David's family taken captive by the Amalekites

"Thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable." -1st Corinthians 15:57-58

Long ago in David’s life when he was young he faced down Goliath in battle and defeated him. Only by God’s grace. God gave him the victory.

Yet all these years later something has gone wrong. Because David and his 600 men have ended up fighting in the army of the people David fought that day. But by God’s grace, the Philistine army generals didn’t want David with them, they were worried he would betray them.

Goliath was a philistine. And David, in his running from Saul, had ended up in philistine territory. He almost fought for them. But God prevented it.

His men have been camped out at Ziklag for quite a while now. So they go back from the front lines of the war, after being turned away, and they arrive back at Ziklag.

Let’s see what happened next. 1st Samuel 30:1-3: “David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, and had taken captive the women and everyone else in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way. When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.”

When they arrive back at home base, they find it destroyed. It’s burning rubble. There is smoke in the area. Fires burning. The city is devastated. It was attacked by the Amalekites, another nearby empire. In fact the Amalekites were an empire that Moses and Joshua had to deal with during their time in the wilderness.

Then it says, verses 4-5, “So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David’s two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.”

The men are shocked to the core. They look over the ruins, wander the ruins in grief and sorrow. They begin crying, as their families have been taken. Even David’s wives are both gone.

Point number one today, when bad things happen it’s OK to mourn and weep and cry. That is a natural response to sorrow.

Ever heard the phrase, “Real men don’t cry?” Well, that’s false according to 1st Samuel 30. David and his mighty men wept and cried with sorrow. It’s OK to cry and weep and mourn a loss.

But soon the sorrow and tears turn into anger. David’s men want someone to blame.

Then it says, “David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.”

Two things I want you to notice here, first, the men were bitter in spirit because of what they’d lost. Sometimes we as Christians can become bitter in spirit as well. But recognize that we need to find strength in our God when we become bitter.

Recently I had noticed I had become somewhat bitter in my heart. And I had to go to God in prayer and say God please change my heart, renew my heart, soften my heart because I’ve become a bit hardened. And God answered my prayer and softened my heart. Praise the Lord!

Second point, block bitterness if you can, in faith, but if it sneaks in, ask God to renew your heart.

Thirdly, David found strength in the Lord his God. He found encouragement with God. David you could say, was off course here, he was among the philistines, and now things are going downhill fast. He should’ve been in Ziklag, but he wasn’t. He was off helping the philistines. But, David turned back to God here.

So David meets with the pastor. It says in verse 7-8, “Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, “Bring me the ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him, 8 and David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?”

“Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”

David consults with God and God speaks through the priest to him, and instructs him to take his men to rescue their families who had been taken prisoner.

And when God commands us to do something, he always makes a way. In the natural it seems impossible, how could they know where the Amalekites went? But God works it out.

It says in verses 9-15, “David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Valley, where some stayed behind. Two hundred of them were too exhausted to cross the valley, but David and the other four hundred continued the pursuit.

They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat— part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights.

David asked him, “Who do you belong to? Where do you come from?”

He said, “I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago. We raided the Negev of the Kerethites, some territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag.”

David asked him, “Can you lead me down to this raiding party?”

He answered, “Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them.”

Point number four, God makes a way where there is no way. God made sure that this Egyptian slave would end up left behind, so David could help him, feed him, restore him, and then he could find what they’d lost.

Let’s see what happens next, verses 16-20, “He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah. David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back. He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, “This is David’s plunder.””

Point number five, God will restore what you've lost if you turn to Him. 

Here’s the thing, even if you mess up, and ruin things, and go your own way, if you turn back to God, he will restore what you’ve lost. Even if it was your fault. If you repent, turn away from your sin, get back on the right path, he’ll restore you!

But remember how two hundred men stayed behind? Now there is more trouble. 

 In verses 21-25: "Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Besor Valley. They came out to meet David and the men with him. As David and his men approached, he asked them how they were. But all the evil men and troublemakers among David’s followers said, “Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. However, each man may take his wife and children and go.”

David replied, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us. Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this.”

Just because the soldiers were too exhausted to join David’s men in battle doesn’t mean they should be mistreated.

Point number six, keep a firm eye on mercy (and justice.) Don’t let your emotions get you into sin. Instead, show mercy to those who were sorrowful. That’s what David did here. He shows mercy and love to those who became exhausted. We should do the same for fellow Christians who are exhausted and are having a hard time. Show mercy to them.

And to finish the chapter, verses 26-31: "When David reached Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, who were his friends, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the Lord’s enemies.”

David sent it to those who were in Bethel, Ramoth Negev and Jattir; to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa and Rakal; to those in the towns of the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites; to those in Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athak and Hebron; and to those in all the other places where he and his men had roamed.”

Point number 7, show your repentance with actions. David had been planning to go out with the philistines to fight against Israel his home nation! God prevented this. But David takes the plunder he had taken from his enemies and sends it to Israel, to Judah, as a sort of repentance. He apologizes to God you might say by taking an action, by blessing Israel with some supplies for all them. Praise the Lord.

In the same way, when we hurt someone, or consider those we harmed when we lived in sins, even after becoming a Christian, we should look at ways we can make practical amends. Did you neglect family? Repent in action by spending time with them and calling them more often. Did you steal money? In many circumstances, you should repay it. Did you neglect your home town and it's social structure? Repent by volunteering your time to a local charity. To be clear these practical actions aren't washing away your sins only the blood of Jesus can do that. But they are a witness to the community of Christ's change in your character. 

