Subject

Quote

Meditation

Sermon: Secret Weapon

In the Civil War and again in the Great World War 2 there were two generals that changed warfare for all time.

In those years between those two wars, the science of warfare pretty much consisted of fortifications and holding on to positions on tops of hills and in front of rivers.

This changed due to the likes of one Ulysses S. Grant and one George S Patton.  Their style of warfare was to advance on the enemy all the time.  Never give them a chance to rest.  Never give them time to regroup or organize.  Tire them out.  Ware them down. 

They won battles and they won wars doing that.  Sadly, there is an enemy of ours that is using the same tactics on us.  His name, of course, is Satan. 

He has mankind running two and fro, he is assaulting the senses 24 hours a day and overloading our minds with useless information.

More importantly, Satan is trying to deny us our contact with God, our great Father in heaven.  He does not want us to have contact with our own Father.  Now, oddly enough, I am not talking about prayer for that is our contact with Him.  I am talking about His contact with us.

His contact with us is the Secret Weapon every true Christian has.  It is the one weapon Satan does not want us to use because it is the weapon that supplies us with wisdom, understanding and power.

That secret weapon is called “Meditation”.

Today, I want to encourage all of us to learn about the power of meditation and to…

HAVE CONTACT FROM GOD.

Later I say:

Meditation is closely related to prayer.  Prayer is when we contact God through the power of the Holy Spirit.   Meditation is when God contacts us through His Holy Spirit.  We will see evidence of this as we go along.

At the end of the sermon, I discuss how to meditate:

HOW TO MEDITATE

1) Where:  One can meditate anywhere including at work, in a crowd (as we saw in our example of Jesus) or in your car but I will give you more ideal situations:

a. any quiet place

b. anywhere in nature—forest, ocean, mountain top, open field, cemetery, atrium or garden or by a lake.

c. prayer closet.

d. motel room----bedroom (HWA  example)

e. deck or back yard  (GTA example)

2) Block out distracting sounds

Take away all assaults on the senses that Satan uses.

Play soft or soothing music---classical or light jazz or instrumentals.

3) Relax

a. sit in a chair that has good support like the chairs in this room.

b. put both feet on the floor

c. rest your arms on your legs

4) Surrender yourself to God through the Holy Spirit

a. begin with prayer before the throne of God

b. Mentally have God’s Holy Spirit flow through your body specially to places of pain.

c. give each part of your body and mind to God including emotions and thoughts.

5) Present to God or bring into focus the content of your mediation
 

6) When you are done, close in prayers of thanks and rejoicing.

Meditation is a Process like all things with God and you will get better with it by doing it often.

I end the sermon with this:

So in all of this, we can clearly see the Secret Weapon of every true Christian.  The weapon that Satan does not want us to have.

There is great power in this Secret Weapon.  Get hold of it.  Use it. 

Come before the throne of God

Let this final verse be your plea…

Psalm 19:14

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

So, have contact with God.

Faithfulness
Loyalty

Sermon: Semper Fi

I begin with this:

I am a great fan of the TV series, Northern Exposure, which ran from 1990 to 1995.  It is a running story of a number of characters who live in the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska.  One of the characters was Maurice J. Minnifield.  Mr. Minnifield is an ex-Marine and an ex-astronaut and owner of many properties around Cicely.

He has great plans for the town and is, therefore, very protective of both it and its image.  Imagine his anger and concern when he finds out there is a homeless person taking up residence in a vacant lot just off one of the main streets.  He takes a number of measures to get this bum out of town and at one point decides to confront the gentleman head-on.  In his rather heated interrogation of this man, it comes to light that he was once in the U.S. Marines.  Well, that changed everything.  The look and expression on Minnifield’s face changes.  He immediately begins treating the man as a brother-in-arms.  As he parts to go home, Maurice utters the phrase, “Semper Fi” and the man enthusiastically responds with, “Oorah.”   “Oorah” means, “Right on”, “All-Right” or “Let’s go.”  It is the Marine absolutely agreeing with the meaning of “Semper Fi.”

Semper Fi or Semper Fidelis is Latin for "Always Faithful" or "Always Loyal". Well known in the United States as the motto of the United States Marine Corps.  Semper Fidelis has served as a slogan for many families and entities, in many countries, dated to have been started no later than the 16th century. 

Since we have a number of brethren attending in this congregation who reside in Canada, you all might be interested to know that the West Nova Scotia Regiment [active since 1717] also has, as its motto, “Semper Fi.”

So what does this term, “Semper Fi” have to do with us?  What does it mean?  Is there a biblical case for this term and its meaning?  What does this subject have to do with my salvation?  It is my purpose today to answer all of these questions as I encourage all of us to invoke Semper Fidelis in our spiritual lives.

Semper Fi.

The two key meanings of the phrase, “Semper Fi” are “faithfulness” and “loyalty” so today we are going to talk about these two terms from the Word of God.  We are going to talk about faithful and loyal servants of God, which you are.  What we are going to see is that the only individuals entering the Kingdom of God are faithful and loyal servants.

