Sister Sunny Sunday School 7/28/13

Sister Sunny Sunday School 7/28/13

Mat 5:43  Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

Mat 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

Mat 5:45  That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Mat 5:46  For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

Mat 5:47  And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

Mat 5:48  Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

This is our challenge even if no one around us is following the same rule.  When they despise us and ignore us or insult us, the challenge to us, that Jesus was an example of, is that we love them and do what is right toward them anyway. 

Perfect - G5046 τέλειος teleios tel'-i-os

From G5056; complete (in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.); neuter (as noun, with G3588) completeness: - of full age, man, perfect.

In other words, grow up.  Be of full mental and moral character.

Rom 12:17  Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

Rom 12:18  If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Rom 12:19  Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Rom 12:20  Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.

Rom 12:21  Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

We know that the Good Samaritan showed kindness to a complete stranger and by that was a neighbor to him.  We are to love and do good to, that is ‘be a neighbor to’, even our enemies.  “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”  Pr 25:22

Heaping coals of fire on lead ore is used to cause the pure silver to melt and run out below so that it can be collected. 

Matthew Henry - “Thou shalt either,” 1. “Melt him into repentance and friendship, and mollify his spirit towards thee” (alluding to those who melt metals; they not only put fire under them, but heap fire upon them; “thou wilt win a friend by it, and if thy kindness have not that effect then,” 2. “It will aggravate his condemnation, and make his malice against thee the more inexcusable.

(1.) “Be not overcome of evil. Let not the evil of any provocation that is given you have such a power over you, or make such an impression upon you, as to dispossess you of yourselves, to disturb your peace, to destroy your love, to ruffle and discompose your spirits, to transport you to any indecencies, or to bring you to study or attempt any revenge.” He that cannot quietly bear an injury is perfectly conquered by it. (2.) “But overcome evil with good, with the good of patience and forbearance, nay, and of kindness and beneficence to those that wrong you. Learn to defeat their ill designs against you, and either to change them, or at least to preserve your own peace.” He that hath this rule over his spirit is better than the mighty.

1Jn 3:18  My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

1Jn 3:19  And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

Here it exhorts us to love not in word but in deed and in truth.  I am challenged to live by the principle of:  What would love do?  God helped me with this thought as I was in a battle in my mind. 

Our mind is often the battlefield.  The enemy will present a thought, or he will even present two thoughts and make us think that these are the only two choices.  This was the situation when God helped me.  I cried out to Him, “God, how should I think in this situation?  Are either of these thoughts the correct option?” 

It seemed that God then asked the question of me, “What would love think?” 

That broke the battle.  I now have a new tool to use when I am faced with a challenge.  I don’t know how many times since then I have asked myself the question, “What would love do?  What would love think?” 

Love doesn’t mean that we never take a stand against wrong, love means that we take the stand with the right attitude and for the right reason.  We speak the truth in love.  We have the other’s best interests at heart.  We want to see and bring out the best in that individual, because we love them. 

This is how God loves us.  He tells us when we are wrong.  He does this because He wants to save us from heartache and misery.  He knows that actions that go against Godly principles will hurt and destroy.  He helps us to know how to live. 

He is very clear in His Word, “Be ye holy for I am holy.”  He tells us the truth with our best interests at heart.  He wants to protect us and keep us as the apple of His eye. 

God is love.  When we ask, “What would love do?”  It is synonymous with asking, “What would God do?”

1Jn 4:7  Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

1Jn 4:8  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

1Jn 4:9  In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

1Jn 4:10  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1Jn 4:11  Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

1Jn 4:12  No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

1Jn 4:13  Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

1Jn 4:14  And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

1Jn 4:15  Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

1Jn 4:16  And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

1Jn 4:18  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

1Jn 4:19  We love him, because he first loved us.

1Jn 4:20  If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

1Jn 4:21  And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

Here we see again, “Everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.”  “We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.”  (1Jn 3:14)  Love is a token of salvation.  If there is no love, then there is no salvation.  “Love is of God.  He that loveth not knoweth not God.”

He loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. 

Propitiation – atonement, expiator

Expiate - 1. To atone for; to make satisfaction for; to extinguish the guilt of a crime by subsequent acts of piety or worship, by which the obligation to punish the crime is canceled. To expiate guilt or a crime, is to perform some act which is supposed to purify the person guilty; or some act which is accepted by the offended party as satisfaction for the injury; that is, some act by which his wrath is appeased,and his forgiveness procured.

Matthew Henry - He loved us, when we had no love for him, when we lay in our guilt, misery, and blood, when we were undeserving, ill-deserving, polluted, and unclean, and wanted to be washed from our sins in sacred blood. 4. That he gave us his Son for such service and such an end. (1.) For such service, to be the propitiation for our sins; consequently to die for us, to die under the law and curse of God, to bear our sins in his own body, to be crucified, to be wounded in his soul, and pierced in his side, to be dead and buried for us (1Jo_4:10); and then, (2.) For such an end, for such a good and beneficial end to us - that we might live through him (1Jo_4:9), might live for ever through him, might live in heaven, live with God, and live in eternal glory and blessedness with him and through him: O what love is here!

What would love do:

1Co 13:4  Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

1Co 13:5  Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

1Co 13:6  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

1Co 13:7  Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Brother Gary Sunday Evening 7/28/13

Brother Gary Sunday Evening 7/28/13

1Jn 5:1  Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

We know that John had reached an age of quite maturity when he wrote this.  Years back we believed this scripture by faith and that faith has become sight.

We know that His ways are right and we are blessed to keep his commandments.  I have been challenged to a deeper depth of consecration and a living sacrifice:  God whatever is your will that is what I want to do.  His commandments are not grievous.

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Whosoever is born of God overcomes the world.  I’m glad that we can be overcomers.  The voice of the world and the world may come knocking but we can answer that voice, “No thanks.  I’m glad that I found what really satisfies.”

Keep your faith in God and add to your faith as the scripture teaches.  May God help us that our faith will grow and not diminish.  We don’t have to give into the things that would hinder our faith.

1Jn 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

Believe that Jesus is the son of God.  We are going to be tried and faced with many things that we cannot handle or figure out: answers to needs of family, of our self, of our job.  That is how life is.  Let us remember that through God, His Son, and faith in God there is no mountain that cannot be removed.  God is God.

The man that wrote, “I’d rather have Jesus,” was at the crossroads.  The world was offering him a whole lot of things but a mother prayed in faith believing and that is why we have that beautiful song, “I’d rather have Jesus.”

We have faced those crossroads over and over again and we decided to keep the faith.  Over and over again God has come through.  He will continue to come through.

Jesus was the Son of God that was sent to earth so that every one of our needs can be supplied.  His resources are not limited.  He is just as able today to meet our needs as He was in the day He healed the ten lepers. 

He said, “You have been on your knees; that is good.  Get up and go your way.”  God wants us to worship God, pray and have faith, and then he wants us to arise and do what He wants us to do.

1Jn 5:6  This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

It is wonderful to have the Spirit of God witness to us that God is God and Jesus is Jesus.

1Jn 5:7  For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

1Jn 5:8  And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.

Isn’t it wonderful to first have unity in our hearts, unity with God, the Spirit of God, the Father, and the Son?  Then it is wonderful to have an attitude of unity with everyone that worships the Father.

1Jn 5:9  If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.

1Jn 5:10  He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.

The reason that we know that we are saved is because we have met bible conditions and have the witness that we are the son of God.

1Jn 5:11  And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Thank God for life and for eternal life.

1Jn 5:12  He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.

1Jn 5:13  These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

1Jn 5:14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

It is a wonderful thing to have confidence.  We are not a bunch of heathens cutting our self and saying over and over again, “Oh God, oh God.”  We came to God and asked Him to forgive us and He forgave is.

We are not out to have our own way.  We’ve seen too much.  Anything that God doesn’t want me to have I don’t want.  Anything that he wants I submit to go. 

There are many things that are His will.  It is His will that we be saved and sanctified, and that we be healed and that He meet our needs.

God has already prepared the answer.  He is just waiting for men and women to get into the position so that He can answer prayer.  He is ready to save, to sanctify, and perform what needs to be.  Until they get to the place where they want His way and are broken.

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 7/28/13

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 7/28/13

Luk 17:11  And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.

Luk 17:12  And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:

Luk 17:13  And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.

Luk 17:14  And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.

Luk 17:15  And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,

Luk 17:16  And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.

Luk 17:17  And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?

Luk 17:18  There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.

Luk 17:19  And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

This message is on the thought of returning.  These lepers had received so much from what no other source could give them and one of them returned. 

In the days of Malachi, 460 years before Christ, there were those that didn’t know how to get back to God.  Today there are individuals that don’t know how to get back to God.  That is so sad. 

There are those that have received a lot from God and for whatever reason they don’t return. 

Verse 11:  Samaria is one of those places that the Jews were taken from when they were carried away into captivity.  The king then chose to send colonies of people from other places to inhabit the land.  After they got there they went about life as usual.  Living as they had lived and doing what they had already done. 

God sent lions among them and many of them were destroyed.  They thought, “This is a dangerous place, we must get a message back to the king and tell him that we are being destroyed.”  The king sent a priest back to teach them how to live in the land so that they wouldn’t be destroyed by the lions. 

He began teaching them the ways of God.  A few listened and followed his teaching.  Most of them went right on in the worship of multi and manmade gods.  They went right on worshipping in their own heathenistic ways. 

The situation was so bad in the way they worshipped that some offered their children in fire to their strange gods.

This message doesn’t come from where I was or where you were last week.  It is not a prophecy of where you will be.  Yet it is fitting.  We journey in life and there is not one in this audience that doesn’t go somewhere, maybe even this week, where we are among people that have strange gods. 

Every one of us finds ourselves very often in our journey among individuals that have strange gods.  Sometimes I really draw back from going into places where there are strange spirits and strange gods.  I’m not afraid, but it is taxing and uncomfortable.  It often leaves you with bewilderment of an individual that speaks to you and has such pronounced needs.

These men were lepers.  We journey among people that have a disease that is like leprosy.  Sin is like leprosy; it warps men and women’s lives.  It not only warps them but brings them into a position of being alienated from God. 

As we were at the cemetery Thursday, there was a brother to the deceased there that was 88 years old.  His wife was in her seventies and said, “I can’t take any more of this.  I’m getting out.”  I asked if I could help her and she accepted my help.  I offered her my arm and she told me:  “within a week that Wes died, my nephew died and then another family member and now I hear that one of my uncles is dying of cancer.” 

I told her that she was invited to cast all her burdens on the Lord.  She said, “I don’t want to.  He is too busy and there are too many other needs in the world and I don’t want to cast my burdens on the Lord.”  I told her that He is not too busy.  “He is concerned about you and He wants to help you with your need.”

She reminds me of the lepers. 

When Jesus passes by, He passes by sinners.  He passed by this lady whose name was Fran.  He passes by over and over again. 

I couldn’t find out if these lepers were from a colony.  It seems that because of their condition they banded together.  They heard about Jesus.  Jesus was passing through Samaria.  Jesus passes by places that you and I are going to go.

They lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”  One of the keys, in returning to Jesus, is knowing how to get a heart cry out to Him. 

These lepers so desired to get to Jesus.  They were possibly family men.  They were individuals that still had a reason to want to live.  There was something in that compass that they had been born with that was pointing to God and toward doing what was right.  Their compass was pointing to fulfill what God would have them to do in the time world and in eternity.  They cried out for mercy.

They lifted up their voice.  One of the reasons that people cannot return to God is that they don’t humble themselves.  It is so hard to say, “I have been wrong.” 

We live in a world where there are a percentage of people that are playing the blame game.  “It is someone else’s fault that I’m where I am.”  People are where they are because they have made choices that placed them there and they refuse to go to God for help.

A lot of people want to get help somewhere other than Jesus.  They don’t want to have him as their master and their lord.

There is not any soul that God is dealing with that His word isn’t there to instruct them. 

That is one of my thoughts in giving out a bible.  We want to place in their hand not only a bible but the challenge to find out what God is saying to them.  God has a word for individuals that are in sin.  He has a word for individuals in Babylon, and for those that are confused. 

There are many people that are in dire straits in this world and the Word of God has an answer for them

As they went they were cleansed:  there is an immediate transaction that takes place when God speaks to us and we say, “I will obey.”  There is a miracle that takes place when we obey God.

One turned back:  one noticed his healing.  For all of us that are saved this morning in this audience may God help us to recognize from what we have been healed.  That is why we love the songs, “I’ll never go back” and “Shall I go back into the world?  No, no, not I, not I.”

After God has done so much, can we do any less than first return and thank Him?  This man returned and gave praises to God. 

Verse 16:  in my mind’s eye I can almost see this leper running back, the thrill, “I’m healed.  The thanksgiving, “I’m not the same.”  The hope, “I have life and I have a new life.”

It didn’t stop there, he fell down at Jesus’ feet and gave thanks.  He gave back.  He was among them that lived in Samaria, a Samaritan, a saved Samaritan. 

Were there not 10 cleansed?:  they all received the healing.  Where are the nine? 

Arise:  it is awesome how God deals with us.  God had done so much for this leper that he wasn’t in a hurry to get up.  He wanted to just bow there and thank him.  Every once in a while we need to practice this. 

We live in a frame that if we are not careful our lives will be filled with needs and we are as a machine ushering requests to God.  Remember the leper.  He went back and began to thank God.

We have so much to thank God for.  I’m very thankful that the church is half full.  Every individual in this audience is very special to God.  I’m dealing with faith this morning.  David Livingstone, the missionary to Africa, was the single convert of a congregation.  The pastor received a unanimous vote that it was time for him to move on. 

There was just a boy in that congregation by the name of David Livingstone.  This morning every soul is of vital importance to God.  Everyone that is saved has the possibility of being a power house in prayer.  You can be a power house in prayer without being gifted with words or with memory. 

Know how to fall at the feet of Jesus and thank Him that your garments are white and that a change has taken place.  Jesus said, “Arise.”

David had experienced a miracle from God and began to cry out to God, “Oh God, who is worthy to be praised.”

Even if I die before I finish preaching this morning, I believe that there are miracles on the horizon.  You say, “I don’t see a lot of people rushing in.”  Stop there.  There are a lot of miracles on the horizon because of Jesus passing by.  Let it not be said that nothing was done here because of unbelief.

There is something about God that he gives everyone a compass before they are born that always points toward Him.  I believe that.  Jesus was there when God created the earth.  He was there when God created that compass.  He was there when God created man and there is a greater compass in the soul of man than even the natural compass that always points north.

Few of us carpool here.  Even my wife and I often are going different directions.  As our compass points toward God our eyes are looking and our ears are listening, “Will I find someone that I can point the way to?”

We will come across people that will ask.  What makes an individual happy in an unhappy life?  They look at individuals dressed in beautiful spiritual garments and see the smile on the face and they will think that you had a perfect life.  They don’t know that before you met Jesus your life was like theirs.  Since you met Him, there has been a change.

There is a strong link in every life.  Jesus asked them, “Wilt thou be made whole?”  Sometimes we look for just a little help and we limit God.  The lepers didn’t say, “Would you just heal this hand or put this toe on the right foot, or heal this ear?”  No, they cried out, “Have mercy on us.”

Jesus didn’t even touch them, he spoke a word.  This man came back a new man.  Before he got to Jesus he cried out and when he got there he fell down on his knees and began to praise God.  Jesus said, “Arise.” 

