Below the Waterline-3

For the past few weeks I have been encouraging us to make sure we have enough weight below the waterline to keep our ships from being capsized in the storms that are raging all around us..

That is what the picture on the front of the bulletin is meant to convey.

In connection with this series of messages I have mentioned Mike Plant and his disastrous and fatal attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean from New York to France in 1992.

While he was sailing the boat by himself, what is pictured on the bulletin:

The very bottom of a sailboat, is the keel bulb, or the keel, which, in Mike Plant’s case, broke off his boat.

We will never know, but apparently after the weight came off, his boat was hit by a wave or a strong gust of wind and his boat went over.

The sails were all fully rigged as they pointed to the bottom of the ocean instead of the sky.

Without the necessary weight below the waterline his boat could not right itself and it went completely upside down and stayed that way.

As we think about our lives we realize that unless we have enough of God in our lives, we face the same situation.

Last week I mentioned the correctional officer who freed a convict and went on the lam with him.

When caught and run off the road by Federal Marshals she ended up committing suicide.

How could a well-liked, highly respected, commended at work, 56 year old woman with 30 years on the job do such a thing?

It seems apparent that she didn’t have enough of the weight of God (if she had any!) below the waterline of her life.

A sudden gust of temptation blew into her life or a wave of irrationality washed over the deck of her ship and over she went — never to recover.

How tragic!

How tremendously sad!

But for the grace of God operating in our lives ...

But the weightiness of God’s presence in our lives, that would be us!

But in order to have enough of God in our lives we will have to let go of the things of this world.

In order to have enough weight below the waterline, we must have receptivity on our part for the things of God.

The things of this world will dull our desire for the things of God and lead us into a false sense of security in our own strength, wisdom and ability.

To gain more of God, we must fully engage in the 2-part process of sanctification.

That means turning from the things of the world — the things of sin — being cleansed from the rot of this world.

But then, at the same time, opening ourselves fully to the things of the Holy Spirit — asking God to fill us with more of Him.

Being emptied of sin without being filled with the things of God is a dangerous — and potentially disastrous situation.

Jesus spoke of such a situation in:

Matthew 12:43–45 (NASB95) “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44 “Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45 “Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”

The evil spirit, the demon, finds the “house” of person’s life “swept and put in order” but it is unoccupied, empty.

It has not been filled with the things of God.

With the help of the Holy Spirit, let us make sure we not only turn from the empty glitz and deception of this life — but let us, at the same time, turn fully to God and what He wants to pour into our lives.

To have enough weight below the waterline that the ship of our lives doesn’t get knocked over, we must possess our vessels in sanctification. As says:

1 Thessalonians 4:3–4 (NASB95) For this is the will of God, your sanctification; ... 4 that each of you know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor,

As we surrender to the work of the Holy Spirit, God will pour the weight of His glory into our lives.

I’m not talking about a few goose-bumps or a little warmth in the heart, but a sustained sense of God’s glorious presence leading us, strengthening us, surrounding us with the love that conquers all.

That glory will sustain us when the storms get really rough.

Both the Common storms that we are ALL facing right now — political chaos, run away inflation, empty shelves in the stores, the specter of war.

We face all of that and more, as well as the individual losses, trials, temptations and challenges.

But God’s glorious Presence will see us through to victory.

The Weight of The Anointed Word

This week I want us to consider another component of the weight that God wants to FIRMLY fasten below the waterline of our lives:

The weight of His Word empowered by the anointing of the Holy Spirit that comes through prayer.

Look with me at our text:

1 Thessalonians 1:5–10 (NASB95) for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake. 6 You also became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much tribulation with the joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia. 8 For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything. 9 For they themselves report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.

The Gospel and the Word of God

This Word contains poetry and prose.

It is filled with wisdom for living.

It is full of encouragement.

It is nourishment for the soul.

But above all, it contains the Gospel, glorious good news.

