Amasa's wound

There is a story in the Bible that is little told, but one that I feel today. Amasa was a general, and when David's son rebelled against him Amasa went with him to lead his armies. After the Rebellion was over, David made an astute political move by forgiving Amasa and placing him in the place of General in his Army. The problem here was that the position was already filled by Joab.

Joab was a man who was given to rebellion, treachery and murder. His rebellion was not from the King, but from the King's orders. We could say that Joab loved his King, but hated his authority. As a result Joab had twice murdered men against the king's wishes. One man he tricked, and another he slew while he was defenseless in a tree. David did not approve the death of either.

Amasa was preparing to go to battle, and this wicked one Joab aproached him, and seemed to be attempting to bury the hatchet and try to forgive how Amasa had ascended to Joabs place. Amasa let him in close, and Joab slipped a blade into his belly, and poured amasa entrails out onto the ground. Joab went on to his victory in battle, but did it as a murderer, a liar, a traitor and a cheat.

Too often people live double lives, and because of this they hurt people. They will come, and they will try to make it right, but often they are moving in close for the kill. For this we must remain vigilant. Look always for the false faces, for the history of violence and tread carefully. We have the scriptural imperative to forgive, but forgetting can be fool hardy. What I mean is, while we can take away the burden one owes us, we can still keep a good arms distance from them, keeping ourselves safe from that blade hidden from our view. Forgiveness does not give the transgressor trust, but mercy and love. Joabs sword is ready to strike, and you too could bare Amasa's wound.

Jugde Candler

Here is a great story that I found in a Billy Graham book, World Aflame. It is worth the read, and is full of little jewels like this.

When he was a young man, Judge Warren Candler practiced law. One of his clients was charged with murder, and the young lawyer made the utmost effort to clear his client of the charge. There were some extenuating circumstances, and the lawyer made the most of them in his plea before the jury. Moreover, there were present in the court the aged father and mother of the man charged with murder; and the young lawyer worked on the sympathies and emotions of the jury by frequent references to the God-fearing parents.

In due course, the jury retired for deliberation. When they had reached a verdict, they returned to the jury box. Their verdict read: 'We find the defendant not guilty.' The young lawyer, himself a Christian, had a serious talk with his cleared client. He warned him to steer clear of evil ways and to trust God's power to keep him straight.

Years passed. Again the man was brought into court. Again the charge was murder. The lawyer who had defended him at his first trial was now the judge on the bench. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury rendered its verdict of 'guilty.'

Ordering the condemned man to stand for sentencing, Judge Candler said, 'at your first trial, I was your lawyer, today I am your judge. The verdict of the jury makes it mandatory for me to sentence you to be hanged by the neck until you are dead.'

Today Christ is our Lawyer, our Savior, willing to forgive and to cleanse and to forget. however, there is coming a fearful day when He will be our Judge.

--Graham, 1964, p. 224.

White as snow

I was doing my Bible study a moment ago and ran across this verse. I thought to put my notes here for you to see this little jewel I found in Isaiah 1:18.

God here shows his gentlemanly nature, appealing to the reason of man. He is to present his argument to the people of Judah.

His first argument, which is the first one we should all look to is a reference to the cleansing of salvation. Ours sins here are twice refered to as red in color. The first is scarlet and the second is Crimson. The Hebrew words here interestingly denote the color made by smashing bugs and grubs to create dyes. We are colored by the dye of violence towards our fellowman and God.

The implication here is that when a garment is properly dyed, the color may fade, but it will never disappear. A person may live a reformed life and his sin may not be as apparent, it does not go away, as a garment that has been washed again and again does not loose its dye. But man, when washed in the Blood of Jesus Christ has very stain removed, so much so he is white as snow.

Amazing Sportsmanship

You have to read this story. Two Florida Schools, Estero and Naples, played last friday night and Naples absolutely thumped them, 91-0. Ordinarily a person seeing such a score would automatically jump to conclusions that Naples ran up the score intentionally. After reading the coaches accounts from both teams you have to walk away thinking, "wow, these guys are teaching sportsmanship on a whole new level."

The Naples coach knew that he had Estero out classed before the game started, so he benched several of his top players and the rest of the first string did not play very much. Despite his efforts to make sure that a good game was played without running up the score, his team scored 13 touchdowns on just 31 plays. That is an amazing good showing for second and third string players. The point is, this coach did not want to run up the score, but his team was just that good, and to not play every down would have been unsportsmanlike.

The Estero coach recognized that the Naples team was just that good, and his team did not perform up to their standards, so he has very openly defended the Naples coach, even sending him an email to let him know he felt no hard feelings, despite the public outrage.

