Tell the Devil to go to Hell!
JN 6:1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
JN 6:5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
JN 6:7 Philip answered him, "Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
JN 6:8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"
JN 6:10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
JN 6:12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
There is a lad here with five loaves and two small fishes, but what are they to so many people. A little boy is there, so there must have been mothers there too. We men love children, but we don’t fool with them. When all is well we love to have them around, but when they act up, they belong to their mothers. My wife can tell you, I liked feeding them, holding them and playing with them, but change diapers, NO!
Jesus took the little boys lunch. The boy was not Church of Christ for several reasons. Number 1 the boy gave all he had to Jesus. #2 He did not say wait a minute, I’m not giving you my lunch because I have voted on it yet, #3 I am not going to give you my lunch because I never did it that way before.
Jesus did 4 things with that lunch, #1 he took it, #2 he blessed it, #3 he broke it and #4 he used it. Are you willing to give yourself to Jesus to be used like this little boy’s lunch? When they got done, they took up leftovers. They had more than they finished then when they started. For Jesus to do anything in our and our congregation, we have to give Him EVERYTHING. We say to people “Give your heart to Jesus, but that is no where in the Bible that says Jesus wants your heart. He wants all of you, not just your heart. He wants your life. No matter how much or how little we have to give to Jesus, but that is all he wants. Look at what he did with a small boys lunch. Today we have people here who have given Jesus half, and wonder why He has not blessed them. He does not want half he wants all. I remember the day I got saved, April 15, 1981. I remember coming forward that night, I had little to give to God, but all I had I gave to him. Yes I was angry with Him. I had a plan for my life, I was going to be a policeman, but that dream got taken away from me when I lost my hearing. I had a possible career in the Navy, but that got taken away from me. I had little to give, but what I had I gave. God took this near deaf man and made him a preacher for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I remember the excitement I had when Jesus came into my life. I remember the change that started that day and is continuing to this day, and will continue until the Lord takes me home. Why have we lost that fervor?
You know we have everything we need right here and right now to win Morgan County and Hampshire County for Jesus, We have everything we need to build on our building to accommodate more people and accommodate for their cars. We have everything we need to help take care of the poor in our community right here and right now. The problem is we are still holding on to it. It is Time to stop feeling sorry for ourselves. It’s Time to tell the Devil to go to Hell.
You say I give my time to God I love God. I come on Sunday morning, but God does not just want Sunday morning, he wants your Sunday night, he wants your Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday too. You say to me, it aint none of your business how I spend my week as long as I am here on Sunday morning. Well I beg your pardon, but I am about my Father’s business and how you spend your week is his business and so it is mine too. It is time to let Jesus to take us and break us. We are either broken by Jesus or broken by Satan; it is time to tell the Devil to go to Hell. It’s legal; all you are really saying is Go Home Sucker.
1 John 1:4 Joy is Jesus Over You. One thing no one can ever take away from you is your JOY. You can give it away, but no one can take it from you. We can have a sign in front of the church Happy Hour all Day Sunday. Our churches are filled with sad people, some of us gather on Sunday morning and we look like we had been sucking on lemons, or on a dill pickle. If we show this JOY then the world will beat a path to our door. But they don’t come because we don’t give them any reason to come. Why don’t look like we have that joy unspeakable? It is because we have sin in our life. We need a great revival in our country. We if we don’t have revival in our country, 2 Chronicles 7:14, the judgment of God will fall on us. We have to let Jesus break us like he did with that little boy’s lunch, and then he could use us.
When the Devil breaks you, he leaves you broken. When Jesus breaks you, he picks up the pieces. And then he can use you for His glory. He used 5 loaves and two fishes to feed 5 thousand men. What could he do with us? You may ask me does that story blow my mind, No, I believe it just as it is written. I’ll tell you what blows my mind. How God on April 15, 1981 could look down in that little church in Holbrook NY and take that deaf, confused man and make him into a preacher of the gospel. I’ll tell you what blows my mind, how God could take a family through what we went through in 1994 and bring us to this place today, almost heaven, Paw Paw West Virginia. I’ll tell you what blows my mind, how God can take a child, whom the school systems said was uneducatable and then have him almost lose his life in 1993, bring him through Bible college from 1997 to 2001. How God could take that shy little boy and make him a preacher of the Gospel right now in Vidor Texas. That’s what blows my mind. What God can do when we let, that’s what blows my mind. God takes us, breaks us, uses us and then He blesses us. If God can use me, with all my shortcomings, my physical deformities, surely he can use you. You love God, sure, but let me ask you something are you giving all you can for Jesus. If you are, if you can say here God I give you everything, then stand back and watch what happens.
Tell you what else blows my mind. When we have services here, have songs, meditations, prayer and hear from God’s word, a heartfelt invitation and no one comes forward. That blows my mind. Wake up church, tell the Devil to go to Hell and give yourself to Jesus to be broken, used, and blessed.
