Category: Weekly Sermon

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 December 1, 2024
Text Luke 21: 5-36
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Many times when something happens we say things like; “ Oh, it’s not the end of the world.” During the Cold War days of the early 60s, people thought that a nuclear war would bring about the “end of the world.” A journalist named Lawrence Joseph in December of 2012 wrote a book entitled “Apocalypse 2012. A Scientific Investigation into Civilization’s End,” a book which predicted widespread catastrophe beginning in December of that year. He looks to the sky and sees signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars.” Just as Jesus did. Specifically, he notices that on December 2, 2012, the sun was to line up with the center of the Milky Way for the first time in roughly 26,000 years. Joseph says that “whatever energy typically streams to Earth from the center of the Milky Way will indeed be disrupted on Dec. 21, 2012, at 11:11 pm. Lawrence Joseph was not alone. According to USA Today back on March 27, 2007, a number of people thought that the Apocalypse was coming because of something else that happened on December 21, of 2012. You may remember all the discussions about the Maya tribe and their Long Count calendar which came to an end in 2012. It was the end of an era that had been running for 5,126 years, and dire predictions were raining down upon us.

However, according to NASA, there was no scientific evidence that the world was going to end in 2012, contrary to the popular belief of some. You don’t only have to put your trust in science though, because you can count on the Word of God, which does not reveal any such thing. The Armageddon myth dates back to the Mayans. Yet, the Mayans never actually predicted the end of the world. The nature of the Mayan calendar is that it functions on a series of cycles, some short and some quite long. One of the longer cycles of the calendar ended in 2012, so when some people said the Apocalypse would come “because the Mayan calendar ended, this is what they were referring. The fact of the matter is that the Mayan calendar did not end in 2012. Just a cycle did, one that had been going on for over 5,000 years. In the nature of cycles, the calendar started over after the termination on December 21, 2012. NASA also confirmed that. Just as the calendar you have on your wall, does not cease to exist after December 31, 2024, the Mayan calendar did not cease to exist in 2012. This date was only the end of the Mayan long-count period but then—just as our calendar begins again on January 1st, another long-count period began for the Mayan calendar.

This reminds us of what Jesus said about the “end of days.” “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves (Luke 21:25. Jesus is speaking about the “Apocalypse” —a Greek word which means a revelation of uncovering. Revealed and uncovered is the completion of God’s work in the world, and the coming of the Son of Man.

SO IS THE APOCALYPSE GOING TO HAPPEN NOW
OR AT LEAST SOON?
A spiritual healer named Andrew Smith predicts a restoration of a “true balance between Divine Feminine and Masculine” Author Daniel Princhbeck looks forward to a change in the nature of consciousness,” which he connects to psychedelic drug use. The movie 2012 portrayed a series of cataclysmic events taking place that year, tied to the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar.

It is safe to say that this is not the Apocalypse predicted in the Gospel of Luke.

Still, the media back then, continued to buzz about this because people are fascinated by Mayan civilization, known for its refined writing, math and astronomy. The Maya flourished for centuries in Central America, particularly between the years 300 and 900. They developed a Long Count calendar which tracks more than 5,000 years, and then resets at zero. They made the big reset in 2012. Starting at 0.

But scholars feel that modern attempts to link the Mayan calendar with contemporary spirituality are misguided at best. “For the ancient Maya it was a huge celebration to make it to the end of a whole cycle,” says Sandra Noble of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies. It was not an apocalypse, a doomsday, or a time of cosmic shifting. No one knows if the Maya even predicted the position of the sun on December 21, 2012. Susan Milbrath, an expert in Mayan archeoastronomy (who knew that was a specialty?) doubts that they would have known where the sun would be in the galaxy. What’s more, she says, there is no evidence “that they would think the world would come to an end at that point.”

So is the Apocalypse now? Probably not, at least not because of the Mayan calendar. Jesus warned the disciples and us, that there would be false prophets claiming to be the Messiah. Not claiming to be Jesus but claiming to be The Christ—(The Anointed One.) He said don’t be deceived by them. Also, we are not to be deceived by those who would predict the dates of His return.

THE TRUE NATURE OF THE APOCALYPSE IS THAT THE DATE IS UNKNOWN TO US.

Jesus told his disciples that even He didn’t know, but only the Father. He said they were not to concern themselves with that, but they were to be His witnesses. Other dales prophets predict wrong dates as to when Jesus will return.

William Miller is perhaps the most famous false prophet in history. In the 1840s he began to preach about the world’s end, saying Jesus Christ would return for the long-awaited Second Coming and that Earth would be engulfed in fire sometime between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844. He circulated his message in public gatherings and by using the technologies of the day,–posters, printed newsletters, and charts. Moved by those messages, as many as 100,000 “Millerites” sold their belongings between 1840 and 1844 and took to the mountains to wait for the end. When that end didn’t come, Miller changed the date to Oct. 22. When Oct. 23 rolled around, his loyal followers explained it away yet again and went on to form the Seventh-day Adventist movement.

In more recent days false prophets like Harold Camping who was an engineer and mathematician (in the early 1990s attempted to figure out the day of the end of the world. I believe he has been wrong at least three times.

Let’s keep in mind the true nature of the Apocalypse as revealed to us by Jesus. This endpoint is not all death and destruction. Instead, it includes the return of the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. —He is the one who came to save the world, but who is returning only for those who believe in Him. For Christians, it hardly matters when the sun lines up with the center of the Milky Way. Much more important to us is when Jesus the Son of Man and Son of God, lines up with the center of our “spiritual galaxy.”

OUR APOCALYPSE IS REALLY ABOUT SALVATION, NOT DESTRUCTION

People will faint from fear and foreboding, predicts Jesus, “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near.” (verses 26-27). When danger is coming, we normally tell people to duck and take cover. But Jesus says the opposite, “Stand up and raise your heads” (verse 28) But ultimately the apocalypse is going to help us because the Son of Man is coming to redeem us, to save us, to bring about a truly happy ending.

The Apocalypse of Luke 21 reminds us that the activity of God is not limited to biblical times. It is present today and will continue into the future. “God is working toward a goal,” says professor of Bible and Homiletics Elizabeth Achtemeirer God is on the move, constantly active, constantly pressing forward to the time when his kingdom has come in its fulness and his rule is acknowledged by every living creature.” We read in Isaiah 45: 23, and in Romans 14: 11 similar words; As surely as I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow before me and every tongue will confess to God. And then Philippians 2:10 repeats it and adds; every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, TO THE GLORY OF THE FATHER. Because God is working toward a goal, we can trust that his kingdom will come—although it won’t be finished by a date that we have tried to set.

SO WHAT STEPS SHOULD WE BE TAKING AS WE WAIT FOR THE SON OF MAN TO COME AND FOR GOD’S PLAN TO BE COMPLETE?

At the start of World War II there was good advice on a British poster created to encourage all those in Britain. “KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON” was designed to raise morale among the British people in the face of an apocalyptic invasion by the Germans.

That’s what Jesus would have us do as we face an uncertain future. To help us keep calm, Jesus offers the lesson of the fig tree. “Look at the fig tree and all the trees.: he says. “as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. (vs 29-30).

Jesus makes the point that the coming of the Kingdom of God is every bit as natural as the springtime sprouting of leaves on trees, Keep calm, he seems to be saying, these apocalyptic developments are as predictable as the change of seasons. Even though some of the events of the future will be frightening, the God of the whole created universe is in control.

In our text, he predicts some things that are very unusual. Verses 9 and following tell us that there will be wars and revolutions but he says don’t be frightened. These things must come first, but the end will not come right away.

Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines, and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

N.T. Wright points out Isaiah 13:10 instead of saying the empire of Babylon is going to fail, and this will be like a cosmic collapse, Isaiah said, “The sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light, and stars will fall from heaven.”

Verse 25 of our text, tells us that there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming in the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken, At that time ‘

THEY WILL SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY.

When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads because your redemption is drawing near. (2 Peter 3:8-13_

Yes, it is hard to keep calm when there is “distress among the nations: (verse 25) and “the powers of the heavens” are shaken (vs. 26). It is difficult to maintain serenity when we receive a cancer diagnosis from the doctor, but even a diagnosis of something that is not terminal, but is debilitating. For those who are working, a pink slip from an employer can shake up our world, a breakup text message from a spouse, for students a failing grade on a final exam. But Jesus assures us that God is in control, and there is one thing that will remain the same forever and ever. The words of Jesus himself; “Heaven and earth will pass away, “he predicts, “but my words will not pass away” (verse 33). These everyday things are nothing compared to what is coming, but, “Keep calm,” basically says Jesus. “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63).

The second half of the British poster says, “Carry On.” It is not enough simply to keep calm and meditate on the words of Jesus, the challenge for all of us is to “Keep Calm and Carry on.” This means that you are to “be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with careless ease and drunkenness and the worries of this life” (Luke 21:34). It means that you are to “be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man “(verse 36).

It has often been thought that an emphasis on the end time and the coming of the kingdom leads to otherworldliness, passivity in this life, and acceptance of the status quo,” writes Prof. Achtemeier. But the opposite is true. “Christians constantly attempt to shape their lives according to the ways of their Master,” she writes. This means carrying on in a Christian fashion, focusing our efforts on love, justice mercy, and faith.

The end of the world won’t come because of some prediction, but we Christians know that God is at work in the long march of history, and is moving us toward the day when the Son of Man will come with power and great glory, as we just read. This may be a fearful time, but it will ultimately be a celebration, for all of the brokenness and injustice of this world will be replaced by healing and righteousness.

JESUS IS COMING AGAIN That event is staggering and inexhaustible in its implications. The wisest and most noble of the Sons of Adam (that’s us), cannot fully fathom the impact the return of the Son of God will make on this planet and universe. His coming will not turn the world upside down, it will turn the world right-side up. Jesus is :

The One who spoke the galaxies into existence

The One who created man from the dust of the earth and breathed into him the breath of life

The One who came to die to satisfy the infinitely holy demands of His Father so that sinful man could be restored to fellowship and enjoy God forever

The One who rose from the grave a victor over sin and death and

The One who ascended and is now enthroned at the right hand of God on high. When He returns, men will not refer to the Son of God as “Little Jesus meek and mild” in that day, His title will be “King of kings” and “Lord of lords” (Revelation 17:14, 19:16. At His return, transgressors will be judged, faithfulness will be rewarded, and righteousness will be established in the Earth.

