitter at @jdtph4646

THIS IS A SPICED UP VERSION OF MY SERMON ON 031712 AS I REMEMBER DELIVERING IT.

I'VE ENTITLED IT "SPEAK INTO MY LIFE" OR "JOSIAH HEARS A HOO".

Sometimes the Word of God comes to us from the most unlikely places. I'm reminded of Abraham when God rebuked him and said "... all that Sarah has said to thee, harken unto her voice", basically, "you should have listened to your wife". Then there's Baalam when his donkey began to give him direction for his life. I'm not sure if I would have bought that either, but then again, I've never been a false prophet in the paid service of a Moabite king.

2 Chronicles 35:(20) After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him.  (21)  But he sent messengers to him, saying, "What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you."  (22)  Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo.  (23)  And the archers shot King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am severely wounded."  (24)  His servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem. So he died, and was buried in one of the tombs of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah.  (25)  Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. And to this day all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. They made it a custom in Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments. 

JOSIAH THE REFORMER

In 2 Chronicles 33 we get some background on king Josiah.  Josiah began to rule in Judah under less-than-optimal conditions. His Grandfather Manasseh was a mostly bad King who was an idolater and lead Judah into sin. He repented eventually and tried his hardest to implement changes that favored the worship of the God of His anscestor David. By this time it may have been too late. His sone and successor Amon took over and immediately undid all the Godly progress that his father put into motion. Amon's rule was so wicked that his servants conspired against him and he was assasinated in his own house. After this, the only suitable heir was his 8-year-old son Josiah. At age 16 he starts basically from scratch in purging the idolatry from Judah. His extreme dealings with the nation’s idols are inspiring and can be read in the chapters preceeding our text. It's  another sermon on it's own, but we'll review part of it because it's relevant to today's message.

Josiah starts off in the tradition of his righteous predecessors and obliterates the idolatry of the land.

2Ch 34:4  They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the incense altars which were above them he cut down; and the wooden images, the carved images, and the molded images he broke in pieces, and made dust of them and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them.

After tearing down the false gods, it's time to uplift the true God! Josiah starts to repair the temple which is broken down and in damaged. He puts money into it's repair. And in this process they make a powerful discovery.  2Ch 34:14  Now when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD given by Moses.  Hilkiah tells his priestly buddies about the discoveries and passes the book of The Law around to all of them like it’s the latest novel. 2Ch 34:18-19  Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it before the king. (19)  Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes.

For the first time in his life his is exposed to the sobering, humbling effect of the Word of God. This throws off his groove. He is literally convicted on behalf of himself, his family and the entire nation. This revelation changes everything. Up to this point he's just posturing (tearing down altars and fixing up the temple). Lots of kings had done that and I believe it was almost like a tradition or a political move at this point in history. But God's word will bring a different degree of conviction in his heart.

He sends Shaphan and Hilkiah to Inquire of the Lord ... for what?... for futher revelation and further direction for the kingdom. Then God speaks into his life again, this time through another unexpected source, a female prophetess by the name of Huldah. She proclaims the eventual destruction of Judah but also states ...

2Ch 34: (27) because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God when you heard His words against this place and against its inhabitants, and you humbled yourself before Me, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you," says the LORD.
(28)  "Surely I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants." ' " So they brought back word to the king.

The Bible goes on in the begining of Chapter 35 to list the ordinances that Josiah reestablished including the Passover and innumerable sin and peace offerings. Josiah even put the Ark of the Covenant back where it belonged. What a revival! There was worship, giving, prayer, preaching, repentence, prophecy, clothes tearing ... they were having an awesome time.

TRAGEDY STRIKES

I mention all that to bring us here. Our text shows another side of our hero, Josiah, a side of him that ends in tragedy. He makes up his mind to get in the way of a Pharaoh on the war path

Text - (23)  And the archers shot King Josiah; and the king said to his servants, "Take me away, for I am severely wounded." 

(24)  His servants therefore took him out of that chariot and put him in the second chariot that he had, and they brought him to Jerusalem. So he died, and was buried in one of the tombs of his fathers. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah. 

Josiah is fatally impaled by arrows in this failed gambit and is rushed back to Jerusalem in another chariot. In my home town this would be know as "homie ambulance", but that's a different sermon too. This would be like watching your favorite sports hero make it to the championship game just to have him die in a car accident on game day. Imagine having a life-saving surgery and then while driving home you are struck in the neck by a stray bullet that was fired from a gun battle in a bank robbery two blocks away. Today's internet culture may describe this as Josiah's "epic fail". The video would have ended up on YouTube.

The death of this young man sent the whole country into mourning. Verse 25 of our text says this ... (25)  Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. And to this day all the singing men and the singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. They made it a custom in Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments. Many commentators believe that parts of the book of Jeremiah (eg. Jer 22:10  Weep not for the dead, nor bemoan him; Weep bitterly for him who goes away, For he shall return no more, Nor see his native country.) are written in direct reference to this tragic event. Not everyone agrees, but many feel that the entire book of Lamentations was in response to this. Some feel these reference Zedekiah, the last king before the Babylonian captivity, but nevertheless, according to our text there was a whole custom invented to remember the sorrow. Paul McCartney may have written a song for him "The Ballad of Josiah". There may have been a billboard campaign across the country for "Remember Josiah Day". In the U.S. it would be one of the days we fly the flag at half mast like on September 11th every year.

HEARING FROM GOD

Now lets get to what the sermon is really all about... OUR SUCCESS OR FAILURE AS CHRISTIANS HINGES ON OUR WILLINGNESS TO HEAR FROM GOD. God's word is a good thing. Josiah's downfall was because he did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God (text v.22). The pharaoh's declaration and the Holy Spirit's declaration was that these words were from the mouth of God.

First of all, when it comes to God's word, we are lucky that we have it at all. Consider the early days of Samuel. 1Samuel 3:1  Now the boy Samuel ministered to the LORD before Eli. And the word of the LORD was rare in those days; there was no widespread revelation. The priesthood was supposed to be the communications center for the people to hear from God. But because of sin and greed, the priesthood is disconnected from it's purpose. This Scripture in Samuel speaks of two things...

The word of the LORD -  This can be seen as God's basic, yet eternal truths are not represented or being preached. The bread and butter of the Gospel, His created purpose, our fall into sin, His redemptive covenants ... all these are contained in the Word of The Lord. The scrolls were there, but it wasn't being taught or lived out.

Revelation - Revelation is more specific to the individual. You know God exists and you believe in Him, but beyond that we need to get a revelation from the word of God for what we're going through in 2012. Josiah had both of these at his finger tips. He knew the truths that changed his life from the Law and he also had the prophecy from Huldah the prophetess which was more specific to his life. You'd think that with both of these working for you, you'd never go wrong. The issue is that the Word of God needs to be obeyed after it is heard.

In Josiah's day, the country is riddled with idolatry. Idolatry is more than demons and pagan rituals. I provides a distracting voice. It gives you and I an alternative to obeying God. In this sense, idolatry is a problem for us today. Hollywood and movie makers across the world have set up other gods for us to worry about. We are quicker to model our lives after talkshow hosts and advice gurus rather than the godly men that preach to us. We easily embrace "practical" solutions to life's difficulties rather than be challenged to live by faith. I heard a radio talk program where people call up and ask the host for relationship advice. The host is a psychiatrist and a woman called up asking for help and insight into fixing her marriage. The woman told the host that she was a Christian and the host, also a woman, asked her why she hadn't talked to her minister about it and she said "...I thought you Christians had Jesus or something." Taking secular advice for spiritual issues is something we do easily because it doesn't requre faith and usually just offers us an excuse for our sin.

