| Text Sermons |
|
Welcome to the Sermons Page It is our hope that you will find something to edify and bless your heart as you endeavor to know, and to grow.
THE PARALYSIS OF FEAR 9/16/07
As I look in churches today, including this one, I see a lot of people who have been kept in bondage by fear. Fear has become one of the devil's most potent weapon against the kingdom of God, and the people of God. If he can get us to be fearful he will control most of what we do, or avail ourselves to do.
Fear, or to be afraid is caused by sin. The Hebrew (yaw-ray) never appear in the Bible until when Adam sinned and hid himself from God. When God called him in the cool of the day as per usual, this time in question, he was afraid and hid himself from God. Gen. 3:10 “I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked and I hid myself.” That word (yaw-ray) the root word mean to fear...morally to revere, causatively to be frighten... From that day fear has gripped the world and almost all the things that we were created to have dominion over, we are dominated by them.... Don't be disillusioned with the personality and inability concept. The devil disguise fear in a package called personality and inability, and have us hiding behind them. Fear is a destroyer of confidence...! Fear is bondage but the Son of God came to set you free. And who he sets free, is free indeed. Fear cause stagnation, fear makes dwarfs out of great people. In other words, God only knows what you could become had not fear gotten you in its grip. Some may say I'm just shy, I am a behind the seen person, but it could be another ploy of your enemy to keep you silent, and prevent your growth. I consider fear as the devil's weapon of mass prevention... So much of what God wants us to do has not been done because of fear. Fear of what others may think, fear of being judged or evaluated, fear of not doing well. Paul states clearly in Romans 8:15, “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”
The children of Israel lived in bondage and fear of death for a long time in Egypt. But through Christ's own death on the cross he destroys him who had the power of death.. “And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Heb. 2:15) You have not received the spirit of bondage or slavery...therefore we ought not to allow fear to hold us hostage that God cannot fulfill his purpose in our lives. Fear of the unknown, fear of reaction, fear that we are not able, fear because we judge ourselves by comparing ourselves with others. Fear become excuses and pretence thay we are not able, or we suggest asking some one esle who is better able. We have received the Spirit of freedom and sonship to break every bondage of fear. Knowing who we are and whose we are, ought to be a fear breaker and a fear eliminator. Knowing that of myself I can do nothing, but I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. We ought to have confidence and boldness. “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.” (1 Jn.5:14) We are called to boldness fearing only God, by which the wise man Solomon say it is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge... One of the biggest fear is the fear of what others may think of us. So to avoid being assessed we join the do nothing gang. Fear limits our expression of joy, fear hinders you from singing out for the glory of God. Fear keeps you in your seat when you should get up and shout. Fear prevents you from sharing Christ with others, even when you know they are hopelessly lost. FEAR PARALIZES US! . President Franklin Roosevelt in his inaugural address in 1933 dealing with where he wants to lead the country, and what could be achieved, states, “So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” The fear of God and confidence in him should cast away all other fears. We are only told to fear the Lord...Prov. 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” 9:10 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” Fear not is mentioned about one hundred times in the Bible. Looking back at Moses God told him “Now therefore, go and I will be with thy mouth... (Ex. 4:11-12) When God called Moses to send him to Egypt to deliver his people he had a lot of excuses... and one by one he brought them before the Lord as good reasons why he couldn't, but over and over again God shew him that he called him for the purpose. How long will we put God's program on hold while we allow our fears to have the better of us?
When the spies were sent to view out the promise land most of them came back with negative report, the majority of them had a defeatist mentality rippled with fear of what and who they saw in the land. They came back saying “The land which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof, and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sights as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.” (Num. 13:32-33) Fear takes away your will to fight... fear paralyzes and make a seemingly potent man appear impotent. Fear makes you have a weapon in your hand and can't fire, or use it. You need to tell yourselves today, no longer will I be controlled by fear...no more will fear determine whether I make myself available to God or not. No more fear. No more fear, I am breaking that bondage today...no more will I be paralyzed by fear. I will be bold and strong with a sense of purpose and make myself available to God for whatever he wants me to do.