Our 7 Points today, to apply to your life are as follows:

1. When bad things happen it’s OK to mourn and cry

2. Block bitterness, but if it sneaks in ask god to renew your heart

3. Find strength in the Lord your God when you’re in drama

4. God makes a way where there is no way

5. God will restore all you’ve lost if you repent

6. Keep a firm eye on mercy (and justice)

7. Show your repentance with practical actions.

As always, be reminded of the gospel steps to salvation, here they are: 

1. Admit that you have sinned against God

2. Believe in Jesus His work on the cross as payment for your sins

3. Repent (turn away from) active sins in your life

4. Give your whole life to God and live for Him alone

5. Remain with Christ your whole life, living out holiness

Jesus of Nazareth calms the Storm on the Lake: What are the Storms in your life?

"In April 1988 the evening news reported on a photographer who was a skydiver. He had jumped from a plane along with numerous other skydivers and filmed the group as they fell and opened their parachutes. On the film shown on the telecast, as the final skydiver opened his chute, the picture went berserk. The announcer reported that the cameraman had fallen to his death, having jumped out of the plane without his parachute. It wasn't until he reached for the absent ripcord that he realized he was freefalling without a parachute. Until that point, the jump probably seemed exciting and fun. But tragically, he had acted with thoughtless haste and deadly foolishness. Nothing could save him, for his faith was in a parachute never buckled on. Faith in anything but an all-sufficient God can be just as tragic spiritually. Only with faith in Jesus Christ dare we step into the dangerous excitement of life." -Unknown.

Today we’re looking at three parables of Jesus, and a classic incident in the mystery of Jesus life and ministry. 

The three parables we’ll look at are the lamp on the stand, the growing seed, and the mustard seed.

Then we’ll look at the event which happened at the end of Mark 4, where the disciples cross a lake and find themselves in the midst of a brutal storm.

So I want to move pretty quickly through the parables as a review, and then focus in for the rest of our time on the event in the boat.

Let’s take a look at the parable of the lamp on the stand. It says this: 

He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”

“Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” -Mark 4:21-25

Very simply, Jesus is telling his disciples that what I’m telling you in parables, in riddles, in a hidden way, I want you to tell everyone. That is our challenge. Jesus is very strategic, keeping his message slightly hidden, to prevent an explosion too large, but he says tactically speaking now you must tell everyone.

Interestingly, in the NASB translation of this chapter, the parable of lamp is left as part of the parable of the sower. As if Jesus were illustrating the last line of the parable of the sower, verse 20 which says, “And those are the ones sown with seed on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundred times as much.”

So it would connect with the fact that the good seed on good soil produces a multiplied harvest. The seed planted in good soil produces more seed that is spread and produces a harvest. The good seed spreads because we shine brightly, and we don't cover our message over. 

And he includes this warning: With the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. If you share little, you’ll receive nothing, even what you have will be taken away and given to others. But, if you share much, if you get that message out there, you’ll be rewarded greatly. Don’t hide it, Jesus commands them, share it.

We’re moving very fast here, next the growing seed says this:

He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” -Mark 4:26-29

Jesus is saying here, don’t think that you are the one who is going to make the kingdom of God grow. You simply scatter seeds to the grounds. Just like the seed sower in the parable of the sower. And over weeks and months, after the crop is planted, the seeds grow in the soil on their own.

I think sometimes we try to force the seed to grow, even seed in rocky soil or seed among weeds, and it doesn’t grow and we get upset. But we simply must cast the seed to the soil, and God makes it grow, just like any crop is planted and God causes it to grow.

Thirdly, the mustard seed, Jesus says this: "Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”

With many similar parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything." -Mark 4:31-34

The Kingdom of God seems so small at first. We have a conversation with someone about Jesus Christ. We talk to them and plant some seeds. They seem very small. We think, well they’ll just go back to fornicating and drinking and living selfishly, what difference did our words make? Very little. But, like a tiny mustard seed it begins to grow. They become increasingly uncomfortable in their sins. They start to long for something more. They begin to seek after God, and pretty soon they are praising God in a church somewhere. They turn away from their sins, and they begin sharing the message with others. And pretty soon they’ve planted a few dozen seeds. And those seeds begin to grow. And that is how the kingdom of God spreads.

But we’re warned by Jesus, make sure you keep your light on a stand. Sometimes Christians hide it. They fear people, instead of fearing God. They don’t want to make a scene. They just want to go along to get along. They don’t want to be thought of as one of those religious people. Don’t hide your light. Don’t cover it. Let it shine. Let people think whatever they want to think. It’s your job to get that message out there.

Imagine if we think, well, just a few words won’t make a difference. So we say nothing to that unsaved man. Then he stays in his sins. There are no seeds now to grow. He keeps sinning. He leads others into sins. His family never comes to Christ through his conversion, and pretty soon hundreds more people remain in their sins and are never changed, because you hid your light because you wanted to be liked. No, speak up, and it will grow. But you must plant the seed. Believe that it really matters. Even a few words.

Now put them all together… as a Christian you’re the seed sower. And the seeds you throw out there, are going to have mixed results. Like the parable of the sower. Some though will land on good soil, and produce harvest.

