Bro Gary Wednesday Night 6/29/11

Bro Gary Wednesday Night 6/29/11

The Parables have been a part of my life since before I could read.  In them we have a real heritage.  The parables are deep.  Until we start digging around, we don’t realize what a rich treasure we have. 

My thought tonight is, “Why parables?”  This was a question that was asked by the disciples. 

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

I’ve pondered Jesus’ answer and I hope I get it out right tonight.  He spoke in parables because there are some that are going to know about the things of God and there are some that will not know.  It is the choice that they make that determines whether they know or not.

Whatever age you are the choices you make are important.

Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.

Jesus was building His lesson to help them understand.  He said that some will have and some will not; some will lose even what they thought that they did have.  I have seen this parable lived out in the lives of individuals today.

Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:

He emphasizes that this is an old problem among men.  He is referencing Isaiah chapter 6 when Isaiah said that he was an unclean man and God put the coal on his lips.  Isaiah was 6 or 7 hundred years before Christ.   

He and Jeremiah and other prophets were always laboring to get the people to turn their hearts toward God and the people refused to see. 

In the days of Noah, God gave him messages for 100 years that many had opportunity to hear and only eight people were saved.  He preached; they heard but they didn’t hear.  Many times people see that there needs to be some changes in their life but they don’t see that if they don’t make that change they will be lost forever.

Change is difficult for people because it takes humility to make.

Deu 32:15  But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

Because of the hearing but not hearing situation, Jesus chose humble truths to teach those that would hear. 

“A city that is set upon a hill cannot be hid”, people that hear this simple truth will dismiss this with a “Well yeah, that is not rocket science.”  But those of us that know about the Church of God can dig around in this story and receive a lot of instruction and understanding.  Some want to see light and some when they see light don’t want to see or hear.  It is a heart condition that makes the difference. 

If we will see and hear it will benefit us greatly in our soul.  When people don’t want to see or hear, the problem is in their heart.

Mat 13:15  For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.

Sin affects all people in a detrimental way.  None of us like to think evil of anyone, but Isaiah was inspired by God and Jesus backed it up, “Their heart is waxed gross.” 

Some will tell you that they are tired of hearing that they need to get saved and that there is a heaven to gain and a hell to shun.  Some will tell you that they don’t really believe that stuff.  What people are trying to tell you is that they want to have sin and rebellion in their heart and somehow make it to heaven. 

Jesus used simple parables that a child could understand.  We understood as children that building on the sand was building on the world and building on the rock was building on Jesus.  Children can understand these things, people that are thirty or forty years old may let their heart become gross.  They think they know everything and no one can tell them anything.  They think they are something great and the world just doesn’t know it yet.

“Lest they should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”  The health industry is the big money.  Here is a plan to heal soul, mind, body, and emotions.  Yet people don’t want to hear about healing. 

People need healing and they will never get healed sitting around and waiting for an apology.  Whether the apology happens or not, they need to let God deal with their heart and find a scripture on forgiveness.

This thought of ‘Why parables?’ comes down to the bottom line of if you have a heart to hear you will understand and if not you will miss it.

Jer 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Jer 17:10  I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

If there is an area in your life or mine that needs to be healed, don’t just sit around and hope that everyone else takes care of things.  You begin to make moves.  “God help me to search my heart.  Help me to get rid of the lawyer in my heart that is defending me.”

Hos 10:12  Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

The soil that has not been cultivated and is not bringing forth fruit is the fallow ground. 

Luk 8:15  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

You can bring parables and messages, arguments and testimonies but unless a heart becomes honest, they will not hear and they will not see the good that God has for them. 

The thought here for us is “God give me a good and an honest heart.”  However simple you may feel the parables are, my counsel to you is to change your attitude and realize that there is a depth there that you probable have not seen.

God has chosen parables to confound the wise and give wisdom to the simple.

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.

Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

“Blessed are your eyes.” 

Those that hear these sayings and keep them are as a wise man that built on the rock.  You need not worry about the storms if you’ve built upon the rock.  There will be big storms come.  Those that built upon the sand will also have big storms.  Things are going to fall apart. 

Don’t think that these people that are refusing to see are not going to have storms.  To Those that have left God and truth to devise a position, the storm is coming.  Russia did not plan to end up where it is, the storm came. 

Blessed are your eyes and your ears because they hear.  May God help us in Paradise Montana to see these truths and to hear.  Then may God help us to realize that this truth is for me personally.  Search the scripture and find something for yourself.  You are building on the sand or you are building on the rock. 

You want to be able to say, “I heard, I saw, and I measured.”  You want Jesus to be saying to you, “Blessed are your eyes and blessed are your ears.”

