"COMFORTABLE AND RELAXED IN OBEDIENCE"
October 21, 2001 pm
MF Blume
I wish to read the text from this morning's sermon again tonight
and connect it with yet another thought the Lord revealed.
Genesis 8:1-4 And God remembered
Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the
ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged;
The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped,
and the rain from heaven was restrained; And the waters returned from off
the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days
the waters were abated. And the ark rested in the seventh month,
on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.
Matthew 7:24-27 Therefore whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man,
which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for
it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built
his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the
fall of it.
Resting on Ararat is resting on the word THE CURSE IS REVERSED.
Ararat means the "Curse is reversed."
God actually blessed Noah with the blessing of power over all the earth
and all in it, that He first gave to Adam before Adam sinned.
And God's word of salvation for the soul who obeys His Gospel offers
a place of rest to you.
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A place to be comfortable when troubles come that normally upset us.
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Rest on the fact the curse that came upon men when Adam sinned is reversed,
and you are blessed with the position God gave Adam of having power over
this world and all in it.
This thought compares with the words of Jesus.
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His word is a rock.
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Trusting on his word by hearing it and then obeying it likens you unto
a particular thought.
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You're a wise man who built his house on the rock.
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You hear the word THE CURSE IS REVERSED.
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And you believe it and live by it.
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You REST on it.
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So you can say you make it your home.
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Its your place of comfort.
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You LIVE there.
A house is supposed to be a home.
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Its where you kick up your feet and relax.
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Its where you're comfortable.
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There is no place like home.
It is possible to hear the great word of God, that can never be a lie,
and not obey nor do it.
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Jesus said such people are like fools who built their houses on sand, and
not on the rock.
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THEY BECOME COMFORTABLE WITH HEARING THE WORD AND NEVER OBEYING IT.
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It becomes their lives.
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Its where they're at.
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Its a place of being comfortable where you ought not feel comfortable.
The curse is reversed.
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Live like it is reversed.
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Live like it is true.
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Act like it.
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If the curse is reversed, and you have dominion and power over all things,
then treat earth's troubles as though you have power over them.
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Don't worry about being defeated.
If you struggle with this idea, you're not comfortable with it.
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You cannot rest on it.
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But you can be comfortable there.
Never get comfortable in a place where you hear the word and do not obey
it.
Two people are in a situation.
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Its a place of sin.
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A word of God comes to them both.
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Both hear it.
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But only one of them obeys and aligns their life with it.
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He/she no longer feel at home in such a situation.
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Such a person leaves that place and builds a house, so to speak, there
on the word.
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This one now feels comfortable.
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Comfortable in knowing they did what God's will proposed.
However, the other one, hears but refuses to obey.
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In fact, he is comfortable in knowing what to do but refusing to do it.
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He chooses to build his home there and live in the comforts of disobedience.
No wonder Jesus said there are storms that come and devastate that house!
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But the same storms cannot come and hurt the house on the rock.
There is a message here.
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We were created to obey God's word.
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God intended for humans to receive His word and obey it.
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AND IF WE DO, WE WILL NOT BREAK DOWN AND RUIN.
For people to live lives in disobedience to God's word, its like using
a machine for a purpose it was not created for.
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It breaks down.
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Its like putting diesel fuel in a gasoline engine.
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The gasoline destroys the engine when ignited.
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Its like putting a volkswagen beetle engine in a transport tractor.
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It breaks down and ruins.
Our lives were designed to only get by through obedience to God's word.
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The way we break down is by being sad too often.
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Overly depressed.
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Sickness.
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Sleeplessness and stress.
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Nightmares.
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Anxiety and worry and fear.
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Guilt and condemnation.
Humanity was not meant to suffer these things.
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They are all results of the curse.
But people who receive God's word and obey it are resting solidly on a
rock
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You are not resting in your soul if you have nightmares and are condemned
or cannot sleep.
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Get on a rock.
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THE CURSE IS REVERSED.
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That is a word from God and its true.
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Such people are back in the place God made man to dwell in.
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Free of all curse-symptoms.
THE HOUSE THAT FAITH BUILT.
Noah believed God's word while the world refused to obey.
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Noah went into an ark built by faith.
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The others in the world rested in their homes.
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Noah switched homes.
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He was comfortable in only one place -- the ark.
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The world remained comfortable in their homes outside the ark.
The only reason he was comfortable in an ark filled with animals and mooing
and honking and braying and squawking, was because HE BELIEVED GOD'S WORD
ABOUT A FLOOD AND OBEYED the note to build an ark.
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He could not be comfortable outside the ark, even in a mansion in the lap
of luxury.
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He knew and believed a flood was coming.
