You want a pillow or a key?

Pillow - key

Sunday 02/26/17 

Series: Doers of the Word

Message – You want a Pillow or a Key?

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Last week we worked through…

James 4:5-10,

“(5) Is it your opinion and do you presume to think that the scriptures say for no reason at all, that “The Spirit that dwells in us intensely craves possession of you, dotes upon you and is prone to feel pain and be moved to jealously at the sight of your happiness apart from God? He influences you more…which is why He says that he resists the proud and obstinate who reject Him, but influences the modestly reverent. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

(8) Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, double-minded people!  (9)  Be miserable and mourn and weep. Your laughter must change to mourning and your joy to sorrow.  (10)  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

If you buy the lie (in James 1:14-18 – Someone Read) that sin will satisfy…

That you will find satisfaction in…

  • Selfish indulgence – instead of humility
  • Pursuing being “right” – instead of finding acceptance in Him
  • In pursuing the weaknesses of the flesh – instead of the strength of the Spirit

Then you are believing the lie – you are deceiving yourself and you are NOT a doer!

The gospel of Jesus Christ does NOT sympathize with sin – it offers a way out. To sympathize with sin – whether your own or those of another is like offering a pillow to a prisoner instead of a key. It might make the “feel” better in their bondage, but it can never set them free!

Last week I mentioned the story of lady I met with 9 children attending funeral last Sunday.

Her friend had been hurt by the unfaithfulness of her husband and then she came down with a terminal illness. Her Christian friend urged her to consider her eternity and turn to God through Christ.

In bitterness and anger her “friend” said, “What God? My husband left me…I’m terminally ill…what God?

You will remember that as we discussed this last week, we realized that it is easy to sympathize with this woman and before you know it we begin to see her as an unwitting victim – but that is NOT the truth!

Her co-worker was offering her a key to her bondage, but people do not really want freedom – they want sympathy. They want to assign blame – they want to be right.

You might say, but Mark, no one really wants to live in bondage… but that is certifiably NOT true! People LOVE what is familiar and they LOVE the comfort and sympathy of others. They love the martyrdom of the “poor me” syndrome and thrive on the praises of people who see them as heroic victims of misfortune rather than people who have responded poorly to bad circumstance and who, in general, made bad choices.

This is why the field of psychology is SO successful. Many practices have many of the same clientele for years! Some practices even stop taking new patients for protracted periods of time because their current clientele never gets better. These “patients” are addicted to playing the victim, and their “psych” doctor – whatever flavor they happen to be, are quite often making the problem worse.

Our lost woman didn’t ask… she didn’t seek… she simply retreated into herself, assured herself that she was the unwitting victim and spurned the love and counsel offered by a friend (God’s daughter) and as a result she made an impetuous decision based upon her anger which she was wrongly venting at God.

She was NOT the victim – God was!

God was reaching out to her – she was the one rejecting Him.

If we find ourselves identifying with this woman – we can readily see one of the LARGEST roadblocks we have between being a doer and being the deceived.

  • The TRUTH WAS that God was enough for her.
  • The TRUTH was that she didn’t want to hear that.
  • The TRUTH was she desired to vent to her anger and lash out at this “non-existent God”…all the while the Spirit was wooing her to surrender but she WOULD NOT!

There are no victims in regard to our relationship with God – only Doers and those continuing on in their deceptions.

But are such actions limited to non-Christians alone?

I wish we could say they were!

As Christians, we can all say easy enough, “God would have been enough for her” but do your words have the conviction of someone who lives them?

The REAL Question is – is He enough for you?

You cannot hold onto your “go to” sin – your “relief value” – your “be there for you friend” (or therapist) – AND draw near to God the Father at the same time!

You will have to choose!

Remember His love is a jealous love – He will not share you with others. Your allegiance is His or it belongs to someone/something else….NEVER BOTH!

The key is in the motives of our hearts, I mean, everyone claims they want freedom, what we have to ask ourselves is why?

Is your desire for freedom so that you can be free to enjoy life? Probably not! Again, many are getting FAR more out of their “affliction” than they would ever care to realize or admit.

What if, “freedom to enjoy life” actually IS the reason behind our claimed desire for liberty? Well, it alone is not a good reason, it is still self-focused.

If you look into the scriptures very far at all you will find that God-given deliverance is ALWAYS tied to a desire to honor Him.

Over and over and over again, IsraelAbramMosesDavidIsaiahJonahNehemiah…etc. the theme was:

  • Not for our sakes
  • for Your mercies’ sake
  • for the sake of Your great Name

Jesus told us that the KEY to our ability to keep all of God’s word was tied to our Love of God!

Our love of self and love of others – including sympathy for those in sin, is NOT a gateway to freedom but further bondage.

