THE BLAME GAME

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 January 26, 2025
Text: James 1:9-18
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

The title of my message this morning is: “The Blame Game. ”This is something that is in human nature. We seemingly have to always find someone to blame when things go wrong. Because of certain circumstances in life, some people don’t blame others, but they continually blame themselves. Both of these positions are wrong. When Eve sinned by disobeying God and she ate of the tree that God had forbidden them to eat of, she gave the fruit to Adam. When God questioned Adam about why he was ashamed, He asked Adam if he had eaten from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam blamed his wife. The woman YOU gave me, gave the fruit to me. Then Eve says, the serpent deceived me. Now the scripture says that she took some fruit and ate it, and then gave some to her husband who was WITH HER. Adam stood by and allowed his wife to sin and then joined her. Each of them found someone to blame, and we have been blaming each other or Satan ever since.

A dog food company’s newest product was not selling well. The president called in his management staff. “How’s our advertising?” he asked. “Great,” replied the advertising executive. This Ad campaign will probably win the industry’s top award this year.” All right, the president continued, How about our product design?” The production manage spoke up, “It’s great, our new label and packaging scored high in every marketing test we ran.” Hmmm.–Well, how’s our sales staff? Are they doing their job?? The sales manager was quick to respond. Oh sure. Our people are the best in the business. There was a heavy silence as the president thought about what he’d just heard. “We’ve got great advertising, great packaging, a top-notch sales force, yet this product is coming in dead last in the dog food market. Does anyone have any idea what the problem might be?

Everyone looked at each other—Finally, one brave soul spoke up. “It’s those stupid dogs, sir, They just won’t touch the stuff.”

Now that’s getting pretty bad when we blame the dogs for a faulty product.

There are some people that have turned their back on God because they blame him for tragedy in their life. Sometimes it isn’t a particularly awful thing in their life, but it was a time of trial. In the first few verses of this chapter, we see that; Trials of many kinds produce perseverance. They should help us to become more mature and complete in our faith. If it doesn’t produce more faith, it is because we are not believing in God like we should, and we are doubting when things get tough. We become like a boat that is bobbing around on the waves, first one way and then the other, and this makes us unstable in all of our ways. It makes us double-minded, we could say double-souled, which shows the depth of our doubt. It goes deep down to the depths of our very being and character.

We read in verse 12 that; The man who perseveres under trial is blessed. We are counseled in verse 13 that: “WHEN WE ARE TEMPTED—NO ONE SHOULD SAY, ‘GOD IS TEMPTING ME’. FOR GOD CANNOT BE TEMPTED BY EVIL, NOR DOES HE TEMPT ANYONE.”

It is hard to accept that trials are good for us and that God would be teaching us something through them. We are told that we are to consider it pure joy to go through trials. This sounds ridiculous when you are going through hardship or trials, but James insists that when we persevere we are blessed. When we have stood the test we will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

So many times, we see the evil side of the trials. There is a good side (just as he promises—Paul says in Romans 8:28 that; “all things work together for good (or for the good of) those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” It becomes an agency in the education of our spiritual character and the strengthening of all the better elements of our nature.

So once again —the same Greek word is used, but the other meaning for it. First, it is “trials” that we go through, now it is temptations. “When tempted no one should say God is tempting me” While temptation is not directly from God, yet it is overruled by God, and made one of His instrumentalities of blessing to us, “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone.” Yet, God PERMITS us to be tempted. As I reminded you, at the beginning of the message; God put Adam and Eve in a position where they were tempted and He made it possible for them either to choose or refuse; He gave them a nature subject to temptation, and while it might overcome them, it might also be overcome. God does not tempt any person, yet He does allow this to be “one of the classes in the school of faith and holiness”. He even led Jesus Christ, His own son, into the wilderness by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil. So we shouldn’t think that it is strange if we are called to pass through the ordeal of this conflict—evil from within and from without, not merely things that grieve, afflict, and distress us, (like the trials mentioned in the first few verses,) but also the things that tend to make us do wrong and draw us from the path of righteousness, truth and godliness.

In I Corinthians 10:13 Paul tells us that: “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” Now the key here is that we recognize “the way out.” God may be trying to help us to withstand some temptation, but instead of recognizing the escape route—the exit sign, we just go right ahead fulfilling our lustful nature, or following our own will, instead of God’s will.

