Sermon for 8/31/2003
Matthew 7:24
Introduction:
A. Tell the story of fishing at the Corder’s Pond. Crackers, attractive baits, caught a twelve pound catfish.
B. Sharks when they go into a feeding frenzy.
WBTU:
A. Last week we talked about Practice Makes Perfect. In the Christian life through the Holy Spirit. Put these things into practice.
B. If we live out the things that Jesus talks about here we will have fish biting like crazy. Have a feeding frenzy.
C. The gospel is the hook but we are the bait.
D. Last week we talked about two things that we need to put into practice so that we can present attractive bait.
1. Bible Study
2. Praying
Thesis: What are some things that Jesus wants us to put into practice so that we can present attractive bait?
For instances:
• Just going over 3. We talked a great deal about anger control with Jonah.
3. Control of eyes, mind, body and heart.
A. Mind
1. Your mind controls your eyes, your body.
2. Read 5:27-28
3. You see it yes, but your mind acts and dreams upon it.
4. (Rom 1:28 NIV) Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.
5. What do people have their minds dwell upon? (Phil 3:18 NIV) For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.(Phil 3:19 NIV) Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.
6. (Rom 12:1 NIV) Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.(Rom 12:2 NIV) Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
7. We need a new mind. A mind that is washed and cleansed and made new. We are corrupt in our thinking. Need to come to Christ. Have the Spirit.
9. 1 Cor 2:16- we have the mind of Christ.
B. The body.
1. The mind controls the body.
2. Read 5:29-30
3. If our minds are pure, then we will not lust in thought or action.
4. Is this advocating castration? Not really, it all begins in the mind. Even without a hormonal desire, the mind can still lust.
5. We must deal radically with sin.
6. All sin begins with the mind’s imagination.
7. We must take action against sins that constantly plague us. I took out my cable. Get rid of the offending objects as much as possible.
8. Imagination is a God-given gift; but if it is fed dirt by the eye, it will be dirty.
9. The mind can tell the eye not to look.
C. The eyes
1. The eyes control what we see and what the mind takes in.
2. We can look for good things are we can look for bad things. It begins with the mind and the mind looks through the eyes for things that will support its thoughts.
3. Matthew 6:22-23
4. The eye is the lamp of the body in the sense that through the eye the body finds its way. The eye lets in light, and so the whole body is illuminated.
5. We need new eyes that will let in light.
6. Jesus told the church in Laodocia to buy from him salve to put on their eyes so that they could see. It was said of Laodocia that they produced a salve that when put on the eyes it would help them to see.
7. Jesus is the one who helps us to see the light. We are in darkness without the Lord.
8. (Acts 28:26 NIV) "’Go to this people and say, "You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving." (Acts 28:27 NIV) For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’
9. Through the Spirit of Christ we can control our minds, eyes and bodies.
10. My eye made me do it, or my body is in the habit of doing…
D. The heart.
1. The eye can be equivalent to the heart. Closed their eyes (understand with their hearts)
2. What is the heart? Not talking about the physical organ that pumps the blood, but a man’s emotions and will. As the heart pumps the blood so a man’s heart drives his will and his very being.
3. Read 5:31-32
4. We might have heard this text used in a debate on divorce and remarriage. What a waste of time!
5. The problem of divorce just underlines how we need a new heart. We have the highest divorce rate in the world.
6. People who attend church are very like the world in this regard. Only a few points behind the country in divorce rate.
7. One out of 2 marriages ends in divorce.
8. Jesus here is not so much laying down some regulations on marriage as much as he is insisting on the sanctify of marriage.
9. The heart and the mind control the eyes and the body.
10. We are to Love the Lord our God first and then our marriage partner second.
11. If we love the Lord and he controls our hearts then we should have little problem with the second.
12. The Old Testament allowed the man to divorce his wife for whatever reason. No fault divorce. Jesus is condemning this and says there is little excuse for divorce.
13(Mal 2:15 NIV) Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.(Mal 2:16 NIV) "I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate a man’s covering himself with violence as well as with his garment," says the LORD Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith.
14. Rubber meets the road in our families. They know us!
15. Confession time
a. I come from a broken family. My parents divorced after 25 years of marriage. My parents both attended church. My mother led me to the Lord. My dad was a church leader at one time. I grew up with having poor role models in the area of marriage.
b. When it happened I heard some people talk about the situation and they said, “Well, at least it wasn’t a messy divorce.” It wasn’t a messy divorce. I suppose it could have been worse, but I know what I went through and it wasn’t pleasant. In the years since I have gained renewed respect for my parents but at the time it wasn’t that way.
c. I know that it messed up my mind. Some times I avoided dating because it might lead to the M word and the M word lead to heartache and then to the D word, either depression, despair and maybe even divorce. In my lowest times I would look at marriage as a curse from the Lord. How dare the Lord mess up paradise by making a woman! I would often quote to myself and others when they asked why I wasn’t dating from Paul- It is good for a man not to marry. I honestly believed that. Marriage was a curse!
