Brother Gary Sunday Morning 6/28/15

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 6/28/15

Heb 9:14  How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Under the Old Testament teaching, God instructed Moses to build the brazen altar where an offering was made for sins.  Whoever brought the offering would put their hands upon the head of the critter that was to be sacrificed and would acknowledge their sin. 

That could never keep them saved, but only cleared their past sins.  It did not change their heart but did acknowledge that they were a sinner and their sins needed to be forgiven.

One day on a hill called Mount Calvary Jesus was crucified on the old rugged cross and paid the price for all the committed and inherited sins of all mankind.  Anyone can come confessing, repenting, and turning from their sins. 

There is a definite day of salvation.  A definite call from God to come and be saved.  There is also a warning in Amos, chapter 4, that if you neglect your soul God will return and say, “You have rejected me, I call you home, and it is too late to repent.”

The blood of Christ was offered.  This verse is just the foundation.  I am going to preach from Romans 12.  We all must begin with an experience of coming alive through Christ by confessing of our sin, being forgiven of our sin, and becoming a new creature. 

It is wonderful to have the Word of God wash us, to have our conscience keen, to be at the laver spiritually and be washed with the pure Word of God.  There is only one way into the place and that is through Jesus Christ our Lord.  He cleanses us, forgives, gives an inheritance, and keeps us.

On the table of show bread there is always fresh food for our soul, this is Jesus, the precious Bread of Life and the Word of God. 

You may be wishing that the pews were full; what are you going to do to get it there?  When it comes to consecration there is a light that comes to direct. 

“I am sick, I am tired, I am old…”  You are not consecrated.  If we are going to rescue the perishing, if God has stirred you in the least bit, I trust you take two steps forward in consecration and dedication, “God I will do what you want me to do.” 

The light of consecration and dedication:  We all have plans.  His light shines on our pathway to lead, guide, and direct us.  We say, “Lord you show the way, I will consecrate and go to the golden altar and present my life as Romans chapter 12 says.” 

Rom 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Rom 12:2  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

It is a wonderful thing to be convicted by the Spirit of God that we have two steps to go forward.  God has been so good to us.  He has been good to this congregation.  There is no one in this audience that is homeless.  There is no one that is hungry.  God has in His mercy helped us to maintain and be the church of God.  God has helped us to have a building that is paid for. 

“I beseech you that you present your bodies a living sacrifice…” The very thought that that sacrifice was offered.  Jesus gave His life that we could be saved. 

There would be no way for me to be saved without Jesus.  I am a Gentile, no Jewish lineage.  I was lost and undone without God.  God sent His Son: holy, undefiled, separate from sinners who offered himself willingly that I could be saved. 

He willingly forgave me.  I did not have a college education.  My father was from West Virginia.  My mother was from Missouri.  He offered Himself to save us.  The one common denominator is that we recognized that we were a sinner.

Where there is sin: the future is not bright at all except an individual be saved from their sin.  After we get saved, we become a part of the Family of God.  We are not a step brother or step sister.  It is not, “We are a little better than you, because…”  Don’t you hate those ugly spirits?  Don’t you love when there is true unity?

We eat of the bread, we enjoy the light, and then we are called. 

The Apostle Paul said under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, “I beg you that by the mercies of God you present your bodies a living sacrifice.”  I know that you all have plans for tomorrow.  I have a plan to put in an air conditioner.  But if Brother Jim needs me in Missoula then we will be hot Monday night. 

We want to have the attitude, “God help me to be a living sacrifice.”  A living sacrifice: “I had hoped… but God if you want me somewhere else.  I will call and ask someone else to take my responsibility if you have something else that you want me to do.”

Present your living sacrifice holy:  “God you saved me, you cleaned up my life, I made all my wrongs right.”  Restitution was tough in my life.  I made it.  I have all my apologies up to date.  I have had to apologize since I got saved. 