So the temptations will come! God wants you to be forewarned and forearmed, and to know it is better that they should come to you, if you take the covering of God and come through in victory. Once again; “we shouldn’t blame God when we are tempted—We shouldn’t even blame Satan and say “the Devil made me do it!). We also shouldn’t blame God when we go through trials.

WHAT IS THE SOURCE OF TEMPTATION?

We should never forget where the source of temptation came from. “Each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.” (verse 14). Temptation comes from your own heart. There are innumerable tempters: men, women, and fallen spirits of wickedness. But none have any power unless we have within ourselves—a traitor in the inner recesses of our hearts. The enemy cannot get in unless you let him in.

The phrase “dragged away and enticed”(NIV) or “lured and enticed” (RSV) has the idea of being caught in a trap and carried away by our captor, and the word “enticed” in Greek means “to bait a hook.” Both the hunter and the fisherman use bate to capture their unwary prey. No animal would deliberately step into a trap or snap at a hook if it understood the nature of traps and hooks. Traps promise one thing but give another. James is telling us that the bait that attracts us conceals deadly poison. If only we believed God’s warnings!

When we lived in Michigan, somehow we got a mouse in our house. It showed up once in our family room and once in the laundry room. So we set two mouse traps. We had heard that peanut butter worked good to catch mice, so we put some peanut butter on the trap in the family room, and we put the traditional cheese bate on the trap in the laundry room. Well the mouse somehow was able to lick the peanut butter off the trap in the family room, but the cheese that we had pushed down hard on the trap in the laundry room –got him.

But just as we use a mouse trap to catch mice; Satan does that to us too.

Sometimes we are tempted by the peanut butter so to speak, and we can nibble in the temptation, and we think, that’s not so bad. But another day Satan sets a trap with a “cheese” temptation, and we are caught, snared, hooked, and it can lead to death.

So once again, he can only do this if we let him. Now the only exception to this is when it comes to “generational spirits.” It’s only Westerners who deny that this is possible. Others in the world know that sometimes because of the sins of the parents, who allow curses to be put on their children before they are born or are still in the womb, their children are unknowingly subject to this kind of demonic bondage. Sometimes the parents are unaware that this has happened. When the child grows up there is a foothold of evil that cannot be shaken, even when they have received Christ as Savior.

The root of the bondage or generational curses, deliberately or ignorantly invoked because of parental involvement with the occult. Deuteronomy 18:10-13 tells us: “ Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist, or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord, and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. You must be blameless before the Lord your God.”

For us today we may have another list, a list of things that may separate us from God. These may be things involving the Occult.

Included in this list, but not limited to it is, playing with the Ouija Board, Numerology or Horoscope readings, automatic writing, astral projection, levitation, Séances (which includes what we read— consulting the dead through mediums, divination, even water witching, (which many of our ancestors used to find water to dig for wells), astrology, or any of the Eastern Religions, parental bondage to drugs, in short, any form of bondage to evil spirits or serious abnegation of responsibility can expose their children to evil spirits.

Even though someone in your family was involved in some or even one of these, it doesn’t automatically mean that you will be affected. I don’t understand how this works, or why some live in bondage because of something in their past, while others achieve victory in their lives by accepting Christ. I just know that sometimes, professing Christians can’t seem to make any spiritual progress and they wonder why. After counseling and finding out about their own past, or their parents or grandparents, or aunts or uncles, it is discovered that either a deliberate curse was put upon them, or at the very least their relatives or ancestors were involved with some form of evil practice that Satan used to get a foothold in their lives.

The good news is that one doesn’t have to stay in this kind of condition. Deliverance is available.

It is so sad to see well-intentioned people (including some pastors), keep prodding someone to pray more, read the Word more, be more disciplined, etc., when they have some besetting problem that binds them. All the while what they need is deliverance from some form of demonization. It is obvious though that originally someone fell to temptation by the evil one. Perhaps as we read in verse 15 of our text; “after desire has conceived (there had to be a desire to see something happen, to experience something, to have help through demons, even though most of the time in our culture we don’t even think about their involvement.)—So next it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

The counsel is given in verse 16: DON’T BE DECEIVED!

That is, don’t be deceived into thinking that somehow God is the author of our temptation. So in spite of the facts I have mentioned about how the force of evil can come onto someone because of past generations of evil, it boils down to the fact that we hold the key to the fortress, so to speak. It is in our own heart that the battle is fought.

