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 God of Location

I believe that God put me into the best place for me when he placed me into my home church.  My pastor could relate to me.  He had similar business experiences.  He was able to talk to me on a scientific and on a business level, and he could relate to me as a person.  I had met a lot of other pastors nearby but there was never the same level of relationship.

If you’re a part of my congregation you’ve heard me say this a million times:  God has a plan your life.  One thing that you may not realize, though, is that God’s plan includes a location.  Where you are is as important as what you do in God’s plan. Location is important to God.  If you study your Bible you can find a number of places where God has brought things back to one location.

In this post I want to examine the importance of location to God.  God is a God of Location.  In order to do that I want to use the following scripture as a “jumping off’ point.

Genesis 22:2 (NKJV)
^22:2 Then He said, "Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."

God Uses Places

This is the moment when God is testing Abraham’s faith.  He sends him to Mount Moriah to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering.  He’s looking for Abraham’s faith. 

Later in Israel’s history David numbers the people of Israel and God judges that and sends the Angel of Death.  David builds an altar on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. 

1 Chronicles 21:26-28 (NKJV)
^21:26 And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the Lord; and He answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering. ²⁷ So the Lord commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath. ²⁸ At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there.

God heard from David on the threshing floor and stopped the judgment, but look at this:

2 Chronicles 3:1 (NKJV)
^3:1 Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

Look at where the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite was, it was on Mount Moriah; The same place that God sent Abraham to offer Isaac.  God called Abraham and provided a ram at this place.  He answered David’s prayer at this same place.  Finally, He had Solomon build the temple on the same mountain.

This is not the only time that God did this:

Exodus 3:1 (NKJV)
^3:1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

God called on Moses to deliver His people, you know the story.  Moses was out tending sheep and God called him to the burning bush.  The scriptures tell us that that the place where the burning bush was located was called Horeb, the Mountain of God.  After Moses delivers the people they come to Mount Sinai.  Mount Sinai and Mount Horeb are the same place.  God meets again with Moses on that same place. 

Exodus 3:4-6 (NKJV)
^3:4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." ⁵ Then He said, "Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." ⁶ Moreover He said, "I am the God of your father--the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

This is the same place where God met with Moses and gave him the law.  It is also the place where God passed by and revealed Himself to Moses. 

Later, Elijah has just destroyed the priests of Baal and he’s hiding from Jezebel in the wilderness and God sends an Angel and tells him to go to a place:

1 Kings 19:8 (NKJV)
^19:8 So he arose, and ate and drank; and he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights as far as Horeb, the mountain of God.

So, here are two places that keep recurring in God’s history:  Mount Moriah and Mount Horeb (Sinai).  God has used these two locations.  At Mount Moriah he responded to needs.  He met Abraham’s need for a substitute offering for Isaac, and he met David’s need for an end to the plague judgment.  At Mount Horeb, he revealed Himself to both Moses and Elijah. 

There were other places as well.  There’s Bethel where God promised Abraham a land for his descendants.  Later, he reiterated that promise to Jacob, also at Bethel.  There’s something about location that’s important to God. 

He had a specific place in mind for His people.  There was “Promised Land.”  The Promised land was a specific piece of real estate.  God even went so far as to outline the specific borders of the land. 

Prophecies were often specific with regard to a location where something would take place.  It was prophesied that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, specifically. The prophets named a location.

God has plans for our lives.  He has a plan for each of us, and our locations are a part of His plan.  There have been a number of times that evangelists have come to preach here and they’ve called out my daughters and told them, “being in Taiwan is tied to your destiny.”  In other words, God sent them here for a reason.  It is a part of His plan for their lives.

A plan is like a blueprint for a building.  A blueprint for a building is designed around the place where the building will be built.  The location is of prime importance when you’re developing a plan for a building.  I believe the same is the when designing a plan for our lives.  The place where God brought you to salvation is the location for God’s plan to be developed in your life.

