Sermon Central
-
God Lives
Contributed by Pastor Randall Timblin on Aug 16, 2019 (message contributor)
Summary: Today we will be discussing FOUR points: 1. Our God of Antiquity 2. Our God of Yesterday 3. Our God of Today 4. Our God of Tomorrow
1. OUR GOD OF ANTIQUITY
Ever since a man named Noah existed, God spoke to him and later prophets. We must understand that a prophet is a messenger of God. A prophet delivers important messages directly from God. They are not always received well by the general public.
Noah spent at least 120 years telling the earth’s inhabitants that they must repent and obey God’s commands lest they be part of the Great Flood that would be coming and all of mankind would be purged from the earth.
This was God’s message and it went unheard and/or unheeded. People continued to practice wickedness and cared not to repent. In their eyes, they had it good. They didn’t need God. They had their own hand-made gods.
So the time came for God to destroy all that which was living, except Noah, his family and two or more animals of every kind.
It must have been horrible for those who had not believed. Imagine as the waters came up and up and them seeking higher ground. They would be exhausted and without hope as the water finally engulfed them and their surroundings.
They most likely were screaming out to God to save them but God would be nowhere to be found by them.
They had chose to ignore Him and now it was too late.
2. OUR GOD OF YESTERDAY
There are eighty-five prophets found in God’s Word. From the Old Testament, there are sixty-one, leaving twenty-four found in the New Testament. Here is a partial list of those found in the Old Testament and the ones most familiar to today’s Christians:
Abraham, Amos, Daniel, David, Elijah, Elisha, Enoch, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jacob, Jeremiah, Jonah, Joshua, King Nebuchadnezzar, Micah, Moses, Noah and Samuel.
These names are of course in alphabetical order. As an example, Enoch would have lived before Noah and the others.
What is interesting is that a pagan king, one called Nebuchadnezzar is considered a prophet of God. Why? Because God gave him visions which would be translated by Daniel who was an Israelite. This was all part of God’s plan.
Daniel was asked to explain the king’s dream so he went back to his three Israeli brothers to confer with them and God.
God used all of these men to convey to others what He had planned for mankind. Some like Daniel, foretold what would happen going forward and even the last days (today and going forward).
Daniel translated the king’s visions to foretell the kings and kingdoms that would come after the king and something important about each.
God told Daniel that there would be four kingdoms to follow the kingdom of Babylon and one later that would be the Kingdom of God and last forever.
3. OUR GOD OF TODAY
Even though James was the brother of Jesus and lived 2000+ years ago, much of what he wrote applied then as it does now.
He tells us to be happy even though we will be tested and tested we are. Wickedness seems to be on the uptick, and it is. Jesus warned us that we would be tested but to steadfast—to be patient.
James tells us that the testing we go through will give us endurance. It will strengthen us for what the future holds.
He then goes on to say that if we need help understanding what befalls us that we should ask God or His help.
James tells us to never doubt for we shall not receive what we has asked of God if we have doubt.
This is what he said, “A person who has doubts is like a wave that is blown by the wind and tossed by the sea. A person who has doubts shouldn't expect to receive anything from the Lord. A person who has doubts is thinking about two different things at the same time and can't make up his mind about anything.”
Is that you and me? Do we ever doubt? Do we ever wonder why the LORD has not given to us that which we have asked...that which we need?
It is always one of two things: Doubt or a Poor Relationship with God.
James then talks about believers who are poor and those that are rich. He calls those that are poor—Humble.
He tells that being humble makes us important and that rich believers should be proud because being rich should make them humble.
But not all those who are rich are humble nor are all the poor humble either. The key here is their belief in God and His Son.
Those that are rich and too busy for God will wither as if scorched by the sun. “They are busy and will die.”
4. OUR GOD OF TOMORROW
