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Matthew 8:5,13 -Faith And Obedience- Guest Speaker Wayne Dekorte 2024-08-25
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Well, if you guys would like to stand and, read the Bible with me this morning, we'll open up with the word of God, and, then we'll get into some prayer. Let's go ahead and open up to, Matthew chapter eight verse five. Matthew chapter eight, and we will start in verse five. And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him imploring him and saying, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented. Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him. But the centurion said, Lord, I am not worthy for you to come under my roof, but just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority with soldiers under me and I say to this one, go, and he goes, and to another, come, and he comes. And to my slave, do this, and he does it. Now when Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who were following, truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. I say to you that many will come from east and west and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into utter darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion, go. It shall be done for you as you have believed. And the servant was healed at that very moment. Let's pray. Father God, I come before you this morning in the name of your son Jesus Christ and by the power of your holy spirit, And I just thank you so much for this beautiful day. Thank you, God, for blessing us with some rain to moisten the ground and turn things green again. Thank you for this refreshing day of fellowship with the body of Christ to come together and just worship you in song and study your word and get to know you better. I just can't thank you enough, God. Lord, I just lift up this body of believers to you, the body of Christ. And I just ask that you'd pour your Holy Spirit out into this place. Soften up our hearts to open up our ears to hear your word. Holy Spirit, I just pray that you'd speak through me today and that, you'd allow me to just minister to the Lord and serve God. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. Faith and obedience. So last week, we, gotta go through some scriptures and we gotta kinda review some kinda unique distinctions about us as Christians and a body of believers. The foundations that we went through were building blocks leading up to the discussion that we have today about faith and about obedience. How can you obey orders from the captain of your faith without understanding his authority over you and him being in command? So we talked a lot last week about the martial language throughout the scriptures from, you know, beginning to end. There's language in there that talks about, you know, the captain of our faith and the commander of the heavenly host and God being a warrior. We went through Exodus fifteen three, the Lord is a warrior. The Lord is his name. Joshua five fourteen, when Christ approached Joshua before he went to do his invasion as Lord, commander Christ of the Lord's army. We went through Ephesians six, and we talked about us as Christians, as believers, donning and wearing the armor of God. And as you accept salvation, you put that helmet of salvation on. You're active participant in those spiritual battles. You're not taking that thing off, you're gonna keep pressing forward. We talked about how in Daniel eleven thirty two, if you know your God, you fear your God and you understand who he is, that you will be strong and you'll carry out great exploits. And we talked about not to fear men and to fear God Cause he is the one in control of all of this. The creator of the heavens and the earth. The creator of the universe. He uses the earth as his footstool. That is the opinion we should be caring about. Not the opinions of men. So those building blocks lead us up into this, I love this account given in the gospels about the centurion and his faith. It's always reached out at me. I've always kind of been in awe of it and like, man, Lord, like that's that's legit. Know, he's obeying orders. He understands Christ's authority in giving commands and following orders. So as we go through this, I'm going to ask you a question. Will you obey when Christ gives you an order? Understanding that, we'll have to review a few things of what are Christ's orders for us and are we being in obedience of those. Execution of orders. So when you've got military command and you've got a rank structure and you've got authority structure, God's a God of order. He does everything in an orderly manner. And when, you know, Lucifer caused chaos in heaven by rebelling against God, he's like, nope, you're out of here. You're not part of my order and my organization. And so he has his command structures. He has his angels that perform tasks for him, his warrior angels like Michael, who are dropping the sword. He has his messenger angels giving messages to people. And yet he's given us as human beings this great honor of knowing Jesus Christ and being adopted into his kingdom and his faith. When you're in the military early on in like boot camp and stuff and they're teaching you drill and how to march, there's preparatory commands and then there's commands of execution. So you get all these nasty civilians in one group that have no idea what it means to take orders and to do things. And then you've got some men, some instructors, some drill instructors of great organization that come in and every single day at every single second of the day are trying to get them to listen, to follow orders, and to comply. And there are small little steps that are building blocks that lead up to big things. So, take knowledge of two years down the road when somebody's on combat deployment overseas and they give them an order like, hey, need you to move over here and I need you to do this thing. They need to know that they're gonna follow those orders and comply and do what they're supposed to do. So they start small. Right? I'm gonna have you guys all stand in a line at equal distances apart. And then I'm gonna have you guys all listen to what I'm telling you and I want everybody to do the same thing at the exact same time. So a preparatory command would be, write. And then the command of execution would be face. So everybody's standing, all in a line, and he says right, and that lets you know, oh, he wants us to turn to the right. Okay. That's yeah. That's that way. And then he's gonna say, face. And that's the command of execution in which everybody pivots on their heels and toes, and they all turn to the right. And they get ready to march in that direction. So a preparatory command would be forward, and then a command of execution would be march. And they do this for rhythm and for timing because everything is done in unison. I want everybody to step off with the exact same foot. When I give you the command of march, I want everyone to pivot on the exact same foot at the exact same time. Imagine a row of four by 20, young, you know, 18 to, you know, 20 year olds that have never been taught this type of discipline and structure in their lives, and now they're all moving forward in step, left, right, left, right. And he gives a command of a column half left. That means everybody in the stack is gonna take a half left step, but then they're all gonna move as a unit at a half left. They're not gonna keep moving forward, but it happens at the exact same moment, and then they all go that direction. And then when he says forward, march. They all turn, and they go in a forward direction. But it doesn't happen instantly. It takes time, and it takes weeks, and it takes lots of mistakes and lots