Living on Purpose in Perilous Times
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Please turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Proverbs. .
We are living in a very interesting time and I would even call it a perilous time. Paul when he wrote to his favorite son in the ministry and that was Timothy he said something to him, and this is the last letter Paul ever wrote.
In chapter 3
2 Timothy 3
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
Now what kind of perilous times are you talking about, what kind of troubled times are you talking about Paul?
How many of you believe
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
Is this not our nation? Sure it is...
having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.
We are divided in our nation, people in this country have chosen their side they do not wanna come together they have dug in, alot like back in world war 1 down in the trenches, the allies and the Americans were on one side, and the germans were on the other side.
Were also divided racially, I think it’s the worst racial division in my lifetime. Divided spiritually...
So what do we do?
How do you live a spiritual life for Christ in days like these?
Well when I was reading I just saw this as a roadmap four things that any Christian filled with the Holy Spirit can do to live a purposeful life in perilous times.
I wanna say this to you you need to be very purposeful with your life...
You need to be very intentional with your life, because you only get one. Don’t let life just happen to you, but instead attack life head on. wake up with a purpose, wake up knowing that your going to meet the Lord, in prayer and Bible reading and in worship.
your going to live your day ready to minister for His glory and share His gospel and encourage people and help people, your not going to be thinking of yourself, your going to get your mind off of yourself and your going to think about other folks and your going to see yourself as a vessel of honor for the glory of God.
Thinking about other people and the Lord and praying for the nation. Thats the way you live purposfully in perilous times.
My son, pay attention to my words;
listen closely to my sayings.
Don’t lose sight of them;
keep them within your heart.
For they are life to those who find them,
and health to one’s whole body.
Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you.
Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil.
Let me give ya 4 things to help ya live in perilous times.
Consume God’s Word
Consume God’s Word
I just wanna tell you, you can’t overload on scripture. You’ll never have a bible overdose.
My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
The man who wrote this we know is Solomon, he is the son of David other than the Son of God he is the wisest man to ever live. He is talking about his son probably Rehoboam. He is saying I want you to listen to my words, but we know he wasn’t just talking about his words he was talking about the Word of God...
He was talking about the scriptures, every Jewish father knew that it was his job to teach his sons the word of God. You go back to what Moses said in
“Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess,
Deuteronomy
They are coming out of Egyptian bondage their coming into to promise land, but as he speaks these words they are in the wilderness.
that you may fear the Lord your God, to keep all His statutes and His commandments which I command you, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of your life, and that your days may be prolonged.
Always they speak of reaching 3 generations, YOU, YOUR SON, YOUR GRANDSON MIGHT FEAR THE LORD YOUR GOD....
If you keep the word of God your going to live longer.
Therefore hear, O Israel, and be careful to observe it, that it may be well with you, and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord God of your fathers has promised you—‘a land flowing with milk and honey.’
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
I wanna say this every Sunday morning, that the church here at UHBC can help you teach your children but you are the primary teacher of your children not the church.
If your kids hear us teaching the word of God but they dont see you living the word of God they may not get it.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
Th
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy
Now hear the words of Proverbs
My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
He is referring to the age old discipline of not only hearing the word of God but memorizing the word of God and meditating upon the word of God.
My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
Literally the word means to mutter the scriptures always under your breath all the time. To be thinking about the word of God all the time, and why is that so important?
For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
You will be healthier if you will live according to the Word of God. Solomon is telling his son Rehoboam this word of GOd will enrich every aspect of your life. O Son consume the word of God!
Now sometimes we believe that we live in the darkest days ever. But I wanna say this if I had lived in the 1940’s I would have thought Jesus was about to come back.
I’m not saying we dont live in some of the darkest days our country has ever known, we are but you know the 40’s they were still reeling from the great depression in 1929, when many people lost it all.
Lost their farms lost their houses, didn’t have jobs and all of a sudden there is this crazy man, this demonized man named hitler and he is dividing the whole country of Europe and the world is about to be ablaze in WW2 400,000 US soldiers were killed and 78 million people soldiers and civilians were killed in WW2.
Theres a little pastors wife up north and she has 5 little children, and she is burdened in 1944 will this war ever come to an end?
Her name was Ruth Jones and she read the text we started with
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 Timothy 3:1
She pulls out a little paper she pulls out a little pad, and she writes this song that would be sung at almost every Billy Graham rallly for the next 40 years.
In times like these you need a Savior,
In times like these you need an anchor,
(how many of you feel like you need an anchor right now)
Be very sure, be very sure your anchor holds and grips the solid rock.
In times like these YOU NEED THE BIBLE
In times like these Oh be not IDLE
BE SURE BE VERY SURE, YOUR ANCHOR HOLDS AND GRIPS THE SOLID ROCK
This Rock is Jesus, yes He is the One
She knew that the Savior is Jesus the only one who can help us.She knew that the word of God was the Bible, and that is how she made it through the perils of WW2.
You will not be strong if you dont stand on the word of God. Some of you are going through problems with you family, STAND ON THE WORD OF GOD.
SOME OF YOU ARE GOING THROUGH FINANCIAL PROBLEMS STAND ON THE WORD OF GOD.
SOME OF YOU ARE LIVING WITH FEAR AND DOUBT AND DISCOURAGEMENT STAND ON THE WORD OF GOD
SOME OF YOU HAVE FINANCIAL ISSUES AND EVERYTHING ELSE GOING ON, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?
