Distracted By A Part-Time Lover
Ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. Matthew 15:7-8
My brothers and sisters, Stevie Wonder recorded a song entitled “Part Time Lover.” The song started out by saying, “Call up, ring once, hang up the phone to let me know you made it home. Don’t want nothing to be wrong, with my part-time lover. He said, “We are undercover passion on the run. Chasing love up against the sun.” He said that, “We are strangers by day, lovers by night knowing it’s so wrong, but feeling so right. If I’m with friends and we should meet, just pass me by, don’t even speak.” He said, “To just know the word’s “discreet” when part-time lovers meet.” Oh brothers and sisters, Stevie Wonder went on to end the song by saying, “I’ve got something I must tell. Last night someone rang our doorbell. And it was not you, my part-time lover. Then a man called our exchange, but didn’t want to leave his name. I guess that two can play the game of part-time lovers.” Those my brothers and sisters those are some to the words to the song written by Stevie Wonder. Oh brothers and sisters, wouldn’t it be grand if we can live a sin free life? Wouldn’t it be grand if we didn’t have to face Satan on a daily basis.
No temptations, no being talked about, your name not being put on sign boards, no more I’m right and you’re wrong. Can I get a witness? And my brothers and sisters, I have found out that there are folk who will believe the worst about you more than they would the best about you. That is why we ought to focus on the things of God and not the things that Satan put in front of us. Satan that part time lover, that deceiver, will distract you from doing the will of God. Well, Reverend, why do you call Satan a part time lover. Oh brothers and sisters, the reason Satan is a part time lover, is the fact that his love on last until he gets you where he wants you or get all he can out of you. He will lure you away from the protection that God has for you in this old walk of life. God wants to do a work within us “from the inside out.” But the desire to do what is right contradicts our fleshly desires and the Spirit and the flesh are at war with each other. However my brothers and sisters, God enables us to fulfill the desires of the Spirit; He will give us what we need to make it on this journey. Satan that part time lover, can only do things to you if God allows them. He will do things to distract us from that which God wants for us. That is why our minds ought to stay on Jesus.
Oh brothers and sisters, The Bible even told us that we should let this mind be in us which is also in Christ Jesus. We are encouraged to rise to Christ with the wings of meditation and the chariots of our affection toward Him. Not only are we to speak heaven, but we are to think heaven. To think heaven means to think Christ. We as believers must fix our minds on the higher life. Although we are living in this world, heaven must occupy our thoughts. We must keep our focus on heaven and not be distracted by the things that Satan put in our way to the cross. Can I get a witness? And oh brothers and sisters, I think that I ought to tell you that it’s a dangerous thing to be distracted by a part time lover. If you get distracted you might end up at a different destination than you hoped for. And my brothers and sisters, we are easily distracted all because we want to be distracted. Satan has a way of showing us things that only last for a little while. But when you focus or concentrate on heavenly things, God will move in a mighty way. Heavenly focus with dry weeping eyes. Heavenly focus with calm the raging winds of sickness. A heavenly focus
with lessen the fears of death valley.
A heavenly focus will keep us going when our candle of faith runs low. Oh brothers and sisters, you see that word distract? It means to draw away in another direction. It’s those things that are so hard to give up that they threaten our hopes. God wants us to understand that there is one out there walking to and fro seeking whom he may devour. We got to know that Satan is our adversary and he wants us to be distracted. No matter who you are and what position you hold or how much education you have, you can be distracted. Satan has great influence on the minds of those who are not fully submitted to the mind of God. Satan is always looking for a means of attack. My brothers & sisters, Satan wants you crushed today. People wonder "when are things ever going to go my way?", "when will my husband/wife/child/job/car ever going to act right?", "how many more tears do I have to cry?" And I think that I ought to tell you that because of the love of God and the fullness of God’s love for us, we don’t have to put with a part-time lover. If you are who you say that you are, you don’t have to put with a part-time lover.
I don’t know about you, but I’m glad that Jesus is the lover of my soul. You see I don’t have time for part time love. I don’t have time to slip and tip trying to satisfy a part time lover. When I’m in pain and sorrow, I want to be able to call on somebody who able to come to my rescue right then. When my load gets heavy, I need somebody a heavy load carrier right then. You see if I had to depend on a part time lover, they can only help me when the coast is clear. A part time lover will make excuses for not coming to see you. But that Christ of ours, that lover of my soul, is always on time. A part time lover, only want to meet you undercover and in dark place, but Christ, will not only show up at night, but you can call Him in the morning. You can call Him in the noon day. You can call Him in evening. It does not matter when you call on Him, He will show up. A part time lover can only give you what they can spare. But Christ will supply all of your needs according to His riches in glory. Oh brothers and sisters, I don’t know if you know it or not, but trouble don’t last always!