Present your living sacrifice acceptable:  can you think of anything that you can give to God that is acceptable.  He doesn’t really want your pickles or the meat in your freezer.  What is acceptable to God is the human being, a living sacrifice. 

Which is your reasonable service.  He is only asking what I can give.  It is more than reasonable.  He doesn’t ask for 25 hours when there is only 24.  He doesn’t ask for what you haven’t received. 

Be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed:  every one of us had a personality.  We have things that we could walk by in this world and we wouldn’t care if we had it or not.  If I hadn’t married Karen I could have driven by a quilt store and never knew they existed.  We all had that portion that would take our mind and our heart and squeeze God. 

Be not conformed to the world but be transformed by a renewed mind.  The world would like to influence us how to think.  The Word tells us how to think:  Pure thoughts, things that are true and lovely.

Think soberly.

Rom 12:3  For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

Stay of a humble mind.  You may be good at your job which is to be appreciated, stay of a humble mind.  We have wonderful singers and teachers in this congregation.  We have good instrument players, but don’t compare anyone with anything.  Think soberly, God has given us His grace that we use everything that He has given us to edify the Body of Christ and to win the lost.

Rom 12:4  For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:

The hand cannot do the work of the eye.  So spiritually, that which God has ordained for you to do, you can only do by you being a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.  It is that living sacrifice that can say, “Even when I hear things that would upset me, I refuse to let it upset me.  I have a job to do for God.”

There are different members and different jobs.

Rom 12:5  So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

Let’s help each other and realize how much help we need from each other.  You might be able to row your own boat, but not spiritually.  We need one another.  We need one another to exhort us.  Before you can exhort anyone, you must be exhorted.  You must have the attitude, “I will be taught, I will listen.” 

You are wrong if when someone is talking to you all the time you are getting ready to tell them, “I know everything.”  You don’t know everything.  God has ordained that we desperately need one another.  We need the gift to listen without your mind coming up with an argument or the attitude, “You are attacking me.”

The proud and haughty are not a part of the Church of God.  I am talking about people that love God with all their heart, mind, and strength.  When someone says, “This will help you in your spiritual life and in your testimony” we want to listen.

Rom 12:6  Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

Prophesying in the New Testament often means teaching.  Brother Jim brought us an understanding on the attributes of clay.  Prophesying is the preaching, the teaching, and the expounding of the scriptures. 

If the Lord will and tonight we study, “Be not overcome of evil.”  This scripture is so valuable that we grasp at this time.  The enemy of our soul would like to vex everyone with an evil spirit to trouble and bother them all the days of their life, something like a mosquito or bee trying to buzz and distract and shoot you with poison to distract your thoughts.

Prophesy is to speak to men with edification, exhortation, and comfort.

Rom 12:7  Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;

What is your ministry?  The ministry of good works, of correspondence.  We have a sister in this congregation that is a song writer.  It is a marvelous song.  One brother has the ministry to be able to build things for crafts. 

What is your ministry?  Ministry of hospitality.  The ministry of making people feel comfortable.  When someone comes into the church of God, they have already heard about us.  When someone comes through that door they need to be greeted and know that they are welcome. 

Have the attitude, “I can.”  If you feel that you don’t have the ability to talk to people, I question that.  If it makes you uncomfortable, there are times that we need to feel uncomfortable.  Ease has ruined many people. 

Rom 12:8  Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

Do we know how to admonish one another?  “It would have been better…” not in a picky way but with the love of God.  Do we know how to take admonishment?  Can someone come and say, “Brother or sister, because I love you…”  You have a ministry where I will never go.  There are places that you can go that I cannot go. 

Thank God for the seed of the Word of God.  I want to thank God for the influence that VBS makes on children and for the influence that I saw the youth revival make on young people.  You and I have a key, “Will we be a living sacrifice?”

To exhort is to support the weak.  We have saints that are going to be weakened when they get done.  It will take all their strength.  There is a place where you can enter in, be in communion with God, and receive the tongue of the learned: words from God that you would have never thought of.

