A WORD ON THE WORD: OFFENSIVE OR OFFENSIVE PART II
LUKE 8: 4-15
SEPTEMBER 12, 2004
INTRODUCTION:
TRANSITION THOUGHT:
THESIS SENTENCE:
I. OFFENSIVE IS GETTING OUT VV. 1-4
A. GETTING OUT IS TRAVELING
B. GETTING OUT IS TOWN AND VILLAGE WORK
C. GETTING OUT IS GOODNEWS
D. GETTING OUT IS GROUP WORK
E. GETTING OUT IS A PART OF THE CROWD
ILLUSTRATION:
TRUTH: WE CANNOT BE OFFENSIVE UNTIL WE LEAVE THE HUDDLE
QUESTION: WHERE ARE WE WILLING TO GO AND WITH WHOM?
II. OFFENSIVE IS DOING THE WORK VV. 5-8A
A. DOING THE WORK IS REAL LIFE/ A FARMER
B. DOING THE WORK IS REAL WORK/ SOWING SEED
C. DOING THE WORK IS REAL RESULTS/ NOTHING TO SOMETHING
1. PATH/ TRAMPLED/ BIRDS ATE
2. ROCK/ SHALLOW SOIL/ NO ROOTS/ NO MOISTURE
3. AMONG THORNS/ GREW TOGETHER/ CHOKED
4. FOOD SOIL/ CAME UP/ 100 TIMES MORE THAN SOWN!
ILLUSTRATION: A missionary in Africa was once asked if he really liked what he was doing. His response was shocking. "Do I like this work?" he said. "No. My wife and I do not like dirt. We have reasonable refined sensibilities. We do not like crawling into vile huts through goat refuse...But is a man to do nothing for Christ he does not like? God pity him, if not. Liking or disliking has nothing to do with it. We have orders to ’Go,’ and we go. Love constrains us."
Our Daily Bread.
A one-legged school teacher from Scotland came to J. Hudson Taylor to offer himself for service in China. "With only one leg, why do you think of going as a missionary?" Asked Taylor.
"I do not see those with two legs going," replied George Scott. He was accepted.
Pillar of Fire, January First, 1983.
There are three kinds of workers. For example, when a piano is to be moved, the first kind gets behind and pushes, the second pulls and guides, and the third grabs the piano stool.
Source Unknown.
TRUTH: REAL OFFENSE IS REAL WORK
QUESTION: ARE WE WILLING TO DO THE WORK OF OFFENSE REGARDLESS OF THE RESULTS?
III. OFFENSIVE IS MEASURED RESULTS VV 8B-15
A. MEASURED RESULT IS THE ABILITY TO HEAR
B. MEASURED RESULTS IS A KINGDOM UNDERSTANDING
C. MEASURED RESULTS IS A RESPONSE TO THE WORD!
1. THE WORD AND THE DEVIL/ UNBELIEF
2. THE WORD AND TESTING/ FALLING AWAY
3. THE WORD AND LIFE/ WORRIES, RICHES, PLEASURE/ IMMATURITY
4. THE WORD AND A NOBLE AND GOOD HEART/ RETAIN, PERSEVER, AND PRODUCE/ OFFENSIVE ACCOMPLISED!
ILLUSTRATION: One afternoon author Patsy Clairmont found herself on an airplane, sitting next to a young man. She writes, "I had already observed something about this young man when I was being seated. He called me "Ma’am." At the time I thought, ’Either he thinks I’m ancient, or he’s from the South where they still teach manners, or he’s in the service.’ I decided the latter was the most likely, so I asked, "You in the service?" "Yes, Ma’am, I am." "What branch?" "Marines." "Hey, Marine, where are you coming from?" "Operation desert Storm, Ma’am." "No kidding? Desert Storm! How long were you there?" I asked. "A year and a half. I’m on my way home. My family will be at the airport." I then commented that he must have thought about returning to his family and home many times while he was in the Middle East. "Oh, no, Ma’am," he replied. "We were taught never to think of what might never be, but to be fully available right where we were."
Focus on the Family, July, 1993, p. 5.
TRUTH: REAL OFFENSE IS A MATTER OF SOIL
QUESTION: WHAT KIND OF SOIL ARE WE INDIVIDUALLY/ CORPORATELY?
CONCLUSION: The emphasis here is on gain and not loss. The sower expects to loose some portion of the seed, and is not there by distracted, discouraged, or deterred from sowing. But He expects a plentiful crop. He never gives up. Persistence is justified by the result. Our God, first and foremost is the persistent sower. His kingdom does not fail. IT MEETS OPPOSITION, IT EXPERIENCES FAILURE, BUT IT TRIUMPHS OVER BOTH AND AMID BOTH! Opposition and failure belong to History as unproductive pockest of soil belong to sowing. But the Kingdom belongs to the eternal realm and the Harvest is to be kept in view, not the failures.
BENEDICTION:
