Brother Gary Sunday Morning 7/7/13

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 7/7/13

Psa 126:1  A Song of degrees. When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.

Psa 126:2  Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them.

Psa 126:3  The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.

Psa 126:4  Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south.

Psa 126:5  They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

Psa 126:6  He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

This Psalm was written after the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion.  It was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit after many of the Jews had returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.  The rebuilt the temple not with the splendor that it had under Solomon but so that they could worship God.

They were so happy with what God had done for them.  A lot of their worship prior to returning to Jerusalem was outdoor or with them trying to find a place where they would not be distracted with the heathen worship.

Even the heathens were saying that God had done great things for them in turning their captivity and allowing them to return to Jerusalem.

Turn again as the streams in the south: That which would lead us back as a river would head back to Zion.  Turn us back to Zion.

The inhabitants of Jerusalem were taken captive by heathen kings.  There is a reason that this happened.  We want to take every lesson that we can from the Word of God and the examples in the scriptures so that we don’t lose the freedoms that we have to serve God and come in bondage to something that would cause us to not be able to reign or prosper but be held rather by oppression or suppression and not be able to worship God

There were 50,000 that were taken in increments from Jerusalem to Babylon.  The first 11,000 that were taken were the brightest and the ones that Nebuchadnezzar and others could use to help further the designs of Babylon. 

Among the first taken were Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  Babylon was looking for those that would come into their land and be a slave not necessarily to take their clothes to wear or not give them food to eat.  As Jews seem to be able to do anywhere, they were taken captive and found a way to prosper financially and be economically prosperous.  They had bright minds and knew how to accomplish many things. 

Neb was interested in finding individuals that would help further their cause.  They were taken to a place that was known Babylon.  When we think of Babylon we often think of spiritual Babylon.  We need to change our thought pattern for this lesson and think of literal Babylon. 

They were idol worshippers.  They were not worshipping the true God.  They didn’t have respect to the Word of God or to the teachings of the Word of God.  They were given over to idol worship and all idol worship entails. 

It is not in my heart to make big things out of the sins of Babylon.  It was as gross and bad as your minds could think as to being morally corrupt.  If we are ever taken captive by any spirit contrary to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, it is unknown how far the devil will take a soul to.

It was a rich, pleasure loving city.  You don’t need to be coached or exhorted upon very long this morning of the effect that it had upon the many of the fifty thousand that went into Babylonian captivity.  Many of those individuals fell in love with Babylon and didn’t ever want to leave it because they had found a place of prosperity with riches and without conviction or restraint from individuals that went to the temple to worship.

Some could not return to Jerusalem because in those seventy years; they had gotten old, tired, and feeble.  There were others that had grown to love this beautiful, fun-loving, pleasure-rich city called Babylon.

There were many that had been born into families who had loved God and gone to the temple that saw the pleasure, the easy life style and turned away from the true God and became part of the Babylonian system and never wanted to return to the rigors of Jerusalem.

The kings that were in authority in those years some were abusive, mean, and cruel.  They wanted these Jews to prosper and build an economy that would be beneficial to the city of Babylon. 

In the last seventy years many have died in America and our county many have died and many have been born.  In the seventy years they were in captivity, it was the same.  Many died and many were born.  Many turned into heathens.  They left the true God. 

May God convict me with a conviction like I have never had before to be true to God all the days of my life. 

Some remembered God.  That is wonderful.  It is a wonderful thing.  I’ll bring the name of many of them, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk were two.  Many of the Old Testament prophets did their best.  Ezekiel may have been born and raised up there and yet he had an identity with the true God and did his best to feed those that knew the true God and wanted to get back to Jerusalem.

God had promised, “I will bring you back again.”

The very fact that the United States of America was able to be born into existence was a miracle of God, because the enemies were so strong and tried to keep it from happening. 

The reality is this morning that men and women that are living in sin are in captivity.  We don’t like to think that sometimes because as Mrs. Ressler said, “The thought of my son going to prison brings such pain.” 

The thought of those that you love, those that you know, even the thought of the unknown person being a captive of abuse, being a captive of being wasted brings such pain to us. 

I think of sinner men in this county that would have taken their gun without fear of going to prison or losing their own life and would have headed to the two mile where those children were held captive for so long.  They would have gone and freed those children because of the anger against captivity and abuse.  There was a death that took place through Jesus Christ that all captives could be free.  That is the only liberty this morning.

Verse 4: The lord turned again the captivity of Zion.

God loves:  you know these five things but sometimes the present distress, the events of our life, the indecision, or the pain of knowing the captivity of a loved one causes us to not grasp how much God loves freedom.

He loves for you to be able to fellowship Him and your brothers and sisters in Christ.  When you study about the Jews coming back, there were about 50,000 that got to come back to Jerusalem in the process of time.

Oh what joy it was to be headed back.  Many of them were broken hearted after they got back when they saw what had been and what the enemy had destroyed.  When they saw the small foundation that was being laid to build upon they wept. 

They could remember what it had been like.  There is a reality in that.  We all face that sometimes.  We go back memory lane and sometimes things will never be the same. 

God loves freedom, fellowship and joy.  He loves songs.

We started this morning in Sunday school singing, “There is music in my soul.”  I thought, “How does Karen know what I am preaching on.”  I’m not here telling any of you that you have an easy life but if you read who wrote that song you find it is written by DS Warner. 