It is the highest order of ignorance to equate God’s wonderful attribute of long-suffering with indifference (2 Peter 3:9). At the proper time, whatever a man sows he will reap. If he sows to the flesh he will reap of the flesh—-if he sows to the Spirit he will reap of the Spirit (Gal. 6:7). Men cannot mock God and get away with it.

The return of Christ will be the vortex of human history. Everything and everyone will be drawn into His direct irresistible, controlling force. Heaven and earth, demons and angels, righteous and unrighteous men, time and eternity, life and death—all will be under the dominion of the conquering King when He returns to fulfill His unconditional covenants with the patriarchs and brings an end to the rebellious and wicked history of mankind and personally establishes a Golden Age on the Earth.

Until then, Keep Calm and Carry On. God is working his purposes out, and our focus should be on walking in the path of Jesus Christ because He will establish a reign of peace and justice.

Until then, we will continue to remember him and do as He said. We will eat the bread representing His body that was wounded for us. We will drink of the cup representing His blood that was shed for the forgiveness of our sins. We will remember His first coming, His ministry, and His death and Resurrection, and ascension. And we will await His second coming, Putting our Hope in Him.

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 November 24, 2024
Text Philippians 4:1-7; I Peter 3:8-11
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Paul wrote this letter to the Philippians while he was in prison in Rome. It was a thank you letter for the offering gift that they sent to him with Epaphroditus (4:8). He has declared to them that he has all that he needs. He was allowed to receive such gifts because he was only under house arrest with an armed guard, but he lived in, probably a rented house. He had not yet been put in a 40 ft. deep dungeon. His overall tone in this book is one of joy. It is remarkable considering his circumstances, but this is the point. He wants the Philippian believers, and us, to rejoice no matter what hardship we may have to go through, no matter what suffering we might have to endure.

Phillippi was located on the northern edge of the Aegean Sea, in the province of Macedonia, which is present-day northern Greece. This church contributed to the missionary work of Paul when he was there, and it continued on even though he had been arrested.

It is not known who the “yokefellow” is. The old English word used in the K.J.V., simply means loyal partner or true teammate. It could have been Epaphroditus since he was the one who brought him their gift. How Paul also addresses a relational problem because he knows there can be no real peace or rejoicing unless there is unity and harmony in the church Paul might be sending him back with these words of pleading or begging that he encourage Euodia and Syntyche to settle their disagreement. These two ladies are leaders in the church. Unlike most Greek women who remained in the background and had little to do with public life, Macedonian women were in every way as active and involved as men. They were more like the position of women in the church and in our society today. Often times this is overlooked when trying to understand Paul’s admonishment to women in his writings.

Paul wants these women to be helped to settle their differences. They worked hard with Paul when he was there, to spread the Gospel. If this doesn’t happen it will effect the whole body of believers. Something to consider in any local church. Let’s not let disagreements stand between us. Let’s always settle our differences by talking about them rather than ignoring them. They won’t go away automatically.

We know that: Three kinds of peace are mentioned in the Bible. There is Peace with God that comes with our salvation (Rom. 5:1)

Then there is the Peace of God that comes with surrender (Phil. 4:7) in our text. This comes when we thank him for all that he has done.

The Peace on earth that is mentioned in Scripture will only come at Christ’s second coming (Isaiah 2:1-4)

Our focus today is on the Peace of God that comes in time of trouble.

Verse 6. Of course, this is easier said than done. For some it is part of their DNA so to speak; they just can’t help worrying. Usually they say, they are just “concerned” about things. This of course is legitimate, but we mustn’t allow our worry or concern, to dominate our lives and our thinking. Imagine never worrying about anything! It seems like an impossibility; we all have worries. For those who are still working like our adult children or grandchildren, there is always something to worry about. ‘Also in our homes and theirs. Then there are worries about grandkids or great-grandkids in school. We have a lot of things to worry about even if you are retired. But Paul’s advice is to turn our worries into prayers. The key is having a thankful heart.

SO WHY IS THANKSGIVING THE KEY TO PEACE?

First of all; THANKSGIVING CALLS FOR “LOOKING UP”

Storms in life may make giving thanks difficult. We all go through times of trouble (John 18:33). The Pilgrims endured many hardships, loneliness, sickness, and malnutrition, when they didn’t have enough food to eat, and nearly half died the first winter. A drought in summer caused them to “look up” to God. A gentle rain came in answer to prayer. A good harvest resulted in the first Thanksgiving.

Looking up to our God as our Helper In trying circumstances makes us thankful people.

Then: THANKSGIVING CALLS FOR “LOOKING AROUND”

We all have many blessings and ought to give thanks for them. Consider Psalm 103, the Psalm of thanksgiving. “Forget not all his benefits.” We sing the Hymn: “Count Your Blessings,” ——“Name them, one by one.” Those benefits and blessings include; sins forgiven, daily health, (even if we are not in complete good health), and He sustains us. Then he gives us food, family, and friends.

We ought to start each day, thankful for his many benefits.

Thankful that we can get out of bed and walk, even if it is with difficulty, and with pain. The benefits of God’s love and grace can be experienced each day.

The benefit of our salvation by faith, assures us of where we will spend eternity

We have the benefit of God’s Word the Bible, which gives us his instructions for faith and practice in our daily lives. We should thank him for the written Word, and that we are able to read it, even if for some, with difficulty, because of our eyes.

We have the privilege of prayer. We do not have to be anxious because prayer makes God’s blessings available. Thanksgiving adds expectation to prayer and allows faith to expect answers. This is when we begin to experience peace in difficult circumstances. Paul tells us that we should pray about everything. Nothing is too small of a concern for God.

In I Thess. 5:16 he says that we should be joyful always, pray continually,

GIVE THANKS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Now God’s peace is different from the world’s peace. In John 14:27, Jesus said he gives peace, but not as the world gives. For instance true peace is not found in positive thinking, in the absence of conflict, or in good feelings. True peace comes from knowing that God is in control. Our citizenship in Christ’s Kingdom is sure, our destiny is set, and we can have victory over sin. Let God’s peace guard your heart against anxiety.

We read in I Peter 3:8-11, that we are to live in harmony with one another, and that we must seek peace and pursue it. This is why Paul began that fourth chapter in Philippians by encouraging two women to reconcile their differences.

Finally: THANKSGIVING CALLS FOR “LOOKING AHEAD.”

Doubt cringes and cowers, afraid of what tomorrow may bring. Faith welcomes the future with optimism, expecting the best. Paul reveals what a thankful heart contains. It contains things that are true, whatever is noble and honest, right and just, pure, lovely, good, admirable, and virtuous. (verse 8). We are to think about things that are excellent or praiseworthy. What we put into our minds determines what comes out in our words and actions. Paul tells us to program our minds with thoughts that are honorable. Do you have problems with impure thoughts and daydreams? Examine what you are putting into your mind. Replace harmful input with wholesome material. Above all, read God’s Word and pray. Ask god to help you focus your mind on what is good and pure. It takes practice, but I can be done.

Thanksgiving allows us to believe the best is yet to come.

Is your mind a place for thankful thoughts to dwell, or is it a place where all you think about are impure thoughts, or at the very least, negative dissatisfied thoughts, that end up being expressed? Even gossiped about, if it involves other people. Let’s be careful what we talk about, especially when it involves other people. Maybe your mother or grandmother, were like mine, and said; “If you can’t say anything good about someone, don’t say anything at all!” too often we just say whatever we think. (Sometimes that may be a good thing, )but usually we not only need not say it, but change the way we think about it. It is very hard to be negative, criticize, and be dissatisfied if we are praying, thanking God for what he has done for us, and offering praise IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES —-Like Paul said in I Thessalonians 5:16. But he also said in Ephesians 5:20 that we should always be giving thanks to God the Father FOR ALL THINGS. This is very hard to do and it doesn’t make sense to us. But think about the fact that we don’t have any trouble quoting Rom. 8:28: “All things work together for good to those who love God, and are called according to his purpose.” KJV. The NIV says that…all things God works for the good of those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose. This verse isn’t calling something that is bad, —good, but God will make it turn out good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. But too often we can’t imagine that we should thank God for something that is hard, or the pain that we have.

You may remember when I have mentioned before about an army chaplain named Merlin Carothers. He wrote the little book “From Prison to Praise.” It tells the remarkable story of how he went from being jailed as a young person, to becoming an army chaplain, and learning how to praise the Lord IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES, THANKING HIM FOR ALL THINGS, and teaching others to do the same. He has also written another book entitled “Answers to Praise” where he recounts many testimonies of God touching lives and healing people who learned to thank the Lord for infirmities and praise him even in hardship. One such story came from a woman who through his preaching in a Methodist church heard about praising God even for sickness or pain. She didn’t think she would ever be able to do such a thing. She was getting on in years and normally she was not surprised when she had aches and pains. But then she began having back pain that just wouldn’t quit. It grew more and more painful. She was awakened at night with the pain, and the discomfort increased to the point that she could hardly get out of bed in the morning. She confessed that her fears grew as she worried about being completely incapacitated by the pain. She went to several doctors but didn’t receive any help. One morning when she had the worst pain that she ever had, the thought came to her that she had never once been thankful to God for the experience he was allowing, nor had she tried to believe that he would teach her something wonderful out of this. So she began praising god and thanking him for the physical pain she was enduring. This didn’t help a bit she said. Now you might be thinking that—see all that praise stuff just doesn’t work!—It’s true that she still had difficulty getting out of bed. She moved around for a little while and then felt that she had to sit down.

While sitting in a chair in her living room, she—

meditated on thanking and praising God Now I don’t want you to miss this. She specifically took time to pray and meditate on the Lord. It seemed like she was filled with a deep sense of praise to God. She felt praise for God that she had never experienced before. She felt a kind of joy coming up inside of her. She ended up actually being thankful for the pain she had. . When she realized that it was time for her to get up and get something done, she thought, “I’m going to believe that God will just bless and help me all day long and teach me whatever it is he wants me to learn.:; She said, when she got out of her chair and started to move around, she was suddenly aware that she had no pain. She moved her arms and legs and then bent over. To her astonishment, the pain was gone. She had never seen a miracle of any kind in her life. She thanked God for letting her see his wonderful power. She said she may have pains iin the future, but now she knows for sure that God uses everything and will bless us as we trust him.

Merlin Carothers commented on her testimony and wrote back to her, that not everyone is so completely and dramatically relieved of pain as she was. But God has his perfect plan for each one of us. In this women’s case, she shares with people in her group the joy of what had happened in her life.

