Sanctity of Life

See if I can turn this on. It's all how about that? So

you got amateur hour today. I am grateful to Devin and the elders um

for their intervention yesterday. UM with Jonathan. I ask you to pray for

him and his family. Right now. Jonathan is with his dad, with

his sisters and they're together, and it's it's a tough situation. And Jonathan

was going to be here today and preach, and they overruled him. They

said, no, you stay be with your dad. And I'm so grateful

that you guys did that. So UM, so he got me. UM.

I I was telling Julie on the way here this morning, I was

feeling a little nervous and you know, um, I don't know exactly why.

And the more the closer we got to the to the building, the

more I I think I understood why I was thinking. I was thinking I

was going to have fifteen minutes, look a little more time to that,

so I was I was nervous. I was not going to be able to

get everything done and everything that I had prepared. And I even did a

little dry run in the house last night and it was sixteen minutes. So

you know, again A little nervous that I wouldn't be able to get it

done, get everything across that I wanted to do. And now this a

little extra time gives me a little more peace. And I actually just settled

right down there in the last few minutes. So two thousand and one Valentine's

Day, I prepared a message to bring to you, Jonathan and family,

and I think others maybe you guys were going on a trip to Virginia to

ski and the traffic was horrendous and you couldn't get there and anyway, so

I'm prepared to speak on First Corinthian chapter thirteen on Valentine's a day natural natural

passage. Right, So I prepared that message and Jonathan either that night Saturday

night or that morning Sunday morning, I don't remember what he says. I

got the sermon. I'm coming back. You got you take a break.

So I had a sermon ready back then. And yesterday, when you know,

I knew that I was going to step in, I thought, well,

I'll just dust that off, and um, well it's gonna have to

wait. It's just gonna have to wait longer. And I was talking to

Mary a moment ago and she said, you know, maybe that sermon was

just for you, like good point. We'll see. Um. So what

I want to share with you is is really kind of a struggle that I

went through and this last week, and I actually have been for some time

now, and and I'll walk you through all of that, but it really

begins with Tuesday night. This past Tuesday night, I had a lot of

emotions going on that day. I had my laptop in front of me and

I was watching online and it was kind of like the Carolina Hurricanes for overtime

game, right if you were watching that, you just never knew what was

going to happen. And then again last night and overtime, you just never

knew what was gonna happen. Your heart's pounding, you just don't know what's

happening. So I'm watching on Tuesday night and the same kind of things going

on. I'm cheering in one moment, I'm angry in another. And so

eventually where I settled down wash And I was truly grateful on Tuesday night that

the North Carolina Senate and the House overturned the veto and was so happy about

that. It was it was a great thing, a great day, and

and as others have said, there's still more work to be done. But

I was really grateful for that. And you know, the abortion issue is

one that's created a lot of a lot of emotions, a lot of tension

out there, and I found myself caught up in that. And I'll share

a little bit more about that in a minute. Today we're gonna work through

Psalm one thirty nine, and so if you'll turn there, we'll read that

in just a minute. Naturally, on a day like today, we'll spend

some time talking about verses thirteen through sixteen, which are really important and they

speak to this day and this moment in time that we find ourselves. But

I'll really spend more emphasis on the beginning of the chapter and the end of

the chapter more so than that part of the chapter. I don't think that

specifically these verses were speaking to me Tuesday night, but I really feel that

the Holy Spirit was speaking to me Tuesday night. So let's and then we'll

get started. Okay, Lord, I thank you for this morning, I

think for the opportunity to share your word. And Lord, I just hold

onto you your passage in Isaiah fifty five, Will you say your word?

Will not return void. So Lord, just get me out of the way

and speak your word to myself as well as others that are listening. And

Lord, just lift up Jonathan and his family right now. We just ask

you to give them peace and encouragement and just comfort during this time. Lord,

bless, bless your word and your name, your pray. Amen.

So if you don't mind standing, I don't. It's twenty four verses and

I'll try to get through it quickly. But if I go too fast,

I mess up. So bear with me. Verse one. Oh Lord,

you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and

when I rise up. You discern my thoughts from afar. You search out

my path am I lying down, and are acquainted with all of my ways

even before our word is on my tongue. Behold, oh Lord, you

know it all together. You hit me in behind me before and lay your

hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high

I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where

shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You're there.

