We all know some people:
-Who have TOTAL ORDER in their lives. They live their lives according to the motto, "Everything has a place and everything must be in its place." For example,
Illus: A man who operates a small engine repair shop in Columbia, South Carolina had a good business and it amazes people that he can work with so many little greasy engines and still keep his shop so clean and in order. Every nut and screw has its place and it is usually in its container and he keeps his hands and clothes clean. In fact, he is so organized that when he needs anything he can go instantly to where it is located and find it.
Then we know others:
-Who have TOTAL DISORDER in their lives and they spend about half of their time trying to find things that are covered under the different heaps that have accumulated over the years.
I mention these two kinds of people to point out to you that "God is a God of order." If you do not know this, you do not know the God of the Bible.
Every day God runs this universe and three-hundred-sixty-five days a year everything is precise.
Illus: If God was like some today who are not orderly, he would be saying,
• "Oh no, I forgot to hang the sun out today!"
• "Now where did I put all those stars?"
• "It is spring and I have not made the first flower bloom. I'm just going to have to skip spring this year!"
But the God of the Bible is not that way at all. We live every day with perfect confidence, knowing every day everything is under His complete control.
Illus: It is because of this that man is able to make the mathematical computations to guide space vehicles to the moon and other destinations in outer space. The scientists know that somewhere there is a God, some of them call Him a force, that keeps everything under complete control.
WHY IS IT SIGNIFICANT that we come to understand that God is a God of order?
Because the more we become like Him, the more our lives will become orderly, instead of being in disarray! For example:
Illus: The church in Corinth was in total disarray. It was famous for confusion and chaos, so Paul wrote to them and said that, "...God is not the author of confusion, but of peace..."
That is, Paul was saying that the devil was causing the confusion in the Corinthian church and if their lives reflected the God of the Bible, they would have been in order, not in disarray!
In other words, all the confusion they had was not from God. Their testimony and their lives were a disgrace to the kingdom of God. Paul was telling them that their lives did not exemplify the Lord Jesus, instead they were bringing glory to Satan, who is the author of confusion!
When God's people's lives exemplify disorder they give a false impression of what God is like. God is not the author of disarray. Christians have let the devil trick them into getting their lives so muddled and cluttered up that no one could ever tell that the God they serve is a God of order.
Illus: We all have the same amount of hours in a day to live our lives. Those who serve the God of order and have their lives in order, serve the Lord every day. But, some who claim to know the God of order have taken on too many things and they do not have time to serve the Lord. They really do not and they are literally killing themselves as they try to keep up with all the things that they have allowed Satan to put into their lives. Their lives are in total disarray.
Let me show you what I mean. There are several ways the devil has cleverly brought disorder to the lives of believers.
I. SATAN HAS BROUGHT CONFUSION TO THE LIVES OF CHRISTIANS THROUGH THEIR MARRIAGES.
God's Word tells us that when God looked down and saw Adam alone in the Garden of Eden, and in Genesis 2:18 it is recorded that He said, "...It is not good that the man should be alone..."
What inspired the God of heaven to say such a thing?
One thing - evidently when he saw Adam in the Garden of Eden alone He felt he was not complete. He said, "...I will make him an helpmeet for him." In His wisdom, he created marriage.
When you see all the messed up marriages in this land you would think it was the BIGGEST MISTAKE God ever made when He made woman for man. Why? We see a lot of confusion in the lives of millions, and most of them will tell you that confusion comes from their marriage. But, I remind you, when God saw Adam, lonely in the garden, He stated, "...It is not good that the man should be alone." Not only is that a spiritual fact, it is a scientific fact, even physically that it is not good that man should be alone.
Illus: It has been proven over the years that married men live longer than single men. Most men would not argue that fact - they know if anyone had to depend on their cooking skills they would not live long!
Seriously, it is easy to understand why so many marriages across this land are in trouble, it is because the people do not know Christ as their Savior. We can understand why sinners' marriages are in trouble, but we have a hard time understanding why many of the marriages of Christian couples are in trouble. Christian couples across America should be:
A. Roll models to the "seed" in their marriages. We can understand why children are confused today. Some of them might go to kindergarten and hear a teacher teach from a book by Leslea Newman, called "Heather Has Two Mommies," which promotes lesbianism. Junior might go to school and hear a teacher teach from a book by Michael Willhoite, called, "Daddy's Roommate," that promotes homosexuality and trys to give them the impression that homosexuality should be acceptable.
And if that does not confuse them enough, they come home to a traditional home only to find MOMMY and DADDY FUSSING and CUSSING all the time. Then they go to Sunday School and hear the preacher preach on the joys of married life. They have to be confused by all the mixed signals that are hitting them from every side.
