Brother Gary Sunday Morning 8/17/14

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 8/17/14

2Co 3:1  Do we begin again to commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?

2Co 3:2  Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:

2Co 3:3  Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

2Co 3:4  And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:

2Co 3:5  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;

2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

The Word of God is written on the tender tables of our heart.  This is the design of the Gospel Day.  It is not to be written on the wall, on tables of stone, or a manual for you and me to follow.  God has a marvelous plan to give us a new heart and a new spirit and that He would write His Word on the fleshly or soft tables of our heart.

Most of us have experienced a heart that grew hard through making wrong choices and other experiences in sin.  The Love of God convicted us and as we came to the Lord Jesus Christ confessing and repenting of our sin; He gave us a new heart that has soft tables that can be written on. 

As the law was written on the tables of stone, so His Word is written on the tables of our heart. 

He makes a way for us to be able ministers of the New Testament.  The Word written on the fleshly tables of our heart is the qualification that causes us to be an able minister.  An able minister is not just a preacher; it is anyone that has experienced having the Word of God written on the fleshly tables of their heart.

The letter killeth:  if you take the word of God without the Spirit and the Love of God, you will damage souls. 

I was asked to help with the service for an old gentleman that had been a rodeo clown.  He requested that there not be hellfire and brimstone at his service but rather something comforting for the people already knew that they were in bad shape.  I was not told this until after I brought a text, “there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.”

Isn’t it wonderful that through God sending His son, every one of us can have the bridge gapped and we can draw close to God.  With the Word of God in our heart not only does God show us our need, but He brings the answer to the need.

One of the ways to know if God is dealing with you: this week as I was meditating and studying on the Sunday school lessons on the chief corner stone.  He gives us a stone to line up with and then draws the line from that.  God gives us the stone and then challenges us to step to the line.

Life is called life because it is difficulty that makes us strong.  When you are faced with what you don’t have an answer to, the thing to do is to go to the corner stone and say, “God I want you to measure with your Word the thing that will allow me to be a victor in this exact situation.”

Jesus came to give us life.  The Word of God without the presence of God is a killer, but with the love of God, it gives life, enthusiasm, and peace.

When God instructed Moses to go to Mt Sinai and receive the word written on hard rock, God spoke to him to prepare to meet with Him.  Every one of us has a still small voice that speaks to us daily.  “Come unto me my child and meet me.”

“Moses, I want you to come up alone and position yourself where you will see none of the cares of life or the riches or prosperity.  I want you to be alone with God.” 

Mat 6:5  And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

Mat 6:6  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

There is a secret meeting between us and our God.  We shut out the world and all the voices of counselors and whatever.  He that sees in secret knows when we are in secret.

We have a house that has a basement.  At my age if I was to build a house it would not have a basement.  Everything would be on one floor.  Stairs are getting challenging to me.

We have read Songs of Solomon; it is like a love story between God and His church, between us and God.  Solomon was saying, “Meet me in the secret place of the stairs.” 

I was wondering what stairs that Solomon had to climb in the rich houses that he built.  In the wealthy houses that I have heard of, they build stairs for the servants.  Solomon said to his beloved, “Meet me in the secret of the stairs.” 

What that has meant to me is this, I could be in the basement and look up the stairway and think: “I can have a secret meeting with God.  I am here by myself and there is something that God wants to talk to me about.” 

God doesn’t only want to hear of our problems but He wants to hear as well how wonderful it is to have a heavenly father.

My dad was called away into an eternity by an accident way too young.  I look at others in this congregation that did not have the privilege of having their father in their life.  Some have sad memories of their dad.  I’m sorry about that.  But there is a secret place where you can meet a father, a heavenly father.

You probably will not be able to take the grief of what could have been and never was in to that meeting with you.  I can guarantee you that in the secret place, wherever is secret to you, you can meet and commune with your heavenly father.