Jesus is the Key…the Gospel presents the love of God as the key. NOT just His love for us, but rather what that love results in.

1Jn 4:19 says, “We love Him BECAUSE He first loved us.”

But was IS love?

Well the same author in the same letter gave us the key to that as well…

1Jn 5:3-4, “(3) For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (4) For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.”

Let’s consider another example:

Rob Bell, who is perhaps best known for his book “Love Wins“, used to be a conservative evangelical. He studied at Wheaton College which is a Protestant Christian Evangelical school and later obtained his Masters from Fuller Theological Seminary.

Yet his re-envisioning of how church should work coupled with the intoxication of explosive subsequent “church” growth were a formula for disaster.

Bell knew the clear teachings of scripture concerning…

  • the second coming of Christ
  • the eternal nature of the final judgment
  • that both heaven and hell were more than a peripheral doctrine to Christ
  • that heaven and hell were represented by Christ and the Apostles as quite literal
  • the real definitions of sodomy and  homosexuality in the scriptures

He also knew that the teachings regarding sexuality under the New Covenant were the same as the old making those teachings NOT culturally induced, nor unduly concerned with the cultural relevance of the message. In brief, Jesus and Paul were not concerned with being culturally relevant – but Spiritually relevant by embracing and teaching the truth in a culture that not only rejected it, but became violent against it’s propagation.

Whether it was one thing or a series of things which led to Bell’s increased concern over cultural relevance cannot be said, but that such became his over-arching concern brings into focus the reasons for my mentioning it here in this message.

In the February 2015 issue of the online magazine Independent Journal Review the author Jennifer Van Laar, quotes from a conversation between Oprah and Rob Bell (her “spiritual adviser”) where Oprah asked Bell if he thought that churches were close to accepting both homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

Rob said,

we’re moments away from the church accepting it,” and that Christians needed to stop relying on its holy text as a basis for opposing homosexuality:

“I think culture is already there and the church will continue to be even more irrelevant when it quotes letters from 2,000 years ago as their best defense, when you have in front of you flesh-and-blood people who are your brothers and sisters, and aunts and uncles, and co-workers and neighbors, and they love each other and just want to go through life with someone.”

Do you see it?

The focus of his life and ministry shifted from a message about Who God IS, to Who Rob wanted God to be.

Bell began to sympathize with the world and Christians who were caught in the sin of homosexuality.

While compassion for floundering Christians and the lost is commendable and very much like Christ – the key is NOT changing the standard to meet the sin, but empowering the sinner to meet the God Who IS the standard.

The Gospel is NOT man-centered, it is God-centered!

Morality is not an elastic, cultural construct, but is rooted immovably and inexorably in God’s character which changes not!

Are you hearing what I am saying here? It was through Bell’s identifying with the world that encouraged him to love them MORE than he loved and honored his Savior.

Wasn’t it Christ Who said,

“The person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the person who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

Let’s turn there and look at the whole of this passage…it’s found in Matt. 10:34-39,

“(34) Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. (35)  For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; (36)  and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. (37)  The person who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; the person who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. (38)  And whoever doesn’t take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. (39)  Anyone finding his life will lose it, and anyone losing his life because of Me will find it.”

….and it doesn’t matter if your are siding with someone in the world, a Christian who is making excuses for their sin (their disobedience to Father) or  your own – STOP IT!!!

If you continue you WILL NEVER be a DOER, you will be trapped in the self-defeating downward spiraling life of defeat of a deceived Christian.

This is one of the GREATEST church lies of the 21’s century.

  • I can love the world and God at the same time.
  • I can enjoy the world and God at the same time.
  • I can pursue friendship with the world and intimacy with God at the same time.

NO… YOU… CAN’T!

So, when it comes to loving the world and loving the things in the world James tells us that God resists the proud person, but offers His influence upon the hearts of the humble. The key to receiving this influence in a way that produces change is love for God.

WHO IS THE PROUD PERSON?

Well pride doesn’t always LOOK prideful.

It is the Poor woman who lost her husband and is dying of a terminal illness who to her dying breath remains bitter at God.

It is the Rob Bell”s who want to help people, want to see them saved and happy MORE that he wanted to love and honor his LORD.

Jesus said, YOU CANNOT DO IT! You WILL love one and hate the other – be loyal to one and despise the other!

James then tells us to – submit to God – resist satan and draw near!

The very thing which Bell did NOT do.

What next?

“(8) …Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

We discovered from looking at James 1:5-8; Psa 1:1-4 & Eph 4:14

That double-mindedness is an instability of soul that is the trait of the childish, weak and wicked

The cure was deep, heart-felt repentance

“(9)  Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. (10)  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”

…Blessings! 

 

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Neither money nor attendance at our church will be mentioned.

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Blessings!

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!