Brother Gary Sunday Morning 10/12/14

Brother Gary Sunday Morning 10/12/14

Isa 55:4  Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.

Jesus is a witness, leader, and commander.  As a witness:  when Jesus came the Word of God was made flesh.

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.

When the world was created in the beginning God said, “Let us.”  It was He, the Son, and the Holy Ghost that were in the beginning.  It is the Word, and the Spirit in our heart that helps us to know to confess and repent of our sin and shines on our path way to help us to know that this is the way that we should walk.

Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Joh 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Joh 1:5  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Then we are taught about John the Baptist.

Joh 1:6  There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

Joh 1:7  The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.

Joh 1:8  He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.

John the Baptist was not the light but bare witness of Jesus.

Joh 1:9  That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

We can all be thankful that when we were born there was a light, a desire, in our heart that hungered after God.  When we were born as a child, a baby, we did not know sin.  God was with us and we had that desire and identity that hungered for God. 

I remember asking my mother when I was a child, “Where did I come from?  Where is God?”  I wanted to know. 

Jesus is the true light that came into the world.

Joh 1:10  He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

Joh 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Joh 1:12  But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Joh 1:13  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Joh 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

We see that John was writing here about Jesus, dealing with the thought of the witness in heaven.  1^st John was written when the writer of the Gospel of John was an old man.

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.

The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are always in perfect harmony.  The three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, the water, and the blood: we are washed with the washing of the water by the Word, and the blood.

There is the agreement of the Holy Spirit and God.  We know when the Holy Spirit of God speaks to us, and is telling us to do this or that: the Word of God and the Spirit of God always agree. 

If you have the thought, “I should do this.”  Then you can check it out in the Word of God.  If there is not the agreement then you can know, “That impulse is of the flesh or what someone is telling me to do.”  The Word of God will always agree with the Holy Spirit of God.  It will always agree with the sense of rightness in our heart.

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.

We may ask, “How can I have the witness that I am saved?”  There are definite ways to have the witness.   The first is when you hear God calling you; He is calling you to repent.  He calls all men to repent.  I remember when He called me.  You remember when He called you.  He calls again and again; we are blessed.

It is important when he calls us to repent that we do it God’s way.  We go to God the Father and say, “I may not remember all my sin but I am asking you to forgive me of my sin.  When you do that then all your committed sin is cast as far as the east is from the west never to be remembered again.

The witness of God is greater.  It is wonderful that we can have the witness of God.  Someone may say, “I think that you are a Christian.”  They may look at my boots and say, “I think you own a thousand acres.”  I am neither a millionaire nor do I own a thousand acres. 

When He witnesses to our heart then we know we are saved.  When we obey God and do as He says to do, we have the witness that we are a child of God.

Rev 3:14  And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;

It is so wonderful: Jesus Christ is the faithful witness.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  The proper interpretation: Jesus was Jesus in the Old Testament; He was Jesus in the Gospel day, and throughout eternity.

The more personal application is that Jesus Christ was just the same yesterday, if He told you that he wanted you to read and pray.  He is just the same today and the same tomorrow.

If He says, “I want you to prepare for this”; it will be the same every day.  People change, times change, but God’s word doesn’t change.

Jesus Christ is the leader, the Great Shepherd.  John chapter 10 is speaking of visiting the sheepfold in an eastern country.  When the shepherd went out to the sheepfold, where the sheep were kept from being caught by wild animals, as he approached he wanted the sheep to know that he was coming.  He would sing as He came.  He didn’t want to frighten them.

God has not given us the Spirit of fear.  He doesn’t come to bring terror to you.  If you are God’s child, He doesn’t come to make you think that something terrible is about to happen.  He never comes to hang crepe or with darkness.

He doesn’t come with the thought, “I wish to really scare you.”  I have a grandson that likes to scare.  He likes to sneak up on you, and with a big voice and hands moving, try to scare you.  He is small so it doesn’t bring much scare to turn and see a little guy that is three years old.

We have a shepherd.  He is the designated shepherd and the designated leader.

A good Irish morning routine is to get up and get a cup of coffee and the Word of God and begin reading.  You can count on Him to come over and over again.  In the best of times, and in the times of greatest heartache, He comes.  You can always count on Him.

The shepherd would come whistling and singing.  Sometimes there would be someone in the sheepfold waiting on him.  “The porter opens the door.”  He would look at the sheep and see how they had faired over the night; see if they were diseased, if they were lame, or if there was anything that they would need.

