"Trade Up!"
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I. Introduction.
I. Introduction.
Folks, I ask you to forgive me for not starting this message with a text.
It’s Ok, you can trust me, I will get to a text, and when I do, you are gonna love it!
I’d like to speak to you from this title: “Trade up!”
Now before we open the book, I have a question:
How many of you husbands have ever got in trouble for not stopping at garage sales?
It’s ok, you can tell the truth!
I mean, you and I are not overly interested in other people’s..... dare I say junk?
Why? Because we know, we have our own junk that’s been sitting in the garage or the shed for a while now, mocking our organizational abilites and lack of resolve.
“I’ve got enough stuff, without buying someone else’s!!!”
But now brothers, I have learned that our ladies do not feel how we feel about garage sales!
I am convinced that some of these fine Christian ladies, can see a sale sign through a lead plate!!!!!
Were you aware of that?
Where does that leave you and I?
Well, I have thought about it at some length. I have pondered and I figure there are a few ways you can go:
Number one: You can try to misdirect her so that she does not see the neon sign taped to the pole. “Oh honey, did you see that beautiful rose bush over there?” “Did you see that lady’s shoes?”
Of course if you do that, you’ll feel guilty and soon, you will crack under the pressure!
Been there, done that!
“Brothers, they can smell deceit!!!” Special powers, I am convinced!
The other method you can try is to throw yourself at the mercy of the court:
“Your honor, I mean sweetheart, remember we have to be somewhere in half an hour!”
Finally, the best angle, the right thing to do, is to beat her to it! (And folks, I know this message will come back to haunt me…)
You wake her up one Saturday with coffe in bed and a nice puff pastry on a plate! (Now fellas, do try to remmeber to put a doily on the plate. Details!)
“Baby, here’s a little funny money in cash. Greenbacks! some ones and fives and tens and yes, even a twenty at the bottom there! “How’s about we go crawl the garage sales together!!!!
Y’all really need to pray for me! I’m telling you folks, Stike me dead, I will have to live up to this sermon!
Now men, you know there is a universal law that applies in every culture and time and place and it is this:
Happy wife, happy life!!!!
Just go to the garage sale! once in a while!! Hold her hand and make it fun!
One man in Philidelphia did just that.
Bought a ratty old painting for $4.00. He didn’t want the painting, just the frame.
Took it apart, and from underneath, fell out one of the early copies of the Decleration of independance!
He sold that puppy for $2.4M!!!!!!
Another peson found a swiss watch at a goodwill in Phoenix. Paid $5 and later sold it for $35k!
A Lady in the UK bought a $14 dollar ring at a sidewalk sale, and wore it for years. said it was pretty!
One day she took it to a jeweller and found out it was 26ct, white diamond ring which later sold at Sotheby’s for $918,178!
Can you feel that?
I can just feel the faith growing in this place!!!! (LOL)
In 2007, this lady bought a Chinese bowl at a yard sale in New York. She put it on display in her home, until an expert identified it as a bowl from the Northern Song dynasty! The thing sold for $2.2M In New York!!
What a bargain!!!!
New York itself, or Manhattan at least, was sold by an Indian tribe for $1000 of trade goods to Pieter Minnewert, Dutch Governer in 1626.
The bargain of the ages!
Who doesn’t love a bargain?
It’s when you pay a little and gain a lot!!!!
But did you know there is something even better than a good bargain?
I’ll tell you what’s better than a good bargain, and that is a good trade!
Long before currencies, the trading goods and services was the orgional economy.
Now here’s what’s awesome about a good trade:
I once traded some dirty, faded hot wheels for several GI joe action figures!
The score of a lifetime!
See, I’d played those hotwheels through my backyard, in the dirt and all over for a few years.
They were tired. You know how sometimes one of the wheelsl will get wobbly?
Trust me, these hotwheels had seen better days!
And I didn’t even want them anymore!
But those GI joes? I’d almost be willing to give a kidney!!!
To this day, I am amazed that that kid was happy and satisfied with the trade!
Now here’s the thing that makes for a great trade:
It’s when you let go of something that you don’t want, in exchange for something that you do want!
Finally, our text!
Is 61:1-3 is where we find truth today:
My friend, God has so much for each and every one here today.
He has so much to give every hungry heart! It is the will of God that you should trade up!!!!
He has so much to give every hungry heart! It is the will of God that you should trade up!!!!
“Thus saith the Lord!”
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me;
Because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek;
He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all that mourn;
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion,
To give unto them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they might be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.
Almighty God desires for each of us to “trade up!”
I want you too look closely this morning, and see what an excellent trade God wants to give His people!
