Reaching for God

I'd like to introduce our speaker for today, and as

he comes up, Daniel Moore, come on up. We have

had I have a special connection with Daniel and I

see his parents right there. Hi, Tom, Sharon and Steven.

I've had a special connection with Daniel. I remember several

years ago. In fact, let me just tell you something.

How we the Radio Ministry is how ultimately Daniel is

here right now because Pastor Mike Tom used to be

the general manager of WABA and brother Christopher working with him,

we started the Radio Ministry. Got to know Tom, got

to know his family, got to know Daniel eventually, and

Daniel started becoming to the church. He got baptized here

last year. He's been involved with the youth young adults.

He's doing service ministry. You guys did food drives. You

do the service ministry in terms of helping people out.

And I said to Daniel, I said, Daniel, anytime you

want to go through the Daniel Revelation, tell me I'll

dedicate the time for you. And he said, I want

to do it. So every Sunday we meet and we

go through Daniel revelation. And so he's learning the Three

Angels message. He also does me great favors. When I

go out of town. He takes over the Savage School

for me, so I really appreciate that too. But I

just want to introduce Daniel. He's such a blessing in

our family. Let me just pray before he speaks to

us today, Father God, I just pray that your Holy

Spirit would be with Daniel, be with all of us, Lord,

that we would learn to grow in your word, be

inspired by your word, and that Christ would be lifted

up in this pulpit in Jesus Name.

Amen. All right, let's have a quick prayer. Dear Father,

thank you for this opportunity, this responsibility. I pray that

I glorify you today and speak the words that you

have for me, and not a single word more than that,

I pray that people would be encouraged and uplifted and

be drawn towards You Jesus Name. Amen. So there's the

title Reaching for God, and I have a story before

we get to the really good stuff. In July nineteen

sixty five, Jeremiah Denton was flying planes for the US

Navy over North Vietnam when he was shot down and

captured by the enemy. He was taken to a pow camp,

where he was tortured in various ways for hours on end.

He was also starved, held in solitary confinement, and forced

to participate in propaganda readings where he would announce the

US government. On one occasion, he read for a television broadcast.

The script reading said he was being treated well by

the Communists, which was a blatant lie. While he read

to the camera using Morse code, he blinked the word

torture to tell the world what he and his comrades

were enduring. His message was received, but for this act

of resistance he would pay a terrible price more torture.

To counter the brutality of their circumstances, he and his

fellow prisoners would hold secret religious services and celebrate holidays together.

These things proved crucial for group morale. The prisoners became

very close, supporting each other in various ways, including whispers

of encouragement and shared food. Jeremiah was held for seven

years and seven months in a total of three different

pow camps, enduring things no human should ever have to endure.

During this time, he distinguished himself to his fellow captured

brothers and even the prison guards and interrogators. Through his struggles,

he remained a strong leader and a vital source of

encouragement as he strived to maintain unity with the other prisoners.

Denton was released in nineteen seventy three and published an

account of his experiences two years later. The account was

called When Hell Was in Session. The question is just

how did Jeremiah Denton not only survive but also manage

to help those around him. How did he resist the

overwhelming urge to give into his captors and reveal military secrets.

Why didn't he take the advice found in the Book

of Job, curse God and die. The answer is simple.

Jeremiah Denton possessed an unwavering belief in God that was

not conditional on his circumstances, and God gave him the

strength to an under everything thrown at him. Denton was

a true believer. He would pray often, recite scriptures, and

dwell on memories of his family. Where many would have

fallen to despair, God gave him a firm foundation to

stand upon. When I think about Jeremiah Denton and the

strength he drew upon from God, a psalm comes to mind,

and the psalm will be the object of today's sermon.

But make no mistake, Jeremiah Denton was always reaching for God.

Next slide. Hopefully that's legible, but if it's not, don't

worry about it. So Psalm one, the first Psalm, is

going to be what we're looking at here. So let

me just read through the first three verses. Blessed is

the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly,

nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in

the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in

the law of the Lord, and in his law he

meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree

planted by streams of water rivers of water, that brings

forth its fruit in season, whose leave also does not wither.

And whatever he does shall prosper. Next slide. Okay, next

three verses. The ungodly are not so, but are like

the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore, the ungodly

shall not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the

congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knows the way

of the righteous. But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Next slide. So let's just take a look at the

first verse here, blessed, it's the man who walks, and

then it says stands, it sits. So we have different

activities here. What we have here is a progression. Picture

in your minds. If you're walking down a street and

you see something that is ungodly, you're now in the

proximity of something ungodly. Well, if you were to stop

walking and stand still, that wouldn't be good, would it.