The reason why I am posting this here of all places is to show this truth: We have to be careful in our judgment. Things are not always as they appear, and we must not rush to judgment. These two men are the leaders of the teams, and they are in agreement that no wrong was done, but yet the public still wants blood because they do not know the fine details these men do. Until we know all the facts, we should be slow to anger.

Pro 14:29 He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.

No Where Too Far

Deu 30:4 If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee:
Deu 30:5 And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.

I studied this out today and it was an encouragement to me. Moses is here talking about how the people would disobey God and be taken captive and away from the Promised land. When they turn back to God, they are to be gathered back together into that land. This is awesome, but I really want to focus on the statement referring to those that are "driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven."

The Outmost parts of heaven refers to the visible arc in the sky. It is what we see when we look towards the stars. So then Moses is telling them that even if they are in the farthest reaches of the Galaxy, nay the Universe, he is able to gather them back. How encouraging is this for us, no matter how far away it may seem we are from Christ, we are not too far away for him to reach us. The Bible says he can reach the furthest parts of the Universe to gather his together. That means he can reach you, and me right where we are at too.

You are not too far from God.

Out in the wilderness

here are some more sermon notes. I write these things in full, and then preach it like really detailed notes. I hope you can find some use in them.

Back to the Wilderness

Deu 1:37 Also the LORD was angry with me for your sakes, saying, Thou also shalt not go in thither.

Deu 1:38 But Joshua the son of Nun, which standeth before thee, he shall go in thither: encourage him: for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

Deu 1:39 Moreover your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, and your children, which in that day had no knowledge between good and evil, they shall go in thither, and unto them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

Deu 1:40 But as for you, turn you, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way of the Red sea.

This passage of scripture deals with the Israelites unwillingness to go into the promised land. It is a story of desperation and strife, and a story of God removing his hand from a people. It is a story, about how one group of people had followed God to the threshold of Great victory, and backed off when the going seemed to get a little rough. It is a proverb and a parable for us today. It lies as a warning against the evil that we submit ourselves to when we refuse God's perfect will for our lives.

The story is a simple one, in a very short amount of time the Israelites are set free from Egypt, they follow God, as a flame of fire by night and a cloud by day and he leads them through the wilderness to the Jordan river, just about to cross over to the other side.

The land on the other side of the Jordan is a special land, one that the Bible said flowed with milk and honey, a good land. It was promised to the Israelites, and God moved them from place to place, with love and care guiding them to that place.

There were many problems along the way. The people complained, they rebelled, they created a false God, and God continued to lead them, but at this point, at this juncture God tells the people, no, not this time, turn back and go into the wilderness. God took his hand of protection off of the people. He said, “No more, this generation is trouble, you have failed me in a major way, you can go back into the wilderness.”

What did they do I ask you? I want you to see what they did. These people were led by God to go into Canaan, and they refused. Allow me to reword this for you, These people were called of God to enter into this place and take it for him, and they did not. Abraham was chosen among all the thousands and millions of people in the world to perform a task. God was going to raise up a great family from him, who would take Canaan and establish the nation of Israel, and the people enjoyed God's blessings, his manna from heaven, his deliverance and all of the good things he had to give them, but now he had asked them to step up and go to war to take the land and the people said no.

There are a few things that went wrong on this little story that we need to look at. The first thing, the people troubled themselves over what victory was going to cost. Lets look at the story, they came to the mountain of the Amorites. Look at verses 20-23:

Deu 1:20 And I said unto you, Ye are come unto the mountain of the Amorites, which the LORD our God doth give unto us.

Deu 1:21 Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.

Deu 1:22 And ye came near unto me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.

Deu 1:23 And the saying pleased me well: and I took twelve men of you, one of a tribe:

Deu 1:24 And they turned and went up into the mountain, and came unto the valley of Eshcol, and searched it out.

So the Israelites got to worrying about this whole, go up and take the land bit, so they decided that they needed to go check things out first before they commit their lives, and their sons' lives and their possessions to God's plan.

Lets just consider this, the God of the Heavens, who in one day created Humanity. Ever think about that. We have been spending centuries trying to figure this body out and there is still a whole lot we don't understand. Did you know that Doctors argue about what our gall bladder does? Our brain is a tremendous mystery and no one has any clue how all of this works, but God created us in a day. It has been nearly 500 years since Leonardo was grave robbing to try to figure things out, and no one has figured out how to build a man yet. God did that in a day. That God is the one who called the Israelites to Canaan, and they didn't trust his judgment, they wanted to go check things out themselves.

That is the exact opposite of faith. What is faith?

