Subject

Quote

Faith

Sermon:  Tell It to the Mountain

I begin this sermon with Mark, chapters 10 and 11 and the account of Jesus seeing a fig tree and wanting some figs from it despite the fact that both He and the disciples know there is no possibility of any figs being on that tree. In Mark 11:14 Jesus curses the tree and the disciples hear it.

The next day, the disciples see the fig tree and it is all dried up and dead.  The disciples ask Jesus how He did that.  He answers in verse 22: “Have faith in God.”  He then describes how we could tell a mountain to be removed from its place and jump into the sea.  In verse 24 He says that when you pray for something, assume you have already received them.  This is the kind of faith God want us to have.

Next, I show that the meaning of, “Have Faith in God” means, “Have the faith of God” and, “have the strongest faith.”  I then say:

Our faith must transcend the idea of God giving us a measure of faith by the power of the Holy Spirit by having us see the situation through God’s eyes and mind.  This is how you “Have the Faith of God”.  Your confidence must approach the confidence He has.  After all, God, through Christ is our example.  We are to be like Christ and like God.  This is what Jesus is saying in verse 22.

Next, I speak to the meaning of what Jesus was saying when He talked about casting mountains into the sea.  What was His meaning?  Next, I say:

The commentary is stating that more than actually moving physical mountains, Jesus is talking about moral obstacles to our progress in the Salvation Process.  After all, this is a guidebook to the Salvation Process.  Jesus uses the mountain as a physical image of insurmountable obstacles or trials.  

What are our greatest obstacles in the Salvation Process?  This is easy…SIN.  Sin can seem like an insurmountable obstacle, but with the faith of God, we can cast our sins into the abyss of the sea.

Next, I point out what Jesus says in verse 23 of Mark 11: “That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart.” 

Looking at the commentaries, we find that this word doubt is speaking to the strongest level of doubt.  After pointing this out, I say:

Now key this to the meaning of “Have faith in God” as the strongest kind of faith---the faith that God, Himself has.  If one doubts this kind of faith, he or she is …

1] separating themselves from it thoroughly.
2] literally withdrawing themselves from it.
3] reflexively—by knee-jerk reaction withdrawing from it.
4] opposing the concept of having Godly faith.
5] reflexively hesitating from this most powerful faith.

This is the strongest kind of doubt.  Jesus is saying to have the strongest kind of faith and not to have this strongest kind of doubt.  One cannot exist in us if we have any part of the other.  He confirms this with the word “not” as in “and shall not doubt”.

After this, I go back to verse 23 for another phrase: “That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe.”

With commentaries, I show that the phrase means:

---believe by being convinced.
---Believe by persuasion of and total reliance on Christ.
---believe by total commitment.

I then say:

So Jesus is saying in this one phrase, “but shall believe” that …

–we are to have the same faith as God by being fully convinced of these words of Jesus in Mark 11 to an inward certainty.

–we are to be fully persuaded by these words of Jesus and put total reliance on Him.

–then, armed with these elements, be in total [long-term] commitment to having the same faith as God has by entrusting ourselves to Christ.
 
Christ is our example.  HE HAS THE SAME FAITH AS HIS FATHER.  We are to have that same faith.

I finish this sermon by once again going back to verse 23 for an end of the sermon zinger.  Verse 23:

 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed.  This is the believer speaking to the mountain or the insurmountable obstacle.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, the firstfruit is demanding the obstacle be removed.

I then show that the meaning of this phrase is, “make to doubt.”  That is, when one tells the mountain to be removed, the mountains begins to doubt whether it should even be there.  I end the sermon this way:

Isn’t this what happened when David met Goliath in the Shephelah or valley between the two armies?  David is the epitome of Mark 11: 22-26.   He had unshakeable faith in God, even when he was young.  When He finds out about Goliath standing in the Shephelah and speaking against God and Israel, he shouts, “who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”  He then RUNS to the Shephelah and faces his “insurmountable mountain” and says, “I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts!” He then slays him with one shot of a sling.  Then what happens?