I know that you are going through, but let me share a little secret with you. Just in case you didn’t know, you gonna have to go through in order to get to. Because Satan, that part time lover, will take you through some stuff. But don’t you keep your head down, you are a child of God. You are a masterpiece in the works. Satan is trying all he can to ruin God’s work in your life, because he’s a hater! Oh yeah, Satan got his eye on you. He’s watching you to see what move you are going to make. Satan wants you and everything you love destroyed. And all because he can’t stand God loving you so much! Ain’t that just like a part time lover. A part time lover always want somebody that belongs to somebody else. And not only that my brothers and sisters, but part-time is when our attention is drawn from our original commitment. Somebody here made a commitment to the Lord. You told the Lord that you would be with Him all the way. And you got to understand that you made this commitment with God and not man. But I’m afraid that that’s the reason why so many of our churches are in turmoil is because we are committed to each other and not God. We are always trying to please man instead of God. It is not man who we ought to try to please, but it’s God.
Oh brothers and sisters, some of us started out in the Lord okay. You couldn’t beat some of us to church. You were in Bible Study. You were there in Sunday School. Whenever the church door was open you were there. But somewhere along the way you got distracted. Now I want you to understand that distractions can be good or bad. Distractions can make you or break you. Distractions can save your character. Distractions can destroy your character. Distractions can cause you to lose your directions. Distractions can cause you to leave your first love. Distractions
can cause you to have a part time lover. Can I get a witness? That is why you got to be careful about what you seek after. Satan your part time lover, will have you seeking the stuff in the garden, but if you are faithful to your first love, you will seek the spirit of the Savior. Oh brothers and sisters, I don’t care how much education you got. It don’t matter what your social status is. I don’t care how much money you make. You can be the pastor of a church or you can be on the Deacon Board or sing in the choir, a part time lover will cause you to miss the blessing of your first love. Part time love can’t give you what you can get with your first love. Can I get a witness?
Not only is Satan a part time lover towards us, but there are some folk who are part time lovers to God. You see how quiet you got. When I was dealing with Satan as a part time lover, you were saying amen. But now that the truth has hit home, y’all ain’t saying nothing. But oh brothers and sisters, I think I ought to break this thing down to you. You see I don’t want you to leave here confused concerning you role in the church and your dedication to God. You see we’ve gotten this thing mixed and messed up. When your first love has sanctified you, when Christ has anointed you, you need to hold fast to the word of God in order to remain faithful to your first love. It’s some part time folk in the church. If you don’t believe me, look around and see how many show up for Sunday school and Bible Study. Look at how many folk show up for worship. Look how many folk sing in the choir only when it’s their time to lead a song. Look at how many folk support the church. Just part time lovers. Part time lovers want a part time worship service. They want the church to give, but they don’t want to serve.
The only time they call on God is when they want something from Him. You see, we want God’s best, but we give Him our worst. Oh brothers and sisters, I hate to be the one to burst your bubble, but it’s my job to tell you that God will not bless our mess. I’m on an assignment from Heaven’s Human Resource Department to tell somebody in here today that God wants your total faithfulness. God don’t want somebody who is sneaky and always slipping and tipping around from one clique to another. Part time lovers love to tear a home. And if they tear up a home you know that they will tear up a church. Somebody here is going to let this word go in one ear and out the other, because they consider themselves as a faithful saint. Oh yeah, I know that you are faithful in here between these four walls, but what about when you leave here. Oh yeah, there’s a lot of hand clapping, foot stomping, tongue talking, fancy dancing going on in here. You know how to act in church. You know all about church stuff. As a saint of God you got it going on, but while you’re trying to front, you’ve got some skeletons in your closet.
You’re trying to act all deep because you don’t want anybody to find you out, but oh brothers and sisters, EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT, your cover has been blown. You’ve been slipping and tipping out on a good God who loves you. Too many church folk are living double lives. Some days we want to go church and other days we want to go to the club. Some days we pray in the devotion and other days we party at the disco. Some days we sing in the choir, other days we murmuring in cliques. Some days we are willing to give and some days all we want to do is take. Too many church folk have split personalities. Oh brothers and sisters, that is why I believe sometime that some are always having migraines. They are always unhappy. They can’t seem to make their face produce a smile. That’s why some folk are always taking ulcer medicine. The Bible says that a double-minded man I wish I had somebody. A double-minded man is unstable in all of his ways. That is why you got to make your mind about who you want to be with. Do you want Satan, the part time lover or do you want the fullness of God’s love. Can I help somebody here this morning? Is it alright if I show you what to do?
Knowing that Satan doesn’t care for you and knowing that he wants to see you depressed, oppressed, pressed down, and any other type of "pressed" that you can imagine, allow me to tell you what you do when Satan has his eye on you. First of all you got to make up your mind what you are going to do. You are either going to the left or going to the right. You are either going up or going down. Either you are following after Christ or you going run after your part time lover. A lot of folk God has blessed with a good mate. He has blessed you with somebody who really cares for you. But for some reason you are not satisfied with what you got. Instead of getting closer to the one you say you love, you try to find a part time lover. That is why you are confused and don’t know which way to go. You are going act like you’ve been touched by an angel or you are going to sleep with the enemy. You can have both. The Bible said that you have to be either hot or cold. If you’re lukewarm, God don’t want you. A songwriter said, “Some folk would rather have houses and land. Some folk choose silver and gold. But these things they treasure and forget about their soul.
