December 31, 2023                   NOTES NOT EDITED
The Lost Book
2Kings 22, esp. vs 8

SIS: The church must reject a dead religiosity and rediscover the transforming power of the Word of God.

In a wonderful little book titled, “The Lost Book,” we encounter a Rabbit named, Henry who lives as we would expect in Rabbit Town. Henry doesn’t like to read. Books are boring to him. He prefers “real-life adventures.” One day, Henry discovers a “Lost Book” and everything changes. Here’s how one writer describes the story of the “Lost Book”:

Everyone in Rabbit Town loves to read. Well, everyone except for Henry, who would much prefer to play outside. Then Henry finds a lost book, and when he tries to track down the owner, he stumbles into the human world. There, the adults are all absorbed in their phones and tablets, and everyone ignores Henry until he befriends a young girl. They have so much fun together that Henry gives her the lost book, knowing it will be in good hands. Henry learns that books can contain adventures all their own, and when he returns to Rabbit Town, for the first time it is Henry who tells the bedtime story. (copied)

There is a parallel to Henry in the Bible. A young boy becomes the king of Judah-Southern Israel—and discovers a “Lost Book.” His name is Josiah. Actually, Josiah’s High Priest, Hilkiah, finds the book but it is Josiah that realized how powerful and important the message of that “Lost Book” really is. The “Lost Book” is the Word of God which has been lost, sadly, in the Temple. Religion has a way of obscuring the power and majesty of the Word of God.

Let us READ TOGETHER some selected portions of chapters 22 and 23 to give us a foundation as we focus on the “Lost Book.”

2Kings 22: 1; 8; 11-12; 13; 2Kings 23:24-25

There are three ways the Church desperately needs to rediscover God’s Word, both individually and as a community. We must read it HISTORICALLY, PERSONALLY, and PROPHETICALLY.

1. HISTORICALLY (22:1)

(CSB) 1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah the daughter of Adaiah; she was from Bozkath.

This is a HISTORICAL statement that has been verified like all other historical statements in written history. This is no different than the statement, “Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16^th president of the United States Tuesday, November 6, 1860.”

The problem with the way many, if not most people read the Bible (including church-going people), is they read it as a book of religion instead of a book of history.

The Bible contains many types of writing such as hyperbole, analogy, and even has references to secular philosophy. It contains both literal prose and imaginative poetry. It’s message touches every subject of life and contains both prescriptions for righteous living and prohibitions against immorality. It’s message is both timely for the moment and timeless for eternity.

But, at the core the Bible is HISTORY. It is the record or history of God’s redemptive plan from creation of the cosmos to the consummation of the human story on earth. The Bible implies the prehistory of God before creation and describes the eternal history of God after this story of the redemption of mankind comes to a close.

The Bible is essentially and primarily a HISTORY BOOK. It’s message is eternal but its timeline is temporal. The text of the Bible gives us information on both “How the Heavens Go” and “How to Go to Heaven.”  Without a doubt and without any serious challenge to Its text, the Bible is a HISTORY BOOK.

It is also accurate on science, though it is not a “science” book. Long before mankind discovered the world was round, not flat, the Bible said,

Isaiah 40:22 (CSB) 22 God is enthroned above the circle (sphere) of the earth; its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like thin cloth and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

The great horror of our day is not the wars in the Middle East or the Ukraine—as devastating as they are. The great horror of our day is not that American politics has become nothing more than a sham and a scam by career government employees masquerading as representatives of We the People—though it is hard to think of a more concentrated cesspool of corruption than Washington, D.C.

No, the great horror of our day is the “ignorance of the Word of God displayed by people who claim to be His followers!” Look again at v8:

(CSB) 8 The high priest Hilkiah told the court secretary Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law in the LORD’s temple,” and he gave the book to Shaphan, who read it.

Let’s pause a bit to reflect on the fact that the “Word of God was lost,” but most ironically and sadly it was “lost IN THE TEMPLE.”

The Bible gets “lost” when people start reading it like a book of religion that really has no importance or relevance to every day life instead of reading it like a book of HISTORY that contains real-life lessons about how to live a righteous and effective life.

Everyone of God’s children needs to devour the Word of God so they “Know It” like the back of our hands. It is impossible to “live it” until you first “know it.”

2. Read the Bible PERSONALLY—that is LIVE IT (11-13)

(CSB) 11 When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. 12 Then he commanded the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Achbor son of Micaiah, the court secretary Shaphan, and the king’s servant Asaiah, 13 “Go and inquire of the LORD for me, for the people, and for all Judah about the words in this book that has been found. For great is the LORD’s wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us.”

Years ago I heard a preacher, or maybe I read it, quote a statement from another great preacher. I forget the names of both now but I remember the statement like it was branded on my brain,

[SLIDE] All other books are written for our INFORMATION, but the Bible is written for our TRANSFORMATION. Let me read that again, All other books are written for our INFORMATION, but the Bible is written for our TRANSFORMATION.