Before we look at the terms and conditions of the trade that God wants to make with his people, you first have to realize that It is God’s intention to Bind up the brokenhearted.
When my sister and I were kids, she broker her foot in a game of tag.
Running after me, her foot came down on a sharp corner of rock, sticking out of the ground and those little bones inside her foot went crunch!
Immediately, that thing swelled up something awful!
We got that foot set at the hospital only to find out in a few days, the doctor had set it wrong.
It was so traumatic to my sister’s body, that her hair actually began to fall out, until it was broken again, and reset!
From that day forward, Bethany’s left foot has had issues.
Sometimes it will just give out without warning!
One time in college, she hurt it walking down a flight of stairs and rolled it real bad.
I picked her up, stuffed her into the car and off we went to the Hospital!
Years later, living and working in the city, she calls me from a bus stop downtown on Van Ness:
“boohoo, Jonathan, I was getting off a bus, and my heel got caught in a crack on the road. Rolled my ankle and I’m sitting in the bus shelter, can’t walk!”
“It’s ok Bethany, I’m stuck in traffic on the San Mateo Bridge! But I’ll get to you, Just hang tight.”
So yeah, we have been to a few emergency rooms over the years and I have learned that doctors and nurses are usually very kind and very willing to bind up your wounds, just sign right here.
But then I’ve also learned that there are some wounds, no doctor can help you with!
Some hurts that no surgeon can fix!
The wounds of the Spirit!
Wounds of the Soul!
It’s gonna take more than flesh and blood to dress those hurts!
And if you are here today, you say “I am brokenhearted!” Friend, Jesus wants to help you!
He is ready to clean your wound, to bind it up and to help you!
Chains for Freedom!
Chains for Freedom!
Jesus wants your chains, but He’s not asking them for nothing:
He’ll trade your chains for freedom!
Jesus quotes this very passage in Is 61, written 750 years before His birth, along with a portion from Deuteronomy and Jesus claims this as His mission statement!
After binding up your wounds, Jesus wants to make a trade:
“He hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to them that are bound;”
Jesus wants to help Billions of people today!
He wants to make a trade with you:
“I will take your chains, since they’re not good for you and you don’t want them anyway, I’ll take those things that bind you and I’ll trade you for freedom!
How about a dose of truth in your life?
Truth leads to freedom!
“I am the Way, the Truth and the Life!”
John 8:32 (KJV 1900)
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
There is no freedom like the power of the Holy Ghost!
Jesus is ready to make a trade with every person in our county and our world!
“If you’re tired of prison and the prison life, Trade up for Freedom!
Come get a taste of true repentance and true peace!
Go down in water as Jesus name is called over you!!!!
You don’t have to be a slave to the bottle!
You don’t have to be a slave to the pills, to any substance or behavior!
If you thought Abraham Lincoln freed slaves, you oughtta see what Jesus can do!!!
And that’s why we can say: There is no sain’t without a past and no sinner without a future!
Jesus wants to trade your mourning with comfort!
Jesus wants to trade your mourning with comfort!
Are you mourning for past mistakes?
Are you sorrowing for lost opportunities and lost relationships”
Ministry lost, fulfillment lost, years lost and gone!
Mourning.... Most people are. Each with his own reason.
When people in the world grieve, they turn to various coping mechanisms.
They cope to delay dealing with the issue head on! It’s just too big and too painful!
But here’s the thing, at some point, you have to stop drinking!
You’ll have to face life eventually!
At some point, you come down from the high!
At some point the distractions of the flesh wear you out!
Sin rings you out a like a wet rag, until you have nothing left!
No self respect, no hope and absolutely no joy!
There you are, mourning.
All this time, Jesus has been knowcking on the door of your heart!
But sometimes folks have to hit rock bottome to hear his knocking...
Jesus understands my friend, and he wants you to trade up!
“Here, I will trade your mourning for comfort!”
“Give me all the things that hurt your heart, all the sadness and all the grief! I will buy that with comfort!”
“Let me show you that I am indeed the comforter!!”
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
2 Corinthians 1:3 (KJV 1900)
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
Jesus was moving through the throng, on His way to heal Jairus’ daughter.
It was desperation that made a woman in that crowd approach Him!
She could have got into a lot of trouble!
12 she had suffered from her malady!
“If I can just touch the hem of His garment!” I will be healed!”
“If I can just get a hold of Jesus!”
She did! and in an instant, she was made whole!!!!!
Matthew 9:22 (KJV 1900)
But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
Jesus was so happy that she traded up!!
What a deal! 12 years of infirmity, shame and derision gone in a moment!
