P. Schaller

(Heb. 13) Where are we going? Where are you going? Where are we going as a church, as believers? Soon it will be 2019. Where did the year go? I think it went into eternity with your life. You have stored up treasure in heaven. Where did the time go? Time passed but all we have done in the name of Christ in the Spirit of Christ is eternal. It’s not in vain. It isn’t fading like a flower. Our physical body fades like a flower but we are putting treasure in heaven in our life of faith. Living by faith. When we hear God in our prayer, in our heart, in our spirit, when we hear God and believe what God is saying. When we hear God in the Bible, in the church, in the pulpit, we are honoring him and respecting him, listening in humility toward God. He is saying in a time in our world where there is a lot of emotion. Don’t miss church services because God is speaking and we need it for learning and our preparation for the future. I believe Christ is coming back period. Is he coming soon? I believe he is. I believe we are watching and waiting and anticipating the work of God. We are understanding the ways of God. It’s not a time for our hearts to be careless, our hearts to be hard. Hardened hearts. But our hearts to be soft and available to God and listening to God.

The end result is Heb. 13. Remember them which have the rule over you. Isn’t that an interesting phrase? Rule over you. Remember them which have the rule over you. No one is ruling over me like a dictator but Christ is ruling over me using the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, in the kingdom, humility and he has put people in my life that have more wisdom. They have a living faith and they have an end result. The end result of their life.

vs. 7. Many of us we recognize our history because we’ve been on the Christian road for more than 40 years and the pastor that pastored me, Dr. Stevens and many of us we remember. He spoke to us the word of God. It was more than a man. It was the Holy Spirit using him to establish us in our faith that we would not be moved to and fro like in a windy sea when ships are moved easily by the wind and tossed to and fro. This world of emotion, there is a lot of feeling. The psychology of today is the psychology of feeling. What do you feel about this? What does this do to you emotionally? What happened to you? How do you feel about it? What is the damage that has been done to you? Emotionally is what they mean. It’s a very unstable world when you are counseled based on emotion. People get offended at Jesus because he offends their emotions.

We get hurt by what is said because the truth – it says in Prov. 27 open rebuke is better than a sentimental love. If you play in athletics, sports, you need a coach that’s tough. He’s not going to be living in feelings. He’s going to give good counsel. In the world of law and civil law, it’s not supposed to be emotion. It’s supposed to be truth and justice. That’s amazing. There’s much to say about it. Maybe you can follow me. Give me grace. Pastor, I don’t agree with you or understand. Don’t worry. Keep coming. It will get better and clearer.

vs. 7. We know the word of God is like a sharp sword, Heb. 4:12. The word of God is living and powerful and sharper than a two edged sword. In the ancient world a sharp sword, today we would say razor sharp scalpel of a surgeon. Very sharp. The Bible is very sharp and pierces soul and spirit. It goes to my thoughts and intentions. Beautiful. This is what we want God to be in our spirit. We want God to visit us in our spirit and for God to put truth in our spirit. It’s what helps us. It’s better than emotion. It’s spirit. It’s communion. It’s love and truth.

vs. 7. You follow these people considering the end or consequences of their way of life. You imitate their faith. You watch them to see where it brings them. Where did truth bring the Apostle Paul? Into a spiritual understanding that though in a prison, he had authority in his letters, in his relationships. He had at least 20 men he had loving connection and wisdom and truth between people. When I work here on our staff, I’m in tears when I think of working with John Hadley, Jim Hadley, Pastor Steve, Pastor Taggart, Philippe Serradji, and Pastor Scibelli. I can’t believe I’m blessed with such a great group of people. And the ladies – Ulla, Pirjo, Jen and Debbie and these people that God has put together a team. I would like to end up considering the end result of their faith. Finally, – this is turning into my message.

Did you have a good Thanksgiving? You did. Praise God if you did. If you didn’t, we got God. God is leading us and teaching us. Our family I think there were 19 of us together and we spent time together and we opened the word. We talked. We played Monopoly, did kayaking, walking, cycling and spent time. There were times I could step back and look like I’m invisible and look at these people and say every life is precious. Every life is a gift. Every life has potential of finding the end result of our faith. The end result of our faith, the benefit of our faith.

