Math - Father's Day 2013

Happy Father's Day. We thank God for our men that stand in the gap, regardless of how rough it is. We praise the Lord for you.

Job 1:20-22

20  Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,

21  And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

22  In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

Job was able to go through this terrible trial because of his trust in God.

a.   Thought this Job learned that whether he gained or lost, whether it was addition or subtraction, it was all in God's hands.

b.   This is the attitude we must have today, because as we serve God, we will experience the same spiritual principles that Job faced - That God gave, and God takes away.

1.   Church Math.

a.   When you're dealing with church, there will be addition.

b.   Acts 2:41

41  Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

47  Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

             i.    This was a wonderful time in the church. It's always great when you have growth, but along with that comes some other stuff too.

            ii.    We have to understand that as we get people in church there's gonna be some stuff that happens, some lessons that have to be learned.

c.        Not only will there be addition, but there will be multiplication. I love when people that God brought to the church go out and get others and bring them in.

d.        Acts 4:32  And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

             i.        Here we see the multitude, that means they multiplied.

e.        Where there is a positive there will always be a negative, you cannot operate without both. A battery goes by a negative and a positive charge, you need both.

             i.        If everything is always good, you'll get bored - if everything is always bad, you will want to kill yourself.

f.        Acts 14:4  But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles.

            i.        This happens. You get addition, then multiplication, there will eventually be division.

g.        Division is two different visions, in a church, you will always have some people going one way, while others go another.

             i.        No matter what, you just have to make sure you are going the right way.

h.        On top of division, there will also be subtraction. When you get two different visions. People will leave.

 i.        Paul said in 2 Timothy Chapter 4, "Demons have fosaken me, ahving loved this present world. He was saying there was subtraction. And John 6:6 says many of Christ's disciples turned away and stopped walking with Him.

             i.        You cannot get discouraged when people leave. Let them go, thank God that they came, but unless they're meant to be here.

2.   Christian math.

a.        1 Peter 1:5-7

5  And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

6  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

7  And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

           a.    What is virtue? Moral excellence. We've been called to moral excellence - keeping yourself from the wrong things.

           b.    What is knowledge? Spiritual Truth. That means don't get connection to somebody that is not going in the direction that you need to go.

           c.    What is temperance? Self-control. Temperance comes from the Book of Galatians, when the Bible says the fruit of the spirit is temperance. You cannot walk in the flesh and have temperance at the same time.

                         i.        Giving into the lusts of the flesh means that you're not temperate.

           d.    What is patience? Patience is nothing less and nothing more than perseverance. A person that can persevere is a person that has patience, that regardless of how you feel you will continue to do what God wants you to do.

           e.    What is Godliness? Christ-like-ness. What would Jesus say about this? Don't ask, "Does the Pastor see me?"

            f.    What is charity? This is volitional love, is a conscience decision/choice. "I love you because God loves me, and no matter what you do, I'm still gonna love you.

                         i.        Because I chose to love you, there is nothing you can to to take my love away.

b.        Acts 12:24  But the word of God grew and multiplied.

            i.        We need the word of god to multiply, to be taught in everything we do. Out of all the things that Paul told Timothy, he told him to preach the Word, be instant, in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and doctrine, for the time will come when they will not heed sound doctrine, but will heed to themselves teachers who have itching ears.

          ii.        Why preach the word? Because the Word of God has the ability to change people's hearts.

c.        Acts 19:20  So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.

             i.        The Word of God will prevail above the will of man. But when the Word of God multiplies, God's power multiplies, then strife begins to decrease, then disunity, and everything that displeases God, begins to decrease.

            ii.        The word of God commands you to change, it says this is where you are, and this is how you need to improve.

d.        Not only do we need addition and multiplication, but we need subtraction.

            i.        John 3: He must increase, I must decrease.