As God touches us, when we learn to thank and praise him for what we are experiencing; and for what he allows us to go through; others will be encouraged to pray and thank him for their difficulties too. If people have never experienced the Lord’s healing power or his blessing on their lives, they will then be interested in learning for themselves what God can do for them. Each of us plays a small part in God’s glorious plan to reveal his love for all people. You will be surprised at the overwhelming peace that comes when we truly are thankful

Paul concludes this section by saying in verse 9—-“Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and heard from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.” You see, it is not enough to hear or read the Word of God or even to know it well, we must also put it into practice. How easy it is to listen to a sermon and forget what the preacher said (especially when I preach). How easy it is to read the Bible and not think about how to live differently. /How easy it is to discuss what a passage means and not live out that meaning. Exposure to God’s word is not enough, it must lead to obedience. God’s faithfulness is great, so we can surely be faithful to put our trust in him.

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 November 17, 2024
Text Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Have you ever heard someone say that? Have you ever said that or thought that yourself? Sometimes no matter how much we do, how much we say, how much we pay, how much we save, how much we exercise, etc., it just never seems to be enough. Jesus knows how we feel because he went through the same thing here on earth.

Jesus wasn’t the first person that the Pharisees didn’t accept. Like Jesus, John the Baptist was seen as someone other than who he really was. He was seen as a demon-possessed lunatic, and Jesus was seen as a glutton. John’s austerity in dress and food underlined the severity of his message. Jesus, on the other hand, went to where the people were, a participant in their condition, if not their sin, where the joys and sorrows played out in families, towns and cities. The people of John’s and Jesus’ time rejected God by rejecting his messengers; neither approach pleased them, because neither man fit into their mold, so they lodged contradictory complaints. In both cases, the wisdom of the courses of action of both men was proved only by the results. In other words, the ends justified the means. We often want the Jesus we want, when we want him. The people in Jesus’ time were the same, and he was saddened. The problem for those who reject Jesus is their awareness that taking John the Baptist and Jesus seriously requires people to change their lives.

The religious elite did not accept John the Baptist or Jesus————-the poor did. The same situation exists today. There are those who think that they are so high in society that they don’t need God. Then there are those who are so downtrodden and suppressed by society that they eagerly accept Jesus’ teachings.

There is an interesting contrast in Matthew 11:16-19,25-30. Jesus is contrasting Man’s Law with God’s Law.

Man’s Law was formed as the result of the Ten Commandments. God gave the Ten Commandments to the Jewish people to guide them through the moral traps of life, but well-intentioned people added to the law until it became its own trap. Religious professionals pride themselves on their observance of the law, but they couldn’t even avoid breaking the law. The common person did not stand a chance of perfectly observing the law. All of these rules and regulations were a huge burden on the people. The law was a dispensation of terror.

Jesus came along and said to the Pharisees, “Look, guys-you don’t need all of these man-made rules and regulations. You don’t need rules stating how far a person can walk on the Sabbath, or how clean they have to be in order to be part of society, or what type of work people can do on the Sabbath. That is not the intention of the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are rules for how people are to live their lives and treat their fellow man. They are not meant to be a spiritual strait-jacket, but you, with your rules and regulations and determination to obey the letter of the Ten Commandments, have forgotten about the spirit of the Ten Commandments.” People might learn religious rules, customs, and teachings, but our main source for understanding God’s ways doesn’t come from that knowledge. It comes from receiving Jesus and his message. In fact, strict observance of the law can make us blind to the Spirit’s freedom Jesus is offering us.

Jesus went a step further and replaced all of these laws with the two Great Commandments God and love people. He told the Pharisees, “Look at how much easier and less demanding the Great Commandments are. They are a common-sense approach to living the life God wants us to live. If people obey these two commandments, they will form the basis for how people live their lives. “

Most of you have not seen oxen that are harnessed together by a yoke, but perhaps you have seen pictures of them. They share the burden and work together so that one doesn’t have to do all of the work or shoulder the entire burden. Oxen are trained for a specific position in the yoke, so when they are put in another position, they refuse to move, much like the Pharisees refused to change for Jesus or John the Baptist.

When Jesus tells us to take his yoke, he is inviting us to submit to his authority. If we submit to him, he will give us rest by sharing our burdens. We all need rest. That’s why God created the Sabbath. A Sabbath changes the pace of our lives. It helps us restore our strength and helps us be still. It helps us to let go of our grip on our lives. Jesus is asking us to let him be in control of our lives. He wants to guide and direct our lives. As the old saying goes, he wants us to “let go and let God”.

Jesus lived enough days on this earth to experience weariness-in body, mind, spirit and heart. Weariness can come in all forms and can last a long time. Some weariness moves into depression and despair. Thus, for Jesus to extend rest for the weary, he is giving hope to those who are burdened. That hope is named-Jesus.

Jesus promises to give us rest when we find our rest in him. He is our burden-bearer. When we turn the circumstances of our lives over to him, he lifts us up and infuses our hearts with fresh hope and wisdom. Some situations are just too difficult for us to handle, but nothing is too great for God. In the words of the hymn:

What a friend we have in Jesus All our sins and griefs to bear

What a privilege to carry Everything to God in prayer

He promises to refresh our weary souls when we cry out to him.

In order to understand God, we have to get rid of our rules, intellect, and common sense. We have to become spiritually helpless like children and come to him with curiosity, naïveté, and trust. We have to come to him in simple, child-like faith. This isn’t easy to do, especially because as we move from childhood into adulthood, we are often jaded or shaped by our experiences.

A child young enough not to have been taught otherwise knows how much he or she needs help. A child innocent enough not to be caught up in the world’s deception knows that he or she is loved just as they are. In fact, it is not even a matter of knowing the infant in our arms, it is a matter of experiencing love, and being held by love.

The Pharisees’ rules were a burden in their time, just like man’s rules can be in our time, especially when dealing with the government. If you don’t have every single “I” dotted and every single “T” crossed, dealing with the government can be a heavy burden. Not walking in step with the establishment is hard work and can be dangerous, but it can be done and has been done in the past by people such as Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Mother Teresa.

The world’s way of lightening burdens has always involved transferring the burden to the scapegoat, usually the poor. God hears our cries and can understand the difference between cries of pain, hurt, anger, frustration, joy, and deep need. He longs to hold us while we cry, not saying anything, but showing immeasurable love through his powerful embrace. God will bring strength out of brokenness. He releases us from the bondage of having to prove our worth. We can live freely and lightly. He will never give us more than we can bear.

Most of us go through life with burdens that weigh heavily on us. Like potatoes in a pressure cooker, we know the meaning of stress. Regardless of what our burdens are, Jesus wants to come alongside us and heal us. He wants to properly clean the wounds of our lives. It will take time and it won’t be easy, but if we keep ourselves surrounded by Jesus, the source of life, we will be healed. And when we are healed, we will experience the love, peace, hope, and rest that Jesus can bring.

It is easy for us to get caught up in a “hurry-worry syndrome”-doing too much, driving too fast, eating too quickly, and juggling too many things. It all seems important at the moment, but later we realize that much was done at the expense of cultivating deeper and meaningful relationships with those we love the most. Being held hostage by the tyranny of the urgent is not how we were meant to live.

A sermon preached on Matthew 11:28-30 actually changed lives in a small rural community where two leaders of the congregation were quarreling bitterly over a decision about which they disagreed. When the pastor pronounced the benediction and left the sanctuary at the end of the service, he wondered why the congregation did not follow him to the door where he normally greeted them. He returned to the sanctuary and found the two leaders embracing each other in tears while the rest of the congregation stood around in amazement.

Jesus’ easy yoke is not an invitation to an easy, carefree life, but it is deliverance from the man-made burdens of religion. These burdens are the guilt of sin and its side effects such as depression, anxiety, fear and doubt. If we accept the rest Jesus offers, all we have to do is accept his teachings as well as the obligations he will lay upon us. He invites us to trust only in him and then treat each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.

As we come together to worship every week;

We admit our hunger for God. God sees our emptiness.

He feeds us the choicest food, the flesh and blood of Jesus

who invites us today to take his yoke upon us and learn from him

for he is meek and humble of heart.

We can let go of the heavy yokes of this world and

take up the blessed yoke that is no burden,

the yoke of acceptance of our own beloved self in Christ,

the yoke of acceptance of the beloved nature of other weary, heavy-laden

ones still striving all around us.

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 November 10, 2024
Text Matthew 10:17-42
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

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 November 3, 2024
Text Matthew 10:1-16
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Last week we used Matthew 7 :13-14 as one of the scriptures about hell. Before that, we looked at Jesus confronting unclean elements of society by invoking the power of the new kingdom he was introducing. He cleansed a leper in 8:3, expelled many unclean spirits in verse 16, expelled some exceedingly violent demons in 32, and healed a paralytic in 9:6. Chapter 9 ended with Jesus calling His disciples to work in the harvest field that he said was already ripe and needing many workers. Before the ascension at the end of chapter 28, verse 19 we find Jesus commissioning them to make disciples of all nations.

JESUS GIVES HIS DISCIPLES THE SAME AUTORITY THAT HE EXERCISED

Today chapter 10 begins with Jesus summoning his twelve disciples and giving them the same authority that he exercised to heal people of their diseases and to cast out unclean spirits. These men were ordinary men and seem to have been relatively unknown and normal men. What set them apart from others was that Jesus specifically chose them (called them) for this apostolic ministry. They were to be his agents to introduce the message and power of the kingdom.

In verse 5 we read a rather curious command that Jesus gives them, “do not go among the gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans, go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: “The kingdom of heaven is near, Heal the sick raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. “Freely you have received, freely give.”

OUR GIVING IN SERVICE IS TO BE LIKE GOD’S GIVING TO US.

  Salvation is a free gift.  Healing is a free gift. Deliverance is a free gift.

Jesus probably said this because he knew the temptation of man to want to profit from supernatural power. Simon the magician in Acts 8:18-19 thought he could profit from the power of God. He offered money for the supernatural power that he saw, and Peter said to him, “may you die along with your money.”

Our service for the Kingdom is only to be for the sake of those we serve, expecting nothing in return. It also of course then, is serving and glorifying the Lord too, because even giving a cup of cold water in His name, is like we are giving it to Him. The world’s way is; don’t do anything for anyone unless you are paid for it. Unions particularly brought this idea into our lives. Unions were important when they first began at the beginning of the industrial revolution because owners took advantage of workers. But all during the 20th century they kept pushing for more money and less work. When I worked at the Orrville Body Co., I remember that if you needed a part or tool at the tool shop, you couldn’t just have someone handy to pick it up. Only the people who used it had to pick it up. If you weren’t assigned a particular job, you weren’t allowed to do it. You may get paid to stand around and do nothing, rather than do a job that you weren’t specifically hired to do. The Kingdom way is to do whatever the master tells you to do. We are to serve and glorify Him at all times. Doing whatever he gives us to do.

