Fighting for My Pea Patch

We are continuing this study in I John under the Series titled “Living in the Light.” Week 1 we discussed how “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all,” and how you and I are to “Love one another.” Last week, the message was titled “Living in the New Name,” and today we’ve titled this message “Living in the New Name Part II.” If you remember from last week, John begins this letter by saying, “My little children, these things write I unto you that you sin not . . .”

So, John is addressing these young Christians who still haven’t grown up in the Lord. John is reminding them, “Hey, you’re still in the family of God, even if you’re like children. God still loves you; He’s still chosen you; He’s still walking with you.” “My little children, I’m writing these things to you, as family members, so that you may not – what? So that you may not Sin. Why? Because sin is contrary to the nature of a person who professes to be a Christian. It contradicts the New Name we carry when we walk in sin.

Now let’s go back to chapter 1 and verse 9, where john says, “God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins when we confess them to Him.” But listen to me, this is very important to get: God’s willingness to forgive us of our sins is not a license for you and I to sin. Remember last week we talked about those two types of sin: The sins of Omission and the sins of Commission. John is writing these young Christians and encouraging them not to MESS WITH SIN – Light has no business hanging around with darkness.

I remember a sermon I heard years ago from an old evangelist by the name of Vance Havner. I can’t remember the particular title to the sermon, or his exact wording, but it was regarding light and darkness. He said this, “If you hang around in the dark long enough, thing begin to get brighter, clearer. It is not because the darkness has gotten lighter, it’s simply that we’ve gotten used to the dark.”

So, John is not writing to give us an excuse to sin but urging us to avoid it – to “SIN NOT.” Then John goes on, “But, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.” John is writing to encourage them not to sin, but when they do, WHEN YOU DO, we have an advocate with the Father.

WE HAVE HELP LIVING IN THE NEW NAME (V1 & 2)

Now why is that important? Because the Tempter, when you sin, he tries to make you think that you are no longer a part of the family; You haven’t lived up to the New Family Name, so you are no longer part of the family of God. But I am telling you Church the Devil is a liar and a deceiver, because John assured you and I that we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ THE RIGHTEOUS. Listen, your earthly family may have a cut-off switch with you, but your heavenly Father does not!

• You can come to God in your anger;
• And you can come to Him in your joy;
• You can come to Him in worse moments;
• And you can come to Him in your best moments;
• You can come to Him with your biggest successes;
• And you can come to Him with your biggest failures.

As the sons and daughters of God, we don’t need someone to go to Him on our behalf, but through Jesus Christ the Righteous – we can go straight to the Father.

Then in verse 2, John says, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

This means that you and I are incapable of living up to the New Name. We are incapable of living a righteous, sin-free life – we need help – and that help is “Jesus Christ the righteous And He is the propitiation for our sin . . .” God had a plan for us and for the help that we would need Living in the Family Name!

Satan may stand as our accuser – because we sin, but Jesus stands as our Advocate – and He paid the price for that sins. So, my question to you is this: Which one do you believe? The accuser or the Advocate? Folks listen; God has more Grace than you have Sin!

I want you to picture with me standing in a court room; You are the accused, standing before God the Judge. He asked you how do you plead: You know you have sinned; you know you have failed; you know you hurt your wife or your husband; you know shouldn’t have committed that crime, or that sin; you know you gossiped about your brothers and sisters in Christ and instead of building them up, you are trying to tear them down. Simply put – YOU HAVE NOT LIVED UP TO THE FAMILY NAME. You know you are guilty. And here you are standing before God and you know you need help. Then Jesus stands up and says, “Your Honor – DAD, I am the lawyer for the accused, and I have already paid the penalty for the debt Joe owed.

It is in that very moment, when I turn to Him that paid, that He steps up to defend. That’s what it means for Him to be the Advocate and the Propitiation. He is more than my lawyer, He also paid the debt I owe.

A defense attorney tries to get your sentence reduced – But Jesus comes wipes the slate clean. WE GO FREE THROUGH MY BLOOD! Folks, that is the beauty of the Cross. He is our substitute – our Advocate.

So, child of God, stop living in shame and defeat – lift your head-up and walk tall in the New Name you have in Christ Jesus. Celebrate the Advocate Who has paid your sin-debt in full.

Since We Have Help Living in the New Name;

WE SHOULD BEHAVE LIKE A MEMBER OF THE FAMILY (V3)

“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.”

Now to me, that seems pretty straight forward, doesn’t it? John is probably remembering the Last Supper, where Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” John’s not mincing words here.

The question becomes “How do you keep the commandments?” Some of you are probably thinking, “Well that’s simple – just do it.” But here’s the problem – YOU CAN’T.

I know that’s confusing, and if you are like me, you are asking the question, “If I’m supposed to just do it, but I can’t, then why am I being asked to do it?”

Because the way you go about doing it is different than every other religion. Well, I think the fact that John gave us verses 1 and 2 before verse 3 is so that we would understand the Gospel. In order to understand verse 3, we have to know what it means to be freed from the penalty of sin.

Luke 9:3 would say that we have to die to ourselves. If that is true, what has to happen for Christ to come alive in us? I think Paul would say, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Simply put, the only way we can walk in the Commandments is by surrendering our lives to Jesus. So, the way we do that is by laying down our lives on the altar, accepting Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives – thereby taking on the New Name. And the only was we can Live in the New Name is by surrendering to Christ.

Church, STOP walking out of here every Sunday thinking YOU are going to live by the Commandments, you are going to LIVE UP TO THE NEW NAME, and walk out of here yielding to Christ and being filled with his Spirit. And let me tell you this morning, the charismatics don’t have a monopoly on being Spirit filled. If you want to Live Up to the New Name, you are going to have to trust Jesus to live vicariously in and through you.

John put it this way, “HE MUST INCREASE AND I MUST??? DECREASE!” Less of me and more of Him.

Jesus said, “Apart from me, you can do NOTHING.” Let me tell you what that means in Greek – NOTHING; Let me tell you what that means in Hebrew – NOTHING; Let me tell you what that means in Aramaic – NOTHING; Let me tell you what that means in French – Nothing; Let me tell you what that means in Spanish – NOTHING.” We can do NOTHING apart from Christ.

And there are just too many people in the church today trying to be SOMETHING without the Spirit of God. And it produces the fruit of what? NOTHING.

You carry a family name, so live like you are a member of the family. I saw a T-Shirt once that said this on the front: “I’m Standing on the Solid Rock.” On the back side of the shirt, it said this, “Forgive me if you had to come to the backside of the shirt to see if I were a Christian.”

We’ve been called to be illuminated by the light of Christ – to “Live in the Light.” Do you know what happens when we don’t walk in the spirit?

• We walk in the flesh;
• You say things you didn’t intend to say;
• You do things you didn’t intend to do.

Remember sin will take you further than you want to go, make you stay longer than you wanted to stay, and it will have you doing things you never saw yourself doing. How do you get out of that?

But, when we go back to remembering that we have an Advocate, and He has changed your name, He’s enabled you to walk away from sin! The problem with a lot of Christians is they are continually doing a 360 in their lives when they should be doing a 180.

You know what it means when you’ve done a 360 – it means you’ve done a complete circle and when right back to where you started. And Christ is calling us to turn from where we came from and do a 180. Paul would say we are to “Flee from sin.”

Since We Have Help Living in the New Name;

We should Behave Like a Member of the Family;

BUT WE SHOULD REALIZE OUR ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN OUR WORDS (V4)

“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

Let me ask you, “How many of you had some New Years resolutions when you started this year, and now 7 months in, you find you failed to fulfill those resolutions?

• I intended to go to church;
• I intended to lose weight;
• I intended to work harder on my marriage;
• I intended to read my Bible more;
• I intended to pray more;
• I intended to cuss less;
• I intended to love more;

Rick Warren said, “People only believe the parts of the Bible that they actually practice.” So, if we examined your practice, what would it say about the amount of Bible you believe?

Look at verse 4 again, “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” There is no mincing of words there.

Suppose someone says they love you, but are constantly mean, abusive and even hateful to you. How much weight does their words carry if the actions contradict it?

What John is talking about here is people who constantly live their lives, day-in and day-out, contradictory to lifestyle Christ demands of our lives. They say they love Christ, but nothing in the lives reflects that.

Here’s the real problem though, we are so focused on the sins people had in their past, we WON’T LET THEM FORGET. They have come to Christ, Old things have past away and all things have become new, they are now a part of the Family of God, they’ve been given a new name. God has forgiven them of their sin – and what do we do church? We say, “Well God might have forgiven them – But I Won’t! In stead of looking at the person the are now, we keep looking back at the person they were!

Now look at verse 5:

“But whoso keepeth (OBEY) his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.”

WE SHOULD OBEY BECAUSE WE LOVE (V5)

Does anyone know Why is it that I only date Kim? Some of you will say “Because it’s the Law.” And you’re right. But that’s not why I only date Kim. I only date Kim because I love her – and Tuesday will be our 20^th Anniversary, and I can say without hesitation that I love her more today than I did 20 years ago.

My motive for my good actions is because of love. I am a one-woman guy because of love. Now I say all that to say this: If we are called to have only One God, why do we keep going to so many other Sudo saviors?

Listen I follow Christ, not because of obedience, or because I’m a Son of God – I walk in obedience because I love God. And the longer I serve Him, the more I love Him. I love God today more than I did 55 years ago when He saved me as a little boy in Fourth Street Baptist Church; I love Him more today than the day he called me to preach over 30 years ago. I even love Him more today than the day I did over 2 years ago when we planted Rally Point Biker Church.

Folks, if you say you are following Jesus, it is not Obedience that cause you to follow – it is Love.

You say, “Preacher why do you preach so much about love? Because listen to me,  without it, we can never Live up to the Family Name.”

Let me leave you with one final thought.

WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT TO DO, DO WHAT JESUS DID (V 5, 6)

^“5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. ⁶ He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.”

Back in the day, when I was much younger and much thinner, and even wore skinny jeans (I lied right there because we didn’t have skinny jeans back when I was young and thin). But back in the day, there was a bracelet people used to wear that had these initials on it: WWJD. Anyone know what that meant?