Two young boys sat down for lunch at school. One opened his lunchbox and began to gripe.“Baloney again?” This is the fourth day in a row! I’m sick and tired of baloney!”

His friend said, “I’ll bet if you just tell your mom you don’t like baloney, she’ll fix you something else.” —“Mom!?”—replied the first kid. “I fix my own lunches”

Talk about not taking responsibility for our own actions.

We can deny any responsibility for sinful actions too. We can say, when we can’t get the victory, —“The devil made me do it.” Or “ I just can’t help myself!” But this is just a cop-out, when all the while your will is to continue in the bondage, (even if you didn’t have anything to do with the origin.) Sometimes when we do know of a problem, like abuse by someone when we were young, we might hang on to this as an excuse for our lack of self-confidence or our behavior today when we are an adult.

I have seen deliverance sessions, where the demons speak and say, “he or she doesn’t want me to leave—I am (his or her) security” And finally the person has to be willing to be delivered, and receive the comforting power of the Holy Spirit instead of demons.

Now the more common problem is that in our own hearts, we just like sin. It is our own lust, our own desire or coveting, which is the literal translation, the thing in you that wants to do the wrong, your wish for it, even if it is not yet your will. This is the starting place of temptation. It is that blossom of sin. And this is where God Wants to bring His sanctifying grace and take away the very desire. You see this is what God is longing to take away from us—the desire for you to do what you know is wrong—whatever it is that is against His will.

The Lord Jesus passed through the powers of darkness and the allurements of the world and all the evil that was around Him and was proof against it. He could say “The Prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me.”(John 14:30). It is in the heart that temptation has its starting point. Ask God to give you a true and holy desire to please Him, and an instinctive repugnance and recoil from evil and sin, and so long as you have this, you shall not fall into temptation. Don’t go where sin abounds. Don’t go where you can be tempted. Alcoholics have trouble being around alcohol. It is possible that they can be tempted by it. However, I have heard the testimonies of (former) alcoholics, (that’s what I would say, even though AA teaches that you are always an alcoholic) but they may have been sober for many years. I could be around alcohol anywhere including a bar, and never be tempted, because I can’t stand the taste or even the smell of it. That be as it may, addictions are powerful.

The point is we shouldn’t be around people or things that tempt us. Don’t hang out with those who will drag you down, until you are delivered from the desire to participate in the sin of unbelievers. Once you are in victory, then be with them in order to win them. Too often we never make it back, but our unsaved contacts drop off and we don’t know how to reestablish contact.

You see, the Lord wants to give you the gift of salvation and eternal life if you haven’t yet received it. He wants to give you the power and authority of His Holy Spirit so that you can walk in victory and not fall to temptation.

And then to be able to testify, and witness to others about what the Lord has done for you. He wants to help you walk in victory over past sinful habits, and not fall to temptation. When Christ comes into your life you want to tell others what has happened. Don’t keep it a secret. Don’t stay silent about it. Other Christians will rejoice with you, and people who don’t yet know the Lord, will be intrigued, as long as you don’t preach at them, but just share your testimony. They will have nothing to argue with you about.

Verse 17 says; “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights who does not change like shifting shadow.”

This is a lot different than sending temptation. God is the giver of every good and perfect gift. The concept of goodness rules out the possibility that God would send an influence as destructive as temptation. God’s gifts are marked by kindness and helpfulness, not destructiveness. They are “perfect” which in this context excludes any possibility of moral evil, such as tempting his people to commit sin. The point of James’ statement is that nothing but good comes from God.

What does it mean; “The Father of the heavenly lights?” Some translations do not have the word heavenly, but it certainly is implied when it says; “from above.” The amplified version says; “It comes down from the Father of all (that gives) light, in (the shining of)…light.

The context seems to indicate that the lights referred to are the sun and moon, or the One who created them—and who has sovereignty over them. Unlike the “shifting shadows” we see in the difference between the sun at noon, and the shadows or seasonal changes we see as the position of the sun changes or even the moon. God does not change. With him there is no variation at all.

He is always the giver of good gifts, never a sadistic being who would entice his creatures to destroy themselves in sin.

However he does allow temptations to come. The battle does you good. The conflict educates us, strengthens us, establishes us, and –It is necessary for us that we may be grounded and settled and finally approved and rewarded. One of the best results of temptation is that it shows us what is in our own hearts. It reveals ourselves. Until temptation comes, we feel strong and self-confident; but: When the keen edge of the adversary’s weapon has pierced our soul, we have more sympathy with others and less confidence in our own self-sufficiency.