When we were first pioneering the church I pastored in Riverside, a woman came to the church service.  This was very early in the church’s history.  So early, in fact, that my family were the only people there.  At first, she was very uncomfortable and told me that she was there by accident.  I told her that I believe that there are no accidents; God brought here to that place as the beginning of His plan for her.  God brought you to your church as well; it is the beginning of His plan for you.

Where We are is as Important as What We Do

Psalms 37:23 (NKJV)
^37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.

George Mueller once said, “The steps of a good man are ordered and the stops as well.”

What does that mean; the steps of a man are ordered?  That means that God has planned the steps of His will for you.  God has a plan and a purpose and He has set you in motion and guided you along the path that leads to His will.  The PLACE where He draws you to serve Him is part of His plan for you.  It’s part of His ordering your steps.

Think of it like this:  You’re going to take a journey and you get out a map and you trace the roads on which you’ll be traveling.  Planning where you will stop each night is an important part of the planning.

God has placed you on a journey called “His will” and He has planned out the road you’ll take.  He’s also planned the place you’ll start from and where you’ll stop along the way.  

God puts you in a place to facilitate His plan for your life.  So making a decision to leave that place must be based on God’s will.  It should be done prayerfully, not in anger, not in saying, “God made a mistake.”   God placed you in your place for a reason. What happens, though, is that as we age in our salvation we begin to think that we understand more about God and His will and we begin to make decisions that WE think are God’s will, but they’re really our OWN thoughts.  I believe that God placed you in that church for His reasons:  That God has a plan for you that includes being in that place.

People will often come to me and tell me, “I’m going to do this,” or, “I’m going to do that.”  They’re not asking me for input, they’ve already made up their mind.  Often, I can see that what they’re doing is outside of God’s will.  I can’t say anything that’s going to change their mind, so they turn around and say, “Pastor gave my decision his blessing.”  It’s not what I think that’s important, it’s what God thinks.  It’s not my plan that’s being frustrated; it’s God’s plan. 

I got saved in Colton, California.  As a person who lived and did business in the area, I had no love for that city.  The city leaders at the time were notoriously corrupt.  There was a lot of gang violence and other things.  I had always said I would never live in that city…but then I got saved there.  I gave myself to God’s plan for my life.  I DECIDED that I would serve God in that place and do whatever it was that God had for me.  I even moved to Colton and lived there for a number of years.  God’s plan moved forward in my life.

Colton was the place where God’s plan for my life unfolded and eventually led me to Taiwan to preach the Gospel.  I’ve been out preaching for almost 15 years, but I’m still connected to that same pastor and congregation, where I got saved.  My ministry is really an extension of my pastor’s.  He is still intimately involved in my life.  That’s how the plan of God is facilitated in my life.  God has led me to Taiwan, but the journey started in Colton.

I often see people going from church to church, visiting here and there, but there isn’t anything that they’re doing for God.  They are looking for something that caters to their needs; their plan.  They aren’t growing; they aren’t grabbing hold of God’s will, because God’s plan is rooted in the place that He put them.  If you are thinking about moving on from your church, you need to think long and hard about it.  You need to carefully pray about it, because God has a plan for you and LOCATION is a part of that plan.

Locking into the Location of God’s Will

I had rather be in the heart of Africa in the will of God than on the throne of England out of the will of God.  David Livingstone

Why do you think God sent you to the place He sent you?  This is an important question, “Why did God choose that church for you to be saved, or to be a part of?”  God has a plan for your church, as well as for your life.  The steps of the church are also ordered by God, and part of God’s plan for the church is YOU.  Look at this scripture:

Romans 12:3-8 (NKJV)
^12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. ⁴ For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. ⁶ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; ⁷ or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; ⁸ he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.

God knows the needs of the church.  He knows that the pastor doesn’t have all of the abilities that are needed to move His plan forward.  He sets you together so that the pastor can use your strengths and you can use his:  So that your pastor can replace your weaknesses with his strengths and you can replace ypur pastor's weaknesses with your strengths. 

