10/11/2002
You want directions from God?
Remove The Dirt!
Introduction..... Most anyone can look around today and tell you, that men sometimes have a hard time following or even asking for directions.
I have told you before that I have been lost in most every major city I have ever been to. The thing is, if I would have stopped to ask for directions, and then followed those directions, I would not have been lost for near as long.
I was lost in downtown Chattanooga one time for a very long time, but I just could not bring myself to ask for directions.
And then there are the directions that come with something that we have to put together... I mean, we are men... Men don’t have to follow directions right?
I assembled an entertainment center one time, I half way looked at the directions... Finished it and stood it up.. baseboard strip at bottom was turned inside out.... stayed that way .
...... I assembled a garden hose reel one time... not much to it.. did not need directions for that right.... Well, when you have parts left over, it really does mean something.
Of course, when I was a heavy equipment mechanic, I was a professional. Professionals have tech manuals and specific detailed instructions. I never made a mistake while working on a bulldozer or a backhoe...... yea right.
I know that most everyone in here can think of a time in their life where they did not follow the instructions, or they did not follow directions, and things went wrong.
The point is, if you want things to be right, if you want to be able to do things right, you must follow the instructions. You must follow the directions.
Transition..... Now, If we want to live the abundant life that God has in store for us, If we want to enjoy this life, then we must follow the directions that God has given and will give us.
I want us to look at the word of God this morning and see that there are a few things that we need to do, to be able to follow the instructions from the Lord.
Read Joshua 5:13-6:5
Joshua just received instructions from the Lord. He received specific instructions from the Lord on how to defeat the city of Jericho. ..... The Lord was going to do the work... all Israel needed to do was to obey..
All through the Bible we see where the Lord gave specific….. detailed instructions to his people.
Moses -- Tabernacle Noah-- ark
Even Abraham was given specific instruction..... Now, we remember that God told Abraham to “GO” and he went.... that does not sound like specific instructions does it.
Have you ever seen the man that flips through the instructions and tries to look at the highlights?
Or, how about this… the woman that reads the last chapter in a book before they start the beginning?
When God told Abraham to go, he said “Here is step one-- you get this step done and then I will give you the next step” .
And he may do the same thing in our lives today folks....... because we so much want to look at the end of the instructions.... but if we do know the end.... then we will try to take our own logical steps to get the job done..... God does not work like that. We need to obey Him.
Now, we have been given the Bible, the Word of God, the instruction manual for our lives. And we need to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us through the Word of God. ... To guide us through those instructions.
But God also has specific instructions he wants to give each and every one of us.
When we accept Jesus Christ, when we receive that Gift, God has a plan for our life... when we become Christians, he has specific instructions for our individual life. Specific things that he wants us to do, and if we do not do those specific things, then we will miss out on his blessings...
Does that mean that we will never be blessed? NO..... but we will miss out on something God wants to give us.
Now... What must we do to receive those directions?
What must we do to receive those instructions that we need to live that victorious life that God has for us?
Joshua and the Israelites were victorious over Jericho. So lets look and see what Joshua did to receive these instructions.
In verse 14, the Bible says that Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence…
Your translation may say that he fell on his face and worshiped..
The meaning is the same.... Worship.... to fall prostrate before the lord..... to give our will over to the Lord...... to give in to him totally and completely.......
We must have reverence, We must have honor for the Lord....
ILL... Many years ago, Thomas K Beecher once substituted for his famous brother, Henry Ward Beecher at the Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York,
Many curiosity seekers had come to hear the renowned Henry Beecher speak.
So, when Thomas Beecher appeared in the Pulpit instead, some people got up and started for the doors. Sensing that they were disappointed because he was substituting for his brother, Thomas raised his hand for silence and announced,
“All those who came here this morning to worship Henry Ward Beecher may withdraw from the Church, all who came to worship God may remain.” ...
Friends, If we are here today for any other reason than to worship God, then we are here for the wrong reason!
Now look at verse 15 again with me.
READ VERSE 15
Take off your sandals….
The same command was given by God to Moses at the Burning bush.
Remove your sandals for this ground is holy
Now, what does that mean?
Well, this was a custom back in those days, just as it still is the custom in Oriental and Indian societies today.
When these people go to a place of worship or to someone’s house, they remove their shoes, much as we would remove our hats today, they do this out of respect, out of reverence, out of honor.
But I would like for us to go a little bit deeper than this.