The principle behind it was this: before you go off and did something stupid, you are supposed to stop and ask yourself – What Would Jesus Do? When you don’t know what to do, do what Jesus did!

Conclusion: This morning, as we’ve talked about Living in the Light and Living in the New Name, maybe you’ve stumbled. Maybe you’ve failed. Maybe the weight of not living up to the ‘family name’ as a child of God has left you feeling unworthy. Hear me church—you have an Advocate. Jesus Christ the Righteous stands for you, not just to defend you, but to declare that your debt is paid in full. You don’t have to live in shame, defeat, or confusion. You can walk confidently in the New Name, not in your strength, but by surrendering to His. Today is not about doing more—it’s about trusting more.

This morning, we are continuing this study in I John titled “Living in the Light.” If you were here last week, you will remember that I John is chronologically the last book written in the Bible. This was a letter that was passed around to the churches, to include the church at Ephesus.

John’s writings are simplistic and direct. John doesn’t mince words. He doesn’t make the message complex – but keeps it so simple so that we might actually be able to do something with it. In church today, we consider a good sermon when the pastor wraps it up on time, or when he shares a good joke or two. But John is very surgical in his message. He is trying to effect transformation in the lives of people.

Last week we shared two points from John’s letter, and both of them begin with these key words: THIS IS THE MESSAGE. And that message was this:

GOD IS LIGHT AND IN HIM IS NO DARKNESS AT ALL (I John 1:5)

That means that God has no dark side, he has no scandals, he has no skeletons in His closest. You will never be able to say, “Can you believe what God did?” There is nothing God has done that He would be ashamed to have flashed across the screen in our church.

That’s what you and I have: I have a downside, I have a dark side, I’ve had scandal, I’ve had something’s happen in my life I would want flashed on the screen of the church for everyone to know about. I have things in my life that don’t align with the character and conduct of a Christian.

And the message of John is that you and I are to Live Life in the Light Since “God is Light and in Him is no darkness at all.” That means that you and I no longer live in the darkness, but we live in the Light – the good parts and the bad parts. We don’t go back in forth, which is terrifying, because we all have some dark stuff in our lives don’t we? Because you and I are now living in the Light, guess what? Our sins are going to be illuminated. Remember the Bible says, “Be sure your sins will find you out?” Does that mean you are not saved? NO. But it does mean you can’t live in the darkness.

So how do you live life in the Light if you continue to have things in your life that don’t line up?

We need to understand two things: First GOD IS LOVE, and second, God provided us a way to repent. 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

You and I balance our lives between two lives: There is our public life, that is the life we want everyone to think of us, then there is the private life, that’s where we hide our darkness.

Because of that, you and I need to understand that we serve a Loving God, because if he wasn’t, JOE MOORE would be in trouble.

So, through repentance, either God has enough GRACE to keep me in the Light, or His grace is going to run out – So I am going to make repentance a part of my life so that His grace doesn’t run out!

THE SECOND MESSAGE WAS, THAT YOU LOVE ONE ANOTHER (I John 3:11)

How is the world going to know that you and I are in the Light? By our Fruit of Love!

Chapter 2:10 says, “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light.” If God has forgiven me for all the darkness in my life, who am I to hold your darkness against you, or anybody else for that matter?

And according to verse 3:11, we know that we are Living in the light and that His love is perfected in us when we do what? LOVE ONE ANOTHER. That has been and will always be the message of this church.

Now, that brings us to the message today titled “LIVING IN THE FAMILY NAME.” To preface the message, I was born into the Moore family. Now, I didn’t choose the Moore Family, and to be honest, the Moore family didn’t choose me. When I was in kindergarten, my Mom explained to me that a BIRD dropped me off at the hospital.

But my grandmother used to say something to me, I didn’t really understand then, and not that I do now – but she used to say, “YOU’RE A MOORE, ACT LIKE IT.”

I think what my grandmother was trying to articulate was, “There is a value attached to your name.” And my grandmother truly lived up to the value in her name.

There is also a downside to being a Moore. Back in God’s country of Hartsville, SC, I attended the same elementary school that both my grandparents attended, and both my parents attended, and all my aunts and uncles attended, and all my cousins attended. The Junior High I attended, all of my family attended. And so, when teachers that had been there since probably my grandmother attended would read the roll out, they would say something like this: “Joey – Oh my God there’s another – Moore.”

Why do I bring that up? Well, the second YOU that chose to follow Jesus Christ by faith through grace, guess what? YOU HAD A NAME CHANGE. There are a lot of things to describe you, but there is only one thing that defines you.

Listen, before you meet Christ, you could be described by talents, or by failures, or by disappointments, but once you became a part of the family of God – none of those things have the ability, OR RIGHT, to define you anymore. Jesus Christ shed His blood on Calvary’s Cross so that you could now be defined by the blood that you have been born into. YOU ARE BLOOD BOUGHT: YOU HAVE A NAME CHANGE.

What John is going to address in Chapter two is what it means to LIVE in the NEW NAME THAT YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN IN CHRIST JESUS – YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN.

And as my grandma would say, “YOU NEED TO ACT LIKE IT.” You carry the name of the Risen Savior. So, the way that you live, the way that you respond, the way that you engage others, it all matters now because of the NAME that you represent!

So let me give you a few points this morning on what it means to: LIVE IN THE FAMILY NAME.

Let’s look at 1 John 2:1 & 2, “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

John begins by saying “My little children . . .” Now when he says that, he is using a term of endearment; he is not saying they are being childish – though maybe they were.

Remember now, the Book of I john is the last Book that was actually written chronologically. We know that John is living in Ephesus at the time, and so they no doubt have already read the book of Revelation. In fact, in Revelation 3, John addresses directly the problem in the church at Ephesus, and he does because they had forgotten what? THEIR FIRST LOVE.

Here is the problem with us humans: identifying our problems is only half the problem. I know a lot of things need to change about the way I eat, but I still drink a Dr. Pepper and have a donut every now and again. I have thoughts of a Beach Body by summer, but I have habits of Buddha Body by summer.

Identifying a problem is one thing, implementing change is another. But in the Christian life, we are not just after change – we are after transformation. You see, we have the power to change, GOD has the power to Transform. Transformation is God working in us and through us.

So, John is addressing these “Little Children” in Ephesus who are still not growing up in the Lord. They are still in the family of God, even if they are like children. He still loves you; He’s still chosen you.

THAT YOU SIN NOT

John says, “I’m writing these things unto you, (as family members – as my brothers and sisters in Christ) WHY? That ye sin not” Because it is contrary to living a Christian life, it is contrary to Living in the Family Name.

When we sin folks, it doesn’t mean that you are not a part of the family, but it does mean you are dishonoring the Family name. As my grandmother would say, “You’re not acting like it!” So, when we sin, we become a contradiction to the Name that we profess.

I John 1:9, we learned that God forgives us of our sin when we confess, but in verse 10 John reminds us that we are not sinners in our identity, though at times we are still sinful in our actions. But God’s willingness to forgive us of our sins is not a License to sin, and that is what John is addressing in Chapter 2 and verse 1. So, this is not a license to become complacent in sin.

Now there are two types of sin going on in all of our lives right now: Sins of Commission and Sins of Omission.

Sins of Omission means that you didn’t realize that the path you were walking in was sin. Now, that doesn’t make it any less sinful, it just means you didn’t know.

Then there are the premeditated sins – the Sins of Commission. These are the sins that we know are sin – yet we leave the tunnel open in our souls to go back to it every now and again.

Most of the sins that God is convicting us of are not the sins of Omission, but the sins of Commission. The things we clearly know we should do – yet we do them anyway.

Here is the question I want all us to answer inside ourselves, “Are my actions Living up to the Family Name?”

Our problem is, we like to mess around in sin. Paul tells us in I Corinthians that we are to “flee from sin” – “run from sin,” WHY? Because sin will take you further than you wanted to go, make you stay longer than you wanted to stay.

So, John is writing the church in Ephesus and telling them, “DON’T MESS WITH SIN.” “My little children, these things write I unto you that you SIN NOT.” Light has no business playing with the dark! John is not writing to give us an excuse to sin, but urging us to avoid sin, to not sin.

Now, let’s look at the second part of that verse, “These things write I unto you that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.” I writing you so that you want sin, and here’s point two:

BUT WHEN YOU DO (AND YOU WILL) YOU HAVE AND ADVOCATE

When we go to God and say:

“LORD, I’ve sinned” He says, “I know.”

“LORD, will you forgive me for my sin” He says “I do.”

There is a story I’ve shared before in the Book of Philemon about Onesimus.  Onesimus was a slave of Philemon.  Onesimus ran away from his master, and sometime later, while he was on his journey, Onesimus crossed paths with the Apostle Paul.  Onesimus got Saved.  Later, Paul was sending him to Philemon, and he wrote and said something along these lines:

“Philemon, I am sending some people to you.  But Philemon, when you receive them, I want you to receive them as if you were receiving me.  If you’re my co-laborer, receive them like you would me.  Give them the respect you’ve given me.  Don’t be mad at him, and if he owes you anything – put that on my account!”

Now, let’s bring that over into the spiritual realm.  And I can see Jesus saying something like this:

“Father – DAD – I know he ain’t much.  I know he’s done you wrong.  But when he comes to You, I ask you to receive him as if you were receiving Me.  Dad, I paid for his sins, I am the propitiation for his sin.  If he owes you anything – put that on my account!”

I want you to know that Jesus, your advocate, your lawyer, is sitting at the right hand of the Father and He is fighting for you.

Let me ask you this morning, “Are you living up to the Family Name?”

I am going to begin a series of messages through the Book of 1 John. This is a short book, but it is an incredible, power-packed book, it is a transformative book, and I believe it is a timely message for our church in this season. I am going to give you a lot of facts and background to the book in the front end. So, if you have your Bibe with you, please turn near the end of the Bible to the Book of I John.  