You may have needs; that is the reason that we have a shepherd.  That is a part of life and of maturity and of growing.  There will be one, Jesus, which knows the needs.  He understands you.  He understands you better than you understand yourself.  He not only knows where you have been, but how you have taken the journey.

Various people walk the same road but will tell you different stories about the road they have traveled.  Some would say, “That is a terrible road.”  Others may say, “That is a beautiful road.  The scenery!”

Life is called life because it is difficult at times.  God never promised an easy road.  All trials, temptations, sickness…  None of it is designed by God to destroy you.

You may feel that you are walking with a limp and the journey has bruised your feet.  You may feel that you are bruised because you used the things that have happened in your life as a stumbling block instead of a stepping stone. 

When Jesus comes to you this morning, tonight, tomorrow morning, He has a plan:

Joh 10:3  To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

It is vital that you know His voice and that you know how to be quiet.  There are times, pretty frequent, when God speaks to me and says, “Be still; listen.”

I don’t know how much of my prayer life I spent telling God about things.  One day He smiled and said, “I see everything.  You don’t have to give me your commentary; I understand how you see it.  I understand how it affects you.  You don’t have to tell me.”

He knows His sheep by name:  He knows your name. 

Not very many of us like to hear, “Hey you.”  I was raised with strict parents.  My father was my dad, there was no, “Hey you”, or “old man.”  My mother was always my mom or my mother.  There was never, “Hey you, bring me a shirt.”

God knows your name and calls you by your name.  In the general phase of your life, have the pattern “I am going to meet with God in the morning, and I am going to hear Him calling my name.  I am going to know His voice.”

Karen has this aged aunt, in her broken English she will call, “This is your Aunt Helen, Karen; I need to hear your voice.”  I always smile when I get the message; it is a warm call.

It is not wrong in the morning to wake up and say, “God I need to hear your voice.”  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  The Great Shepherd, the leader, comes to lead you where He wants you to feed and to pasture.

Joh 10:4  And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

You never have to be alone.  You never have to go to school or to work alone.

Joh 10:5  And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

The Bible teaches that they will not follow a stranger but will flee from them.  We will all be visited by strange voices that will lead us the wrong direction.  Never allow those voices to become familiar to you.  Flee them.

Joh 10:6  This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.

Joh 10:7  Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.

Joh 10:8  All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.

Joh 10:9  I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.

Jesus knows what you need every day.  He is the door spiritually to His church, His kingdom.  He doesn’t put you in a sealed house; He leads you out to pasture.  He feeds you the good things of God.

Joh 10:10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Joh 10:11  I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

We see that we have a wonderful leader.  We have a commander:  a governor with the heart of a shepherd.

Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:

Col 1:17  And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

Col 1:18  And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

It is wonderful to not be in control.  God has ordained that Jesus Christ have preeminence in all things in our life.

Col 1:19  For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell;

Col 1:20  And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

We see that God ordained that Jesus Christ would be the true witness, the true commander, the governor with the heart of a shepherd.

God has designed that you and I have a hunger for God.

Psa 84:1  To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!

How desirable are thy tabernacles:  it is the most wonderful thing in the world to meet with God. 

Psa 84:2  My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.

In my travel on the spiritual road, I was thinking, “My heart desires God.”  Something prompted me to think, “God made all of me.  He didn’t just make my heart; He made my mind and my body.  He made all of me.”

My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.  There is something deep in ourselves that cries for the living God.  It is vital that we let God satisfy us.

If we don’t let God satisfy us then our mind and our flesh will look for fulfillment somewhere else.  There is nowhere else that will fulfill the soul. 

There is a natural longing for companionship.  To be loved by children to love your mother and father.  If you were blessed with good parents, or not, you still desired to have them.  Only Jesus can satisfy that longing. 

That doesn’t mean that there will not be disappointment.  We would desire to see every one of our children, and our in-laws saved.  If it isn’t that way, you don’t have to go through life hanging crepe.  We can be thankful that there is a God in heaven that has a design to have someone in the body of Christ to fill up that which lacks.

That is the reason why every one of us needs to be fully dedicated to God.  Not just thinking the thought, but we can be that brother and that sister that someone never had.

Psa 84:4  Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.

Psa 84:5  Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them.

Psa 84:6  Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools.

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

I had a wonderful experience last week, it wasn’t what I wanted, but it was what I needed.  I didn’t feel good and I made some bad mistakes.  I told my wife after she came home, “I had a total meltdown today.”  I got a little lunch, went to bed, and I felt so bad. 

