HIS LOVE: treat with respect

This sermon was delivered at Bethesda Church of God in Reed City, MI on February 13th, 2011 by the Rev. N.C. Strom.

HIS LOVE: treat with respect

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1:7

Introduction: “Respect” is a song written and originally released by recording artist Otis Redding in 1965. “Respect” became a 1967 hit and signature song for R&B singer Aretha Franklin. While Redding wrote the song as a man’s plea for respect and recognition from a woman, the roles were reversed for Franklin’s version. Men and women want to be both loved and respected. God who made all people knows this need and thereby has given us the greatest example of love, His Love. What is God’s L.O.V.E?

Light (1 John 2:1-6) His perfect love [walk in the light, as he is in the light]

Jesus Christ is the light of the world (Gen. 1:3,4; John 1:4,5) = His love gives us light in dark places, He is perfect.
The light reveals life discrepancies (Psalm 26:1-2; Matt 5:48) = His love seeks to make beautiful, He makes us perfect.
Light shows the way (Psalm 119:105, Matt 7:13,14) = His love leads the way to righteousness, He requires perfection.

Oneness (Eph. 4:2-7) His forbearing love [have fellowship one with another]

Christ love is sacrificial (Eph 5:2) = We should walk in His love {in as much as you have done unto the least of these…}
Christ love is a blessing (Matt 5:44) = We should act in His love {blessed to be a blessing}
Christ love cannot be separated from us (Rom 8:38,39) = We should live in His Love {in Him we live, move and have being}

Victory (Rom. 5:1-11) His poured out love [the blood of Jesus Christ]

Blood bought justification{vs1,2} = we can demean the grace of God when we promote madness and sorrow (Psalm 37:23)
Blood bought Holy Ghost {vs5} = we can grieve the spirit of God when we stop the flow of love (Eph 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:19)
Blood bought reconciliation{vs8,10} = we can downgrade a relationship with God when we sing the blues (John 3:16)

Entitlement (Eph 2:1-7) His great love [cleanseth us from all sin]

We can be holy and pure {vs5} = His love enables holiness by His grace (1 Peter 1:15,16)
We can sit in heavenly places (vs6) = His love abides owing to His enduring grace (John 15:9,10)
We can ask of Him {vs7} = His love provides by means of the riches of His grace (Matt. 7:7,8)

Conclusion: (Read 1 John 4:7-21) His love is truly amazing. As the psalmist stated “none can compare”. What God asks for in return for His love is a little R.E.S.P.E.C.T. We so badly disrespect the love of God towards us when we do not show His love toward others. We can love Him ONLY because He first loved us. Likewise, we can love others ONLY because He first showed us what it means to love.

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by Nathanstrom on February 14, 2011 • Permalink

Posted in Bible, General, Resources, Teachings, Writings

Tagged Aretha Franklin, Christ, First Epistle of John, God, Jesus, Jesus Christ, John 3:16, Otis Redding

Posted by Nathanstrom on February 14, 2011

https://eternalmercy.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/his-love-treat-with-respect/

Blessing God for His Abiding Mercy

¹⁷But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children,
¹⁸to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.
¹⁹The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. (Psalm 103:17-19)

Psalm 103 has consistently been a bookmarked passage for me during times of trouble and despair. It reminds me of all that my God is and has done for me. That it is He “who crowns [me] with steadfast love and mercy” (vs.4) even when I am unworthy of it. The verses provide comfort to me when I am found in the place of need waiting for the mercy of God to come and deliver me and challenges me to keep my focus set upon Him alone. As I read, the words trigger a mindful change of my attitudes and they stimulate the hope of glory that oftentimes lies dormant in my thoughts. David, here in this Psalm, restores my focus upon that which is true and trustworthy and repairs my vision to see that which is real and reliable. I love reading this Psalm in those dark seasons of my life as it strikes a chord with my spirit and speaks to me of His blessing, my duty, and our victory.

As an ordained minister of the Gospel, I often find myself in communication with people who are themselves gripped in a season of darkness and dismay. From sickness and pain, to unemployment and economic woes, to matters both natural and spiritual; there is a widespread season of darkness riveting the nations and believers all around are being affected. But the infection that is really troubling the church body is much more alarming and deadly than the costly healthcare or global economic meltdown of our communities. It is the words and attitudes of believers.