of correction for this to be drilled into their mind. Well, on, once they've learned some discipline and some execution, then they're trusted with a little bit more of a task and a responsibility. We're gonna go to the rifle range, and we're gonna teach every marine to be a rifleman. Doesn't matter what your job is. If you're on the radio or in a truck or if you're a grunt carrying a bunch of weight on the battlefield, you're all gonna learn how to use this tool. But they know when they give them a command of load, they're gonna load the magazine and they're gonna stop there. They're not gonna make ready and put a round in the chamber. They're gonna wait until the next order. And then they'll follow those commands. And then later a few months when they go to infantry training or their combat school training. Now when they say, hey, want you to go drive that Humvee from over here to over there. They know they're going to follow that command. They're not going to deviate and say, let's go get some snacks and let's go take a nap first and then we'll go over there. They're gonna hear the command, and they're gonna wait for the command of execution. When they say go, they're gonna go. Okay? So preparatory commands commands of execution. So throughout the Bible, as we read through the scriptures, because of the authority that Jesus has given, he has different commands for us and different orders. So no matter what our viewpoint is on certain things, you can always fall back on the promises of God because they never change. God's word never changes. He's alive. He is living and his word is living and active. And he's never broken one of his promises. And you can say the same for Christ as well. He's given us orders and commands of things to follow and things to do. And when you're in doubt, you don't know, just fall back on what his order is. So let's open up, our bibles. We're going to read through some scripture today. Let's turn over to, Matthew chapter 22. I'm gonna build on this structure a little bit. Matthew chapter 22, let's go to verse 36. And we're gonna start with kinda like the answer to the test here. This sums up everything. If you can get this, you're gonna understand everything else. And everything else is just gonna be minor compared to this. Matthew chapter 22 starting in verse 36. Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? And he said to him, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole law and the prophets. Alright. Everybody wants their their doctrines. Everybody wants their interpretations, everybody wants their this new book and this latest and greatest things, let's fall back on summary of it all. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. If you can accomplish this task, what else can we accomplish? If you love God, you're gonna obey his commandments out of love. Sometimes you may not even know you're obeying his orders because you love him. If you love God and you seek his face and you seek his character and you wanna be in his presence, you're gonna have love and compassion for other people because God gives you the capacity to love. As you seek his face, you're gonna wanna be honest and have integrity because that's his character. You're reflecting him simply by being in his presence, by actually loving God. You don't have to sit down and say, rule number one, love people. Alright. I'll go do that. Rule number two, don't lie. You don't have to lay out all those precepts and say, which are my following and which am I breaking? Simply by loving God and obeying him and being in his presence, you're gonna reflect that. When you're talking to your kids and sometimes your kids hear what you're saying and they may or may not listen, it's kind of a reflection on that. Turn back one page over to Matthew chapter 21. In Matthew chapter 21, we'll go to verse 28. There's a parable about two sons. Matthew 21 verse 28. But what do you think? A man had two sons and he came to the first and said, son, go work today in the vineyard. And he answered, I will not. But afterward, he regretted it and he went. And the man came to the second son and said the same thing and he answered, oh I will sir. But he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father? And they said the first. And Jesus said to them, truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him. And you seeing this did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him. So sometimes you will hear the word of God. You'll recognize it intellectually that, hey, this is good what he's telling me. But then you lack obedience and action in what he's telling you to do. Or sometimes you may kind of be like, I don't want to follow all these rules and do all this stuff. But then when the actual command of execution comes for you to make the decision, lie or tell the truth, you make the decision to tell the truth. You make the decision to take the action to do the right thing when the situation appears. So we obey out of love. You could try to obey out of, compliance and just doing it because you have to. Sometimes you get some bad leaders, that you don't really respect because they make a lot of bad decisions. But then you say, well, that person's in a position of authority, they're a captain or a lieutenant or something along those lines, and they're giving me an order and I respect that rank that they hold and the position of authority that they're in. And if I follow those commands and now there's consequences because of it, something bad happens, it's not on me because they gave out that order and now they're responsible for that. That's the burden of command that they hold. Okay? So so let's let's move on a little bit here. So heart, soul, and mind. Fear God, not men. Let's turn over to Matthew chapter 10 verse 28. Matthew chapter 10 verse 28. Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul. But rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. So too many, people will fear the thoughts and the ideas of men and their opinions and their ridicule and them making fun of you or, you know, all the different things that men can do, but they can affect your eternal soul. You guys ever read that book back there on the shelf, when you walk in called Tortured for Christ? Richard Wormbrandt. It's one of my favorite books. I say, like, you you got the Bible, which is huge and effective in your life. One of the next most influential is probably Pilgrim's Progress. It's such a great story. I remember reading that as a kid in a comic book, and it had a huge impact. Torture for Christ had a huge impact too because you've got somebody who was tortured in a communist prison for seven years of their life, released for a brief time, arrested again, and tortured for another seven years of their life. And then, eventually, some missionary organizations in America bought and paid to get him out of Romania. I believe it was in the eighties. So this is a man who was he had no crime. He was just simply there because he was a Christian and he spoke out against communism. And he he says in his book that, you know, yeah, the Nazis came through and did their thing, you know, during World War two, but they were nothing compared to what the communist did. Their atheism and their commitment to tormenting those that believe in God and torturing them and trying to get them to recant recant of their beliefs is straight satonic. And his sermons that he wrote while he was in there is another book that he did, specifically his sermons while he was in prison, separate from tortured from Christ. And it's just phenomenal to hear his perspective on these things. So heart, soul, and mind in fearing God versus men. If you're in that position of constantly being tormented and