Not only do most people misread the Bible by reading it RELIGIOUSLY instead of HISTORICALLY, but many misread the Bible by reading it ACADEMICALLY instead of PERSONALLY.

Make no mistake about it, the Bible is a deep book that will keep the most erudite scholars scratching their heads until they are bald, but it is also like having an endearing conversation with a wise Friend.

Someone has remarked, “The Bible is deep enough that a scholar can dive into it and never reach the bottom, but shallow enough for the smallest child to enjoy without fear.”

Notice how deeply and personally Josiah was touched when hearing the Word of God read (v11): “he tore his clothes!”  The act of “tearing one’s clothes” was a custom showing, shock, shame, or great personal pain.

For generations Israel had lived in open rebellion against God going after every false god in the nations around them. They built altars to these false gods. They sacrificed to these false gods—even sacrificing their own children on the Altars of Molech. Josiah was only eight when his father Amon died. Josiah had first-hand knowledge of his father’s wickedness as a king. Josiah also knew of his grandfather, Manasseh, another very wicked king of Israel in a long line of wicked kings.

Josiah, as a young boy, heard the reading from God’s Holy Scroll and was stabbed in the heart by the realization that he was the King of a very wicked and godless people. But, even more so, Josiah was PERSONALLY convicted of his own wickedness even though he was but a young boy. So, with his heart convicted, he “tore his clothes” in shame and despair and as a sign of confession and a request for forgiveness.

I took a moment before I decided to put this next question in my notes. I love you as the people of God. I believe you are “good” people by any measure the world could apply. But, upon reading about Josiah intense, personal reaction to hearing the Word of God, I must ask:

“When was the last time you were so personally convicted by hearing or reading the Word of God that you felt like tearing your clothes or shedding bitter tears?”

Let’s not pass over that question to quickly or take it too lightly. 47 years I have been preaching God’s Word. I remember in my early days at Pedley Baptist Chapel, or any other church I was called to preach in, at the end of nearly every service people would come to the altar and linger many minutes seeking God’s forgiveness for failing to heed His Word faithfully.

I can’t remember the last time that happened in church going back 20 plus years. How many messages have we heard from the Word of God? Have we heard so many that they just don’t touch our hearts anymore? We don’t “tear our clothes” or even shed a tear. Church has become an empty “academic exercise” for millions of people across our nation in churches just like ours.

We must take note carefully of how Josiah “REDISCOVERED THE LOST BOOK.” He read it  PERSONALLY with great openness of heart and deep devotion.

We must REDISCOVER GOD’S LOST BOOK by reading it HISTORICALLY as a factual record of God’s interaction with real people in real-life situations. Reading the Bible historically shows we understand that the Bible “says what it means and means what it says.” We must also read it PERSONALLY. Until it tears off the crusty outer layers of sin that have hardened our hearts over the years, we will never LIVE THE LIVES God has called us to live. We must also read the Bible

3. PROPHETICALLY (13-20)

(CSB) 13 “Go and inquire of the LORD for me, for the people, and for all Judah about the words in this book that has been found. For great is the LORD’s wrath that is kindled against us because our ancestors have not obeyed the words of this book in order to do everything written about us.” 14 So the priest Hilkiah, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to the prophetess Huldah, wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem in the Second District. They spoke with her. 15 She said to them, “This is what the LORD God of Israel says: Say to the man who sent you to me, 16 ‘This is what the LORD says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, fulfilling all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read, 17 because they have abandoned me and burned incense to other gods in order to anger me with all the work of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.’ 18 Say this to the king of Judah who sent you to inquire of the LORD: ‘This is what the LORD God of Israel says: As for the words that you heard, 19 because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the LORD when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and because you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I myself have heard’—this is the LORD’s declaration. 20 ‘Therefore, I will indeed gather you to your ancestors, and you will be gathered to your grave in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster that I am bringing on this place.’ ”

The word, “prophet,” can be misunderstood. It is common to think of a prophet as someone who “foretells the future.” That is certainly part of the mission of a prophet, but not the only part. Encapsulated in “telling what was GOING to happen, God’s prophets addressed the sin that was PRESENTLY taking place. To read the Bible PROPHETICALLY means we read it for the purpose of SHARING  it. And, as we share it, we share it as PROPHETS – or, one’s who speak with the authority of Almighty God. THE PURPOSE OF PROPHECY is not that you and I can know the future but so others can know the FUTURE. The foundation for prophetic sharing is MERCY, so that no one needs to perish (2Pet. 3:9). Prophecy is given not to know the future but for the lost to know Jesus!

(NIV84) 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Notice, Josiah wanted to hear what a “true prophet” had to say about the Word of God. They found an obscure woman by the name of Huldah who was living in an area on the Western Hill of Jerusalem known as the New, or Second Quarter. There were many “false prophets” in Israel at the time, but Huldah was known to be true to the God of the Word and the Word of God.