I am often amazed at how much negativity and disillusionment comes from Christians when they are discussing their present plight. You would not believe that God is able to do anything or that he even cares by the way that they carry on. Yet, the Bible speaks very differently; it states that God does indeed care and that He calls us to cast all of our cares upon Him. What then should we speak and how should we respond when we are in those times of struggle and darkness? David tells us to “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (vs. 1-2). Out of the fruit of our lips should come the sacrifice of praise and blessing for the things which the Lord has already wrought for us. Small things like blessing God simply because you are alive are far better than cursing the fact that you don’t have enough money for a hot pretzel while shopping in the mall. When all that is within us, every fiber of our being, blesses the name of Jesus, we actually enter into the holy presence of Christ. Jesus said of Israel that they will not see Him again until they cry out “blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”. When was the last time that you declared ‘blessed is the name of the Lord’? Being in Christ’s presence is ‘better than the gain from silver, profits better than gold and is more precious than jewels’ (prov. 3:14,15 paraphrased). Oh, how everything that we think matters so much simply fades away in the presence of Jesus.

As we bless the Lord in the midst of our darkness, His mercy will come pursuing after us and be made manifest in ways unimaginable “above all that we could ask or even think”. It was David who witnessed the truth of this when he found himself walking “in the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23). There, in the darkness of the shadows, came goodness and mercy following after. The word “follow” in the Hebrew denotes the military term for pursuing an enemy or group that has taken off on the run either in retreat or for regrouping and is a command that the commanding officer would give to the troop(s). When we begin to bless God He orders the pursuit. When mercy caught up to David there was found prepared a table before him even in the presence of his enemies with an overflowing cup of the blessings of the Lord. The blessing of mercy’s pursuit isn’t only seasonal, as is our troubles, but is generational (and his righteousness to children’s children 103:17). When you bless God in spite of the circumstances you invite His mercy to visit even your children and grandchildren.

So when we find ourselves surrounded by darkness, let us not get down, discouraged and depressed, and begin to talk and act like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel; let us instead trust in the faithfulness of our God and obey His every word. A very wise man once wrote “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.” (Eccl. 12:13) So, let us bless the Lord and forget not all that he has done for us and in so doing be reminded that He has gone to prepare a place for us and that where he is we cannot yet be. BUT THERE IS COMING A DAY as we are “waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 21) that the trumpet of God shall sound and we shall leave all the struggle and darkness and be found “in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1). For on that day we will abide in the Kingdom of our God “and his kingdom rules over all”!

The possibilities of grace

I was reading today from an old magazine dated September of 1905 called “The Way”. The magazine, which was a monthly publication for the Church of God, Cleveland TN, was written by A.J Tomlinson and M.S Lemons. The magazine can be found on the Church of God heritage website at www.cogheritage.org.

As I was reading, one particular article really stuck out to me. It was called “The Possibilites of Grace“. The article (on left) speaks concerning the power and authority of the Word of God especially concerning the gift of grace and the promises offered through its manifestation. Allow me to pick out a few statements from it that I find are particulary powerful:

“Humanity coupled on to divinity will bring down abundance of grace for any emergency.” When fully realized, this thought will bring such peace to our souls despite the circumstances that surrond us. When we in our human weakness cling to the glory of Almighty God His goodness will overshadow every trial. Submit to God and draw near to Him and He will draw near to you. In other words, trust in Him and believe of Him.

“God has the power and He wants it to be manifested in us, and faith is the medium by which we recieve it.” This truth is so powerful! God does not want us to be little weaklings who can’t do anything without Big Daddy stepping in and saving the day. NO! He wants us, empowered by His spirit and strengthened by His might, to accomplish the things Christ did and even greater things. And it is through the grace gift of faith that we can receive this ability and fulfill its responsibility. I love the story found in Luke 5 where Gods grace was found in providing an outstanding catch of fish for the disciples. Yet it took the faith of Peter who, despite their weariness and current lack, said “nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net“. This kind of faith will manifest the grace of God’s power in our lives.