While you are turning there, chronologically, that means if you were to read the Bible the way it was actually written before it was Canonized, which means, after Jesus had risen from the dead, the New Testament writings are attributed to people, to Apostles and Disciples of Christ that had actually seen the Risen Savior.  I John would have been the last book written. It was written after the Book of Revelation, and after 2 and 3 John. 

Just to give you some Biblical history. If I were to ask you “Who wrote the most words in the New Testament,” what would your answer be?

• Luke wrote the most with 37,000 words in two Books – Luke and Acts
• Paul, with 32,000 words in 13 letters
• John, with 28,000 words in the Gospel of John, Revelation, and I, II, III John

Another fact is that some would argue John was not the author, and I think they do so just for the sake of arguing – you ever meet anyone like that? But there are several reasons I believe John is the author: First, Historically, the Book was written somewhere between 88 A.D. and 100 A.D. Which would fit the life span of John, and attested to by early Church father Iraneus (130 AD) and Tertullian (160 AD) who would have had first hand eye-witness accounts of John being the actual author of the Book. But secondly, the style of writing matches John’s other writings.

For example, John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the word, the word was with God and the Word was God.” Now look at I John 1:1, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life.” John also writes repetitiously. In other words, he repeats things over and over again to drive a point home. The Apostle Paul writes in a very linear manner, meaning point A will get you to point B which will get you to point C. But John goes all over the place, but always comes back to the main point.

John’s writings are also simple. In fact, if you are studying Greek in Bible College, more likely than not, the lessons are going to begin with John, because his writings are simple to understand. They are not going to start with Paul, because his writings are to confusing and complex. For instance, in Romans 7 Paul says, “The things I know to do and the things I’m not supposed to do, I do – do.” Where John says something like, “My little children . . .” Now that is not very hard to understand is it?

John is believed to be the only Apostle that did not die a martyr’s death. Now grant it, they did try to boil him alive, then he wrote the Book of Revelation. So John lived to be very old, and the church had begun to be established, and some of them had begun to have issues in the church. John, living in Ephesus, It is believed that in his old age, John would be carried into these churches to speak and they would sit him down, and crowds would gather, and John would say something like this, “My little children, love one another . . .” And that was it. His messages got shorter, and I believe that is because the further along in life you get, the more you realize what’s important. John didn’t give a dissertation like Paul that would cause you to fall out of a window and die . . . John just gave a simple message. 

If I were to give you an outline of I John, it would go like this:

• Intro – I John 1:1-4
• God is Light – I John 1:5-3:10
• God is Love – I John 3:11-5:10
• How to be Assured – I John 5:11-5:21

By way of introduction, John begins in verses 1-4 by addressing the issue of Gnosticism that has risen in the church. Gnostic did not recognize Christ as both 100 percent man and 100 percent God. So John is reiterating “That which was from the beginning . . .” What was from the beginning? THE WORD. The same Word that was given to describe “The Angel of God” in Daniel chapter 10, and Daniel chapter 3, He is mentioned again as the Fourth man in the fire, “Being in the form of the Son of God.” So Jesus was “In the Beginning!” (Read verse 1-4)

GOD IS LIGHT

Then we come to verse 5, and John has a specific message to share. That message is “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

This is a character statement about God. He has no darkness AT ALL; He has no skeletons in His closest; There is no Hyde to His Jekyll. The term “God is light,” is meant to illuminate the moral perfection of God. GOD IS LIGHT.

Listen, you will not find any fault in God. You can find fault in me; you can find fault in Richard; you can look around this church building this morning and find fault in every person sitting here – but you will not find any fault in HIM.

That’s why you and I can stand on the mountaintops and Proclaim God – because there is nothing to hide or be ashamed of about God!

You see God has no scandals, no issues, no dark side. But here is our problem – WE DO. We all have a past, don’t we? And it is that past that makes the next few verse very difficult to deal with.

Verses 6-10 say, “If we (those of us who have scandals, those of us with a past) say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”

Here’s the deal, If “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all,” where are we supposed to be? IN THE LIGHT. And that’s a problem for us, because the truth is, there are probably some things that have happened in our lives this past week that we would not want projected up on this TV screen this morning. And though I have not listen to every word my wife has said to me this week, I am still called to live my life in the LIGHT.

SO here I am – I once walked in darkness, but by God’s grace and through my faith in His Son, I have come out of the darkness and into the Light – I have nothing to hide from God anymore. That doesn’t mean I don’t fail, or sin – but I don’t LIVE there anymore. But when I fall, when I sin, when I come up short – I “confess my sins” – and guess what, “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I’m not going back to the dark.

To “Live in the light” means people will see your struggles, your shortcomings. And they will use them against you. “Living in the Light” means that we are vulnerable.

And for most of us, we want to walk in the GUISE of PERFECTION rather than walk in the BEAUTY OF HIS GRACE.

“Living in the Light” means that sometimes we are going to mess up and our mistakes and failures will be illuminated. The Bible doesn’t say that we sin occasionally – it says we are sinners!

So why would God want to take people who have walked in darkness, bring them into the Light, only to begin highlighting their shortcomings?

Well, God’s grace is being perfected in what? OUR WEAKNESS! I am immoral and I am imperfect and Jesus SAVED ME!

So how do we start learning to LIVE IN THE LIGHT? That brings us to the second message from John. Look at Chapter 3:11:

“For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.”

Remember, the first message was that GOD IS LIGHT, and the second message is:

 LOVE ONE ANOTHER.”

How is the world going to know that you and I are in the Light? By our Fruit of Love!

Chapter 2:10 says, “He that loveth his brother abideth in the light.” If God has forgiven me for all the darkness in my life, who am I to hold your darkness against you, or anybody else for that matter?

And according to verse 3:11, we know that we are walking in the light and that His loved is perfected in us when we do what? LOVE ONE ANOTHER. That has been and will always be the message of this church.

Back in the 18^th Century, there was a young boy whose mother had died. So he decided to leave his home and follow his father to the sea. When he got out into the world, it didn’t take him long to start fitting in with the world. He became rebellious and hateful and did a lot of things he was ashamed of.

In his late teenage years, he got a job on a ship transporting slaves from England over into the New World. Now this was an evil young man, but just as Paul had a life changing experience on the Road to Damascus, this young man had a life changing experience onboard a slave ship.

At the age of 23, he was on a ship when a hurricane came up, and in the middle of this storm, he saw the ship being battered, he saw people going overboard, and that young man, in fear for his own life thought back to what his mother did when she had times of trouble – she prayed. So that young man cried out to God and asked God to save him, and as soon as he did, the storm ceased and God saved not only that young man, but everyone else on that boat.

About a decade later, this young man, at the age of 33, was called to pastor a church by another man named Charles Wesley. When he was preparing to preach his first sermon, he wanted to convey to the church what God had done in his life and the best way he could of to do that was through a song. And here are the words he spoke:

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me.

I once was lost, but now I’m found

Was blind, but now I see.

Twas grace that taught my heart to fear

And grace my fear relieves.

How precious did that grace appear

The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares

I have already come

And His grace has brought me safe thus far

And His grace will lead me home.

When we’ve been there 10,000 years

Bright shinning as the sun

We’ve no less days to sing God’s grace

Than when we first begun!

John Newton wrote about the day he found God’s grace – and truly it is AMAZING GRACE!

That word “amazing” means “To fill with surprise or wonder.” Webster’s Dictionary defines grace as “Divine love and protection.”

In II Corinthians 12, Paul’s ministry is being questioned, so he begins to open-up his heart in this letter to the Church in Corinth. In Chapter 12 he really begins to focus in on the Provision of God.

In verse 7 he speaks of being given a “Thorn in the flesh.” A lot of people speculate what this thorn in the flesh was – maybe blindness, or sickness, or arthritis. Truth is, we really don’t know what his thorn might have been.

What we do know is that it Hurt Paul, it Hindered Paul in the ministry. So, Paul prayed three times that the LORD would remove his thorn in the flesh. But God said to Paul, “I not going to remove it, but I’m going to give you and added ingredient called “Grace.”

As a combat veteran, I have carried with me over the years a “thorn in my flesh” called PTSD – among other ailments. I have prayed and asked God to remove that thorn from me, but He hasn’t (and probably never will) – but what He has done is give me an extra ingredient – Grace. And I am so thankful this morning for God’s amazing grace!

IT’S AMAZING BECAUSE OF ITS AUTHOR (v.9a)

In verse 9 He says, “My Grace.” Paul wanted the church in Corinth to understand that Grace could only come from God Himself.

Paul didn’t need his friends grace – He needed God’s grace. Many people are seeking a lot of things in this world to fill that empty void in their life, but the only thing that can fill it is GRACE, GRACE, GOD’S GRACE!

I have a very good friend of mine that is probably 10 years younger than me. He used to be on fire for God, and years ago he turned his back on God. He has spent years trying to fill that void in his life, with drinking, with drugs – and he knows the only thing that will fill it – he just won’t turn it over to God. Sin has taken a heavy toil on his life and to see him you would think he is in his 70’s.

Listen to me this morning, you can search high and low trying to find something to fill the empty void in your life, but the only thing that can fill it come from Him – GRACE.

There was a young man that planned to go on a one-week fishing trip with his buddies, but a few days before they were going, he stepped on a piece of glass and cut his foot. He was wearing a pair of blue socks and the dye from the socks caused his foot to get infected. Back in those days, they didn’t have the antibiotics we have now. So while he was home, he decided to attend a revival service, since he didn’t have anything else to do. During that revival service, that young man gave his heart to Jesus. Who else could use a blue sock to bring someone to saving grace? That young man’s name was James Garfield – the 20^th President of the USA. And God goes out of His way to make sure we know GRACE comes from Him!

IT’S AMAZING BECAUSE OF ITS ABUNDANCE (v.9b)

“My grace is sufficient.” James 4:6 tells us that “he giveth more grace.” That word sufficient means “more than enough.” Aren’t you glad God gives us more than enough? That’s why God’s grace is so amazing – He provides me with more than enough and MORE THAN I DESERVE.