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But if he refused to believe in the flood and therefore refused to obey
the word, he could be pretty comfortable where the world was comfortable.
Matthew 24:37-38 But as the days of
Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the
days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
They were enjoying themselves.
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Noah could not do that.
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He could not enjoy that.
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Maybe later when other things were dealt with first.
But the fool was comfortable in the house on sand.
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He made such a state of disobedience a way of life and became restful in
it.
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Doubting the word while trying to live in an ark of animals would not be
very comfortable to such a fool.
But there's something about believing the word of God concerning how to
survive troubles in life and building a house of faith.
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Our lives of faith may have to put luxury on hold.
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The hours of working to afford this luxury and that luxury that rob the
time we really need to spend in church, are not worth it when you believe
the preached word.
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As far as pleasures of sin are concerned, this ark really doesn't have
any of that to enjoy.
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But its the most comfortable place on earth because you know its the safest.
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Your obedience puts you in such a place of divine protection that luxury
seems insignificant.
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Pleasures of sin aren't worth it.
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None of these appeal to you in the least.
You even don't mind going to church where an occasional hypocrite may pass
you by and dig at your side.
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Where some people just come to get a ride out of acting outrageous simply
because their spirits are corrupted, and the church is the most outrageous
place to dress like they want to and say the things they want to say.
Matthew 13:24-30 Another parable put
he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man
which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy
came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when
the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares
also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him,
Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it
tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said
unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said,
Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with
them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of
harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares,
and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Tares are in the field and why do you suppose God leaves them there?
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They conveniently are useful as God's Intention-exposers.
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Sort of like the devil.
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God let the devil hang around for awhile in this world.
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When the devil attacked Job, Job sought God more fully, and eventually
was purged as fine gold and came out with twice as much as he initially
had.
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God engineered the plans for what and what not the devil could do.
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Then God uses all of this to improve Job's constitution.
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Had Job not much concern with loving God, which is proven by obeying Him,
he would have sifted away immediately and cursed God and died.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Had Job loved himself more than he loved God, his self-centredness would
have protected himself and concentrated solely upon his hurts in order
to relieve them.
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But he loved God more than he loved himself.
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Satan cannot understand that.
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(Neither can his people).
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Therefore, hurting Job's self was not effective against Job.
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Just don't take away his God, and that cannot be dine anyway!
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If suffering had to come, Job would rather suffer than lose God.
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So his focus was not entirely taken up for himself.
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He pulled not away from worshipping God in it all.
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He could not have done that if he did not love God more than himself.
Jesus so loved us He gave his life!
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He'd rather die than let us go.
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WHat kind of love would cause you to give your very life for the one you
love?
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THE GREATEST LOVE.
So God leaves tares in the church who sting and maim and hurt, because
it weeds out those who really don't love God the most.
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A tare will hurt your reputation.
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They'll let you know they don't think very highly of you. They'll
backbite about you.
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And God lets them do it.
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If you love your reputation more than God, you'll stop worshipping God
and quit.
Where the word is the richest, you'll often find the worst tares.
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To whom much is given, much is required.
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
We need tares top weed us out.
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But woe be to those tares!
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They're doomed.
You need criticism.
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Even destructive criticism.
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It makes the gold finer.
Micah 7:8 Rejoice not against me, O
mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD
shall be a light unto me.
The soul of godly integrity may fall at the hands of a tare, but will get
back up again!
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Now see what happens to the enemy.
Micah 7:10 Then she that is mine enemy
shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the
LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she be trodden down
as the mire of the streets.
Not just fallen, but trodden down as mire!
Don't be afraid if you're really honest and love God's word when it
comes enough to obey it.
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The tares will only make you stronger.
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THE SAME STORMS THAT BEAT ON YOUR HOUSE WILL BEAT ON EVERYONE ELSE'S HOUSE.
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BUT THE PLACE YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE IN WILL DETERMINE IF YOU BEAR UP IN
IT ALL OR NOT.
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IF YOU'RE STRUGGLING FOR A LONG TIME OVER A HURT, YOU'VE STILL GOT A LITTLE
BIT OF SELF-CONCERN THAT IS NOT HELATHY IN YOU.
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You won't draw back from God's will no matter if you give your life or
its taken from you a bit in suffering.
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You love him more than yourself.
Why do people draw back from God due to hurts?
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God didn't hurt them.
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All their attention is directed more to them than God.
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Deep inside, SELF is the real god.
Rest in a house built by faith.
Make obedience the very place where you will feel comfortable.
This creator made you with all the likely and possible variables of
trouble this world can give in mind.
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And if only those who survive the storms are the ones who obey the word,
then God created us to obey Him.
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Obedient people who hold up through battles are houses built on rock that
storms cannot destroy.