Light on a stand parable, so make sure you’re not hiding it, Jesus knew we’d be prone to want to hide the message because we don’t want to make waves. Jesus says no get it out there, because it has to produce this harvest of 30, 60, or 100 times.

Parable of the growing seed, Jesus knew we might then get confused and think we have to make the seed grow ourselves, he says no, God makes it grow. Just like the farmer watches his crop grow. He can setup good conditions, protect it from insects and such, but only God can make it grow.

Then the parable of the mustard seed, we probably assume how could we possibly participate in this? Faith as small as a little mustard seed is enough. And we might also wonder, can God’s kingdom really take off from these meager efforts we make? The answer is yes, the mustard seed grows to be a huge plant.

Now, let’s get into the incident on the lake.

It says in verses 35-38: "That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”"

A great storm happens as they cross the lake. It comes out of nowhere. Have you ever been on a boat in a lake during a storm? I have once or twice, we would always steam for the dock as quick as we could, to get to safety. But it can be pretty scary. The waves start to grow. The sky turns dark. The rain starts. Lightning and thunder begin.

How much more so in our own lives? Storms often come out of nowhere. Someone dies suddenly. We get very sick. We come under spiritual attack. The enemy tries to lie to us. Stress increases at our job. Uncertainty seems to surround us.

But can we trust Jesus in the storm of life? This whole incident was engineered by Jesus to test the disciples, and apparently the others who were with them on other boats as well.

First the storm hits, don’t wake up Jesus, trust that he's with you in the storm, even though he’s silent. He’s asleep. But, Jesus is with you even though he’s silent.

The lightning and thunder starts. Keep trusting Jesus. He is silent. But trust him.

Then the waves get higher and higher, crashing against the boat, the boat starts rocking back and forth in the storm. The storm doesn’t appear to be ending it’s growing worse.

Don’t wake up Jesus, trust Jesus, he’s with you. He’s silent. He’s asleep. But, trust. Is God really going to let the boat overturn?

Now here’s where probably all of us would have a hard time. The boat starts filling with water. Ok, so now, what do you do? Do you stay in faith? Maybe you start bailing the water out of the boat.

Don’t we face circumstances like this? We do good for a while in trusting the Lord. Even as the storm gets worse. Even as bad stuff happens. We get more stressed at work. We get overwhelmed by the drama in our lives. We get in open fights with loved ones. Even in that we stay in faith. We simply pray saying, "God, I trust you."

But then it gets worse. Then it gets even worse. I think we’re often at the breaking point, and we can’t take much more, then something even worse happens, that’s when we cry out: "Jesus, where are you?" We question his love and presence.

But the whole situation was a test of our trust in God. Can we really trust Him even when the boat is filling up with water and he seems silent? Can we? The storm was bad enough, now the boat is filling up with water.

Sometimes we try to do it ourselves. We try to solve it ourselves. But that doesn’t work either. We don’t want to take things into our own hands. Which the disciples don’t either, which is good. They look to Jesus, so you could say it is a partial pass on the test.

Then it says in verses 39-41: He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”

The disciples failed the test you might say. Or like we said, partially passed.

I wonder, what would’ve been a successful situation here? What if the disciples saw the boat filling with water and became afraid. But Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers don’t be afraid. Jesus is with us. He is silent. But he is with us. Now let us all pray together.”

And they all prayed in the storm, as the boat filled with water. And then Jesus would’ve gotten up and quieted the storm, perhaps? And said well done disciples, you trusted me even though I was asleep. Yet I was with you in the storm.

Or maybe, Jesus would’ve kept sleeping and the storm would’ve ended, by his power, then he would’ve got up and been pleased with them.

Instead they wake him up. He gets up and rebukes them, and the storm. But does he then say well, you can’t be my disciples anymore, you failed the test? No, he doesn’t. He is still their Lord. And the storm is put down.

“Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” That’s what he said to them.

The disciples respond by saying, “Who is this?” They don’t yet have a deep faith. Instead of saying, "This is the Lord!" They say, "Who is this?"

When struggles come our way, we have two options: Be consumed by fear or stay in faith.

We can look at our problems and fear, then turn to God and say where are you?

Or we can look at our problems, stay in faith (even if we feel afraid), then turn to God, and say, I trust you completely. Even if I sink beneath the waves, still I will trust you. Everything will be OK.

Do you have that kind of strong mighty faith in God? But the truth is it doesn’t take strong mighty faith, it takes faith as small as a mustard seed. Just a little bit is actually enough to say, "I trust you God completely, even at the breaking point, even past the breaking point, God I trust you."

What is really True in the World? Hell, Faith, and Heaven

If I go to my bank account and say, "well, I don't know what's true" that's not going to work. There will be an amount listed. It's either correct or it isn't.

That's how it is with history. That's how it is with science. That's how it is with archaeology. That's how it is with anything, there is objective truth. There's an absolute reality. But then when we get to religion, we say, "well, no one knows the truth for sure." Nonsense. There is a right answer. There are wrong answers. Its just as objective as history or anything else. 

Sometimes we just don't like that reality. But I think if we can face it and say, okay, it is true, I'll admit it, then we can begin to walk that path. Soon we may yet find ourselves saying, "Hey, this isn't that hard. I can do this in the power of God. And I can be okay." 

But a lot of people are in rebellion in our world, they would rather fight it. Instead, for me, it became much better to say, "You know what, I get it. It's true. Jesus Christ is really real. I'm gonna try to live that out." And it turns out, life works much better that way.