We are humiliated and broken at His feet and helpless: and this is the best thing that can happen to us. God wants to disarm us and lay us low, and then He can lift and save us and give us eternal life. The word of truth is the gospel; and by the sending of this “good news,” it is God’s purpose that we should be reborn, into a new life. When the gospel of Jesus Christ enters into our life; that is, when He comes in, He produces NEW LIFE—“we are new creations, the old has gone and the new has come.” The shadows are ended, and the certain Word of TRUTH has come; The truth that never changes, just like God.

“STANDING ON THE PROMISES”

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 January 19, 2025
Text: Romans 4:13-25
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

.There were many times when I was a child that my dad would make certain promises to me, and he always tried to keep them. Sometimes something beyond his control would make it impossible for him to keep his promise to me. I just couldn’t understand and I would be shattered. Fortunately he would always make it up to me and I would forget about the broken promise. As I became older I understood more about the promises. It depended on my behavior for one, but also, circumstances would make it impossible for him to do exactly what he had promised. His favorite answer to me was; “We’ll see! Now any kid knows that that is not a good response. I remember my senior year in high school, I had a date for our Jr-Sr. banquet. I went to a small town public school in a county which had a lot of Mennonites, and other conservative Christians. Therefore we didn’t have a “prom” like most schools. Those who wanted to dance, rented a dance hall and band etc. somewhere in another city. The Christians went to a Christian camp grounds where we played board games, or watched a Christian film until midnight or later. Anyway this was an important date for me, with the sister of my best friend from church, I needed the car, and my dad was in business for himself, and had an egg and produce route in nearby Akron, Ohio, and he told me he would be home by 6:00pm. When it was 6:30 and he wasn’t home yet, I began to panic, because I had to pick up my date 15 min. away, and drive back to the school, all before 7:30pm. He finally came about 10 min before 7:00, apologizing profusely, I was able to get to the banquet at just a couple of minutes before 7:30pm. Everyone was seated already, but they got to see me and my beautiful date walk in. It wasn’t until I was 22 years old and I ran a bread route, the year before Jeannene and I got married, that I realized how hard it was to finish your route when you thought you could. There was always something that kept you from getting home when you thought you could. I came to realize that Daddy didn’t ever deliberately lie to me but, sometimes his promises could not be kept.

Promises on the human level are sometimes broken. The Bible is a book filled with the promises of God to His people. Someone has calculated that there are at least 30 thousand promises in the Word of God. While this figure may appear to be extravagant it must be recognized that there are thousands of promises made to us which we have failed to recognize and to claim. The most wonderful thing about God’s promises is that they are never broken, but they too, are conditional, however once we have done our part—the promise is ours never to be broken.

Chapter 4 of the book of Romans tells us that the secret of Abraham’s spiritual achievement is to be found in his recognizing and clinging to the promises of God. He did not stagger back because of the mystery or miracle of the divine plan for his life. He was fully convinced that God was both able and willing to accomplish all that he had promised. May God grant us the insight to discover His promises and the faith to claim them.

Charles Spurgeon, the famous preacher of the last century wrote a book which is still in print, entitled “Faith’s Checkbook.” This book is a series of daily devotionals for us to use throughout the year. Each devotional is based on one of the exceeding great and precious promises of God. Concerning the promises of God, Spurgeon has said; “A promise from God may very instructively be compared to a check payable to order. It is given to the believer with the view of bestowing upon him some good thing. It is not meant that he should read it ever comfortably, and then have done with it. No, he is to treat the promise as a reality, as a man treats a check”

So you see, a check is no good until it is cashed. How many of the promises of God have you discovered and claimed—cashed so to speak”?

We want to look at Three categories of promises, to understand all that God has for us in his Word.

1.FIRST THERE ARE PROMISES FOR THE PRESENT.

Many of the promises which God made in times past are for those who live in the present. In verses 23-24 Paul says that when God declared Abraham righteous, (because of his faith), it wasn’t just for his benefit, but for us too, “if we believe in our heart that God brought Jesus Christ our Lord, back from the dead. He was handed over to die for our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God.” If we just recognize God’s promises and claim them by faith, God will do what He says He will do.

