Yesterday’s sermon was excellent. Well-thought-out, delivered well, informational, instructional and convicting. But I don’t know exactly how to do it! I mean, I don’t understand how to accomplish what I was told to do.
The message comes from the book of James 5:1-6. The summary is “the unrighteous rich hoard and accumulate”.
The unrighteous rich use and abuse power. (They pay too little and withhold wages).
The unrighteous rich love in luxury and self-indulgence.
How then should we live?
We should not be haughty.
We should not set our hope on riches.
We should set our hope on God.
We should be rich in good works and ready to share.
But I am not rich. Are you?
I ran a business, and I was known for ‘overpaying’ and paying promptly.
I lived beneath my means.
“Luxury and self-indulgence” seems subjective. ‘I have an idea of what being haughty means. But isn’t that also a bit subjective’. It is hard to define. Who knows?
I have always tried to live as instructed by scriptures and according to this message. I had successes and failures. But I tried.
I guess this message was meant for those who have significant means so they can compare and contrast what the Bible (James) is saying to their own life.
Then, during the message, this struck me:
Use proper hermeneutics → Exegete scriptures → read → study → interpret → contextualize → understand → explain → apply → then, do it!
So often – or rather, the great majority of the time – sermons are given as a narrative of scriptures. Do you see what I am saying? They are a ‘story’ about a subject in the Bible, most often presented as ‘a story about a story’.
That is not what Jesus does. Jesus’ ‘sermons’ always tell Truth as being
Instructional. (instructional in the sense that it tells you why, how, when and where),
Creative. (in the sense that it creates, within the recipient, what is spoken),
Causative. (and it causes what is spoken to happen, and it causes change in the life of the recipient), and it is,
Prophetic. (prophetic in the sense it tells what is coming to pass, and it comes to pass – and continues to be manifest – in the lives of the recipients).
When you hear the Truth, take it into your mind, your soul and spirit and it ‘will tell the Truth, first, to you and then through you’ – that is, through your life.
This is more than just important. It is life changing and life-saving!
The Ten Commandments are also direct, instructional, creative, causative and prophetic in their nature. For example: “Do not murder”. Take that into your mind and let it dwell there. It will affect your soul (your mind, will and emotions) and seep down into your spirit. You will hear, see, feel and know that murder is wrong, and you will not do it. You will preserve life whenever possible.
This is most evident in Jesus’ teachings. One great example is found at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry. His first complete sermon is, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
No more need be said. “Repent”. An instructional command. A causative command. A creative and prophetic command.
“The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”. Why? How? When? Where?
By these few words it is accomplished.
The perfect sermon.
Any man, woman, boy or girl who hears these Words and takes them into their mind, soul and heart, through faith in Jesus, will be changed, and they will never be the same again!
Therefore, when James says, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, ” Come now, you rich people, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have corroded, and their corrosion will serve as< a testimony against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of armies. You have lived for pleasure on the earth and lived luxuriously; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous person; he offers you no resistance”, it is finished. It shall be done. And if you are behaving this way, miseries are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted, and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have corroded, and their corrosion will serve as a testimony against you and will consume your flesh like fire.”
(The Prophets were usually disdained by just about everyone. They told the Truth and people liked to live by their own rules according to their own pleasures – so they hated and killed the prophets. Much like today.)
So, what is the point and what is to be gained? The Bible, the Word of God, and Jesus’ Words is the longest love letter of instruction, causation, creation and prophecy ever breathed out and written.
It is written to you and should be read as such: A love letter from God to you and for you to do.
No matter what the natural world throws at you, by the grace of God and through faith in Jesus, if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:9-10, NASB)
Please, do not be a hearer of the Word only, deceiving yourself. It is for you to do.
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
As I confess with my mouth Jesus as Lord, and I believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead, I am being saved; for with my heart I believe, resulting in my righteousness, and with my mouth I confess, resulting in my salvation. (Romans 10:9-10, personalized)
Discover more from Whitestone Fellowship
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