Today, though, the Lord gave me a three-fold message that he wants me to share. First of all, we're going to talk about hell, then we're going to talk about Jesus Christ and the gospel, then we're going to talk about heaven. Okay? Hell, Heaven. In the middle, we'll talk about Christ. And all those things are aspects of what we find in the Bible, the Word of God. Everyone likes heaven. Some people like Jesus, some people don't. And no one wants to hear about hell, but it's all in there. 

All of us are made in the image of God. That means you have intrinsic value. Every human being on the planet, in fact, is made in the image of God. That means that every human life matters. That's why the Bible says "do not kill." That's why we have laws in our country that say, you may not murder someone else. Because every human life has value. We are made in God's image, the Bible says. What that means exactly, we don't know, it's a mystery. But it is a beautiful mystery. 

I don't know if you've noticed this: Nothing in this life fully fills our desires. There's something inside of us that longs for more. And the goal then, is that we would find that extra something in God himself. Because nothing in this life fully satisfies. You can drink as much as you want. You can eat as much as you want. You can have the perfect romance. But at the end of the day, none of it quite satisfies. There's always something missing, that can only be filled by an infinite God. 

We have a seed you might say, of the infinite within us, we have this longing within us that can't be touched by anything in this world. When I see a beautiful sunset, or a sunrise or the stars in the sky, that's great. But I want more, I want to be able to jump into it and be part of it somehow. 

Something's missing. Does that make sense? So we have this infinite value, right? But there's a problem. We know Adam and Eve were the first humans. They sinned against God. And then the human race became fallen. That's why we all struggle. That's why we battle temptations in this life. That's why we struggle to want to do the right thing. It's like something inside us wants to do the right, but we can't quite get there. It's just out of reach. And then we do bad things, and it feels good. After, it feels bad. We feel guilty. And here's the thing, God has to deal with the sin problem. He has to. If we look deep down, most of us would admit, "I want him to deal with it." I want God to get rid of sin. I want God to get rid of murder, and human trafficking, and death, and evil and wars. 

So our part is this: We have to leave sin behind ourselves. By turning to Jesus Christ, we can leave sin behind. And then we can be part of the new thing God is doing. However, if we cling to the sin, say, no, I'm gonna live in sin. I like sin, I'm gonna do it. God, in fact, has no qualms about sending me to a place of horrors, a place of nightmares, a place of conscious eternal torment called Hell.

There is also time limit to say, "I'm done with the sin problem." And if the clock runs out on our lives, and we never turned away from our sins, God will say, all right, I got a place for people who want to cling to their sins. It's called Hell. That's one of my least favorite things to talk about. But it's in there. I'm not going to sugarcoat it for the sake of anyone on planet earth. Because God is a God of love, but he's also a God of justice. And the fact is, every single person alive loves justice, just as much as they love, love. Sometimes we want justice even more than love. We want things to be right, more than we want love. Right? Am I wrong? All of us want justice. We long for it every day. But then we get mad when God says I'm gonna deal with it.

Death is not the end. And if you were to end up in hell, that is a place that you cannot die. It will continue permanently. We would be permanent residents, all of us are eternal beings, we will live forever. Those in hell will live forever. This is the hard part to discuss. Stick with me. Okay. So I want to warn you about this because it's real. Not because I like it. But because it's real. As real as anything else in life, there is a heaven there is a hell. Both are real.

What a terrible fate for someone who rejects Christ their whole lives, and goes to that place. Because God said in His Word, "It is not my will for anyone to go there" (2 Peter 3:9). I have made a way for every single person on planet Earth to be saved through Jesus Christ. It is not my will for a single person on this planet to go there. It is your choice if you want to go there. 

We're kind of rebellious, aren't we? Particularly in America. We're kind of rebels all the way back to the American Revolution. We're just rebellious. So we don't want to hear it. 

But I I'll tell you this. It's amazing. The hysteria that happened during COVID-19. Don't you think? People were so afraid! So scared! And I was scared to. But some people were beyond scared. They were hysterical, for a virus that had a 99.7% survival rate. 

What about the pandemic of sin on the human heart? We're not as hysterical about that. We kind of leave space for that one, don't we? Yeah. When we hear about another murder, when we hear about another domestic violence situation, we think, well, that's just part of life. No, that's wrong! That's not justice. Again, I want justice, for that woman who's being abused by her husband. I want justice suddenly. Justice. Do you see why God loves justice too? Because it's right. 

But hysteria, hysteria won't solve anything. Brothers and sisters, faith is the answer. I've learned in my life, faith, faith in God. Faith in Jesus Christ is the answer. If I hold firmly to God, I don't have to be afraid. Faith is greater than fear. Keep that in your mind. Faith is greater than fear.

What helps me stay on track is the love of God. Also, for me as a man, the fear of God also helps me. When I think about a sin, and I think well, I could probably get away with it. No one's looking right now. I remind myself, God's watching. God sees, he loves me, he's also going to hold me accountable. So I tremble a little bit, and I think, Okay, I'm going to stay on the right path here. And it's good. I counsel as many people as I can to tremble a little bit before God, it's going to help you in your life. 

Honestly, I know we don't like that, oh, "fear bad." Fear of God is a good thing. Fear of anything or anyone else is wrong. The fear of God has helped me in my life. 