It is marvelous that you can literally speak to God with your mouth, with your heart, and with your mind.  The Bible teaches us to have an audible prayer, but there will also be times when you cannot pray aloud.  You can lift up your heart, your soul, and your mind and say, “God I need you.”

A greater test than an academic is a test to your character and your convictions and to truth.  You can lift up your heart right then and say, “God I need you.”

God told Moses to be ready in the morning and have the stones prepared before he came up.  God has a way of preparing our heart to meet with Him.  My mind can go to worrying about this or that.  I don’t believe that is God’s way of preparing the heart.

We come before Him and pray, “God help my heart to be tender and soft toward the things of God.  Help when my heart feels the finger of God writing upon it of the Word of God that I will not draw back but say, ‘God write upon my heart.’”

There is a sweet aroma that goes from earth to heaven when His servants obey.  It pleases the very presence of God when you choose to obey.

Moses obeyed and God came down.  Even with all our modern technology, there are times when we cannot get a hold of whoever it may be, but with God He is available 24 hours a day and seven days a week for His children.

God came down and described himself to Moses.  “I am God.” 

Sister Timberly taught about God and the cornerstone this morning.  There are literally thousands and maybe millions of gods.  In the day of Moses the Egyptians had hundreds of gods.  Some of them were insects; some of their very gods became their plagues.

In the midst of that there is a God that is alive that identifies with mankind.  He described himself as the mighty God.  We know this; because we have seen the mountains, the glaciers, the lakes, the trees, the stars, and if you get up early enough you can see the sun arise.

He is the mighty God.  He is not only the mighty God but the Bible teaches us that He is the merciful God.  When we think of the mercy of God that has been extended to everyone of us!  From childhood we knew His mercy. 

The greatest mercy and love that was ever shown is when He sent his only begotten son that we could be saved and forgiven from all our sin.

“There is a wideness in God’s mercy like the wideness of the sea.  There is a kindness in His justice which is more than liberty.  He is calling, come to me… “

What a merciful God that says, “Come to me all you that are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”

He is not only the merciful God but he is the longsuffering God.  Karen was praying for some in the rest home that are out of the ark of God that they may repent and be saved.  God has waited all these years.

God has a tender heart and instructs us to have a tender heart.  When you read the Gospels, whenever children are involved, the heart of Jesus Christ always turns toward the children. 

I remember the time when the children were in the audience and probably making noise, the disciples said, “Jesus, tell them to take the children away.”  Jesus sat down and said, “Suffer the children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”

God is not easily provoked or irritated.  I would not ask any in this audience if they, like me, don’t always learn the lesson the first time.  He is more long suffering than those that give you three mistakes and then you are out.  He is longsuffering.

Let us ascribe greatness unto God.  The greatness of God is that He will hear a sinner’s prayer of repentance.  He will hear the prayer of someone in trouble. 

What a great God that doesn’t look upon one whose steps are getting slower, as that ‘old man’, or that ‘old lady.’ But rather that they are His servants who have served Him well.  He says, “I will be with them until their hair turns silver.” 

Brother Bill was tender to Brother McConahae when sickness and age left him unable to work very much.  Brother Bill, the man in charge, would say to the senior, older pastor whose steps were slow and memory was bad, “Do you have anything to add Brother?

For those of you that are young and can remember well, sow good seed.  This great God is preparing the seed that everyone of you sow to prepare a harvest that will come back to you.

 I thought of those that have had such a heavy burden for the last while.  God’s greatness is that His grace will never put upon you more than you are able to bear and in His grace He says, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He will sustain you.” 

We will have burdens.  That is life.  It is important that we know what to do with that burden.  It is wonderful that we can take that burden and say, “God this is my burden and I am going to place it over on you.”

“Oh Jesus took my burden that I could no longer bare.  Jesus took my burden in answer to my prayer.”

God told Moses that He was bountiful.  He is bountiful not just in creation; His very nature is bountiful in giving out.  “Bless the Lord Oh my soul… Who daily loadeth us with benefits.”  He just pours them out and pours them out.

