Sunday VT – 9/14/2014

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Speakers:

• Steve Atherton
• Scott Bishop

Scriptures used:

• Luke 8:22-25
• Hebrews 11:6
• 2 Chronicles 7:14
• 2 Chronicles 19 to 2 Chronicles 20:30

Subject:

• Discussion of the fear that is out there in the world.  But prayer to the Lord and leaving it with Him, believing, brings peace.
• In Luke 8:25, Jesus says to the disciples “where is your faith?”  Where or what do you put your faith in?
• No one lives without faith, it is just where we put it.  Christians are to put all of their faith in Him.  If we don’t, what are we?  We aren’t really Christians.  That is a big difference.
• Hebrews 11:6 –  Without faith it is impossible to please Him.  Today, people would rather believe an advertisement on tv about some magic pill, etc., anything but the Gospel.  The Gospel is the one thing that everyone needs to handle all of these ailments.  It often takes more faith to believe in the magic pill than to believe the Gospel.
• The purpose of Jesus showing the disciples is so that they would walk likewise.
• The difficulties that you face that you think are too big for you is all foolishness and a lie!  You cannot believe it.  Doesn’t matter how long you have believed it.  The Lord is bigger than all of these things.
• “If my people who are called by my name” – The only way to get free of sin is for Jesus to pay for our sins willingly on the cross, even when we were shouting at Him and taunting Him.  All of us did this.  When we receive that gift we become free and a member of His family to live with Him.  You are one of His people and have taken on His name.
• “…shall humble themselves and pray” – A lot of times we think we have already done that.  We allow those lies to come in and we believe it.  We have to humble ourselves and realize that the one believing the lie – was me.  When we humble ourselves, then we pray – and refuse to accept the lie anymore and ask forgiveness and He moves.
• “…and seek my face”  There is going to effort on your part.  There is a small minority that will get down on their knees and pray, then go right back to where they started and expect God to move and honor, because they have done their part.  When you seek His face, it should becomes #1 to you, in all things.
• “…and turn from their wicked ways” – you want to change what you do because you don’t want to do what you formerly did, because you realize what you formerly did was the problem.  You choose to instead go after Him and what He would have you do.
• “…then will I hear” – When you’ve been standing in a wrong place for a long time, and when you make that determination to seek the Lord, regardless of what is happening, you set your mind to go after Him and leave all the other crap behind.  When you do that, you get God’s attention.
• “…and will forgive their sin and will heal their land” – We should know that something that plagues us is tied to something in our lives and keep us in bondage.  We want to get to the place where we break the tie to that thing, then He will set you free of that thing.  But if you’re going to go right back to it, it’s not profitable for you.  When we go forward and not look back we will receive that freedom.
• We don’t usually feel up to the task that is before us.
• King Jehoshaphat of Judah – 2 Chr 20:20:  “Believe in the Lord your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper”.  How often have you not believed the prophets?  How often was it not what you wanted to hear so you rejected it and remain stuck where you were?  You just couldn’t see it.
• King Jehoshaphat was a contemporary of King Ahab of Israel.  Ahab was about ready to be killed in battle.  He asked Jehoshaphat to go out with him.  The two lines of kings had intermarried so they were related.  Ahab had 10 of the tribes and Jehoshaphat had 2.  The prophet prophesies Ahab will be killed.  Jehoshaphat says I’m not Ahab!  Jehoshaphat returned to his house in peace. Jehu the seer went out to meet Jehoshaphat and said there was wrath upon him from the Lord.  He thought he was just out helping out a family member, but God saw Jehoshaphat, who says he is a believer, helping the ungodly and preferring them that hate the Lord.  What does Jehosaphat do?  He repents.  Wrath from before the Lord was upon him because he joined unto Ahab but the Lord sent His prophet unto him so he could choose.  Jehoshaphat set himself to seek the Lord, because he feared.  He didn’t let that fear rule him.  We can become friends of the Lord like Abraham if we seek the Lord as Abraham sought Him.  They believed what the prophet said and they were saved.  They took steps in obedience of the word of the prophet coming to pass.  They all came together as one, and said His mercy endureth forever.  Forever!  Not just for one time, but for always.  There is not a time in your life that mercy is not there if you acknowledge YOUR wrongdoing.  It sets you free.
• This also happened in the story of King Hezekiah – they believed the word of the prophets and were delivered.