You should get out of there, shouldn't you. But if

you stay there, if you stand in the presence of

the ungodliness, if you're standing in the path of the sinners,

you have just gone down a bad path. Now what

would happen if there was a chair nearby and you said,

you know, I'm standing here, I might as well make

myself comfortable in this ungodly place. I'm gonna sit. This

first verse here is telling us a progression that we

can all fall prey to. It's a progression of getting

comfortable in the presence of evil. Blessed is the man

who does not get comfortable in the presence of evil.

Next slide. So here's James one fourteen and fifteen. But

each is tempted when they are dragged away by their

own evil desire and enticed. Then after desire has conceived,

it gives birth to sin, and when it is full grown,

gives birth to death. So this verse is kind of

like Psalm one. It's saying, walk in the presence of

the young godly, that's being tempted, standing in the presence

of sinners. That's conception, right, it's up here, it's in

your head. But if you allow it to be in

your head long enough, if you don't get out of

that situation, what is it going to turn into action?

And that action is sin and sin leads to death.

Next slide. Okay, So there's a Psalm one. Under that,

we have Proverbs four, fourteen, and fifteen. Do not set

foot on the path of the wicked, or walk in

the way of evildoers. Avoid it, do not travel on it,

Turn from it, and go on your way. So the

proverb writer here is saying, turn around, go the other way.

If your GPS put you down this street, figure out

a different way. Do not go down this path. Next slide. Okay,

So here's a story from Proverbs. This is Proverbs seven,

starting in verse six. At the window of my house,

I looked down through the lattice. I saw among the simple.

I noticed among the young men a youth who had

no sense. He was going down the street near her corner,

walking along in the direction of her house at twilight,

as the day was fading, as the dark of night

set in. Have you ever heard the expression nothing good

happens at night? Yeah, someone said that's true, not always,

but a lot of times. Right this time. Then out

came a woman to meet him, dressed like a prostitute

and with crafty intent. Uh oh. Next slide, verse eleven.

She is unruly and defiant. Her feet never stay at home.

Now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner,

she lurks like a predator. Verse thirteen. She took hold

of him and kissed him, and with a brazen face,

she said, today I have fulfilled my vows, and I

have food from my fellowship offering at home. You're hungry.

Verse fifteen. So I came out to meet you. I

looked for you and have found you. I've covered my

bed with colored linens from Egypt. Next slide. Okay, so

let's go back a little. Let's look at verse fourteen.

She said, today I've fulfilled my vows and I have

food for my fellowship offering at home. What is a

fellowship offering? It was an offering that was performed to

give thanksgiving and praise, or to fulfill a vow, or

to commemorate a fulfilled vow, I should say, or for

general fellowship. In this case, it was because, as she said,

she fulfilled a vow. So let's just get this straight.

This woman is fulfilling an obligation, honoring God through a sacrifice,

going home and doing what sinning. She's sinning. She's a hypocrite.

How many of you out here today? You wake up

early on Saturday morning, you put on your nice clothes,

you come into this building, and you act a certain way.

Is that authentic or is this just something you do

once every week? How do you look? Not in terms

of how you dress, I don't care about how people dress,

but how do you behave the other six days of

the week. Are you a hypocrite? Are you authentic? Are

you like this woman? God forbid full disclosure? Sometimes you

know I'm not the same person I am out there

that I am in here, and I'm sorry for that,

and that's okay, but we need to do better. Next

slide okay, So she fulfilled her vows. She came out

to meet him. She covered her bed with colored linens

Verse seventeen. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh aloes

and cinnamon. It's expensive. Come, let's drink deeply of love

till morning. Let's enjoy ourselves with love. My husband is

not at home. Okay, even worse, right, just going down, down, down.

So she's sexually immoral. She's a hypocrite. She's an adulteress.

My husband is not at home. He has gone on

a long journey. Next slide. He took his purse filled

with money and will not be home till full moon.

Is like with persuasive words like she's persuasive, right, perfume

the bed. She's got a meal waiting for him, dressed

a certain way. She is very good at what she's doing.

She is a very talented predator Verse twenty one. With

persuasive words. She led him astray. She seduced him with

her smooth talk. All at once. He followed her like

an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer stepping

into a noose. So he's the prey. She's the predator.

Right till an arrow pierces his liver like a bird

darting into a snare, little knowing it will cost him

his life. So he's toasts. That's it. Next slide. Now

that my son's listen to me, pay attention to what

I say. Do not let your heart turn to her

ways or stray into her paths. Saw one language, right.

