REALTIONSHIP SERIES - HOW TO BE A FRIEND OF GOD
Text James 2:21-24, NKJV
21 “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar? 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? 23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." And he was called the friend of God . 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”
INTRODUCTION…
How many of you know that it matters who your friends are? Proverbs 12:26 says, "The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray.” A few years ago Garth Brooks hit it big with a song that said,
Cause I've got friends in low places
Where the whiskey drowns
And the beer chases my blues away
And I'll be okay
I'm not big on social graces
Think I'll slip on down to the oasis
Oh, I've got friends in low places
Later that year Larnelle Harris sang:
I've got friends in high places,
So high, but not so far away.
I've got friends, in high places,
And I'm gonna be with them someday.
The contrast between these two songs is clear. Brooks has friends in low places, places like the bars and the clubs. The writer of Proverbs tells us that people in low places can only bring us down. On the other hand Larnelle sings about people in high places, and he's talking about heaven. Notice that he even sings it in a high voice, further emphasizing the contrast between his song and Garth Brooks' song. Unlike friends in low places, friends in high places lift us up and motivate us to do better and to be better people.
I) GOD IS IN THE HIGH PLACES
If I had to choose between friends in low places and friends in high places, I'd rather have friends in high places, and there is no place higher than the throne of God. Isaiah said, "I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple" (Isa 6:1, NKJV). God said of Himself, "For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: 'I dwell in the high and holy place'" (Isa 57:15, NKJV). There is no one higher than God, so if we have a friend in Jesus, a friend who sticks closer than a brother, then that is a friend in high places.
There are several songs about having a friend in Jesus. There's the classic, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus," then there's, "Friendship with Jesus," "I've Found A Friend In Jesus, He's Everything to Me," and even "Jesus Is My Best Friend." But there's another song, an old hymn written by Johnson Oatman entitled, "I'll Be A Friend to Jesus." I like this because it expresses the intention of the writer to be a friend to Jesus.
This gives rise the question: How does one become a friend of God? Friendship doesn't just happen. I know a lot of people who are not my friends. We may be cordial to one another, but we aren't friends. Perhaps we could become friends, but it would require something on both of our parts to become friends. Likewise, if we want to be (as is said of Abraham) a friend of God we must respond to God's invitation. God has extended the invitation to us to be His friend, but how do we respond? Some would say that we just have to have faith, but James tells us that we have to faith with works, that is, our faith must take action. This is what Abraham did, and Abraham was a friend of God.
Look at the text with me.
II) ABRAHAM'S FAITH
Most of us know the story of Abraham, first known as Abram. He was raised in an idolatrous family in pagan culture. The story in Genesis doesn't begin with Abram seeking for God. The story begins with God choosing Abram. God could have chosen anyone. God didn't owe Abram this opportunity and Abram hadn't done anything to merit God's call. It was grace from beginning to end. So what did Abraham do to become a friend of God, and what does Abraham teach us about how we can become a friend of God?
If you go back to the first interaction of God with Abram, in Genesis 12:1, you find that God initiates the conversation. God breaks into Abram's world and He does so with an unusual command. God says, "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you."
That is a rather radical request isn't it? So this is how God initiates friendship? He says, "Pack up and leave everything you've ever known. Leave your country. Leave your culture. Leave your friends and leave your family." Notice that God doesn't even tell Abram where to go. He just says, "Go now, and I'll show you were I'm going to take you."
Then God gives Abram this promise, "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." (Gen 12:1-3, NKJV). That's a pretty sweet deal right there. It is pure grace, but you receive grace through faith. So how did Abram respond?
Verse 4 says, "So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran." Notice that Abram doesn't argue with God, or ask for proof or anything like that. Abram heard God, Abram believed God, and Abram obeyed God. That's what a friend does.
How do we know that Abram believed God? We know by the actions Abram took. He packed up and left, just as the Lord told him to do. His faith is revealed in his actions. Faith without works is dead. However, according to James the ultimate test of His faith was when God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son Isaac on the altar.
God does not and would not desire human sacrifice, but this is symbolic. It really prefigures the sacrifice that God would give when His only begotten Son dies for humanity. The substitution sacrifice of the ram for Isaac is symbolic of Jesus dying for our sins. But the point for Abraham was that he was willing to do whatever God asked. He was willing even to give up his own son, the son of promise, if God asked him too.
James says, "Abraham's faith was proven in his actions. Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, and he was called a friend of God." What God asked Abraham to do didn't make sense, but he believed God. What God asked him to do was going to be the greatest sacrifice that a man could be asked to give, but Abraham believed God. What God was asking ran contrary to everything Abraham thought he knew about God, but Abraham believed God and he was willing to go the distance, to give everything, to put his hopes and dreams on the altar and say, "God, I don't understand, but I trust you. I don't like what I'm about to do, but I believe you and I love you."
Proverbs 17:17 says, "A friend loves at all times." If I am a friend of God then my love for God does not rise and fall with my circumstances. If I am a friend of God, then I will love God whether I'm on the mountain or in the valley, whether I have much or if I have little, whether I'm in health or if I have a thorn in the flesh.
(III) BECOME A FRIEND THROUGH FAITH AND OBEDIENCE
How do you become a friend of God? You believe. Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him as for righteousness and Abraham was a friend of God. How do you become a friend of God? You respond by faith to God's grace and you obey. How do you become a friend of God? You say yes to the invitation of Jesus. Jesus said:
13 “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.” (John 15:13-17, NKJV)
God chose Abraham and Jesus chose us to be His friend. Abraham wasn't looking for God and we weren't either. Jesus came looking for us. He came to seek and to save them that were lost. He came with an invitation for us to be His friend. He said, "I have called you friends."
Jesus made this statement not long after observing the Lord's Supper and washing the feet of His disciples. Each time we observe the Lord's Supper we are reminded that He still calls us friend. He lay down His life for us, and there is no greater love. He calls us friend, but will we be a friend to Jesus? Will we do whatever He commands us to do?
The words to the song, "I'll Be A Friend To Jesus" say this:
* 1. They tried my Lord and Master,
With no one to defend;
Within the halls of Pilate
He stood without a friend.
* Refrain:
I'll be a friend to Jesus,
My life for Him I'll spend;
I'll be a friend to Jesus,
Until my years shall end.