I also want to say emotions where a lot of people live is a very unstable way of thinking and living. Being hurt. Being angry, being frustrated, feeling discredited. There’s an injustice. Many reasons to live in our emotion. In church life also I may not be satisfied. I may get offended. There is a beautiful way God has ordained for us where we can have relationships that go on and on. I don’t mean with two or three people but with hundreds of people. You might say I don’t know hundreds. Hang around and you will. The relationships we have. A new identity, every one of us have a new identity. Every one of us have the H.S. Every one of us are born again. All of us have the ability to be learning to think with God and with what the Spirit is saying and leading us in truth. The truth will set you free and you will be free indeed. Inside, the truth liberates us in the Spirit. We become worshippers of God and the Spirit of God leads us in love and hunger for God. It takes care of a lot of the lower level things that happen in the world. By that I mean the details of life, the flat tire, the running out of gas, the rent payment, the disappointment in a relationship. Lower level things that can be very powerful but David said I always set the Lord before my face. I learned to trust in the Lord with all my heart and not lean on my own understanding but in all my ways acknowledge him and he will direct my path. Weren’t those great words? Could we put up the last verse there? [From the song.] No body like you. Nobody beside you. There will never be anyone like you. Nobody beside you. There will never be anyone, anything like you. Two more times. Thank you, Lord. Isn’t that good.

Let’s turn to Isaiah to read it. I want to jump on that. I like the style of the music for some reason. I don’t know. Is. 44:8, isn’t it great anything you hear you have a Bible verse for? Not anything but a lot of things. Can you see God saying that? Is there any God beside me or like me? No, I don’t know any. I haven’t seen anyone hanging around from eternity past. I don’t know anyone who knows all things. God says I know the end from the beginning. Can the devil read your mind? What does the devil know? Here’s a verse.

Dan. 2. Daniel said to King Nebuchadnezzar that – let’s turn there.

Dan 2:27, can they do it? Does the devil know your dream? Can he interpret your dream? Does the devil know the end from the beginning? Does the devil know the secret things from God? He can’t. My God knows all things and your gods don’t know. The devil can’t read your mind. The devil doesn’t know the future. The devil doesn’t know who the antichrist is. There are many antichrists. Even angels don’t know. Angels are very intelligent and enlightened, but they don’t know the time of Christ’s coming. No man knows but my Father in heaven. Nobody like him. I know not any. There is no god like our God. Our God is the one we are in fellowship with today. He will show us deep things and personal things in our life. He will guide you, deliver you from your trouble, help you, comfort you, release you, fill you with the Spirit and will show you want he wants you to know from this book. The devil is a stealer, liar, tempter, the evil one and sows the false seed.

Luke 8:10-12, our tech department is amazing. I love these guys. They do a good job.

I’m afraid of God taking the seed out of the hearts – I’m afraid the devil will take the seed out of the churches. The churches will not be preaching the word. I’m afraid the devil will take the word of God out of the country. In the Soviet Union and in China and Vietnam and in Cuba. Take it out of the heart of the person, out of the church, out of the country. This is possible.

vs. 13. These have no root. Meditate on that for a minute. These have no root. Inside a person, there’s different motives, motivations, action, movement in the hearts of people. We’ll call this motives. In the world of the unsaved where there are unsaved people, there are abstract lives lived for self, the self-life. When we are born again, we are given a new heart and there is new life in us. Have you sensed the new life of Christ in your life? Have you sensed the Holy Spirit moving you, the peace, the quietness, the Spirit of God? If you haven’t, you can talk to us about it after the service. Come up and we can have a word of encouragement or wisdom or knowledge or listen to what we are saying this morning. These have no root in themselves. They get happy about it. Their friends believe or they believe and then comes the trial. This world of feeling is dangerous. I don’t feel God or feel this is right. Or don’t feel this is going my way. It’s strange because there are two parts to what I want to say. The word of God is seed and the H.S. is God who visits and lives and teaches us. The H.S. manifests God to us in this world. The H.S. is God. He is totally and completely God. He is God and the Father is God. In their relationships, there is an economical, organizational relationship between the three. The Father sent the Son. The Son and the Father sent the Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in you and teaches you and guides you into the truth. You can’t change that language and say the Son sent the Father to die on the cross or the Holy Spirit died on the cross or the Holy Spirit sent the Father. You can’t change that order. It’s not scriptural. You can’t change it because it’s not biblical. To think of it any other way than how the Scripture has it. God so loved the world he sent the Son and whoever believes on him, God, would not perish but have everlasting life. Those believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwelling in you is teaching you and showing you the reality of God. This is beautiful. Prayer is fellowshipping with the reality of God.

We talked about feelings. I’m saying, giving a warning to us, we are feely people. We have a lot of feelings. Many times feelings motivate us. Be careful. The feelings we have in our sin nature are not dependable. They may be feelings of love, of guilt, shame, fear. There are feelings of convenience and comfort and self-gratification. We have found another way. A deeper way. A better way. This is our subject. These people do not have roots. Here is the world of feelings and I want to make a sub note. I love Bible psychology and appreciate people caring for the souls of men but in the secular world psychology is based on feeling. These feelings are related to guilt, fear, rejection and shame. They are real. In the church, it can be the same that people live in their feelings. When they get offended, they just feel awkward. They feel this is not right. They feel uncomfortable. Jesus said about the end times, in the end times people will be lovers of themselves.

2 Tim. 3 there is a list of this profile of end time people. That’s another sermon but to say there will be false prophets telling you what you want to hear. False christs, false religions, lying spirits, miracles, people that cannot endure sound doctrine. They cannot endure it. They cannot handle it because they live in their feelings. “You can’t say that to me.” “Who do you think you are? You offended me. You hurt me.”

This is important to us because we read in 2 Tim. 4 – I have two more points and we will leave you hungry I hope. You’ll be hungry for more.

2 Tim. 3 describes the end time people, vs. 2 lovers of their own self. Then it goes through a long list that characterizes end time people. We are in the end times and could fit in this description as a people in general. Born again we have a resource with another set of motives. We have new motives now. These motives – we have love motive. God loves me. I love God. That’s new. God loves me first. Now the H.S. is in you. The fruit of the Spirit is love. You love God. Do you always feel it? Not necessarily. We have the mind of Christ. We have truth in our mind.

Ps 18:1 I will love the Lord. Listen to that word “will.” The devil doesn’t like it we have our own will. I will love the Lord. Love. A new motive of grace. We’ll speak about it. A new motive of faith. New. We have faith. We have faith in God. We will, we love. We give grace to ourselves and others.

2 Tim. 4.

By the way, I want you to see chapter 3 there is the bad news of chapter 3 and the good news of chapter 3.

vs. 10. I am hated in the world in Jn 16. Hated. There is hate in the world. Can you be hated? I don’t want to be hated. You’ll be hated. If you believe in Christ and follow Christ, you’ll be hated. Write it down. Can you handle that? No, I don’t want to be hated. What’s the problem with being hated? It’s not good for my feelings. We don’t feel warm and cozy when we are hated. We feel insecure and victimized. You’ll be hated like Jesus was hated. You have to have roots in yourself. Where do the roots come from? The Spirit of God, the new birth, so when I hear the Word, it goes in my new man and in my new man I am built up in truth. Not necessarily my feelings. I’m built up in the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ is better than the feelings of Adam. You have fully known my doctrine he said to Timothy.

He says in vs. 15 of chapter 3 that from a child you have known the Holy Scriptures. You have roots in yourself from a child. That’s a blessing for Timothy. Wasn’t his mother Jewish and his father Greek. His mother and grandmother Lois were teaching him the word. How many people have we met in the inner city of Baltimore who have been taught by grandmothers? How many grandmothers invest in grandchildren and sat down with them and imparted to them the word like Timothy and his grandmother and mother. Timothy, you are the man. You got the Scriptures. You can live with feelings. You can live with roots. You have the word and the H.S. You are very capable of living in a world tossed to and fro with a lot of emotion. False teachers will increase now. Why? Because the times we are living in and listen to this. Are you ready? Anybody, any bozo, any bozo can open a website and make videos and tweet his opinion and theology. Any bozo can go on the internet and get an audience. Anybody can teach anything they want to and get an audience on Facebook and around the world. Anybody can do it. Don’t get any ideas. You could but you’re not a bozo. Who are you? It’s amazing what happens. It’s amazing when we are subject to those who have the rule over us and considering their faith and the end result of their life. Who they are. Be careful. You don’t evaluate a person based on their bank account. If we applied that to Christ, what would you have? You don’t base it on being comfortable and safe and secure. It only means they were able to tip toe through life and avoid scandal and disappear into oblivion. The New Testament says we are salt and light and have a message. We have a mission. Christ changes people. We have a vision. We are in a battle. People live based on feeling and it doesn’t bring them anywhere. It’s feelings, feelings, feelings, feelings. I quit the football team because my feelings were hurt. Someone else their feelings were hurt but they grew up and lived in something bigger than their feelings. This is not about athletics. This is about the bema seat judgment, eternity, using my time, resources, gifts, and blessings. This is about the kingdom of God against demonic activity. The devil is a real enemy in this world. He is a deceiver and a liar. He is called a serpent, adversary, slanderer, evil one, day star or Lucifer. He is the accuser of the brethren. He is the tempter, the destroyer. But we have found our God there is no one like our God. Nobody. Nobody like him. Our God sent Christ so we could know God. What an honor we know God and walk with God. Beautiful. Let’s go to see what is ahead of us here.