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

That means that faith is what we have that allows us to act on what God has promised. Faith is substance, it is tangible. When God says, give and it shall be given, faith gives. Hope is the yearning for that which has been promised. You know what that means, that These people would have marched into Canaan with nary a thought if they had faith in what God promised.

Can I just make this plea to you? If God has got a calling for you, don't worry about the trials. Don't fear the details. I despise religious cliche's, but I am going to use one. Where God guides he provides.

Adinoram Judson was one of the first missionaries to leave out of America to attempt to win the Burmese people in Asia to the Lord. He was a congregational missionary, when he left. The congregational church is an awful lot like Baptist, except in a few ways that don't really affect salvation. While Adinoram Judson was on the ship traveling to Burma, he was convicted about one of those differences, Baptism. He was translating the Bible for use in his mission work and he realized his Infant Baptism was not the same thing as the believer's baptism described in the Bible. He found out that a person could not be baptized until they had come to Christ. When he got to Burma he went and found some Baptists and he got Baptized and became one of them. The next thing he did was send word to his mission board that he had converted, why and that they need not send him any more support as it would not be honest. He was staying put regardless.

People would say of Adinoram Judson, “You are a fool! Did you not consider the implications of staying in burma with no funds!” Adinoram Judson said, “God Called me to Burma, in Burma I will stay. What ever comes before me God can handle. I did not need to consider the implications of Obedience.” (not a quote)

You kids in here listen up. If you fret over what is on the other side of the threshold of your christian service God has prepared a wilderness for you, he will send you back into it until you get the point. The people of Israel got all the way to the door of the promised land and began worrying about the challenges on the other side and did not go. For this God said, I brought you through the wilderness, and you preferred it, go back into the wilderness.

Jonah found this out, God sent him to the people of Ninevah, and Jonah thought about the other side of that threshold and he tried to run away from God! You remember what God did? He stuck Jonah in the belly of a whale until he got the picture. He Cried out from what seemed like hell to him:

Jon 2:7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

Jon 2:8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

Jon 2:9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD

Are you concerned about the other side? Don't think you can pay your college bills? Did God call you? He will take care of it. Don't think that you can handle the mission field? Did God call you? He can take care of it. Does God want you to be a soul winner, are you scared to talk to people? Where God guides, he provides. Will you forsake his call and be cast back out into the wilderness until God has made his point?

The People made a second mistake that we need to look into, they saw the Obstacles in the land and put them into the perspective of their ability and not God's. Lets remember as we look at the coming verses that we are talking about people who are called of God to fulfill a purpose he has for us. He makes the provision, he takes responsibility for the work that is to be done. Lets look at what the people said when the spies returned.

Num 13:31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.

Num 13:32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature.

Num 13:33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.

Look at the language they used. We be not able, We were in our own sight as grasshoppers. That is the wrong attitude. When it comes to obeying the call of God, we need to stop looking at ourselves.

Last night I got out on my Bicycle at around 5pm. I had not eaten since breakfast, and I got about 5 miles away from my house and I started to get some hunger pains. Then there was that light headed feeling you get when you have not eaten enough to sustain the activity you are doing. I had 15 more miles to go and I was Hungry. I thought, I can fix this, I can go to lances in bauxite and grab a power bar. One problem, I left my wallet at home. Though I think it would work to trade my good looks for food, I wasn't going to try it. So there I was wanting to finish up and but not really sure I could.

Then a song started playing in my head. You can call me crazy, But I believe God talks to me by putting tunes in my head. You see, I pray several times a week, “Lord help me loose this weight.” I think he was helping me yesterday. He put the right song in my head. This is the exact wording that I started singing to myself.

“thou art weak but I am strong”

I stopped that thought for a second and had to think really hard, but I knew that was not the way the song went. I kept replaying it in my mind until finally it came out right, “I am weak, but thou art strong!” And God gave me a big slap on the back and said “You got it now! Go on!”

You know we have to realize, we are weak, and he is strong. When we look at the problems we face following God and we turn back, He says go back into the wilderness, wander around in circles for a while and get nothing done until you figure out what you did wrong and repent.

A missionary once traveled to Africa with his family. Called by God into the missions field and followed him there. Everything was set in order. He had his support, and he had his family and his Bible and the backing of God and the land was set out before him for the taking. I believe that this fellow was going to make a big Impact for God, because the results are so striking. The way the story goes, he got into the mission field and began doing a work, and then he began to experience some things.

The location he was at was infested with snakes. There were big snakes and small snakes and every other kind of snake you could think of. People would be bitten and die and he got it into his head that his baby boys were going to get snake bit in the mission field, so he came out. He told his supporting churches why he left, that he was so afraid that one of those snakes was going to get his boy.