We have those that are carrying heavy burdens that only God can give them strength.  They will not “Just get over it.”  Have you ever had a tooth ache?  The ache goes on.  Except you make the sacrifice you will never get into the Holiest of Holies.

Exhortation means he who comforts the penitent.  That one that is so sorry for their wasted life, that is so broken, “I have failed my children.”  Do we know how to comfort, to say, “Let’s get ahold of God that knows how to make beauty from ashes and redeem the time?”

Do you know how to comfort the penitent?  Do you know how to go to that one that is in a sore trial?  There are those in this audience that will not run up to you and say, “I am in a trial.  I am plowing deep.” 

The enemy is out to wreck souls.  We live in a day when seducing spirits go out to visit.  They start with the pastor.  “Why don’t you let down a little?  Quit being so serious about trying to have a message.  Just get up and ramble.” 

He that exhorts:  right here is where we pay the price first, “I will be exhorted.”  And then, “God I am nothing but if you can use me…” 

Brother Jim Sunday School 6/28/15

Brother Jim Sunday School 6/28/15

I was reading a book on lessons that the person had learned from their dog.  The thought was how honest a dog is.  They forgive when they are mistreated.  His wife went through cancer and the dog seemed to help in the situation. 

His wife liked pottery.  To spend some time with her, he went to a pottery place with her.

At one time I had a real problem with questioning God with how things had happened.  You think of a servant working so hard and diligently for Him and they be snatched away.  I woke crying in the night and Sue told me, “You have to get a hold of yourself.” 

The scripture came to me, “Why criest thou against thy maker?”  He is the potter and we are the clay. 

We see many youth today that are letting the devil destroy them.  We have some talented young people coming up.  If they will be that pliable clay in God’s hand He can really use them.

I am so grieved at what children go through.  Our pews should be filled with our young people.  We turn and look around us; we don’t have our head in the sand.  We see what is going on with the children and young people. 

In clay, it is so deep how it is formed.  Uses and sources of clay:  The most significant surrounding materials is clay.  A ceramic product is made from a nonmetallic material by use of heat.  Plumbing, roofing, things that need to be heat-resistant, electric insulators, rocket nose cones…

The studio potter is far down the list of clay users.  The studio potter, the individual potter, was the beginning.  Pottery is a product, by people, for people.  It is through pottery that much history has been learned. 

Pottery brings us back to the concept that all of us are really the same.  Some people think they are really something, but they, as we, are just a lump of clay.  Clay is the most universal material on earth.  75% of the earth is clay or will be clay. 

Clay can contain too much rock, sand or branches.  These must all be sifted out until the clay can be used.  After cleaning the clay, the water is added and the clay is molded into a usable lump.  Clay mines use heavy machinery to clear away the dirt and uncover the deposits.  Sometimes a shaft is used to find and mine the clay. 

Over 100,000,000 tons of clay are mined in the US each year. 

The properties that make clay different from dirt, plasticity, porosity, ability to vitrify. 

Plasticity has to be our first consideration.  You cannot begin to make pottery without it.  It must be able to hold its form while at the same time be able to be molded by the potter’s hand.  There must be platelets that can slip and slide to be shaped. 

There is smaller and smaller and smoother and smoother platelets.  Bentonite is the kind of clay that has platelets that are so small and smooth that you cannot use it to form pottery.  They use it to force oil out of a well that is going dry.

Something has to be added to make clay slippery and sticky.  Water is this substance.  Too much and it is goo; too little and it is powder.

Organic matter: decayed leaves, roots and grasses can be ground and mixed with the clay.  Acids break down the organic matter.  If you can wind a cord about an inch thick around your finger and it not crack then it is plastic enough.

Porosity is the second most important thing about clay.  It must be porous or course enough to let the water escape easily so that it can dry uniformly.  You can add silica sand to help with this.