There are very few promises God made to his people in the past which have no relevant application for the present. God doesn’t change with the passing of time. What he was yesterday, He is today, and will be tomorrow and forever. What he did for his people yesterday he will do for us today. When we study the Word of God we should place ourselves in the middle of the action and identify with Biblical characters when such is appropriate. When God promises to forgive and cleanse from sin in the past, we can be safe in assuming that we can claim his promise of doing that in the present upon the condition that we sincerely repent. As God promised to guide in the past, so he promises to guide us in the present. If we are not sensitive to listen and willing to respond, and meet his conditions, either by something we must do or else simply applying faith, then and only then, does He not fulfill his promise.

An illustration of this kind of faith, would be if I asked one of you how much cash do you have, and you would say $5.00. Then If I gave you as a gift $5.00 and someone asked you how much do you have you could say, “I have $10.00. But then I ask for $5.00 back, and you were asked how much do you have, you would probably say $5.00. What you should say, If you believed me, —-that I said I was giving you a gift of $5.00 is; I have $10.00, but $5.00 is in his pocket (pointing at me). [ That’s like the old offering joke that pastor Wayne has said, about the $30,000 we need to build a basketball court here in Nobleton. He said we have the $30,000 but it is still in your pockets.}

In verses 19-23 we see that Abraham’s faith never wavered. God had promised him a son, and the world would be blessed by him and his descendants. Even though he was about 100 and Sarah 90, he believed God. His faith got even stronger when he was asked to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. . He was ready to obey God, knowing that the promise would still be fulfilled, even if God would raise Isaac from the dead. When God makes a statement in His Word, no matter how hopeless circumstances seem to us, we must believe Him and claim his promises. Maybe God hasn’t fulfilled a promise to you yet, but God will not fail, if we put our faith and trust in Him and his Word.

Then we not only have promises for the present,

  1. WE HAVE PROMISES FOR THE FUTURE.

The only thing certain about the future, as far as we are concerned, is the fact of change. Nothing will be exactly the same tomorrow. You know how it is when you go back to your home town after a number of years. (My home town of Dalton and New York city from the 60s to the 90s ). Change is all around us and the future will be filled with change in every era of our lives. The period from 1910-1960 there was perhaps greater changes in the world than any other 50 year period of history. ( Then the almost 50 years it took to change Roe vs. Wade and save babies lives in the future). My home state of Ohio didn’t waste any time in declaring that after the 6th week when a baby’s heart is detected abortions are illegal. Other states have also made rulings already. The changes that have taken place in this century are maybe not as visible as the first part of the 20th century. Like cars replacing horses which were the main means of transportation for thousands of years. But those of you who have smart phones, it has been said that the technology that put a man on the moon, was not as much as you have in your smart phone today. In a world that moves so fast and we have unlimited destructive power it is easy to understand why many should be fearful as they face the future. We live in such a complex society in which the consumer and the producer are frequently so far removed that it is difficult for many to have a sense of significance and belonging. On all sides there is a constant increase in anxiety and insecurity.

As children of God we can be assured that in a changing world we worship a God who does not change. (Mal. 3:16 we read; “I am the Lord, and I do not change….”) The promise to us of eternal life is real, even though the fulfillment of this promise is almost incomprehensible to us, but we have assurance of the reality of this because His Word says so and because the Holy Spirit bears witness to our spirit that we are His. (I John 5:10-11) and Romans 8:16). God saves us, fills us, and calls us to serve him, in ways that we can’t imagine. There are those in my home church that thought,- “what good thing could come out of Nazareth—uh Dalton–or Orrville”-surprised that I was a missionary. Wherever you are from, or whatever the circumstances when you were growing up—— We know that in God’s divine providence that he doesn’t make mistakes. Sometimes we

Then thirdly we need to recognize the category of:

  1. PROMISES FOR GOD’S CHILDREN

God has revealed his desire to impart to us a blessing and to enrich our lives. The divine promises were not given to deceive or to encourage false expectations. The heart of the loving Heavenly Father moves toward his children constantly with purposes of grace. His every intention toward us is good. A study of the Bible and of Christian history will reveal that: Those who have endured trials and difficulties of life and who persisted and went forward to real achievement were those who had studied the word of God and discovered God’s promises. These promises were claimed, and men and women moved forward depending upon God to do as he had promised.

It is reported that the margin of the Bible used by D.L. Moody contained the letters T and P on almost every page. When he was asked about this he said that the passage contained a promise from God to his children The T indicated that he had tried the promise and the P indicated that he had proven the promise to be true in his own experience.