d. After college I got out on my own and I began to preach at a little country church. I was a bachelor and enjoyed it for a time. I would look with my eyes for bad situations in marriage and I would use them to justify my positions. All marriages are bad and the rest are just pretending to be good! I never spoke about marriage in my first ministry because I knew that my ideas were not positive.
e. When people came to me to be married, I would marry them. I loved the wedding cake. As the couple would leave, I would think to myself, those poor fools.
f. However, as I would perform funerals and spend time with the widows and widowers, they would talk about how much they missed their spouse and they would talk about good memories and how wonderful their marriage was. I was invited all of the time out with one family and the widow would talk about her Raymond and I spent time with her children and their spouses and I was brought face to face with healthy marriages. These people actually loved each other and loved their spouses in a way that was somewhat foreign to me.
g. I would go and visit with my friends who were married and I would ask, “Well, how is marriage really?” They would tell me how wonderful it was. I would say, “Oh, come on, really?” “Yes, really.” The Lord was working on my heart.
h. After about 4 years I told the Lord that I wanted to know that kind of love. I was lonely. Then came Crystal.
i. Crystal is open and honest and she often tells people that we had 15 weeks of pre-marital counseling. People look at us funny. I insisted that we go see a professional and when he suggested this approach I was ready and willing. I was scared.
j. I have found that marriage can be the most wonderful thing in the world. To grow old together. Have an earthly friend.
k. Well, your family couldn’t have been that bad, it produced you and your brother, who ownes his own business, your two sisters, one who works as an exec and interprets for those who speak Spanish, the other who is a music teacher in a public school. Yes, the Lord has been gracious, but think of what might have been and how much better adjusted we all would be today if these things had not happened.
16. Think of all the children from these situations who do not respond as positively as the Lord helped me to do. My heart goes out to children from broken homes. Go from one relationship to other. Have no idea of what true love is all about. Have no concept of family.
17. We are to be different. How different it would be if every family had a strong, stable marriage. Work on your marriage. I need to be there for my children. The best thing you can do for your children is to work on your marriage.
18. I cannot control my heart. I don’t love this person anymore. Garbage! As Christian we do not control our heart, Christ does.
19. It’s too late. Nothing can be done. One day a lady shared with her friend. I have had enough. I am going to divorce him. However, to really show how much I hate him I am going home today and do everything he wants me to do. I am going to pretend that I love him and after 6 months of this love dovy stuff I am going to file for divorce. This is what she did. 6 months later she met her friend. Her friend said, “Well, I guess it is time to file for divorce.” “File for divorce, I love him.”
20. Obedience is the key. Russ Blowers!
21. If our families were this way, we couldn’t stop the world from biting!
21. I know that a few months ago, a man from this congregation got up during the birthday time and said some wonderful things about his wife. We need more of that. When was the last time we complimented our spouses in public.
21. I know of another couple here who said that they got sick and had a wonderful time waiting on each other in the bed. This same retired couple spends time every morning reading the Bible and praying together, walking together.
22. I also would like to say here that Jesus does say that there is a time when the relationship is no longer salvageable. Except sexual immorality, adultery, marital unfaithfulness.
23. However, this is the exception and not the rule.
24. Billy Graham- We have never thought of divorce. Murder, yes, but divorce never.
25. Those of you who have experienced divorce. Reminder to you that Jesus takes it seriously and so should you. The next time you say I do, you better mean it. If you are in another relationship, try to make it the best you can. Jesus does forgive that is why he came.
28. Why does the Word talk about the husband of one wife and how their children act when we are looking for leaders? Not to exclude anyone but to help us realize that the character of a person is demonstrated in their family. The family is built upon the marriage bond.
29. Imagine families that really love each other and love the Lord.
30. If our faith is not lived out at home, it is worth nothing.
Conclusion:
A. The Lord wants to have us as his own much the same way as in marriage. God so loved the world. Will you be mine?
B. The price has already been paid with his blood. Will we accept?
C. The relationship begins with a faith that says, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
D. We decide to submit ourselves to Jesus’ best interest; repentance. “You first.”
E. Telling others of the decision made; public confession.
F. Baptism is to the covenant of Christ what the wedding is to the covenant of marriage: The oath of allegiance. An end and a beginning. Leaving the self life for a shared life.
G. Need to get to know Christ better and better. How much effort do we put into it?
H. It takes two to make a marriage. It takes two in this instance as well.
I. The Lord is always faithful. He will never divorce us. 2 Timothy- If we are faithless, He is faithful.
J. Three things this morning:
1. Accept his proposal.
2. Recommit to this relationship
3. Praise the Lord for his faithfulness.