It must be noted here that there were two other well-known, almost celebrity prophets, at this time: Jeremiah and Zephaniah. God was mightily using both Jeremiah and Zephaniah and they were true prophets. But—and this is very, very important—God doesn’t need “celebrities” to deliver His message. He can use even an obscure woman named Huldah—or, he can use you or I. God uses ORDINARY people.

Also, it must be noted that the message Huldah delivered is as applicable to our nation today as it was Israel millennia ago—and maybe even more so. What was that message?

16 ‘This is what the LORD says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, fulfilling all the words of the book that the king of Judah has read, 17 because they have abandoned me and burned incense to other gods in order to anger me with all the work of their hands. My wrath will be kindled against this place, and it will not be quenched.’

Wowzer! When was the last time you heard a celebrity preacher like Joel Olsteen preach that message! You don’t hear this preached very often because most Christians live PATHETIC lives instead of PROPHETIC lives and most preachers are more pathetic than prophetic.

Notice especially those words, “This is what the Lord says.” We have too many MOTIVATIONAL speakers in the Christian community instead of PROPHETIC speakers.

The world needs to hear a CLEAR PROPHETIC MESSAGE from ordinary Christians JUST LIKE YOU! Don’t leave all the good preaching to the one BEHIND THE PULPIT. The best preaching is done ACROSS A FENCE! I am ONE PERSON. I will likely never even see your neighbor, much less talk to them about Jesus. If YOUR family and friend are going to hear the prophetic warning before it is too late, then YOU are going to have to SHARE it.

If there is any hope for our world, the ONLY hope is for the church to reject a dead religiosity and rediscover the transforming power of the Word of God.

We, God’s people, MUST REDISCOVER the Bible by learning how to read it properly. That means reading to obey it, not just reading it to perform some religious activity.

Have you ever heard of W.C. Fields? An early 20^th century comedian known for his hard living, hard drinking, and sharp tongue. Not particularly known for being virtuous. The story is told, which may not be true but still highly accurate, that on his deathbed the rascally Fields was reading the Bible. A friend visited him and saw him with the Bible. The friend said, “What are you doing reading the Bible. Are you looking for answers?” Fields replied, “No, I’m looking for loopholes.”

I think too many people read the Bible like that. It won’t work that way. There are no “loopholes.” The only hope is finding Jesus.

Remember Henry the Rabbit? He was always looking for some new and great adventure in life. Then, one day he discovered a “Lost Book.” Through reading and sharing that book Henry discovered greater adventures than he ever dreamed possible.

Be like Henry and Josiah. Rediscover the joy of knowing, living, and sharing the Bible.

Summer Fruit: Loquat of Love

 

July 17, 2022                        NOTES NOT EDITED
Summer Fruit: The Loquat of Love
1Corinthians 13

 SIS—Love is the very essence of Christianity defined by the very character of God and demonstrated by the actions of His Son.

 "What's love got to do with it?" Tina Turner apparently struggled with "what is true love" just like pontiffs, prophets, poets, and philosophers since the dawn of time. Is love just a "second-hand emotion" as Tina opines? Here's what that great philosopher, Tina Turner has to say on the matter of love:

"You must understand,
Though the touch of your hand // Makes my pulse react

That it's only the thrill of boy meeting girl // Opposites attract

It's physical // Only logical

You must try to ignore that it means more than that"

Maybe you never thought of Tina Turner as a great philosopher. If you know of her at all, you probably know her as the raucous rock-star struttin' the stage singing "Proud Mary" But, like so many of us, we struggle to really understand the true meaning of love.

 Love is a greatly misunderstood, and even abused virtue. Today, we are going to explore the “Loquat of Love.”

 READ 1CORINTHIANS 13.  True love has three primary aspects.

 1.  True Love is PREEMINENT (1-3)

Now, that’s a very important word.  Love is a very important virtue.  Love is a big virtue that cannot be described in a small word.  It requires a big word like, “preeminent.”  Preeminent means, “surpassing all others.”  Love surpasses all other virtues.  We read:

(NLT) ¹ If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. ³ If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

It is important to note here that Greek had at least 8 words corresponding to our word, love--Eros (romantic, passionate love), named after the Greek God of fertility; Philia (affectionate love); Agape (selfless, universal love); Storge (familiar love); Mania (obsessive love); Ludus (playful love); Pragma (enduring love); and, Philautia (self love). 

The three most commonly used were eros, phileo, and agape (and there various forms).  Eros was a favorite of classical Greek poets and writers.  It describes sensual, sexual, or romantic love.  Popular among the Greeks, it does not appear in the N.T.  Phileo roughly conforms to our idea of brotherly love or deep friendship.  It is used in the N.T. on several occasions.  Agape was not favored among the Greeks.  It was viewed as a cold, unemotional commitment to the welfare of another—not high on the classical ladder of virtue.  Yet, it became the word of choice to describe the true form of love that derives from the character of God.  If I had to describe agape in a few words I would say it is “sacrificial love.”  Love that gives expecting nothing in return.  In a few places I the N.T., philia and agape have very similar meanings.

