SEVEN STRANGE PREACHERS
Matt. 24:14
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: Baby on the Way
1. I heard the humorous story of Loann Burke, who was 8 1/2 months pregnant. She was meeting her husband at a restaurant, and she arrived first. She waddled up to the hostess. "One for dinner?" asked the hostess.
2. "No," I replied. "There will be two of us...” [just then the baby kicked, she made a face, and then continued] “...any minute." When she saw the panicky look on the hostess's face, she realized she had forgotten about her appearance. “No, not my baby, my husband!”
B. TEXT & THESIS
1. The Lord Jesus told us, “And this gospel...SHALL be preached” Mt. 24:14. It was preached to the people of the O.T. (Heb. 4:2) as well as to us. God has had preachers in every age of time.
2. Not only does God use people to preach, but uses His creation to proclaim the truth to us (Ps. 19:1-4).
3. Tonight we’re going to look at “Seven Strange Preachers,” see the message they preached, and what their message means to us today.
I. NOAH’S DOVE [The Faithfulness of God]
“When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth” Gen. 8:11
A. THE STORY OF NOAH’S LONG WAIT
1. Imagine that you’re Noah and his family, pinned up with thousands of animals in a small enclosed space! Not for a day or a week, but for 6 1/2 months)!
2. Even Noah began to get cabin fever. He finally let a raven fly out of the Ark (maybe as a "trial balloon" to see if it got the Lord's attention). It didn't come back.
3. A week later, Noah released a dove (a clean bird), and it came back to the Ark (probably signifying that the righteous should stay in the Ark). Poor Noah!
4. A week later he sent up another trial balloon -- this time the dove came back with a fresh olive leaf in its mouth. It must have been a wonderful sign to the family of Noah - fresh life had appeared on earth. But even more, God was giving them a sign of His watchful care, and hope of relief from their trial.
B. APPLICATION TO US
1. Have any of you had a long trial? Have you been praying for something and it seems like it will never happen?
2. Take courage from Noah’s Dove! He’s preaching to you tonight that God has not forgotten you, that He’s on the job, and He will bring your answer to pass, soon! Remember: God is faithful!
II. BALAAM’S DONKEY [God’s long-suffering Nature]
“Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?” Numbers 22:28
A. WHEN BALAAM WOULDN’T LISTEN
1. Sometimes we make up our minds to do something we know is not God's will and we stubbornly refuse to do otherwise.
2. Balaam the soothsayer was a person who could hear from God when he wanted to. This time, however, Balaam closed his ears to God's voice.
3. Judgment, in the form of an Angel, was close to falling on Balaam. But God was so long-suffering with his stubbornness, that He caused a donkey – an animal known for its stubbornness – to rebuke Balaam (2 Pet. 2:16)! What symbolism! That sermon finally got Balaam’s attention!
B. THE DONKEY SPEAKS TO US
1. We sometimes use the phrase “dumb animals,” but in this case the animal was smarter than her master.
2. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord holding a sword and turned aside, saving Balaam’s life. How many times have we been spared from death because God was protecting us from ourselves?
3. Aren't you glad God is so long-suffering with you? He gives us years and years to grow up into Christ and is so patient to wait for us to get straightened out. Praise God!
III. ELIJAH’S RAVENS [Provision]
“I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.” The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and...evening...” 1 Kings 17:1,6
A. GOD WATCHED OVER ELIJAH
1. Not only did the Lord protect Elijah, but He also had some unusual servants to feed him. The Lord usually leads His people a step at a time. God didn’t give Elijah a three-year schedule to follow, but day by day, and Elijah obeyed by faith.
2. At the brook Cherith, God used little birds to provide for Elijah! (They were probably swiping food from Ahab’s kitchen!) Peter’s tax was provided by a fish. A dog brought money to reformer John Craig and God sent a chicken to feed the hiding John Brenz each day until he could escape!
B. A WORD FOR US TODAY
1. This reminds us that God KNOWS what we need even before we ask (“your heavenly Father knows that you need them” – food, drink, clothes, Matt. 6:31-32). God will take the same care of each one of us!
2. We need to trust God more and not limit how He will provide our needs. Do you have a need which you desire God to provide? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
IV. SIMON PETER’S ROOSTER [Call to Repentance]
“Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.” Luke 22:60-62.
A. PETER’S CALL TO REPENTANCE
1. Peter had an attitude that he was superior to the other apostles. After all, he had walked on water; he had confessed Jesus to be the Son of God and been told that he was the "Rock."
2. So when Jesus told him that he would deny the Lord, Peter had said, "Not me, Lord. All these other guys might deny you, but I never will. I'll die first!" Oh, be careful what words you say; you may have to eat them!
3. In the courtyard of the high priest, Peter blew it. He denied he was one of the apostles. Mt. 26:74 says he tried to prove it by cursing and swearing. Lastly, he denied even knowing Jesus. Jesus turned and looked at Peter.
4. Just then, the rooster crowed. That rooster's crow became a call to repentance. The Bible says that Peter went out and wept bitterly.