Bro Gyme Sunday Evening 6/26/11

Bro Gyme Sunday Evening 6/26/11

Eph 6:10  Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Eph 6:11  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Eph 6:13  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Eph 6:14  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

Eph 6:15  And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Eph 6:16  Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

Eph 6:17  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Within the last year my wife and I were talking about raising children and I said that raising children is not for the faint of heart.  She told me that Dr Dobson said that in his book.  He said, “Dare to discipline.”  This is a true thought even if it was not my original thought.

We live in a world where if you go by the worlds standard it is a no win situation.  No matter what you do someone will find fault with it.  Only God sees the whole picture. 

When you discipline an action of your child there will be those that say you shouldn’t have.  When you don’t then they will say that you should.  They don’t see the previous circumstances that led up to your action.  Maybe the child was sick all night.  Maybe there was something that happened before that created the situation.  Sometimes people may think that “He was quick to discipline today.”  Or “He wasn’t quick enough.”  We need to continue in the path that is right even if others don’t understand.

Raising children is not for the faint of heart.  The world will tell you that if you spank your child you’re abusing them but on the other side they can’t understand why they can’t have a dinner at a restaurant without their children running up and down the tables.

This led me to the comparison of: serving God is not for the faint of heart.  The important part for us is that we don’t faint.  That we don’t melt away.  We need courage.  As saints we need to take courage.  We need you to pray for us that we will have courage raising our children.  We need you to pray for us that we will have courage serving God.  It takes courage daily.  Not everyone will understand your actions in serving God.  We need to continue in the path that is right even if others don’t understand.

God prepared David so that Solomon could build a house for the Lord.  God had prepared a way.

1Ch 22:10  He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.

1Ch 22:11  Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee.

1Ch 22:12  Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God.

1Ch 22:13  Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

He gave him a job and all the tools to do it and asked him to obey God and then he would prosper.

The point of the lesson is to be strong and be courageous.  If you will take instruction and obey the judgments and do what the Bible commands then you will prosper.

Courage here means to be alert physically and mentally, to confirm.  If we will take courage then we can know what is right and wrong and we will know what path to be on.  God will confirm our strength and our faith.  We can know that we are on the right path. 

God confirms that we have on the breastplate of righteousness.  We can know that we have on truth and faith if we will take courage and obey.

Courage means that it establishes us.

How many times have we heard something and then God confirms it in the word of God. 

Courage means to fortify, strengthen and to be a man, to lift up ourselves and be strong. 

Gird up the loins of your mind.  We need our mind fortified.  Courage will help us to fortify our mind.  If we will go forward for God courageously then we will be fortified.

Courage means to harden.  Courage will harden us to the voice of the enemy.  We don’t want to give the voice of the enemy any room in our lives.  There are a lot of voices and a lot of opinions.  People will freely share their opinions with us.  It is important that we hear the voice of God.

Courage will enlarge us and increase us. 

1Co 3:6  I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.

1Co 3:7  So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

1Co 3:8  Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.

1Co 3:9  For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.

God will increase us if we will obey and take courage.

Courage will strengthen us.

1Pe 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

1Pe 5:9  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

1Pe 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

1Pe 5:11  To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

 Strengthen means to confirm in spiritual knowledge and power.

Courage will help us to prevail.  To be able in all ways to attain is what prevail means.  Whatever God wants us to attain we can attain to.

Jer 1:14  Then the LORD said unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

Jer 1:15  For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the LORD; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

Jer 1:16  And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.

It is really easy for us to worship our own ways.  It is hard at times to discipline your children.  Sometimes it is harder than others.  You hear the thought of “I love my children so much that I cannot spank them.”  Do you love your children enough to spank them?  We like some thoughts so much that we adopt them.  We need to take courage so that God can confirm what is right and wrong.

It is not always easy but if we do the best from a heart that is right we can have peace.  We can go to bed at night knowing that we did our very best.  We cannot make our children do anything.  All we can do is train them the best that we can.  No one will be at the judgment with us when we must give an account of how we raise our children.

In our spiritual walk we cannot give in to the easy way but that we walk according to the word of God, not to our pet, whatever that is.  There are things that I think are right that I do that no doubt that God will come along and tell me that “You are wrong there.”  I know this because I’ve been wrong before. 

I want to stand so that I can say that I did my very best to do what was right.  Have you ever done something difficult that you knew that you should do and were shaking in your boots to do?  After you did it you realized that it wasn’t as bad as you thought and it gives you peace to have done what is right.

Have you ever done something that you shouldn’t and realize that “Oh, I wish I hadn’t done that.” 

The saints balance each other.  Sometimes we get one-sided on something, be careful to not worship your own ways and ideas.  There is a way that seemeth right but the ends thereof are destruction.

Jer 1:17  Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.

Jer 1:18  For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

Jer 1:19  And they shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the LORD, to deliver thee.