If I may make my bed and shield there, you're there. If

I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of

the sea. Even your hand shall lead me, your right hand shall hold

me. Ask Jonah about that one verse eleven. If I say, surely

darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night. Even the

darkness is not dark to you, the night as bright as day, For

darkness is as light with you. Verse thirteen. And here's the great passage

here, For you formed me in my inwards parts. You knitted me together

in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I'm fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well. My frame

was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven

in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance. In

your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for

me, when as yet there was none of them. Verse seventeen. How

precious to me are your thoughts, Oh God, How vast is the sum

of them? If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I'm still with you. Oh that you would slay

the wicked, Oh God, oh men of blood depart from me. They

speak against you with malicious intent. Your enemies take your name in vain.

Do I not hate those who hate you, a Lord? And do I

not load those who rise up against you? I hate them with complete hatred.

I count them my enemies. Search me, o, God, and

know my heart, Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there's

any grievous way in me, and leave me in the way everlasting. You

can sit down. Thank you. We looking at verses thirteen through sixteen is

a natural place for us to talk about on this day. And I'll read

that again, and then we'll talk about a couple of parts of that,

and then we'll move on. Verse thirteen says, for you formed me my

inward parts. You knitted me together and my mother's womb. I praise you

for I'm fearfully and wonderfully made, wonderful or your works. My soul knows

it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being

made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes

saw my unformed substance in your book, or written every one of them,

the days that were formed for me when there was yet none of them.

It's a beautiful picture of a holy God creating us and making us, creating

us before we could even be a thought. A holy God cares enough to

make us and knit us together. It's just a beautiful picture. I want

to I want to focus in on our earth here. In this part,

verse fourteen, it says I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. I'm not a language

expert, never studied any of these languages, but I can read commentaries and

see what other people have to say about this. And apparently this language,

there's this word from made might have a little bit different meaning. And I

thought it was interesting how it was written and said that this actually could be

intended to be I'm fearfully set apart. I love that a holy God has

made us. That's amazing in itself. The Holy God has made us,

but then he set us apart. A holy God set us apart for what

to glorify him, to serve him. So it's not only that he actually

created us and needed us together, and he was there from the beginning.

He created us for his work and to set apart for his work. I

thought it was interesting to the verse there about how he knew the days he

had prepared to day's he'd written in his book the Days for Us, and

he had a plan for us. And it's beautiful that here in the state

now more lives will be able to fulfill some of those days than before.

And I'm grateful for that. But that's not where I really wanted to focus

today. You know, Tuesday night, I don't know if you did this

or not, but Tuesday, I think four o'clock, the Senate took up

the hearing the vote, and so I went online and sure enough, you

could watch it, and I was watching different people get up and speak.

And I don't know if you saw this or you probably saw it afterwards,

but there was a lot of emotion. There was a lot of emotion on

both sides. And there was a couple of times I'm like, yeah,

that's awesome, get them, you know, and then other times I'm like,

oh, just I was getting angry and I found myself getting worked up.

I found it really really affecting me, and I had to really look

at what was going on, and if we look at this passage, I

might have had some justification. So look at Mercus nineteenth through twenty one.

I was like, I can use this in my anger, Oh, that

you would slay the wicked, Oh God, yes, go get them,

Lord, Oh men of blood, depart from me. They speak against you

with malicious intent. Your enemies take your name in vain. Do I not

hate those who hate your Lord, and do not loathe those who rise up

against you. There we go. It was my excuse I could. It

was my justification for being angry, right well as you know. And I

know I can't just use a short amount of verses that I that fit my

particular emotion and mood at the time, right, I have to look at

the whole context, all of scripture, and clearly being angry is not the

right approach. And then in this passage we read the beginning and the end

of it, and it's it's like this Holy God is kind of smacking you

around a little bit. Look look at verses one through four. Says,

Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me, you know. And

I sit down, and when I rise up, you discern my thoughts from

afar. You you search out my path and my lying down, and are

acquainted with my ways even before a word is on my tongue. But hold

the Lord you know it altogether? Can he just grasp that for a minute

before a word is even coming out of your mouth? He knows it?