* 2. The world may turn against Him,
I'll love Him to the end,
And while on earth I'm living,
My Lord shall have a friend.
* 3. I'll do what He may bid me;
I'll go where He may send;
I'll try each flying moment
To prove that I'm His friend.
* 4. To all who need a Savior,
My Friend I'll recommend;
Because He brought salvation,
Is why I am His friend.
When we observe Communion together, we are saying, "I am a friend of God." But before we distribute the elements, we should always let's take a moment and examine ourselves. Am I ready to trust and obey God, as Abraham did? Am I ready to lay down my life for Jesus?
RELATIONSHIP SERIES - DAVID: A MAN AFTER GOD'S HEART
Text: Acts 13:21-23
21 “And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.' 23 From this man's seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior - Jesus – “ . NKJV
INTRODUCTION…
I think that when I look through Scripture and try to find someone who had a very close relationship with God, and yet who wasn't perfect, who still seemed as human as you and me, two people come to my mind-Peter and David. Today we're going to take a look at David. Often when I read about some of the people in the Bible, it seems to me that they are so far beyond anything I could hope to be or achieve.
For example, Joseph never seems to do anything wrong. Instead, whether he's a slave in Potiphar's house, a prisoner, or in the palace, Joseph always seems to have a good attitude always does what is right. If my brothers sold me into slavery and told my father I was dead, I'm not sure I would have been as kind to them as Joseph was. There are people like Joseph in the Bible that I look at and think, I could never be like him. But then I look at someone like David or Peter, and I think, "Yep. That's more like me, and if God could love them after all their mistakes, then I know He can love me. If God can forgive them, after all their faults and failures, then there's hope for me." The thing that I particularly find fascinating about David is that he is twice called a man "after God's heart." That is what we should all desire to be, men and women after God's heart.
I THE PREACHING
Our text is a sermon that Paul preached in the synagogue in Antioch on the Sabbath. His audience was Jewish so Paul used Jewish Scripture, what we call the Old Testament, to point them to Jesus as the Messiah. Paul appeals to their Jewish heritage, history, and tradition. He reminds them of the covenant that God made with David promising him that a member of his lineage, one of his offspring, would always sit upon the throne of the kingdom of Israel. Yet Herod, the king of Israel at that time, could not make that claim. He was an illegitimate king and not of the lineage of David. Paul then points them to Jesus, who is the Savior of Israel, and who could claim David as His ancestor.
In the course of this sermon Paul quotes from the Old Testament. In referring to David as a man after God's own heart, Paul is loosely quoting from the book of 1 Samuel 13:14. There Samuel is telling King Saul that because of his disobedience, God is going to raise up another king. Samuel said, "The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you."
This next king would be different. This king would be a king who whose heart was in tune with the heart of God. He would be a man "after His own heart." Look at that phrase from our text as Paul states it: "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will." When Samuel originally spoke this to Saul, Samuel didn't know who it was that God had chosen and neither did David, but God knew and God found in David a man whose heart was in the right place.
How many have had someone try to do something for you and it went terribly wrong. Perhaps they said they would tune up your car, but then when you start your car, it's obvious that something is wrong. Usually, when we know that their heart was in the right place, we forgive them. We overlook their mistakes and we maintain the friendship. We may not let them touch our car again, but we forgive their mistakes because their heart was in the right place. I think this is the way God's relationship with David was. David made mistakes, but his heart was in the right place even when his eyes weren't.
II THE PROCESSION
Samuel speaks this word in 1 Samuel chapter 13, but it isn't until chapter 16 that Samuel first lays eyes on David. Saul continued to disobey God, and the problem with Saul was that he never acknowledges his mistakes. Instead, he constantly tries to defend himself for disobeying the Lord, he makes excuses and doesn't repent until the die is cast. David makes mistakes as well, David sinned against the Lord, but when David was confronted with his sins he always acknowledged his mistakes and he always repented.
Let's face it. We're probably gonna blow it from time to time, and that's not an excuse to sin. John says in 1 John 2:1, "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not." That's the expectation, that's the norm for the believer, but the Holy Spirit, who was inspiring John to write, also knows the propensity of humanity to trip and fall from time to time. John doesn't say, "I write these thing to you so that you sin not, and if you sin, then pack your bags because it's over and done. God don't want nothin' else to do with you." That's not what John writes. Instead, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, John says, "These things I write to unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."
David's example shows us that even if we fail, and fail miserably, we don't have to stay down. We don't have to quit. God loves us too much for that. All we have to do is be honest with God and with ourselves, admit our mistakes, confess our sins, and repent and we will find forgiveness and healing in Jesus. Saul couldn't do that and he lost everything. David knew how to repent and God gave him an everlasting covenant.
In 1 Samuel 16 we read that God sent Samuel to anoint one of Jesse's sons to be king over Israel. I find it interesting that God doesn't tell Samuel which of Jesse's sons to anoint. I think God wanted to illustrate something to Samuel. If you turn to 1 Samuel 16 you'll find that all but one of Jesse's sons were there. One by one they step up, but God tells Samuel, "Neither hath the Lord chosen this." I like the way that is written in the King James Version of the Bible, beginning at verse 6:
6 ‘And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD's anointed is before him.”
Looking only at the exterior, Samuel thought, this is a big strapping good looking lad, this must be the one.
7 “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”
Remember, Saul was a big guy. Saul stood head and shoulders above the average Jewish man of his day and when the people saw him they thought that he would be the perfect candidate to represent them as their king. But they were wrong because Saul had a heart problem. Saul allowed pride to replace his humility until God replaced Saul as king.
Since Eliab wasn't the man, Jesse called the next to the oldest son.
8 “Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this.”
As I said, I like the way the King James Version puts it. The Spirit said, "Neither hath the Lord chosen this." Whatever this is, this ain't it.
9 “Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. 10 Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these.”
None of those boys were what God was looking for. Samuel saw several of them that he thought would be good candidates, but God said, "Not this, not this, not this," until there were no more sons standing there.
11 “And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are these all you children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep.”
The one God was looking for wasn't even at the party. He was content just keeping his father's sheep. His own father apparently didn't think he was important enough to invite to this event, but "Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down until he gets here."
We get in a hurry sometimes, but God will wait until you get there. You may not be there yet. You may not think God can use you. You may not think you're even a candidate to be used by God in any form or fashion, but you may be exactly what God is looking for, you're just not there yet. What's He looking for? He's looking for a man or woman who is after His heart. He's looking for someone who will do what God asks them to do, to be His servant, do His will, and to walk humbly before the Lord thy God.
