Sermon Central
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Give Of Your Flower And Oil, Or Die
Contributed by Michael Dephillips on Feb 6, 2003 (message contributor)
Summary: The widow positioned herself spiritually for a greater miracle by first being obedient with her little
Give of your flour and oil, or Die!
(Prayer) He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!
Last week I began to share a message meant to enable you to come to the presence of Christ Jesus and receive what you so desperately need in your spiritual life. Jesus said that whosoever does not bear his cross and come after him, CANNOT BE MY DISCIPLE! Do you believe there is a cost to your discipleship since you have been saved through the blood of Jesus Christ? Do you believe that there is a cross that only you can bear for the kingdom of God and that you have a value in the Hand of God? It seems that many times I ask questions designed to make you think about your spiritual life and that I do so this next question should really stir your heart…
HAVE YOU FULFILLED YOUR COST OF DISCIPLESHIP?
Look with me at verses 28 thru 29 and read it along with me…" For which of you intending to build a tower, sits not down first to count the cost to see whether you have the commitment and the funds to complete the tower, lest shortly after he has built the foundation and is not able to go any further to finish the project commitment AND ALL THAT BEHOLD IT BEGIN TO MOCK HIM SAYING THIS MAN BEGAN TO BUILD BUT WAS NOT ABLE TO FINISH BUILDING"
THERE IS A LOT OF MOCKERY OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH AND JESUS HAS BEEN PUT TO AN OPEN SHAME BECAUSE OF OUR LACK OF COMMITMENT. Listen to me and you listen to me well, the world is looking at you and the fruit in your life and I tell you these things because I love you but the church must begin to tear away the compromise! We must stand firmly on the foundation spilled in the blood of Jesus at Calvary to proclaim with every breath in our body, COME YE OUT AND BE SEPARATE! LET YOUR LIGHT SO SHINE BEFORE MEN THAT THEY WILL SEE YOUR FRUIT AND GIVE GLORY TO GOD IN HEAVEN FOR THE MARVELOUS THINGS HE’S DONE!
"For the time is come that judgement must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin with us, what shall the end be of them that obey no the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? 1 Peter 4:17-18
Many of you enjoy listening to the messages the Lord places in my heart and some of you even enjoy the way that God chooses to deliver those messages using my talents and abilities. Let me ask you a question if I may? How many of you stuck it out during the tent crusade and actually prayed everyday for Brother Emmit Roper? Or instead did you come and hear him once then decide you had a date with the television set watching some ungodly thing Hollywood produces? How many of you made a covenant with the Lord God to come and pray for the services as they were going on that somebody would be saved through the word of God being spoken? THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP WOULD HAVE PUT IT ON YOUR HEART TO PRAY FOR THAT MAN OF GOD THAT GOD WOULD USE HIM TO LEAD OTHER PEOPLE TO JESUS! What did you bring to the worship services under the tent?
"And I brethren, when I came to you came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of Power… that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the POWER OF GOD!" 1 Cor 2:1-5
What does your faith rest in my friend? Does it rest in the power of the preacher or the charisma of the speaker or in the programs we offer at the church or in the friendships you’ve made in the church? YOUR FAITH SHOULD REST IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT BY THE SHEDDING OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS AT CALVARY!
(1) If you’re going to come to church only as long as Brother Mike or Brother So and So is the preacher, YOUR FAITH IS IN VAIN!
(2) I’m going to let you down friend! People are going to let you down!
(3) LET YOUR FAITH BE IN JESUS AND HIM ONLY!
In verse 26 there is a hard saying from the lips of the Savior but he ended that scripture text in verse 35 with these words, "LET HIM THAT HATH EARS TO HEAR, LET HIM HEAR!"
