Sermon Cloud

“Saying Isn’t Believing”  April 26, 2009

SHOW GAZELLE INTENSITY!

Prov 6:1-11  My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, if you have struck hands in pledge for another, if you have been trapped by what you said, ensnared by the words of your mouth, then do this, my son, to free yourself, since you have fallen into your neighbor's hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor!  Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids.  Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter, like a bird from the snare of the fowler.  Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!  It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.  How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?  A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.

       Financial debt is bondage.  If you fall into that the Bible says do this.  Humble yourself; press your plea; work like mad, allowing ‘no sleep’ to your eyes; and do this with the passion and adrenaline of a gazelle running from a cheetah!  Do these things with gazelle intensity, because you are trapped!

       Now go to Rom 13:8, another passage on debt.  Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another…     

       Loved ones, we have a spiritual debt to love God and love people.  But unlike gazelle intensity in financial debt which is motivated bondage…this spiritual debt is motivated by freedom!  Believer, you are free!  If the Bible says you need gazelle intensity motivated by bondage to deal with financial debt, how much more intensity and passion should we have with freedom as our motivator?  We owe a debt of love, not because we are in bondage, but because we have been set free!  With that in mind, let me ask you some basic questions about your faith. 

       Do you believe prayer is important?  YES!  Do you believe prayer is powerful?  YES!  Do you believe God answers prayer?  YES!  OK…then here is the million dollar question…DO YOU PRAY?  Now, is this an accurate statement?  If I really believed that prayer is important, powerful, and answered of God; then I would pray; or at least prayer would hold a much more prominent place in my life than it did last week. I am going to be so bold this morning as to say this.  Most of us don’t believe prayer is important.  We SAY prayer is important.  But SAYING IS NOT BELIEVING…You don’t believe prayer is powerful.  You SAY prayer is powerful.  But SAYING IS NOT BELIEVING.. Most of us don’t believe God answers prayer.  You SAY God answers prayer.  But SAYING IS NOT BELIEVING James 5:16  …The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  In Heb 4 God invites you to ‘come boldly before His throne of grace…’  Either You don’t believe that prayer is important, powerful, and answered of God…or your asleep.  You don’t believe…you say you believe.

       Do you believe the Bible is important? YES! Do you believe the Bible is powerful? YES! Do you believe God speaks through the Bible? YES!  OK…then here is the million dollar question…DO YOU READ, MEDITATE ON, AND MEMORIZE THE BIBLE?  Now, is this an accurate statement?  If I really believed that the Bible is important, powerful, and the way God speaks to me; then I would read, meditate on, and memorize it; or at least the Bible would hold a much more prominent place in my life than it did last week. I am going to be so bold this morning as to say this.  Most of us don’t believe the Bible is important.  We SAY the Bible is important.  But SAYING IS NOT BELIEVING!  You don’t believe the Bible is powerful.  You SAY the Bible is powerful.  But SAYING IS NOT BELIEVING! Most of us don’t believe God speaks to you through the Bible.  You SAY God speaks to you through the Bible.  But SAYING IS NOT BELIEVING!  If you really believed the Bible is important, powerful, and God’s intimate voice to you, then it would be a prominent and dominant feature of your life… like the apostle John who is given a vision of the future… Rev 1:9  I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.  The Word was a prominent and dominant feature in John’s life without compromise!  He believed it was important, powerful, and God’s intimate voice to Him and you could tell he believed!
!  John really believed…he didn’t just say he did…and he wasn’t asleep.  

       And like the martyrs of Rev 6:9…  When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.  The Word was a prominent and dominant part of their lives! These martyrs really believed the Bible was important, powerful, and God’s voice; they didn’t just say they did and they weren’t asleep.

       And like the saints in Rev 20:4.

 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God.  The Word was a prominent and dominant feature in their lives!  These saints really believed God’s Word is important, powerful, and God’s voice… they didn’t just say they believed.  You don’t believe…you just say you believe…or your asleep. 

       Prayer, the Bible…  Either we don’t believe, and we just say we do…or we’re asleep in our faith.   “How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep?  A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest-- and poverty will come on you like a bandit…”

       It takes Gazelle intensity to be free from financial debt!  RUN, YOU’RE IN BONDAGE! RUN!  But what about our spiritual debt!  We have a continuing debt of love!  Love to God, love to people!  But unlike financial debt which is driven by bondage, this debt is driven by FREEDOM!  RUN! YOU’RE FREE! RUN! And if gazelle intensity is what if takes to set you free financially, then what intensity should we have LIVING free in Christ spiritually!  Believe! Wake up!  Believe! Wake up! 

       You live what you believe every time.     James 2:17-18  …faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.  But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.  We live what we believe, we don’t always live what we say. 

       In Heb 4:14  Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. (homologia, hom-ol-og-ee'-ah—homos=the same: logos=something said)  IN other words, what you live out in life, let that be the same as what you say you believe!  Is your behavior in line with what you say you believe?!  Do you believe prayer is important, powerful, and answered of God?  If you believe it, you will do it with gazelle intensity motivated by freedom!  Do you believe the Bible is important, powerful, and the intimate voice of God to you?  If you believe it, you will do it with gazelle intensity motivated, not by bondage, but by freedom!  Wake up! Believe!  Run!  Your Free!  Wake up!  Believe!  Run! Your Free!