Nobleton Community Church

2025-10-06

THE COVENANT OF SALT

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

OUR VISION IS:
To experience SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP AND PRAYER
To be involved in EVANGELISM, DISCIPLINING AND TRAINING PEOPLE
To use our SPIRITUAL GIFTS
To SERVE AND REACH PEOPLE FOR CHRIST, BOTH
“ACROSS THE STREET AND ACROSS THE WORLD”

Nobleton Community Church
Date October 5, 2025
Text Numbers 18:19; II Chronicles 13:5; Matthew 5:13
Pastor Paul Lehmann

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In the Middle East, a very important part of life is the covenant of salt. We find this covenant mentioned in the Old Testament, in the verses that Val read.

What is this covenant of salt? Bishop K.C. Pillai from the Indian Orthodox Church writes in his book, “Light Through an Eastern Window,” that in the East, the taking of salt is a pledge, a promise of fidelity. If I come to your house and eat your food, which has been seasoned with salt, I can never betray you or do you harm. Even if you commit a crime and I am asked to testify, I cannot do it because I have eaten your salt. Perhaps I may come to you and try to persuade you to do the right thing, but I would die before I would break the covenant of salt. In fact, the penalty for so doing is death.

We might wonder, what do we Christians in the West have to do with this covenant of salt? It sounds like a pagan custom, for I might add, at the very least, something to do with the Old Covenant. It is true that it is an Eastern custom, but not necessarily a pagan one, for we find in the New Testament verse that Val read—Matthew 5:13, Jesus is saying “You are the salt for everyone on earth, but if salt no longer tastes like salt, how can it make food salty or tasty?” All it is good for is to be thrown out and walked on.”

In the East (and in other parts of the world), they not only have what we call table salt, but they also have salt that comes in 20 or 30-pound stone jars. This jar stands on the floor of the kitchen, and is like brown rock salt. The top of the jar is covered with a stone slab. Every morning, the kitchen floor is washed with water, and in the course of time, the bottom of the stone jar becomes soaked with water so many times that the salt in the bottom of the jar actually loses its saltiness. By the time the salt is used down to the point from which the saltiness has been washed away, the remainder is simply thrown out into the street, and it is walked on, instead of a dirt path.

The person who falls away from living a Christ-like life, and has no testimony of the Living Christ in him, or her, is like the salt in the bottom of the jar: pressed by the crush of materialism from the top and washed away at the bottom by the dampness of “churchianity” in places where the truth of the gospel is not preached and the church is cold and weak. Let us, therefore, take care that we do not find ourselves at the bottom of the salt jar, lest we be thrown into the street and walked on. Christians who have lost their saltiness are truly walked on by the world, for there is no more criticized person than the one who professes Christ as his Savior and behaves otherwise. They are hypocrites.

In Mark 9:49-51, Jesus speaks again of salt: “Everyone will be salted with fire. “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other. “

And Paul writes in Colossians 4:6: “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer every one.”

A very interesting example of the making of a salt covenant in the Old Testament is found in Judges 4:17-25. This is the story of the battle that was fought between Sisera and Barak. Sisera, however fled on foot to the tent of Yael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendly relations between Jabin, King of Hazor, and the clan of Heber the Kenite. Yael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my Lord, come right in, don’t be afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over him (like a shawl)

This is the first of the covenants Yael made with him.

Taking a guest into your home and covering him with a mantle means the protection of the household is over him. She or someone in her household would guard the tent all night to make sure no one would get to him.

The nature of this first covenant was PROTECTION.

Then the second covenant was a covenant of salt. Sisera said, “I’m thirsty. Please give me some water.” She opened a milk skin and gave him a drink, and covered him up. This is the verse in which there is the hidden covenant of salt. The milk, which would have been kept in a milk skin in a tent, would not have been sweet milk as we keep in our refrigerators. It would have to be buttermilk, prepared with salt to keep it from spoiling. You notice that Sisera only asks for water. Yael could have given him only water, but she instead gave him milk. Thus,

she made A SALT COVENANT with him that she would not betray him.

He told her: “Stand in the doorway of the tent. If someone comes by and asks you, “is anyone here?” Say NO!

Then this is a third agreement between them:

THE PROMISE THAT YAEL WILL LIE FOR HIM

IF ANYONE SHOULD COME.

But Yael, Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him while he lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground, and he died.

This verse seems to turn the whole situation upside down.

Yael invited Sisera into the main living quarters of her tent. But every tent had a separate women’s quarters. It is off limits to men and is protected; Even in our day, not even the police may violate the privacy of the women’s quarters. Wars have been fought over this matter. Sisera slipped into or under the curtain to the women’s part of the tent for extra security. He must have thought he needed even more security, because he sealed his own death by going into that part of the tent. His unbelief in Yael’s covenants caused him to commit this fatal error. And so, the penalty for breaking the salt covenant is death.

The peg in the temple also has significance in the Eastern way of thinking. If Yael merely wished to kill him, she could have chosen any number of other ways to do it. Why the peg in the temple? Because she was attacking his unbelief. She drove the peg into his head where the unbelief resided. So he died. His unbelief killed him.

Like Sisera, we have received a covenant of salt; ours is from God. We have God’s word that He will never forsake us; that He will supply all our needs out of His riches in glory. He will give us Eternal Life If we cannot believe this, but remain in the security of God’s word; if we do not believe the covenants He has made with us, then, like Sisera, we will die the death of unbelief.

Yael was faithful to God and supported Israel. Sisera turned his back against God and Israel,

As further proof that Yael’s actions were justified, look in the next chapter (Judges 5:24,25): “Most blessed of women be Yael, the wife of Heber the Kenite,” most blessed of tent-dwelling women. He asked for water, and she gave him milk; in a bowl fit for nobles, she brought him curdled milk (or buttermilk)

She also received praise for having killed him. Earlier in the fourth chapter, the Lord indicated that Sisera would be destroyed in the battle; Yael was merely the instrument in the hands of God to accomplish this purpose.

The covenant of salt is still made in the East today.

Supposing you are the owner of a flock of 55 sheep, and a man comes to buy them from you. The cost is $1100. He pays you $300 down and says he will pay the remaining $800 in one month. If he tries to sign a paper for the $800, you can never be sure that he will not try to wriggle out of the agreement somehow. But if he makes a covenant of salt with you, there can be no doubt that you will get your $800. He will even make his eldest son promise that, if anything happens to him before the time comes to pay, the son will pay it.

Again, supposing that you were traveling in the Middle East and found yourself far from a city when night falls. You come upon a tent, and most likely the occupant is one who supports himself by highway robbery, since these people camp out away from other people. You may go to the tent and say to the man. “I am an American. I did not reach the city before nightfall, and I have lost my way. Would you take me in for the night? He says, “But don’t you know I am a thief? Do you want to spend the night with a thief? You may now say to him. “Yes, but I will make with you a covenant of salt for my protection. He bows low and says, “Come, you blessed of God.” He gives you a seat, probably on the floor of the tent, and says. “How much money do you have?” (Now, for an American to even let them know you have money with you is unheard of), but you bring out your money and count it out to him: one thousand dollars. Then he puts the money in his pocket. He calls for food that has been salted, such as olives or dried meat, and you take the covenant of salt together.

You may now go to sleep, in whatever bed the man can give you, but this thief will never sleep while you are there. He places himself in the doorway of the tent to stand watch, and also walks around the outside of the tent with his gun in hand, watching and protecting you while you sleep. In the morning, he gives you what breakfast he can, probably tea and bread, counts out your money to you, and then guides you safely where you want to go. And he will not take any money for his service, because he counts it a service to God.

`Bishop Pillai says, he often thinks that if a man who is a thief, uneducated, and not even a Christian can be honorable by the taking of the covenant of salt, that we who are children of God should surely be all the more faithful and true to God.

We should be the salt of the earth, the ones on whom God can depend. And our speech should also be salted, so others can know that we are truly living our faith. This is one of our problems today; people have trouble telling the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian. We should be living such a witness that others may see Jesus in us, and be won to Christ. :

Every day we eat God’s salt, because we work and eat by God’s grace, but: Some of us dishonor Him by not keeping our word to Him. We could say that there are greater thieves and liars inside the church than outside of it; for those outside only lie to each other, but those within lie to God. When we give money in the offering, we think that’s all I can give to the church. But the money we give is to God. We also may say to God, “When I have extra money, I will give more.” But then we get extra income, and we still give what we are used to giving. We also sing songs about giving ourselves to Him. I surrender all. All to Jesus. I surrender, all to him I freely give. I will ever love and trust him, in his presence daily live. Or we sing, “Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold,” as we decide that a “big” bill is too much to give, and we place a dollar in the offering. If we are “salted,” we would put in all the big bills if God tells us to. Too often, we say everything in words, but take no action. In Galatians 6:7, we read, “Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. “ This verse serves as a reminder that people will face the consequences of their actions, emphasizing the importance of living a life of truth and righteousness rather than being led astray by deception or unfruitful behavior.

In Genesis 6:3, we read, “ My Spirit will not contend (or strive) with man forever, for he is mortal and his days shall be 120 years.” It is only by God’s grace that any of us are still alive, after all the lies we have told Him.

There is little or no divorce among the high caste Hindus in India, because of the salt covenant that the bride and groom make when they repeat their vows at the wedding. Whenever the husband is tempted to mistreat his wife, or the wife thinks of nagging her husband, they remember their covenant of salt and adjust themselves accordingly.

The covenant of salt has been used in churches in India, where each person comes forward and each one takes a pinch of salt on their tongue, and they promise to do whatever God requires of them. To tithe, to establish a family or individual devotional time, or to stand by the local church, to stop criticizing or gossiping about people in the church. This can be a solemn occasion, where God holds us accountable for vows that we make to Him.

As we remember what Christ did for us this morning, let us truly not partake in an unworthy manner. Let’s ask for forgiveness of our sins, and make that covenant with him—not because of SALT, but because of his shed BLOOD on the cross for us.

