Gtcotr/ss112920
God, who will have all men be saved, will leave no stone unturned. In His quest to melt the wills of men, God prescribes to each a regimen equal to the task. Still the stubborn souls of mankind often hold out on God while looking for some alternate source of satisfaction. To this God set His first commandment: Exodus 20:3 “Thou shalt have no other Gods before Me!”
Finally, when all other efforts were exhausted, God sent a voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way for His only begotten Son. Jesus came into the world to show us the Father, His goodness, His grace, and His love.
In the fulness of time both John the Baptist and Jesus the Messiah stood together to confirm and fulfill the promised covenants and yet men who heard them were still not convinced. After King Herod put John into prison Jesus spoke to the multitudes concerning the differences in their ministries.
Matthew 11 KJV
16 ¶ But whereunto shall I
liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and
calling unto their fellows,
17 And saying, We have piped
unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not
lamented.
18 For John came neither
eating nor drinking, and they say, he hath a devil.
19 The Son of man came eating
and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend
of publicans and sinners. But wisdom is justified of her children.
20 Then began He to upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not:
Piping
and Mourning represent the two ministries God ordained to reach and save the
souls of men.
·
Piping
and Mourning, as Jesus put it.
· The New Living Translation reads:
Matthew 11: 17 ‘We played wedding songs, and you didn’t dance, so we played funeral songs, and you didn’t mourn.’
·
We,
meaning Jesus and God, tried every approach to reach the hearts and melt the
souls of men.
o Joy and Sorrow
o Dancing and Weeping
o Rejoicing and
Repenting
o Law and Grace
o Judgement and
Forgiveness
·
Preaching
both the Goodness of God and the Evils of Sin
o John the Baptist
preached the evils of sin, Repent and Return
o Jesus preached the goodness of God, Receive and Rejoice
However, generations seem to forget God in their good times and not trust Him when things go wrong. Neither sorrow nor joy turned their hearts towards the Lord. In fact, people often turn bitter and become critical of the messages and messengers of God. Yet all day long God reaches from His heart of love to children who refuse to acknowledge Him.
Why do men continue to ignore God … especially in the face of such turmoil? This was not a new thing in the days of Jesus and John the Baptist. This has been happening since the Garden of Eden.
There is a Jewish Proverb concerning two kings of Judah, King Amaziah who ruled in Jerusalem about 825BC, and King Ahaz who ruled in about 730BC. Both of these Kings encountered a God moment in life. Although their individual encounters were vastly different, both of them reacted in very similar ways. King Amaziah experienced victory while King Ahaz experienced defeat. The proverb is meant to show the vanity of men who ignore either the blessings or the chastisements of the Lord. The Proverb:
“Says God, I was
angry with Ahaz, and I delivered him into the hands of the kings of Damascus;
he sacrificed and burnt incense to their gods. I played with Amaziah, and I
gave the king of Edom into his hands; he brought their gods and worshipped
them.”
Both of these kings ignored the hand of God on their lives. How arrogant and how alarming it is to refuse to acknowledge the Father of your soul in special seasons of delight or distress. He, in these cases, was the Father of both the victory and the defeat.
2 Chronicles 28
22 Now in the time of his
distress King Ahaz became increasingly unfaithful to the LORD. This is that
King Ahaz.
23 For he sacrificed to the gods of Damascus which had defeated him, saying, “Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, I will sacrifice to them that they may help me.” But they were the ruin of him and of all Israel.
2 Chronicles 25
14 ¶ Now it was so, after
Amaziah came from the slaughter of the Edomites, that he brought the gods of
the people of Seir, set them up to be his gods, and bowed down before
them and burned incense to them.
15 Therefore the anger of the LORD was aroused against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet who said to him, “Why have you sought the gods of the people, which could not rescue their own people from your hand?”
The ancient proverb recounts that God was angry with King Ahaz and He played with King Amaziah … as Jesus said, Piping and Mourning. Both designed by a loving Father to get the attention and melt the will of His children.
The Bible contains numerous accounts of our Heavenly Father turning every stone to reach the hearts of men. He tries to make them laugh; He corrects them to encourage their right behavior … once He even sacrificed His only begotten Son … all in hopes that men would stop ignoring His love.
Jesus said the children care not that He pipes and mourns, they judge Him as though He was out of touch with the realities they face. Believe me, nothing could be farther from the truth. Many who are preoccupied with their own pursuits never see themselves as the only object of God’s love. They invest in golden idols, deceitful power, and passing fame. These false gods do not satisfy and cannot save.
From the whole account of God’s Word it can be clearly seen that our Heavenly Father wants our attention, our respect, and an eternal relationship with us through His Son Jesus.
This
morning I have come to ask you to dance with, and when the time comes, to mourn
with the Father of your soul. God so loves you that He gave His only Son. If
you will believe in Him, you will have everlasting life.
There
are three things your Heavenly God wants from you this morning:
1.
God wants us to Acknowledge Him.
a. Can you see Jesus
sitting in the marketplace playing the wedding song, hoping you will let Him
fill your life with joy and blessings? Give Him your attention …
i. Don’t ignore what He
is doing to make you happy.
ii. Don’t act like a
spoiled child … to cool for Jesus …
iii. Don’t act like you
don’t need Him or that He can’t relate.
b. Acknowledge God.
i. He has piped and He has
mourned.
ii. He has blessed and He
has corrected.
iii. Repent, Return,
Receive, and Rejoice in God your Father.
iv. God is more involved
and more invested in your life, your family, your finances, and your future
than are you.
2.
God wants our Obedience
a. When we lose our
respect for God, that He is God, we begin to imagine we can do it without Him.
b. It is disrespectful to
ignore God’s intervention in our affairs.
c. God has His hand on
our lives in the good days and in the difficult times.
3.
God wants us to Trust Him
a. God wants us to trust
Him in every situation.
b. Trust is a vital part of our relationship with God.
There will be days for dancing and days to lament … weddings and funerals. Each season of life will offer its opportunities to acknowledge God, obey His Word, and put your trust in Him. Bear in mind that God will leave no stone unturned in His efforts to save the souls of men. His plan is far beyond our comprehension and outside of our control. Thanks be to God!
How
has the Father of your soul been reaching out to you in this season? What is
your proper response to Him today?