And then he ends with search me, o, Lord, no, my

heart, try me and know my thoughts, and see if there's any grievous

way in me, and leave me in the way everlasting. So whether I

like it or not, Um, it's holy. God knows my heart,

and he knows that. Tuesday night when I was getting angry, I don't

think you could say I'm I'm as holy as as Jesus Christ, who has

the right and privilege to have righteous anger. I'm not. We're not perfected

yet, are we. We're not there. We're not in heaven with him.

He has not perfected our bodies in our hearts yet. So you know

this, this anger is not right, um. And he doesn't want us

to fight this way. He just want that. Doesn't want that in our

hearts. Um. And and think back to the fruits of the spirits.

Does hate show up in there? Does anger show up in there? It's

not one of those, right, of course not. So I realized what

was happening to me Tuesday night, hearing all this fighting going on. Then

it was affecting me, and I had to shut it down. I had

to just turn it off. And and I was thinking about it this morning.

You know, It's like, I have to have to be aware of

the triggers that affect me. If if somebody has an addiction to something,

they have to be aware that some things trigger those addictions and they have to

watch for those and make sure that they avoid those situations. So I found

myself turning this off and stopping looking at any social media about it because all

it was going to do is I going to change my mind? Right,

it was not going to change my mind, and it was only going to

get me worked up, and that was going to be countered to what Christ

has this to say about all of this? So how what what did Jesus

have to say about anger and in these kinds of emotions? Um? How

did he? What did he tell us on how to handle that? What

did he have to say about that? He he also gave us a lot

of instructions, but he also knew that we needed help too. And in

the nice part about it, I've got a lot of scripture here for you,

and I'll share that with you. But in the end, Jesus.

It's like the Gospel, there's so so we can make it so complex,

but it's not. Jesus just makes it simple. And I love that about

about him. He we were talking in our class earlier this morning about um

the Jews and the ritualistic things that they had to do, and the and

the sacrifices and all that. I just can't imagine being alive in that time

period. I'm so glad we're here at the time with Jesus that you know,

we just have to love him. So let's read a few passages if

if you'll follow along with me, that Jesus speaks to this issue and others.

So Matthew five, twenty one, twenty two, you've heard it said,

this is Jesus speaking. You've heard it said that. You've heard it

said that it was said to those of old you shall not murder, and

whoever murders will be liable to judgment. But I say to you, everyone

who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. That kind of

smacks me in the face Tuesday night. Instead of being angry, what does

Jesus say Matthew twenty two, thirty seven, thirty nine You shall love the

Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with

all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second

is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Well, that

does, and that didn't fit too well with Tuesday night either, But that's

what he's telling us to do. He says, you know, don't be

angry, don't hate others. It's like murder. It's like you're killing someone.

Instead, love them as yourself. And as I was working through this

very familiar passage came to mind John three sixteen for God to love the world,

that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not

perish, but have eternal life Romans five, and also in Romans ten,

says God shows his love for us that while we were sinners, Christ died

for us. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and

believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and you will

be saved. So what does that got to do As Tuesday night anger is

not right. I can convince myself that I had right righteous anger, but

that's not what Jesus is saying. Love your brother love one another, love

them as myself. The people that are saying things that just get to me,

right, he saying, loved them anyway, And then he spoke to

me in again John three sixteen. You know, so for God to love

the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him

should not perish but have eternal life. I remember that as a kid.

It's whosoever, But that word stuck with me. Whoever, whosoever, whosoever

believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Well, who

am I looking at people that I'm angry with? Who am I to know?

Who whooever is? Who whoever is? Does that make sense? Who

am I to know who will turn to Christ? Who am I to know

the ones that don't follow him will follow him? Who am I to judge?

Who am I to hate them? Who am I to be angry with

them? God gave God so loved the world that he gave his son for

whoever. So I've got to think past the different situations, those triggers,

those things that make us angry. Think back to nine to eleven. It

was an easy time to hate people who were trying to kill our country and

destroy our country. It was easy to think that way. Jesus came for

whoever would believe in him and calling his name, So who am I to

judge? Jesus died for them. I'm no better than anyone else. So

it's not my place to know whoever will join him, whoever will come to

him. It's not my place to judge that. That's his to judge.