“His grace is abundant and He is a present helper in time of need, so we are left without excuse“. Thank God for His ever present help. If there is any constant in this world that we live in it would be the faithfulness of God. The government, schools, teachers, social systems, hospitals, parents all can let us down but Jesus Christ with His open arms will always be there to embrace and hold us tight. God’s grace is amazing and is already paid for through Jesus Christ. Don’t find your self with a bucket full of excuses as to why you didn’t recieve His grace. Turn to Him today. Believe Him, Confess Him, and Receive Him!

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Rosh Hashanah – Awakened with the sound

Rosh Hashanah is a Jewish celebration observed on the first two days of the Hebrew month of Tishri, which usually falls during the months of September or October. Rosh Hashanah literally means “the head of the year” and is celebrated as the Jewish New Years Day. The celebration is filled with joyous fanfare and the sounding of the trumpets bringing in the new season but also with solemnity for the beginning of a time of repentance known as the Days of Awe.

According to Leviticus 23, there are seven principle feasts that the Jews were commanded to observe. In the Spring you have Passover, Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits and Pentecost. Then in the fall you have Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles. Interesting that there are no given feast days from the Lord during the summer months. Even more interesting is that in the contemporary Christian Church the summer season has been nicknamed the summer slump. The days when attendance drops and not much seems to happen; outlooks get bleeker and hope diminishes. Could this be the result of no spiritual feasts of God? And so as we continue in the heat of the summer I can hear the church cry out “Where is the Lord, I see no sight of Him and I hear no word from Him?” The summer slump seems never ending but just then you hear a sound, the sound of a trumpet.

Immediately following the length of the summer comes the first feast of fall and it is, of no coincidence, Rosh Hashanah, or the feast of trumpets. The Old Testament scriptures decree that the first day of the seventh month is to be observed as Yom Teruah, the “Feast of Trumpets”.

“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets, a holy convocation.” Lev. 23:24

“On the first day of the seventh month you shall have a holy convocation. You shall not do any ordinary work. It is a day for you to blow the trumpets” Numbers 29:1

The word Teruah means “shouting” or “raising a noise” and therefore this day was to be marked by making a joyful noise unto the LORD (Psalm 81:1-4). Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, the sages of the Mishnah redefined Judaism and additionally associated Yom Teruah with the start of the Jewish civil year. Yom Teruah then became known as “Rosh Hashanah” [Head of the Year] and the sounding of the trumpets would highlight the beginning of a new year and season occassioned with great rejoicing.

The Torah [first five books of the Old Testament] spoke concerning about this day being a feast day in which to “blow the trumpets”. The Psalmist’s also declare that the trumpets should be blown at the beginning of the feast.

Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, a rule of the God of Jacob. Psalm 81:3-4

“Praise him with the sound of the trumpet.” Psalm 150:3 KJV

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The trumpet is mentioned often in scripture. In the 150th Psalm, we should notice that the very first musical instrument mentioned, out of the ensuing list of instruments, is the trumpet. Yet, this is not just any trumpet. The Hebrew word used here is שרפר [shofar] which denotes a ram’s horn. The Rams Horn is literally what it sounds like; it is the horn of a ram that has been hollowed out, chiseled and polished. This was the ‘trumpet’ used by Joshua and his army when the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. In fact, the rams horn is most often the ‘trumpet’ spoken of in the Old Testament. Another interesting tidbit from Psalm 150 that should be pointed out is that the word “sound” is, in Hebrew, תקע [teka]. Teka is the root for the word תקיעה [tekiah] which means “blast”. The tekiah, or blast of the ram’s horn, is the first of four calls made with the shofar on the feast day of Rosh Hashanah.

During a typical Rosh Hashanah service, the shofar (ram’s horn) is blasted at least 100 times thus satisfying the commandment to make Teru’ah (“noise”) on this day. There are four primary types of shofar blasts:

1. Tekiah – A long single blast (the sound of the King’s coronation)
2. Shevarim – Three short wail-like blasts (signifying repentance)
3. Teru’ah – Nine staccato blasts of alarm (to awaken the soul)
4. Tekiah ha-Gadol – A great long blast {for as long as one can blow} (signifying patient endurance)

The general custom for a Rosh Hashanah service is to first blow tekiah, followed by shevarim, followed by teru’ah, and to close with tekiah hagadol. An expert in blowing the shofar is called a baal tekiah.
Tekiah is a bright, piercing sound that stirs the soul. Each tekiah sounded on the Shofar has a different sound wave; even the same tekiah sounded multiple times will produce different or unique sound waves. So when one hears, or sounds, the Shofar they are hearing a unique sound. The tekiah is also a very simple tone. It does not offer many variations of quality or tambre and does not have much of the different dynamic abilities as of other musical instruments. The Tekiah is typically a plain deep sound that starts and ends abruptly. Most churches who blow the shofar in their worship services will usually sound tekiah, and I am sure that most would testify that there is just something about blowing the shofar during the worship. We should not be surprised to find this is true, for we are exhorted to “praise him with the tekiah of the shofar.” (Ps. 150:3) And as the tekiah is unique so is our individual worship before the King.