Release your mind from bondage
I believe that there is a war on for the minds of the believers in Christ. The devil is out to capture our minds to determine how and what we do, and also who we become. I have often reminded you of the importance of the mind. Our mind is the engine that drives us along day by day. If you think you have lost a battle you will act like a loser.
If the devil can get you to think that no body likes you, you will live your life in isolation. If he makes you think you cannot live a Christian life you will give up on the grace of God and turn back to what God saved you from.
Bob Marley puts it right. He said we should, “Emancipate ourselves from mental slavery” although his concept of bondage was quite different from mine, the principle is the same.
We are in a spiritual and psychological warfare that is taking its toll on us individually and in a broader sense, collectively. Paul describes this war as “against principalities and powers” (Eph. 6:12).
We wrestle not against flesh and blood: there is a war in the world of the unseen, principally for our minds...to control our emotions and our reactions. In the Old Testament God's people warred against flesh and blood. They had literal, physical enemies. There were enemies everywhere who hated them because they were chosen by God. They camped around them sometimes in great numbers...often they lost their battles.
When there was confrontation the army of Israel was called to battle and with God's intervention they often defeat the enemies. We here today are fighting a mental, psychological, and spiritual war...an unconventional war that often plague our minds.
Some of us here today are facing a tremendous battle as I speak. In the spirit we can hear the weapons of the enemy banging against our minds. Some of us have been fighting for so long and so hard, we've almost caved in to the enemy's pressure.
Let me declare today that the enemy can't beat you in this battle...he can't win unless you stop fighting. Sometimes we approach our battles with a defeatist mentality. Hear me brothers and sisters, the devil can't beat you in this fight. As a matter of fact, you battle has already been won...what we need is a winning mentality. If you think you are beaten, you are.
Approach your battles with confidence knowing who is fighting for and with you. Get a David mentality... When Israel looked at Goliath they saw a humongous giant that outsize all of them. When David looked at him he saw an uncircumcised Philistine defying the armies of God. A giant that didn't match up with the lion or the bear that God delivered into his hands.
You view of your circumstances will determine how much fight you have in you...There may be giant in your room, but how do you see him? Do you see yourself outmatched, or do you see him like David?
There is a battle for you mind. llCor. 10:3-5. With our minds and our spirits in the right place we are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.
I like how Dake puts it. “We destroy reasonings of pagan philosophers and Jewish rabbis and their dogmas that nullify the Word of God and the facts of the gospel. These fortifications we puss down and demolish. We put to flight the demon powers and alien armies, raising the banner of the cross on the field of battle.” He continue to say, “We destroy all theories, reasonings, and high system of ethics, religion, mythology, metaphysics, sublime doctrines or philosophy set forth to defy the knowledge of God. Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ-we take every thought prisoner and lead it into captivity to obey Christ.”
The devil wants to put a strangle hold of our minds, he wants us to feel that we have lost. He wants you to feel that you have not been set free. He wants you to feel that you sins are not forgiven. But we declare today that who the Son of God sets free is free indeed. Not only from the bondage of sin. But also from the bondage of the mind.
I am not who I used to be. I will no longer be entangled in the yoke of bondage that held me captive for many years. I will not sit in a psychological or spiritual bondage.. I am free!
God sets you free, and he wants you free. He wants your past to be your past. Look at your past mistakes as learning experiences but not as a prologue to your future. What I was yesterday will not determine who I will be tomorrow.
A renewed mind creates a new mentality...the enemy wants to control your mind. If he controls you mind, he determines whether you will be joyful or sad. If he controls your mind he will determine how your relationships will go. He will determine you success or progress.
Paul say there is a law warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity. But I am no longer a captive...the Son of God sets me free, and I am free indeed.
