Thankful in all things
Part 2
“Deliverance”
November 2018
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Today we are going to continue our short series on thankfulness
The first week we covered God’s mercy, Grace and Love and saw how we as believers should be thankful for the eternal mercy and Grace that God has poured out upon us
And how even the unbelievers in this world are receiving God’s temporary Mercy and Grace simply because they are still alive and still have the opportunity to receive eternal life
It is only by his grace that when we sin
That God does not discipline us eternally the first time
Last week we took a hard look at Salvation
What that means
How we should respond to the salvation that has been given to us as a free gift
And once again
How God has made salvation available to all who will
But
We all must make a choice
God’s mercy
God’s grace
God’s love
And the Salvation he has provided
Though his precocious Son Jesus Christ
Is truly something to be thankful for
Today I want to look at the topic of Deliverance
In order to paint a picture
I asked Monty Johnson to pray about sharing his testimony with you this morning
And the Holy Spirit has guided him to do it
In Monty’s own words
Parts of his story are dark
And his story is an extreme example of deliverance
So
Please give him your full attention
And also, realize that we are al in need of deliverance
Monty Johnson Testimony
I asked Monty to share with you this morning
So that we could see the power of our God
He created us
He loves us
He showed us with Love and Mercy
And Grace
And through that grace he gave his son to die for us
So that none would be lost if they accepted the gift
That is our first deliverance
We
Once we know Jesus
Have been delivered from the penalty of sin
We have been delivered from the power of death
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:55-58
55 O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?[a]”
56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.
What Paul tells us once again
Is something that we know and understand
When we accept Jesus
We have been rescued from an eternity in hell
We have been delivered eternally from the penalty of sin
Put back into proper relationship with God
This deliverance is amazing
This deliverance would be enough to do back flips over
And this deliverance is enough
But God
Does so much more
As you heard from Monty
And as some of you have first had experience with
And as we taught for months from 1 Peter
Believers are not immune from troubles of this life
And if not focused
If not diligent in keeping our eyes on Jesus
Even believers can fall back into sin
And can even become slaves once again to sin
I am not talking about slaves in an eternal sense
I f you are saved
Then you are saved
And your eternity is secured
But life on this planet
Can become hell on earth when we surrender to the sin that comes from our hearts
And begin to let it control us
This is the deliverance that I want to discuss today
Make no mistake
If you are here today and you don’t know Jesus
You need eternal deliverance in the form of salvation
And I plead with you not to delay, time is short
But it is deliverance from the things in our lives that I desire to share today
My text for today comes for the book of Lamentations
Not a book we preach from often
The Prophet Jeremiah served as God’s voice to the Nation of Judah for 40 years
His message was true and just
But like Isaiah’s message it was not popular
Both Isaiah and Jeremiah preached God’s judgement for disobedience
And in the case of Jeremiah
The people wanted to shut him up
So
They threw in hm in a cistern
With a muddy bottom
And dropped rocks on him
Hoping he would die
They were certain that either Jeremiah would sink into the mud over his head and drown
Or that the stones would kill him
Either way, they believed by killing the messenger
They would not have to deal with the message
They underestimated the power of God
Lamentations 3 include part of Jeramiah’s plea to God
And God’s deliverance of Jeremiah
Lamentations 3:53-58
53 They threw me into a pit
and dropped stones on me.
54 The water rose over my head,
and I cried out, “This is the end!”
55 But I called on your name, LORD,
from deep within the pit.
56 You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading!
Hear my cry for help!”
57 Yes, you came when I called;
you told me, “Do not fear.”
58 Lord, you have come to my defense;
you have redeemed my life.
