Romans #2 Gods Power lies in our obedience

Romans 2:1-16


How many of us would like to be judged by the standards we set for others?
It’s not hard to figure out how other people ought to be living. Infact, we’re quite good at defining the standards by which they should live. Actually it all seems simple and comes quite naturally to some of us. But for all the simplicity of seeing oh so clearly how everyone else should live and the rules THEY should live by, somehow it can be so hard to apply those same rules to our own lives. Somehow, we just can’t quite live up to those standards we demand from the people around us

When it comes to a test of our own personal integrity and sincerity, we get a real good measure of how we shape up by how we apply the principles we impose on others to our own lives. Do we live our lives based on the maxim do as I do or is it more a case of do as I say? And once we allow this double standard to become the norm the thing that gets destroyed very quickly is our Chriustian Unity

Romans 2:1-3 You may think you can condemn such people, but you are just as bad, and you have no excuse! When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you are condemning yourself, for you who judge others do these very same things. And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things.Since you judge others for doing these things, why do you think you can avoid God’s judgment when you do the same things?

The problem is that once you admit that there is a clear standard, once you accept that there are truths which are set in stone, and once you start to hold other people accountable to those truths - then you have to be willing to live by the same standard yourself. And that’s the one thing that every person with a judgmental spirit wants to avoid. But, shouting out long and loud about the imperfections we find in other people, does not in any sense alter the facts concerning our own lives. And so our high minded attitudes give birth to hypocrisy

The whole essence this passage in Romans 2 has to do with hypocrisy. This is not a lesson on how we should resist judging our fellowman. Nowhere in Romans 2 does Paul rebuke us for judging sin as sin. This is not a parallel teaching to the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus condemns critical unjustified judgment. The whole point of what’s Paul’s talking about is what happens when we fail to live up to what we recognize as true.

If we’re so capable of judging what is right and wrong in the lives of others, surely we’re competent to discern the difference between right living and wrong living in our own lives?

The Jews had no difficulty believing in one sovereign God. The Jews had the advantage in that they had a written code to live by.They prided themselves because they had the law. It had been preserved and passed down from one generation to the next. But here’s the problem: The Jews felt that just possessing the law made them righteous. But the trouble was, they’d rewritten the code to fit their chosen lifestyles.

Here’s the thing: the greater the knowledge - the greater the sin.

The end result of the Gentile and Jewish approach to living was identical. One was just as ungodly as the other. In reality, the Jews who possessed the law were actually worse because not only did they understand the sovereignty of God, they also had special written revelation in the Law that God gave to Moses. But the fact that they believed that God existed made them no different from those people who refused to believe in God. Both were without God and without hope.

So here’s the deal breaker: when you live your life without being obedient to God your life becomes pointless, hopeless and absolutely powerless.

Here’s the deal: when you live your life, judging others for the same stuff that YOU DO - IT MAKES YOU A HYPOCRITE. And hypocrisy is a dangerous thing because when your life’s falling apart all around you,y our hypocrisy is powerless to save you or to salvage your life from the gutter.

Hypocrisy is pretense. It's a form of godliness without power to change. Hypocrisy goes out of its way to resist change.  It makes a big deal of looking for what's wrong in someone else in order to justify the wrong in us.

At the start of this message I asked this question: How many of us would like to be judged by the standards we set for others?

A more penetrating question is, How would you like to be judged by the standards you know are right and expect others to live up to, but you yourself are unwilling to adhere to?

See, bad judgment like that not only renders you ]powerless to salvage your lives.But it takes God out of the equation too. So you’re on your own….

There are only two ways in which we can experience the power of God in our lives.

One way is through obedience.
When we obey God, God's salvaging power through Jesus Christ is exerted in our lives.

The second way we experience God's power in our lives is through disobedience.
Disobedience brings God's power through discipline.

Romans 2:6-9 .
He will judge everyone according to what they have done.

He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.

There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile

Living one way brings good news. Living the other brings bad news. The power we find in each is the same power we see in the resurrection. We all have a choice. We all get to choose. Either we will experience God's power  salvaging our lives, and lifting us up out of our mess - or we’ll experience the power of His wrath

The psalmist says in Psalm 62:11-12

"One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done."

In Proverbs 24:12 Solomon wrote,

"If you say, 'But we knew nothing about this,' does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?

Galatians 6:6-8   Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor. Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

Now, we can’t just overlook another important fact that people who choose not to live righ,  people who know the truth but choose to ignore it, those people are not just going to suffer eternally. The fact is that those who choose to do evil have to go through a boat load of trouble and stress in this life

Paul writes in 1:18-19, But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.  They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them.

So God, being the gentleman that he is does something special for all those who choose to reject Him. He gives them over to their own self-destructive ways and lets them have at it and the result is that they invariably run headlong after their own selfish desires. If you don’t believe me, just look at God's temporal judgment against the Jews all throughout Old Testament history.

I will always remember years ago, I was camping with three friends. It was 1977 – and we’d all just graduated High School. So we took off for a couple of weeks to go have some fun

The weather was bad and our clothes were wet an the sleeping bags were wet. So we went down to the local Laundromat to dry some stuff. So there was me, at the laundry drying the stuff. A lady had a roll of coins lying on the laundry table. She walked off and left them there, as she got on with doing her laundry.

When she came back, I said,  "You must be a trusting soul to leave your money like that.”

I will never forget her reply: She said "No, I know God will punish whoever steals my money three times over."

Now she may have been a bit humerous but her basic concept about God is right.

We pay for our wrongdoing. Some believe that you pay seven times over. Of course, there is really no way to measur the distress and trouble we receive because of our wrongdoing.  It is as immeasurable as is the power of God.

The problem with disobedience is that God punishes us in the present. If we refuse to allow God's discipline to persuade us to repent we will store up God's wrath against us for his righteous judgment in that final day.

So, Why is this punishment brought upon the disobedient? Simply because they know better!

The Gentiles knew God yet deliberately denied him. The Jews had special advantage in that they had special revelation from God and lived no different. Both refused to obey God's law written on their hearts.

A few years ago a man drowned off Clearwater beach. The tide was going out and the current was strong
He got caught up in the rip current and was actually pulled away from shore. He began trying to swim against the tide to get back to shore. He soon became tired and drowned. Experts said that he should have relaxed and floated out with the tide and waited to be rescued.

The sovereignty of God is moving this world toward a final destination. If we refuse to go with him it’s like swimming against the current. The power of the God, which is intended to save us, will drown us.

Now, the world may persuade you to think that swimming against the current is the way to live but you will drown. The world may even make it look like the easiest way to live. But it will leave you powerless to salvage your lives. You may stay afloat, but you’ll lose ground fast. You may even invent some ingenious ways to stay afloat, but God's grace is your only hope.

You may even try to convince yourselves that you’re going in the right way. Or than He can rescue you at anytime you click your fingers. Look at the warning Timothy gave: 1 Timothy 6:8-10

But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many grief’s.

Now I'm giving you the bad news. What I’m talking about is not the most popular aspect of God's grace.
I thought I’d tell you the bad news first.

Could a God full of grace allow us to run headlong into destructive living without making an effort to discipline us for the purpose of salvaging our lives? Wouldn’t His purposes be better served by not letting us to reap what we sow?

I have saved the good news to last because I want to impress upon you the availability of God's power to salvage lives.

What do we do, what can we do when we reach a point in life where we know that we just don’t have the power to make it on our own?

How about discovering God's power for living?

When the mantle of leadership fell to Joshua after the death of Moses, Joshua was faced with the responsibility of leading the children of Israel across Jordan to the promise land.  Forty years in the wilderness of S-I-N had taken its toll.  The Sinai dessert may have been harsh, but at least it seemed familiar and safe. Look how God reassured Joshua

5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.


6 “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.


8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.


9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go

Amazingly, God's kindness, tolerance and patience had sustained them for forty years as he disciplined and punished them for their sin. Now God's power is ready to lead them into the promise land. The power of his kindness was astonishing. And its that nature of Gods power that makes it all the more attractive Lets go back to Romans 2:

4-6 Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? 5 But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will judge everyone according to what they have done.