The word of God is different. Heb 4:12  For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. There's more depth of interaction with the Word of God. It's not just a guide for behavior. It judges motivations. It intrudes on our lives below the surface. This verse in Hebrews says it gets down to the joints and marrow ... that's very personal. So is the idea of soul and spirit, two things we all possess that are extremely individual and unique.

It's great that you are involved in church, but God wants to scrutinize your motivations. The behavior is coincidental, the heart and it's motivations are the real battleground. Josiah was already doing good (his reforms, his idol-crushing, etc.) but something about the reading of the Book of the Law caused him to feel a more personal conviction. After all, he didn't hear the words and then punch the guy next to him. Real Gospel preaching is not what the religous are looking for, they just want hoops to jump through so God will have to let them into Heaven. Don't look for the hoops, let God speak into your life.

THE FATAL MISTAKE

This event strikes me as out of character for Josiah since his initial strength is that he desires to hear from God and goes out of his way to obey His Word. He readily inbibed the words of the Book of the Law, He sent Hilkiah to inquire from God further and even accepted God's word it from the the mouth of a female prophetess (newsflash: Men don't like input from women all the time). But instead of facilitating the plan of God, he ends up hindering it.

Our text says this: (20) After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Necho king of Egypt came up to fight against Carchemish by the Euphrates; and Josiah went out against him.  There's alot here if you care to dig into this historic battle. Try to picture the armies of Pharaoh marching North from Egypt around the Eastern side of Judah up towards the area of Iraq and Iran. Carchemish was located on the Eastern bordrer of the Euphrates river and in order to fight here, Necho would have to cross the Euphrates first. I believe Necho was making good time until Josiah's armies get in his way. This hindered the war effort for the Assyrian and Egyptian armies.

According to our text, he was in a hurry and so was God (Verse (21)  … for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you."). If he can get to the battle field first and fortify his position, he stands a chance. The Assyrian army is counting on him. they are going to fight against Babylon, the entity that eventually defeats and caries off the Judathites into captivity. One Bible encyclopedia called this battle the "battle that decided the fate of western Asia". The author of Hard Sayings of the Bible writes these words: … not more than three years after his death, in 606 b.c., the Babylonians, whom Josiah seemed to favor, took the first Hebrew captives, including the prophet Daniel and his three friends. In 597 b.c. Ezekiel was taken into exile. Finally the city fell and was burned down, temple included, in 586. As far as we know, God was trying to prevent or stall the upcoming captivity.

DIDN'T YOU GET MY MESSAGE?

What really makes this a tragedy is that it was totally preventable.

(21)  But he sent messengers to him, saying, "What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you."

Let's consider some reasons we disregard warnings from God.

1. THE MESSENGER

AThe most obvious reason is that the source of the message was a Pharaoh, an Egyptian king who is at best just a secular vessel that God is using. God has at time sused Pagan Kings to enact his will and secular governments to bolster and protect his people. Darius was one of these, so was Pilate, so was Augustine, even Nebuchadnezzer himself. Is it too far of a stretch to think that God's people need outside help to stay in the will of God. Often we hav an antagonistic view of the local police, or our government, or local beaurocracies. I've heard Christians get a speeding ticket or some other citation and then blame the devil.

Sometimes we'll need to take criticism from a supervisor at work or our boss. We might not like what we hear but it may be from God. Obviously there's a balance to this but there's going to require an abnormal degree of humility from us to hear from God. At the time I responded to the call to preach and pioneer a church in Pomona, California, I had a boss named Jim. I was only in a middle management position but I know that me stepping down and eventually transfering to another city would hurt him and what he was trying to do. I made up my mind to try and balance this job and my new endeavor but it was draining me. At one point I was questioning if leaving this job for another was the will of God, or maybe I wasn’t called to preach after all. But one day he spoke into my life. In his own cussing ogre kind of way and told me "Don't sweat it, man, you were born for preachin’!" There went that excuse! That little conversation thrust me into the will of God for keeps and those words today have powerful impact in my life… and Jim was NOT a Christian. I drove out of that parking lot in May of 2005 and my secular career has never recovered but my spiritual vocation has never been in better shape.

Consider Romans 13: (1)  Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. (2)  Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. (3)  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. (4)  For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.

I guarantee you that the same reason you hate those verses is probably the same reason that Josiah brushed off God’s warning. I believe that when Authorities stop judging evil and rewarding righteousness, they lose their heavenly mandate. When they persecute God's people and try to wipe His testimony out of history, God's not going to use them to speak to you anyway.

For a minute, consider Eli again, the mentor of Samuel, when he says in 1Sa 3:17-18, "What is the word that the LORD spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He said to you." (18)  Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, "It is the LORD. Let Him do what seems good to Him." Despite all of his faults, Eli is able to accept a scathing rebuke and a condemning prophecy from a preteen Samuel

2. THE DISOBEDIENT WILL

(22)  Nevertheless Josiah would not turn his face from him, but disguised himself so that he might fight with him, and did not heed the words of Necho from the mouth of God. So he came to fight in the Valley of Megiddo. 

This is kind of wierd. He disguises himself. But who is he trying to fool? Is God going to look at him and say, "Well, I don't recognize that guy, who's that?" I don’t think it’s really relevant exactly why, what is important is to what lengths he’ll go to do what he wants to do. We are really are just a strong, disobedient will wrapped up on human flesh. I’ve learned one thing from my 7 years in the ministry: people will do what they want to do no matter if it’s God standing in their way or not. If God had sent a message stating “Don’t go into battle because your head will explode”, he still probably would have gone … because he really wanted to fight.

Disguising one’s self in battle was the tactic of that moral pillar King Ahab of Israel. He really wanted to go into battle so he surrounded himself with a bunch of yes-men, advisors and prophets that would just go along with his will. His friend and godly ally King Jehoshaphat suggested that they should first find out what God thought about going into battle. In 1Kings 22:8, So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "There is still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the LORD; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." And Jehoshaphat said, "Let not the king say such things!"  So God could speak to them through Micaiah, but Ahab doesn’t want to hear it and he calls God’s word evil. When Michaiah finally does speak to Ahab, he tells him that his army will be a scattered pile of dead bodies after this battle. He disregards that and goes anyway.

Is this a great picture of people in the church that pick what they want to obey and despite what their Pastor preaches, or the warnings from their brethren, they still jump headlong into doomed situations. God told both Ahab and Josiah that it would be bad for their health, both put on disguises and went anyways, both ended up hemorrhaging to death in a chariot.

3. THE LAST DAYS FLOW

Beneath the surface of the ocean there are powerful currents that flow and effect what is happening on the surface. The surfer is trying to ride waves into the shore, but the flow of the undertow is trying to drag him out to sea. I think one more thing we should also consider is that shunning God’s word and just doing what you want is just part of the overall direction in which humanity is flowing in these last days. Consider with me that Josiah is a “last days” king. History is coming to a conclusion for Judah, in a few years they will be carried off in slavery and exile. You and I are “last days” believers. I believe that History is drawing towards a conclusion as the world-wide hive mind is shutting out God’s voice.