you know, well, I have peace in knowing that I'm going to obey God. I know that he's real. I know that he's alive. I'm not going to stop. So the dude that's torturing him is like, why aren't you giving up? Why aren't you saying no? Why aren't you just like, yeah, sure, I don't believe in this. Why are you sitting here letting me torture you all day? And Richard Wirbrandt's like, well, because I can't lie. I know that God is real. And this communist looks at him and just starts breaking down in tears like, I know you're telling the truth. I've broken men before. I've gotten them to say anything I want them to say through pain and torture. But you, you're telling the truth. Then eventually, had to get him to stop talking to the prison guards and stuff because it kept converting to Christianity. So heart, soul, and mind, you know, knowing and believing, fearing God, not fearing men. Because eventually these bodies are gonna fail and they're gonna shut down and your soul and your spirit are gonna go to heaven to be with the Lord. I know there's a lot of talk about current events and that's another Marine Corps thing is they'd always tell you, hey, pay attention to current events. You're the deployment, quick deployment force for the military here. Believe it or not, they can fall under direct order of the president for thirty days without enacting an act of war. So, hey, marines, you're gonna go here and quash this skirmish or whatever. It's a unique role that the marine corps plays. So pay attention to current events. You might find yourself in another country tomorrow simply because of what's going on. We we pay attention to current events because you're a unique body, a core of believers that are uniquely informed because you've got a shepherd, a pastor that cares a lot about you. And he doesn't wanna see you guys surprised when stuff happens in the world. And that's a thing to be thankful for, to be informed, and someone who's not afraid to tell you the truth. So you look at the world right now and current events and stuff. A lot of wars and rumors of wars. You know, a lot of crazy stuff going on with monetary systems and digital currencies and all these things. We're like, well, yeah, that could happen. But no matter what happens, we fear God who's in control of all of it. Our time could be very short, days, months, years, we don't know. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow. But are you living today if it's your last? If you think, well, what if tomorrow's my last day? What would I do? What would I want my children to know if they're here when I'm not? What about my family member that's not a believer? What about my neighbor who, you know, is just lost in the sauce and they need to hear something? What's your one week plan for succession of command? If you got one week left, what are you gonna wanna accomplish? Make your chest lift. If you got one month left, what would you wanna accomplish for the Lord in that month? Are you gonna be obedient to his commands and doing what he's called for you? Yeah. So let's move on to another verse here. Authority of Christ. Let's turn over to John chapter 12. The book of John. The book of John chapter 12, and I'm gonna pick up in verse 44. John chapter 12 verse 44. And Jesus cried out and said, he who believes in me does not believe in me, but in him who sent me. He who sees me sees the one who sent me. I have come as light into the world so that everyone who believes in me will not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has one who judges him. The word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. For I did not speak on my own initiative, but the father himself who sent me has given me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak. I know that his commandment is eternal life. Therefore, the things I speak, I speak just as the father has told me. Succession of command, command structure. The father is the the creator. He's the one that made everything. He has a specific role for his son and he sent him to that role with orders to follow. And he follows those commands and those orders. What a great example to us. So the authority is not simply just Jesus Christ. The authority is from our father God who sent Jesus Christ, his emissary, his representative, his ambassador. So then in turn, as Christ gives those messages to you and commands you to speak, commands you to go out and to talk to people, you are his representative. You are his emissary. You are his ambassador. Let's look at the book of Acts chapter 13. In Acts chapter 13, we're gonna go down to verse 47. Paul and Barnabas are reaching out to the Gentiles now because they've either been rejected by the Hebrews and the Jews and stuff, or they're not really being received by them very well. So now they are turning out to the Gentiles, to the Greeks. And in chapter 47 it said I'm sorry. Chapter 13 verse 47, it says, for this For so the Lord has commanded us. I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth. Now, that is a quote from Isaiah. Paul is referencing Isaiah chapter 42 verse six and Isaiah chapter 49 verse six. You may run into people in your life that are like, hey, old testament's done with, we don't really need to dig into that. You know, those prophecies are fulfilled. We're gonna move on to other stuff. Well, here you got Paul quoting scriptures from Isaiah. And he's telling you this is a fulfillment of that when he is going to all the world and preaching to all the world and being obedient to those commands which Christ has given us. So don't let anybody kind of discourage you when you're using those scriptures when you're encouraged and motivated. From when I was talking with pastor Rick about coming and speaking, was spending time in the word and stuff, I'd find myself weeks prior just kind of getting lost in the minor prophets and reading these things because they're just so rich. And you're just like, this is so filled with life pertaining to where we are today. When you get into the book of Isaiah, and you get into the book of Joel, and you get into Micah, and you're just like, man, Lord, this stuff is awesome. Hearing the words that he has to say. It's super encouraging and it definite definitely has an effect on people when you're preaching it the way that you're commanded to. Let's turn over to the book of Mark chapter 16. Mark chapter 16, and we're gonna pick up in verse 14. Mark chapter 16 verse 14. And afterward, this is after Jesus, defeated death and hell and he raised himself from the dead at the resurrection. Afterward, he appeared to the 11 themselves and they were reclining at the table and he reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen. Verse 15. And he said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved, but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed. In my name, they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will pick up serpents and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. So then when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God And they went out and preached everywhere while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word by the signs that followed. I want you to look right there at verse 15. And he said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Why would creation need to hear the gospel message? As we talked about last week, the gospel is Genesis to Revelation. The whole message. The cosmic warfare of the devil and his demons coming against all the lineage of Christ and trying to kill off the seed of David. And trying to stop with that tiny little window and that door with that was opened with Ruth and Boaz and that redemption story. Or Rahab the harlot. All the different times