2025-09-29

VICTORY THROUGH CAPTIVITY

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

Nobleton Community Church
Date September 28, 2025
Text TEXT: II Corinthians 2:12-17
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Paul’s triumphant life in Christ is evidenced by this scripture passage. We need to understand his thinking, though, as he has been through a lot of suffering. Perhaps not all physical, but in his spirit, he also suffered because of his complete dedication to Christ. We read in chapter 1: verses 8-11, that he was so discouraged he really didn’t see how he would get out alive. But he saw in this difficulty a lesson that God wanted to teach him and us. It teaches us that we are not to place reliance in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. Whether we have victory or not totally depends on our captor—that is, who or what is captivating us, secular humanists, Satan, or Jesus Christ.

Then in chapter two of our text this morning, Paul says, “thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession, as captives”— ‘prisoners’—-we read in the TEV (the Good News Bible).

Whatever the experiences through which Paul has passed, he wants us to know that it has been a glorious victory from beginning to end. He emphasizes that because of his union with Christ, it has been one continual victory. It is a victory in a particular sense. A victory through captivity, and what Paul says about his life as a Christian should be true about the lives of each one of us today. Amidst the heartaches and disappointments, the burdens and trials, as well as the joys of Christian living and all that is involved, nevertheless, because of our union with Christ, the story should be one of continued triumph.

So let’s look at:

Three things about this: VICTORY OF TRIUMPH.

FIRST: WE MAY KNOW THAT:

WE CAN HAVE A TRIUMPHANT LIFE IN CHRIST

Paul had a very clear picture in mind when he used this illustration. It would be a picture that was familiar to the Corinthian Christians. They knew how when the generals of the Roman Empire conquered other Provinces with a decisive victory, they brought the people to complete subjugation or submission. It had to be a victory where at least 5,000 of the enemy had fallen in battle. A triumph in Rome at that time called for a magnificent procession of honor of this general, and it was the highest military distinction which he could obtain. It was granted by the “Senate” only to one who had been the actual commander-in-chief in the field and held the office of dictator or consul. In a Roman triumph, the victorious general entered the city of Rome in a chariot drawn by four horses. He was crowned with laurel around his head, and he held a scepter in one hand and a branch of laurel in the other. Marching before him were the members of the Senate and magistrates, and State officials, along with the musicians, and spoils of his victory, and the captives in chains, followed by his army on foot shouting their cry of triumph.

Picture what it was like when the Rays won the American League Championship 17 years ago, and again in 2020 (even though they lost in the World Series, and when the Bucs won the Super Bowl 22 years ago. Then, with Tom Brady in 2021 and 2023. There were parades and shouting in triumph for their tremendous seasons. In 2004, the Lightning Bolts Hockey team won the Stanley Cup. Once again, much celebration. (They won again in 2020 and 2021. When they won in 2004, we lived in the Detroit area when the Detroit Pistons won the NBA championship. There was a tremendous parade and celebration. We like our sports and we love to win championships. We don’t have conquering army parades like Paul has in his mind, when the captives (losers) marched before the chariot of the winning general. No, heathen priests swinging their censers with the sweet-smelling incense burning in them. All of this marked a tremendous day, a day that might happen only once in a lifetime! That is the picture that is in Paul’s mind. He sees the conquering Christ marching in triumph throughout the world and himself and other Christians in that procession.

Now in that procession, as I said, the priests were swinging the incense-filled censers. To the general and to the victors, the perfume from the censers would be the perfume of joy and triumph and life; but to the captives who walked so short a distance ahead of them, it was the perfume of death, for it stood for the past defeat and their coming execution.

It was also true, though, that when a conquering general came upon a province to defeat them, if they would agree to bow down and worship the emperor, their lives were spared, but if they refused, they were taken captive and executed.

In Christ as our conqueror, it’s the same thing. If we yield to Christ and allow him to reign over us, we are given abundant eternal life,

but if we refuse, the result is spiritual death and punishment. This is the way it is for the ministry of a Christian. We go forward in victory over sin and Satan, and death because of the conquering power of Christ in our lives. As we give the Gospel to others, they sense the sweet smell of life if they are victorious in Christ, but they sense death if they refuse to accept him.

Jeannene’s cousin Jeff was like that. He refused to give his life to Christ. He kept doing things that were destroying his life. First it was alcohol, then drugs. He was in and out of jail many times. Then, finally, one night, he wanted to take his life. He heard the gospel, but it was like the smell of death to him. We were home on furlough from the Congo that year. His mother had made a commitment to Christ and was going to church. Jeff lived alone in a cheap apartment. He was really stressed out because his mother had “gotten religious,” he thought. One night, Aunt Mary called me and said that Jeff was trying to commit suicide. He had turned the gas on with the oven door open. I drove over to his apartment, and I saw him sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. The outside door was open, but the screen door was shut. I called out to him, but he didn’t look up or come to the door. I called his name and walked in. I smelled the strong smell of gas coming from the kitchen, where I saw the oven door open. I sat down beside him and said, “Jeff, you don’t really want to do this, do you?” He shrugged his shoulders. I said, ‘Come on, Jeff, you had the outside door open, with just the screen door shut.’ You don’t really want to take your life. I went and shut the oven door and turned off the gas. The house could have eventually caught on fire, perhaps, but there was no immediate danger of his being overcome by escaping gas. I shared the gospel with him, but he just refused to accept Christ into his life. His mother showed up after a while and took him back to her house. Some years later, he had moved out west, and word got back to his mother that one night, he and his friends were drinking. He was in the back seat of a speeding car, and he fell out the door and was killed. How that happens, I don’t know. But when you are drunk, lots of bad things can happen.

You see, the gospel for Jeff was like a sentence of death on him. He didn’t smell the sweet smell of victory, but death. He refused to let Jesus Christ wrap His arms around him and take him into “protective custody” and give him victory over his addictions and a life that seemed hopeless.

It’s like what happened to me when I hit two little girls with my car in Kinshasa, and was able to get to the police station, for “protective custody.” If you don’t do this, the police will take no responsibility for what the crowd will do to you. (You can read about this in my book, “They meant to Kill Me.”)

My eventual release and victory in that situation was only possible because I was “taken captive,” so to speak. Otherwise, I would have been killed.

Paul was taken captive in triumph. He received liberty in bondage, and because he submitted his life to the Lord, he became a part of God’s triumphal ministry through him. He was blinded on that road to Damascus and was in total submission to others who led him to a house where a disciple named Ananias came after the Lord spoke to him in a vision, to go and lay hands on Paul so that he would receive his sight back.

The apostle Paul was a very good man. A learned teacher, a proud Pharisee. It was hard for him to realize that his self-righteousness was nothing. God had to knock him down in order to speak to him, and then he said in so many words, “Lord, put your chains of victory upon my heart. What do you want me to do?” He was taken captive in triumph. He was put into protective custody and then left in victory.

SO SECONDLY, BECAUSE WE CAN LIVE A LIFE OF TRIUMPH,

WE CAN LIVE A LIFE OF TESTIMONY.

In verse 14, we read that, “God uses us to make the knowledge about Christ spread everywhere like a sweet fragrance.” The picture that Paul put before the Corinthian Christians of the prisoners of war being dragged along the ground was their degradation, but for Paul in terms of spiritual experience, this was the greatest honor; that he could be a slave of the Master.

I wonder how many of us are the same as Paul. Do we desire to be slaves of the Lord Jesus, or do we just want the gift of salvation, but not the commitment necessary to really have victory in Christ? There is more involved in Christianity than just accepting the Christian Creed or a Statement of Faith. Even if we accept Christ through faith and receive him into our lives, and submit ourselves to him and are born-again by his Spirit, and are baptized, we must still live a life of total commitment if we call ourselves a disciple of Christ. It involves every phase of our activity. Being a slave of Jesus Christ requires a life of service.

Let’s think again about the prisoners:

who have been captured by the general in Paul’s illustration. As we see these prisoners, we can hear much applause, and we ask why the cheering? The cheering is not for the prisoners, but rather for the general. Every chain around his chariot wheels was a symbol of his power, and the broken weapons the prisoners carried were symbols of their defeat. Paul likens himself to the prisoners, his self-righteousness and ability to persecute or destroy Christians, and his willpower as weapons that have been shattered by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now all of these have been placed in the chains of the Master. It is only at this point that Paul is able to have a witnessing life. Satan tries to use many things as weapons against God and us, but if we surrender to the Lord, he will shatter these weapons, and as we become his captives and through this captivity, we will have freedom and triumph over Satan. If we give our lives to Satan, we will be led by him unto death and destruction.

FINALLY, OUR LIFE OF TRIUMPH AND TESTIMONY

BECOMES ALSO A FRAGRANT LIFE.

We read in verses 15 and 16, “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one, we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life…”

Christians should have the unmistakable “scent” or “aroma” of Christ, discernible alike to those who accept Christ and also those who reject him and are heading for death. You may tell everyone that you are a Christian, a baptized church member, but maybe those who live around you cannot see Christ in your life. The old habits are still hanging on. When we say we know Christ, but our life shows otherwise, the scent you give off is one that leads to death.

It is like on the farm when we used to haul manure. You just couldn’t get the smell off until you got out of those clothes and scrubbed down. My mother didn’t want me coming into the house until those clothes were off and down in the basement. The smell just won’t go away. But that same smell, when driving through the countryside today, is a sweet aroma to me. I used to comment to my kids about what a beautiful smell. They thought I was nuts and made fun of me. But you see, it was very nostalgic for me, with lots of good memories. It became a “good smell.”

We must give off the fragrance of Christ so that our testimony is meaningful. We must live so that others see Christ in our lives, and then they, too, will want what we have. They will want to live like Christ, too. I wonder if God can say of us like he said of Christ, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.” If we have really been taken captive for the Lord and bound in chains to his chariot, so to speak, God the Father looks down and sees Christ in you and you in Christ, and then says, Yes, this is my beloved son. This is my beloved daughter. His perfume or fragrance should be going out from us, reflecting the triumph he has accomplished in our lives.