He came back to the states and began to live a normal life. His bought a home that sat on a pier and beam foundation, and went to work. One day one of his two boys crawled up underneath that house to play and found a nest of snakes. He was bitten and he came to his father who rushed out to the car and got in and backed out as quickly as he could to rush to the hospital. In his haste he backed that car right over his other son killing him instantly.

God had provided him with a victory, he denied and returned to the destruction of his children.

Folks, don't look at those giants in the field and get scared to go forward. Don't turn back on God's calling, he will send you back out into the wilderness.

You know what is very odd, when people stopped looking at things from their perspective and started looking at it as best they can from God's the whole thing changed for them? It did! The people traveled through the wilderness, came to the Jordan, went across and spied on them and came back and told Moses that the people there were giants, they could not take the land. So they went to the wilderness.

When those people's kids grew up 40 years later, they decided to trust God and they crossed the Jordan. You know the strangest thing happened, when his people decided to cross the threshold, God opened the door, literally. The Jordan parted and they crossed on dry ground. They went in and took the land.

The book of Joshua Chronicles this event, and there is a word conspicuously missing in the book of Joshua: Giants. Its not there! When you see things the way God does, a giant is a little bit ant that can be squashed. What ever is holding you back, whatever fear of insecurity you have cast it aside! God is a giant killer.

There are Giants all over the place in the Bible. Goliath, his sons, his brother. Mt. Sier was covered with Giants before God gave the land to the Edomites. Ar was covered up with Giants before God gave the land to them. In the time of the Bible there were giants in a great many places. Some of these skeletons of huge men have been found, but have you seen any real giants lately? What I am saying is, we have got to trust God, and try to have enough vision to see the world as he does, but friend I warn you, if you stop serving God because of your giants insecurity he will turn you back into the wilderness.

The task for the Israelites to complete was simply to walk where God walked and do what God wanted them to do and he would provide a victorious lifestyle. He brought them all the way from Egypt to the very threshold of Victorious living. All that was left for them to do was walk through it.

One of the very best things that has ever happened to me, probably the number two thing right behind getting saved was marrying my Wife. I love here, I love the time we spend together. I love that closeness that I don't have with anyone else in the world. Do you know I would not have that if I did not pass the threshold of marriage?

There are people every day who approach the threshold of marriage and then decide not to walk through it. You know what you find among people who are shacked up? A miserable feeling. The victory is there! Why live defeated and hampered by sin. Why stay in the wilderness when you only have to cross the threshold!

People will be called of God over and over again to do something for God, and they won't answer, and for them God has provided a wilderness. I cannot tell you how many preachers I have met who have made the same statement, “you will never be happy until you do what God has called you to.”

God may have laid it on your heart to teach Sunday school and you have resisted. You may not be in dire straights, but I can tell you that you are in a wilderness. God continued to feed the people manna in the Wilderness. He didn't quit until they entered the promised land. Don't think because you have relative comfort that you are not in the wilderness. I will promise you, you are not as happy as you could be.

Are you called to serve the lord with song but won't because you are afraid? You have that want every now and again to jump up and sing, but you won't. Too scared. Until you walk through the threshold you won't experience the happiness you could have, only that uncomfortable feeling you have wishing you could. Back to the wilderness

God has a job for you, and if you are saved you probably know what it is. Why deny him? Why not follow his calling. If you are not in the center of God's will, you are not living the victorious life you could be. When the people of Israel denied God their service, and refused to enter the promised land, they were cast back into the wilderness. Do you find life harder to live since you refused him? Is there trouble everywhere, and you have no satisfaction? Maybe you are in the wilderness.

Brother Eddie often relates the story of his call to preach to me. I can't tell it near as well as he does, but I know of no other story that illustrates this so well. He was called to pastor, and he fought it. He had answered the call to preach, but now God wanted him to move from being the evangelist of the church to being a Bishop, and it was scary.

I bet very few of you really appreciate the hell a pastor goes through on a day to day basis, and it is his Job. Until you have spent much time making visits and listening to complaints like I have you don't get it. Folks say, “that preacher is underpaid” but you don't know what it is to go through what he does.

I call my preacher all the time. I don't know how to do anything, at least not right. I called him one time and asked him what to do when I had a gas leak. I don't think I want to deal with that.

If someone in the church wants to debate your preaching, you have the honor of obliging. Its not fun. When sister so and so has a dr.'s appt and there is no one to take her she calls her preacher.

He has to deal with all of the beggars who come to the church looking for a handout. Sometimes people legitimately need help and the preacher has to look them in the eye and say, sorry, there is nothing we can do.

Preachers end up at the bedside of people who are dying. He has to pray with family members who know that barring some miracle their loved one die. He has to at times hold the hand of the dying man and be there when he slips off into eternity.