B. THE ROOSTER IS STILL CROWING!
1. How many times have we thought that we would never blow it, but we have? Then we wake up and can't believe that we did, or said, what we did.
2. I've seen people be ignorance of their sins for a long time, then suddenly, like the rooster’s crow, they come to themselves and see their sin for all the evil that it is.
3. Maybe tonight the rooster is crowing for some of you; you've come to the place where you realize your sin and your need to repent. That's the sermon that the rooster is preaching to you tonight!
V. THE DISEMBODIED HAND [Judgment]
“Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace” Dan. 5:5.
A. THE SCALES OF MEASUREMENT
1. Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, had thrown a huge party, and in his drunken condition, he called for the sacred bowls and vessels that had been used to worship God in the Jewish Temple. He used them to praise the gods of gold, silver, iron and wood. [A BAD MOVE!]
2. God sent a disembodied hand to write a message of judgment over Belshazzar: His kingdom was over, he was unfit to rule, and the Medes & Persians would overpower his kingdom that night! That’s swift judgment!
3. Belshazzar’s banquet hall became a place of Judgment. God looked called up the sins of Belshazzar as evidence, weighed them in the scales of justice and passed sentence on him.
B. HOW DO WE MEASURE UP?
1. How would you measure up if God put you on trial before Him tonight? Would you be found guilty? Would He sentence you to Hell for your sins? If so, I have good news for you!
2. God has gotten you the best defense attorney there is: His Son Jesus Christ. Jesus knew you wouldn’t pass inspection, so He already took your punishment. If you make a plea bargain with Jesus, He’s so kind He’ll not only take care of your sin, but He’ll get you entrance to Heaven.
3. What’s His fee? Yes, it’s high! He wants you to become His servant for the rest of your life. Well, here’s the choice: life or death. Which will it be?
VI. ABRAHAM’S RAM [Atonement]
“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son” Gen. 22:13.
A. A DIFFICULT COMMAND
1. Three days before, God had spoken the terrible words to Abraham, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and….sacrifice him there as a burnt offering [to Me] on one of the mountains I will tell you about" Gen. 22:2. Abraham was devastated.
2. The 3 day trip was the saddest of his life. When Isaac asked where the sacrifice was, a lump was in his throat, for the sacrifice was Isaac, himself!
3. After getting Isaac on the altar and tying him, Abram raised the knife to slay him, but the Angel stopped him. The angel predicted great reward & honor for Abraham as a result of his obedience.
4. Moments later, Abram heard a rustling sound in the bushes. Looking up, he saw a RAM, with its horns caught in a bush. That ram was a sermon to Abram; "God will provide your needed atonement."
B. HAVE WE ACCEPTED GOD’S SACRIFICE?
1. Aren't you glad that God provided a sacrifice for you so you could go to heaven? 2000 years later, on that very spot (Moriah = Mt Zion), Jesus was crucified for our sins!
2. Instead of you or I being nailed to our crosses, Roman hammers drove the nails into GOD’S SACRIFICE! All the sins we’ve committed were laid on Christ on Calvary. At last came the cry, "It is finished!" The great work of redemption was done!
3. Will we, like Abraham, accept the sacrifice which has been offered? Will we accept the strange sermon of Abraham's ram?
VII. THE ANGEL OF NO MORE TIME [Urgency]
“Then the [angel]...swore an oath to the Eternal One...“Time has run out!” Rev. 10:5-6, The Voice Trans.
A. “THE END” IS COMING
1. This angel definitely has a message for us tonight; we must not delay any longer! To the people the angel spoke about, God’s time clock had expired.
2. There was no more time for changing. Their soul’s condition was set in stone. If they were ready, they’d go to heaven; if not, they’d go to hell.
B. THERE WILL BE NO MORE TIME
1. If your life was stopped right now, would you go to heaven? Do you have unconfessed sins? Those sins will make you lose your place in heaven!
2. Are you doing anything you wouldn’t want God to see? Time is run out! It’s now or never! Now’s your last chance to make it right with God!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: NEW CONSTRUCTION; NOT RENOVATION
1. London businessman Lindsay Clegg told the story of a warehouse property he was selling. The building had been empty for months and needed repairs. Vandals had damaged the doors, smashed the windows, and strewn trash around the interior.
2. As he showed a prospective buyer the property, Clegg took pains to say that he would replace the broken windows, bring in a crew to correct any structural damage, and clean out the garbage.
3. "Forget about the repairs," the buyer said. "When I buy this place, I’m going to build something completely different. I don’t want this building; I want the site."
4. That’s what God has in mind with your life; He wants to sweep away all the old, and build something completely new. Are you willing?
B. THE CALL
1. What are the messages of the 7 Strange Preachers? “God will help you; He hasn’t forgotten you. He’s long-suffering. He will provide. But we need to repent and accept His atonement: Jesus Christ! We need to do it NOW, for time for us has run out!”
2. PRAYER for salvation, provision, comfort & healing.
[This is a rewrite of Jim Parisi’s message of the same title in 2003.]