That’s why I decided to make Jesus my choice. Oh brothers and sisters, lest I hold you too long. I wonder if there’s anybody in here beside me that made Jesus your choice. You got to understand that God is still in charge. I’ve been around the blocks a few times and I have found out for myself that can’t nobody love me like Jesus can. Can’t nobody hold me like Jesus can. Can’t nobody bless me like Jesus can. Can’t nobody heal me like Jesus can. Can’t nobody bring me out like Jesus can. That is why we need to resist the devil. You need to recite the Goodness of Jesus. You need to remember where your help comes from. You need to remember that Satan didn’t bring you down through the years, God did. Satan that part time lover, only loves you when he wants something from you. Then my brothers and sisters, I need to tell you that you can have a new life under new management. In other words, that Christ of ours can change you. You remember it was on one occasion that Christ told Peter that Satan desires to have you, but I prayed for you. You got to understand that we are all in a development stage. Because God loves you, you don’t do the things you use to do.
Because He loves you, you don’t have the same desires you use to have. The company you keep has changed. Everything around you seems to be changing. God is just getting you ready. I need to tell you that when God does a new thing in you, new things will come out of you. Can I get a witness?
Conclusion:
* My brothers and sisters, as I hurry on to a close, God told me to tell you that that thing that Satan has put in you has been oppressed long enough. God is getting ready to do a new thing in you so that what He put in you can now come out of you. Oh my brothers and my sisters, you’ve been running around with a part time lover long enough and it’s time for you to come out. You’ve been down long enough, it’s time for you come out. In order to have the fullness of God’s love, we have got to dismiss some things that belongs to our old self. You’ve been running around long enough. Oh my brothers and my sisters, it’s time, it’s time, oh it’s time to dismiss some things. In order to experience the fullness of God’s love, just go on and dismiss those things that are keeping you from getting to the next level. You talk about a distraction, that bad attitude is a distraction, turn it loose. That spirit of laziness, dismiss it. The words, “I can’t” , dismiss it.
Those words, “It’s not my fault”, dismiss it. Oh my brothers and my sisters, whatever it is that is keeping you from the fullness of God’s love, you need to get rid of it. But oh my brothers and my sisters, before I leave you this morning, I need to let you in on a little secret. Not only are there some things you need to get rid of, but there are some folk that are connected to you in a bad way and you need to dismiss them. I’m talking about folk who are not about anything, dismiss them. Folk who never have anything positive to say, dismiss them. Folk who think that they are all that and then some, dismiss them. Folk who try to keep you down all because they are scared that you will pass them up, dismiss them. Folk that come to your house and treat it like it’s their house, dismiss them. Oh ladies if you got some man who treat you like you’re their toy, dismiss them. And men if you got some lady who treat you like you are their personal bank dismiss them.
And if there’s somebody here who are nothing but vision killers, dismiss them. Oh my brothers and my sisters, I’m going home when I tell you that if you hold on just a little while longer, your deliverance is on the way. Old things will soon pass away and all things will become new. Oh, I thank Paul today for saying all things. Oh my brothers and my sisters, I don’t know how you feel about it, but because of the fullness of God’s love, I’m no longer distracted by a part time lover. Since Jesus came into my life, oh what a change, what a change He has made in my life. Because of the fullness of God’s love, everything about me is new. I’ve got a new attitude. I’ve got a new blessing. I’ve got a new calling. I’ve got a new destiny. I’ve got new heart. I’ve got a new joy. I’ve got a new purpose. No more running around. No more hiding in the dark. I don’t know how you feel about it, but I’m walking in the light, all because Jesus is the light. I’ve been restored. I’ve been sanctified. I have a new talk and a new walk.
Look at my hands they look new. Look at my feet and they do too. I got joy way down. In my soul. No more running around. No more slipping and sliding. Oh my brothers and my sisters, God will bring you out. Whatever you’re going through, God will deliver you. Just like He did Moses at the Red Sea. Just like He did Joshua at the Battle of Jericho. Just like He did David when he went up against Goliath. Just like He did Lazarus when Jesus called him from the grave. Oh my brothers and my sisters, won’t the Lord bring you out? Is there anybody here today who can testify that Lord brought you out? God will, God will, God will, God will. Oh somebody here knows that God will. God will, God will, bring you out. Help me to encourage somebody today. I need you to stand on your feet. Put your arms around somebody and tell them God will bring you out. Ain’t the Lord alright? Ain’t the Lord alright? Say yeah, say yeah, say yeah, oh yeah.
