Revelation or Imagination?
This is the second of five sermon outlines I'll be posting this week.
Revelation or Imagination?
I. Introduction
a. “Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD. (6) For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. (7) Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. (8) For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit” (Jeremiah 17:5-8).
b. Who do you trust in? What are you focused on in this life? Where is your hope? How many “gods” do you have your attention divided among?
c. Jeremiah was asked to preach to a people that had all of their priorities mixed up. They trusted in their armies, kings, and prophets more than they did their God.
d. Many people today put all of their faith in their so-called pastor than they do in God!
e. Do you put more emphasis on revelation or imagination?
II. Man without God
a. Everyone has a decision to make concerning where they put their trust. For a lot of folks, this choice happens subconsciously. For some, they may deliberately choose evil. And for even less than that, they make the decision to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
i. Matthew 7:13-14 tells us plainly that few will find the kingdom of God. Honestly, many will not even begin looking!
ii. One main reason for failure is that a person refuses to strive to enter God’s eternal kingdom (Luke 13:24; Hebrews 4:11)
b. When man chooses to turn against God and follow after His own ways, the only place he can go is to the evil imaginations of the heart.
i. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
ii. Paul describes these people in Romans 1. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; (19) Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. (20) For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (21) Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. (22) Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, (23) And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Romans 1:18-23). Don’t leave revelation for imagination!
c. A man who does not have the nourishment of God in his life is like a shrub in the middle of the desert or a man trying to live in an uninhabitable land that has been sown with salt (Jeremiah 17:6)!
i. Those who leave home without God come back empty.
1. “As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool” (Jeremiah 17:11).
2. “O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters” (Jeremiah 17:13).
ii. Man is composed of two parts, so man needs two sources of nourishment (Matthew 4:4). He needs bread for the body, and he needs the sword for the spirit.
III. Man with God
a. “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).
i. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).
ii. “Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? (68) Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. (69) And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God” (John 6:67-69).
b. We must strive to seek those things which are above because this old earth has nothing for us. (Colossians 3:1-2)
i. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: (20) But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matthew 6:19-20).
ii. “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; (18) That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; (19) Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (I Timothy 6:17-19)
IV. Conclusion
a. Who do you trust? Do you trust God or man? The individual who decides to put their faith in God will be blessed beyond all measure (Jeremiah 17:8; Ephesians 1:3).
b. One can get into Christ, where all spiritual blessings are, by being baptized (Galatians 3:27)