So Jesse sent for his youngest boy, just a teenager who was out tending the sheep. Look at verse 12, the Bible describes David as "ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to."
III THE ANOINTING
Then God said to Samuel, "Arise, anoint him: for this is he." His own father hadn't invited him to this event, and Samuel was ready to anoint one of the older brothers, but when David came walking up from the fields, the Lord said, "This is what I've been looking for. Everybody else may have overlooked him, but this is the one. This is the one who has been singing to me in the fields. This is the one who writes me poems in the desert. This is one whose has been after my heart, and this is the one I want you to anoint with oil and I will anoint with my Spirit. This is king material right here."
13 “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.”
Remember That David wrote in the Twenty-Third Psalm, "He anointeth my head with oil. My cup runneth over." From that day forward, David was anointed and in God's time, he would be appointed to be king over Israel. The anointing of a king was already upon David, but God has a time of training before David would be formally appointed.
I think that our anointing will almost always precede our appointing and in the interim, God will train us. I served under three pastors in four years at little Blue Springs Church of God in Cleveland, Tennessee before I pastored my first church in Kansas. I felt like I was ready to pastor when I got to Tennessee and I felt like I was anointed to preach God's word, but it wasn't God's time yet. So I gave my best and did my best as a layman in the church while God prepared me to be a pastor. God was telling me that as a man sows, so shall he also reap. So I determined to be the best layman I could be so that when I became a pastor I would have wonderful laity like you.
So God will anoint you, and with that anointing you will have a passion and a drive to put your anointing into practice, but it just may be that there will be a time of preparation between your anointing and your appointing. I'm sure that at time David must have wondered what God was doing. He was anointed to be a king, but he was on the run for his life. He was chosen by God, but it wasn't his time yet. What did David do? He stayed faithful. He continued to believe and to he continued to honor God with his life, even as an outcast running for his life.
Why did God choose David? God chose David because his heart was in the right place. God isn't necessarily looking for the biggest or the brightest, or the most popular. God is just looking for someone who will seek His heart. God is looking for someone who will do what He asks them to do, and be what He asks them to be. You may not feel like you're all that. People around you may tell you that you're not all that. But the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
26 “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God - and righteousness and sanctification and redemption - 31 that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD." NKJV
CONCLUSION…
Let me ask you today . . . are you after God's heart? As you probably know, that phrase has a double meaning. On the one hand it means someone who is seeking the heart or the will of God. On the other hand, it means someone upon whom God has place His affection, His love, and His confidence.
There are people who feel worthless. Who feel like no one could love them, not even God. Their own parents didn't even think they were worth inviting to the party, but God sees you, He loves you and today a nail scarred hand points to you and says, "I choose you." He has an anointing for you, your appointment may come later, but today, He wants to anoint someone and begin to prepare you for a significant role in the kingdom of God. It may not be behind a pulpit. It may be in a nursing home, or even in a place of business, but if you are ready to put God's will first in your life.
I found that while I was in that time of preparation, my prayer was, "Lord, help me to be faithful while I wait for the appointment." It was tough. I was working and going to seminary. We barely had two nickels to rub together, and Sun was home with two small children. Sometimes she'd get down, and I'd always tell her, "Sun, this isn't it. We aren't there yet, but we're on our way. God has something better for us. God has a plan for us."
There were times I didn't think I could make it. The job was so physically demanding, and the school work took so much time that there were times when I was on the verge of giving up. But then God would use Sun to remind me, this isn't it. There's something God has for us, if we keep on keeping on.
David was anointed long before he was appointed, but eventually David became king of Israel, and from his descendants the King of kings would be born. God has a word for someone today. He says don't quit, don't give up, don't through in the towel. He has anointed you, and he will appoint you, but in the mean time, be faithful.
RELATIONSHIP SERIES - HE CAME TO ME
Text: John 1:1-18, NKJV
1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'" 16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.”
INTRODUCTION…
Think about this. A holy God created us in His image and likeness so that we could enter into relationship with Him. Then, through disobedience sin entered the picture and there was an immediate wall that came up between God and man. Isaiah said, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (59:1-2). Habakkuk said, God is “of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look upon wickedness” (1:13). After sin entered the picture there always had to be some kind intermediary or barrier between God and man.
First God instituted a priesthood, men who were to sanctify themselves and stand as a go-between for God and man. Then there was the temple in which a series of walls and curtains formed barriers for different types of people—Jews and Gentiles, men and women, priesthood and worshippers. However, God’s design and God’s desire was that there would be no barrier, but that we would have access to Him and live in relationship with Him, that we would walk with Him in the cool of the day.
The problem was that we could not get to Him. We were too sinful to approach Him. We were marred by the sin of Adam, we were guilty of our own sins, we were unholy, unworthy, unable and powerless to get to God. So what did God do? He came to His own. He came to His own creation. He came to those whom He had created in His own image and likeness, and He came in the likeness of sinful flesh.
Squire Parsons wrote a song that says: “He Came To Me”:
[Note to Pastors: There's a good video of John Starns singing this on Youtube. You could play it here or at the end of the service.
The gulf that separated me from Christ, my Lord,
It was so vast the crossing I could never ford;
From where I was to His domain, it seemed so far;
I cried, "Dear Lord, I cannot come to where you are."
He came to me, O, He came to me.
When I could not come to where He was, He came to me.
That's why He died on Calvary;
When I could not come to where He was, He came to me.
He came to me when I was bound in chains of sin,
He came to me when I possessed no hope within;
He picked me up and He drew me gently to His side,
Where, today, in His sweet love I now abide.
He came to me, O, He came to me.
When I could not come to where He was, He came to me.
That's why He died on Calvary;
When I could not come to where He was, He came to me.
I THE WORD IS GOD
Look at your text. John tells us that the Word was with God and the Word was God. Jesus is no less holy than the Father. He is no less God than the Father. The Word (talking about Jesus) was eternally with God the Father in a loving relationship. Jesus is the eternally begotten Son of God and the Word is God. The Jehovah Witnesses will argue that Jesus wasn’t really God in the same sense that God is God. They will say that what the Bible really says here is that “The Word was with God and the word was a god,” with a small “g”. But every time they open their mouth and say this they are only revealing their basic lack of Greek grammar. The structure of the Greek clearly indicates that the Word was God in every sense of the Word that God is God, and the Word always has been God, so that in the beginning, wherever you want to put the beginning, Jesus already was and was already God.
