We have the reality of God in our lives. He is the answer for all things. The world is shameful. Lies only work for so long, and people are stupid to believe them because their hearts are empty. Truth will reign. Solomon made his judgment when heard the mother’s love in a woman’s voice. (1 Kings 3:16-25; Luke 10:21-24)

Speaker(s): Pastor Thomas Schaller
Sermon 11972
7:00 PM on 10/14/2020

P. Schaller –

Wow it’s so awesome to be here tonight and worship. Praise the Lord! Worshiping and singing. The
leading in our service is a quick word from me about the message coming up, a short video
from P. Ben in Israel on the feast of tabernacles. We are in the feast of tabernacles. The Jews
when they left Egypt, they lived in these tabernacles under an open sky saying that God is their
habitation. Then we’ll have a special song. I think Zoe. Then the message. That’s it. Then we are
dismissed and we’ll have the rap outside on our covid-free deck out there! That will be fun. I
was on the phone with P. Mati today and he said the word is – in my words – we talked about
the world, upside down, a mess. He said if we expect people to watch the movies out of
Hollywood, play video games, go to exercise and just be entertained then we would expect the
world to be a mess, for people to be messed up. What do they think? What are they believing? I
said it’s amazing that we have – he said this – we have a church. We have church. I want to
share a little bit about that tonight.

Turn to Ephesians. 4 and see the text. Start from 14-18. Also, I wanted to say to the Body thank you for being such an active group of people serving. We had an outdoor movie with about 200 people. Paul’s teriyaki wagon pulled up and sold out. We have a women’s seminar coming up. The pastor’s retreat was awesome. People delivering food.
Making phone calls. Counseling people. All of this happening. It’s amazing. Vs. 14. Like children
bumping along in a car or a wagon tossed. Children tossed to and fro. The craftiness of men.
The deceit of men. The lies. We would be tossed about by men lying to us. How will I get out of
this if I’m in a world where there are all kinds of promoting dishonesty and sexual lifestyle?
How do I live then in this world? vs. 15. Long growth. Growing up. Long. Slow the way we grow
physically. Maybe slow but after the summer it looks like you grew four inches in height, you
say to a teenager. To an adult, you grew four inches in your width! You say to an adult! Vs. 15.
Is it happening?

Ask your neighbor. Is it happening? Quiet down! Listen to me!! Vs. 16. There is
really an increase in you and me. There is a very real increase in us. We have a political situation
in our country where we see ungodliness and thoughts and actions and words and mentality
that we are shocked. We are shocked that this is so popular and so much part of the way of
thinking. We are shocked by it. Why? Because we are growing up in him. There is a difference
between us and the spirit of the world is saying. It’s shocking. It’s amazing. It’s okay. This one is
satisfying. This one satisfies. The other one doesn’t. We’ll see that a little bit later tonight. This
one is satisfying and we are increasing and parts and there is Body life and an increase in the
heart. Vs. 17. What does that mean? Others live this way but you don’t live that way. Others
live this way but you have found another way.

You have found the anointing of God. We don’t walk as other Gentiles walk. Vs. 18. Empty mind or the mind that does not have a solid purpose. It’s temporal. It’s from one event to another. From one scandal to another. From one event to another one. We have found the mind of God, the meditation in God, the subconscious mind in
Christ where we talk quietly. We get quiet before God at the beginning of our day. You get real
quiet before God. Real quiet. Then you start to think what am I here for? Humble before God
and ask God. What is God saying? What is he doing? This is in my conscious mind but it goes
into my subconscious mind and affects my life. What do I want? What am I looking for? Who is
God? What does he say to me? What does it mean? Is this real? Is it true? Is this God’s world, the reality of God. It’s amazing. The gentiles don’t have that mind. We’ll see that in a few
minutes. Vs. 18. Their understanding is darkened. That will be a great message tonight. I believe
it will speak to our hearts and build us up.