Before you spend much time thinking about how tough your life is find the book, “the birth of a reformation.”  Read of the difficulty of Brother Warner’s life, the marriage difficulty, and how he begged his wife.  We get paranoid “No one has ever gone through what I am going through.” 

Brother Warner got a call about his daughter and rushed home, “Lavina is so sick.”  Before he could get there she was ushered into eternity.  This brother was mocked.  Someone treats me bad in the grocery store and we think, “Persecution 2013.”  We don’t know much about it.  Yet he wrote a song, “There is music in my soul.” 

 I remember when he was in a community and they had enough money to buy crackers and cheese.  They thought, “Let’s pray first and thank God for this.”  As they began to lift up their souls in gratitude and thanksgiving, they got so happy. 

Crackers and cheese don’t make my mouth water.  I would like to wake myself up and realize that “You really have it good.”

God loves testimony and songs; God loves rejoicing.  Not, “I’m getting through somehow.”  That is not rejoicing.  Rejoicing has nothing to do with what is going on, on the outside.  Your prayer may not have been answered but you can rejoice in faith that God has heard your prayer.

Their captivity produced temporary prosperity.  I warn myself and I warn everyone in this audience this morning:  Not only did it produce prosperity, it produced a moral looseness. 

At any cost, I told my mother when the pressures were put on her, what you have promised God hold to until you are dead and alive in eternity.  Never mess with your covenants with God.

Their prosperity increased until they hungered for what they were offered in the flesh.  It caused spiritual decay and weeping.  There is nothing sadder than when we are in our secret closet of prayer and we are telling God, “This hurts so deep to see this son, this daughter, this grandchild, this neighbor, to see this individual turning towards captivity and a life of being all absorbed about themselves.”  It produces weeping.

Their harps were hung up.  There is nothing sadder than someone that has known God and had a song and then to lose that song.  There is nothing sadder, if Clark understood what he studied right, they became so broken that they literally took the strings off of their harps because there was no way to rejoice under the captivity.

Heathen influence.  Captivity produced strong heathen influence.

The New Testament captivity is described:

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

New Testament, Gospel Day, our times have strong captivity.  Paul was saying before salvation we lived according to the course of this world.  The world is a powerful influence. 

There are many inventions in the world that I appreciate.  I’m thankful that we have a water system and didn’t have to build a fire to heat water this morning.  But other things have developed in the course of the world.  It seems to have a suctional draw to it.

It is filled with multitudes going down that course.  It has become a road as time has progressed that has no restraint. 

There are those that work and there are those that don’t.  There are those that want to be good parents and others want to forsake their children.  There are those that gave their life to have children and others that have had an abortion.  They are all going down the same road.  They have this thing as they travel, “Just whatever you want to do.”

The prince and the power of the air:  Satan is turned loose and individuals allow him to take them at the very crucial hour of their life.  Children in grade school decide to be rebellious, they are not going to do their work or obey their parents.  When they get in high school they may decide that they don’t even want to be a part of their home.  Girls decide, “I don’t want any one telling me what to do.”  Guys decide, “If you say anything I will leave.” 

The prince and the power of the air:  while children should be learning to study they are excelling in other things.  They hit high school and decide, “I’ll get by some way, somehow and I’ll drop out.”  They mess with things and some of them mess with their mind.  It is a miracle if they can ever get out.

Children this morning you are blessed.  You are blessed with the opportunity to learn to read so that you can study your bible. 

It goes to every age group.  The prince and the power of the air is there for every age and is inviting them, “Come over this way.”  He promises such a life of doing whatever they want to do. 

I’m happy for Brother Rick’s motor cycle and I don’t want one.  There was a season in my life where I wanted to be a Hell’s Angel.  I haven’t seen one of them happy.  It isn’t out there.  Sin doesn’t pay.  Captivity doesn’t pay.

There is a spirit that leads into captivity and some of them never get out of it.  If you wonder why someone is heading in a direction there are many reasons and one of them is the spirit.

By nature the children of wrath:  the New Testament captivity described is that every soul is targeted.  I am targeted.  As old and as little as I have to offer the world, the world targets me.  It distracts from worship and attracts to spiritual nonprofits.

Disobedient looks grey instead of black.  We want to keep disobedience as black as it is.  When an individual becomes disobedient and rebellious to the precious truths of the Word of God then there is something that has taken them captive. 

Obedience begins to look rigid and legalistic.  I am not a law-keeper.  Anyone that goes to the house of God when the doors are open instead of being out playing around they say, “They are legalistic.”   You are not legalistic when you are being obedient. 

The legalistic thought comes in when you think you are more spiritual if you wear a necktie or do not wear one.  Obedience must be kept beautiful in my soul.

Psa 84:7  They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God.

The only way that I will stay free is by appearing before God.  I won’t stay free because I come to church here.  I won’t stay free because I went to fellowship in Carmichael.  What makes us stay free is appearing before God and saying, “Search me O God.”

2Ti 2:24  And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,

2Ti 2:25  In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;

2Ti 2:26  And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

I am scared of bears and now I’m scared of dogs.  I waited in the car to see if there was an attack dog, I carefully opened the gate.  I am scared of grizzly bears.  I see some people that are scary but I never want to position myself to become a captive at the will of Satan.

Can you imagine being taken captive at the will of Satan?  New Testament captivity is positioning yourself so that you are an open prey to becoming captive. 

The Jews went into captivity for seventy years and some of them never recovered.  May God challenge me and this congregation to love freedom, to hate captivity, to pray that the captives be freed, and to help the captives be freed.