Even more importantly, some people are sitting back and not using their gifts to move God’s will; to move God’s plan forward.  Some people are sitting on their hands saying someone else will do it:  Someone else will fill in the gaps, but that’s not God’s plan.  You are needed to be in your place and participate with your strengths.  God needs you to answer His call on your life.

All of the men I mentioned in the first part of this post were in their place and responded to God’s “steps.”

1. Abraham took Isaac to Mount Moriah.
2. Moses answered the burning bush in the same place.
3. David pleaded with God on Ornan’s threshing floor.
4. Solomon built the temple in that same place.
5. Moses met with God at Mount Sinai.
6. Elijah saw God on the same mountain.

God called them to those places, the men responded and did what was asked of them.  God has that same expectation for us as well.  We’re all busy, but God still has a plan for your life.  The problem is His plan may not be your plan.  If you want God to move in your life; if you want God to respond in your life, you might try responding to what God is calling you to do.  You might try doing what God is laying on your heart in the church that you’re at.

 God has a plan for you and that plan begins in the church where God placed you.  There’s a part that you have to play in the plan of God.  He doesn’t do it all for you.  You have to work to see God’s plan happen in your life.  You have to put energy into doing what you’ve been called to, in the place God called you to do it.  It’s worth it…God’s plan includes blessing you.

Erosion

This is the Queen’s Head formation in Northern Taiwan.  The interesting thing about it is that it as created by erosion.  That word erosion means to diminish or destroy by degrees; especially, to gradually eat into or wear away. 

Water from centuries of tides rolling in has worn away at the rock and created this formation.  The problem is that the government is afraid that in a short time the neck will erode to the point that it can no longer hold up the head.  It will fall over and be gone forever.

Erosion is a real force that takes place in nature, but if we aren’t diligent to guard against it, it can also take place in the church.  In fact, I believe that it takes place in the heart of every Christian and must be constantly checked. (By checked I mean stopping its progress.) Erosion can and will take you right out of the will of God and rob your church of its vitality and forward progress.

In this post I want to look at erosion that took place in David’s life and how it could have been avoided. 

2 Samuel 11:1-5 (NKJV)
^11:1 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. ² 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. ³ 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?" ⁴ Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. ⁵ And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, "I am with child."

The Erosive Attitude

So, this scripture is a snapshot of erosion taking place in David’s life.  This is after he has defeated Goliath fearlessly.  The Bible says he ran to the battle.  This is after he defeated the Jebusites through cunning and an ability to think outside the box.  This is after he’s led the troops out numerous times to defeat the enemies of God in power and authority.

All of those things, fearlessness, thinking outside the box, and acting in power and authority are signs of zeal.  That word zeal means eager interest in the pursuit of something.  In other words, you’re thinking about what you’re doing.  You’re trying to do your very best because of your excitement about what you’re doing.

That’s where David was in the beginning.  David’s zeal was for the kingdom of Israel; for the things of God.  You cans ee it in his actions.  But something has gone wrong here.  David has become complacent:  he’s backed off.  He’s no longer involved and that’s where the erosion begins.  This is critical for us to see;  Spiritual erosion always takes place when we back off:  When we stop being committed to the will of God:  When we stop acting out the calling of God that’s on our lives.  Take a moment to think about what you’re doing.  Are you acting out the call of God on your life or have you become like David?

David is thinking, “I’m king.  I don’t have to do these things anymore.  I can let someone else handle it.”  So, he let Joab do it.  The words, “I’m tired, I need to rest.”  “I just don’t feel like it.” are signs of the beginning of spiritual erosion.

So David begins to go down a path that leads to sin and problems.  His first mistake, we can call it sin, is with Bathsheba.  He’s not focused on God’s calling any longer.  He’s drifted into focusing on himself. 

This is so interesting; David has begun to focus on his own desires.  He’s no longer thinking of the welfare of Israel, so he stays away from the war.  He’s focused on his own issues.  His focus has become selfish, and that’s an opening the devil can exploit.

The devil begins to wear away at your zeal, your faith and finally, your ability to resist sin.  It’s dangerous to start walking away from the things of God.  That’s erosion beginning to take place in your life.