How many times would those letters appear in your Bible?

The writer of Hebrews tells us in Hebrews 10:23-25 “Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope that we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially since the day of his coming back again is getting closer. “

There was a woman in the south of France, years ago, who was very poor. She hardly had enough food to feed her children, and their clothes was in rags. She was so discouraged but at that time she cried out to Lord for help. She prayed Lord what promise to you have for me. Something to encourage me. There was a little promise box of cards that set on the top of the ice box. As she reached for it, blinded by her tears, she knocked it over. The promises showered down around her, on her lap, on the floor, not one was left in the box. She knew a moment of supreme joy in the Lord as the Holy Spirit flooded her soul with divine power and light, she realized that all of the promises were indeed for her in the very hour of her greatest need.

So it can be for you today. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God. (Matt. 4:4). Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Once you experience the love of Jesus poured into your heart, you will know that nothing can separate you form his love. Paul tells us in I Cor. 15:58 to be strong and courageous (steadfast) and faithful, let nothing move you from doing the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor is not in vain.

We must accept that the promises of God are personal to us and we must claim them by faith. We must put our confidence in the faithfulness of God We must put the endorsement of our faith upon the divine promise and present it at the throne of grace just as we would present a check to the cashier of a bank.

The promises of God ae conditional, but once we have fulfilled the condition of placing our faith in Him, we will see he is not a liar, we can count on him.

DOORS OF OPPORTUNITY

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 January 12, 2025
TEXT: I Corinthians 16: 1-11
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to Sermon here

The poet Louise Fletcher Tarkington spoke for most of us when she said: “I wish that there was some wonderful place called “The Land of Beginning Again,” where all our mistakes and all of our heartaches and all of our poor, selfish greed could be dropped like a shabby coat at the door, and never put it on again.”

Our desire as children of God should be to do better in the future than we have in the past. Jesus The new year presents us with the opportunity to find a “Land of Beginning Again.” We will be using a new calendar, and we will be facing new challenges and new responsibilities, but we are deceiving ourselves if we believe that the new year will be completely different from the old year unless God intervenes. For we will be confronted with many of the struggles, problems, and heartaches we knew during the past year. We soon fail to keep our New Year’s resolutions.

When we talk about “doors of opportunity,” we must realize that the opening of doors is all God’s responsibility. We just need to be ready to walk through them when he does it. In Acts 19:1 we read that Apollos who had been working with Paul, had gone to Corinth. A little further from where Carol read this morning, –in verse 12 we see that Paul was urging Apollos, to go to Corinth, but he was unwillingly but Paul tells them he will go when he has the opportunity. Some have felt that Apollos was strong-willed and that he wasn’t going to go to Corinth, just because Paul told him to go. I believe though, that there might be another reason. Apollos was willing to obey God whenever, and wherever he would tell him to go. For some reason, it wasn’t in God’s timing for him to go then, but when the door was open he went.

The important thing to realize is; that God’s timing is not ours—and when he finally opens the door we must be ready to walk through it by being prepared, and then obey.

Jeannene and I have seen this to be true many times in our lives, but there were two significant times when God’s timing and ours didn’t seem to coincide. Yet in the long run, his timing was perfect of course. Our first ministry in Boma, Dem. Rep of the Congo, I was the principal of a high school and taught Phys. Ed., built an outdoor basketball court and started a basketball team. We had a Bible Study in our home for these players. At the end of our first four-year term, 34 young people had given their lives to Christ. But we were feeling led to go to the Capitol City for our next term and help with the newly started church planting efforts. However God had other plans, and when we came back after a year of speaking in churches in the States, we were assigned once again to Boma. I couldn’t understand how the Lord and I “got our wires crossed” so much. Nevertheless, it was all in the Lord’s timing. I led Theological Education by Extension Classes and was involved with a tent meeting outreach, which resulted in having discipleship classes for 76 converts who lived in our section of the city, and through this a church was planted. Everything that I was involved with, was what I would be doing in Kinshasa. After one year we were able to transfer to the capitol.

While we may have a deep inward desire to “begin again” realistically we should recognize that our present position is really our door of opportunity for significant achievement and worthwhile service. Paul recognized in verse 9 of our text that; “a great door for effective service” was open to him in Ephesus. Instead of running away from difficulty, he said, “But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost”…then he adds, “and there are many adversaries.” ‘’

In spite of difficulties, disappointments, and outright opposition, the apostle Paul determined that he would seize this opportunity for significant service and do whatever was necessary to be done at the moment. The Greek word for open here means—wide open—not just a little, or a crack, but the door was wide open.

