Illus: Years ago Art Linkletter hosted the television program called, "Kids Say the Darndest Things."
On his show he would ask them simple questions about life, and these children would give him answers that often brought the show to a halt with laughter.
• One father also was going to talk to his seven-year-old son to see how much he knew about the facts of life. He said, "It gives me a headache to think about that stuff. I'm just a kid. I don't need that kind of trouble."
• Another little 9-year-old boy revealed how honest he was when he was asked, “Do you have to be handsome to get married?” He said, "It isn't always just how you look. Look at me. I'm handsome like anything and I haven't got anybody to marry me yet."
Children tell it like it is; whether we want to hear it or not.
Illus: Little Johnny was fascinated as he watched his mother smooth cold cream on her face.
• He asked, "Why do you do that mommy?"
• She said "To make me beautiful!"
• In a few minutes, he noticed she began removing the cold cream with a tissue.
• Little Johnny said, "It’s not working…is it?"
Life would be boring if we did not have children around to spice things up each day. They are certainly different than adults:
• If they think you are ugly…they will tell you
• If they do not like you…they will tell you
• If they do not like the comments you make…they will tell you
• If they have something to say…they say it
But not only that, children have their own code of, “What’s Mine.” It goes like this:
• If I like it, it's mine
• If it's in my hand, it's mine
• If I can take it from you, it's mine
• If I had it a little while ago, it's mine
• If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine
• If it looks just like mine, it's mine
• If I think it's mine, it's mine
• If it's yours and I steal it, it's mine
• If I ... Well, you get the picture
We recognize that this SELFISH CODE that they live by is not good, so it keeps us busy as parents and grandparents saying, “Darling, you need to learn to share!”
We recognize that in this life everyone does not have everything, and we have to learn to share with others.
While selfishness needs to be dealt with, I want to suggest that as the children of God, at times, we all need to tell the devil, “It’s mine…and you can’t have it!”
For example, the Bible tells us that Satan is a thief and he wants to steal that which is ours.
Look at the things we have that we can’t let Satan steal. -
I. WE HAVE PEACE FROM GOD
In Luke 16:1-3, we find Mary and some other women on their way to the Lord’s tomb. “And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?”
As they approached the tomb, these ladies had something going through their minds. Look again at verse 3, “And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?”
The Bible also tells us something about this stone. The Word of God says, “… IT WAS VERY GREAT….”
They knew there was a large stone in front of the tomb, much too large for them to move. And if they were going to be able to enter the tomb to spread the sweet spices on Jesus’ body, the stone had to be removed.
HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO OUR LIVES? There are stones in our life that we would like removed, but we know they are too big for us to remove. Before we can get close to the Lord, we have to have those stones removed.
Every preacher has heard Christians confess, “Preacher, please pray for me, I want to get close to the Lord but I have these things in my life that are keeping me from getting close to the Lord.”
But here is the good news; if there are things in our life, the Lord will remove them if we allow Him to.
Such was the case with these women. They recognized the stone was too large for them to remove. However, the Bible says that when they arrived, the stone had been rolled away.
Look at what the angel said! Look at verse 4, we read, “And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.”
Going to this tomb reminds us of when the Lord came to the tomb of Lazarus. When the Lord arrived at his tomb, we see a different situation.
Look at John 11:38-39, we read, “Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone….”
We need to notice two things:
• When they came to Lazarus’ tomb, the Lord told them to remove the stone. (THIS WAS SOMETHING THEY COULD DO!) These were men, and God had given them the strength to do it.
• But when the women came to Jesus tomb, the Lord had the stone removed. (THIS WAS SOMETHING THEY COULD NOT DO!) These were women, and God had not designed their bodies to be strong enough to do such a thing.
WHAT DOES THIS TEACH US? These two passages teach us that GOD EXPECTS US TO DO WHAT HE HAS GIVEN US THE STRENGTH AND ABILITY TO DO!
When they looked inside, they saw an empty tomb, and they saw, “…A young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted…And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted.”
God did NOT want them to let the empty tomb bring fear into their lives … “BE NOT AFRAID!”
Life is filled with things that Satan will use to place fear in our life and ROB US OF OUR PEACE.
• Some live in fear of a terrorist attack
• Some live in fear of a nuclear war
• Some live in fear of a doctor’s appointment
• Some live in fear of the economy turning sour and that they will lose everything they ever worked for
The angel was telling these ladies that they did not have a thing to be afraid of.
But when the Lord breathed that last breath on the cross and his head fell on his chest, their whole world caved in on them.
What frightens you right now? (Humor: I noticed that when I said that, some of you men looked at your wives.)
We need to look the devil square in the face and say, “God has given me His peace…It’s mine and you can not have it!”
We who know Christ as our Savior know that every day we can put our faith in the Lord Jesus.
• In Luke 7:50, Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; GO IN PEACE."
• In Luke 8:48, Jesus said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. GO IN PEACE."
In John 14:26-27, we read, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Mary and the other women were FEARFUL, but God told them that they did not have a thing to be fearful about.
Every child of God needs to recognize that Satan wants to rob us of our PEACE and cause us to live in FEAR each day of our lives.
We need to tell the Devil that, “When it comes to the peace of God - it’s mine and you can not have it.”
We see that WE HAVE PEACE FROM GOD and -
II. WE HAVE POWER FROM GOD
When Mary and the women entered the empty tomb, they were told, in verse 6, “…Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.”
Isn’t it wonderful that we serve a God that has the power to raise the dead?
We talk to people who are in the slavery of sin:
• Some are enslaved by alcohol
• Some are enslaved by drugs
• Some are enslaved by pornography
• Some are enslaved by sports
• Some are enslaved by money
• Some are enslaved by entertainment
Many of these people will tell you that they would like to be set free from the slavery, but it is as if they are in quicksand and the harder they try, the deeper they go into sin.