Jeannene likes “Romance” perfume. Whenever she runs out, I buy her a new bottle. It is rather expensive, but it lasts a long time. But suppose when I bring it home, she puts it in a dresser drawer and never wears it. I would think, “What is this? I gave you that perfume to wear, not stuff it in a drawer and never wear it.” But many Christians do the same thing. Not with perfume, but we have been given so much, yet we keep tightly sealed in ourselves. No one passing near would know for a moment that we have the life of God in us, because not the least small scent is allowed to come forth. But God’s way is that we are unto him a sweet fragrance of Christ, to those who are being saved, and to those who reject Christ, the smell of death. What a responsibility this is. A person who meets you who does not care for the things of God should be convicted by the Holy Spirit by your life, if you are giving off the scent of Christ. Your life should be so changed, so different, and be so much like Christ that others see him in you and sense his presence because of your commitment to him. In this way, he comes off as a fragrance that is pleasing to others and that draws others to him. If your life doesn’t do this, you are not really living a victorious Christian life. It is not a life of triumph, it is not a life that testifies, and it isn’t a fragrant life.

Paul is showing us how our union with Christ, which is the status of true Christians, produces victory through Christ. As we make him Lord of our lives, he leads us through life triumphantly. His blood was shed in the spiritual battle against sin, death, and the grave. He came through victoriously and has given us life. There is victory in him.

2025-09-29

VICTORY IS YOURS, IF YOU WANT IT

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

Nobleton Community Church
Date September 21, 2025
Text Joshua 8:1-29
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Our text speaks about the tiny city of AI. From all indications, this city should have been a pushover for Israel as they marched through Canaan. However, in Chapter 7, Israel experienced its only defeat when it attacked the little city of Ai. In that battle, 36 of their soldiers died, and Israel was forced to flee from Ai.

Israel experienced this defeat for a couple of reasons.

FIRST,

THEY FAILED TO SEEK THE LORD’S WILL

BEFORE THEY WENT INTO BATTLE.

They were arrogant and proud after their victory at Jericho. They assumed they were beyond defeat. They learned that wasn’t the case.

Another reason they suffered this defeat was:

BECAUSE THERE WAS SIN AMONG THEM IN THEIR CAMP

When Israel faced Jericho in Chapter 6, they were commanded to destroy the city, but they were to take the wealth of the city and dedicate it to the Lord. A man named Achan took some of that wealth for himself and brought the wrath of God upon the whole nation. Because of these two failures, Israel suffered a tragic defeat at Ai.

The Lord used the defeat at Ai to teach Israel the importance of holiness and of seeking the Lord’s will in every situation. He used this defeat to teach them the danger of pride. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. One of the most valuable lessons Israel learned was the truth that they needed the Lord. His presence and His power, if they were going to defeat their enemies and walk in VICTORY.

There is a sense in which we believers are a lot like Israel. If you are a child of God, then you know something about battles. You know that you have very powerful enemies that must be overcome every day you live. The world, the flesh, and the devil are all out to destroy the child of God, but each of these enemies can be defeated if they are handled according to the will of God. God will not bring blessing if there is unconfessed sin “in the camp” (so to speak). It doesn’t have to be blatant sins of the flesh; it is more likely to be sins of a heart attitude that is not of the Lord.

As we move into these verses, I want you to see that Ai is a picture of one of our enemies. Ai is a picture of the flesh. The word “AI” means “a heap of ruins.” That is a good way to describe our flesh, of our fallen, human nature.” Paul reminds us about the wickedness of the flesh in Romans 7:18. “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) there is no good thing. “Our flesh is dead, (Eph. 2:1), and “it is absolutely wicked and unredeemable” Romans 3:10-23) OUTSIDE OF Jesus Christ.

Ai is first mentioned in the book of Genesis in connection with the life of Abraham, Gen. 12:8, 13:3. The Bible tells us that Abraham pitched his tent “between Bethel and Ai.” Now, the name “Bethel” means “the house of God.” Like Abraham, many of God’s people have pitched their tents somewhere between “the house of God” and “a heap of ruins.”

Do you see the connection? You can either live in a place of victory and blessing, or you can live in a place of defeat and misery. You can either have a Bethel kind of life or an Ai experience. The kind of life you live will be determined by where you pitch your tent.

Just like Israel, we often lose battles with our flesh, but by God’s help, we can learn how to defeat our Ai and walk away with the victory in our lives.

I don’t know the battles that you are fighting with your flesh, but I do know that you are fighting something, because we all are at some point. It may be physical, or it may be spiritual, or BOTH.

I DO KNOW THAT: YOU CAN EXPERIENCE VICTORY OVER YOUR AI.

These verses have something to teach us about how that can become a reality in our lives. Notice with me the truths that present themselves in this passage. I want to preach on the thought.:

VICTORY IS YOURS IF YOU WANT IT

In verses 1 and 2, VICTORY OVER AI IS PROMISED

Verse 1: —IS A WORD ABOUT WINNING. When the Lord speaks to Joshua, God tells him to go to Ai. God promises Joshua that things will be different this time. He assures Joshua and Israel of the victory.

It is interesting that the Lord called them to return to the place of their greatest defeat. God knew that they needed to overcome Ai before they could move on in the conquest of Canaan.

The same is true for us, How many times have we lost the battle to the flesh? How many times have we been defeated by this old, sinful nature’s lust for the forbidden? How many times have we fallen and wondered if we would ever get back to where we were before?

If that has been your experience, the Lord has a word for you today! He says to Joshua. “FEAR NOT”. I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, and his city, and his land. And you shall do to Ai and her king as you did to Jericho and her king.”

To those who have fallen and have lost a battle to the flesh, God says:

Fear not! I am able to give you the victory.

God has made some tremendous promises to his children

We do not have to live in defeat!

We are no longer slaves to sin, the flesh, and the devil

. “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” Romans 6 :14

We have been made “new creatures” in Jesus Christ. “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new 2 Corinthians 5:17 In the NIV it says: The old has gone and the new has come.

We have been given everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us…

”He has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, and escape the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires.” (2 Peter 1:4)

We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who teaches us about the Spirit of truth, Come, he will guide you into all truth…” John 15:13

God has promised victory to his children. But thanks be to God, He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 15:57

The Lord did not save you to leave you defeated, beaten, and enslaved by the flesh. He saved you to set you free, to enable you to walk in the victory that he gives to all those who walk according to his word and his will.

Now in verse 2, we have: A WORD ABOUT WAITING (Jeannene and I learned to wait on the Lord in 1975 when we were returning to Zaire. We were anxious to go to the Capital city of Kinshasa, but God had other plans that were the best for us and for the Church.)

Notice that the Lord tells them that they will do to Ai what they did to Jericho, except this time, they are allowed to take all the spoils for themselves! If Achan had waited just a few more days, he could have had all the riches that he could have imagined. Instead, he ran ahead of God and grabbed for himself what God had forbidden, and as a result, Achan and Israel paid a terribly high price.

What a lesson for you and me today! If we could just learn to WAIT on God and let him lead and bring into our lives the things that need to be there, we would be far better off, because we would see his blessing. The flrsh is impatient. Our flesh wants what it wants and it wants it now. It doesn’t want to wait for its gratification.

We are better off waiting on the Lord to bring those things into our lives that he knows are best for us than we are to run ahead of God. But that’s what we do, isn’t it? Too often. We make our plans, do our thing, and never check with God about it. Are we doing things in God’s time, or ours? Let alone even doing things that God condemns in His Word. Then, when we make a mess, we ask and expect him to “bail us out.”

When we can learn to be patient and wait on the Lord, we are well on our way to victory in the Christian life.

*Wait for the LORD, and keep his way, and he will exalt you to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.” Psalm 37:34

“Wait for the LORD: be strong and take heart; and wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14

Not only do we see that Victory over AI is promised, but also in verses 3-26, we see

VICTORY OVER AI IS PURSUED

So for us, as we pursue spiritual victory, we can experience God at work, just like the army of Israel did.

In verses 3-17, THEY EXPERIENCED GOD’S PLAN

God told them in exact detail how they were to mount their attack against Ai. They were to lay an ambush for Ai, and they would take the city and all its inhabitants. Israel learned at Jericho what happens when you do things the Lord’s way. They had also learned what happens when they refused to do it God’s way. They learned that failure awaits the person who goes against the will of the Lord.

We need to learn this lesson today! When you fight the battle God’s way, you cannot fail. When we do it our way, we are headed for trouble.

We are talking about fighting this flesh and its lusts. If you are going to pursue victory over your flesh, and if you ever expect to gain the victory, then you must go about it God’s way. No other plan will work! We need constant contact with the spiritual support God has given us. We are strengthened spiritually when we are exposed to the spiritual blessings the Lord has given to us to help us walk in his will. God’s spiritual support system must be made a huge part of our lives.

What are the things we need in our lives?

We need the Word of God, I Peter 2:2; 2 Tim 2:15
We need prayer. Luke 18:1:1; I Thess. 5:17; James 4:2 (you don’t have because you don’t ask, you don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives.)
We need faithful church attendance. (You may think you can worship God anywhere. You don’t have to always “go to church.” That’s true. But it is also true that the body of believers needs you. You can’t have fellowship with the church body when you are out on a boat _We read in Hebrews 10:25, “Don’t neglect the assembling of yourselves together.”
We need the constant fellowship of the saints—–I Cor. 12:27 None of these things will give victory in and of themselves, but we need each of them to strengthen us and to help us grow in the Lord. When we begin to neglect even one of these essential areas, then we are headed toward spiritual trouble. When we feed the flesh and ignore our spiritual needs, it is a sign of impending problems in our spiritual lives and in our church.

2025-09-292025-09-29

TACTICS OF THE ENEMY

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

Nobleton Community Church
Date September 14, 2025
Text I Peter 5:7-8
Pastor Wayne Augustine

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2025-09-29

TWO KINDS OF SMART

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

Nobleton Community Church
Date September 7, 2025
Text James 3:13-4:10 (Reading verses 13-17 of chapter 3 and verses 1-10 of chapter 4)
Pastor Paul Lehmann

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I’m sure that: You have heard that we use only 10% of our brains at any given time. There was a movie that came out in 2011 entitled “Limitless.” I never saw the movie, but the review of it says that it takes that idea and runs with it, spinning a story about a writer who takes a secret experimental drug that allows him to use 100% of his mind. This causes him, until the drug wears off, to be the perfect version of himself, incredibly creative and attentive. Everything he’s ever read or seen is instantly organized in his mind and available for him to use in whatever way he needs. While he’s taking the pills, he’s such a radiant and appealing person that people are immediately drawn to him. And with his entire mind focused like a laser, he’s able to grasp the details of complex business situations and outguess the stock market, a skill he uses to great financial success.

