The Point of No Return

Start with Prayer---

Note:  For fun I made a street sign to hang on the wall with arrows going in different directions.  One arrow pointing somewhat toward heaven, one toward left (home), one toward the right (church), and one pointing somewhat towards the ground and label it...POINT OF NO RETURN.

Question: Do all roads lead to home as the old adage says, or do we need to choose carefully the path we follow?

In other words, how much thought should we give to the choices we make in life?  I would say (from experience, of course) that much thought must be given to every decision we are to make to prevent making the wrong decision.

The bible says in Proverbs 3:6 (which is your memory verse)

—In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

What a promise we have just by going to the Lord before we make decisions.

The bible talks much about looking to the Lord for direction.  It talks much about the right way and the wrong ways to go; and by the way, “all roads do not lead to home” (that is, your heavenly home).

Every move we make, every decision we make, takes us one step further down life’s dusty road.  The bible says in Matt. 7:13-14 (turn there in your bibles) read and discuss...

...then the very next verse here begins with the word ‘BEWARE’.  Beware of what?  People and things that would lead you astray!

Prov. 4:27 says—Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove they foot from evil.  

We must stay on the straight and narrow, but how?  By removing our foot from evil.  Removing our foot from evil involves consulting God’s word for direction before we make decisions.  Just like I tell Kayla all the time, In life you only get one chance.  One wrong decision or one bad mistake can ruin your life forever.  Some mistakes can cost you your life altogether.  You see the thing about life is that there is no turning back.  Mistakes cannot be undone so the choices we make must be through careful consideration.  Why, because there is (figuratively speaking) “a place of no return”.  

Let’s take a look at some guys in the bible who figured this out the hard way.  

Esau—turn to Hebrews 12:16-17–although Esau was “tricked” into giving up his birthright, he was considered in this scripture and others as being the one in error.  Why?  It’s because he was fleshly, only desiring what would please his flesh.  He lived for the here and now instead of making decisions based on God’s word.  In Hebrews it tells us that Esau found no place of repentance though he sought it carefully with tears.  He just couldn’t change his way of thinking.  He couldn't have a change of heart to live for God. He just could not submit and humble himself to the ways of God and so he had reached his final destination, “the point of no return”.

Judas also, he betrayed Jesus for a mere 30 pieces of silver.  Now Judas felt bad about his actions and even sought to have them undone.  He wanted to give the money back and stop what was happening to Jesus but it was too late.  Oh sure, he could have found Jesus and asked forgiveness, but instead pride stood in the way and Judas committed suicide.  Judas arrived at “the point of no return”.  

How about Cain.  Because of jealousy, Cain killed his own brother.  When God came calling, Cain could’ve said “oh, what have I done, Oh God, please forgive me.  Instead all he could say was “am I my brother’s keeper?”  He had no sorrow of heart at all and Able was dead.  There’s no taking that back for sure.   God banished Cain from his people to “the point of no return”.

Now I have to ask, what happened to these guys?  Why did they do these things?  They knew right from wrong.  They were taught God’s expectations of them from birth.  They were trained up right, so what went wrong?  

All these guys made mistakes stemming from (as Bro. Self. Preached the other night) a wrong spirit that had developed deep inside them.  Did they know better than to do these things?  Absolutely.  How did they get a wrong spirit?  There are lots of questions here as to why.  It all boils down to making the wrong choices when they were faced with decisions.  They did not go to God for direction.  They just did what felt right and by doing so ended up on the roads that lead to the “point of no return”.   They had gotten themselves in places they did not belong but instead of turning back, truly repenting and getting back to the right road, they continued following the path of destruction.  Those men were so ate up with following their fleshly lusts and desires that they just could not find their way back to the Street called Straight.

I guess this lesson could be about repentance or about making right and wrong choices, but in essence it’s about both.  However, I do want to put more emphasis on making right choices so you don’t end up down the wrong road in life.  Everything we do has consequences.  So what should we do to make sure we don’t stray?  Follow God’s word even if you don’t understand it all!!!

Why don’t we cut our hair?  Maybe it’s simply because God’s likes us to have long hair.  Maybe it’s because it makes us unique (no one else but God’s women practice this).  Really it’s a submission to God issue because that’s what he tells us to do.  Am I saying that if you cut your hair it won’t grow back?  No, but every time we do anything against what God asks of us, we are taking a step off of God’s straight and narrow path that leads to life.  Once you cut your hair you cannot glue it back on.  The mistake has been made forever even if it does grow back over time.  

The best advice is to just not take any chances and whatever you do, don’t end up at “the point of no return”!

These men were ate up with jealousy, bitterness, vanity and pride.  

The House that God Built

Start with Prayer---

Gen. 6:14-16–the building of the ark and the specifications of it.

Ex. 25:8-9– the making of the tabernacle and the specifications of it and all the vessels belonging to it.

1 Kings 6:1-9– the building of the temple by Solomon and the specifications of it.

I’ve always been curious as to why the scriptures give so much detail on the dimensions of the ark, the dimensions of the tabernacle and the temple.  Everything is recorded in such detail.  I always wondered why.  Although it stands to reason the Lord wanted things a certain way, built with specific materials to certain specifications, I just didn’t completely understand the necessity or significance of listing everything right down to the last teeny, tiny detail.  I mean come on, it’s not like we are going to be able to or attempt to physically rebuild any of these things.  Those men from way back then may have used their hands to build those things according to God’s plan, nevertheless, it was God’s blueprint and God made sure things were made just how he wanted them.  The same is true today.  However, as God gave specific instructions in building they physical ark, tabernacle and temple; Christ also gave us specific instructions for building our spiritual temple, and that is the significance of why God has had every single detail listed and recorded.   It’s to let us know that details matter.  God still has a blueprint and he wants it followed to the “T”.  The only difference now is that the temple of God is not made with man’s hands nor is it a building made with bricks and mortar. 