Illus: When one little boy, who came from a home where there was a lot of conflict, heard his teacher say, "Marriages are made in heaven," he said, "Yea, and so are thunder and lightening."
Yes, marriages are made in heaven, but God wants Christians to learn how to live them here on earth. Many married people are sending the signal to their children that marriage is one of the biggest mistakes a person can make. All their children see and hear is what a mistake their parents made when they got married. Christian couples need to ask the Lord to help them have such a happy marriage that their children will not be able to wait to reach adulthood so they can get married too. We must not forget that little ears are listening to everything we say!
Illus: Suppose I bought a Ford and had a lot of trouble with it. In no way would that mean that all Fords were trouble, but it just so happened that I got a REAL LEMON. Suppose, in front of my children, I constantly said such things as, "Ford cars are not worth having," or "Fords squeak and rattle."
What do you think would happen! You guessed it. Most likely my children would grow up thinking they should never get a Ford.
It is the same with marriage. When married partners are always putting each other down, they should not be surprised when their children grow up having some warped ideas about marriage. I have never been able to figure out why these people are always putting their mates down. No one forced them to marry the person they married. And what makes them think they are so special!
Illus: Someone said, "A mother may hope that her daughter will get a better husband than she did, but she is convinced that her son will not get as good a wife as his father did."
One of the reasons we have so many troubled marriages is because it seems back in the late 60's there was a trend when many people decided it was rotten to be married and the children grew up in homes thinking that marriage was something like a mouse trap - once you were "caught" you were doomed. During the late 60's and 70's, when it first became popular for couples to live together without being married, they were asked, "If you are going to live together, why don't you get married?" One couple said, "We grew up in homes where all mom and dad did was FUSS and CUSS! We do not want to live the rest of our lives that way, so we are not getting married!"
Well, CHRISTIANS WHO ARE MARRIED SHOULD BE ROLL MODELS to the children. They need to see the truth of God's Word, "...It is not good that the man should be alone..."
Our lives should reveal that we serve a GOD OF ORDER, not a GOD OF CONFUSION. Christian couples should not only be role models to the children, they should also be...
B. Role models to society in their marriage. As we already stated, we see much chaos and confusion in marriages of sinners, but it is a shame that we see so much chaos and confusion in marriages of Christians.
Sinners should be able to look at Christian couples and say, "We know what the problem is with our marriage. The problem is that we need to come to know the GOD OF ORDER like these Christians, and get our marriage in ORDER."
When Christians get to know the God of the Bible, Who is a God of order, They will get their lives in order. Many of God's children do not know He is that kind of God.
Listen, we have married people here today who do not know the Lord and you can spend a fortune on counselors, but you can get your marriage into good shape without it costing a penny. If you, husband and wife, will come to know the God of the Bible Who is a God of order, then your life will not be filled with such chaos and confusion.
Illus: Most people have a difficult time placing eye drops in their eyes. Why? Because as soon as the drop leaves the bottle the eye lids snap shut. They do not give the fluid time to touch the eyeball. Do you know why? Because they are there to protect us from having anything enter our eyes that should not be there and they do everything they can to keep foreign debris and bright light out.
We Christians know that chaos and confusion should not penetrate our marriages and we should be doing everything we can to keep that from happening. We should exemplify to our SEED and to our SOCIETY that we know the God of the Bible, Who is a GOD OF ORDER. We see that Satan has caused problems in the marriages of many Christians, but also...
II. SATAN HAS BROUGHT CONFUSION TO THE LIVES OF CHRISTIANS THROUGH THEIR MONEY.
Col. 3:1-2 says, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth." When men seek God, they seek the God of order and their lives become like His. When men seek other men, they seek the things the world seeks and soon their lives become like those of the men of the world, confused and filled with chaos. Not only do we see that the devil, who is the author of confusion, has brought chaos and confusion to Christians in their MARRIAGES, but also in their MONEY MANAGEMENT.
If you ask the average man on the street today if he needs more money to live on, without hesitation he will tell you that he does. Listen, the problem with most people is not that they need more money. They just need to quit WANTING SO MUCH. They live from week to week owing everything they make and then some because they want so much.
Illus: You could give some a five hundred dollar raise on the week and they would soon bring their bills up to meet their income level. THE MORE THEY MAKE, THE MORE THEY SPEND.
They have never been able to comprehend that once they spend all they have, they no longer have it. Then they can not figure out why they are broke even though the reason is simple - they get rid of their money as fast as they get it.