Of course, there’s a wrinkle—-bad guys who want to get their hands on this drug and kill anyone else who has it. The movie apparently is an action-thriller that keeps you engaged until its surprising end. If nothing else, the movie presents one vision of what any of us might be able to do and how dazzling we’d be if only we could use 100% of our brains.

But here’s the problem. Turns out, we’re already using most of our brains! The old assertion that we are using only 10% is a myth. Now that we have better technology —like PET scans and MRIs—for studying brain activity, researchers have found that any mentally complex activity uses many areas of the brain, and over a day, just about every part of our brain gets a workout. Other evidence that the entire brain is operating most of the time, makes a devastating impact on us to discover what even a small amount of brain damage has on a person.

Our text in James is basically saying, however, that even if we’re brain-smart, we might still be dumb—we might still do really stupid things. For instance there is a list that was published showing the 10 top stupid (or dumb) things people do.

Cannon ball into a two-foot deep pool.
Cut coupons and never use them.
Order diet soda a t a fast food restaurant.
Wash clothes without separating the whites and colors
Wash clothes without putting soap in the machine.
Park in a Tow Away Zone for two minutes and then wonder why you got a parking ticket.
Not vote and then complain about the president.
Gossip about people who gossip
Marry a person you met at a bar and then wonder why it’s not working out.
Pick up a porcupine.

In our reading,

James talks of wisdom that is from above and wisdom that is earthbound, and he makes his remarks to Christian believers. In verse 16, James speaks of “disorder,”

About that: commentator Thorsten Moritz says;

“It is a reference to the schizophrenic situation in which Christians who are double-minded find themselves. They claim possession of wisdom from above on the one hand, while on the other hand they display the fruits of wisdom from below.” Earthbound, human smart isn’t always very smart.

James, who was very concerned about how Christians behaved with one another in the faith community, saw that the community was fit and vigorous only when it was hyperlinked to divine wisdom. James’s distinction between the two kinds of smart is especially clear in

The Message –Eugene Peterson’s New Testament in contemporary English. James 3:13-17 reads like this:

“It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the other’s throats. Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God, and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.”

When it’s put that plainly, we might want to say that this so-called earthbound smarts is not smarts at all, and James acknowledges that when he says.

“It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving.” But he’s meeting people where they are, where even some Christians viewed people who were getting ahead by mean-spirited boasting, twisting the truth and pitting one person against another, as cunningly wise.

It may sound strange to say that even some Christians admired such persons, but sometimes there is a begrudging admiration for the cons among us, or the bullies who get away with their behavior because of their brilliance in other ways. Steve Jobs comes to mind. He probably was not a Christian, but:

On some level—we admire at least what he accomplished before he died? His biographer, Walter Isaacson, compares him to Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), who was known as the “Wizard of Menlo Park.” He was a prolific inventor a little more than a hundred years ago. Edison was a 19th-century Steve Jobs, the Genius (Jobs hated the word) of Silicon Valley. Jobs changed the world we live in, as did Edison. We can’t go through a single hour anymore without being affected in some way by a product Jobs created.

Yet as smart as he was, he was a beast of a human being to work with or work for. Isaacson cites colleagues, friends, family, and acquaintances, and the adjectives that come rolling off the tongue include autocratic, controlling, changeable, temperamental, cold, absent, obsessive, distant, passionate, rebellious, and so on. He shouted, he yelled, he bad-mouthed people, and he misled. He was a jerk. “Velvety diplomacy was…not a part of his repertoire,” writes Isaacson.

He was also only one of the most influential people of the past 40 years. His mantra might be identified by the ad campaign Apple ran for some time: Think Different. The grammatically incorrect spelling was intentional. It was a choice to challenge unconventional thinking.

Jobs knew that for Apple to succeed, the company had to not only have a kind of smarts that was unlike its competitors, but that it had to encourage its customers to tap into their own creativity. He also spotted the wisdom in the idea that “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication—a word which itself is rooted in the Greek word for wisdom, sophia.”

So, isn’t it true that we’re sometimes in awe of people who, on the basis of their brain-power, carve out a moneymaking niche for themselves? People who think differently, like Mark Zuckerberg launching Facebook from his college dorm room, jobless J.K. Rowling writing the Harry Potter series from a story idea she thought of, and young Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founding Apple in Jobs’ garage. Isn’t there a kind of wisdom that many of us envy? Or how many of us have said something like, “I wish I’d had the wisdom to invest in ————–some successful company—-like McDonald’s in 1958 or shortly after. Or Walmart when it first started. Or more recently—Google or Bit coin.

What we get from our text is that Christians don’t automatically get a dose of heavenly smarts. The other kind of wisdom—the world’s wisdom—to often predominates in the community of faith.

Commenting on this passage, Luke Timothy Johnson says that James “is addressing members of the Christian community who gather in the name of Jesus and profess the faith of the glorious Lord Jesus Christ, but whose attitudes and actions are not yet fully in friendship with God.”

FOR US IT IS CLEAR THAT SOMETIMES,

OUR ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS ARE

NOT YET FULLY IN FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD.

Johnson is not condemning this congregation, but simply recognizing that conversion does not remove the ambiguity of life and that complete consistency “is not given by a first commitment. It is slowly and painfully won through many conversions.” He also says,

“There is always double-mindedness, even among those who truly want to know God and be friends of God. The wisdom from below is not easy to abandon or avoid, precisely because:

The ‘way of the world is,’ inscribed not only in the language and literature of our surrounding culture but also in our very hearts.”

The true story is told of this “Bowery bum” as he describes himself, wonders drunk as a skunk into a downtown mission. He’s come to the mission for the free dinner but stays for the service, and when the preacher gives an altar call, this man, Frank, goes forward, where a counselor prays with him. He says that night was the big turnaround for him as he repented of his sin and received Christ into his life. Although it doesn’t always happen this way, Frank doesn’t ever drink again after going to the altar that night.

But he says that in many ways, his conversion was only a start. He felt that his sins had been forgiven, but in most ways, he was the same self-centered, profane, bigoted, uncaring person he’d been—except that now, he was attending worship services in a church where he prayed and started listening for God

. There came a time when:

He realized that he had to give himself completely over to the power and control of the Holy Spirit, or he would just keep on being this saved man, who continues to walk in his carnal flesh. So one by one, God revealed things to Frank that he needed to give up or rethink or do differently or take on if he was to continue following Jesus, and growing in His grace.

Little by little, he began to make those adjustments—more changes—but he never said or even felt like he had “arrived,” but he had a sense of where—and toward whom—he was headed.

The point I want us to understand is not the nature of Frank’s conversion, but that:

He didn’t get “divine wisdom” all at once, but after he “got saved,” (and the alcohol problem was a big one to be delivered from), he was filled with the Holy Spirit in a crisis experience of realization that he had to surrender everything to the Lord. Then his spiritual growth and his knowledge of the Lord became progressive. The appropriation of wisdom that is from above is a lifelong learning event, and that should not discourage us, but animate us. C.S. Lewis, puts it this way using a house—-a lifelong building project—for a metaphor:

Imagine yourself as a living house. God come in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what he is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on…. But presently, he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts and does not seem to make sense. What on Earth is he up to? The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage; but he is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it himself.

If current brain research is correct, we’re already using most of our brains each day. But that doesn’t keep us from being double-minded.

Maybe we’re giving only 10% of our thinking power toward living a holy life. That doesn’t disqualify us from discipleship—-but it gives us lots of room for growth…and lots of room for Jesus to build on. We need to give 100% of not only our thinking power but :

We need to give 100% of ourselves to Him, so He can wholly sanctify us, purify us, and take control of our lives. He wants to walk with us, and live His life through us.

Won’t you let him do that this morning?

That’s the wisdom He imparts to us.

James tells us that in order to come to this place we must resist the devil, who will do everything he possibly can to keep us from this. But when we take the step he runs away.

When we walk close to the Lord, He comes closer and closer to us.

2025-09-29

DON’T BE A BUSYBODY

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

Nobleton Community Church
Date August 31, 2025
Text II Thessalonians 3:1-18
Pastor Paul Lehmann

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(This morning, we want to conclude Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians. But first, I would like to review some things in I Thessalonians.

In his first letter, he praised them for the way they received the Gospel. It came to them not just in words but in power. They became models for all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. Their faith had become known everywhere. Paul had been suffering and longed to get back to see them again. When Timothy brought back a good report to him, he was encouraged to pray for them even more. He wrote to them and encouraged them to be sanctified. This is the only way to live to please God. They were to avoid sexual immorality and not live like the pagans. They were not to take advantage of a brother or sister in the church. The Lord will punish those who commit such sins. God did not call us to be impure but to live a holy life.

For those who had died, he told them it was natural to grieve their loss, but the good news is that we don’t grieve like those who have no hope. (Like the pagans do). Then we have that wonderful passage about the end times. He tells us that when Christ comes back again, He will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then all of us who are still alive will meet him in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Paul tells us to encourage one another with these words.

He reminds us not to quench the Spirit. Don’t put out the fire of the Holy Spirit. We look forward to the day of the Lord. It will come upon people like a thief in the night. They will be surprised, but we who are expecting him should be awake and sober, and not be surprised. We are to put on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now this is a key passage to realize that when God pours out his wrath on all of those who refused to believe in Jesus as their Savior, we won’t be subject to this. He will remove all believers from his judgment and wrath, which will be poured out at the end of the Great Tribulation. In chapter five of I Thessalonians, he tells us that we are not to be concerned about the times and dates.

In chapters 1 and 2 of II Thessalonians. The Lawless One has to be revealed, and there is a rebellion against God led by him. He will oppose God and exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. When all of this occurs, stand firm and hold fast to the Word. (the teachings). May the Lord Jesus Christ, by his grace, give us eternal encouragement and good hope.

Okay: Now let’s look at today’s passage: Chapter 3 verses 1-18.