Later in the sermon, I ask the question, “Is your being faithful a requirement of God?”  I then read 1 Corinthians 4:2:

1 Corinthians 4:2  
Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 

I then say:

The phrase, "found faithful" means faithful to both one's Godly Calling to the Salvation Process and to all duties you are given.

Later I give a recap after asking several questions on faithfulness:

Recap
1] God is faithful.
2] God is faithful to them that love him and keep his commandments.
3] God preserveth the faithful.
4] God's law and scriptures are faithful.
5] Firstfruits do not reveal secrets.
6] Our friendly reproofs of our friends are faithful.
7] The faithful abound with blessings.
8] Faithfulness is required by God.
9] Firstfruits are faithful to the Word of God.
10] Firstfruits are careful to maintain good works.
11] Firstfruits hold fast the profession of our faith.
12] If we confess our sins, God will forgive us and cleanse us.
13] Jesus is faithful.
14] Firstfruits are faithful until death.

I then go through several scriptures on loyalty and end the sermon this way:

We can clearly see that the principles behind Semper Fidelis [faithfulness & loyalty] originate with God and His Word.  Like the marine who wrote those words I just read, we are growing in the Salvation Process surrounded by living, breathing personifications of “Semper Fi.”  We are invoking faithfulness and loyalty on a continual basis. 

Oorah !!!

Sanctification
Godly Calling

Sermon: Separation

Early in the sermon I say:

“We find purpose in becoming like Christ.  Our ‘calling’ from God as Christians, is to become like Christ [Romans 8:29]. 

Later, I say:

What is a “Godly Calling.”  Today, we will answer these questions and discuss these issues as I encourage all of us to “find purpose.”
 
 In our recent Bible studies we have been talking much about this concept of “Godly purpose” haven’t we?  For the most part we have been using the other biblical word for “purpose” which is the word, “sanctification.”
 
 Let us immerse ourselves into this word.

Later, I quote Leviticus 11:44

Leviticus 11:44 ...being holy like God
 For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Then I say:

We clearly see in Leviticus 11:44 that if we sanctify ourselves we shall be holy.  Surely there is close biblical linkage between the words “sanctify” and “holy.”

Further into the sermon I say:

God calls us to a separation.  The primary separation is TO God.  Just as important is the separation from evil things and ways…primarily false doctrines and the ways of the world.

Earlier in our discussion of Leviticus 11:44 I asked, “How do I sanctify myself.”  Clearly this is the work of God through Christ in us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I end the sermon by making reference to the introduction:

In my introduction, I promised to answer some specific questions.  Let us do that as we move swiftly to the end of this sermon.
 
 1. We find purpose in becoming like Christ.  What does this mean?
 
 Answer: We find purpose in becoming like Christ because Christ is purpose.  That is, He conforms to all of the purposes the Father set down from the beginning.  Indeed, Christ was the one making all things in Genesis.  He gave all things purpose.  He and the Father are in agreement to all the purposes of all things made and all things the Godhead involves themselves with.
 
 We learn purpose and sanctification in and through them.  Christ does all things according to purpose and we find this purpose in the process of becoming like Him.
 
 2. What is the “right and good” as Christ would do?
 
 Answer: The right and good that Christ does is doing all things according to their sanctification or purpose.
 
 3.  What is it in Christ we are conforming to?
 
 Answer: Clearly we are conforming to His essence and character and we do that by conforming to the purpose of all things.
 
 4. What is “Godly Calling”?
 
 Answer: Godly Calling is a separation of us TO God.  It is also a separation of us FROM all things contrary to God, meaning all things evil and all things that go against purpose and sanctification.
 
 So go now and continue your walk of separation to God and doing all things according to His design and purpose.
 
 Be a disciple of Separation!!

 

Following God

Sermon: The Seven Guideposts of God

The purpose of this sermon was to encourage you to follow God’s direction.

I say:

If we are to walk in the path of righteousness and avoid the path of the wicked we need guideposts.

God provides these guideposts for us.  These guideposts clearly show us what God expects of us.

In this sermon, you will see seven guideposts given to us in scripture.  I give Guidepost #4 as – I will do more than be fair, I will be kind.  In this section I say:

Being fair is just not enough.  Being “fair” is another form of “caring” …emotion without involvement.  Being “kind” on the other hand, takes involvement.

At the end the sermon I say:

Live in the Spirit of God and do more than give………SERVE.  I then say:

So, then, these are the 7 Guideposts of God.  USE THEM!!  They, together, will take you down every good path that God wants you to walk

STAY ON THE GOOD PATH OF GOD

Silence before God

Sermon: Silence – Part One

I begin Part One of this sermon this way:

I was contacted by e-mail the other day.  At the top of the page was a single verse followed by these words:

“This has to be one of the most profound verses in the BIBLE!   I love this scripture.”

Let’s read that scripture:

Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. 