It is that kind of love that has a place of preeminence in the economy of God.  Agape love is more than a simple virtue.  It represents the very character of God Himself.  The Bible says succinctly, “God is love (agape)” (1Jn. 4:8).  Biblical love, true love, is more than what God does. It is His very nature. 

Love is the very foundation of the gospel of salvation. It is the very foundation of all creation. God created the world (and all that’s in it) out of a desire to “love it” (Ps. 145:9). He reclaimed the fallen world (and everything in it) driven by His love (Jn. 3:16). Love is the very summation of the entire Law of God (Mat. 22:38-39). Love isn’t something God does. It isn’t how He acts. Love is the very nature of God, Himself (1Jn. 4:8). The Bible is not understandable unless every verse is read and interpreted wearing the lenses of love. Even justice and wrath cannot be understood without understanding love. Love is to life what water is to a fish. A fish is in water and water flows through the fish. The fish cannot be separated from the water any more than God (and man) can be understood apart from love. Since love is eternal, even when one gains the fullest measure of understanding of it, his ignorance of it will be infinite. Love is listed first in the fruits of the Spirit because of its preeminence over all other virtues.  Nothing is more important or more powerful than true love.

2.  True love is PRACTICAL (4-7)

True love is not an idea.  It is an action.  For love to be love it must be applied.  One must “do” something in order to demonstrate biblical love.  The only kind of love the Bible knows as real love is “love in action.”  Love begins with the character of God and ends in the actions of His people.  Real love, “is love in action.”  Look at Jn. 3:16

(CSB)“For God loved the world in this way: 
He gave His One and Only  Son. 

God’s love was reflected in His actions. God loved and He gave. True love is love in action.  We express our love to God in large part by expressing God’s love to our neighbors.  Look how Jesus connects these two aspects in what is called, The Great Commandment:

^{Mat. 22(CSB)     37} He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.  ^{t 38} This is the greatest and most important command. ³⁹ The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.

Love is “practical,” not philosophical.  I think far too many Christians miss the mark of the Great Commandment by a mile because their love is just an idea.  Paul in this great passage gives us a “checklist” of sorts by which we can evaluate our “love level.”  Let’s check our “love levels” as we scan verses 3-7.

Œ^4a Love is patient.  Am I patient?  This aspect of love is not as easy as some might think.  Literally you could expand this word to mean, “Love remains steady when someone pushes you to the boiling point.” The word translated, patient (HCSB), is actually coined from two words and literally means “long mind” or could mean “great suffering,” which is why the KJV translates this phrase, “Love suffereth long.”  It expresses the foundational idea of “restraint.” When someone pushes you to the limit—you extend the limit.

^4bLove is kind.  Am I kind to others?  Someone offered this formula to help us evaluate our kindness level:  "If someone were to pay us ten cents for every kind word we’ve ever spoken about people, and then take back five cents for every unkind word we’ve ever spoken about people, would we be poor or rich?”  I’m afraid that many would find themselves in the poorhouse of kindness.  We can so easily recognize when others are unkind to us, but often we blind, deaf, and mute when it comes to be kind to others.

Ž^4cLove does not envy.  Jealousy will eat away at love like an acid.  We cannot love others if we resent who they are or what they might have.  Jealousy or envy is love turned wrong-side-out.  There is nothing at all wrong with admiring somebody that has had some great fortune befall them or if the possess some great skill.  Admiration is not envy.  There are many people who have skills that I don’t possess and I admire them greatly.

I think of a great juggler I read about this week.  He had finished an early show in one city and had a later show in a nearby city.  The schedule was tight so he was driving a little too fast on the highway.  Sure enough, a Highway Patrolman pulled him over. When the Deputy asked the driver why he was speeding, the driver answered that he was a magician and a juggler and he was on his way to Branson to do a show that night and didn't want to be late.

The deputy told the driver he was fascinated by juggling, and if the driver would do a little juggling for him that he wouldn't give him a ticket. The juggler told the deputy that he had sent all of his equipment on ahead and didn't have anything to juggle. The deputy told him that he had some flares in the trunk of his squad car and asked if he could juggle them.  The juggler stated that he could, so the deputy got three flares, lit them and handed them to the juggler.

While the man was doing his juggling act, a car pulled in behind the squad car, a drunk got out and watched the performance briefly.  He had been pulled over for drunk driving many times and failed many field sobriety tests.  Oddly, he then went over to the squad car, opened the rear door and got in.  The deputy observed this puzzling behavior.  The patrolman went over to his squad car, opened the door and asked the drunk but polite man what he was doing. The obviously drunk driver replied politely, "Might as well haul me off to jail, there’s no way on earth I’m going to pass that sobriety test."

Love does not envy others, but admires the skills others might have and appreciates the good fortune that comes to others.  Do you love enough not to envy others?