Men, when you have been outside doing something and you come into the house and your wife has just finished vacuuming and dusting and moping, what does she tell you to do?
Take off your shoes.
When our kids come in to the house from playing out side, what does mom tell you to do?
Take off your shoes.
So when we come in from outside and we are dirty, we remove our shoes
Why?
Out of respect?
Yes---
But respect for what ? What are we trying to prevent?
Well, We don’t want to track our dirt into a clean environment!
When the angel told Joshua to remove his sandals because he was on holy ground, When God told Moses to remove his sandals because he was on holy ground,
God was saying... “ I don’t want your dirt”
“If you want instructions from me, if you want me to give you direction in your life, then when you come to me, you need to leave your dirt behind. You need to come clean”
Psalm 66:18 says “ If I regard wickedness in my heart, the Lord will not hear”
KJV uses the word iniquity-- “if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear”
Now, you may say, “well, I thought the only way to get rid of our sins was to bring them to the Lord and you are saying that we can not come to the Lord if we have sin”
NO No , don’t misunderstand..... Joshua came to the angel, to the holy ground, Moses came to the Lord, to the holy ground, with their sandals on, with their dirt still in place you might say, But they were willing to remove the dirt once they got into his presence.
They had to remove the dirt before they received their instructions.
When we are in the world all day long, and we walk in the world and get our feet dirty,
When we sin time and time again, but we still want to come to the presence of the Lord for our instructions, then we need to be willing to leave that dirt behind once we get there....
In other words, if we have a sin in our lives that we are not willing to give up, if we have sin in our lives that we are enjoying so much that we decide we want to continue in that sin, but we still want instructions from the Lord,.....
Excuse my southern slang folks, but, It aint gonna happen . Now, Turn with me to John chapter 13
Read John 13:1-10
Jesus Christ, the savior of the World washed the feet of the disciples... He took the position as a servant, the lowest position available, and he washed the dirt from the feet of the disciples.
Peter said, “you shall never wash my feet” And Christ said, “unless I wash you, you have no part with me”
Folks, who is it that we go through for the forgiveness of our sins? Jesus..
Peter basically then said, well wash all of me lord, ... I can picture him sticking his arms out and saying “Wash all of me”..... and Jesus Said, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet”
Friends, if you are a Christian here today, then you have been bathed..... You have been bathed in the Blood of Jesus Christ, and you are clean..... But you travel through this life, you walk in the dirt of the world and you must come to Jesus, you must come to Jesus and then let him wash your feet, you must be willing to leave the dirt of this world behind if you want to receive the instructions God has for you in this life...
Now, if you are here today, and you have never accepted Jesus Christ into your heart, ..... then you have never been bathed!
You cannot clean yourself up to be able to come into the presence of the Lord. You can not try to quit sinning to become good enough to come to the Lord, you can not do these things on your own.
You must turn you life over to him, You must allow him into your life, you must allow him to bathe you, and then, then He,.... Jesus Christ himself, will wash your feet daily, he will start removing that dirt from your life that you so much want to give up........
God wants to do that for you,
God wants to give you a new life,
God wants to make you a new creation,
But you must give your life over to him.....
Are you willing to do that today? Is the Lord speaking to your heart today?
If the Lord is dealing with you today, do not wait, do not leave here without accepting him.... The Bible says “Today is the day of salvation” we are not promised tomorrow.
Would you come this morning and allow God to clean your life up for you?
Christians, if you will not let go of your sin, if you will not remove the dirt, if you will not remove your shoes in the presence of the Lord, then you will not grow , you will not live the life that God has in store for you..
Church, if we will not let go of sin, if we will not remove the dirt, then we will not see this church go anywhere or do anything....... Are you willing to give your life over to the Lord today.... are you willing to let go of that sin, are you willing to get clean before the lord, and live that abundant life?
Are you willing for the Lord to let this Church, this small Church in a small community in a rural setting, are you willing to let the Lord use us to Change the world?
God does the work...... And what can God do?..... anything...... He can and he will use this church to change the entire world if we would just come clean today, remove the dirt and let him work through us....... If you are willing to come clean today, I would like to see you at the alters this morning giving your life, and your dirt over to the Lord...... would you come...
And if you are one of the people here that has never accepted Christ as your Lord and savior, I ask you to come this morning, and let him bathe you, and let him clean you life up for you..... Would you come