1 Samuel 17:51

And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.  One commentary says they were panic-stricken.  Another says they were terrified.  David had filled them with doubt.  Israel then routs them, despite the fact the Philistines had the better army with armor and iron weapons.

So there you have it.  Have the same faith as God the Father.

Come before the throne of God in boldness, being totally convinced of these words of Jesus Christ.

Believe these words and God forbid there be any doubt.

And when others see your faithfulness and ask you how they can overcome insurmountable obstacles like you, say to them…

“TELL IT TO THE MOUNTAIN”

 

Self-Examination

Sermon: The Best Way or The Yardstick

I begin this sermon this way:

We are in the Lord’s Supper/Days of Unleavened Bread time of year …a time when we begin examining ourselves.

Question:  How do you examine yourself?  What tools do you use?  Who do you go to?

Maybe we should be asking ourselves:  What is the Passover/Lord’s Supper all about?  Who IS our Passover?

Well, we know that the answer to that question, don’t we?  It is Jesus Christ.

Christ is our Passover.

He is the only human that could die for our sins.  He was the only one qualified.

Shouldn’t He be that against which we examine ourselves?

My purpose today is to show you that the best way to prepare for the Passover is to examine yourself against Christ.

Examine yourself against Christ.

If we are to examine ourselves against Christ, we need to know some things about Him.  In this sermon, I give you eight.  For each, I give several scriptures and then make statements or ask you questions.

1] Christ Had a Plan
John 4:34
Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

Christ had a plan……….He is still working that plan…We are a part of that plan.

What is your plan?
Is it written down?
How will you implement it?

2] Christ Formed a Team
Luke 8:1
And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him.

Christ has called us.   He put us together.
Feast Team…Web Team…Raffle Team…Condo Team…Bible Study Team and all the individual two-on-two counseling and encouragement teams you form through fellowship.

3] He was Bold
Ephesians 3:12
In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

What could you do if you were as bold as Christ?

4] He Worked Through His Fears
Jesus was afraid at times in His life.  He talked about his fears to his team. 

He wrestled with his fears to the point of sweating blood in the garden.

Without fear, Jesus could not have been an example to us.

Psalm 118:6
The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?

What fears are keeping you from your goals?

5] He Gave His Followers Vision
Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people perish.

Studies show that people will work harder and longer on projects when they understand the overall significance of their individual contributor.

--Experiment----2 groups of Boeing workers.  There was an experiment done at the Boeing Company where they took two groups of Boeing workers.   The would work on identical projects.  One was to get day-by-day instructions only.  The other group was given a briefing that took in the entire scope of the project from inception to finished product.  They were shown complete plans and artist’s renditions of the product when fully assembled.  Each group was monitored for efficiency, moral and quality of work done.  The fully informed group; the one with vision, far outscored the other group.

6] He Forgave People
Ephesians 4:32
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

What situations or opportunities have you had to forgive lately?
Who has forgiven you?
What is your feeling toward them now?

7] Christ Empowered Women
Matthew 27:19-20

19 When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him.

20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas and destroy Jesus.

Men who fail to acknowledge and enlist feminine energy often suffer for their arrogance as Pilate did.

Why one woman comedienne theorized that perhaps the reason the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years was because Moses wouldn’t give Miriam the map.

What of the women of our group [past and present]?

Tracy—Sabbath School for Seattle in the 90’s

Marian Nichols and Penny St. George—Literature Request Processing

Joan Cumming—EA Website

Marian Hansen—Instrumental in finding meeting locations for the Seattle church

Virginia Koon and Lois Chapman—Proof readers

Irene Sparks—Holds Eastside together and opens her home to countless Sabbath and Holy Day meetings.

Anita Fain began the Seattle Fellowship Group that eventually became a chartered church.

Lois Chapman—mentor to ministers and serving on the ICG Board

Mary Dean—the matriarch of the Seattle group in the 90’s.