Remember the words of Paul:  1Ti 4:1  Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,

In the latter times people will flock to doctrines and teachings that spiritualize their sin, and downplay the truth that God’s Word preaches. Paul also wrote this: 2Ti 4:3-4  For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;  (4)  and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

I believe today we live in this time where people will flock to leaders that tell them what they want to hear and numb their consciences as they float away into sin.

As the world flows away from obeying God, there will be people in the church that just jump feet first into that current. But you and I need to make a stand. We must reevaluate and judge our desires, separate our emotions from our will, seek that objective truth from God’s word, seek God’s revelation for our lives. Consider yourself warned.

IF YOU GO, WE ALL GO

Finally, don’t fool yourself by thinking you have a call of God on your life so nothing tragic would ever happen to you. We’ve seen the best fall in this scripture, so we need to learn from that fall and not reenact it.

If you consider God’s promise to Josiah, (2Ch 34: (28)  "Surely I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place and its inhabitants.") it’s logical to conclude that the longer he lives, the longer everyone else has too. God would have stayed true to his word and stayed off the inevitable until Josiah died naturally 40 or 50 years later or, I guess, technically until he went blind.

Who knows what your obedience is holding back? Who can tell if you are a firewall for destruction in your home, your job, your church, your school, your ministry etc.? Other people’s lives are always attached to our decisions. Sin and disobedience are never committed in a vacuum. Their effects ripple outward and affect everyone else around you. So to conclude in modern lingo … Don’t Be That Guy! If you fail, we all end up on YouTube.

Don't Listen to the Depression

Editor's Note:  Thank you to Catherine Shu of the blog "Shu Flies," for her kind permission to use her writing in this post.  While I have encouraged the use and reprinting of my work on this blog as long as it is not used to make a profit for anyone.  (I believe the word of God should remain free.)  I would ask that you respect Catherine's copyright and not use or reprint her work without permission.  Thank you.

*****

According to suicide.org:

Untreated Depression is the Number One Cause of Suicide

www.suicide.org

I struggled with those feelings for a long time.  My parents came to visit me during my first semester of graduate school.  I started crying during lunch and apologized for being a horrible daughter.

My Dad said, “I know what that is.  That’s the depression talking.  It will say things like that, but you just can’t listen to it.”

I remember feeling surprised that I had the option not to listen.  My anxiety was almost a talisman.  If I fretted about doing poorly in school, I would succeed.  If I worried about something bad happening to the people I loved, I could somehow protect them.

          Catherine Shu, Shu Flies, Dealing With Depression and Living Abroad Part 2

It seems as if there is an epidemic of depression throughout the world today.  I talk to people all the time who complain about depression.  I think this passage from Shu Flies illustrates an interesting point about depression:

"My Dad said, 'I know what that is.  That’s the depression talking.  It will say things like that, but you just can’t listen to it.'”

I’ve lived through major depression.  I’m not talking about that feeling of having “the blues” or feeling kind of sad for a day or two.  I’m talking about the type of depression that demobilizes you: a spiral into hopelessness.  I can tell you, Ms. Shu’s father has it exactly right.  It does speak to you. 

It speaks to you about your worthlessness.  It tells you that you can never be happy.  It tells you that people can never care for you or love you.  It speaks. 

But as a Christian I’ve learned a bit about depression.  Depression is a spirit.  If depression can speak, then it’s a spirit.  Depression is spiritual.  It's a form of demonic influence.  There are others:  Schizophrenia, Paranoia, Bi-polar Disorder, and Depression, they all have the common symptom of hearing voices that speak to you. 

 Today I want to write about the root of depression.  I’ve studied this out.  I think the saddest thing in the world is a Christian; a follower of Jesus who struggles with depression and I want to deal with this from a Christian perspective.  There is a root to depression and I believe it can be overcome.

Matthew 18:21-35 (NKJV)
^18:21 Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" ²² Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. ²³ Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. ²⁵ But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. ²⁶ The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, 'Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' ²⁷ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. ²⁸ But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, 'Pay me what you owe!' ²⁹ So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.' ³⁰ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. ³¹ So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. ³² Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. ³³ Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' ³⁴ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. ³⁵ So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses."

Who Speaks

This scripture mentions “the torturers.”  I think this is an interesting choice of words.  Jesus, in this parable, refers to them as torturers or in the King Kames version, they’re called “the tormentors.”  Look at the definition of torture:

1 : anguish of body or mind
2 : the infliction of severe pain especially to punish or coerce
Mirriam-Webster Dictionary

A torturer is one who inflicts torture on others.  So what does Jesus mean when he refers to the torturers?  Look at the book of Job for a moment.

In the first chapter of the book, Job, a blameless and upright man, loses his wealth, his family and his health all in one day.  He loses everything.  We know the story:

Job 1:6-7 (NKJV)
^1:6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. ⁷ And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it."

So God calls the angels and among them comes Satan.  God points out Job to Satan as a blameless and upright man who worships God.  But Satan tells God that Job worships Him because God has protected and blessed Job.  If things went wrong in Job’s life, Job would curse God.  So God allows Satan to attack Job.   Satan takes all of Job’s possessions, kills his servants and his children and afflicts Job with boils.  Does that accurately depict what we have defined as torture?  I would say it is an exact picture of torture.  In addition, look at this scripture for a moment:

Revelation 12:7-9 (NKJV)
^12:7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, ⁸ but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. ⁹ So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

I believe these are the torturers.  It is certainly a strategy of Satan to torment, wear people down and try to turn them away from God.  This is exactly what he was attempting with Job.  He attacked Job in a way that would cause him to turn away from God.

The devil attacks us mainly with lies.  Jesus refers to him as the “father of lies.”  If we look at the Garden of Eden, he deceived Eve through a series of lies.  In those things he lied about God’s character and made Him out to be a liar, “You will not surely die.”  Through that one lie Satan took down the entire human race.  His strategy today is the same.  He continues to attack with lies and attempts to turn us away from God.

He does that by lying to us about our worth and value not only to ourselves, but our worth to God as well.  It is an attempt to turn us away from God by impugning God’s character and desire for relationship with people.  If we know God and his desire for us then we should be joyful.  After all, Joy is the character of salvation.  Our relationship with God should be defined by joy. 

1 Peter 1:7-8 (NKJV)
^1:7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, ⁸ whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

Joy inexpressible; we should be unable to express how joyful we are in Jesus.  If that's true than why do so many Christians suffer with depression?  Why are so many Christians tormented and beaten down by depression?  I believe the answer to that is found in scripture.

Opening the Door to the Torturers

As Christians, God protects us.  He has built a hedge around us.  This was Satan’s complaint about Job.

Job 1:8-10 (NKJV)
^1:8 Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" ⁹ So Satan answered the Lord and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? ¹⁰ Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.

Satan complains that Job only worships God because God has protected and blessed him.  As Christians, that’s something that God does for us as well. That isn’t to say that we don’t have troubles and afflictions, of course we do.  Life is full of trouble and affliction, but God has built a hedge around us to protect us.

The problem is that we open the door to demonic influence on our own.  Through certain actions we pierce the hedge of protection that’s built around us.

Ecclesiastes 10:8 (KJV)
^10:8 He that digs a pit shall fall into it; and whoever breaks a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

The phrase, “a serpent will bite him,” is interesting.  Who is the serpent of old?  Satan is referred to as the serpent of old.  If we pierce the hedge then we’re in danger of a serpent’s bite. 