He is not only bountiful, but He is the preserver or continuation of abundance.  If someone would happen to have a $100 bill in their pocket and I asked for it I believe they would give it to me.  If I asked if they had another, they would probably say, “Do you know that we live in Sanders County and it is next to the poorest county in Montana?” 

If you ask of God, He has an abundant supply.  You say, “Pray, I have reached the end of all my resources.” 

God preserves.  He has He gives, and yet He lacks nothing.  He gives again and He lacks nothing.  When I was so sick I didn’t know how I could possibly be healed, Jesus healed, not with dollars or anything tangible, He gave promises. 

When Isaiah said, “I will bind up the broken heart.”  Jesus quoted it, “I am going to heal the broken heart.”  Jesus can heal the broken heart in Plains and the broken heart you will meet on the way to Plains.

He is an abundance that never runs out.  He is the fountain of truth.  He is truth. 

This God is the fountain of truth:  He sent His Son that left this testimony, “I am the way, the truth and the light.”  The truth bears witness with our heart.  God gave us a built in sensor and indicator that you will know truth and know error.

This God forgives.  Most of us have failed.  I have failed and begged forgiveness of people many times in my life.  There is not one of them that I asked forgiveness of that didn’t forgive me. 

In raising children there were times that I was a little rough.  As I would still myself before God, when I went to go to bed, God would say, “you were a little rough.”  We stepped in on a birthday party, and were asked “can’t you stay for cake?”  I said, “No.”  God spoke to me, “The least you could have done is let the children enjoy that party.”  I made a lot of mistakes, but I can be a good grandpa. 

The marvelous thing about God is when He forgives, He forgets.  He casts our sin as far as the east is from the west, never to be remembered again.  If you want to talk about your sin life to God after you get saved, you can’t.  He has forgotten.  Pick your battles.

God buys back, He redeems.  I hate to think of where my life would be without God.  I shudder to think of where I would be without God.  The most wonderful thing and memory that you can have is a life with God. 

He redeems and restores.  He restores.  He takes what was lost and gives it back and gives more.  He preserves.  You say, “Preacher, I want to keep this peace, this forgiveness, this love.” 

We have this moment to hold in our hand.  There will never be a Sunday morning again just like this.  It will never happen.  That love between you and God, that which God gave you, the word of encouragement, the conviction of God… Maybe the line was crossed of “I am going to serve God all the days of my life.  He has done so much for me; I’m going to give my life back.” 

God is so just and so fair.  There will be times in your life when you don’t understand, “Why did it happen this way?”  God knows what is best every time.

He is a God that rewards obedience and He rewards rebellion. 

I believe in the God described in Exodus 34.  We look at Him and to think that He loved us!  This is not a love that comes and goes.  His love is eternal. 

I thought of the great abundance of God.  When He made the stars, he made them innumerable.  There are regulations on how many fish you can catch and how many you can keep.  But when God made fish He made a lot of fish.  There are a lot of deer.

He is the God of all grace.  He gives great grace.  If you have a need, need divine inspiration in your life, He will give you great divine inspiration in your life.  There will be plenty for the next person.  You can have all the love that you can handle.  He has unending supply.

Enjoy and choose the God of eternity.  He is just the same as He was on Mt Sinai.  He is the same God today.  He is the same God that told Moses that He made the sun, moon, and stars.  If you are up late enough to see the stars and the moon, then you can say, “Oh yes.  Stars I know who made you.”

The events of life in sin will harden our heart.  We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Isn’t it wonderful that there is a plan to soften your heart? 

When you come to Jesus and say, “There is sin in my life will you please forgive me.”  He takes the sin and casts it as far as the east is from the west.  He buries it in the depths of the sea.  He gives you a new, soft, and tender heart.

He gives us a tender heart.  After I was saved a little while God wrote Colossians 3 upon my heart, “If you then be in Christ seek those things that are above …”