In fact, we are told that the Word, that is Jesus, created everything that is created. If, as some argue, Jesus was created, even if one argues that He was the first created being, then we have a philosophical paradox. Jesus, who created everything, would have to have created Himself before He even existed. As we would say in Kentcky, “That’s just plain stupid.” Jesus is God, was God, always has been God.
In Jesus was the life and the light that brought humanity to life. He is the source of all life. Without Him there is no life. In this Word, life abides and in humanity death was lurking. Paul says we were all “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2:1), we were unable to save ourselves, unable to get to God, so He came to us.
II THE WORD IS THE LIGHT
John says that His light shines in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. The holy God, who dwells in unapproachable light, put on the robes of human flesh veiling His overwhelming glory, and He came to us. He came to this old sinful world, He came to sinful humanity, light shone in the darkness, love found a way, He came to me!
That word translated “comprehended” is from the Greek word katalambano and it literally means “to seize” implying to overcome. It can be taken figuratively to mean, as the King James and New King James Versions translate it, to mean “to grasp intellectually, or to comprehend,” but I’ve always gone with the New Century Version on this. It translates this verse to say, “The Light shines in the darkness. And the darkness has not overpowered the Light.”
When you bring Jesus with you into a dark situation, you are bringing light. Those around you may not want it, and may not like it, but they can’t stop it. When you light a candle in a dark room, it can’t get so dark the light of the candle cannot shine, but it can get so light that there is no longer any darkness. (Christian influence in the workplace, schools, community, etc.)
In the beginning God spoke into the darkness and said, “Let there be light, and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). The darkness could not stop the light, could not put out the light, could not deny the light. God sent His light into the world and the darkness could not stop Him. In fact, when I was walking in darkness, when I was lost and undone without God or His Son, He came to me and He has shone a light around me that I might clearly see.
The apostle Paul writes, “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 4:5-6, NKJV). The apostle Peter says that we are to show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9).
This world may get worse, the Bible says it will, and it may get a lot darker before it gets better, but the darker the night, the brighter the light. The world needs us to show forth God’s light. We must not hide that light under the bed or put it under a bushel basket. Instead, we must show forth, we must shine bright, we must reflect and shine the light of the glory of the gospel to a lost and dying world.
III THE WORD CAME TO HIS OWN
God so desired to be reconciled to humanity, to rediscover and enter again into that relationship that had been impinged upon by sin that He came to us. John says in verse 11, “He came to His own.” This is our Father’s world, the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, but when God came to us, when God came to His own creation, we did not receive Him. John writes, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.”
He came to us, but by and large, His own did not turn to Him. Think about that! What an insult! What audacity on the part of humanity to reject the reach of God for us! But men loved the darkness rather than the light, and while the darkness cannot conquer the light, the people can still reject the light.
What did God do? God could have said, “Well, I tried and now I’m going to wipe them all off the face of the globe.” Instead, God said, “Even though not all will come to me, some will, and I will give my very own Son for those who will come.” John writes in verse 12, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” His own did not even recognize Him, but to those who receive Him, to those who will see the light, to those who believe in Him, He gives them the right to become the children of God.” He didn’t have to do it. I wasn’t worth it. He didn’t have to love me, but He did, yes He did, yet He did.
Jesus said that “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). In other words, Jesus is saying, “I came for you. I came looking for you. I endured the torture and the pain and the public humiliation, and I was nailed to an old rugged cross, and I did it all for you. I did it so that you could cross the breach of sin and enter again into a right relationship with your heavenly Father.”
We could not get to Him. We could not climb the starry steps of heaven to get to where He was. We couldn’t be good enough, or religious enough, or spiritual enough, to merit God’s love or earn the right to approach the throne of grace. So when we could not get to where He was, He came to us. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:15-16, KJV).
I was in the miry pit of sin. I was going down for the last time, but He saw my despair and He came to me there and He reached down His hand for me. Why did He do it? Why would God get His hands dirty for us? Why would God put on the robes of sinful flesh? John tells us why: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16, NKJV).
CONCLUSION…
He came for me, He came for me, when I could not go, where He was, He came to me. He also came for you. He loves you that much. He’s not looking for a reason to send you to hell. No! He’s doing everything He can, without compromising His own character, to get you to heaven. He came for you, and He sent His Spirit to be with you even now. He said, “If I go I will send you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever.” Do you know Him? Do you love Him today? He loves you.
RELATIONSHIP SERIES - I KNOW YOUR NAME
Text: Exodus 33:7-11
7 “Moses took his tent and pitched it outside the camp, far from the camp, and called it the tabernacle of meeting. And it came to pass that everyone who sought the LORD went out to the tabernacle of meeting which was outside the camp. 8 So it was, whenever Moses went out to the tabernacle, that all the people rose, and each man stood at his tent door and watched Moses until he had gone into the tabernacle. 9 And it came to pass, when Moses entered the tabernacle, that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the LORD talked with Moses. 10 All the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door, and all the people rose and worshiped, each man in his tent door. 11 So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.” NKJV
INTRODUCTION…
I love this story! It’s is a powerful story that relates how much God desires to enter into relationship with us. It is a story of God's grace and mercy at work in the face of humanity's rebellion and sinfulness. This is the continuing story of God's desire to have relationship with humanity, and humanity's habit of doing everything it can to sabotage that relationship. God comes looking for His people in Egypt, they aren't looking for Him. God seeks to establish His presence among His people, but they continue to grumble and complain and ultimately resort to idol worship until God threatens to wipe them out and start over with Moses and to make a nation from his offspring. But Moses intercedes for the people and God, for Moses' sake, God establishes a covenant by which the people could enter into relationship with Him.
The entire account of Exodus is an illustration of the length to which God is willing to go to be present with His people. Believe it or not, God desires to be present with you and me. If we feel like God is distant from us, if we feel as though our relationship with God isn't what it should be, or could be, it isn't because God has diminished in His desire for us. The problem is that we tend to leave our first love. We tend to do those things that come between us and God. We distance ourselves from God. But the hounds of heaven stay on our trail and God continues to pursue us.