So Jesus’ concern is that the Jews be given the first opportunity to hear the gospel. His last instruction to them in Acts 1:8 gave an order of priority. Jerusalem first, then Judea, Samaria, and then the remotest parts of the earth.

There were basically:

THREE REASONS WHY THEY WERE TOLD NOT TO GO TO ANYONE BUT THE JEWS

1 . First, several Old Testament passages indicate that God raised up Israel to be a priest to the other nations who would also become part of God’s kingdom. Gen 12:3says, I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Exodus 19:6. In Psalm 2:8 we read; “Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. Isaish 9:1-2…there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future, he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the sea, along the Jordan. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light on those living in the land of the shadow of death. A light has dawned in Isaiah 49:6…he says; It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. It will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth. Jonah 4:11. Nineveh has more than 20,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?

By taking the message of the kingdom first to the Jews, Jesus was deliberately preparing the nation of priests so that their ministry to the Gentiles could be full.

2 Secondly up to this point the disciples had no experience in cross-cultural ministry. As typical Jews of their day, their cultural experience was homogeneous. Not only did their religious scruples separate them from the Gentiles, but their understanding of the Gentile mind was also quite limited. That cross-cultural ministry would be left to a man like Paul, who would come along later, a man with the life and background who could communicate to the Gentiles.

3 Also a further reason for this limited ministry was simply that with such a small force of workers, it was eminently practical to concentrate the ministry on a rather small area.

Only when Galilee was successfully evangelized with the gospel would Jesus have an adequate foundation for pursuing other areas. ‘

We know that the gospel did spread into Samaria and Judea to the south of Galilee. Decapolis on the east and Syria on the northeast. And then after the earthly life of Jesus, the apostles continued to take the gospel further to the south in North Africa, to the far east all the way to India and perhaps China, and to the north and west into Asia Minor, Greece, and all of Europe.

A practical word in limitation of ministry given by Jesus is that if we can’t do it at home we have no business trying to export it. This is why many mission boards require a period of effective home service as an internship before allowing missionary candidates to go overseas. I remember when I was teaching Church Growth at Nyack College (NY) in 1994, there was a young seminary student who felt called to work with Jewish people in Israel when he graduated, but wouldn’t do anything to minister to the Jewish people in New York City, (Where there is a higher concentration of Jews than anywhere else, outside of Israel) He said that while he was in school, he just didn’t have time. Perhaps it wasn’t his fault. His professors didn’t see the value of involving students in ministry while they were learning. This sometimes is the problem with “academia”.: schools of higher learning in other fields, outside of medicine, seem to expect you to get the theory and then try to put it into practice. Jesus gave the best training. For three years the disciples got his teaching, and every day they saw him put it into practice, and they helped him do it, and then he sent them out.

Today there are those who accept the complete authority that was given to the disciples, and others who believe that authority was given only for that time, when the gospel of the kingdom was first being preached. Now we have the written word of God. They believe that we have the authority to proclaim the gospel of salvation, but not to do the things that Jesus sent the 12 out to do—He told them to heal the sick raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, and drive out demons.

It does seem that we do not have the same frequency of seeing the signs and wonders that the apostles did, but we certainly still do see them today, especially in other parts of the world. It is astonishing for me to hear a “cessationist”: (a theological position that states that all miracles ceased at the end of the first century) make the statement that he or she has never seen a legitimate healing or miracle take place today. They just haven’t been in the right place at the right time, and of course, because of their lack of faith, they haven’t seen God work in this way. The truth of the matter is, that there are millions of people all over the world who see little miracles happening all the time, but also there are unexplainable Biblical proportions miracles happening too. Smith Wigglesworth in England at the beginning of the last century saw people raised from the dead, including his wife. My grandmother was pronounced dead for a few minutes as my family was praying (I hadn’t been born yet) and she came back to life. The most astounding account happened in Nigeria when Pastor Daniel Ekechukwa was raised from the dead after an accident near the town of Onitsha on November 30, 2001. He was dead for 3 days. His body was embalmed and was in a casket. His wife had heard about the ministry of a German Evangelist named Reinhart Bohnke who held massive meetings of over 100,000 people where miracles were taking place. She had the body of her husband taken there because God had told her that He would raise him back to life. and after Bohnke laid his hands on the casket and prayed the man sat up climbed out of the casket and sat on the platform. You can imagine the reaction of the crowd. He testifies and preaches about God’s power today. You never hear about this kind of thing in the Western Media, because they don’t know what to do with it.

There is an actual video though of this event. The fact that people still don’t believe, testifies to the words in Luke 16:31, before Jesus was crucified and rose again, we read about the rich man and Lazarus that we talked about last week. Where Abraham told the rich man in hell, that “people have Moses and the Prophets, and if they won’t listen to them, even if someone comes back from the dead they won’t listen.”

The occurrence of a miracle was considered by the Jews to be a sign that God was sanctioning the activity of the agent of the miracles. Thus, Jesus used miracles in the promotion of his spiritual kingdom. When he left Earth only a small body of Jews believed that he still lived and that the Kingdom would proceed. The best proof of his resurrection, the best apologetic to convince the Jews of Jesus’ Messiahship had to be the continuation of the miracles in his name; but this was not to be a substitute for saving faith but a catalyst for it. If there is an infrequency today of the kind of signs and miracles we see in the New Testament it is mostly because of our lack of faith, in certain segments of the Church. Nevertheless, it is true that they are done more discriminately today as sheer grace on God’s part The individual, (Jesus’; love and compassion for individuals), not the kingdom as such, is the focus of today’s miracles. And don’t forget that the ultimate healing takes place when we go to meet Jesus and receive our spiritually perfect bodies.

In the next section, beginning with verse 9 we see that they should not seek to profit financially by their ministry, but were told to accept the support and hospitality of the people to whom they ministered. They were told to travel lightly and to seek to bring, and be a blessing wherever they went. On the other hand, when they were not welcomed, they were not to remain in those places that withheld hospitality but were merely to “shake the dust off their feet” in protest against that house or city.

Jesus is instructing them not to try to argue anyone into the kingdom. Instead, he wanted them just to announce the presence of the kingdom and keep moving on with the message. Those cities that refused the message about the kingdom, unfortunately, would suffer more than the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah throughout scripture represent exceeding wickedness because they were cities that were decisively judged by God not only for their exceeding immorality and wickedness but also for their lack of hospitality to the people and message of God. Similarly, cities that blatantly rejected the announcement of the coming kingdom would experience harsh judgment too.

There is also the idea in this idiom, something important fo the disciples themselves. This ancient Eastern expression means to shake off the animosity and bitter feelings which arose between another and you as you leave, so that you may go on your way with your heart full of peace and joy, as a godly person should. You must never take with you the “dust of hatred and resentment”, shake it off and leave it behind so you may continue with a pure heart.

Look now at verse 16. Why would anyone send sheep into a pack of wolves? Jesus sent them out knowing that some people would act like wolves if sheep were present. They would be attacked. He did this to rescue the other sheep (9:36). They were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. But he also told them not to be like typical sheep. They were to be “shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” We know that sheep could be described as innocent, but certainly not shrewd. In the next section verses 17-20, we see the description of the shrewdness that Jesus had in mind. The disciples were to be aware of the tactics of their enemies. They would be persecuted.

No matter how we are received our task is to share the gospel of the kingdom with others. Jesus is pressing us into this kind of service, just as much as he did the disciples. What is so wonderful is, we have the same power and authority that they had.

When Jesus ate the “last supper’ with his disciples, he told them that when they took the meal they should do it in remembrance of him. Remember all that he taught them. Remember the authority he gave them. Remember all the miracles that they saw take place. Oh how much we should remember about who Jesus is. He is our Savior, Our Sanctifier, Our Healer, and our Coming King!

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 27, 2024
Text: Matthew 7:13,14 Luke 16: 19-31
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Hell is a real place!. For several hundred years, the low, swampy area was occupied mostly by the Potawatomi tribe. Later in the early 19th century, it was the most unpleasant part of a trail between Lansing and Dexter, MI. It was a point on the route taken by traders going between the Huron River and the Grand River. It still exits today 20 miles North West of Ann Arbor.

What a place to live! I wouldn’t want to live there just because of the name. They sponsor a 10 mile race every year called the “Run Thru Hell” race, and you get a T-shirt that says “ I Ran Thru Hell.” The name came about probably because of some German travelers in 1830. When the stagecoach stopped there one sunny afternoon one said to the other, “So schon und hell!” roughly translated as, “ So beautiful and bright!” Their comments were overheard by some locals and the name stuck. Some think that after Michigan gained statehood, George Reeves who began the first trading post there was asked what he thought the town he helped settle should be called, and replied, “I don’t care, you can name it Hell for all I care. At any rate the name became official on October 13, 1841.

Now this isn’t the real place of course that we want to talk about this morning. This time of year—Halloween—it would seem that most people treat anything to do with death, or demons or hell as something like Santa Claus. It’s fun to use all the symbols and icons that portray the season.

However, there was an article in the Los Angeles Times a few years ago written by a Korean American journalist Connie Kang, entitled, “Next stop the Pearly Gates…or Hell?” she states from a George Barna survey, that an overwhelming majority of Americans continue to believe that there is life after death and that heaven and hell exist. But only one-half of 1% said they were hell-bound. These are the people who think that they want to be with other people like themselves in hell, where they will just enjoy themselves sitting around eating and drinking so to speak. This of course is a false picture of what hell is like. The Bible doesn’t depict anything at all enjoyable. You would think if you believed in hell, you wouldn’t want to be there. The survey found that 71 % of Americans believe in hell. Nearly 4 out of 10 (39%) believe hell is “a state of eternal separation from God’s presence,” while nearly one-third (32% believe it is “an actual place of torment and suffering where people’s souls go after death.” Only 13% believe hell is just a symbol of an “unknown bad outcome after death.”

For every American who actually believes he is going to hell, there are 120 who believe they’re going to heaven.

This optimism stands in stark contrast to Christ’s words in our text. (Matt. 7:13,14) “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

The Bible clearly teaches that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3;23) Sin separates us from a relationship with God. (Is. 59:2) God is so holy that he cannot allow sin into his presence. (Hab. 1:13)

Because we are sinners, we must have our sin taken care of before we can enter into God’s presence. We can’t do anything ourselves to become holy enough or good enough for heaven. We cannot enter heaven just as we are, but we can come to Jesus Christ, just as we are, and place our faith and trust in Him, who paid the price of our sin, which is death; if we receive this salvation.