Think about the Queen’s Head formation illustration for a moment.  At one time there was a cliff, a strong, sturdy outcropping of sandstone.  It was attached to main island, but the relentless action of the ocean began to undercut the stone until now there is only a sliver of stone left supporting the boulder and in time that sliver will be worn away and the Queen’s Had will collapse.

The same thing can happen in your salvation.  People will say, “I’m a mature Christian, it won’t happen to me,” but David was a powerful example of a man after God's own heart and it happened to him, and the time when that erosion began was when David backed away from God’s calling.  God had called him to be king, but he stopped doing what kings did. 

Where are you?  Are you still pursuing excellence in your service to God or are you beginning to back away?  “I don’t need Bible Study.”  “I don’t need to be at church.”  “Outreach is a waste of time.”  Are you still zealously pursuing God’s calling on your life, or is erosion starting to take place? 

People never suddenly wake up and say, "Today I’m going to commit adultery.  I’m going up on the roof to see who’s taking a bath."  Instead, they begin to back away from commitments:  Being willing to commit to anything, and dropping the ball on previously made commitments.  Erosion takes over until their relationship with Jesus is supported by a thin thread and in danger of collapse. 

Salvation is a process.  It takes place in our lives over time.  In other words, our relationship Jesus builds over time and that’s how change takes place in our lives.  It doesn’t happen all at once.  Attitudes and other mindsets have to be broken and that usually takes place of time.  I want you to know something, though.  Backsliding is also a process.  It also takes time to happen.  There is a time when it starts, and that time is when you begin to get complacent, or like David when you begin to back away from God’s calling on your life. 

That’s when you begin to think, “I’m in ministry, but the standards of ministry aren’t necessary.  They’re just rules that are imposed.”  “I’m in ministry but I don’t have a responsibility to be an example for others.” and you begin to drift farther and farther away.  The dangerous part is that you don’t even realize that you’re drifting away.

It’s like Samson.  Samson violated the standards of his vow: The vow of a Nazirite. Look what eventually happened:

Judges 16:20 (NKJV)
^16:20 And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" So he awoke from his sleep, and said, "I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!" But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him.

He’s operating under the assumption that he’s right with God, but God has departed from him.  That’s a dangerous place to be.  The Philistines grabbed him and put his eyes out.  He was blinded.  The devil will blind you to reality if it will work in his favor.

Your Actions Don’t Affect Just You

So, let’s get back to David.  David has stepped away from his calling.  He’s sinned with Bathsheba and she has become pregnant.  So, now David has a problem. He’s the king; he’s committed adultery with the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of his mighty men.

How does he deal with this?  First, he brings Uriah home so that he can sleep with his own wife, and it will look like he’s the one who made her pregnant.  But, unlike David at this point, Uriah is an honorable man and he won’t go home and sleep with his wife, while the troops and the Ark of the Covenant are sleeping in tents on the battlefield.  So, when that fails, David tries to get him drunk, but Uriah still won’t go home to his wife.  Look what happens next:

2 Samuel 11:14-17 (NKJV)
^11:14 In the morning it happened that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. ¹⁵ And he wrote in the letter, saying, "Set Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck down and die." ¹⁶ So it was, while Joab besieged the city, that he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew there were valiant men. ¹⁷ Then the men of the city came out and fought with Joab. And some of the people of the servants of David fell; and Uriah the Hittite died also.

David has drifted far away from God’s will.  He’s committed adultery, and now he’s killed an innocent man, in order to cover it up.  He’s backslidden; he’s away from God.

It’s not just his sin, as horrible as it is.  It’s not just Uriah’s death.  Now he has included Joab in this.  He’s brought someone else along with him, in his drift away from God. 