^4d[Love] is not boastful.  Do you measure people by your standards?  Of course, many people do just that but they fool themselves into thinking they are really just applying God’s standards to others.  Think about those that struggle with the sin of homosexuality.  As someone that does not face this temptation, it would be easy for me to say like the religious Pharisee, “Thank you Lord that I am not like that horrible homosexual”.  The problem with that is, according to Luke 18, you are not only as bad as that homosexual but your sin is compounded by your pride.  Love does not grade other people who miss God’s standard. Love “speaks the truth” with humility in hopes of lifting others to the standards God has set—not some prideful standard we have set ourselves.

 ^4e [Love] is not conceited.  The great Roman orator, Cicero, once gave a grand speech in Pompey.  After he stepped down from the speaker’s platform, he said to a contemporary named Atticus, “Good heavens how I showed myself off” (Pulpit Comm).  Love isn’t a show off.  Love doesn’t toot its own horn.  Conceit focuses love inward and nothing is left for anybody else.  It’s not about me—it’s about others.

^5a [Love] does not act improperly.  What could be a more practical way to demonstrate your love than to “show good manners.”  Love is not vulgar or off-color.  Literally, to act improperly means to act “without shape or proper form.”  It refers to no standard of decency.  Do I always act with a well-mannered, G-rated attitude toward others?

‘^5b [Love] is not selfish.  1Cor. 10:24 reminds us,  No one should seek his own good, but the good of the other person.  Once again this reminds us that true love always sends blessing outward to others.

’^5c[Love] is not provoked [CSB, irritable].  This closely aligns with the aspect of patience.  Love rises above the natural tendency to lash out at others even if we feel justified in doing so.  It uses different language from patience to once again remind us that our obligation to love can be sorely tested by difficult people.  In ancient Greek times it referred to something getting inside of us and causing a fever.

“^5d[Love] does not keep a record of wrongs. The ESV reads, “is not resentful.”  You have heard that the Lord calls upon us to “forgive and forget.”  This is the “forget” part.  You will never truly love someone else if you keep a logbook of their failures.  You will become “resentful” that leads to bitterness.  Bitterness is to love like spraying Round-Up on weeds.  The love will wither and die.

”^6a Love finds no joy in unrighteousness.  Have you been driving on the freeway and someone zooms past you twenty mph over the speed limit.  As he blasts by you do you secretly hope to see him pulled over to the side of the road with a police car parked behind him?  That’s “finding joy in someone else’s sin.”  Sure, he deserved it.  He’s the one who sinned.  No. Seeing others—even our enemies—suffering because of the consequences of sin should break our hearts.

^6bBut [Love] rejoices in the truth.  We should never rejoice over the plight of a sinner, but we should acknowledge the power of truth and rejoice that ultimately God’s Truth, God’s Law, God’s purpose will prevail. We should long to see more and more people “embracing the truth of God’s Word.”  True love must rest solidly on a foundation of God’s Truth.  Anything less than that standard in a relationship is not love, but mere sentimentality.  It has no eternal value.

Verse 7 really serves as a poetic summation of the practicality of Godly love:  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.   True love is powerful, principled, and positive.  Powerful in what it can bear.  Principled in what it believes; and positive with the hope that the last chapter of God’s Book declares His people the winners!

Now verses 4 through 7 create a “love scorecard.”  How are you doing?  I have a lot of work to do on my “love game!” I need to work on the practical aspects of “love.”

True love is preeminent.  True love is practical.

3.  True love is PERMANENT (8-13)

 

⁸“Love never ends.”
. . . . . . . .

¹³Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love.
But the greatest of these is love.

True love is under a great attack in the world today.  On June 26, 2015. the SCOTUS dug deep into the Constitution (Article 14) and found a “natural” right for homosexuals to marry. Not too many years ago, using the word, “natural” with a right for homosexual to marry would have be a “great oxymoron.”  Basically, the majority on the Court argued that people have a right to marry whomever they love.  This is a common phrase in support of homosexual marriage I’ve seen or heard hundreds of times on newscasts and social media—people should be able to marry whomever they choose to love—regardless of whether it is “natural” or not.

But . . . that’s not really my point today?  My concern today isn’t whether homosexuals should be allowed to marry.  My concern today is in regard to what does it really mean to LOVE somebody.”  When all the dust of human history settles, and all marriages have been dissolved by the course of natural life, what LOVE will remain?  What love is PERMANENT?  It doesn’t matter what man says, nor what the Supreme Court says.  What really matters is WHAT DOES GOD SAY LOVE IS—BECAUSE THAT IS THE ONLY LOVE THAT WILL LAST FOREVER!

Yahweh, the very ground of All Being and the One who defines what love really is, has declared has declared what true love is.  True love is not giving in to our base human passions—homosexual or heterosexual—but True Love is surrendering our “whole heart, our whole soul, and our whole mind to God.”  We read earlier about this all-encompassing foundation for love: Matthew 22:37–38 (NLT)

³⁷ Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment.