GRACE GRACE: some of my brethren have heard this before, but as often as we sing Amazing Grace, I should be able to preach about Grace...the most important source of a Christian's life in overcoming the challenges and attacks of the enemy
The word grace appears 166 times in the Bible. 38 times in the Old Testament and 128 times in the New Testament. This is not coincidence, O don't we need grace today.Of all these times, the word has only been changed twice: once in the OT and once in the NT. GRACE: Hebrew knane, means gracious, i.e. subjectly (kindness, favor) or objective beauty, pleasant. Greek xaris khar-ece, graciousness, as gratifying of manner of act, literally, figuratively, or spiritually. Especially the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life, including gratitude, acceptable benefits, favor, gift etc. Noah Webster in his 1828 English Dictionary has twenty definitions for the word grace of which I will quote five or them.
According to Merrill F. Unger in his quote of (Lewis Sperry Chafer, Systematic Theology VII, p. 178) “Grace is what God may be free to do, and indeed what he does, accordingly, for the lost after Christ has died on behalf of them.” Through grace we have forgiveness, justification, propitiation and reconciliation. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace and not a reward for good works. GRACE: The medium by which our salvation comes… “For the GRACE of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world…” (Titus 2:11). Interesting to note that the same word used in Greek for bringeth, is the same word used for salvation. The word is (soothe'rion) so-tay-ree-on from so-tay-ree-ah this word takes me back also to the word so-tare: a deliverer, i.e. God or Christ-Savior. These words together has definition that ranges from deliverer to defence, rescue, safety, health, salvation, save, or saving. Suffice it to say that Jesus Christ himself is (in essence) the grace of God. He brought salvation which appeared to all men. I look at the word appear (ep-ee-fah-ee-no) it derives from a compound word epi and phaino. Epi: as a relation of distribution over, upon, at, or on. Phaino: to lighten (shine) i.e. show, or appear. Therefore the word appear means to shine upon… that is to become visible or figuratively (known). Jesus said “If I be lifted up from this earth, I will draw all men unto me…” He went to the cross and offered himself for our sins…that we by the grace (and only by the grace of God) can be saved. “But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved). “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:4-5, 8 who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved). “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” Ephesians 2:4-5, 8 Putting this all together we get a better understanding of Romans 5:20, “Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” God’s grace is always more than enough…any sin that the devil brings about God’s grace (the redemptive blood of Jesus) has the expiatory power to remove them. No matter how tainted one might find himself in sin, God’s grace is sufficient to cleanse and make clean. Where sin abounded... “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” (Isaiah 1:18). Paul in II Corinthians 12:1-9 spoke of the thorn he had in his flesh that was given to him for the sake of humility, and he declares “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, ‘My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Paul continued to say, “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” In conclusion: Grace is not hereditary, neither is it worked for, it cannot be bought. Grace is what God is free to do and indeed what he has done. It is one’s responsibility to see himself lost and hopeless without the grace of God…estranged and alienated from God by virtue of the sin of Adam. He must recognize that there is no secondary way to be redeemed, restored, quickened (brought back to life) but by the all sufficient grace of God. Religion cannot save you, ideology can’t save you, a system can’t save you, going to church can’t save you…only the grace of God can. But don’t forget that God will not violate your rights to choose… Even though salvation is indeed free, you must be willing to receive it. Kingdom Conditions for Fruitfulness And the means of Receiving Miracles
March 5, 2007 Isaiah 5:1-7 and John 15:1-16
Jesus made a declaration to his disciples informing them that He is the true vine speaking to Israel who have shown signs to the contrary. First, if one has to identify the true vine, it means that there is a false vine. If we cross reference this to the OT we will get a picture of why Jesus actually said this. In Isaiah 5:1-7 God made mention of his vineyard that he had planted and had done all that was required for it to bring forth grapes. Verse 4. “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes.” You see, God looked for and longed for fruit but Israel who was the vine brought forth rotten, or wild grapes… but now here is Jesus establishing himself as the true vine…and guess who is the husband man? The Father himself is the Gardiner! He dresses and prunes the vines so that they can bring forth more fruit. Isa. 5:7 “For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.” Jesus establishes himself now as the true vine, with everybody else as branches. And every branch in me that beareth fruit (God loves it) and therefore purges it that it brings forth more fruit. Fruitfulness beget abundance of fruit. Watch the progression mentioned here: in verse two, every branch in me that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit. In verse 5, he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: and in verse 8 he declares, “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” Let’s not forget that there is a requisite for fruitfulness… the branch must abide in the vine. This