I) THE PROBLEM OF SIN
By chapter 33 of Exodus, much has already happened. God initiated a conversation with Moses from the fiery bush on the backside of the mountain and God sends Moses as his messenger to tell Pharaoh, "Let my people go." Of course, Pharaoh says no, but God brings one plague after another upon Pharaoh until he agrees. Then Pharaoh changes his mind and his army pursues Israel until Israel is cornered by the mountains, the Red Sea, and Pharaoh's army. The people complain and wish they'd never left Egypt, but God makes a way where there seemed to be no way, by opening up the sea and allowing His people to walk across on dry ground, and then drowning the army of Pharaoh in the sea.
So far so good. The people sing and dance and praise God for delivering them, but then they look out at the wilderness in front of them and they complain again. They want food and God sends manna from heaven. They want water, and God gives them water from a flinty rock. They want meat, and God sends quail to eat. God proves Himself over and over, but they continue to talk about the good-ole'-days back in Egypt.
Next, God calls Moses up onto Mount Sinai to establish a covenant with the people. The covenant was the means by which God established relationship with the people, and by which God would be able be present with the people, to literally send His glory into the midst of the camp on the Ark of the Covenant in the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle.
In chapter 20 God gives Moses the Ten Commandments, which was the basis for the covenant relationship that He would have with His people. God expands upon the covenant with practical applications of these Ten Commandments. God also provides intricate instructions for the creation of a large tent, called the Tabernacle of Meeting and all the instruments and articles that would be used to worship God in the Tabernacle.
By chapter 32 we see that the Israelites had grown tired of waiting for Moses to return from the mountain. So, they convinced Aaron to make them a golden calf. This was the idol that was worshipped by Egyptians. God had gotten the people out of Egypt, but the people hadn't gotten Egypt out of themselves. So while God was establishing a process, a system by which He could enjoy relationship with His people, His people had turned their back on God and Moses and they were worshiping an idol that they made out of the gold jewelry that they had taken with them when they left Egypt.
Of course God was aware of this and had it not been for Moses interceding for the people, God might well have wiped them out and started over. But when Moses came down and saw the debauchery and the idolatry, he became so enraged that he threw down the tablets containing the Ten Commandments, and Moses began a process of purging the people. Moses drew a line in the sand and said, "If you're on the Lord's side, step over the line and stand with me." The Levites joined him and about 3,000 rebels were killed.
II) THE PRODDING OF GOD
This brings us to our text. The chapter opens with God telling Moses to lead Israel away from the place where they were in order that they could get to their God given destiny. God had made a promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and even though these people, the offspring of Abraham, had been rebellious, God was going to keep His promise to bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey. But notice that God said, "I will send an angel before you to drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites . . . but I will not go with you." God was saying, "I know how prone you are to rebellion and complaining and grumbling and it'd be best for you if I don't go with you because if I do I might just wipe you out on the way."
Of course when the people heard this, they were distressed and they began to weep. God told Moses, "Tell the Israelites, 'You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.'" So they stripped off all their jewelry as an act of obedience and repentance. For the first time, it seems, God finally saw humility among the people and a sincere desire to have the presence of the Lord in their midst.
Sometimes we don't know how much we need God until He backs up and lets us know what it would really be like if He wasn't there. The reality of the absence of the presence of God shook Israel to their core. Suddenly they realized how much they needed God if they were going to make it. Likewise, we must never for a moment think that we don't need God. The old song says, "I need, Thee, Oh I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee. Oh bless me now my Savior, I come to Thee."
III) THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD
Look at verse 7 of our text. Here we find something interesting and I guess because I originally read this in the King James Version, which says that Moses "took the tabernacle and pitched it without the camp," I didn't realize that this wasn't "the" Tabernacle. This was something else. The Tabernacle that would house the Ark of the Covenant hadn't been built yet. This was probably Moses' own tent that he put outside the camp away from the people. God said He would not be present with those people because of their sin, so Moses set up his tent outside the camp and God met with him there.
Moses called this tent, "the tent of meeting," and anyone who was seeking the Lord would have to go outside of the camp to this tent. The Bible tells us that "whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance while the LORD spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent." That is a powerful account of the relationship between God and Moses, and it causes me to wonder if anyone can tell that God's presence is in my home.
Notice that even after the people had turned their backs on God, God still had not deserted the people. He kept them at arm's length out of grace. If they had gotten what they deserved, they'd all be dead, but instead, while God was not in the camp He was still there. God was still speaking to the people through Moses. God's glory could still be seen, even if at a distance and in that tent the Lord "would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend."
God still had at least one friend. Notice that it says that "the Lord would speak to Moses face to face." He spoke to Moses as a man speaks with his friend. We know that God didn't literally speak to Moses face to face because God tells Moses in verse 20 "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." So the reference to face to face isn't literal, but figurative of the relationship that God ha with Moses. It means that God didn't use a mediator, or a go between. Moses was the mediator between God and the Israelites, but God spoke directly to Moses.
The thing about a friend is that they can ask for things that a stranger can't ask and they can say things to us that a stranger cannot say. Look at verse 12:
12 “Moses said to the LORD, "You have been telling me, 'Lead these people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, 'I know you by name and you have found favor with me.' 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people."
Moses asks God to teach him His ways and he reminds God that the nation of Israel is His people. God assures Moses with these words, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." What a word. Jesus said something very similar to us. He said, "I no longer call you servants, I call you friend." Jesus also said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you. I will go with you always, even unto the end of the age." Jesus said, "Come unto me, and I will give you rest." What friend we have in Jesus!
In these times turmoil we need to know that we are a friend of God. We need to hold on to His assurance that He is with us as a friend who sticks closer than a brother. We need to remember that He is an ever present help in a time of trouble. And we need to press on toward the everlasting prize.
Look at what Moses said in verse 15. He said to God, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" Moses is saying, "Lord, if you're not going to go with us, then don't bother sending us at all."
How does God respond? Well God doesn't say, "Just who do you think you are to tell me how to run my business. You little twerp, I think I'll just wipe you out with the rest of these ingrates." God doesn't say that, does He? Instead, "the LORD said to Moses, '"I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.'" That touched me, right there. It reminds me of the song that says, "He knows my name. He knows my every thought. He sees each tear that falls, and hears me when I call." God said to Moses, "I am pleased with you and I know you by name."
