Sermon: Where Do You Live?
by Chris Cumming                                                               printer-friendly     MP3

Recently I have been captivated with a movie with the title, "Midnight in Paris." It involves a script writer from Hollywood who is on vacation in Paris, France. Inwardly he desires to have lived in the Golden Age of Man which he has identified as the 1920's. As he walks around Paris one night, there is a turn of events that transports him back in time to the Roaring Twenties. There he meets Zelda & F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, Picasso, Dali and T. S. Eliot. All of these were writers and artists he had admired since childhood. He was in the Golden Age of Mankind, according to him. Imagine his dismay when he meets a lady there who longs for what she thinks is the Golden Age, that of Paris in the 1890's. He is out walking in the evening air with this lady when another turn of events has them transported to the 1890s where they meet such people as Toluouse-Lautrec [painter/illustrator], Paul Gauguin [artist] and Edgar Degas [painter/sculptor/maker of drawings]. Imagine his further dismay when, in a conversation with all three, he hears of their desire to have lived in the Renaissance [14th to 17th Centuries]. They spoke of their desires to meet Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.

It is ironic that some historical observers see the Renaissance as a period of nostalgia for Classical Antiquity, meaning the civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome. It seems like there are many individuals who long for better time or a Golden Age. Let us bring it closer to home. For years now I have expressed my desire to go back to the 1950s. I looked up life in 1950 and found this quote:

"The United States was the world’s strongest military power. Its economy was booming, and the fruits of this prosperity–new cars, suburban houses and other consumer goods–were available to more people than ever before."

I remember the 50s as a wonderful time. It was a time where everyone knew their neighbors. It was a peaceful and friendly time, at least where I was in Central California. Does anyone remember the price of things in the 50s? The average cost of a car was $1,510. Gas was 14-24 cents a gallon. A milkshake was 25 cents. A woman could buy a new cotton dress for $3.29. Coffee was 37 cents a pound and sugar 43 cents for five pounds.  The top movies were Rear Window, Ben-Hur, High Noon and Shane. Some of the top songs on the radio were, "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom Time", "Love Letters in the Sand" and "Hey Good Lookin." The most popular TV programs were, "Leave it to Beaver", "Father Knows Best" and "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Among your more popular celebrities were Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley and John Wayne. It was a wonderful era.

Do you have a Golden Age? Do you ever find yourself longing for the past or worst, living in the past? Maybe you find your happiness in the future. We often see our happiness just over the next hill? However, what does God have to say about this? When and where should we be living?

The purpose of my sermon today will to be exploring these questions as I encourage all of us to live in the present. What we are about to see is that God wants us living in the here and now in the Salvation Process.

Live in the Present
Joan Rivers once said, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is God's gift, that's why we call it the present."

What about "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God" and "Having a 10,000-year perspective.

One quote I found from one David Hoffman [a famous author] is, "I always live in the present - I love the present. I cherish future. That quote states it well. We are working the Salvation Process today and each day, as it comes. As we do, we cherish the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God and eternal life is our future goal. It is where we aim our efforts. We do not allow our 10,000-year perspective to stop or hinder our actions here and now. Remember that I call it the 10,000-year "PERSPECTIVE".

Scriptures:

Matthew 6:31-34
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no [anxious] thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Hebrews 13:5
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

The Adam Clarke gives the meaning here as, "Being satisfied with present things."  It goes on to say, "Be content with present things and abstain from others."

Notice the John Gill:

Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Question: When does God exercise His will in your life?  Answer: Daily, meaning in the here and now.  Whatever He has planned for me next year will be addressed then.

Isaiah 41:10
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Quotes about the Present:
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

“Real generosity towards the future lies in giving all to the present.”

“How can the past and future be, when the past no longer is, and the future is not yet? As for the present, if it were always present and never moved on to become the past, it would not be time, but eternity.”

“Few of us ever live in the present. We are forever anticipating what is to come or remembering what has gone.” ~Louis L'Amour

“It's being here now that's important. There's no past and there's no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can't relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don't know if there is one.”

This next one is all about the Salvation Process and the Kingdom of God with eternal life:

“The future depends on what you do today.”

The author of this next one knew the trap of living in the future:

“You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you'll escape one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.”

Note: The 10,000-year perspective is an attitude and tool for today. Never let this perspective keep you from you duties and obligations today.

Two more quotes:

“All that is important is this one moment in movement. Make the moment important, vital, and worth living. Do not let it slip away unnoticed and unused.”

“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.” ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

THE WORD, DAILY:
Found 63 times in the Bible. Let us read some of these.  The emphasis used is mine.

Psalm 61:8
So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.

Psalm 68:19
Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.

Note:  This goes back to my comment regarding Romans 12:2 and the question, "When does God exercise His will regarding you?"

Psalm 86:3
Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily.

Psalm 88:9
Mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched out my hands unto thee.