Paul is asking the Thessalonians for prayer. I would like to ask each one of you for a prayer too. We live in a day when there are many changes taking place in our society. Ten years ago, there were five Supreme Court Justices out of nine who voted to allow same-sex marriages. In fact to declare that there is no State that has the right to refuse this. Fifty years ago, maybe even just twenty years ago, we would never have believed that this could happen. It is unclear where this will go, but one thing that those who are pushing this agenda will want to force all churches to comply. Some churches have no problem with this, but I declare to you, that if a pastor or church has no problem with this, they do not believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. They pick and choose only those passages that fit what they believe, rather than what God’s Word teaches.

Paul is saying in verse 2 that he would be delivered from “wicked and evil people, for NOT EVERYONE HAS FAITH. But the Lord is faithful and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.

There will be times when you may have to defend the position that the Bible definition of marriage is between one man, and one woman. Whatever man decides is “marriage,” is not the Biblical definition. Probably everyone of us has someone in our family, or a close friend’s family, that you have found out they are Gay. Not everyone, though, is pushing to get married. I find it ironic that in this day, when heterosexual couples are not getting married before they live together, and even before they have children, the Gay community is pushing their agenda to have the right to get married. One thing that is too often neglected is that sin is sin. Premarital sex is a sin, and homosexual sex is a sin. Neither one is excluded from what God calls sin. Therefore, we must continue to love Gays, just like we continue to love Heterosexual couples who live together but are not married. We must know God’s Word in order to talk to people in love, to let them know what the Bible says and not what society is accepting.

Then, in verse 6, we are told that we are to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching that they had received from Paul.

1.. Follow the example of integrity.

Paul says…in verse 7

For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example.

He said that because he had just finished saying …in verse 6

… keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.

Paul is saying you’ve got good examples to follow and you’ve got bad examples to follow. Follow the good example — my example.

Now, when Paul says “keep away from every brother who is idle,” he’s not talking about the Amish practice of shunning, where you cut off all social contact with a person. In fact, in verse 14, he says that we should not treat these people as enemies, but rather warn them as brothers.

So, when he says “keep away,” he’s talking about the amount of influence you let that person have in your life.

Paul says, “Follow the example of integrity.”

For everyone you know — every friend, every co-worker, every family member — you will have to decide: What level of influence will I extend to this person? Is this someone whose example I can follow? Or is this someone who desperately needs my good example?

Another way to say it is: Will I be this person’s student, or will I be this person’s teacher? Now, in your best relationships, you will be both. It will be a case of iron sharpening iron, and one person sharpening another. As we read in [Proverbs 27:17] But you need to be selective with who you let sharpen you. Paul said, “Follow our example.” In his first letter to the Thessalonians, he said…You became imitators of us and of the Lord.

(I Thessalonians 1:6)

We need to determine exactly what it is about certain people that is worth imitating: The way this man leads his family; the way this woman speaks so kindly to everyone, even when people are rude to her; the way this person is always on time; the way this person always tells the truth, even when it hurts; the way this person exudes the presence of the Holy Spirit; the way this person can listen without interrupting; the way this person has an attitude of no condemnation; and on and on.

In fact, every time I think of a character quality that I need to develop, the first thing I ask is: Who do I know who has this quality? How can I learn it the way they learned it?

If you want to develop good character, make the intentional, on-purpose decision to always follow the example of integrity.

Here’s the second thing I want you to see today.

Follow the path of responsibility.

Paul says..Verse.11: WE HEAR THAT SOME OF YOU ARE IDLE.

                     THEY ARE NOT BUSY:  THEY ARE BUSY-BODIES

Verse 12: Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the bread they eat.

We’ve all heard the saying, “An idle mind is the devil’s playground.” You could also say, “An idle life is the devil’s playground,” because when you are idle and unproductive, you create a lot of room in your life for a wide variety of bad decisions.

That’s why Paul goes on to say…

Verse 13: And as for you, brothers, never tire of doing what is right.

What’s he saying? He’s saying follow the path of responsibility.

Here’s a good question to ask yourself — especially when you don’t really have anything to do. Ask yourself, “What’s the most responsible thing I can do right now?”

Sometimes the most responsible thing you can do is close your eyes and go to sleep. Sometimes the most responsible thing you can do is get out of bed. Sometimes the most responsible thing you can do is to give your undivided attention to your spouse, or your child. Sometimes the most responsible thing you can do is to read something, learn something, study something. Sometimes the most responsible thing you can do is to reward yourself with a movie, or some uplifting entertainment.

Get in the habit of asking yourself, “Is what I am about to do the most responsible thing I can do? If not, what is?”

Character is not something that you will just accidentally stumble upon. If you’re going to get there, you’re going to get there on purpose. Follow the path of responsibility.

Here’s the third thing I want you to see. If you want to develop character…

Follow the practice of accountability.

Paul was saying to the Thessalonians that there were some among them who were idle and unproductive, then he said…

10 …when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” He also said…14 If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed.

15 Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

There are people in this world who want to live according to their rules; they want to do things their way without having to answer anyone — and they still want everything they think they’re entitled to . As a person of character, this cannot be you. You need people in your life who will hold you accountable for what you say and do. At the same time, as a person of character, you can’t let yourself get talked into a situation in which you are carrying someone’s load, with no accountability on their part. If you do, it’s a disservice to the other person. We need accountability. We need to answer to someone for the decisions that we make. People who have no accountability usually fail in the area of responsibility.

I’ve seen it happen more times than I can count — in churches, in businesses, and in families. I’ve seen churches organized in such a way that the pastor answers to no one. I’ve never seen that model of church government work successfully over the long haul. Without accountability, it’s too easy to fall into the I’m not going to work, but I still want to eat mentality. People of character don’t take that risk. They set up accountability structures in their life to help keep them focused and on track.So let me ask you: How accountable are you? Think about your accountability in these areas.

Your work life. Most people have a boss. If you don’t, if you’re self-employed, do you have someone to answer to? Can you think of how maybe you could be more productive in your work if you set up an accountability structure?

Your personal life. Are there parts of your personal life that are hidden from everyone? Are you the only one who knows your password, for example? Do you panic when someone asks to borrow your phone or use your computer? Are you spending money that your spouse doesn’t know about? Do you make unilateral decisions without consulting anyone else? Can you think of a way that you could open up levels of accountability in your marriage and home life?

How about your spiritual life? Is there anyone to keep you on your toes? Can you go days without praying or reading the Bible — and no one would ever know? Is there some way you could establish accountability with someone whose spiritual leadership you trust? It’s as simple as this. People of character are accountable, and they hold others accountable as well. There’s a contagious nature to character. In fact, character must be caught before it can be taught. You can say it this way: If you want to develop character, be careful what you catch, be careful what you pass on.

What does that mean?

It means that if you want to become a person of character, you have to make a conscious decision to surround yourself with the right people of good influence and protect yourself from those who aren’t heading in the right direction. You also want to think about how you’re influencing others.

Look closely at the examples you follow, and the example you set for others. Look closely at your level of responsibility. Are you doing the best you can with what you have? Look closely at your system of accountability. Have you organized your life so that you’re not able to get away with anything, so to speak? Have you organized your life so that people of integrity have the right to offer correction? And are you willing to do the same for people who seek your leadership? Character doesn’t happen by accident. It’s intentional. So…

Make it your intention to catch the right qualities and to pass them on to those around you.

2025-08-27

WHAT PART OF ANYTHING DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

Nobleton Community Church
Date August 24, 2025
Text John 14:8-17 and John 15:5-17
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

One of the popular things that parents say to their children, especially teenagers, (maybe your mom or dad said it, or some of you said it to your children): “What part of NO don’t you understand?” This is after the begging and pleading that there would be a different decision. `But the statement means just what I said. Now also in the affirmative, Jesus also means just what He says when he says ANYTHING! (This is a pronoun meaning any occurrence.)

This is hard for us to understand when we don’t see the answer to our prayers right away. It might be prayers for healing, deliverance, open doors for evangelism: —–like we prayed when we first went to France to work with Muslims. It was after we had prayed, walked the streets, had a Bible Stand, and believed the promise that God would do great things,

Habakkuk 1:6 (NIV) “Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if you were told.” This is very important to see God answer our prayers for “anything” we ask for.

We needed to:

first- Have FAITH, but also to BELIEVE HIS WORD.

In John 15:7 … :If you remain in me, and my words remain in you—–Ask whatever you wish and it shall be done for you.”

We need to understand that this isn’t a magic formula, so that we can ask for just anything our fleshly worldly hearts desire. But if we stay connected to the vine, and stay in a close relationship with Jesus, we will know what his will is, and as I have said before—-His will becomes our will.

There are a number of other conditions that we overlook when we read that we can ask for whatever we wish. The starting point, of course, is to have faith and believe, but we read in verse 7 of chapter 15 that we must stay in a close relationship with Jesus and His word.

. Some people pray for the sick or the disabled to be healed, and when they aren’t, they say that the person didn’t have enough faith. We must realize that many times in scripture, the people Jesus healed didn’t know that they were going to be healed. Faith was important for someone in order for them to be healed, but not necessarily the person receiving the healing. Jesus said to believe that the Father was in Him, and He was In the Father. ( a tremendous declaration of the deity of Jesus).

We see in our scripture passages this morning some other conditions that may explain why we don’t see answered prayer. Verse 16 tells us that:

WE ARE TO BEAR FRUIT,— FRUIT THAT WILL LAST.

Wow!, Not only are we to bear fruit, but we have to see results, and the results must last. Now we know that it is only the Holy Spirit that causes them to desire being discipled and having a desire to grow in the Lord, but our part is to keep sowing. Then at some point we will see a yield of 30, 60 even 100 times what was sown. This is the kind of reproduction Jesus was talking about in Matthew 13:23. Anyone who has faith in Him will do what he had been doing.