Vitrified: Clay must become hard at a certain temperature.  Most materials become soft or sag when they get hot.  If it is fired too high clay will melt like a pancake.  Knowing the temperature to heat the clay to is important. 

Types of clay is based mostly on their ability to vitrify.  But also can be divided into groups according to porosity or plasticity.

Earthenware is a low-firing clay.  It only partly vitrifies when it gets hot.  A red pottery pot will get wet clear through. 

Stoneware clay can be red or grey but never pure white.  It can be partially vitreous.  It will absorb a little water but not so people will notice.  At 2310 the clay becomes vitreous.  It is white or off-white.  They are harder than steel but more brittle. 

Earthenware, stoneware, or porcelain are the subgroups.  There are 100’s of subdivisions in each of these areas. 

Jer 18:1  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

Jer 18:2  Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

Jer 18:3  Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

Jer 18:4  And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Jer 18:5  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Jer 18:6  O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.

We are His creation. 

The period between the New and Old Testament, there were various activities of the potter.  They had stone wheels, as they revolved the pottery: “with his hands he molded it and with his feet he softened it.”  You have to get it so that it is soft enough to be able to form it. 

God sent Jeremiah to the potter’s workshop to give him an object lesson.  The vessel made was marred in the hand of the potter and he made it again another vessel. 

Pottery workshops were usually outside the town so that the smoke from the kiln did not irritate the people of the city.  The potsherd gate was probably where the pots were made.  There was an illusion of the towers of furnaces was made in the Hennom valley.  It is also there at the valley of Topheth where sacrifices of children were made to a false God. 

It is referred to in some places as a type of hell.  There was pottery parts and smoke and piles of rubbish.  It was not pleasant to walk through. 

The earliest potter’s wheels were probably two flat stones one rotating on another. 

God demonstrated His sovereignty as being able to remake Jerusalem.  The Lord God formed man from the dust off the earth and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils and man became a living soul. 

God created man from the native clay of the earth.  In the midst of his tribulation Job cried out to God.  “Thou made me as the clay and wilt thou bring me unto dust again?”

We sing the old songs of reformation glory.  God gathering His people again.  There are different vessels in the tabernacle that were designed for God’s use.  That is what we are supposed to be.

2Ch 36:18  And all the vessels of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king, and of his princes; all these he brought to Babylon.

2Ch 36:19  And they burnt the house of God, and brake down the wall of Jerusalem, and burnt all the palaces thereof with fire, and destroyed all the goodly vessels thereof.

2Ch 36:20  And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; where they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:

These vessels were rescued and carried to Babylon.  We know that there are people in Babylon that are God’s vessels and to be reclaimed.  We want to be a help.  The church is God’s and on His shoulders.  We want to be there and be a help to each one that we can, and also not be a hindrance to a child that wants to serve God. 

We want to encourage each one and see them rescued.

Sister Sharron Wednesday Evening 6/24/15

Sister Sharron Wednesday Evening 6/24/15

Mat 24:13  But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

If we don’t endure then a lot we do will be vanity.  It takes work to overcome the flesh and endure in the right way.  When that day comes we want to still be saved.

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

There will be times when we will have to endure hatred.  These battles are all common to man.  There is nothing new.

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

We all want the blessing.  It takes some work to endure temptation.

Jas 5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

Jas 5:11  Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

We have need of patience.  Job is a good example for us.  Afflictions come to everyone at some time or another.  We must endure affliction.

1Pe 2:19  For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.

What we do and how we react is the example of the Church.  For the Church’s sake, we need to sometimes just suffer wrongfully so that we are a good example.

God’s promises, He will answer our prayers.

Psa 91:15  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

Isn’t it good that He will be with us in those times?  I wouldn’t want to go through it without God.

Isa 58:9  Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;

It says if you cry He will be there to answer.  God is the one that can put things right.  Sometimes we cannot, but He can.

Isa 65:24  And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

Even before we call, He sees what is ahead.