When we stubbornly refuse to repent of our hypocrisy we show contempt for both God and his grace. God’s kindness, tolerance and patience had been spurned. Those were the very things that should have led them to repent. The gospel of Christ is the power of God which leads us to salvation. Although contempt was shown for his grace, we should realize how God wishes to exert his power in our lives. Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?

The kindness of God's power is designed to lead us to repentance. But you cant hold God's kindness in contempt. God will never tolerate our indulgence with sin. Job says, 4

Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?

The reason why God is showing us his grace, and not judging us immediately, is not because he approves of our sin. It’s because he understands the nature of our struggles.

If there was no struggle, there would not be any need for patience or tolerance. God’s really patience in dealing with our weakness, but he will not tolerate hypocrisy.

Jeremiah lived in difficult times when he wrote,

Lamentations 3: 25 The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD

Hebrews 6:11-12 11 Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance.

The kindness, the tolerance and the patience of God's power has one aim and that’s to lead you and I along the pathway to repentance.

Romans 2:6-8 He will judge everyone according to what they have done. He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness.

The power of God is not a quick fix , neither is it an easy fix for all the world's problems or even for all the church's problems, or even for all my problems. But it is an encouragement for those who are struggling. In Matthew 28:20, this is what Jesus said

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

When someone gives their heart to the Lord, they’re entering strange, new, unfamiliar territory. The past seems safer and well known, but up ahead the future is very much unknown and it’s intimidating to look into an unpredictable future. But the good news of the gospel is that we don't have to face the unfamiliar all alone. We face it in the power of God.

Two lifestyles are paralleled in Romans 2.

One way may seem very unfamiliar as we think about living up to the standards we recognize as right.

The other way may seem like the quick fix we’ve been looking for to solve all our problems. It says, just accept yourself as you are, but expect the world to live up to your standards of right.The quick fix has to do with the way we want others to live, while ignoring the way we live.

One way will leave us abandoned by God. The other way promises us the presence and power of God.


Justice - When you get what you deserve

Mercy - When you don't get what you deserve

Grace - When you get what you don't deserve

God gives us what we don't deserve.

It is the power to overcome the harshness of our own hypocrisy.

Hypocrites are people who profess one thing but live another.People who claim to be God's people, but who really don’t serve God

See, God doesn’t want to see what you’ve done in His name. He wants YOU to be in His name. His name on you means you are his property. On the day of judgement Gods going say to some people

I never knew YOU.


 I know what you DID


I know what you said


I know about those miracles

But you missed the point - All I I wanted was to know YOU

In Matthew, Jesus pointed to the people and told them to DEPART from Him. If we dont choose to walk away from the sin in our lives we’re choosing to walk away from Him. He knows those who are truly His people.

If you profess His name, if you call yourself a Christian, then that needs to be borne out in your life. You need to be walking the walk, not just talking the talk

You are not Jesus' Name people if there’s SIN in your life.

He does not want all your good deeds.

He wants you.

What is the real you?

The Book of Acts #2 (1:4-5)

So over the last 3 weeks, we’ve looked at the Good News of the Gospel. We started with John 3: 16-17 and we looked at the reality of that place called Hell, and how it’s not Gods plan for any of us to go there. But we also looked at how some of us choose hell over heaven and how some people choose Satan’s temptations over Gods promises'

Now, here’s the thing: once you’ve responded to the message on a personal basis, once you’ve accepted Jesus into your life it doesn’t stop there. See John 3 16 was not intended just for you and me - its for you and me to share with the people all around us. And that’s why I’m excited, because Acts is one of the most exciting books in the NT

See, the whole key to the Book of Acts is taking the Gospel to where the people are really at. It's all about taking the Gospel to the streets. Acts teaches us how the early Christians lived out the teachings of Jesus and what they did with the Great Commission and with the baptism of the holy spirit

So, Acts shows us how to:
• Evangelize people.
• How to get them Established in churches.
• And Extend the church by reaching out to people and telling them about Jesus



The Book of Acts is the fulfillment of the great commission found in matt 28

GO ye therefore, and teach all nations...teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you...”

It is not the “Great Suggestion.” It is not a wish but a command. The first word of the job we’ve been give is “Go!” Just like the first two letters in the word “Gospel” are also “Go!” The two major activities of the Great Commission are “Going” and “Making Disciples.”

Now, there are 3 types of unconverted people in the world today (John 3:16-17):
1: Those who reject the Gospel.
2: Those who neglect (put off) the Gospel. (the 'let me think about it brigade)
3. Those who have never heard the Gospel.

Each of these groups of people will be lost and condemned. Why? because they chose not to believe in the Good News the Gospel. Because they didn’t want to know when someone said to them Jesus Loves You

The first two groups of people had the opportunity to hear the Gospel, but they rejected it or just plain neglected it. The third group of people will be lost because they didn’t hear the Gospel, they couldn’t respond to the message - because no one bothered to tell them…. See, God wants a church that includes people from every tribe and nation on the face of the earth. God’s plan to get the word out – to tell everyone Jesus loves You -  is really very simple. He uses people like me and he uses people like you to take the message from one place to another and from one person to another, sharing the Gospel, one person at a time. And , we’ve already started doing just that. The reason most of you are here tonight is because someone else invited you. So that’s brings us back to Acts Chapter 1 verses 3-4

3 During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

Now watch this – here’s one of the ways He proved He was alive: v4 says he was eating with them. Have you ever heard of a ghost chowing down on a Big Mac and fries?...Only the living bother to eat dinner….

4 Once when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before.

Have you ever heard of the modern American prayer? It goes this way: “Lord, give me patience, and I want it right now.”

Patience is not a virtue that too many are big on today. We live in a world of frozen dinners, instant coffee,
instant cameras, freeway express lanes, cell phones, pagers, and beepers. Not many of us like to wait for stuff because when we’re busy waiting for something it reminds us we’re out of control.

So, we don’t like waiting in traffic, in line at the supermarket, at the airport, or especially when our computers don’t work fast enough. 

People who hate to wait suffer from what I call “Hurry Sickness,” and hurry sickness is defined as having “an increased sensitivity to the passage of time.”

I believe that people suffering from Hurry Sickness die before their time.Here’s an experiment. You’ll need another person to help you with this. Give your helper a watch with a second hand. Sit down. Have your helper blindfold you. While blindfolded, try to guess how long a minute is.A person suffering from Hurry Sickness will call a minute in 20 seconds or less.

But people today have been in a hurry for so long they can’t remember when they wern’t . In my counseling sessions people talk to me about their plates being too full, about living in the fast lane, about not having enough hours in the day, and running a race even a rat couldn’t win.

They want to slow down. We all do but we’re afraid that if we do – our whole world will fall apart. The funny thing is, one day we’ll all slow down—permanently. And the world will go right on without us.

Hurry Sickness is especially prevalent among highly motivated, achievement-oriented people. It sets in by the age of 30 and gets worse with teach passing year!

So what happens if we don’t get our Hurry sickness treated? Well, we start to see the physical symptoms:we get ulcers, high blood pressure, tension headaches, high cholesterol, and a lowered resistance to disease. Until the day comes when we get the big pay off and we suffer our first heart attack.

Then there’s all the less obvious symptoms: anxiety, the frustrated spouse, the neglected children, the deteriorating spiritual life, and that bad temper.

You do more, work harder, run faster and wind up in an early grave.

Here’s the paradox: most of life is about waiting. Now most of us would rather do anything than wait. Some of us would even rather do the wrong thing than wait. But in reality we wait for all sorts of stuff – and it drivers us nuts
• Waiting for an appointment to see the doctor.
• Waiting to graduate.
• Waiting to be accepted in college.
• Waiting for your first job offer.
• How about waiting for the right time to start a family.

Or what about waiting for your loved ones to come to Christ.
• Or waiting for the Lord to bring the right man or the right woman into your life.

Waiting to find out what God wants you to do. Waiting for your prayers to be answered.

Waiting is one of the hardest parts of the Christian life. If you would like a fascinating Bible study, take your concordance this week and look up the word “wait.” Over and over again God’s people were told to wait.
Here’s just a few

Psalm 27:14, “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

Psalm 37:7, “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.”

When we are tempted to take things into our own hands,

Proverbs 20:22 says: “Do not say, ‘’I’ll pay you back for this wrong!’ Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.”