Eph 6:18  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Eph 6:19  And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

Eph 6:20  For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Bro Gary Sunday Morning 6/26/11

Bro Gary Sunday Morning 6/26/11

Mat 13:34  All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

Mat 13:35  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

Mat 13:36  Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.

In Vacation Bible School this year the value of the Parables was very edifying.  Not just one but many of them spoke to me.  There is such depth in the parables.  God chose to use VBS to begin in my mind the knowledge of the value of the parables.  I could only scratch the surface of what there is to learn from the parables even if I taught on them every service for the rest of this year.  Gold has value in this time world, but the value of the parables is greater than that.  It is of eternal value.

Matthew recorded 20 parables of Jesus Christ.  Mark recorded 8 and Luke recorded 25 parables of Jesus Christ.  John didn’t record any parables and yet John 10 is a wonderful account of the shepherd and the sheep.  You might wonder why each recorded different things.  There are different ways of making the same expression that bring different emphasis of the text.  Not only is the Word of God applicable for a different day, it is for us to be applied now.

Jesus used parables as an earthly account to teach a heavenly message.  He valued the easily understood to teach the deep truths of Christ.  Where ever you are in life, as you look into the scriptures, you will see yourself where you are. 

May we be challenged to not just get the message from the parable, the text, or the Sunday school hour but to get the deeper message that God wants to convey to our heart.  There is a depth of satisfaction through God, the Holy Spirit, and His son, but we will only receive more as we hunger for more.  We will only receive a spiritual depth as we desire to go past what we have been given. 

 I have nine benefits of the parables in my notes and I’m sure that there are many more.

First isn’t it wonderful that before we were ever here, someone had us on His mind and in His heart and with His eye upon us.  He had His ear toward us such that He chose the very King of kings, the very greatest teacher that already knew the treasures of Heaven, the one that has all wisdom, all knowledge, and all understanding to come to earth to bring salvation to us.

He understands what men have spent much time trying to understand throughout creation.  He understands everything fully.  Men cannot figure out all that is in water and why it does what it does.  Most of us only grasp that our body craves water. 

He knows everything, He knows everyone that has ever drowned in the river out there.  He knows where Moses is buried.  He chose to look upon us.  He chose parables as His teaching tool.

The second thought on the value of parables:  It brings from darkness to light.  All of us that have reached an age of accountability remember when we reached an age where we understood rebellion and sin.  We knew that we should not do whatever it was and we chose to do it anyway. 

I still remember when I stole that cookie from the jar.  Even before my mother found out what I had done, I felt darkness in my soul.  Before you get saved and understand how to stay saved you go on in darkness and sin begins to get easier. 

Jesus taught us that men that sat in darkness saw a great light.  This is true still today, the word of God when it comes by when you’re in darkness of sin or don’t understand what God wants to teach you, when Jesus comes by it becomes clear and you say, “I see.”

The third benefit of the parables: it brings from bondage to liberty.  Bondage is a common denominator in the world today.  The devil is the author of all bondage. 

God has rules and there are truths that draw a strong line.  All of us that are able bodied have a definite line drawn that if you don’t work you shouldn’t eat. 

We can be delivered from the bondage of our minds being full of evil thoughts.  The only way to break that is to come to the light of the gospel.  It teaches us what to think on. 

The forth benefit:  It brings from unbelief.  Unbelief is strong and you know without me telling you how strong it is.  That nut that killed that little lady over in Superior and took her into the woods and buried all but one foot, was crazy to think that he wouldn’t be caught.  How crazy unbelief makes a person when they think that they would be happier if they took someone else’s life. 

How crazy to think that serving God is hard.  If God would require not wearing jewelry, what is so hard about that? 

I’ll tell you what is hard and that is having a defiled conscience.  That is tough to deal with.  I told a man recently that was in the area visiting his daughter, “I see you’re trying to be a good father.”  He looked away and said, “I don’t know about that.”  Guilt is a terrible thing to carry.  If you fathered a son or daughter you are accountable before God for taking care of them.  Unbelief causes people to think that it so tough. 

I’ve had struggles with doing what was right, but the difficulty was me.  It wasn’t God. 

The fifth benefit: it brings from blindness to vision.  People standing in the market place saying, “I piped and you didn’t dance.”  This is just how people are. 

Sixth the parables bring forgiveness where there was guilt.  It is wonderful that you can be forgiven this morning; the terrible load of sin can be taken away.

Seventh, it brings peace in the midst of turmoil.  There is so much turmoil in the world today.  There is a spirit that has gone out from the beast and the image that keeps people constantly in turmoil.  There are some that are worried about how plastic is going to contaminate everything and others that don’t want you to drill oil for fear that we’ll run out and plastic will not be able to be made anymore.