YOUR AFRAID OF THE FUTURE, YOUVE DONE SOMETHING IN YOUR PAST AND YOU CANT LET IT GO, STAND ON THE WORD OF GOD
When Joshua was about to enter the promised land and all the fighting Moses had died how would you like to follow Moses and Joshua was going to lead the people in and God said I tell you what you need son YOU NEED THE WORD OF GOD!
This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
When he says it shall not depart out of your mouth it sounds like he saying dont speak it, but thats not what he is saying at all. What he is saying is, dont let it everleave your mouth its a negative way of saying let it always be on your lips!
King David said the same thing
THY WORD IS A LAMP UNTO MY FEET AND LIGHT UNTO MY PATH
I am going to walk in Your word I am going to read your word and I believe you will speak to me through your word.
Jeremiah one of the greatest prophets in the OT Jesus quoted Jeremiah more than anyone else and he said this about the word of God when he really embraced it as a young boy.
Your words were found, and I ate them,
And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.
Jesus Himself when He was being tempted by the devil in the wilderness
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
Jesus said one time “I have food to eat that you dont know anything about my food is to do the will of God and to please the One who sent me.
Deuteronomy
Jesus Christ lived on the word of God
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
you have got to consume the Word of God as WA Criwell said
Everyday you’ve got to take a Bible Bath.
you’ve got to live in the Word of God READ IT STUDY IT MEMORIZE IT LIVE IT, MEDITATE ON IT, SING IT, PRAY IT,Readin Christian books is good but its not good enough, there is no substitute for THE WORD OF GOD!
Christian music is great but thats not enough youve got to listen to the Word of God.
Attending church is great but look at me youve got to have more thn that,all during the week youve got to be feeding on the word of God. If your going to live or have a chance of living a purposeful life in todays climate in this messed up world.
You have got to consume the Word of God.
Control Your Heart
Control Your Heart
Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life.
Proverbs 4:23
That word Keep literally means to arrest it and throw it in jail. Now you say well that dont make any sense well then you dont know what the Bible says about the heart.
The human heart is..
I hear all these people say LET YOUR HEART BE YOUR GUIDE...
you better not!
Oh he’s got a good heart NO HE DOESNT
and you dont either and niether do your kids and neither do I. The word means arrest that thing, watch over it, give it to JEsus and let Him confine it, and let Him refine it, and redesign it but give your heart to Jesus, he is talking about the essence of who you are your soul is what He is talking about!
You very soul is rotten because of sin, and were selfish and we want to do what we want to do, and we dont want anyone else telling us what to do, and little children are that way.
Older people are that way and everybody in between.
Watch over your heart with all diligence, set boundaries for your heart.
For from it comes the springs of life, everything that comes out of your heart, your relationships with your spouse your grandchildren your children....
Cmoes from your heart, is the core of your being, its who you really are. GUARD IT!!!
Life itslf comes out of your heart.
Now the guy that wrote this stuff did not control his heart at times. the Bible says let him who thinks he stand lest he fall. He was telling his son some good things but he didnt do it later on.
The Bible says failed to guard his heart
But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites—
from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.
For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David.
Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of Ammon.
And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,
Give your heart to Jesus and it will be sealed up amen, sealed up by the power of the Holy spirit at work within you.
Every morning (challenge to college and career group)
“The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
Jeremiah
ITS DISEASED!!
And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.
Mark 7:20-22
Some of you need spiritual heart transplants you dont just need a bypass brother you need a brand new one!
REPENTING
Some of us in this room are giving our hearts away to things that really dont mean anything listen give your heart in full surrender to the LORD!!
DONT GIVE IT TO THE WORLD DONT GIVE IT TO WELL MEANING CHRISTIANS GIVE IT TO THE LORD!!!!!
Consecrate Your Speech
Consecrate Your Speech
Put away from you a deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you.
You see alot about the tongue in Proverbs, I knew a preacher who one time a lady came forward and said Pastor I’ve got a problem with my tongue I just cant control my tongue.
He said I hope she doesn’t lay it on the alter because the altar aint long enough.
Dont speak crookedly, deceptively, fraudentually. Put that kind of speech away. I love
Proverbs 31:
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
Wisdom and kindness isn’t that the best way to teach?
Wisdom and kindness
WISDOM IS CONTENT
KINDNESS IS DELIVERY
You need not only good content but also good delivery. It’s not just for women but for men as well. We need to have a kind tongue that is teaching wisdom.
Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;
You dont have to share your opinion on everything and like a close friend told me once you dont have to show up at every fight your invited to.
You dont have to tweet about everything you think.
You dont have to live your life on facebook.
We need righteous thoughts
neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.
Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
You cannot follow Jesus with a tongue thats out of control.
Dont speak everything that comes to your mind?
You say well i am wise no your not because the Bible says
Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace;
When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.
Ephesians
Some of us oughtta adopt that as our lifes verse.
Commit Your Walk
Commit Your Walk
Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
Ponder the path of your feet,
And let all your ways be established.
Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil.
Proverbs 4:25-
Stay in your lane bro
its the picture of a guy running a race, and he is saying dont be disqualified, set your eyes in front of you. You know when you run a race you dont look at the runner next to you, you look towards the finsh line to stay in your lane.
You fix your eyes on your race.