Isaiah 30:18 goes a bit further: “For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!”

Perhaps the most famous verse on waiting in all the Bible is Isaiah 40:31, “They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

So, with that as background lets go back to our text in —Acts 1:4.

“Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift he promised

Here we're watching the last few days Jesus spent on earth. We are in that 40-day period between Christ’s resurrection and his ascension into heaven. Luke tells us that while Jesus and his guys were eating dinner the conversation turned to the future, to the time when Jesus would return to heaven and the disciples would be left with orders to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth.

It’s easy to imagine the excitement around the table.

• What do you want us to do, Lord?
• When do we get started?
• Let’s draft a master-plan and hit the road.

Jim, you and John get started on the mission statement.

Pete, work out a 10-year strategy and business plan

Matt - you’re an accountant, aren’t you? Run some numbers, let’s see how much money we’re going to need.

We’ve got to get the ball rolling.

Lord, where do you want us to begin?

His answer is shocking in its simplicity

“Don’t do anything yet.Go back to Jerusalem and wait there until the Holy Spirit comes.”

Here’s the thing I want you to see and understand. Since the apostles had to wait to receive the Holy Spirit before they could do the Lord's work, that shows us it's impossible to carry on His work in our own power.
You can make all the elaborate plans for ministry you want, you can preach all the sermons you want, you can raise all the money you want but without the power of the Holy Spirit behind you - you’ll be blowing smoke.  And your work will be fruitless.

The apostles knew they needed the Spirit's power.When Jesus first commissioned them to spread the gospel,
He said, "It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaketh in you" (Matt. 10:20).

In Luke 12:12 the apostles were told there would come a day when the Spirit would speak through them.

John 14:17 says that the Holy Spirit was already with the disciples, but that later on He would be in them. See, there’s a word of difference between having the power of the Holy spirit with you and having his power IN you. Before the day of penetecost in Acts 2, people weren't indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Instead, God sent the Spirit on specific occasions to do a special work through someone. For example, the Holy Spirit descended on King Saul [1 Sam. 11:6] and departed from him when the job was done

Here’s the promise in v 5 "For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

Before Jesus began His public ministry,  John the Baptist said of Him,

"I baptize with water; but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not.... he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same is he who baptizeth with the Holy Spirit. And I saw, and bore witness that this is the Son of God" (John 1:26, 33-34).

Jesus is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit,and the disciples had to wait in Jerusalem until He sent the Spirit from heaven.

"Ye shall receive power, after the Holy Spirit is come upon you."

Before receiving the Holy Spirit, the apostles were powerless to carry out Christ's unfinished work. The Greek word translated "power" (dunamis) is where we get the English word dynamite. Every spirit filled Christian is packed with power for the Holy Spirit is like dynamite! Some Christians feel they are lacking in power and if you feel like that, it's not God's fault. The power is within you. All you need to do is turn on the ignition switch'

How is that done? Ephesians 5:18 says, "Be not drunk with wine, in which is excess, but be filled with the Spirit."

A simple way to illustrate the filling of the Spirit is with Alka-Seltzer tablets. Within each tablet is a concentrated form of medication that gets released when put into a glass of water.  Likewise, the Person of the Holy Spirit is like a concentrated form of energy within you. The power is in you, but you need to release it and allow it to permeate your life.To live a Spirit-filled life means to yield yourself to the control of the Spirit.

In the Bible, the word filled is primarily used in connection with a particular attitude. It is used to speak of being filled with rage, anger, sorrow, or faith. Whatever the person is filled with overrides all their other emotions or attitudes. Someone filled with sorrow is overwhelmed with sorrow. Someone filled with the Spirit is allowing the Spirit to control his life. It's one thing to possess the Spirit, yet another to be filled by it.
If you want it – just call out and ask for it!

Now, I’m sure this must be catching some of you on the blind side and that’s OK – we haven’t got to chapter 2 yet….

Back to the disciples at dinner. Jesus instruction must have come as a major surprise to them too .

Here’s a crucial insight: when God wants to reach the world, his first step is to tell his people to slow down and wait for him. When the time comes, he’ll give them the signal to move out. Until then, go back home and wait on the Lord.

This raises a question. Why did the disciples have to wait for what God had already promised them Why couldn’t they just “name it and claim it?” From this text—and from the Bible as a whole—we discover some reasons why God often tells his people to wait on him.

#1 To rearrange our priorities
Acts 1:4 says that Jesus commanded the disciples to stay in Jerusalem. I imagine that was the last place many of them wanted to be. After all, this was the city where Jesus had been crucified. The men who put him death a few weeks earlier were still in power. Jerusalem was no longer a safe city.  If you were a follower of Jesus,
anyplace on earth was safer than Jerusalem. Getting out of town was not a bad idea.

But Jesus commanded them to stay.

See, here’s the thing: when you’re serving Jesus timing is everything. Rushing off into the fray gets you nowhere if Jesus isn’t leading. Their duty was to follow, not to lead.

By staying in Jerusalem Jesus forces them to confront their fears and quells their budding enthusiasm. Waiting is hard for any of us who want to make things happen.

There are times in life when God says,“Slow down. You’re going too fast.  I don’t want you in the fast lane right now. Get off at the next exit and let’s talk it over.” When that happens our response is usually, “Go ahead and talk, Lord, while I drive down the road.” Suddenly another hand takes the wheel
and we find ourselves heading toward the exit.  It is the hand of God using the circumstances of life to get our full and undivided attention.

Have you ever wondered why God doesn’t speak to you more clearly? Could it be because you’re going so fast that you can’t hear his voice?

Waiting rearranges our priorities, slows down our schedule, and forces us to listen to God.

#2 To test our faith
Jesus gave specific instructions in three areas:
• He told them what to do—Wait.
• He told them where to do it—in Jerusalem.
• He told them what to wait for—the coming of the Holy Spirit.

But he didn’t tell them how long to wait. They had no idea whether they should wait a week, a month or a year, Some of you are in the same place right now. You’re waiting and you don’t know how much longer you can hold out. You feel like giving up and walking away from your dreams. You wonder if prayer is a waste of time because God has not answered your petitions. Maybe you’ve been waiting for months or years already and deep inside you feel like giving up.

Remember Abraham and Sarah who waited 25 years after the promise for the birth of Isaac. Remember also what happened when in a moment of weakness they took matters into their own hands and Ishmael was born (see Genesis 16).

Pastor Ed there waited 30 years before he got to teach bible School. Know what people call him now?
 The Bible Man – or the Bible teacher

God makes us wait so that our faith will be put to the test. Very soon the disciples would be asked to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.  They would get given great responsibilities. Great things would be expected of them and even great things would be required of them. See, they didn’t know that in just a few days 3000 people would be converted at one time (Acts 2). So, just to make sure that they didn’t think that everything depended on them, God makes them wait.

As the days go on, the disciples learn that the Holy Spirit cant be bought or sold,cant be manipulated, and cant be commanded by human will. Jesus knew that without the power of the Spirit everything else they did would be in vain

“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty” (Zechariah 4:6).

But with the Spirit all things were possible. The Holy Spirit would show them the truth, anoint their preaching,
and through them - draw people to Jesus

Now, we all have to get to that same place of utter helplessness. But before we can experience the fullness of the Spirit, God wants to bring you to the place where you know that you don’t know. He arranges your life
so that you understand that you don’t understand. He wants to bring you to the end of your resources, your abilities and your ropeso that you have to put your trust in Him and in Him alone.

Waiting purifies our motives because in the long hours while we wait, our pride crumbles and we realize that everything depends on God.

one reason your prayers are not always answered the first time you pray. You have to learn to stop have to taking God for granted and treating him like a celestial slot machine where we insert a prayer and out comes an answer.Or – if we line up all the cherries – a blessing

Because God is our Heavenly Father he makes us wait so that our gratitude has time to increase. Here’s a thought you may never have considered. When God puts you in a position of waiting on him, the answer almost always surprises us.

In Acts 1 the Lord Jesus told the disciples to wait for the promise of the Father—the coming of the Holy Spirit.

For days on end they prayed, “O Lord, send the Holy Spirit.” They prayed in small groups—"O Lord, send the Holy Spirit.” They probably lifted their hands and prayed, “O Lord, send the Holy Spirit.”