The second sound made with the shofar is called שברים shevarim, which means “broken.” Broken is a good way to describe this sound. It is intended to portray a person who is crying or wailing. Thus, rabbinic tradition states the purpose for shevarim is to remind people of the need for repentance. Repentance is a vital element during Rosh Hashanah as it marks the first day of the Days of Awe which are the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). These days are a time set aside for repentance before the sealing of fates which takes place on the Day of Atonement.
“On the day of your gladness also, and at your appointed feasts and at the beginnings of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings.” Numbers 10:10
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Romans 12:1
Days of repentance is necessary for the christian church as well as Peter said “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus” (Acts 3:19-20) True repentance is only possible once someone is broken before God.

“Brokenness is a gift from God to those who have a tender, sensitive heart toward Him. Only a transparent look at our barrenness through the holy eyes of the Father can birth within us the depth of brokenness He desires. Our hearts must become broken over the broken heart of the Father. Our broken sensitive hearts give birth to a broken and submissive will.” (Keeney Dickenson)

Brokenness is not a sign of weakness but rather maturity. Those who are broken before God abide in a deeper relationship with God, as the scriptures declare:

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit (Psalm 34:18 NKJV).

For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart–these, O God, You will not despise (Psalm 51:16-17NKJV).

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify you hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let you laughter be turned to mourning and you joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up (James 4:6-10 NKJV).

The third sound on the shofar is called תרועה teru’ah, which means “alarm”. Teru’ah is made by sounding at least nine short staccato blasts on the shofar. This sound is intended to alert the hearer to impending danger or some other type of ominous event. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall blow the Shofars. The Shofars shall be to you for a perpetual statute throughout your generations. And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the LORD your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. (Numbers 10:8, 9) This is one of the reasons why the watchmen of Israel carried with them a shofar. Ezekiel was called to be a watchman, Isaiah spoke on the ministry of the watchmen, and Joel emphasized our watchmen like duty in the last days to include “blow the trumpet and sound the alarm” (Joel 2:1). And what an awesome word that when you sound the shofar you SHALL BE SAVED FROM YOUR ENEMIES.

All three of these sounds are blown on Rosh Hashanah – a day when God is recognized as the Sovereign Creator to be worshiped and adored, the Merciful Father who forgives repentant children, and the Righteous Judge who is coming to judge the entire earth. Yet, what most people associate Rosh Hashanah with is the coming of the Lord for the righteous. This is where the fourth sound of the shofar comes in. Rabbinic literature teaches that it is God who will resurrect the dead and redeem man with the sound of the shofar. I believe this to be an allusion to, what we refer to as, the Rapture, or the catching away of the Saints. It is on that day that we will hear the “last trump,” but what exactly is that?

The fourth sound made upon the shofar sounds exactly as tekiah, except that it is sounded for as long as one can hold his breath. This is the sound that many believe will announce the resurrection. For that reason, it is called tekiah hagadolah, which means “the great blast,” or as some would refer to it – “the last trump.”

“Behold I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” – 1 Corinthians 15:52 KJV

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. – 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17

So, during Rosh Hashanah and the sounding of the trumpets, there is the call to heart-felt worship (tekiah), the message to repent (shevarim), the preparation for what may lie ahead (teruah), and the anticipation for the eternal resurrection and the last trump.

In conclusion, I want to make certain that you understand this simple truth of what is to come next. The summer slump is almost over. Open your ears and you will hear the sounding of the trumpet. Let it awaken your spirit, brighten your outlook and restore hope to you and your church. This sound declares that a new season awaits you. So worship Him, repent before Him, fight with Him, and wait for Him.

Eternal Mercy

HIS LOVE: treat with respect