There is a question asked by Randy Alcorn in his book called: HEAVEN “ — “IS HEAVEN OUR DEFAULT DESTINATION…OR IS HELL?” Most people today understand immediately what the implication of this question is. However if you haven’t used a computer very much or at all, you may not have understood what is meant by “default.” The dictionary gives definitions that are well known, like if you default on a payment or something similar. This means you do nothing, or very little. Your action taken wasn’t sufficient. Understood in this way the default position is automatic. There will be some action taken by the opposing party. Now apply this (like with a computer—it brings up something automatically on your hard drive.) When applied to heaven or hell; everyone does not go automatically to heaven, even though to hear what is said at a lot of funerals, or the assumptions made in movies or even general conversation you would think so.

· Heaven is not our default destination

· HELL IS!

No one goes to heaven automatically. Hell will have people in it who have not received God’s free gift of redemption. (The price was paid in full by his son Jesus.) but we must receive this new life by accepting this gift so that our names are recorded in “the book of Life” (Rev. 20:12-15)

In spite of the fact that the Bible clearly teaches that there is a heaven, that all people do not automatically go there, and that there is a literal place of punishment called hell or hades in Greek, many pastors and theologians do not like to preach and teach that unbelievers are destined for a literal place of torment, fire, and sulfur (the KJV & RSV says brimstone, an old English word meaning sulfur.) There are many verses in the book of Revelation which state this. It is where we get the expression — “fire and brimstone preaching. “

Over the years it has become commonplace for theologians to question the Biblical doctrine of hell. The truth is that published doubts about the reality of Hell began in the 1800s and have continued throughout the 20th century up to this century. Even the late great Charles Haddon Spurgeon, spoke about this problem. In 1865 he said, “There is a deep-seated unbelief among Christians just now, about the eternity of future punishment…there is a suspicion that sin is not, after all, so bad a thing as we have dreamed. There is an apology, or a lurking wish to apologize to sinners…but I am afraid it is the old nature in us putting on…charity, which thus leads us to discredit a fact which is as certain as the happiness of believers.”

Today the problem isn’t any better, and it isn’t just the liberal theologians who ignore this biblical truth. So-called evangelical pastors and theologians have a hard time reconciling hell and punishment with the love of God.

Is “fire and brimstone” preaching just an expression?

The doctrine of hell has driven many people away from Christianity. One man said that he would not want to be in heaven with a God who sends people to hell. His preference was to be in hell so that he could live in defiance of such a God. If such a God exists,” he complained, “He is the devil” Comments like that are blasphemy to the committed Christian who believes the Bible.

To some the punishment of hell does not fit the crime. Yes, all men do some evil and a few do great evils, but nothing that anyone has ever done can justify eternal torment. And to think that millions of good people will be in hell simply because they have not received Christ, (as the Bible affirms) strains credulity. Unbelievers think it’s like capital punishment for a traffic violation.

I want to remind us again that hell was not created for people but for Satan and the fallen angels. They are the ones who will be the tormented, not the tormentors. The suffering of hell will be given out by God, not by Satan and his demons. God will also include in that punishment, those who reject the salvation He has provided. The rejection of Jesus Christ is what merits the punishment of hell.

However, I’m sure that you have heard many times, as I have, that God wouldn’t send anyone to hell. It just doesn’t fit what we know about God—who is LOVE. Some people believe that ultimately everyone will be saved and go to heaven. Others say: that Jesus never spoke about heaven or hell, he was just concerned about how we live on earth. Of course, this comment is totally one of ignorance because Jesus spoke much about both and in fact, he spoke more about hell than heaven.

The classic answer to the question about a loving God sending people to hell is: “God doesn’t send anyone to hell, we send ourselves there when we refuse to accept His son Jesus Christ who as the substitute for our sins, and receive Him as Savior and Lord of our lives, and when we insist on living a life of rebellion and disobedience to Him.” That of course is a true statement and might help sometimes to answer someone. Other times it doesn’t do much good.

We must share this idea, that God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell. The Bible says that He is not willing that anyone should perish. but because of His justice, He must condemn unbelievers to hell. Jesus explained this in Matthew 25:41 where he told about the sheep and the goats, that those on his left (the goats) were told; “depart from me, you who are cursed into ETERNAL FIRE prepared for the devil and his angels.”

This aspect of hell, eternal fire is what people don’t like to hear about, and particularly in recent days the gospel is frequently given with no mention of it. I understand this, and I myself have talked to people about the Love of God when telling what Christ has done for us, but there must be a time when we do explain the consequences of not accepting Christ. Here I believe we have all failed at some time or another. We must share Biblical truth with love though. People need to know that the wages, or salary—the payment for sin—is DEATH. (Rom. 6:23) That is; spiritual death. It isn’t the end, and you just die, and nothing afterward. The Bible teaches everlasting punishment in a literal hell. However, it doesn’t do any good to do what some new Christians have done with their friends and family. They just blurt out—“you’re going to hell unless you repent.”

It is the Holy Spirit that will “convict the world (people) of sin.” It is only the Holy Spirit that will make the reality of hell understood. It is horrible and we must let people know that there Is indeed punishment for rejecting Christ. The fire is literal, but not like we understand fire. The Bible communicates to us in a way that we can understand. Since we understand how fire burns and hurts, we know that pain is involved. But what is hard to understand, and therefore theologians try to explain it away, is that the fire is eternal and can not be put out. That it doesn’t consume those who are cast there. Because when we think in human finite terms we think, how is it possible that fire won’t burn someone up and they are totally gone? Unbelievers will have different bodies someday too, or else it will be just their soul and spirit, the very essence of who we are that will suffer pain. The use of the word fire is to help us understand that this will be a painful punishment and it won’t ever stop.

The descriptions which are familiar to most of us and make it clear what hell is like would be;

“fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 13:42) Have you ever been in such pain, that you grind your teeth? Rarely do we suffer like that, but in order for us to understand how serious this is, the Bible explains it this way.

Fiery lake of burning sulfur (Rev. 20:10)

Lake of fire is used 5 times in Rev. 20:15, 21:8. This is the second death, after the judgment.

What is the bottomless pit? The abyss is used 9 times; it refers to the lower regions as the abode of demons, out of which they can be let loose at times.

· Gehenna is used 12 times; Aramaic, a dialect of Hebrew is Gehinnom –the Valley of Hinnom, or dump. Where children were burned with fire as sacrifices to Molech one of the pagan gods In the Old Testament. (I Kings 23:10), and (Jeremiah 7:31)

Jesus mentioned the reality of hell many times. In Matt. 23:33, He called the Pharisees a brood of snakes, and said, how will you escape being condemned to hell?

He talked about outer darkness. Matt 8:12; 22:13; 25:30. He said that the “subjects of the kingdom:

(the unbelieving Jews) will be cast into outer darkness, and here it is again, “… there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.)

· Hell is a place of torment (Luke 16:23, 28) also called Hades.)

· Matt. 5:22—- anyone who calls his brother “fool” will be in danger of the fire of hell. .

· Matt. 18:8,9 speaks of eternal fire, and the fire of hell.

· Matt. 13:42; 50—fiery furnace, and gnashing of teeth.

· Mark 9:44, 48—where the worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.

The specified duration of hell has also been watered down by many today. By those who preach part of the gospel, but refuse to accept the clear teaching about hell. You see, there is no need for “good news” –that we can be saved because, without hell, there is nothing to be saved from.

It is eternal and everlasting, just as life with Christ is eternal and everlasting.

Matt. 25:46 –it is an everlasting punishment.

Mark 25:46—It is eternal condemnation

Heb 6:2—It is eternal judgment

Matt 18:8,9—eternal fire.

Mark 9:43-49—unquenchable fire.

II Thess. 1:9—everlasting or eternal destruction

Now it is here that some theologians and pastors preach that if something is destroyed it can’t go on forever. But the word destruction does not mean annihilation. This same word is used in Matthew 9:17; Luke 15:4 and John 6:12,17. In none of those instances does it mean “to pass out of existence.”

Robert Morey writes, “There isn’t a single instance in the New Testament where this Greek word apollumi, means annihilation in the strict sense of the word. Greek lexicons define it as “to be delivered up to eternal misery.

It is true that the Greek word which is usually translated as eternal, does not by definition mean eternal (like we usually think of it). It specifically refers to an “age or “eon”, a specific period of time. However, it is clear that in New Testament usage it is sometimes used to refer to an eternal amount of time. Rev. 20:10 speaks of Satan, the beast, and the false prophet being cast into the lake of fire and being tormented day and night forever and ever.

It is clear that these three are not “extinguished” by being cast into the lake of fire. Why would the fate of the unsaved be any different (Rev. 20:14,15).

The most convincing evidence for the eternality of Hell is Matt.25:46. “Then they (the wicked) will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” In this verse, the exact same Greek word is used to refer to the destiny of the wicked and the righteous. If the wicked are only tormented for an “age,” and then are totally annihilated, then the righteous will only experience life in heaven for an age also. If believers will be in heaven forever, and they will, unbelievers will be in hell forever.

Our other text that Carol read is Luke 16:19-31

About the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus was a beggar that sat outside of the rich man’s house. But when they both died, the rich man was in hell and complained about the heat and cried out to Abraham to send Lazarus to give him just a little bit of water for his tongue. This can’t be done, because of the Casim between them. Then the rich man begs to let him go back from the dead to warn his brothers. He is told that they have Moses and the prophets to warn them. And “even if someone comes back from the dead they still will not believe.”

It is still true today, that even when people are told about the realities of hell they won’t believe it.

Jonathan Edwards, that great 18th-century preacher said that the reason we find hell so offensive is because of our insensitivity to sin. It seems that the greatness of sin is determined by the greatness of the One against whom it is committed, (and that is God.)

It is only the Holy Spirit that can convict people of their sin, and bring them to repentance. In Edwards’s great sermon: “Sinners in the hands of an angry God” he couldn’t finish his sermon, because of the noise of weeping, as people were clinging to the posts that held up the roof of the sanctuary— because they felt the power of the Holy Spirit and it felt like they were sliding into hell.

David committed adultery with Bathsheba and then sent her husband to the front of the battle so he would be killed, so he committed murder. Nevertheless, when the prophet Nathan pointed out his sin, he said; “against you and you alone, oh God have I sinned.”

If we understand that, we might understand better that God has no choice but to condemn us to a hell of eternal punishment if we continually reject His son Jesus Christ, and want to live our lives without Him. He will say to us then someday, Okay—have it your way—you cannot spend eternity with me. Depart from me, I never knew you!