I know God knows everything and He knows all our names, but there is something else God is saying here. God is saying, "Moses, because we are on a first name basis, I'm going to give you what you've asked for." In other words, God promises Moses that He will go with Israel through the wilderness as they make their way to the Promised Land.
At this point Moses makes a request that only a friend of God would have the right to make. God's words give Moses the courage and the audacity to say, "Now show me your glory." Whew! Just like that Moses says, "Show me your glory." We talk about God's glory and claim we want it, but Moses had reached such a richness in his relationship with God until he could say, as one friend to another, "Show me your glory."
How did God respond? God said in verse 19, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence." So God is saying, "Okay Moses, I'll show you my glory, but, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." God was going to speak the unspeakable name, "Yahweh."
You get the feeling that God wants to reveal Himself to Moses, but at the same time God knows the frailty of man and so to protect Moses. God said, in verse 21, "There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen."
Oh what a moment that must have been for Moses. That awesome, fearful, terrifying, wonderful moment when the glory of God passed by and he witnessed the afterglow of God's glory. This was God's way of confirming that His presence would be with Moses and with Israel as they began to move toward their destiny.
Friends, we have that same promise. He said that He would never leave us nor forsake us. We have His promise, His assurance, and with God's presence among us, nothing is impossible. He said, "All things are possible to them that believe."
CONCLUSION…
God loves you and He desires to be with you. Because of their sin, Moses had to set up a tent outside of the camp where God would commune with Moses. It was only after they repented and reaffirmed their commitment to the covenant that the Tabernacle with Ark of the Covenant would be built and placed in the center of the camp. God cannot be at the center of our lives if there is sin. He wants to be, but we have to cleanse our hands and purify our hearts before we can draw near to God, and He can draw near to us (James 4:8).
RELATIONSHIP SERIES - I READ THE BACK OF THE BOOK
Text: Revelation 22:1-5, NKJV
1 “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.”
INTRODUCTION…
Have you even noticed that the best part of a love letter is usually the very last few lines? I mean you get all the stuff about how good looking you are and how strong you are in the body of the letter, but the best part is at the end where she says, "Love forever and ever. XOXO."
One man’s wife complained that he don't write her love letters anymore. He used to write some stuff. He wrote poems and songs and letters. She says he don't write her those letters anymore, and he started to feel guilty until he realized that she never had written him a love letter. Oh, sure, she sent him some cards, but she'd never written him a full blown mushy, kissy, kissy, love letter. So until she does, he’s decided he’s not feeling guilty about it.
God, however, has written us a love letter. His Word is His love letter to us. He opens with how we met-He created us and breathed into our nostrils, the breath of life. He talks about how we were created to enter into relationship with Him, but that through sin humanity become alienated from God, we ran and hid from Him who loved us.
I THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY
Genesis tells us that Eve was beguiled by the serpent and she ate of the forbidden fruit. Not only did Eve eat, but she gave it to Adam, who was with her, and he ate of it as well. Because of that sin they were cast out of paradise, out the Garden of Eden, and they were banned from partaking of the tree of life. But God still loved us and God had a plan. "God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him will not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).
In Genesis we see that we were created for relationship with God, but through sin that relationship was wounded, it was damaged and man had to keep his distance from God. Man could not look upon God's face and live. There had to be an intercessor, a mediator, between God and man. As a result of sin man, woman, and earth were cursed.
So, we know how the story begins. We know that it begins with hope but results in heartbreak. We know that the story begins with a close relationship between God and humanity and but develops into alienation and separation. Because of sin man came under a curse and was forced to strive with the earth for his sustenance, and the woman's pain in childbearing was increased, and humanity could no longer look upon the face of God or walk with Him in the cool of the day or live in the Garden any longer.
II THE REST OF THE STORY
If that was where the story ends, then it wouldn't be much of a story would it? If that was all there was too it, then Satan wins, God loses, and humanity is doomed to an eternity of isolation, separation, and alienation from God and from one another. But thank God the story doesn't end there.
As Paul Harvey used to say, "And now, for the rest of the story." We've read, "In the beginning," but we now we need to read the back of the book, we need to read the final lines of the love letter, and we need to remember that where sin abounds, grace doeth much more abound. We need to remember that sin doesn't win. We were made for relationship with God and by God's plan that relationship would be restored to what He intended for it to be. God's love is perfect, His love doesn't quit, and God's love finds a way to bring us back into a right relationship with the Father.
The apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 1:19-20 that "it pleased the Father that in Him [Jesus] all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross."
Look at your text. In verse 1 John says that the angel "showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb." This is the living water that Jesus promised the woman at the well.
He told her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water" (John 4:10, NKJV).
John says in our text, "I saw the river of water of life." This is the fountainhead, this is the source of the river of life and it comes "from the throne of God and of the Lamb." The river itself is the Holy Spirit Who brings the life of the Father and the Son to redeemed humanity.
John writes in his Gospel, chapter 7, verses 37-39:
37 “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." 39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” NKJV
So when John says he sees a river of waters of life flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb, what John is seeing in symbolic form, is the Trinity-Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We tend to take this scene very literally but it is filled with symbolism that is telling us that what was lost in the Garden of Eden is returned to us through Jesus Christ.
There was a spiritual death in man in the Garden of Eden. God said of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, "In the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die." Adam and Eve did not die physically that day, but there was a death. It was a spiritual death. Paul said we were all dead in trespasses and sins. It isn't that man no longer has a spiriit, but that the spirit of fallen man is tuned in to the disires of the flesh rather than the will of God.
But in the New Jerusalem the Holy Spirit (who is called "the Spirit of life" in Romans 8:2) is like a river of life that flows down Main Street in that city, and it is the Holy Spirit who brings revives the spirit of man who is made alive to the will of God and is awakened to the desire of God rather than the flesh.
Look at verse 2. John says, "In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations." Not only is there a river of life, but there is the tree of life. Man was banned from the tree in Eden, but now the tree is available for all, and is the source of healing for the nations. What was lost in Eden is returned in the New Jerusalem. What was forfeited by the first Adam is found in Jesus.
Jesus came to reverse the curse and bring us back into God's blessings. Look at verse 3. "And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him." Hallelujah! There will be no more curse, instead there will only be blessings and life for ever and ever.
Praise God, there is coming a day, when we will no longer have to earn our living with the sweat of our brow. There is coming a day when the curse will be lifted, when the earth will yield her fruit, when humanity will no longer be alienated and separated from God or from one another.
