Quote:
Originally Posted by Pastor Ed Lowman
#3) Because God Says to Think Spiritually, not Carnally:
Matthew 6:25-34: 25Therefore 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? 26Behold 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? 27Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30Wherefore, 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? 31Therefore 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. 33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.34Take 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.
Taking thought for the future is sinful in and of itself. God cares more about us than anything in nature, which means worrying is futile. Yes, it is wrong to look out for our children and their children's generation since Jesus says He'll take care of us.
Note that Jesus even uses natural environmentalist language (about birds and lilies), meaning He takes care of it, too. Only a spiritual buffoon would continue worrying when such pure and powerful Words have been put there to give us comfort. The only thing that needs saving and is worth thinking on is your soul!
|
Oh Pastor! What a moving testimony about the Power and Sovereignty of the LORD Almighty!
\o/
I just have to tell you what happened when I incorporated your sermon to my usual approach to Unsaved Trash. My usual method is to offer a drink of water to those who look hot and thirsty, like men who work outside, women who look like they've put in two full shifts of work. Anyway, as they take their first drink of what looks like cool, refreshing water I ask them if they think they are going to Heaven. Most people think they are, and think all that's necessary is to be a "good" person. Interestingly, each person thinks a different thing when it comes to identifying what a "good" person is. So we talk about "good."
So yesterday I explained to this man that in a spiritual sense, the cool refreshing water is like us: Mostly good. Mostly enjoyable. But there's a hidden problem even he cannot detect. I shared with him the secret is in the water: It's not pure water. It's almost, but not 100% "good." It has some urine in it. Oh it's undetectable of course, they couldn't see it or smell it, and clearly they couldn't taste it, but it's there nevertheless.
I shared the fact that the LORD thinks this about him with regard to his own Sin. It doesn't matter if he is mostly "good," that Sin makes him undesirable and disgusting to the LORD. Usually, by this time, my new friends are either holding back vomit, or have started to dribble down their chin, the horrified faces a testament to the power Sin has in something that is otherwise "good." Like the others, this man learned that just as he didn't want urine water in his mouth, God doesn't want him in Heaven. Why, God would rather vomit him out than to pretend the Sin isn't there. He's done it before and He'll do it again (Leviticus 20:22).
That's when this woman came along and started berating me for having Styrofoam. When this eco-terrorist started badgering me about the pollution myth, I introduce to her the fact that environmentalism has become a form of idolatry where the “rights” of an inanimate planet and its non-human creatures are held in higher esteem than God (Romans 1:25) and even man who is created in His image. The LORD does not want them to worship the earth as an idol. He is a Jealous God after all (Deuteronomy 5:9).
Your sermon then just rolled off my tongue! Oh were they impressed! I could tell because that's when Satan really stepped up his game.
By the grace of God, I was able to share with them the Good News that even as they are disgusted with drinking that water, God is disgusted with them. But Jesus came so that we could have this Sin removed! All that's necessary is to love, worship, and obey Jesus without ever having met Him, or even seen or heard Him, glimpsed a photograph, a letter He might have written, or even any corroborating evidence provided by any extrabiblical scrap of, well,
anything. They simply need to apologize profusely for having been born to Sin and reveling in it ever since their conception (Psalm 51:5). They only need to persuade the LORD their faith is sincere so He can remove the curse He placed on Eve ever so long ago when she so rudely sought knowledge (Genesis 3:1-5).
By this time I had to yell to be heard over the rude comments made by the crowd that had been gathered. The man was having trouble hearing the Good News with the woman who was by this time yelling at me, and also the man was turning white as a ghost. I can't recall if he fainted or not, as the crowd gathered had become quite irate, such is the power of Satan in the minds of those who are not clothed in the armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-18). Alas, even employing a physical Holy Thump To The Head with my Bible did little to calm the mob. The last thing I remember is my husband dragging me to the car and driving away. The dentist thinks my tooth won't fall out, but I can't be sure if the blood and fat lip were from the angry mob or the loving correction from Mr. Etheldreda who gets terribly concerned to see his wife accosted so. In any case, I have the utmost faith in the power of the Word of God, and your sermon delivers it in a fool-proof way. I'm just sure one of those people who were throwing stones and garbage at me have stopped to consider what they'd heard and are on their way to walk the walk of the Faithful (Romans 10:17)!
Glory to God in the Highest!
Hallelujah and Amen!