God delivered Jeremiah
Not because he deserved it
Not because he was good
But because God
Listen to his cry
And showered him with Mercy
He showed him Grace
And he saved him from the pit
Listen to me
Fe of us are ever going to be thrown into a literal pit
Few of us will have rocks dropped on our heads
But
Make no mistake
We all can end up in a pit sometimes
And we all need deliverance
I want this morning to discuss some of the pits of our lives
How we allow ourselves to end up in them
And then used Jeremiahs example to see how we can be delivered from them
Listen to me
Jeremiah did not put himself in the pit
He did not want to be there
But God only delivered him when he cried out for deliverance
Unfortunately, most of the pits we end up in
We put ourselves in
But
Like Jeremiah
We must desire to get out of the pit
I need you to hear me on this
God will not deliver you from something that you desire to continue doing
He delivers us
When we cry out to him
And have a change of heart
A Change of mind
And no longer desire to be in the place where we are or desire to continue to do the things we are doing
So, what are some pits we put ourselves into
Well you heard from Monty
Addictions can be a pit
And believers struggle with addictions
And addictions come in all forms
Drugs
Alcohol
Pornography
Sexual addictions
Tobacco
Overeating
Anorexia
These are the things we think of when we discuss deliverance
To stand by and watch someone you love
Be destroyed by the addictions in their lives
Is heart breaking
Some of you have been on this side of the story
Watching someone you love to circle the drain
Knowing what they need
And being unable to help them
Some of you have lived the other side of the story
Letting some substance
Or behavior
Rule your life
Separating you from God
Once again not eternally for the believer
But in intimacy here on earth
Addictions can be a deadly pit
The mud gets deep
The water is rising
And it seems as if there is no way out
There is a way out
And it is up
Look up
Cry out
Make a decision that you don’t want to be where you are
That you don’t want to keep living like you have been
And ask God
Beg Gods to deliver you
Listen to me
You need to do your part as well
First, you must look to God
Instead of looking to the world
Or the substance
Or the object of the addiction
Then you must take a zero-tolerance stance
For those who struggle with addictions
One will destroy you
One drink
One snort
One puff
One look
Remember I said God won’t deliver you from something you still want to do
But when you cry out and mean it
He can remove the cravings
He can remove the temptations or better give you the strength to resist them
He can and will deliver you
If you
Let him
If you suffer
As I have
With addictions
Cry out
For deliverance
Other pits we put ourselves in
Are compulsive behaviors
Spending too much time on face book
Watch tv
These things when done in moderation can bring some feelings of happiness
But when they become compulsions
They become a pit
Do you find yourself spending hours on your phone?
Hours in front of the television
How about your hobbies
Does your fishing, or hunting
Or shopping
Or sports watching
Or????
consume you
define you
Do you get nervous when you can’t get internet access?
Or when the power is out, and you can’t turn on your favorite show
Listen to me
None of these things done in moderation are necessarily bad
But when they become a compulsion
They become an idol
And they place us in a pit of separation
That we need to be delivered from
Behaviors can become a pit in our lives
And some of our behaviors can destroy us
And those around us
God’s word says anger does not bring about the righteousness of God
If you can’t control your anger
You are in a pit and need deliverance
God’s word says gossip destroys relationships
Breaks down trust
Causes dissention and division
If you can’t or won’t stop gossiping
You are in a pit and need to be delivered
Bitterness
Complacency
Depression
Disobedience
All can become pits
Listen to me
Anything that causes you to be disobedient to God
And especially blatantly disobedient
What I mean
Is you are choosing
The addiction
Or behavior
Is a pit that you need to be delivered from?
I could spend hours
Months
And even years on all the things that can cause us to be in a pit
But I think you get the point
We saw how we end up in a pit
Now
Let’s go back to Jeremiahs words in lamentations 3
To see how we get out of the pits we end up in
They threw me into a pit
and dropped stones on me.
54 The water rose over my head,
and I cried out, “This is the end!”
55 But I called on your name, LORD,
from deep within the pit.
56 You heard me when I cried, “Listen to my pleading!
Hear my cry for help!”
57 Yes, you came when I called;
you told me, “Do not fear.”
58 Lord, you have come to my defense;
you have redeemed my life
The first step in getting out of the pit
Is to admit that you are in one
Jeremiah knew he was in a bad place
This is what we must also come to know
If you struggle with addictions
Disobedient behaviors
Compulsions
You have to recognize that you are in one
Acknowledge that you can’t get out on your own
And then look up and cry out
What I am trying to tell you
If you are in a pit
God does not want you there
He wants to deliver you
He wants to put your feet on solid ground instead of sinking mud
He wants your love
Your attention
Your focus to be on him
He wants you to know that he can and will rescue you
If you will simply let him
Are you in a pit?
Look up
Cry out
And when he delivers you
Give him thanks
Give him praise
Share your story so others may avoid the same pits
Close from the heart
pray