They will also tell you that they are TRYING TO SAVE THEMSELVES … BUT THEY CAN’T! Many of us have heard them say, “I would like to live the Christian life, but I can’t!”
And you know what, that is the truth, they can not live the Christian life within themselves. It is only when the Lord Jesus SAVES US and EMPOWERS US BY THE HOLY SPIRIT that we can live the Christian life.
Illus: Listen, I can get in my car and:
• Drive down the road at a high rate of speed for hours
• Drive for hundreds of miles
• Drive up steep hills
While I am in that car, I can do things that I can not humanly do. Once I am in that car, the power of that vehicle becomes my power.
When we are in Christ, HIS POWER BECOMES OUR POWER!
As the children of God, we need to look the Devil square in the eyes, and say, “I have power from God. It’s mine…and you can not have it!”
We see that WE HAVE PEACE FROM GOD, WE HAVE POWER FROM GOD and -
III. WE HAVE PROVISIONS FROM GOD
God has made some wonderful promises to us.
Illus: One songwriter declared, "Every promise in the Book is mine; every chapter, every verse, every line."
If you are able to DO SOMETHING, God expects you to DO IT! But if you can not do it, God has promised, in Phil. 4:19, to supply all our needs, “….according to His riches….”
God is the greatest provider that ever existed. Every day He provides for MILLIONS of people!
Listen, sometimes bragging is not bragging. If you can do something, it is not bragging, IT IS A FACT!
Illus: A little boy was heard talking to himself as he walked across the back yard, baseball cap in place, ball and bat in his hands.
• He said, "I am the greatest hitter in the world," He threw the ball up, swung and missed. "Strike one," he said.
• Again, he told himself, "I am the greatest hitter ever." He threw the ball up again, swung and missed.
• He looked at the ball, and at the bat, and said, "I’m the greatest hitter that ever lived." He threw the ball up again and swung and missed a third time.
• This time he said, "Wow! Strike three! What a pitcher! I’m the greatest pitcher in the world!”
God is the greatest provider in the world! He could say that and HE WOULD NOT BE BRAGGING; IT IS A FACT!
We have to accept that in this life there are some things we MUST DO and there are some things that only HE CAN DO!
There is ONE THING we can not do, HE MUST DO IT ALL! We can not do one thing to provide salvation for ourselves.
Illus: There was a boy by the name of Steve that went to a private school. Mr. Christianson taught at this particular school.
One day, Mr. Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. Mr. Christianson asked Steve, "You think you’re a pretty tough fellow, don’t you?" Steve’s answer was, "Yeah, I do."
Then he asked him, "How many push-ups can you do?" Steve said, "I do about 200 every night." "200? That’s pretty good, Steve,"
Mr. Christianson said. "Do you think you could do 350 in sets of 10? I have a lesson I want to teach the class tomorrow? Can you do it?”
Steve said, “I can do it."
The next day in class Mr. Christianson pulled out a big box of donuts. Everyone in the class was excited when they saw them.
Mr. Christianson went to the girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want a donut?" Cynthia said, "Yes." Mr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?" Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten.
Mr. Christianson then went to the next person, and asked, "Joe, do you want a donut?" Joe said, "Yes." Mr. Christianson asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve did ten push-ups and Joe got a donut.
Mr. Christianson went down the first aisle and asked each one of them if they wanted a donut and then ask Steve to do 10 push-ups for each student so they could have one.
He went down the second aisle and Mr.Christianson came to Scott. Scott was captain of the football team and center of the basketball team. Mr. Christianson asked, "Scott do you want a donut?" Scott replied, "Well, can I do my own pushups?" Mr. Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them.” Then Scott said, "Well, I don’t want one then." Mr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn’t want?" And he put a donut on Scott’s desk.
Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow.
Mr. Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry with Mr. Christianson for requiring Steve to do all those push-ups.
Mr. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?" Jenny said, "No." Then Mr. Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn’t want?" Steve did ten, and he placed the donut that she did not want on her desk.
He continued this process until he had asked all 34 students if they would like a donut and each time Steve had to do 10 push up for them to receive it or not to receive it.
He came to the 35th student and asked him if he would like a donut. Once he said, “Yes,” Steve got on the floor and did ten more push-ups. Steve was really having a rough time.
As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.
Mr. Christianson turned to the room and said, "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, said to the Father, ‘Into thy hands I commend my spirit.’ With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, he collapsed on the cross and died. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten."
God has provided everything I need in this life. When it comes to His provisions, we need to say to Satan, “I HAVE PROVISIONS FROM GOD…they’re mine…and you can not have them!”
Conclusion:
Do you love the Lord enough to be willing to serve the Lord out of a heart of love? God the Father is pleased when we tell the devil, “It’s mine…and you can not have it!”
Illus: A certain woman was married to a man that she did not love. He forced her to get up at 5:00 AM every morning and have his breakfast on the table at 6:00 AM sharp. He made her wait on him from morning until she went to bed at night. Her life was miserable as she tried to satisfy the demands of her husband. Finally, her husband died.
After a few years, she married again. This time, she married a man that she really loved. One day, while clearing out some old papers, she came across the strict set of rules her first husband had given her to obey. Carefully, she read them over, one by one. “Get up at 5 o’clock and have breakfast on the table at 6 o’clock sharp!” On and on she read.
Then, she stopped and thought, and it dawned on her that she was fulfilling every single one of her former husband’s demands for her new husband. But, she had not realized it because this time she was doing it out of love.
It is not difficult to live for Jesus when we truly love Jesus.
We see that –
I. WE HAVE PEACE FROM GOD
II. WE HAVE POWER FROM GOD
III. WE HAVE PROVISIONS FROM GOD