If you want to backslide, then sit down and do nothing.  What got Eli in trouble was he sat around when he should have been seeking God and taking care of things. 

Jesus said arise, thy faith has made you whole.

Mal 3:6  For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

May God help you and me to understand that though we live in a very changing world that is always looking for progress, God changes not.  My message is not against the electric lights, the telephone or the pressure cooker.  My message is this:  we have a God that changes not.

Before we were ever in the picture, God had a desire for mankind that we would serve him.  That everyone would have a new heart and a new spirit.  Adam sinned but that didn’t change God.  He had a plan that we could serve Him. 

It is sad that Adam made a wrong choice.  That same God sent Jesus and gave us a choice.  He is a God that changes not. 

This leper that was healed may have even been involved with the worst of the sects of the religions of the Samaritans.  There is one of the Samaritans that got a heart cry out, got his needs supplied, and then came back to God.

Jesus is the same:  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever.

That thing that you cannot handle:  man cannot handle sin, it handles them.  They cannot handle carnality, that thing that draws them back to sin, causes them to want to protect themselves, and causes them to avoid a heartache or mistreatment.  Jesus handles it for us.

Psa 18:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, the servant of the LORD, who spake unto the LORD the words of this song in the day that the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: And he said, I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.

Psa 18:2  The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Psa 18:3  I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

Praising God often delivers us from our enemy.  Have you ever felt yourselves spiraling down and you thought, “I will spiral up by praising God.”  Have you felt the winds of discouragement blowing your way and you felt it settling in.  You thought, “With the wind of the Spirit of God I’m going to move this the other direction and I’m going to praise God for saving me from my enemies.”

It is ok if you have felt strengthless.  If you feel strengthless then begin praising God.  The Lord is my rock, rock to stand on and to give us shade when we need rest.  He is our fortress.  He is our sun.  He showers us with blessings.  He is our shield.  He protects us.  He is my deliverer.

I am expecting a whole lot of good things.  Right amidst all the blessings the enemy will show his head.  Among the happy times there may be a sour note somewhere.  This could be the day that someone that the enemy filled up takes out their guns and fill you full of holes.  There is a deliverer.  I’m not going to let this move me; I’m looking to the strong hand of God to deliver.

My God:  I’m glad that I don’t go into any place to worship where there is a heathen God.  I’m glad that I don’t have a God made by me but the God of creation. 

My strength:  Strength to bear the burden, strength to believe for a miracle, strength to carry the burden for that one that is in sin, strength to turn the battle to the gate. 

As long as we live the enemy will be there to bring the thought, “If you’d go the way of the world it will be easy.”  It is not easy out there.  “If you go…” no it doesn’t matter what he says.

If you go the way of strength then you will be blessed. 

My buckler, my hightower:  Are you in a position to praise God?  Do you bow before him and say, “Dear God this is not the hour for requests; you have done so much.” 

He has done so much: the fact that we have hope, the fact that we have agreement of prayer, the fact that He passes by, the fact that when I cried out in my sin He had mercy, the fact that you have something sure to leave to all of your family: This I know, my redeemer liveth.

A lot of people find fault with me, with you, and with the church of God, but one thing that they cannot take away is “I know what God has done for me.”

You might be here this morning and ask the question:  is there any danger in not praising God?

Among the saddest books and scriptures in the Bible is Romans chapter one.  They knew God and refused to give Him the glory.  Age has done a lot of things for me and if I could live my life over I would do some things different.  But one thing I would not change is getting saved.  I would get saved younger and serve Him all the days of my life. 

When an individual begins to serve God there is a compass that comes back and says, “I need to praise God.”  Praise has done a lot for me.  One thing it has done is brought contentment.  I have too much.  If we are not careful then we will want more.  Praising God brings such a contentment to us. 

They became vain in their imaginations.  Their mind went to things that led them away from God.  There is a real warning in the scripture.  Their foolish heart became darkened.  Let us know God and be known of God.  Let us praise Him with our whole heart.