The only love that lasts for eternity is the love founded upon the Character of Almighty God and expressed through the inspired text of the Bible—that love lasts forever!

Any love that does not align with the Word of God, as we have explored here in this text, is a false love that will not last.  It will whither and fade like grass beneath a scorching sun.  Isaiah reminds us:  Isaiah 40:8 (NLT) ⁸ The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”

Last week as I was studying for and reflecting upon this message from God the thought struck my mind like a clapper ringing a bell:  “Church-goers seem to like the idea of love much more than the practice of it.” 

Real love is diving deep into the waters of a transforming relationship with God through His Word and then emerging upon the shore of humanity to express God’s True Love to a hurting world.  Our love, if it is to be a “love that lasts” must be a love rooted in the very character of Almighty God Himself.  God’s Word tells us. 1Jn 4:19

(NLT) We love each other because he loved us first.

This is a “love that is permanent.”  It cannot fade, it cannot sour, it cannot sink, it cannot be lost, and it cannot be diminished in anyway. 

1Cor.13:13 (NLT)  Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

TRUE LOVE SAVES!  And salvation is forever.  Faith and hope are not as great as love because they are mere shadows dissolved by the bright light of God’s Presence.  All that will matter of faith, hope, and love in the Presence of Jesus the Nazarene will be, “love.”  The old beloved Him talks of the PERMANENCE of True Love:

I stand amazed in the presence Of Jesus the Nazarene,

And wonder how He could love me, A sinner condemned, unclean.

How marvelous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be:

How marvelous! How wonderful! Is my Savior’s love for me!

The word, “love,” is tossed about frivolously like cheap beads from balconies during Mardi Gra but I don’t think the world really has a clue as to what “True Love Is.”  True love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit—I call it the Loquat of Love.

Name first in the list of the Fruits of the Spirit, love is PREEMINENT over all other virtues.  The Loquat of the Lord’s Love is PRACTICAL—it is expressed not as a lofty idea, but as meaningful actions. And most of all, Godly Love is PERMANENT.  When all the passions and pursuits of mankind have been reduced to nothing by the coming judgement of God, only God’s enduring, saving love will remain.  In the Day of Judgement there will be a test with only two questions:  1.  Did you love God with all your heart and all your mind and all your strength; and 2.  Did you love sinners as God loved you. 

As we think about how “loving” we really are, I want to leave us with the words of one of the most influential preachers in the history of the world, the Prince of Preachers he is called, Charles Haddon Spurgeon.  Spurgeon reminded us what real love is, and real love does:

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”—Charles Haddon Spurgeon

There is nothing more powerful than love—especially love for sinners.  Let’s make sure that the “Loquat of Love” is one of the spiritual fruits in our basket.

The Git er Done Gospel

 

July 10, 2022                               NOTES NOT EDITED
The “Git ‘Er Done Gospel”
Luke 14:15-35

SIS—Filling God’s church with new believers who are loving and serving God is Church’s “top priority.

I planned to start a new sermon series this Sunday titled, "Battle for Your Mind." I don't feel quite ready to launch that series this week so I'm going to set it aside for a while.

Instead, I'm going to preach on a text that has been foundational for me throughout my ministry: "Go out into the highways and hedges and COMPEL people to come in that My house may be full" (Luke 14:23).  In this story about a Great Banquet and the Master giving the banquet and some guests gave Him excuses for why they couldn’t come. It is a story about “getting lost people saved,” or as Larry the Cable Guy liked to put it about the task at hand, “Git “er Done!”

I’m not sure exactly what this term means and I’m not sure the comedian Larry the Cable Guy, who made it famous, really knows what it means.  In a short clip, Larry the Cable Guy give three possible interpretations of the phrase.  This should clear things up:

 RUN CLIP

 The Urban Dictionary gives a few interpretaitons.  One meaning we can apply to “reaching lost people for Christ.”  “Git ‘er Done can mean, Having the ability to do the extraordinary.

In our message today we will explore the extraordinary mission of the Church:  reaching lost people with the gospel and filling up God’s Church.  How can we “Git ‘Er Done?” 

LUKE 14:15-24

Now, many sermons have been preached regarding the broadness of God’s invitation to salvation, and rightfully so.  In this parable God is represented as a man giving a great banquet.  That invitation represents an invitation to eternal life.  It is almost unfathomable to me that anyone could reject an absolutely free invitation to eternal life—but many, in fact most, have and will continue to reject that offer.

I want to focus on the passion for souls that characterizes God’s character, as evidenced by the fact that in verse 23 God, represented by the master of the house, declares in what seems to be forceful language:

²³ “Then the master told the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and lanes and make them come in, so that my house may be filled. 