In Zechariah chapter 14 we read a prophesy of this day. In the paraphrase known as The Message, the prophet says it like this
6 “What a Day that will be! No more cold nights - in fact, no more nights! 7 The Day is coming - the timing is GOD's - when it will be continuous day. Every evening will be a fresh morning 8 What a Day that will be! Fresh flowing rivers out of Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea, half to the western sea, flowing year-round, summer and winter!
9 GOD will be king over all the earth, one GOD and only one. What a Day that will be!”
The song writer said it like this:
What a day, that will be,
When my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon His face,
The One who saved me by His grace,
There He'll take me by the hand,
And lead me through the promised land,
What a day, glorious day, that will be!"
Look at verse 4. This is a powerful verse and it really brings the story full circle. John writes, "They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads." Look at that: "They shall see His face." Remember, God told Moses, "You cannot see My face and live." John said, "No one has seen God at any time" (John 1:18), but in verse 4 of Revelation 22 John writes, "They shall see His face."
The apostle Paul said in 1 Timothy 6:16 that God dwells "in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see." But John says in Revelation chapter 22, verse 4, "They shall see His face." Hallelujah! Who shall see His face? We, the believers, shall see His face.
As Sandy Patti sang:
And we shall behold Him, we shall behold Him
Face to face in all of His glory;
And we shall behold Him, Yes, we shall behold Him
Face to face, our Saviour and Lord.
What was lost in Eden will be restored. Man was separated by sin, but in Jesus we are brought back into the Father's House.
In Genesis, God came to walk with Adam in the cool of the day. We were made for this. We were made for face to face relationship with God, for walks with God, for love and worship and praise and a celebration of our Creator. But because of sin man ran and hid from God. On that day there was a breach, a deep chasm was opened between man and God, so that now man could not look upon God and live, and God is of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness" (Hab 1:13).
But thank God there was a way across the breach of sin. There was someone named Jesus, God in the flesh, who came to bring us back into a right relationship with the Father. Through Him the curse is reversed, we shall see Him face to face, and we will be identified by His name, which will be written upon our forehead. There will be no doubt that we are His and He is ours, and nothing shall separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.
In verse 5 John writes, "There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever."
We were made for this. God created Adam and Eve to have dominion over all the earth, but Adam forfeited that right in sin and in this life the cursed earth resists man, but one day, and it won't be long, believers will be restored to our rightful place at the right hand of Jesus where we shall reign and rule with Him. The only question left is, Do you believe?
III LIVING IN THE MEAN TIME
Hallelujah! I've read the back of the book and we win. We are restored. We are reconciled. We are revived. So what does that mean for us who are living in the here and now, for us who are living in the mean time? Look at verse 12 of Revelation 22:
12"And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." 14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. 16 "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star." 17 And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.”
In the mean time, we have a job to do. We are the church and the church has been empowered by the Spirit with a message. We have a message of hope, of healing, and of reconciliation. The apostle Paul says in 2 Cor 5:17-21 (NKJV):
18 “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
In the mean time, we the church must tirelessly and passionately and persistently be declaring a simple invitation, "Come! Come to Jesus. Come to the waters of life and drink freely. Come home, come home, you who are thirsty, come home."
RELATIONSHIP SERIES - I'LL TAKE YOU BACK
Text: Hosea 1:2, Hosea 3:1-4
Hosea 1:2 says…
“When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea: "Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry, For the land has committed great harlotry By departing from the LORD."
Hosea 3:1-4 says…
1 “Then the LORD said to me, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery, just like the love of the LORD for the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love the raisin cakes of the pagans." 2 So I bought her for myself for fifteen shekels of silver, and one and one-half homers of barley. 3 And I said to her, "You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man - so, too, will I be toward you." 4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days.”
INTRODUCTION…
We’ve been teaching a series on the topic of God's desire to have relationship with us. As I've taught each study in this series, I've felt a certain frustration at how inadequate I am in trying to communicate just how profound of a concept this is.
God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who spoke the universe into existence with nothing more than the sheer power of His Word, that God desires to enter into a relationship with us, mere creatures, formed from the dust of the earth but filled with His breath and brought to life by His Spirit.
When we consider the majesty and magnitude of God, it must seem that we are but mere insects by comparison. Indeed, the earth itself is but a dark spot in our own galaxy, a mere speck of dust against the backdrop of the vastness of the universe, and yet God sets His affection upon us, upon me and upon you.
When I consider this truth, I always come back to one question: Why? Why does God want to know me? Why would He say that the very hairs on my head are numbered? Why would He say that He knows my coming in and my going out? Why would He care to know my thoughts afar off? Why does He even know my name? Why?
There is, of course, a one word answer and the word is love.
An old song said it like this:
Why did He go to Calvary,
and why did He shed His blood?
Why did He suffer like no man has ever done,
There's just one reason and I'm the one
He loves me, He loves me, Jesus loves me,
He loves me, He loves me, Jesus loves me.
I think we are guilty sometimes of failing to comprehend just how significance this is. God loves us. Not only do we fail to comprehend the fact of His love, but I think we often fail to grasp the scope and the strength, the extreme unfailing, unflinching, unrelenting nature of God's love. That's where Hosea the prophet comes in.
The story of Hosea's marriage is a powerful symbolic representation of God's love for His people. In the Old Testament, this is specifically about His relationship with Israel, but the New Testament writers used Israel as a symbol of God's relationship with the church. In fact, in Romans 9, verses 25 through 26, Paul quotes Hosea to say that God is calling the Gentiles, who believe in Jesus as their Messiah, to be His people. Paul writes:
25 “As He says also in Hosea: "I will call them My people, who were not My people ,
And her beloved, who was not beloved." 26 "And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people ,' There they shall be called sons of the living God." NKJV
So the extent of God's love is not limited to Israel or Judah, but what God reveals of His love for Israel is also a powerful revelation of His love for the church, and more specifically, for every member of the church-everyone man, woman, boy or girl who claims Jesus as Lord. In fact, God commended His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8).
Look at your text in chapter 1.
I THE LIVING PARABLE OF HOSEA'S LIFE
The prophecy of Hosea opens in an unusual way. Many prophecies open with God instructing the prophet to prophesy, but Hosea begins with the Lord telling the prophet to get married.