The important thing is for us to come to Jesus, just as we are—sinners. We can be assured because of what we read in the Bible that there is a literal hell that is for the Devil and his angels, and for all those who refuse to accept Jesus Christ as their savior. But we can also be assured that we do not have to go there if we receive Jesus. If you have never been assured that you have this kind of relationship with the Lord, you can come to him this morning. Do not leave this sanctuary without knowing for certain that you have eternal life.

THE FIELDS ARE WHITE READY FOR HARVEST BUT THE WORKERS ARE FEW

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 20, 2024
Text Matthew 9:16-38
Pastor Paul Lehmann

In `Matthew chapter 9, last week we saw Jesus sitting down to eat at a table with tax collectors and sinners. The scene is set in a bustling marketplace in Capernaum, a town on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. The aroma of freshly baked bread and roasted meats fills the air as merchants call out to passersby, trying to sell their goods.

Among those gathered around the table with Jesus are Matthew, also known as Levi, a tax collector who left everything to follow Jesus, and other individuals who were considered outcasts by society. They had come to be in the scene after hearing about Jesus’ teachings and witnessing His miracles. Despite the disapproving glances from the religious leaders and the whispers of the crowd, Jesus welcomed these individuals with open arms, showing them love and acceptance.

As they sat together sharing a meal, Jesus used the opportunity to teach a valuable lesson about the new way of life He was bringing. He spoke of not putting new wine into old wineskins, illustrating the need for a fresh perspective and openness to His teachings. The imagery of the wineskins bursting if filled with new wine was a powerful metaphor for the transformative power of Jesus’ message and the need for hearts and minds to be renewed to receive it fully.

What is Matthew 9:16-17 about?

When we look at this verse, we see that Jesus is using the metaphor of new wine and new wineskins to teach us a valuable lesson about growth and change. We need to be open to new ways of thinking and living as we experience growth or spiritual transformation, just as new wine ferments and expands, requiring a new, flexible container like a wineskin that can stretch and adapt.

Imagine pouring fresh, bubbling wine into an old wineskin that is rigid and brittle – it would burst and spill out, wasting the precious contents. Similarly, if we try to contain the new things that God is doing in our lives with our old, rigid ways of thinking or living, we risk missing out on the blessings and opportunities that come with growth and change. Jesus is reminding us to be open to new possibilities and not be constrained by our old habits or beliefs.

So, as you reflect on this verse, consider what new things God may be doing in your life. Are you willing to let go of old ways that no longer serve you and make room for the new? Your growth and transformation may require a willingness to embrace change and adapt to the new things that God has in store for you, just as new wine needs new wineskins.

These verses from Matthew 9:16-17 are part of a larger dialogue where Jesus responds to questions about fasting. He uses two vivid metaphors to illustrate his point: a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment and new wine in old wineskins.

In the first metaphor, Jesus speaks of the impracticality of placing new, unshrunk cloth on an old garment. The new cloth will shrink, causing the tear to worsen, highlighting the incompatibility of the new with the old. Similarly, in the second metaphor, new wine must be put into fresh wineskins as the fermentation process requires flexibility. Old wineskins, being rigid, would burst, ruining both the wine and the container.

These metaphors echo the theme of renewal and transformation found in other biblical passages. For instance, 2 Corinthians 5:17 emphasizes that in Christ, we become a new creation, shedding the old ways. Ezekiel 36:26 speaks of God giving us a new heart and spirit, replacing the old, hardened one.

Today, these verses challenge us to embrace new ways of thinking and living as followers of Christ. They urge us to let go of outdated habits and mindsets that are incompatible with a life transformed by Jesus.

To illustrate this point, imagine trying to run the latest software on an old, outdated computer. The system would struggle and fail, much like trying to live a new life in Christ while clinging to old ways. If a man is trying to overcome an addiction by embracing a new community and lifestyle further illustrates the need to let go of the past for true transformation.

Jesus’ metaphors in Matthew 9:16-17 call us to wholeheartedly accept the new life He offers, leaving behind the old ways that hinder our growth. This passage encourages us to be open to God’s transformative work in our lives, trusting that His ways are superior to our own.

Imagine your work habits—sometimes, sticking with old ways doesn’t cut it for new challenges. Jesus talked about new wine in old wineskins; it bursts, right? Just like outdated methods at the office can hold you back. Open your heart to new ways of experiencing faith, like upgrading your tools for efficiency in your job or spending quality time with family. Are you ready to let God’s fresh power transform your life and renew your spirit?

We’ve been talking the last few weeks about the greatness of Jesus Christ and the miracles he has performed. As we continue to look through chapter 9 we see him again performing healing miracles, and even raising a girl from the dead.

In verse 18 a leader of the synagogue came to Jesus about his daughter who was sick, and while he was gone she died. He came out of desperation. A faith that was hopeful. Nothing else had worked for him When Jesus got to the house where the flute players and mourners were there, they “laughed” and mocked Jesus when he told them to leave, she was just “sleeping.” But they left and Jesus healed her and raised her up to life.

The woman with the issue of blood crept up behind Jesus in the crowd and touched the hem of His cloak Some might think like the commentator William Barclay, that hopeful persistent, dogged type of faith.

We have in the Old Testament Elisha took Elijah’s mantle in 2 Kings 2:9the mantle that had fallen from him and struck the water, it divided and he crossed over.

Then in Acts 5:14-16 (NIV) people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by, so that they might be healed

. Then again in Acts 19:11-12 we read: “Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out from them.

Today we must pick up the mantle of God’s power. We may cry out; “where are the miracles today?

We have to be about the work God calls us to do. He has given each of us spiritual gifts and a work to do. For him and his healing power flows through us as we do the work How many miracles in the book of Acts was surrounded by prayer?

Peter and John went to the temple at the hour of prayer

The elders at Antioch were praying and fasting and the Spirit spoke.

Paul and Silas probably prayed every night at midnight—one night they were in jail

While Paul preached the Spirit fell.

The power of the routine is that God meets us at appointed times and in these appointed ways. If we are not there doing the work we will not see the miracle God has planned. If you long to see the interruption of our plans by the Spirit, we need to be faithful to the plans we have made. All of us are called to share the word (preach the word), make disciples and honor God with the work of our hands.

Paul said in Col. 3:17; 23-25 “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”

How can we reclaim the mantle of Elijah? The mantle represents a passionate pursuit of the Lord himself—not power, not influence, not even integrity. Let us strip away all the garments of selfish ambition and modern thinking, and take up the mantle and strike the river that blocks our way. The shadow of Peter and the handkerchief of Paul for us is only possible as we allow the Lord to build us in his image, and we submit and surrender our complete being to him, and obey him and submerge ourselves in the truth and power of the Spirit, and give ourselves to the poser of prayer.

As Jesus moved about surrendered to the will of the Father, in obedience to the call and mission of establishing the kingdom on earth, doing all the miracles we read about and then some. He did this with love and compassion. Sometimes that is lacking in what we do. May we ask for this in our ministry, in order to accomplish all the Lord is asking and expects from us.

At the end of this chapter in verses 37 and 38 we read about the waiting harvest.

Here is one of the most characteristic things that Jesus ever said. When he and the orthodox religious leaders of his day looked on the crowd of ordinary men and women, they saw them in quite different ways. The Pharisees saw the common people as chaff to be destroyed and burned up; He saw them as a harvest to be reaped and to be saved. The Pharisees in their pride looked for the destruction of sinners; Jesus in his love died for the salvation of sinners.

But here also is one of the great Christ truths and one of the supreme Christian challenges. That harvest will never be reaped unless thee are reapers to reap it. It is one of the great basic truths of our faith and life that Jesus Christ needs US. —BOTH MEN AND WOMEN. He wants people to hear the good news of the gospel. He is not willing that anyone should perish. He doesn’t want to send anyone to hell in spite of the fact that some people believe that. ( People send themselves to hell when they refuse to put their faith and trust in Jesus as their Savior.) But they won’t hear the gospel, unless we tell them. “Both across the street, and around the world.”

Even if we say, okay—I’ll just pray for more workers. Very good , especially to go overseas. But prayer is not enough. A person might say, “I will pray for the coming of Christ’s Kingdom every day.” But in this case especially, prayer without works is dead.

Martin Luther had a friend who felt about the faith like Luter did. He said he would stay back at the monastery and uphold Luther’s hands in prayer, and Martin Luther would do all the work to bring about the Reformation. So they began that way. Then one night back at the monastery, he had a dream. He saw the world as a huge corn field, and there was Martin Luther trying to harvest it all by himself –a lone reaper… .He woke up and saw the truth in a flash, I need to help Martin. So he left the monastery and went out to help with the harvest.

So it is with us.. It is not enough to pray. It is not enough to give our money. Christ wants everyone of us to be involved with the harvest—praying and giving and GOING.

If the harvest of people will ever be accomplished, we must be committed to be one of the reapers.

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 13, 2024
Text Matthew 9:1-13
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

In these chapters, Matthew assembles a collection of miracle stories designed to demonstrate that Jesus is, indeed, the Messiah and that he works by God’s power. They also emphasize his commitment to restoring those who are in need of repentance and a new life. Beginning in verse 1 of chapter 9 until verse 8 we see the connection of forgiveness of our sins and healing. In this passage, the details of this account don’t mention the details as we read about in Mark and Luke. In those accounts friends of the paralyzed man tried to get him to Jesus who was teaching in a crowded room where he was teaching, back in his “home town” Capernaum. You may be thinking, I thought he was from Nazareth. Well yes, that is where he grew up after his birth in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph returned there, but after he started his ministry, “he did very few miracles there, because of their lack of faith” in him. On the other hand, he did his first miracle at the wedding feast in Capernaum, and they responded to him so it became the base location for his ministry.

So now: JESUS HEALS A PARLYTIIC. MATTHEW 9:1-8

He is in someone’s home where he is staying, according to Mark 2; and because of the crowd, the men carrying the paralytic couldn’t get in the house so they went up the outside staircase to the flat roof and dug through the clay tiles, so they could lower him down in front of Jesus. Seeing this faith demonstrated by his friends, Jesus said to the paralyzed man “Take heart, your sins are forgiven. “

Sometimes our healing today may depend on whether we confess our sins or not. This man didn’t confess his sins, but he needed Jesus. I believe because it was before the cross, he was healed because of the faith of his friends. For us, we must confess our sins. (I John 1;9)

My dad had Multiple myeloma (bone cancer) was in severe pain and wasn’t expected to live much longer. We were in graduate school at Nyack, NY the Fall of 1966. We didn’t know about this, but my sister told me that my dad gave her a list of people to call and ask them to forgive him. I knew that he needed to ask my sister for forgiveness, because he tried to keep her from going to Pentecostal church meetings in Akron, Ohio. I also knew that he had bitterness against his sister (my Aunt Reva) for not being fair with the distribution of inheritance. So she was on the list. My surprise was, that my sister told me there were about 20 names on the list. She called them all, and I think some were surprised that he felt that way. But after this, he began to get better, and the Lord touched him, and he lived 4 more years. I believe there is still a connection between forgiveness of sin and healing for us today.