in which the enemy could totally crush the genetic bloodline throughout history. God's like, watch this. And he opens up a tiny little door where there's one impossible pathway through and frustrates the plans of the enemy. Since the beginning in the garden, The constant redemption stories. You look at Joseph in Egypt, a type of Christ and his preparations that he made by the prompting of the word of God and the dreams that he had. Not only to prepare for the Egyptians, but also for the Israelites and the the ancestors of his people that would journey there to get food to survive those times in which he had prompted him to prepare for. The stories that David had, all the different miracles that God had, move into the New Testament, move into the birth of Jesus Christ, move into when Jesus was born and the magi journeyed from Persia to come over with their army and they showed up. And the leaders are like, woah, what are these guys doing here? And what happened? Out of jealousy, they went to slaughter everybody under the age of two. And the devil continued to press, and they had to flee into Egypt to fulfill scripture. So there's this constant battle and this constant struggle. All of creation, the world, is cursed with sin. Look at the diseases that we battle on a daily basis. The heart diseases, the heart attacks, the cancers, the diabetes, all the poisons and the chemicals and the junk that we're exposed to in this world. Gosh, if you could just live naturally off the earth with your organic healthy food and your cow to give you milk and all the things and you're not exposed to the radio waves and the radiation and the microwaves and the microplastics and the toxins and the chemicals and all the things that are killing these bodies. The curse on the earth, the thorns, the venoms, the poisons, all the things that come against all of creation. There's a good brother of mine, a marine that does a bunch of sermons and stuff. He's out of Colorado, Jamie Walden. And one of the sermons I was listening to him, was talking about being a missionary in Dominican Republic. Went out there with his family. And he was really convicted by that verse. And he's like walking down a hill or something like that. And he sees this horse. And he looks at this horse and he's thinking, all of creation, am I supposed to preach the gospel to you? But then his spirit was convicted about it and his groanings and his spirit and he's thinking this animal is suffering on this earth and not fulfilling the amazing things that God had initially created to do. To run free, to live free, to be able to communicate and be talked to. We had to mention last week about the Garden of Eden. You know, what if we were able to speak to all the animals in the Garden of Eden? You know? And they could talk with us. What if this animal like in Narnia was supposed to be one of those intelligent animals to communicate to you? Don't you think that animal's spirit is groaning and waiting for justice And waiting for our holy God to restore the earth to what he had designed it to be? Can our God walk amongst all the blood that's been shed, that's been spilled on the earth, and the cries of the innocent? All of creation is in groaning. Let's turn over to the book of Romans chapter eight. Romans chapter eight, we're gonna look at verse 18. So I didn't cheat this time and like print out all the scriptures on a piece of paper. I made sure to just write them down and look them up so that we can give you guys time to look them up too. I get get a little get a little excited and I'll just burn them all off and then you're like, wait, I gotta write that one down, you know. And I'm not doing a PowerPoint or nothing which wouldn't be bad but I'll give you a chance to take notes and write them down. Romans chapter eight, let's look at verse 18. For I considered that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subject to the futility not willingly but because of him who subjected it in hope. That the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves having the first fruits of the of the spirit, even we ourselves grown within ourselves waiting eagerly for our adoptions as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he has already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance, we wait eagerly for it. This description of all creation groaning of not only creation but our spirits groaning. As you see the evils and you see the things in this world and sometimes you get that righteous indignation and that fire that burns within you. And you wanna speak out against things and that's good. You know, let the Holy Spirit speak through you. But know that the whole body of Christ goes through that. Imagine your brothers and sisters that are maybe living in first world, third world countries and the different conditions that they're in. You know, I remember hearing stories about kids and youth groups and stuff going down and building houses in Tijuana and Juarez and all the slums of Mexico and stuff. And they're seeing people living in the dirt and all the dysenteries and different things they get living in shacks. And they learn to appreciate real life. They learn to appreciate what they have. When I spent time out in Ramadi and I'm walking the streets and you smell the sewage in the streets because their septic systems don't work and you see it running down the drains. And you're like, okay, well, you know, they get a hour of electricity today from this time to this time. So, know, they may have running water, they may not. They may be able to do what they need to do with their air conditionings and stuff. Food, they may have it, they may not have it. Every little thing that they have and they appreciate. If you've never traveled abroad and you've never experienced that, you know, watch some videos on it. Learn what it's like and see the groanings and the sufferings of human beings in other places. The Voice of the Martyrs Ministry is awesome. I I love there's some pamphlets out there about them and they highlight Christians in other places of the world that are actively suffering persecution. I think about the church in Persia right now, modern day Iran. You know, years and years ago, you know, you started to hear stuff about the underground church stirring up in Persia and Iran. And the persecution they'd have to suffer because they literally will get beat and killed for what they believe. Exiled from their family groups. But then you hear that spreading like a fire. That yeast in the dough is just growing and consuming and growing. The groanings of the earth preaching to all creation. So are you preaching the gospel to all creation? So if you go home and you see like, you know, your wife or your kids talking to the dog about Jesus, don't be weirded out or nothing. Be like, okay, you know, they're practicing. They're like, okay. You know, am I treating my animals right? Am I treating treating people right? But that'll lead me to my next thing here. There's another fun statement that I love to understand. So the same guys I was listening to my brother Jamie Walden preach about something. He's talking about, you know, he's doing missionary stuff overseas with fight ministries about helping kids that have been trafficked and stuff in Dominican Republic. And he's doing things that seem awesome and exciting and stuff like that. Sometimes he'll get some bros that come up to him and they're like, hey bro, I wanna get in the fight. I wanna go serve overseas and I wanna do this ministry stuff and stuff like that. And he'll look at them like, how's your marriage, bro? How's your relationship with your wife? How's your relationship with your kids? And I'd tell you, man, you want to get a cut to the quick