God begins His conversation with Hosea in verse 2, "The LORD said to Hosea: 'Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry.'"
I don't know about you, but if that was how God started a conversation with me, I'd probably want a second opinion. I'd be like, "Say what? You want me to do what? What will people think if I, Your prophet, the man of God, a man who declares Your word, what will people think if I come to church with the town prostitute and tell everyone I'm marrying her?"
If Hosea had asked that question I think God would have said, "That's exactly the point. If the people recoil at the prospect of the prophet of God entering into relationship with a harlot, then they really need to ask themselves how a holy God could love a rebellious, backsliding, sinful, idolatrous nation like them."
God was going to use Hosea's life as a living parable so the people could see just how much God loves His people. You'll notice that right after telling Hosea to marry the wife of harlotry, God goes on to make the connection between Hosea's wife and Israel. God says, "For the land [talking about Israel] has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord."
Hosea (whose name means "salvation") was a prophet to the Northern Tribes, that is, to Israel. As you may remember when the ten Northern Tribes (known as Israel) split from the two Southern Tribes (Judah), Israel set up another place of worship in Samaria and instead of the Ark of the Covenant, they built a golden calf. They still claimed to worship Yahweh, but in their temple they had the golden statue of a calf, just as they had built in the wilderness after coming out of Egypt hundreds of years earlier.
They had been unfaithful to God over and over again, but God loved them anyway. They were forever engaging in the worship of the idols of the other nations around them, but God loved them. In fact, when God chose Abraham to be the patriarch of the nation, God called him out of a family that worshipped idols. God, by His grace, chose a man from whom a nation would be born, and from which a Savior would come, not just for Israel or Judah, but through Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blessed.
God doesn't love us because we're good enough to love, or because we've earned His love. God loves us just because He is God and He created us in His image and likeness for the express purpose of entering into relationship with us. Not a relationship of coercion or force, but a relationship built on love. God loves you because you are you.
You may not think you're lovable, huggable, squeezable, and kissable, but God said that you are the apple of His eye. Ravi Zacharia said that what it literally says in the Hebrew is that you are the "maiden of His eye." It's like God calls to be so close to Him that you can look into His eyes and all you see is you. The question is never whether or not God loves us, the question is always whether or not we will love God and be faithful to Him.
God told Hosea to marry Gomer. To be honest, I think if God told me to marry someone name Gomer I'd have to pray really hard to be obedient. I'm sorry, but I'd always be thinking of Gomer Pyle.
Anyhow, Hosea didn't ask questions or argue with God, Hosea simply obeyed God. He married Gomer and she bore Hosea a son, which God told him to name Jezreel, which means, "God scatters." It was a prophetic warning that if the people of Israel did not return unto God with their whole heart, God was going to tear them like a lion and scatter them throughout the nations.
God loved them, but they were unfaithful, so God tries to shock them into reality. They did not listen. Gomer had another child and the Lord instructed Hosea to name her Lo-ruhamah, which means, "not pitied." Again, this was a warning that if they did not return, God would show no pity in His judgment upon them. Still they did not heed the warning and finally Gomer had a third child and God told Hosea to name him Lo-ammi, and this is the final straw, the name means, "not my people."
Some might argue that if God loves them, why did He cut them off. The truth is that it was they who were cutting themselves off from God's pleasure. Ultimately the ten Northern Tribes were carried off into captivity never to be heard from again. The nation of Israel in Jesus day was from the two Southern Tribes, the largest being Judah, which is why they are referred to as Jews. God cut them off, but He did so reluctantly and only after giving them opportunity after opportunity to return to Him.
The Bible tells us not to tempt the Lord our God. If we turn our backs on God over and over, and God knows that we will not return, He may turn us over to a reprobate mind and allow us to follow the path that takes of further and further away from Him.
II THE GOD OF SECOND CHANCES
Look at chapter 3. This chapter tells us how far God is willing to go to bring us back. We read that after Gomer proved to be unfaithful to Hosea, he went to the streets and brothels to look for her and to bring her home. Look at the text.
The Lord told him to go and get her even though she was being loved by other men. She was committing adultery against Hosea, but God said (and look closely at this), "Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery."
Wow! Doesn't that just take your breath away? "Go again," this wasn't the first time Hosea pulled his unfaithful wife out of the brothel, but God said "go again."
The apostle Paul says, "Love suffers long and is kind" (1 Cor. 13:4). God said, "Go again, love a woman who is loved by a lover and is committing adultery." It is only when we feel the full impact of those words that we can begin to comprehend the love of God. Notice He said that she "is with her lover and is committing adultery." Hosea would catch her in the act, but instead of stoning her he was going to buy her back. God said, "Just like the love of the LORD for the children of Israel, who look to other gods."
I don't know why, but He loved me. He kept coming back for me. He wouldn't desert me or abandon me, even after I had turned my back on Him, even after people around me had given me up as no-good and worthless, God said, "I'll take you back."
Hosea went to the streets and found his wife and bought her back for a few dollars and eight bushels of barley. He bought back what was already his. She was still his wife and even if she had forgotten who she was and had been unfaithful, Hosea was going to bring her home.
All of humanity belongs to God but we have been unfaithful, so God sent His own Son as the ransom for our sins. He bought us back, He rescued us from the slave market of sin, even after we went there of our own free will. God said, "I'll take you back. I'll pay the price. I'll give it all, but I will not leave you there hopeless and helpless."
Look at verse 3. These are Hosea's words to his unfaithful wife, but they are also God's words to us. Hosea writes, "And I said to her, 'You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man - so, too, will I be toward you.'" In other words, "We're going to have a long life together. You are going to be faithful to me, and I will be faithful to you."
CONCLUSION…
Don't give up on yourself, because God hasn't given up on you. And don't give up on those you love. God may just send you back again and tell you to bring them home, tell you to try again, tell you love again. We give up a whole lot easier than God does.
One day Jesus told His disciples, "I must needs go through Samaria." Why? He met a woman there who came alone to the well. She was something of an outcast. She'd been married five times and the man she was living with now, wasn't her husband, but Jesus went to her, and she brought a city to Him.
The Prodigal Son literally ended up in the hog pen, but when he came to himself and came home, his father was waiting there for him. His father ran out to meet him and said, "I'll take you back."
God will take you back. He will forgive you and restore if you are ready today to turn your life around.
