"The Dead Sea Syndrome"
Matthew 10:5-8
Scripture Reading
Located in the Middle East in Israel and Jordan, the Dead Sea is essentially a salt lake whose surface is more than 1,300 feet below sea level and whose deepest point is more than 2,300 feet below sea level, according to Extreme Science's website. Also known by other names--including the Sea of Sodom, Sea of Lot, Sea of Asphalt and Sea of Zoar--the Dead Sea is saltier than the oceans.
1. Name
o The Dead Sea's name originated because early visitors believed that life did not exist in or around the area because of how salty the water was, according to the Magic Dead Sea website. Due to the high level of salinity, plant life and fish are not able to live in the waters. However, some microbes are able to exist in the extremely salty sea.
Formation
o The Dead Sea was formed when the nearby Mediterranean Sea overflowed and created a landlocked body of water, with only the Jordan River as a main source of water. Underneath the Dead Sea, two plates in the Earth's crust are continuously moving away from each other. The drifting causes the crust to stretch and become thin in this place. According to the Extreme Science website, the Dead Sea sinks as much as 13 inches annually.
Features
o The Dead Sea is constantly being supplied with water from smaller nearby drainages, but the Dead Sea itself has nowhere to drain. The only way water can escape the sea is through evaporation. As water evaporates, dissolved mineral salts are left behind and confined within the Dead Sea. Water temperatures in the Dead Sea can exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit during the summer and 68 degrees in winter.
Matthew 10:8 "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give."
I. The Reception of Blessings
James tells us many things about the reception of blessings.
James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
God is no respecter of persons."
a. He tells us that God is the source of blessings. They are graciously given. "freely ye have received"
1 Corinthians 2:12 "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God."
b. He tells us the scope of these blessings. They are greatly given. Jesus blesses the disciples power, provision, and peace.
c. He tells us that they are good (sanctifying) and perfect (satisfying) They are generously given.
II. The Restriction of Blessings
You know what some Christian's problems are? They always want to be on the receiving end and not the giving end. They are like the Dead Sea. They have an inlet but no outlet. Why does this happen when we've been given so much?
a. A failure to consecrate ourselves
2 Corinthians 8:3 For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves;
2 Corinthians 8:4 Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.
2 Corinthians 8:5 And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.
b. A fear of the future
(Matthew 6:25) Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
(Matthew 6:26) Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
(Matthew 6:27) Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
(Matthew 6:28) And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
(Matthew 6:29) And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
(Matthew 6:30) Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
(Matthew 6:31) Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(Matthew 6:32) (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
(Matthew 6:33) But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
c. A feigned love
Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
James 1:8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.
III. The Response to Blessings
a. The commandment -- "freely give"
Acts 20:35 "I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive."
1 Peter 4:10 "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."
b. The compassion
1 John 4:7 "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God: and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God."
c. The commitment
2 Corinthians 9:7 "Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."
Luke 6:38 "Give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again." What Can we "give" freely?
You can give away is love: 1 John 4:7 "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God: and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." Freely you have received, freely give!
You can give away the gift of intercession. James 5:16 "...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
One of the best things you can give to people is prayer. I remember praying for some people just this week and I called their names out to God. I may not always be able to visit you but I promise you this...I pray for you every day. There is power in prayer. Everything Jesus did he prayed about. Prayer changes things. Freely you have received, freely give!
You can give the gift of salvation. Acts 1:8 "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."
We need to be witnesses. How many of us would be saved today if it were not for the willingness of a friend our family member to share the Gospel with us? Freely you have received, freely give!
You can give the gift of grace. Dr. Charles Stanley recalled an illustration about grace. "One of my more memorable seminary professors had a practical way of illustrating to his students the concept of grace. At the end of his evangelism course he would distribute the exam with the caution to read it all the way through before beginning to answer it. This caution was written on the exam as well. As we read the test, it became unquestionably clear to each of us that we had not studied nearly enough.
The further we read, the worse it became. About halfway through, audible groans could be heard through out the lecture hall. On the last page, however, was a note that read, "You have a choice. You can either complete the exam as given or sign your name at the bottom and in so doing receive an A for this assignment."
Wow? We sat there stunned. "Was he serious? Just sign it and get an A?" Slowly, the point dawned on us, and one by one we turned in our tests and silently filed out of the room.
When I talked with the professor about it afterward, he shared some of the reactions he had received through the years. Some students began to take the exam without reading it all the way through, and they would sweat it out for the entire two hours of class time before reaching the last page.
Others read the first two pages, became angry, turned the test in blank, and stormed out of the room without signing it. They never realized what was available, and as a result, they lost out totally.
One fellow, however, read the entire test, including the note at the end, but decided to take the exam anyway. He did not want any gifts; he wanted to earn his grade. And he did. He made a C+, but he could easily have had an A.
This story illustrates many people's reaction to God's solution to sin. Some people look at God's standard--moral and ethical perfection--and throw their hands up in surrender. Why even try? they tell themselves. I could never live up to all that stuff
Others are like the student who read the test through and was aware of the professor's offer but took the test anyway. Unwilling to simply receive God's gift of forgiveness, they set about to rack up enough points with God to earn it.
But God's grace truly is like the professor's offer. It may seem unbelievable, but if we accept it, then, like the stunned students who accepted the professor's offer, we, too, will discover that, Yes, God's grace truly is free. All we have to do is accept it.
You need to be a gift giver this morning. Give the gift of Jesus.
1 Corinthians 13:13 "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." Freely you have received, freely give!