2 Samuel 11:18-21 (NKJV)
^11:18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war, ¹⁹ and charged the messenger, saying, "When you have finished telling the matters of the war to the king, ²⁰ if it happens that the king's wrath rises, and he says to you: 'Why did you approach so near to the city when you fought? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? ²¹ Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?'--then you shall say, 'Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.' "

Here’s what’s interesting about this:  Joab receives an order to put Uriah where he will be killed.  He can’t just do that.  If he does then everyone will know.  Think about it, he can’t just put only Uriah in harm’s way, because then people will know that he did it on purpose.  Joab has to protect the king’s order. 

He has to make it look like the fortunes of war, so he sends the troops up to the wall knowing that they’ll get killed.  That’s why he says, “If David gets angry then say, ‘Oh by the way, Uriah the Hittite was killed.’”  David wanted Uriah dead, and he would know that that was what Joab had to do to keep the secret.  David has dragged Joab into this.  He has killed Uriah, but other men also had to die to protect the king’s secret.

When we, as Christians, do something against the will of God it affects a number of other people, as well.  This thing went from David didn’t want to go to war, to Joab murdering Uriah the Hittite and a number of other men to protect David’s adultery. 

Whom does the erosion of David’s calling affect?

Bathsheba – She couldn’t turn the king down in his indecent proposal.

Uriah – An innocent man murdered because he was unwilling to allow his own standards to be eroded.

And Joab – He also couldn’t turn down the order of the king, so he ruined his reputation as general and murdered valiant men.

None of us reading this are kings.  None of us have that kind of power, but we do have influence.  There are people who look to us for leadership.  For men, it is our wives, children and new converts in the church.  For women, it’s the younger women, newer converts.  We have a responsibility to wield our influence in a positive direction.

Titus 2:6-8 (NKJV)
^2:6 Likewise exhort the young men to be sober-minded, ⁷ in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, ⁸ sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.

Titus 2:3-5 (NKJV)
^2:3 the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things-- ⁴ that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, ⁵ to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.

David has ignored his responsibility.  We must be careful not to allow ourselves to be eroded., so that we don’t influence people away from God.  Are your actions helping to move people into God’s will, or are you showing them that it’s okay to avoid the things that will bring them closer to God?

Erosion Can be Stopped

If you drive in the mountains of Taiwan often, you’ll see places where the highway department has taken steps to stop landslides and erosion.  They’ve erected barriers made of concrete.  They’ve put up nets to hold the soil into the mountain.  They have put things in place to protect motorists from the effects of erosion.

First, we need to stop the erosion that's taking place. If you look at the beginning of the next chapter, God has sent Nathan to rebuke David.  So, Nathan tells him the story of a man with many sheep who kills his neighbor’s pet sheep.  He’s comparing David, with his wives and power to the man with many sheep.  David is taking the Uriah’s only wife and love and misusing her. 

When Nathan finishes with the story, David is enraged and Nathan points to him and says, “That man is you!”  Look at what God says to David through Nathan:

2 Samuel 12:9 (NKJV)
^12:9 Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon.

Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord?  He’s asking David, "Why have you cared so little for your calling, and look at the effect?"  If David had done what he was called to do, this never would have happened.  God traces it all the way back to that one decision to begin tom drift out of God’s will.  Some people reading this have made decisions to drift.  Some of you have made the same decision as David, not to do what you’ve been called to do.  Erosion has already begun in your lives, so now you need to stop it.,  You need to do what David did.

2 Samuel 12:13 (NKJV)
^12:13 So David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the Lord." And Nathan said to David, "The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

David repented and God put away the sin.  Repentance stops erosion.  After all of this David began to do the right thing.

2 Samuel 12:26-30 (NKJV)
^12:26 Now Joab fought against Rabbah of the people of Ammon, and took the royal city. ²⁷ And Joab sent messengers to David, and said, "I have fought against Rabbah, and I have taken the city's water supply. ²⁸ Now therefore, gather the rest of the people together and encamp against the city and take it, lest I take the city and it be called after my name." ²⁹ So David gathered all the people together and went to Rabbah, fought against it, and took it. ³⁰ Then he took their king's crown from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold, with precious stones. And it was set on David's head. Also he brought out the spoil of the city in great abundance.