Every sunday and every wednesday a preacher has to stand up and face a crowd of critics, analyzing his every move to see if it is doctrinally correct, if he smiles at them, if he says something that contradicts their wicked philosophy. Every week a good preacher will make someone mad and get paid a pauper's take for it. Why would anyone want to do that?

Our preacher no doubt saw all of that pressure and according to his own testimony he resisted and found himself in a wilderness of discontent. His home life was not what it was supposed to be. He was a wreck pretty much everywhere. Do you know that our beloved preacher once told me that he got to the point where he hated to be around people. You know what was going on, he was in a wilderness. He was called a second time a little more openly by God when he asked him take this church. You know what happened? He began living victoriously. He got a shot in the arm and by his testimony he is happier today than he was running from God's call.

You know, There are missionaries, and the struggles they face are just as bad if not worse. Some of them will die serving God. When we first started sending missionaries to Africa there were a tremendous amount of losses. When Adlai Stevenson the 2^nd visited west Africa in the 1960 his reaction was, and I quote “My God I didn't know so many missionaries had died here.

When Alaxander Mackay left for Uganda with a party of eight he declared to the people there, “within six months you will probably hear that one of us is dead. When the news comes, do not be cast down; but send someone else to take their place.”

World missions is dangerous. A missionary from america will die at least once a year. Violence will break out and they will flee their homes. In kenya some missionaries will have to leave because the taxes are unbearable and yet they go, and they will tell others about Christ, and these people who have undergone so much loss will tell you following God was the best thing they ever did.

There are others though, who would not fight the battle, who would not do the work, who would not suffer loss. Those people Will tell you a different story. About loss and troubles and no word of any kind of victory.

Today you might be at the threshold. You may be one who God is calling right now to the ministry and you refuse. Will you come to the altar and give your Life to Christ? Will you present yourself to the church with your calling so that people will know to pray for you?

Right now you may be at the threshold of getting saved. You see the door and you are looking at it and you know you need to go through it, but you don't because you are scared or you think you are not good enough, or you don't want to give up your sinful habits or your drinking or your wicked lifestyle. Friend, the wilderness for you is clear. You can't have the abundant life of a Christian without going through that threshold. You will live a lifestyle of pain and misery until you get right. Eventually your wilderness goes from frustrated living to an eternity in hell. Won't you walk through that threshold?

People tell you that crossing the Jordan is a picture of death, but actually it is a picture of death to self. Your needs and wants come in second to God, and with that crucifixion of self comes a victorious life we couldn't get anywhere else.

The New Testament Temple

I know this is not good blog material because of the link and no clearly defined sections. If you have time to read a whole message on the New Testament Temple, I encourage you to read on.

Act 7:48 Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,

Act 7:49 Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool: what house will ye build me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of my rest?

Act 7:50 Hath not my hand made all these things?

Act 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

If I have a major pet peeve it is this. Perhaps calling it a pet peeve is an understatement. There is a sin that annoys me to a great deal and I hope to discuss it tonight. I don't like it when people have one standard for church, and another one for their time away from the church.

I am going to offend you tonight. It is not necessarily my goal, but it will be the out come. I intend to take some of your deeply seated notions about church and throw them out the window. I intend to use this bible to illustrate for you why treating this building, this place as if it is something that has some great spiritual power is a vast misunderstanding, and one we should dump, and quickly, so that our spiritual growth can continue unhindered.

Understand something, I am not saying that this building is not a very special place. The Bible says that where ever two or more are gathered in his name, there he is also. I want you to know that if we are here in his name, he is here too. That is exciting! Where God's people gather in a manner and spirit that is in accordance with the desires of God, he is there! This place is very special.

This place has a ton of memories in it. On June 1^st 2002 I married my wife right here in this spot. There is no place in the world that has that same significance for me. Right back there in brother Eddie's office on October 5^th 2003, kneeling beside an old black steamer trunk with tears running down this sinners face I called out to God to save me. Last fall, back there in the foyer, I took a teen age boy and knelt next to that old family Bible and showed him how he could be saved. What a day!

This place has all of my friends in it. There are a few outside these walls I would call friend, but when it comes down to it, the people I want to spend my time with are the people right here in this room. In 2002 I would come up to the church to use the computer to help me find a job. I would sit in here and listen to Mrs. Jane and Mrs. Anita talk about times and things that happened that I missed out on. They would talk about riding on trains, steam ships and war times in a way that I had never experienced. I loved those days. Brother Henry and I have sat on this front pew many a Friday night, and he would teach me about being a black teenager in the 60's. That man has imparted more wisdom to me than all of my college professors. Those teenagers right there bless my soul, even when they are being the pests they can be. All my best friends are here.