1.   The hardest thing in the world is to get people to look at themselves through the eyes of God.

            ii.        We are ALL a work in progress. There is nobody that's perfect and has it all together, if you are a child of God, you are a WORK IN PROGRESS!

e.        I AM A CONSTRUCTION SITE, just like you are.

             i.        It's dangerous to come into "my" life without a hard hat on. The hard hat is the Word of God.

            ii.        If you don't have the "hard hat" on, you will get hit with a boulder and end up outside the will of God.

f.        Why is it that we expect so little from ourselves, and so much from everybody else?

             i.        At the foot of the Cross it's all level ground. It doesn't matter who you are.

            ii.        Why is it that people come to church and don't expect people to make mistakes?

g.        1 Corinthians 15:31 Paul said I die daily.

             i.        In order to live for God, you have to learn how to die to self. Because self is selfish, and the thing about self is that if it don't get what it wants, it will make excuses.

            ii.        We need to take self out of the equation.

h.        We need addition, we need multiplication, we need subtraction, and this will keep us from division.

             i.        Division only comes when the Spirit of God is not bringing addition to my life. And then, division only comes when I have not learned how to subtract self out of the equation.

i.        Acts 2:41 

41  Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.

42  And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

             i.    Do you not realize that these people saw fault and flaws in the apostles? Don't think for a minute that the apostles were perfect.

            ii.    Until you realize that the people of God are flawed, you walk around thinking that they are different, and you will find out that nobody is different - NOT EVEN YOU. None of us are.

          iii.    Don't put everybody else on a level that you can't even attain to yourself.

j.        What brings freedom is really knowing you. Keeping yourself in order is a 24 hour job.

             i.        Don't think things just come natural to people, it's supernatural.

k.        Psalms 133:1  Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!

             i.        There is nothing like fellowship! It is totally awesome to see the men of God come together, and fellowship, and embrace and love one another.

 l.        1 Corinthians 12:25  That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

             i.        No schism.  Schism means a gap, a division, to sever, to break, to divide. There are some things that you sever yourself from, that God never meant for you to break yourself from.

3.   Carnal Math

a.        This is the worst kind, because it does everything we just talked about.

b.        Galatians 5:19  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness…

             i.        Lasciviousness is where you get to the place in your life where you have no boundaries for the things you may do or say out of your mouth.

            ii.        If you stop walking with God, you may get to a place where there is nothing to stop you from doing the things that the flesh wants you to do.

c.        Proverbs 17:9  He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.

             i.        Repeating a matter is nothing but gossip. The worst poison is the kind that comes from our words.

            ii.        You need to get yourself right with God, because the way of the transgressor is hard.

d.        This is the worst kind of math, because the Bible says that they which are in the flesh cannot please God. When you start dealing with this kind of math, you are not living a life that's pleasing to God - NO MATTER WHAT YOUR EXCUSES ARE.

             i.        At that point it has nothing to do with a pastor, or deacon and everything to do with your relationship with God.

e.        God promised never to leave nor forsake me. People are up and down, that's why you got to always focus on God.

             i.        You cannot afford to take your eyes off God, because the first thing that will happen is that you will realize that you are getting hurt, because you don't have the right stuff on.

            ii.        Because they that are in the flesh cannot please God, then your problems multiply. And it can all start with one thought. Now that thought breeds other thoughts, which breed others, and then when you're there, there will always be divisions.

f.        The Bible says God hates those that soweth discord among the brethren, but you will always have those which sow discord.

             i.        When you see people sowing discord, expose it. Reveal it.

g.        There will always be division, and then there will be subtraction.

Elijah, one day, found himself in a suicidal state, because he listened to what soembody else said, and he ran. The Lord showed up and said "What doest thou here?" Why are YOU where you are? He got to a place where he was so prideful that he didn't even want to live anymore.

Paul said "I am willing to spend and be spent for God, knowing this, that the more I love God, the less I will be loved." THAT IS A FACT OF MINISTRY. This is a way of life for the true minister.

There is church math, God gives and God takes away. There Christian math, things we have to continue to add, subtract, and multiply. Then there is carnal math, which takes you away from the power of God.