I’m reminded of a story of a family during the Depression Era. They were struggling and extremely poor. Every evening at dinner, the mother would set out a glass of milk, and on the glass, there were lines marked. Each member of the family would take a drink down to the next line and then they would pass it on to the next member of the family. The daughter got very sick one day and had to be admitted to the hospital. The first evening there, the nurse brought in a tray of food, with a big piece of cake and a full glass of milk. The little girl asked the nurse, “Where are the lines?” The nurse asked her what she meant. The little girl proceeded to tell her that in her house, they were so poor that they could only drink to the next line, then pass it on to the next family member.  With tears in her eyes, that nurse said, “Oh sweetie, don’t you worry about that here. There is more than enough to go around here. When you finish that glass, there’s more waiting.”

Isn’t that the way it is with God’s grace. Sometimes we feel like we are going to exhaust the grace of God and we drink and drink and drink, only to find that the grace just keeps on coming. God’s GRACE IS NOT ONLY ENOUGH – IT IS MORE THAN ENOUGH.

• God’s Grace was enough for Abraham when he was going to offer his son as a sacrifice – God provided a Ram. His grace and provision was more than enough!

• God’s Grace was sufficient for David when he picked up a stone and slew Goliath.

• God’s grace was more than enough for Elijah when he called down the fire of heaven on Mt. Carmel and sucked up the sacrifice.

And I’m telling you this morning, God’s grace is more than enough for if you will just trust in His Amazing Grace!

God’s Grace is Amazing because of its Author and its Abundance, But

IT’S AMAZING BECAUSE OF IT’S APPLICANT (v.9c)

“My grace is sufficient for thee.” Let me replace that word with my name, or with your name. In fact, on the count of 3, let all say this verse together and replace that word “THEE” with your name. Ready, 1, 2 , 3 – “My grace is sufficient for JOE MOORE.”

Listen, no matter what your need is this morning, God’s Grace is Sufficient for you! It is more than enough FOR YOU.

I Peter 5:10 says “He is the God of all grace.” No matter what the need is, God has the grace to cover that need. Because God’s Grace is:

• Amazing Grace
• Abounding Grace
• Believing Grace
• Beautiful Grace
• Comforting Grace
• Cleansing Grace
• Delivering Grace
• Dying Grace
• Enduring Grace
• Everlasting Grace
• Free Grace
• Far reaching Grace
• Guarding Grace
• Guiding Grace
• Humbling Grace
• Helping Grace
• Infinite Grace
• Impartial Grace
• Justifying Grace
• Joyful Grace
• Keeping Grace
• Loving Grace
• Longsuffering Grace
• Matchless Grace
• Miraculous Grace
• New Grace
• Never ending Grace
• Overcoming Grace
• Overwhelming Grace
• Providing Grace
• Protecting Grace
• Quickening Grace
• Redeeming Grace
• Righteous Grace
• Saving Grace
• Sustaining Grace
• Supernatural Grace
• Timely Grace
• True Grace
• Underserving Grace
• Understanding Grace
• Victorious Grace
• Wonderful Grace
• Words You Can’t Explain Grace
• There’s no words for X so it’s X-Citing Grace
• Yielding Grace
• Zealous Grace

No matter what your need is this morning, He has the A-Z Grace to cover you Hallelujah! Can somebody say AMEN right there? God’s grace will be there when you need it.

When you really boil down Grace, it simply means God’s Riches At Christ Expense. Dying alone on that hill, He gave us GRACE. I can’t explain it, but I think John Newton got about as close to describing it as you can by writing: 

AMAZING GRACE HOW SWEET THE SOUND

THAT SAVED A WRETCH LIKE ME

I ONCE WAS LOST BUT NOW I’M FOUND

WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE.

Let me begin this morning by thanking you all for joining us in celebrating our 2^nd anniversary. I believe that I can confidently say, two years ago, I never dreamed that we, as a church, would be where we are today. Looking back over these past few years, we certainly have a lot to thank Him For.

Paul, in writing to the church in Corinth, reserves chapter 15 to specifically deal with some issues that had risen. Mainly, the issue of the Resurrection of Christ. You see, if the Greeks had a problem understanding the crucifixion of Christ, they would definitely have a problem dealing with the Resurrection of Christ.

So, Paul is writing to the church in Corinth to remind them that the message he is sharing now is the same message he shared at the very beginning – the message hasn’t change. Can I say this morning, the message that we began to share here at Rally Point Biker Church is the same message today that it was 2 years ago when we began – LOVE GOD AND LOVE EACH OTHER – and that message hasn’t changed.

Chapter 15 Paul is making what is probably the strongest case for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ in all the Bible. Then, after talking about death and the sting of death, Paul finishes with these words, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore (because of that, in light of that), my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

 Paul has decided that he is going to give all the thanks to the LORD from whom the victory over death, hell, and the grave come from.

Listen, you and I certainly need to give God thanks for the things He is going to do – in our lives, in the life of our church, and we can do that through faith – But we also need to give God thanks for the things He’s already done in our lives. Truth is, if He never does another thing for me, He has already done more for me than I ever deserved. So, I’m going to thank God for what He has done, regardless whether or not He does anything else.

If God never blesses me again, if he never does another thing for me, I get to stand up here this morning and say, “I’VE GOT SO MUCH TO THANK HIM FOR.”

WE’VE GOT SO MUCH TO THANK GOD FOR BECAUSE THE STORY  NEVER CHANGES (v.1)

Paul says in verse 1, “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand.”

Over the past 2 years, we’ve had some things change. The size of our crowd has changed; our seating arrangement has changed; Our sound equipment has changed; the place our kids learn has changed; Our music changes from time to time; the way we conduct the services has changed.

But do you know what hasn’t changed?

The story of Jesus Christ NEVER changes

How the perfect, sinless Son of God was born of a virgin, came to bear my sins and your sins on Calvary’s Cross, how He suffered, and bleed and died for your and I, and how He rose from the grave on the third day with victory over death hell and the grave and is now at the right hand of the Father where He makes intercession for you and I THAT NEVER CHANGES.

The Word of God NEVER Changes

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my Words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

God NEVER Changes

“For I am the LORD, I change not” (Malachi 3:6). He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

Paul is saying to the church in Corinth, “This is the message we are declaring to you, this is the message we are standing on.” Two years down the road – that’s the message Rally Point Biker Church is standing on.

WE’VE GOT SO MUCH TO THANK HIM FOR BECAUSE HE STILL REIGNS (V25)

I look at all the struggle and trials, and heartache our church has been through over the past two years and the one thing I realize is there is nothing that has happened in the life of our church, in my life or in your life that has caught God off guard. Nothing has caught Him by surprise.

You know why? Because He is still on His throne! Verse 25 says, “For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.”

The Bible tells us that “Heaven is His throne, and earth is His foot stool.” I can picture my dad years ago when He come home from a long day of work. He’d sit in his favorite chair and throw his legs up on the footstool. At that point of his day, my daddy didn’t have a care in the world.

So when I think about God sitting on His throne and His feet kicked up on the earth, He doesn’t have a care in the world – He’s got this! He has you and I in His hand and we have nothing to worry about – HE IS IN CONTROL – HE REIGNS!

But that is hard for us to get a grip on though isn’t it, because we won’t to take care of everything on our own. One lesson I have learned in my life is that you can’t always take care of it; you can’t always fix it; you can’t always pull yourself up by the boot laces – BUT GOD CAN.

WE’VE GOT SO MUCH TO THANK HIM FOR BECAUSE WHETHER WE LIVE OR WE DIE – GOD HAS IT ALL UNDER CONTROL (V. 51-56)

“Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.”

John 14 Jesus tells us, “I go to prepare for place for you,” How many of you believe that to be true?  And then He said, “If I go to prepare a place for you, then I WILL come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also.”

I’VE GOT SO MUCH TO THANK HIM FOR

WHEN I LOOK AROUND AND SEE

THE GOOD THINGS HE DOES FOR ME

I KNOW I’M UNWORTHY OF THEM ALL.

FOR HIS BLESSINGS HE FREELY GIVES

I OWE MY LIFE TO HIM

I’VE GOT SO MUCH TO THANK HIM FOR.

CHORUS

I’VE GOT SO MUCH TO THANK HIM FOR

SO MUCH TO PRAISE HIM FOR

YOU SEE HE HAS BEEN SO GOOD TO ME

AND WHEN I THINK OF WHAT HE’S DONE

AND WHERE HE BROUGHT ME FROM

I’VE GOT SO MUCH TO THANK HIM FOR

SOMETIMES WHILE ON THIS WAY

I KNEEL TO STOP AND SAY

THANK YOU LORD FOR ALL YOU’VE DONE FOR ME.

ONE DAY I’LL REACH SWEET HEAVEN’S SHORE

OH PLEASE LET ME KNEEL ONCE MORE

I’VE GOT SO MUCH TO THANK HIM FOR.

Turn your Bibles with me if you will, and by the way, do you realize that when we open the Bible, we open the very mind of God.  So let’s see what God has to say to us from Romans 8:28, and while you are turning there, let me remind you:

Now Romans 8:28 is a very familiar passage of Scripture. And I want to ask you to stand with me, and let’s read this out loud together.  Romans 8:28 says:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”  ALL MIXED UP.  Let’s Pray:

Back when I was attending Bible College outside of Raliegh, North Carolina, Jennifer was about 12 or 13 years old and Josh was around 8 or 9, we used to have some really bad winters.  And since we lived out in a rural area called Corinth Holder, we would get snowed in for 3 to 4 days at a time before they could clear our roads.  That was good for the kids because they got to stay home from school, and being a college student, I learned to appreciate those days as well.  At the time, we had an old 1983 Jeep CJ7, and we loved that thing.  We had a big ole 10 acre yard behind our house, so the kids would take the jeep and drive it around this field – it was a blast.

But this one day, me and Jenni and Josh were out driving around in about a ft. and a half of snow like we had good sense, and as we’re driving along, a car up in front of me hit it’s brakes and began sliding sideways down the road.  And I was immediately confronted by 2 choices:  1) I could move to the right side of the road where there was a big ditch and take the chance of not slipping into the ditch, or 2) I could just ease on my brakes and hope for the best.  So, I thought about it, and I thought about it, and thought about it some more (which ended up being about a half a second), I decided to hit my brakes.  Well, that didn’t go quite work-out the way I planned it.  When I hit the brakes, my jeep took off like a rocket – straight for that ditch.  We slipped down into that ditch and slide a little ways, and when we stopped, the jeep just turned completely upside down.

