Pastor Darryl Bentley
Midland SDA Church
March 13, 2010
Homiletical Idea: Each Christian needs the Holy Spirit at work in their life. There is a four-fold approach that we can use to help assure that we are in God’s will: 1) seek God, 2) surrender to His will, 3) apply the teaching that He shares with us, and 4) praise Him for His excellent mercy. This approach makes up the four strands of the spiritual rope that links us to God.
Climbers
One sport that has always fascinated me is rock climbing. No, I am not a rock climber but I love to watch people do it. It takes agility to work your way across and up the face of the rock. Climbers must learn to find tiny foot and hand holds that may not be obvious to the casual observer. Experienced climbers wear special shoes that allow grip and flexibility. Many wear helmets to help protect their heads. There is another component that climbers use that is common to all of them: rope.
Rope is literally the life-line that helps tether the climber to rock face. It is so amazing to me that little braided strands and come fancy clips called karabiners are responsible for the safety of so many people. Those little braided strands not only help prevent falls while going up the rock, but you can also use them to rappel back down.
*Illustration*: Army basic training.
So what makes rope so special? Of course it comes made in various materials, but the one thing that all ropes have in common is that they are made up of multiple strands of whatever material. Each strand by itself is strong, but its strength is multiplied greatly when those strands come together to form the rope. There are even some ropes that have a solid cord in the middle to give even more strength. Needless to say, a good rope is essential for the survival of a climber, and I submit to you this morning that good rope is essential for the life of a Christian.
Essentials
When you consider the items that are necessary for Christian growth there is no doubt many things that come to mind. We need to pray, we should attend church, we need to read our Bibles, we need to share our faith, and the list goes on. But as important as all of these components are, if you and I do not have the Spirit of God living in us we may very well have a form of godliness without having any real spiritual power (2 Timothy 3:5).
Yes, we need the Holy Spirit so much more than we often realize. It has been said that we do not have because we have not asked (James 4:2). Could it be that simple? Could it be that we do not have the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives just because we have not asked?
I think it involves a little more than just asking. As I study my Bible I see a picture emerge that asking must be coupled together with action. In fact, I submit to you this morning that in order to have a solid connection with Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit you must be tethered to Him with a spiritual rope.
Holy Strands
Since we are going with the analogy of rope that means that we must have a rope that is made up of multiple strands right? Rope gets it strength through the coming together of the strands. What are the strands that make up spiritual rope? Let’s discover it together.
Seeking
With our spiritual rope we must have first things first. We will turn to various texts and learn together. Our first stop is in Psalm 32. Let us read here and see if we can discover the first strand of our spiritual rope.
**Read Psalm 32:
In this Psalm we find the writer having lived apart from God. In verse 3 he writes about having kept silent about his sins. When he did that the hand of God was heavy upon him almost to the point of death. But when he confessed his sins he found forgiveness and was freed from guilt. But before he could confess his sins he had to do something. Verse 6 is the key to finding the first strand of our spiritual rope. It says to let people pray in a time when You may be found. The fact that God was found is a strong indication that He was being sought after.
A very similar theme is brought to light from our Scripture reading this morning. Jesus promised that those who seek will find. As we knock doors will be opened, and as we ask of God it will be given to us. But do you see the action that is required on our part? Yes, I believe the Spirit of God is wooing us to Him and that the Holy Spirit brings us under conviction that we feel compelled to seek God, but you and I begin to become tethered to God by His Spirit as we seek Him. This is the first strand of our spiritual rope.
Surrendering
We have one strand of our spiritual rope and now we need the other three. Our next stop is in Gethsemane. Let’s read in Matthew 26 and see if we can discover the next strand as it were.
**Read Matthew 26:38-44**
What was happening that gave Christ the power that He needed to endure the trial that lay before Him? Was Christ able to push beyond Gethsemane in His own strength? No. Was He able to perform miracles in His own power? No. Jesus did what He did because He was connected to the Father through the power of the Holy Spirit, and He was filled with the Holy Spirit because He surrendered His will to the Father. Yes, Jesus was God in the flesh, but He had to set aside His divinity in order to come and die the death of a sinner so that you and I might find salvation in this wicked world. If we remain obstinate and never surrender our will to Christ then ultimately we will pay the price for our sins.