We can do things that open the door to demonic influence.  There are a number of things that pierce the hedge.  Involvement in the occult or the paranormal will open that door to demonic influence.  Certain sins like alcohol or drug use, fornication and pornography are all sins that carry a link to demonic influence.  There is one thing that’s more common.  How we deal with hurt and disappointment, especially with regard to other people can open the door to demonic influence.  According to our text unforgivensss can pierce the hedge of protection around us.

Look at what our text is about.  A man comes to settle accounts with his servants.  He is looking to be repaid for loans that he’s made to them.  There is one man who has borrowed a huge sum of many from the master:  An amount that he can never repay.  When the master asks for that repayment, this man begs for more time and the master forgives the debt. 

This same man who has been forgiven this huge debt comes to a man who owes him a small amount and demands payment.  When the man begs for the same mercy the first man received, the Bible tells us that he is sent to prison until the debt is paid.  The first man shows no mercy and refuses to give him more time or to forgive the debt.  It is at this point, because he, the first man, doesn’t forgive that he is sent to the torturers.

So a lack of forgiveness also pierces the hedge of protection.  And opens us up to demonic assault, “A serpent will bite him.” It’s so sad because I’ve met so many people who can’t forgive.  A woman one time came to our church in Riverside who was suffering.  I preached a sermon on forgiveness; simple forgiveness.  This woman was very angry at me, because she said, “I refuse to forgive my father.” 

The interesting thing about forgiveness is that forgiveness is for us.  Our forgiveness does nothing for the other person.  The chances are, they don’t even know you’re suffering, or if they do, they don’t care.  When we forgive we release ourselves from the bondage and torment of unforgiveness.

Hebrews 12:15 (NKJV)
^12:15 looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

Unforgiveness causes a root of bitterness to spring up in us.  Have you met someone who can’t forgive slights or hurts?  They become bitter and angry about everything.  It really ruins their lives in so many ways.  People lose relationships because of their bitterness.  Who wants to be around a bitter, angry person?  Bitterness is an ugly thing.  Some diseases, specifically arthritis has a root in bitterness.  Bitterness comes from unforgiveness.  People can’t forgive others and it begins to torment them. 

Our text warns us about the consequences of not forgiving those who’ve hurt us.

Matthew 18:35 (NKJV)So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses."

What does this say?  If we won’t forgive then we are also in danger of being delivered to the torturers.  Forgiveness is essential to our salvation. 

Matthew 6:14-15 (NKJV)
^6:14 "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. ¹⁵ But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

If we want to be forgiven of our sin, we must first forgive.  We need to forgive those who have mistreated us.  We also need to forgive ourselves.  Sometimes, the ones who we’re hardest on are us.  We have done things that we don’t think can be forgiven. 

I have always found it very sad when someone is looking for the forgiveness and love of Christ, but can’t find it, because they don’t think what they’ve done can be forgiven by God.  People have told me, “God can’t forgive me.”  And I quote scripture to them:  “If we will confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive.” (1 John 1:9)  They always say, “But you don’t know what I’ve done!”  Do you know what they’re really saying?  How can God forgive me when I can’t forgive myself? 

How much self-inflicted torment do we accept when we think God won’t forgive us because we can’t forgive ourselves?  When we think we're unforgivable, we're saying that the peace of God is out of reach.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NKJV)
^4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

We need the peace of God.  It’s the peace of God that guards our hearts…and what else?  The peace of God guards our minds.  It surpasses all understanding.  We can’t even understand the peace of God, but it protects us.  Forgiveness is key to the peace of God.

Overcoming Depression

So in order to protect ourselves from depression we need to practice forgiveness.  We need to be forgiving.  That’s not always easy, though, is it?  People have inflicted us with some painful things.  We have beaten ourselves down.  It’s not always easy to let go of hurts and sufferings.  Look at this:

Luke 17:3-5 (NKJV)
^17:3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. ⁴ And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him." ⁵ And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith."

Jesus is telling the disciples they need to forgive.  These are the men who spent three years with him.  These are the men who knew Jesus intimately; they met him in the flesh.  He tells them they need to forgive and what is their prayer?  “Increase our faith.”  A lot of forgiveness is just simply turning it over to God.  God has said, “I will Judge, I will avenge.”  He has said he will avenge our hurts.  But it takes faith to turn those things over to Him, doesn’t it? 

We can see from this that we need to forgive.  Forgiveness keeps us within God’s hedge of protection.  We want to treat these things with medication, but in my mind medication opens us up to even more demonic influence.  Look at this that I saw on Twitter, recently.

“In the 60’s and 70’s people took acid to make the world weird.  Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it look normal.”

Prozac doesn’t cure anything; it only changes the way your mind works.  It masks and hides the problem but it doesn’t cure them.  If you want peace, peace comes from God.  What good does it do you to hold onto hurts and all those things that make you bitter.  What is the good thing about bitterness and suffering?  I have never understood why people don’t forgive.  God requires forgiveness from us.  It’s in our best interest to forgive.

Establishing a Pattern of Worship

I am going to say something to you which will sound strange. It even sounds strange to me as I say it, because we are not used to hearing it within our Christian fellowships. We are saved to worship God. All that Christ has done for us in the past and all that He is doing now leads to this one end.

– A.W. Tozer -- Whatever Happened to Worship

He’s speaking about the importance of worship:  How the promise of God comes through worship.  Today, I want to take the time to examine worship:  What it is, what does it mean to our lives?   How many of us realize that worship is necessary to the Christian Walk?  I want to look at worship because I believe there are three key things that demonstrate the importance of worship.

Genesis 12:6-8
6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.

Faith Begins Through Worship

In our text we see Abram.  This takes place after he has heard the call of God to follow God to a place He would show Abram.  He has picked up and left his father’s house and he has traveled to Canaan:  The land of promise.  This is the land that God said that he would give to Abram’s descendents.  He arrives there and God shows him the land.  God tells him, “Look around this is the land I will give to your descendents. Abram sees the promise of God and builds an altar.

He’s seen the promise of God and it has moved him, to do what?  What is an altar for?  The Hebrew word for Altar comes from the Hebrew word for slaughter, so he has built this altar to offer sacrifices to God.  Sacrifice is a form of worship.  He’s worshipping God.  He’s seen the promise; glimpsed what God will do and it has driven him to worship. 

Can you look at your life and see what God is doing there?  Can you see the promise that’s on the horizon for you if you will remain in the will of God?  What does it motivate you to do?  Does it motivate you to worship?  Worship is the natural thing and that’s what Abram did, he worshipped God. 

He sees the promise of God and he builds an altar to worship the one who has given the promise and in that moment something is established in his life.  This isn’t a one-time shot for Abram.  He begins to worship at many points in his journey.  A pattern of worship is established in his life.

How many times do we see Abraham, build an altar?  He builds altars over and over throughout his life.  Worship has become a pattern in his life and we can see from his life that  worship strengthened his faith. 

Look at the Book of geneisis, in Chapter 12 we see that Abram hears from God and even though he is raised in the pagan environment of Ur he recognizes the voice of God and responds to the call that’s there.  God calls him to go to a place that I will show you.  Abram leaves the house of his father, follows God to that place and he worships God there. 

But then he leaves that place where he has worshipped God and travels down to Egypt.  He becomes afraid that the Egyptians will kill him so he tells his wife to say that she is his sister so protect himself.  Where has the faith gone?  What happened to the man who believed God?  He has left the place of worship and his faith has been lost.  Afterward he returns to bethel from Egypt.