Now Josh was in the front with me, and Jennifer was in the back seat – hanging upside down unable to unstrap herself from her belt buckle.  After Josh and I stopped laughing at Jenni, we got her unbuckled.  We all climbed out and while we are standing there in the snow, looking at our jeep turned upside down, Josh says to me, like any 9 year old would, “Dad, I don’t think any good can come of this.”  I told him like any self-respecting father would, “Hush your mouth boy, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”  Then after walking around the Jeep and surveying the situation, I said to myself, “I don’t think any good can come of this.”

Have you ever stood in the middle of a storm—your heart broken, your mind racing, your life seemingly turned upside down—and said something like:

“I know Romans 8:28 is in the Bible, but I can’t see how any good can come from this storm.”

“This tragedy doesn’t look like it’s working together for anything but pain.”

“This valley is too deep, this sickness too cruel—how can any of this be good?”

Let’s be honest—sometimes life feels like it’s just all mixed up.

Nothing’s in the right place. Nothing’s working like it should. And even though you know what the Word says, you still wonder:

“God… how can You possibly make something good out of this?”

Romans 8:28 is one of the most beloved verses in the Bible…

But this morning, I want to suggest that it’s also one of the most misunderstood, misquoted, and misapplied.

Because Romans 8:28 doesn’t say that everything is good. It doesn’t say that God prevents us from walking through the valley, facing the storm, or carrying the weight. But it does say that when God gets involved—when His hands are in the mix—He can take what feels broken, painful, and confusing… and He can mix it all together for something good.

So today, under the title “All Mixed Up,” I want to take a fresh look at this powerful promise. And I believe there is enough truth and strength in this one verse to bring peace to your chaos and purpose to your pain.

There are three divine aspects of Romans 8:28 I want you to see this morning—because even when life feels all mixed up, God is still in control of the outcome.

I SEE A FAITHFUL PROMISE – “AND WE KNOW . . .”

There were 2 Greek words translated in the New Testament as the word “KNOW.”

First, there was the word “Genosko,” which means “to come to know; to get to know, to gradually know.”

And Secondly, there was the word “I-Do,” which represents the force or power of knowing something. 

• “To be persuaded of truth;”
• “To know without the need of understanding;”
• “To know without the need of explanation.”

Strangely enough, these two words and often been used in the same verse throughout the New Testament.  For example, in John chapter 13, Jesus has laid aside His garments, and has a basin of water, He has girded His loins with a towel and He approaches Simon Peter.  When He does, Simon Peter asked a question:

“Lord, dost thou wash my feet?”  Jesus said, “What I do now, thou knowest (I-DO) not;  You don’t fully understand what I am doing, but thou shalt know (Genosko) hereafter.”

“You don’t understand now – but you will.”  “Eventually, you’re going to know.”

Now the word that Paul uses here is in the strongest form of the Greek word KNOW.  “AND WE KNOW”

He was fully persuaded;

He knew, even though he didn’t understand;

He knew, even though he couldn’t explain it.

Paul said, “I may not understand all things, I cannot explain all things, but I KNOW that all things work together for the good to them that love God.”  IT IS A FAITHFUL PROMISE.  There’s a lot of things I don’t understand

• I don’t understand why some people have so much while others have so little;
• I don’t understand why some are always sick, while others are rarely sick;
• I can’t explain why some people have to die so young, while others live a good long life.

I may not know it and I may not can explain it, BUT “I know that all things . . . “

Not only do we see a Faithful Promise, but notice with me:

I SEE A FRUITFUL PROCESS

“And we know that all things work together FOR GOOD . . .”

One reason that we have so much trouble understanding Romans 8:28 and accepting Romans 8:28 is because we want the verse to say “ALL THINGS ARE GOOD.”  But that’s not what it says.

When bad things happen in our lives, we look at Romans 8:28 and we just don’t understand.

The Bible does not say that ALL THINGS ARE GOOD.

When you follow a loved one to a grave – that’s not good;

When the doctor gives you devastating news – that’s not good;

The Bible doesn’t say that “All things are good,” It says “All things work together FOR GOOD.”

In the manufacturing of medications (and I’m sure some of you know this better than I do), did you know there was a process to making medications?  They take just a small portion of the actual medicine, and they mix it with a lot of other medicines.  They say that if you took the entire dose of a particular medicine, your body couldn’t take it – this is called “cutting it.”  But, when you mix it up and dilute it with other medicines, it is good for you.

Listen to me now:  If that one storm; If that one trial; If that one tragedy Was all there was, it would be too much for us. We couldn’t handle it.

• But I’m glad that with our storms – God adds peace!
• I’m glad that with my valleys – God adds some Mountaintops;
• I’m glad with with my tragedies – God gives some triumphs;
• I’m glad that with my sorrow – God gives some joy;
• I’m glad that in my darkness – God gives some light.

When it’s all mixed together, when it all “Works together,” It “works together for good.”

Church, we have to understand that it is a Fruitful Process.

You know what, I don’t like Raw eggs, and I don’t like raw dow; and I don’t like eating plain sugar, and I don’t like drinking vanilla flavor out of the bottle – BUT, when you mix it all together, give me a call, cause I sure like eating cake AMEN!

“All things work together for good.”  Now let’s take it a step further.  We saw the Faithful Promise, the Fruitful Process, now let’s look at:

I SEE THE FINISHED PRODUCT

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to HIS PURPOSE.”

I have known this verse for as long as I can remember.  I have studied it, I have preached on it, but sitting in my room a few weeks ago, I was reading this verse, and when I got to the part that says, “To them that are called according to HIS PURPOSE.” That word PURPOSE just jumped off the pages at me.  And I began to ask myself, “What is God’s ultimate purpose for my life?”  What is His ultimate purpose for your life?

Now don’t miss this:

If you look at verse 29, you will notice that it begins with a little 3 letter word – FOR.  That word FOR is a conjunction.  Conjunctions are words that connect words, or sentences, or paragraphs or phrases.

This little word FOR takes verse 28 by the hand and then it takes verse 29 by the hand and it joins them together.  And since verse 29 begins with that word FOR – we really cannot understand verse 28 without knowing something about verse 29.  SO, I want everybody to join hands, now I’m gonna get right in the middle here and I want the right side of the church to be verse 28 and I want the left side of the church to be verse 29.  Right side read verse 28:  “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Now left side read verse 29:  “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Now, let me tell you what that means.  God had only 2 Sons.  What I mean by that is that there were only two men that ever walked the face of the earth that were not born of woman.

In Luke chapter 3, we find a listing of genealogies.  It says that so-in-so begat so-in-so, and so-on and so-on.  Then down at the bottom it says, “Adam, He was the son of God.“

Adam was the CREATED Son of God.  Everything we see here today was spoken into existence – except man!

“God formed man with His own hands; He formed us from the dust of the earth and breath into our nostrils the breath of life and we became a living soul.”

And by the way, things that are always the most costly are the things that are hand-made!

God said, “Let us form man in our own likeness, in our own image.”  The words image and likeness mean to “mirror” or the “reflect.”

GOD CREATED MAN TO REFLECT WHO HE IS!  And God said, “This was very good.”  And do you know why?  Because when God looked at man, He saw Himself. 

But you know the story, man fell into sin.  God came into the Garden and could no longer see Himself and He knew something has died.

But remember, there’s another Son.  And that is the “Only Begotten Son.”  The Second Adam, the Final Adam.  His name is Jesus Christ and He was everything God intended for man to be.

God created man for the purpose of reflecting who HE was.  Jesus was everything God intended Him to be to the extent that He could say, “when you see me, you see the Father.”

No wonder when John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River the Bible says, the Heaven’s open and a voice descended from Heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”

In fact, God was so pleased with Jesus that He said, “I’m gonna make all my children just like Him.”  “That He might be the first-born among you.”

But how is God doing that?  How is God conforming us to the image of His Son? 

By using “ALL THINGS.”

The “Good” in verse 28 is not talking about being happy, or healthy, or wealthy, it’s talking about conforming you to the image of God’s Son.

That means that God is orchestrating all things in our lives:

• The good things;
• The bad things;
• The things we understand;
• The things we don’t understand;
• The things we can explain;
• The things we can’t explain.

God is orchestrating, He is conforming us to the image of His Son through the events in our lives.

It is said that when a great artist paints a picture, he starts by painting the insignificants parts first.  You can look at the painting and it doesn’t make any sense to us – and that’s the way life seems sometimes, it just doesn’t make sense to us.  But to the artist, he knows where he’s going, so He paints on.

They say that a truly great artist has the ability to work his mistakes into the painting.  When an artist makes a mistake, he doesn’t try to erase the mistake, he just works it into the painting.

Now we know that our Heavenly Father doesn’t make mistakes – BUT WE DO.  And I’m glad this morning that my Heavenly Father has a way of working all my mistakes into the picture of my life.

I’m glad that when the vessel was marred, the Potter didn’t throw the vessel away.  I’m glad our Heavenly Artist just keeps painting!

You see, God is painting a picture of His Son in our lives.

God is taking all the bad things that have happened in your life, all the pain and all the disappointment, all the failure – and He is mixing them together and painting a picture of His Son in your life.

In closing, look quickly at verse 31:  “What shall we then say to these things:

• The good things
• The bad things
• The things we don’t understand;
• The things we can’t explain.

“If God be for us, who can be against us? 32  He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 37  Nay, in all these things (WHAT THINGS? ALL THINGS) we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Verse 28 and 29, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.  29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Will you stand with me with every head bowed and every eye closed, nobody looking around please.  I want to ask you this morning:

• Maybe you are in a valley that you don’t understand;
• Maybe you’re in a trial you don’t understand;
• Maybe you faced some tragedy you don’t understand;
• Maybe you’ve had some failures that you don’t understand.

Maybe you haven’t asked God with your lips, but with your heart you’ve cried out to Him – GOD WHY?