(9:1-8). Jesus inspired controversy by first saying, “Son, cheer up! Your sins are forgiven you” (v. 2), even though the man had neither confessed his sins nor asked for forgiveness. The scribes were offended at Jesus’ apparent blasphemy—his assumption of God’s prerogative to forgive sins. Jesus, however, validated his actions by healing the man. But unlike the paralytic, we must confess our sins to be restored in our relationship with God.

That story leads naturally into the next, in which Jesus again offends Jewish leaders and performs more dramatic healings that validate his ministry.

After the healing of the paralytic, we see that this was immediately prior to when in :

MATTHEW 9:9. JESUS CALLS MATTHEW

Verse 9 As Jesus passed by from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection office. He said to him, “Follow me.” He got up and followed him.

“As Jesus passed by from there.” This phrase serves as a transition from the story of the healing of the paralytic (9:2-8) to the story of the call of Matthew (9:9-13). Verse 9:1 spoke of Jesus coming “to his own town,” which Matthew earlier identified as Capernaum (4:13). Mark also locates the healing of the paralytic in Capernaum (Mark 2:1), and we can assume that the events of this account take place in that town. Capernaum is located astride the highway from Damascus to Jerusalem on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee and is therefore a major commercial center.

Jesus “saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax collection office” Since Capernaum is located on a major highway, Matthew may be serving as a customs agent, collecting duties on goods in transit. He does not ask to follow Jesus, nor does he repent or ask forgiveness. Jesus’ call to Matthew is as shocking as his earlier claim to forgive sins (9:2), and demonstrates that God loves and wants to redeem every person.

When Jesus said “Follow me,” Jesus is calling Matthew in much the same way that he called Simon and Andrew (4:18-22). He tells them to follow, and they follow.

However, the call of Matthew differs from the call of the fishermen, because Matthew is a tax collector. Fishing is an honorable profession; tax collecting is not. The Romans contract with local people to collect taxes, and the collectors extort excess taxes for personal profit, enriching themselves at the expense of their fellow citizens. They are thus held in great contempt, are barred from the synagogue, and are considered the moral equivalent of robbers and murderers (Barclay, pages 337-338).

“He got up and followed him.” To follow Jesus, Matthew must abandon his lucrative job, knowing that he can never regain it. By so doing, he also cuts himself off from his old network of friends. To obey Jesus’ command, therefore, requires Matthew’s absolute commitment. It is a remarkable act of faith.

Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27 give the tax collector’s name as Levi, while this Gospel says that it is Matthew. We do not know if they are the same person, but it seems likely that they are. In lists of apostles’ names, we find Matthew but not Levi (Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:14-16; Acts 1:13).

Early Christians suggested that Matthew is the writer of this Gospel,

MATTHEW 9:10-13. JESUS EATS WITH SINNERS

10 It happened as he sat in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Jesus and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw it, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

12 When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. 13 But you go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

“It happened as he sat in the house” (v. 10a). Luke places the dinner in Levi’s house (Luke 5:29), but Matthew describes it only as “the house.” The “many tax collectors and sinners” that are present seem to confirm that it is Matthew’s house because they would constitute a natural guest list for the newly converted tax collector. It seems likely that, in a spirit of joy, Matthew invites Jesus and all his friends to a great feast at his house.

“Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (v. 11b). Some translations call them “lowlife” or scum. The Pharisees are offended. Sharing a meal, especially in a public setting, implies acceptance—even approval. The Pharisees complain to the disciples rather than to Jesus. Perhaps they are afraid to engage Jesus directly—or more probably they have chosen not to enter the house and are reduced to asking their question of disciples who are within reach.

“Sinners” could mean nearly anything, but in this context probably refers to people who fail to observe Jewish food laws, concerns for ritual purity, and the like.

Jesus, however, overhears the question and responds, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. But you go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (vv. 12-13). The Incarnation ( that is, God, coming to earth in the form of the God-man Jesus the Messiah) is for the benefit of those who need it. The irony is that the Pharisees need the Incarnation as much as anyone, but their religious pride causes them to miss it.

The Pharisees might have responded very differently to this dinner. They too champion hospitality–but only to the righteous poor. They also champion distancing oneself from sinners.

The Old Testament emphasized that Israelites must separate themselves from pagan tribes. The Talmud taught, “Associate not with the wicked man, even if you can learn from him.” Psalm 1 blesses those who “do not take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers.” The Psalmist asks for vindication, because “I hate the assembly of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked” (Psalm 26:5). Paul says, “Don’t be unequally yoked with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14).

There is much wisdom here. Bad company corrupts! One bad apple spoils the barrel! Bad company is the devil’s net! You can’t run with dogs without getting fleas! These old proverbs reflect the truth that the company we keep makes a difference in our lives.

My wife and I taught our children to choose their friends carefully—not for social standing but for character. However, it is also true that our daughter Karen, had a positive influence on a boy of questionable character—so much so that we believe that God put her in touch with him during her Sophomore year in high school here in the States. Also, our son Eric, in his Junior year in high school, a group of kids wanted him to join them in playing the game Dungeons and Dragons. He refused, believing it was an Occultic game that was influenced by Satan. It is not easy to know when to avoid evildoers and when to mingle with them for the sake of the kingdom.

In looking at this text, we will do well to remember that the Pharisees have a point about evildoers. Their concern is not without merit. They are upholding wisdom that has been gained painfully through the centuries. They do not want evil companions, and they do not honor evil people with their presence. For us today, the problem with not separating from old companions is that too often new Christians are not filled with the Holy Spirit, and haven’t been discipled. Therefore, they are vulnerable to backslide and fall into the sins of those they are trying to reach.

It is only as we keep this perspective that Jesus’ actions take on real force. Jesus reaches out to the lost at great personal risk (actions like this will cost him his life, after all), in the hope of saving people who do not seem worth saving. We should be glad for that! Otherwise, who could hope to be saved? The key is to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit before we attempt to witness to “old “ companions.

“But you go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice’” (v. 13a). The Pharisees’ question to the disciples (v. 11) constituted an indirect challenge to Jesus. Jesus responds by telling them to “go and learn,” implying that their understanding of scripture is defective—that they have failed to dig into the depths of the prophets.

The quotation is from Hosea 6:6. “I desire mercy, and not sacrifice” is a Jewish idiom meaning, “I desire mercy more than sacrifice.” The word sacrifice here stands for obedience to Torah law–the ultimate sign of one’s devotion to God. However, Jesus quotes the prophet Hosea to note that God prefers mercy to a slavish devotion to the requirement for sacrifices.

In his appeal for mercy, Jesus highlights God’s love for the undeserving. Ritual purity, while important, is less important than love of God and love of neighbor.

“for I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (v. 13b). These are categories that Pharisees use —–righteous and sinners as categories to pigeonhole people. Pharisees number themselves among the righteous, of course, and that is how most people see them. They are sinners too, but cannot see that, because they “tithe mint, dill, and cumin” observing the law even in its smallest details (23:23). The problem is that they neglect “the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith” (23:23). The verse from Hosea highlights the fact that temple sacrifice requires less of the person than does mercy. Sacrifice can be done routinely—even mechanically—with no involvement of the heart. A person can sacrifice at the temple in a perfunctory manner that has little effect on day-to-day life. Mercy, however, quickly becomes an affair of the heart, involving a human face—a human story. Elsewhere in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments” (22:37-40). Sacrifice is a way of expressing devotion to God—of keeping the first great commandment. Mercy is a way of expressing both love of neighbor and devotion to God—of keeping both great commandments.

The fact that Christians are no longer subject to the Jewish sacrificial system does not make us immune from Pharisaic error. P.T. Forsyth a Scottish theologian warns, “It is possible to be so active in the service of Christ as to forget to love him.” It is certainly possible to be so active in the service of Christ as to forget to love our neighbor.

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 6, 2024
Text: Proverbs 3:56
Guest Speaker Shawn Cullen

Listen to live audio here

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.

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 September 29, 2024
Text: Matthew 8:16-34
Pastor Paul Lehmann

Listen to live audio here

Last week we saw that you cannot give what you do not have. In order to achieve greatness in your life, you need to experience greatness — God’s power at work in your life. That’s his role. Today, we’ll look more closely at our role in achieving greatness. It’s been said that successful people are successful because they’re willing to do the things that ordinary people are not willing to do. For example, great business leaders don’t become successful by shuffling papers all day with one eye on the clock; they work hard, they work efficiently, they get things done, and they put in the extra hours when necessary. It’s not always easy, but it’s possible.

Great parents don’t become great parents by merely nodding at their children every few days and handing them some spending money. They go to ball games and recitals, they go to church together, they eat meals together, they spend evenings together enjoying each other’s company. Great parents achieve greatness through providing direction, security, discipline, and love. It’s not always easy, but it’s possible.

Great marriages aren’t made through merely an equitable living arrangement: you do the dishes, I’ll do the yard. Great marriages are made when two people share their hearts and souls and dreams with one another, when they honor and respect and build trust in one another, when they put the needs of the other ahead of their own needs. It’s not always easy, but it’s possible.

In the same way, a great Christian life doesn’t occur by merely attending church on Sunday and making a half-hearted attempt to live by the 10 Commandments, and find out about God, to find out more about Jesus. A great Christian life occurs when a person becomes radically committed to following Jesus and doing his will. It’s not always easy, but it’s possible. And it’s what God wants for you.

In order to achieve greatness in any area, there are certain things you have to abandon. Mark McCormack, author of What They Don’t Teach You At Harvard Business School, said “If you want to be successful in business, you’ll have to abandon the idea of the 40 hour work week. It takes longer than that to succeed.”

When two people get married, they abandon their past, with a vow that says, “Forsaking all others, I pledge myself only to you.”

When a couple has their first child, they abandon some things as well. Such as, silence. Sleeping through the night. Watching a TV show all the way through. These things all involve sacrifice, and yet, they’re all worth the rewards they bring.

