Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister’s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
A PLACE CALLED PERFECT
Oh happy day, when God created man and man lived in a perfect paradise! God’s design for us was to live forever and to prosper in everything that we wanted to do. We were given dominion over all of Creation and told to go forth and fill the earth. God wanted man to live in a place called Perfect!
Have you seen the commercial on TV where a place called “Perfect” is found? In that place called “Perfect”, there are no dirty clothes or dishes to wash, no alarm clocks to wake up to, no sickness, no pain, no arguments, no bills to pay, nor is there anything that will make life anything less than absolutely perfect. How many of you live in a place called “Perfect”?
Whatever happened to that place called Perfect? Can, and did such a place actually exist? Man has searched for “Utopia” which only another name for a place called “Perfect”, but it seems that the harder we try to find it, the farther it goes away from us. There can be no place called “Perfect” for man that is absolutely imperfect. There was a place that was perfect. It was a place of no pain, no sorrow, no sickness, no death and no sin. God created the Garden of Eden and put Adam and Eve in that garden in their perfect state of innocence.
It wasn’t very long until the perfection and innocence were destroyed and all of mankind has had to suffer the consequences of Adam’s rebellion and disobedience, but, don’t just blame Adam, for there is not one of us who would not have done the same as he did if we would have been in his position. If you doubt what I say, ask yourself this question, “Is there one among the human race who has not sinned or rebelled against the law of God?”
The nation of Israel; millions of men, women and children; were held as captives and slaves in the land of Egypt and forced to bow to the wishes and commands of an ungodly Pharaoh. Because of their own failures, as well as the sin of their fathers, they had been taken from a place of freedom to a state of oppressive slavery. It seems that history had repeated itself. The same pattern that began with Adam in the Garden was now being repeated in God’s chosen nation, Israel.
This same pattern repeats itself in the life of every one who is ever born. We are all born into a state of innocence as a newborn baby but that same nature of sin that existed in Adam and in the nation of Israel also exists in the heart of every baby that comes into the world. That’s why Jesus made the statement that there is “none righteous, no not one!”
God, in His mercy and grace delivered Israel from bondage. He did great miracles on their behalf. God blessed Israel in spite of her deplorable condition. They could not set themselves free but God always has a plan to bring us back to Him.
1) God brought the plagues of judgment against the kingdom that held them in its iron-fisted grip. (God is still bringing judgment upon this sinful world and upon the sin that rules it)
2) God brought Israel out and saw to it that they left out with great wealth.
3) God opened the Red Sea, parting the waters that barred their path. (Even so will God part the things in our lives that will keep us from reaching Him if we so desire)
4) God led them out of their old life into a new life of trusting Him and obedience to Him.
Exodus 19:1-4, "In the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai. For they were departed from Rephidim, and were come to the desert of Sinai, and had pitched in the wilderness; and there Israel camped before the mount. And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself."
(Isn’t that just like man? God created us to live in His presence and have the best of everything but we rebel against Him and soon find ourselves “camped out” in the deserted wilderness of a sin sick life just like Adam & Eve.)
In the Book of Matthew Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the River Jordan, then he was immediately led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness to be tested. If we look at Israel’s journey and then compare it to the journey of Jesus at the beginning of His earthly ministry, we can see the same pattern begin to emerge.
God always takes man from a place of despair, loneliness and hopelessness; delivers us from our own rebelliousness by His miracles working power; then leads us off into a life that is like a wilderness where we will be tested and perfected until God decides that our time has finally come to go to meet Him face to face.
Exodus 19:16, "And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled."
Exodus 19:20, "And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up."
Three months and three days after they left Egypt, the Children of Israel came face to face with a decision. Will they accept the Lordship of God and obey His voice or will they rebel as their forefathers had done? You see, each of us must face our Mount Sinai! God will bring every one of us, one by one, before His presence. We will “hear” the thunder and lightning in our heart and we will have to make that decision too.
That same fire that brings the lightning and that same voice that sounds like frightening thunder and a loud trumpet is the same fire and the same voice that will destroy sin the heart and speak salvation to the soul. Our God is an awesome God, full of great power and might, but we need not be afraid of that power. We must come near when He calls us and allow His fire to burn away our imperfection and purify us, then allow Him to speak words of love and comfort to our soul and bring hope for the future.
God appeared on another mountain to a man called Abraham, and Isaac his son. Abraham was a faithful man and was given the title “Friend of God” by God Himself.
Abraham began to walk in obedience and was given the promise that he would become the father of a great nation. But God wanted Abraham’s faith to be founded upon trust in God and not in the blessings that God gives so God put Abraham to the test, just as He will for each of us.
Genesis 22:1-2, "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."
(This same Mount Moriah would become the location of Solomon’s Temple, the Holy of Holies where the blood sacrifice would be offered each year by the High Priest of Israel)
Even though God was testing Abraham, He already knew what Abraham would do. Why would God test a man when He already knew what the result would be? God wanted Abraham to learn that God was faithful and that God would be a friend that would never fail. Abraham needed to learn about God and about his faith and how it would work for him.