God is using that trial in your life, whether you understand it or not, whether you can explain it or not – He is using your needs to conform you to the image of His Son.

Maybe you just need to come and gather around the altar, and talk to God about the things that are going on in your life.

Maybe there are some things that have happened in your life in the past that have made you angry, and bitter, and hard-hearted.  Maybe you felt those things were so bad that God can’t forgive you.  Friend, God is using those failures to paint a picture of His Son in your life.   

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son, that WHOSOEVER believeth on Him, so not perish, but have everlasting life;  For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him, might be saved.”

God loves you, all you have to do is accept that.  Want you come this morning and kneel at the altar and ask Christ into your heart?  You were made in His image for a reason.

“What shall we more say to these things:  If God be for us, who can be against us!”

Each year we observe a National Day of Prayer. It is good that we observe a day where the nation collectively prays together. But, you know what would be even more wonderful, if each day were a day of prayer. The apostle Paul said we are to “Pray without ceasing.”

This morning, I am interested in the prayer that Paul prayed for the saints and faithful brethren at Colosse. He was in prison as he prayed for the Colossians. He didn’t pray that he might be released, for healing from his infirmity, or that Jerusalem be freed from the Romans. In fact, he didn’t even pray for those who needed Christ. Now, he had a burden for lost souls, but his focus was on the church. He wasn’t in any way insinuating that those other needs aren’t important, but rather emphasizing the significance of prayer for the church. Most of the prayers he offers are for the church. 

A strong church will lead to a strong nation. A local body in tune with the Lord will reach lost souls. The greatest needs of our day could be influenced tremendously by the church if we were only where God desires us to be. Simply put, we need to pray for each other. 

I want to challenge you to pray each day for a specific individual within our church. Let the Spirit guide you as you begin to pray, individually, for the members of Fellowship. Using Paul’s prayer as a guide, I’m certain that we could see a tremendous difference around Fellowship if we would only commit to pray. The text reveals three areas that we need to pray about for each other: 

THAT WE RECOGNIZE THE WILL OF GOD (v9)

“For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;”

Paul prayed that they might be filled with the knowledge of God’s will. We must be filled to the brim, fully equipped. This isn’t simply knowing God’s will but allowing His will to completely saturate our lives so that nothing within our lives is contrary to His will.

We must look at the “big picture”, not just a few things, but every area of life. All that we do must be according to God’s will. Living according to God’s will involves both wisdom and understanding. As we pray for individuals, we must pray that they:

Obtain Wisdom

He prayed that they had all wisdom. Clearly Paul isn’t referring to knowing all things as God does but obtaining godly wisdom to deal with the issues of life.

Many of life’s problems are the result of a lack of wisdom. This leads to poor choices and difficult circumstances. We all need God’s wisdom in our lives. We will never be what He expects us to be apart from it. 

You don’t have to be a Harvard grad to obtain spiritual wisdom. In fact, we would probably do well to possess less intellect and more intercession to obtain wisdom. How do I handle this problem? What would God have me to do? We’ll never know without wisdom. We are obligated to pray for those who need wisdom in making proper decisions (leaders, youth, young adults, parents, etc.). Wisdom isn’t obtained through the world, but in prayer, Bible study, and the Spirit revealing truth to us. 

Applying Understanding

We need a spiritual understanding, literally a mental “putting together – putting into action.” Life requires that we take the truth we’ve learned, put the pieces together, and apply that truth to our lives. 

We need to pray for the ability to apply God’s wisdom, actually put it into action. We will never be able to fully understand all that God is doing, but we must learn to trust and obey His will. I’m no auto mechanic, but I do know this key will start my vehicle and it will take me down the road. I don’t fully understand how all that works, but I do know enough to get where I need to go. 

Our spiritual lives are no different. I don’t know what all God is doing “under the hood”, but I do know He’ll get me where I need to go! Take the key of understanding you’ve been given and go for God. Recognize the Will of God.

Secondly, Paul prayed:

THAT WE WALK WORTHY OF THE LORD (V10)

“That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

He prayed that the Colossians would walk pleasing unto the Lord, being a testimony for Jesus. We certainly need to pray that prayer for each other. 

We no longer live in a Christian society. Everyone we meet and know isn’t a Christian. Much of what they know about the Lord and His church is read from the book of our lives. Our day desperately needs those who will walk worthy. This involves three things:

Our Pattern (v.10a)

 “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing.”

Our walk is to glorify Christ. Our life should be a reflection what Jesus has done for us and the change that has taken place; we’re no longer the same!

The word walk means to “set our lives, all of it, after Christ.” The word worthy means “to have the weight of or weigh as much as something else.” So, our walk should weigh as much as the walk of Christ. That’s a sobering thought! We are to live as He did. 

This will never happen in a carnal Christian. We must be totally submitted to God. I need the prayers of God’s people to walk worthy and you do too! I can’t live that life within myself. As we pray for each other, pray that God would guide our steps. Pray that we live according to the pattern Jesus set for us. 

Our Production (v.10b)

“being fruitful in every good work.”

Paul also prayed that they be fruitful in every good work. He was praying that God would open doors of opportunity for them and that they would have the boldness and dedication to pass through them. 

How many lost people came through our doors lately crying out that they needed to be saved? You see, praying for the lost is good, but praying for fruitful Christians is better. Jesus saw the field ready for harvest, but He didn’t pray for the field:

Matt.9:38, “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”

If we really want to see souls saved, pray for fruitful Christians. Pray for those who are witnessing and inviting them to come.

Eph.2:8, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”

Rom.10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Our Progression (V.10c)

“That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;”

He also prayed that their walk would result in an increased knowledge of God. He wanted them to know God on a deeper level, growing spiritually in Christ. There is no better way to grow in the Lord than through a daily walk with Him. It is then that we learn to fellowship with Him, trust Him in trials, learn Him, and love Him more! May we pray that our church, beginning with individuals will mature in Christ. 

St. Augustine said, “Faith is understanding’s step, and understanding is faith’s reward.”

Each of us needs to grow daily. I challenge you to pray that we will develop a deeper relationship with Christ. I pray that we will abandon the shallow water and dive into the deep things of God. We all need a closer walk, growing spiritually. Let’s make that an object of prayer.

Recognize the Will of God

Walk Worthy of the Lord

THAT WE POSSESS THE POWER OF GOD (V11)

“Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;”

Lastly, Paul prayed that they might be strengthened with all might according to God’s power. We serve the God of all power. He created the universe and mankind. He is able to part seas, defeat armies, heal disease, and raise the dead. 

These are all great manifestations of His awesome power, but we have that same power within us! He can take a life of wickedness, anger, and hatred and create a life of righteousness, joy, and compassion. That is a God thing! We need the power of God in our lives. We need those who are emboldened to stand for Him; those, who through His power, become an effective witness. Our lives will be void and ineffective without God’s power. It produces:

Patience

This is endurance when circumstances are difficult. Patience doesn’t accept defeat; it is endurance in action. It doesn’t sit idly by waiting on God or someone else to achieve something. 

It is the soldier who endures the battle, seeking complete victory. It is the runner enduring the hardships of the race seeking the finish. It is the Christian who will not accept the lies of this world and believe that all hope is lost.

 Longsuffering

 We need God’s power for patience. – This is possessing self-restraint. Where patience deals with circumstances, longsuffering deals with people. It allows us to overlook their faults and differences, loving them as Christ does, seeing them as Christ sees them. 

It doesn’t give up on a man just because he doesn’t act or behave as we think he should. It is a spirit of fellowship and compassion for all, even those who may have wronged us. We need that kind of spirit in the church today.

Joyfulness

I think you would agree that many have lost their joy. The difficulties and circumstances of life have left them feeling defeated and desperate. There is joy in serving the Lord. They just need to rediscover His joy in their lives.  

Happiness is dependent on circumstances, but joy remains even in the midnight hour. We need to pray for those who need to have their joy restored. 

CONCLUSION

I know that we’ve taken a different approach to prayer than usual, but this is biblical. I promise you, if we commit to pray this prayer for each other, we will see a difference in our church. 

I trust that you will begin to pray this prayer daily for a specific individual in our church. During the hymn of invitation, I want us to begin praying this prayer together. I’m sure there is someone within our church that the Spirit has touched your heart to pray for. Let’s pray together for these in need.

This is the time of year when students are either graduating, moving up grades, or finishing another tough year of school. It’s a season of reflection and transition. So, this Sunday, rather than giving you a deep theological message, I will simply share some life lessons—things God has taught me since I graduated high school back in 1981. Some of these lessons came through failure, others through time, and all of them through God’s grace.

John Adams said this: “There are two types of education: The one that teaches us how to make a living, and the one that teaches us how to live.”

Now, I’ll tell you, I learned from school how to make a living. But I have learned from God how to live.

LIFE IS NOT ALL ABOUT ME

Romans 8:8 says, “So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” The first lesson I’ve learned is that life is not all about me.

Now I went to high school at Hartsville High School. We were just a small school in Darlington County, and when I left high school and joined the Army, nobody cared at all what High School I went to, nobody cared what sports I played, or even what my GPA was. Life was no longer all about me.

What I learned early on is that when I started to depend on ME – I failed, and I usually failed miserably. And do you know why? BECAUSE LIFE WAS NOT ABOUT ME!

FAILURE WAS NOT THE END, IT WAS ONLY THE BEGINNING

The second lesson I learned was that Failure was not the end, it was only the beginning. Verse 4 says, “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

What I have learned is that after I have failed many, many times in this life (and will probably fail more), if I could simply learn to walk after the Spirit – God is going to take care me.

But there were things I had to learn, things I had to learn from experience. I’ve heard it said that “Experience is the greatest teacher.” God has allowed me fail, and to go through some very difficult things in my life, I believe just to show me that I needed Him more than I ever needed Him before.

I can tell you I have made some mistakes as a pastor. I look back over a certain period of my life when I would preach that if you didn’t dress a certain way, act a certain way, or use a certain version of the Bible, you probably weren’t saved. That was a perfect example of me following after the flesh and not after the spirit.