as the Bible says, you know, a shot to the heart. You're like, oh, you got me. You know, how can I go out and preach the gospel to all creation if I'm not adhering to my primary ministry of serving my wife and making her radiant and and my primary ministry, the second half of my body and my being or my children or my home? So me being here today is in my view, in my opinion, I am an inadequacy because my primary ministry would be my wife and my family and my kids. This is a stretching of myself to be here today in maturing and growing me in in a certain way, but not my primary thing. And I look at that from the perspective of how can I be trusted with something else if I can't even be trusted with the little that I'm given? Lord, help me be faithful with what you've given me, with the little things. Help me to just march in a straight line before you give me orders to go do something else. So that's another sermon topic. Right? You get into first Peter, that's another one I love that really impacted my life a lot was his description of one, the radiant warrior women of God. And then two, the burden of command that he puts on men for your home. At the end of the day, you're responsible for the failures and the successions of your family. And that burden's on your shoulders, not your wife's. That's a whole another topic and a whole another sermon, but I love to address it from the standpoint of you want to move forward, you want to follow orders, you want to preach into all creation, let's start in our homes and love our families, love our wives, and then let's see what God will test us with. So how do you score on the test? Are you obedient out of love? Do we love God? Do you fear God? Do we obey him? Because we know that no matter what he's right and he's got the best plan for us and hey, if he opens that door and we know it's of him, are we going to charge headlong into the battle? So we used to kind of joke amongst marines. Like, what's the most dangerous thing on the battlefield. Right? So you get some like motivated private that just got out of infantry training and they learned how to like do some stuff. And then they get the most jacked up and the most motivated when you get that sergeant major that's in charge of them, your battalion sergeant major comes in. And this is some dude that's been in the military for twenty years. He's salty. He's deployed. He's crusty. He's just a hard dog. And he comes in and he talks to those privates. He can motivate them to do anything. And they get so jacked up. Let's go. Right? So you get that motivated private that gets that motivational speech from their battalion sergeant major. You give him a saw gun and let him loose. He's the most dangerous thing on the battlefield because he will just go. Right? Go with motivation. So how do you score on the test? Are you gonna obey out of love? Are you gonna obey out of motivation? You hear the commands from the Lord. You hear what he's asking you to do and you just go and you do those things. Or are we maybe hung up by some things? Is there maybe some areas on this test that we need to return back to and remember and repent of before we can move forward and charge headlong? So I love the Chuck Missler quote. Hey, the answers to the test are always in the back of the book. And he always says that when he goes to the book of Revelation. Right? And I I love the way he breaks that down. So we're gonna go ahead and we're gonna read the answers to the test and we're gonna give ourselves a self evaluation before we move forward. I want you to turn to the book of Revelation. We'll go to chapter two. And I told you last week that we had to get some distinctions down. We had to get some things in agreeance before we move forward. So last week was kind of like a warm up round And this week, we're really gonna go for go for the extra few miles on that on that ruck march. Okay? So it's gonna stretch you a little bit. It's gonna test you a little bit, but we're gonna go for it because I may not get the opportunity to challenge you next week with some more things. I So want you guys to be ready to charge headlong into the battle when pastor Rick gets back and he's got some awesome challenges for you. You guys are gonna say bring it on, let's go. Okay? So let's go to Revelation chapter two. We're gonna go look at verse four. This is Jesus Christ addressing the churches. And he's given them their report card. These are the things in which he has seen in the churches in which they have excelled at or which they have failed at. So if you're ever curious and like, hey, maybe how are we doing? This is a good thing to to look back and reflect on. Revelation chapter two verse four, but I have this against you that you have left your first love. Therefore, remember from where you have fallen and repent and do the deeds you did at first or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent. So what are his commands? What are his orders for this church body, for this group of believers? Now, I'm not saying this pertains to you specifically because these all pertain to different bodies, different churches. Right? So you evaluate yourself. Hey, is this me? Is this not me? If not, move on to the next thing. Sometimes when I'm talking to my kids and I'll just be like, alright you guys, who brought their dishes to the kitchen countertop but they didn't put them in the sink? And I'll have my oldest like, I wash mine and put them away. I'm like, hey, if this doesn't apply to you, don't say anything. You're fine. Don't worry about it. This applies to the one that I'm talking to here. And that goes for a great list of activities and things with kids. But if it doesn't apply to you, just move on. It doesn't apply to you. But if it does, take note because he gives you the remedy. Okay? The remedy, remember. Look at verse five, chapter two verse five. Therefore, remember from where you have fallen. How do we remember? Reflect back. Look to your testimony. Look to when you gave your life to Jesus Christ. Look to when you first started doing things. Remember back to when you first started walking with him. I get reminded by my brother Mitch sometimes about some home bible studies we used to do years ago. We get together with Friday nights and I'd bumble through something and we'd just go through stuff chapter by chapter. But it was so fruitful for us as believers to just go through it and discuss it and dig into the word remember from whence you first started. And if you've deviated from those tasks, repent. Lord, man, I'm so guilty. I I'm not digging into the word the way I used to. I'm not really getting into those verses and I'm not growing the way I used to. Look at how I've gotten distracted with the deceitfulness of riches, the cares of this life, and all these burdens that I have. Lord, I'm sorry. Help me to change and repent and turn back to those things I used to do before. They were so fruitful and beneficial. So remember, remember what was that like? And we remember by reading the scripture, by reading the word of God, by digging into the scripture. Hey, I'm gonna I'm gonna read this one. But then, you know, you get this thought in your mind of like, oh, you remember that one verse? And then you wanna dig and look up that one verse. And then you start an hour later, you're like, wow, that was really fruitful. So remember, remember what you've forgotten. Repent. Repent and do the deeds you did it first or else I'm coming to you and remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent. That's a pretty kinda threatening thing to think about, man. So self evaluate. What do we need to repent of as believers? Write it down. Go go into your prayer closet tonight, tomorrow, whenever you spend