Proverbs 8:34 ...chapter 8 is wisdom speaking
Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

Matthew 6:11 ...notice the structure of this verse and its presentation
Give us this day our daily bread.

Luke 9:23
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Luke 19:47
And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,

Acts 2:46
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

Acts 5:42
And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.

Note:  Isn't it interesting that preaching and teaching was a daily event.

Acts 2:47
Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Acts 6:1
And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

Acts 16:5
And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.

Acts 17:11 When did the Bereans check the scriptures?
These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

Hebrews 3:13 When should firstfruits exhort one another?
But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Question: If the exhortation is on a daily basis, what is the exhortation concerning?  Answer: Today's things.

Key verse:
Matthew 6:11
Give us this day our daily bread.

Notice that the verse stands out in the scripture. It is just 7 words. It refers to the concept of a single day twice..."this day" and "daily." Clearly God is making a clear point. Notice these from the Biblical Illustrator.

Daily bread
1. These words show that earthly interests and animal wants have an appropriate place in our prayers.
2. Our intimate dependence upon God.
3. We virtually ask for ability and opportunity to obtain our daily bread. The blessing involved in the very effort for acquisition.
4. The relative dependence of others upon us.
5. Our wants are always new “ daily.” Biblical Illustrator

Note: God wants us in assiduity and He desires and commands that we want Him in all assiduity...in all things, completely dependent upon Him. This is the whole point of us continually being in the present and each "present" lasting 24 hours. ~

The dependent spirit of the Lord’s prayer
I. The source of the supply.
II. How the supply is granted. He grants strength of body for toil; by the wonder-working of His providence.
III. God’s blessings are gifts.
IV. God will have us live upon His bounty day by day.
V. The unselfishness and sympathy of the petition-“give us.”
VI. Contentment with God’s measure supplied is taught by this petition: not what we wish, but what we need. ~Biblical Illustrator

This day
1. Uncertainty about the future is no excuse for recklessness.
2. Each new day is a special gift from God, in which are contained all the possibilities of His grace.
3. What is our whole lifetime but a day!
4. To any earthly friend we should be ashamed thus frequently to ask a favour. ~Biblical Illustrator

The People's New Testament commentary says:

Give us this day our daily bread - We are bidden to ask for our bread, not for future years, but for "this day." ~People's New Testament

Now this from the Wesley commentary:

Give us - O Father (for we claim nothing of right, but only of thy free mercy) this day - (for we take no thought for the morrow) our daily bread - All things needful for our souls and bodies: not only the meat that perisheth, but the sacramental bread, and thy grace, the food which endureth to everlasting life. ~John Wesley Explanatory Notes

The verse that is being referred to with, "take no thought for tomorrow" is just down the page from our verse here of Matthew 6:11.

Matthew 6:25-34
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

Concept 1: God knows already everything that you need and even desire.

Concept 2: God knows all your needs and desires today and all that you will have in the future.  That is, He knows today what all your desires and needs will be in the future.  This is why we do not have to put heavy praying or concern into these future desires and needs.  Put the strong focus on today.

Concept 3: Even though we can speak to God about future elements, we pray as if we already receive them today.

Do you remember the sermon, "Tell it to the Mountain"? In it, we do an in-depth study of Mark 11 and verse 22:

Mark 11:22-24
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
23 For verily I say unto you, 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 that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Notice the phrase in verse 24, "believe that ye receive them." Remember the commentary.

Mark 11:24
Receive - Superior manuscript evidence favors the aorist tense [expressing action] - you did receive. In other words, we are to keep on believing that God has already given us our request. –Wycliffe

This is one of the most intriguing parts of this whole passage. Jesus is giving us strong encouragement, if not an outright command to totally commit to what He is saying here. He wants us to receive the things we desire BEFORE He even gives them to us. That is, He wants us to mentally, emotionally and spiritually “take hold” of the item or action before we see it physically.

The two words, “Ye receive” even show us what our attitude is to be. The words carry with it the instruction to “accept” the item and then to “be AMAZED.” One has to have the same faith as God, the Father to reflexively have this attitude and response. ~end quote from the sermon

It is clear that even in future element prayers our profound focus is on this day. God is commanding us to receive them [the answer to our prayers] even today. God wants us living in the day; one day at a time. Even our future concerns and wonderment is confined to this day.

Some appropriate quotes on the future.  Emphasis is mine.

"Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today."

Do your duty and a little more and the future will take care of itself. ~Andrew Carnegie

Cease to inquire what the future has in store, and take as a gift whatever the day brings forth.

Yesterday is a cancelled check. Today is cash on the line. Tomorrow is a promissory note.

Stop acting as if life is a rehearsal. Live this day as if it were your last. The past is over and gone. The future is not guaranteed. ~Wayne Dyer

The past, the present and the future are really one: they are today. ~Harriet Beecher Stowe

Even though the future seems far away, it is actually beginning right now.    

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