But, God allowed me to fail, and through my failure, God has shown me how much I needed Him. So listen, when I see people fail, I try not to be too hard on them, you know why? Because Failure is not the end, it’s only the beginning.

Listen to me, if you walk after the flesh – you will fail. I’ll tell you folks, if you follow after the Spirit, the Spirit will not lead you to places where you will fail.

Let’s learn to get back up and wipe ourselves off and realize Failure is not the end, it’s only the beginning!

I WILL NEVER BE A RETIRED SOLDIER

I loved the Army. It was very good to me and for me. I rose to be one of the finest trained soldiers in the Army. But something I realized after 14 years, spending my life chasing after a career in the military, was not in my best interest. And the sooner I realized it, the sooner I could get on to be all that God intended me to be.

Verse 6 says, “To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

OPPORTUNITIES ARE NOT ALWAYS OPPORTUNITIES

Verse 14 says, “For as many as are lead by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”

When I first attended Bible College, I really felt back then that God was calling me to be an Evangelist. While I Bible College, I was selected to be part of a team that travelled all over Tennessee, Kentucky, and West Virgina Evangelizing church and camp meetings. That had to be the will of God right?

But something I learned on that trip is that God’s plan for my life was not to travel all over the country – His plan was for me to be a pastor, a preacher of the Gospel to a local church. So, not every opportunity that comes your way is the opportunity God has designed and planned for your life.

THE ONE CONSTANT IN LIFE IS CHANGE

The one thing I have learned since graduation is that the One Constant Thing Is Change. You and I are to be conformed into the image of Christ. That means that we are constantly changing. I can tell you for a certainty that I do not look the same as I did when I was in High School. I don’t look the same, I don’t think the same – I have changed. I can also tell you that churches have changed. But you know who hasn’t changed? God hasn’t changed. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

THE THINGS I THOUGHT I NEEDED, I REALLY DIDN’T NEED AT ALL

Kim and I just moved recently, and in our garage are boxes and boxes full of stuff that at one time we thought we needed, only to discover we really didn’t need that stuff at all.

There was a time I thought I needed the big jobs and the big paychecks, only to realize all I really needed was God and my family. So I have learned the things I thought I really needed, were not the things I needed after all.

SOMETIMES IT TAKES 30 YEARS TO GO 120 MILES

I have pastored churches in Scranton, Lake City, Poston’s Corner, Lancaster and Spartanburg, only to discover that for the first time in my ministry, I’m right where God was developing me to be all along, right here in the woods of Pauline.

If you would have asked me when I left Bible College in 1995 where I would be in 30 years, Pauline South Carolina was not even on my radar. God had to spend 30 years preparing me to be the pastor of this church. If God would have brought me here 30 years ago, I couldn’t have been effective. He had to train me for 30 years.

It just reminds me that verse 28 says, “And we know that all things work together for the good of them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.”

I’M IN CLASS, JUST NOT IN SCHOOL

God is teaching me new things every day. One writer said, “You’ve earned some respect; you’ve sharpened your edge, but don’t fly off the handle of life, but keep the edge, and many adults loose their cutting edge because they stop learning the lessons of life.”

A BABY CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE

Verse 3 says, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.”

I found out when Jenni and Josh were born, that kids can change your life. It changed my Dad’s life. My dad used to call and ask how I was doing. But after Jenni and Josh were born, he’d call and ask how the babies were doing. Children change your life.

But I also found out there is another baby who can change your life forever. That’s God’s son, who came to earth, took on the form of a man so that He could bear my sin and your sin on Calvary’s Cross. He paid a debt that you and I owed, so that where He is, there we can be also.

A Baby can change your life!

FINALLY, THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON I HAVE LEARNED SINCE HIGH SCHOOL IS THAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT HIM

Verses 31-33, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.”

Introduction:  As you are turning to The Book of Nehemiah, let me say that this is one of my favorite Books in all the Bible.  After the walls of Jerusalem “laid in waste” for a hundred years, and the “Gates thereof were burned with fire,” Nehemiah shows us how one man can make a difference in the work of God.  I want you to understand some things about Nehemiah:

• Nehemiah was one of the exiled Jews;
• He was not a prophet;
• He was not a priest;
• He was not an Engineer;
• He was not a Mason.
• He was simply the King’s Cupbearer.

But, Nehemiah was a man of conviction and determination and he was able to accomplish in 52 days what the children of Israel were not able to accomplish in 100 years.  Nehemiah, after hearing how the walls laid in waste, mourned in his heart and prayed to God that He would forgive him and his family for their sins.  He then went to the King and asked him to allow him to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls.

In chapter 2, verses 17 and 18, Nehemiah takes his petition before the people and says:

^“17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.¹⁸ Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, Let us rise up and build. So they strengthened their hands for this good work.”

In Chapter Three, God gives us a recorded record of those that were a part of this great work of rebuilding the walls.  You see folks, I believe everything you do for God – God takes notice of!  Then we come to Chapter four, and stand with me as we read Nehemiah 4:1-6.  Let’s Pray and I will share the message People With a Mind to Work!

The people of God, realizing that Nehemiah meant business Got behind him and he was able to get them to do what they hadn’t done for nearly 100 years.  He was determined to build the walls of Jerusalem – but understand me – his determination to rebuild the walls didn’t come without opposition.  And you can rest assured church, whenever we determine in our hearts to do something for God – you can rest assured it will not come without opposition either!

And listen folks – it will not take long for that opposition to come either.  In Nehemiah chapter 2:19, the Bible says, “But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?”

Chapter 4:1, says, “ But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.”

As soon as they HEARD it they began to mock the people of God.  When they heard what Nehemiah was going to do, they got made – but when it actually looked like he was going to accomplish the work – they got VERY ANGRY.

Satan doesn’t wait around for a great work to be accomplished before he begins his attack – he starts at the beginning in order to do maximum damage.

Do you know that one of Satan’s greatest tools is? Scorn – contempt and ridicule.  That is because these don’t require proof for an attack.  To mock the work of God doesn’t require FACTS.

The sad thing is though, evil is never content alone – it always has to seek others to take with it!  In Verse 2, Sanballat spread his brand of wickedness to as many as he could, as many as would hear him.  He started gathering up his supporters behind the scenes.

Nehemiah faced opposition from Outside the Camp, but he also faced opposition inside the camp.

What I want you to realize today is that I believe Rally Point Biker Church is doing a Great Work for God – am I’m telling you now, it has not come without opposition from outside and inside.

I even think we are going to do an even greater work.  But we need to understand right up front, the greater our success, the greater opposition we are going to face.

• The more you do for God – the more opposition you’re going to face;
• The greater the work you do – the more harassed you’ll be by the enemies of God’s work.

As a church, we are going to face our fair share of Sanballat’s that will say:

• You’re not educated enough;
• You’re not strong enough;
• You’re not experienced enough;
• You’re not rich enough;
• No one is behind you.

But understand with me this morning Rally Point Biker Church – Sometimes our greatest difficulties can become our greatest Blessing!

And the way we get to those blessings is by doing what the people of God did – we have to develop a MIND TO WORK! That term “mind to work” actually means in the Hebrew “Heart to work.”  Nehemiah and the people of God “Had a heart for the work.”

Folks, having a “mind to work” will UNITE us as a church – not DIVIDE us! And because they had a “Mind to Work,” I want you to notice:

1. THEY BUILT THE WALL (V6). “So built we the wall”

Too often what we find in the churches of today is that when opposition comes, Many say “So, we quit.”  But not a person that has a “mind to work!”  Their athem is “So, built we the wall.”

• In spite of the opposition outside;
• In spite of the opposition inside;
• In spite of the anger of others;
• In spite of the ridicule from others;
• In spite of the mockings.

The people of God kept their hand to the plow and just kept working.  They did not let anything deter them from the work of God.  The best way to defeat the enemy is to continue in the work.

1. THEY BUILT THE WALL BY PRAYER (V.4-6, 9).

Over and over again we find that Nehemiah was a praying man – He prayed about everything.  But in Chapter 4, Nehemiah’s prayer is not a prayer we typically hear someone pray.  I know the New Testament says that we are to “pray those that despitefully use you,” and we are to “love those that hate us.”  However, sometimes folks, we have a pray a prayer like Nehemiah.  Notice what Nehemiah prayed in these verses:

• Turn their reproach upon their head;
• Give them for a prey in the land of captivity;
• Cover not their iniquity;
• Let not their sin be blotted out from before Thee;
• For they have provoked thee to anger before the builders.

1. THEY BUILT THE WALL TOGETHER (V6). “So built WE the wall”

Have you ever heard the term “strength in numbers?”  That simply means that you and I can do more together than we can do alone.  Brother Dennis and I were talking a few days ago and I heard him say “There ain’t no “I” in team.”  And that is a fact.  The building of God’s work is not about a single person here – it is about the Lord.  And you and I will accomplish more together than we will ever accomplish alone.  The people “Joined TOGETHER the wall.”  CHURCH – if we don’t do the work God has given us individually, there will be gaps in the wall.

1. THEY BUILT THE WALL WITH A WILLINGNESS TO DO WHATEVER THEY HAD TO (V9, 16-18).

You see, they knew that the enemy of the work of God was “Very Angry,” Yet in verse 9 Nehemaih says something at the beginning of the verse that everyone of us should say when adversity comes – NEVERTHELESS. 

Nehemiah prayed “Unto our God,”  Then he “Set a watch.”  The people of God then set about doing the work of God.  They had a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other.  Half the people would work and the other half would stand guard. 

Folks, there are some times in your Christian life that you are going to half to fight.  It is not going to all be a “flowery bed of ease.” 

You are going to be tried;

You are going to be tested;

Folks, we need to put on the WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD and be prepared to do battle for the LORD.  We need to “earnestly contend for the faith.”

• THEY BUILT THE WALL BY TRUSTING GOD (V.20)

In verse 14, Nehemiah reminds the people, “Be not afraid of them – REMEMBER the Lord.”  In Verse 20, he says, “Our God shall fight for us.”

Fear is a potent weapon of the enemy – but folks, I remind you today “If God before us – WHO CAN BE AGAINST US!  Church, we are on the winning side!