Now they knew something about the Holy Spirit from the Old Testament—and they knew a bit more from the words of Jesus but they really didn’t know what they were praying for. The had no idea of what was about to happen on the Day of Pentecost.

I can imagine a conversation.

“How much longer do we have to pray?”
• “I don’t know.”

“Well, how are we going to know when the Holy Spirit comes?”
• “I don’t know.” “

What if the Holy Spirit comes and we don’t know it?” “
• Stop talking and start praying.”

So there they were on the Day of Pentecost—praying, no doubt—not knowing when the Holy Spirit would be sent.

One disciples says to another, “Hey, there’s fire coming out of the top of your head.”
• “What?

 Hey, your head’s on fire too.”

Then came a noise like a mighty rushing wind. Suddenly one of them started talking in Greek, another in Median, another in Parthian,another in Egyptian, another in the dialect of Cappadocia—and none of them knew any of those languages (See Acts 2:1-13)

It was a wild scene in that room as the Holy Spirit came . Their prayers were answered—but not in a manner that they expected

The people who saw it thought the disciples were drunk.

They weren’t drunk at all, they were filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

He’s the God of great surprises. He makes us wait so that He can surprise us in the future and increase our gratitude when the answer finally comes.

Jesus told those assembled disciples two things that must have been hard to hear: Stay in Jerusalem, and wait for the promise of the Father.

Luke tells us he “commanded” them to do these things. This isn’t a suggestion or a negotiating ploy. This is God telling his servants what to do.

Because God is God and we’re not, he often does things that make little sense to us.There are times in the Christian life when God’s only command is to wait. When those moments come, God rarely explains himself
or makes the big picture clear.

All of this reminds us that in the end our God is the Boss of our lives and he chooses the times and places of life. He sets out a path for each of his children and he doesn’t consult us in advance.

So, if you’re waiting on God for something right now Don’t Fret and Dont panic. Dont take matters into your own hands. Do your duty each day as God shows it to you. Surrender your life to the Lord—"Thy will be done.”

But what should you do while you wait? Ah, what a perfectly American question that is. We want to do something,  not just sit in silence.

Very well, before you get out bed in the morning, pray this prayer: “Lord, help me to do my tasks today with joy. Amen.”

Just do your job and do it with a smile while you wait on God. That will glorify your Father and will prepare you for whatever is to come. The best way to get ready for tomorrow is to do God’s will today.At it’s core waiting is about becoming more like Christ and relying on God.  It’s not that waiting is easy or enjoyable. Often it is very difficult. But It’s been said that we serve an on-time God. He’s never early, he’s never late, he’s always right on time–which means that our waiting serves his purposes in ways we don’t understand.

Here is my final piece of advice. Do the best you can, and then sleep like a baby.  Which is another way of saying, Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

As a way of applying this message  let’s change the prayer

 “Lord, I’m willing to wait for you—even if it takes forever. Amen.”

Romans #1 - Preach Jesus!

Here’s a question for you this morning: Have you ever wondered why it is that the church is still in the world?

Is it to praise and worship?  No – because we’ll do that in heaven. Is it to sing and to serve? No – because we'll do that in heaven too! There’s really only one thing that we can do here that we won’t be able to do in heaven - and that’s this:

Share Jesus with Hurting people and reach out to the least, the last and the lost .

So - if I had to sum up the prime objective for the body of Christ in just two words,it would be this very simple truth: Preach Jesus.

So today I may well repeat these two words a bunch of times: Preach Jesus. I want those 2 words ringing in your ears. When you wake up in the middle of the night I want those to be the 2 words on your lips: Preach Jesus. As you go thru the day I want those 2 words to be continually in your mind like a spiritual heart beat:
Preach Jesus! Preach Jesus! Preach Jesus! Preach Jesus!

See, I have to get you all to understand something: the role of preaching Jesus is not limited to pastors, teachers, or evangelists. Every believer has been called to let his or her light shine. Every believer has been called to be salt.Every believer has been commissioned to preach the good news of the Gospel, that Jesus Saves!

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

So, as we start to analyze this verse a bit lets start by asking another question: What is the Gospel?

The word “gospel” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “godspel,” meaning “god-message” or “good story.” So today, when we translate the Greek word euaggelion,we use the transliterated term good news. But thats not entirely accurate. While we have a tendancey to only think of it as meaning the good tidings themselves, in reality, the Greek word euaggelion actually means a present given to one who brought good tidings, or a sacrifice offered in thanksgiving for the good tidings. So therefore, the word gospel signifies NOT ONLY the message of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ  (the “good news”) BUT ALSO our response to that message in thanksgiving for such good tidings having come(i.e. obeying the plan of salvation).

In Romans 2:16 - Paul called this “MY GOSPEL” because God showed Paul that the full doctrinal content of the Gospel includes not only our relationship on the basis of grace,  but also our responsibilities on the basis of gratitude. That’s why most of his epistles are divided between doctrinal and practical teaching.

This is the REAL gospel! So, if you preach “only believe!” “repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost …
and then stop - you’re NOT preaching the true gospel. The gospel of the New Testament BEGINS with the working of God’s grace in SALVATION, but it CONTINUEs with the working of God’s grace in SANCTIFICATION,

Now, if you take away from it the gospelor of you add something to itthe gospel’s not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It won’t work if you do that! In Galatians 1:8, Paul says

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed (accursed means devoted to destruction).

And this verse applies to anyone who tries to influence other people by mixing Gods message with the ideas of men. Because when you do that you create a “perverted gospel.” The Judaizers of Paul’s day did not deny Christ; they merely changed the plan of salvation preached by his Apostles.

See, THE GOSPEL IS GOOD NEWS, NOT JUST GOOD ADVICE! Good advice is what a banker gives outby providing the address of the Salvation Army Shelter to someone he has just foreclosed on. Good news is when he tells the person that an unnamed benefactor has just paid the overdue mortgage in full

People today are tired of listening to good advice all the time.They just don’t have the energy to HOPE while trying to COPE with problems that just get worse day by day. They don’t want good advice, they want good news!

So now we have a better idea of what we need to preach about, lets look a the word “preach” itself. These days - the word “preach” has been defined in such narrow terms .We think it involves a pulpit and a microphone. But the true meaning of the verb to preach,  is simply, “to proclaim.”

Proclamation is not and has never been limited to the preacher, we’ve all been called to tell the least, the last and the lost that there’s a savior, and His name is Jesus.

I want to share with you 3 thoughts about the command to Preach Jesus,

#1: Jesus is the Message. You’re not the message
#2 There is power in the Message. It works unless you alter it
#3: The whole Church has been empowered to Preach the Message.

#1: Jesus Is the Message
Have you ever noticed how easy it is to talk to a stranger about the weather? about the Magic, about football or your children or where you’re from, and yet when it come to telling people the simple truth that Jesus loves them our stomach gets tied up in knots ?

Why IS that?

God hasn’t called us to be weathermen or sportscasters, He’s called us and empowered us to be light shining in the darkness. And so that means that somewhere in the course of our conversations we need to seize upon the opportunity to Preach Jesus! The world doesn’t care if you talk about baseball, and they don’t care if you talk about the government. And I don’t think they care too much if you talk about church' But when you start talking about Jesus, about His love, about His sacrifice, about His saving power, demons tremble. Satan tells his demons “Get them to talk about anything under the sun, but intimidate them, scare them, do whatever you have to do to get them to keep Jesus to themselves.”

I don’t know about you - but I don’t take my orders from Satan. I’m going to Preach Jesus!

If I’m talking to someone who’s lost - I’ll proclaim Jesus as the way!
If I’m talking to the lonely, I’ll proclaim Jesus as the friend that sticks closer than a brother.
If I’m talking to the sick - I’ll proclaim Jesus as Great Physician.
If I’m talking to someone addicted to drugs or strong drink, I’ll proclaim Jesus as the deliverer.
If I’m talking to the brokenhearted, I’ll proclaim Jesus as the one who came to bind up the brokenhearted.
If I’m talking to someone on their deathbed, I’ll proclaim Jesus as the resurrection and the life.
If I’m talking to the sinner, I’ll proclaim Jesus as the Savior.
If I’m talking to the church, I’ll proclaim Jesus as Lord and Master.