Susan Lewis—heading up the News Department for the Web Site Office.

Susan Samuel in Trinidad--who takes care of our church down there.

Laurie Wilson—who organizes the raffle at Lake Tahoe Feast when we have them.

Lavinia Barkhouse—who cohosts the Port Williams church in Nova Scotia.

Righteousness

Sermon: The Breastplate

I begin the sermon this way:
At the Feast of Tabernacles, Mr. Armstrong gave a sermon, in which he asked, “Are we involved in the Work Jesus gave to the disciples?”

He spent the balance of the sermon showing how God goes about bringing disciples to the Work and how He prunes and winnows the flock to insure that the Work is done.

One of the scriptures he quoted was in 1 Peter

1 Peter 4:16-18
16 Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.
17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Interesting question…just what does this scripture mean?

…the righteous scarcely saved.

Who are the righteous?  What is righteousness?

How does one become righteous?  What are the elements of righteousness?

How does righteousness work?  How do we recognize it when we see it.

Why is righteousness called a breastplate?  Why is this a piece of our spiritual armor.

Today, we will explore these questions as I encourage all of us to… put on righteousness.

…put on the breastplate of righteousness.

I talk a bit about the breastplate and then say:

As you remember from the sermon we had on the armor of God, the breastplate is a defensive piece of armor.  It is one which is always worn while on the battlefield.

It is something we see between the person wearing it and the outside world.  That is to say, if you are wearing your armor and I am looking at you; what I see is the armor.

The point is, the spiritual armor we have does not originate with us.  It is a gift of God.  The armor is His.

God is the author of righteousness.  He gives us righteousness as a gift.  It works like a breastplate.  It protects us from evil.

When people see our armor, they see the righteousness of God.  When we look at each other, we see the holiness of God and NOT the human elements or sin.

Next, I give 6 points that speak to the righteousness of God with scriptures for each:

1] God is righteous.
2] Christ is righteous, and His righteousness is transferred to us in the form of a breast plate.
3] Observing the commandments and invoking Godly principles are righteousness.
4] Speaking the truth is righteousness.
5] Obedience to God is righteousness.
6] Righteousness is everlasting in God, the Father, Jesus Christ and eventually all of you.

For number 2, I stated: “Our righteousness and wisdom is Jesus Christ in us.”

I recap after these 6 points by saying:

1) Righteousness keeps us in the salvation process
2) Righteousness delivers us from death.
3) Our righteousness determines our reward.

After reading from our doctrinal statements on the Law of God and Sin I note:

1) Sin has no power in the Salvation Process

2) God looks upon us as Holy.

3) God imputes His righteousness unto us as in a coat of armor.

4) God does not impute unto us any sin, in fact, His armor, His righteousness COVERS our sins.

I then read the doctrinal statement on Repentance and recap by saying:

1) With God’s Spirit, we are to compare ourselves with God’s breastplate of righteousness.

2)  God will help us to see OUR sins.

3) The sins of others is irrelevant to our righteousness.

4) We need not compare ourselves to others—only God.

Next, I read the doctrinal statement on The Christian Relationship with God and recap:

1) The Bible is the mind of God and is His guide book for the Salvation Process.

2)  One must immerse him or herself into the Word of God to understand and put on the breastplate of Righteousness.

3) We must rightly divide the Word of God.

4)  We must Correct ourselves with the Word of God.

5) A true Christian seeks "training in righteousness.

Finally I read the doctrinal statement on the Kingdom of God and recap:

1) Christ will rule by means of the same Salvation process.

2)  Everyone will have the Spirit of God.

3)  Everyone will have the Righteousness of God.

4)  By this Righteousness, we will rule in the Kingdom of God forever.

I end the sermon this way:

If we do these things, if we put on the breastplate of righteousness, we can live with this absolute promise of God…

Proverbs 21:21
He that followeth after righteousness and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honour.

Let us go up now unto the Kingdom of God.