The Gospel is more than the proclamation that Jesus died for our sins and rose again.

It is more than Jesus is greater than Caesar.

As Curtis Hudson tells us: The Gospel proclaims:

… Jesus as a priest greater than Moses or Aaron, a king greater than David, a commander greater than Joshua, a philosopher greater than Solomon, a prophet greater than Elijah.

We talk about the great of earth—Alexander the Great, Caesar the Great, Frederick the Great, Alfred the Great, Peter the Great, Napoleon the Great—but there has been only one truly and supremely great One—Jesus!

Praise God for the Gospel that tells us about Jesus the Great!

In English vernacular, we have terms like “gospel-truth”, which means that something is absolutely true. However, in the Bible, the word “gospel” doesn’t mean truth.

“Gospel” is the English translation of the Greek word “euangelion” ( yoo·ang·ghel·ee·on) which means “news that brings great joy.”

When we hear this word today, our minds immediately tend to associate it with spirituality in general, or Christianity in particular, but originally, this word was political in nature.

In the Greco-Roman world, from the time of Alexander the Great and on into the Roman Empire, this word was used to refer to history-making, world-shaping reports of political, military, or societal victories.

CBL: According to its Greek heritage, as well as its acquired Hebrew background via the Septuagint, euangelion describes a good report from the battlefield, a message of victory. Moreover, this is its essential meaning in the New Testament. The gospel is the message of Christ’s victory over the enemy; the strong one has been conquered by the One who is stronger (Matthew 12:29).

When we understand this term “gospel” (euangelion), and how it was used in the ancient Greco-Roman world, we can begin to better understand the specific way in which the Christian gospels of Jesus Christ were written.

They were written in such a way as to present Jesus as the true divine King, who had come to bring true salvation to the whole world, and they were written as a direct challenge to the so-called “gospel” of Rome, its leader, Caesar and its peace which was enforced through brutality, and which did not provide any actual salvation.

The gospel is:

a message of a victory which has taken place, from which we benefit.

We receive salvation, freedom and peace as a result of it.

As says Romans 1:16–17 (NASB95) For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

The Gospel is the Word of God that we need to have in our lives.

It is the lens through which we must view the world, if we would view it as it really is.

It is the guidance we need when there are no other guideposts.

As the Psalmist said in Psalm 119:105 (NASB95) Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

The Gospel is the Word of God that builds ever greater faith in the only One on whom we MUST depend.

As Romans 10:17 tells us, faith comes through the Gospel, through the Word of God.

But to understand the Word.

To get it deep into our souls we must pray for the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Our text says in vs. 5, that the Gospel did not just come in word, but in the power and conviction of the Holy Spirit.

We MUST have the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon the Word, upon the Gospel.

Always start your Bible study/devotional time by first praying for the Holy Spirit to help you:

To, as John 16:13 says, the Holy Spirit will “Guide you into all the truth”

He will disclose the hidden things of God

Hidden from those who would seek them with fleshly intellect and worldly understanding.

1 Corinthians 2:9–10, 12 (NASB95) but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” 10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. … Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,

If we would grow weightier in the Word of God we must accompany our reading, study, memorization of the word with prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit

The Anointed Word Changes Our Trajectory

And then, as the anointed Word gets deep down inside of us, it will change the trajectory of our lives.

No longer aimless wanderers, but intentional followers of Jesus Christ.

Vs.6 of our text says - You became imitators of us.

Paul said: 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NASB95) Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

1 Corinthians 4:15–16 (NASB95) For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.

Philippians 3:17 (NASB95) Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us.

We follow the same committed path that the Apostle Paul, Peter, John and all of the others have walked before us.

Turning our world upside down for Jesus.

Not only do we follow, but others follow us.

Vs. 7 - YOU became examples

A GOOD example for our children and grandchildren

A GOOD example for our fellow students, our coworkers, our clients and customers, our neighbors.