word abide is a primary verb which mean to stay in a given place, remain, continue,, dwell, endure etc. Productivity is an indication of connectedness… This is used metaphorically or allegorically, not in the sense of one being saved although there are connotations implicit within the context… this is true of a sinner, or a backslidden Christian, we cannot of ourselves produce righteousness and live holy lives except we are connected to the vine. Note this also that not only is our abilities to produce fruit dependent on abiding in the vine… but our blessings and miracles depend on us abiding in him and his words abiding in us. Verse seven, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” That is a contingency my friends…IF, and I guarantee you that God will honor his word and will keep his part of the deal… How many of us would like to ask what we will and have it done unto us? I guess we need to let God’s words abide in our hearts more than they are now. You see it is one thing (for me) to say I am abiding in Christ, but is his word abiding in me… this is a two fold requirement. Abide in me and let my words abide in you…God wants to shape our lives with his word. He will heal us, cleanse us, give us victory over our adversary if we allow his words to abide in us.
There is one example that we can use today in cross reference to that, is when God send to Hezekiah and told him to set his house in order because he shall die and not live… Isa. 38:1-5 A KINGDOM MINDSET 1/21/07 I am becoming more and more permeated with the concept of the kingdom...the more I look into what Jesus says about the kingdom, and the necessity of seeking it first and its righteousness. The more I am propelled to share with you with the desire that our minds will be able to grasp these truths. And that we will gravitate to the call of Jesus and the disciples. It is my hope that we will understand to the enormity of its effect and the drastic revolutionary change we will see in our lives and our daily walk with Christ. First of all, we need to show willingness to accept and urgency in response to Paul's cry in Romans 12:1-2. “I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but transformed by the renewing of the mind.
What is important here is: in order to effect change from the conformity to the world, to a transformation to a kingdom agenda...there is a need for the renewing of the mind. As we continue to explore the kingdom and its effect on every aspect of our lives. May come to grips with the reality of where we are in the kingdom. It's time for us as individuals to do a personal assessment of where we stand today. The Bible say in 2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ in in you, except ye be reprobates?” That word 'reprobate' (ad-ok-ee-mos) speaks of one who is unapproved, i.e. Rejected, considered worthless and a castaway. As we explore the kingdom agenda and delve into the kingdom mindset, let me implore you join in this effort of individual pursuit for change. You see, it comes to the time when we of to foster our own desire for change. We must seek to develop a kingdom mindset where our thinking process will become more and more godly. Almost everything we see and hear around us these days, destroys Christian dignity, pollutes Christian sanctity, violate godly values, divert from high ethical principles, drain our vessels from sanctification, and leave us often times grasping for spiritual breath. Sometimes barely clinging for life. In order to effectively develop a kingdom mindset we need to follow 1 Peter 1:13, “...gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” To gird the loins of you mind simply means to puss your thought together. Have a disciplined mind, focus on your future, particularly on the coming of the literal kingdom of God. All Christians should be looking for the coming of Christ at his second advent. Christians live in the future tense. All our actions and decisions should be governed by our future hope. Just like an engaged couple have a wedding day mentality, and a burning desire for the consummation of two lives into one. And just as virtually all their plans look forward to that life changing day. One would call that a wedding day mindset. So should Christians have a kingdom mindset where every day we are looking for the kingdom of God to come and his will be done on the earth. Let us bear in mind that our thought process, and our concepts are reflected in the things we do. You, we, are what we think. Therefore, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” ( Philippians 2:5) Our your mind is the power house of all our activities... everything we do is driven by the mind. It cannot get into our hearts before it enters our minds. They are thought of in the mind, justified and downloaded in the heart...germinate and take root, and then reflect in our actions. Upon the question of the Pharisees lawyer concerning what was the great commandment, (tempting him) Jesus told him in Matt. “...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. God has not given us the spirit of fear, bu of power, and of love, and of a sound mind... there is something about a sound mind. It give us the ability to do rational thinking, take justified and reasonable action and reaction. Jesus cannot deal with us when we are not in our right minds...that is why whenever he came across one out of his right mind, the first thing he does is to fix the mind. Luke 8:35 Jesus found a young man out of his right mind, being possessed with legion of demons...but he cast them out and the devils departed and they found him sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed, and in his right mind. A kingdom mentality keeps our focus on the Lord. A kingdom mentality puts us in line with Colossians 3:1-3 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection of things above and not on things on the earth.