Zec 13:9  And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.

God will use whatever He needs to use to refine us.  We want to be prepared.  When we try to prepare things, we tend to work with the surface.  God knows way down in our heart what needs to be. 

Luk 11:9  And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

Luk 11:10  For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

If we will really seek Him, we will be found of Him.

Joh 15:7  If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

Joh 15:8  Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

Joh 15:9  As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

Joh 15:10  If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

That is where I want to be found.  It says that it takes much fruit to be found there. 

We all want the blessing, God has promised some blessings:

Exo 23:25  And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

These are golden nuggets that belong to us.

Mal 3:10  Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Bring our tithes and look at what awaits us.  Look at the reward.  We don’t do it for the reward, but look at the blessing. 

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

The fruits of the Spirit, the fruits in the kingdom of God are: Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. 

There will be a cleansing, when we get saved and after.

Isa 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

This is what salvation does.

Eze 36:25  Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

Eze 36:26  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

He doesn’t just cleanse the outside, He digs into the very core.  He doesn’t just dig in there, He cleans it up.  It is wonderful what God does for us.

Mal 3:3  And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.

Isn’t it wonderful that when we bow at the altar and get cleaned up, we don’t have to muck around anymore.  We can go through the whole week and stay clean. 

Eph 5:25  Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Eph 5:26  That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

When we pray in the tabernacle worship, we try to visualize the washing of the Water by the Word.  Not that we have sinned, but that we are being washed, cleansed.

Eph 5:27  That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

This separates cheap religion from real salvation.  I want the real thing.

We are separated from the world yet He said to go into the world.  We have a job to do.  He cleans us up and sets us apart.  We have a work to do. 

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

All of our sin!  When I got saved, I didn’t understand it.  All sin!  You get delivered from sin and you don’t go and do it tomorrow.  You stay saved.  You don’t have to do it again.

God promises us comfort.

Isa 51:3  For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.

There are dry places, but through it all He brings joy and gladness, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody shall be found in our heart.

Isa 66:13  As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

Joh 14:1  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

Joh 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Joh 16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

People everywhere say that they are seeking for peace and never quite obtaining it.  In Christ there is peace. 

God promises deliverance.

1Co 10:13  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

When we get into tight places, we can hang on to these scriptures.

2Pe 2:9  The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:

He knows how to deliver us.  Many times I sure don’t know how to deliver myself.

God promises forgiveness.

Psa 103:3  Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

He doesn’t just partially forgive us.  He forgives us all. 

Mat 6:14  For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

Forgiveness works both ways.  Receiving and forgiving.

1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Every bit of it, all. 

He has also promised guidance.

Psa 25:9  The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

Psa 48:14  For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.

He has promised us help.

Jer 30:17  For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.

It is a wonderful thing that He does for Zion.

He has promised long life:

Pro 10:27  The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened.

He has promised peace:

Psa 29:11  The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.

In the midst of all the problems we can have peace.

Psa 119:165  Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.

Isa 26:3  Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

God has promise us rest.  We work hard and we battle hard.  There is a rest to the people of God.  Sometimes we have to just claim it.  We must fight for it.  Some didn’t enter in because of unbelief.

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Heb 4:3  For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.

Heb 4:4  For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.

Heb 4:5  And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.

Heb 4:6  Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief:

Heb 4:7  Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.

Heb 4:8  For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.

Heb 4:9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

It is wonderful to me the promise of rest.

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 6/21/15

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 6/21/15

2Sa 7:1  And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies;

2Sa 7:2  That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.

2Sa 7:3  And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee.

“The ark of God dwelleth within curtains.”  The very first thing that was put into the Tabernacle was the ark of God.  The final thing reaching the Holiest of Holies, it is that which God had in mind for Moses and for us, as far as salvation and sanctification.

David said, “I would rather be a door keeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

I would like to look at what was in the ark of God.  There were the Ten Commandments, the pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded. 