Honestly, Chelsey my girlfriend will attest to that. She's known all these guys who claim to be Christians, but the way they looked at her, there was something else going on there. And she was surprised when she met me. Well, he really does want to do right, he really does fear God. And that kind of keeps him stable, where he looks at me with reverence. He looks at me with reverence, not as a piece of meat, right? Yeah. Imagine that, ladies, a man who looks at you as more than a piece of meat, but as a woman of honor? That would be a novel thing. 

That's what the fear of God has helped me with. Praise the Lord. So as a Christian, fear God. And if there's any sin in your life, repent of it. Say to yourself, "I'm not going to let that have any place in my life." Get rid of lying, stealing, cheating, mistreating family members, and unforgiveness. We have to forgive those who have hurt us. Repent quickly. Because one day, you will stand before God. I don't want any sin on your record in that moment. You want to be pure in Christ, and he's washed away our sins, which is the amazing thing. So it's not like we we can never reach that point. He's washed away our sins. But we want to continue in purity after our sins our forgiven, continue and complete the journey successfully, in purity and righteousness (Philippians 2:12, 1 Peter 1:16).

If we struggle again, sometimes Christians will slip into sin, we just need to step back out real quick and say, No, I'm not doing that in the name of Jesus. Please forgive me, Lord, and I keep going. And I'm good then, regarded as pure in Christ sight and ready for heaven once again, at any moment. Praise the Lord. 

Jesus Christ is the chain breaker. I'll tell you that being an alcoholic for years, I was so hooked. I couldn't not drink even for a day or two. He's a chain breaker. When I turned to Christ for that, bam, those chains broke. So fast, I get excited. I'm 10 years sober as of November 1 of 2022, and it's just so good to be free. See, I don't know if you've ever seen an alcoholic, but it's brutal. They're stuck in it. And if you really corner them and ask, why do you do this, he or she might say, I don't even know why. I don't know why I'm doing this. Jesus will break any chain in your life. Especially if it seems like he can't. I've learned that. Anything in your life: Smoking, drinking, lying, stealing some little thing, even swearing? Anything.

Unfortunately, it seems like most people are going to hell, at least in these last days. And if you see what our society is like out there, it's not been good. But it remains open to anyone currently alive who is willing to turn to God in repentance.

Then we have the offer of salvation. How does it work? How can we get saved? What does that look like? How does that work? Many of us have heard it. It is by grace, through faith. So we come to God and say, "Look at me, I conquered everything?" No, no. 

We come to God and we say, "I followed the 10 commandments the best I could." If that's your plan, it's not gonna end well for you. 

We come to God and we say, "I've received Jesus Christ as my savior." By grace, through faith. He paid off my sin debt.  That is the way. He is the way (John 14:6). 

That is the first step in coming to God, oddly enough, to surrender and say, I can't do it. The first step is total surrender! That's the paradox of Christianity. Instead of saying, I'm going to try harder to follow the 10 commandments, instead your first step needs to be, "Lord, I can't do it. I've sinned against you." 

Have you? I broken all the 10 commandments. I mean, maybe not all of them, but most of them. I can't do it. Jesus, I need you to be my savior, to come live within me to make me different. Maybe you've never heard it explained like that. Maybe you always thought I need to try harder to be good. That's not it. That is not the gospel. The gospel is Jesus on the cross dying and saying "it is finished" (John 19:30). 

The gospel is Jesus saying, I've paid your sin debt, if you'll believe in me, you'll be born again into a new family of God, then your sins will be washed away. That's the whole purpose. It's a free gift. You just have to receive it. And then he helps you to turn away from any past lifestyles that were a problem. So you can live differently, a free gift of salvation to you. 

All you've got to do is receive it and how stupid you would feel on judgement day if you didn't receive it. Take it, it's for you. I know some of us have thought, "well, that's for church people." No, it's for average, everyday people. It's for weirdos. It's for awkward people. It's for people that can't quite get it. It's for people who struggle. It's for people who have anxiety. It's for people who are just kind of different. That's who Jesus came to, frankly. He skipped past the religious people and he came to us awkward people. Me, I'm a little awkward. A little different. A little anxious. A little bit prone to stutter. He came for us. The weirdos. That's what I like to say at my church. Jesus goes right past the proud and arrogant and comes to us average everyday people who are humble enough to listen. Jesus came for the worker swinging a hammer, for the homemaker, having kids taking care of the laundry, Jesus says, I came for you.

One man asked Jesus a question. He said, "What is the work that God wants us to do?" You know how Jesus answered him? He said, the work of God is for you to believe in Him who God sent. That's Jesus himself. The work of God is to believe in he whom He sent, the Father sent Jesus Christ the son. We must believe in Jesus. And then it is paid in full, your sin debt. All your past sins paid in full, dirty slate wiped clean, ready for Paradise, perfect in his eyes. 

At last, the genesis of evil, the beginning point of every evil in the world, sin in the human heart, dealt with by Jesus. But we must receive it through Him.  Then our past sins are washed away. 

But what about sins we commit in the future? If we sin in the future, we must ask God's forgiveness once again through Christ, repent again, and then that future sin is wiped off your record as well. That's why the Lord's Prayer includes the phrase "forgive us our sins" because in the future we may also need forgiveness. Our feet may get dirty in this sinful world, but thankfully, Jesus washes our feet, just as he washed the feet of His disciples. But again, we must seek him and allow him to do so. Just as Peter first refused, but then changed his mind and allowed to Christ to do so. 