Back to chapter 14:

In John 14:12, Jesus makes an amazing statement: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” Jesus performed many amazing and wonderful works—healing the sick and delivering people from evil spirits, raising the dead, walking on water, and feeding thousands come to mind—how can it be true that those who have faith in Him will perform “even greater” works than those? Like raising people from the dead and He Himself rose from the dead; How do you “top that”

In saying that those who believe in Him would do the works that He did, Jesus was not saying that every Christian would walk on water and raise the dead. The apostles in the book of Acts performed some miracles that were similar to Jesus’ works, but even they did not walk on water or feed multitudes, as far as we know. The Holy Spirit gives different gifts to different people as He sees fit (1 Corinthians 12:4). Not everyone has the same set of gifts. Some believers have more revelatory or public gifts, and others have quieter, more private gifts.

Jesus said that not only would His followers do the same works, but they would do “greater” works than He. Again, this is not a reference to the works’ being greater in power.(qualitatively) Jesus had raised Lazarus, who had been four days in the tomb (John 11); humanly speaking, not even the apostles did a greater work than that. No one has ever exceeded the power or majesty of Jesus’ miracles.

So, what did Jesus mean that His faithful followers would do “greater” works than He? Without a doubt,

The works of Jesus’ followers would be greater in extent (quantitatively). Jesus’ earthly ministry had been largely limited to Galilee and Judea; That’s about 120 miles north to south, and 20 miles east to west. A narrow strip that he and his disciples walked. His disciples, however, were going to extend His ministry to the uttermost parts of the earth. When Jesus ascended to heaven, His followers numbered in the hundreds; forty days later, in response to the preaching of the apostles, that number leaped to 3,000. (Acts 2:41). In Acts 4:4 the number was 5,000 “men”

By the end of Acts, the gospel had made its way to Rome.

I want to emphasize the “quality” of the “greater works” that the disciples and we are able to do. The greatest miracle that God performs in the life of people is their transformation from death to life. It is what I see as an important privilege that we have, that Jesus did not have.

JESUS COULDN’T PREACH THE CROSS. He couldn’t preach the Good News of salvation, like we can. He left that to his disciples and to us.

A Hymn written by Johnson Oatman tells about the fact that even angels can’t sing A SONG OF REDEMPTION. The chorus says:

Holy, Holy is what the angels sing, and I expect to help them make the courts of heaven ring. But when I sing redemption’s story, they will fold their wings, for angels never felt the joy that our salvation brings.

There is also a Southern Gospel song entitled “ A Song Holy Angels Cannot Sing.” The song emphasizes that only human beings can truly share the message of Christ’s redemption. Angels are holy and have not sinned, so they cannot testify to being forgiven and saved by grace. Jesus couldn’t and didn’t either.

Jesus links the works of His followers with the fact of His return to heaven. In fact, He says His absence is the cause of their greater works: “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12, Jesus later told His disciples that the gift of the Holy Spirit depended on Jesus’ return to heaven (John 16:7). It was through the Spirit that the church is enabled to do the work of God.

WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT IN ORDER TO RECEIVE ANSWERS FOR ANYTHING WE ASK FOR —–THERE ARE CONDITIONS.

FIRST:

But we must accept Him as the only way to God. And that Jesus is the truth and the life. ( John 14:6)
We must BELIEVE IN HIM AND HAVE FAITH

3 We must PRAY TO MAKE HIS WILL, OUR WILL

We must REMAIN IN HIM AND TRUST IN HIS WORD
We must BEAR FRUIT—-AND DISCIPLE THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN TRANSFORMED

We must LOVE EACH OTHER.

The words of Jesus in John 14

What does John chapter 14 mean? | BibleRef.com
What does John chapter 14 mean? How should I understand John chapter 14? How does John chapter 14 fit with the s…

and 15 were of great comfort to His eleven disciples. He was about to be arrested and suffer a cruel and unjust death. The disciples themselves would be scattered that night. But Jesus assures them that:

No matter what happens, God’s work will continue in the world. Even after Jesus’ earthly ministry ended, His work would go on. The followers of Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, would continue to help and heal people. The gospel would have a worldwide impact.

As God’s people pray in Jesus’ name, answers will come, and the greatest miracle of all—the spiritual transformation of a sinful heart through faith in Christ—will become commonplace, to the glory of God.

2025-08-18

DO WE REALLY BELIEVE WHAT GOD SAYS?

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

Nobleton Community Church
Date August 17, 2025
Text TEXT: Exodus 4:1-20
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

On a plaque marking Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace near Hodgenville, Kentucky, is recorded this scrap of conversation: “Any news down t’ the village, Ezry?” “ Well, Squire, McLain’s gone t’ Washington t’ see Madison swore in, and ol’ Spellman tells me this Bonaparte fella has captured most o’ Spain. What’s new out here, neighbor?” “Nuthin’, nuthin’ a ‘tall, ‘cept fer a new baby born t’ Tom Lincoln’s, Nothin’ ever happens out here.”

Some events, such as birthdays in Hodgenville, where Abraham Lincoln

was born. Or in Bethlehem, or a baby found among the reeds along the Nile River in Egypt, or spiritual rebirth in a person’s life, may not create much earthly splash, but those of lasting importance will eventually get the notice they deserve.

The three earthly births mentioned were deliverers: Abe Lincoln, Jesus, and Moses.

Moses was a reluctant one. Moses asked God: “Who is sending me?”

God answers him with: I AM — AM—The great I AM —I AM WHO I AM. Now this is after God has spoken to him from a burning bush that wasn’t consumed. In the last part of chapter 3, God has laid out for Moses, all that he is to do, how he is to explain everything to the elders, and what was going to happen, and how the Israelites would be able to receive plunder, l from their Egyptian neighbors, to make up for all of their hardship during the years of their bondage. All of these riches are what will make it possible for them to have the elaborate tabernacle in the wilderness to worship in.

Now, beginning in chapter 4, Moses shows incredible unbelief. Oh, he believes IN God, he knows that God is the only true God, and in his heart he has faith in God. That’s why God is calling him to be the deliverer of Israel. We too believe in God. He has provided us with salvation, we believe he is the Creator, and we believe he takes care of us. We have even seen him answer prayers and help us in so many different ways.

However, we have also seen times when he hasn’t answered our prayers, and times when we have had a very hard time of it. Nothing like the Israelites experienced, but nevertheless, we have had some trying times in our lives; but we continue to believe IN Him, even if sometimes we have our doubts. But the title of my message this morning is:

“DO WE REALLY BELIEVE WHAT GOD SAYS?” There is a difference in believing IN God and believing what he says. When we don’t believe what God says to us in his Word, or when he calls us, or tells us to do something, we give excuses to him, or we rationalize things he says; like; oh he doesn’t really mean that—-or he will overlook that—-or it will be Okay if I don’t do exactly like he wants me to do, and so forth. Or maybe we answer him like Moses did (in verses 1 -2) when God had told him what he was to do; he comes up with an EXCUSE: “What if they don’t believe me, or listen to me,” or they say, “the Lord didn’t appear to you? God just asks him, “Is that a staff in your hand? Uh, yes—“Throw it on the ground.” Moses did, and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then in verse 4. God tells him to “take the snake by the tail.” So Moses did, and “it turned back into a staff.” God says to him, “This is so that they will believe the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob appeared to you. The staff would be his credentials before the people. God takes what we have in our hands and uses it, if we just trust Him. Of itself, the rod was nothing, but in God’s hands it became POWERFUL.

Moses didn’t have a chance to ask God—if he was going to do this in front of the Israelite elders. God just told him to put his hand inside his cloak. So he did, and when he took it out, it was leprous and completely white. “Now put it back into your cloak.” He did, and when he pulled it back out, his skin was normal, and he was completely healed.

Moses’ own hand had killed a man, but in the second miracle, God showed him that he could heal the weakness of the flesh and use Moses for His glory. His own hand was nothing, but in God’s hand, it would do wonders!

God says to him, “If they won’t believe the first sign—your staff turning into a snake, and then back to a staff again, or this second sign of you getting leprosy and then being healed, go get some water from the Nile and pour it on the ground. It will become blood. These are pretty convincing answers to them not believing that God appeared to him and called him to be their deliverer. However, these signs would eventually be imitated by the godless Egyptian magicians.

So Moses has to give another EXCUSE.

“Pardon your servant, Lord.” (he acknowledges that God has called him to serve him.)—“I have never been eloquent”—(-I don’t speak very good, especially in front of people,) neither in the past, nor since you have spoken to me. I am slow of speech and tongue ( did he stutter?) He is saying, “I am not gifted.” God had said, “I AM, and all Moses could say was, “I am not.” He was looking at himself and his failures instead of at God and His power. God doesn’t need eloquence or oratory; He needs only a clean vessel that He can fill with His message.

In verse 11, God asks him; Who makes people mute or deaf?—Who gives sight, or makes people blind. Is it not I?——–NOW GO! “ I WILL HELP YOU SPEAK AND WILL TEACH YOU WHAT TO SAY.”

“Pardon your servant Lord” (here we go again)—

‘PLEASE SEND SOMEONE ELSE!!!” In verse 14, we read, “Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, ‘What about your brother Aaron? ( I can just hear Moses saying—yeah—what about him?) but no, he didn’t say that to God. God says, “I know he can speak well, and he is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. You will speak to him and put words in his mouth, and I will help you both to speak, and I will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth, and as if you were God to him. But take this staff in your hand so that you can perform the signs with it.”

Moses’ reaction to what God had said was one of UNBELIEF.

Next, we also see a question of INTEGRITY.

Moses returned to Jethro’s house and told him all about his encounter with the Lord, and asked permission to return to Egypt and see if any of his people were still alive. Now he wasn’t honest with Jethro. God had told him his brothers were still alive.

This was the first uncovering of a lack of integrity. However, his father-in-law, Jethro, encouraged him to go. Moses wasn’t a very good testimony for the Lord to his father-in-law, then — he was a lot like we are sometimes. We just don’t come out and tell people what God has said to us, or what he has done for us. Later on in the wilderness, chapter 18

The Lord told Moses in Midian that all of those who sought to kill him were dead, and that he should return to Egypt. God wanted Moses to trust Him and not be afraid. How patient God is with His own. How encouraging are His promises.

Then God says to Moses, Be sure that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have given you the power to do. BUT, I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. What does this mean? How is it that God caused Pharaoh’s heart to harden, and that he refused to let the Israelites go free? Think of it this way.

