Sermons from Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup: July 2020

Sunday, July 19, 2020

INCLINE YOUR HEART

INCLINE YOUR HEART

Joshua 24:13-24 (KJV)

And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;

For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:

And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.

And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.

And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD.

And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses.

Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.

And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

We are looking this morning at one of the most familiar Old Testament passages I think anyone knows.

It’s been posted on the walls of homes for centuries.

Joshua 24:15 (KJV)

as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

· You will find it in a plain plaque form

· You will find it written in block script on a picture of a Colonial or new England house

· You will find it in a casual script on a picture of a farm house or perhaps

· You will find it in a calligraphy script on a picture of a Victorian mansion

I want to focus on that phrase in verse 23, “incline your heart unto the Lord….” And view that in a little bit larger context.

How does a person incline his heart unto the Lord?

First of all,

I. THERE WAS AN APPRECIATION FOR GOD

Joshua 24:13 (KJV)

And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

You will see this appreciation represented throughout the earlier verses of the chapter

God made them a people

Joshua 24:2-3 (KJV)

And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.

And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.

God gave them a land

Joshua 24:4 (KJV)

And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

God brought them out of Egypt

Joshua 24:5-6 (KJV)

I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.

And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea.

God parted for them the Red Sea

Joshua 24:7 (KJV)

And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.

God led them through the wilderness

Joshua 24:8-10 (KJV)

And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.

Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you:

But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand.

God gave them cities they didn’t build

Joshua 24:11-13 (KJV)

And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand.

And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.

And I have given you a land for which ye did not labour, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

One of the most spiritually productive things any person can do is rehearse again and again the reasons to be thankful to God.

· I keep a list of answered prayers

· I keep a list of miracles that have happened

· I keep a list of kind things that have been done for and to me

· I keep a list of people I love

I go through the lists, editing them, adding to them and reflecting upon them.

And I try to do that even on good days, not just on the days I need some cheering.

There is something phony about using the good hand of good to cheer yourself up on bad days, if you can’t also enjoy them on good days.

By the way, we ought also to review the lists of the things did for Israel regularly.

They are really the ones that have weight and authority.

· I like what God has done for me but

· I can trust the things the Bible says God has done for His people.

It was in response to that whole list of reasons to thank God that Joshua challenged the people,

Joshua 24:14-15 (KJV)

Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

And it was in response to that list of reasons to thank God that the Bible says,

Joshua 24:16-18 (KJV)

And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;

And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.

Secondly

II. THERE WAS A FEAR OF GOD

Joshua 24:14 (KJV)

Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

There is a fence that every believer must balance in which, on either side he can get messed up.

On the one hand, we need to rejoice in the LORD.

We have to enjoy God eternally

We have to be thankful and mindful of

· His goodness

· His mercy

· His grace and

· His love

There ought to be in every Christian a sense that we can come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

All Christian ought to feel free to call God “abba Father.”

On the other hand we must fear the LORD and serve Him in sincerity and truth.

Old Testament and New the Bible confirms

Our God is a consuming fire.[1]

We should feel free to come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

But we must never come brazenly to that throne, thinking we somehow don’t need that mercy and that grace.

To incline my heart unto the Lord is to find that balance.

Thirdly

III. THERE WAS A CHOICE FOR GOD

Joshua 24:15 (KJV)

I am going to share with you a process I had to tread over the course of a number of years in the ministry.

I was saved by watching a TV evangelist – not the noblest testimony of salvation out there.

The evangelist preached his message:

· On the one side the forces of evil

· On the other, the Old Rugged Cross

He pointed his finger into the TV camera and commanded almost right where you are, kneel and call on the Lord.

I did.

I know I got saved. I knew it right then.

But years later I had doubts.

Then I met a pastor who criticized that sort of salvation experience. He called it “decisionism.

He traced it back to Charles Finney and he said it had its roots in an ancient heresy called Pelagianism.

I took the bait.

I bought the book and I entered into a discussion with him that lasted a few years.

If a person is not saved by choosing God, how is he saved?

After years of discussing with him what I learned was that all his crowd ever did was criticize the decision process, but their method of winning the lost still boiled down to them making a choice.

Here’s the thing.

The Bible says,

Romans 10:13 (KJV)

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

I understand that there is such a thing as a false profession, but if you ask the Lord to save you in sincerity and truth,

Whether you called upon him because you were

· Stirred by a sermon

· Read a tract or was

· Witnessed to by a loved one

There was a choice involved.

If you have never made that choice to call on the Lord and ask Him to forgive your sins and to save you, I am right there with Joshua, “choose you this day.”

Don’t put it off another day.

Fourthly

IV. THERE WAS A WARNING FROM THE MAN OF GOD

Joshua 24:19-20 (KJV)

And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.

If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.

I think this goes back to the fearing the Lord point.

And it reminds me that we must constantly be reminded that we are only able to come before the throne, because it is a throne of grace.