Genesis 13:3-4
3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the Lord.

He rebuilds the altar that he had built before and in the process his faith is reanimated.  This is the time when Lot’s shepherds and Abram’s shepherds begin to fight, so Abraham tells Lot pick a direction and go that way I’ll go the other way.  Lot looks to toward Sodom.  He sees that in that direction he will have more opportunity to find prosperity so he chooses to go in that direction.  Abram goes in the opposite direction out into the desert; into the place that God had showed him and trusted God for provision.  Lot has chosen the direction through the wisdom of mankind.  He sees a better chance for success so he goes that way.  Abram on the other hand, has chosen to trust God and has chosen his direction in faith.  he stays in the Land God has promised his descendants and worships God.

Finally, we see the powerful faith of Abram, who by now is called Abraham, in the test that God gives him when he asks him to sacrifice his son Isaac.  Issac is the child of Abraham’s old age.  He is the child that God said will be the heir through whom the promise is fulfilled.  So when God asks him to sacrifice Isaac he is really testing whether or not Abraham has the faith to obey God.  Remember, he had a son through Sarah’s handmaiden, Hagar, because they didn’t believe that God could give barren Sarah a child.  So this is a test to see whether Abraham can obey God, knowing what’s at stake. 

Abraham responds to the test by placing Isaac on the altar and preparing to sacrifice him.  This is a great act of faith look at this statement regarding Abraham’s faith:

Hebrews 11:17-19
^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.

He had becomes so full of faith that he knew if necessary for God to keep the promise that he would raise Isaac from the dead.  This is a far cry from the man who doubted that God could deliver him from the Egyptians. 

What’s the key to Abraham’s faith?  I believe it is the act of worshipping God.  Every time God spoke the promise to Abraham he built an altar and worshipped God.  He called on the name of the Lord.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.  Abraham’s faith was ignited by the word of God spoken in the form of a promise.  But the building of the altar signifies an openness to hearing from God.  It isn’t automatic that if you speak the word of God that everyone you speak it to will respond I faith.  If it was then everyone you witnessed to would get saved.  We know that doesn’t happen.  But it is an openness to the word of God that allows it to build faith in our lives.  Worship opens us up to the word of God and the will of God and establishes in us the faith that God is a God who will deliver on His promises.  That’s why worship is so important in our church services.  It’s also why we have worhip service before the preaching. 

Here are some interesting statistics:

Nearly two-thirds of regular church attendees have not experienced God’s presence in a church service.  48% of regular church attendees have not experienced God’s presence in the last year. But yet 65% (two-thirds) of church-going adults are very satisfied with the ability to worship God afforded by their church.

The problem here is that there has not been a pattern of real worship that has been built in most churches.  It’s too bad that we don’t have to build altars anymore because people come to church and expect the presence of God to just fall on them:  That it is God’s responsibility to pour Himself out.  Some churches have professional worship groups, the have the perfect mood inducing lighting, all the right high tech effects.  Those things induce a mood but they don’t always bring about heartfelt worship.  There isn’t a formula; worship doesn’t come from singing, clapping, mood lighting and musicianship.  It comes from the heart.   It comes from being inspired by the promise of God.  That’s what motivated Abraham.  We have to ask ourselves are we inspired by what God is doing in our lives?  Is that what motivates us, or are we just going through the motions?  Do you want to feel the presence of God?  If you do then you need to worship from your heart and you ill feel the presence of God, powerfully.  Song service and the preaching will come to life for you because God will show up.

The House of God is Established in Worship

The word Bethel means “House of God.”  This is the place where God dwells, this is the place where Abram built that first altar.  This is also the place where Jacob sees the vision of the ladder of God and names it Bethel. 

Genesis 28:16-19
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.”17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”  18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it.19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously.

When Abraham was there it was called Luz it was built by the Canaanites, who lived there.  It wasn’t called Bethel until Jacob’s time.  He called it that in a time of worship.  That’s what he was doing when he raised up a stone and anointed it.  He was worshipping God.  This is the same place where Abram built that first altar; it is the same place where Abram worshipped God.  The worship of God in that place established it as the House of God.  Jacob says, “this is none other than the House of God,” and what is it?  It’s a place of worship.

Take a moment and look forward in history into the nation of Israel.   Look into a time after the people have received their inheritance; after the four hundred years of captivity in Egypt.  This is centuries after Jacob’s time.

Judges 20:18
18 Then the children of Israel arose and went up to the house of God to inquire of God. They said, “Which of us shall go up first to battle against the children of Benjamin?” The Lord said, “Judah first!”

Judges 20:26-27
26 Then all the children of Israel, that is, all the people, went up and came to the house of God and wept. They sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.27 So the children of Israel inquired of the Lord (the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,

Judges 21:2-4
2 Then the people came to the house of God, and remained there before God till evening. They lifted up their voices and wept bitterly,3 and said, “O Lord God of Israel, why has this come to pass in Israel, that today there should be one tribe missing in Israel?”4 So it was, on the next morning, that the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.

This place is established as the House of God and it was established there all those years ago when Abram first worshipped there.  Worship establishes the place of God.

Our church is in an old building.  There have been a number of businesses in that building.  One of them, a KTV business, where men pay women to entertain them as they drank and sing karaoke, not really the type of business that would establish the place as the House of God.   But now it’s our church, now it’s a House of God where we regularly experience the presence of God.  What establishes it as the House of God?  It’s the worship of God by God’s people. 

But let’s make this personal for a moment.  If you worship God from your heart, will your heart not be established as a House of God.  If your heart is established as a dwelling place of God what fruit would be visible from that? 

Luke 6:45
45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Worship will build in your heart a [ace where God can dwell and we will see the fruit of a heart given over to God.  What will that fruit look like?

Psalm 45:7
7 You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.

God is not a God of depression.  He’s not a God of suicide.  God is a God of Joy.  Do you want the joy of salvation to be the fruit of your life?  Worship will usher in the oil of gladness.  As we build a habitation for God in our hearts, then out of our hearts will come the abundance of what is there, which is the oil of gladness.  Worship establishes the dwelling of God in our hearts, in other words worship is what will bring about the indwelling of God in our hearts.

Worship is a Refuge

Jeroboam, when he was king of Israel desecrated the place of God through the worship of idols. 

1 Kings 12:32-33
32 Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made.33 So he made offerings on the altar which he had made at Bethel on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had devised in his own heart. And he ordained a feast for the children of Israel, and offered sacrifices on the altar and burned incense.

He perverted the House of God by setting up an abomination there.  In time the people came to be ashamed of that perversion of God’s house.

Jeremiah 48:13
13 Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh,
As the house of Israel was ashamed of Bethel, their confidence.

The word translated as confidence can be more properly translated as refuge.  So what is this saying?  It’s saying that the people of God came to be ashamed of that that was once their refuge.  Jeroboam, through his worship of golden calves in the house fo God caused God to depart from that place.  We are in danger of the same thing if we allow some form of idolatry to take the place of God in our hearts. 

What do we worship?  We worship the thing that has the greatest priority in our hearts.    It’s that thing we put before God:  That thing that keeps us out of church.  The thing that we worship is the thing that keeps us from worshipping God. 

I spoke to a young man who didn’t want to serve God because he knew that if served God he wouldn’t be able to be sexually immoral.  His conscience wouldn’t allow it.  He knew that. So Sexual Immorality is thing that he worships.