Illus: One of the best games I know that families should play together is a game called monopoly. Everyone starts out with the same amount of money, but some do not last very long because they buy everything they can on the board, then soon they start loosing everything they have bought.
That is all right when people are playing a game, but sad to say, that is the way some operate in real life.
Illus: People like that remind me of the story of the Indian chief who was known for his lavish lifestyle. On one occasion he drove to Las Vegas and started spending his money on everything he saw, then gambled away what little was left. He had a wad of money at first, but soon every bit of it was gone. He drove to Mt. Charleston, nearby, and sent up a smoke signal to his tribe asking for more money. Before they could signal back some scientists from the Atomic Energy Commission detonated an atomic charge in the desert and a tremendous cloud of smoke rose from the earth and darkened the sky. When the chief saw that, he sent this message back, "All right, don't send the money, but you don't have to scream!"
Well, many Christians are constantly having the bill collectors holler at them because their life is a financial mess.
Illus: Someone said, "It is very appropriate for many to have eagles on their dollars, it symbolizes how swiftly they fly away."
Why does Satan want to bring FINANCIAL chaos into the lives of believers? There are at least two reasons:
A. It will affect the couple. Every marriage counselor will tell you that the number one cause of divorce has to do with FINANCES.
Illus: Before they get married they go on dates and have a good time together. Once they get married they look around and start coveting things that other couples have so they go on spending sprees. It never crosses their minds to stay within their budgets because they do not even have a budget.
-Then comes the day they receive a letter from a credit company telling them they have been pre-approved for up to $5,000 at only 17.9% interest if they will fill in the application and return it to the lending company. Instead of feeling insulted that someone would think they were so mentally unbalanced that they would sign for the loan, they are thrilled to death to have a credit card. As soon as they get it they run it up to the max. After doing this several times one day they see an advertisement on television telling them how easy it is to combine all their bills under one loan. All they have to do is go to the office, fill out an application and the same day they will be loaned thousands of dollars to pay off all their bills at only 19% interest. Well, the bills pile up and all day long the bill collectors have been knocking on the door and the telephone has been ringing off the hook and the husband comes home tired from a hard day on the job and the wife has had all she can take of having to face the bill collectors and soon they head for the divorce courts. Why? They have become slaves to their creditors and they blame each other. They cannot date any more. They do not have enough money to buy a hamburger without taking what belongs to the creditors.
Listen, if you consider marriage to be something good, then do not let the devil cause chaos in your life by letting your OUTGO become more than your INCOME. Also...
B. It will affect their church. There are Christians all over this nation whose lives are in FINANCIAL DISARRAY. The devil knows he has them exactly where he wants them. They cannot give to the work of God even though they know they should, so the work of God suffers because they take His money to pay the bills they have run up as a result of their selfishness. Some say, "Preacher, pray for me to get a raise so I can make more money." Suppose they get a job that pays more. Then what happens? God knows it would not help because they would just go out and buy up to the new income level which still would leave no money to give to the Lord.
Every church in America could be doing two to three times more for the Lord if God's people's FINANCES WERE NOT IN SUCH DISARRAY so they had more to give. The devil, who is the author of confusion, has muddled up their finances so bad that they cannot represent the God of the Bible who is a God of orderliness. Not only does the kingdom of God suffer, but eternal rewards are lost that might have been gained had they had money to give to God's work. Their problem is not that they do not have enough money. Their problem is that they COVET TOO MUCH. The God of the Bible IS A GOD OF ORDERLINESS says, "Thou shalt not covet..." That is, you do not let Satan cause you to love things instead of loving the Lord your God.
Conclusion: God is a GOD OF ORDER. And if you have chaos in your life it is because the devil has caused it, not God.
Each Christian here is an AMBASSADOR representing God and God's kingdom and we cannot do that unless we have order in our lives. If the one you serve is a god of DISARRAY, you do not know the God of the Bible. HE IS A GOD OF ORDER and once you come to know Him to be that way your life will reflect His ORDER, not chaos and confusion.
I. SATAN HAS BROUGHT CONFUSION TO THE LIVES OF CHRISTIANS THROUGH THEIR MARRIAGES.
A. ROLE MODELS TO THE "SEED" IN THEIR MARRIAGES.
B. ROLE MODELS TO SOCIETY IN THEIR MARRIAGE.
II. SATAN HAS BROUGHT CONFUSION TO THE LIVES OF CHRISTIANS THROUGH THEIR MONEY.
A. IT WILL AFFECT THE COUPLE.
B. IT WILL AFFECT THEIR CHURCH.