In the beginning of time, when Adam and Eve were created and in the Garden of Eden.  Even before Adam and Eve, God had it in His mind to dwell with His people.

We all that have reached the age of accountability understand sin.  There was that nature to sin that led us abroad early in our life.  It is wonderful that God always deals with the problem.  He doesn’t give a Band-aide, He gives a cure.

God designed that mankind would serve Him.  God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

We will all meet, as we travel the journey of life, individuals that have their own doctrine: “It doesn’t matter who or what you worship as long as you worship.”  That is heresy.  We must worship the true God in Spirit and in truth. 

These truths affect children, young people, and adults.  As Athol is getting ready for their youth outreach we need to pray that the young people would come under the influence of the almighty making an appeal to their soul that their mind would go to spiritual things. 

The effect of worshipping God in spirit and in truth is that individuals are changed.  Every one of us comes into this world with a clean slate and because of our own sin we gain a record in heaven of our committed sin until we confess, repent, and get saved.

The design of the Word of God is that we are changed by the Spirit of the Lord.  We have all experienced the pleasures of life, our own desires, the will of man, ideas that people would give to instruct you as to what you ought to do…  I want to help you this morning.  There is one marvelous thing about the plan of God.  It is one of the many things about the plan of God.  His plan is that you worship Him in Spirit and in truth. 

2Co 3:17  Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

I often awake in the morning and feel my desperate need to be changed by the Spirit of the Lord.  It doesn’t mean that I went away from God in the night.  It means that there is something in us that if we try to direct our own pathways we will make shipwreck every time.  We have the marvelous opportunity to be changed by the Word and Spirit of God.

If you are in sin this morning, you are blessed, there has been a supreme sacrifice made that all your sin could be forgiven.  You don’t get partially saved.  You may have been cleaning up your language and books and measuring here and there.  That is to be appreciated.  There is something that takes place when you realize that on a hill called Mount Calvary the blood of the Lamb was slain that you could be forgiven and washed. 

I was thinking of the personal affect it has on me when I think of the sacrifice that was made that I could be saved.  It brings such a reverence to me to think that the holy Lamb of God died one day on a hill called Mount Calvary a price was made that I could be forgiven of my committed and inherited sin.

There is the laver, a place to wash.  After you are saved, there is a place to go back and begin to worship, “God I want to be washed of anything that displeases you.”  The children have been playing in the garden, weeding, and watering.  Someway they became dirty.  There is water to cleanse.

God says, even after some would say we have been saved a long time, “I want to wash you.”  We say, “I want to be washed.”  God always convicts us according to the Word of God.  When there is something in the inner man, the soul, that needs to be washed, He comes with His precious Word.  It is a law of liberty.  His washing frees us.  It especially frees us from our self.

If you have some hang ups, I will not be able to unhang you, but if you will worship then God can cleanse you at the laver.

Jesus is the door.  It is wonderful that there is a way into His church.  All that come, come the same way: through His door.  As you enter in, it is wonderful what He has prepared for you.

There is a candlestick that shines light on your pathway.  “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet.”  There is not one here that will not be making decisions.  Some have very important decisions to make.  His Word is a light to our feet.  It will be a lamp unto our path.

God knows what lies ahead.  I can fill you with fears and precautions; I could tell you about all the snares that are out there for these children and young people.  There is one thing that is so much better and that is to take the candlestick of the Word of God and let it search your soul and have the attitude, “I want you to shine the light on my path, enlighten my steps, and show me the snares.”

There is also a table of shew bread.  Every Sabbath there was 12 loaves of fresh bread put upon the table.  Every day God has fresh bread for your soul.

You go to the golden altar, you offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise, but it is deeper than that, we offer ourselves, a living sacrifice: holy and acceptable to God.

People would like you to first of all look out for yourselves.  If you want your life to reach the Holiest of Holies and have the blessings of the Ark of the Covenant, you must present your body a living sacrifice. 