Thank goodness, it's his. I wouldn't want that responsibility. I'm grateful for

that. Uh. It's up to him to determine. UM, who should

be judging how they should be judged. My job is to trust him and

just follow him. I don't have to condemn anyone. I can't condemn him

anyway. UM. Jesus says to love others or not hate them. Um,

our class. We just finished not too long too Ephesians. And as

I was going to bed last night, I was about to get into bed,

and I thought I was thinking about this message, thought about it all

night long, actually, But a verse came to mind that in Ephesians,

for one says, walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you've

been called as believers walk worthy? Does anger and hate sound like worthy?

Walk it doesn't, and that that was the struggle. Um. You know,

and so to follow him, I need to obade Jesus. And in

loving us and loving him so again, Jesus is kind of makes it simple.

Love others and and love him pretty easy. Right? Can we do

this ourselves? You know what? What fights against that? In us?

Our flesh are the flesh it's in in us. Our soul wants to fight.

It doesn't want to follow him. Um. So the fruits of evil

are not anything like the fruits of the spirit. Right, that's what our

flesh desires, is evil. Um. We have to acknowledge that. Um.

Jesus when he was leaving and teaching his disciples, and near the end

of his time with them, he says, love one another. Listen to

this, love one another, just as I have loved you. Jesus is

saying, love others like I've loved you. Now you imagine how Jesus,

what kind of capacity he has for love. And he's saying, do that,

my goodness, can we do that? We we don't have that.

We don't have that in us. So again, Jesus makes it easy?

Why? How how does he make it easy for us? He told the

disciples, and and has has all kinds of scripture, he says in John

fourteen twenty six. But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father

will send in my name, will teach you all these things and bringing to

you. Remember it's all that I've said to you. What a gift we

aren't on our own. It's not only did he give us the commandments and

the teaching and the instructions on what to do, but he gave us the

Holy Spirit. And that's that's awesome in that in our weakness, in our

inability to keep the commandments, keep the instructions that he has given us,

He's given us the Holy Spirit to help us because he knew we couldn't do

it on our own. So what happens when we let the Holy Spirit work

and teach us the fruits of the spirit, love, joy, peace,

patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, generalists, self control. Against such

there is no law. What a what a gift? And you know,

it feels like a challenge sometimes that we are facing a world that's fighting everything

that Jesus believes and teaches. And it's easy to get angry, it's easy

to want to fight, but Jesus is saying, no, whoever comes to

him, he will. He will say, So who are we to say,

who are we to fight them? We are to love them? And

that was a challenge. In conclusion, Tanner, come on up, um,

you guys getting out early. Don't don't let John to think it used

to this right? Um? How can we apply this teaching? How do

we how do we let the Holy Spirit work in our lives and help us?

Um? We need seeking, We need to look for him tied us

three four through six is let the Holy Spirit wash and regenerate you. Let

the love of God through the Holy Spirit wash and regenerate you. Think about

it. A holy God who needed you together in your mother's room from the

beginning, numbered your days, counted your days, had a purpose for you,

sets you aside, for him loves you, not only made you,

but he loves you. Let that sink in, Holy God, that we're

not worthy to even say his name loves just He knows the hairs on her

head, even the ones that we've lost Stacy. So so what so let's,

as Jesus said, love others and love him and let him take care

of the rest. It sounds maybe a little bit too simple. But um,

if you don't have that kind of relationship with him, you can.

Jonathan has asked us in the past, who is Jesus to you? Not?

Not? Not? What do you know about him? What's his you

know? Did he exist? That was in my testimony. I knew about

him. I believe that he existed. But is he lord of your life?

Is he lord of like? Do you love him? Do you have

a relationship with him? You can do that, You can have that.

Um. He came because he loved you, and he sacrificed his life for

you. He gave his life so that he could he could have a relationship

with him with you, that he could give you the Holy Spirit. Just

trust him and I'll close with this. Just just come and and either in

your seats or come here and just talk with him and invite him into your

heart or invite him to to challenge your heart and challenge you to love and

not to hate. Um, Devin Floyd or Van or myself would be happy

to pray for you.