David no longer stayed away from the battle.  He took his place as king and began to lead Israel, once more.  David got blessed because he turned back to the will of God. 

We can all have issues, but it doesn’t have result in permanent failure.  Things can go back to the way they were.  It’s a decision that we make each and every day.

There’s one last thing I want to point out.  Bathsheba and Joab had to do what the king ordered or die.  That’s how it works with kings.  If David would kill an innocent man to cover up his own sin he would kill them just as easily.  They could have made a stand and said, “it’s not happening,” but there’s a risk to making a stand.  If there’s an influence on you that you know isn’t right, then you need to make a stand.  God will hold us accountable for our decisions, regardless of the influence on us.  God held David accountable you can read about it in 2 Samuel 12:15-23.

God can move all of us forward, if we’re willing to apply God’s calling to our lives and remain in the calling.

Photo source:  http://pictures.traveladventures.org/images/cn/yeliu-geopark04

Compromising with the World

We’re all under a bit of pressure, aren't we?  People work on us, to live like they do. Think about this, we live in a world full of sinners.  We work with them; we have them in our families, for our bosses, co-workers, teachers, and classmates.  They think it’s weird that we aren't interested in living like they do.  In fact, they think we’re weird.

At our weekly Bible study, my wife reminded me of something that happened to me, before I became a full-time pastor.  My co-workers were talking about a television show they had seen the night before, and they asked me if I had seen it.  I just answered, “I don’t have a TV.”  That’s all I said.  I wasn't being judgmental… I didn't see the show, because I don’t have a TV, but people got very upset.  “You’re preaching to us all the time!” they shouted, “You’re always judging us.” 

I said, “I’m not doing anything like that.  I didn't say TV was bad.  I didn't say you were bad for watching it.  I didn't even say what you were watching was bad.  All I said was “I didn't see it, because I don’t have a TV.  Sheesh.’”

I know a number of people who are sinners that don’t have TVs.  They just think it’s a waste of time, so they don’t have one.  I wonder if people get that upset when they say they don’t have a TV. 

Can you see there is a pressure to conform to what they do and think?  The problem is that we’re called to be separate.  Today, I’m going to post a message on compromising, from this portion of scripture:

Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
^12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Promises are Conditional

By Adopting the Gospel to the age, men have crippled the Gospel.

The problem is that we live with people who don’t think the way that we do and we end up with this pressure to compromise.  We need to be careful of this, because all to often they can influence us away from God’s will, look at this story:

The city of Glasgow in Scotland was settled by a religious people who adopted a motto:  “Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of the Gospel.”  As one generation succeeded another, the city grew into an important commercial and industrial center.  Business loomed larger, in the minds of civic leaders, than religion.  Finally, its Chamber of Commerce voted to shorten the motto to make it read: “Let Glasgow flourish.”

Glasgow was established as a place that would flourish through the preaching of the Gospel, but over the years there was a pressure to move from the Gospel to business.  I believe that one of the reasons Glasgow began to flourish as a business and industrial center, in the first place, is because of the people’s reliance on the Gospel.  In time there was a drift away from the Gospel as the heart of the city’s values to business and commerce.  This is a valuable warning for you and I, we can also drift from God’s will as the center of our value system to the desire to “get along” or be acceptable to those who live in the world apart from the will of God.  I want to illustrate this with a look at the life of Solomon:

1 Chronicles 28:5-9 (NKJV)
^28:5 And of all my sons (for the Lord has given me many sons) He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. ⁶ Now He said to me, 'It is your son Solomon who shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his Father. ⁷ Moreover I will establish his kingdom forever, if he is steadfast to observe My commandments and My judgments, as it is this day.' ⁸ Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, be careful to seek out all the commandments of the Lord your God, that you may possess this good land, and leave it as an inheritance for your children after you forever. ⁹ "As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever.