Kingdom Agenda A kingdom agenda from God's perspective is where the king is in charge...where he rules Theocraticly. Man have their agendas. God has his agenda...and don't forget that the devil also has his. His desire is to look at God's agenda, and also yours that will bring glory to God and use every tool in his arsenal to distort, deceive, and distract you from accomplishing the things that will give glory to God and enhance our effectiveness in changing the world for God's kingdom.A kingdom agenda leads to a kingdom mindset driven by a kingdom mentality will always result in kingdom result...kingdom results are always to the glory of God. As I observe the stories of two great Old Testament women...I cannot help looking at their stories and how they work out to the glory of God. You see, when we have a kingdom agenda, lead by the rulership of Christ. Even when the odds are against you, God can bring it to unimaginable success. First of all, our mindsets should not be for our personal gratification, but for the glory of God. The first of these women is Ruth. A Moabitess, a Gentile. There was a famine in Canaan so Elimilech took his wife and sons and went south form Canaan to Moab. Both sons got married to Moabitess women Elimelech: my God is king Naomi: my pleasant one Mahlon: sick Chilion: pining Ruth: beauty Orpah, hind=back, to cringe or flatter. What is important in this lesson is that even in tragedy God's kingdom can be exalted. It wasn't long before Elimelech died, leaving Naomi as a widow with her two sons. They took them wives to expand the family, maybe so that their wives could help to bring some form of comfort to their mother. But Mahlon, which mean sick, and Chilion which mean (pining) didn't live much longer neither. One wonders, what was God's agenda? That answer we may never know, however we see his purpose fulfilled. You know the story quite well... what worst could have happened to Naomi? With a broken heart, she purposed in her heart to go back to here homeland, worst than she left there. The key thought is when Naomi decided to go back home because she had heard that God had favored Israel with food in Canaan. She told her daughters in law to go back to their mothers and their gods. But something happened in the heart of Ruth. She developed a kingdom mindset. She committed herself no longer to the gods of Moab, but now to the God of Israel. KINGDOM MINDSET, and a kingdom mentality Her seven fold consecration was 1. Intreat me not to leave thee nor from following after theee, 2. where thou goest I will go, 3. where thou lodgest, I will lodge, 4. your people shall be my people, 5. your God shall be my God, 6. where thou diest I will die, and there will I be buried, 7. a kingdom covenant “Jehovah, the Lord do so to me, and more also, if anything but death part thee from me.” The rest of the story is history...but her kingdom mindset placed her in the lineage of Jesus the Lord of the kingdom. The odds were against her, but she had a kingdom mindset... if she would have predicted this it would be way outside the mainstream of rational thinking... she could have gone back like Orpah to serve the God's of Moab. But instead she consecrated her life to the God of Israel. The only true and living God. How much God can accomplish with us and through us if he could get us to develop a kingdom mentality. You have greatness in you...you have unused resources in the reservoir of your abilities. It's is amazing what we can accomplish if we make ourselves available to the king.
|