This is the only place in town where people will let me come and sing with them. I am not a great singer, mediocre at best, but you folks let me sit up here and sing along with you. This is the only place I go where the music lifts my soul and we talk about Jesus and everything seems right.

We hear the preaching of God's word in this place. It is the most important function of this building, and we ought never to enter it for a church service and not have God's word preached. And we ought never forsake coming to hear it.

We come here to be united with the brethren. The Bible tells us to be in one accord, and this is a prerequisite for revival. Can I just say that as long as some of us think that the assembling of ourselves together is only worth one service a week, some think two and some think three, we will never be in one accord. If we want revival, then we need to come to church and be one with it. Where can we do that? In the church building.

The church house sure is a wonderful place, and it is a place that we have set aside for the service of Christ. So technically it is a holy place, because it is set aside for the purpose of God's service, but we have to be careful that we do not link our spiritual development to this place. We ought to treat it well, we ought to be good stewards, but we should not base our spiritual existence on these four walls.

So I point you to our text. Stephen here is on trial, he is asked to give a word for himself, and instead he gives a word for Christ. How is that for an example to us. He was given an opportunity to speak up for himself, to offer his defence, and instead he spoke to defend Christ. He gives a wonderful oratory that leads to his own demise. Christian, when you are accused, who do you defend, yourself or Christ.

Regardless here is Stephen, full of the Holy Ghost, and he is telling these people what is wrong with their faith. He tells them, “The most high dwelleth not in the temples made with hands.” You know what the error of the Jews was at that time? They had put God into an itty bitty box. Their entire worship was centered around a building, and they neglected God elsewhere.

If the people prayed, they went to the temple. In Luke Chapter #1, we find Zacharias doing the service in the temple. His job was to light the incense, and people would come to the temple while he was doing this to offer up prayers. Today, Jews gather at the last standing wall of the temple and put their hand on it and pray. They stuff little notes into it. The Most High dwelleth not in temples made with Hands!

We see it every week here. You come into this building and for one or two hours a a week and you have a grand spiritual experience and then you leave unchanged and you do nothing for the Lord all week. Some of you the only Bible you will read all week is the text for the sermons. The only prayer you will say all week is here at this altar. The Most High Dwelleth not in temples made with hands!

I am going to challenge your mind for a moment. Suppose I came in here tonight, and in the course of the message I got really excited, so I just took a step right off of this platform onto that table right now. How would you feel about that? Would it make you a little bit queasy? Maybe angry? Perhaps scared that some thing bad will happen to me because of it.

How sacred is this table to you? Is it more sacred than the table you have at home? If you were going to tell me the truth, I would guess that ½ to ¾ of you would flip your wig if I were to do that. People would whisper about it, go onto to message boards and complain about it, tell the pastor you will bring a vote up on him if he ever lets me preach again. Can I tell you something? You have tried to put God's power in a little box. He does not dwell in temples made with hands. He does not care if take a carburetor apart on it, it isn't special aside from the fact that we think it is.

Are you mad right now? Prove me wrong with this Bible. If you can come up here and show me where the new testament church was instructed to have remembrance tables and I will apologize and tell everybody how wrong and stupid I am. The fact is, you won't find it.

Don't misunderstand me, I would not think it good idea for you to take this table about a little from the platform and use the offering plate for a cereal bowl. The Lord's supper is served from this table, your breakfast does not have the same standing as the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Breakfast to me only symbolizes not being hungry in the morning, that wafer and that juice represent something far greater than a still stomach. My breakfast doesn't merit being on the same table as the Lord's supper, but friend, don't think God is in that table. He doesn't dwell in temples made with hands.

Do you know what this is? Its a board. It is attached here to this wall and people come to it and lean against it to pray, but friend, when you pray you must accustom yourself to leaning on Jesus, not a board.

So many of you place a special significance on praying at the altar, but can I tell you that if you come down here expecting some extra power for your prayer you are mistaken. This is just a board. The space in front of it is a floor, I bet you have boards and floors in your closet at home. They are no different, but for some reason the only time you come to Christ in prayer is on Sunday morning when the piano is playing. Why is that?

When I was in Malvern I used to answer every altar call. I was normally the first person there, and the last one to leave, but I can tell you that there was nothing spiritual about it. My place at the altar was right about there, where the preacher would be sure to see me, and I would pray, oh God let him see how spiritual I am. Then I would leave, and would not say a word to God that was not an altar. My spirituality was tied to a board. Don't put God in that box! The most high does not dwell in temples made with hands!