We’ll walk out of here tonight saying I got a message tonight. Thank you, Lord that you gave a message to the church. I got something I can keep. I got something I can think about and you did that. Thank you, God. You did that because this is your plan. What if across America there were churches like this feeding on the lamb of God.
How does it affect my work, my relationships? How does it affect my life? It’s awesome.
Welcome P. Ben on the video. Thank you, Zoe. That was sweet. Wasn’t that sweet? Before we
do the message, stand up with me and get excited in your heart. Say I got a good attitude
tonight. I praise the Lord! I even love the person standing next to me, behind me and I’m going
to pour love on them. I’m going to love them up. Go ahead. Do it. Halleluiah. Praise God. Okay,
you may be seated. Couple warm up verses. Luke 10. How privileged the disciples were to hear
this prayer in vs. 21. By the way, in the New Testament, there are very few places you read
where Jesus rejoiced in spirit. I might be wrong, but this might be the only place where it is
written like this.

He was so thankful. Vs. 21. From the smart guys. The wise. The big guys. The
guys in charge. You hid them from all the guys that got all the money and the power. They got
the education. They got everything. They are smart. They build cities and make bridges and
conquer and the whole thing. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Father. You revealed them unto
babes. So, congratulate yourself for a moment. I’m included in there. Vs. 23-24. I don’t know
about you, but that happens to us at different times. We are shocked. We are amazed at what
we see. We see it. Maybe in an hour’s time. Maybe in a month. Maybe in some years. Maybe in
a few minutes but you see it. Many people would love to be sitting where you are sitting. Many
people would like to be like you. Many people would like to live with freedom, without any
addiction.

They would love it. You have no addiction? You’re not addicted to anything? They
would love to be different. Where can they find it? What can they do to get it? Jeremiah 13:22-23.
Can somebody who has an addiction change? Can someone who is in bondage to a sin pattern,
someone who has bad habits change those habits? Vs. 23. You cannot do good. You are
accustomed to do evil. You have evil patterns of thoughts. You cannot change. You are the
same all the time. You make promises but you can’t do it. Vs. 24-25. You have forgotten me. I
wonder in the age we are living in if we shouldn’t be preaching more about hell and God and
judgment and should be preaching more about the day that is coming when you have to stand
before almighty God. Wow! But I have bad habits. I cannot change. This is the way I am. I know
no other way. I don’t have any religion. I don’t believe in anything. I don’t go to any church. I
don’t have any of that in my life.

I grew up this way and this is the way I am all the time. The Lord is saying, vs. 26. It’s shameful for a woman to lift her skirt up and put it over her face. That’s what God says to Israel. I’m going to lift your skirt up and put it over your face and shame you. I’m going to shame you. Vs. 26-27. Listen. I want to have a lot of compassion for people
who cannot change. I want to understand them. I want to think about them. I want to love
them in my heart. They cannot change. They don’t even know what it is. They don’t even know
what they want. They don’t even know what they are looking for. But do you? Have you found
Jesus? Have you found Jesus where Jesus could say, thank you, Father, that you have revealed it to him. Eyes wanted to see it, ears wanted to hear it but they can’t. But this man has heard it
and seen it and he got it. He got the Holy Spirit. He got a word in season. He walks by faith. He’s
got a new heart. He’s got something going on in his life. Thank you, God. The believer is saying
thank you, God. What about the others? Jeremiah 17 this is also just a quick look at two verses. Vs. 5.
Here’s a picture we draw in our Bible Psychology class. It’s a heart with a hole in it. Then there
is a new heart. I draw it like this.

Cursed is the man – a curse is on this man that has a sin nature. This is the old sin nature and he has something missing in his heart. Because something is missing in his heart then he lies. He lies because he is hurting. There is something missing and he lives this way. He has something missing in his heart so he wants to get a girlfriend. So, he gets a girlfriend but still there is something missing in his heart. He wears the girl out. After
three months, she realizes he is so selfish that there is nothing in his heart except him. It’s just
about him. What he wants from me. I’m to be his little run around. He doesn’t love me. He
wants to control me. That man has a problem in his relationships because there is something
missing deep inside. It’s a curse that is on his life. I want to say something about it. We have
little particles that are kind of floating around in life like this. We grab to fit in the heart. Little
girlfriend. The search for people that care about me. Gambling addiction. The buzz that I get
from gambling. I win and then I lose. I win and get happy about it. I’m searching. I’m vain. I’m
looking. I can’t find it.