Eighth, parables bring industry instead of idleness.  If I could preach a message to open the mines and put the loggers to work, I’d preach it.  There is a message for us in Paradise about being busy for God.  I understand that you are busy.  I understand the industry of God.

Ninth, it brings security in the insecurity of life.  Whatever age you are, there will be mighty storms in life.  Unless you have allowed the teachings of the word of God and the teaching of the parables to have their proper place in your life, you will fall apart when the storms of life come.  If we fall apart in the storms God is witnessing to us that we are not on the rock.

Mat 5:13  Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

There is only one thing that will give us the trueness of God so that we can be the salt of the earth.  That is personally having become a new creature in Christ Jesus.  There are 1,000,000 religious people in the world today that are not the salt of the earth.  They have nothing to offer the hungry and thirsty soul.  They have no victory in their life. 

Without Jesus Christ and the reality of Him within us, not just a head-knowledge or a scripture-knowledge, we can go to the greatest place and we will have just taken a journey.    Jesus left us these parables that He wants us individually to know beyond the shadow of a doubt that we have the realness in our life, and we have Him bringing into our life and soul real life. 

If we lose this reality, there are many spirits in the world today that want us to reach the place of “I know I’m saved and sanctified…”  More than talk it, walk it.  If we are saved and sanctified the first thing that we are going to want to do is please God, the second is to edify the saints, the third is to reach the lost. 

We need to forget about ourselves, our emotional world, and wanting to be so perfect.  Unless we’ve gotten rid of that then we are as salt without savor.  You will never have a utopia in this world.  If you’re self centered you will never reach people for Jesus. 

Three things salt does:  It preserves, it cleanses, and it savors.

It preserves, not pickled or pruned, dried up spiritually, puckered as a prune that is ninety years old.  It preserves us and we work to preserve the right principals.  True salt will want you to see little children protected.  Everyone that would abuse a child is hell bound. 

Parents take off your rosy glasses.  Don’t think that everyone around you is perfect.  Any man or woman that doesn’t work to preserve their children is a devil in skin.  It preserves the home, preserves the church, and it goes all through life preserving and protecting right principles.  People that have abortions and perform abortions and think that they are helping America are doing exactly the opposite.  It is hardening America. 

You need to preserve teachings what will protect our children, teachings that will preserve industry and preserve someone that gets a little age on them.  Salt will preserve the youth.  You see young people throw their life away.  They need love and someone to talk to them.  They need quality time.  Not two minutes and two popsicles. 

Salt cleanses.  First it works in us, cleans up our mind and our tongue.  It cleans up our library.  No smutty books in our library.  I don’t want books that have heresy in my library.  Know the truth and you will know heresy.  You’re cleansed from sin, from your nature and then you keep cleaning. 

Salt flavors.  How many of you eat your eggs without salt.  It is good to have something to say, but make sure it is salted.  There are some that could about say anything but when it comes to receiving something, it is something different.  Treat those that are 96 as you’d like to be treated when you’re 96.

Mat 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Mat 5:15  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

Mat 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven.   

We reach the place where we’re not looking for praise or the approval of men.  If they see something good in us it is because of God in us.

As Jesus looked over the multitude His heart went out to them, His eye went to them, and His ear was turned to them.  If we will obey Him, His heart, His ear, and His eye will be toward us.

I was thinking of this this week and Prayed, “Oh God help me to grasp your eye being toward me.”  The scripture came to me that He’d guide us with His eye.  You’ve been in a spot where you needed his direction and you thought, “Where is God?”  He’s thinking “Where were you the other day when all your day and thoughts were taken up with self?  You lost my eye because you were taken up with your own way.  Repent and I will guide you.”

God’s design is for us to know Him.  We’ve all failed.  It began with our fore fathers Adam and Eve.  Jesus came so that we could be the salt of the earth and a light in a dark world.  How do I get from darkness to light?  Thereis only one way and that is through Jesus Christ.

Luk 18:9  And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

Luk 18:10  Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

Luk 18:11  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

Luk 18:12  I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

Luk 18:13  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

Luk 18:14  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

When people get a religious spirit they look down on everyone else. 

Jesus told that the publican smote his breast.  He was really hurting inside from guilt, sin, and pain.  He said, “God be merciful to me a sinner.”  Where ever we are is where we are.  If there is sin there then it brings pain. 

I may not know your sin and I don’t want to know your sin, but if there is sin there then there is no fellowship with God.  There is one pain that you will never come to terms with and that is to not have fellowship with God, to have the assurance of a new life and that you will live in heaven in eternity.  

Jesus said that the publican went down to his house justified rather than the other one.  If there is sin in your life then you need to pray.  The altar will not save you, it is just a good place to come and have others talk to you about how to get saved.  It is a place where you can meet God and God meets you.