Knocked Down? Stay Down? Get Up?

KNOCKED DOWN! STAY DOWN? OR GET UP?

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com

TEXT:

Luke 15:18 I WILL ARISE AND GO to my Father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.

Jeremiah 20:9 Then I said, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any more in His Name. But His word was in mine heart as a BURNING FIRE SHUT UP IN MY BONES, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.

Rev. 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: BE ZEALOUS THEREFORE, AND REPENT!

I. CAN WE SEE DANGERS IN OUR ATTITUDES?

A. I have been pondering a question, I need you to

help me with this question.

Which is the most dangerous to a person or a church:

B. Zeal without wisdom?

C. Or Wisdom without zeal?

D. I have seen a new convert with great zeal take an

approach to a problem and do harm.

E. But I will tell you we can develop an attitude to

life and ministry where dread and bitterness grow and

we lose all our zeal and enthusiasm for what God

has called us to do. This ministry without excitement

and zeal can lead to a downward spiral and lead to

extinction!

F. In my opinion, wisdom without zeal can kill any

church.

II. CAN WE STAY FULL OF ZEAL AND EXCITEMENT IN OUR DAILY MENIAL WORK?

A. I was just in my office praying and thinking

about ministry and God’s mercy.

If I were God, I guess I would have never called me

to be a preacher.

B. I would have searched out an angel, but God gave

me a chance to love and serve Him and His people.

C. I guess at times it is easier to serve God than

it is to serve His people.

Seems some people fly in circles and never reach out

to victory, but it is for these that we have been

called.

III. DO YOU EVER FEEL TRAPPED IN AN AIMLESS PLAN?

A. The older I get the more my dreams seem to fade

into seemingly endless daily menial nothingness.

B. It would be easy to compromise my hopes because

of my weaknesses and failures.

C. Another battle, another contest, and still no

trophies.

D. Well, I don’t care about trophies for me, but I

would sure like a few, just one to lay down at

Jesus’ feet.

E. I guess I am saying I tend to see my littleness

much more than I see HIS GREATNESS!

This is not wise? Why do we do this?

IV. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CHARMED AND CHANGED?

A. Are the people I serve charmed and not changed?

B. Am I charmed and not changed?

Luke 15:18 I WILL ARISE AND GO to my Father, and

will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against

heaven, and before thee.

C. This young man lost all his zeal and love for

home, and he could not wait to

"GET AWAY" FROM IT ALL.

D. This verse tells us in one day, just one day, the

young man made a choice that changed the rest of his

life.

E. On this day, the prodigal son gets up and takes

a bath and says, I WILL ARISE AND GO...

V. WHAT DO WE DO WHEN WE ARE KNOCKED DOWN?

A. I guess that we tend to want to stay down, blame

others, palliate, or whatever, instead of change.

B. It is easier to move, divorce, run away, or quit

than it is to change.

C. It is easier to see greener pastures elsewhere

than to grow the potential where we currently are.

D. The prodigal son’s life will be forever changed

at the declaration, I WILL ARISE!

I will not stay where I have been.

E. The son saw and smelled the pig pen where he had

been, and made a willful decision: there is more to

life than this!

VI. TWO STICKS IN THE HAND OF A MAN? GOD’S MAN?

A. There are two wonder stories in Ezekiel 37, one

we all know --- the valley of very dry bones?

B. What is the other story? TWO STICKS? What is this

two stick story?

C. The nation, the church had been divided, God told

the preacher to get two sticks, write on one

FOR JOSEPH and the other FOR JUDAH.

D. The division was so long that it had been

accepted as fact. We must go way back in history,

back to Rehoabom and Jeroabom the division of

brethren stood.

E. God told the preacher to take the two sticks in

his hand?

Well, so what are two sticks in a man’s hand? Two

sticks?

F. Naw, it is not just a man’s hand, it is a man of