There is a story in the Bible – there’s many of them – but one that we
taught on Monday night that got our attention. I want to share that with you tonight that is the
core of what I want to say. Jeremiah 17:5, 8. This man is blessed on this side of the picture. 1 King 3:16-
18. This is a story about two women. In a way, I want to use the diagram up on the wall here as
a principle and I want to use these two women to show you something. They both had babies.
They both were prostitutes. They both gave birth to babies and one is three days older than the
other. One of the women rolls on the baby and the baby dies in the night. The woman wakes up
in the morning and sees her dead baby and that’s tragic. I have a dead baby. I rolled on the
baby in the night. I made a mistake. I can’t face this. This is not good. This is bad. This is
impossible. I cannot face the shame.

I killed my baby. I can’t face this. Right there she could have said before God. I made a mistake. I messed up. I ruined, I killed my baby. It could have ended right there with a confession. The heart here on the wall is a heart that has a hard time finding God. That heart doesn’t know God. It’s cursed because it trusts in me. It trusts in myself.
The prostitute had the idea because your heart affects your mind. What is going on in your
heart will direct your mind. You’ll say in your mind I got an idea. I’ll switch the babies. That’s a
good idea. That will work. But actually, if you are a mother, it’s a stupid idea because don’t you
think that mother will know? Isn’t that the point of the trouble we have in this world that
people are stupid. Why are they stupid? Because their hearts have a hole in it. Jesus said, thank
you, Father. You have shown this to them. That’s the key. They got it. They got it. Thank you,
Father. It will change history. If they get a new heart and they see and understand things that
the world doesn’t see, they don’t see.

Their world will be messed up. They will not have what it is that we have. This is the sequence of the problem. She goes, I got an idea. You see, I’m embarrassed. I rolled on my baby. I love my baby. I’m embarrassed. I’ve lost my baby. That’s not right. I will steal from her. Why would you steal from her? Because I can’t handle what happened. I got to blame somebody. I got to fight with somebody. I got a steal with somebody.
I got to lie to somebody. There you go. What happened? Vs. 19-20. She took my son from me. Is
your heart hard? Is your heart cold? what are you doing? You took my son from me, my
newborn son because of your problem. You can’t face your problem with truth so your trouble
comes to me. That’s what’s going on in this world. When we are sinners, we steal, we cheat, we
lie, we take, we blame, we accuse, but when you become a saint, you are different. Enjoy the
difference. Enjoy the blessing. Enjoy the increase. Enjoy the wisdom. Enjoy the fellowship. Enjoy
the reality of God in your life.

The greatest blessing of our lives is we have the reality of God in our lives. That’s amazing. If I overlaid the baby in the night and he suffocated and died I would wake up with a lot of sorrow. But I would know who to go to and so would you. We would say God is an ever-present help in every time of need. That God is the answer for my sorrow and pain and shame and sin and guilt. God is the answer. You know that because you are growing
and increasing while the world is being deceived and shamed. They are. Vs. 20. These two
women are in front of King Solomon. King Solomon is showing his wisdom in the story. King
Solomon is going to make a judgment as to who the mother is. The woman is explaining the
story. Vs. 20-21. The lie works for a short time. It says that in Proverbs. The lie of the hypocrite
is for a moment. Winston Churchill said a lie is going around the world while the truth is putting
it’s boots on. It’s coming. It’s coming. Could I say to someone who is contemplating suicide that
you are fool. You are a fool. You are a fool.