He is in bondage to that thing, there is no place of refuge from that bondage available to him, until he puts God back in the place of worship in his heart. 

What is a place of refuge?  In our times we have appointed places called Wildlife Refuges.  These are places where wildlife can live without fear of being hunted and killed by men.  They are a place of safety and security.

That’s what bethel was for Israel.  It was a place where they could have confidence that God would protect them and provide for them; safety and security.  That place of refuge was destroyed by jeroboam as he worshipped idols there.  This is the last place in the Bible where bethel is referred to as the place of God.  The last mention of Bethel is in the Book of Amos:

Amos 7:11-13
11 “For thus Amos has said: ‘Jeroboam shall die by the sword, And Israel shall surely be led away captive From their own land.’ ”  12 Then Amaziah said to Amos: “Go, you seer! Flee to the land of Judah. There eat bread, And there prophesy.13 But never again prophesy at Bethel, For it is the king’s sanctuary, And it is the royal residence.”

The people have grown ashamed of Bethel.

Worshipping God creates for us a refuge from the bondage of sin, from the assault of the one who seeks to destroy us.  How many times have you gone into church, bogged down, feeling the weight of the day or some assault from the pit of hell.  You walk in, allow yourself to enter into a place of worship, allow God’s presence to be established once again in your heart, and you are buoyed up, leaving glad once more.  That’s the power of refuge.  It’s what makes the worship group such an important part of the service; they are the ones who usher us into worship.  They are the ones who, in a sense, build that altar.  But don’t get me wrong worship is an individual responsibility.  Worship should come from the heart.  It’s the opening of our hearts to God and shouldn’t be taken lightly.  Not giving it all we’re worth profanes it.  

Worship can establish and strengthen our faith.  Worship can build the House of God.  Worship can be a refuge from the assaults of hell.  It depends on you.

One final thought, we think of worship as a personal thing: That we are the only ones affected by the intensity of our worship, but that isn’t true.    Abraham’s worship built his faith, but it also built the faith of Isaac and Jacob.  Have you thought about how much faith it took for Isaac to let his father offer him on the altar?

Isaac was about twenty and Abraham about one hundred twenty.  Isaac could have outrun him certainly.  Could have fought him, but we don’t see that.  Isaac submitted to the sacrifice.  Where did Jacob learn to worship God by standing up a stone and pouring oil on it.?  He learned that from his father and grandfather.  The House of God was established by one man’s worship but it remained the House of God for all of Israel for centuries.  The lack of worship on the part of Jeroboam destroyed that place as a place of refuge.

Do you realize that your faith is dependent on your pastor’s?  His faith is dependent in part on yours.  Together we strengthen each other’s faith, so we owe it to each other to build our faith as much as we can and we do that partly through worship.  Together we establish a refuge from the assaults of the devil as we come into the sanctuary and worship.  We, through worship, make it a refuge.  Let’s establish a pattern of worship in our lives and see the promises of God come true in our lives.

Who's Excellent?

The people in the above video are doing excellent things.  They are doing things that are extremely difficult.  They have to put great effort and time into learning and perfecting these things.  But they have no eternal value.  These things are to please men not God.  And all of them have succeeded.  These things are impressive but they’re of little value.  They’re entertaining and exciting, but what value do they have beyond that?

“Human excellence means nothing unless it works with the consent of God.”

Euripides

Today I want to explore excellence within the framework of the will of God. 

Colossians 3:22-25 (NKJV)
^3:22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. ²³ And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, ²⁴ knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. ²⁵ But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.

Are We Excellent?

According to Mirriam-Webster Dictionaries, excellence can be defined as:  very good of its kind: FIRST-CLASS

"Excellence in any art or profession is attained only by hard and persistent work."

Theodore Martin

Have you taken any time to examine what you’re doing for God?  What are the things you’re doing for God.  Have you set aside any time for Him and His purposes? 

Excellence is seen in a number of ways:  I’m reading Steve Jobs biography right now, and there’s an interesting anecdote about jobs’ stepfather.  He’s the type of man that likes to restore cars and do things with his hands.  At one point Jobs was watching and helping as his father built a cabinet.  And his father was taking time to make sure that everything about the cabinet was done right and looked beautiful…even the parts no one would ever see.  He used high-quality wood even for the back of the cabinet. That’s excellence.

Wanting to be sure that the finished product is high-quality; not throwing something together that looks good on the surface but taking the time and putting in the thought to do it right.  That’s doing something with excellence.

In our day and hour so many things are done to give the appearance of excellence without actually being excellent.  For example, I was reading about a car company in Finland that developed a high-end electric car.  These cars look like sports cars, they have beautiful interiors.  They sell for more than $100,000 USD each.  But a couple of weeks ago every single car that they’ve built was recalled, because they have a fire risk.  They spontaneously burn up.  The engineering on the battery system, that no one would see, was not up to industry standards.  They have the appearance of quality but they’re not excellent. 

This translates to how we do things for God as well.  If you look around at the church world you see beautiful modern buildings, with all the latest technology, all of the programs.  I know one church that even has a Starbuck’s right on their campus.  On the surface they’re the ideal of the modern, “Super Church.”  I’m not saying that these things are bad in and of themselves.  But inside, people are not involved in real evangelism or winning sinners to Jesus.

We used to have a booth at a night market type event in Riverside and for a while they put us next to this other church.  I listened to the way people talked to people who stopped at their booth.  They talked about all the programs…”We have a singles ministry, we have a volleyball ministry, we have coffee shop and Christian bookstore.  Who are they trying to get to the church with those kinds of things?  As a sinner I never would have set foot in a Christian bookstore.  So whom are they trying to reach…other Christians, maybe?  So then evangelism just becomes an exercise at getting people in the door.  It’s not about getting them saved; it’s about filling the pews.  I wonder if God looks at these things and calls it excellence.  Is that meeting the standards of God will?  Or is it putting the face of evangelism on a marketing strategy. 

In my last post I talked about how each of us has strengths that can overcome each other’s weaknesses:  That maybe you’re strong in an area where someone else is weak.  In that way we can overcome our weaknesses and as a church we can be effective at reaching people. That’s why Christianity isn’t an individual pursuit.  That’s why the church was intended to be a body of believers.  But excellence as a body is dependent on us being excellent as individuals.  If all of us are doing what we do with excellence then our efforts as a group will be excellent. 

If you’re involved in ministry, take a look at your ministry efforts, are you doing what you’re doing with excellence?  If you’re not involved with your church’s ministry, is that meting the standards of God’s calling on your life?  Are you excellent in the things of life, work, family, marriage, but not doing anything for God? 

What does our scripture say?  “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,” (Col 3:23)

The first part of this scripture is in this context:  Do what you do as if you’re doing it for God.  Do what you do with excellence, not just to look good, but because it’s the right thing to do.  That means every aspect of our worldly life.  We need to obey our bosses, because it’s the right thing to do, not because we want to look good for them so they will reward us with a raise or a promotion or whatever.  It also means every aspect of our spiritual life as well.  We should desire to be as much like Jesus as possible, and jesus did everything with excellence.

The Excellence of God – Being like Him

God is into us being excellent, because God is excellent.

Job 37:23 (NKJV)
^37:23 As for the Almighty, we cannot find Him; He is excellent in power, In judgment and abundant justice; He does not oppress.

Psalms 8:1 (NKJV)
^8:1 To the Chief Musician. On the instrument of Gath. A Psalm of David. O Lord, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!