CONCLUSION:  I am afraid that we have created a mentality of welfare in our society today.  We have taught people that they don’t need to do anything – just simply rely on the government.  And so, we are now a nation in debt – because we have taught to NOT have “a mind to work.” 

Unfortunately, to often that mentality trickles over into the church.  We expect the preacher or staff to do everything.  But I want you to understand this morning, if Rally Point Biker Church is going to do a great work for God, it will be because we as a people had a “MIND OT WORK.”

. 

I believe that you and I, as a child of God, our to “Meet people where they are and help them get to where God wants them to be,”  Now, if we truly believe that we are to meet people where they are and help them to get to where God wants them to be, then we have to assume God has a place that he wants each of us to be. This morning I want to speak on this simple thought “Getting to the Place God Wants You to be.”  Reading from Ezekiel Chapter 20 and verse 6, God’s Word says,

“In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:”

The words “into a land that I had espied for them,” literally means “a land that was selected by God Himself. A Land that God Himself caught sight of.”  I believe God is taking us somewhere, and if He is taking us somewhere, He’s going to help us get there AMEN. 

As I think about the children of Israel and what they must have felt when God led them out of bondage from Egypt and led them to the Promised-land, and I couldn’t help this evening but to think that:

• We can rejoice over what God has done to get us where we are today;
• And we can look forward to the place that He is taking us.

And I think what we are really talking here is the Sovereignty of God, the leadership of God.  So let me share a few things from this verse that I believe are a challenge to us all in our walk of faith.

And the first thing I want us all to understand is:

GOD HAS A PLACE PICKED OUT FOR YOU.

Long before any of us ever got here, God already picked out a place for you, a place where He wants you to be.  God knows where He’s taking you and He knows where He’s taking me.

Now, some of you might be in that place right now.  When the children of Israel got to Canaan – they stayed there:

• that was the place God picked for them;
• that was the place God wanted them to be.

For every one of us, God has looked through His telescope of Time and Space and has picked a place where He wanted you to be – a place where He knows He could best use you. 

For some of you, praise God, Rally Point Biker Church is the place God picked for you – and God knew how to rightly fit HIS body together.

What I really want you to understand is that everything that has happened – all the Good things, all the Bad things have happened for ONE REASON – and that is to get you to the place that God has picked for you.

And let me tell you some things about the place God has picked for you:

1. It is a Successful Place – it is a place of Victory!  You might be saying, “Well I’m not experiencing a lot of victory in my life right now.”  Well guess what?  God’s not finished with you yet, and He is taking you to a place where you will experience some victory.
2. It is a Supplied Place – “A land flowing with Milk and Honey.” “God made sure it had everything they would need before they even got there.  And that’s what God has done in our lives.  He is taking us to a place that is already supplied with everything we need – we just need to be faithful to follow Him to that place.
3. It is a Splendid Place – it is a great place to be.  It is the “glory of all lands.  The most beautiful of all lands.”

God has picked a Place for You.  Some of you may be in that place right now.  Some of you may still be trying to find your way to that place.  But God wants to get you to the place where He can best use you.

Friends, the only way you will ever find real purpose and joy in your Christians life is by getting to the Place God has Picked for You.

GOD KNOWS HOW TO GET YOU TO THAT PLACE

When Kim and I got on our bikes to come here this evening, We pulled out of Drayton, turned left on Pine St, rode down to the Ingles, made a right on Country Club Road, then a left on Union Street, we then got on Cedar Springs (Rt. 56), came all the way down to Miller Town Road, then left onto Dutch Creek Road until we reached 830 Dutch Creek Road.  WE KNEW EXACTLY WHERE WE WERE GOING AND HOW TO GET THERE!

Now, you think about Abraham.  God tells Abraham “Abraham, I want you to move – but guess what? I’m not gonna tell you where you’re going.  Just get up, pack up and get going.  When you get there – I will let you know!”

Now, where did God take Abraham?  I’ll tell you where took him:

• He took him to a Successful Place
• He took him to a Supplied Place
• He took him to a Splendid Place.

Let me ask you something:

• How many of you knew 5 year ago that we would be in this place today?
• How many of you knew 1 year ago, or even 6 months ago that you’d be in this place?

I don’t think any of us did, but we were all being faithful to follow wherever God was leading.

For some of us, God knew the route He needed to take to get us to the Place where He wanted us to be – to the Place He picked out for us.

Sometimes, that route is not always the most direct route.  The children of Israel wandered in the Wilderness for 40 years before God could get them to the Place where He wanted them to be.

What I want you to realize is that what you and I cannot see – God can see!  God knows how to get us to the place where He wants us to be and he uses several things to get us there:

1. He Uses People.

God used Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Bondage.  And when Moses said he didn’t have the ability, God gave him Arron and Hur to help.

Over and over again, God uses people in the Bible to get people to the Place that He wants them to be.  Sometimes those people are good people, but sometimes those people are bad.  Think about when the early church was formed.  God used the Christ rejecting religious leaders and the Roman Empire to get them to the place He wanted them to be.

• He Uses Problems.

Think about their Bondage in Egypt; think about their Red Sea – with mountains on both sides and nowhere else to go; think about the 40 years wandering in the Wilderness.

Folks, going through the wilderness was not the easy thing to do, but God said, “If you’ll just trust Me, I’m taking you somewhere!”

Now I already know what most of us are thinking:  “I don’t want any problems.”  I know – But God’s taking us somewhere!

Had the Children of Israel not been in Bondage in Egypt, they’d have never had a Promised Land!

• Some of you had to go through your Red Sea to get to the place where God wanted you.
• Some of you had to Wander in the Wilderness to get to the Place where God wanted you.

Not only did God use People to get them where He wanted them to be;

Not only did God use Problems to get them where He wanted them to be, BUT, all along the way:

• He Protected Them on the Journey.

Think about all the obstacles the Children of Israel faced as they were making their Exodus from Bondage.

• They faced the Red Sea – where mountains were on both sides and Pharoah’s Army pursuing from Behind;
• They got to Marah, a place of bitter waters;
• While in the Wilderness, they faced many enemies;

But God  never failed them:

• He parted their Red Sea;
• He gave them a tree in Marah to make the bitter waters sweet!
• While in the Wilderness, He guided them as a Pillar of Fire by night and a Cloud by Day!
• When they had no food, God provided Manna from Heaven;
• When they had no water, God gave water out of a Rock!

The truth is folks, I don’t always understanding why we are in the place we get in  sometimes and I don’t always understand what God is doing – but what I do know is that God is taking us someplace and He knows what it’s going to take to get us to that place, and He has proven over and over again that He we protect us along the way!

YOU CAN MISS THE PLACE GOD PICKED FOR YOU

And friends, that’s what I would call a pitiful site. 

After God had shown Himself MIGHTILY to the Children of Israel by delivering them out of Bondage in Egypt, verse 11 says, “Then I gave them My statutes and explained My ordinances to them—the person who does them will live by them. 12 I also gave them My Sabbaths to serve as a sign between Me and them, so they will know that I am Yahweh who sets them apart as holy.”  Verse 13 goes on to say, “But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness.” 

Just a few verses down from our text verse, there is another verse that ALMOST reads the same – with one exception.  Verse 15 says:

“Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;”(Ezekiel 20:15).

Joshua 5:6 says, “For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord: unto whom the Lord sware that he would not shew them the land, which the Lord sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.”

Some of the children of Israel never reached Canaan.  They never reached the Promised Land.  And the sad truth is, there are some children of God today that are never going to reach the place that God has picked for them.

The Children of Israel missed Canaan by:

1. Lacking Faith

Numbers 20:12 says, “And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.”

By a Lack of Faith, they did not believe that God could get them to the place that He had promised them.

Friends, if we are going to get to the place that God has picked for us, we are gonna have to have faith to believe that God CAN get us there.

They missed it because they Lacked Faith: They missed Canaan because they:

• Lost Focus

Israel sends the 12 spies over into Canaan, 10 come back with a negative report saying “it is a land full of Giants and we are mere grasshoppers in their sight.”

2 of the spies come back and say, “They are bread for us . . .”

Numbers 13:33, “And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.”

What happened here?  Well, they lost their focus.  Rather than focusing on God, they focused on the Giants.

And that’s what happens in our Christian lives – we start focusing on our problems rather than focusing on the Problem Solver!

And when we lose our focus, we risk missing the blessings of life that God has for us.

They Lacked Faith, They Lost Focus, but

• They Left the Father

They went their own way and missed out on the land that God had picked for them.

God has a place picked out for us.  It is a great place, it is a place that has everything we need.  It is a place that represents victory in our Christian lives.

God is leading you and I on this journey of our life to get us to the place He wants us to be.  Along that route, we run into people we don’t like, people that mean to do us harm and we tell God, “God, why did you bring that person in my life?”  Well, God brought that person in your life to get you where He wants you to be.  God then sends some problems into your life that you don’t understand, but I want you to understand that those problems came so God could get you to where He wants you to be.  And once you get there, you realize that God was using people and problems all along the way to get you to that place, but while you were traveling there – God always provided for you and protected you along that journey.

But Sadly, too many people have missed the place God picked for them. 

1. By Lacking Faith – Not believing that God has the ability to take you there.
2. By Losing Focus – getting your eyes off of God and getting them on the Giants.
3. By Leaving the Father – they’ve decided they know the way better than God does, so before they know it, they have gotten further and further from the place that God has hand-picked for you.

Conclusion:  Several years ago, we became involved in Biker Churches.  I was a traditional pastor, so Biker churches were a shocked to my system.  But for whatever reason, God had me in that place.  Looking back now, and seeing the place that I am at, I can clearly see what God was doing along the way.  And maybe the things that got Kim and I to Rally Point are the things that got you to where you are.  God has picked a place for you, a place where He knew He could best use you.  The way we got here may not be the way we would have envisioned; the people and problems we faced along the way might not have been what we were anticipating – but they’re what God used to get us here.  Rather than be bitter about the past, be grateful that those were the things God used to get you where He wanted you to be – the Place God Has Picked for