It works the same way in the Christian life. If you’re serious about being a Christian — if you want to live a great life that has a positive impact on the world around you and the world for generations to come — then there are some things you’ll have to abandon.

Today we’ll look at four events in the life of Jesus that teach us four things you’ll have to give up in order to be great.

In the first story, a teacher of the law approached Jesus and said…

19 “Teacher I will follow you wherever you go.”

20 Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”

In order to achieve greatness, the first thing you’ll have to do …

1. You Have to Abandon Empty Promises.

I can imagine what took place in this scene. This man heard Jesus speak with wisdom and authority, he witnessed Jesus performing miracles, and in a rush of emotion he said, “Lord, I’ll follow you anywhere!” It sounds good, except he didn’t take the time to consider what his words really meant, and what their ramifications might be. Jesus checked him on it. He said, in effect, “Are you sure about that? Are you really sure? Are you willing to be homeless? Are you willing to lose everything? Including your life?”

Later in this gospel, Jesus will say…

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)

He was making it clear to his followers: Following me comes with a price. Don’t promise more than you’re willing to give.

When it comes to preaching on salvation, I’ve heard two extreme positions.

One is “Easy Believism”: All you have to do is believe in Jesus, and he will save you. It doesn’t matter how you live, because we’re not saved by works, we’re saved by grace. The emphasis of this view is not that Jesus is Lord as much as it is that Jesus is your Savior.

On the other end of the spectrum is Works Salvation: In order to be saved you have to live up to a certain standard, and if you don’t reach that standard, you’ll lose your salvation, or you’ll miss out on getting it in the first place. The emphasis of this view is not that Jesus is your Lord or your Savior, but that he is your tyrant.

A more balanced approach is what is called Lordship Salvation. We understand that salvation is God’s free gift that we cannot earn or deserve, and we receive this free gift when we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord. The emphasis of this view is that Jesus is your Lord and Savior; he saves you from your sins and you receive him as Lord (as boss) of your life.

I say this to emphasize that salvation is not something you work for, that it comes as a payoff at the end of your life for all of your hard work. If that were the case, you would never be able to earn it because you, or no one else in the world, can be that good.

Salvation is a gift. It comes with a price, but you don’t have to pay it. Jesus paid the price for your salvation when he died on the cross for your sins. In order to receive this gift, you must accept as it was given — from the one who wants to be Lord of your life. Paul said…

All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:13)The key word here is “Lord.” We talk a lot about God’s grace and mercy; they are foundational principles of our faith.

God freely forgives your sin. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past or how many times you have failed in the past — God’s mercy is available to you. When you give your life to him, he will turn it around and make it into (as the song says) something beautiful. But when you come to him — when you choose to follow him — he wants you to mean business, because he means business. He also wants you to be filled with the Spirit and not follow the desires of the flesh.

God doesn’t make empty promises, and if you’re serious about following Jesus, you can’t expect to get by on empty promises. In order to achieve greatness in the Christian life you have to abandon empty promises.

Secondly…

2. You Have to Abandon Lame Excuses.

In the next verse, a man approached Jesus and said…21 “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”22 But Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

These words sound harsh, don’t they? It sounds as if this man is saying, “Lord, give me 48 hours to take care of my deceased father’s funeral arrangements, and I’ll be right back.” And Jesus says, “Forget about your dead father, and forget about attending his funeral. Stay here and follow me.”

His words may sound harsh, but that’s not what this conversation is about. The explanation lies in the way the phrase “I must bury my father” was used. This phrase — and the mindset that accompanies it — is still used in many cultures today. The notion is that grown children have a continuing obligation to their aging parents, to care for them and provide for them until their death, and then, finally, to bury them.

This man wasn’t saying, “Jesus, I need some time off to go to the funeral home.” He was saying, “Jesus, I want to follow you, but not today. Today, I have other priorities.” And maybe, just maybe, he was saying, “And I don’t know what my parents would think if I were to start following you. They might not approve. They might cut off my inheritance. And when it comes down to it, I’m more concerned with what they think than I am with what you think.” There was a little bit of a spark inside this man that caused him to want to follow Jesus, but he couldn’t get past his lame excuses. When it comes to excuses about not being a fully-devoted follower of Jesus Christ, I’ve heard (or perhaps made) just about all of them.

Some teenagers may say, “I’ll get serious about following Jesus after I get married…when I don’t have to struggle with sexual purity.” (When they get married, they’re in for an eye-opener, aren’t they?) And then, married people might say, “After my divorce, I will get serious about following Jesus.” Business people say, “I realize this deal I’m involved in is a little questionable, but as soon as it goes through, I’m really going to get serious about doing business God’s way.”

We can spend years living this way: “Lord, I’m going to get serious about following you…soon…but not quite yet.” We find ourselves living in a place called Someday Isle. by Dennis Waitley.

He wrote…There is an island fantasy
A “Someday I’ll” …What that means is: Someday I’ll we’ll never see; When recession stops, inflation ceases.Our mortgage is paid, our pay increases. That Someday I’l…where problems end. Where every piece of mail is from a friend. Where all the nations can go it alone. Where we all retire at forty-one. Playing backgammon in the island sun. Most unhappy people look to tomorrow; To erase this day’s hardship and sorrow. They put happiness on lay-away, And struggle through a blue today. But happiness cannot be sought. It can’t be earned, it can’t be bought. Life’s most important revelation is that the journey means more than the destination. Happiness is where you are right now
Pushing a pencil or pushing a plow. Going to school or standing in line,
Watching and waiting, or tasting the wine.
If you live in the past you become senile. If you live in the future you’re on Someday I’ll .The fear of results is procrastination. The joy of today is a celebration. You can save, you can slave, trudging mile after mile, But you’ll never set foot on your Someday I’ll; When you’ve paid all your dues and put in your time. Out of nowhere comes another Mt. Everest to climb
From this day forward make it your vow, Take Someday I’ll –and make it your now!

In order to achieve greatness, we need to give up our excuses, give up the tendency to put off what needs to be done, and take action today. Do you want to become great? Then abandon the lame excuses that only to serve to hold you back, and get serious about your relationship with God today.

Thirdly, in order to experience greatness in life……

3. You Have to Abandon Limited Faith.

In the next story Jesus gets into a boat with his disciples, to sail across the Sea of Galilee. Matthew writes…

24 Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.

25 The disciples went and woke him, saying: “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”

26 He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.

At this point, the disciples had seen Jesus perform many miracles [Mt. 8:16] including the man with leprosy, whom Jesus touched and made clean; the Centurion’s servant whom Jesus healed from a distance; and Peter’s mother-in-law, who had a life-threatening fever.

The disciples had witnessed the amazing power of Jesus, and yet, when faced with their own crisis, they were certain that he was unable to help them. If they’d had time during the tempest to articulate their fears, I’m sure they would have said things like, “Leprosy is one thing, but this is a huge storm! We’re talking major crisis here. ( They had no idea that he had power over the weather). And just because he’s helped others, what gives us the right to think he’ll save us? He has no idea what’s going on right now. Jesus is not paying any attention to us. He’s sound asleep!”

Have you ever felt that way? You’ve seen him work in the lives of other people, but he seems to be asleep when you’re facing disaster? When that happens, how do you respond?

As we look at this story; Think about how the disciples should have responded…how they would have responded if they had great faith. Three possibilities. They might have spoken to the storm themselves, in the name of Jesus, and calmed the winds by his authority. Or they might have simply ridden the storm out until they got to the other side of Galilee, knowing that they were safe in the presence of Jesus. Or they might have woken him up…but instead of saying, “We’re about to drown” they might have said, “Lord, we need your help; will you calm the storm?”

Their faith wasn’t strong enough for them to do any of those things. So, instead, they panicked. Jesus woke up, and before he rebuked the wind and the rain, he rebuked his followers: he said, “Your faith is too small.”

If you want to achieve greatness in this life, you have to abandon the limits you’ve placed on your faith. Great people have great faith. You’ve got to let go of the idea that God will bless someone else, but he won’t bless you…that he’ll perform a miracle for someone else, but not for you. You’ve got to let go of the idea that God is willing to move only in small ways, but not in big ways. You’ve got to have a “no-limits” faith in what God is willing and able to do in your life.

Jesus said plainly to his followers..

“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” (Matthew 21:22)

and it will be yours.” Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, Mark 11:34

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” (John 15:8)

These are bold promises, and we sometimes go to great lengths to qualify them and explain away why they can’t be taken at face value. But Jesus doesn’t make empty promises — and he doesn’t water them down with small print.

His words can be taken at face value. If you belong to him, his power is available to you — and the only limits on what he can do for you are the limits you yourself put into place. James said…

You do not have, because you do not ask God. (James 4:2)

If you want to achieve greatness, abandon the limits of your faith. Be bold enough to trust God to do the impossible.

Now, let’s let take our final point from the next story in today’s text. This story teaches us that in order to achieve greatness…

4. You Have to Abandon Mixed-Up Priorities.

After Jesus and his disciples got off the boat, two demon possessed men approached them, and began taunting him. In the distance, a herd of pigs was feeding, and the demons said to Jesus…

31 “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

32 He said, to them, “Go!” so they came out and went into the pigs and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.

33 Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.

34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.

What’s amazing about this story is that the people of this region cared more about their pigs than they did the two demon possessed men who had just been delivered.

I’ve heard people say that it was cruel of Jesus to send demons into a herd of pigs. Now, the truth is, I don’t know why Jesus worked this miracle in the way that he did, but I do know this: the value of a few pigs cannot be compared to the value of two human lives.

The people of that region didn’t care that there were two extremely disturbed men living among the tombs. They just stayed away from them, because the men weren’t important to them — they just cared about the pigs. This story reminds us that people matter to Jesus more than anything else.

In order for us to achieve greatness, we must value what Jesus values. People must come first. Not our livelihood or possessions, but people. To achieve greatness, other people must be at the top of your priority list. As long as things as most important to you, you’re doomed to a life of mediocrity. Greatness recognizes the value of human lives What does it mean to take Jesus seriously? It means that you have to let go of the things that hold you back. It means that you have to quit playing games with yourself and with God, and you have to get down to business.

Empty promises? He doesn’t buy them. Get serious about committing your life to him.

Lame excuses?

Limited Faith? It only stands in the way of experiencing his power. He won’t accept them. Take action today. Stretch yourself to a no-limits faith in God’s ability to work in your life.

Distorted values. They only lead to mediocrity. Value what Jesus values. Devote your life to serving others.

This is what it means to take Jesus seriously. This is the next step on the road to greatness.