I felt like, “Everything has gone wrong.”  That fast God spoke and said, “No, everything has not gone wrong.  You have so much to be thankful for.”  Some things had gone really wrong but everything had not gone wrong.  What really matters was still in tack.

Sometimes we need to reevaluate our values.  Everything tangible is not what really matters.  I want to hold the pickup that Karen bought me lightly.  I am touchy about Brother Bill’s pickup.  I don’t want any white marks on His pickup from mine. 

Highly respect someone else’s property but don’t have your heart set on material things.  They go away.

I lay down in bed, “Everything has gone wrong.”  God spoke and said, “No the things that really matter are still in tack.”  I said, “Thank you, Lord.”  I started counting my blessings.  Prior to this I thought, “I hate for Karen to come home and find me so down.” 

When you begin to count your blessings, the things that really matter and that are most important, the scene changes completely.  The Psalmist David knew this, “They go from strength to strength.  Everyone in Zion appears before God.”

Isa 55:1  Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

It is alright to be thirsty this morning.  From Brother Bill’s testimony and prayer request I believe that there are young people thirsting after God.  Ida hungered for God.  She would ask us to sing a song.  Everyone hungers for God.  People can get themselves in such shape that hunger is squished and squelched and other things begin to develop.

To those that hunger, those that have a need, hearken to me.  Eat that which is good.

We can be very challenged by excellent preaching that we heard from Brother Klemstein.  We may be challenged by what we heard a long time ago with God saying, “Come up a little higher, and go down a little deeper.” 

Think on the things of Philippians 4:8 - whatsoever things are true, honest, just, lovely; purity in word and thought, things that are of good report.  Think on these things: the love of God, of a saved companion, of the saints. 

We can be challenged by something that we have heard, or God can challenge us with what we have heard many times.

Isa 55:2  Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.

Isa 55:3  Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

The government of our lives and of eternity:  He gave us a leader for life and He will be ours in eternity.

He gave us a witness: we all know that one of these days our faith will become sight.  Can you imagine when we see Jesus?  That exclamation of Hallelujah, of Hosanna, of falling down and worshipping that one that has the prints in his hand, that shed His blood that we could be save, and that governed our life!

There is a wonderful doctrine in the Word of God that is temperance.  On a rotor-tiller, or other small engines, there is a governor and if it doesn’t work right it will roar out of control.  You try to shut it down and it is going crazy so to speak.

This is how I would be without the Governor.  He helps us to know that there is a balance.  He helps us to know that we need to work for a while and rest for a while.  He helps us to have consistency.

I think of the reports of hoarders.  We all could be a hoarder.  “I’d better save that plastic sack; McGowans could run out.”  They could, but if you save them all you won’t have room in your house.  We all could become hoarders.  But there is a governor in our life, isn’t that wonderful?

He helps us to know to govern our mind.  I don’t know if I am the only one in this audience that can pray and then get up from praying and God says, “Wait a minute here.”  I cannot multitask except for when I am praying.  I get down to pray and can be thinking about this or that.  The governor says, “Wait a minute, you need to pray.  You need to be all here.”

We are given the counsels of the eternal one.  He always says, “Seek my face.  Call upon me while I am here.”  For any in sin He says, “Forsake sin.  Return to God.”

God promised His Word would prosper.  We will go out with joy.  His word brings joy.  We will be lead forth with peace.  Isn’t that wonderful?  Thy life shall be as the myrtle tree.

Three things about the myrtle tree:  it grows in eastern countries like Jerusalem.  They usually grow in groves.  They never lose their leaves and they bloom almost all the time.  When travelers are going to top a knoll, they may get a fragrance that comes to them, “Oh I am coming to a grove of myrtle trees.” 

Our lives can be like that.  Be as a tree planted by a river: our roots go down and the branched spread out.  God designs that our lives be beautiful. 

The fruit of the myrtle can be used in various seasonings.  The fruit of the Spirit is found in Galatians 5.

It is refreshing.  How refreshing?  Sister Timberly tells of a student in her class that said, “If I could have had a family that loved God, I would be a good girl.”

That challenges me, “Let our life be full of fragrance of a myrtle tree.”  The fir you can build with.  People need buildings but they also need good examples.  Fragrance, beautiful, refreshing, and fruitful:  don’t you want to challenge lives to bear more fruit? 

For every one of these children and young people, we are going to encourage them to serve God, to be respectful to their parents.  Whenever we know that there is a gap, we are going to try to build a bridge. 

It is so vitally important that we have one another, and that we are a good example one to another.  We have a witness, we have a leader, and we have a commander.  Jesus Christ is all three.