You might say the Ethiopian can’t change his skin nor the leper his spots. He cannot change his way. He is suicidal. I understand with a lot of compassion and a lot of reality behind us we say God loves you. God cares for you. There is a better way, the only way. You might end up in hell. You might say I commit suicide to get out of
my pain. It might be your pain is so you can turn to God and find God. You might end up in hell
if y you commit suicide. That is stupid. We all know the Spirit of God in us and with us cares
about people. At the same time, I’m angry about that whole thing and what I’m saying tonight
regarding this whole thing. I hope it comes out good. Vs. 22-25. To a normal person would
mean you cut the child in half and nobody gets the child. The child is dead. But because of this
heart and the blindness of this heart, she says yes. Do that. Cut the child in half. What? Cut the
child in half. That’s called blindness.

That’s what we are looking at. There is blindness in this world. That’s called hard hearted blindness. You’ve lost your mind. You’ve lost your way. You don’t understand. May we say this about all sin, if you commit adultery it’s a similar thing as King David and the hard heart. David is trying to figure it out and what does he come up with?
Call Uriah from the battlefield. It doesn’t work. What will I do? He’s killed in battle. David, a
mighty man, what happened? You’re blind. You’ve lost your mind. Your best friend is killed.
How did the blindness happen? Where did it come from? It came from my heart. I can make
excuses for everything. I can find a church where homosexuality is ramped. I find a church and I
can go there because the heart of man will rationalize and devise and think in terms in
whatever it is he wants to hear. 2 Timothy 4:2-4. You know that. But the point of this story is when
sensible people like Solomon is provoking and testing what is behind this and he finds out then
he knows and he goes, this child belongs to that woman.

I know the sound of love. She said, give her the child. The child must live. Give her the child. Oh, you are the mother. That’s love. I found love. I found love. I found Christ. I found God. I found the answer. I found Christ. I found
love. I found faith. I found the Holy Spirit. I found the ministry. I found truth. I found freedom. I
found Jesus Christ. I found the answer. Don’t you think that the people that cannot change but
they go on and on, don’t you think they want to meet people like us who are not perfect in any
way. It’s not us. I’m not saying that. It does say in Ephesians 4 we are increasing and it says don’t
walk like the Gentiles who are vain in their minds and their evil heart is blind and their hearts
are hard. Don’t live like them but be broken, gentle, loving, meditative, embracing, enjoying,
worshiping, praying, believing, loving, serving, giving.

Be Spirit filled people. When we have our troubles, when we lay on the baby so to speak and we lose something precious because that’s how life goes, Jesus said these words have I spoken unto you that in me you might have
peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.
God has ordained for you and I to increase and increase in the wisdom and watch how we get
the baby. We get it. That was a crazy trial and I’m sorry for that woman but what if she goes on
in her empty heart and her sorrow and shame and being defeated and the judgment comes.
When the judgment comes and I realize they caught me, may I humble myself under the mighty
hand of God and realize that Jesus came for me to save me and change me and give to me and
help me. Amen. I think the comment I made about suicide goes like this that the world wants us
to believe these things are acceptable or normal or something like this.

But it’s not. It’s not. If you hear about it, you could say that’s too bad. That breaks my heart. It’s sad. “That’s okay.
They went to a good place.” Then you could say this, are you sure about that? Are you sure
about that? Do you know that? Everybody goes to heaven? “Yes, of course. Everybody goes to
heaven.” This is about the story. Listen to this. The woman steals the baby and now this woman
doesn’t have her baby and this woman has the baby and we accept that. That’s what the world
wants to do. It wants to hurt us and lie to us and say this is normal. It’s not. It’s not right. It’s not
right. God is a judge. Judge us, Lord. Judgment is coming. Judgment is coming. Deal with us Lord
now. When we meet you, we will know you. That’s the thing. No, I’m not accepting it. Have
your wisdom and your love to tell people there is something better than this cheap lying and
stealing and emptiness and shame and fear. No, that’s not normal. Not in our world. Not in our
world. Not in our world. That’s not the way we live. Not in our world. Not in our world. We
don’t accept that. Solomon, judge. And he does. He comes and deals with it and that’s what
God does.

Amen.

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