This pagan city of Ephesus resisted his preaching in the past—but now, they were receptive to the gospel, and the three years that Paul stayed and preached there were very fruitful, and the church he planted became one of the greatest churches in church history. In the book of Revelation chapter 2 where Ephesus is the first church that Jesus is talking to John about, we read that they have worked hard, and persevered, and they don’t tolerate wicked people. They endured hardships for the name of Jesus, and they didn’t grow weary. But then he says in verses 4 and 5: “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your ‘lampstand’ from its place” That is—their position of prominence. This isn’t a position that is recognized by other people and other churches but rather a position that God gave them. That’s what makes this so necessary that they repent and restore their first love for the Lord. Probably also for each other, because when our love for the Lord fails, we begin to say things against each other. In the KJV, the old English word is “backbite.” That’s what dogs do when they fight. What a terrible state to be in.

Now the danger for us today is to be commended like the church at Ephesus, and then begin to fall and lose the love that we once had for the Lord. This leads to not responding to the opportunities that he gives us. Sometimes that means that we sort of, “rest on our laurels” from the past, or we may think about what opportunities “might” open up in the future. But we need to recognize that the past has gone for good, and the future dreams will not become a reality unless we take advantage of the opportunities that God gives us TODAY.

Today is our day of opportunity for effective service. In John 9:4 Jesus explains; “As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. The night is coming when no one can work.” Then in II Corinthians 6;2 we read; “…In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, in this present time. Not sometime in the future. It is absolutely necessary to recognize the importance of the present, in contrast to the past or the future.”

It is foolish to rely on what we might have done in the past or to weep over lost opportunities. It is also just as foolish to just wait for the future to happen. The only thing we can be certain of is the present. Does this mean that we don’t think about or plan for the future? No—not at all—we should plan and set goals and consider what we should do TODAY, in order to accomplish what God has laid on our heart to do.

In Proverbs 10:9 we are told; “in their hearts, humans plan their course but the Lord establishes their steps.” Back in verse 3, we read; that we should submit or commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Some translations say, “He will bless them.”

The last part of verse 9 of our text shows us though that Paul was confronted with many adversaries. There are many, who oppose him,

He was opposed by the Jewish leaders who violently disagreed with his ideas about the kingdom of God. Paul believed that the Kingdom of God was wide enough and large enough to include the Gentiles. He believed that the love of God was all-inclusive and that God was just as concerned about redeeming the Gentiles as he was the sons of Abraham. In preaching salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, he was confronted with violent opposition that led to his imprisonment and eventually to his death. In spite of his external opposition from religious leaders, Paul continued his faithful service.

Paul experienced hostile opposition from the pagans whose financial security was threatened by the conversion of those who contributed to their business in Ephesus. Those who profited because of the temple of Diana were agitated to the extent that they rioted (Acts 19:23-29).

Jesus was confronted with many adversaries. On one occasion even Christ’s family sought to dissuade him from the direction in which his life was pointing. At the beginning of his ministry, he was violently opposed by the Devil, who sought to tempt him to deny his redemptive purpose. There were times during Jesus’ ministry when even the disciples opposed him. When Jesus predicted his death in Matthew 16:21-22, we see that; “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” He just didn’t understand the redemptive purpose, that Jesus was born to die for mankind. Of course, it was all in God’s timing.

Once when he returned to his hometown of Nazareth, he attended the synagogue and he was asked to read the Scriptures. He read from Isaiah 61:1-2 and verses 18-21. The Spirit of the Lord is on me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he ended by saying: “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. The people were so enraged by his message that they tried to throw him over a cliff (Luke 4:28-29). We read though that; “He walked right through the crowd and went on his way.” Almost from the beginning of his ministry, he experienced hostility and opposition on the part of the religious establishment who saw him as a threat to the laws and traditions as they interpreted them. They also added things to the law and they demanded that the people follow these, but they themselves didn’t. (Sounds like our politicians, doesn’t it?) Anyway, this conflict eventually led to his death.

We may worry about external opposition, but perhaps our greatest danger will be the internal hindrances that keep us from doing God’s will for our lives. This is true of our individual spiritual lives, but also collectively for our church, this body of Christ. These inward adversaries can be conquered only as we enter the doorways of opportunity for WORSHIP, STUDY, AND PRAYER in which we let God work within us so that his will might be accomplished through us.