No matter where I am, or who I’m talking to, I can proclaim Jesus in a way that will fill a void and make a broken man whole.

See, Jesus is the message we have come to proclaim: Don’t let the devil scare you into silence on the single most important message you will ever proclaim. When God brings lost souls across your path, square your shoulders, put your foot on the serpents’ head and Preach Jesus!

Preach the Jesus, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin.The Jesus who walked among men.The Jesus who made the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak.The Jesus who made the lame to walk and the dead to live again. The Jesus who paid for our stuff on an old rugged cross.Preach the Jesus who overcame death, hell, and the grave. Preach Jesus, Preach Jesus, Preach Jesus!He is the message! He’s the answer. He is the hope for the hopeless. He is the help for the helpless.He is the healing balm for the wounded.

#2 There is Power In the Message
Why is the Gospel powerful? Besides the fact that the Gospel is the word of God,it’s the means by which the Holy Spirit brings a person to faith. No one can ever be brought to faith in Christ unless the Gospel is preached to them in some way, shape, or form.

We don’t ever come to Christ just thinking about the thickness of a certain brand of the tissue we use for our issues. No, people come to Christ in response to being presented with the Gospel. And the Holy Spirit uses what they’re exposed to to bring a person to faith in Jesus and a whole new life.

Here’s the thing: when the Holy Spirit works on a person who has heard the Gospel, there’s always a reaction. People either accept the good news, reject the good news or are simply apathetic to the good news
Because the Gospel causes these reactions in people, it’s clear that the Gospel will force us either to repent or to reject Christ.There is no middle ground! Even the Greeks in Acts 17:32 who told Paul they would “think about it” made a decision not to accept Jesus right that moment. And that’s is 100% rejection.

See, The Gospel is how God saves people. Now, I’m going to say something serious and important. The Gospel is for God’s chosen people only. And there are those who will take humongous issue with that statement.But here’s the truth. God’s people are not an ethnic race. God’s people are all those who believe in Him. All who believe in Christ are His people. This is why Paul often says “to the Jew first and then to the Greek.”

What does this mean?If you belong to God, then the Gospel is for you. How do I know I belong to God? Simple – in 2 ways. You know that you are His if you believe in Him and if you love His people. This theme get repeated all through the New Testament. Christians are marked by two things:  their faith and love they have for their Savior and the love for each other and for the lost

Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”

In this verse, Paul’s telling us that he’s proud of the Gospel. Yes, pride. Pride, for the wrong reasons, is a bad thing. But it is never wrong to be proud of what God’s done. See Pride in what God’s done, with the proper attitude, ought to make us praise Him and give thanks to Him.And Paul undoubtedly has a proper attitude about his pride in the Gospel. He’s not embarrassed by the Gospel;But some of us are ashamed of the Gospel.

What does it mean to be ashamed of something? Well, to be ashamed of something means:
To be embarrassed by it. To be unwilling to do something because we’re afraid of it . To be upset by it. Or to feel guilty about it.

Furthermore, there are two kinds of shame: “good” shame and “bad” shame.

“Good” shame is when: we feel guilty about something we have done. We feel embarrassed about our actions. We’re humiliated or humbled because of something we have done.  We feel responsible for our actions.

Why is this called “good” shame? Because “good” shame can lead us to repentance. It’s called “being convicted of sin (John 16:7-11).”  “Good” shame is when the Holy Spirit makes clear to us that our sin is abhorrent to a holy God.

When we know that our actions are wrong, we ought to feel guilty. We ought to feel embarrassed.We ought to feel some degree of humiliation or experience some degree of humbling. And we most certainly ought to feel responsible! It is the proper response to the knowledge that what we’ve done is wrong.

Bad shame is when: we become afraid of something or someone. We become embarrassed by something or someone and refuse to be involved. And when we try to hide our involvement from other people.

Why is this called “bad” shame? Let me draw this out a little bit. “Bad” shame contains all the elements of “good” shame. The person experiencing “bad” shame certainly feels guilty, embarrassed, humiliated or humbled, and responsible. But the problem comes when your response to the shame is inappropriate. When the shame gets turned in on the person experiencing it.  Instead of repenting, they run from it! “Bad” shame, then, is simply a person hiding from the truth. Its when you attempt to avoid the consequences of your wrong actions. Why do you think that some people who’ve lived exemplary lives see those lives unraveled in a microsecond
when some past indiscretion  and a single, momentary indiscretion at that suddenly surfaces and catches up to them?Because instead of repenting of their sin,  instead of asking forgiveness, and accepting the consequences, they became afraid. They become afraid of what they might lose. They become afraid of the opinion of others. So they hide their involvement.

But Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation....”

Peter preached Jesus on the day of Pentecost and 3,000 souls were added to the kingdom.Peter and John preached Jesus to a lame man, and the lame man was healed.Stephen preached Jesus and he was stoned to death, but before he died he saw a vision of heaven.Paul got saved, and began to preach Jesus.Peter preached Jesus and the Holy Ghost fell upon the household of Cornelius.Paul preached Jesus from city to city,  in the face of rejection by his own countrymen,  but he preached with power. Souls were saved, churches were planted, the sick were healed, the dead were raised.

The book of Acts teaches us that the Holy Spirit is most powerful in churches that are ready to Preach Jesus.
See, the power of the Holy Ghost and the proclamation of the gospel are inextricably bound together. You won’t have the power long, if you’re not willing to Preach Jesus, and you can’t Preach Jesus for very long until you feel the power of the Spirit stirring in your soul.

#3 The whole Church has been empowered to Preach the Message.

God has has made us “…a royal priesthood, a peculiar people, holy nation that we should show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light.”

It wasn’t the message of Darwin that changed my life. It wasn’t the message of self-help or message of democracy that brought peace to my troubled soul, it was the simple message of the love of God displayed in the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.

Preach Jesus! There is power in the message! Power to break the power of sin and set the captive free. Power to lift the condemnation.Power to overcome the guilt. Power to make us sons of God!

In Luke’s Gospel Jesus said, “Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations...but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high.”

In Acts, Jesus said, “And ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and ye shall be my witnesses...”

Jesus told the seventy disciples whom He had sent out to the cities of Judea, “Behold I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy.”

He said in Mark’s Gospel, “Go into all the cities and preach the gospel unto every creature...And these sign shall follow them that believe, In my name shall they cast out demons, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up deadly serpents and it shall not hurt them, poison won’t stop them, they will lay hands on the sick and the sick will recover.”

He didn’t give the church power simply to shout around the altars. He didn’t give the church power to speak cars and houses into existence. He didn’t give the church power to sit around nd tell about how much more power we got than everybody else. He gave the church power to be His witnesses.He gave the church power to Preach Jesus!

We can shout till we’re blue in the face. We can swing on the chandeliers and run the aisles but if the power of the Spirit doesn’t go with us out of these church doors to where the rubber meets the road and souls are hanging in the balance,  then we don’t have much.

But, when we understand that the Spirit of God is never more powerfulthan when we’re witnessing for Jesus,
when we understand that at that moment we’re the vessels through which the Spirit of God flows then we should want to seize every opportunity to tell somebody what Jesus has done for you.

I want our church to grow, and I believe it can and will, but only if we truly become a priesthood of believers and everyone of us makes up our mind to Preach Jesus.

Preach Jesus to that neighbor whose husband just left her. Preach Jesus to that mother whose teenage daughter is pregnant.Preach Jesus to that man you work with Preach Jesus to those whose foul language offends you.

Don’t be afraid, cos there’s power in the message, and the moment you open your mouth to speak, he Holy Spirit will be stirring on the inside of you giving you the very words to speak, giving you the boldness to speak, giving you the authority to speak.

6 Seasons of Prayer

Because of something that was going on the other day, I feel an urgency in my Spirit to remind us all that we’re in a spiritual battle. Guy's, whether you realize it or not we're in the fight of our lives! And it’s a battle that’s never gonna let up this side of heaven. So long as we continue to live in these mortal bodies there will be no relief or rest..

But that said, it’s important that we understand not only the tactics of the enemy but also the remedies the Lord’s placed at our disposal so that we can be both ready and prepared for the fight.