Vs. 9 - Speaks of turning from idols to serve the a living and true God

No longer running after the meaningless things after which so many run

Things that cannot fulfill

Things that cannot satisfy

Things that lead to disappointment and death

Vs. 10 - Speaks of our goals being changed from looking just at getting ahead in this life to…

waiting for Jesus to come from heaven

waiting and working for Jesus’ soon return

The Anointed Word Is Greater Than the Storms and Sadness of Life

Not only is the trajectory of our lives changed, but the quality of lives, while we are here is transformed.

Vs. 6 - having received the Word (anointed by the Spirit!) in a time of tribulation

Tribulation can not snuff out the flame of the Gospel burning in you

Vs. 6 - with the joy of the Holy Spirit

The anointed Word produces JOY!

No sadness can extinguish the joy of the Holy Spirit with us

When The Weight of God’s Word is In Us, It Will Also Sound Forth FROM Us

And when people see us and hear our conversations they will see Jesus.

They will see the anointing of the Holy Spirit on our lives.

The joy in the midst of storms will be contagious.

Our lives will trumpet the Good News of victory in Jesus

Vs. 8 - The Word of God “sounded forth From you

Not just in our neighborhood but everywhere that you and I go

Our testimony will travel with us.

We Pray for Holy Spirit Anointing on the Word

So we pray for the weightiness of the Word to stabilize our lives and save us from being capsized by the storms all around us.

R.T. Kendall, an 86 year old author of the (2012) volume, Word Spirit Power says:

Our premise is this. It seems to us that there has been a ‘silent divorce’ in the church, speaking generally, between the Word and the Spirit. When there is a divorce, some children stay with the mother, some stay with the father.

In this divorce, there are those on the ‘word’ side and those on the ‘Spirit’ side. What is the difference?

Take those of us who represent the Word. Our message is this:

we must, as Jude vs. 3 tells us: earnestly contend for the faith ‘once delivered unto the saints’,

we must acquire sound doctrine such as justification by faith, the sovereignty of God and the internal testimony of the Spirit as taught by men like Martin Luther, John Calvin and Jonathan Edwards.

What is wrong with this emphasis? Nothing. It is exactly right.

Take those whose emphasis has been on the Holy Spirit.

What is the message?

We need to rediscover the power that was manifested in the Book of Acts, there needs to be a demonstration of signs, wonders and miracles; we need to see the gifts of the Spirit operating in the church – that the world will once again take notice of the church so that people are left without excuse.

What is wrong with this emphasis? Nothing. It is exactly right.

We believe that the need of the hour is not one or the other — but both!

It is our view that this simultaneous combination [of Word and Spirit] will result in spontaneous combustion! And then, but almost certainly ONLY then, will the world be shaken once again by the message of the church.

He goes on to say:

In every generation there arises a hunger for more in the spiritual life. The more pressing the external conditions and internal emotions, the more extensive is this hunger for more of God. When conditions are formed by multiple crises—locally, regionally, nationally and internationally—the hunger component seems to rise.

Folks in this day of crisis, are you full of the Spirit and the Word?

That will be the only way to keep your ship upright in these storm days.

Altar

So, do you know Jesus?

As you hear the Word anointed by the Holy Spirit respond.

Repent of your sins and surrender control of your life to Jesus.

Are you full of the weight of the Gospel, God’s Word? So that you ...

Have the trajectory of your life changed

Have a joy in the midst of world-wide sadness and despair?

So that you sound forth the Word into a hopeless world?

Are you praying in the Holy Ghost for the deep things of God to be revealed to you so that you have enough weight beneath the waterline that the storms and waves of this life don’t capsize the ship of your life?

As the worship team comes, let us once again consider the Presence of God operating in our lives, I invite you:

To come forward

To lift up your hands in surrender AND to receive

To lift up your voice in an audible declaration: “Lord I NEED Your help! Show me Your Word. Show me Your glorious presence. Fill me with more of You and Your glorious Gospel — the Good News of victory!”