We may come bold to the throne of grace, but it is only

· To obtain mercy

· To find grace

· In time of need

My best days as a Christian are those days when I am most aware that:

· I need mercy and

· I need grace

“Without Him I can do nothing

Without Him I’d surely fail

Without Him I would be drifting

Like a ship without a sail”[2]

Finally

V. THERE WAS A DETERMINATION TOWARD GOD

Joshua 24:23-24 (KJV)

Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.

And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.

There are three steps here

A. They left their old life

There can be no turning to God before there is a turning from something else.

People today don’t think they are religious.

They are the most religious in human history.

They worship the creature – namely self.

No one turns to God before they turn away from themselves.

B. They turned toward a new life

Consider, to be inclined toward a thing does not make one all in that thing.

To be inclined toward the Lord doesn’t mean a person is where God wants them to stay all their life.

When we turn to the Lord He justifies, saves and forgives us.

But He has much more in store for us.

C. They served God and listened to His voice

This is the process that every Christian has entered into.

We serve the Lord

We here and obey His voice

It’s called sanctification.

It’s the process of spiritual growth.

It’s the third element of the Great Commission.

Matthew 28:18-20 (KJV)

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Conclusion

I wonder, where is your heart?

[1] Deuteronomy 4:24 (KJV)

For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.

Hebrews 12:29 (KJV)

For our God is a consuming fire.

[2] Words and music by Mylon R LeFevre

ANSWERING THE CALL

ANSWERING THE CALL

Ezra 1:1-11 (KJV)

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.

And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests, and the Levites, with all them whose spirit God had raised, to go up to build the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem.

And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered.

Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods;

Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.

And this is the number of them: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine and twenty knives,

Thirty basons of gold, silver basons of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels a thousand.

All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem.

I do not know who the first person was to say, “If God ordered it, God will pay for it.”

It’s not found in the Bible in those words.

And I think it can be easily misunderstood and abused.

But I do notice in the Bible that it is a Biblical truth.

· You do not ever hear Noah worrying where to get the money to build the Ark.[1]

· God gave Abraham all that he needed to make the trip to the Promised Land, and to dwell there the rest of his life.

· God gave Israel everything they needed to traverse the wilderness for 40 years.

I only see money being an issue a couple of times in the New Testament.

· One time Jesus met the need by having Peter catch a fish and pull a coin out of his mouth.

· Another time Jesus took a few loaves and fishes and fed thousands with it.

It has also been my experience as a preacher.

Not that we have always had lots and lots.

I remember a time when Anita and I made a huge decision to take $80 dollars, almost everything we had, out of savings to buy a tent.

It was a major purchase we thought was an investment in our little family.[2]

Neither do I want to make it sound like every idea I had for the ministry was successful.

I remember being excited to report at a fellowship meeting that our church had averaged $1000 per month offerings for three months.

I can still see the look on one of the preacher’s faces.

It was something between appalled and pity.

I remember a family attending our church approaching me and saying, “You report less than $300 per week in giving.” It turned out that he thought he could pressure me to do things his way by manipulating his offerings to the church. I figured out then that it was not a great idea to publish the weekly offering count!

I don’t want to make it sound like all you have to do is say you are doing something for God and you’ll have all of the money you want.

It doesn’t work that way at all.

But I can say, without hesitation that if God orders it, God pays for it.

That’s exactly what we see in Ezra chapter one.

Before the children of Israel ever went into Babylonian captivity, God had already said through Jeremiah that they would only be there seventy years.[3]

And 150 years before that God said through Isaiah that the man who would release them would be named Cyrus.[4]

· God ordered it decades beforehand.

· God paid for it in Ezra chapter one.

God ordered and God provided

I. HE PROVIDED OPPORTUNITY THROUGH CYRUS

Ezra 1:1-2 (KJV)

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

Seems like the biggest hurdles to the work of God is very often government bureaucracy.

We started the church in Astoria, I knew very little about government things.

We began meeting in a family’s home but that wasn’t going to last very long. That family was mad at me before the first month was out – and we were living in a motor home in their driveway!

We had almost no money – no steady offerings and no monthly support.

I eventually was able to get this man to rent his abandoned gas station building alongside old highway 101 to us. He was willing to take a risk.

We began holding services in there.

· We put out a sign

· I began knocking on doors

· The newspaper came and did an article on us

And then the county got in touch with me. Seems like there is this government thing called a “Conditional Use Permit.”

I went down to see what I had to do in order to get the permit.

The costs were way out of our reach.

· We would have to change the direction doors swung

· We would have to install curbs to restrict the flow of traffic

· All sorts of other things and

· All had to be done in 30 days

It was completely out of our ability.

I didn’t know any better, but I had heard that one of our senators, Mark O. Hatfield, was a Christian. I wrote him a letter asking for help.