I look around me and marvel at the earth and the things of the earth.  How everything fits together and works together perfectly.  Look at your hand for a moment.  It’s the perfect tool isn’t it?  You can use it to do so many things.  How your body is made.  So many things such complexity and every thing works together perfectly.  How your mind works alone is amazing.  There is a book called “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made” that talks about how our bodies work. 

 In our bodies alone we can see the excellence of God.  How much more is it evident in the rest of the universe?  Look at this scripture:

Romans 1:20 (NKJV)
^1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

We can see God in the details of creation.  God’s excellence shows in his creation.  Who is the creator of the universe?

John 1:1-3 (NKJV)
^1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

According to John, Jesus is the creator of the universe; everything that was made was made through Him.  He’s the creative power of the universe.  So the question becomes, who are we?  Are we His disciples?  If we’re here to learn from Him and be like Him then we are His disciples. 

That’s the definition of a disciple.  Not just someone who learns but someone who desire to be like their teacher.  When mwe go to school we’re learners, right?  We go there to learn many things, does that make us disciples of our teachers?  No, because the desire to be like the teacher is what makes us a disciple.

I was talking to a brother in the Zhongli church, the other day and he was telling me about one of the new guys in the church.  He talks to him; he was showing up late for church and this brother tells him, “I’m never late, because I want to get all I can get from God.”  So the guy listens to him and begins to come to church on time. That’s the discipleship process.  That’s what being a disciple is about being like the one who teaches.  So if we are disciples of Christ then we should desire to be like Him in every way.  That includes doing what we do with excellence.

I want to look at two men of the Bible who did the things they did with excellence.  The first is Joseph.  We know the story of Joseph.  His brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt.  Then his master’s wife lied and he went to prison.  Then he got out and became Pharaoh’s right hand man.  But take a look at Joseph’s character for a moment.  I want you to see something about how he did things:

Genesis 39:4-6 (NKJV)
^39:4 So Joseph found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. ⁵ So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. ⁶ Thus he left all that he had in Joseph's hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he ate. Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance.

So Potiphar put everything he had into Joseph’s control. He didn’t even know what he had except what was set on the table before him.   Can you imagine?  Everyday he sat down and said “Oh look bread!  I guess we’re not broke yet.”  That’s big-time trust isn’t it? 

Joseph didn’t let him down either.  The Bible says the Egyptian was blessed for Joseph’s sake.  Because God wanted to bless Joseph, Potiphar got blessed, because Joseph did what he did with excellence.  Is your boss blessed because you work there?  Joseph was excellent in prison and the jailer trusted him over all the other prisoners.  He was excellent in his work for Pharaoh.  His diligence saved Egypt and Israel from the famine.

The other one I want to look at is Daniel:

Daniel 6:1-4 (NKJV)
^6:1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, to be over the whole kingdom; ² and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss. ³ Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. ⁴ So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him.

Daniel has an excellent spirit; he was given to excellence in all that he does.  There was no error found in him:  None, zip zero nada, 零.  He has an excellent spirit so the king trusted him above all the others.  As Christians people should be able to see that in us.  You know, we can’t do everything perfectly, we’re human, but perfection isn’t excellence, anyway. Excellence is found in faithfulness, giving your best effort and attention to detail.  It’s from doing it the very best you know how and learning from the mistakes you made and doing it better the next time. 

As an executive I never got angry just when there was a failure on somebody’s part.  If they did what they did with their best effort I would just point out the error and we’d go on.  But if they were careless or kept making the same mistake and never learning from it then there’d be fireworks.  Excellence is found in giving your best.

Being Excellent

How are we excellent?  It’s found in verses 23 and 24 of our text:

Colossians 3:23-24 (NKJV)
^3:23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, ²⁴ knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

So what is it constitutes excellence?  Doing everything as if we’re doing it for Jesus, know that in Him we have our reward.  Isn’t it interesting that God cares about how we do things?  Do you know why God is interested in how we do our tasks; how well we work for our bosses; how well we do what the things we do for Him?  He cares because it reflects on the Gospel. 

People should see Christ in us.  That means being excellent.  People should see the power of God to change lives in us.  That means overcoming our weakness and sin.  People should see the excellence of God in us, because we are living as much like Him as we can.  Because we’re His followers we should be like Him and that means being excellent in our approach to everything.  Can you imagine what a powerhouse our churches could be in our communities if everyone in the church approached the call of God with excellence?   We could turn the world upside down.

Knitting in Church

I have recently had surgery on my arm and the wound is at that stage where it's beginning to itch.  It’s very itchy.  That’s because the skin is knitting together.  When the surgeon cut my skin he separated it into two pieces.  It’s becoming one piece again.  It’s knitting together. 

In a church we take a number of individuals; separate pieces and we try to knit them together.  Try to put them together into one church.  When something is knitted together both parts become one, they move together they work together they go in the same direction seeking the same goals. 

What should be happening in any church is that everyone is becoming of one accord:  That everyone is moving together, striving together for the same thing.  It’s easy to look at the church and say that putting together outreaches and events, that witnessing and bringing in people is the job of the pastor, but if your heart and your pastor’s heart are knit together then you will be doing the same things the pastor is to reach people. 

This is my third post in a row on fellowship.  I’ve been preaching on it a lot, recently, in order to build the camaraderie among the people in my church.  I think it is important that we recognize our need to be together and to strive together.  W need to remember that we were brought together for a reason:  So that   we could bring our strengths and them to the strengths of others, overcoming each other’s weaknesses to win our city for Jesus. 

In this post I want to bring home the need to knit our hearts together.  I’ve said it before; Christianity isn’t a solo pursuit.  There is a call on each of us to reach people with the Gospel.  The call is on all of us, not just the pastor.  Jesus didn’t just send the apostles out to preach, He sent the seventy also.  That’s the pattern of the church of Jesus Christ. 

It isn’t a shepherd who makes sheep.  The sheep make more sheep.  Each of us has influence with people with whom your pastor could never have influence.  Each of you meet and rub shoulder with people whom he will never meet.  Look around your church, whom have you invited and brought in and led to Jesus?  I’m not talking about people from other churches; I’m talking about sinners. 

This is my first post for the New Year.  I preached this New Years Day, the day when people make resolutions for change in the following year.  I think this is a good time to evaluate our commitment to the will of God and make any resolutions necessary for the New Year.  So from this portion of scripture: 

1 Samuel 18:1-4 (NKJV)
^18:1 Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. ² Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father's house anymore. ³ Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. ⁴ And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.

The Relationship

This scripture is talking about the knitting together of Jonathan and David’s hearts.  We can see from reading this that there is a deep relationship that has been started between the two men. 

In many ways we can see that the men are very much alike.  We know about Jonathan’s charge on the Philistine Garrison with his armor-bearer in 1 Samuel 14, and we know about David’s assault on Goliath in 1 Samuel 17.  They are the same kind of men.  They’re both courageous.  They’re both full of faith.  They’re both men of action; they took the action of their faith.  They trust God with their lives and expected God to bring about a supernatural victory.  They are kindred spirits.  That word kindred means that they are of a like nature:  They have the same spirit.

It’s interesting that they come from completely different backgrounds.  Jonathan is the eldest son of the king.  He is the next in line for the throne.  He has been raised with the best of everything.  He has given the best education in the kingdom to prepare him to rule the kingdom.