The heat of the sun beats down on the clay on the ground, and makes it hard. That same sun, when it beats down on wax, softens it. It is the substance that causes the result. In the same way, since Pharaoh’s heart was already turned against the One true God, God’s power forced a response from him. Then you are to say to him, “This is what the Lord says; Israel is my firstborn son, and I told you, Let my son-(that is, my people) go, so he may worship me.” But you refused to let him go, so I will kill your firstborn son” (verse 23). Then the next verse, 24, we read a very shocking statement. “… The Lord met Moses, and was about to kill him.” Many commentators and theologians have trouble with this verse. It goes against all of our understanding of who God is, and the mercy, love, and forgiveness he shows us. But this isn’t anymore harder to understand than his instructions to the Israelites when they went to battle; in some cases, they were told to kill every inhabitant in a village. That is, men, women, children, and animals. That too is hard to understand.

WE MUST GRASP THE HOLINESS OF GOD, THEN WE CAN BEGIN TO UNDERSTAND BETTER WHAT HE DOES.

But once we grasp the holiness of God, and how he hates sin, and the fact that he will not tolerate someone ignoring Him, it becomes clearer how serious it is when we refuse to bow down to Him and obey Him. It is only because we live in a day of Grace that he holds back his wrath now,

but some day on the day of judgment, everything that we have done against God, and all of man’s rebellion, will be dwelt with.

Circumcision was an important part of the Jewish faith, yet Moses had neglected to bring his own son into the covenant (Gen. 17:10).

This was his second lack of INTEGRITY before the Lord. God had to discipline Moses (perhaps by sickness) to remind him of his obligation. How could he lead Israel if he was failing to lead his own household in things spiritual? Especially since he was going to kill all the firstborn sons of the Egyptians, because of Pharaoh’s refusal to listen to God. His wife Zipporah probably was against doing this before, but now, reluctantly and with disgust, she circumcises Moses’s son herself. The Hebrew phrase that she uses, “you have become a bridegroom of blood to me,” refers to this command to circumcise male babies. Moses later sent his family back to Midian. (Because in chapter 18:2, we see that Jethro, Zipporah, and Moses’ two sons come from Midian and join him in the Wilderness.

God had promised that Aaron was coming (v. 14), and now He fulfilled that promise. While both Moses and Aaron had their weaknesses, and each failed God and each other more than once, it was a great help to Moses to have his brother at his side. They met at “the mountain of God” where Moses had seen the burning bush (3:1-5). Verse 5; “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

Moses told Aaron all that God had told him to do. When they performed the signs before the people, they believed. When they heard that God had heard their cries and seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.

God sees everything you are going through and is still providing deliverance for you. Today, the power of the Holy Spirit will give you strength to withstand anything the enemy throws at you

Jesus is your deliverer. He wants you to believe everything he has told us in The Word. Let’s not give him excuses when he asks us to do something for him.

Moses’s reluctance and fear were caused by overanticipation. He was worried about how the people might respond to him. We often build up events in our minds and then panic over what might go wrong. God does not ask us to go where he has not provided the means to help. Go where he leads, trusting him to supply courage, confidence, and resources at the right moment

A shepherd’s staff was commonly a three to six-foot wooden rod with a curved hook at the top. The shepherd used it for walking, guiding his sheep, killing snakes, or pulling a lamb out of a crevice. Still, it was just a stick. But God used the simple shepherd’s staff Moses carried as a sign to teach him an important lesson. God sometimes takes joy in using ordinary things for extraordinary purposes. What are the ordinary things in your life—your voice, a pen, a hammer, a broom, a musical instrument? While it is easy to assume God can use only special skills, you must not hinder his use of the everyday contributions you can make. Little did Moses imagine the power his simple staff would give when it became the staff of God.

For us today, Jesus Christ, God’s son, is the ROCK that we stand on. Because of him, we can do anything he asks us to do. Because of his shed blood on the cross, we are delivered from sin, healed from sicknesses and addictions, and BECAUSE OF HIM, WE TOO, CAN HELP OTHERS TO BE DELIVERED. JUST BELIEVE HIM, AND DO WHAT HE SAYS WHEN HE CALLS US TO ACTION.

2025-08-18

A BAD MAN’S GOOD EXAMPLE

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

Nobleton Community Church
Date August 10, 2025
Text Luke 16: 1-13 I Corinthians 4:1-5
Pastor Paul Lehmann

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Verse two in this passage that Paul wrote to the Corinthian church says, “It is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.

This morning, we have sung about the faithfulness of God and of our Savior Jesus Christ to bless us, help us to solve our problems, relieve the burden of the suffering heart, and so forth. It seems natural that we, in turn, should be faithful to Him for all He has done and is doing, and will continue to do for us. Yet we do not understand what it really means to be faithful stewards. I wonder if we would or could give an account of our stewardship like the steward in the parable, what we would say if our master would say to us, “What’s this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship or your management. The picture here was of a steward or servant who was in charge of an estate or household, dispensing tasks to other servants. He is called in the text a manager in some translations. He probably was a “slave” put in charge of running his master’s estate. In Palestine, there were many absentee landlords. This steward in this parable had followed a career of embezzlement. The debtors were dishonest, too. No doubt what they owed was rent. Rent in Palestine was often paid to a landlord not in money, but in goods. It was a lot like the old system of “sharecropping.” Someone who rents land and farms it for the owner, and he pays for the land by giving the owner a share of the crops he raises. Palestine was like that. It was often an agreed proportion of the produce of the part of the estate which had been rented.

The steward knew that he had lost his job. He therefore had a brilliant idea. He falsified the entries in the books so that the debtors were debited with far less than they owed. This would make them grateful to him, and he had also involved the debtors in his own misdemeanors, and if worst came to worst, he was now in a strong position to exercise a little judicious blackmail! The master wasn’t shocked but appreciated the shrewd brain behind it, and actually praised the steward for what he had done.

One important meaning is to teach that all men are God’s stewards. Those who are unrepentant are bad stewards without doubt, but also those who claim to want to serve their master sometimes are bad.

The apostle Paul writes in I Cor 4:2 about what is required by those who have been given a trust; a steward must prove faithful.

THERE ARE FOUR LESSONS FOR US TO LEARN FROM THIS PARABLE. In verse 8, the lesson is that:

I. CHILDREN OF THIS WORLD ARE WISER (IN THEIR GENERATION) OR (IN DEALING WITH THEIR OWN KIND), THAN ARE THE PEOPLE OF LIGHT.

If only the Christian were as eager and ingenious in his attempt to attain goodness as the man of the world is in his attempts to attain money and comfort, he would be a good servant for his Lord.

If only men would give as much attention to the things which concern their souls as they do to the things which concern their business, they would be good stewards.

It is a fact that people will spend twenty times the amount of time and money and effort on their pleasure or recreation, their hobby, their golf (or watching sports), their gardening, and so forth, as he does the Lord’s work. (ie. Things in church for the Kingdom.

Our Christian service will only begin to become real and effective when we spend as much time and effort on it as we do on our own worldly activities.

You may say, “But Pastor Paul, we are told that whatever we do, we are to do it for God’s glory. Can’t I serve the Lord just as easily doing the things you mentioned? They are legitimate activities. Yes, you can, and I trust you do, and some of you are doing them a large proportion of your time. Others, not so much. Many of us need to examine this area of our lives. We should be faithful in giving of ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ and His purposes. This means a full life commitment of doing HIS WILL, not ours. We must quit trying to run our lives according to our selfish interests and allow the Lord to take control and show us areas where we have not yet surrendered to Him.

A few years ago, there was a small boy, described as a “shy” second grader, eight years old, “a little owlish in spectacles,” who was guilty of committing a crime in a New Jersey school. It was Valentine’s Day. He brought a Valentine and put it on the teacher’s desk; then he went down into the basement and set fire to the school by lighting wastepaper in the boiler room. When the Fire Commissioner conducted an inquiry, evidence pointed to the boy. He readily admitted that he had done it. When he was asked why, he explained, as the news report put it, with childish simplicity, “In class yesterday teacher took away my bubble gum.”

The child says in effect, “ I am on the throne of my life, and I want everybody else to bow down before me. I want to rule. When I want anything, I want it, and that is sufficient reason for my having it. If I want to chew bubble gum, I should get to do it. If anybody takes it away from me, I have a right to lash out and destroy anything that stands in the way of my whim and desire.” Maybe we don’t burn down schools, but we lash out in our own way. The only way to curb that desire is to have our Adam sin nature cleansed and changed by the Spirit of God by a new birth experience. This isn’t just “trying again” as the world sees it; “a new start on our own,” but rather by life-transforming power when Christ enters our life. II Peter 1:3, 4 says that His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

Day by day we must submit our lives to the control of the Lord Jesus Christ in order that He may keep the old nature crucified with Him. All He wants is our lives and that we yield to His will. Now that isn’t so bad, because we were created to serve God and to glorify Him. Some of you may have learned the Heidelberg Catechism (written in Germany in the 16th c. and used in the Reformed Church then, and many churches today), which says “the chief aim of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Some of you have gotten that confused and have thought that your chief aim in life is to enjoy the good things God has given you forever.

THE SECOND LESSON IS FOUND IN VERSE 9

II. THAT MATERIAL POSSESSIONS SHOULD BE USED TO CEMENT THE FRIENDSHIP WHEREIN THE REAL AND PERMANENT VALUE OF LIFE LIES.

It could be done in two ways.

1.) It could be done as it affects eternity. The Rabbis had a saying. “The rich help the poor in this world, but the poor help the rich in the world to come.”

Ambrose, who lived from 340-397, was Bishop of Milan and later Governor of Northern Italy. was contemporary with other early Church fathers like Jerome and Augustine. In his commentary on the rich fool who, in the parable that Jesus told, built bigger barns to store his goods, Ambrose said, “the bosoms of the poor, the houses of widows, the mouths of children are the barns which last forever.” It was, in any event, a Jewish belief that charity given to poor people would stand to a man’s credit in the world to come. A man’s true wealth would not be in what he kept, but in what he gave away.

2.) It could be done as it effects this world.

A man can use his wealth selfishly or he can use it to make life easier for his fellowmen. Possessions in themselves are not a sin, but they are a great responsibility that God has given to us because he has given our possessions to us. We are stewards.