vs. 16. 2 Tim 3:16 it will help you with your feelings, your mindset, your target. What’s the target? Here’s a tip. When you live your life. Here’s a hunter. He’s in the woods and he sees the target. What is he doing? Studying the target. When he is ready, he lifts his weapon. He doesn’t walk around like this. He has to get his target. He has to find the target, study the target, make an evaluation and when he is ready, attack the target. There is a process. We don’t even know what is going on. We walk around and don’t know there is a target. We aren’t looking for one. If we saw it, we wouldn’t know what it is and are not prepared. We must be in a fellowship. The church is weak without a target. We need to be in a fellowship where we realize what the target is. We’re looking at the plan, maturity, the Spirit teaching us. God. We’re looking at the Scripture. We’re looking at the world we live in and ask God to show us and lead us. I see something. You see the Spirit says forgive. So I see I have a target. Forgiveness is important. I need to forgive. I have to forgive. I shoot at the right thing. The people that are lost in the world need to have a target and realize this is important. I ask God to show me a target. Show me what is going on. Unity in the Body is important. I f I don’t have unity in the Body, where will we find the testimony of Christ? The Scripture teaches us these things. It’s profitable for doctrine, correction and instruction in righteousness.

2 Tim. 4:2, Paul could say Timothy reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering. “But that will hurt their feelings. A lot of people won’t listen to you.” It will be worse in the end times. They won’t be able to handle it. When you give the truth out, it will be worse in the end times.

vs. 3. They can’t handle it. It attacks their self-life, their comfort zone. They will get offended. Aside from the politics with the Cavanaugh hearing regardless of your opinion about it, – I don’t care about politics. I want to make a point. It was a lot about feelings. In our political world and culture, it’s about feelings. Life shouldn’t be based on feelings but truth and justice. On something higher. Families divide over feelings. People get hurt over feelings. People at a Thanksgiving dinner might get offended because of something that has to do with the lower nature we have. I’m encouraging you to have a target. God has made us to be one and mature and have Christ’s mind. I believe there is something bigger here. Regarding our country, there should be a lot of understanding between people but on a higher level than my own opinion. Just be on your computer and tweet and Face booking and you feel you are at the center of the universe. You feel your feelings count. Is there such a thing as humility before God? We are not any better than anybody. They cannot stomach having J.C. If he was here today and walked in any room or went to churches and tell the truth, I wonder how any of us could handle it. It would rock our world and on the other hand, it would light us up. Repent in our heart. God, thank you for coming to me, speaking to me, encouraging me, edifying me in the deepest sense. When the seed is planted and there are roots, it stays a long time. My tree is planted by the rivers of water. Our trees are planted by the source, the reality of God. Can the reality of God handle any persecution or rejection? It can. Can it handle anything this world would measure out? Yes. Just because the majority of people reject truth doesn’t mean you go with the majority. If you can’t stand being hated you don’t deny Christ. There is a better way. You can handle it.

2 Tim 4:3 they find those teachers on the internet, anywhere. They will be active teachers having itching ears. There are these abstract teachings that branch off from Christianity and you can be a Buddhist worshipper or Jesus is an abstract spirit. Is he the one that died on the cross? In shame and foolishness, he died on the cross. That’s the one that I worship. That’s my hero. That’s my Savior, my God. This is a different period. You know how it goes. They will turn away their ears and turn to fables. This is the falling away. I didn’t really hit my point though I hit many good points. Some of it is what I need to hear.

I would like to say that because of our new birth, we have a devotional life. Tonight I want to speak about our devotional life of worship and being Spirit filled. The Spirit teaching us and guiding us in truth.

We are those that say I would rather have one day in the house of the Lord than thousand in the tents of wicked. I’d rather have truth that hurts me. I get hated for Jesus. God help me. “Don’t bother me. Don’t talk to me about that. I got my own thing.” Okay, but you could grow. You can learn. You can become salty. You can get doctrine in your soul. You can get something in your heart from the H.S. This new motive is churning on the inside. This love is leading you. I will go to the church even though there are a lot of people there I don’t know. I’m hungry for truth. The Spirit is moving in my life. I want to walk with God. I will win if I know God. If I trust him with all my heart and don’t lean on my own understanding, he will direct my path and lead me in a better place if I accept truth and walk in it. That’s a beautiful way of life.