Apply
Our rope is beginning to take shape for us. We have the first two strands pulled together with seeking and surrendering. Now we add another very important strand. It is actually quite logical if you think about. First we must seek God. Once we come to Him we must be willing to surrender our will to His. As we seek His face and surrender our will it is then that He begin to teach us how to live a righteous life. Paul knew about this concept when he wrote to the believers in Ephesus.
**Read Ephesians 4:1-3**
Paul was one who knew that to be a Christian means that you should act like one. Isn’t that a novel idea that Christians should act like Christians? Far too often, I think, our lives to do not match up with what we profess with our mouths. It is easy to pay lip service to the gospel but it can be much more difficult to have it be a reality in our lives. But it is only difficult to walk in a manner worthy of our calling if we are attempting to do it in our own strength.
Did you notice the qualifiers that Paul put on this phrase? It is with humility, gentleness, patience, and tolerant love that we are to do this. You and I can attempt to be humble, gentle, patient, and lovingly tolerant but in reality we cannot accomplish this without the Holy Spirit because these are some of the fruits of the Spirit.
There are many who try to do these things on their own. It’s true. They come to church and smile at every one and on the outside they look like Christians, but what is happening on the inside? On the onside they are bitter and angry. They often grumble to others about how they could really care less about all this church stuff. You can tell when people are just going through the motions of Christianity without having a God-sought, surrendered life. For them coming to church is a burden. For them Sabbath school has no joy. For them being a Christian is drudgery because they have not surrendered their selfish will to the holy, perfect will of God.
Praise
We come now to the last strand of our spiritual rope. Thus far we have said that we must seek God. When we come to Him we must then surrender our will to His. Once we have surrendered to Him we must apply the Biblical teaching He gives us. We must walk in a manner worthy of our calling by the power of the Holy Spirit. The last strand is just as also important for us. This particular strand is mentioned throughout the Bible, but I want to look at the counsel we have in Hebrews.
**Read Hebrews 13:15, 16**
Why do you think Paul calls it a sacrifice of praise? I think perhaps it could be a sacrifice in that it is not always easy to praise God for what’s happening in your life. Sometimes life just stinks doesn’t it? When you lose your job do you walk out the door with the pink slip in your hand shouting, “Wow that was awesome! Thank You, Lord, for letting me lose my job today!” Some may be glad to move on from a cruddy job, but most people don’t do cartwheels over being let go from a job. What about when someone dies that you are close to. Do you run through the streets shouting, “Hallelujah”; probably not?
So when Paul calls it a sacrifice of praise it is because he knew first-hand that life could throw some lemons your way. Paul who was shipwrecked, stoned, whipped, and cursed knew that being a Christian was not some proverbial bed of roses. He knew that sometimes life just stinks and the junk we have to deal with stinks too. But he also knew that in order to stay connected with the God of heaven you have to offer your praise to God even in the bad times of life.
He gives a two-part equation here that really makes the sacrifice of praise a little easier. Notice verse 16 says that we are to also do good for and share with others. This is actually an amazing concept here. When you and I take the time to move our focus from ourselves to others our own worries and troubles can pale in comparison. Perhaps the key to appreciating your own misery is finding someone who is worse off than you are.
Too many of us become insular and let the walls of our own world close in about us. Our focus then becomes only on the troubles of our life and we forget that there are those who have it much worse than we do. I am not trying to say that we don’t sometimes have good reasons for being sad or down. I am trying to say that if you will push past that and focus your thoughts toward praising God for His goodness, and if you will seek to alleviate suffering in the lives of those around you it is entirely possible to offer a sacrifice of praise to God that will give you courage and strength beyond what you now have.
Bound Together
We now have the strands of our spiritual rope. It is important to realize that these strands have only limited power when taken separately. Our spiritual rope finds its strength when the strands are braided together. To simply God is not enough. When you seek Him you must be willing to take the steps of surrendering your will to His. Once you have surrendered to His will He will instruct you as to how He wants you to walk. Not only will He give the instructions, He will give you His Holy Spirit to empower you to do His will. When He does this we should shape our lives to praise Him at every turn. And not only this; we should also seek to help others so that we can keep our own pain or heartache in perspective.
*Illustration*: Deployment to Iraq.
I firmly believe that if we will each seek to have these four stands at work in our life then we will see God braid together a spiritual rope that will keep us tethered tightly to our Jesus. I pray that each of you today will choose to follow this counsel and always stay close to God through your spiritual rope. How many of you today would like to have the security and help that comes from being attached to God? Let us pray.