Many are the victims she has brought down, her slain

are a mighty throng. Her house is a highway to

the crave, leading down to the chambers of death. When

I read those last few verses, I just think that

is hauntingly poetic. Hauntingly poetic. Now, what are we to

make of this proverb. Well, there's a literal interpretation, which

is for men, you know, be very careful, you know,

don't be, for lack of a better word, you know,

a dummy like this guy. But there's also a metaphorical application,

and I like that one a little better because it

applies to men and women. And that is simply that

this woman is the enemy. She is temptation personified, and

she is trying to drag each and every one of

you down when you least expect it. Don't stray into

her paths. Don't be a dummy. Next slide. Okay, so

just back to someone one more time. I'm really going

to try to drill this into your head. Lest is

the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly,

nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in

the seat of the scornful, or, in the case of

this young man, does the thing that comes after sitting.

But we won't go into that. Next slide. Okay, now

we're in verse two. But his delight is in the

law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates

day and night. God's law is a picture of God's character.

So when we meditate on his law, we're getting to

know God. These aren't just rules. This is the character

of God. If you love God, if you want to

get to know God, get to know his law, get

to know his word. What's the outcome of getting to

know God? How does this help me? Right? Next slide.

He shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water.

Now we're getting somewhere. Trees need water, right, and a

river is an infinite amount of water. So if you're

a tree and you're planting next to water, that's a

good place to be. Essentially, if you don't have water,

a lot of things are gonna go wrong. You're not

going to produce fruit if you're a fruit bearing tree,

and given enough time, you're just gonna wither and die.

One Corinthians ten, verse four, and all drank the same

spiritual drink, For they drank from the spiritual rock, and

that followed them, and that rock was Christ. Okay, So

if we're trees and we need water, where are we

getting that water from? This? The word the rock? Next side,

here's another verse, John four thirteen. Jesus answered, everyone who

drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks

the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the

water I give them will become in them a spring

of water welling up to eternal life. Isn't that interesting?

It's not only that we won't thirst again, we then

become a source to give to others. Isn't that amazing?

As Christians, when Jesus is operating within us, we can

propagate that and it expands. I mean, how do you

think the early Church grew so rapidly despite all the

persecution that it endured because God was in it. God

is powerful and this is how he's operating. Next slide. Okay,

the last line. So your tree planted by the rivers

of water that brings forth fruit in its season. To

make a tree consistently produce fruit is difficult, but with

proper care it is possible. Believe me, it's difficult. Okay,

I deal with this. So anoint a tree must be

mature before producing fruit. Give God time to grow. You

get discouraged in your Christian walk. You see people that

on the surface, at least they seem to be living

an amazing Christian walk, and you look at them and

you say, why is that not me? Maybe you need

to mature a little more, And that's okay. To mature,

give yourself the time, but also have an open and

humble heart so that God can grow you into a

tree that is capable of producing fruit. Next slide. Galatians

five twenty two through twenty six. But the fruit of

the spirit. So now we're getting into what kind of

fruit are we producing? Well? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

self control. Against such things there is no law. And

those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh

with its passions and desires. If we live by the spirit,

let us also keep in step with the spirit. Let

us not become conceited provoking one another, envying one another.

Next slide. Okay, whose leafs shall not wither? And whatever

he does shall prosper. Withering leaves can be a sign

of distress. When we stay close to God, not only

will he shield us, but he will prosper us Isaiah

forty one ten. Fear not, for I am with you.

Be not dismayed, For I am your God. I will

strengthen you, I will help you. I will uphold you

wrong hands with my righteous right hands. Next slide. Okay,

some characteristics of trees. Trees are strong, They provide shade,

They are stable, beautiful, they provide fruit, they filter co

two you know, they clean the air basically, and they

reach to God. Next slide. So, if we're trees, how

as people can we display strength. Well, everyone's got values

until they've got something to lose by keeping those values right,

how many of you keep the sabbath until you get

a job offer that is pretty lucrative but requires you

to work on the sabbath. If you're that person that

took that job, I'm sorry. You are not a tree

planted by streams of water. Now there are exceptions to this,

of course, we know nurses, doctors, emergency personnel. But if

you're just taking it for money, that would be compromise.

You're compromising for money the law of God Proverbs ten,

verse nine. Whoever walks in integrity walks securely. But he

who makes his waist crooked will be found out. Next slide.

Trees provide shade, peaceful, relaxing demeanor. You're around someone and

you just you feel the way come off of you. Well,

that's the Holy Spirit through them, right, that's the spring

of water welling up from them. John fourteen, verse twenty seven.

Peace I leave with you my peace I give to you.

Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Next side, trees are stable, kind of the same thing.

We already talked about. Someone who makes you feel safe

and comfortable. So I'm sixteen verse eight. I have set

the Lord always before me. Now that sounds like someone

who meditates day and night on the law of Lord. Right,

I've set the Lord always before me because he is

at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Next side. Okay,

this is funny, Luke, Chapter nine, verse fifty one to

fifty five. As the time approach for him to be

taken up to Heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem

as he sent messengers on ahead who went into Samaritan

village to get things ready for him. But the people

there did not welcome him because he was heading for Jerusalem.