I have said many a time, if you stay in your seat during the invitation because you don't want to be seen answering an altar call, get up and get down there! You need to respond! That is God trying to get ahold of your heart! Humble your sefl and go. If you go to the altar because you want everyone to think you are spiritual, stay in your seat and ask God to forgive you your damnable pride.

But don't think I am against the Altar. I believe in the Altar call. Folks will say, “you shouldn't give an altar call because it isn't mentioned in the Bible.” And they are about half right. Did you know that this plank is not found in the Bible? I don't care, I am still for it. The Bible doesn't tell me not to have this plank, but it does tell me to compel men. This Altar sure does help with that.

The Bible talks about fishers of men. That is what a person who spreads the Gospel is. Now that is the comparison Jesus made, not me. I think about how I used to fish a lot when I was a kid. We would fish for crab, and Shrimp and flounder on the New River in Jacksonville North Carolina. The way you catch a crab is you find a piece of old dead anything and tie it to string and weigh it down so it gets on the bottom. You leave that piece of old dead anything down there for a few minutes, then you pull your line in and that dumb crab will hold on all the way to the top, and then you net him. Could you imagine us fishing for crab, putting the old dead anything on that line, weighing it down and then dropping it into the water string and all. Some body will walk up to you and say “what are you doing” and you will tell them you are crabbing. They will say where is your line? And you will say I threw it in. I figured I would just give them the bait and wait for them to come crawling into my bucket.

When we don't give an altar call that is what we are doing. We are baiting the line with the Gospel, but we never pull the converts in. The altar call is a great tool. What good does it do to throw the net if you never pull it in! The Altar call is pulling in the net.

I love the Altar. The Altar is where people respond to God after hearing the message. People come to the Altar and get saved. People come to the altar and get right. People come to the Altar and answer the call to preach. I love this place, but can I tell you that you can do those things anywhere?

Do you ever hear people say, “don't talk like that in church!” “I can't believe you, lying in church!” “Why are you dressed like that in church?” Those people are missing the concept of the New Testament temple.

Remember reading about the Tabernacle in the wilderness? Remember how it was the place where god would come to dwell? It was an awesome thing in the Old Testament. At the moment that all things were set for the worship in the Temple, God filled that place with his Glory. It was not until all of the curtains were hung, until all of the altars are were put in place, and the wash basin and the table of the show bread were put in their place, and the priests were ordained. Once the priests entered the temple to do the work of God, the Glory of the Lord filled that place, so much so that it could be seen on the outside. God was literally in the Temple, and they called that place the house of the Lord.

In the Temple sacrifices were made, and incense was burnt. If you look at Luke chapter number one, people would come to the temple at the hour that the Incense was burnt to offer up special prayers. They did so to be physically close to the presence of God.

But the days of the temple were numbered. In that time the people offered sacrifices daily for their sins to keep the presence of God in Israel, but Jesus offered himself once for all sin, and put away the temple worship. He even said this would happen.

Mat 24:1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

Mat 24:2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

The disciples were awestruck by the buildings of the Temple, and the laver and the Altar they could see. The porch of the Temple was incredible, and they wanted Jesus to see how wonderful the Temple was. Jesus answered them and said that the time was coming that that temple would be razed. In 70 AD it was done, but I think that Jesus was foretelling the time when the Temple would no longer be needed for he took its place.

When Jesus Died on the cross, the Veil in the Temple was torn right in two.

Mat 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

You see, with the death of Christ the time of the temple was over. No longer did the most high dwell in temples made with hands. He instituted the new Testament Temple. Very few things changed from the Old Testament to the new, and all of those changes were in direct relation to Jesus' work on the Cross. We no longer keep the sabbath because Jesus is our rest. We no longer observe dietary laws because being in Christ all things are pure. We no longer have a priest hood because Christ is our priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. There are things that have changed because of the finished work of Christ. One of those is the Temple.

I want you to know something. This building is not the New Testament Temple. It is not even the New Testament Church. A building does not a church make. You and I, we are Gospel Light Baptist Church, not this building.

This Building cannot be the New Testament Temple, because it was clearly built with Hands. You don't think so, I will show you. If you had a hand in building this church put it in the air. See there, those are some of the very hands that built this building. You ever see Larry Mattingly limping around, he got that limp building this church. This building does not qualify, it was made with hands. Look at the text: “the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” Acts 7:48.

I can say though there is a vessel that the Most High Indwells but it isn't this church house. If your spirituality is physically linked to this building you have a problem right there. I believe he is here right now, but that is because of us, not this building. My Grandpa started a church under a brush arbor in a cemetery, a barn, and a garage. Bethel Baptist Church in Jackson Tennessee was meeting in a warehouse. There was a loading bay door off to the left of the Pulpit. Grace Independent Baptist Church in Pine bluff meets in an old Alcohol Treatment Facility. God is blessing these churches, and it is not because of the building.