So what makes this verse so profound?  What does it mean to, “Be still”?  How is my being still going to result in me knowing God?  What is the meaning here?  What is this verse saying to us?

It is my purpose today to answer these questions as I encourage all of us to learn about being silent before God.

In the sermon, I make reference to Psalm 46:3

Psalm 46:3
Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. 

After some discussion of the verse I define the word, “Selah” and make a statement:

Selah - In general, also, it indicates a pause in the sense, as well as in the musical performance. Gesenius (Lexicon) supposes that the most probable meaning of this musical term or note is silence, or pause, and that its use was, in chanting the words of the psalm, to direct the singer to be silent, to pause a little, while the instruments played an interlude or harmony.  ~ Barnes Notes

Now isn’t this fascinating!?  Our key verse [Psalm 46:10] says, “Be still and know that I am God.”  God is giving us His instructions for preparing for the shock, giving us the descriptions of those shocking events and then telling us in the strongest terms to not be fearful but rather “be silent”, know that I am God and see, now, what happens next.  What happens next is the intervention of Almighty God, both in the midst of the trouble, as it is happening AND the sure encouragement of the Kingdom and all these shocking events being in the past.  We see this beginning in the next verses of this Psalm 46 as we continue to lead up to our key verse 10.

The sermon goes step-by-step through the verses of Psalm 46 until it gets to the key verse 10 which says, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Note:  This commentary clearly understands that God is speaking to true believers---firstfruits and is speaking to their piety, that is, their religion.  The point here for firstfruits is to never drift into compromising with God’s law or even allowing one step toward backsliding or letting down in any way.  We must be constantly redoubling our efforts under the headings of fervency, diligence and zeal.  There must be a 100%, total reliance on Almighty God in everything and regardless of the events unfolding before us.

Silence before God

Sermon: Silence – Part 2

In Part 2 of this sermon, we continue our immersion into Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”

In the introduction, I say:

My purpose today is to encourage all of us to be still and communicate with God.  We communicate to God in both prayer and meditation.  There are many types of prayer and probably as many ways for meditation.  Today, we will study what I call meditative prayer.

Through the years I have spoken much to the concept of meditation.  I have more than one sermon that speaks to this idea.  I often state that prayer is when you are talking to and communicating with God and meditation is when He communicates with you.  Clearly we can combine the two.  In meditative prayer, the firstfruit, generally speaking, is coming before the throne of God with one specific purpose.  He is coming before God with one specific subject or question.  Possibly the subject is about some aspect of your life and/or some specific element of the Salvation Process.  Maybe you have a huge decision to make and you need God’s help to see which decision is best.  Maybe you are suffering from some sort of physical, mental and/or emotional turmoil and you are seeking a plan, procedure or technique in which to overcome this suffering.  These are the kinds of things to bring before God in meditative prayer.

The concept of meditative prayer is simple:  Bring the single question or subject before Him and then “be still before God.”

Later in the sermon I make reference to 1 John 2:20 and follow with comment:

1 John 2:20
But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

First, the, “and ye know all things” is speaking to all spiritual things as it relates to your life, your calling and your experience in the Salvation Process.

I then read 1 John 2:1-17.  The latter part of verse 17 says, “…but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.  I then say:

Key Point:  Notice both the promise and the procedure here.  The promise is that we will abideth forever, meaning that we will have eternal life.  The procedure that gets us to eternal life is doing the will of God.  We glean a lot of that will by immersion in His mind…the Word of God and coming before His throne in silence.

I then read 1 John 2:19 about people falling from the faith in the end time:

1 John 2:19
They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

My comment:

Note:  Now you understand much of what I preach about from 1 Timothy and our not wandering off the path of righteousness and salvation into “vain jangling” (1 Timothy 1:6). 

I then read verses 24 and 25 following by my comment:

1 John 2:24-25
24 Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. 
25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

Note:  Again, we see the promise of eternal life.  Verse 24 says, “that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you.”  We “hear” by the Word of God.  Continue in the Word and you will continue in the Son, and in the Father.

In meditative prayer or coming before God in silence, the unction we experience will be right from the Word of God; the things we have heard from the Word of God.  Notice now, how dynamic the Word of God is.  Remember that the Word of God is Spirit; that is, made of and consisting of Spirit.

Towards the end of the sermon, I say:

So now we are or should be clear of what is going to happen in those times when we come before God in silence with our specific problem or question.  God is going to communicate with us, by unction, from the Word of God.  He may bestow things upon you and/or He may directly intercede into the events of your life.  We see this in our key verse of Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.”  You will know God by what He communicates to you from the Word of God, what He bestows on you, such as insight, knowledge or understanding and by what He does next in your life.

I end the sermon with this:

We communicate with God in many different ways.  There are several kinds of prayers.  Today’s sermon is about just one of the many.  There is much power in coming before God in silence and knowing and seeing that He is the Great God.

And as I stated at the end of Part one of this sermon, “Go now and let your silence be seen before God.”