It means, “Dear God, I am yours every day, 365 days a year.”  Paul was inspired of God to say, “It is your reasonable service.”  When God asks a living sacrifice He is doing us a favor.  The way to the Holiest of Holies is a living sacrifice. 

When we say, “Not my will.”  They are easy words to say, but we throw our plans aside and give Him a fresh sheet and say, “You fill it with the Love of God.”

He says when we give Him that blank sheet, “I will cleanse you and give you the comforter.”  You enter into the Holiest of Holies. 

Just the words, “The Holy of Holies” brings a reverence to my soul.  I hope God will reveal to you what He has in store for every one that is in the Holy of Holies.

Psa 138:2  I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

In this ark, the ark of God, was placed the Word of God.  Whether you are the age of the youngest that would feel they could present their body a living sacrifice, or whether you are the eldest.  It is a marvelous thing for you and me to be able to enter the Holiest of Holies and have that relationship with God, “There is no reservation in my life.” 

To every one of us, the ark of God contains the greatest blessings that heaven or earth could ever give: It was in the ark of God that the Word of God was kept.  His wonderful Word that He magnifies above His name was written on the fleshly tables of our heart. 

He has the very best for you, for me, for our children, the best we can give family, friends, or the mission world is that which is of an eternal value, the Word of God.

Think of the Holiest of Holies and it gives you a respect and an anointing, “This is the place that my soul longs for.”  I stand here in awe of Him.

Among the contents of the ark was the manna.  You and I know a little about manna.  God sent the manna in the days of Moses in the wilderness.  It was gathered every morning.  It was bread from heaven. 

There is a place where there is manna, bread from heaven, for you.  There is nothing as good for your soul, for your prayer life, for your personality, there is nothing so good for you in the home relationship, or the fellowship relationship with the Body of Christ.  For you that are in difficult situations of your life, there is nothing so wonderful as going into the Holiest of Holies and there being imparted the bread of heaven.

The manna is described as angel food.  It means that you feel when you are there in the Holiest of Holies worshipping God, and every voice is quiet, that you are partaking of angel bread.  The cares of life are real, they are as real to Karen and I as to anyone in this audience, but there is a place in the Holiest of Holies that the cares of life cannot speak for you are eating angel food.

In the ark was Aaron’s rod that budded.  It represents Jesus Christ.  He is the High Priest forever settled at the right hand of God making intercession for us.  From Him comes fruit unto eternal life.  The mercy of God has provided for all our needs.

If you are here this morning and you need to be saved, it starts right at the altar where the Blood of Christ made an atonement for our sin.  If you have been saved, don’t stop there.  If the light has shown on your path way, don’t stop there.

Everyone here can say, “If it hadn’t been for Jesus where would I be?”  But we cannot stop there.  We cannot stop with just eating a little bread of the Word of God. 

We go on to the Candlestick.  We appreciate God.  There are those that are endeavoring to serve God.  They worship God until they have the witness that they are saved, that is good, but don’t stop there, go on to perfection until you know that you are totally sold out to God and until you know that all is on the altar.

If you have inherited a few hundred thousand dollars, there is only one thing to do with it and that is to put it back on the altar.  One thing I know, those that held on to inheritances lost it.  Give it to God and you will gain great treasure in heaven. 

If you have gotten married, then get your spouse on the altar.  If you have inherited lots of grandchildren, get them all on the altar or you will be torn up the rest of your life. 

There are those that have heartaches that we won’t talk about.  You say, “What can I do with this heartache?”  The only thing to do is put it all on the altar.

We live in a very sad religious, hard economic, and immoral day.  There is only one thing to do with that sadness, “Lord I am still on the altar; I give myself.”  It is wonderful thing that there is a place to put all that sadness. 

Sometimes you will be most disappointed with yourself.  You let molehills be mountains, you let a headache become terminal cancer.  There is only one place to put your heartache and sorrow, that is the altar.