That's dealing with the sin problem, getting rid of the sin, and getting them ready for a new world. Which brings us to part three, Paradise. 

Now we talk about heaven. What is heaven? Heaven, is that where we float on clouds? We play harps? No. That is how it's portrayed on paintings and in the media.  

But what does the Bible say? If you skip to the back of your Bible to Revelation 22, you can see what heaven is actually going to be like, and it's it's a city called the New Jerusalem. And what Jerusalem means is "City of God." So the new city of God and really what you're what you're seeing there is you're going all the way the beginning of the Bible and seeing Eden, Adam and Eve in Eden. They're expelled because of their sin, all the way to the book of Revelation Chapter 22. Eden remade, a paradise remade. It's called the New Jerusalem it's a city where God dwells with his people. A city of God. It's described in incredible ways, powerful ways. 

It says this in Revelation 22:1-2, "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations."

Okay, so you have the throne of God. You've got the river of the water of life flowing from the throne of God down the center street of the city. On each side of the river stood the Tree of Life, bearing 12 crops of fruit yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nation. 

Check this out. This is pretty cool. Here's how it's described. You've got the throne of God. You've got a river pouring out of the throne of God, probably an infinite River, pouring out of the throne of God down the center street of the city. And this river leads to the Tree of Life, this giant tree that's in this city that we're gonna live in one day. The tree of life that we're then able to eat from freely. That's just the center of the city we're talking about. 

There's so much more. There's so much more there. And it's in Revelation, look at it. People are afraid to look at the book of Revelation, "Oh, that's prophecy. I can't look at that." 

Yeah, you can. It's right there. Look at it. It talks about 12 gates, 12 foundations of the city with all these pearls and beautiful rubies and chrysolite and burl and Topaz and turquoise, Jacinth, Amethyst, and of course, golden streets. Glorious golden streets, our feet will touch them one day.  

That is what is for people who believe in Jesus Christ, who have turned away from sin. I'm done with sin! I'm gonna live in Christ and righteousness. 

That's just the beginning brothers and sisters! That's just the start of the story for us. This is the beginning. Our life on Earth is 70 or 80 years, 90 or 100 years, maybe if we're lucky. So then what? What about eternity? What about 10,000 years, 50,000 years, or a million years? This is just the beginning of the journey. It's just the beginning until Revelation 22 happen, then we'll finally get to the city. 

Also please be aware of this: It's not going to be boring. People say oh, what are we gonna do in heaven? It sounds boring. Believe me, there's going to be adventures beyond what you could imagine in this place. 

Now you're probably wondering, but how do you know it's really real? Here's how I know. I was a drug addict and an alcoholic near death in the hospital. I tried to get clean on my own, didn't work. I slipped back every time. But then I called out to the name of Jesus Christ. That's how I know that the Bible is true. Because he changed my life. He's with me right now. And he's with you right now. And we're gonna see him one day face to face. 

All of this is so very important. This is life and death. It's so important that you really believe that these things are true. Don't believe that it's just some old story. It is a present true reality. Now. That's what I know. That's what I know. And I'm tired of preachers teaching it like it's an old story. It's actual, it's present. It's real. It's real, really real. Not fake. Not a pipe dream, but a current reality. 

I did not think that was so when I was 16. I said, "there's no God. I don't believe the Bible, it's just an old tradition. I believe in science." 

Well, guess what? I tried to live the philosophy that nothing matters, and we're all evolved from nothing exploding into particles that became the universe. But I had to realize that it's not logical. It's not. And it's not livable, frankly. Because if I'm just evolved amino acids then nothing matters. I mean, philosophically, if you think about it, if there is no God, then nothing matters. But I tried to live that way and ended up on drugs. Then I quickly became addicted. 

Frankly, when you look at our social structure, the reason America works, is because our founders put God first and said, If God is true, then every human life matters. But if we're just evolved, then frankly, they would have said, "nothing matters." And is that livable for society? It isn't. A society full of people who think nothing matters is going to be a society on fire. That's why we see our society crumbling right now. That's why our society is spinning off into chaos. Because many young people and adults today believe that they're just evolved and nothing matters, so do whatever feels good. A society of people doing whatever feels good is a broken, desolate, shallow society bent on self-destruction and self-mutilation. So why not molest a kid? Why not assault someone? Why not steal? Why not be corrupt? Why not perjure yourself on the stand? If nothing matters, then anything goes. 

If I'm just evolved stardust, there is no God. There's also no consequence to my actions. So why not do whatever I want? Do you get it? Do you see how this goes to the very base of our society and who we are as people? Jesus Christ is real. Only with Christ at the center, God at the center, is society really functional at all. 'In God We Trust' is more than a slogan, it's a philosophy of society that practically works.

Are you ready to get back in line with the order of the universe through Christ? Let your rebellion end today. It doesn't work. It leads nowhere. It's not even logically consistent. It's a dead end. 

Give your life to Christ today, I dare you. Give your life to God right now. Pray right now. Maybe it's your first time ever. Maybe you just want to reaffirm your commitment. But I just want to offer you this open door right now. 