What do I mean by that? Well, remember what Jesus said to Peter in Luke 22:31-32:

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.” [NLT]

Now why would the Lord want to make us aware of the wiles, devices and deceptions of the enemy? The answer is really very simple and we find it in 2 Corinthians 2:11 - so that Satan will not outsmart us.

So with that in mind, I want us to analyze one of the greatest solutions God’s provided us with that’s especially potent in our hour of need.

Ephesians 6: 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers…. [NLT]

Philippians 4:6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. [NLT]

Now, just as there are seasons of temptation, there are also seasons of prayer. But before we get to that, there’s something else I need to tell you about prayer

• sometimes, just mumbling a few well meaning words just doesn’t seem to cut it
• sometimes, we have to get serious about our prayer
• sometimes we have to show God and the devil just how serious we are

 And its at times like that that we need to consider mixing our prayer with fasting. See, anytime someone decides to set aside a time of fasting to mix with their praying, extraordinary spiritual things can take place.

First off, know this: you have to give yourself over to prayer. That means you’ll have to take time out of your busy life and set aside time specifically for prayer. See, prayer is a discipline, and it can be a real challenge sometimes to decide to commit to make time for praying.

We have to get victory over our own flesh. We have to fight against a kind of spiritual laziness that comes over us. We have to win the battle against the sort of restlessness that stops you focusing while you’re praying. In other words, you have to do what ever it takes to help you pray more effectively. But in the end,  before you can do battle in the spirit for your stuff - you have to get past your stuff - and get into the presence of the Lord. So,  I’m going to give you 6 seasons of prayer. Now, the list isn't exhaustive, so you can search the Scriptures and find others to add on for yourself but at least I’m giving you a solid start. So lets examine the SEASONS OF PRAYER

#1: The 1st season of prayer is when you’re in a time of great personal difficulty.
Now, for most of us this is probably the easiest time we have when it comes to prayer, when you’ve got some impossible circumstances to deal with. But when you’ve tried everything you know to do in your own strength. Then – and often only then – do we find the motivation to pray. See, its real easy for most of us to decide to pray when we’re desperate!

So often in our Christian walk we’re faced with mountains that get in our way Jesus even said we should expect as much in Mark 11:22

Then Jesus said to the disciples, “Have faith in God. I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart. I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours. [NLT]

Jesus has told us that there are mountains out there that God can throw into the sea. I can hear you thinking
"now how does that work out in the real world then? Because I know that it doesn’t seem to work for me"

Sometimes, we just need to look in the mirror! See, there are some things that God expects from us before He does the mountain moving bit on our behalf.

• We’ve all been called to repentance.
• We’ve all been called to separate ourselves from the worlds way of doing things.
• We’ve all been called take up our crosses.
• We’ve all been called to mortify the flesh and deal with our sins.
• We’ve all been called to submit.
• And we’ve all been called to evangelize.

Sometimes we need to take care of business on the inside of us before we can deal effectively with the stuff on the outside. Sometimes the most challenging mountains we face, sometimes the things that stop the Lord dead in his tracks are the mountains that rise up on the inside of us. Those mountains that we allow to stay in the way of our repentance, and our separation, and our submission and our sin. But given time, faith, and persistence we can access such power that even those strongholds can literally be pulled down and thrown into the sea.

It's in these times of intense personal difficulty that our prayer life must prevail. Let me give you and example:
What about that difficult time that Esther had to work her way through? Esther felt that she just had to get into the presence of the king, but she didn’t have an invitation and that usually triggered death sentence.

Her people were already facing death because of the actions of a guy called Haman. So how did she deal with this mega challenge in her life? With a season of prayer and fasting. See, Esther knew that she knew that she knew that this was the one time in her life she couldn’t just keep her mouth shut and look the other way. So, in order to gain the victory,  in order to become the head and not the tail she had to confront her season of difficulty with the force of prayer.

But Esther didn’t go to God flying solo. She marshaled the forces of those around her and available to her and called for a time of prayer and fasting for the deliverance of her people.

Esther 4:16 Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” [NLT]

Maybe you’re fortunate. Maybe you’ve never been between a rock and a hard place. Maybe you’ve never been under so much pressure that you felt the only thing left was prayer? But….. if you’re like the rest of us…I guess you know what I’m talking about. Whenever you find yourself in a time or a season of great difficulty, its time to PRAY!!!

#2 Seasons of great darkness
We all go thru times of darkness. Times when no matter where we go, or what we do, we’re just in a really black night. And at times like these, we need to understand just what’s going on. Now, if we go to the book of Daniel we can find a powerful key to understanding seasons like these…

Daniel 9:3 So I turned to the LORD God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes [NLT]

Daniel was in the dark. He didn’t understand the very mysteries of God - but that all changed when he begin his appeal with prayer and fasting. Notice how the answer came through:

Daniel 10:12-13 Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia [NLT]

Now, when you read stuff like that you can’t not believe that there is not a war going on or that you’re not the center or the object of a spiritual battle. . . So, I’m encouraging you, when you're in the dark and can't see your way - keep the faith. Keep on praying and keep on fasting. . . See, God always has a way of working it out!

Learn to pray in such a way that empowers God to use angels to work in your life. Now: we don’t ever pray to angels – any more than we pray to saints and we don’t ever worship angels but there are numerous events that took place in the Bible where God used angels to accomplish His will in the Kingdom. Just understand that everything that has to do with angels and prayer has to be clearly backed up by Scripture. And if you study your bible carefully, you’ll find seven divisions of angels that can help every apostolic, Spirit-filled Christian to fulfill the will of God.

#3 The Third Season of Prayer is during times of affliction either in body or spirit.

James 5:13 Are any of you suffering hardships (afflicted) ? You should pray.

Psalms 18:6 But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears.

When affliction and pain settles on our lives and tries to overwhelm us there’s passion that comes through in our prayers and whenever there’s no passion or feeling in our prayers, little ever gets accomplished. Let me show you what I mean from the psalms:

Psalms 116:3-6 Death wrapped its ropes around me; the terrors of the grave overtook me. I saw only trouble and sorrow. [overwhelmed or what?]
Then I called on the name of the LORD: “Please, LORD, save me!”[get the impression there was some emotion here?]
How kind the LORD is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours! The LORD protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and he saved me.

Look at Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32:28. He spent the whole night, literally fighting for his life. He strained, he sweated, he twisted, he turned, and he fought for his place of prayer. In Ex 33 – you find Moses wrestling for the glory of God. Hannah wrestled in prayer in 1 Sam. 1:10-17. Look at how Jesus prayed in Luke 22:44

He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood

Don’t tell me there was no passion or feeling there! It was the greatest praying ever done in the face of affliction. His agony was over the top. His affliction had a cold hard grip on Him. His praying was marked by sighing and crying.

And that’s what we have to do when our world is literally falling apart around us. We have let our afflictions move us into a place passion because that’s when incredible strength gets added to our prayers. See, you never know what levers you are pulling that’ll move mountains until you start praying during your pain!

#4 The 4th Season of Prayer comes when we’re enduring great temptations.
We have to battle in prayer to overcome the weaknesses of our own flesh. Words like mortify, kill, and destroy leap to the mind when thinking about fighting the temptations of the world.

Romans 6:13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.

Romans 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

Colossians 3:5-6 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.

If you remember from Matthew 17:21 Jersus said that there are certain things and spirits that can only be cast out through the work of prayer and fasting.

This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. . .

#5 The Fifth Season of Prayer is when you are on a slippery path.

Jude 24 Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault.

I’m not sure there’s ever been a time or a generation in which there’s been more blatant sinful living both inside and in and outside of the church. The pressure is on each and every one of us. We’re under tremendous pressure just to quit, to throw in the towel,  to give in to what the devil wants to do in every one of our lives. But the times when everyone else is sinning is the very time that the man or woman of God should be praying. Ezra had a heavy heart when he was confessing the sin of his people in Ezra 9. Jeremiah wept in his soul for the pride of the nation (Jeremiah 13:17).

Whenever, you get deep into intercession, when your intercession is marked with genuine tears, something powerful happens. See, tears have a way of breaking through the hardness and allowing repentance into our hearts.

