Movin' on Up?
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· 98 viewsGrace Fellowship in Rusk, Texas Sunday, February 7, at 10:30 am
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Movin’ on Up?
Movin’ on Up?
Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive blessing from the Lord, And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face. Selah
Everyone wants to “move up” in life.
Everyone wants to “move up” in life.
“The Jeffersons” (January 18, 1975-July 2, 1985)
Star characters: George and Louise “Weezy” Jefferson
Theme song: “Movin’ on Up”: “Well we're movin' on up…To the east side…To a deluxe apartment in the sky…Movin' on up…To the east side...We finally got a piece of the pie. Fish don't fry in the kitchen…beans don't burn on the grill…Took a whole lotta tryin'…Just to get up that hill…Now we're up in the big leagues…Gettin' our turn at bat…As long as we live…It's you and me, baby…There ain't nothin' wrong with that…We’re movin’ on up…To the east side…To a deluxe apartment in the sky…Movin’ on up…to the east side…We finally got a piece of the pie.”
There’s whole lot of people trying “just to get up that hill”.
Questions:
“What is ‘that hill’?”
“What’s at the top of ‘that hill’?”
Our Daily Bread (July 9, 1994): “Tennis star Boris Becker was at the very top of the tennis world—yet he was on the brink of suicide. He said, ‘I had won Wimbledon twice before, once as the youngest player. I was rich. I had all the material possessions I needed…It’s the old song of movie stars and pop stars who commit suicide. They have everything, and yet they are so unhappy. I had no inner peace. I was a puppet on a string.’ Becker is not the only one to feel that sense of emptiness. The echoes of a hollow life pervade our culture. One doesn’t have to read many contemporary biographies to find the same frustration and disappointment. Jack Higgens, author of such successful novels as The Eagle Has Landed, was asked what he would like to have known as a boy. His answer: ‘That when you get to the top, there’s nothing there.’”
“What does ‘Movin’ on Up’ mean in an ‘upside down world?’”
“Movin’ on Up” without God (The Tower of Babel)
“Movin’ on Up” without God (The Tower of Babel)
Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.
And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.
And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.
Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.
Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
What was the motivation behind their efforts?
PRIDE: “Let us”
SECURITY: “Let us build ourselves a city”
WORSHIP: “Let us build a tower whose top is in the heavens”
IDENTITY: “Let us make a name for ourselves”
UNITY “Lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
The people tried to “Move’ on Up” without God, and they were confused and scattered.
They tried to rise high, but fell low.
Have you tried to climb to the top without God?
f. Consider James 4:6.
But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”
The paradox of life
The paradox of life
A “paradox” is a tenet that is contrary to received opinion or common sense but is perhaps true.
Examples of paradox
“No one goes to the mall anymore—it’s too crowded.”
“If there is one thing I know, it’s that I don’t know anything at all.”
“The final rule you need to know is to ignore all rules.”
“The second sentence is false. The first sentence is true.”
“This statement is a lie.”
“I am a compulsive liar.”
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
There is a paradox to life where winning is losing and losing is winning.
If you seek to gain your life, you will lose it.
If you lose your life to follow Jesus, you will find it.
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.
Are you “Movin’ on Up?” without God?
The higher you go without God, the deeper the hole.
Don’t spend your life digging for gold only to realize you dug your own grave.
What hill are you climbing?
What hill are you climbing?
The hill of success? Comfort? Security? Pride? Popularity? Health? Money? Image?
“We buy things we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people we don’t like.” –Dave Ramsey
It is said, “We must choose our battles.” In the same way, we must choose the hill we want to die on.
Is the hill you are climbing worth dying on?
The hill that is worth dying on is the hill worth climbing.
The Hill worth climbing
The Hill worth climbing
The hill of the LORD
Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive blessing from the Lord, And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, Who seek Your face. Selah
What are the benefits of ascending the hill of the LORD? What is at the TOP?
The blessing from the LORD
A blessing is a spiritual empowerment to prosper and enjoy what God has given.
The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.
The gift of righteousness
Only the righteous can ascend the hill of the LORD.
Who can say, “I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin”?
Righteousness is a gift of God’s grace rather than of our merit.
Righteousness is deliverance from the penalty of our sin through the blood of Jesus Christ.
For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
The mercy of salvation
Salvation is deliverance from the power of sin through the Cross of Jesus Christ
The presence of the LORD
A “deluxe mansion” in the sky
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.
In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
What hill are you climbing?
It is time to ascend the hill of the LORD
The place of His blessing, righteousness, and presence
The only way to ascend is through faith in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ.
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.