He wrote me back saying that it was out of his jurisdiction, but that he would forward a copy of his response to the county noting his concern.

We met in that building for 3 years and I never heard from the county again.

· It wouldn’t have mattered who understood that Israel’s seventy years of captivity was up.

· It would not have mattered who felt led of God to lead a group of Jews back to Israel

God had to provide a government official to let it be so.

Second

II. HE PROVIDED PEOPLE THROUGH A CALL

Ezra 1:3-5 (KJV)

· There was someone who stayed

· There was someone who went

· There was someone who led

· There was someone who followed

God has never yet created two identical people.

Brother Poling was the oldest of identical twins. He said that even as teenagers his dad could not tell them apart.

That’s very identical.

But his brother was

always slightly larger,

always slightly more adventuresome – more of a risk taker, and

the two of them were totally different people spiritually.

· You don’t have to be exactly like anyone else

· You don’t have to think exactly like anyone else

· You don’t have to do exactly like anyone else

I just urge you to be, think and do, as GOD directs and calls you.

· Someone is going to be called to be a missionary

· Someone is going to be called to be a pastor

· Someone is going to be called to be a Sunday school teacher

· Someone is going to be called to support and encourage his preacher

· Someone is going to be called to an effective soul winner[5]

· Someone is going to be called to be a significant giver[6]

Be sure your call is from God and not what you want to be from God and

Be sure you obey that call that is from God

And then just be faithful being the Christian God called YOU to be.

Third

III. HE PROVIDED CAPITAL THROUGH OFFERINGS

Ezra 1:6 (KJV)

And all they that were about them strengthened their hands with vessels of silver, with gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with precious things, beside all that was willingly offered.

I think this is an interesting phrase

“they strengthened their hands with vessels of silver and gold…”

There is no question about it that we can do a better work, a stronger work, with sufficient resources.

God’s work does not need money.

A preacher can step on soapbox on a street corner and proclaim the Word of God.

If he doesn’t have a soapbox, he can stand on the corner and still proclaim the Word.

But if he can have a microphone and speaker, he’ll be more effective.

If he can have a piece of property to assemble the saints, he’ll be more effective

If he can have a building on that property to shelter the saints from the weather, he’ll be that much more effective.

God’s work does not require money.

But the hands of God’s workers will be much stronger if they have some financial backing.

What God orders, God pays for

· He provided an opportunity through Cyrus

· He provided people through a call

· He provided strength through offerings

Last,

IV. HE PROVIDED FURNITURE THROUGH FORGIVING

Ezra 1:7-11 (KJV)

Also Cyrus the king brought forth the vessels of the house of the LORD, which Nebuchadnezzar had brought forth out of Jerusalem, and had put them in the house of his gods;

Even those did Cyrus king of Persia bring forth by the hand of Mithredath the treasurer, and numbered them unto Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah.

And this is the number of them: thirty chargers of gold, a thousand chargers of silver, nine and twenty knives,

Thirty basons of gold, silver basons of a second sort four hundred and ten, and other vessels a thousand.

All the vessels of gold and of silver were five thousand and four hundred. All these did Sheshbazzar bring up with them of the captivity that were brought up from Babylon unto Jerusalem.

Often times

· The vessels of the Temple

· The Ark of the Covenant

· The Tables

· The basons

· The Alters

Oftentimes those things are called the furniture of the Temple.

Nebuchadnezzar tore the Temple down stone by stone and stripped it of all of its gold overlay.

He took the furniture of the Temple:

· The vessels,

· The basons,

· The chargers and

· The knives

Those things he did not destroy but carried them back to Babylon and put them in his own treasury.

But Cyrus, haven take all that from Babylon, was stirred by God to give it all back.

What Israel thought the enemy was taking, was really only God putting it in savings.

Do you ever feel like the more you serve the Lord, the less you have to show for it?

Do you ever feel like the enemies in this world just keep stripping you of everything that matters to you?

Just keep living for the Lord.

Stay faithful:

· to Him,

· to His Word,

· to the church He has placed you in

And I promise you

· I am confident

· I have banked my whole life on

· What we have all lost in this world has merely been saved up by God for us in heaven.

Conclusion

If God ordered it, He will pay for it.

· He provided an opportunity through Cyrus

· He provided people through a call

· He provided strength through offerings

· He provided treasures laid up for their future

And He will provide for you

· An opportunity of service

· A personal calling

· Strength for the work and

· A treasure in heaven

[1] Since it took 120 years, I am guessing it was a “pay as you go” project. J

[2] The first time we used it, Bohannan was still in a crib.

[3] Jeremiah 29:10 (KJV)

For thus saith the LORD, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.

[4] Isaiah 44:28 (KJV)

That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

[5] Though all can and should win souls.

[6] Though all can and should give according to their ability

Sermons from Bible Baptist Church of Puyallup

Sunday, July 19, 2020

INCLINE YOUR HEART

ANSWERING THE CALL

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