When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, Lord,

do you want us to call fire down from heaven

and destroy them? But Jesus turned and rebuked them, Calm down.

We're not in the business of calling down fire and

destroying people unless God says otherwise. And God was merciful

we were talking about in Sabbath school today. You know,

Hebrews talks about approaching the throne with confidence, the throne

of grace and mercy. So James and John, we're not

being particularly merciful in this case. We can forgive them.

I can be a very wrathful person sometimes. Do you

ever just look at something, you say, Lord, send the flood,

you know, like I want to get out of here. No,

let's be patient, Let's be merciful, Let's promote peace. Next slide.

Trees are beautiful. How can a person display beauty? Colossians three,

verse twelve, put on then as God's chosen one's compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness,

and patience. What does it mean to put on something

that is ephemeral? It means make that your behavior behave

in this way. I have some family in South Carolina

and they have this really interesting use of the word ugly.

My aunt she'll see someone behaving rudely. Sometimes it's me,

and she'll say, you're being ugly. She's not talking about

what I'm wearing. She's not talking about my face. She's

talking about my behavior. I'm being ugly. I think that's

how the Bible talks about true beauty. It's within. It's

a behavioral thing. God looks at the heart. Right Next slide,

Trees provide fruit. How can people display fruit? We already

kind of talked about this. It's a behavioral thing. Fruit

for a Christian is these attributes loving people, being joyful,

being peaceful, definitely, being patient, being kind, et cetera, et cetera.

That's what fruit is. Next slide. Okay, this is kind

of an interesting one. Bear with me here, So trees

filter CO two. How do people filter CO two? Well,

we actually produce CO two, so that's a problem. But

from a spiritual point of view, CO two for me,

is kind of like a negative atmosphere. If you walk

into a room and people are like, oh boy, this

guy's here, like you know, they kind of shift away

from you. You might be someone who creates negativity. Hopefully

not so if you want to filter CO two. If

you want to filter negativity like trees do, then diffuse

negative situations. Be a positive, encouraging force wherever you are.

You want to be the person where someone sees you

when they go like, oh, it's this person, I can

relax a little. Be a witness for Christ. That's a

big one. Romans twelve, verse two. Do not conform to

the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the

renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to

test and approve what God's will is is good, pleasing

and perfect will. Next side, trees reach to God, right,

I mean, they're growing up. The interesting thing about trees

is while we see them growing up and out to

get sunlight, they're also growing in a different direction. Right.

They've got roots and the roots are going down. The

roots are looking for water. Now, if you're a tree

planted by streams of water, you don't have to look

very far right less work, So how do we reach

for God? Bible study, acts of service, serve people just

like Jesus. Serve people, prayer, get some quiet time, Talk

to God. Shut out all the noise, turn off your podcast,

all that stuff. Talk to God. Psalm sixty three, Verse one,

Oh God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek you.

My soul thirsts for you. In a dry and weary

land where there's no water, it's not a good place

to be. In the same way trees reach upward till light,

we should reach to God next side. Okay, so let's

you know, given all the stuff we just talked about,

let's go through the Psalm one more time. Blessed is

the man who walks not in the council of the ungodly,

nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in

the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in

the law of the Lord, and in his law he

meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree

planted by the rivers of water that brings forth fruit

in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and

whatever he does shall prosper Is that all of them? Lucian? Okay, yeah,

that's all good. All right, So let's aspire to be

trees planted by streams of water. What does that mean.

Let's be close to Jesus. Let's not be tempted and

going places we shouldn't go, being in proximity to things

we have no business being in proximity too, and God willing,

if we do that, we're going to flourish. We're gonna grow,

we're gonna help others, and we're going to produce fruit,

just like Jeremiah did in prison. Oh one more thing,

I'm sure some of the contrarians in the audience we're thinking,

hold on a sec If Jeremiah was in prison, how

exactly is that being prosperous. That's what kind of occurred

to me. Well to that, I would say, being prosperous

doesn't necessarily mean you will not be in situations that

you're not going to enjoy. Right, I think I messed

that up. It just you can be fruitful and prosperous

while still be having trouble in life. Right where in

the Bible does God say life is going to be easy. Yeah,

we're gonna have difficulties, but He's going to get us

through them. Right, So that's the answer to that question.

God will prosper us in the midst of difficulty. God

forbid you're in a pow camp. But if you are,

it's not the end of the world. It's actually a

place that God has put you for specific purpose. Let's pray, Father,

thank you for this message. And I just asked that

this would uplift people and help them to draw nearer

to you. I pray that we would resist temptation and

delight in your law and meditate on it day and

night in Jesus name. Amen.