The word, “make,” in verse 23 in the CSB comes from the Greek word, “anagkazō (ἀναγκάζω). According to a major Greek dictionary it means, “to cause or compel someone in all the varying degrees from friendly pressure to forceful compulsion” (TDNT).  It is a compound word formed from “agKalē” which means “arm as in bended.”  The prefix, “an(ag)” refers to repeated action or intensity.  Our common expression in English, “twisting someone’s arm,” is a colloquial equivalent of anagkazō.  The KJV has a better translation using the word, “compel.”  Fulfilling God’s will to fill up His church with new believers is a serious mission that requires making others “uncomfortable” at times.

This gives mankind insight into the very heart of God Almighty.  What really drives passion of God?  God is so moved by His love for us that the Bible says,

“For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son.” 

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter declared boldly:

^{2Peter 3     9} The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish  but all to come to repentance. 

From Genesis to Revelation the Bible unfolds the passion that God has for saving souls.  At the Cross—on the cross—the passion of God for reaching His lost children reaches its zenith. 

Nothing drives the heart of God more than His love for His lost children.  This is the message woven throughout this Parable of the Great Banquet.  God values the souls of mankind so much that He watched His own Son die a horrible death on the cross.

Knowing this, a church with more pew than people is an affront to God, Himself.  The truth of the matter is that filling God’s church with new believers who are loving and serving God is Church’s “top priority.

THREE COMPONENTS TO WINNING LOST SOULS

1.  There is a SPIRITUAL Component (v 15)

¹⁵ When one of those who reclined at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God is blessed!” 

The background for the Parable of the Great Banquet is an actual meal at the at “the house of one of the leading Pharisees” (14:1).  They were reclining around a low table as was the custom of the day.  When Jesus spoke about a “person being blessed who eats bread in the Kingdom of God,” the Pharisees would have naturally assumed that “Jesus is talking about US!”

There were no people on earth at that time that were more “religious” and “righteous” than the Pharisees.  Now, everywhere in the N.T. Jesus interacts with the Pharisees, for the most part, it is not a pleasant interaction.  In fact, some of the harshest condemnations Jesus ever spoke, He spoke to and about the Pharisees.

But, and this is important, Jesus did recognize that the Pharisees highly valued righteousness and were fastidious about religious details.  In one text Jesus remarks:

^{Mat5:  20} For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Let me outline just how “righteous” the Pharisees were.  They were:

1.  evangelistic:  You travel over land and sea to make one proselyte,  and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell  as you are! (Mat 23:15).

2.  tithers:  You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin (23:23).  The Law of God required everyone to give a “tenth,” or a tithe, to the work of God.  Even if a wild herb, like mint, dill, or cumin sprouted up along the walkway of a Pharisees home, he would pick one out of ten and take it to the temple for an offering.

3.  ritualistic:  You clean the outside of the cup and dish. (23:25). The Pharisees followed every ritualistic requirement of their faith—and there were many.  There was even a debate as to whether it was more important to clean the inside or the outside of a cup—and we are talking about “religious” practice, not a hygienic one.  The Pharisees were rigid in their pursuit of religion, and their practice far exceeded all others.

In the first century, if one turned to the Webster’s Dictionary under the heading, “righteous,” there would be a picture of a Pharisee.

Now, Jesus declared that one’s righteousness had to “EXCEED the righteousness of the Pharisees” in order to get into heaven.  I want to suggest strongly to you that there is “no way” you are going to compete with the Pharisees when it comes to “ritualistic righteousness.”  But, let me go back to our text in verse 15:

Jesus said, “The one who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God is blessed.”  Jesus said this to a Pharisee, and it was a rhetorical question of sorts.  Jesus was using irony and sarcasm to suggest that “none of the Pharisees” would be “eating bread in the Kingdom of God.”

You see, blessing, or being in the Kingdom of God is not something we “earn” or “gain” through our religious activities.  Entrance into the Kingdom of God is a “spiritual” matter, not a religious one.  True righteousness is a “spiritual righteousness,” not a “self-righteousness.”  In theology it is called, “imputed” (credited, assigned, put into) righteousness. It is something done “to us and for us” not “by us.”   2Corinthians 5:21,

He made the One who did not know sin  to be sin  for us,  so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

So, obedience to God—righteousness—it has a SPIRITUAL component.  It is a matter of complete and total surrender to God and obedience to His Holy Spirit on a day-by-day, moment-by-moment basis.  If we do not “get Spiritual”—and I capitalize Spiritual to refer to the Holy Spirit—then we are NEVER going to fill this sanctuary up with new believers who are loving and serving God. 

The “spiritual component” involves activities like prayer, Bible study (including a daily quiet time and Scripture memory), participation in the fellowship of God’s church as spiritual servants, and evangelism but it is not dependent upon these activities. It is a matter of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:9:

(NLT) ⁹ But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)

2.  There is, also, a HUMAN component (vv 17, 21, 23) 

Three times in this passage, the Master commands the servant to go.

1.  ¹⁷ At the time of the banquet, he sent his slave to tell

2.  ²¹ Then in anger, the master of the house told his slave, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the city, and bring in here the poor, maimed, blind, and lame!’