David on the other hand, is the youngest of the seven sons of a shepherd.  He works in the field as a shepherd, his education can’t compare with Jonathan’s.  They’re two different people that come from two different backgrounds and yet at this moment they’ve knit their hearts together.  What would cause that?

Why would them come so close together in this moment?  What is it that they have in common?  What is it that draws them together?  I believe it’s their faith in God.  What they share most is that they’re in the will of God. 

In our church we have a number of people from completely different cultures, educational backgrounds and interests, but one thing links us all together…Jesus.  The one overriding thing in our lives is Jesus. 

David and Jonathan’s desire to be in the will of God for their lives is the thing that knits their hearts together.  These two completely different individuals came together because of their desire to do the will of God.  It occurs to me thatwe can sall come together for the same reason. 

When we decided to come here we had the support of everyone in our home church.  Everyone supported the Taoyuan City church financially.  Everyone prayed for the Taoyuan City church..  Everyone was excited that THEY would be reaching another country through us.  The funny thing is that we are all very different.  Many of the people in that church came from Mexican gangs.  Many were drug addicts.  Many were alcoholics.  Some were high school dropouts.  Some are highly educated.  Many of them didn’t even know where Taiwan was.  Some people still ask me, “How’s the Thai food?’  But I don’t now, I live in Taiwan not Thailand. Most Americans are kind of geographically challenged.

The point is that they rallied behind our pastor’s decision t send us here.  They pray and support us even though we come from such different backgrounds.  Our hearts are knit together for the people of Taiwan.  We are of one accord.

There’s an interesting dynamic that took place in the early church that we can see in the Book of Acts:

Acts 2:1-4 (NKJV)
^2:1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. ² And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

They were all of one accord in one place; that’s when the Holy Spirit fell.  That’s when God came upon them and began to indwell in them.  When they were of one accord in one place. 

Acts 2:46-47 (NKJV)
^2:46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, ⁴⁷ praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

They were continuing daily with one accord in the temple.  When they were in one accord that’s when God added to the church.  When we’re not scattered and doing different things; when we’re together and on the same page, or knit together, that’s when God can bring increase into the church. 

Finally, look at this:

Matthew 12:25 (NKJV)
^12:25 But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.

If we are divided and scattered we are destined to desolation.  Do you know what desolation is?  It’s barrenness or a lack of fruitfulness.

Jonathan Gives Up the Kingdom

There is an interesting exchange that takes place in our text.  It’s found in verse number 4:

 1 Samuel 18:4 (NKJV) ^18:4 And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.

Jonathan takes of his robe and sword and belt and gives them to David.  The robe signifies Jonathan’s royalty.    It’s the thing that marks him as the king’s son and heir to the throne. It is the symbol of his inheritance of the throne.  By giving them to David he is transferring his royalty onto David.  In other words he’s saying, “You are now a part of royalty; you are now the successor to the king.”  We know that in1 Samuel 16, Samuel has already anointed David the King over Israel.  Jonathan is making a stand for the will of God.

Look at what happens later in their relationship.  Saul has decided to kill David.  In Chapter 18 he tries to pin David to the wall with a javelin.  In Chapter 19 he sends soldiers to David’s house to kill him in his sleep.  His wife, Michal, lowers him down the wall so he can escape.  He escapes to a city called Naioth.  Saul finds out and chases him to Naioth; David comes to Jonathan.

Finally, in Chapter 20, there is a big feast coming up.  Jonathan hatched a plan.  He told David to hide and when Saul asked Jonathan why David wasn’t in his place at the feast Jonathan would tell him that Jonathan had given David permission to go and worship.  Saul’s reaction would tell Jonathan if Saul was serious about killing David. 

So David and Jonathan followed the plan.  David missed the feast and when Saul asked Jonathan about David, Jonathan told him he had given David permission to miss the feast.  Look at Saul’s reaction:

1 Samuel 20:30-34 (NKJV)
^20:30 Then Saul's anger was aroused against Jonathan, and he said to him, "You son of a perverse, rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? ³¹ For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, you shall not be established, nor your kingdom. Now therefore, send and bring him to me, for he shall surely die." ³² And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said to him, "Why should he be killed? What has he done?" ³³ Then Saul cast a spear at him to kill him, by which Jonathan knew that it was determined by his father to kill David. ³⁴ So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and ate no food the second day of the month, for he was grieved for David, because his father had treated him shamefully.

It was obvious to Jonathan what Saul intended to do to David, so he warned David to flee.

So because his heart was knit with David’s Jonathan warned David to flee from Saul.  Jonathan has begun to protect David.  He knows by what Saul said that David will be the next king of Israel, not Jonathan.  He knows that saul as the authority wants David dead.  He’s going against his father’s wished because the will of God and his relationship with David are the most important to him. 

Sometimes, and this is especially true in Taiwan, the desires of our family members come into conflict with the will of God.  This can make serving God and being in the will of God difficult.  Something bad happens to the family and they look at you and say the reason this happened is because you have brought a curse on the family because you left the traditional Taiwanese religion.  There is anger and hostility.  This is exactly what happened to Jonathan, he came to a point where he had to decide between God’s will and his father’s.  Jonathan makes a stand against his father’s wishes because those wishes lie outside the will of God.

Look what the Bible says:

Luke 14:26 (NKJV)
^14:26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.

That word translated as hate doesn’t mean what we take it to mean today.  We use the word hate as a strong dislike for another.  The word literally means to love less.  So what Jesus is saying in this statement is that He comes first.  If we place Him first in our lives, then His will must also come before any others, including our own.

That’s why I can’t understand why so many things come before going to church and the other things Jesus has commanded us to do.  If you’re not doing his will, you’re not putting him first.  You may believe in him, but you’re not a disciple.  Jonathan put the will of God before everything else in protecting David.  God’s will came before his father’s will; it even came before being king.

What it Takes to Knit Our Souls Together

Today we need to take a look at where we are as individuals.  What are you doing to further God’s will?  Are you laboring to bring the Gospel to others in your community?  Do you have the same desire to build the church as your pastor?  Where is your personal vision with regard to the vision of the church?  Is your heart linked with your pastor’s?  Are you moving in the direction your church is going or are you doing your own thing?  Are you looking for what you can do within the pattern of your church or do you have a better idea?  Are you involved or are you thinking your role is to sit and watch?  Pretty tough questions, huh?  Your answers will tell you whether or not you are in aone accord with your pastor and your church.

There came a point in my Christian walk where I had to say, I’m going to surrender my will and my vision to the vision of my pastor.  If we’re all going in different directions we can’t move forward.  If we stay together we can accomplish what God is looking to accomplish in our city.

Let me give an example.  Say I’m walking down a path and across the path is a big Gate.  It’s welded shut.  It requires a key to open it.  Behind the gate are a lot of people.  The people are starving, some are hurt, some are suffering with sickness.  They need to be set free so they can be healed and helped.  I come to the gate and I try to push it open and nothing happens.  I fight and struggle and I manage to squeeze some between the bars a few are saved and the rest die. 

Or say there are a number of us there at the gate.  And we see the suffering people and we decide we need to help them.  So one person starts trying to dig a hole under the gate.  Another starts to chop down a tree to make a ladder.  A third starts to file at the weld on the gate.  We’re all doing different things but time is running out and before we can rescue everybody…most of them die.

But what if we come to that gate and all begin to work together.  One team begins to cut the lock and the others push on the door.  By working together we break the gate open and everyone escapes.  Which is the better way?