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#June 26, 2011
Morning Worship
Text: Psalm 24:1-6
Subject: Faith
Title: A New Generation of Believers
Well, I survived another week at youth camp. You know, I am never too concerned about our young people when it comes to camp. They’re young. They’ll recover. Their bodies will heal. They have the rest of the summer before they have to think about getting up early and going to school. I’m just kidding. Camp was great. And there were a lot of great things that happened.
I was lying in bed after the Tuesday night service – which ended about midnight by the way so it was after 1:00 AM by the time we got to bed – but I was praying over the campers, our youth in particular, and I was asking the LORD to touch this generation in a way that has not been seen since Azusa Street. How many of you know I want our children to be even more effective in their Christian witness than any previous generation. I want them to trust God more, I want them to experience God in a more intense way, I want them to have more faith to believe in signs and wonders. And I think that’s what God wants as well. But anyhow, I was praying and here is what the LORD brought to mind; that passage from Isaiah 55,
10As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it…
So I know that as the word continued to go out from the speakers, both morning and evening services, that our youth were having the word of faith sown into their lives. They may not know it yet, they may not understand it yet, and they may not totally experience it in their lives yet, but it was a word of authority and of their ability to speak the power of God into their own lives and the lives of those around them. That never became more evident than it did on Tuesday morning when God showed up and young people all over tabernacle began to lay hands on those with physical needs and people were being healed in the name and authority of Jesus all over the building. When the invitation was given for healing I stood to ask for prayer for my back. But Pastor Brad Riley asked the young people to gather around me and pray that my hearing would be restored. What? Pastor Brad what are you doing? I want my back healed. I’ve got hearing aids to take care of my hearing… Why is it that kids are obedient at a time when you wouldn’t want them to be? But young people began to gather around me and lay hands on me in the authority that God has given them and something happened. I took my hearing aids out and it felt as though there was pressure in my ears that was being released. It was kind of funny because Pastor Brad asked from the platform if anything had happened yet… there were older teens – more mature Christians (mostly boys) who were asking, “Can you here me?” and one was snapping his fingers in my ear… “Can you hear that?” yeah, I can hear it. You would have to be deaf not to hear that… I had to tell them that the real test would be for me to hear a feminine voice. On e of the adult youth workers – Carrie Hoffman from Faith Chapel in O’Fallon, MO prayed over me. I could hear her clearly. Not good enough – she had a strong clear voice. Someone called Kayla D. over to pray and they wanted to know if I heard her, but she is so soft spoken I asked if anyone else had heard her. Nope! That didn’t answer any questions. So, someone had a little girl stand on a chair next to me and she began to speak very softly, calling forth God’s power to heal – it was just a whisper – but I heard every word as she spoke with the authority that Pastor Brad had just preached to them about. God heard her and acted on my behalf. I knew that He had touched me through a little girl who dared to call those things that are not as though they were. And that gets me to where I want to be today. Psalm 24:1-6,
1 The earth is the LORD’S, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
2 for he founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the waters.
3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.
5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God his Savior.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, O God of Jacob
Lord, I pray that your people would come to understand the authority that has been placed into their hands to enable them to be the created sons and daughters of God that You desire them to be, in Jesus’ name.
I. WHOSE AUTHORITY IS IT? 1 The earth is the LORD’S, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it… What does that mean? Well most of us see that as
God made the earth and everything in it so it is His right? If that is what you were thinking raise your hand. Now, what if I told you that you are just partially right? Turn over to Genesis 1 and look at verse 28, God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Who made the earth and everything in it? Who did God create on the sixth day? What did He tell Adam and Eve to do? Look at the word “subdue”. This is the Hebrew word, kabash (kaw-bash’) v.
1. to tread down
2. (hence) negatively, to disregard
3. positively, to conquer, subjugate, violate
[a primitive root]
KJV: bring into bondage, force, keep under, subdue, bring into subjection.