This building is special, and I would not have it used for a lot of things. I don't think a rock and roll show belongs in here. What happens at a rock and Roll show is no where near the same significance as what happens here. People get saved here. People get right here. People serve God here. This place is special, but God does not dwell here. There is however a place where he does dwell. Let me show you.

John 20:19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

John 20:20 And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.

John 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:

Jesus Breathed on them, and the Holy Ghost came to live in them. What is the Temple. The place where God dwells. Guess what, when Jesus Breathed on the Disciples he gave the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost, God. Then if God is dwelling in you, then is it any wonder that Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:19 that your Body is the Temple of the Holy Ghost?

So lets look at your qualifications, you were not made with hands. God made you. He formed you in the womb. God dwells in you. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says your body is the temple. Guess what, you are the temple.

You know what that means? It means that you can have communion with him all the time. Not just at an Altar. It is sad that we will come to church on Sunday and commune with a block of wood thinking God is in it, but we won't bow at the altar of our heart during the week. What about your prayer closet? I will tell you the altar is special because that is where we respond to the preaching, but did you know that the Holy Ghost is working on you all the time?

When you are watching TV and get convicted because of the show that is on, you know what you need to do, come to the Altar, but not this altar. Don't wait for Sunday morning, get right on your living room floor. If for some bizarre reason you are reading your Bible and it touched your heart, God is waiting for you right there, come to the Altar and get right.

Last week I was reading a message written by Bro. Hyles. You know what, no one gave an altar call, but I responded. I got up right underneath my desk and cried out to God. I used to have a hard time at work answering phone calls. You know what I would do after a hard one? Go to the Altar and ask God's forgiveness for my anger and beg for help. When you get cutoff on the free way, and god convicts your heart you need to go to the altar of your heart right then and get right.

We have a joke we tell. All it is is a joke, but it hits pretty close to home. When I tell a lie in jest, I do that a lot just being funny, Mrs. Gina will tell me she expects to see me at the altar on Sunday. That is just a joke, but some of you have that attitude. You will come down to this altar and confess your sins on Sunday after carrying them since Monday. Why not make an altar where you stand? You are in the Temple of the Holy Ghost 24 hours a day.

In the Old Testament they made sacrifices in the Temple. You are to make sacrifices in your temple.

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Your service is a sacrifice. Your body is a living sacrifice. How sad is a temple that has no sacrifice? How worthless is it to have an altar on which to lay your sacrifice and not ever put anything on it?

Some of you have service to offer. Note this, God will never ask more of you than you can reasonably give, but you are stingy with even that. No you can't miss a football game or your favorite TV show so you don't do anything with your sacrifice. You keep it to your self. How sad, and worthless and empty is a temple that never lays anything on the Altar?

Because your body is a temple, God's presence is with you all the time. He is sealed to you. So those thoughts you have about behaving better in this building really seem silly now right? Don't talk like that in church! Hey, when you talk like a bar fly at home you do it in God's presence. Don't lie in church! When you lie to your boss at work it is done in the presence of the God of truth.

Finally, the temple has to be kept up. Watch what you eat. Flee fornication. Exercise. Don't smoke, avoid tattoos. Don't have unnecessary surgery. Your Body is the Temple of God. Take care of it. I like what Jack Hyles said about this.

I've tried to keep my body a temple of the Holy Spirit. I've tried to avoid putting things in my body that would make it unhealthy. I can't preach when these lips are stilled in death. I can't hear the complaints and heartaches of suffering people when these ears are stilled and can't listen. I can't give when these hands are crossed across my breast. I can't walk to the pulpit and carry the Gospel when these feet have stilled. I can't help you when my voice is silenced. I want to keep my body strong and well. I want to keep my body healthy. You know why? It's my body; its all I've got. (its no much, but it's better than anybody's on the platform!) But I belong to the body of Christ, and I want to be sure the entire body stays well. I want to help the body; I want to run to its rescue."--Jack Hyles, Hammond First Baptist Pulpit V.3-4, p. 12.

The Liberals say that the changing from the Old Testament to the new made things easier for us. I say baloney. He raised the bar. We no longer have a once a week experience with God. We have an every moment every day experience in God's Presence, That is awesome, and that is good. We have unlimited access, but friend, we have to be more careful than ever not to defile the temple.

I hope you are getting the picture here. You are the temple. Everything you rely on here is already in your Body. Your aversion to sinning in the Church house ought to be everywhere you are. God's presence isn't in this building, its in you.