And that’s our lesson for today.  Today we are going to talk about “THE HOUSE THAT GOD BUILT”.  Or should I say the houses that God is building.  We are going to find out what and where that house is and hopefully find out how he wants it built to meet his very specific standards.

First let’s find out what (or should I say who) this house is—

1 Cor. 6:19—What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

1 Cor. 3:16— Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?  

Ah Ha, our bodies (including our mind) are God’s temple, and that means we don’t belong to ourselves to do just whatever we want to do.  We belong to God for him to do whatsoever he wants with us.  Every minute of our lives and every event that happens is the process by which we are being built.  Everyday is a part of the building process.  

Romans 12:1—I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

When we were baptized in Jesus’ name and received the Holy Ghost we became the temple of the Holy Ghost and from that point on God started building us according to his perfect specifications.  God does have a special plan for each and every one of us.  We are instructed here to give ourselves to the Lords hands so that he can perform his perfect work in us.  So that we can be made according to his specifications.  

2 Cor. 5:17—Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

If we are being built by God, let’s see where our building starts.  What is our foundation? 

Eph. 2:20-22—And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (everything in the word of God), Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

The stuff we’ve been studying lately found in the sermon on the mount, are the building blocks to continue building this (point to self, and to them) body.  Think of the bible as a toolbox.  Each lesson is a tool to build this body.  

2 Cor. 5:1—For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Our spiritual body is the (temple of God)

If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

NOTE:  You may wish to bring graham crackers and a can of cake icing as a snack.  The children can "build" houses using the icing to hold the graham crackers together.  Then they can enjoy eating them.

The Half-Hearted Sacrifice

Start with Prayer—

Scripture text: Mal. 3:7-12; Mal. 1:7-14

I know you have all heard the first scriptures I read before, “will a man rob God?”.  We have all heard it associated with money, with “tithes and offerings” as the scriptures point out.  I can imagine there have been a million sermons taught on that very subject and I imagine you all have heard some.  The question asked “will a man rob God” and the answer given... that he has been robbed in tithes and offerings however, is not just about money.  Yes, it can be and has been associated with money the majority of the time, but the scriptures leading up to this passage are not talking about money at all.  It is talking about the condition of the sacrifices offered to the Lord by the priests on behalf of themselves and the saints.  

First let’s define offering.  

An offering is any gift you “offer” to someone or something.  It can be money, food, drink, homemade wares, skills, anything.  

What is tithes? Tithes as the bible defines is the first tenth of anything you have gained whether money, other goods, how about time, skills, knowledge.  Those are all things that we gain, right?  What about a person who never works and brings in a pay check.  Are they exempt from tithing?  I say not.  God has given them 24 hours in a day that say as we are given.  They owe to God 2.4 hours of their time daily the same as we do.   

Now what is a sacrifice?  It’s to commit something of value to be used for or to be offered as a gift. 

The people in our scripture text offered cattle up to be sacrificed in those days because for one, God required a blood sacrifice for their sins and also because cattle was sort of like their “money”.  It is what they paid for things with most of the time.  Cattle was their “wealth”.  The more cattle you had the better you were.  However, as our text points out, they got to the place where they would give God a less than perfect sacrifice and saved the best cattle for themselves.  They would offer up to God those animals that had deformities, the lame, sick and diseased ones because they knew they weren’t any good for anything else.  Even as Miranda can tell you, in today’s times, what do they do with a lame horse?  They kill it because It is no good for anything.  It can’t work and it can’t be sold so it is a liability to it’s owner.  But, God said to them, why don’t you offer these sickly sacrifices to the governor.  Do you think he would he accept this “trash” at your hand?  No, so why should I?  After all I am the great king!

 

The problem was, the people in our scripture text had begun taking God for granite.  He was no longer special to them anymore.  He was no longer “god” to them anymore.  He was just another thing in their lives so they began giving him less than perfect sacrifices or offerings because he just wasn’t important enough to them to give their best. 

Not only were they giving a low quality sacrifice to the Lord but they even said in their hearts that it was “vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?  They didn’t even feel it was profitable for them to serve God.  Church had become just another duty to perform each week.  

I wonder how often we come to church feeling that way?  All of us at one time or another have dreaded coming to church for various reasons, or maybe we have come to church for other reasons than to meet with God.  Maybe we were more excited about meeting with our friends than worshiping the one who has given us all that he had so we might have abundant life. 

I like the story of the widow’s mite.  Mark 12:41-44 (also Luke 21:1-4)—The poor widow didn’t give as much “money” as the others as earthly value would have it, but she gave more because her offering was truly a sacrifice.  It doesn’t matter if you don’t have as much to give as someone else.  It really matters with what heart you give it.  As Jesus said it...”she did cast in all that she had, even all her living”.  Jesus gave his all for us.  I wonder are we giving our all back?  (Jesus noticed this poor woman, not because she was poor but because of her sacrifice), and out of her want (I believe her desire after God) gave sacrificially.  Do you want to be noticed by Jesus?  How about coming to church with such a desire after God and getting closer to him that we give as much of ourselves as possible.  Let us give all that we have.  

“Will a man rob God?”  You see, It’s not just about money, but withholding from him your very best. I ask you today, what kind of offering are you bringing to God.  Is it all or is it lame.  Don’t be guilty of offering the “half-hearted sacrifice”.