Pray this to Commit to Christ your Life: Lord God Almighty. Father, we admit, you're at the basis of everything. Your real God, you're really real. You are really real Father. And we first of all say we can't do it. We've tried to be good and we can't we've sinned. Lord Jesus, please forgive us our sins. Forgive us for where we've lied. Forgive us for where we've manipulated people to get what we wanted. Forgive us for times when we stole, or didn't pay our taxes. Forgive us when we hurt someone, when we acted like we were better than someone. Forgive us God for unforgiveness. God forgive us for people that we've refused to forgive. We forgive them now. Most of all, God, we admit we've sinned and we ask you Lord Jesus, that your precious blood would cover all of our sins, that we will be made new. We give you our hearts Lord Jesus, and we receive your righteousness as a gift. We receive it by faith. We don't try to work for it, but we receive it by faith, by grace, through faith. We receive the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ's perfect sacrifice. God, we receive the Spirit. Grant us the Holy Spirit now, to lead us in our lives always. In Jesus name, Amen.

Christians Pray this to self-examine: Father God in Heaven, if any Christian is struggling with a sin, God, please bring it forward in their minds. Father reveal it to them so they can repent quickly. Convict their heart toward sorrow and repentance. May they may be ready for judgment day. If there's any unforgiveness in their heart, Father, bring it to mind so they may quickly forgive, so they would learn to forgive so they can be ready on judgment day as well. Thank you, Father, we love you and praise you. In Jesus name. Amen.

Are you led by the Spirit of God or the spirit of the World?

As believers in Jesus we are his representative body on the Earth. We are the body of Christ. This means Jesus does his work through us, as we are led by Him. That’s something I think we need to emphasize more and more, being led by God’s Spirit practically on a daily basis. Are you led by the Spirit of God?

If you are, this proves you are a child of God.

It’s very important that we obey the leading of God, because Jesus says, those who do my will, they are my true family.

That’s what we’re talking about today, family, you might say, fellowship. Brothers and sisters, if you are in Christ today, if you are born a second time, a new being, with the Sacred Spirit within you, and it’s really real, then you are closer to me than my own flesh and blood family. We are family by the Spirit of God.

The amazing thing is, in this peculiar family, the family of God, we did not necessarily choose Him, but he chose us. We know that’s true particularly for His twelve disciples. The apostles.

We see in Mark chapter 3 Jesus gathering the twelve. Here is what happens, starting in verse 13:

“Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.”

These twelve men are appointed to the service of God, they are leaders. The same thing happens in The Salvation Army at commissioning each year, the new Lieutenants are given their “appointment.” They are appointed to service as pastoral leaders of a corps.

All these leaders are appointed to various corps around the Midwest area of our territory and they begin to serve in the kingdom of God. We are part of that. We’re part of the body of believers worldwide. The Salvation Army is. We are. So then the goal is, the body of Christ is active in small cities, big cities, medium cities, different counties, across the entire state of Michigan, and indeed across all fifty states, and even further to 130 countries.

We being here in Owosso function as one of about 40 churches in Owosso. The goal being that we all work together and separately, to achieve the ends of God, for people to come to know Christ as savior, and then to equip those people to bring the message to others.

But I want you to notice something, all of the Christians in the body of Christ, in this city, and worldwide, if they are genuine believers, they have been given authority.

Notice three things in Mark 3:14-15: He is with them, first of all. Second, that they would preach the message, and thirdly, they may drive out demons.

That is spiritual authority. They are given permission by Jesus, to have the Spirit within them, to share the message with their mouth, and to speak in Jesus name to command demons to come out of people.

You have that same authority today. You are a kingdom representative on Earth. I want you to start thinking about that as you live your life. You are a kingdom representative of kingdom of God. You have authority in the name of Jesus Christ, to speak forth, and the world changes. You can pray to God in Jesus name, and demons are cast out. You can pray in Jesus name, and people are healed. You can pray to God in Jesus name, and people will be healed.

One of the deadliest tricks of the enemy is to try to steal our hope, our joy, our courage, and to make us think we can't make a difference.

You can make a massive difference in Jesus name. You just need to start to believe again, that you can. Believe that you have that kingdom authority. Because it’s true. You can believe it, because it’s true.

Don’t let the enemy lie to you, and tell you that you’re a victim. You’re not a victim. You’re a hero. And as you live for Christ, the world is changing because people’s lives are being reshaped by the message you bring. Believe. Be courageous!

All authority in heaven and on Earth belongs to Jesus Christ, we know that because Jesus told us when he gave the great commission. And Jesus then shares that authority with us, in His name. Amazing!

We are the “house of representatives” of the body of Christ on earth you might say. That’s why when we unite and love one another deeply, from the heart, and stand united as one, and pray in Jesus name, in unity, the whole world changes.

I’ll give you an example, one thing that basically every believer was united on was praying for Ukraine. I mean, every denomination, every group, every church, was praying, and what happened? There were these miracles happening, Ukraine soldiers had these impossible victories. Russian bombs would not explode, Russian tanks would break down at critical moments, weather patterns would disrupt Russian troop movements, and still today, it should’ve been easy for Russia, but they still haven’t been able to conquer Ukraine.

When we stand united and pray, the enemy trembles. Understand your authority, when you pray boldly in Jesus name, that is your vote, in the courts of heaven, and it counts for something big. 

Keep that picture in your mind, house of representatives, your prayer is your vote.