In our text, David is anointing Solomon to be the King over all of Israel.  It’s interesting that Solomon was chosen because he wasn't the first-born.  Amnon and Absalom were both  born before Solomon, but they had died as a result of their sin:  Amnon in the rape of his half-sister Tamar, and Absalom in his rebellion against David, the king.  Solomon was chosen and God made a promise to him; that his family would rule over Israel forever.  That promise carried the condition that he was, “steadfast to observe my (God’s) commandments and my (God’s) judgments, as it is this day.”  It is a similar situation with us.  There is the promise of Eternal Life but that promise is also conditional.

Matthew 7:21-23 (NKJV)
^7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' ²³ And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

Jesus isn't talking to sinners, here.  He’s talking to the church.  The things He mentions, prophesying, casting out demons, doing wonders are the signs of them that believe.  He’s talking to His followers.  What is the criterion for entering the Kingdom of God?  Doing the will of His Father in Heaven.  Look at what He says to those who don’t so the will of His Father, “I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness!”  IF we want to inherit the kingdom, THEN we need to do the will of God – follow His commands.

If Solomon will be faithful about following God’s commands, then his descendants will rule over Israel, forever.  If we will follow God’s commands then we will have Eternal Life:  The same promise and the same conditions.  The problem for Solomon was that at the end of his life he wasn't living up to the conditions of that promise.  He wasn't following God and the kingdom was taken away.  How did he get to that point?  What led to final breakdown that caused his family to lose the kingdom?  Why is this a warning for us? It’s because the same thing can happen to us!

Compromise Leads to the Decay of the Will of God

Did you know that most of the great Ivy League universities were founded to teach Christianity? 

Harvard University was founded in 1638 with a special view to training pastors.  Up until 1700 more than half of its graduates went into the ministry, but by 1869 spiritual Harvard lay on its deathbed. 

Yale, from its 1701 beginning, was more conservative.  Its president addressed students on such topics, as “The Bible is the Word of God.”  A Yale Gospel group traveled about the country in evangelistic ministry.  Yale’s once evangelical stance has disappeared.  Out of 400 graduating students, 54 percent said they have no belief in any God. 

Dartmouth College was  founded to train missionaries to the Indians.  Princeton in its early days insisted the faculty “be convinced of the necessity of religious experience for salvation.”  Yet both left their orthodox paths and secularized.

What happened to those universities, which are now such a hotbed of atheistic thought? How did they turn out that way?  Not by the universities’ presidents, they and the trustees remained evangelical until the beginning of the twentieth century.  The real pressure came from the alumni.  They turned out more and more unsaved alumni, who could give or withhold donations.  They demanded a voice in the universities’ policies and the universities compromised their stand for the Gospel for money.  Compromise destroys our stand for the will of God.

Let’s go back to Solomon, what was it that caused him to turn out of the will of God?

1 Kings 11:1-2 (NKJV)
^11:1 But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites-- ² from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, "You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love.

Solomon married seven hundred wives from all the nations that God had told Israel to drive out of the Promised Land.  God told them He didn't want them to intermarry because they would cause Israel to compromise its relationship with God.

Compromise is always costly – and sometimes fatal.

The people we have relationships with, it doesn't matter if it’s a romantic relationship or a friendship, have an influence on us.  We find ourselves being drawn into the same things as those we hang out with.  Do you know how I became involved in rock climbing?  My friends were rock climbers.  Do you know how I got started drinking heavily?  My friends were heavy drinkers.  This is natural; this is what bonds us together.  We have like interests.  What’s that old saying?  Birds of a feather flock together.

In the US there is an interesting dynamic among immigrants.  Chinese immigrants tend to seek out other Chinese immigrants.  Mexican immigrants live around other Mexican people.  We have places like, Little Italy, Chinatown, Korea-town and others.  People who immigrate from other cultures tend to seek other people with the same cultural values. It’s comfortable, but the interesting thing is that this can suppress assimilation into American culture.  There is always that pressure to assimilate, but it’s easier to resist when you surround yourself with people that share your birth culture.  That’s why God wanted Israel to drive out the other nations in the Promised Land.  There would be pressure to assimilate with the prevailing culture, especially if you've married into that culture.