Finally, The 6th Season of Prayer is at the very moment you’ve experienced great faith and spiritual accomplishment.

And this is often the hardest time of all to pray. Wwhen you’re high on faith and on the brink of seeing God do something mighty. It gets real easy to forget God during those times when we’re ecstatic with what’s going on in our personal lives or we’re seeing some great breakthru about to take place.

It was as the walls were just about to fall in Jericho that the Lord told them to shout.It was just about the time that David was about to take Goliath down that he shouted.

Moments of victory require times of prayer and worship. When our faith is at its highest pitch there ought to be prayer of exultation pouring out of our hearts!

My take on this is that too many of us don’t feel the need to pray with passion or feeling. I see it by the way some of people don’t worship when the rest of us do. I see it by the way some people never come to prayer like a few of us do. And I see it when those who do usually come, allow other things to take priority…

And God sees it to…..

Now, if we could ever get past our lack of commitment.........

Real truth about the flames of hell

Luke 16:19-31 (New Living Translation)

Jesus said, “There was a certain rich man who was splendidly clothed in purple and fine linen and who lived each day in luxury. At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus who was covered with sores. As Lazarus lay there longing for scraps from the rich man’s table, the dogs would come and lick his open sores.

“Finally, the poor man died and was carried by the angels to be with Abraham.The rich man also died and was buried, and his soul went to the place of the dead.There, in torment, he saw Abraham in the far distance with Lazarus at his side.  “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’


“But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing. So now he is here being comforted, and you are in anguish.And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’


“Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’  “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’

 “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’ “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t listen even if someone rises from the dead.’”

I’m really glad that I live in this modern world. Especially when I think of all the conveniences and gadgets that we have just to make our lives easier. Imagine what life would be like if you had none of the wonderful things that come with being alive in 2010. But along with all the blessings that we have and the things that we enjoy, there are some things in our modern world that are actually anything but good.

I think that one of the worse things that has come about in the modern world is a general skepticism about the things of God, and especially about those things that are written in the Bible. Today, there are so many people who have absolutely no confidence in the truth of the Word of God. But be that as it may, even in 2010 - the Bible is still God’s word,  it’s still divinely inspired and it’s still full of the same Truth that it always has been.And that fact hasn’t changed just because  a lot of people choose not believe it

Part of the skepticism we find today comes because people are preoccupied and don’t make time to think on the things that matter. See, today, people today are all about ‘Stuff”. And because they’re so concerned about their about stuff, people today do all sorts of things to get hold of more stuff. Now, some of the things people do are quite legitimate.. .like work. Work is where we trade our time and our skills for money that we can use to pay our way in life…. and then acquire more stuff with what’s left after the bills are paid. But that process can be far too slow for some people and so some people jump start the process to get stuff by doing things that are not so legitimate which is why the cops are so busy and the jails are so full.

Only yesterday, I missed a guy who was supposed to be in one of my groups - and he was a no-show. Actually he’d also made an appointment to come see me 1-on-1 the day before too - and he failed to show up.So, while my office manager was busy calling his cell phone and his home phone, the Lord prompted me to look on line. And I found out that since last Sunday, he’s been in the Volusia County jail  for stealing stuff and then trying to sell it on Craig’s list. And it saddened me greatly…

It seems people everywhere have this need –or this drive - to get stuff. It’s the reason why people go to the track and why people play the lottery. They all want to hit the big one becuse if they do – they’ll just go get more stuff.

The story in Luke 16 only occurs in Luke’s Gospel. And the parable Jesus tells, has a real troubling aspect to it and thats what I want to focus on today.

See, the story of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16 actually has a lot to say about stuff. Because once you actually understand what’s going on, you’ll begin to appreciate that in life there is only one prize worth gaining. And that’s eternity with Jesus in Heaven. And there’s one loss that to be avoided at all costs - and that’s the loss of your soul.

Jesus made the point very clearly in other parts of the Bible too: In Matthew 16:26 , He says

And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? [NLT]

In Mark 8:36 we get the same question: And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? [NLT]

See, I need you to understand something very clearly: your greatest losses in this life are not concerned with the things that you possess. Because the stuff that you spend your whole life acquiring isn’t worth a hill of beans when it comes to eternity

Your greatest and most important possession is your soul - or at least is should be. See, here’s the thing: your Life is not made up by what you possess but by what possesses you.

Now if you did the study, you would find quite quickly that Jesus spent twice as much time preaching and teaching on Hell as He did on Heaven. The truth about Hell was not a theological concept developed by Paul, or Peter, or even John. The doctrine of Hell - or the certainty of Hell was established by Jesus Christ.
But today, in 2010, if I ask someone if they still believe in Hell, I’m called old-fashioned, or out of touch. They’re think I’m out of step with reality and just plain foolish. So we have all of these people out there that’ll try to appeal to our rationality and to reason, and they tell us that the concept of an eternal hell where sinners burn forever is both ludicrous and demeaning.

Another popular argument they throw our way is to say that to believe that God would choose to consign any of us to Hell flies in the face of the very nature of God Himself and everything that God stands for and teaches

And then there are those guys who’ve convinced themselves (and will try desperately to convince us) that man is capable of redeeming himself and therefore, as every man is working out his own salvation there is no need for a hell for anyone

Finally, we have the cultists, who without exception, have all concocted a plan by which they, and their deluded followers, can escape eternal damnation and live happily in a better world. And if you reject their plan, you’ll either be totally annihilated or will ultimately be saved anyway.

Now while all that might sound pretty good -  it’s actually all a lie1 See, today, I’m really not concerned with what you believe about Hell. I’m not concerned with what the world believes about Hell. I’m not even concerned even with what I believe about Hell. But I am passionately concerned by God believe about Hell

In the end, it won’t matter what any of us think about it, the Scriptures will be proved correct and every philosophy and every opinion of every man will perish. So lets dig a little deeper into the truth about Hell.

Now, If you’re going there, and you know who you are - this is your wake up call, it’s your opportunity to do something about it.

If you’re are saved, and you know that you’re going to Heaven - this is your wake up call too because I need to remind you that billions of people in 2010 are Hell bound and it’s your job – like it’s my job to do your part to reach them with the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ

So here’s some more truth about Hell: the first sermon Jesus preached and the last sermon he preached
both have the same message.

In the first - the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7),  Jesus calls for us to make a choice between a house build on the rock and one built on the sand.

In the last sermon (Matt. 24-26), Jesus calls for on us all to make the choice between Heaven and Hell.

Now, my job is to preach the full gospel of Jesus Christ. Not to pick and choose the nice bits, or the comfortable bits or the bits that it’s easy for us to incorporate into our lives without it making too much of a difference. It’s my job to teach accountability and responsibility and integrity. It’s my job to teach you that ALL of our actions have consequences, and that we have to deal them with be they good, bad or just plain ugly. It’s my job to teach you that the Bible says that the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life.

Now, neither you or I wouldn’t need the gift of eternal life if we didn’t have to deal with the wages of our sin or the consequential death. And if my life was not predicated towards sin, if there was no real danger of going to a real Hell, why would I need a Savior or a redeemer? See, If Hell’s not real,  there really would be no need for Jesus.

So, let’s look at the two main players in the story we read today:Lets start by looking at the rich manHere’s a guy who lost his soul gradually. There was no sudden, cataclysmic event.  It didn’t happen overnight. But it did happen. This is a guy who’d been accumulating stuff all his life. Now watch this – its important.The Bible doesn’t say – neither does it infer that this guy was in the slightest bit dishonest about how he got his stuff. But his great mistake appears to be the fact that he spent all of his time and energy focused on the stuff of this world while he  ignored his eternal soul. In this life, there was little – or nothing that he couldn’t afford. The Bible says he was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day (v19)

That tells us some things:he wasn't just prosperous or well-off, he was enormously wealthy. He lived like a king. He was the Bible-time equivalent of a Kennedy or Rockefeller or Bill Gates. He wore fine clothes, he had a mansion for a home. Servants waited on him hand-and-foot . He never knew what physical hunger was and he never knew what it was to want for anything.It was obvious that he was well-fed and fully satisfied with life.To guard his wealth and protect his physical well-being his estate was surrounded by a wall.
And the entrance was blocked by a gate and armed soldiers. See, back then, just like now, there were people who wanted to share in his wealth by whatever means they could and there were people who envied his success.

