2005 - Touchet Baptist Church, Touchet, Washington - Pastor Mike Paulson - 2005 Expounding the way of God more perfectly - Acts 18:26 - with the Scriptures Rightly Divided - II Timothy 2:15 |
Reduce 'em' to Possession |
More folks will fit into Matthew 7:21-23 than most pastors, preachers and parents are willing to realize.
My first deer and elk hunting season along
with the past years of bear and cougar hunting
has once again given me a sermon illustration.
The Hunt
Hard to find!
Hard to find 'anything' out there these days let alone anyone willing to follow a rightly divided 'book!'
Fields are NOT white unto harvest, no matter
what your pastor, preacher and missionary say!
John 4:35 Say
not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say
unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white
already to harvest.
Instead, the preparations are being made for
the 'burn' instead of the harvest. (Purpose Driven,
ALPHA, Ecumenicalism, Great Commission, Gospel Bluegrass Church Increase
Movement, Family Forum Emphasis, etc. - our youth are being fed to another
Jesus, another spirit and another gospel)
Matthew 13:30 Let
both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will
say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in
bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Jesus may be making the news more and more...
Folks are not only hard to find, they are equally hard to hit amongst all the distractions - the brush and trees / the house projects and the job schedules and family outings, etc.
Lost folks sure don't want anything to do with Him - let alone Christians.
They don't die easily today!
...Now the Work Begins!
Pack Em Out!
Reduce them to Possession
You have to pack them out of the wilderness /
the woods!
(I am certainly not the expert
on this, but I sure did experience the thoughts while I sat there on the
side of the hill...)
They have to finally die - all on their own!
In meekness
instructing those that oppose themselves;
if God peradventure will give them repentance
to the acknowledging of the truth;
And that they may recover themselves out
of the snare of the devil,
who are taken captive by him at his will.
II Timothy 2:25,26
Then, and only then, can you pack em out of the
wilderness!
It is uphill all the way - it is cold - it is
full of brush and dead wood, etc.
They are a heavy burden - they weigh you down
something fierce.
It is a very difficult task!
God leaves the packing out up to the:
Pastor / Church:
All preaching the word!
Ephesians 4:11-16
and the brethren:
being there for them!
We are bound to thank God always for you,
brethren, as it is meet,
because that your faith groweth exceedingly,
and the charity of every one of you all
toward each other aboundeth;
II Thessalonians 1:3
And All by the Book!
After you find them, sneak up on them, shoot and
hit them, and they die...
...then you have to skin them!
You have to gut them out!
Dig deep!
And the haft also went in after the blade;
and the fat closed upon the blade,
so that he could not draw the dagger out
of his belly; and the dirt came out.
Judges 3:22
You have to lighten the load by getting rid of
their rubbish!
Leave the junk behind!
And Judah said, The strength of the bearers
of burdens is decayed,
and there is much rubbish; so that we are
not able to build the wall.
Nehemiah 4:10
So, why don't we give Him all of it?
I suppose that is why He had to cut away our
soul and spirit from the body!
Colossians 2:11-13
We haven't totally died yet!
Romans 7:15-20
Some day, He will get it all!
Philippians 3:21 -
Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his
glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue
all things unto himself.
Ephesians 1:9,10
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good
pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation
of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Jude 22-24 And
of some have compassion, making a difference: And others save with fear,
pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you
faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
Jesus Christ will eventually take FULL possession!
Either by the rapture:
For this we say unto you by the word of
the Lord,
that we which are alive and remain unto
the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
For the Lord himself shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel,
and with the trump of God: and the dead
in Christ shall rise first:
Then we which are alive and remain shall
be caught up together with them in the clouds,
to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall
we ever be with the Lord.
I Thessalonians 4:15-17
or by our physical death:
And as it is appointed unto men once to
die, but after this the judgment:
Hebrews 9:27
That is what the Judgment Seat
is - being reduced to possession!
We must pack folks out of the woods - reduce them for possession - including ourselves!
Let the Book take possession of you! Get into it daily! Study it! Hear the preaching of it! (not just from it) |
Turn to Christ through Paul - and... have that spiritual & mental peace.
Those things, which ye have both learned,
and received, and heard,
and seen in me, do: and the God of peace
shall be with you.
Philippians 2:9
And the work of righteousness shall be
peace;
and the effect of righteousness quietness
and assurance for ever.
And my people shall dwell in a peaceable
habitation, and in sure dwellings,
and in quiet resting places;
Isaiah 32:17,18