2 Corinthians 6:14-16 (NKJV)
^6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? ¹⁵ And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? ¹⁶ And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people."

This is the reason we encourage you to have relationships within the church.  Its why we encourage you to make the church the center of your life, because as we are together and building relationships with each other it helps us to resist the temptation to compromise with sin.  

God said, “Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.”  Have you seen that in your life?  Do you friends encourage you to behavior that is an affront to God?  To behavior that God would consider sin?  They don’t have the benefit that we as Christians have.  They don’t hear the Word of God all the time.  They don’t understand sin and its affect on us. 

Solomon, when he became king was an example for the people.  He went to God and when God offered to give him anything he asked, he wanted only wisdom to benefit his people.  He want ONLY God’s will for his life.  At the end of his life, though, he’s building altars to foreign gods; he’s encouraging people to worship on the altars of idols. 

1 Kings 11:5-8 (NKJV)
^11:5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. ⁶ Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David. ⁷ Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon. ⁸ And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

He allowed himself to be influenced away from God’s will, by his wives and concubines.  He couldn't remain strong in the face of this influence.  He wanted to please his wives.  He wanted the relationships to remain close.  He compromised his stand for God.  How sad, because he lost it all, in order to feel close to them.

God’s answer to that was to split the kingdom.  The lands of eleven tribes when to Israel under a different king, and the land of one tribe, Judah, went to Solomon ‘s descendants.  They received Judah, only because God wanted to honor Solomon’s father, David not Solomon.

1 Kings 11:11-13 (NKJV)
^11:11 Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, "Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. ¹² Nevertheless I will not do it in your days, for the sake of your father David; I will tear it out of the hand of your son. ¹³ However I will not tear away the whole kingdom; I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of my servant David, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen."

Solomon and his descendants lost out on God’s promise and the kingdom was destroyed.  Solomon’s influence on Israel remained through his son who was a brutal king, and who continued to worship pagan gods.  Eventually, for this very reason God judged Jerusalem and its people were carried off to Babylon.

Avoiding Compromise

We make the same mistakes with our friends.  We want relationships with them to be close.  We want to please them and sometimes, to please them, we have to compromise our stand for God.  We do things that aren't right.  We ruin our relationship with our God over our relationship with a friend or relative.

You know I have friends that aren't Christians.  I’m not saying you have to end those relationships.  I have friends and family that aren't Christians, but I don’t let them influence me.  I don’t feel a need to please them all the time.  I keep my relationship with God strong, I pray, I read my Bible; I come to church services, every time, because I understand that those things will keep me strong enough to resist the pressure to compromise.

I don’t believe that one church service a week is enough to keep you from compromise.  If that’s all that you’re involved with the Word of God then it’s going to be difficult to resist temptation.  The Word of God equips you.  The Word of God strengthens you.  I have a friend who calls his midweek service the refueling service.  We need to refuel.  If you want to go somewhere you need to put gas in the car, right?  No gas – no go!  Look at God’s will for us:

2 Corinthians 6:16 (NKJV)
^6:16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people."

As we live in God’s will for our lives He will dwell in us.  He will walk among us.  He will be our God. 

It’s easy to drift out of God’s will unless we continually strengthen and equip ourselves. After all, we live in the world; it’s difficult to live in the world and not conform to the world, BUT that’s what we’re called to do.  We’re called to be separate, to be holy, to be set-aside for God’s use.

Our weekly Bible study, at this writing, is called "GOD IS ABLE." God is able to keep us from falling, from backsliding, from drifting into sin. God is able to help us to stand up for what’s right and to resist the pressure to compromise.  Some of you are hanging out with people that aren't good for you, and they are leading you to compromise and you know you’re doing things that aren't right. Learn how to stand; be equipped by the Word of God.  Every church has people who are examples for you.    People that can help you to overcome compromise. Just being with the people of God can help you.

I say this all the time to my congregation, pray, come to church, and read your Bible.  Those things will help you to keep away from compromise, which is deadly to Eternal Life.