Each of us has a built-in tendency because of sin, to avoid obligations, burdens, or difficulties. It is natural, unfortunately, to be selfish and self-centered. Unless we are alert and determined to do otherwise and give ourselves over to the filling and the control of the Holy Spirit, we will continue to live carnal lives, and we will find ourselves drifting through this coming year, adding days to our lives instead of filling those days with significance and meaning.

We must seize our opportunities for service. In the Old Testament in the account of creation, Eve didn’t seize the opportunity to obey and serve the Creator God, and Adam didn’t support her against the enemy Satan, who continues to deceive us like he did them. Cain their son then, killed his brother Abel, because he didn’t seize the opportunity to obey and worship the Lord with all of his heart. When we hate our brothers and sisters in Christ, or when we hate anyone, it is the same as if we have killed them, or at the very least, wanted to kill them. In Matt. 5: 21-22 we read that; “we are told -do not murder because that person is subject to judgment, but Jesus said that the person who is angry with a brother or sister is also subject to judgment. In I John 2:9 we read; “You claim to live in the light, but you are living in darkness. “Walk by faith and not live in darkness.” I John 3:15 tells us; “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. “

The door of faith is open. Paul rejoiced that God opened the door of faith to the Gentiles (Acts 14:27). He was delighted that Gentiles could trust God and walk by faith and enjoy his favor.

Each of us is given the privilege of walking by faith (Prove. 3:5-6) to walk by faith is to enjoy the presence of God as Enoch and Abraham and all the others listed in that great faith chapter 11 of Hebrews.

When we trust in Christ alone the door to divine sonship is open to all who will receive Jesus Christ as their Savior from sin. (John 1:12) “To as many as received Him, and believed in His name, He gave the (power) or the right to be called the sons of God. Most of you here this morning have already seized the opportunity to enter this door (the door of salvation). We can rejoice that the door is still open for others to enter. Some have declined to enter this door and consequently remain in the darkness of spiritual destitution outside of the family of God. Don’t be that person. If you have not received Jesus Christ by inviting Him into your life, you can do so this morning.

The door to Christian witnessing is open. Paul speaks of a door being open to preach the gospel in the city of Troas. The door will be open for us to announce the good news of God’s love in our community during the coming year. We, like the apostle Paul, should be praying that God would open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ. (Col. 4:3) and he adds “for which I am in chains.” In verses 4-5 he says; “Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.”

Jesus said, “I am the door; if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture” (John 10:9). Jesus is the door to forgiveness, He is the door to new life, eternal life the very life of God. He is the door to new spiritual power and energy. He is the door to hope for the future as we seek to live lives of significant achievement and service. He is the door to the eternal home of God at the end of our life.

On this first Sunday of the New Year, let each of us determine that we will be alert to seize every opportunity for worship and service to our God and to those about us. By so doing we will discover that we have already found the “land of beginning again.”

The enemy will try his best to keep you from stepping through the gigantic doors of opportunity God desires to open for you. Satan is afraid of what will happen when “his” territory is invaded by someone fully equipped with a full arsenal of spiritual weapons! So know this; God will open doors for you, but He needs you to make a determined decision that you will walk through them, no matter the opposition, with the help of His Holy Spirit. By opening the door, God has already done His part, which would have been impossible without his assistance. Now He beckons you to come dressed in the whole armor of God and in the power of His Word—and then proceed through that effectual door into new territory this year. It may look like enemies are everywhere, but it is simply a fact that the devil and his forces flee and collapse when they are subjected to a show of strong faith!.

God doesn’t open a door for you to walk through so you can fail

He is with you every step of the way.

Your situation may look frightful but think about this: If God has supernaturally opened a new door for you door that’s never before been opened—-He is not beckoning you to walk through it so you can fail. He is with you every step of the way, and He will empower you to defeat every foe and bring Him glory in that new territory that is yours to possess in Jesus’ name!

At the last Passover Supper, Jesus knew very well how the disciples were going to feel after he was betrayed. He knew they would feel like all was lost, and that they were alone. The power that they were going to receive because of what he would accomplish on the cross, would be greater than anything they had ever experienced before. That’s why He told them in I Cor. 11:23-25 that every time they eat the bread and drink from the cup— to do it in remembrance of Him