OK, are you with me so far? I’m trying to put this in as logical a way as I can. Why did God tell them to subdue the earth? I mean wasn’t the earth and everything in it created perfect? 1 The earth is the LORD’S, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it… Here is what God was saying. “Listen you two, I created this and now I need somebody to watch over it with authority – to subdue it, to conquer it, to subjugate it, to keep it for Me. And you don’t have to do it in your authority; I’ll give you My authority so that everything you speak in My name will be done. Everything that you proclaim in that authority will be done in my name. Everything that you claim in My authority will be mine. Do you know why God had to tell them that? Because He knew that there was someone on the earth who roams around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Somewhere between the creation of the heavens and the earth and God forming Adam out of the earth and breathing His breath into him, satan was cast down out of heaven along with 1/3 of the angels. At that point the earth and everything in it became corrupted. The only thing that was not corrupted was what God breathed His breath into. Man! And you know the story of how satan tricked Eve with his lies about the nature of God… Adam turned the authority given to him over to a serpent. The earth is still the LORD’s and everything in it. The problem is that the natural man is no longer the authority on the earth. We have to help this generation understand that what the enemy is bringing on the earth isn’t just affecting creation – Adams sin opened the door fro it to affect the ones whom God has created in His own image.
II. WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF SIN?
3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.
Verse 4 does not have anything to do with a person’s own righteousness and it has everything to do with God’s righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:16-19, 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come
When we think of this ministry of reconciliation that is mentioned in this passage nearly everyone of you would admit that you have always been taught that this is talking about the ministry of sharing the gospel so that the lost can be saved. The fact is that salvation is included in this but the passage is not limited to salvation. This refers to the restoration of the authority that was given to the first Adam. In verse 17, the “new creation” is the Greek, ktisis (ktis’-is) 1. original formation… Because those who are born again have the Holy Spirit, the breath of God in them, they have been given that original authority over all things that God had given Adam. ! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD?
Who may stand in his holy place?
Matthew 28:18, Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Now turn to Luke 10.
19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
Who has authority been given to?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.
What kind of authority has been given to the saved?
The authority to do everything that Jesus ever did and more.
III. WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT?
5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God his Savior.
We have already talked about the vindication from the LORD. That is salvation. But the blessing comes from those who are willing to go far enough out on a limb for God to trust that every word that He has given us, every promise that He has made, is intended to be taken in the authority given and used as He originally intended. John 14:13-14, 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
In Luke 1 we read the story of a teen aged girl who has a visitation from an angel who tells her that she is going to bear God’s Son. Her first response is this, “How can this be?”
I want you to get the importance of the angel’s response. Luke 1:37, For nothing is impossible with God.”
I want you to look very closely at that verse. When we look at that verse we automatically see the sovereign power of God described.
Matthew 19:26, Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Ephesians 3:20, Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine…
But I want you to look at Luke 1:37 from a little different perspective. It doesn’t say that God is able to do all things – we know He is. But what it does say is that for God to do nothing would be impossible.
Real quickly – 3 things that are impossible with God.
1. It is impossible for God to lie. God is truth and His word is truth. Hebrews 6:17-18, 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.
2. It is impossible for God to change. Malachi 3:6, “I the LORD do not change…”
3. It is impossible for God to fail. Zephaniah 3:5, Morning by morning he dispenses his justice, and every new day he does not fail…
Now, put it all together. God can’t lie, His word is true and you can believe it. God can’t change, Jesus Christ is the same What? yesterday, today and forever… and God can’t fail. So if you ask, or pray of claim a promise according to God’s word what must happen? For God to do nothing in regard to His word is impossible.
I want to close with this. Verse 6 says, 6Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, O God of Jacob…
God is waiting to raise up a generation of believers – and I am using that word in a very closed context – believers who will stand on the word and believe that God will never contradict His own nature. Believers who will lay hands on the sick and see them healed by their faith. Believers who will seek the gifts of the Spirit and be willing to operate in them. Beleivers who will cast out demons. And finally, believers who will be willing to take this gospel into a lost and dying word and see people saved.
The word “generation” doesn’t have anything to do with your age – whether you are 20, 30, 40, 70 or beyond. It has everything to do with what you are willing to believe. And God is looking for that generation who will take their eyes off heaven long enough to see what God wants to do in the world today. Heaven is already yours. You don’t have to keep your eye on it like it might go away and hide. But the church of Jesus Christ is here and now and the power to be the church is here as well. We sing songs that tell us there’ll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear… when we get to heaven. Those songs make it sound like our life here and now is supposed to be a struggle without hope. That’s not the church that Jesus is building.
He is looking for that generation who is willing to seek Him. To get into His presence and spend time with Him until they become the reflection of His glory.
When the Son of man returns, will He find faith on the earth? This is the faith that He will be looking for. Time to reap the harvest church. Time to trust God for every promise. This generation is going into battle. Are you going with us, or are you just going to slip into heaven with no rewards?
As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD…