“You might say; “Oh, no wonder I don’t have much; I probably wouldn’t take care of it very well—I would blow it!”

Yes, you might be right, because you might misuse it.

Jesus made a point about this. He said; “whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?

LOOK AT VERSES 10 AND 11. THE LESSON IS THAT:

III. A MAN’S WAY OF FULFILLING A SMALL TASK IS THE BEST PROOF OF HIS FITNESS OR UNFITNESS TO BE ENTRUSTED WITH A BIGGER TASK.

Jesus says that; “upon earth you are in charge of things which are not really yours. You cannot take them with you when you die. They are only lent to you, so to speak. You are responsible for them. You are only a steward or manager over them. On the other hand in heaven you will get what is really and eternally and essentially yours, and what you get in heaven depends on how you used certain things on EARTH.

IV. THEN FINALLY VERSE 13 LAYS DOWN THE RULE THAT NO SERVANT CAN SERVE TWO MASTERS.

In our economy today many people, if they still have a job, it isn’t enough, and they try to have two jobs, and work for two different people. We can use our spare time in this way but a slave could not, actually he had no spare time; every moment of his day and every ounce of his energy, belonged to his master. He had not time which was his own. So, serving God, can never be a part time or a spare time job. Once a man chooses to serve God every moment of his time and every bit of his energy belongs to God. God is an exclusive master we either belong to Him totally and altogether or not at all.

You probably remember the account of a former city employee in Albany, NY, who attended an evangelistic service, and received Jesus Christ as His personal Savior. The Holy Spirit convicted him of some of things he did when he worked for the State, but more importantly he was convicted of what he didn’t do; for the hours he wasted by “goofing off” instead of working. He then mailed a check for $100.00 to the then city treasurer Frank J. O’Brian, and with it a note which read;

“FOR STOLEN TIME”

Not very many people would have done that.

We should think about the way we use our time. I know I have thought about this. I believe all of us need to consider how we spend our time, in the days that the Lord gives us. Time at work; time for meditation, devotion, and prayer; time for the Lord in worship, “singing spiritual songs” (as they did in the early Church); time serving Him and listening to Him when He tells us we should do a certain thing; time in fellowship with God’s people.

Let’s ask ourselves the question this morning; “Am I serving self, and ultimately Satan when I do that, and is it he who has mastery over my time, or am I serving my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and is it He who is master over my time, my money,

over my talents, my abilities- maybe to sing, to teach or work with children; are there spiritual gifts the Lord has given me, that I am not using to serve Him?

Remember it is required that we as stewards be found faithful. Then, when we see Him some day, He will be able to say, “WELL DONE, MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT.”

2025-08-06

COMMUNION IS A CELEBRATION

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Nobleton Community Church
29084 Sentinel Street PO Box 224
Nobleton, Florida 34661

Rev. Paul V. Lehmann, Pastor
813-389-8683
Nobletoncommunitychurch.org
info@nobletoncommunitychurch.org

Nobleton Community Church
Date August 3, 2025
Text I Corinthians 11: 23-34
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Celebrations come in all shapes and sizes; birthday parties and celebrations, wedding anniversaries, family and class reunions, small town carnivals, ethnic celebrations, and National Independence Days and holidays. All of these are almost always accompanied by “feasts”—eating together, and usually plenty of food, or at the least cakes or other delicious desserts.

There is one celebration that is celebrated worldwide in a similar fashion. It is “The Lord’s Table” or what we call COMMUNION. The differences have to do with the understanding of why it is celebrated and also the way that it looks.

There are those who treat it as a sacrament which is necessary for salvation, and many others who understand it as a symbol of what Christ accomplished on the cross.

It is Jesus Christ alone who provides salvation, not the elements of unleavened bread and wine. We share these to remember what He did. But in every country where there is a Christian Church, the Lord’s table is recognized, and communion is given for all believers.

The passage that we read envisions a great banquet table.

Extending from Rome to Corinth, to Philippi, to Galatia, and so forth.

Today, that table extends to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, Latin America, South America, and every island of the sea.

In many parts of the world, they are not very well dressed, and the bread is what they can buy in the open market, and is the juice of a tree that is indigenous to their country.

Some are eating hard brown bread; others are eating rice cakes or corn bread. Some are drinking wine from silver goblets, others are pouring juice of tropical plants from earthen bowls. Some are dressed in suits, some are dressed in expensive casual wear, even shorts, and some wear tattered clothing.

In this celebration, we all acknowledge a worldwide need;

That we have all sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God, (or God’s glorious standard) (Romans 3:23)

We set aside all boasting and claims of superiority. Instead of claiming goodness, we seek mercy. We share a common humanity, and so because of that, a common need. The evidence of sin is worldwide.

Hatred and injustice know no boundaries. In every major city, and in many smaller communities in the world, we see all sorts of crimes, brutal murders, theft, extortion, fraud, and unbelievable injustices

Recently, especially in the United States, we have seen a spirit of anti-Semitism against Jewish students and Jewish people in general that we haven’t seen since the days of Nazi Germany.

Jesus Himself suffered unjust treatment (actually illegal treatment based on both Jewish and Roman law), and was crucified even though he was totally innocent of the charges brought against Him. We read in I Peter 2:21, “this suffering is all part of what God has called you to. Christ, who suffered for you, is your example. Follow in his steps.”

It seems that everywhere in the world, there is restlessness and revolt. It is no longer just in developing nations like in Africa, but countries like Greece, Spain, and at various times, France, Great Britain, and Germany, and right now in our own country, we see mobs of people revolting in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and recently in Cincinnati, Ohio as well as other cities. Everywhere, there are attempts at suppression, manipulation, and discrimination. There are times when it seems like the persecutors are at fault, like when, for years, the Islamic Sudanese regime persecuted and killed Christians. Now, South Sudan has finally gotten their independence, but persecution continues, and has spread down into the north-eastern part of the Congo. And of course, since last Oct. Hamas started the war with Israel. There are other times when the revolutionaries seem to be at fault in disrupting things. In all nations:

PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR ANSWERS IN THE WRONG PLACES; they don’t want to know what the Bible says.

Also in this celebration of communion, we rejoice in a worldwide love.

(John 3:16)—“For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God established no boundaries for His love. His love is unconditional, and the atonement for sin is not limited. There are some denominations that claim a doctrine that states—“Limited Atonement” That is, that Christ didn’t die for everyone, only God’s elect who will be saved. They only say this to try and explain the doctrine of election that scripture talks about. Whatever else it means to God, it does not mean that some are determined for eternal life and some for damnation, for such a purpose would destroy the cosmic aspect of the cross and make it something which is contrary to the great truth that we just quoted from John 3:16. An invitation to whoever believes would hardly be honest if some were unable to be among the- “whoever.”

However, if by election it is meant that God takes the initiative, then this idea is in conformity with the purpose of redemption, for man does not turn to God by himself, but is impelled by the convincing power of the Holy Spirit. This understanding of election makes man dependent on God not only for his salvation, but also for the motivation which brings him to God. It must always be remembered that God shows no partiality, for he loved the world, and

The cross raises no barriers and imposes no limitations, but its message is, “whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. (Rev. 22:17)

God established no boundaries for His love. His love was unconditional when He sent His son to die. His love continues to be unconditional.

There was a young boy who asked his dad one day, Daddy, how does God love us? His dad answered, “God loves us with an unconditional love!” The boy thought for a moment and then asked, “What kind of love is unconditional love? His dad said, “Do you remember the two boys that used to live next door to us, and the cute little puppy they got last Christmas? “Yeah”—“Do you remember how they used to tease it, throw sticks and even rocks at it? “Yeah,” Do you also remember how the puppy would always greet them with a wagging tail and would try to lick their faces? “Yeah”—Well, that puppy had an unconditional love for those boys. They certainly didn’t deserve his love for them because they were mean to him. But he loved them anyway. The father then said—You see, God’s love for us is also unconditional. Men hit Jesus (God’s son), and then killed Him, but Jesus loved them anyway.

Romans 5:6-8 says:…”When we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man. Though for a good man, someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his LOVE for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

II Peter 3:9 we read…He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

The text of John 3:16 doesn’t say that God only loved the Jewish world, or the Gentile world, or the white, European world, or Asian or African. It doesn’t even say He loves only the elect! It doesn’t say God loved the rich world, the poor world, or the middle-class world.

God expressed His love for all people. His love is expressed in provisions for our spiritual welfare. There is no material provision that can ensure the life of the soul. Through the gift of His Son, God has provided forgiveness, new birth, and eternal life.

As we partake of the Lord’s Supper this morning, let us again accept the love of God for our salvation.

In this celebration, we express a worldwide fellowship.

Eating together is a symbol of unity. The common meal is a symbol of loyalty, love, friendship, and unity. When people are angry with each other, they usually refuse to eat together. We should never come to the Lord’s Table with anger, or bitterness, or jealousy in our hearts towards someone.

At the time that Paul is reminding the Christians at Corinth about some things having to do with the Lord’s Supper, they would use one loaf of bread, and he says in I Cor. 10:17—that drinking the cup and eating the broken bread is a participation (or sharing) in Christ’s blood and body. “because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. That is to say, those who receive these elements, in faith, are united to Christ and, by the Spirit, to one another. They partake of the benefits secured for them through our Savior’s shed blood and crucified body. —benefits that include atonement for sin, justification through faith, and healing for the body.

Thus, both strong and weak members need to remember that the body of Christ is not divided, and therefore, we must express our unity in our relationship to each other.

We are all one in Christ. What we have in common with Christians everywhere is more important than the cultural, racial, or economic differences that separate us. We have accepted the same love and believed in the same Lord, we are united in a common purpose, and we will share the same heaven.

For safety reasons, mountain climbers rope themselves together when climbing a mountain. That way, if one climber should slip and fall, he will not fall to his death. He would be held by the others until he could regain his footing.

The church ought to be like that. When one member slips and falls, the others should hold him up until he regains his footing. We are all “roped together” by the Holy Spirit. As we unite and go forward in His power, we will affect others both inside and outside the church.

So let’s acknowledge a worldwide need.

Celebrate a worldwide love, and

Express a worldwide fellowship