But back in the day, while he was busy living his life to the full here on earth, it seems that he was either unaware or else he was totally unconcerned about the world to come

Now, I don’t think that our guy was necessarily a bad man. In fact, if anything, it appears he was somewhat concerned about Lazarus.He had some compassion. And we know this because the Bible says that every day, crumbs were sent out to the gate to feed Lazarus. Now these  ‘crumbs’ must have been worth waiting for because the Bible implies that Lazarus lay at the rich man’s gate for an extended period of time.Obviously those who carried Lazarus to the gate thought that this was the best place for him. They’d probably tried other places but found that this was the best place for Lazarus.

Now, as a segue, just remember this: no matter where you are in your life there will always be a Lazarus at your gate or some hurting person who needs your assistance.And it’s your job as a representative of Jesus to show compassion. And to meet that need. But that’s a blog for another day

Now, the older you get, the more you become aware of just how short life actually is. When you’re in your teens or early twenties and just starting out you don’t have a care in the world about your longevity and you see your whole life stretching out before you. But the older you get, the shorter that path seems to look and when you get to my age (51), you start to understand that maybe the horizon of your earthly life isn’t quite so far away as you once thought. You realize that your grip on this life is tenuous at best and death is just around the corner - waiting to steal that last breath. And as neither you or I know when that moment is gonna come, that’s what makes this whole heaven v hell thing so terribly important.

But people today are so focused on their worldly stuff that the concept of making an investment now in order to reap a harvest in the next life is just plain foolish to so many today. That’s why most people only invest their resources  in things that they can see – and not in things they can’t see. So people invest in buildings, in businesses, and in the stock market because those are things that they can track the growth in. That's why the majority of people in 2010 and all to often that includes the majority of people in the church never invest themselves in prayer and fasting, never mine the treasures in the Word of God, are never are concerned with effort it takes to tell someone about Jesus, never experience a hunger for spiritual growth and are never hungry for revival. People just want to stay right where they are, where they’re most comfortable,

But there came a day that the rich man died. And when he died he left it all behind him. The man who gained the whole world ended up losing his soul. When he died, he got torn from all the stuff that he’d accumulated and he entered into an eternal reality that he had nothing in common with and for which he was totally unprepared to face.

So lets look at the differences between the rich man and LazarusOn the outside, their circumstances could hardly have been more different:

• One was rich, the other was a beggar
• One wore the finest clothes, the other wore rags
• One ate only the finest food - the other survived on crumbs.
• One enjoyed good health, the other was covered in sores
• One moved in the highest social circles, the other was a beggar.

But for all that visible stuff, or all those obvious differences, that’s not what God saw. God’s always been more interested in the condition of the heart. He couldn’t care less what stuff you’ve got. He’s not impressed. He gave it to you anyway! And so here’s the thing while one guy luxuriated in his wealth, the other was content in his poverty.While one got his satisfaction and security from his stuff, the other was laying up treasure in heaven. And when their lives on earth were done: one found himself cast into hell, while the other was carried to heaven. Once they got to their destinations, one was comforted , while the other was tormented

Now, here’s one of the greatest lessons we can learn from this parable: Lazarus could have found himself in Hell just as easily as the rich man. While he was earth his temptations would have been just as great as the rich man’s. He could have allowed his situation, his health and his living conditions to make him very bitter. He could have spent his days complaining about what he hadn’t got like so many of us today. But he didn’t

I want to spend the last few minutes looking at what happened when our guy got to hell

It couldn’t be any more plain that Hell is a place of pain and torment. A lot of people feel that this is symbolic
And if that’s where you’re at this morning - you’d better hope not! Because Symbolism is only used in the Bible when conventional language is totally inadequate to describe something. And the reality is always much worse than the symbol!

Here are some the real torments that Hell contains: Revelation 20:14-15

Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.

Now in our story Jesus points out four distinct torments that a man will have to endure in hell and from which there will never be any relief

• a tongue that’s so dry – its blistered,
• and the cry for water,
• the separation,
• and the unanswered prayer.

Now just for a minute – think of everything you have right now - all of your stuff and what it would take for you to be desperate to trade all of that for a sip of water. And then you’ll start to scratch the surface of what it will be like to spend eternity in hell

Here’s the first flame of hell - The Pain

24 “The rich man shouted, ‘Father Abraham, have some pity! Send Lazarus over here to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue. I am in anguish in these flames.’

I am in anguish in these flames.Other translations use the word tormented instead of anguish. In Hell, You will be burning but you’ll never be consumed. So the pain will never go awayAnd while the pain will be unbearable, there’ll never be any sense of relief. See, there will be nothing to stop the flames.

The Second Flame will be your own memory

25 “But Abraham said to him, ‘Son, remember that during your lifetime you had everything you wanted, and Lazarus had nothing.

If you find yourself in Hell, you’ll remember everything about your life on earth .You’ll rember all of the times you spent in the house of God, all of the times the Holy Spirit tugged at your heart, all of the times someone prayed for you and with you, all of the times that you turned your back on the call to make a commitment., all of the times that you just sat there and chose not to get involved in the worship. You'll remeber all of the times that you laughed it off, all of the sermons that you ever heard, all of the Sunday School lessons that you heard and all of the excuses you made to yourself about why you couldn’t serve God.Nothing will escape your memory.Those memories will be so powerful. The words, “Son, remember. . . .” will haunt you forever

The Third Flame is the Separation from God

26 And besides, there is a great chasm separating us. No one can cross over to you from here, and no one can cross over to us from there.’

Here’s something strange about Hell: apparently it’s inhabitants will have a limited view of heaven. Jesus says the same thing in Luke 13: 26-28

Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil.’  “There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out.

I think the view that you’ll get from Hell will be a living illustration of you lost opportunities from this life and all the chances that you were offered but chose to ignore.

See, you won’t be there. You’ll be separated from God, from the moving of His Spirit, and from those you knew in the Church.

The Fourth Flame: An Unanswered Prayer .

27 “Then the rich man said, ‘Please, Father Abraham, at least send him to my father’s home. For I have five brothers, and I want him to warn them so they don’t end up in this place of torment.’

The rich man had family who were at risk. He had five brothers who were following in his footsteps. Now all of a sudden, their eternal fate became important to him. And so the rich guy prayed that  if somehow Lazarus could just return from the dead and preach to them, and witness to them, that his brothers would be saved.

But his prayer went unanswered. Actually the prayer was answered.  Just not with the answer he was desperate for. The answer was given that there are others who are right now working toward reaching the lost. There are people busy sharing Jesus with hurting people.

As I’v been teaching this series on the realities of Hell, maybe you’ve paid a bit more attention that you have in the past. But maybe its all fallen on deaf ears.

I have no doubt that hell is full of mothers and fathers, and sisters and brothers and grandparents who are all begging that someone should reach out to their families right now.

They’re saying

• Please somebody - warn them about the pain.
• Please somebody - tell them about the separation.
• Please somebody - tell them about the memory that never stops remembering.

See, this rich man was some mother’s son. Maybe he left a wife and children behind. He certainly had brothers who were on his mind. Here is the sad fact, but it’s the truth:

people you know - and people I know - will go to Hell.

Maybe there will be people you live with that’ll die and end up there. Hell will be filled with real people. People who simply said no to God. Will you be among them? Who do you know that will be?

The rich man was told that he had to stay there and he’s still there this morning! If you die without Jesus Christ, you’ll go there too. And once you go to Hell, you’ll be there forever,

Hell is not annihilation – that would be the easy way out

Hell is not a temporary place of purging or cleansing - en route to heaven

Hell is not the grave

Hell is not a parable, and it is not a scare tactic.

Hell is the reality waiting for you if you are outside Jesus Christ and die today!

But here's the good news: HELL CAN BE AVOIDED THROUGH A REAL PROMISE. The rich man is told that the Word of God holds the answer. John 3 -16/17 tells us of God’s love for sinners, how Jesus died to save us and how his resurrection guarantees eternal life to all who come to him by faith.

So I'm hgoing to end this posting with the only question I have for you today:

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”