So the twelve disciples are gathered here, and Jesus has this sort of ceremony where he gives them authority. So what happens next? Jesus encounters his blood family.

In verses 20-22: "Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”"

Notice that so many people are being converted, so many people are coming to Jesus and his disciples that they can’t even eat!

This chapter is really all about what being a true disciple of Jesus is.

Here we see a contrast in the scriptures. First, we see the twelve disciples faithfully being called.  But then, we see how his blood family responds to his growing fame and teachings. They think he’s out of his mind. They want to kind of bring him back home to Nazareth and say calm down, you’ll be ok, let’s get you outa here. But Jesus is not having it.

So you have spiritual family, then physical family, then we see Pharisees, the family of Israel. Here is what they say in verse 22: "And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

Next, in verses 23-30 we see Jesus’ response to the religious teachers:

"So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

This is one of those mysteries of the Bible that people always wonder about. 

What exactly does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit?

I’ve always been taught that it’s the sin of rejecting Jesus Christ as savior and dying without him as your savior. That's probably at least somewhat correct... That you’re resisting the leading of the Holy Spirit. But in particular, it seems to be publicly spreading the message that Jesus is led by a false spirit, by a demon, or something.

It seems to be describing a situation where you are actively fighting against the leading of the Holy Spirit, and in a public way testifying about it as well. This could connect closely with teachers and leaders in particular, because Jesus calls out the religious leaders for blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Apparently, from what I can tell, something about this sin of publicly condemning the Spirit can harden someone to the point they can never and will never repent.

Some have connected this with the unforgivable sin mentioned elsewhere in the Bible, but I don’t know that they’re actually connected in any way. The same word is not used in the Greek when mentioning the unforgivable sin, though in Hebrews 10:26-30, it does mention that when a Christian makes a practice of sinning, they can be eternally lost, because they’ve “insulted the Spirit of Grace.” But the word "insulted" there isn't the same as the word blaspheme in Mark 3. 

It says this in Hebrews 10:26-30: “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

But you see there that it includes trampling the son of God, which for me disconnects it from the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, to be something a little different, because the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is unforgivable while Jesus says that those who blaspheme against Him can be forgiven.

In any case, Jesus says to the Pharisees that they are so committed to blaspheming the Spirit, that they are eternally lost. How exactly this works is a mystery, but these Pharisees had done it! Lord may it never be so of us, may we always declare that your Spirit is holy, holy, holy, and gives glory to Jesus Christ the savior of the world!

Next, we see again an issue with his family. I assume they must’ve come right when he got there, then they left, now they’re back, but they can’t get to him because so many people have gathered. But they send word for him.

It says in verses 31-35: “Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Here we find the key to the entire chapter, it’s all about family, being a disciple of Jesus, and we’ve seen how various different groups respond to Jesus:

1. His twelve disciples follow Him faithfully (aside from Judas)

2. His blood relatives disbelieve in him (at first)

3. The crowds of people listen to him (though many don't believe)

4. The religious leaders reject him (many did believe though)

And all of it comes down to the final question: Who is family to Jesus?

Is it a religious Pharisee because they are so good at the law of Moses? Not necessarily, no. The gospel is open to them, yes. Is it the crowds because they listen to him? Not necessarily, though many do believe in the crowds. Is it his blood relatives because they are related to him? Not necessarily, though many did believe in his blood family. Was it his twelve disciples? Not necessarily, eleven of them believed, but one would later betray him.

So how do we really know who Jesus body is on the Earth? It is evidenced by this simple fact: They do the will of God. 

They practically live for Jesus. They obey God in their daily life. That is the evidence. That is who is family to Jesus. You claim to be a Christian? Ok, let’s test it. Do you obey the will of God in your life?

Jesus said, “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ -Matthew 7:21-23

We see two factors there, a positive and a negative command. First, we positively do the will of the Father in heaven on a daily basis, we really live for God and in service of His kingdom.

Secondly, we see a negative statement, that these people turned away at heavens gates are lawless, they practiced sin. So we want to make sure we are turning away from sin, and living out holiness in reverence for God.

Now, I’m speaking to two groups here, for some of you I’m trying stir you up a bit, inspire a holy fear, so that you will take your faith walk more seriously, and really live for Jesus.

For some of you, you already live for Jesus, so I’m trying to make sure you don’t start condemning yourself or feeling mad anxiety about this issue. Two different groups.

Group one, ask the Holy Spirit to help you really do God’s will and put sin to death. You're in danger if you don’t, plain and simple.

Group two, ask the Holy Spirit to grant you greater joy, peace, and success in your daily path of doing His will. You are not in danger, you are in faith, stop condemning yourself. 

We are the body of Christ. We are each members of it. And we all have gifts, spiritual gifts, that are unique, and we all must contribute those gifts to our mission on planet Earth, to get the world saved. And to teach all people everywhere to obey God’s commands, as his disciples ought to. That is our mission. What is your spiritual gift? How can you put it to work for God’s kingdom? That’s the challenge for you as well. Pray now, and look at this list of spiritual gifts. Which do you have? Ask Him for other gifts, new gifts. He will equip you in every way to serve. Is it serving? Is it administration? Is it preaching? Is it teaching? Is it prophecy, or exhortation? Is it showing mercy? Pray now, and ask God about your giftings. Take a spiritual gifts test. Then pray God would teach you to use them effectively for His kingdom, in Jesus name, amen.