that time with the Lord. Like, okay Lord, what do I need to repent of? So let's move on to question number two. Go to, Revelation chapter two and bump up to verse nine. I know your tribulation and your poverty but you are rich in the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not but are the synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison so that you will be tested and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death. So what are the commands of execution here? Do not fear. We talked about that last week. Right? Alright. At the end of the day, the all powerful almighty God, our Abba, our father, the Elohim, the Adonai, Yahweh, that guy, at the end of the day, he is the ultimate word. He's what matters. He's the one that's gonna redeem our soul into heaven through the blood of his son Jesus Christ and the resurrection. That's what matters. Don't fear what is about to happen to us in the physical. Easy for us to say sitting right here in the comfort of our seats with the warm air and you probably had something to eat this morning, some caffeine or something like that. Right? But when you're in the midst of the struggle, in the midst of the battle, and your flesh is weak, and you're tired, and you're in pain, and all those things, people become fearful. When you're fearing the thoughts of men and you know, what their judgments are and their things that they say to you, people become fearful. So remember, reflect on this. Do not fear what you're about to suffer. Who knows what we could be going through next week, next month, next year. We don't know. But remember this. The second one, be faithful until death. Man, that's pretty blunt Lord. Be faithful until death. Okay. If we have to suffer until death, we must remember what does death bring us. On death, where is your sting? It transfers us from here to the next life. I was talking with Brian this morning about Corrie ten Boom. Hey, we're all gonna be home for Christmas. One sister died and went home to the Lord and the other sister was let loose and went home to be, you know, with her family for Christmas, but they were both free and they were both at home. Okay. And the and the last one there is, can you hear the Lord? If you have an ear, hear. Do you have an ear to hear? Maybe ask him for that. Lord, help me to hear. Alright. Moving on. Question number three. Let's look at Revelation chapter two verse 14. Verse 14, but I have a few things against you because you have there some who hold to the teaching of Balaam who keep teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit acts of immorality. So you also have some who in the same way hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. Therefore repent or else I am coming to you quickly and I will make war against them with the sword of my mouth. Alright. Repent and listen. Pretty simple commands. Doctrines of Balaam, doctrines of Balak, look that one up. When he couldn't manipulate the situation through prophetical words, how did he get paid at the end of the day? He told the the bad guy, hey, this is how you can get God to punish his people. If you can get the people to sin, to worship false idols, to run out with your temple prostitutes, God will punish them. So are there maybe some organizations and some groups out there that are still following this? Man, if they don't repent, they got some hard lessons coming. The Lord's going to come quickly with the sword of his mouth. Repent and listen again, he says, if you have an ear to hear, listen. All right. Question number four. Revelation chapter two verse 20. But I have this against you that you tolerate the wasn't woman Jezebel who calls herself a prophetess and she teaches and leads my bond servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent and she does not want to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness and those who commit adultery with her under great tribulation unless they repent of her deeds. There's a common theme there, isn't there? Are we going to self evaluate? Are you going to go before the Lord humbly? Are you going be, okay Lord, where am I at? Do I need to repent to something here? Expose it to me. Help me to see it. Question number five, Revelation chapter three verse two. Wake up and strengthen the things that remain which were about to die for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of my God. So remember what you have received and heard and keep it and repent. Therefore, if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I come to you. But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments and they will walk with me in white for they are worthy. He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments and I will not erase his name from the book of life and I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. Some pretty straightforward commands there for your evaluation. Wake up. Am I not aware of what's going on, Lord? Am I being deceived by what's going on? Help me to be awake, be aware. Give me that vision, that sight. Allow my ears to be open and to hear. Wake up. Strengthen the things that remain. Shore them up. Build them up. How do we strengthen what remains? I think of things deteriorating, things falling apart. Yeah, the world is dying. The Bible refers to you as Christians as salt and light. The salt is designed to preserve the meat that's already dead. You're going to salt that pork. You're to salt that beef. You're going to hang it up in the smoker. You're going to let it dry. It preserves it from corruption. The salt makes you thirsty and to want more water to drink. It brings savory flavor to the world where people say, I want more of what you're saying. What is that? It's the Holy Spirit and the word of God. The light pushes the darkness away. You cannot create darkness. You could simply just remove the presence of light and darkness is there. So be a light that physically pushes that darkness away. Strengthen the things that remain And remember and wake up and repent. Those are some pretty repetitive things there. Do we get distracted with the things of this world? Do we get distracted with all the things around us? It's one of the greatest actions the devil can do is just distract us. Keep us not focused on what's important now. Shipyard workers, nuke workers, when? What's important now? Everybody hears the acronym. What is important now? What's going to affect you right now today? What am I distracted with? What's pulling me away from the course? And stay awake. Stay alert. All right. Question number six. Go to Revelation chapter three verse 10. Verse 10. Because you have kept the word of my perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing. That hour which is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have so that no one will take your crown. Man, those are good ones right there. Okay? So keep the word of my perseverance. Keep the word. There's a command right there. There's an order. Keep the word of my perseverance. And in turn, he will keep you from an hour of testing. I think that's a pretty good trade off. I also am coming quickly. Hold fast. There's another command right there. Hold fast. I think of ships and sailing when you say hold fast. When you're like on course and the winds ripping and you got those sails and things are tied down, you need to hold fast. Don't let those sails loose or you're going to deviate off course. You have to stay that course. Hold fast to what you have so that no one will take your crown. That's another provocative statement for us as believers. No one will take your crown. Do we contemplate those words? Do we hear those? Or we may be disabled by the phrase once saved always saved. I don't need to worry about that. But what are you battling for with that crown? Dig into that with the Lord and ask him, Lord, has someone taken my crown away? The things in which I'm eternally investing in? Question number seven. Revelation chapter three, we'll go to verse 14. To the angel of the church in Laodicea write, the Amen, the faithful and true witness. The beginning of the creation of God says this, I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. Because you say I am rich and have become wealthy and have need of nothing and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich and white garments so that you may clothe yourselves and that the shame of your nakedness will be not be revealed. And I salve to your anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love I reprove and discipline. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and will dine with him and he with me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with me on my throne. And as I also overcome and sat down with my father on his throne, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. Are you hot or are you cold? Which one are you? So don't be in the middle but make a decision. If you think along the lines of okay Lord, if I got one week, one month, one year left to do my most damage to the enemy here on earth, what's the best strategy? What's the best battle plan? What's the best maneuver Lord? I've heard the analogy that like Okay, you know, eternal bodies, eternal soul. This body is going to fail and die and go down to the earth but my soul and my spirit will go on to be eternal. What I do here on this earth has eternal implications. Are you useful? Are you going to be able to minister unto people that are struggling or suffering? Are you going to be able to point people towards Christ and say, look, this is what the bible says the world's going to do or what's going to happen. But take courage and know. Be on fire. Be fervent and burning with what the God wants you to do in these times and what he's asking you to do. Be hot or just be cold and go do nothing, but pick one. And I believe over the past few years we saw actively, there's no more sitting on the fence. I remember during the past few years and the decisions people had to make in their lives. I'm like, well, there's no more choosing whether or not you're going to sit on the fence. I envisioned, you know, people sitting on a fence and you know, Jesus is walking down the line and he's just smacking them upside the head with a stick and they're falling on one side or the other. There's no more sitting on the fence folks. You are on one side or the other. Now take action and do something with that. Okay. Let's move on. I got some more fun stuff to go through here. So we understand the importance of obeying the commands and the orders of Christ. Right? You understand the importance of the foundation and understanding the perspective of what's going on here. So let's move forward and let's understand these commands and let's take some action here. Let's turn to Matthew chapter 10. So now that you got the answers to the test, you kinda know what's expected of you. The rest of this stuff is easy. Let's go to Matthew chapter 10. We'll start in verse 16. Alright. Matthew chapter 10. Let's go verse 16. And this is Jesus giving some instructions to his disciples about what he wants them to do. The actions he wants them to take. Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues. And you will even be brought before governors and kings before my sake as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. For it is not you who speak but it is the spirit of your father who speaks in you. Brother will betray brother to death and a father his child and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next. For truly I say to you that you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the son of man comes. That's a bold statement. Are all the cities of Israel current day, present day gone through? I don't know. But it it's a provocative thought. It makes you think about that. Verse 24. A disciple is not above his teacher or a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher and the slave his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of the household? They're gonna talk some smack about you. Right? It's gonna come. Be ready for it. Okay. Verse 26, direct commandment here. Therefore, do not fear them. Pretty simple. For there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim among, I'm sorry, proclaim upon the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body, but are unable to kill the soul, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a cent and yet one of them will fall, not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father? But the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So do not fear, you are more valuable than many sparrows. Therefore, everyone who confesses me before men, I will also confess him before my father who is in heaven. But whoever denies me before men, I will also deny him before my father who is in heaven. Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. The sword of separation. When you read through in the book of Revelation and you read through when Jesus is speaking to John and he starts out in chapter one and he's speaking about the sword of his mouth. Gosh, I love reading that description. The sword of his mouth is spoken of there as the Thraken sword, which is different than the sword that's used in other places of the Bible, which is like a short sword. And I had to Google this one years ago and look it up because it's pretty cool. The Thraken sword is such a massive double edged super sharp sharp sword that you use with two hands. You're not on the defensive with that thing. You're going and you're swinging that thing and you're bringing it with that sword. The defensive would be the shield with the short sword where you're repelling attacks and you're getting your jabs in and stuff. So when he says he comes with a sword to divide, he is dividing in a good way, good divisions. He's taking out the poisons and the sicknesses, the cancers and the diseases out of the body. He's separating the sheep from the goats. He's making those distinctions and those separations. You are much different as a core body of believers than if you were to go to maybe some place that had a few 100 people in the crowd that weren't quite aware of what you've been taught and the sufferings and the things that you've gone through as a Christian. That sword is is is good to divide and to cut. And I want you to remember that. Remember the distinctions that he says here. Right? Speak what he tells you. Do not fear. When you get that prompting from the Holy Spirit to do something, obey. But you have to learn to hear. You have to learn to listen. And you get that burning you're like, oh, I really got this idea in my mind and this burning in my soul. I need to talk to that person over there. Just obey. Immediate obedience to order. The prompting, that is the preparatory command. Forward. And then you have to obey the command of march. It's there. Go talk to that guy. You've got to step forward and obey that command. You may have some fear and some apprehension, but you still step in the saddle and ride out anyways. Right? Okay. Gosh, I ran out of time again. So there's a lot more fun stuff that I want to go through here about the commands of Jesus Christ. Predominantly, when you go through the book of Matthew and you go about when Jesus is commanding you, he's telling you, my yoke is easy, my burden is light. When you do things his way, it's easy. When you fight against it and do it the world's way, it's a burden. There's orders that he gives you about don't