The mercy of God has provided for all our needs.  I don’t take away or shrink your challenge.  I would not try to shrink the season of life that you are in, but I want to emphasize, your all must be on the altar and you must enter into the Holiest of Holies.  The seasons of life are all blessed when we frequent the Holy of Holies. 

I will probably never have the opportunity of asking the brother Nipp that was called to Africa, he experienced the call to be a missionary as a boy.  He had been raised in New Castle Indiana and he worked the strawberry fields there.  He went to camp-meeting with his summer wages in his pocket, $10.  He took all his summer wages and put them into the missionary offering.

Sometimes God speaks to children of His plans.  I don’t know how old he was when he went into the mission field, but he loved the mission field.

The seasons of our life are blessed when we enter the Holiest of Holies.  If you have a father that you are disappointed in, then get it on God.  If you don’t then the enemy will work a bitterness. 

The benefits of the Holiest of Holies:  you will be able to produce the fruits of the Spirit.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Gal 5:23  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Perfect love is a result of you being in the Holiest of Holies.  It is when someone throws a stone at you, you don’t throw it back.  You can pray with joy.  If you come and go from the Holiest of Holies you will have joy and peace, perfect peace.  Peace, peace, wonderful peace.

Long suffering:  How we need the Holiest of Holies.  A child does not become an adult overnight.  A new convert won’t know what you learned on the journey of five or ten years. 

Long suffering: You say, “I am really disgusted.”  I want to help you, there is a place that deals very well with disgust.  This heavenly father of ours, His Son, and the Holy Spirit of God don’t come to condemn us when we are disgusted, they come to show us that there is a better way in the Holiest of Holies where the high priest that makes intercession in the Gospel Day meets with us.

Oh what a place that is!  God says, “Son, daughter I have in that beautiful place known as the Holiest of Holies the fruit of longsuffering and gentleness.” 

Are you quick to jump on something and say, “I am going to deal with this?”  There is a place to deal with our rashness, it is the Holiest of Holies.  There you are quiet.  God deals with you in the beauty of His workings, of His Spirit, and He deals with you that say, “Work with me, change me, and mold me.”

Goodness:  you will wear out and burn out with the needs of America.  You will tire out with doing and doing.  We have endeavored to teach of the necessity of being thankful and showing gratitude. 

The benefits of the Holiest of Holies: perfect fruit, perfect love, and perfect rest.

You all know that I am in a unique season of my life.  What I want to get done, it is vital that I do.  There is a wonderful consolation to my soul.  In the Holiest of Holies, we find the perfect will of God.

When we see the vision of God toward us in the Holiest of Holies, we like Moses and like David cry out, “Who am I?”

God has created and provided the very best for us.

God spoke to Brother Naylor in the Holiest of Holies, “Yield to the Holy Spirit, He wants His way with thee.”

God has sent the Holy Spirit to our hearts an honored guest,
To deliver us from evil and to bring us peace and rest. 
He has come to work with in us, heavens purposes so blest:
He wants way in thee. 

Yield unto the Holy Spirit. 
Let him have His way with thee;
Be thou ready to obey Him,
He leads to victory.

Let the Spirit do the planning.  Point the way thy feet shall go;
Greater than thine own His wisdom, He the Will of God doth know;
Better wiser than thy choosing is the way that He will show;
He wants His way in thee.

He doth sometimes work in silence, when thou dost not know at all;
He doth sometimes speak so softly Thou must listen for His call. 
But if thou wilt trust Him fully.  He will be thine all in all: 
He wants His way in thee.

All thyself to Him surrender, As He pleases let Him do;
In the paths He leadeth follow, Whether they be old or new. 
When the tasks seem hard before thee, He with power will endue: 
He wants His way in thee.

If you are not at peace with the past and with your brother or sister, it starts right here at the Holiest of Holies.  His way is to Yield unto the Holy Spirit.  “He wants His way in thee.  Be thou ready to obey; He leads to victory.”