Now listen folks, anything that The Holy Spirit asks from you, He gives far better in return!!!!
Trade up!!!!
John 14:1 (KJV 1900)
Let not your heart be troubled...
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
Beauty for Ashes.
Beauty for Ashes.
In 2017, we learned something about fires in this county.
When things burn up, a residue is left behind.
Do you rmember the ash rain that stayed for days on end?
The smell and the ash everywhere?
The Hebrew people would use ashes to mourn.
Fitting.
Maybe there are some ashes in your life.
Even though you are in church today.
There may be some areas in your life and experience, that are nothing but grief to you.
Mourning, ashes.
Why don’t you trade those in for something beautiful?
Friend, there is nothing I can do about the past.
What’s done is done!
What’s burned is burned!
But I can give my ashes to Jesus!
And if you do, He won’t ask them for free.
He’ll take you ashes, but He’ll give you something wonderful, something beautiful instead!
Trade up already!!!!
There is a greeting common in the Epistles. “Grace and Peace to you.”
It’s easy to miss in English, but when you look at the origional language, the best translation of that word peace is this:
“Inner calm and spiritual well being.”
Yes Jesus! I’ll take it!!!!
“You take my disappointments! You take my mistakes, take all of my ashes and give me your peace!
Inner calm and spiritual well being!!!
Oh what a trade!!!!!
Today is your day my friend!!!!
Listen: It is possible to serve God and still find yourself in turmoil at times!
Emotional stuff, relationship stuff, life complications stuff!
That’s why you need to spend time at the altar!!!!!
Every one of us!!!!
Jesus wants you help you trade up!
Don’t leave this place today without inner calm and spiritual well being!
Jesus has just what you need!
The Oil of Joy for Mourning.
The Oil of Joy for Mourning.
It was a common practice to be anointed with oil in celebration and times of festivity.
Jesus was clear: Give me your mourning, and I will give you oil!!!
Oil of course, is symbolic of the baptism of the Holy Spirit!
Sometimes people grieve so hard for their wrongdoings and mistakes.
Fine, repent and forsake those things, yes! But don’t spend your life grieving about them!
Put your past under the blood!!!!!
Trade your grief and shame for something that will change your life forever!
And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
It still happens friend!!!
We feel him here today!
Let today be your day to trade up!!!!
Open your spirit to His Spirit!
Now listen, don’t mistake me...
I’m not saying you don’t have a good reason to mourn!
There are times when that is the only response is to mourn!
“To every thing there is a season.....”
But it’s like vitamins, there comes a point where too much is dangerous!
Trade up!!!
Trade on your sadness and grief for Holy Joy!!!!
Why don’t we take a moment here and pray in the Spirit?
Why don’t we take a moment here and pray in the Spirit?
The Garment of Praise for the Spirit of Heaviness
The Garment of Praise for the Spirit of Heaviness
Now listen folks, there are times when it is natural to experience heaviness.
Sometimes we get tired.
Saved? Yes!
Love God? sure!!!
Working for His Kingdom? yep!
But everyone gets tired and that’s just natural!
Spiritual fatigue can feel like a wet blanket that sorta smothers your creativity and your spark.
Sometimes we do grow weary in well doing.
But thank God He has the remedy!
His solution is a trade up!
How about it folks? A spirit of heaviness is natural when one expereinces loss.
You have a right to grieve.
Sis Christina just lost her sister. Our hearts grieve with her and her family!
We just lost Bro Jerry.
And the weight of it tears at our hearts!!!!!
But then I think of the last time I saw Him:
Playing worship music from the speaker in the kitchen, Samantha was singing, (what beautiful voice you have)
There was a sweet presence of the Holy Spirit in that living room!
There I was, a heaviness in my heart, knowing what He was going through.
But then I watched Jerry lift His hands, laying against that bed, fighting the pain, he lifted his hands in Worship to Almighty God!!!
I was still trying to process my grief, but Jerry was way ahead of me!
Hands raised in that hospice bed, Jerry was trading up!!!!
He took Jesus up on His offer:
“I’ll trade you a garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness!
II. Conclusion
II. Conclusion
So each of us carry burdens.
They may be different than mine, or the person next to you, but they are no less heavy.
No less wearisome.
I want to close this service today at the altar!!!!
I invite you to join me in the altar as a family!
And let’s take Jesus at His Word!
Whatever is heavy to you, whatever weighs you down, whatever robs your joy, trade it here today!
Give it to Jesus!
He’ll take it from you and give you inner calm and spiritual well being.
Comfort, beauty for ashes and a garment of praise