blaspheme the Holy Spirit. There's orders that he gives you about there's going to be contentions between family members and brothers and sisters and moms. The heart of man is deceitfully wicked. Understand the times that you're going through, the current events. Discipleship is costly. Have faith. Pray and fast. And when he addresses the children and he says, let the little children come. For the little children, this is your mentality. These will enter the kingdom of heaven. This is what the kingdom of heaven is like. Discipline in prayer, forgiving your brother. Matthew eighteen twenty one through 35. How many times do we need to forgive our brother, Lord? 70 times seven. Have that forgiveness in your heart. Matthew 19, blessed are their little children. Matthew 19, the rich ruler. There's descriptions there of our behaviors. Are you going to be faithful? Are you going to serve the Lord? Are you going to forgive people? And one of my favorites in Matthew 20, where he talks about servant leadership. The greatest of you must be a servant of all. And Christ displayed that when he got down and washed his disciples feet. Serve. Don't aspire for titles and ranks and positions. Just serve the body. Serve each other. It's one of the best examples of leadership I've ever seen in my career. I see lots of failures of people. But the ones that serve, they get promoted to a position of authority. They're in charge of 10 or 12 people or whatever. Their duty is to serve those people. Get them the equipment and the gear they need. Get them the supplies that they need so they can go forth and conduct their mission successfully. That's the job of getting promoted is to serve those you're in charge of. Learn the character of God by learning his actions. Learning the character and the actions of Jesus Christ. When he went through and he cleansed the temple in righteous indignation in Matthew 21, where he stepped up and said, my house is a house of prayer. Stop blaspheming it. He paid his taxes too. Matthew twenty two, twenty one. Different commands given to Caesar what is Caesar's. We already talked about the greatest commandment, that's a summary of everything. There's a whole list of further things that I'd love to dig into through Matthew 24. Talking about current events and current times. Do not be deceived. That's one of his bold commands before he talks to his disciples about end time prophetic events. There would be so much deception that even the elect would be deceived. And if you know that, you know the answer to the test. Pray for it again ahead of time. Say, okay Lord, help me not to be deceived. Help me to be awake and aware. There's warnings of false Christs and we know those in different religious sects out there where he tells you be aware of these things in these churches, in these organizations where they diminish the power of Jesus Christ and the son of God. Test those things. And repeatedly when he says, do not be afraid, do not fear. In Matthew 25, where he talks about the judgment to come and the behaviors that we have as Christians. And in Matthew 28, his great commission. Lots of reviews about the commands of Jesus Christ. There's a verse I want to highlight real quick in Matthew 24 before we get out of here. Matthew twenty four fourteen. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then the end will come. Keep preaching the gospel into all the world. Be a diligent servant unto the Lord and keep performing the task that he's asked you to do. Don't drop your pack and sit down and chill. It's time to press forward. You have no idea how much time we have left to do work for the Lord. There's, I'm going read you one section in closing, and then we'll get out of here. I want you to turn to Psalm chapter 34. Things to remember as you press forward and as you see things going on in the world and you're praying about how you want God to use you and you want to step out in faith. Just know as you take action on the battlefield, will face opposition. And there will be struggles and conflicts in family members and ways you've never perceived before and and work and coworkers and things that are gonna try and test you. And they will take you beyond your limits to where you're forced to cry out to God for help and then he helps you and he picks you up and carries you. Remember, he is always there and he will always be there. Psalm chapter 34. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boasts in the Lord. The humble will hear it and rejoice. Oh magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. They looked to him and were radiant and their faces will never be ashamed. This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all of his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and rescues them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. How blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Oh, fear the Lord you, his saints. For the Lord, for those who fear him, there is no want. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger. But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing. Come you children, listen to me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life and loves length of days that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears are open to their cry. The face of the Lord is against evil doers to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones, not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems the soul of his servants and none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned. Let's pray. Father God, I come before you Lord again just humbly seeking your face, thanking you for all these awesome just commands and directions and guidances you've given us as believers. You give us these parameters. You help us not to forget the first works. You help us to remember what it is we need to be doing of you. God, that centurion's faith of just, God, the command and he'll be healed. Help us to have that faith. Help us to understand what it means to obey your orders as you give them to us. Holy Spirit, teach us that faith that that centurion had. It doesn't matter all of these arguments and these divisions that people cause across the battlefield. Help us to just keep it simple and obey Lord. Whatever you've called us to do, like John or like Peter, whatever it is, if we got to suffer for you, if you're going to keep us, we don't care Lord. Just help us to hear your voice and obey what you're asking us to do. Same faith that that centurion had. You are blown away at it. Help us to remember that and just obey your commands. Help us to have a confidence in your protection, not to fear men. Help us to have a confidence, God, where we lack that confidence, where we're weak in those areas. Build us up and shore us up, Lord, as we remember your might and your glory and your power and what you do for us. I pray for just an in great encouraging spirit upon this body. That spirit that just speaks the truth and love to people to encourage and motivate them in a powerful way, Lord. Bless them to just go forth mightily and do mighty exploits and mighty deeds. We have no idea how much time you've given us, but help us to be obedient and to be bold and to take action, to minister to people, to be able to turn those that are suffering towards Jesus, to be able to be a witness and an example of faithful servants. I ask these things in Jesus' name.
About This Podcast
Calvary Chapel Bremerton - Sunday Service
Listen to Rick Beaudry, Pastor of Calvary Chapel Bremerton, teach the Word of God cover to cover, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. Be edified and built up in your faith with solid Bible teaching. New episodes on Mondays in the Pacific Standard Timezone.