Faith says that I will serve God; I will live for the Lord; I will do what God desires for my life; even when it doesn’t make sense; even when it goes against everything that I know and even when it seems that God is leading me in the opposite direction that I think I should go in.
Do you have faith this morning? Yes you do. All of us are given enough faith to believe and trust in God. You don’t have enough faith to live your entire life right now. We don’t always know what the future holds so how can we prepare our faith in advance for every circumstance that will come? God will give us the faith we need, and our faith will grow with every test and trial we face and overcome through the grace of God.
The realization that God is faithful and that we can truly trust Him to do what He says is the catalyst that causes our faith to increase and grow into a powerful force that can speak deliverance and victory into any situation!
Abraham had only one son, Isaac. If he had to offer Isaac as a burnt sacrifice upon the altar of God, how could he ever become a father of a great nation? God’s commands just didn’t make sense at all, but Abraham was faithful and God honored that trust, faith and commitment to obedience. He took Isaac, bound him to the altar and was about to plunge in the knife to kill Isaac when the Angel of the Lord stopped him and God provided a ram caught in the thicket as a sacrifice instead.
God was only looking for absolute trust and obedience, not sacrifice. We can never do enough, pay enough, or sacrifice enough to be good enough to reach God. God has to come down to us and provide the thing we need to reach Him. Imperfection cannot become perfection without some outside source of change.
Your car cannot repair itself – there must a mechanic to work on it.
Your house won’t repair itself – there must a carpenter to do the work.
Your soul cannot heal itself – there must an outside power to wash away the sin
Your heart cannot heal its own pain – there must be a power greater than the heart
Sin cannot forgive itself – there must be a sacrifice that is sufficient to pay the price
A criminal on death row cannot release and forgive his own crime – he must seek the power of the governor and of the courts to forgive him, pardon him and release him.
God has to provide His own sacrifice because only perfection can change imperfection into perfection once again and only God is perfection and nothing else.
That’s why Jesus came into this world. Jesus is the only Son that the Father in Heaven has ever had. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin woman because man could have nothing to do with the birth of God in the flesh. Jesus came from Heaven, left the glory of Heaven and came down to this earth in the form of a man for one purpose only.
Jesus only reason for coming was to be the Blood Sacrifice that was needed to pay the price for sin. Only through the shedding of perfect blood could and imperfect man and an imperfect creation be redeemed. The price for sin is eternal death and separation from God and only an eternal life and God himself could pay that price. That’s why Jesus came.
Jesus chose to be born and to die upon a cross, giving His own blood to wash our sin away and give us a way back to God. It was a terrible price but it had to be paid or their would have been no hope for any of us. We would have all spent eternity in the Lake of Fire called Hell if it had not been for Jesus death on the cross and His resurrection on the third day.
John 3:16 tells us that God loved us, even when we were disobedient, sinful and hateful to Him, that He sent His only Son to die for us. God has provided His own sacrifice to pay the sin debt that we owe and cannot pay. He loves us so much that He was willing to give everything to give us the way back to His presence and to make that “Place called Perfect” available to us once again.
He made it so simple for us. All we have to do is confess that we are guilty, believe in what Jesus did for us; believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He is alive forever more; allow Jesus to be our Lord through obedience to Him and we will be forgiven and cleansed from sin. It’s that easy for us because God already completed the hard part for us. Not only that but He gives every man enough faith to make that first step that allows us to believe in Jesus and what He did for us.
Aren’t you glad that God loves us so much! Jesus went willingly up to Mount Calvary, allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross. Then He willingly hung there for hours in agony and suffering, with the weight of sin for the whole world upon His shoulders, just to give us a chance to go to a perfect place in Heaven. Now that’s love!
Jesus’ work is done now and He is seated in a position of power and great glory at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. He is seated in Mount Zion for now but it won’t be long until He once again rises from that throne, mounts a white horse and rides from Heaven with all of us who are with Him in that day.
He will come from the “Place called Perfect” (Heaven) to this imperfect world one more time. This time He won’t come as a baby in a manger but as a Conquering King and as Lord of Lords to reclaim the creation that He spoke into existence and to redeem it from the power of sin.
You and I and everyone who has accepted God’s sacrifice of His only Son, will just be along for the ride and we will watch as Jesus defeats every power of sin; every power of Satan; and the demonic angels with the word of His mouth. That day is spoken of in Zechariah 14:4, "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south."
Are you ready for that ride? Are you going to be a part of the winning army or will you join those who either are already burning in the Lake of Fire or who will be joining them at any moment?
God has provided a way of salvation through Jesus Christ. He has given us a way to reach that “Place called Perfect”. Will you accept God’s sacrifice and surrender your will to the will of God. Will you believe in Jesus and live for Him? There is no other way!
If you want to accept Jesus, God requires a public confession. After all we don’t mind living a sinful life in public, so how can we expect God to accept a private confession. Come to Jesus, confess you sin, accept the salvation that Jesus offers. Then you will be on your way to that “Place called Perfect”.