3.  ²³ “Then the master told the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and lanes and make them come in, so that my house may be filled.

God has limited Himself to work through—and only through—human instruments to accomplish His will (miracles being the sole exception and even some miracles in the Bible had a human component).  Recall Brother Rob’s sermon on stewardship. As Rob taught us, a steward is somebody that manages somebody else’s resources and affairs. This has been God’s plan since Adam was given “dominion” over all Œcreation. We are not only stewards of God’s creation, and stewards of His material gifts entrusted to us, but also, we are the stewards of ŽHis plan of Redemption for Mankind.  We are God’s hands and feet and mouth through which He moves and speaks.

Mark 6:35–37 (NLT) ³⁵ Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. ³⁶ Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.” ³⁷ But Jesus said, “YOU FEED THEM.” “With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!”

The history of God’s involvement in humanity is a history of God choosing and using people to accomplish His purposes.  He used men like Noah, Abraham, David, Ruth, Esther and on and on.  He even used pagan people like Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus and Pilate. He used righteous men and woman like Mary and Joseph, and reprobates like Judas Ischariot.  The history of the world is the history of God’s self-limitation in using men and women to accomplish His plan of redemption.  It is still that way, today.

One of my dear evangelism professors once said to a group of us “preacher boys” (which is what he affectionately called us),

Boys, you must never forget that the gospel came to us on its way to someone else. 

Paul pinned down the principle of the gospel’s Human Component.  Look at Romans 10:14-17:

¹⁴ But how can they call on Him they have not believed in? And how can they believe without hearing about Him?  And how can they hear without a preacher?  ¹⁵ And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those  who announce the gospel of good things! 

Then the matter is summarized in verse 17: So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ. 

Reaching lost people and filling up God’s House has a HUMAN COMPONENT—You and I are those “humans.”

You say, “But I can’t.”  God says, “But we must!”  We simply “must” do everything within our power to see that our church is filling up with new believers who are loving God and serving Him, or we are “just flat out living in disobedience.” 

Reaching the lost has a spiritual component and a human component.  It also has

3.  a FINANCIAL component (vv 25-27)

²⁵ Now  great crowds were traveling with Him. So He turned and said to them: ²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me  and does not hate  his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even his own life—he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not bear his own cross  and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 

Then it is summarized in verse 33: Therefore, every one of you who does not say good-bye to  all his possessions  cannot be My disciple. 

Unless you are willing to give up your possessions, you cannot be saved.  I don’t know how Jesus could have made it any plainer.  All too often instead of giving our money, we give God our excuses.

Verse 18:  The Œfirst rejection came by someone who “had to take care of his own field.”  Verse 19:  The second excuse came from a man who “had to take care of his own livestock.”  Verse 20:  the Žthird one doesn’t really say why, but for some reason “he could not come to God’s banquet because of his family responsibilities.”

I won’t debate why these excuses were “legitimate” or not because in my view, anything that prevents us from fully following Christ is legitimate by definition.  There is NO GOOD EXCUSE for disobedience.

When it comes to life you can either choose to be someone who makes excuses, or you can be someone who makes a difference.

Reaching Lost People has a financial component.  Ministry takes money.  It’s that simple.  It is true, “God owns the cattle on a thousand hills,” but it is also true that many of His followers are “cattle rustlers.”  Many believers have God’s cattle locked up in your barn! 

There is a saying in the English vernacular that describes a person of great generosity.  We say, “He’d give you the shirt of his back.”  Well, a chiropractor in Tampa, Florida in 1994 did exactly that for his ex-wife.  He had been paying alimony for many years, but finally the last alimony payment came due.  It would be for $182, not a staggering amount in itself but it represented years of grudgingly paying his ex-wife.  He decided to not only make the payment, but make a statement as well.  He made an arrangement with his local bank. He purchased a brand new, pinstriped shirt.  On the back of the shirt he drew a large scale check, complete with account number and routing number.  In the memo line of the check for $182 he wrote this message:  Here it is—the shirt off my back!  His ex-wife took the shirt to the bank and cashed it.

Well, we should never give to God’s work grudgingly as this man gave his wife alimony. We should do it willingly, even gleefully, but most certainly, generously.  I wonder, however, how many of us would be willing to give God, “the shirt off our back.” 

Simple question:  “Are we willing to GIVE MORE to GET MORE people saved?”

Reaching lost people is our TOP PRIORITY as a church.  Our effectiveness in this regard is easy to measure:  are we baptizing people and seeing them grow into fully functioning followers of Christ?  This is easily answered with a simple, “yes” or “no.” Our mission to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ has three essential components:  a spiritual component, a human component, and a financial component. God has clearly told us what He expects:  “go out into the highways and by-ways and compel them to come in, so that my house may be full.”  If we are not involved passionately in doing that, we are living in disobedience and can expect no blessing from God.

Let’s join together to "Git 'Er Done!"